Texas Official Demands Answers About Alleged UFO-with Video
Sep 5, 2008 6:30 pm US/Central
Pam Harris
STEPHENVILLE (CBS 11 News) ― Dozens of Stephenville residents reported seeing UFOs in the area in January. At first, the military reported there were no aircraft in the area that night. Two weeks later, officials said they were conducting training exercises in the area.
Now some city officials want to know if a government exercise was being performed, why they weren't notified ahead of time.
"I want to know why public officials weren't notified of a large military operation in our area," said Stephenville City Councilmember Mark Murphy. He has filed a complaint with U. S. Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding answers.
"My main concern is public safety," said Councilman Murphy. "I want to make sure that if anything like this is going on, people are alerted."
But residents were mixed on what the public needs to know.
"I think the government needs to let us know when we need to know, but on something like this, it's not appropriate," said Stephenville resident Cliff McMinn.
"I think the city has a right to know," said Dell Eastwood, a resident of Stephenville. "I guess the federal government doesn't think they do."
According to a local aviation expert, the military must communicate with the FAA, but they are not required to contact city officials. Councilman Murphy thinks that rule should be changed.
"Just so we know they're going to be operating in this area," he said. "It's only a courtesy - intergovernmental courtesy."
Councilman Murphy says he doesn't need to know details about what the military was doing over the skies of Stephenville that night, he just wants corrective action to be taken.
Tourism-Important Industry in Major UFO and Bigfoot States
Peter Leeson
Flying saucers and little green men? The idea that extraterrestrials might be visiting earth became popular in the US at least 60 years ago. But over the last several months, a series of UFO-related events — impressive enough to catch even the most hardened sceptic’s attention — have burst onto the scene.
In late July, respected Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell publicly announced that Pentagon officials confirmed for him that aliens exist, that they have visited earth, and that a UFO really did crash in the infamous Roswell, New Mexico, incident in 1947. Mitchell’s comments came only a few months after the British ministry of defence released its “X files” to the public, documenting UFO sightings going back to 1978.
Could the tools of economics help us get to the bottom of the UFO phenomenon? That’s what fellow economist Claudia Williamson and I are hoping in our latest project that uses economics to analyse the American flying saucer phenomenon.
We’re still in the early data collecting stages of our project; but in doing so we’ve come across an intriguing pattern. States with more UFO sightings also have more Bigfoot sightings. In fact, six of the top 10 UFO and Bigfoot states are the same: Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming and Colorado. Two states, Washington and Oregon, are among both categories’ top five.
If you’re like many people, you may think it’s at least possible, though perhaps very unlikely, that UFOs are real. When it comes to Bigfoot, on the other hand, you’re quite certain he’s not real. If this is you, how should the pattern in this figure influence your beliefs?
At first blush, I think it should reduce your confidence in the validity of the UFO phenomenon. The data suggest that alien spacecraft and Bigfoot tend to visit the same states with similar relative frequencies. Since you think Bigfoot sightings are bogus, this should raise red flags about UFO sightings too. Whatever more mundane factors may be driving Bigfoot sightings are likely driving UFO sightings as well.
A believer might point out that the top 10 UFO and Bigfoot states are all “great outdoors” states — states with lots of sightseeing, and therefore lots of opportunities to observe UFOs if they’re real, and apparently to mistake bears for sasquatches as well. So the pattern in the figure need not increase doubts about the UFO phenomenon’s legitimacy.
There’s something to this response, but I don’t think it saves the UFO phenomenon from additional doubt. First, although sightseeing may be more prominent in some states, this wouldn’t explain why UFOs (airborne craft seen against the night sky) tend to be observed in the same places that Bigfoot (a woods-inhabiting creature seen mostly only in daylight) sightings occur — even if both phenomena are “real.”
Second, a number of the top 10 UFO and Bigfoot states share more in common than ample sightseeing opportunities.
For instance, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Colorado — both UFO and Bigfoot hot spots — are among the least religious states in the country, which might impact their citizens’ likelihood of “seeing” both phenomena.
Finally, and potentially most critically, tourism is an important industry in nearly all major UFO and Bigfoot states. States with more frequent UFO and Bigfoot “visits” attract curious tourists who bring their wallets with their curiosity. This may provide an incentive for locals to “see” UFOs and Bigfoot more often.
I’m curious as to what others think may be responsible for the UFO/Bigfoot relationship. I should point out that, despite nearly all my friends’ ridicule, I’m open-minded about the possibility that both Bigfoot and UFOs exist. Sceptics and believers: what say you?
