-
1954 Caldbeck UFO Incident;
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Country: New York, US
Subject: Marilyn Monroe
Date: 3 August 1962
Report No.: Blocked out
No. Pages: Blocked Out
References: [ROCK DUST?] Project 54 ;
TEXT:
Wiretap of telephone conversation between reporter Dorothy Kilgallen and
[illegible] alone (?) friend Howard Rothberg (A) from wiretap of
telephone conversation [gap] of Marilyn Monroe and Attorney General
Robert Kennedy (B).
Appraisal of Contents: [Blocked Out]
1. Rothberg discussed the apparent [illegible] of subject with Kilgallen
and the [illegible] breakup with the Kennedys. Rothberg told Kilgallen
that she was attending [illegible] Hollywood parties hosted by the
“inner circle” among Hollywood elite and [illegible] and was becoming
the talk of the town again. Rothberg indicated in so many words, that
she had secrets to tell, no doubt, arising from her trists [sic] the
President and the Attorney General.
One such [Illegible] mentions visit
by the President at a secret air base for the purpose of Inspecting
things from outer space. Kilgallen replied that she knew what might be
the source of the visit. In the mid-fifties, Kilgallen learned of secret
effort [sic] by US and UK governments to identify [illegible] origins of
crashed spacecraft and dead bodies, from a British government official.
Kilgallen believed the story may have come from the [Illegible] in the
late forties. Kilgallen said if that the story is true, it would
[Illegible] terrible embarrassment [Illegible] Jack and his plans to
have NASA put man on the moon.
2. Subject repeatedly called the Attorney General and complained about
the way she was being ignored by the President and his brother.
3. Subject threatened to hold a press conference and would tell all.
4. Subject made references to “bases” in Cuba and [knew?] [Illegible] of
the President’s plan to kill Castro
5. Subject made reference to her “diary of secrets” and what the
newspapers would do with such disclosures.
On the 4th MARCH 1954, A UFO crash at a crystal minefield at Caldbeck Cumberland England. A gamekeeper and his grandson had witnessed the crash and were detained by the military for two weeks until the wreckage and event was covered up. There was also a poacher name Dyker who came in contact with the spaceship and two alien with the face of the devil and reported it the local vicar at St Kentigerns (he was left alone because of his apparent non-recovery from his mental breakdown due to his close encounter, making him a non-threat.
UFO activity was monitored after this day under Operation Mariner on the Irish coast and a near miss was report by a pilot on the Magna Flux Exercise. But until this day hardly anything could be found about this, since the new FOIA by MOD release of new information has still to be seen.
source; http://www.book-of-thoth.com/article1789.html
Behind the scenes, the editor of the Sunday Dispatch, Charles Eade, was quietly encouraged to promote ‘flying saucer’ stories by his friend Lord Mountbatten whom he had served as Press officer during the Second World War (3). Mountbatten, who was at that time a personal believer in the ET origin of the saucers, felt the subject should be taken seriously and wanted to make the public aware of the “evidence.” The Sunday Dispatch played an influential role in creating the first real flying saucer invasion of Britain.
Source; http://www.uk-ufo.org/condign/casehoax2.htm
-
Minnesota Vehicle Interference and Physical Traces Event, 1979:
quote;
"On August 27, 1979 a close encounter of the second kind occurred in the Red River Valley area of far northwestern Minnesota that is one of the most evidential UFO cases on record, and one of the best investigated".
TABLE OF CONTENT:
The events.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79.htm#doc
Encounter of the Decade, by Chris Rutkowski.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79.htm#cr
The confidential police report on the events.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshall...report.htm#doc
The map of the location and the path of the witness and object.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79map.htm#doc
The photographs of the location.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshall...79path.htm#doc
References.
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79.htm#ref
THE EVENTS:
All external quotes below;
quote;
"Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson of Marshall County was on duty that night, driving not far from the North Dakota border, when at around 1:40 a.m. he saw a light through his side window. It was obviously not on a road and looked too glaring to be a car headlight. He first thought it might be a small plane on or very near the ground. He turned left on another road to try to get closer to the light to identify it. Suddenly, the light moved toward him, travelling so fast that it almost instantaneously was upon his car (covering an estimated mile and a half). Johnson was blinded by the brilliance of the light and heard glass breaking, then lost consciousness".
1979,Minnesota-Sheriff Blinded by Light from UFO;
"When he returned to consciousness, the car was stalled and had skidded across the highway. He felt sluggish and shaky. He radioed headquarters, at 2:19 a.m., to request assistance. Soon another deputy arrived, who called an ambulance. The doctor who examined Johnson found him to be in a mild state of shock. His eyes were irritated as if Johnson had suffered "mild welder's burns," and Johnson couldn't stand to be exposed to any bright lights".
"The patrol car had very peculiar damage. The inside headlight on the driver's side was smashed but not the one to its immediate left. There was a flat-bottomed circular dent on the left side of the front hood, about a half inch in diameter, close to the windshield. There was a crack in the windshield on the driver's side, that ran from top to bottom, with four apparent impacts. The electric clock was running 14 minutes slow, as was Johnson's wristwatch. The shaft of the roof antenna was bent over at a 60-degree angle, starting about 6 inches above its base. The trunk antenna was bent over at 90 degrees, but only near the top. No damage occurred to the car's regular antenna on the front hood. Essentially, all the damage to the car occurred on the left, or driver's side".
"Investigations occurred immediately, both by the sheriff's department and by investigators from the Center for UFO Studies. The police determined that Johnson's car travelled about 950 feet after the first damage occurred. No cause could be found for the event, including collision with another vehicle or a low-flying plane, a hoax on the part of Johnson, or anything else. In addition, experts from Ford Motors (the vehicle was a 1977 Ford LTD) and a team of engineers from Honeywell examined various portions of the damage".
"A windshield expert, Meridan French, from Ford, noted after examining the windshield fractures that "Even after several days of reflection on the crack patterns and apparent sequence of fractures, I still have no explanation for what seem to be inward and outward forces acting almost simultaneously. I can only [conclude]... that all cracks were from mechanical forces of unknown origin." No cause could be found for the clock running slow, the peculiar antenna damage, or other physical traces".
"Fortunately, Johnson's eyes healed quickly, and he suffered no lasting effect from the close encounter".
ENCOUNTER OF THE DECADE:
quote;
"This is the article "Val Johnson's Encounter of the Decade," from The Swamp Gas Journal, Volume 1, No. 6, January, 1980, and No.7, April, 1980, by scientist and ufologist Chris Rutkowski".
Val Johnson's Encounter of the Decade;
"I first heard about Val Johnson's UFO experience on the WDAZ late news one night, several days after it had occurred. I called the station and was told that as far as they knew, it had already been investigated by CUFOS. Since it was just within UFOROM's investigation range, I would have left to check out the site, were it not that I figured it would by then have been adequately looked into by Allan Hendry of CUFOS. But by chance, a close associate, Guy Westcott, was vacationing in Minnesota around that time, and he took time out to visit the area on his own. Not only did he come back with a rather detailed investigation report, he reported that Hendry had not been there by the time he had left. Westcott went back to verify a few things on September 16, 1979, and obtained a taped report from Deputy Johnson, in his own words":
"This is Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson ... I report in connection with an incident which happened August 27th, 1979, at approximately 1:40 a.m., western section of Marshall County, approximately ten miles west of Stephen, Minnesota. This officer was on routine patrol, westbound down Marshall County Road #5. I got to the intersection of #5 and Minnesota State #220. When I looked down south #220 to check for traffic, I noticed a very bright, brilliant light, 8 to 12 inches in diameter, 3 to 4 feet off the ground. The edges were very defined. I thought perhaps at first that it could be an aircraft in trouble, as it appeared to be a landing light from an aircraft. I proceeded south on #220.
I proceeded about a mile and three tenths or a mile and four tenths when the light intercepted my vehicle causing damage to a headlight, putting a dent in the hood, breaking the windshield and bending antennas on top of the vehicle. At this point. at the interception of the light, I was rendered either unconscious, neutralized or unknowing for a period of approximately 39 minutes. From the point of intersection, my Police vehicle proceeded south in a straight line 854 feet, at which point the brakes were engaged by forces unknown to myself, as I do not remember doing this, and I left about approximately 99 feet of black marks on the highway before coming to rest sideways in the road with the grille of my hood facing in an easterly direction. At 2:19 a.m.,
I radioed a 10-88 (Officer Needs Assistance) to my dispatcher in Warren. He dispatched an officer from Stephen who came out, ascertained the situation as best he could, called for the Stephen Ambulance to transport me to Warren Hospital for further tests, x-rays and observation. At the time the officer arrived, I complained about having very sore eyes. At Warren Hospital, it was diagnosed that I had a mild case of welder's burns to my eyes. My eyes were treated with some salve and adhesive bandages put over and instructed to keep them on for the remainder of the day, or approximately 24 hours. At 11:00 a.m.,
Sheriff Dennis Breckie, my employer, picked me up at my residence in Oslo, and transported me to an ophthalmologist in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He examined my eyes and said I had some irritation to the inner portions of the eye which could have been caused by seeing a bright light after dark. That is all I have to add except to say that my timepiece in the Police vehicle and my mechanical wrist watch were both lacking 14 minutes of time to the minute."
A fascinating account of a very close encounter.
What's more, the UFO incident was thoroughly investigated by police immediately after it had occurred. Westcott's interpretation was that the ball of light was ball lightning. He makes an interesting case in that the previous evening had been hot and humid and could possibly have created a charge in the atmosphere during that day. Another supporting point is that Johnson estimated the object to have been 5 kilometres away near some trees, which just happen to be along a power line.
If we can assume that the plasma carried a large charge of some sort, upon contact with the leading edge of the car (the grille and headlights), it discharged some or all of its energy through the electrical system. This is quite amenable to effects noted for some theories of the creation of ball lightning. It has been proposed that the power output from a ball lightning plasma may be between 103 and 107 joules, nothing to sneeze at in any case. However, to explain all the EV effects, we have to allow the plasma ball to have mass in order to create a tangible and definite dent in the hood, or at least possess some sort of force, let us say, in newtons?
The bending of the antennas, in Westcott's opinion, is not due to an object traveling at high speed and striking the two aerials. Allen Hendry was widely quoted as saying that the bends occurred from an impact with an object. Westcott suggests that the aerials bent after whipping forward when the brakes were applied and struck the red outside dome light on the roof.
In support of this, Westcott noted two melted indentations in the rear of the dome light that could have been caused in that manner, and the bends are at what were appropriate heights in the antennas, each with "discoloration" of the metal. The aerials were taken to the Honeywell Labs in Minneapolis, which concluded that they were bent "by force" and "not heat." The magnetic pattern scan done on the car showed it was not subjected to a strong magnetic field.
These details come from various sources, and cover the salient points of the investigation. A UFORUM consultant in physics questioned the mechanism of the cause, but not the actual cause itself. Was it, therefore, a true case of ball lightning? Or was it something non-terrestrial?
UFOROM's investigation continued, and reached a major stage when all Johnson and the investigating officers were invited to Winnipeg to address the first Manitoba Conference on Ufology on March 16, 1980. Johnson's experience was the main focus of the meeting.
Frankly, it is one of the most puzzling incidents in the history of ufology. This strong statement is partly because of the fact that the case involves a man who has been described as "the perfect witness." At the time, Johnson was a Deputy Sheriff in Marshall County, Minnesota, and is a trained observer as well as an experienced police officer. The physical evidence suggests that something very strange happened to him in the early morning on a lonely stretch of road near the Red River.
The time sequence of events is very firmly established by both tape recorded and written logs of his actions that morning. The physical traces were examined and measurements were made immediately after the encounter by trained police investigators, and Johnson was taken to a hospital by ambulance directly from the site.
At MCU, the case was discussed and reviewed in detail by all participants, as presented by guests Val Johnson, Everett Doolittle and Greg Winskowski. Doolittle was the first individual to reach the site after Johnson radioed for help, and Winskowski conducted the initial police investigation. Many fascinating points were noted, as follows:
The Physiological Effects:
When Val Johnson was found by Everett Doolittle, he was slumped forward over the steering wheel and in mild shock. A bruise later appeared on Johnson's forehead, presumably caused by impact with the steering wheel. He was dazed, and said that "everything was in slow motion." He had an intense pain ("excruciating") in his eyes, and, having done some welding in his career, knew what welders' burn was like, comparing his pain to this.
"It was as if someone had hit me in the face with a 400 pound pillow," he said of the sensation of his head. However, he stated repeatedly that the only pain he experienced was from his eyes. This is extremely interesting in the light of dental examinations he had one week previous and one week after his experience. At the first, he had an extensive series of x-rays taken, in preparation for major dental work. His bridgework, including the caps on his front teeth, was intact. At the second examination, the dentist found that Johnson's bridgework was broken at the gums. Yet, no swelling or pain was felt.
The Physical Evidence:
When Everett Doolittle arrived on the scene, Val Johnson's police car was front-end-first in the left-hand ditch, with the other end sticking out into the left-hand lane of the road. The "impact point" was determined by the location of the broken glass of the headlight on the road, 953 feet from where the car was found. From that point, "yaw marks" (described as faint skid marks caused by putting a car out of gear without applying the brakes) travelled in a straight line for 854 feet down the road. These became dark skid marks from there to where the car stopped moving, going in a straight line for most of the remaining length, turning abruptly at the end toward the ditch.
The right member of the left pair of headlights was broken. There was a round dent, approximately one inch in diameter, directly over the master brake cylinder, on the hood. This dent appeared as if a hammer had struck the hood at an angle between 45 and 75 degrees from the horizontal. A photograph taken with a UV filter showed that there was a deposit left on the flat bottom surface of the dent.
The windshield of the car had an interesting pattern of breakage, In the shape of a teardrop (point up). This was located on the driver's side. There were three main impact points visible, though the lowest of the three was largest and most complex. Testing of the glass by the Ford Motor Company suggested that there were signs of both inward and outward motion of the windshield.
They were apparently unfamiliar with the breakage pattern. It is fairly obvious, though, that even a small stone would have been driven through the windshield, even at relatively low speed, so it is hard to interpret the shattering as an actual impact. However, it was noted at the Conference that the analytical findings bear some resemblance to those of a shock-wave-induced breakage.
The roof light which was affected had its glass knocked out. The police radio antenna on the center of the roof was bent about 5 inches up from the roof, at about a 45 degree angle. The CB antenna on the trunk was bent near its tip, at an angle near 90 degrees, 3 inches from the top.
An interesting observation. made by the police investigators was that all the damage on the vehicle occurred in a straight path no wider than twelve inches in diameter. Because of this "linear" formation, it was suggested that an object had struck a glancing blow to the car, initially impacting the headlight, rolling over the hood, up the window and over the roof. However, at the Conference, it was realized that this scenario could not account for all the damage in the form it was observed. An object hitting the car at the front would not have the capability to redirect its force downward further up the hood, graze the window and still have enough force to bend the antennas.
The antennas are spring loaded, so anything bending them would have to have been traveling extremely fast to create the shape they are now in. It was also proposed that the antennas were bent by a strong deceleration, causing them to whip forward. But the design of the antennas is such that they can withstand a strong deceleration without acute bending. Any deceleration of sufficient strength to bend them backwards as they moved forward might have killed the occupant. Most curiously, the insects adhered to the antennas were not wiped off from the impact, as might be expected.
The battery of the car can no longer hold a charge. It has been proposed that the headlight-and roof light were imploded by a high-energy electrical source. Ball lightning was suggested as a cause, but it could not have created the dent in the hood, nor the impacts on the window, let alone the bending of the antennas. The electric clock in the car was found to be missing 14 minutes. Strangely, Val Johnson's mechanical wristwatch was also lacking 14 minutes. This is indeed odd, because both were synchronized with the clocks in the police station earlier in the night, and all time checks after that agreed, as late as 01:00, only a short while before the incident.
Finally, the CB radio in the car, although It was said not to have been In the best working order before the incident, was described as being "even worse" after it.
Allan Hendry, of the Center for UFO Studies, sent a gauss-meter to the police investigator, in order for them to test for changes in the car's magnetic pattern. These results were, apparently, negative.
There was evidence of dust particles in the shattered glass, and it was suggested that this dust was the residue found in the round dent in the hood.
The Psychological Effects
When Val Johnson called for help, his voice was described as being "weak," and like "someone coming out of a daze." He had been, apparently, unconscious for 39 minutes, from the time he heard glass breaking and felt the light "hit" him, to the time he woke up, opening one eye to see the red ENGINE light on his dashboard. During that period, the car had travelled in a straight line for 953 feet, before veering to the left over the left lane into the ditch. He does not remember applying the brakes, yet the skid marks belie the fact that they were definitely applied.
At MCU, Johnson was asked what he thought had happened to him that morning. He said that he believed he "had seen something (he) wasn't supposed to see." Questioned on this, he could only speculate that he had stumbled upon somebody doing something that wasn't meant to be observed, and that his powers of observation had been effectively neutralized.
He also was asked if the procedure of regressive hypnosis had ever been suggested to him. He replied that the National Enquirer had asked him to submit to a regression, and offered to pay him for the exclusive rights of the results. He had rejected their offer. He was then asked if he would agree to a hypnotic regression with a clinical hypnotist, for research purposes, and not for publication. He said no, and added that he was "not curious" about what had happened to him that morning.
Everett Doolittle said after this that their file on the case is now closed, and that their investigation is now terminated, after reaching no conclusions. They stated that their investigation was over, and that the matter is now in the hands of the ufologists. They will not subject Johnson to either a polygraph or a regressive hypnosis, as they feel it is not necessary for their investigation. All three were asked if the Air Force, CIA or FBI had approached them, and they all answered to the negative.
Val Johnson was asked if he had since experienced any other unusual incidents such as extremely vivid dreams, MIB or psi phenomena. In response, he revealed a highly interesting thing; from time to time, he said, he will find himself thinking three words, which somehow stick in his mind. The words stay with him "like a McDonald's commercial," and he can find no reason for thinking them. The three words are: "I AM COMMITTED." He concluded by noting that if he ever saw that light again, he'd stop the car and "yell for help!"
Discussion:
This case was reviewed in detail at the conference, and photographs of the car were examined closely. Addition evidence was brought forth and theories were presented to try to account for all the evidence. Guy Westcott, a NOAP investigator, stated that he had found a "burn mark" in the field beside the road, while he was examining the site.
This mark, about 6-7 feet in diameter, had no vegetation on its surface and bore some resemblance to a fertilizer burn. Val Johnson said that a representative from the USDA (Agriculture Rep) expressed a personal interest in the case and had taken infrared aerial photographs of the site. These showed that the ditches on either side of the site had a "different" chlorophyll absorption than the surrounding fields.
After much debate, it eventually was concluded by the MCU participants that the incident was inconsistent with the theory of the car having been struck by an object of some sort, including ball lightning. The idea of hits by multiple objects was considered and found marginally tenable. However, there are 39 minutes to account for, a complex sequence of impacts by several objects and some effects caused at a short distance that still need satisfactory explanations. Actions by unknown individuals can be included in the list of possibilities. It is easily demonstrable that something very unusual happened that morning.
At the present time, there is no adequate explanation for the effects noted in the case, based on the proposed theories. Many questions still remain unanswered, and they may remain unanswered for some time to come. The Stephen, Minnesota, incident is listed in UFOROM files as "unknown."
Chris Rutkowski
August, 1996
REFERENCES:
In addition to the references reproduced at the top of this page, other references include:
"The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning," book by Jerome Clark (1998), Omnigraphics.
"Minnesota CEII: The Val Johnson Story," by Allan Hendry, International UFO Reporter Pt. I, 4 (Sept./Oct. 1979):4-9, and Pt II, 4 (November 1979): 4-10.
"Val Johnson's Encounter of the Decade," by Chris Rutkowski, The Swamp Gas Journal, Volume 1, No. 6, January, 1980, and No.7, April, 1980,
THE SHERIFF OFFICE'S INVESTIGATION REPORT:
This confidential report is from the Marshall County Department of the Sheriff, Minesotta, USA.
source quote;
"August 27, 1979-Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson of Marshall County was on duty that night, driving not far from the North Dakota border, when at around 1:40 a.m. he saw a light through his side window. It was obviously not on a road and looked too glaring to be a car headlight.
He first thought it might be a small plane on or very near the ground. He turned left on another road to try to get closer to the light to identify it. Suddenly, the light moved toward him, travelling so fast that it almost instantaneously was upon his car (covering an estimated mile and a half)".
"Johnson was blinded by the brilliance of the light and heard glass breaking, then lost consciousness".
"When he returned to consciousness, the car was stalled and had skidded across the highway. He felt sluggish and shaky. He radioed headquarters, at 2:19 a.m., to request assistance. Soon another deputy arrived, who called an ambulance".
"The doctor who examined Johnson found him to be in a mild state of shock".
"His eyes were irritated as if Johnson had suffered "mild welder's burns," and Johnson couldn't stand to be exposed to any bright lights.
The patrol car had very peculiar damage. The inside headlight on the driver's side was smashed but not the one to its immediate left. There was a flat-bottomed circular dent on the left side of the front hood, about a half inch in diameter, close to the windshield.
There was a crack in the windshield on the driver's side, that ran from top to bottom, with four apparent impacts. The electric clock was running 14 minutes slow, as was Johnson's wristwatch.
The shaft of the roof antenna was bent over at a 60-degree angle, starting about 6 inches above its base.
The trunk antenna was bent over at 90 degrees, but only near the top. No damage occurred to the car's regular antenna on the front hood. Essentially, all the damage to the car occurred on the left, or driver's side.
Investigations occurred immediately, both by the sheriff's department and by investigators from the Center for UFO Studies. The police determined that Johnson's car traveled about 950 feet after the first damage occurred.
No cause could be found for the event, including collision with another vehicle or a low-flying plane, a hoax on the part of Johnson, or anything else. In addition, experts from Ford Motors (the vehicle was a 1977 Ford LTD) and a team of engineers from Honeywell examined various portions of the damage.
A windshield expert, Meridan French, from Ford, noted after examining the windshield fractures that "Even after several days of reflection on the crack patterns and apparent sequence of fractures, I still have no explanation for what seem to be inward and outward forces acting almost simultaneously. I can only [conclude]... that all cracks were from mechanical forces of unknown origin."
No cause could be found for the clock running slow, the peculiar antenna damage, or other physical traces".
link;
THE EVENTS OF A MAP;
link; http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79.htm
related links;
http://www.ufologie.net/htm/marshallcounty79.htm
http://www.ufoskeptic.org/marshall.html
http://www.ufocasebook.com/minnesotasheriff1979.html
-
Thought i would add this material here to give some perspective on what some scientific academics perceptions are on this subject;This was also covered by the UK news paper "The guardian".
quote;
"The comments are part of an extraterrestrial-themed edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A published today. In it, scientists examine all aspects of the search for extraterrestrial life, from astronomy and biology to the political and religious fallout that would result from alien contact".
link source for above quote; http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...raterrestrials
The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society;
Martin Dominik1,* and John C. Zarnecki2
+ Author Affiliations;
1SUPA, University of St Andrews, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK;
2Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI), The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
*Author for correspondence ([email protected]).
Next Section;
Abstract;
"Astronomers are now able to detect planets orbiting stars other than the Sun where life may exist, and living generations could see the signatures of extra-terrestrial life being detected. Should it turn out that we are not alone in the Universe, it will fundamentally affect how humanity understands itself—and we need to be prepared for the consequences. A Discussion Meeting held at the Royal Society in London, 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, on 25–26 January 2010, addressed not only the scientific but also the societal agenda, with presentations covering a large diversity of topics".
origin and evolution of life;http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
extra-terrestrial life;http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
extra-solar planets;http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
astrobiology;http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
search for extra-terrestrial intelligence;http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
science and society; http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.o...ulltext=phrase
Previous Section;
Next Section;
1. The quest for exploration
"A thin layer around the surface of Earth is teeming with life of huge diversity: from micro-organisms to plants and animals, and even intelligent species. Up to now, this forms the only known sample of life in the Universe. However, observing the pinpoints of light on the night sky has probably always inspired humans to speculate about the existence of other worlds. It is, therefore, not surprising that there is a long history of thoughts about such a proposition (e.g. [1–5]). Despite the fact that it is straightforward to imagine that stars other than the Sun would also host planets, speculations turned into evidence only fairly recently: in 1992, the first planet around a special type of stellar remnant, namely pulsars, was found [6], and in 1995, the first detection of a planet around a star of similar composition to the Sun, namely 51 Peg b, was reported [7].
"The enormous progress in this field is reflected by the fact that, as of 1 June 2010, more than 450 extra-solar planets1 are known. While most of these are gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, some spectacular discoveries of about 20 planets of less than 10 Earth masses (e.g. [8–13]) have already indicated that rocky planets with conditions considered suitable to harbour life are probably rather common. The discovery of a true sibling of our home planet, therefore, seems to remain only a question of time "(cf. [14,15]).
"The active quest for extra-solar planets has opened a new chapter in the book of the search for extra-terrestrial life. This was already an active field of science with the exploration of the Solar System by means of space probes, which gave rise to a ‘space age’ from 1957 when Sputnik-1, the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, was launched. Current technology allows us to land a robotic chemistry laboratory on other Solar System bodies, or return samples to Earth, the latter coming with the advantage of being able to adapt analysis strategies to unexpected findings".
"Based on our current understanding, Mars, Europa, Enceladus and, if we consider life based on a liquid other than water, Titan are the most promising places for finding life signatures (cf. [16]). A direct search for life on Mars, rather than searching for evidence from fossils, was carried out as early as 1976 with the two Viking landers. However, the outcome of these experiments is still subject to an unresolved controversy (cf. [16,17]). A further opportunity to find alien life forms is given by the study of meteorites found on Earth (cf. [17]), where it is now well established that some of them originate from Mars [18]. However, the exchange of biological material between Solar System bodies might also mean that such life is not distinct from ours, but rather shares a common origin".
"Only shortly after the advent of the space age, it was proposed to use radio telescopes to search for signals arising from extra-terrestrial civilizations [19], while independently preparations for such an experiment, ‘Project Ozma’, were already under way [20]. This marked the birth of a scientific venture known as the ‘Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence’ or ‘SETI’ for short (e.g. [21])".
"Exploration of the unknown, making use of previously unavailable technology, led to ‘ages of wonder’ [22], where prevailing concepts have been challenged and new ideas and insight emerged. The study of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the Universe, for which the term ‘astrobiology’ has been coined (following up on the earlier used ‘exobiology’), plays a critical role in a continuing era of enlightenment".
Previous Section;
Next Section;
2. Universality or uniqueness?
"We readily accept that the concepts of physics and chemistry apply throughout the cosmos and are valid for all time, but should this not make us wonder whether biology is universal as well [22], and not just a special feature that only applies to planet Earth"?
"There is actually no lack of the building blocks of life; the number of molecules fundamental to Earth’s biochemistry that have already been found in the interstellar medium, planetary atmospheres and on the surfaces of comets, asteroids, meteorites and interplanetary dust particles is surprisingly rather large. Giant ‘factories’, where complex molecules are being synthesized, appear to make carbonaceous compounds ubiquitous in the Universe" (cf. [23]).
"We are however left with a fundamental gap in understanding just at the point where molecules become ‘alive’. Nevertheless, it has been conjectured that life resembling that on Earth in its biochemistry is a cosmic imperative [24,25], following from the deterministic and reproducible nature of chemistry under given environment conditions, and the reproducibility of optimization by selection [26] from a large number of variants.
"The latter is strongly supported by the observed evolutionary convergence in the biological history on Earth, but it cannot be ruled out with certainty that our existence is a fluke arising from a highly improbable chance event" (cf. [27]).
"A strong case for the genesis of life being a ‘cosmic imperative’ would arise from the detection of a ‘shadow biosphere’ on Earth with a distinct ‘tree of life’ [28–30].
"So if there are alien civilizations at a comparable stage of evolution, one might expect that they do not differ that much from our own (cf. [27]). However, with the Sun just about half-way through its lifetime as a main-sequence star, with about 4.5 billion years remaining, that ‘comparable stage’ might constitute a rather short transient episode, and advanced extra-terrestrial life might be inconceivable to us in its complexity, just as human life is to amoebae".
Previous Section;
Next Section;
3. Our lack of knowledge and the arising challenges;
"The current state of the study of life in the Universe sees us being confronted with many questions cutting across various traditional fields of science, while leaving us with almost no answers. The inherent interdisciplinarity does not come as a surprise when realizing that we are investigating ourselves,2 our origins and future, and our role in the cosmos".
Our ignorance is most famously quantified by the Drake equation [30–32]
3.1
"which describes the number of civilizations N that are detectable by means of electromagnetic emissions (more particularly, radio signals) as a product of various factors, namely the rate of formation of suitable stars, the fraction fp of those with planetary systems, the number ne of planets per such system with conditions suitable for life, the fraction fl of such planets on which life actually develops, the fraction fi of life-bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges, the fraction fc of emerged civilizations that develop technologies for propagating detectable signals and finally the time span L over which these civilizations disseminate such signals."
" Rather than as a product of numbers, the Drake equation should more appropriately be seen as a product of random variables with their respective distribution functions [33–35]. Interestingly, the uncertainty among the different factors in the Drake equation increases from left to right. The ‘astronomical factors’ , fp and ne are rather well determined as compared with the ‘biological factors’ fl and fi, while the ‘technological factor’ fc and even more the ‘societal factor’ L are the great unknowns. Despite the fact that the Drake equation has been devised for SETI, only the last three factors are specific to intelligent life or its detection by means of electromagnetic signals, whereas the others are relevant to any astrobiological context".
Let us suppose that life beyond Earth does exist. In order to detect it, we encounter substantial difficulties when aiming to define its characteristics, and in selecting signatures that are certainly incompatible with an abiogenic origin. Organic molecules with a carbon skeleton that are stable on geological time-scales form ‘chemical fossils’ that constitute an early record of life on Earth. Moreover, measured carbon isotope ratios in sedimentary rocks suggest the presence of microbial life already 3.8 billion years ago ([36]; cf. [17]).
It, however, requires biological material to determine whether life is truly ‘alien’, i.e. belonging to a ‘tree of life’ distinct from that of life on Earth. Evolutionary selection is likely to result in the use of a set of basic organic molecules, but it is a subject of debate whether there is a strong evolutionary convergence either to the one and only optimum or in such a way that the process of natural selection always leads to the same global optimum for all environments under which life can evolve, or whether a weak evolutionary convergence accounts for the possibility of ending up with different optima for the realization of life or its features.
Strikingly, a system of life based on molecules just of opposite chirality but otherwise identical to those that form the building blocks for life known on Earth appears to be a viable distinctive alternative (cf. [16,17,27]).
Out of the vast number of places in the Universe to look for life, what should guide our search? With no other account for life other than that on Earth and a lack of understanding of the properties and preferred environments of life as we do not know it, one readily tends to accept the null hypothesis that an efficient search should be oriented towards the set of conditions that is defined by the variety of terrestrial life forms.
Therefore, a widely adopted strategy is to search for liquid-water habitats, given that terrestrial biochemistry relies on liquid water as solvent (cf. [16,27]). Moreover, given the requirements of metabolism, energy is a more universal imperative for life, providing a further criterion to narrow down searches, and opening an opportunity to go far beyond characteristics that might be specific to life as we know it [37].
While it was the porphyrin nucleus, central to the structure of chlorophyll, that paved the way for using chemical fossils as biomarkers ([38]; cf. [17]), even before the age of photosynthesis life may have been living on energy sources bound within rocks, such as iron. Rather than just the presence of water or energy, it is the kinetics of water flows that constitute the crucial criterion for such processes to succeed (cf. [39]).