Edited excerpts. Peter Leeson is professor, George Mason University. Comments are welcome at otherviews@livemint.com
09/01/2008-As the afternoons get shorter and the kids' homework starts to pile up, you should make room in your lives to hunker down on the couch and show the family a classic B-movie thriller.
B movie as in, could-B good, could-B awful. We report, you watch and decide.
"It Came From Outer Space" arrived in 1953 on the heels of the successful "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and picked up on that movie's counter- Cold War message that maybe the space aliens weren't out to get us.
"It Came From Outer Space" occasionally subsitutes a lot of driving through the Arizona desert for an actual plot. But the scenery is rendered in enjoyable black-and-white contrast, and accompanied by that spooky "there might be a flying saucer just out of camera range" music that is at the heart of a true B movie.
The film also foreshadows a true science-fiction classic, 1956's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Being possessed by the invading "others" is a longtime fictional plot, of course, and "It Came From Outer Space" isn't on the same level as "Body Snatchers." But it has its moments, and it's fun to sit with tweens or teenagers and watch a movie walk the fine line between genre and camp.
In "It Came . . . ," based on a story by Ray Bradbury, writer and astronomer John Putnam sees a meteor crash and discovers a space ship that no one else believes in. Locals get snatched, and come back as emotionless robots doing the aliens' bidding. As in much science fiction, Putnam spends much of the film yelling at skeptical officials who think he's gone cactus-crazy.
Don't worry about watching it with the youngest — this was not the era of cutting-edge special effects. The "monster" would barely startle the family dog.
source & references:
http://www.denverpost.com/movies/ci_10358130
Photograph of Unknown Object, Fethiye, Turkey
You may recall that I sent a published photo on your excellent web site last year dated 7th July 2007, taken from a moving minibus heading into the town of Fethiye, Turkey. Further to that photo, I have downloaded a couple of still frames taken from a camcorder used on that same holiday. I attach them for your information.
I have also downloaded the original camcorder tape onto my computer. My inexperience does not help me to forward the section of film to you, but as soon as I get some form of help from an expert, I am happy to do so.
Having looked back through your UFO photo archives, the object resembles a photo taken in 1989, with the dark lower central area on it, and a dark area(smaller)on top also.
Camera used-Canon PowerShot A570 IS
Regards,
Alan R. Barrett
{Click on images for full size}
source and references:
Submitted to UFO Casebook
UFO Lovers Excited by Lights over Shropshire, UK
UFO experts have described Shropshire as a hive of activity and believe something “big” is going on in the county.
Following dozens of reports of unidentified lights in the sky over the past three months Philip Hoyle, of the UFO Investigation and Research Unit, has revealed that an investigation is under way. It is focusing on the Hope and Rea Valleys in the south of the county.
Farmers in the area reported finding a number of mutilated animals after seeing strange lights.
Mr Hoyle, of the Shrewsbury-based unit, said: “We have got a highly active area in the Hope and Rea Valley near Bishop’s Castle and Ludlow where we continually have sightings from farmers.
“We have farmers who are not renowned for flights of fancy telling us of lights and discs over their farms.”
He added: “There are about 35 people in these valleys that claim to have been involved in abduction over the last 20 years and they are all unrelated.
“They are all professional people and they are all saying the same thing - something is going on here.” Mr Hoyle said 10 years ago a man reported spotting a “disc” while driving over the Burway near Church Stretton.
He was later interviewed by military intelligence officers.
“Shropshire does seem to have more than its fair share of activity and we are investigating the valley area,” Mr Hoyle added.
“People are seeing things and experiencing things and we have animal mutilations in the area.
“Farmers are finding animals dissected to such a precision that even Defra cannot explain it.
“They can see the lights then they find the animals. Animals are being killed but nobody can see anything.”
Over the past three months a number of Shropshire Star readers have spotted strange lights in the skies.
The latest report comes from Neil Gregory, of Ditherington, Shrewsbury.
He said he spotted an orange glowing light above Haughmond Abbey on Saturday at about 10.30pm. The 56-year-old said he thought it was a plane on fire at first.
“It was an orange glow and it was pulsating, my wife saw it as well,” he said. “It stopped and hovered and was pulsating for 20 to 30 seconds then it disappeared in about six seconds.”
ODD SHAPES AND SIGHTS
* July 1 - Pilot David Bemand sees orange lights over Ludlow at about 10pm. Candice Taylor, 23, of Burford, Brookside, Telford, spots a shape resembling a basket in the night sky.
Mr Bemand, who has held a private pilot’s licence for 22 years, was at home in Luston when he saw the lights.
* July 27 - Four mysterious lights seen above Ironbridge at about 9.40pm. Lauren Crouch saw the lights and managed to photograph them.
* August 14 - Julie Cooper, 49, of Church Street, Broseley, Telford sees mysterious lights above her mother’s house in Jackson Avenue, Broseley at about midnight.
* August 15 - Mother-of-one Marion Groves and her husband Jim, of Hinkshay Road, Dawley, see two white lights hovering between 8.30pm and 11pm. Nina and Bill Hall see lights on the same night as they drive back to Aqueduct from Bridgnorth along the A442.
* August 30 - Neil Gregory, of Ditherington, Shrewsbury, spots an orange glowing light above Haughmond Abbey at about 10.30pm.
Tuesday September 2 2008-A British computer expert accused of hacking into American military systems was in a "distraught" state as he awaited extradition to the US, his family and friends said.
Gary McKinnon, 42, who claimed he was looking for UFO files, has lost a string of legal battles against his extradition, culminating in a failed last-ditch appeal at the European Court of Human Rights last month.
His parents and girlfriend joined supporters in London for a demonstration outside the Home Office, calling on the Government to prevent him from being handed over to American authorities.
Mr McKinnon, an unemployed systems analyst from Wood Green, north London, admits accessing 97 US Navy, Army, Nasa and Pentagon computers, but he said he was motivated by curiosity and only got in because of lax security.
The US government said he stole passwords and deleted files. Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison if he is found guilty.
Lucy Clarke, who has been with Mr McKinnon for the last three and a half years, said: "He is a broken man - he is distraught and very scared. All we can do is wait. The whole family has been living in terror."
Miss Clarke, 37, who works as a secretary, said she hoped the action would raise public awareness of his plight and highlight the "one-sided" nature of the extradition treaty.
Demonstrators wore T-shirts stating "Give Gary McKinnon a Fair Trial", chanted and held up placards with messages such as "No Evidence Required, No Justice Required" and "UK Law for UK Citizens".
His father, Charlie McKinnon, travelled from his Glasgow home to support his son.
The 63-year-old scaffolder said: "I don't want him to go to America. There is no hope for him to face a fair trial there - they have made up their minds."
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2008, All Rights Reserved.
source & references:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/7769127
The Legends of UFO Crashes at Spitzbergen, Norway, 1946 & 1952
There have been numerous legends about UFO crashes; some of them have quite a bit of documentation and eyewitness testimony.
Others are based mostly on legend and folklore.
Two of the cases based primarily on legend involve the same place, Spitzbergen, Norway, but these two cases have different dates, 1946 and 1952.
There is just not enough verifiable evidence to support either of these events, and here are the reasons:
1946 Spitzbergen UFO Crash
The 1946 case, more than anything else, is memorable for its characters. The legend goes something like this: In 1946, General James H. Doolittle was sent to Sweden by the Shell Oil Company, supposedly to investigate the mystery of the "Ghost Rockets." Why an oil company would investigate UFOs is beyond my understanding, unless they felt they could strengthen their profits.
Somehow, Doolittle wound up in Spitzbergen. There are a number of Internet sites which claim that there was a short lived article published in America of a UFO crash in the Norwegian city about this time. Some people claim to have seen the article. The really odd thing about the tale of this case is the question must be asked what does Doolittle have to do with anything, since he is only mentioned as being in the area, and that is the end of his involvement.
The only redeeming part of this particular case is that it was reported by Dorothy Kilgallen, celebrity for her years appearing on the "What's My Line?" TV game show. She claimed that someone in the upper echelon of the British government informed her that a UFO had crashed near Spitzbergen, and was under investigation by the British and American military. Supposedly, this informant was Lord Mountbatten.
Some investigators claim that since no mention of the name Spitzbergen was found in the reports, that the location's
mention was to cover up a crash in Great Britain. A crash in Great Britain during the same time period has no basis in fact either.
In addition to being a game show regular, Kilgallen also was a journalist of a sort, having written "gossip columns," but she also was well known for covering hard, current events. She had covered the headline grabbing Lindbergh kidnapping story. In the 1950s, she had covered one of the top stories of her time, the Sam Sheppard murder trial.
Her last real claim to fame was in the 1960's when she got an interview with Lee Harvey Oswald killer, Jack Ruby. This interview was carried by the "Los Angeles Examiner." She told friends that she had information that would "break the case wide open."
On 8th November, 1965, Dorothy Kilgallen, was found dead in her New York apartment. She was fully dressed and sitting upright in her bed. The police reported that she had died from taking a cocktail of alcohol and barbiturates. The notes of her interview with Ruby and the article she was writing on the case had disappeared from her apartment.
Luckily, she had given a friend a draft of her interview. Kilgallen was probably fearful for her own life, since several other writers who had worked on the Oswald / Ruby case had died under "unusual circumstances."