Not only has Earth initially provided an environment for life to develop, but also the resulting living organisms have subsequently shaped the planet. In particular, the large abundance of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere is the result of biogenic photosynthesis. Such feedback mechanisms gave rise to the idea of describing the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and soil as a complex entity in what is referred to as the ‘Gaia theory’ [40,41].
In fact, it emerged from thoughts about simple signatures of life on another planet [42], and given that planets outside the Solar System cannot be explored by spacecraft, measurements of the abundance of molecules in the planetary atmosphere from related spectral features in order to construct a biosignature are the very limited ‘bits and pieces’ of information upon which we can draw conclusions about life. Such efforts mark one of the greatest challenges ever undertaken in observational astronomy (cf. [15]).
Previous Section
Next Section
4. Societal relevance and political action
The detection and further study of extra-terrestrial life will fundamentally challenge our view of nature, including ourselves, and therefore the field of astrobiology can hardly be isolated from its societal context, including philosophical, ethical and theological perspectives (cf. [43]).
With the detection of extra-terrestrial life being technically feasible, one needs to address whether perceived societal benefits command us to search for it, or whether such an endeavour may rather turn out to be a threat to our own existence (cf. [44]).
Modelled after the Torino Scale for asteroid/comet impact predictions [45] and the Rio Scale for a putative discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence [46], the London Scale index (LSI) with values ranging from 0 to 10 together with an independently evaluated level of risk or biohazard [47] provides an assessment of the scientific importance, validity and potential risks associated with putative evidence of extra-terrestrial life discovered on Earth, on nearby bodies in the Solar System, or in our Galaxy.
Various scenarios of encounters with extra-terrestrial life have already been portrayed in the science-fiction literature and films, some of these being more scientific, others more fictional (cf. [48]). Imagination, however, must not be underestimated as a valuable means to advance knowledge towards new frontiers, and is not at all an unscientific concept. It is also valuable that a broad public has been given the opportunity to reflect on this topic.
Similarly, scientists involved in relevant research themselves should engage with journalists and the public (cf. [49]). Media reports and weblogs debating extra-terrestrial life, including those that relate to this very Royal Society Discussion Meeting, also provide some evidence on public opinion and reactions that can be expected.
If data are absent or ambiguous, we tend to argue by retreating to analogies or theories about universalities. Historical examples, however, need to be well understood before these can serve as a guide, which is demonstrated by the fact that history is full of misinterpretations and misconceptions of itself (cf. [48,49]). Rather than aliens invading Earth, most likely detection scenarios will involve microbial organisms and/or extra-terrestrial life at a safe distance that prevents physical contact.
As far as exploring other life forms is concerned, any strategy applied must exclude biological contamination—not only to protect ourselves, but also to preserve any alien life discovered as part of an overall commitment to enhancing the richness and the diversity of life in the Universe [16]. For such scenarios with well-contained risks, the dominant human response is unlikely to be one of fear and pandemonium [48].
Human perceptions and representations of alien life will not only derive from science, but, given that humanity is more than just a collection of logic and facts, they will be highly influenced by cultural and psychological factors. Therefore, reactions will not necessarily be homogeneous, and reality may defy common myths [49].
It is believed by some that establishing the presence of extra-terrestrial life as a fact will cause a crisis for certain religious faiths. A survey, however, shows that followers of all the main religious denominations as well as atheists declare that it will not be a problem for their own beliefs [50].
While scientists are obliged to assess benefits and risks that relate to their research, the political responsibility for decisions arising following the detection of extra-terrestrial life cannot and should not rest with them. Any such decision will require a broad societal dialogue and a proper political mandate. If extra-terrestrial life happens to be detected, a coordinated response that takes into account all the related sensitivities should already be in place.
In 1989, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) approved a SETI post-detection protocol [51], which was developed by one of its committees. Despite the fact that it has subsequently been endorsed by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) of the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the procedures laid out in that document are not legally enforcible.
If it remains a voluntary code of practice, it will probably be ignored in the event to which it should apply. Will a suitable process based on expert advice from proper and responsible scientists arise at all, or will interests of power and opportunism more probably set the scene (cf. [52])? A lack of coordination can be avoided by creating an overarching framework in a truly global effort governed by an international politically legitimated body.
The United Nations fora constitute a ready-made mechanism for coordination. Member States of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) will need to place ‘supra-Earth affairs’ on the agenda in order to take it further to the General Assembly, with the goal of establishing structures similar to those created for dealing with threats arising from potentially impacting near-Earth objects [53].
Previous Section
Next Section
5. Outlook
So far, there is no scientific evidence for or against the existence of life beyond Earth. All arguments about whether life is common and universal or whether we live in a unique place in the cosmos are rather based on philosophical beliefs and assumptions. Consequently, there is no way of predicting the outcomes of searches for extra-terrestrial life. This, however, surely drives the scientific imperative to test the hypothesis.
The year 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the first search for radio signals originating from other civilizations, a remarkably optimistic endeavour in 1960, particularly bearing in mind that up to now all SETI experiments have provided a negative result. One, however, has to realize that these have probed only our neighbourhood, up to about 200 light-years distant, whereas the centre of the Milky Way is 25 000 light-years away from us. And even if there is no other intelligent life in the Milky Way, it could still be hosted in another of the remaining hundreds of billions of other galaxies.
Advanced efforts are now on the drawing board or already under way for the further exploration of the Solar System and the search for biomarkers in the atmospheres of extra-solar planets, while searches for signals of extra-terrestrial intelligence are entering a new era with the deployment of the next generation of radio telescopes.
The study and understanding of life in the Universe encompasses many, if not all, of the fundamental questions in biology, physics and chemistry, but also in philosophy, psychology, religion and the way in which humans interact with their environment and each other. While we cannot be prepared for the unpredictable, the careful development of a societal agenda alongside a scientific agenda for the search for life elsewhere becomes mandatory.
Frequently, things are only seen in the proper context if observed from a far enough distance. The image of Earth taken by Voyager 1 from as near as about 40 AU, i.e. still within the outer regions of the Solar System, which depicts just a ‘pale blue dot’, proves insightful. As Carl Sagan [54] (p. 9) worded it: ‘Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.’
For the first time in human history, living generations are now given a realistic chance to find out whether we are alone in the Universe. Should an answer be found one day, we will still be left with deeper questions to be answered: where do we come from, why are we here and where will we be going?
Previous Section
Next Section
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our thanks to the session chairs of the meeting, namely Steven Rose, Catherine Cesarsky, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and Martin Rees, the reviewers of the papers in this issue, Uffe G. Jørgensen for a careful reading of this manuscript, Paul Browne and Christine Liebig for handling the microphones, and finally the event managers of the Royal Society, as well as the IT, catering and other staff without whom the meeting would not have been as enjoyable as it was.
Previous Section
Next Section
Footnotes
One contribution of 17 to a Discussion Meeting Issue ‘The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society’.
↵1 This number is likely to be out of date already by the time this paper is published, but the reader is referred to the ‘Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia’ at http://exoplanet.eu.
↵2 As Frank Drake likes to point out.
This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society
Previous Section
References
↵ Dick S. J. (1982) Plurality of worlds: the origins of the extraterrestrial life debate from Democritus to Kant (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).
Dick S. J. (1996) The biological universe: the twentieth century extraterrestrial life debate and the limits of science (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).
Dick S. J. (2001) Life on other worlds: the 20th-century extraterrestrial life debate (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).
Crowe M. J. (1986) The extraterrestrial life debate, 1750–1900 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).
↵ Crowe M. J. (2008) The extraterrestrial life debate, antiquity to 1915: a source book (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana).
↵ Wolszczan A., Frail D. A. 1992 A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257+12 Nature 355 145 147 (doi:10.1038/355145a0) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Mayor M., Queloz D. 1995 A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star Nature 378 355 359 (doi:10.1038/378355a0) CrossRef
↵ Rivera E. J., Lissauer J. J., Butler R. P., Marcy G. W., Vogt S. S., Fischer D. A., Brown T. M., Laughlin G., Henry G. W. 2005 A ∼ 7.5 M⊕ planet orbiting the nearby star, GJ 876 Astrophys. J. 634 625 640 (doi:10.1086/491669) CrossRefWeb of Science
Beaulieu J.-P., et al. 2006 Discovery of a cool planet of 5.5 Earth masses through gravitational microlensing Nature 439 437 440 (doi:10.1038/nature04441) CrossRefMedline
Udry S., et al. 2007 The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. XI. Super-Earths (5 and 8 M⊕) in a 3-planet system Astron. Astrophys. 469 L43 L47 (doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077612) CrossRef
Mayor M., et al. 2009 The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. XVIII. An Earth-mass planet in the GJ 581 planetary system Astron. Astrophys. 507 487 494 (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912172) CrossRefWeb of Science
Léger A., et al. 2009 Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. VIII. CoRoT-7b: the first super-Earth with measured radius Astron. Astrophys. 506 287 302 (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200911933) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Queloz D., et al. 2009 The CoRoT-7 planetary system: two orbiting super-Earths Astron. Astrophys. 506 303 319 (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913096) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Mayor M., Udry S., Pepe F., Lovis C. 2011 Exoplanets: the quest for Earths twin Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 572 581 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0245) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Fridlund M. 2011 Extra-terrestrial life in the European Space Agency’s Cosmic Vision plan and beyond Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 582 593 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0233) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ McKay C. P. 2011 The search for life in our Solar System and the implications for science and society Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 594 606 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0247) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Pillinger C. 2011 Chemical methods for searching for evidence of extra-terrestrial life Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 607 619 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0241) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ McSween H. J. 1984 SNC meteorites: are they Martian rocks? Geology 12 3 6 (doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1984)12<3:SMATMR>2.0.CO;2) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Cocconi G., Morrison P. 1959 Searching for interstellar communications Nature 184 844 846 (doi:10.1038/184844a0) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Drake F. D. 1961 Project Ozma Phys. Today 14 40 46 (doi:10.1063/1.3057500) CrossRef
↵ Tarter J. 2001 The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 39 511 548 (doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.39.1.511) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Blumberg B. S. 2011 Astrobiology, space and the future age of discovery Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 508 515 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0239) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Ehrenfreund P., Spaans M., Holm N. G. 2011 The evolution of organic matter in space Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 538 554 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0231) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ de Duve C. (1995) Vital dust: life as a cosmic imperative (Basic Books, New York, NY).
↵ de Duve C. 2011 Life as a cosmic imperative? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 620 623 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0312) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Darwin C. R. (1859) On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life (John Murray, London, UK).
↵ Conway Morris S. 2011 Predicting what extra-terrestrials will be like: and preparing for the worst Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 555 571 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0276) CrossRef
↵ Cleland C. E., Copley D. C. 2005 The possibility of alternative microbial life on Earth Int. J. Astrobiol. 4 165 173 (doi:10.1017/S147355040500279X) CrossRef
Davies P. C. W., Lineweaver C. H. 2005 Finding a second sample of life on Earth Astrobiology 5 154 163 (doi:10.1089/ast.2005.5.154) CrossRefMedlineWeb of Science
↵ Davies P. C. W. 2011 Searching for a shadow biosphere on Earth as a test of the ‘cosmic imperative’ Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 624 632 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0235) Abstract/FREE Full Text
Drake F. 2011 The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 633 643 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0282) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Drake F. D. (1962) Intelligent life in space (Macmillan, New York, NY).
↵ Maccone C. (2008) The statistical Drake equation.
Paper no. IAC-08-A4.1.4, presented at the 59th Int. Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Glasgow, UK, 29 September to 3 October 2008.
Maccone C. In press The living Drake equation of the Tau Zero Foundation Acta Astron. (doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.03.016) CrossRef
↵ Forgan D. H. 2009 A numerical testbed for hypotheses of extraterrestrial life and intelligence Int. J. Astrobiol. 8 121 131 (doi:10.1017/S1473550408004321) CrossRef
↵ Schidlowski M. 1988 A 3800-million-year isotopic record of life from carbon in sedimentary rocks Nature 333 313 318 (doi:10.1038/333313a0) CrossRef
↵ Hoehler T. M., Amend J. P., Shock E. L. 2007 ‘follow the energy’ approach for astrobiology Astrobiology 6 819 823 (doi:10.1089/ast.2007.0207) CrossRef
↵ Treibs A. 1934 Über das Vorkommen von Chlorophyllderivaten in einem Ölschiefer aus der oberen Trias Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 509 103 114 (doi:10.1002/jlac.19345090108) CrossRefWeb of Science
↵ Cockell C. S. 2011 Life in the lithosphere, kinetics and the prospects for life elsewhere Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 516 537 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0232) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Lovelock J. E. 1972 Gaia as seen through the atmosphere Atmos. Environ. 6 579 580 (doi:10.1016/0004-6981(72)90076-5) CrossRef
↵ Lovelock J. E. (1979) Gaia: a new look at life on Earth (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK).
↵ Lovelock J. E. 1965 A physical basis for life detection experiments Nature 207 568 570 (doi:10.1038/207568a0) CrossRefMedline
↵ Bertka C. M., ed (2009) Exploring the origin, extent, and future of life—philosophical, ethical and theological perspectives (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).
↵ Michaud M. A. G. (2006) Contact with alien civilizations—our hopes and fears about encountering extraterrestrials (Springer, Berlin, Germany).
↵ Binzel R. P. 1997 A near-Earth object hazard index Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 822 545 551 (doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb48366.x)
↵ Almár I., Tarter J. 2011 The discovery of ETI as a high-consequence, low-probability event Acta Astron. 68 358 361 (doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.07.007) CrossRef
↵ Almár I., Race M. S. 2011 Discovery of extra-terrestrial life: assessment by scales of its importance and associated risks Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 679 692 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0227) CrossRef
↵ Harrison A. A. 2011 Fear, pandemonium, equanimity and delight: human responses to extra-terrestrial life Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 656 668 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0229) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Denning K. 2011 Is life what we make of it? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 669 678 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0230) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Peters T. 2011 The implications of the discovery of extra-terrestrial life for religion Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 644 655 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0234) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Tarter J., Michaud M. A., eds (1990) SETI post-detection protocol. Acta Astronaut. 71special issue).
↵ Sagan C. (1985) Contact (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY).
↵ Othman M. 2011 Supra-Earth affairs Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 693 699 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0311) Abstract/FREE Full Text
↵ Sagan C. (1994) Pale blue dot: a vision of the human future in space (Random House, New York, NY).
link for all quotes and source references; http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/current/
-
Statements From Credible Sources on UFOs;1
While there are statements below in this list that have been read before there are some that i thought needed included;
"According to worthy information of faith, in our atmosphere objects arrive at high speed. No aircraft, neither in the United States, either in the Soviet Union is currently able to achieve the speed attributed to these objects from the radars and from the observatories. These objects appear to be driven by an intelligence the way in which they fly. According to reports from scientists and technical personnel, these objects fly in formation and finish manoeuvres that seem to point out that are not completely driven from an automatic equipment. These objects are in incontestable mode the result of long investigations and highly technological and exceptional knowledge."
Admiral S. Fahrney,head of missile testing for the American Navy
"It is impossible for any man-made machine to make a sudden appearance in front of a jumbo jet that is flying 910 kilometers per hour and to remain in steady formation paralleling our aircraft. ... Honestly, we were simply breathtaken."
Japan Airlines pilot Kenju Terauchi in 1986
"This is the first sighting in Zimbabwe where airborne pilots have tried to intercept a UFO. As far as my Air Staff is concerned, we believe implicitly that the unexplained UFOs are from civilizations beyond our planet."
Air Commodore David Thorne, Director of General Operations for the Zimbabwe Air Force in 1985.
"I have frequently been asked why a person of my background 'a former Chief of the Defence Staff, a former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee' why I think there is a cover-up (of) the facts about UFOs. I believe governments fear that if they did disclose those facts, people would panic. I don't believe that at all. There is a serious possibility that we are being visited by people from outer space. It behoves us to find out who they are, where they come from, and what they want."
Lord Admiral Hill-Norton (GCB), Chief of Defense Staff, Ministry of Defense, Britain; Chairman, Military Committee of NATO; Admiral of the Fleet; Member of House of Lords.
"It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense."
Admiral Hillenkoetter-the first Director of the CIA, 1947-50.
February 27, 1960.
"Headquarters wouldn't let us go after it and we played around a little bit. We got to watching how it made 90 degree turns at this high speed and everything. We knew it wasn't a missile of any type, so then we confirmed it with the radar control station, and they kept following it, and then it crashed somewhere off between Texas and the Mexico border."
Colonel Robert Willingham, USAF from an Sworn Affidavit in the 1970's when discussing a sighting of a UFO whilst he was navigating an F94 jet on September 6th 1950.
"Flying saucers are real. Too many good men have seen them, that don't have hallucinations."
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. World War I air ace.
"UFOs sighted in Indonesia are identical with those sighted in other countries. Sometimes they pose a problem for our Air Defence and once we were obliged to open fire on them."
Air Marshall Nurjadin Roesmin, Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Air Force in 1967.
"The most spectacular UFO incident in Indonesia occurred when during the height of President Sukarno's confrontation in Malaysia, UFOs penetrated a well defended area in Java for two weeks at a stretch, and each time were welcomed with perhaps the heaviest anti-aircraft barrage in history."
Air Commodore J. Salutun, National Aerospace Council of Indonesia, and a Member of the Indonesian Parliament in 1967.
"And don't tell me they were reflections, I know they were solid objects."
Lieutenant D. A Swimley, USAF in 1953 following the sighting of 8 UFOs that were confirmed on radar and witnessed numerous other people including commercial pilots and police officers.
"Something is going on in the skies that we do not understand. If all the airline pilots and Air Force pilots who have seen UFOs and sometimes chased them have been the victims of hallucinations, then an awful lot of pilots should be taken off and forbidden to fly."
Captain Kervendal, French Gendarmerie.
"The Air Force had put out a secret order for its pilots to capture UFOs. For the last six months we have been working with a congressional committee investigating official secrecy concerning proof that UFOs are real machines under intelligent..."
Major Donald Keyhoe,during a live TV broadcast on CBS in 1958 in which he was pulled from the air when he began to deviate from the prepared format of the programme.
"It appears to be a metallic object...tremendous in size, directly ahead and slightly above.I am trying to close for a better look."
Captain Thomas Mantell, USAF. These were his last words as he closed in on a UFO in 1948. Minutes later his plane was to crash and he was to lose his life.
"This was no ordinary UFO. Scores of people saw it. It was no illusion, no deception, no imagination."
Air Marshall Azim Daudpota, Zimbabwe speaking about a UFO sighting over the country in 1985.
"More than 10,000 sightings have been reported, the majority of which cannot be accounted for by any scientific explanation, eg that they are hallucinations, the effects of light refraction, meteors, wheels falling from aeroplanes, and the like. They have been tracked on radar screens and the observed speeds have been as great as 9,000 mph. I am convinced that these objects do exist and they are not manufactured by any nation on earth. I can therefore see no alternative to accepting the theory that they come from an extraterrestrial source."
Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding, Commanding Officer of the RAF during WWII.
"I am convinced there was thought behind the thing's manoeuvres."
Lieutenant George Gorman, F51 pilot after being in a 30 minute dogfight with a small UFO in 1948.
"UFOs are real and they may come from outer space."
General Kanshi Ishikawa, Chief of Air Staff, 1967.
"Air Force interceptors still pursue UFOs as a matter of national security to this country and to determine technical aspects involved."
Major General Joe W. Kelly, 1957.
"Congressional investigations...are still being held on the problem of unidentified flying objects and the problem is one in which there is quite a bit of interest.
Since most of the material presented to the committee is classified, the hearings are never printed."
Congressman William H. Ayres, 1958.
"Saucers exist (I saw two). They were intelligently flown or operated (evasive tactics, formation flight, hovering). They were mechanisms, not United States weapons, nor Russian. I presume they are extraterrestrial."
Lt. Colonel Richard Headrick, radar bombing expert, 1959.
"My own present opinion, based on two years of careful study, is that UFOs are probably extraterrestrial devices engaged in something that might very tentatively be termed 'surveillance'."
Dr James McDonald before Congress, 1968.
"These UFOs are interplanetary devices systematically observing the Earth, either manned or under remote control, or both.Information on UFOs, including sighting reports, has been and is still being officially withheld."
Colonel Joseph J. Bryan III, founder member of the CIAs psychological warfare staff, advisor to NATO
"Before we could do anymore, the army, after conferring with (US) officials, ordered the investigation stopped."
Dr Paul Santorini regarding UFOs seen over Greece in 1946.
"Maximum security exists concerning the subject of UFOs."
CIA Director, Allen Dulles, 1955.
"I have discussed this matter with the effected agencies of the government, and they are of the opinion that is it not wise to publicize this matter at this time."
Senator Richard Russell, head of the Armed Services Committee, following his sighting of a UFO during an official trip to the Soviet Union in 1955.
"Every time I get skeptical, I think of the other reports made by experienced pilots and radar operators, scientists, and other people who know what they are looking at. These reports were thoroughly investigated and they are still unknowns.
We have no aircraft on this earth that can at will so handily outdistance our latest jets... The pilots, radar specialists, generals, industrialists, scientists, and the man on the street who have told me, I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it myself, knew what they were talking about. Maybe the Earth is being visited by interplanetary space ships."
Captain Edward J. Ruppelt
Chief of Project Blue Book, from his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956.
"From their maneuvers and their terrific speed I am certain their flight performance was greater than any aircraft known today."
Colonel Carl Sanderson
USAF, commenting on his sighting of two circular silver UFOs in close proximity to his plane over Hermanas, New Mexico. The UFOs were said to make a series of seemingly impossible maneuvers before disappearing at an astonishing speed and showing up again over El Paso, Texas.
"We had a number of reports from reputable individuals (well-educated serious-minded folks, scientists and fliers) who surely saw something."
As Air Force Chief of Staff, in his 1965 autobiography, Mission With LeMay, stated that although the bulk of UFO reports could be explained as conventional or natural phenomena, some could not.
"Many of the mysteries might be explained away as weather balloons, stars, reflected lights, all sorts of odds and ends. I don't mean to say that, in the unclosed and unexplained or unexplainable instances, those were actually flying objects. All I can say is that no natural phenomena could be found to account for them... Repeat again: There were some cases we could not explain. Never could."
General Curtis LeMay
Statement from 1965 autobiography Mission With LeMay, with MacKinlay Kantor, New York: Doubleday, 1965.
"Sightings of unexplained objects at great altitude and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major US defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles."
Dr .H Marshall Chadwell, former assistant director of the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence, in a December, 1952 memo to then-director of the CIA, General Walter B. Smith.
"Much evidence tells us UFOs have been tracked by radar; so, UFOs are real and they may come from outer space."
General Kanshi Ishikawa,Commander Chief of Air Staff of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force,1967.
"The evidence that there are objects which have been seen in our atmosphere, and even on terra firma, that cannot be accounted for either as man-made objects or as any physical force or effect known to our scientists seems to me to be overwhelming... A very large number of sightings have been vouched for by persons whose credentials seem to me unimpeachable. It is striking that so many have been trained observers, such as police officers and airline or military pilots. Their observations have in many instances... been supported either by technical means such as radar or, even more convincingly, by... interference with electrical apparatus of one sort or another..."
Admiral Lord Hill-Norton (GCB), Chief of Defense Staff, Ministry of Defense, Britain; Chairman, Military Committee of NATO; Admiral of the Fleet; Member of House of Lords.
"The phenomenon of UFOs does exist, and it must be treated seriously."
Mikhail Gorbachev,
Premiere of the Soviet Union.
Interview as reported in 'Soviet Youth',May 4th,1990.
"There are many reasons to beleive that they(UFOs)do exist
here is so much evidence from reliable witnessess."
Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,
London sunday Dispatch,March 28th,1954.
"For the government to continue to maintain that UFOs are non-existent in the face of the documents already released and of other cogent evidence presented in this book is puerile and ,in a sense, an insult to the American people."
Dr J Allen Hyneck,Phd,
Former scientist with Project Bluebook.
"We have stacks of reports about flying saucers.We take them seriously when you consider we have lost many men and planes trying to intercept them."
General Benjamin Chidlaw,
Air Defense Command.
"The number of thoughtful,intelligent,educated people in full possession of their faculties who have 'seen something' and described it grows every day.We can say catergoricaly that mysterious objects have indeed appeared and continue to appear in the sky that surrounds us."
General Lionel M Chassin,
French Air Forces,
Air Defense Coodinator of the allied forces of NATO.
"UFO sightings are now so common,the military doesn't have time to worry about them....When a UFO appears,they simply ignore it.Unconventional targets are ignored because apparently we are only interested in the Russian targets,possible enemy targets.Something that hovers in the air ,then shoots off at 5000 miles per hour doesn't interest us because it can't be the enemy.
UFOs are picked up by ground and air radar and they have been photographed by gun camera all along.There are so many UFOs in the sky that the airforce has had to employ special radar networks to screen them out."
Lee Katchen,
NASA atmospheric physicist,June 7th,1968
"More than 10,000 sightings have been reported, the majority of which cannot be accounted for by any scientific explanation... I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on Earth." "I can therefore see no alternative to accepting the theory that they come from some extraterrestrial source."
Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, printed in Sunday Dispatch, London, July 11, 1954.
"I've been convinced for a long time that the flying saucers are real and interplanetary. Another words we are being watched by beings from outer space."
Albert M. Chop, deputy public relations director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,(NASA) and former United States Air Force spokesman for Project Blue Book.
"It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system.There is no doubt in my mind that these objects are interplanetary craft of some sort. I and my colleagues are confident that they do not originate in our solar system."
Dr. Herman Oberth (The father of modern rockerty)
"I am completely convinced that UFOs have an out-of-world basis."
Dr. Walther Riedel (Once chief designer and research director at the German rocket center in Peenemunde)
"The possibility of reduced-time interstellar travel either by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations at present or ourselves in the future, is not fundamentally constrained by physical principles."
Dr. Harold Puthoff (Director, Institute for advanced studies at Austin, Author of fundamentals of Quantum Electronics)
"The least improbable explanation is that these things are artificial and controlled ... My opinion for some time has been that they have an extraterrestrial origin."
Dr. Maurice Biot (leading aerodynamicists and mathematical physicist)
"I feel that the Air Force has not been giving out all the available information on the Unidentified Flying Objects. You cannot disregard so many unimpeachable sources."
John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States. January (1965)
"I certainly believe in aliens in space, and that they are indeed visiting our planet. They may not look like us, but I have very strong feelings that they have advanced beyond our mental capabilities."
Senator Barry Goldwater (1965)
(Retired Air Force Brigadier General and pilot with many decades of flying experience)
"I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject."
President Gerald Ford (1966)
"I looked out the window and saw this white light.It was zigzagging around. I went up to the pilot and said,Have you ever seen anything like that? He was shocked and he said, "Nope." And I said to him: "Let's follow it!" We followed it for several minutes. It was a bright white light.We followed it to Bakersfield, and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens. When I got off the plane I told Nancy all about it."
President Ronald Reagan (Describing his 1974 UFO encounter to veteran newsman Norman C. Miller, then Washington bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.)
"The Air Force has arrived at the conclusion that a certain number of anomalous phenomena has been produced in Belgian airspace.
The numerous testimonies of ground observations reinforced by the reports of the night March 30-31 (1990) have led us to face the hypothesis that a certain number of unauthorised aerial activities have taken place.
The day will undoubtedly come when the phenomenon will be observed with the technological means of detection and collection that won't leave a single doubt about its origin.
This should lift a part of the veil that has covered the mystery for a long time; a mystery that continues to be present.
But it exists, it is real, and that in itself is an important conclusion."
Colonel Wilfred De Brouwer, Chief of Operations for the Belgian Air Force in 1990 following a spate of sightings over the country witnessed by hundreds of people. Many of the sightings were confirmed on radar.
"I must say that if listeners could see for themselves the mass of reports coming in from the airborne gendarmerie, from the mobile gendarmerie, and from the gendarmerie charged with the job of conducting investigations, all of which reports are forwarded by us to the National Center for Space Studies, then they would see that it is all pretty disturbing."
"I believe that the attitude of spirit that we must adopt vis-à-vis this phenomena is an open one, that is to say that it doesn't consist in denying apriori, as our ancestors of previous centuries did deny many things that seem nowadays perfectly elementary."
M. Robert Galley - French Minister of Defense. From an interview by Jean-Claude Bourret, on February 21, 1974.
"I have been over the years very skeptical like many others. But in the last ten years or so, I have known the late Dr. Alan Hynek - who I highly admire. I know and currently work with Dr. Jacques Vallee. I've come to realize that the evidence is building up to make this a valid and researchable question.
Further, because my personal motivation has always been to understand our universe better, and my own theoretical work has convinced me that life is everywhere in the universe that has been permitted to evolve, I consider this a very timely question... By becoming more involved with the serious research field, I've seen the evidence mount towards the truth of these matters. I rely upon the testimony of contacts that I have had - old timers - who were involved in official positions in government and intelligence and militiary over the last 50 years. We cannot say that today's government is really covering it up - I think that most of them don't know what is going on anymore than the public..."
Dr. Ed Mitchell Apollo 14 Astronaut, MSN Interview 10/98
"...I've been asked about UFOs and I've said publicly I thought they were somebody else, some other civilization."
Commander Eugene Cernan, Commanded the Apollo 17 Mission - quote from a 1973 article in the Los Angeles Times.
"I concentrate on the science. I'm interested in the UFOs seen by the police and military witnesses. I'm interested in the near misses that pilots report, where their aircraft nearly collide with these things. I'm interested in the visual sightings backed up by radar. I'm interested in the military bases that are overflown by these things. I'm interested in the cases where you have radiation readings on the ground.
These are no lights in the sky. These are not misidentifications of fantasy prone individuals. This is a cutting-edge technology being reported by reliable, trained observers, and it is something that goes beyond what we can do.
That to me suggests that if it is not ours, it belongs to someone else. If that technology is better than ours, then the extraterrestrial hypothesis seems to me the best explanation."
Nick Pope
Head of the "UFO desk" at Air Secretariat 2-A, British Ministry of Defence from 1991-1994.
"I shall be very glad to accept appointment as a member of the (NICAP) Board of Governors and be listed as a 'believer' in the reality of UFO's, with the understanding that I shall resign if it appears at any time that your big group is being used to cover up for the top brass.
I know that there is a real need to break through the official Washington brush-off and get the truth home to the people. There seems to be a great fear among the powers that be that the American people will panic if told the truth. How little they know and understand their countrymen.
I feel that millions of our people already believe in the reality of the UFO's."
Admiral M Herbert B Knowles
US Navy
"First of all, I told a magazine this past January that, as an underdeveloped country with regards to the UFO problem, Japan had to take into account what should be done about the UFO question, and that we had to spend more time on these matters. In addition, I said that someone had to solve the UFO problem with far reaching vision at the same time. Secondly, I believe it is a reasonable time to take the UFO problem seriously as a reality...
I hope that this Symposium will contribute to peace on earth from the point of view of outer space, and take the first step toward the international cooperation in the field of UFOs. From the point of view of 'people' in outer space, all human beings on earth are the same people, regardless of whether they are American, Russian, Japanese, or whoever."
Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu - From an interview with students of Waseda University in Tokyo in November 1989.
"This craft was 50 to 60 feet long with a grey metallic structure. On the front of this craft was a large steady bright red light. I could delineate where the red stopped on the structure of this craft because red was reflecting off the grey structure. The design of this craft was symmetrical in shape with a prominent aft indentation on the undercarriage. From this portion of the undercarriage, a green light, pyramid-shaped, emerged with the light initially in the trail position.
This green light then swung 90 degrees, coming directly into the front windshield and lighting up the entire cockpit of the aircraft. All colors inside the cabin of the helicopter were absorbed by this green light. That includes the instrument panel lights on the aircraft."
"As a result of my experience, I am convinced this object was real and that these types of incidents should require a thorough investigation."
Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence J. Coyne describing UFO encounter he witnessed with three other airmen over Mansfield Ohio,October 18, 1973.
Quote taken from United Nations UFO hearing in 1978
"Everything is in a process of investigation both in the United States and in Spain, as well as in the rest of the world... Look, as a General, as a military man, I have the same position as the one officially held by the Ministry [of Defense]. Now, from a personal position, as Carlos Castro Cavero, I believe that UFOs are spaceships or extraterrestrial craft...
The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. There is an international exchange of data. Maybe when this group of nations acquire more precise and definite information, it will be possible to release the news to the world."
"I myself have observed one [UFO] for more than an hour... It was an extremely bright object, which remained stationary there for that length of time and then shot off towards Egea de los Caballeros, covering the distance of twenty kilometers in less than two seconds. No human device is capable of such a speed."
General Carlos Castro Cavero ,Spanish Air Force - From a 1976 interview with journalist J.J. Benítez.
"The opposite conclusion could have been drawn from The Condon Report's content, namely, that a phenomenon with such a high ratio of unexplained cases (about 30 percent) should arouse sufficient scientific curiosity to continue its study."
"From a scientific and engineering standpoint, it is unacceptable to simply ignore substantial numbers of unexplained observations... the only promising approach is a continuing moderate-level effort with emphasis on improved data collection by objective means... involving available remote sensing capabilities and certain software changes."
Ronald D Story - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics UFO Subcommittee -New York: Doubleday, 1980
"We had many adventures flying under primitive conditions in the frozen north, but none compared with this." "I looked back and saw something that didn't make sense," "It was nothing like flying machines of that period," "It was hexagonal, flat, and seemingly made of aluminum or some other metal, with no breaks in the surface and no rivets." "At the time, I had a spooky feeling. I can't explain it. It was as if I 'felt' the presence of whoever was inside that craft--and the feeling was hostile."
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Grunnet-Royal Danish Air force, describing incident in H. E. 8 seaplane over Greenland,1932.
"UFOs are impossible to deny....It is very strange that we have never been able to find out the source for over two decades."
Colonel Fuijo Hayashi - Commander of the Air Transport Wing of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force , statement made in 1960.
“For six hours ... there were at least ten unidentifiable objects moving above Washington. They were not ordinary aircraft."
Harry G. Barnes-Senior Air Traffic Controller for the C.A.A. discussing Washington sightings 1952.
"We have, indeed, been contacted - perhaps even visited - by extraterrestrial beings, and the U.S. government, in collusion with the other national powers of the earth, is determined to keep this information from the general public.”
"The purpose of the international conspiracy is to maintain a workable stability among the nations of the world and for them, in turn, to retain institutional control over their respective populations.
Thus, for these governments to admit that there are beings from outer space... with mentalities and technological capabilities obviously far superior to ours, could, once fully perceived by the average person, erode the foundations of the earth's traditional power structure. Political and legal systems, religions, economic and social institutions could all soon become meaningless in the mind of the public.
The national oligarchical establishments, even civilization as we now know it, could collapse into anarchy.”
"Such extreme conclusions are not necessarily valid, but they probably accurately reflect the fears of the 'ruling classes' of the major nations, whose leaders (particularly those in the intelligence business) have always advocated excessive governmental secrecy as being necessary to preserve 'national security."
Victor Marchetti - Former Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the CIA, May 1979.
"I doubt that the phenomenon was any terrestrial reflection, because... nothing of the kind has ever appeared before or since... I was so unprepared for such a strange sight that I was really petrified with astonishment."
Dr. Clyde W. Tombaugh, American astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto. On August 20, 1949, he observed a UFO that appeared as a geometrically arranged group of six-to-eight rectangles of light, window-like in appearance and yellowish-green in color, which moved from northwest to southeast over Las Cruces, New Mexico.
"I must admit that any favorable mention of the flying saucers by a scientist amounts to extreme heresy and places the one making the statement in danger of excommunication by the scientific theocracy. Nevertheless, in recent years I have investigated the story of the unidentified flying object (UFO), and I am no longer able to dismiss the idea lightly." (Paper on "Exobiology" presented at the First Annual Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, held at the United States Air Force Academy, in May 1964).
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Professor of Plant Physiology at Utah State University
"We watched it for quite a few minutes. We could see it was larger than the headlights of the cars below. And we could see it was not attached to anything. And there was no sound. I became frightened actually, because it wasn't anything I could understand... from a personal viewpoint, I am pretty well convinced that we are being surveyed." (Look magazine, 1967.)
Dr. Leo Sprinkle, Professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming had his first UFO sighting in 1951 when he and a friend saw "something in the sky, round and metallic looking."
"There are unidentified flying objects. That is, there are a hard core of cases - perhaps 20 to 30 percent in different studies - for which there is no explanation... We can only imagine what purpose lies behind the activities of these quiet, harmlessly cruising objects that time and again approach the earth. The most likely explanation, it seems to me, is that they are simply watching what we are up to." (Redbook, vol. 143, September 1974.)
Dr. Margaret Mead, world-renowned Anthropologist.
"Reports of anomalous aerial objects (AAO) appearing in the atmosphere continue to be made by pilots of almost every airline and air force of the world in addition to private and experimental test pilots..
We're not dealing with mental projections or hallucinations on the part of the witness but with a real physical phenomenon."
Dr. Richard Haines, Psychologist specializing in pilot and astronaut "human factors" research for the Ames NASA Research Center in California-Chief of the Space Human Factors Office.
"Skeptics, who flatly deny the existence of any unexplained phenomenon in the name of 'rationalism,' are among the primary contributors to the rejection of science by the public. People are not stupid and they know very well when they have seen something out of the ordinary. When a so-called expert tells them the object must have been the moon or a mirage, he is really teaching the public that science is impotent or unwilling to pursue the study of the unknown."
Dr. Jacques Vallee, astrophysicist
"There are too many independent eyewitness reports to ignore. Too many of the reports describe coherent physical effects, and there is an agreement among the accounts concerning what was observed... But of course there are also physical effects. The Air Force report [of the F-16 jet scramble incident on the night of March 30-31, 1990] allows us to approach the problem in a rational and scientific way. The simplest hypothesis is that the reports are caused by extraterrestrial visitors, but that hypothesis carries with it other problems. We are not in a rush to form a conclusion, but continue to study the mystery."
Dr. Auguste Meessen, Professor of physics at the Catholic University in Louvain.
"The phenomenon seems to be real... The general coherence of sighting reports worldwide should not leave researchers indifferent. One does not conceive objective arguments to justify an attitude that would avoid at all cost these observations... The risk is, at worst, to confirm the existence of unknown vehicles appearing erratically into our atmosphere - a hypothesis that seems to explain nearly all reported aspects of the phenomenon and could be linked to the current (1970) exobiology branch of space research." (1971 Statistical Study prepared for the CNES and French officials.)
Dr. Claude Poher, expert on aeronautics, astronomy and astronautics, engineer at the French Space Agency (CNES) for thirty years
"Unidentified flying objects are a very serious subject which we must study fully. We appeal to all viewers to send us details of strange flying craft seen over the territories of the Soviet Union. This is a serious challenge to science and we need the help of all Soviet citizens."
"Observations show that UFOs behave 'sensibly.' In a group formation flight, they maintain a pattern. They are most often spotted over airfields, atomic stations and other very new engineering installations. On encountering aircraft, they always maneuver so as to avoid direct contact. A considerable list of these seemingly intelligent actions gives the impression that UFOs are investigating, perhaps even reconnoitering...
The important thing now is for us to discard any preconceived notions about UFOs and to organize on a global scale a calm, sensation-free and strictly scientific study of this strange phenomenon. The subject and aims of the investigation are so serious that they justify all efforts. It goes without saying that international cooperation is vital."
Dr. Felix Y. Zigel, Professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Moscow Aviation Institute
"The Central Intelligence Agency has reviewed the current situation concerning unidentified flying objects which have created extensive speculation in the press and have been the subject of concern to Government organizations... Since 1947, approximately 2,000 official reports of sightings have been received and of these, about 20% are as yet unexplained."
"It is my view that this situation has possible implications for our national security which transcend the interests of a single service. A broader, coordinated effort should be initiated to develop a firm scientific understanding of the several phenomena which apparently are involved in these reports..." (1952 memorandum to the National Security Council.)
General Walter Bedell Smith, Director of the CIA from 1950-53
"I wish to give you a summary of what is known in the world about 'flying discs,' of what is known about the opinion of qualified experts who have dealt with this matter. The problem of 'flying discs' has polarized the attention of the whole world, but it's serious and it deserves to be treated seriously. Almost all the governments of the great powers are interested in it, dealing with it in a serious and confidential manner, due to its military interest." (O'Cruzeiro magazine, Rio de Janeiro, December 11, 1954)
Colonel Brigadier General João Adil Oliveira, Chief of the Air Force General Staff Information Service,Brazil
"The type of UFO reports that are most intriguing are close-range sightings of machine-like objects of unconventional nature and unconventional performance characteristics, seen at low altitudes, and sometimes even on the ground. The general public is entirely unaware of the large number of such reports that are coming from credible witnesses... When one starts searching for such cases, their number are quite astonishing. Also, such sightings appear to be occurring all over the globe." (Hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, July 29, 1968.)
Dr. James E. McDonald, Senior Physicist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr., President of West Coast University; author of two astrodynamics textbooks; head of Lockheed's Astrodynamics Research Center (1961-64); member of the faculty of Astronomy and Engineering at UCLA (1959-71).
In 1968, he made the following statement concerning the one U.S. radar system in operation at that time that, to his knowledge, exhibited sufficient continuous coverage to reveal UFOs operating above the earth's atmosphere:
"The system is partially classified and, hence, I cannot go into great detail... Since this particular sensor system has been in operation, there have been a number of anomalistic alarms. Alarms that, as of this date, have not been explained on the basis of natural phenomena interference, equipment malfunction or inadequacy, or man-made space objects."
(1968 Congressional Hearings)
Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr.
"We've got no conclusions, except after this, do not give us the old routine of Venus, weather balloons, aircraft and the like which has been given as a general panacea for almost every case of UFOs."
Captain Jose Lemos Ferreira, with Sergeants Alberto Covas, Salvador Oliviera, and Manuel Marcilino, after an alleged encounter with a UFO on a flight out of Ota Air Base, Portugal
"The real danger to the U.S. and perhaps this whole planet is the government has placed such a heavy blanket of secrecy upon this issue. So much secrecy, those in government who have knowledge showing UFOs are identifiable feel the subject cannot be discussed by those in the know without serious repercussions. Others are afraid their friends and co-workers will think they are crazy if they even so much as insinuate that UFOs are identifiable as manned craft from outside the earth.
This particularly applies to newspaper editors and publishers, reporters and analysts. Thus the U.S. is denying itself the chance to learn more about UFOs or to encourage research despite the fact the U. S. stands to gain from such discussions. . . "
Sarah McClendon, White House Correspondent, and Dean of the White House Press Corps--exerpts from a press release by McClendon on March 30, 1998
"I think it’s time to open the books on questions that have remained in the dark; on the question of government investigations of UFOs. It’s time to find out what the truth really is that’s out there. We ought to do it because it’s right; we ought to do it because the American people quite frankly can handle the truth; and we ought to do it because it’s the law."
John Podesta - Bill Clinton White House Chief of Staff ,News Conference October 22, 2004
"I don't know whether this story has ever been told or not. They weren't called UFOs. They were called enemy helicopters. And they were only seen at night and they were only seen in certain places. They were seen up around the DMZ in the early summer of '68. And this resulted in quite a little battle. And in the course of this, an Australian destroyer took a hit and we never found any enemy, we only found ourselves when this had all been sorted out. And this caused some shooting there, and there was no enemy at all involved but we always reacted. Always after dark. The same thing happened up at Pleiku at the Highlands in '69."
USAF Chief of Staff General George S. Brown
DoD Transcript of Press Conference in Illinois (10/16/1973).
"As a member of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, I, of course, have had contact with high Air Force officers and have had opportunity to hear their comments on and off the record on the subject of unidentified flying objects. Despite being confronted with seemingly unimpeachable evidence that such phenomena exist, these officers give little credence to the many reports on the matter.
When pressed on specific details the experts refuse to answer on grounds that they are involved in the nation's security and cannot be discussed publicly ...I will continue to seek a definite answer to this most important question."
Congressman Joseph E. Karth - Aug 24, 1960
"I feel that the Air Force has not been giving out all the available information on the Unidentified Flying Objects. You cannot disregard so many unimpeachable sources."
John McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States; Jan 1965
"Many of the reports that cannot be explained have come from intelligent and technically well-qualified individuals whose integrity cannot be doubted."
Major General E.B. LeBaily, USAF Director of Information -Sept 28, 1965 letter to USAF Scientific Advisory Board.
"The trick would be to describe the project so that, to the public, it would appear a totally objective study, but to the scientific community would present the image of a group of nonbelievers trying their best to be objective but having an almost zero expectation of finding a saucer."
Robert Low, University of Colorado senior administrator, former intelligence officer, and assistant director of the Condon Committee, in a confidential 1966 memo suggesting the approach of the Condon UFO study.
"My study of past official Air Force investigations (Project Blue Book) leads me to describe them as completely superficial. Officially released 'explanations' of important UFO sightings have been almost absurdly erroneous."
James McDonald, speech to American Meteorological Society 1966.
"UFOs defy worldly logic... The human mind cannot begin to comprehend UFO characteristics: their propulsion, their sudden appearance, their disappearance, their great speeds, their silence, their manoeuvre, their apparent anti-gravity, their changing shapes."
Earl of Kimberly, House of Lords Debate on Unidentified Flying Objects, Jan. 18, 1979.
"Many men have seen them [UFOs] and have not been mistaken. Who are we to doubt their word?... Only a few weeks ago a Palermo policeman photographed one, and four Italian Navy officers saw a 300-foot long fiery craft rising from the sea and disappearing into the sky... Why should these men of law enforcement and defense lie?"
Lord Rankeillour, Member of the House of Lords
"I still do not know why the high order of classification has been given and why the denial of the existence of these objects [has been perpetuated]."
Dr. Robert Sarbacher,Nov. 29, 1983.
"Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon. To a scientist, the main source of hard information (other than his own experiments' observations) is provided by the scientific journals. With rare exceptions, scientific journals do not publish reports of UFO observations. The decision not to publish is made by the editor acting on the advice of reviewers. This process is self-reinforcing: the apparent lack of data confirms the view that there is nothing to the UFO phenomenon, and this view (prejudice) works against the presentation of relevant data."
Peter A. Sturrock, "An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project," Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol.1, No.1, 1987
"What I found was compelling evidence to claim that most of these aerial objects far exceeded the terrestrial technology of the era in which they were seen. I was forced to conclude that there is a great likelihood that Earth is being visited by highly advanced aerospace vehicles under highly 'intelligent' control indeed."
Dr Richard F. Haines-Retired NASA senior research scientist,Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science,1998.
“Having spent a great deal of my life in the air, as a pilot... I know that many pilots... have seen phenomena that they could not explain. These men, most of whom have talked to me, have been very reticent to talk about this publicly, because of the ridicule that they were afraid would be heaped upon them... However, there is a phenomena here that isn't explained.”
Congressman Jerry L. Pettis - House Committee on Science and Astronautics hearing on UFOs,Ninetieth Congress, Second Sesson,July 29, 1968.
"Three objects appeared beneath the clouds, their color a rather bright red. As they approached the ship they appeared to soar, passing above the broken clouds. After rising above the clouds they appeared to be moving directly away from the earth. The largest had an apparent area of about six suns. It was egg-shaped, the larger end forward.
The second was about twice the size of the sun, and the third, about the size of the sun. Their near approach to the surface appeared to be most remarkable. That they did come below the clouds and soar instead of continuing their southeasterly course is also curious. The lights were in sight for over two minutes and were carefully observed by three people whose accounts agree as to the details."
Lt. Frank Schofield - Later Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet.
Aboard the U.S.S. Supply,Eastern Coast of Korea,February 28, 1904.
"Scientifically we eliminate the simple hypotheses: It's not a plane. It's not a helicopter. It's not a natural phenomenon because the descriptions don't match. Therefore this global phenomenon resists any other explanation. The only remaining hypothesis is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin."
L. Clerebaut -Secretary General, Belgian Government.
"If one human being out of tens of thousands who allege to have seen these phenomena is telling the truth, then there is a dire need for us to look into the matter."
Lord Davies of Leek-Member of the House of Lords.
"An object 'like an oblong pearl' drew steadily closer until perhaps a mile away when, right under my gaze as it were, it suddenly vanished. . . .But it reappeared close to where it had vanished. . . .It drew closer. I could see the dull gleam of light on nose and back. It came on, but instead of increasing in size, it diminished as it approached! When quite near, it suddenly became its own ghost. For one second I could see clear through it and the next. . .it had vanished."
Sir Francis Chichester -June 10, 1931 ,Flying in the Gypsy Moth over the Tasman Sea.
-
Statements From Credible Sources on UFOs;2
"There are some definite flight type characteristics that are seen now that I would say represent genuine UFOs...ie: instant acceleration; instant stop; vertical acceleration -up into the air and down to the ground; reverses in direction; right angle turns -all in silence -multiple objects sometimes separating and then going back into each other.
They are classic,what I would call,genuine UFO characteristics -things that we can not do in a conventional sense."
British Detective Constable Gary Heseltine - Police UFO reporting organisation, PRUFOS
"This thing had to be going double-digit mach making turns that I didn’t think were possible, breaking all the rules of physics,
The man that visited me later told me in no uncertain terms to keep quiet. He told me I would lose my pilot’s license and it would be the end of my flying days, so for 30 years I've said nothing.”
Retired Air Force pilot Milton Torres discussing his F-86D Sabre fighter jet UFO incident in 1957 in which he was ordered to shoot down a UFO hovering over the British countryside.
Air Force Times Interview, Oct 22nd, 2008.
"I uttered something that brought us to the attention of Dr. Gilruth and the others. "What the crap is that? What caused me to utter that phrase was, the object took off straight up and went out of sight in less than a second. It may have been longer, but seemed like it was gone in the blink of an eye, but I was still aware that it had actually gone straight up. One of the men there, I still think it was Everette Shafer, turned and asked us what we were doing in the room, and we told them that we were there to inspect the fire alarm panel at the rear of the room and to take our smoke break. And to ask a question of our own. What in hell was that about?"
Dayne Hatten -NASA Fireman Apollo 15
"From 1969 to 1972, the ufological activities of this organization, were most varied, including the elaboration of information bulletins, a draft of SIOANI regulations, contacts with interested parties, panels, catalogs of contacts and others, always attempting to contribute in this field of research that was already well known in Brazil."
Colonel João Glaser
Colonel João Glasera was with a specialized UFO bureau called System of Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Objects
"The story I put out was very simple, to the effect that we had, in our possession a flying saucer. It was found on a ranch up north of Roswell. It was being flown to General Ramey’s office. The information was given to me, almost verbatim, by Colonel Blanchard. He said, “I want you to give it to the local newspapers and radio stations, and do it post haste” … The cover-up was pretty well orchestrated. I think the thought of handling it that way came down from Washington, through channels. We were told that we were all wrong, that it was just a weather balloon."
Lieutenant Walter Hatup, Roswell Army Air Base Public Information Officer
"I know that flying saucers exist because I myself saw one three years ago, and U.N. diplomats will not think I am crazy for saying so. I am convinced that persons from outer space are studying us, or perhaps living among us as earthlings."
Prime Minister Eric Gairy of Grenada - Addressing the 1977-1978 General Assembly meeting of the United Nations.
"Project Blue Book was ballyhooed by the Air Force as a full-fledged top-priority operation. It was no such thing. The staff, in a sense, was a joke. In terms of scientific training and numbers, it was highly inadequate to the task. And the methods used were positively archaic. And that is the crack operation that the general public believes looked adequately into the UFO phenomenon."
Dr Allen J Hyneck,astronomer, professor and scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force.
"The object came low over the harbor. It hovered over a moored ship 465 feet in length. A comparison to the size of the ship would place the UFO at about 350 feet in diameter. After a while, a smaller object separated from the main body and fell straight down, disappearing under the water. At that moment, the main part suddenly accelerated and disappeared.
In my opinion,what was seen over Petrozavodsk was either a UFO, a carrier of high intelligence with crew and passengers, or it was a field of energy created by one."
Vladimir Azhazha, a Moscow Physicist and Oceanographer.
"The study of UFOs is a necessity for the sake of world security in the event we have to prepare for the worst in the space age, irrespective of whether we become Columbus or the Indians."
Air Commodore J. Salutun, National Aerospace Council of Indonesia, and Indonesian Parliament Member.
“In 1950 I was attending a rather slow-moving broadcasting conference in Washington D.C. and having some free time on my hands, I circulated around asking a few questions about flying saucers, which stirred up a hornet’s nest. I found that the U.S. government had a highly classified project set up to study them, so I reasoned that with so much smoke maybe I should look for the fire.”
Wilbert Smith, Official Director of the Canadian Government’s UFO Investigation - 1950-1954.
"That it could be an aircraft constructed on this earth, I do not believe possible."
Commander Juan Barrera, in command of Aquirre Cerda airbase
"The UFOs are no figment of the imagination."
Lieutenant-Colonel Lou Corbin, Army Intelligence
"It was made and flown by intelligent beings."
Major Shiro Kubuta, of Japan's Air Self-Defence Force. Kubuta and his pilot, Lt. Colonel Toshio Nakamura, were scrambled in an F-4EJ to intercept what they were told was a Soviet Bomber.Once Airborne they were informed that their target was actually a UFO which had been sighted by ground and was being tracked on radar.
When they closed upon the red, disk-like UFO, it began to manoeuvre around the plane, causing Nakamura to take evasive action.
"It seemed fantastic that there could be any such thing. At first, the temptation was to say it was all nonsense, a series of optical illusions. But there have been so many reports from responsible observers that they cannot be ignored. It seems hardly possible that all these reports could be due to optical illusions."
Dr. J. C. MacKenzie, Chairman of the Canadian Atomic Energy Control Board and former president of the National Research Council.January, 1952
"The facts about saucers were long tracked down and results have long been known in top secret defense circles of more countries than one."
Dr. Harry Messel, Professor of Physics at Sydney University, Australia, in a 1965 statement.
"Based on the descriptions, I can definitely rule this out. There wasn't a balloon in 1947 or today that could account for this incident."
C. B. Moore, General Mills Meteorologist and expert on weather balloons, when asked whether he believed the Roswell Incident could be explained by a Mogul balloon.
"Three objects appeared beneath the clouds, their color a rather bright red. As they approached the ship they appeared to soar, passing above the broken clouds. After rising above the clouds they appeared to be moving directly away from the earth. The largest had an apparent area of about six suns. It was egg-shaped, the larger end forward.
The second was about twice the size of the sun, and the third, about the size of the sun. Their near approach to the surface appeared to be most remarkable. That they did come below the clouds and soar instead of continuing their southeasterly course is also curious. The lights were in sight for over two minutes and were carefully observed by three people whose accounts agree as to the details."
A sighting by the U.S.S. Supply off of the eastern coast of Korea,February 28, 1904, Korea -as reported by then Lt. Frank H. Schofield, later to become Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet.
"There was something definite in the sky...If it had proved to be hostile we would have destroyed it."
Major Gerald Smith, USAF--One of the F-106 pilots scrambled under orders from NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) to investigate a UFO over West Palm Beach, Florida on September 14, 1972. The UFO was viewed through binoculars by the FAA supervisor, George Morales, sighted by an Eastern Airlines captain, police and several civilians, as well as being tracked on radar by Miami International Airport and Homestead AFB
"I was the pilot of the plane when we saw the UFO. Also on board were Governor Reagan and a couple of his security people. We were flying a Cessna Citation. It was maybe 9 or 10 o'clock at night. We were near Bakersfield, California when Governor Reagan and the others called my attention to a big light flying a bit behind my plane. It appeared to be several hundred yards away. It was a fairly steady light until it began to accelerate, then it appeared to elongate. Then the light took off.
It went up at a 45-degree angle-at a high rate of speed. Everyone on the plane was surprised. Governor Reagan expressed amazement. I told the others I didn't know what it was...The UFO went from a normal cruise speed to a fantastic speed instantly...If you give an airplane power it will accelerate-but not like a hot rod, and that's what this was like."
Bull Paynter, a pilot with thousands of logged hours, in Sacremento California
"Certainly when I socialized with my RAF colleagues, I would find that they were a little bit more receptive to the idea of UFOs--and by that I mean perhaps even an extraterrestrial explanation for this -- than you might have supposed. One of the reasons for that was that so many RAF pilots had actually seen things themselves. Many of them have never made an official report. I had one chap tell me that he had seen something over the North Sea. I asked him why he hadn't reported it, and he said, 'I don't want to be known as Flying Saucer Fred for the rest of my career.'"
Nick Pope, headed up the "UFO desk" at Air Secretariat 2-A, British Ministry of Defense from 1991-1994.
"We were asking the Americans, 'Are you operating a prototype aircraft in our airspace?' That, of course, was nonsense. You simply would not do that from a diplomatic and political point of view. It would undermine the entire structure of NATO if you were putting things through someone else's airspace, particularly a close ally, without seeking the proper diplomatic clearance. But we had to ask. And the Americans, having had similar reports, I guess, since the Hudson Valley wave [New York state, mid-1980s], had been quietly asking us if we had some large, triangular shaped object that could go from 0 to Mach 5 in a second. Our response was that we wished we did. This was the bizarre situation: that we were chasing the Americans, and the Americans were chasing us.
The official line from the Ministry of Defense is, 'Yes, this happened. No, we don't know what it is, but we say that it is of no defense significance.' How can it possibly be of no defense significance when your best jet is left for standing by a UFO? And, again, how can it be of no defense significance when your air defense region is routinely penetrated by structured craft?"
Nick Pope, headed up the "UFO desk" at Air Secretariat 2-A, British Ministry of Defense from 1991-1994
"What was especially important was that, at a distance of 180 kilometers apart, the records about the direction of movement of the strange aerial body in space, made independently by at least two different observers was basically the same. . . .To the present time this strange phenomenon has not been satisfactorily explained, yet there were thousands of good observers who had seen it."
Zhang Zhousheng, astronomer at the Yunnan Observatory in Chengdu City, China--Zhousheng and others nearby watched a strange glowing, spiral object moving steadily across the sky for about five minutes on the evening of July 26, 1977.
"In concealing the evidence of UFO operations, the Air Force is making a serious mistake."
Lt. Colonel James McAshan, USAF
"I was there at [Project] Bluebook and I know the job they had. They were told not to excite the public, not to rock the boat... Whenever a case happened that they coud explain--which was quite a few--they made a point of that, and let that out to the media. . .Cases that were very difficult to explain, they would jump handsprings to keep the media away from them. They had a job to do, rightfully or wrongfully, to keep the public from getting excited."
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, former Chairman of the Dept. of Astronomy at North Western University and scientific advisor to Project Bluebook from 1952-1969
"Flying saucers are probably real extra-terrestrial spacecraft."
From Project Sign's "Estimate of the Situation"--the final report issued by Project Sign which began in 1948 under the auspices of the Air Technical Intelligence Center in an effort to solve the UFO mystery. They studied 243 cases before issuing this final statement to the Pentagon.
"There are in excess of 200 reports of the type that we had from down in Louisiana, from people claiming that they have had direct contact with a spacecraft full of aliens. I mean 200 reports from witnesses who are as reliable or more so than these people. I'm not counting the reports from the obvious crackpots that have an axe to grind....If you accept them at face value then you're forced to accept that we have been visited."
Dr. John Sathco, an Astronomer at the University of Southern California, 1973
"There are of course many phenomena in this world which are not explained and it is possible to say that the orthodox scientist is the last person to accept that something new (or old) may exist which cannot be explained in accordance with his understanding of natural laws."
Earl Alexander of Tunis, British Minister of Defense
"Of these UFO reports,the radar/visual reports are the most convincing. When a ground radar picks up a UFO target and a ground observer sees a light where the radar target is located,then a jet interceptor is scrambled to intercept the UFO and the pilot also sees the lights and gets a radar lock only to have the UFO almost impudently outdistance him,there is no simple answer."
Edward J Ruppelt USAF Capt 1956
“The undeniable reality is that there are a substantial number of multi-sensor UFO cases backed by thousands of credible witnesses. In the physical domain there are many photos, videos, radar tracking, satellite sensor reports, landing traces including depressions and anomalous residual radiation, electromagnetic interference, and confirmed physiological effects. Personal observations have been made both day and night, often under excellent visibility with some at close range. Included are reports from multiple independent witnesses to the same event. Psychological testing of some observers has confirmed their mentally competence. Why is none of this considered evidence?"
John B. Alexander,Ph.D.
"The fact that since 1946 numerous persons in all countries have made detailed reports of events they regard as strange, mysterious, sometimes even terrifying, deserves attention. While many of the reports can be traced to natural events, we intend to demonstrate that, after the inevitable errors and the obvious hoaxes are eliminated, the reports reveal common characterstics, possess a high degree of internal coherence, and appear to be the result of the witnesses’ exposure to a set of unusual circumstances."
Dr. Jacques Vallee, Astrophysicist
from the introduction to ‘Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma’, 1966
"I will stress once again that we do not know the source from which the UFOs or the alien beings come (whether or not, for example, they originate in the physical universe as modern astrophysics has described it). But they manifest in the physical world and bring about definable consequences in that domain."
John E. Mack, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize winning author
“Over the past eighteen years I have acted as a scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force on the subject of unidentified flying objects – UFO’s. As a consequence of my work on the voluminous air force files and, to a greater extent, of personal investigation of many puzzling cases and interviews with witnesses of good repute, I have long been aware that the subject of UFO’s could not be dismissed as mere nonsense."
Dr J Allen Hynek, Chairman of the Department of Astronomy at Northwestern University and scientific consultant for Air Force investigations of UFOs from 1948 until 1969 (Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book).
“For nearly 40 years, the science establishment has ignored the UFO problem, relegating it to the domain of “true believers and mental imcompetents” (a.k.a. "kooks and nuts" [according to the former editor of Applied Optics magazine]).
Scientists have participated in a "self-cover-up" by refusing to look at the credible and well-reported data.
Furthermore, some of those few scientists who have studied UFO data have published explanations which are unconvincing or just plain wrong and have "gotten away with it" because most of the rest of the scientific community has not cared enough to analyze these explanations. The general rejection of the scientific validity of UFO sightings has made it difficult to publish analyses of good sightings in refereed journals of establishment science.”
Bruce Maccabee, optical physicist
"During my long investigation of these strange objects, I have seen many reports verified by Air Force Intelligence, detailed accounts by Air Force pilots, radar operators, and other trained observers proving the UFOs are high-speed craft superior to anything built on Earth.”
U.S. Major Donald Keyhoe
"I have been studying now for about 2 years, on a rather intensive basis, the UFO problem. I have interviewed several hundred witnesses in selected cases, and I am astonished at what I have found."
Dr James McDonald -Senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Arizona - Oral statement to House Committee on Science and Astronautics at July 29, 1968
“On the basis of my offical research and investigation into UFO sightings and reports of alien contact, I am personally convinced that intelligent extraterrestrial are visiting Earth. I say this on the basis of the data available to me at the Ministry of Defense, both in terms of the historic records and the several hundred new cases that I investigated each year.
…There was a hard core of cases that defied any conventional explanation and involved craft capable of speeds and maneuvers beyond the capabilities of our own technology. I was particularly interested in UFO sightings that could be correlated by radar and in reports where the witnesses were military personnel; such cases were directly responsible for my gradual conversion from skeptic to believer.”