Kilgallen's reputation and notoriety were the only things that kept the weak story of the Spitzbergen crash of 1946 alive. The last hope of further research into the Norwegian crash died along with her, as her sources were never verified.
Spitzbergen 1946 by B J Booth
1952 Spitzbergen UFO Crash
The other Spitzbergen crash story first appeared in the German newspaper “Saarbrücker Zeitung” in June 1952. The article, entitled "Auf Spitzbergen landete Fliegende Untertasse", was soon picked up by several other German newspapers, with many of them citing “The Stuttgarter Tagerblatt” as the original source.
The story was that jets of the Norwegian Air Force spotted a crashed UFO while flying over Spitzbergen on maneuvers. The craft was disc-shaped with a series of jets around the rim of the disc to make it spin.
According to the first article about the crash, the craft was an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle with Russian writing on the controls, but as the story was embroidered with each retelling, it soon acquired seven alien crewmen who were burned to death in the crash.
Spitzbergen 1952 by Loy Lawhon
(last update, 09-05-08)
California-Triangle Object Seen
Hi. My name is P., and I live in Northern California. I am emailing you because I also have seen a UFO triangle with a perfectly round circle. My sighting was last May 20, 2008. I've been looking everyday since my sighting to see if anyone else has had an experince such as mine, and now I have found one in your magazine issue #322, Issue date 9-1-08. sent by P.-source www.ufocasebook.com
New York-Disc-Shaped Object
08-31-08-I was in Staten Island, NY last night (8/31/08) at a BBQ and several of us spotted something in the sky. It was orange and fuzzy, and it looked like there were flames burning inside the disc-shaped flying object. I have a video of it on my camera (standard 7.0 megapixels Olympus) when it was flying away.
I was wondering if you have heard of anything that looks like this? My friend who was in Brooklyn also claims to have seen the same object. Any information that you may know would be great if you could pass along. sent by E.-source: www.ufocasebook.com
Texas-Unknown Light
08-29-08-My friend Steve H. and I were at lake Wright Patman, starting at about 1:00 am. We were discussing plans for our music project when I noticed what looked like a VERY bright star. It was about 60 degrees to the bottom left of what I think is the little dipper.
At first I ignored it, then it started to move towards the northwest at a very slow rate. I told Steve and we watched it for about 3 hours. We noticed that it seemed to have different colors that were pulsating. We then walked to different parts of the lake to try to get a better vantage point.
After about 2 hours of watching it, the lights would extinguish and come back on for a few seconds randomly. We watched it do this for two more hours and then we left for our homes. source: www.mufon.com
Texas-Flashing Balls of Light
08-31-08-This happens almost every night! I've looked south from my apartment, from ground level and there are balls of light flashing around. they appear to be over the US/Mexico border, maybe closer to US. even on nights where there is too much cloud cover to see stars or any other astrological phenomenon. Tonight my girlfriend and I saw a huge, triangular object that appeared to be 200-300 yards across at the base. it seemed vaguely clear, with white lights at each tip. it was moving east at a very fast rate. we observed it for 10 seconds and then it disappeared behind the clouds. we just happened to notice it while looking at the usual activity we are lucky to witness every night.
The balls of light that we see nightly have been occurring for years. I've lived on this street for five years, and I would notice them while outside smoking a cigarette, and joke to my friends that I just saw a UFO. then as I began to pay attention, having seen them numerous times, I noticed that they were everywhere! They flash for 1-2 seconds and move at lightning speed. they move horizontally, vertically, diagonally, every way possible. They maneuver too quickly to be aircraft. or at least manned aircraft that we currently have flying. They make abrupt right angle turns at times at speed, which would kill any human in the technology we have available to the public. source: www.mufon.com
United Kingdom-Four Bright Lights, Orange Glow
09-01-08-Possible sightings of UFO's over Broadstairs, Kent, England, 2045 hrs 01/09/08. Whilst at work last night with a colleague and walking up the Vale Broadstairs, saw in the sky, a formation of 4 bright lights with an orange/white glow, immaculately spaced and initially looking like 4 helicopters traveling about same speed, approximately 400 feet. Thinking they were helicopters, observed and they passed heading north, and not a sound was heard. Every movement made by them was in sync.
From that point on, individual unidentified and paired lights passed, same speed and height, heading in the same direction. In total, I would estimate 20-25 separate lights, and one even appeared to break up partially with a slow decent from its left side. I was amazed as were several car drivers that stopped on Osborne Rd, and several home owners who were watching this unexplained event. I did get pics on the old mobile!The sky at the time was clear. sent by Alex-source: www.ufocasebook.com
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