Nick Pope - Head of the "UFO desk" at Air Secretariat 2-A, British Ministry of Defence from 1991-1994
"Cut through the ridicule and search for factual information in most of the skeptical commentary and one is usually left with nothing. This is not surprising. After all, how can one rationally object to a call for scientific examination of evidence? Be skeptical of the "skeptics."
Bernard Haisch, Astrophysicist.
"From the earliest days of the modern outbreak of sightings some forty years ago, there is a quite remarkable similarity between the descriptions given by observers of the flying vehicles. It is the more remarkable that there have been tens of thousands of these reports, from observers who range who range from illiterate peasants in Argentina and Spain to people with Ph.D.s in other countries and they have all been given spontaneously—which has led to the generic term “flying saucer.”
"There have been thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of sightings and encounters, physical results and of the latter, by people all over the world whose evidence on any other subject would be accepted without question. There have been major investigations lasting thirty or forty years by the governments of the USA, Russia and France, for certain, and probably Britain and other countries."
Lord Admiral Hill-Norton (GCB), Chief of Defense Staff, Ministry of Defense, Britain; Chairman, Military Committee of NATO; Admiral of the Fleet; Member of House of Lords.
"The definitive resolution of the UFO enigma will not come about unless and until the problem is subjected to open and extensive scientific study by the normal procedures of established science.
In their public statements (but not necessarily in their private statements), scientists express a generally negative attitude towards the UFO problem, and it is interesting to try to understand this attitude. Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon.”
Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, Professor of Space Science and Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the Center for Space Sciences and Astrophysics at Stanford University (Survey of American Astronomical Society)
"This can't be laughed off.We have over three hundred reports which haven't been publicized in the papers from very competent personnel,in many instances.
...We are running down every report.I can't tell you how much we would give to have one of those crash in an area so that we could recover whatever they are".
Colonel McCoy - March 17th 1948.
Air Force Scientific Advisory Board meeting at the Pentagon.
"Army intelligence has recently said that "the matter of 'Unidentified Aircraft' or 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena',otherwise known as 'Flying Discs','Flying Saucers', and 'Balls of fire' is considered top secret by intelligence officers of both the army and the air forces."
FBI issued memo on UFOs entitled "Protection of Vital Installations"
-Memo sent to the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Office of Special Investigations.
"It is my belief that one of the objectives of your organization [Air Research Group] is the public dissemination of data on unidentified flying objects... this is contrary to Air Force policy and regulations."
Captain Gregory H. Oldenburgh,USAF, Information Services Officer, Langley AFB, Va., to Larry W. Bryant, 1-23-58.
"All over the world credible witnesses are reporting experiences similar to mine. Holding these people up to ridicule does not alter the existing facts. The time is long overdue for accepting the presence of these things, whatever they are and dealing with them and the public on a basis of realism."
Frank Halstead, Former Curator of Darling Observatory, University of Minnesota
"We use the best equipment to detect objects in our skies...even strange ones, with great results. We can distinguish between a commercial plane or other objects with our modern equipment. Concretely,from the United States,that are highly qualified sources of information,that we are inside an environment in which we have unidentified objects. Concretely, they are extraterrestrial objects,of that I am sure.We share the universe with other beings."
Colonel Wilson Salgado. Commandant FAE-COS-1, Ecuadorian Military.
"The one thing about these briefings that never failed to amaze me, although it happened time and time again, was the interest in UFOs within scientific circles. As soon as the word spread that Project Blue Book was giving official briefings to groups with the proper security clearances, we had no trouble in getting scientists to swap free advice for a briefing.
I might add that we briefed only groups who were engaged in government work and who had the proper security clearances solely because we could discuss any government project that might be of help to us in pinning down the UFO. Our briefings weren't just squeezed in either; in many instances we would arrive at a place to find that a whole day had been set aside to talk about UFOs.
And never once did I meet anyone who laughed off the whole subject of flying saucers even though publicly these same people had jovially sloughed off the press with answers of 'hallucinations,' 'absurd', or 'a waste of time and money.' They weren't wild-eyed fans but they were certainly interested."
Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt -Chief of Project Bluebook
"A 1977 poll of American astronomers, published in JSE, showed the following. Out of 2611 questionnaires 1356 were returned. In response to whether the UFO problem deserved further study the replies were: 23% certainly, 30% probably, 27% percent possibly, 17% probably not, 3% certainly not.
Interestingly, there was a positive correlation between the amount of reading done on the subject and the opinion that further study was in order…”
Bernard Haisch, Astrophysicist
“On August fifth [1929] - something remarkable! We were in our camp in the Kukunor district not far from the Humboldt Chain. In the morning about half-past nine some of our caravaneers noticed a remarkably big black eagle flying over us. Seven of us began to watch this unusual bird. At this same moment another of our caravaneers remarked,
‘There is something far above the bird’. And he shouted in his astonishment. We all saw, in a direction from north to south, something big and shiny reflecting the sun, like a huge oval moving at great speed. Crossing our camp the thing changed in its direction from south to southwest. And we saw how it disappeared in the intense blue sky. We even had time to take our field glasses and saw quite distinctly an oval form with shiny surface, one side of which was brilliant from the sun.”
Nicholas Roerich, Altai-Himalaya
Roerich Museum,N.Y.
"When you have the view of the airspace and the radar screen and you see the UFOs go around twenty or thirty miles a second – that is very real. They can turn suddenly almost 90 degrees in a second or half a second. The UFOs can go vertically straight up very quickly."
Mexico City Senior Air Traffic Controller, Enrique Kolbeck -DP p. 129.
"Air Catalogue is a rather extensive library I’ve been collecting for almost 30 years from commercial, private, and test pilots. I have over 3,000 cases. My estimate is that for every pilot who does come forward, and makes a confidential or a public report, there are 20, 30 other pilots who don’t."
NASA Research Scientist (Gemini, Apollo, Skylab), Dr. Richard Haines -DP p. 131
"I was a top secret control officer. I happened to see a classified message go through my com [communications] center which said, “A UFO has crashed on the Island of Spitsbergen, Norway, and a team of scientists are coming to investigate it.”
US Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Dwynne Arneson DP p. 176
"The UFO incident occurred on the USS John F. Kennedy in the summer of 1971. We observed a large, glowing sphere over the ship. It looked huge. I would say it was anywhere from three or four hundred feet to a quarter of a mile depending on how high it was. A few days later, the Commanding Officer looked at the camera – and I will never forget this – and he said, “I would like to remind the crew that certain events that take place on board a major combat vessel are considered classified and should not be discussed with anyone without a need to know.”
US Navy, National Security Agency, James Kopf -DP p. 203
"We had contact with an unidentified flying object that had entered our air space. The order was given by Admiral Trane to get this object forced down out of the sky if at all possible, by whatever means possible….Two gentlemen began to question me about this event. They were being pretty rough. I remember literally putting my hands up and saying, “Wait a minute fellows. I’m on your side.” My logbook, I never did see that again."
US Navy Atlantic Command, Merle Shane McDow- DP p.241
"I had access to special libraries, so we could go up to the library that the Air Force ran and sort of paw through top-secret material. Since I was interested in UFOs, I’d look to see what they had. For about a year, I was getting quite a few hits. Then, all of a sudden, the whole subject material vanished. The entire classification for the subject just vanished."
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Engineer, Dr. Robert Wood - DP p. 434
"We had objects with four-way confirmation – ground visual, ground radar, airborne visual, airborne radar. It doesn’t get any better than that. In my following of unusual aerial phenomena for the past 50 years, there seems to be some reason to discredit very viable and very reputable witnesses when they say something is unidentified."
US Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Brown -DP p. 247
"50,000 virtually reliable people have reported sighting unidentified flying objects… From available information, the UFO phenomenon appears to have been global in nature for almost 50,000 years. This leaves us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet, or at least of alien controlled UFO's. The best thing to do is to keep an open and skeptical mind, and not take an extreme position on any side of the question"
USAF "Introductory Space Science", Volume II - Deparment of Physics, USAF
"There were eight of us, including me and the farm owner. We had three military men, including my son, then a lieutenant and now a major, and a friend of his, a major in the air force, a professor of physics, a professor of law and others in different professions.
There were eight of us, all friends, and we saw the object clearly in front of us, radiating an intense bluish-whitish light. Then quickly the object disappeared and immediately appeared to the right at a higher point in the mountains."
General Alfredo Moacyr Uchôa, former deputy director of the Military Academy of Brazil
"Here we had a number of object seen coming in across the North Sea on coastal radar. It looked like a Russian mistake. Jet aircraft were scrambled. The objects were travelling at quite impossible speeds like 4-5000 mph and then came to an abrupt halt near to one of these stations not very high up. Jet aircraft picked them up on aircraft radar. The objects then simply made rings round them."
"Inevitably this led to the sort of enquiry which you would put in hand if you had any military responsibilities. Had something gone wrong with ground radar or with aircraft radar? We experienced pilots going out of their minds? Were people having fantasies? We *had* to investigate cases of that kind. Over the years - although there were not an enormous number of such cases - there were a sufficient number to persuade me, and a number of air staff friends with whom I had to work, that something was going on, sporadically, in British airspace which we could not explain."
"But we did not particularly want to make public statements about that. Not for something that we had no explanation."
Ralph Noyes,Senior Official with British Air Ministry - retired as Under Secretary of State in 1977
"At about 02:00,I saw the first of many strange lights in the sky. The vast majority were in formation, usually quarter line, and all appeared on the port side.Many were in groups of three, some in groups of five or six. They appeared and disappeared instantly at the same speed a computer screen operates.
Suddenly one of these objects appeared at close range on our port bow at a low elevation. It was disc-shaped and consisted of a very bright light with black windows running around the whole side which was visible to us. It maintained perfect station on us for at least fifteen minutes. I scanned the object with binoculars attempting to see into the windows but saw nothing. I counted the windows and recall there were about two dozen. They were very large and close together and completely black.
Although the body of the object glowed very brightly, it did not prevent me from looking directly at it. The object appeared more oval in shape than round. And then suddenly it was gone. There was no sound made at any time."
George R. MacFarlane, Commander Royal Canadian Navy
Canadian Destroyer H.M.C.S. Iroquois ,May 1952.
"My background is a Naval Aviator with approximately 4000 hours. At the time of the incident, I was deployed with an Anti-Submarine Squadron aboard a CVE-class carrier. I was assigned Air Crew Training Officer and prior to deployment had attended CIC Air Controller School at Point Loma, also Airborne Air Controller School and Airborne Early Warning School both located at NAS, San Diego.
It was at night. I was riding with a radar operator which I often did to check on their proficiency. We were flying at 5000 feet, solid instruments, with our wingman flying a radar position about 3 miles astern and slightly to our right or left. The target, which was slightly larger than our wingman, I picked up on our scope, had been circling the fleet; it left the fleet and joined up on us a position behind our wingman, approximately the same position he held on us.
I reported the target to the ship and was informed that the target was also held on the ship's radars, 14 in number, and for us to get a visual sighting if possible. This was impossible because of the clouds.
The target retained his relative position for approximately 5 minutes and then departed in excess of one thousand miles per hour. He departed on a straight course and was observed to the maximum distance of my radar which was two hundred miles.
Upon completion of my flight, an unidentified flying object report was completed, at which time I was informed that the object was held on ship's radars for approximately seven hours."
Lieutenantt Commander M. C. Davies, U.S. Navy -Korean waters,1951.
"One night in 1968 while on an operation in the Caribbean, I went up to the open bridge to relieve the watch. At 23:45, the other watch section wouldn't leave – this is really unusual because typically they want to get what’s left of the mid-rats (sandwiches and soup served on the mess deck) and hit the rack However, they stayed to observe two UFO’s that were being tracked on radar by CIC.
They were tracking two bright lights, that didn't answer up to IFF – they weren't enemy, friend, foe or commercial aircraft. And were flying at speeds in excess of 400 knots and making turns at right angles. Nothing we knew of could do this but they did.
We saw them hover over the water within eyesight at about a few thousand yards, one submerging and the other as if standing guard above, waiting for the other to resurface. When it emerged, they buzzed off in formation at about a 45-degree angle to exit our planet. As they became distant, turned color from a bright white to a burning amber, and disappearing within about 10 seconds."
Bridgewatchman G M Brinkman aboard the USS Waldron,1968-Near Puerto Rico
"I was standing the mid watch sounding security watch and always went to the fantail on my rounds to talk to the seaman who stood watch there. It was around midnight and we were just talking, looking up at the stars when this UFO just lite up in the sky about 1000 feet high and a quarter a mile away aft of the ship so the bridge could not see it. It did not come from anywhere that we could see.
We don't know if it came out of the ocean or what but all we saw was it just turned on it lights and was just sitting there. It did not make one sound and it had a few different color lights on it, red, blue and white I believe. I said to the seaman on watch, "do you see what I see" and he said yes so I told him to call up to the bridge and see if they can see anything on their radar.
They replied that nothing was showing up on the screen and as soon as they told us that, this UFO took off like nothing I have ever seen. It looked like it traveled a 1000 miles in just a split second in a zig zag motion not making any noise or even a sight of smoke."
Jonathan Beaston,Machinist Repairman First Class U. S. Navy aboard the USS Comte De Grasse DD-974- Puerto Rico, Dec. 1995
"During the cruise from Pearl to Seattle five of the crew had a very unusual experience. During one late afternoon the sub was cruising on the surface at approx. 10 knots when the port lookout reported a strange contact at a range of 2 miles bearing 315 degrees relative.
The lookout refused to tell the OOD what it was that he had seen and instead insisted that the starboard lookout and the OOD both look at that area.
The three men looked through their binoculars toward the area reported and were astounded to see a metal craft larger than a football field tumble from the clouds into the ocean.
It actually tumbled end over end and when it hit the water and sank beneath the ocean huge geysers of water rose into the air. When the port lookout was sure that the others had seen it he then told the OOD that he had seen it tumble from the ocean up into the clouds.
The OOD and the starboard lookout were speechless. Within a few minutes, however, they all became excited when it again rose from the water and tumbled up into the cloud layer.
At about the same time a crew member below queried the bridge about a radar contact at the same range and bearing. Sonar also reported strange echos. The OOD called for the Captain to come to the bridge at that time.He also called for the camera to be sent to the bridge. The Captain arrived on the bridge within 2 minutes and the Chief Quartermaster was right behind him with the camera.
At about the same time the object emerged from the clouds and fell down into the ocean. All five men witnessed this. The QMC took pictures as it rose up into the clouds and then back down into the ocean once again.
The five men watched for quite a while longer but nothing else happened. Soon the sub had moved out of visual range and the Captain told all witnesses that they were never to discuss what they had seen with anyone under any circumstances."
William Cooper - Naval Port Lookout aboard the submarine USS Tiru,1966.
"As we approached this glow it turned to a monstrous circle of white lights on the water. Then we saw a yellow halo, small, much smaller than whatever it was launched from, about 15 miles away. As the UFO approached my plane and flew alongside it, we could see the domed craft which had a corona discharge."
Commander Graham Bethune, U.S. Navy -sighting from military flying from Iceland to Newfoundland,February 10, 1951.
"I slammed on some power, hauled the nose up and prayed we'd go over top of that thing. Just as we started to climb, this thing swept straight up, did an impossible right angle turn and begins to pace us. I don't see how ANYTHING could have executed a maneuver like that -- I mean almost a simultaneous two-directional turn -- up and to the right, not to mention coming to damned near a dead stop"
"Now comes, the wacky part of the whole thing. While we were watching the UFO, suddenly this other glowing thing drops out from underneath it. The damned thing drops out from underneath it. The damned thing looked a neon-green smoke ring. It dropped away from the larger UFO down toward the water … and submerged! We saw the glowing green circle of water where it went in, and then the glow disappeared!
“Seconds later, two more green rings dropped out. The second one dropped away and submerged like the first one, but the third one dropped down and then shot straight ahead to disappear toward the coast."
Captain Hammel, TWA pilot over Atlantic ocean - object(s) also witnessed by Co Pilot Dickson, December 22, 1977
"I called the front end crew, the aircraft commander, and as I pressed the intercom button, I heard a conversation between the navigator, pilot and co-pilot. They were obviously seeing something out of the front cockpit window of the aircraft, and I think the remark at the time was, 'God damn, look at that thing go!'
Without telling the rest of the members of my crew, because I did not want them to leave station, I put my assistant in charge and stepped out into the corridor and looked out the window towards the front of the aircraft, which at this time was beginning its mission turn from almost due south to a westerly course off the southern tip of Gotland Island and turning on a heading more or less towards Copenhagen.
And at that time I saw three bright glowing objects flying in a triangular formation. Our mission aircraft at the time was doing approximately four hundred fifty or five hundred knots, and these appeared to be closing extremely rapidly on a parallel course to the aircraft.
They appeared as round, glowing red fireballs. The nearest thing I can describe to it is an old fashioned cook stove lid that's been overheated and is just glowing red, or like something you'd see on an anvil in a blacksmith's shop, the glowing red of metal.
The one thing that astounded me was the colossal speed. Even after compensating for our forward direction and they were moving in the opposite direction paralleling the aircraft, they would appear on the horizon and had swept across my complete range of vision from the front of the aircraft to the rear and going over the horizon towards the Arctic regions, it was just a matter of two or three seconds.
And just as I was sitting there open-mouthed astonished watching this phenomenon flash by, there on the horizon appeared three more identical objects, and I watched no less than five or six groups of these things appear suddenly on the horizon at great speed, pass the aircraft and disappear in the Arctic regions to the rear of the aircraft.
It was just incredible. I have never seen anything move like that in my life."
George Lynn Guthrie -Master Sergeant/Crew chief of Airbourne Intelligence Crew/Russian Voice Intercept Processing Supervisor for the Air Force Security Service Command -
Witnessed UFOs flying a mission over the Baltic Sea,November 1970.
"Cape Race bearing west by north, distant ten miles, wind strong south by east, a large ball of fire appeared to rise out of the sea to a height of about fifty feet and come right against the wind close up to the ship. It then altered its course and ran along with the ship to a distance of about one and one-half miles. In about two minutes it again altered its course and went away to the south-east against the wind. It lasted, in all, not over five minutes."
Captain Moore,Captain of the British steamship Siberian -Nov 12th ,1887.
"On looking toward the east, the appearance was that of a revolving wheel with a center on that bearing, and whose spokes were illuminated, and, looking toward the west, a similar wheel appeared to be revolving, but in the opposite direction.These waves of light extended from the surface well under the water."
Captain Evans,Hydrographer to the British Navy-HMS Vulture , 05-15-1879
"It was May 24, and we were lying drifting on a leisurely swell in exactly 95°west by 7° south. We saw the shine of phosphorescent eyes drifting on the surface on dark nights, and on one single occasion, we saw the sea boil and bubble while something like a big wheel came up and rotated in the air, while some of our dolphins tried to escape by hurling themselves desperately through space."
Thor Heyerdahl (Kon-Tiki Raft) May,1947.
"Suddenly, the lights went out. There appeared a yellow halo on the water. It turned to an orange, to a fiery red, and then started movement toward us at a fantastic speed, turning to a bluish red around the perimeter. Due to its high speed, its direction of travel, and its size, it looked as though we were going to be engulfed.
It stopped its movement toward us and began moving along with us about 45 degrees off the bow to the right, about 100 feet or so below us and about 200 to 300 feet in front of us. It was not in a level position; it was tilted about 25 degrees.
It stayed in this position for a minute or so. It appeared to be from 200 to 300 feet in diameter, translucent or metallic, shaped like a saucer, a purple-red fiery ring around the perimeter and a frosted white glow around the entire object. The purple-red glow around the perimeter was the same type of glow you get around the commutator of an auto generator when you observe it at night.
When we landed at Argentia (Newfoundland), we were met by intelligence officers. The types of questions they asked us were like Henry Ford asking about the Model T.
You got the feeling that they were putting words in your mouth.
It was obvious that there had been many sightings in the same area, and most of the observers did not let the cat out of the bag openly. When we arrived in the United States, we had to make a full report to Navy Intelligence.
I found out a few months later that Gander radar did track the object in excess of 1800 mph."
Captain of Navy R5D aircraft,February 8,1951.
Captain,crew members and passengers on a Navy R5D aircraft witness UFO whilst flying over the North Atlantic ocean,February 8, 1951.
"The ship reported, emerging out of the ocean, near port bow, a brightly glowing, reddish-orange elliptical object approximately 70 feet in diameter. It shot out of the water traveling at about 700 mph. This event was tracked on the ships radar and substantiated."
Dan Willis, Naval Code Room Operator, US Navy Communication station,San Francisco.
Speaking about receiving a priority message, classified as Secret, from a military ship near Alaska.
"There were bright objects hanging over the sea.The closest object was luminous, round and four to five times larger than a Whirlwind helicopter.
The objects separated. Then one went west of the other, as it manoeuvred it changed shape to become body-shaped with projections like arms and legs."
Flight Leiutennant A.M. Wood. - RAF Boulmer,Northumberland.
UFO also correlated on multiple radar and witnessed by two RAF personnel
"It was about 10 o'clock and we had just set up our equipment after the helicopter left,when we saw a silvery object, shining in the sun, appear over a small ridge below us. It had a flattened-out look and our first reaction was that it was some kind of delta-wing aircraft. We soon realized it was not.The object was about 50 ft. in diameter,on top of its dome there was a little knob, and around the base of the dome there were circular markings. They might have been some kind of riveting, or even windows. They were a bit too small to tell.
Below these, on the face of the disc itself, there were larger rectangular markings which could have been glass or metallic. Our impression was that they were windows. As far as we could see, there were three of them.
It climbed slowly, then all of a sudden it was off- it shot over the ridge, made a sharp turn without skidding and was out of sight in about 20 seconds. We figured it had gone 20 or 25 miles by the time it disappeared."
John Hembling - Chief Geologist and Mining Exploration Manager - witnessed object with another geologist on reconnaissance survey of British Columbia,July 1965
After about 2 minutes and maybe a thousand meter from where we first noticed it, a grey/white craft broke out of the water right were the white wave was and it continued to move in the same direction except this time it was flying in the air.
From what I could see, I could not make out any conventional means of propulsion that I know of, no propeller, no rotors, no jet exhaust and completely silent from where I was.
I have no explaination whatsoever,I am Catholic Lay Minister and a Catechist. An educator of Faith. I do not lie."
George Gregory Matanjun,Catholic Lay Minister.
Tanjung Aru Beach in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia-October 8, 2005
"At first I though we were seeing a ship on fire on the horizon towards Ilfracombe. But then it rose out of the water like a blood-red sun, a good deal larger than a full-sized harvest moon.It remained at sea level, then suddenly took off at a fantastic speed towards the Atlantic."
Chief-Inspector Reginald Jones, of "D" Division, Glamorgan Police - object also witnessed by another officer,09-01-1957.
"I saw something in the sky that I didn't know what it was,it was over Highway Two about fifteen hundred feet, a large, lighted ball about six feet in diameter. It was going toward the beach very slowly.I was in the parking lot of the Hilton when they called me from the police department.They told me to go to the beach because a great many people were watching this object.
When I got there, the object was already hovering over the water about two or three miles off the beach.
There were about five hundred people watching. There are about four public housing areas right there and all the people from the housing areas were there. I saw one light coming down but when I got to the beach I noticed there were two objects in the water, not together but about a mile away from each other. They were hovering over the water, right about at the water level.
Because of the distance I couldn’t tell if it was a few feet over the water or if they were actually touching the water. The first object stayed about an hour but the second one lasted at least four hours.
People came out of their houses to see the view and people came in cars, parked on the side of the street and went to the beach to see what was happening. I stayed until midnight, mostly keeping an eye on the group so there wouldn’t be any problems.
It was pretty high, like an orange-yellow light. I don't know exactly the size. As it came down it got larger. It was pretty good sized.
The police got many, many phone calls, all night. We called the Coast Guard but they didn’t come. They said it wasn't an emergency.
I think they were mystery objects. I was impressed by what I saw.There were many other officers who saw this."
Mayagüez Police Lieutenant Cesar Grácia -1977, Mayaquez, Puerto Rico - on witnessing two Large Glowing UFOs Enter & Emerge from Ocean.
"It was a real big triangular object,completely engulfed in a bright yellow light ... It seemed to be at an altitude of about 500 feet above the ground, over property belonging to Camp García. I calculated the altitude based on the height of some trees in the area. What intrigued me the most was that the thing was suspended right over the area where the US Navy has an airstrip or runway for their planes to land and take off ... And that it was an unidentified flying object.
There were no military exercises at the time, so what was that object, that triangle of light, doing there over the runway? Thinking that I was observing something I shouldn’t be seeing, I left the site at once. But from that moment on, I realized something very strange is taking place on the land controlled by the US Navy.
This has happened on many occasions, sometimes between 9 and 11 PM, and sometimes around 2 or 3 in the morning.They come out from the sea at a spot right in the middle of Punta Arenas and Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba."
Wilfredo Feliciano- Director of the Vieques Municipal Police Department,Puerto Rico.
"It had a dome with ports all around it. The bottom was surrounded by colored lights like neon lights in blue, red, green and white which blinked in a sequence as if they were rotating, and in the middle there were three spheres or hemispheres.
It was a huge thing, about 100 feet in diameter, and it made no noise whatsoever. What fascinated me even more was that the object was enveloped in a kind of halo which made its entire metallic structure glow white. It flew slowly over our heads and seemed to land at a place behind a group of trees. But we couldn 't see or check that out because at that point it was too far away and in the middle of the moor."
Police Constable Anthony Dodd Skipton, North Yorkshire,December 12, 1978
Object also witnessed by Police Constable Dale
"This object came at us from the west. At first it looked like a red hot piece of coal about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. In a matter of seconds it was as large as a ruler held at arm's length. That is when it came to a complete stop.
"The shape of the object was distinct. The body of the object was solid bright red and it gave off a pulsating red glow completely around the object. The object hovered a few seconds, then made a left turn and again hovered for a few seconds, then went straight up like a shot. We watched it until it completely faded beyond the stars."
Patrolman LeRoy A. Arboreen - Dunellen, New Jersey, United States December 20, 1958
Object also witnessed by Patrolman B. Talada.
"The bulk of the object was plainly visible at this time and appeared to be triangular shaped with a bright purple light on the left end and the smaller, less bright, blue light on the right end. The bulk of the object appeared to be dark gray in color with no other distinguishing features.
It appeared to be about 200 feet wide and 40-50 feet thick in the middle, tapering off toward both ends. There was no noise or any trail. The bright purple light illuminated the ground directly underneath it and the area in front of it, including the highway and the interior of our patrol car.
After arriving at approximately its original position,it went straight up in the air and disappeared at 25-30 degrees above the horizon."
Deputy Sheriff Bob Goode Damon, Texas, United States September 3, 1965.
Object also witnessed by Chief Deputy Billy McCoy
"I know I'm not crazy .. I've always said I didn't believe in this stuff,I don't know what I saw, but I know I saw something . . It's just hard to describe what happened. It looked like an evening star or something,but it kept getting brighter and bigger.
I heard a whirring noise—like a blender . . Like it was straining, when you first put ice in it—and then the UFO started coming closer.
The thing came right over the car,It came right to us, like it was being piloted - the thing just hovered over us, about 20 or 30 feet up, for more than a minute.
There was light coming out from little windows and light changed colors several times, from soft blue to red to green and other colors. It didn't spin or anything. It just hovered around there -then the thing just picked up and took off, north west, toward Satartia."
Madison County Sheriff's Deputy Kenneth Creel - Flora, Mississippi, United States,February 10, 1977
Object also witnessed by Highway Patrolman Louis Younger.
"I always look behind me so no one can come up behind me. And when I looked in this wooded area behind us, I saw this thing. At this time it was coming up...to about tree top level. I'd say about one hundred feet. it started moving toward us....
As it came over the trees, I looked at Barney and he was still watching the car...and he didn't say nothing and the thing kept getting brighter and the area started to get light...I told him to look over his shoulder, and he did.
He just stood there with his mouth open for a minute, as bright as it was, and he looked down.
And I started looking down and I looked at my hands and my clothes weren't burning or anything, when it stopped right over on top of us.The only thing, the only sound in the whole area was a hum...like a transformer being loaded or an overloaded transformer when it changes....
.... it went PSSSSSHHEW, straight up; and I mean when it went up, friend, it didn't play no games; it went straight up."
Deputy Sheriff Dale Spaur Portage County,Ohio,April 17, 1966
Also witnessed by Deputy Wilbur Neff.
"The light would throb with an increased intensity prior to each change of colour and hover in the sky for some time and then dart and cover large distances, doing a number of right-angled turns at high speed."
Senior Constable Andrew Luhrs -Gladstone,Southern Australia,May 22, 1996
link;http://kenny.anomalyresponse.org/WAVE73.htm
-
Statements From Credible Sources on UFOs;3;
"The discs use a means of propulsion different from ours. There is no other possible explanation. Flying saucers come from another world."
Louis Breguet -French aircraft designer and manufacturer.
"Contact between U.S. citizens and extra-terrestrials or their vehicles is strictly illegal."
Dr. Brian T. Clifford,Pentagon official -New York press conference,Oct. 5, 1982.
"When [the mysterious light] first appeared it was seen moving rapidly from the northeast and heading in a southwesterly direction. As it neared the southern boundary of the city [of Sacramento] it turned directly toward the west and after passing the city went south, being distinctly visible for upward of 20 minutes."
Deputy Secretary of State, California George A. McCalvy -the San Francisco Call, November 25,1896.
"Raising my eyes...I observed a torpedo-shaped body, some 300 feet away, stationary in appearance, and suspended in the air about 50 feet above the tops of the buildings. In size it was about 6 feet long by 8 inches in diameter, the shell, or covering, having a dark appearance, with here and there tongues of fire issuing from spots on the surface, resembling red-hot unburnished copper....this object began to move, rather slowly, and disappeared over Dolan Brother's store, southward. As it moved, the covering seemed rupturing in places, and through these the intensely red flames issued."
Bishop Michaud of Burlington, Vermont -letter to the Monthly Weather Review July 2, 1907.
"So this thing [UFO] fires a beam of light at the warhead, hits it and then it moves to the other side and fires another beam of light. And the warhead tumbles out of space. What message would I interpret from that? [The UFOs were telling us] don't mess with nuclear warheads. Major Mannsman said, "You are never to speak of this again." After an article [about the incident years later], people would call and start screaming at me. One night somebody blew up my mailbox."
US Air Force Lieutenant, Professor Robert Jacobs-Disclosure, pp. 184, 187.
"I was arrested [by an Air Force officer]. He was saying, "Do you like the Constitution?" I'm like, "Yeah." He said, "We don't obey. We just do what we want. And if you tell anybody [about us or the UFO], you will just come up missing."
Marine Corps, Corporal Jonathan Weygandt
"As a rule, [places where UFOs appear] are objects of strategic significance... [The Air Force] came up with a table with pictures of all the shapes of UFOs that had ever been recorded-about fifty-ranging from ellipses and spheres to something resembling spaceships...The study of UFOs may reveal some new forms of energy to us, or at least bring us closer to a solution."
Major General Vasily Alexeyev -Russian Space Communications Center,Disclosure, pp. 345-347.
"Colonel Holomon brought out a piece of what appeared to be metallic debris. He went on to explain that this was material that had come from a New Mexico crash in 1947 of an extraterrestrial craft, and that was discussed at length...I got an opportunity to travel with the President [Eisenhower].
He was very, very interested in what made [the UFOs] go. But what happened was that Eisenhower got sold out. He realized that he was losing control of the UFO subject. He realized that the [study of these technologies] was not going to be in the best hands. That was a real concern."
General Stephen Lovekin,US Army -Disclosure, pp. 230 - 236.
"In my view and in that of millions like me, there is no question as to the existence in multiple of these advanced machines and in diverse forms-discs, crosses, wedges, triangles, boomerangs, cigars, and their respective occupants in various manifestations-greys, blues, humanoids, reptilians, and Mothmen, etc. The question is not whether they exist but rather are some of them here to do our species harm or good?"
Dan Aykroyd
"If you look into the sky in the early morning you see them playing tag between the stars."
Muhammad Ali -witnessed UFOs on at least two occasions
"They came over so regularly we could time them. Sometimes they stood still, other times they moved so fast it was hard to keep a steady eye on them."
David Bowie.
"Based upon unreliable and unscientific surmises as data, the Air Force develops elaborate statistical findings which seem impressive to the uninitiated public unschooled in the fallacies of the statistical method. One must conclude that the highly publicized Air Force pronouncements based upon unsound statistics serve merely to misrepresent the true character of the UFO phenomena."
Yale Scientific Magazine (Yale University) Volume XXXVII, Number 7, April 1963.
"It must be accepted that some type of flying objects have been observed, although their identification and origin are not discernible."
U.S. Air Intelligence Report # 100-203-79, ANALYSIS OF FLYING OBJECTS IN THE U.S., Dec. 10, 1948
"This "flying saucer" situation is not all imaginary or seeing too much in some natural phenomena. Something is really flying around."
Air Force Base Intelligence Report, FLYING DISCS, July 30, 1947
"This is the most puzzling case in the radar/visual files. The apparently rational, intelligent behavior of the UFO suggests a mechanical device of unknown origin as the most probable explaination."
Air Force Project Blue Book, SPECIAL REPORT NO. 14, May 5, 1955
"When the team was about ten miles from the landing site, static disrupted radio contact with them. Five to eight minutes later the glow diminished, and the UFO took off. Another UFO was visually sighted and confirmed by radar."
Classified report by an Air Force Strike Team at Minot AFB, 1966.
"Pilot of helicopters wished to stress fact that object was of a saucer like nature, was stationary at 2000 ft. And would be glad to be called upon to verify any statements and act as witness."
Emergency Report from Maxwell Air Force Base on air space violation by UFO, 1954.
"In view of the wide interest within the Agency ... outside knowledge of Agency interest in Flying Saucers carries the risk of making the problem even more serious in the public mind than it already is."
CIA memo, 1952
"Based on my experience in fighter tactics, it is my opinion that the object was controlled by something having visual contact with us. The power and acceleration were beyond the capability of any known U.S. aircraft."
F-94 pilot, after encountering a UFO, 1952.
"Some military officials are seriously considering the possibility of interplanetary ships."
FBI memo on UFOs, 1952.
"From their questions, I could tell they had a good idea of what the saucers are. One officer admitted they did, but he wouldn't say any more."
Commercial pilot, after questioning by intelligence officer, 1950.
"[Object] described as flat on top and bottom and appearing from a front view to have round edges and slightly beveled ... No vapor trails or exhaust or visible means of propulsion. Described as traveling at tremendous speed.... Pilot considered by associates to be highly reliable, of mature judgment and a creditable observer."
"It was cigar shaped and yellow in colour.It travelled along slowly for a few seconds, then shot off into the night at a fantastic speed. We didn’t know what it was, nor had we ever seen anything like it but many reports have been made at the police station of strange lights and objects."
Police Constable William Bryne -Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Object also witnessed by Police Constable Perry Jackson.
"It was approximately 50 feet in length. There were portholes on the side but there were no visible signs of propulsion. The ship appeared to be metallic and gave off a bright glow. There was a low whirring sound coming from it."
Police Constable Brian Earnshaw - Bacup, Lancashire,October 1969
Two other uniformed officers, PC Colin Donahoe and Malcolm Reader also witnessed the object from a different location.
"There was an eerie, greenish-grey glow in the sky. Then I picked out an object about thirty feet long and built up in three sections with the top looking like a dustbin lid. It gave off a high pitched whine. I was paralysed. I just couldn't believe it."
Police Constable Colin Perks - Wilmslow, Cheshire,March 1966
"It was a giant plate of light. It lit up the whole horizon with a glare. It was flying low over the landscape and appeared to be spinning."
Police Constable Eric Pinnock - Warminster, Wiltshire,30/11/65.
"We made several attempts to follow it, or I should say get closer to it, but the object seemed aware of us and we were more successful remaining motionless and allow it to approach us, which it did on several occasions.Each time the object neared us, we experienced radio interference.
The object was shaped like a football, the edges, or I should say outside of the object were clear to us...the glow was emitted by the object, was not a reflection of other lights."
California Highway Patrol Officer Charles A. Carson - California, United States, August 13, 1960.
Object also witnessed by Police Officer Stanley Scott
"I happened to look up and there was that UFO right above the cornfield, it was just hovering right up above the power lines. -i t was just like the ones you see on TV.
Then it took off like a bullet, just tremendously fast -if I live to be 100, I'll never forget it."
Henrico County Sheriff A.D. "Toby" Mathews Richmond , Virginia, United States August 9, 1966
"The unidentified craft appeared to take efficient controlled evasive action."
FBI Memo, describing chase of UFO over the North Sea, 1947.
"Army intelligence has recently said that the matter of ‘Unidentified Aircraft' or ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,' otherwise known as ‘Flying Discs,' ‘Flying Saucers,' and ‘Balls of Fire,' is considered top secret by intelligence officers of both the Army and the Air Forces."
FBI memo on UFOs ,1949.
"Around Szolnok many UFO reports have been received from the Ministry of Defense, which obviously and logically means that they know very well where they have to land and what they have to do. It is remarkable indeed that the Hungarian newspapers, in general newspapers everywhere, reject the reports of the authorities."
Gyorgy Keleti, Minister of Defense, Hungary, in article by Attila Lenart entitled "Ask a Question to the Minister of Defense: George Keleti, Are You Afraid of a UFO Invasion?", Nepszava, Budapest, August 18, 1994.
"I am not a specialist on UFOs, and, therefore, I can only correlate the data and express my own supposition."
General Igor Maltsev, in the newspaper Rabochaya Tribune for April 19, 2005
General Igor Maltsev reported that he had reports of "more than 100 visual observations" compiled by commanders of several air defense units of the Moscow Military District of a UFO which has been seen in the area of Pereslavl-Zalesskiy in the northeast of Moscow on March 21, 1990.
Maltsev included with his report to the newspaper five testimonials, including a report by a pilot who flew over the object and a report from a ground radar tracking station. The pilot saw only two lights and a dimly perceived silhouette of the object against city lights. The radar station reported a sighting of a rapidly moving, shining object with red lights and another with white lights that followed the first. The report included times, azimuths and distances of the reported objects.
"We all know that UFOs are real. All we need to ask is where do they come from."
Captain Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut, 1971.
"I have absolutely no idea where the UFO's come from or how they are operated, but after ten years of research, I know they are something from outside our atmosphere."
Dr. James E. McDonald, Professor of Atmospheric physics, University of Arizona. 1967.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss the governments knowledge of extraterrestrial UFO's at this time. I am still personally being briefed on the subject."
President Richard M. Nixon
"We find ourselves faced by powers which are far stronger than we had hitherto assumed, and whose base is at present unknown to us. More I cannot say at present. We are now engaged in entering into closer contact with those powers, and in six or nine months time it may be possible to speak with some precision on the matter."
Dr. Wernher von Braun, reflecting on the deflection of the US June 2 rocket from orbit in 1959.
"I can assure you the flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth."
President Harry S. Truman - Press conference, Washington DC, April 4, 1950.
"UFOs are real. I myself had an experience of this sort in 1951. It was a yellowish-silver disk with deep red edges, moving at high speed at an altitude of some 500 meters..."
Vicecommodore Oscar Bario. Argentinian Defense.
"At this state of events, and with the evidence available to us, it is hard to deny the existence of flying saucers."
Vicecommodore Dante La Roca. Argentinian Defense.
"I believe in the so-called flying saucer, and it is my understanding that the Air Force will pursue studies on this subject."
Commander Adolfo Alvarez, 1968. Argentinian Defense.
"While working under President Eisenhower,I discovered that Eisenhower had a keen interest in UFOs, but that he came to realise that he had lost control of the subject."
Brigadier General Steven Lovekin
"After the plane from Roswell arrived with the material I asked the base commander to personaly transport it in a B-26 to Major General Mc Mullen in Washington DC.
The entire operation was conducted under strictest secrey.The weather balloon explanation for the material was a cover story to divert the attention of the press."
Brigadier General Thomas Dubose.
Commanding Officer of Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
Affadavit 09/16/01
"We heard the material was coming to Wright Field. It was brought into our material evaluation labs. I don't know how it arrived but the boys who tested it said it was very unusual."
Brigadier General Arthur E. Exon
"I speak from three years of detailed,personal research involving interviews with more than five hundred witnessess in selected UFO cases,chiefly in the United States.
In my opinion the UFO problem,far from being the 'nonsense problem' it has been labelled by many scientists,constitutes an area of extraordinary scientific interest."
Dr James McDonald. Professor of Atmospheric Sciences-
Senior Physicist. Quoted in 'UFOs - a Scientific debate'
"Blue Book was now under direct orders to debunk...I remember the conversations around the conference table in which it was suggested that Walt Disney or some other educational cartoon producer be enlisted in the debunking process."
Dr J Allen Hyneck
Scientific Consultant to Blue Book. (USAF SPONSORED INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE SET UP BY THE THEN USA GOVERNMENT);
"The Air Force has never denied the possiblity that interplanetary spacecraft exist.There are many people in the Air Force who beleive in UFOs."
Albert M Chop -USAF Press Liason
"It isn't a question of whether or not flying saucers exist.The question is what are they and who do they belong to?"
George Flier
Air Force Intelligence Officer 1958 -1978
link; http://kenny.anomalyresponse.org/WAVE73.htm
__________________
-
UFO Communicated by Thomas Jefferson;
Report Concerning an Unidentified Flying Object Communicated by Thomas Jefferson;
This one page notice appeared in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society vol. 6 Part 1 (Philadelphia, 1804), p. 25. At the time it was written, Thomas Jefferson was president of the Society and also Vice President of the United States.
Apparently it was written and submitted by the naturalist William Dunbar, and communicated or presented to the society by Jefferson. Unfortunately, the plate referred to is missing. The entire volume (21 MB), which is in the public domain, may be downloaded from rbedrosian.com. Though only one page, this is an invaluable and historic document.
"No. III. Description of a singular Phenomenon seen at Baton Rouge, by William Dunbar, Esq. communicated by Thomas Jefferson, President A. P. S.
Natchez, June 30th, 1800.
Read 16th January 1801.
A PHENOMENON was seen to pass Baton Rouge on the night of the 5th April 1800, of which the following is the best description I have been able to obtain.
It was first seen in the South West, and moved so rapidly, passing over the heads of the spectators, as to disappear in the North East in about a quarter of a minute. It appeared to be of the size of a large house, 70 or 80 feet long and of a form nearly resembling Fig. 5. in Plate, iv.
It appeared to be about 200 yards above the surface of the earth, wholly luminous, but not emitting sparks; of a colour resembling the sun near the horizon in a cold frosty evening, which may be called crimson red. When passing right over the heads of the spectators, the light on the surface of the earth, was little short of the effect of sun-beams, though at the same time, looking another way, the stars were visible, which appears to be a confirmation of the opinion formed of its moderate elevation.
In passing, a considerable degree of heat was felt but no electric sensation. Immediately after it disappeared in the North East, a violent rushing noise was heard, as if the phenomenon was bearing down the forest before it, and in a few seconds a tremendous crash was heard similar to that of the largest piece of ordnance, causing a very sensible earthquake.
I have been informed, that search has been made in the place where the burning body fell, and that a considerable portion of the surface of the earth was found broken up, and every vegetable body burned or greatly scorched. I have not yet received answers to a number of queries I have sent on, which may perhaps bring to light more particulars.
link; http://www.ufodigest.com/article/rep...omas-jefferson
actual document containing UFO report;
http://rbedrosian.com/Downloads/TAPS...ferson_Ufo.pdf
-
Thought i would add this here on a one very interesting man by the name of Dr Christopher (Kit) Green , a once CIA's 'keeper of the weird' at the Office for Science and Technology.He was a senior science analyst;
Dr Christopher (Kit) Green - part one;
The below is from a book called "Mirage Men: A Journey in Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs," author ; Mark Pilkington. credit for the below information is here; http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
quotes;
"Pilkington says "Kit Green is a formidable, immediately likable character...He's
also fascinated by UFOs, an interest that goes back some three decades to his time as the CIA's 'keeper of the weird' at the Office for Science and Technology. Really he was a senior science analyst, but a small part of his work involved intelligence to do with remote viewing (RV,) UFOs and other hot paranormal topics of the 1970s." (p.277.)
"Kit, John and I spoke for some hours, initially about the Serpo material, which, to our surprise, Kit took more seriously than we had expected. 'There are certain facts in there,' he told us, 'certain references, that prevent me from being able to reject the material out of hand, even if the story that it's telling is patently not true.'
The Serpo material, or at least some of it, Kit suggested, might have served a purpose to someone, somewhere, perhaps conveying information in heavily codified form. One of the ways you can assess the value of information is to watch who is drawn to it, and Serpo had caught the attention of some senior players in the defence intelligence field..." (p.278.)
An aside:
The Serpo material was reported to have been initially released by an anonymous informant, in November 2005 to Victor Martinez, in the USA. Over time, by 2008, some of the contents of the alleged DIA report were released to the Internet.
It is said to provide the history of ETs interacting with the Earth and the subsequent visit by a team of humans to Serpo, a planet in the Zeta Reticuli star system. (Mirage Men pp48-50.)
Whether or not the Serpo material had any validity at all was hotly debated by part of the online UFO research community. It was however, widely seen to be a hoax.
Rick Doty:
"Kit is also a close and long-standing friend of Rick Doty, who he talked about with unguarded warmth and respect, though he was forced to admit that sometimes Rick's actions could be both puzzling and frustrating." (p.278.)
"We talked about the use of quiet helicopters 'disguised' as UFOs to probe security and nuclear installations. 'I'm pretty sure that it happened' said Kit, following up by hinting that he may have met a man who claimed to have flown similar missions." (p.278.)
"...at a Denny's restaurant back in 1986 he, along with physicist Hal Puthoff and computer scientist and ufologist Jacques Vallee, distilled what they knew about the subject into what has become known as the 'core story.' Simply put, the core story, according to Kit, is this: "The ETs came here, maybe once, maybe a few times. Either through accident or design, the US Government acquired one of their craft. The only problem was that the physics that powered the craft were so advanced that for decades we humans have struggled to understand it or to replicate it." (p.279.)
"This man was serious. And, as he sees it, so is the situation. We are not alone and probably never have been. They may even be here now. The problem is, what are we supposed to do about it?" (p.280.)
An aside:The 'core story':
One site which provides discussion of the 'core story' is (click here.)
Hypothesis:
Kit then put forward an hypothesis which involved "If something really strange in the area of UFOs is true, then what do we do about conveying that information to the public? First we concede what may be the basic facts: maybe there are civilized lifeforms elsewhere in the universe; maybe they visited us in their spaceships a couple of times, and then went back home...And there may be people in the Government who believe that this did happen, and believe that the information needs to be public knowledge...But then there's another group of people in power who say, 'No, it will make them sick to know all this, we can't let the story out, it's too dangerous." (p.281.)
Kit continued the hypothesis. "The way to do it is to construct a framework whereby they can parse out the things they've heard that are not true, and you whittle it down to a manageable story. A story like this. ' There were three spaceships that came here over thirty years, and we've got one of them. We can't figure out how it works, we've crashed it because..." (pp281-282.)
The hypothesis continues, that you feed stories out "Over ten or twenty years. You put out a bunch of movies, a bunch of books...Then one day you say, "Hey, all that stuff is nonsense, relax, it's not that bad...the reality is this..." (p.282.)
"Here was a very suave, very intelligent man, a man who had been close to the secret machinations of government than anyone we were ever likely to meet. And he appeared to be telling us that the aliens were real..." (p.283.)
The interview:
The introduction to the interview states:
"Dr Christopher C Green, known to friends and colleagues as "Kit," currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Clinical Research, China for the Wayne State School of Medicine, in Detroit Michigan. He served in the CIA from 1969 through 1985. In the early 1970's, Dr Green's work included involvement in the start of the 20-year government research project into ESP and psychic ability." Click here to see current faculty directory with a Christopher Green listed.); http://directory.med.wayne.edu/users...ayne,%20DC=edu
"I was an "open" employee and able to generally discuss this question for my entire career. My position was as an analyst in the Life Sciences Division, later to become a Science and technology Division, in the part of the agency that examined intelligence data that may affect national security. Most of the data was unclassified.
What analyst's "did" was called "All source" intelligence...My primary responsibility was in Physiology and Medicine, life support systems for foreign space and underseas platforms, and a wide range of biological and chemical threat analysis. My speciality was Forensic Medicine; this means trying to figure out diagnoses from very little and often highly incomplete data."
Green estimated that "Overall, I never spent more than 10% of my time on the subjects across any given period of weeks or a month..."
The rest of the interview dealt with the CIA's remote viewing research and not UFOs apart from:
"LTK: Have your views regarding phenomenon such as UFOs, ghosts or ESP changes at all from the time you started with the CIA to the day you left in 1985? If so why?
"CG: Yes. I now believe the phenomenon is much less common that I used to think."
LINK FOR INTERVIEW; http://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/Tru...the_Paranormal
Green's part in the CIA remote viewing program:
"On June 27, 1972 Puthoff wrote concerning the magnetometer experiment to CIA scientist Kit Green, who occupied the Life Science Desk in the agency's Office of Strategic Intelligence (OSI), starting a long-term relationship with one of the most important figures in the CIA to support the SRI remote viewing program." (Smith, P.H.2005. "Reading the Enemy's Mind." Tom Doherty Associates. New York. ISBN 0-312-87515-0 page 64.)Click here for Smith's website. http://readingtheenemysmind.com/
Bruce Maccabee:
UFOlogist Bruce Maccabee investigated the New Zealand UFO sightings of December 1978. It is reported that Maccabee met with Kit Green at the CIA in 1979 when he briefed a number of CIA personnel on the New Zealand events. (Source: click here.); http://servv89pn0aj.sn.sourcedns.com.../maccabee.html
Vallee on Green:
"Hal's contact is a boyish fellow, Dr Christopher Green nicknamed Kit, a dynamic bespectacled young man of medium build with alert brown eyes. He holds a doctorate in biology, exudes optimism and refreshing humor.
"Dr Green wasted no time in getting into our first topic of conversation, the Pascagoula case. He knew more about it than the "experts" who had claimed to analyze it. Hynek had interviewed both witnesses with Jim Harder, who made a big show of hypnotizing them. But Dr Green told me that a fortnight after the supposed abduction two other men fishing from a boat in the same river had seen an oblong, torpedo-like craft in the water. It was about one metre long and emitted a cone of light. They touched it with an oar. The light went off, and then came back, suggesting inner control.The coast Guard was called up and confirmed the observation, after which everybody was debriefed by Naval Intelligence and all hell broke loose. Green was alerted by the Navy. 'Nobody has pointed out that Pascagoula is a strategic site,' he said, 'it's the place where most of the U.S. nuclear subs are built. So the Navy surmised the object was a Soviet spying device. But why did it have a light, if it was designed to spy? Furthermore it's difficult to make a robot device that swims under water."
"We went on to discuss computer catalogues. But when I asked if they had any data about the lead mask case in Brazil he had never heard about it. The most important thing I learned was that Green has counterparts in every branch of the Executive. Like Howell McConnell, they mainly operated "out of personal interest," with the blessing of higher-level managers. They occasionally exchanged data, but he claimed little was done with it.
"In my case, I have a perfect excuse for doing this, out of my office at the Central Intelligence Agency:If there are Aliens around, dead or alive, they come under the mission of my group, which is biological intelligence. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't keep my mind open to this possibility."
"Are you involved in longer-term research, looking for patterns?"
"Not the agency. Not until there's clear proof that the problem is real. My bosses have read the same reports you have. They've even read your books, but they simply have never been scared by the problem to the point of setting up a serious project."
"I pushed him a little more: 'Don't you agree there must be a secret effort somewhere?'
"He thought about it for a while. 'Yes,' he finally said, 'I do agree with that statement. In my group we've wondered if it wasn't being run within private industry.'"
Comments:
1.For more on the Pascagoula case click here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascagoula_Abduction There is no mention of the sighting related by Green. However there are some details on another site (click here) http://www.ufocasebook.com/Pascagoula.html which fits in with Green's comments.
26 February 1974:
"A temporary clearance is being set up to enable me to visit Kit next month in hopes to better understand the chessboard."
18 May 1974:
Vallee visited the NSA."On the way back I met with Kit at the Dulles airport restaurant. His team remains interested in tracking down rumours but long-term research is simply not their mission, he said in response to my tirades stressing the urgency for science work. If they stumbled on hard evidence, of course they would pursue it and bring their analytical expertise upon it, but he confessed that's unlikely to happen.
"'Damm it,'he told me, 'I've got my people looking deep within the Air Force and we can't find anybody who'll talk to us! I've spent three days with Winebrenner, and brought up the subject as part of our work. He swore to me that FTD wasn't doing anything on UFOs any more. He said they had neither hardware or biological data.'...'The Air Force has unfocused objectives,' Kit went on. 'They have a shortage of scientific brains and they are weakened by the fact that their personnel rotates every two years. So where do they hide the fucking project, if there's one?'"
2 June 1974:
"...we got a call from Hal. He didn't want to talk over the phone, so I invited him over for coffee. "I don't know why Kit hasn't called you himself, except that technically the line of communication goes through me," he began. "He thinks you ought to know there's a group of 12 highly placed people in the Government who've decided to create a focus for the study of UFOs, with full access and funding for researchers like you. One of these people is at the deputy secretary level. He agrees with you that Hynek should be invited.""
16 June 1974:
"Wearing a colorful shirt and a vibrant tie, Kit met me at Dulles last Friday in his little yellow sports car...Kit and I drove over to the Marriott to meet David M and "Sams," who was introduced to me as a member of the new "Group of twelve," which sounded exciting until we sat down in the bar area and I realised they were all space cadets, talking about pedestrian research worthy of the old NICAP.
"Sams is a 20-year veteran of the agency, manager of a project that flies "secret vehicles often confused with UFOs." A solid fellow with brown hair and thick glasses, he said i should write a proposal with him for an ambitious effort with a big budget, but he had no answers to my questions about scientific objectives...We went over to Kit's pleasant house int he woods where I met his cheerful wife and their two sons, who made me feel at home. We spent all of Friday evening arguing, all Of Saturday morning as well. I failed to convince him that UFOs were real."
21 July 1974:
"Kit just left, along with Hal, Russell and two of his kids. We had a long discussion after a demo of my landing catalogue. Kit has dropped out of Sam's covert "Group of Twelve."
10 December 1974:
"Over lunch kit told me he'd been able to reconstruct all the data alluded to by Emenegger. "Everything checks out, but I can't find out if the Holloman movies actually exists."
"...Kit reluctantly confirmed there was a group of 15 engineers in the Midwest (I assumed it was McDonnell in St Louis) secretly doing UFO research for CIA under cover of "aeronautical research." They're getting data through leaks from CUFOs and other amateurs. I congratulated myself for working alone, keeping my own counsel."
19 February 1975
"Kit came over for a long talk about Lopez Rega, the cults of California and my theories of control systems. He was flying up from Los Angeles where he'd met Sandler and was thrilled."
23 March 1975
"A couple of weeks ago Kit met in Virginia with Russell in Hal's hotel room. They had started to discuss a case in which a mysterious mechanical arm appeared out of thin air int he bedroom of a Livermore engineer when the four of them suddenly heard a key turn in the door. Hal and Kit positioned themselves on either side and jumped on the intruder as soon as he pushed the door in, grabbing a little fellow with only one arm! The poor man swore he had been given the wrong key. They called the front desk. Indeed he had gone to the wrong room, but why did his key open Hal's door?"
26 April 1975
"Kit is now talking to every ufologist worth his salt. Last night he told me that the Holloman film that Sandler was trying so hard to locate had been withdrawn from the library by a Captain Harner who has since been transferred! But he can't find any trace of any Harner, or any such film at the Pentagon."
1 June 1975
"Over lunch Kit said that a friend of his recently attended a witchcraft session in San Francisco, where he actually saw the devil. Later he was shown a tiny pipe connected to the central cauldron. It gave off a gas which made the participants susceptible to suggestion...some of their adepts swear they have received communications from higher beings."
26 March 1975
An entry about animal mutilations. "From my own analysis, which runs contrary top Kit's conclusions, only a small number of cattle mutilations can be attributed to cults or predators."
Continuing with Vallee's diary entries re Green.
20 March 1977
"I plan to come home through El Paso where I'll meet with Dr Green, still in medical school. I expect we will argue again about the reality of UFOs and mutilations, both of which he keeps denying."
24 March 1977
"When I saw him in El Paso Kit was bothered by John Wilhelm, the Time Magazine journalist who wrote Search for Superman and is now hot on his trail. Kit has started to study cases of unexplained deaths and comas that have struck parapsychology researchers..." Click here for some of Wilhelm's work.
11 August 1977
"Kit and I spent two hours arguing yesterday at The Little Store in Woodside, closed for the afternoon. Alain gave us two Napoleons, a pot of coffee and left us alone. I proposed to attack the UFO system by moving upstream along its own feedback loop. I explained to kit how the topology of a control system worked and why we could try and affect it, even if we didn't yet know the nature of the actual agent (extraterrestrial, ultra-dimensional, collective unconscious, human manipulation etc..."
"Something bothered me about such conversations with kit. We speak past each other. I try to make him see the reality of the phenomenon, because he's one of the few people in a position to bring the subject up before decision-makers, but he continues to deny it, in academic terms that son';t take the facts into account."
HERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUOTE;
why was Vallee spending so much time with Kit? The answer seems to be "because he's one of the few people in a position to bring the subject up before decision-makers."
30 September 1977
"I spoke to Kit at Dulles. We ended up at the coffee shop of the Marriott, where we had once met with "Smith."
"Whatever happened to that guy, anyway?" I asked, "And his Group of Twelve?"
"We never found out why he wanted to know you, did we?" he said, evading me. I have my own idea that "Smith" wanted to make his own assessment, for whatever purpose. Kit was sceptical that NASA could study UFOs."
"They don't have the resources to do a good job," he argued. "They don't have the right psychologists, medical experts, analysts. We're the only ones with these resources,"
"What are you waiting for, then" I challenged him.
"We can't do it until the Executive tells us to study the problem."
"Yet Schneider had just told me he'd never trust the CIA to do a reliable study...I think Kit is a bright scientist with an open mind but he is the exception in a bureaucratic empire that smothers research. Even if he did know something, he couldn't use it, so what good is that?"
17 November 1977
"Kit keeps explaining away the sightings by a combination of witness unreliability, fugue states, paraphrenia, or unspecified "anthropological" factors; none of which accounts for the hard core data. As for cattle mutilation cases, which may or may not be related to UFOs at all, he dismisses them as the simple work of predators.
The final part of entries from Vallee's diaries re Green.
11 December 1977
"When Kit got back to his office after his stay in Texas he was annoyed to discover that the UFO files he had collected had been scattered by Agency attorneys in answer to FOIA requests. he had difficulty gathering them again. His boss called him on the carpet: "You're supposed to cover life sciences," he told him, "this stuff has nothing to do with it."
"The Agency allowed him to pursue the topic privately. He told me that something curious was happening in Mexico, with rumours of multiple UFOs seen on the ground and mysterious deaths of animals...Unfortunately we don;t have any real facts."
Comments:
21 January 1978
"Some of the theoretical papers I'd sent Kit have disappeared from his home study, just like Poher's photographs vanished from Bourret's apartment."
28 January 1978
"Kit and I met at Dulles airport on Thursday. Again we spent the evening arguing. I asked him what he thought of the Soviet psychotronic work..,"We began our first really serious analysis of Soviet parapsychology work about 1970," he said..."
29 January 1978
"A similar situation exists in Washington. Kit has been told that the Agency didn't have a mission to monitor the subject. His personal notes and files have been returned to him with instructions to take them home. Which brings us back to the big question: If those guys actually know nothing, who the hell is in charge?"
16 April 1978
"Some brave researchers are trying to extract UFO data from the government through the FOIA. "All they'll get is a lot of garbage," Kit told me. "The government no longer files anything under the UFO label. All personnel have been told to drop any research, direct or indirect, about the subject. I got mad at this. I told them they had no right to tell analysts what they could and couldn't, look at...what do you know about Wilbur Franklin?" Kit asked...The poor guy died last week in rather strange circumstances," he told me..."
"We spent the rest of the evening arguing about close encounters. When we spoke again the next morning after breakfast Kit told me he had spent most of the night reading my analyses.
"I've drawn a number of lessons from this," he said. "For me, all the physiological effects you describe appear to belong to the autonomous sympathetic nervous system which relates to the rhinencephalon in terms of smells and feelings of nausea. Those are tow features often noted by your witnesses."
"Does that lead you to look for psychiatric explanations, then?" I asked, already on the defensive. "Psychiatric explanations won't explain these cases you know."
"No, I've become skeptical about psychiatric hypotheses," he announced to my relief. "Psychiatric effects are present , but there may be a physiological cause that triggers them."
18 May 1978
"I finally took Kit over to Jim Irish's lab. As we drove through the L.A. traffic Kit told me about his meetings with Bob Beck, who researches brainwave entraining. I think beck managed to convince him that entraining was possible, but he remains skeptical of Bearden's notion that the Russians are using it as a weapon."
About Jim Irish. "I think the fellow is exactly who he says he is." Kit told me once we were back int he car, driving along Sunset. "He must have worked as a private contractor for ASA and later for NSA...I suspect NSA wanted to find out if it was possible to detect specific systems aboard satellites. If Jim Irish could pick them up with his Polaroid plates, it's likely the Russians do it to...We finally discussed cattle mutilations, which left him fairly stumped. Kit leans towards the theory that witches are responsible."
23 May 1978
"Kit is in close contact with most of the UFO groups, so his interest is only confidential among the uninformed. Right now he is on his way to Houston where Valerie Ransone and a group of contactees have promised he would witness materialization. But what are his true intentions? He belongs to a small cadre of very bright intelligence types who are looking for elements of truth...It is becoming obvious to both of us that some of the rumours about extraterrestrials have been planted, perhaps as a cover to esoteric weapons systems, or as part of psychological warfare exercises in which ufologists are a convenient test bed."
Comment:
14 June 1978
"Evidently the CIA had a contact inside CUFOs, as it does among most UFO groups. Someone close to Allen in Chicago has leaked a pile of internal documents to Dave M. Another curious episode as soon as Dave got the CUFOS papers his secure phone rang: a Colonel requested to see them. Now Kit himself is wondering who could be watching them..."
12 July 1978
"Kit was waiting for me at Dulles, driving a Volvo full of kids, so we were not able to talk seriously until after dinner. Once we were alone I brought up my concerns..."You may be right," Kit finally said "about a secret project."
5 January 1979
"I've confronted kt with the fact that, according to the top-level Spanish officials I met in Mexico, the Spanish Air Force reported all their UFO data to "the Americans" - yet another indicator that a secret channel does exist. Kit denied knowledge of the sightings I recounted for him. He recently had the same conversation with John Schuessler, who thinks the secret project isn't at CIA but at NRO..."
5 March 1979
"I won' see Kit on this trip. Sadly, in spite of my admiration for his sharp intellect, there's a barrier between us. He's cleared for all kinds of secrets to which I share no access. It's pointless to talk, and I can't trust his bosses with my information."
8 October 1979
"In the meantime Kit has hired Rommell, a retired FBI agent charged with a formal study. H is spending his time and much CIA money in New Mexico."
22 November 1979
"Kit has come to the absurd conclusion that those mutilation reports that are not simply misinterpretations of predator actions are the product of schizophrenia in witnesses... I have cured myself of the fascination I once felt for the Intelligence Community."
LINKS;
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...-part-one.html
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...-part-two.html
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...art-three.html
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...part-four.html
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...part-five.html
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogs...-part-six.html
-
General / Mass Sightings;
The first plots every sighting as a small yellow dot, with lighter colors representing a higher density of reports.
The number of documented general sightings in the modern age numbers approximately 120,000, of which 20,000 have been described as landings. Numerous surveys and opinions polls conducted over the last 50 years consistently report that between 5%-10% of the US population has seen what they consider to be a UFO. According to the United Nations, since 1947, approximately 150 million people have been witnesses to UFO sightings throughout the world.
SAMPLE UFO SIGHTINGS
Mar., 1945 Belfast (Maine). A man out hunting observed an elongated object flying very slowly, tilted toward the earth. It crashed into some trees at the end of a clear- ing. The enormous craft seemed undamaged as it rested briefly on the ground, then lifted again with a humming sound, started to spin, released a shower of fine silvery threads, and rose straight up, disap- pearing in seconds. (FS May., 59) (Magonia Catalog)
Apr. 21, 1967 South Hill (Virginia). Mr. Crowder was driving home 2100 when he saw an object on the road 70 m away. Sup- ported by four legs, it was a vertical cylinder, 5 m in diameter, with a half-sphere on top. It was gray and its base was 1 m above the pavement. When the witness turned his high beams on, the craft gave off a vertical light and vanished. The road burned for 15 min. Mr. Martin, who lived nearby, also observed the light. Holes, traces of burns, and calcined matches were noted at the site. (Atic) (Magonia)
Nov. 05, 1967 Fordingbridge (Great Britain). Lorry driver Karl 2330 Farlow told police that as his lights and radio blacked out, although his diesel engine continued to work, he saw an egg-shaped object, 3 m long, 15 m away. Moments later, a white Jaguar coming in the opposite direction also stopped. The object, emitting a green light and showing a whitish dome under its lower surface, hovered between the two vehicles for 2 min and left at high speed. (FSR 67, 6; 68, 3) (Magonia)
Feb. 20, 1963 Lecce (Italy). A young man saw from a window ,a 1730 slowly spinning object, almost stationary, 500 m away. It appeared as a disk having a central upper dome, with a total diameter of 3 m. The object had a brilliant yellow red halo, but its dome was much more brilliant. The witness observed it through binoculars, reported seeing a "particle" leave the object, after which it stopped spinning, gained altitude with a vertical shift- ing, and left toward the northeast. (144) (Magonia)
Dec. 14, 1963 Vereeniging (South Africa). Messrs. Muller and 0100 Immelman suddenly found the countryside illumi- nated and saw an object, 15 m in diameter, with in- tense orange and blue lights, emitting sparks, flying toward their car. They stopped and jumped out as it dived five or six times, at one point hovering for two min 15 m above them, making a humming sound, be- fore flying away. (146; FSR 64, 3) (Magonia)
Oct. 19, 1954 Gorizia (Italy). Filippo Corridoni saw a half-empty 1920 balloon at ground level near the Isonzo River. Near it, a disk 10 m in diameter was resting on a strange frame. The upper part was white with a black dome- like turret, around which was a series of portholes, some illuminated with a very bright, bluish-white light, which suddenly went out as the object took off spinning and rising vertically, pulling the balloon with it. (86) (Magonia)
DATABASES & CATALOGUES
*U* UFO Database
Compiled and developed by Larry Hatch;
The *U* UFO DATABASE is a serious 16+ year effort to catalog, map, and perform statistical functions on a filtered set of UFO sightings throughout history. As of January, 2001 *U* holds over 17,750 carefully filtered UFO events distilled from hundreds of books, major journals, catalogs, downloads and other sources. "Junk" sightings ( night-lights, fireballs, discovered hoaxes etc.) are systematically filtered out. Otherwise, *U* would hold several times the present number of listings. Scope is world-wide, for all dates from antiquity to the present.
*U* UFO Map Displays
White dots indicate location of reported UFO sighting
North America - all dates;
Europe - all dates;
"Sightings densities for each country are a direct function of the activities of their respective UFO groups, journals and investigators. An unbiased sampling would probably show a much more even distribution of events. Sightings in France and Britain are well represented due to diligent investigation, open discussion and wealth of UFO related materials there."
UFOCAT Database
From CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies)
UFOCAT99 refers to a computer database of over 109,000 UFO reports and related information released in May 1999. It is theresult of a 30-year effort that began during the Air Force sponsored Colorado UFO Project, also known as the “Condon Committee.” UFOCAT was begun by Dr. David R. Saunders, who at the time was a co-Principal Investigator on the Colorado UFO study andprofessor of Psychology at the University of Colorado. Dr. Jacques Vallee contributed a large computer catalogue of approximately 6,000 cases at the project’s inception.
The UFOCAT database has existed in some form or another since the spring of 1967 but went through an eight-year hiatusrom 1982 to 1990 when it was neither updated nor utilized. In 1976 Dr. Saunders gave his version of UFOCAT to the Center forUFO Studies (CUFOS). From then until 1982 it was maintained and updated by Fred Merritt at the Chicago office of CUFOS.
Available for order from CUFOS, on CD-ROM - Not available online;
> Introduction; http://www.cufos.org/UFOCAT.html
National UFO Reporting Center
Peter Davenport, Director
The National UFO Reporting Center, located in Seattle, WA, was founded in 1974 by noted UFO investigator Robert J. Gribble. The Center's primary function over the past two decades has been to receive, record, and to the greatest degree possible, corroborate and document reports from individuals who have been witness to unusual, possibly UFO-related events.
The principal means used by the Center to receive sighting reports is its telephone hotline, which has operated almost continuously since 1974. During that period, the hotline has processed many tens of thousands of calls, and the Center has distributed its information to thousands of individuals.
The hotline is well known by law enforcement agencies, FAA ARTCC's and flight service stations, National Weather Services offices, military facilities, NASA, and many 911 emergency dispatch centers all across the United States and in many parts of Canada. Those entities routinely direct the calls they receive regarding possible UFO sightings to the Center.
> Online Database; http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/webreports.html
> Index by EVENT DATE http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/webreports/ndxevent.html > Index by STATE http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/webreports/ndxloc.html
> Index by SHAPE OF UFO > http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/webreports/ndxshape.html Index by DATE POSTED; http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/webreports/ndxpost.html
> NUFORC Home Page; http://www.ufocenter.com/
> Information, Overview & Policies; http://www.msatech.com/nuforc/General.html
The Magonia Catalog / Database
Compiled by Jacques Vallee
A Century of UFO Landings (1868-1968) Compiled by Jacques Vallee The Magonia Database was compiled by Jacques Vallee and published in his book "Passport to Magonia."
Over two decades ago, eminent scientist Vallee wrote a provocative book about alleged UFO landings, folklore, and certain unexplained phenomena. That long-out-of-print book--which discussed the most interesting reports of more than 1,000 apparently reliable witnessess--has become a classic.
> Click here to go ; http://www.ufoevidence.org/Other/MagoniaCatalog.htm
Public Opinion Surveys and Unidentified Flying Objects
John F. Schuessler, MUFON; NIDS Science Advisory Board
Numerous surveys and opinions polls conducted over the last last 50 years consistently report that between 5%-10% of US population has seen what they consider to be a UFO. (2000);
> Click here to go (PDF); http://www.nidsci.org/articles/pdf/schuessler2.pdf
MUFON Skywatch Investigations (Filer's Files)
Editor: George A. Filer - MUFON Eastern Director
Filer's Files is a weekly compilation of UFO related events and stories. Three years of full archives since 1998 are available in complete form online. George Filer is a field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) a nonprofit UFO investigative and research organization started in 1969. George Filer is the New Jersey State Director and the Eastern Regional Director for the 21 Eastern States as well as Puerto Rico and US Caribbean Islands.
> Click here to go (UFOINFO)http://www.ufoinfo.com/filer/index.html
> 2000 >http://www.ufoinfo.com/filer/index.html 1999 > http://www.ufoinfo.com/filer/1999/index.html 1998 http://www.ufoinfo.com/filer/1998/index.html
http://www.filersfiles.com/
UFO Roundup
by Joseph Trainor
UFO Roundup is a weekly compilation of UFO related events and stories. Five years of full archives since 1996 are available in complete form online. Together, they form an extensive collection of UFO reports and sightings from around the world.
http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/index.shtml
According to the United Nations, since 1947, approximately 150 million people have been witnesses to UFO sightings throughout the world.
-
02-11-2011, 12:29 PM
#100
Sweden and its UFO Encounters;Clas Svahn;
quote;
"BoA:Audio once again goes global as we welcome Clas Svahn, head of UFO Sweden, for his first-ever American radio interview. We'll be discussing, in amazing detail, the world of Swedish Ufology. We'll find out about some of the key UFO cases in Sweden's rich history such as the 1808 mass UFO sighting, the 1933 phantom lights flap, the famous Gosta Karlsson case, the ghost lights of 1946, the 1958 Domsten close encounter case, Project Argus of the 1970's, the 1984 Minsk case, the 1999 UFO "crash" in Sweden, and many others".
"Clas will also give us his first hand perspective on the birth & evolution of UFO studies in Sweden, including how Sweden was a major player in the very early days of the modern UFO phenomenon, the reaction of the Swedish military and government to UFOs, how the media coverage of the phenomenon has changed over the years, and what the everyday Swede thinks of UFOs."
link; http://www.binnallofamerica.com/boaa6.9.9.html
UFO Sweden releases 18,000 Swedish UFO reports to the public domain.
A Swedish UFO-organisation will make it easier for the public to look through their files. A 250 square meter archive will open its doors to the public during the weekend of May 9-10 2009. It is located in Norrköping and contains approx. 18000 files from Sweden and several thousand documents related to Denmark, Norway and the US. Clas Svahn from "UFO-Sweden" has allegedly stated that the reason why the documents have not been shown before is due to the lack of personnel. But now the organisation has hired a part-time employee. Clas Svahn has highlighted a case where a couple saw a cigar-shaped object land and sink in a lake in 1980 in Norrbotten. The incident was apparently reported to the Swedish military.
"Besides the 18,000 Swedish cases are thousands of cases from Denmark and other Nordic countries. Thousands of US cases on micro film are too included. The archive (Norrkoping) will be open to the public domain starting with May 9-10, 2009.
The chairman of UFO Sweden Clas Svahn mentions one case of special interest, a case from 1980. A cigar shaped UFO submerged itself into a mountain lake and never came up again according to witnesses. Svahn comments, "it may still be there, since the lake never been monitored by divers."
"There was a great interest," said Clas Svahn at UFO Sweden.
A Swedish pilot in a Draken plane was flying over Småland in a training exercise in the 1970s. He received the order to break the exercise and fly towards an unidentified object lying still on the water.
As he approached the object suddenly shoots straight up - and the pilot takes up the chase. Despite full speed the pilot soon loses the object and it is never identified.
The event which confounded the pilot, is just one of the reports recorded in the world's largest UFO archive in Norrköping in eastern Sweden.
related links;
http://www.thelocal.se/19370/20090511/
http://www.exopolitics.dk/content/view/122/48/
http://www.examiner.com/x-2024-Denve...-public-domain
interview with Clas Svahn at UFO Sweden head of UFOs Sweden;
Claus Svahn is head of UFOs Sweden , his interview is an eye opener;
Archives for UFO Research ~ founded in Sweden in 1973,here; http://www.afu.info/
UFO Sweden; http://www.ufo.se/english/
Welcome to AFU; http://www.afu.info/
quote;
"The archive is now closed once more, as the association works on a voluntary basis and does not have the time to do more than show the archive to, for example, researchers".
http://www.thelocal.se/19370/20090511/
Interestingly the USAF visited the Swedish Air Intelligence Service as shown below in this document;
Then we have this revelation below;
quote;
"When officers of this Directorate recently visited the Swedish Air Intelligence Service. This question was put to the Swedes. Their answer was that some reliable and fully technically qualified people have reached the conclusion that "these phenomena are obviously the result of a high technical skill which can not be credited to any presently known culture on Earth." They are therefore assuming that these objects originate from some previously unknown or unidentified technology,possibly outside the Earth".
USAF Document describing unknown object 'making crater' in Swedish lake:
Document;
quote;
"While the Swedes,Norweigans and Danes investigated and clamped down ,Britain and America provided some assistance. On August 23rd,British radar experts,back from Sweden, submitted secret reports to the British Government on the origin of the rockets".
"Their conclusion: the objects were not of Soviet origin.
The scientific advisor to MI6, Prof R.V. Jones found it doubtful that "the Russians were supposedly cruising their flying bombs at more than twice the range that the Germans had acheived".
On September 9th the British Air Ministry's Directorate of Intelligence (Research) summarized the main features of the ghost rocket phenomenon and included eight types of sightings".
link; http://keyholepublishing.com/Volume%201%20-%20Info.html
Clas Svahn;
quote;
"In the middle of the 1960s, numerous articles about UFOs and flying saucers could be found in American magazines, many of them being just as interesting today as when they were written. Then the UFO phenomenon was taken seriously and no self-respecting magazine could avoid discussing it.
The collection contains lots of fascinating reading, and it’s hard not to get stuck for hours with them. Most comes from the Ohio-based magazines Cleveland Free Press and Cleveland Plain Dealer, but there are also hundreds of other sources from all over the U.S".
http://www.afu.info/clipsus.htm
"Many sightings were of elongated, cigar-shaped, objects. On May 24, 1946 at 2 a.m., for example, several Swedish witnesses saw a wingless cigar shaped object, a scant 300 feet above the ground, spurting "bunches of sparks" from its tail. The object moved at the speed of an ordinary airplane. On the 31st, just before noon, a wingless huge metallic cigar was seen moving rapidly at about 1,000 feet altitude. From these kinds of descriptions, the objects acquired the name of "ghost rockets." It soon became clear, however, that these could not be conventional rockets.
In the first place, they left no exhaust trail. Secondly, they were almost always silent. Thirdly, many of them moved too slowly to be rockets. Fourthly, they were often seen in formation, breaking formation, maneuvering, or hovering. Finally, the longest trajectory recorded by observers was 1,000 kilometers: this was three times the range of the German V rockets. Strange rockets, for sure.
Still, the Swedes, Americans, British, and other interested parties (which included just about everybody) looked into the possibility that these were Soviet missiles of some sort, constructed with the help of their cache of German scientists from Peenemunde, the home of the V rockets. Many investigators realized even at the time that this was so unlikely as to be nearly impossible.
Still, few could rule it out completely. To this day, however, there is no evidence whatsoever that the objects were of Soviet origin".
link; http://keyholepublishing.com/toc.htm
"On 14, August,1946 at 10 a.m. a Swedish Air Force pilot was flying at 650 feet over central Sweden when he saw a dark, cigar-shaped object about 50 feet above and approximately 6,500 feet away from him travelling at an estimated 400 mph. The missile had no visible wings, rudder or other projecting part; and there was no indication of any fuel exhaust (flame or light), as had been reported in the majority of other sightings.
"The missile was maintaining a constant altitude over the ground and, consequently, was following the large features of the terrain. This statement casts doubt on the reliability of the entire report because a missile, without wings, is unable to maintain a constant altitude over hilly terrain".
quote;
"I would like to say that everyone on the committee, as well as the chairman himself, was sure that the observed phenomena didn't originate from the Soviet Union. Nothing pointed to that solution.
"On the other hand, if the observations are correct, many details suggest that it was some kind of a cruise missile that was fired on Sweden. But nobody had that kind of sophisticated technology in 1946."
Air Engineer Eric Malmberg - Secretary of Sweden's Defence Staff committee"
link; http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ci...ument/1946.htm
UFOs over Sweden;
quote;
"In May 1954, Mutual news commentator Frank Edwards (now a NICAP Board Member) reported an item from Stockholm:
"Swedish military authorities sent special crews into north Sweden where scores of residents have reported strange glowing objects maneuvering over forests at low altitude during the week of May 10... Military men who have seen the things say they were not planes of any type."
After the crew of a Swedish airliner reported a wingless circular UFO over southern Sweden December 17, 1953, the defense department ordered a full scale investigation. Capt. Ulf Christiernsson, former RAF pilot, said: "It was an entirely unorthodox, metallic, symmetrical and circular object." The UFO was seen speeding over the town of Haessleholm in the main commercial air lane between Stockholm and Copenhagen.
In 1961 Mr. Sven Schalin, aeronautical engineer in Linkoping, became NICAP Adviser for Sweden. In his acceptance letter, Mr. Schalin stated: "UFOs very definitely have been sighted also in this country. A 'flap' seemed to occur around January 1959, the whole period starting perhaps in July 1958 and ending about June 1959. Obviously the Swedish Intelligence Center in Stockholm knows what is going on but the usual debunking policy is strictly followed."
During Operation Mainbrace, extensive naval maneuvers in the North Sea on and about September 20, 1952, UFOs were sighted in the vicinity on several occasions. On the 20th, a silvery disc of metallic appearance was observed passing swiftly over the Allied fleet. Wallace Litwin, an American newsman onboard the aircraft carrier "Franklin Roosevelt," took three color photographs of the UFO. As far as is known, the pictures have never been published and no explanation of the incident was offered".
Link; http://www.nicap.org/ufoe/section_10.htm
Translation into English from above video;
quote;
"The archive is 220 sq.meters, has around 11000 books, tens of thousands of journals, 18000 reports, newspaper clippings, tapes and videos".
Q: How come the worlds largest archive is here in Norrköping?
A: That's because there are so many idealists who have decided to build a giant archive. We work towards giving the world as a whole good information.
Guy number two: We're kind of in between the total skeptics and the naive believers. We talk about the third way of ufology where we thoroughly investigate and research this phenomena.
Reporter:
Claus thinks the interest around UFO's is big, but there are still many who don't dare to step forward and talk about things they've seen.
Claus: I think it's a little bit stigmatized still, a little shameful maybe to talk about things you might not understand yourself.
Reporter:
The archive of ufology was started in '73 and is run entirely on a volunteer basis.
She goes on to say over a hundred people have worked on it via some programs by government...stuff, I guess Sorry, I'm not Swedish so some things are hard to translate, but this doesn't sound too important anyway.
Woman at desk:
I'm registering a magazine called "UFO magasinet" (The UFO magazine) from USA. I've become even more interested and read a lot about these phenomena right now.
Reporter:
How many people do you think you will continue to give work to?
A: That depends on time and money, of course. We could have 20 full time employees here if we had the funds. There is so much to do.
Reporter:
Within a year, all the reports, all 18000, will be on a free database online
Claus:
It will result in us finding more answers, but there will always be a small percentage we will not find the answers to.
Reporter:
Can you be happy with that?
Claus:
No, I always want to find the answers.
How UFO Secrecy Has Damaged American Society;
-
02-11-2011, 12:30 PM
#101
Thought i would add this article here for the simple reason that it adds a bit of a different perception on what are known of high strangeness occurring in some UFO cases and the controversial evidence it seems to show up amongst different UFO investigators;
Curiouser and Curiouser: ‘High Strangeness’ UFO Encounters.
Gareth J. Medway
Nov 29th 2010
From Magonia 97, April 2008;
The term ‘High Strangeness’ refers to those UFO cases where the witnesses do not merely claim to have sighted a mysterious light or unknown object which might have been an alien spacecraft, but also say that a variety of unusual things happened to them afterwards, such as poltergeist outbreaks in their homes, strange telephone calls, and visits from the ‘Men In Black’. You won’t find much about this in mainstream UFO books, but there is plenty of detail in the works of such writers as John Keel and Jacques Vallee. The question which is not often addressed is, are these cases aberrations, or typical?
If high strangeness cases are exceptional, it would have to be asked, why do this particular minority of witnesses choose to report their experiences to one of just a few investigators, such as John Keel? Surely it is more likely that, since most witness reports reach us at second hand by way of the investigators, most of the latter tend to edit out unwelcome details like MIBs as detracting from the credibility of the story. If so, then we ought to be able to find some evidence for this censorship.
In the first place, there is no reason to think that the above authors deliberately select the oddest cases for publication. On the contrary, in an interview during the October 1973 wave, Keel remarked: “A few years ago I talked with two young men who had seen an object in a field that resembled exactly one of our space modules and had “US Air Force” printed on the sides. But, of course, one of our space modules isn’t going to be hovering over a field in New Jersey. I never wrote it up because even the UFO buffs wouldn’t believe it.”
Imbrogno and Horrigan’s Contact of the Fifth Kind, which is about high strangeness in the Hudson Valley, mentions that in an earlier book that Imbrogno had co-authored with Allen Hynek, they had avoided mention of abductions: “Only to a handful of people did we admit that there were abduction cases, and plenty of them … Dr. Hynek felt that UFO reports are hard enough to believe without adding the subject of abductions to the discussion.”
Whilst driving home in the early hours of 8 March 1997 journalist Sarah Hall, of the Folkestone Herald, saw a mysterious flying triangle. This event gained some national publicity simply because it occurred near to the home of Tory politician Michael Howard. It later the subject of a long article by Stuart Miller and Chris Rolfe in the penultimate issue of the now defunct [British] UFO Magazine. Among, the illustrations was a reproduction of Hall’s original ‘Witness Statement’, which says that, for about fifteen minutes before the sighting: “I was coming down the road and I felt, I said afterwards to other people since, that I felt really weird. I was really looking over my shoulder on the way home. I was a bit scared, a weird feeling anyway.”
Yet this detail is nowhere mentioned in the article itself. The authors’ hypothesis, the reasoning behind which I am unable to follow, was that what she saw was of terrestrial manufacture, though based upon ‘back-engineered’ alien technology of unspecified origin.
Now, there is no reason why someone who happens to see a secret experimental aeroplane should feel ‘really weird’ before the sighting. One suspects that they ignored this precisely because it did not fit with their hypothesis. Had not her statement been incidentally included in the layout by a subeditor, we would never have known of it, and remember, in the vast majority of UFO cases we do not get the witness’s own words, only the interpretations of investigators.
According to Richard Thompson: “…after the Hills’ close encounter on a lonely New Hampshire road, they began to experience poltergeist phenomena in their home. Betty would find her coats unaccountably dumped on the living room floor, even though she had left them in the closet. Clocks would stop and start mysteriously, or their time settings would change. Water faucets [taps] would turn on when nobody was there, and electrical appliances would break down and then work perfectly without repair. On a more prosaic level, Betty Hill also reported that after her UFO experience she was repeatedly followed, her apartment was broken into, and her phone was tapped.”
Of wurse, nothing is said about these things in Fuller’s The Interrupted Journey, nor in any of the other innumerable discussions of the case that I have seen. Even sceptical writers pass over them – I suppose that, if you are going to maintain that everything that happened to the Hills had a straightforward mundane explanation, you are only making it difficult for yourself if you introduce things like poltergeists.
In April 1952 Albert K. Bender of Bridgeport, Connecticut, set up the International Flying Saucer Bureau. This grandiose title proved to be justified, as they soon had representatives not only in more than a dozen states of the Union, but also Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand. Yet after just eighteen months Bender shut the organisation down, stating in the final issue of the quarterly newsletter Space Review that “The mystery of the flying saucers is no longer a mystery. The source is already known, but any information about this is being withheld by orders from a higher source.”
Three years later, Gray Barker revealed in They Knew Too Mutch About Flying Saucers that Bender had stated that he had been visited by three men in darks suits, from which we derive the now familiar term ‘Men In Black’. But, when interviewed by two puzzled colleagues, he said little more, replying to most of their questions only with the words:
“I can’t answer that”. The implication was that he had been silenced because he had discovered ‘The Truth’. I suspect that most ufologists assumed that the Truth that Bender had discovered corresponded exactly with their own pet theories. These need not have been too sensational: the story, as told so far, was broadly consistent with the hypothesis that flying saucers were a secret U.S. invention, and that the authorities had requested Bender to keep silent for reasons of national security.
Yet at about the same time, on the other side of the world, the Australian Flying Saucer Bureau was closed down by Edgar Jarrold, who had also had a mysterious visitor. A New Zealand investigator, John Stuart, received a telephone call from a voice who claimed to be ‘from another planet’, and told him to “stop interfering in matters that do not concern you!” Soon afterwards his house developed the classic signs of haunting, with the sound of footsteps when no-one was there, and objects moving by themselves. Finally, he said later, his secretary was physically assaulted by a giant hairy monster, after which he abandoned UFO research.
In 1962 Bender broke his silence with a book, Flying Saucers and the Three Men, of which it is fairly safe to say that it can have matched no-one’s pet theory. He wrote that he had begun to experience poltergeist activity in his home, such as a radio switching itself on, accompanied by an odour of burning sulphur. Then, on 15 March 1953, he attempted to contact the ‘occupants of interplanetary craft’ by telepathy.
The result was not the “We come in peace” message he perhaps expected; instead, a voice said “Please be advised to discontinue delving into the mysteries of the universe. We will make an appearance if you disobey.” He wrote this experience up at the time, but his report mysteriously vanished from the box in which he had locked it.
In July he had the first of a series of visits from the three men, who “looked like clergymen” except that their eyes glowed “like flashlight bulbs”, and who materialised in his bedroom, making it clear that they were not from the government, but aliens themselves. Though they had taken on human bodies so that they could pass among us unnoticed (apart from the glowing eyes!), their real forms were hideous monsters. On several occasions they teleported him to a secret underground base in Antarctica, where they told him that came from a planet many light years away. They were visiting earth for the purpose of extracting a certain chemical from our seawater, and did not wish to be interfered with, but after they had left he~would be free to reveal the truth to the world. Indeed, to ensure that he remained in good health, on his last visit to the base he was given a special all-over body massage by three beautiful women, who were presumably in reality hideous monsters.
Though Bender stated that he was able to speak because the saucerians had departed in 1960, UFOs did not cease to be sighted. It was probably not for this reason, however, that his book was almost totally ignored, but because it did not tell anyone what they wanted to hear. Typical of those who noticed it at all was Rex Dutta, who said that it was “often attributed to the hush-hush bag”, i.e. it was itself a part of the continuing cover-up, and that “Not many took the trouble to notice that the book was obviously ‘ghost-written’ – its style was totally unlike that of Bender’s own phraseology in his magazine.”
Where the story is cited at all, it is usually in the more credible version of Barker. For instance in 1974 Brinsley Le Poer Trench argued in Secret of the Ages that the earth is hollow, and that UFOs come from the inside; he suggested that what Bender had discovered is that the earto is hollow, and that UFOs come from the inside.
Reports of the Men In Black, often known as MIBs, became more common, and provoked the interest of the Pentagon, since some of them were said to have falsely claimed to be Air Force officers, which is a federal offence. Yet no prosecution has ever resulted. It might be possible to explain at least some of these cases as being the result of acute paranoia, but it is easier just to pass over them in silence.
A young woman named Maria spoke at BUFORA a couple of times in the early 1990s. I have lost my notes on what she said, but from memory, she had attended a convent boarding school in the Midlands. One night, she woke up in the small hours and looked out of the window to see a glowing object next to the tennis courts. Various other things happened to her in the following days which seemed to be acausally linked to the first: she had a dream, so vivid that it could not be distinguished from reality, that she was on board a spaceship;
one lunchtime she stirred a cup of coffee with a metal spoon which, when she took it out, had bent in Uri Geller fashion; she spontaneously levitated into the air in front of a group of other girls; on a country walk she passed a dead and mutilated body of a deer; finally, of course, she was visited by two men dressed in black, who said that they had been sent by her psychiatrist, whose name, coincidentally, was Mrs. Black. After interviewing her for an hour, they departed in a mysterious black car which made no sound as it crossed the gravel forecourt. Maria spoke twice to BUFORA, and was I believe interviewed by several people, yet so far as I can discover her tale has never appeared in print anywhere.
One Man In Black report that has been printed a few times, e.g. in The Unexplained, is that of Dr. Herbert Hopkins, who in 1976 hypnotised a UFO witness to help him recall his experience. He was then visited by a hairless (not even eyebrows) man in a black suit claiming to be from the New Jersey UFO Research Organisation (there was no such institution), who made a coin disappear, asked him pointedly if he had heard of a local UFO witness who had recently died, and demanded that he destroy the tapes of the sessions. Perhaps fearing that if he did not he would go the way of the coin, Hopkins complied.
Not so many authors relate the encounter which Hopkins had been investigating. The witness was David Stephens of Norway, Maine, who with a friend named Glen Gray went for a drive at three a.m. one morning in October 1975. After a mile Gray, who was driving, lost control of the car, which went down a rough trackway, but, incredibly, at unbelievable speed, so that they travelled five miles in two minutes.
It came to rest in a field, where they saw a hovering cylindrical object with bright lights on it. Gray now regained control of the car and hastily drove off, but the object followed them, and soon they fell unconscious, reawakening a mile further down the road. Unable to start the engine, they sat and watched as further glowing objects flew about. From a nearby pond, which seemed to have ‘grown to the size of an ocean’, a thick fog arose and engulfed the car. Then, surprisingly, the motor restarted, and the two men were able to leave. [Read further about Herbert Hopkins HERE]
A few days later, when two local ufologists spoke to them: “Stephen and Gray reported that several peculiar incidents had happened since their encounter: someone (or something) had walked across the roof of their trailer home; both men had suffered sudden bouts of extreme tiredness; both had seen snowflakes and black cubes and spheres flying from the sky and through a wall; ‘golden wires’ appeared in the air above their TV set; and a disembodied voice, audible only to Gray, had intoned the letters ‘U-F-O’.”
Mike Dash, one author who was prepared to relate this story, noted that “the case is not often discussed, even in ufological circles, and is certainly too strange to be included among the handful of ‘classic cases’ that most researchers would cite as evidence of UFOs. Yet this one incident includes almost all of the key elements that distinguish such classics from run-of-the-mill reports.” In other words, though seeming highly bizarre to the average person, once one has been studying the matter for years, it “may be considered fairly representative of the more detailed hard core of UFO reports.”
I should like to repeat a matter I raised some years ago, that, as was pointed out in Helmut and Marion Lammer’s MILABS: Military Mind Control and Alien Abduction, which has the kind of content that you would expect of that title, most books by abductees who have written their own books state that they were followed and watched by unmarked black helicopters, whereas in Thomas Bullard’s study of 270 abductions, black helicopters only feature in four cases. The reason is surely that Bullard’s data was derived from abduction researchers rather than the abductees themselves, and that black helicopters seem important to the latter but not to the former
An exception is David Jacobs, who does mention them briefly in The Threat, stating that most are ordinary helicopters that happen to circle abductees’ houses by chance, but that a few are piloted by hybrids (human-alien cross-breeds), and others are screen memories for UFOs. Budd Hopkins, though thinking it normal for people to be picked up by aliens and genetically experimented upon, evidently felt black helicopters to be a little too outré, and omitted them in Intruders, his account of the misadventures of ‘Kathie Davis’ (Debbie Jordan), yet Jordan herself said that they were, at one time, “almost daily around our houses”.
Even so, he did include a few high strangeness events, such as a visit from three mystery men (though dressed in blue), and that when Debbie was pregnant with her second child, she would get a telephone call from an incomprehensible alien voice every Wednesday afternoon.
Sometimes, but not always, these choppers are said to make no sound, for which reason they are known as phantom helicopters. Beckley reproduces a photograph of one that was taken by Betty Andreasson’s husband, though it is obviously impossible to tell from a picture whether it was silent or noisy, or indeed to distinguish it in any way from a real helicopter.
John Keel often refers to mysterious beeping. Usually these occur over the telephone, which is not odd in itself, since beeping is the standard ‘engaged’ tone, though something has clearly gone wrong when the phone rings and you answer it to hear only beeps. (I had two calls of this sort myself one Wednesday afternoon – presumably it was coincidence that at the time I was transcribing a tape of an interview with a UFO witness.) But a fault in the phone network cannot explain the case of the woman who, after seeing a strange object fly overhead, “suddenly heard a loud radio signal … a series of dots and dashes” which however was inaudible to her sister and brother in law.
When Phil Klass interviewed Lonnie Zamora, the police officer in the Socorro, New Mexico case, he told him that the object’s sound was a “Beep … beep … beep … beep”, though a couple who lived nearby heard nothing. Klass mentioned this in his first book (in which he maintained that UFOs were a rare natural phenomenon, and was written before he had reached the conclusion that this affair was a hoax), but so far as I can discover no-one else ever has, not even Ray Stanford in his book on the sighting.
Sometimes high strangeness occurs when there has not been a UFO incident as such, for instance in a case cited by Alex Constantine, conspiracy theorist author of Psychic Dictatorship in the U.S.A., who considers all unexplained phenomena to be the by-product of CIA mind-control experimentation. In 1994 a California journalist named Dave Gardetta interviewed Richard Ofshe, a psychologist who maintained that so-called recovered memories are actually false memories, and that this was the real cause of supposed alien abduction.
A few days later, however, Gardetta awoke “to find a triangular rash on the palm of his hand. This is commonly thought to be a symptom of abduction (though it also happened to Michelle Smith, the classic Satanic Child Abuse victim, and was explained by her psychiatrist and future husband Lawrence Pazder as a ‘body memory’ of her ordeal: “…whenever she relived the moments when Satan had his burning tail wrapped around her neck, a sharply defined rash appeared in the shape of the spade-like tip of his tail.”) Gardetta wrote:
“It didn’t surprise me. Things around the house – which sits on a hilltop in a semi-rural area – had been getting weird. A jet-wash noise buzzed some afternoons around the house, its origin impossible to discern. Lights were turning themselves on, and the alarm system’s motion sensor was tripping itself every morning between five and six. One early evening, small footsteps crossed the roof. I ran outside to find the electrical wires leading to a nearby telephone pole swaying in the windless dusk.” I am not sure what conclusion he drew from this. (Constantine, of course, blamed CIA mind-control experimentation.)
At the end of 1966, True magazine commissioned a set of illustrations for a forthcoming article, by John Keel, on unidentified flying objects. The artist drew a number of odd shaped craft purely from his own imagination. One was spherical, featureless except for a single porthole and, underneath, four legs and a propeller. Though no such thing had ever been reported, what one might term ‘the Looking Glass effect’ apparently kicked in. On 19 January 1967, an appliance store manager named Tad Jones was driving to work near Charleston, West Virginia, when he was obliged to stop because the road was blocked by a sphere exactly matching the above description. He watched it for two minutes, after which it rose up into the sky and disappeared. He reported what had happened to the police, and it got written up in local papers.
In the following days, two threatening notes were slipped under Jones’s door warning him to ‘keep your mouth shut’. A local UFO authority, Ralph Jarrett, received one of those ‘beep beep’ phone calls immediately before opening his copy of The Charleston Gazette, where he first learnt of the sighting. Jarrett conducted his own investigation, and learned that the object had been hovering directly over a major gas line. When Keel himself visited the spot, he found a number of strange footprints in the mud beside the road. One set resembled huge dog tracks, but Jones took plaster casts, and no local zoologist could identify them.
There were also some prints made by ripple-soled shoes with a ridge around the edge. Keel noted that prints of just this type had frequently turned up at UFO sites around the country. Years later came another ‘Looking Glass’ sequel: when the first astronauts walked on the moon, they wore boots which made identical ripple prints in the lunar dust.
This story, at least as it is narrated in The Mothman Prophecies, appears totally inexplicable. But that did not daunt Steuart Campbell when he wrote The UFO Mystery Solved, which argued that UFO reports are caused by mirages of stars. Weirdly, he even claimed that mirages of stars explained daytime sightings, though most people would suppose that it would be impossible to see a mirage, which is simply a reflection, of a light source that was itself invisible.
Anyway, he explained the Tad Jones sighting as having been a mirage of Venus, failing also to explain how a mirage, which necessarily must be near the horizon, could appear to rise up into the sky. Of the threatening notes, the mysterious footprints, and the resemblance of the ‘mirage’ to a piece of imaginative artwork, he had not a word to say.
David Haisell’s The Missing Seven Hours is not (as one would expect from the title) another of those tedious abduction tales, but concerns a British family settled in Canada, who not only claimed to have experienced UFO sightings in both the old and new worlds, but also poltergeists in their home, disembodied voices, inexplicable beeping sounds, low flying unmarked black helicopters, psychic healing, appearances of doppelgangers, enigmatic telephone calls, automatic writing, and that Fortean rarity, a mysterious Woman In Black.
In his account of how he went to interview the ‘Armstrong’ (a pseudonym) family, Haisell remarks: “Much good advice has been written about interviewing techniques and the psychological factors affecting UFO witnesses. Perhaps the best approach if dealing with an intelligent and articulate individual is to let him or her talk freely about the event or events. In this way the investigator’s own biases don’t affect the interview, even though they may interfere with the subsequent analysis of the material … I discovered that they had been disappointed in the past with several UFO investigators who had talked to
them about their experiences. Many of them had been interested merely in the physical aspects of the phenomena.”
I take this to mean that the earlier investigators were solely concerned to collect evidence that UFOs are nuts-and-bolts alien spacecraft from Zeta Reticuli (or the Pleiades, or wherever), and ignored the high strangeness material as not supporting this viewpoint. By contrast, Haisell repeated whatever the Armstrongs told him, often quoting them verbatim from taped interviews, and so produced a totally different picture. Of course, it is the solid interstellar visitors that the book-buying public wants to read about, hence the fact that works promoting this hypothesis are often bestsellers, whereas few people have heard of Haisell.
Now consider the alien encounter of Bruce Lee – not the Kung Fu star, but an editor at Morrow publishers in New York, who had formerly been a ‘respected’ Newsweek reporter – as narrated by Jim Schnabel in Dark White:
“It had been a cold Saturday in February 1987, just after Communion [a Morrow book] had been released, and Lee and his wife had been walking along Lexington Avenue and had gone into the bookshop to see how some of the books he had edited were being displayed for buyers. He had been standing there towards the back of the store when a couple came in and headed straight for the rack where Communion was displayed. The couple were both quite short, and were heavily bundled up against the cold, with wool hats and long scarves and gloves and boots.
They each grabbed a copy of Communion and, despite the encumbrances of their gloves, began flipping through the book rapidly. It didn’t seem possible that they could be reading so quickly, and yet they were shaking their heads and saying such things as ‘Oh, he’s got this wrong, and ’Oh, he’s got that wrong.’ Perhaps strangest of all, their accents sounded upper East Side Jewish.
“Lee walked over and introduced himself, explaining that he worked for Communion‘s publisher, and was interested to know what errors might be contained in the book, and the woman looked up at him: ‘She had on large sunglasses which, with her scarf and hat, obscured virtually all of her face’. And yet through the sunglasses Lee could see a pair of enormous dark eyes. Jesus! Lee had been raised on a farm, and those eyes reminded him of the eyes of a rabid dog. They seemed to be telling him to get the hell out of there. The hair on Lee’s neck stood up, and he said a hasty goodbye. He grabbed his wife and went off to a bar and soaked his shock in Margaritas.”
This story seems to admit of three explanations: 1) The aliens learned to speak English from Upper East Side Jews. 2) Lee mistook a diminutive Upper East Side Jewish couple for aliens. 3) It was a hoax. The first possibility clearly raises more questions than it answers. The second pre-supposes that the witness was mentally defective or paranoiac, but there is no warrant for such an assumption. Hoaxes are common in ufology, yet they usually succeed because the hoaxer knows what people want to hear, and supplies it, whereas no-one expects aliens to turn up in New York bookstores. Nor is any motive apparent – if it was a publicity stunt for Communion, it was exceedingly ill thought out.
It is surely significant that the story has appeared only (so far as I am aware) in Dark White, for Schnabel is one of the very few UFO writers who could genuinely be described as impartial. There are, of course, a number of recent books, particularly on the history of ufology, which give the superficial impression of academic disinterest, but if you read more than a few pages, you generally find that they are one of two types, which may be termed A and B: a Type A author will typically conclude a case summary with some such phrase as “Professor Hynek considered that the witness was highly credible”;
Type B, by contrast, will end on the lines of “Donald Menzel concluded that the affair was an elaborate hoax”. Even a plethora of proper source references cannot disguise the pro- or anti-ETH agenda. Yet Dark White recounts the various arguments and alleged incidents without trying to judge whether alien abductions are real or not.
In the same way, his account of the experiences of ‘Lucy’ seem to be no more or less than a summary of what she told him in a series of interviews. These did not, initially, concern alien abduction, but non-paranormal misfortunes of her early life, having been born with various health problems attributable to her mother having contracted measles during her pregnancy, and then, at age eight, having witnessed her father’s death in a gun accident. Soon afterwards, she reported, a young man named Steven took her to a remote cabin and raped her.
He continued to visit her over the years, and frequently raped her again. Yet he never seemed to age, suggesting that he was not a real person in the way that most of us understand reality. This is also hinted by the statement that “when Lucy was in her late teens she noticed that her first sexual experience hadn’t been at all painful”, which seems to reflect an unconscious recognition that her earlier sexual experiences, with Steven, had not actually happened; she added that her mother had told her that her hymen had broken in an accident when she was a toddler. Other oddities in her life included electrical equipment malfunctioning in her presence, sleepwalking, and inexplicable memory lapses.
Whilst at university she came across a copy of Communion, and guessed that regular abduction could explain her periods of memory loss. Not long afterwards she was in New York, getting her first regression from Budd Hopkins. Later, she moved to a Washington suburb. “Steven still visited her, as did the greys, and her wristwatches never worked, and the phone would ring and no one would be there, and one night the doorbell rang and she opened it and stepped out to see who was there and she saw her father, her dead father, standing in the bushes.” On a later encounter with the aliens, in the Blue Ridge mountains, her father was amongst a group of (otherwise presumably living) abductees.
The dead feature in UFO reports more often than one might expect. The day after his demise, George Adamski turned up in Devon in a flying saucer to converse with a handyman named Arthur Bryant. Whitley Strieber reports the case of a boy of seventeen who was killed in a road accident. A week later his parents were sitting in their living room, about ten o’clock at night, when their dog became nervous and began to pace. Though he had already been walked that evening, the wife decided to take him out again.
“As she opened the front door, two things happened simultaneously. The first was that an orange ball of light swept away from the house, disappearing across a nearby line of trees. The next second, the couple’s ten-year old son came running downstairs yelling excitedly that “little blue men” had brought his older brother into the bedroom, and the older boy had a message: tell his mom and dad that he was okay.”
The dead have, of course, been appearing to the living all throughout history, the motive, if any, usually being to provide evidence that there is indeed an afterlife. This, in fact, would seem to have been the purpose in the above instances. But they are of no value to someone who wishes to prove the existence of spacecraft from Andromeda.
Enthusiasts of ‘Ancient Astronauts’ likewise make surreptitious alterations in their source materials. Erich von Daniken referred to this South American legend: “It tells of a golden space-ship that came from the stars; in it came a woman, whose name was Oryana, to fulfil the task of becoming the Great Mother of the earth. Oryana had only four fingers, which were webbed. Great Mother Oryana gave birth to seventy earth children, then she returned to the stars.”
Von Daniken’s source was certainly Robert Charroux’s One Thousand Years of Man’s Unknown History, since the story was one that Charroux had collected orally: it specified that Orejona gave birth to the human race by mating with a tapir. This story has been suspected of being a modern invention, but in fact it is probably genuine, since surely no twentieth century author would have had a woman interbreed with an animal. Be that as it may, Von Daniken omitted the tapir, also the statement that Orejona came from Venus (as opposed to the stars), since this too was no longer believable by the 1960s.
The vision of Ezekiel has been widely discussed in UFO literature. It is unclearly written, but the gist is to the effect that, sitting by the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans (modern Iraq) some time in the sixth century BC, he saw a glowing whirlwind in the north, out of which came creatures with four wings and four faces, those of a man, bull, lion and eagle. (Statues of composite creatures of this sort were common in Chaldean temples.) Then he saw four flying wheels “full of eyes round about them”. Above them was “the likeness of a throne”, on which sat “the appearance of a man”, whom Ezekiel took to be God. He then heard a voice which gave him a lengthy lecture upon the sins of the children of Israel.
As early as the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the four wheels had been interpreted as belonging to a celestial chariot which bore aloft the throne of the Lord, somewhat in the manner of the wagons which were used by Pagans to transport the images of their Gods in procession. Though this is not implicit in the text, in the Middle Ages a great deal of Jewish mystical literature was devoted to “the work of the chariot”. This ‘chariot of Ezekiel’ came to be illustrated in a number of Renaissance engravings.
The first modern UFO author to draw attention to the passage was Dr. Donald Menzel, who wrote: “Occasionally a sundog makes a complete circle of light surrounding the sun with four bright patches, one above, one below, and one on either side. Sometimes two circles will appear, one within the other, surmounted by an inverted arc and traversed by a cross, like the spokes of a wheel whose centre is the sun. The complicated structure of a fully developed mock sun – which is extremely rare – can suggest to the imaginative an enormous chariot in the sky and can terrify the superstitious. There is little doubt that this phenomenon inspired the two visions of Ezekiel described in the Bible.”
It will be observed that Dr. Menzel omits to mention the glowing whirlwind, the four creatures, the throne, the figure seated on the throne, and the voice explaining what was wrong with the nation of Israel: no doubt because none of these things can readily be explained as a sundog.
Others, needless to say, think that Ezekiel was the witness to an extraterrestrial visitation, and a vaguely plausible case can be made out for it. Pleiadians, for all we know, may have four wings and four faces, whilst wheels with ‘eyes’ around them could be flying saucers with portholes. Though the ‘voice’ did not proceed to a technical exposition of UFO propulsion systems, but complained about the Israelites worshipping idols, it is conceivable that aliens might be as obsessive about this point as many human religious bigots are.
The figure of God is difficult to fit in, however, which explains why Von Daniken ignores it, and Josef Blumrich described him as ‘the pilot’. Alan Cole commented: “…the few details … that might fit a hypothetical spacecraft, are not the whole of the description: it culminates, not in wheels or in chariot, but in a great throne set above the chariot (Ezek. 1:26), and God, in human form enthroned there. If we take the chariot literally, then all of this, too, must be taken literally.”
The Rev. Cole goes on to use the word ‘chariot’ seven times in all, having failed to notice that it is nowhere found in the text itself, but only in commentaries written many centuries later. Nevertheless, his argument is perfectly sound: an interpretation based upon only those facts that happen to fit it is likely to be worthless.
To Ezekiel, and no doubt to his contemporaries, the creatures and the wheels were not so important as the divine prophecy which followed them, and quite likely he only mentioned the former in order to lend credibility to the latter. The same was true of two flying disc reports from the mid seventeenth century: in 1646, in Gravenhage, Holland, a flying round plate was seen “about the bigness of a table-board, like gray paper”, followed by visions supposed to be prophetic.
Similarly, in 1651, a Mrs Holt of Cheshire was sitting in her doorway when she “perceived the Sun to shine exceeding red, and casting her eyes upwards, she beheld a dark body over the sun, about the bigness of a half moon, and in a short space, the said body divided into several parts, seeming numberless other view, about the bigness of small Pewter dishes, which came swiftly towards her …” This was followed by visions of fighting men and horses in the air, and mysterious birds. In those unsettled times, people looked for signs and wonders in the sky which might presage the future, but flying dishes in themselves were not news and would quite likely have been ignored but for the subsequent visions.
It might be thought that modern UFO reports do not include prophetic visions, but in fact a few of them do, e.g. in 1973, it is said, three people “watched a flying craft cavort through the sky, and then it transformed into a giant image of a bearded man dressed in a long, belted, robe, with his arms outstretched.” Similarly, at Cradle Hill outside Warminster in the 1960s: “there was the time when a Saucer, coming into the copse from the south-west, produced a perfect arch of brilliant silvery light, in the midst of which appeared two giant forms: silhouetted figures, long hair waving as though in the wind, with no visible features, but with fingers and robes well defined.” Once again, I suspect that there is bias in reporting, and that such sightings are quite common, but seldom published.
We should remind ourselves that what may be ‘extraordinary’ to most of us may be quite normal to others. For example, to some people it is an everyday thing to communicate with the dead. A spiritualist friend of mine, a semi-disabled lady who lives alone except for two cats, has told me how her son will help her fix things that are broken in her home, anything from a jammed kitchen drawer to a malfunctioning computer. This would not be remarkable in itself, but her son has been deceased for some years. Significantly, she has mentioned these incidents in the course of informing me about otherwise mundane matters concerning her domestic problems, without any change in the tone of her voice.
This, however, is slightly different from UFO witnesses such as the Armstrongs, who do consider their experiences unusual: the point is that they regard them as a totality, the poltergeist activity and strange phone calls being as important to them as their sightings of mysterious craft. On the other hand, there may be high strangeness UFO cases which have never been reported to anyone, because the experiencers have not thought them in any way out of the ordinary.
To evaluate facts, you have to know what they are. Though people have often accused the government or the Air Force of concealing the truth about UFOs, I think the ufologists themselves have been partially suppressing it. I do not propose to try and explain the causes behind poltergeists or beeping telephone calls from the Men In Black, only to observe that they can hardly have an easily comprehensible explanation in terms of spaceships from Orion.
link; http://magonia.haaan.com/2010/curiouser/
-
02-11-2011, 12:39 PM
#102
The Cowichan Hospital UFO Events of 1970 Revisited
UFO Piracy:
The Cowichan Hospital
Mill Bay UFO Sightings
New Year's Day 1970;
Inspired by a UFO BC article (in Canadian UFO Report Vol. 1 No. 7) sent to her by UFO Digest editor, Robert Morningstar, and in the light of recent UFO sightings at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in November 2006, and those seen in Stephenville, Texas in January 2008, investigator Leanne Jones, a Canadian detective from Victoria, B.C. felt compelled to look in on the UFO sightings seen at Mill Bay and near the Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan, close to where she lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Jones thought it would be interesting to portray a "then and now story" that using much same methods used in solving a criminal case could validate the story of the past UFO incident(s), proving them in the present. With the assistance of Robert Morningstar, Jones decided to track down and to interview witnesses who had previously come forward with their own stories of what they saw during the rash of sightings in the Cowichan District of Duncan/Mill Bay in 1970, and, if possible, to find new ones.
To recapitulate the original stories, we will refer to two articles originally appearing in the Cowichan Leader newspaper. The first appeared on January 7, 1970, another on January 14th 1970 along with other articles with accounts about other witnesses. We will refer to the UFO BC report but rely on current information to present the information from then and now, demonstrating that, there was indeed a rash of sighting of UFOs in that area at that time according to the collaborative stories and witnessed by many more people who were reticent to speak then for fear of ridicule or of being classified mentally unbalanced (aka, "a nut").
Now, let's go back to the beginning of the Cowichan UFO story as it began on New Year's Day morning in 1970.
Cowichan District Hospital;
Site of 1970 New Year's Night UFO Visitation;
In the early morning hours of New Year's Day 1970, a Canadian nurse, Doreen Kendall, pulled open the curtain in a patient's room in the Cowichan District hospital, and according to a newspaper article (in the Cowichan Leader), she later reported what saw was during her night schedule at the hospital like this:
"At 5 a.m. I saw a flying saucer as low as the third floor of the hospital. There were two figures in the dome flying towards Victoria way. The bottom of the saucer was brilliantly lit and also the dome….New Year's morning."
The Monday after the flying saucer sighting, Doreen Kendall said that the experience had left her with a placid feeling and, regardless of what people said, she would never change her story about what she saw.
When she got to Duncan, Jones began by researching the original reports in the local newspaper, The Cowichan Leader.
This is what Kendall told the newspaper:
"There was a brilliantly lighted dome, occupied by two human-like men, which was stationary in the air about 60 feet away from CDH, above the second floor where I was working in the extended care unit. I was so taken with the flying saucer that I didn't call anyone. I felt mummified and fascinated and stood there for about five minutes watching before I called another nurse, Mrs. Freda Wilson.
The craft, which was slightly tipped downwards toward her was about 50 feet in diameter, or about the width of five hospital windows. While the craft hovered above her, she could see only the upper half of the figures, but when the vehicle tilted she saw their full profile. They had nice physiques, more than six-feet tall, and their hands were the same color and shape as ours. Their faces were covered and they wore dark suits, like a pilot's uniform, of soft-looking material.
Maybe because I'm so mechanically minded, but I suspect they were having mechanical trouble and had stopped to make repairs. She said one man stood over an instrument panel made of chrome, and the other stood behind him. There were stools for them to sit on. She described the saucer-shaped craft as silvery, metallic with a necklace of lights around the middle. It made no sound while it hovered above her or even later when it took off southward. While watching, one man turned and looked directly and put his hand on the back of the man sitting down.
The other man then pulled back 'a joystick' similar to those in a big airplane and the object tilted sideways giving her an even better view of the instrument panel and interior. She noticed that the dome seemed to be lit from below rather than from above. When it started to pull away, I realized no one would believe me and I ran and called Mrs. Wilson to come and look.
She asked 'What on earth it that?' and I said "It's a flying saucer."
By this time five other nurses ran to the window and watched as the craft circled about five times and then slowly disappeared in a southeasterly direction. I was completely oblivious to anything else and felt no fear. In fact I would have loved to have gone for a ride and, if the men had spoken to me, I would have answered quite naturally. The reason I was so terrifically interested was because I always believed there were unidentified flying objects but now I am absolutely convinced."
http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0508/u...acy-print.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mill Bay UFO Sightings:
Jim Drummond's UFO Account;
Following the end of that article in the Cowichan Leader was yet another small article entitled "SECOND SIGHTING":
On New Year's Day, 1970, Jim Drummond, age 22, and his wife Dianne, 18, reported studying a bright light in the sky at Mill Bay, through a telescope.
"It was brighter in the middle and I could see four distinct lights of the same color that looked like tips of candles only a bit bigger." The couple said they observed the object for about five minutes before it disappeared. Drummond said he had no idea what the object could have been but believed it was not an aircraft because there were no colored navigation lights. "I have never heard of anything that could manoeuvre that slow and fast without making some sort of noise," he said.
Drummond's mother, Mrs. B. Drummond, said she also spotted the bright orange and yellow object in the sky about 7 p.m."
Prior to her trip to Duncan, Leanne spoke to Fran Drummond by telephone in Mill Bay. Fran Drummond told her that her mother and brother had seen the UFO on January 1st 1970. Fran said her mother had passed away last year in 2007, but she had seen the UFO and kept closed-mouthed about it, as in those days she did not want to appear to be "a nut."
However Fran said her brother, Jim Drummond, had had an intense UFO sighting along with his wife who lived together with him on a boat in Mill Bay and so she gave her Jim's telephone number to the investigator.
When the investigator spoke to him on April 14th, 2008, he told her the reason he had such a good sighting was he and his wife Dianne were on the boat at the time and looked at it through a telescope.
In the Cowichan Leader article, he said, the object was a very bright light, brighter in the middle, and he could see four distinct lights of the same color that looked like tips of candles only bigger. They looked at it for about five minutes before it disappeared. There were no navigational lights like on an airplane it moved very fast without noise.
He told the investigator he was a pilot and a shipwright and was used to taking bearings he thought it was at 500 feet, and one very interesting thing was that a stream like a neon tube thing carrying bits of flashing light in pieces like Morse code coming out from the object. Refer to Canada UFO drawing for further reference.
Later, Jim Drummond told the investigator that he was visited by a military man from Nevada. The investigator wondered if that man could have been from hanger 51 or Norad.
Later, Jones called and left a message for him to call her. She had read the January 7th, 1970 article from the Cowichan Leader and on April 17th 2008, Leanne Jones talked again with Jim Drummond.
Jones asked him if the article was accurate and Jim replied:
"Yes, but the part about the neon tube-like thing that came out of the object, carrying along the tube flashing 'pieces of light' much like a Morse code was not in it."
Then Drummond said that that element of the story was particularly interesting to the military man who visited him after the sighting. The investigator asked Drummond if the milirary man might have been from Area 51 or NORAD. Drummond replied:
"No. He was from something 'blue'."
The investigator asked Drummond if it was the "Blue Book Project" and he replied, "That's it."
(Editor's note: Project Blue Book had officially ended in December 1969 after the release of the Condon Committee Report, but continued "unofficially" through January 1970, indicating that although "officially" closed in December, Project Blue continued "unofficially" for another month, making the Cowichan UFO investigation one of the last "Blue Book" UFO investigations or the FIRST ONE in the continuation of Project Blue Book unofficially, i.e. sub rosa, "behind closed doors."
It is also possible that Mr. Drummond's "USAF military man" was using Project Blue Book as a cover for his true association, most likely, AFOSI, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which was then beginning another UFO investigation project, as many UFOlogists suspect, but under a code name that we still do not know.)
Jim Drummond's UFO Sighting and The Guardian UFO Video;
While Leanne Jones was investigating the case, Morningstar sent her a link to the famous "Guardian" UFO video tape of a purported saucer landing in Canada released sometime in the early 1990s:
Jim Drummond's email reply after seeing the tape is noteworthy:
"Yes, that is very similar to what we viewed, even to the lights at the rear. Certainly was not a helicopter.
Cheers
Jim"
Detective Jones knew that Project Blue Book had been designed by the U.S. Air Force to study particularly interesting UFO sightings. Ms. Jones inquired of Drummond whether or not he would let her take a picture of him and Jim said "Yes, but not until the following week."
The day before the phone conversation with Jim Drummond, on April 16th, she drove to Duncan and met with the curator manager of the museum, Kathryn Gagnon, who in turn sent her to the archivist Priscilla Lowe, at one time a curator who now worked at the archives kept in the Duncan City hall.
The investigator prior to going to Duncan had sent the UFO BC article to Kathryn Gagnon who in turn sent it to Priscilla Lowe.
Priscilla Lowe said she was grateful for the news article because when she went into her file entitled "Natural Disasters and Strange Phenomena," where the UFO articles had been filed, she found that they had disappeared. The only thing to do was to go on the Microfische machine where the original newspaper article had appeared in the January 7th, 1970 edition of the Cowichan Leader Newspaper, written by Sharon Currie, entitled:
"Another Saucer Sighted This Time Within 60 feet"
Jones noted that it contained extra details not reported in previous articles, which is one of the beauties of articles written as close to the event as possible. Following the end of the article, there appeared another smaller one (previously mentioned) entitled "Second Sighting"
When the investigator spoke personally to Jim she read that article asking him if it was a true account of the UFO events, to which he answered, "Yes."
When they go to the Duncan City Hall, the investigator and Priscilla went through the obituaries and found that the teacher at the Alexander Elementary School, Edith Bieling (McLennon), who was mentioned in the UFO BC as also having seen the UFO sighting at the same time period, was now deceased.
The investigator received copies of the obituaries of Edith Bieling (McLennan) and also Freda Wilson, and another couple Judge and Mrs. Hallett who lived just behind Jim Drummond in Mill Bay, also reported seeing the same UFO that the Drummonds had seen (and this was verified by Jim).
An interesting detail that was disclosed in the UFO BC report was the fact that Mayor of Duncan at the time, James Quaife, said that he and his wife and other neighbors watched a light much brighter than a star perform manoeuvres in the sky, including dead stops and reversals of direction, as reported in the UFO Canada review. The investigator copied down the telephone number of the ex-mayor and made plans to call him. Below is a picture she took of James Quaife's photo on "The Duncan Roster of Mayors."
Jones then she drove to the Cowichan District Hospital to get a picture of the hospital as it looked then…
Picture of Cowichan District Hospital circa 1970
Note windows…
Doreen Kendall stated UFO was 5-6 windows in length.
Cowichan District Hospital Today;
Vernon Stanley-Jones UFO Sighting;
Next, Jones drove to the Alexander Elementary School whereupon she realized that the timeline, the sequence and directional flow of sightings, would indicate that the UFO followed a northeasterly direction toward the Mill Bay area.
Alexander Elementary School Now, all of the pieces of the original story were proving themselves and fitting into place. The archivist also told her about a man named Vernon Stanley-Jones, found in an article from the Jan.14th local paper titled "Local Witnesses Claim U.F.O.'s Eject Fireballs".
Vernon Stanley-Jones, now interred in the local graveyard, had apparently built a tower from which to view the skies.
The archivist sent a copy of that story to the investigator and was able to reach his son who said he would send pictures later.
Vernon Stanley-Jones' Story
Since the Stanley-Jones' house still stands, the investigator telephoned her friend Wilma Wood an ex-curator living in Cowichan Lake, who offered to go with her to track down Mr. Stanley-Jones' house once the archivist could obtain the correct address.
The investigator spoke again with Fran Drummond, April 16th 2008, she said she thought her brother was starting boating season and was away but that he would get the message for a request to meet with him.
In the meantime, she gave several other names of people who had seen the sightings at the time. At this point the investigator realized how all of this important information had been buried for many years and she felt the excitement of any detective finding the supporting evidence of credible proof of an event.
Now the missing piece of the puzzle was to find out about Doreen Kendall, the nurse who had seen the UFO in such close proximity and in good detail.
So next Jones telephoned the hospital foundation and was given a name of Myrtle Haslam who told the investigator that the Alumni nurses where having a dinner in May and asked if she would consider coming to speak to them since they were the ones who had worked with Doreen at the time.
How could the investigator resist such an invitation?
Perhaps the piece of this puzzle would be answered then. While the detective had been visiting Priscilla at the city hall, they also gave her his telephone number.
Leanne Jones next decided to telephone Duncan's ex-Mayor, Jim Quaife, and arrange to take a picture of him.
On April 19, 2008 she spoke to ex-Mayor Quaife and he told a story that was fascinating, and touched on only briefly in the previous articles.
Duncan Mayor Jim Quaife's UFO Sighting;
[img][/http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0508/images/saucer-sighted.jpg[/img]
Jim Quaife's UFO account went like this:
It was sometime just before 1969 that, one night, he heard a turbine sound and got up and looked out the window of his house on Coronation Street, in Duncan. Jim said that his whole back yard was bathed in pure white light and there was a doe in his orchard staring and standing still like a statue. He said he grabbed his rifle (he didn't know why) and went out side.
As soon as he stepped out into the yard, he said the light went off but he could see a large UFO craft that sped off silently at a terrific speed toward the Victoria area!
Then Mr. Quaife told her that one night in 1969 (or 1970), when he arrived home after a city council meeting in Duncan, he saw his neighbor staring at something in the sky. Then Quaife noticed a large unknown craft above, pulsating a purplish, reddish glow.
Jim Quaife immediately went and got his binoculars and he and his now ex-wife and the neighbor watched it for at least 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes of watching it, the craft took off at high speed toward Mt. Provost to the North and then turned at a 90-degree angle and went straight up. Jim said that the next day an article had come out about Vernon Stanley-Jones, who had seen the UFO from a tower he had built to watch the stars.
At that time Vernon Stanley-Jones lived on Richard's Trail road in Duncan.
Jim Quaife;
Ex-Mayor of Duncan, BC;
There is a large power station in the Duncan area, and Mayor Quaife felt that the UFO was refueling by sucking up the power from that power grid, and Stanley-Jones figured that this was what caused the pulsations of light around the craft.
"Why Duncan"?
Searching for the Duncan Power Grid UFO Site;
The time came for the investigator Leanne Jones' meeting with her friend, "Wilma," who had offered to search for Richards Trail road and help Jones look for the power grid.
So, as agreed, she met her friend on April 26th at the Dog House Restaurant in Duncan and they set off to look for the power grid UFO site and take pictures of one more part of a still developing mystery.
The investigator felt it was important to highlight the work of Stanley-Vernon Jones, who was ahead of his time in gathering scientific evidence of the rash of UFO sightings taking place in the area during the 1970s.
This begs the questions:
Why Duncan?
What did UFOs want in Duncan, BC?
For reference further to Jim Quaife's account, she turned to an article that appeared on January 14, 1970 (entitled "Local Witnesses Claim U.F.O.'s Eject Fireballs") written by the same reporter, Sharon Currie. Sharon's story went like this:
"Fire-balls ejected from an UFO hovering over Maple Bay and Crofton area last week could mark the return of "the beepers." Vern Stanley-Jones, President of the Cowichan-Chemainus UFO Club, advocated. Stanley-Jones considered an expert on UFOs for more than a decade, mooted such a possibility after he, his wife and several other people in the area witnessed a large bright, yellow-orange craft cruising over the area Tuesday January 6th 1970.
Many of the individual reports made at the time substantiated his theory that the vehicle appeared to drop off a number of "fireballs" as it continued on a northerly course from Genoa Bay towards Crofton.
Stanley-Jones and wife of Richards Trail road, Duncan, said they watched the craft for eight minutes about 11 p.m. after stopping their car on Lakes Road.
He turned off the headlights and shut off the motor and saw this bright yellow-orange object at 500 to 1,000 feet above the ground. He said the craft looked like a disc and was the biggest thing he'd ever seen. It made no sound as it slowly travelled over Lakes Road hill.
'When it reached the bottom of the hill, it paused briefly and then turned right and flew over Duncan. When it was over the centre of Duncan it stopped again and we watched it just hanging there for awhile and then it moved off due west more rapidly.'
The couple rushed to a friend's home on Lakes road and borrowed a pair of binoculars but by that time the object was disappearing.
Stanley-Jones who has sighted several UFOs said it could not have been a plane because of its peculiar maneuvers. "Why it made me wonder if we were going to hear the beepers again" he said and explained that two years before in the area people heard a "beeping sounds but couldn't see anything," he said the noise had also occurred in other parts of the world.
Stanley-Jones said the beepers were heard around the Cowichan Lake Road area and were picked up on an 80-meter band by a ham radio operator.
< Editor note: For details, read Regan Lee's "Beeping Creatures"
The area of Cowichan Lake Road, and Richards Trail where Stanley-Jones lived was only 3 kilometers from the giant power grid mentioned by Jim Quaife in his account, proposing that the spacecraft was possibly "sucking up energy" from the grid.
"Beware of Snakes!"
The investigator found the site of the power grid, slipped in close to the restricted areas, climbed over ditches and had a snake run over her shoe, in order to take pictures of the area where the UFO was seen by the Mayor of Duncan, apparently tapping the electrical energy grid for power.
Jones returned to Duncan, copied down the address and found the telephone number of the neighbor living directly opposite Stanley-Jones, now deceased, and decided that along with the invitation to the nurses dinner, and taking an up to date picture of Jim Drummond, she would telephone that number, but already she had enough proof in articles, obituaries and living interviews to prove the existence of the phenomena appearing at that time. Jones felt elated with the help she had received in looking in on a very interesting time in the Cowichan District for a story that is as exciting now as it was then.
Hard Detective Work Leads to a Final Conclusion
The authors earlier asked the question "Why Duncan?"
We posed the question, not facetiously, but in earnest. Every UFO or Flying Saucer has a purpose and a reason for its actions. Studying enough cases and comparing them, we may have discovered one of the purposes underlying their activities and what reason is revealed by their actions.
In the Duncan UFO events, we have encountered a pattern once again that we have heard about for many years, i.e. Flying Saucers and UFOs repeatedly appear around hydroelectric and atomic power plants around the world. Single craft, as well as, fleets of UFOs have regularly caused blackouts in areas of their apparitions and activities. Dr. James McDonald testified before the US Congress that on the evening of November 9 hundreds of UFO sightings were reported throughout the northeast. In New York State luminous objects were seen hovering over 3 very significant locations.
• A Niagara Falls power plant
• A [Syracuse] relay station
• and in the heart of New York City
The great New York City Blackout of 1965 was immediately preceded by a UFO event near a power station near Niagara, New York and a relay station near Syracuse, NY. Immediately, the Federal Power Commission announced that the problem had been caused by a broken relay in a Canadian power plant. This answer was accepted by the press and public and the UFO angle was quickly forgotten. But, the official explanation was untrue.
Major Donald Keyhoe (NICAP) reported that a private investigation by the utilities industry concluded later that the relay had NOT broken, but had been triggereded by a huge, unexplainable surge of power.
That night, over a totally blacked out Gotham City, a huge UFO was photographed and the photo appeared in New York Daily Newsthe next day. It was a stunning photograph, which showed the silhouette of the blacked out metropolis with only the Moon and a large luminous object floating over the city.
In November-December 1978, before, during and after the Great National Blackout in France, an extremely high number of UFO incidents occurred in and around Fountainbleu Forest, as recorded in UFO Digest by French UFOlogist, Christian Macé.
Read: The Great French Blackout of December 1978
http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1106/fontainbleau2.html
On July 24th, 1984, as reported by Dr. Allen j. Hynek, Philip Imbrogno and Bob Pratt in "Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings", a black triangular craft of immense size (between 900 and 1,000 feet long) hovered for 10 minutes over the Indian Point Nuclear Facility on the Hudson River, NY and was captured on video by the plant's surveillance cameras.
The craft was so large that no one camera could capture the entire craft. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) investigation has never been released and the surveillance tapes of the craft confiscated by the NRC have never been seen publicly. The event was reported to Dr. Hynek and his team by 6 brave technicians of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station.
What would be of greater importance in understanding the purpose behind the Indian Point UFO event lies the data regarding the operational status of the nuclear power station and power production during the UFO's 10-minute long hover to determine what nuclear or electromagnetic effects (if any) the Black Triangle UFO had on energy levels in the nuclear plant, nuclear reactor, or on its electrical output during that period that night of July 24th, 1984.
Indian Point Nuclear Reactor Facility provides a large proportion of New York City's electrical power, as well as supplying Westchester and the surrounding region, including New Jersey and Connecticut.
As we can see from the Duncan, BC incident, these activities are in no way limited to large cities. Many rural areas across the United States and Canada have experienced "tapping" of their electrical energy by UFOs, sometimes causing power slumps and/or local blackouts. The following is one of the most significant cases in memory for the many details that it revealed.
Ashland, Nebraska, United States
December 3, 1967
Ashland Deputy Sheriff, Herbert Schirmer, was cruising on a night patrol through Nebraska when he encountered what he thought was a broken down truck on a rural road around 2:30 in the morning.
As he drew closer he was shocked to see that it was UFO hovering 6-8 feet about above the roadbed. Schrimer flashed his high beams at the dull silver object, which shot up and away rapidly. Schirmer noted it in his police log, but there was a temporal anomaly. Schirmer logged the time as 3 a.m. but only recalled seeing the craft for about 10 minutes. 20 minutes were missing from Schirmer's memory of the event that would later be recalled.
Later, Herb Schirmer realized he had experienced "missing time", and a red welt appeared on his neck. Furthermore, he showed signs of sunburn on his left arm and the left side of his face, but not his right arm or right side of his face.
Hypnotic regression sessions, conducted by Dr. Leo Sprinkle and Brad Steiger, revealed that the occupants of the landed craft had abducted him and taken Schirmer aboard, while communicated with him through some form of mental telepathy. They told him that they would visit him twice more and that some day he would "see the universe".
Ralph Blum's "Beyond Earth: Man's Contact with UFOs" contained many details revealed by the aliens to Schirmer. The alien leader, who literally seized the policeman from his car by the neck after the shocked Schirmer asked him:
"Are you for real?'
That was Schirmer's answer to the alien's question:
"Are you the watchman over this place?"
The grey-white alien told Schirmer telepathically that they occasionally stopped to take water or replenish their energy source by tapping electrical energy. Furthermore, he informed Schirmer that they had bases, underground and undersea, with large bases off the coasts of Florida and California. The alien said a rather unusual thing to Schirmer:
"We want you to believe in us, but only a little."
Finally, applying Grey Alien Mind-Control (MK-Grey), the alien leader sought to silence Schirmer by embedding a verbal posthypnotic command subliminally (Neurolinguistic Programming) by sternly warning him ("We will visit you twice more") and admonishing the stricken Deputy Scheriff:
"YOU Will NOT speak wisely of this night!"
How eloquently the alien expressed his threat.
Permit me to translate the threat:
"We're coming back to see you. Play dumb until then."
This brings to the fore one of the great secrets of the alien presence:
The alien presence may be affecting world events by leeching our electrical energy globally and stealing our most valuable resource, water, in huge quantities worldwide.
Since the 1950s, UFOs have been seen around the world tapping electricity from electric utility poles, antennas, cables, electrical relays, around dams, power-generating stations, both hydroelectric and nuclear, particularly in Canada, the United States, France, Russia and many other countries around the world.
Question: Who is paying for it?
The Final Question:
Is Geopolitics Being Driven by "UFO Piracy"?
As noted above, throughout the history of UFOlogy there have been repeated instances of what has been described as electronic interference from UFOs around the world. This disruption has been assumed to be an inadvertent event or a consequence of electromagnetic anomalies resulting from UFO power sources.
However, this is simply an assumption, speculation. It has occurred to the authors that the draining of electricity from power sources and power lines would be indistinguishable from "interference" or "brownouts." History shows that UFOs have been seen taking not only electricity out of power lines but also stealing water from reservoirs. A 30-foot lake disappeared in Argentina overnight after a UFO event there recently. Electrical sparks and vorticular colums of water rising up into UFOs have been reported around the world.
Perhaps, we have been too naïve to realized until now that this pirating, i.e. theft of Earth's energy resources may be one of the major reasons for UFO activities around Earth. The possibility that an Alien Presence is leeching energy (as well as human and animal biological material) may be one of the most closely guarded secrets of the world's governments.
Imagine for a moment, if a large proportion of the electrical power losses, power surges, blackouts and brownouts, "power cuts" as they are called in England, are the result of UFO piracy, a leeching of the power produced by industrialized nations as well as 3rd World countries global on global scale. The rolling power blackouts associated with UFO overflights could well be refueling or re-charging operations for their crafts, stealing energy resources, which, of course, must be paid for by "the consumer." Are Californians alone really to blame for the power crises that they are experiencing and which are growing worse and worse every year?
We cannot be sure yet, but officialdom's maintenance of UFO denial and UFO secrecy, thus, very easily shifts the burden of the cost for such power resource exploitation from the UFO pirates to the private citizen.
Are we secretly paying an "energy tax" to and unseen alien presence?
It could very well be that such a strategy, an instrument of energy exploitation, is being employed by the "Overlords of the UFOs" to manipulate world events in order to drive world affairs to maintain humanity in conflict, thereby, controlling human affairs and human behavior. Are UFOs tapping the world's electrical output to their advantage by driving the clash of civilizations and international competition (including wars) for control of oil, coal, nuclear fuels and water, the main resources of terrestrial, electrical energy production?
As the world edges toward the brink of an apparent Armageddon over oil in the Middle East, should we not pause to consider whether or not mankind is being duped, driven toward cataclysmic events and self-destruction by design?
Is it possible that the trend towards greater warfare and depopulation of mankind may be directed by intentions of a often glimpsed but veiled presence, driving world affairs from the shadows of concealment and by a race of beings who are more concerned with Earth's water and energy resources than its inhabitants, whom they view merely as a source of biological material for their breeding purposes?
One of the most important insights to emerge from the reopening and reinvestigation of the Cowichan District Hospital and Mill Bay UFO events of New Year's morning 1970 is to be found in the testimony of Mayor Jim Quaife and his insight into the purpose and activities of the UFOs that he sighted on their "fuel stops" in Duncan, BC.
Mayor Quaife told Vernon Stanley-Jones about this after reading the newspaper article. Jim Quaife clarified this in an email to investigator Leanne Jones:
"Actually I didn't talk with Vern until after I spotted his report about the event in the Times Colonist a day or so later.
When I called and advised him that I thought the craft was over his neck of the woods he stated that he thought it was over Duncan.
At this point I suggested that it was neither, it had to be somewhere in-between which would have placed it over or near, the AC/DC substation on the Island Highway, I then suggested that the craft may have been "refueling" by tapping into the energy field of the substation.
Vernon immediately questioned why I thought they needed to draw on electric energy and I related the story of my first incident on Riverside Road a few years earlier, that I distinctly heard a "turbine like" sound.
He then agreed, saying that they have to refuel somewhere, and maybe that is how and where! … Jim"
This is precisely what we would call "UFO Piracy."
Important links:
http://www.ufobc.ca/History/1970/ufooccupants.htm
www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case659.htm
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case659.htm
-
02-11-2011, 12:44 PM
#103
Coyne Helicopter Incident Nr. Mansfield, Ohio;
Jennie Zeidman, CUFOS:
The Coyne case (or "Army helicopter incident") stands out as, perhaps the most credible (in the "high strangeness" category) of the 1973 wave. An Army Reserve helicopter crew of four men encountered a gray, metallic-looking, cigar-shaped object, with unusual lights and maneuvers, as they were airborne between Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. The crew won the NATIONAL ENQUIRER Blue Ribbon Panel's $ 5,000 award for "the most scientifically valuable report of 1973."
On October 18, 1973, at approximately 10:30 PM a UH-1H helicopter of the United States Army Reserve left Port Columbus, Ohio, for its home base of Cleveland Hopkins airport, ninety-six nautical miles to the north-northeast. In command, in the right-front seat, was Captain Lawrence J. Coyne, thirty-six, with nineteen years of flying experience. At the controls, in the left-front seat, sat First Lieutenant Arrigo Jezzi, twenty-six, a chemical engineer. Behind Jezzi sat Sergeant John Healey, thirty-five, a Cleveland policeman who was the flight medic, and Coyne was the Crew Chief, Sergeant Robert Yanacsek, twenty-three, a computer technician.
The helicopter was cruising at 2,500 feet above sea level at an indicated airspeed of ninety knots, above mixed hills, woods, and rolling farmland, averaging 1,200 elevation. The night was totally clear, calm, and starry. The last quarter moon was just rising.
About ten miles south of Mansfield, Healey noticed a single red light off to the west, flying south. It seemed brighter than a standard aircraft port-wing light, but it was not considered relevant traffic, and he does not recall mentioning it. An estimated two minutes later, at approximately 11:02 PM, Yanacsek noted a single red light on the south-east horizon.
He assumed it was either a radio-tower beacon or an aircraft port-wing light - most likely an aircraft, since it was not flashing - and he watched it "for a long time, a minute to ninety seconds" before calling it to Coyne's attention. Coyne, smoking, relaxing, glanced over, noted the light, assumed it was distant traffic, and told told Yanacsek casually to "keep an eye on it."
After an estimated additional thirty seconds, Yanacsek announced that the light had turned toward the helicopter and appeared to be on a converging flight path. Coyne verified Yanacsek's assessment, grabbed the controls from Jezzi, and put the UH-1H into a powered descent of approximately 500 feet per minute. Almost simultaneously, Coyne established radio contact with Mansfield control tower, ten miles to the northwest. Coyne thought the flight was an Air National Guard F-100 from Mansfield.
After an initial acknowledgment ("This is Mansfield Tower, go ahead Army 1-5-triple-4"), radio contact failed. Jezzi then attempted transmission on both UHF and VHF frequencies without success. Although the channel and keying tones were both heard, there was no response from Mansfield; and a subsequent check by Coyne revealed that Mansfield had no tape of even the initial transmission, the the last F-100 had landed at 10:47 P.M.
The red light continued its radial bearing and increased greatly in intensity. Coyne increased his rate of descent to 2,000 feet per minute and his airspeed to 100 knots. The last altitude he noted was 1,700 feet. Just as a collision appeared imminent, the unknown light halted in its westward course and assumed a hovering relationship above and in front of the helicopter. "It wasn't cruising, it was stopped. For maybe ten to twelve seconds - just stopped," Yanacsek reported. Coyne, Healey, and Yanacsek agree that a cigar-shaped, slightly domed object substended an angle of nearly the width of the front windshield.
A featureless, gray, metallic-looking structure was precisely delineated against the background stars. Yanacsek reported "a suggestion of windows" along the top dome section. The red light emanated from the bow, a white light became visible at a slightly indented stern, and then, from aft/below, a green 'pyramid shaped" beam equated to a directional spotlight became visible. The green beam passed upward over the helicopter nose, swung up through the windshield, continued upward and entered the tinted upper window panels.
At that point (and not before), the cockpit was enveloped in green light. Jezzi reported only a bright white light, comparable to the leading light of a small aircraft, visible through the top "greenhouse' panels of the windshield. After the estimated ten seconds of "hovering," the object began to accelerate off to the west, now with only the white "tail" light visible. The white light maintained its intensity even as its distance appeared to increase, and finally (according to Coyne and Healey), it appeared to execute a decisive 45 degree turn to the right, head out toward Lake Erie, and then "snap out" over the horizon.
Healey reported that he watched the object moving westward "for a couple of minutes." Jezzi said it moved faster than the 250-knot limit for aircraft below 10,000 feet, but not as fast as the 600-knot approach speed reported by the others. There was no noise from the object or turbulence during the encounter, except for one "bump" as the object moved away to the west. After the object had broken off its hovering relationship, Jezzi and Coyne noted that the magnetic compass disk was rotating approximately four times per minute and that the altimeter read approximately 3,500 feet; a 1,000 foot-per-minute climb was in progress.
Coyne insists that the collective was still bottomed from his evasive descent. Since the collective could not be lowered further, he had no alternative but to lift it, whatever the results, and after a few seconds of gingerly maneuvering controls (during which the helicopter reached nearly 3,800 feet), positive control was achieved. By that time the white light had already moved into the Mansfield area.
Coyne had been subliminally aware of the climb; the others not at all, yet they had all been acutely aware of the g-forces of the dive. The helicopter was brought back to the flight plan altitude of 2,500 feet, radio contact was achieved with Canton/Akron, the night proceeded uneventfully to Cleveland.
Apparent ground witnesses to this event have been found by William E. Jones and Warren Nicholson, independent UFO researchers from Columbus, Ohio.
Mrs. E. C. and four adolescents were driving south from Mansfield to their rural home on October 18, 1973, at approximately 11 P.M., when they were attracted to a single steady bright red light. flying south "at medium altitude." They watched for perhaps half a minute until it disappeared to the south over the trees.
Approximately five minutes later, now driving east on Route 430, approaching the Charles Mill Reservoir, the family became aware of two bright lights - red and green - descending rapidly toward them from the southeast. When first seen, the angular distance between the lights was about 2 degrees; the red light appeared to be leading. Mrs. C. pulled over to the shoulder of the deserted road and kept the engine and car lights running.
The lights - bigger than point sources - slowed and moved as a unit to the right of the car and the family became aware of yet another group of lights - some of these flashing - and "a beating sound, a lot of racket" approaching from the southwest. Two of the children (cousins, both age thirteen) jumped from the car and observed both a helicopter and the object, which they described as "like a blimp," "as big as a school bus," "sort of pear shaped." The object at that point subtended an angle equivalent to "a 100-mm cigarette box held at arm's length."
The object assumed a hovering position over the helicopter, an estimated 500 feet back from the road and 500 feet above the trees. (The ground elevation at the site is almost exactly 1,000 feet above sea level; thus at the noted 1,700-foot altimeter reading, the helicopter was actually about 650 feet above the trees.) The object's green light then flared up. "It was like rays coming down," the witnesses said. The helicopter, the trees, the road, the car - everything turned green." The kids scrambled with fright back into the car and Mrs. C. proceeded apace.
Their estimated total time outside the car was "about a minute." Neither ground witnesses nor aircrew are sure at what point the two aircraft disengaged; the ground witnesses reported that the unidentified object crossed to the north side of the road behind the car, appeared to move eastward for a few seconds, then reversed its direction and climbed toward the northwest towards Mansfield - a flight path which correlates perfectly the motion of the object established through analysis of the aircrew's report.
Any theory of the object's being a meteor (UFO skeptic Philip Klass maintains that the object was a "fireball of the Orionid meteor shower") can readily be rejected on the basis of: (1) the duration of the event (an estimated 300 seconds); (2) the marked deceleration and hard-angle maneuver of the object at closest approach; (3) the precisely defined shape of the object; and (4) the horizon-to-horizon flight path.
The possibility of a high-performance aircraft likewise is untenable when one examines the positions and colors of the lights with respect to the flight path of the object. To have presented the reported configurations, and been in accordance with FAA regulations, an aircraft would have had to be flying sideways, either standing on its tail, tail-to to the helicopter, or upside-down head-on.
Other arguments against aircraft hypothesis are: (1) a fixed-wing aircraft moving across the line of sight would appear to move most rapidly when passing directly in front of the observer; (2) a fixed-wing aircraft would not have the capability of decelerating from high velocity to "hover" within a few seconds time; (3) a helicopter would have the capability of hovering, but would not be capable of the high forward speeds reported; (4) a conventional aircraft, if within 500 to 1,000 feet, would have produced noise audible inside the helicopter;
(5) the FAA requires either a strobe or a rotating beacon on either the top or bottom of the fuselage, (6) FAA requires that no aircraft shall fly below 10,000 feet msl at speeds above 250 knots; (7) some of the features of a conventional aircraft would have been seen, e.g., wings, engine pods, windows, empennage, numbers, logo.
Coyne reported that the Magnaflux/Zygio method of nondestructive testing was applied to the rotors the following day and that there was no indication that they had been subjected to fatigue-producing stresses. Comparable times/distances/directions support the possibility that the red light first seen by the C. family, Healey's red light, and the object of the encounter were all one and the same. Yanacsek's red light on the eastern horizon was under continuous observation and was unequivocally the object of the encounter.
The case has maintained its high "strangeness-credibility" rating after extended investigation and analysis.
Jennie Zeidman
CUFOS
http://www.nicap.org/index.htm
figure shows the places of the four helicopter crew members
Drawing of the object made under Captain Coyne and Sergeant Yanacsek direction;
Drawing by Curt, aged 10, who saw the object from the ground
Drawing by Camille, aged 11, who saw the object from the ground
Flightpath;
DISPOSITION FORM/ official report;
AR 340-15: the proponent agency is The Adjutant General's Office.
Near Midair Collision with UFO Report;
To: Commander Flight Operations Office;
DATE 23 Nov 73 Cmt 1;
83D USARCOM USAR Flight Facility;
ATTN: AHRCCG Cleveland Hopkins Airport Columbus Support Facility Cleveland, Ohio 44135;
1. On 18 October 1973 at 2305 hours in the vicinity of Mansfield, Ohio, Army Helicopter 68-15444 assigned to Cleveland USAR/FFAC encountered a near midair collision with a unidentified flying object. Four crewmembers assigned to the Cleveland USARFFAC for flying proficiency were on AFTP
status when this incident occurred.
The flight crew assigned was CPT Lawrence J. Coyne, Pilot in Command,1LT Arrigo Jozzi, Copilot, SSG Robert Yanacsek, Crew Chief, SSG John Healey,Flight Medio.
All the above personnel are member of the 316th MED DET(HEL AMB). a tenant reserve unit of the Cleveland USAR/FFAC.
2. The reported incident happened as follows: Army Helicopter 68-15444 was returning from Columbus, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio and at 2305 hours east, south east of Mansfield Airport in the vicinity of Mansfield, Ohio while flying at an altitude of 2500 feet and on a heading of 030 degrees, SSG
Yanacsek observed a red light on the east horizon,90 drgrees to the flight path of the helicopter.
Approximately 30 seconds later, SSG Yanacsek indicated the object was converging on the helicopter at the same altitude at a airspeed in excess of 600 knots and on a midair collision heading.
Cpt Coyne observed the converging object, took over the controls of the aircraft and initiated a power descent from 2500 feet to 1700 feet to avoid impact with the object. A radio call was initiated to Mansfield Tower who acknowledged the helicopter and was asked by CPT Coyne if there were any high performance aircraft flying in the vicinity of Mansfield Airport however there was no response received from the tower.
The crew expected impact from the object instead, the object was observed to hesistate momontarily over the helicopter and then slowly continued on a westerly course accelerating at a high rate of speed, clear west of Mansfield Airport then turn 45 degree heading to the Northwest. Cpt Coyne indicated the altimeter read a 1000 fpm olimp and read 3500 feet with the collective in the full down position.
The aircraft was returned to 2500 feet by CPT Coyne and flown back to Cleveland, Ohio. The flight plan was closed and the FAA Flight Service Station notified of the incident. The FSS told CPT Coyne to report the incident to the FAA GADO office a Cleveland Hopkins Airport Mr. Porter, 83d USARCOM was notified of the incident at 1530 hours on 19 Oct 73.
3. This report has been read and attested to by the crewmembers of the aircraft with signatures acknowledgeing this report.
Lawrence J. Coyne [Signature]
Arrigo Jozzi [Signature]
Robert Yanacsek [Signature]
John Healey [Signature]
DA FORM 2496;
The Mansfield News Journal on November 4, 1973;
CLEVELAND -
- Army Reserve helicopter pilot Capt. Lawrence Coyne is a military commander who doesn't believe in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or little green spacemen. But after a near miss two weeks ago between his helicopter and a "big, gray, metallic-looking" object in the sky over Mansfield, he doesn't know what to think.
I had to file an official report in detail to the Army on this thing,
he said.
Coyne is a member of the 316th Medical Detachment stationed at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. He was returning from Columbus at 11:10 p.m., Oct. 18, when the UFO showed up near where the Air National Guard has a squadron of jet fighters based. He said a check turned up that none of the unit's F-100 Super Saber Jets were in the air when the UFO appeared. Coyne said when he first encountered the UFO, his helicopter was cruising at 2,500 feet. He had the controls set for a 20-degree dive, but the craft climbed to 3,500 feet with no power.
I had made no attempt to pull up,he said.
There was no noise or turbulence, either.
Coyne said a red light appeared on the eastern horizon, and was first spotted by his crew chief, Sgt. Robert Yanacsek.
The light was traveling in excess of 600 knots,Coyne said.
It came from the horizon to our aircraft in about 10 seconds. We were on a collision course.
The pilot said he put his helicopter into a dive.
At 1,700 feet I braced myself for the impact with the other craft,
he said.
It was coming from our right side. I was scared. There had been so little time to respond. The thing was terrifically fast.
There was no crash.
We looked up and saw it stopped right over us: it had a big, gray metallic-looking hull about 60 feet long. It was shaped like an airfoil or a streamlined fat cigar. There was a red light on the front. The leading edge glowed red a short distance back from the nose. There was a center dome. A green light at the rear reflected on the hull.
I had made no attempt to pull up: all controls were set for a 20-degree dive. Yet we had climbed from 1,700 to 3,500 feet with no power in a couple of seconds with no g-forces or other noticeable strain;
Sources:
www.nicap.org...
www.fufor.com...
www.freerepublic.com...
www.youtube.com...
www.ufologie.net...
/5juuzt
www.cosmicparadigm.com...
/5b4guy
www.ufocasebook.com...
www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk...
www.cufon.org...
References:
Cincinnati Enquirer, October 22, 1973.
The Mansfield News Journal, November 4, 1973.
Jennie Zeidman, "Helicopter-UFO Encounter Over Ohio", Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, 1979.
Army Disposition Form incident report on case reproduced in Larry Fawcett and Barry Greenwood, Clear Intent, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, p. 239, 1984.
MUFON 1989 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, Seguin, Texas, pp. 13-30.
UFO-Helicopter Close Encounter Over Ohio, Flying Saucer Review 22 (4), pp. 15-19.
International UFO Reporter, pp. 13-14, November-December 1988.
International UFO Reporter, pp. 17-18, March-April 1989.
News Journal, october 18, 2003.
-
02-11-2011, 12:52 PM
#104
-
02-11-2011, 12:53 PM
#105
Canadian Government’s UFO Website;
Our neighbor to the north’s UFO interests have paralleled those here in the United States, and at one point there was a joint effort to collect reports and send them to North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) headquarters in Colorado. Canada’s official UFO research history can be found on an interactive website administered by the Canadian government’s Library and Archives.
The beginning of Canadian UFO interest is documented in a memo on their website, it states that “sightings of unidentified objects have been recorded in the Canadian Press since the turn of the Century.” It goes on to explain that their military really had not taken the matter seriously until 1947 when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Department of National Defence began taking reports. It wasn’t until 1952 that an organized effort to review these reports was established.
Project Second Story, sponsored by the Defence Research Board of Canada held its first meeting on April 22nd, 1952. Members from several government agencies made up this board, whose mission was to “collect, catalogue and correlate data from UFO sighting reports.”
In the minutes of their first meeting, the U.S. Air Force’s efforts were brought up. They were briefed that the U.S. Air Force had a project, which as far as the public was concerned, was “discontinued”, however the project was re-opened as classified. Although the memo does not specify, it must have been referring to the closure of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Grudge, and the opening of Project Blue Book. There were public facing as well as classified portions of Project Blue Book.
The meeting also included presentations on the possible origins of UFOs. The extraterrestrial possibility was presented by Wilbert Smith, a senior engineer with the Department of Transportation. Smith was also the head of Project Magnet, a study that started in 1950 focused on potentially using the earth’s magnetic field as a method of propulsion. Smith believed that if they are real, UFOs must be using this type of technology, he stated “the correlation between our basic theory and the available information on saucers checks too closely to be mere coincidence.” Project Magnet lost its government funding in 1954, but Smith continued the project using his own funds until his death in 1962.
Evidence that UFOs are not technological devices was also presented, a representative of the A.V. Roe Company participated in the discussion speculating that UFOs may be secret airplane designs of the Russians. A.V. Roe Company, later to be known as AVRO, is famous for being one of the first airplane manufacturers, and later testing saucer shaped aircraft.
The Russian’s successful launch of the Sputnik satellite, in 1957, raised alarms in the west. Soon after, NORAD was established so that the U.S. and Canada could jointly monitor North American air space. NORAD headquarters were house under Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. With fifteen buildings inside the complex, it has been likened to an underground city. Canada’s headquarters were also underground at the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAG) Station North Bay in Ontario. The entire three story installation was buried 600 feet below the surface for protection.
According to a poster released on the Canadian UFO website, Russian technology was not the only thing NORAD was looking out for. The poster outlines the importance of reporting “immediately all airborne and waterborne objects which appear to be hostile, are unidentified or are acting suspiciously.” The poster includes images representing the types of objects to be reported, including an image of a jet and a saucer flying in the clouds, labeled “Unidentified Flying Objects or unidentified objects in the water.”
Canada’s UFO interests continued into the 60’s. In a letter from 1967 to the National Research Council regarding the transferring of UFO files from the Department of National Defence, the status of the findings was noted. They found many sighting to be fireballs and meteorites, these cases were sent to the National Research Council Meteorite Centre for scientific study, the others were either regarded as unimportant or investigated by a military officer.
The memo notes that they agreed with their U.S. counterparts that none of their research demonstrated a threat to National Security. However, they did find that some of the cases “suggest the possibility of UFOs exhibiting some unique scientific information or technical research.”
More information can be found at their website on this period of time for Canadian UFO research, including some of the more incredible cases that helped fuel official interest.http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ufo/index-e.html
link; http://www.openminds.tv/canadian-ufo-website/
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks