mufon ufo journal - 2007 11. november

In thisissue

November 2007 No. 475 $4.00

UFO JournalPursuit of Truth:1966 Portage, Ohio,UFO Chase 3

Asking PresidentialCandidates aboutUFOs, Secrecy 9

Air CommunicationsArchive Project 10

Sparks’ Response toFriedman’s Rebuttal 11

CMS Rankings 21

UFO Marketplace 23

Night Sky 24

Columns

Director’s Message 2

MUFON Volunteer 12

Stan Friedman: The Cosmic Watergate 15

Filers Files 17

Calendar 23

Physical evidence for the 1966 PortageOhio UFO Chase recently brought to light

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MUFON’S MISSION IS THE .SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF UFOS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY

THROUGH INVESTIGATION, RESEARCH, & EDUCATION.

November 2007 Number 475

Continued on page 22

Director’s MessageBy James Carrion

James Carrion

M U F O N

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The year 1966 was an especiallyactive year for UFOs, both in sightingfrequency as well as national presscoverage. 1966 was the year of the in-famous “SwampGas” sightings inMichigan andalso the PortageOhio UFO chase.Both of thesecases are ofspecial interest tome as theyhighlight thehuman dramathat unfoldswhen a con-cerned citizenry witnesses an anoma-lous event only to have the authoritiestell them it was a misperception of themundane.

In Michigan it was Dr. Hynekhimself who declared that a group ofcoeds were just witnessing a belchingbiomass from the swampy areas aroundtheir college. In the case of Portage,Ohio, it was Project Blue Book person-nel who tried to convince more than

one law enforcement officer that theywere chasing a planet and a satellite athigh speeds across two state lines. It isno wonder that UFO witnesses arereluctant to come forward because ofthe real possibility of public ridicule.

So what happens when a planet/satellite leaves physical evidence andthis evidence has been preserved in anunbroken chain of custody for 40years? You will want to read thismonth’s cover story to find out.

Important Message for all MUFONMembers

This month we are beginning a newcolumn in the MUFON Journal thatwill highlight a MUFON member whosededication to MUFON deserves ourrecognition and gratitude. This could bea State Director, MUFON Boardmember, Consultant, MUFON FieldInvestigator, or any member who notonly believes in MUFON’s mission butwho selflessly works to see thatmission accomplished. If you knowsomeone in the MUFON family who

3 MUFON UFO JournalNovember 2007

Continued on page 4

In Pursuit of Truth: The 1966Portage, Ohio, UFO Chase

This paper was presented by Michael Nelson at the August2007 MUFON Symposium in Denver. It is published in theMUFON 38th Annual International UFO SymposiumProceedings.

Abstract

As an archaeologist I am skeptical about UFOs beingfrom other civilizations outside of our own atmosphere. Tobe sure, people for thousands of years have seenunexplainable things in the night sky. Various books and T.V.shows which purport to show that our ancient ancestorspainted or carved likenesses of ‘space visitors’ invariably donot understand the material culture of these peoples, or theirmyths. However as a former deputy from Portage County,Ohio, this case was fascinating and important to me. Afterstudying these data, I am still skeptical about visitors fromouter space, but much less skeptical about the government’scapacity to do whatever it takes—including ruining the livesof public servants—to silence questions about just what isbeing seen by thousands of people each year.

Background—1966

In the early morning hours of April 17th, 1966, DeputiesDale Spaur and William (Barney) Neff were on patrol insouthern Portage County, Ohio, when they responded to anaccident. A car had hit a utility pole and the wires weredown. The driver had been taken to Robinson MemorialHospital in Ravenna, and the electric company repair crewwas on scene re-setting a new pole. They asked the deputiesto get them some coffee, so Spaur and Neff drove east tothe Deerfield circle, to the Circle restaurant which was (andis) a popular greasy spoon.

They spoke briefly with the waitress and cook, got thecoffee and were returning west to SR 44 where the accidenthad occurred, when they passed a car on the side of theroad. It was parked on the east-bound side of SR 224, andhad not been there when they had driven by on the way toDeerfield. They turned their patrol car (P-13) around andpulled in behind the vehicle. Things immediately got a littlestrange. The car had several antennae on it, and what lookedlike radio gear inside. Dale noticed an insignia on the door,which looked like an “oblong diamond, with strange symbolsand lightning bolts on it.” As Spaur approached the vehicleon the driver’s side, Neff approached and stood near thepassenger side rear corner of the vehicle. As Dale reachedthe driver’s door, he looked behind him to be sure that “noone was sneaking up on us.” That is when he noticed thebright object rising above the trees on the side of the road.

What happened next has been written about extensively(at least some of it). In brief, deputies Spaur and Neff

proceeded to chase theobject for 86 miles,across four counties andtwo states. It waswidely reported that twoother police officers alsosaw and chased theobject; the truth isactually a little different.When the chase ended,they were supposedlycontacted by an Air Force official while still in Pennsylvania,and they also reported seeing jets that the Air Forcescrambled to intercept the object. Later the Air Force deniedeither allegation.

Project Blue Book was involved early on. Major HectorQuintanilla himself drove to Ravenna, Ohio, on May 10th tointerview witnesses. The official conclusion: They werechasing the planet Venus.

Evidence box discovered in 1985

In the 1980s I was a deputy sheriff for the PortageCounty Sheriff’s Office, and had never heard of this case. Iwas only three years old when it happened, and not beingamong those who believed in such things, I had never readabout this significant UFO case.

In 1985 I was tasked to help clear out old files toprepare for some major renovations occurring at the CountyCourthouse where the Sheriff’s Office was housed. All coldfiles pertaining to violent crimes (such as murder, rape,missing persons, etc) were to be kept; the rest of thematerial (if it was over 15 years old) was to be tossed intothe trash bin. It was while cleaning out the old DetectiveBureau storage area that I came across an old evidence boxwith extensive reports and interviews, as well as somephysical evidence (still sealed in bags), marked “Spaur / NeffChase, 04/66.” I began to look through it to determinewhether it was a violent crime. It appeared to only be somesort of chase until I spotted the word “UFO.” I asked if thiswas a cold case that should be kept, and was told no;nobody knew anything about it, so it was to be thrown outwith the rest of the trash.

However, as it seemed like a large case file and hadevidence bags, I decided to keep the material, thinking it maymake for some interesting reading. The file and evidencebags went into my attic until 1998, when I discovered itagain while packing to move; when we got into our newhouse I decided to finally read it. When I had gone throughmost of the material, in 2006, I emailed MUFON—which I

Michael M. Nelson

November 20074 MUFON UFO Journal

Continued on page 6

The Portage, Ohio UFO ChaseContinued from page 3

found on a Google search—and described what I had. Ireceived a reply from James Carrion, International MUFONDirector, and that is how I can to be involved in thisSymposium.

The Documents

The file contained the usual material: an incident reportby deputies Spaur and Neff, voluntary statements fromwitnesses, scene photos, reel-to-reel tapes of interviews, theDB report and follow-up reports, memos and newspaperclippings. What caught my eye was a memo from SheriffRoss Dustman to Detective Smith dated April 18, 1966. Inthe memo, Sheriff Dustman instructs the detective that theSheriff’s investigation was to be kept strictly confidential—itwas not to be disclosed to either the Air Force or the NICAPinvestigators that an independent investigation was beingconducted. This was irregular, to say the least. Letters fromCongressman Gerald R. Ford in the file showed thatevidently he was aware of the case and was interested inlearning more. This eventually led me to the Gerald R. FordLibrary and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Idiscovered literally boxes of files on this case, as well asseveral other files on other cases involving law enforcementat all levels, military personnel and government employees.

There were also quite revealing witness statements bycivilians. Betty Raymond, the night waitress at the CircleRestaurant in Deerfield, had spoken with the deputies whenthey came in for coffee. She relates that the deputies came inabout 4:30 a.m. She reports,

“About half an hour later I was taking a break out frontwhen I noticed a very bright light in the sky, coming fromthe west and heading east along SR 224. At first it lookedround, but as it got closer it looked more like one of thoseblimps that they keep in Suffield, only going very fast andmaking no sound.”

This is significant for several reasons. First, shewatched the object come from the west and pass to the eastin a matter of minutes—hardly what one would expect Venusto do. Secondly, she watched it approach and describes it asfirst looking like a “bright light” and as it got closer like aGoodyear blimp (the main hangers for the Goodyear blimpswere in Suffield Ohio, just a few miles west from Deerfieldand along SR 224). So this object was not a point source.Betty continues,

“Like I said, it looked as large as a blimp, but was goingtoo fast and besides, it did not make any noise at all. Iyelled for Chuck to come out—he is the cook but we hadno customers at that time—and he came out and saw ittoo. By now it was getting pretty close, and I startedgetting a little scared. I crouched down behind my newcar, and tried to see what it was doing. Chuck stood there

a while longer and said he could see a police car comingand that they must be chasing this light. This thing, thislight, went straight over the circle, and it was so bright itlooked like daylight. It also made my skin feel very hot,and all of my hairs stood up, like static electricity. Thatwas when Chuck jumped behind my car too. He wasyelling that it felt like his skin and eyes were burning. Afew moments after it passed, the police car, the Sheriff’scar went around the circle going very fast. They wereobviously following this thing. I then looked at Chuck tosee if he was all right, and his eyes and nose seemed red,like a sunburn. But the rest of him looked very pale, andhe went inside to sit and have some coffee. I looked at mycar to see if it had been damaged or the paint burned, butit was okay. If [sic] was not until later that morning that Ifound out that the ignition cap and wires were all burntand it would not start.”

This is a very important statement because itdemonstrates physical effects of some sort of energy onChuck, and on Betty’s car. I will conclude this look atwitness statements with the last part of Betty’s interview.

Detective: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Betty: No, that is the story. The Air Force guys came byabout 7 a.m. and took our names and addresses and askedus what we saw. I thought it strange that they got here sofast, even before you got here. They were not inuniforms, and their car seemed too beat up for agovernment car, and it had funny marks on the doors thatdid not look like Air Force symbols to me. So we gavethem our names and told them we had really only seensome strange lights in the sky.

Detective: What did the marks look like?

Betty: Well, it looked like an elongated diamond, withsome symbols and what looked like lightning bolts on it. Italso had some letters, but they did not spell anything, or atleast no words that I understand. There were lots ofantennas on it too, like a police car, only more. Theseguys wore dark suits, but they were not Air Forceuniforms; my brother is in the Air Force and I know whatthey look like. They told us not to ever speak about this,as it was a matter of national defense, and there could bedire consequences if we spoke with anybody about this.They even told Chuck not to go to the hospital or see hisdoctor about those burns. They told him they would healwith time. They also told me my car must have haddefective wiring in it, and that is what I should tell anyonewho asked me about what happened to it. They were veryintimidating.


Brick—Unburned side

Brick—Burned area, closeup

Brick—Burned side. Right side is blackened.

The Brick AnalysisRegular photographs and microphotographs of the brick show differentviews of the burned area and unburned areas. Clearly there are differ-ences. A section of the brick is blackened. The surface of this section,while smooth, appears to have bubbles underneath. The surface of the tanunburned area is coarse. See photos above and at right.

The microphotographs (below) of the burn area (outer and inner surfaces)and an unburned area show additional information. The burn inner materialclearly shows porosity, i.e. “bubbles” which appear to be glass-like, andthere is glass formation in the area adjacent to the bubbles. The samplehad to have been exposed to high temperature for this effect to haveoccurred.

Brick burn material (interior). Note glass formationand extreme porosity. Brick burn material (exterior). Note smooth surface.



Continued on page 8

This interview tape was dated May 18 1966 at 6:40 p.m.and signed by detective Smith.

There is also an interview with a Lt. Colonel from theYoungstown Airbase, in which the officer describes himselfas the base UFO officer, and wherein he confirms to thedetective that 2 USAF F-102 jets were scrambled to interceptand identify the object being chased by the deputies. Later, inboth the Air Force report and the NICAP reports, this iscompletely denied.

There are over 200 pages of such documents andinterview transcripts in the case file. All of them will beincluded in the book.

The Interviews

Many UFO investigators have attempted to contact thetwo main deputies involved in this case. Notably, Jeff Rennerof the Cleveland Free Times had spoken with Wilbur Neff ona few occasions, but Mr. Neff eventually stopped talkingwith anyone. Both men moved and went into hiding. Afterhiring a private investigation firm to find them, I approachedthem with a great deal of caution. Wilbur Neff, who nowresides in Florida, agreed to speak with me because I was aformer Deputy from the same department, and heunderstood I was not a UFO investigator. Basically hisrecollection of the event was vivid and largely the same asrelated in the report. He did not get close enough to the caron SR 224 to see any markings, but said that Dale (DeputySpaur) had mentioned them. He also remembered how MajorQuintanilla really did not seem as interested in the truth asfinding a reasonable explanation for the event. Mr. Neffstates,

“when he told us it was Venus we were chasing, SheriffDustman became quite upset. I asked how Venus couldappear wider than an interstate highway, and his reply wasit could not. I asked him if he had ever considered that itmight be some sort of experimental airplane or somethingfrom the Russians, and he said no—it was not theRussians, and it was not an aircraft—it was Venus.”

In addition, his wife remembers that morning whenWilliam got home. “He looked like he had just been throughhell. He was nervous, agitated, and angry. He kept sayingthat the Air Force would rather ruin his reputation thensearch for the truth. I don’t know what he saw, but wefrequently see Venus and it has never looked like it was 50feet across and moving around the sky.”

Dale Spaur was harder to find. He had lived in aCleveland suburb for a while after his divorce, and he ran ataxi company in West Virginia for a while. When I found himhe was in a Hospice in Iowa. He reluctantly agreed to speakwith me, and the entire content of the two interviews will bein the book. I asked if this chase was either a hoax or Venus.

“No man in his right mind would make something up thatwas untrue and that he knew would ruin his life. I lost mywife, my friends, my job and my reputation just by tellingthe truth. And what we saw sure as hell was not Venus. Itwas as big as a house, and as bright as one of those arcwelders they use now-a-days. It took off, rose about 100feet in the air, moved from the south to the north side ofthe road, then back right over it. It blocked out most ofthe sky and Venus, behind it.”

I asked him about the reports of him telling a reporterthat the car had markings that said ‘seven steps to hell’ onthe door. He replied,

“The car did have funny marking on it. Like a squareturned to sit on one corner. And there were squiggly linesthat looked like lightning, and some other letters andsymbols. I told the reporter I had a funny feeling in mystomach, like I was descending steps into hell—I guessthat is where he got it from.”

We spoke for over two hours each on two occasions,and I still believe that he was completely honest with me. Mr.Spaur passed away in 2006, but he seemed genuinely pleasedthat someone was working to clear the reputations of all ofthe officers involved in the chase.

The Physical Evidence

First, I must state upfront that I am only mentioningtwo-thirds of the physical evidence in this presentation[MUFON Symposium presentation, Denver, August 2007].Some of it is still being processed, and I am not comfortablespeculating on possible outcomes. Secondly, due to timeconstraints I can only address briefly the evidence for whichI have received complete analysis, and so will just gloss overthem here. Again, if you want the complete lab reports (someof which are very technical, especially the nuclear labresults) please contact me and I will tell you when the bookwill be printed. But this paper includes a good overview ofwhat evidence was collected.

Photographs were taken by the detective at the first-contact scene, when the object was first spotted rising bythe deputies. There was reportedly a circular area of burntgrass and underbrush, and a nearby surface coal seam andan old brick foundation of some building. None of thephotographs turned out clear—all appear fuzzy and fogged. Ihave a photo expert attempting to digitize them and see ifthey can be cleaned up.

Detective Smith used a Civil Defense Survey Meter tolook for any radiation. He reported ‘high readings’ in the areaaround the site, and the highest being inside the outer edge ofthe circle, but not at the center.


Infrared Analysis: The infrared spectrum of the control coal is typical, showing the well-known components known tocomprise it. These are a “macromolecular network composed of groups of polynuclear aromatic rings, to which areattached subordinate rings connected by oxygen, sulfur, and aliphatic bridges.”1 Included in the organics is a mix ofminerals such as clays, illite, kaolinite etc., as well as carbonates such as siderite, calcite and aragonite.2

Footnotes1 R. A. Friedel, “Spectrometry of Fuels”, Planum Press, New York,1970; Richard J. Lewis Sr., “Hawley’s Condensed Chemical Dictio-

The Portage, Ohio UFO Chase

By contrast, the spectrum of the “contact coal” (below) is different from the above spectrum. It shows the sample istotally inorganic. Light scattering in the higher frequencies suggest carbonization. Broad unresolved absorption between1100 -1000 cm-1, 800 cm-1 and 470 cm-1 indicates some silicate material. The silicate mineral appears to be primarily aquartz-type (SiO

2) or polymorph. There is no kaolinite (a clay type mineral). No organic materials are present.

Infrared Spectrum of the Control Coal

Infrared Spectrum of the “Contact Coal”

nary,” Fourteenth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 2001.2 “Coal”, Wikipedia on line, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal



There was a seam of coal on the surface, which runs forover 300 feet, and passes through the area of the circle. Itcan still be found today. Coal samples were taken from anarea 16 feet from the circle, and from 100 feet away. The farsample was essentially normal. The near sample resulted inthe following conclusions paraphrased from the FrontierAnalysis, Ltd lab report:

“The ‘contact coal’ sample has been exposed to intenseheat in excess of 2678° F. This sample is completelyporous, indicating a volatilization effect. This wassupported by the lack of any organics in the sample asobserved by infrared analysis, an ashing experiment andspecific gravity measurement.”

See coal spectrums on page 8.A brick was taken from the old foundation at 38 feet

from the circle, and resulted in the following conclusions bythe lab:

“The brick was exposed to intense heat in excess of 2678°F. Normal brick is fired between 1598°F and 2012°F,depending on the type of raw materials. A subsequentexposure to very intense heat is proven by the unusualpresents of high temperature tridymite, glass and hightemperature cristobalite only in the blackened material,which also contains the original minerals in the brick.These materials are polymorphs from the normal brickmaterials that form above 2678°F.”

See the brick photos on page 6. These results areindicative of very high heat exposure. In addition, the farmerstated that the circle of dead grass, the burnt coal and brickwere not present on April 14th, and that no storms orlightning strikes, nor brush fires had occurred between the14th and the 17th when the samples were taken. Checkingweather archives verifies this to be true. This rules ourlightning as the source of energy for these affects.

Conclusions

It is quite apparent from the physical evidence, thetestimony and the documents that what was chased in theearly morning hours of April 17th, 1966, was certainly notVenus. There is just too much collaboration of the facts todeny that some object was chased and/or seen by nine lawenforcement officers; and that whatever it was causedphysical damage to objects—and in one case a person—whowere exposed to the ‘cone of light.’

What is disturbing is the fact that one country Sheriff’sdetective easily discovered all of this evidence, and neitherthe U.S. Air Force nor NICAP disclosed that they had alsofound this information. This is simply hard to believe.

I do not feel that this case has changed my skepticismtoward UFOs being of intelligent extraterrestrial origins;

however it does change my attitude about how thegovernment handled these cases which were not obvioushoaxes, misidentifications or just natural phenomenon.Obviously what was observed and chased was not Venus ora known type of aircraft. And just as obvious is thegovernment’s role in discrediting several citizens, many ofwhom were public servants just doing their jobs. This casecertainly needs to be re-investigated by modern ufologists inlight of the new evidence.

Michael Nelson, MA., RPAMichael M. Nelson, MA, RPA, was born and raised in

Portage County, Ohio. He has worked as a law enforcementofficer and grant writer. He is the former Deputy Director for theColumbiana County Office of Homeland Security and EmergencyManagement and currently is a professional archaeologist withProgressive Archaeological Solutions.

He holds a BA in liberal studies and anthropology and aMA in archaeology. His specialties are archaeological geo-physics, historical archaeology and monumental landscapes. Heis currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Leicester, U.K.He is a member of the Registry of Professional Archaeolo-gists(RPA), and The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA).

Anyone interested in his upcoming book In Pursuit of Truthor any legitimate investigators wishing to review the case filesmay contact Michael at:

Progressive Archaeological Solutions2789 E. State St. #180Salem Ohio 44460or [email protected]

Allow your work to live on. . .

Please remember MUFON in your will. Inaddition to monetary bequests, you can alsodonate your UFO case files, books, periodicals,etc. Don’t let your valuable research end up at aflea market or estate sale.

Please contact MUFON Headquarters at970-221-1836 for more information.

Leave a Legacy to MUFON

To obtain a copy of the MUFON 38th Annual International UFOSymposium Proceedings, go to www.mufon.com/symposia.htmand scroll to the bottom of the page.


An opportunity to bring up thetopic of UFOs to a high-profile politi-cian, especially one running for ournation’s highest elected office, is simplysomething that anyone who is seriousabout governmental UFO disclosureshould not pass up.

I am not speaking of the highlylaudable hard work of organized effortslike the Disclosure Project or Exopoli-tics movement, but stressing that a littlehelp from the MUFON man or womanon the street during the Presidentialcampaign season might just go a longway to aid the cause.

When I heard that RepublicanPresidential contender, former Massa-chusetts Governer Mitt Romney, wouldbe visiting a local diner during my worklunch hour to shake hands and ask forvotes, I was there.

It was late morning of October 10th

when I entered Jimi’s Restaurant inRoyal Oak, Michigan, a suburb ofDetroit. A greeter at the door asked ifI’d wear a sticker in support of thecandidate. Although uncommitted toany candidate at the moment, I dulyapplied the sticker as I saw this as away to make me more approachable,especially since I was sporting anotably casual appearance that day.

I Ask Romney About UFO Coverups

Minutes after I received my meal,Governor Romney bounded in andstarted to make his rounds, table bytable. When he got to me, he askedhow my meatloaf was; I told him it wasfine and asked to have my picture takenwith him. After the picture, I said, “Ifthere is one issue that interests me thatI haven’t yet heard addressed yet byany of the candidates, it’s this: Ifelected, I would hope that you wouldconsider lessening any possible govern-ment cover-up of what it knows aboutUFOs.”

All things considered, he handled itpretty well, wincing only very slightlyand saying, “Sounds like a good idea. I

agree. I’d like to know, too,” beforebriskly moving on to the next table. Histone was warm and polite, but, I justdidn’t get a sense of passion that hewould tackle this issue in his firsthundred days in office.

The local ABC affiliate filmed ourexchange and an AP reporter asked meto comment on what I’d just said toRomney, but nothing came of it. Thiswas the day of the Chrysler UAW strikeand, in the Detroit area, that storyowned the TV news that day. Also nostory by the AP reporter materialized.Oh, well.

Giulliani Was Asked a SimilarQuestion

Fast forward a few days to Sun-day, October 14, at a town hall stylecampaign stop by another RepublicanPresidential candidate, former NewYork City Mayor Rudy Giulliani inExeter, New Hampshire. A young boyasked Giuliani, “If we find that there’ssomething living on another planet andit’s bad and it comes over here, whatwould you do?”

After the laughter died down,Giuliani mentioned briefly that no onehad asked him that question before.Grinning, he replied to the boy, “Howdo we get prepared for an outer spaceattack? Well, if we’re properly preparedfor all the different things that canhappen to us, we’ll be prepared forthat, as well. Right? We’ll be preparedfor anything that happens.” He com-mented that the boy might be the nextSteven Spielberg and asked him if hewanted to be a science fiction writer ora scientist. The boy replied he wantedto be a sculptor and Giuliani moved on,saying, “Shall we take one questionabout this planet?”

With his playfully dismissive tone, itrather begs the question of whetherGiuliani, New York City Mayor from1993 to 2001, is aware of high-profileUFO events in his own city. Forexample, in 1989, the U.N. SecretaryGeneral at that time, Javier PerezCuellar, is said to have witnessed anabduction event in Manhattan, alongwith several other witnesses (as detailed

Romney and Giuliani Asked About UFOs as they Campaign


Mitt Romney and Bill Konkolesky at Jimi’s Restaurant in Royal Oak, MI.

by Bill Konkolesky


A MUFON member in New York islooking for others to participate in aproject to monitor and record air-trafficcommunications.

Jeff Hahn of New York City, amember and field investigator, iscurrently working on a project to buildan independent archive of air-trafficcommunications by monitoring andrecording those communications usingaviation-band scanners, open-sourcesoftware applications and inexpensive,older personal computers.

The purpose of the project is to usethe archive to provide confirmation oftranscripts and recordings provided byaviation authorities in the event of asighting that may affect air travel, forexample, the 2006 O’Hare incident andthe Phoenix Lights incident of 1997.

The goal is to create an ongoingarchive of aviation communications.Jeff has rigged up a Linux computer torecord the output from a scannerlistening to the tower communicationsat nearby LaGuardia Airport. Thecomputer records for 18 hours a dayfor a week, then copies the files to aDVD, and starts again. “I think it mightbe useful in case the FAA somehow“loses” the tower communicationstapes,” Jeff says.

“I am seeking other MUFONmembers who monitor air-trafficcommunications on the aviation band(108-138 Mhz) and who would like toparticipate in this project.”

If you have an interest in thisproject, contact Jeff Hahn [email protected].

publicly in Budd Hopkins’ 1996 bookWitnessed).

What is ironic about Giuliani’sexchange with the boy in New Hamp-shire is that it was in Exeter, the site ofthe infamous UFO events of September1965. This dramatic and lengthysighting by a young man and twopolice officers was recounted in JohnG. Fuller’s classic 1966 book Incidentat Exeter.

Is it Important to Ask?

In any case, do isolated questionsto stumping Presidential candidates helpat all regarding governmental disclosureof UFO information?

Consider this: Giuliani told the boythat he hadn’t been asked a questionlike his before, and then explained tothe Exeter audience how he typically isasked the same questions over andover, from all over the country, whichindicates to him how Americans every-where are interested in the same issues.

Giuliani appears to have hit the nailon the head. How will our Presidential

candidates wake up to the concernssome Americans have about the highvolume of unexplained UFO sightingsand any governmental cover-ups, ifnobody’s asking them about this topicas they speak with voters, day in andday out, all across our nation?

In other words, it is vital that ifUFO disclosure is an issue that trulymatters to that person, when one meetsa Presidential candidate, they mustseize the opportunity and ask thequestions.

So, realistically, what effect mightthis have?

At least while the candidates arecampaigning, they have to be polite andlisten to those who might vote forthem. After they get elected, good lucktrying to bend their ear.

If you can ask a candidate aboutUFOs on camera or on the radio, and itgets widely broadcast, it can reachmany other voters who may have neverconsidered this a political issue before.Better yet, others may want to ask thissame candidate or other candidates a

similar question, given the chance.If a candidate who was asked

about UFOs should be elected Presi-dent, he or she will have a greaterawareness of the UFO reality, andhopefully will realize that not all of theAmerican populace is somehowoblivious to this truly monumentalissue.

Admittedly, this isn’t to say theywill follow through if elected (recentPresidents like Ford, Carter, Reagan,and Clinton all made provocativestatements about UFOs at some pointin their political careers that got somepeople excited that they’d actually spillthe beans). The intent here is just that,if asked about UFOs on the campaigntrail, a future President will understandthat the issue is alive and well in publicsentiment.

To voters who do not believe thatUFOs are traversing our skies and,worse yet, paying house calls, achuckle and a one-liner by a Presiden-tial candidate is more than enough tohandle these rare questions on thecampaign trail, but, to those voterswho have experienced the UFOphenomenon first-hand, how chilling itis to hear candidates laugh it off.

Romney and Giuliani were, at thevery least, good sports and, to hiscredit, Romney didn’t even play thegiggle-factor card.

There are a good many othercandidates out there. ConcernedMUFON voters should get out thereask them about UFOs now while theycan (and ask often!) until those runningfor our nation’s highest office under-stand this is an issue of substantialconcern to many Americans. Goodluck.

Project to Archive Air Communications

Romney and Giuliani Asked About UFOsContinued from page 9

Bill Konkolesky is the State Director ofMichigan MUFON Inc.



A summary of the symposium paper ran in the OctoberMUFON UFO Journal, along with Friedman’s Rebuttal. Sparksresponds here.

Stan Friedman wrote that he was unable to get a copy of BradSparks’ and Barry Greenwood’s MUFON 2007 paper “The SecretPratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12” in advance of the Sympo-sium, and he was prepared for the worst.

Sparks Response: MUFON officially turned down Stan’srequest for an advance copy of the article.

Friedman: …Brad made clear he was opposed to the Extra-terrestrial Hypothesis and the reality of both Roswell andMajestic 12. He [hinted] that he may have found some undis-closed information allowing for possible Roswell reality. Hedidn’t deal with the enormous evidence available.

Sparks: I didn’t “deal with” it because the paper was on Pratt’sfiles and MJ-12, not on Roswell, “enormous evidence” or not. Ialso told the MUFON audience that I was openly seeking pro-ETH evidence, and that I had been forced to rethink myskeptical position on Roswell because of new evidence of a TopSecret U.S. policy response to Roswell in 1947. But again thepaper was not directly on Roswell and I simply wanted to be fairon what my position was.

F: His [Brad’s] main focus was on the newly released informa-tion in the papers from the late journalist Robert Pratt…[donated to MUFON]… [especially] the transcripts of tapes ofBob’s conversations with William Moore and with Rick Doty,Bill’s insider contact with the US Air Force Office of SpecialInvestigations (AFOSI).

S: Pratt’s tapes were with Moore not Doty.

F: Brad’s thesis seems to be that since Moore passed on every-thing to Doty that he and I learned from our Roswell research,that Doty just fed it back as phony documents. For example, he[Brad] tried to dismiss the Eisenhower Briefing Document(EBD) as just an emulation of an earlier Aquarius documentthat is phony…

S: Moore specifically told me that he was passing every scrapof his and Stan’s Roswell data and UFO data to AFOSI. Moorehas described how his briefing of Doty was translated into thefake Aquarius Carter Briefing just a few months later, in March1983. I didn’t say that the EBD was an “emulation” of theAquarius Carter document. I quoted Pratt’s transcripts anddocuments showing that years before EBD showed up in 1984,there was an Aquarius Eisenhower Briefing document ofNovember 1952 described, Eisenhower was purportedly briefed,MJ-12 was both a committee of 12 and a security marking ondocuments, all just like the EBD.

F: He claims that the Cutler Twining (CT) memo of July 14,1954, is just an emulation of a memo Bill Moore and I had foundat the Library of Congress … in the papers of General NathanTwining… This claim frankly seems absurd.

S: It is not so “absurd” when one reads what Stan himself has

written about the “very similar” (his words not mine) genuineCutler-Twining memos he and Moore had found in 1981, whichwould have been given to Doty and AFOSI years before theadmittedly “planted” CT memo was found with its bogus “MJ-12” reference.1

Stan wrote in his TS/Majic book, “In addition to similaritiesin what the memos say, there are similarities in what they don’tsay.” For an example of similarity in what they don’t say, hewrote that “Neither gives any clue as to the subject of themeetings to which they refer...” (p. 93)

F: Friedman compares the MJ-12 related Cutler Twining memo, tothe earlier July 13, 1953, memo from Cutler to Twining about an allday meeting at the White House on July 16, 1953.

S: Stan goes on and on about the Cutler memos here when itwas only a long footnote in my MUFON paper and not directlyrelevant to the Pratt files. Stan claims there is “only” one“common item” between the genuine and the “planted” CutlerMemos, yet in his books and papers he has recited numeroussimilarities which I agree with Stan on, but which he now appar-ently wishes us to forget he had ever pointed out: 1. language;2. style; 3. format; 4. typeface; 5. overall impression (“imme-diately reminded” Stan of genuine CTM); 6. concluding words;7. specific details to be given only at the meeting; 8. similaritiesin what they “don’t say” as well as what they do say.

F: Brad tries to make a big deal about my comments aboutsimilarity, hardly the same as emulation. The security classi-fications are different as is much else.

S: It is Stan who made a “big deal” of the similarities in hisbook, not me. I’m just quoting him and agreeing with him. Stanwrote in his TS/Majic book that “the language, style, format,and typeface” of the planted Cutler memo checked out with thegenuine Cutler memos (p. 92). Similarity of “language, style,format, and typeface” certainly includes the security classifi-cation markings. In fact the memos were so similar that whenStan first heard the MJ-12 version read even he was “imme-diately reminded” of the genuine Cutler Memo. Stan said the“concluding words of the two memos are virtually the same”and “another similarity in wording is the indication thatspecific details will be given at the meeting only.” (p. 93)

F: Friedman wrote that the phrase “In the absence of contraryword your concurrence in the above arrangements is assumed”was standard phraseology indicating that no response wasneeded, [according to] William McVey (Twining’s pilot andaide…)… The similarity of this one sentence [between the twoletters] is an indication of genuineness not fakery.

S: Stan forgets that the UFO investigator must, according toHynek, eliminate conventional explanations first, includingpossible hoax. A mere “indication” of genuineness (which I

Brad Sparks Responds to Stan Friedman’s Rebuttal toSparks-Greenwood Symposium Paper

1 Friedman, MJ-12 Update, Oct. 31, 1987, p. 3; Top Secret/Majicp. 91.


With this month’s issue, we begin afeature spotlighting MUFON memberswhose selfless dedication to MUFONshould be publicly recognized. Thismonth we feature Charles C. Reever, theDirector of Investigations and FieldInvestigator Training and thank him forhis enthusiast support of MUFON’smission and goals.

Chuck Reever was born in SouthernCalifornia and attended Santa MonicaCollege and U.C.L.A. From a very earlyage he was interested in Astronomy andread many books on the subject.

Throughout all of WWII there wereanti-aircraft emplacements everywhere inLos Angeles and Chuck remembers theexcitement of the “air raid” over LosAngeles by “Objects” unknown. Therewere aircraft “dog fights” with P-38s andP-40s over West Los Angeles and SantaMonica residential areas; some of theseplanes were manufactured at the DouglassAircraft Company in Santa Monica,California.

Chuck remembers very well in July of1947 reading in the newspaper (the nowdefunct Los Angeles Daily News) aboutthe crash at Roswell and thinking, Oh Boy,now we will know, and then reading thenext day that the debris was simply acrash of a weather balloon. In 1962 Chuckhad his first UFO sighting. He observed ahuge triangle of 1/4 to 1/3 mile in size, atperhaps 3,000 feet altitude. It wastraveling very slow (5 mph?), made nosound, and then blinked” out. Severalyears later while his wife Sheila worked inthe Director’s office at Jet Propulsion

MUFON Volunteer of the Month . . . Chuck ReeverSTATEMENT OFOWNERSHIP,MANAGEMENT AND

CIRCULATION

1. Publication Title: MUFON UFOJournal2. Publication No. 002-9703. Filing Date: August 28, 20074. Monthly5. No. of issues published annually: 126. Annual subscription price: USA $45,Foreign $557. Complete mailing address of knownOffice of Publication: BW Graphics, Inc.,101 Westview, Versailles, MO 65084-1839Ph: (573) 378-63638. Complete address of the Headquar-ters: Mutual UFO Network,P. 0. Box 279, Bellvue, CO 80512-02799. Full names and complete addresses ofpublisher and editor: Publisher: JamesCarrion, P. 0. Box 279, Bellvue, CO 80512-0279. Editor: Sally Petersen, 2205Mountain Lane, Greeley, CO 8063410. Owner: MUFON, Mutual UFONetwork, Inc. P. 0. Box 279, Bellvue, CO80512-0279.A Texas Nonprofit Corpora-tion TI No. 37-0990161 and exempt fromFederal Income Tax under Sections 501(c)(3) and 509 (a)(2) of the InternalRevenue Code.11. Known bondholders, mortgagees,and other security holders owning orholding one percent or more of the totalamount of bonds, mortgages or othersecurities: NONE12. For completion by nonprofit organi-zations authorized to mail at specificrates: Has not changed during preceding12 months.13. Publication Name: MUFON UFOJournal14. Issue Date for Circulation DataBelow: September 2007

Average No. Copies Each Issue No Copies of Single IssueDuring Preceding 12 Months Published Nearest to Filing Date

15. Extent and nature of circulation:a. Total No. copies (net press run): 2516 2542b. Paid circulation

1) Mailed Outside -County Paid subscription: 2386 2417c. Total paid Distribution: 2386 2417d. Free or nominal rate distribution:

1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside County Copies: 30 35e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 30 35f. Total Distribution: 2416 2452g. Copies not distributed 100 90h. Total 2516 2542i. Percent Paid 99% 99%

16. Publication of Statement of Ownership will be printed in the November 2007 issue.

Laboratory, theyhad many NASAfriends. Chuck tolda friend of highranking position ata NASA facilityabout hisexperience and thereply was, “Theyare here and we donot talk aboutit,”... and indeed,

they never talked about it again.Chuck’s worked for the Travelers

Insurance Corporations, a Fortune 500Company, as Associate Director andOfficer of the Travelers CorporationsFinancial Services-Planning andDevelopment Division. After retiring toTruckee, California (15 miles north of LakeTahoe), he joined Sierra West Bank asElectronic Security Specialist, working inthe field of credit card fraud investigationand credit card security with Visa/MasterCard for several years.

He still enjoys watching the night skyfrom an observatory at his mountain homewhich houses a large 14" SchmidtCassigrain telescope.

Chuck has been a Field Investigatorand Chief Investigator for NorthernCalifornia for many years. His majorinterest are working with MUFON andalso participating as a Truckee PoliceDepartment Volunteer and Nevada CountySheriff Search and Rescue. He and hiswife Sheila have two children and threegrandchildren.


dispute anyway) is not proof of it, and it still allows thepossibility even according to Stan that the similarity of thegenuine and the planted Cutler memos is due to hoax emulation.

F: I had noted a number of real emulations in the Tim Cooperphony MJ-12 documents as I reported in the 2nd edition of TOPSECRET/MAJIC and in Majestic 12 Update…[which] Braddoesn’t reference.... The CT memo is definitely NOT an emula-tion of the July 13, 1953, memo. It also has a very interestingslant red pencil mark through the very unusual securitymarking of TOP SECRET RESTRICTED. …The red pencil markwas standard practice when a document was to be declassified…. The earlier letter has no red pencil… Cutler was out of thecountry so couldn’t have signed it.

S: I agree with Stan when he wrote in his TS/Majic book thatthe “planted” Cutler memo was red penciled by someone whowas “apparently well aware of the red pencil convention” usedby AF document reviewers and that the red pencil was a“perfectly natural thing for somebody accustomed to” suchsecurity review matters to use (p. 97), namely AFOSI agentsheavily involved in security matters.

Any such AF documents planters or hoaxers would havehad to learn about the AF security reviewers’ work in order tocarefully “plant” the CTM. Stan himself said the Cutler memowas “planted” by knowledgeable AF personnel (TS/Majic, pp.91, 97).

There is nothing in the planted MJ-12 Cutler memo thatsays anything at all about Cutler being out of the country oreven away from his office. The carbon is simply unsigned, aswas often done with carbons regardless whether the signatorwas in the office or not. An unsigned document is easier toforge since signatures are difficult to fake. Stan has no way ofknowing what Doty did or did not “know” based on somethingthat is not even stated in the document.

F: Brad’s dismissal of the EBD is shallow. He claims the fatalerror is that the EBD says the distance to the crash site was“approximately 75 miles northwest of Roswell Army Air Base”when the driving distance on one route was 102 miles and theGPS distance is about 62 miles. Why would Hillenkoetter(briefing officer) use the word approximately if he was trying tobe precise? Obviously it didn’t matter.

S: If the distance didn’t matter then why was it included at all inthe EBD? It is a fatal error in the EBD hoax and Stan can’t refuteit. Stan ignores the fact that the mistaken 75-mile distance figureonly comes from the 1980 Berlitz-Moore Roswell Incident bookand it was mindlessly repeated by the EBD hoaxer in 1984. Noone was publishing different figures. It’s like a fingerprintpointing to the only possible source. Since the real worlddistance was 62 miles the 75-mile blunder could not come fromreality. And the word “approximately” does not rescue the EBDfrom fraudulence, since the actual distance is “approxi-mately”60 miles, not “approximately” 75.

F: Furthermore there was an airplane landing strip…not too farfrom the site [with] lots of small Piper Cubs…. Approximately

75 miles would appear to be a good rounded off number.

S: The airstrip is at the same 62-mile distance from Roswell baseas the Debris Field, so this argument is irrelevant and it is stillutterly ridiculous to call that “approximately” 75 miles. If Stanthinks that is such a “good rounded off number” then I suggestthat he let me send him $62 and he can do me a favor and sendme back $75 since he thinks those numbers are so close as tonot “matter.”

F: [Brad’s] second equally questionable concern is the line“Numerous examples of what appear to be a form of writingwere found in the wreckage. Efforts to decipher these haveremained largely unsuccessful.” … He points out that, since Ilater [learned from] the Menzel papers… that Menzel hadtaught cryptography and learned Japanese, the document ifgenuine should have said the deciphering was done under Dr.Menzel.

S: Menzel is named in the EBD for an astronomy point in theMJ-12 document but not for the cryptanalysis point made rightafter it, on the same page. The reasonable conclusion is that theMJ-12 author or hoaxer just didn’t know about Menzel’scryptanalysis background and thus couldn’t mention it where itwould have been highly relevant in view of Menzel’s greatcodebreaking expertise which Stan loves to trumpet.

F: How can Brad know why people do what they do and who istelling the truth and what is in unseen documents such asattachment E? Surely that would have gone into detail aboutthe deciphering and presumably Menzel’s role.

S: When Stan argues the contents of “unseen documents” heis truly shadowboxing with mirages. Let’s stick to what is“seen” in documents. If I didn’t even mention EBD’s Attach-ment E, as Stan was just complaining about two sentencesearlier, then how did I have a discussion of what was in it? Thisis illogical.

Stan also forgets to explain here that, as I had pointed outin the MUFON paper, he has claimed that the EBD does tellabout Menzel’s cryptanalysis talents but he just can’t quotewhere the EBD says that! He claims this as proof of authen-ticity, that the EBD knows something no one else knew, so itmust come from a real MJ-12 of vast secret knowledge.

Stan writes in his TS/Majic (p. 67) that “there are manydetails in the briefing [the EBD] that were not known to any ofus on the outside at the time. (See Appendix C.)”

I looked up Appendix C to find out what “details” in theEBD were mentioned that no one knew about before, the “20facts” he loves to tout as proof of the EBD. Appendix C listsMenzel’s Connections and Talents, including “association withNSA and predecessor Navy agency” and “Expert cryptanalyst;taught cryptanalysis.”

So where are these Menzel-NSA connections and crypt-analysis talents mentioned in the EBD? By reading just the EBDhow would anyone know that Menzel had any such cryptan-alysis “talents”?

F: Careful review of the EBD finds six [references to]

Sparks’ ResponseContinued from page 11



Continued from page 13

…Attachment B, or C, etc., [and]… no name is mentioned. WhenBronk and Menzel are mentioned there is no [reference to an]Attachment. … Hillenkoetter was tidy and consistent.

S: This is truly desperate argument as well as being factuallywrong. Stan contends that Menzel was simply not named in theEBD as codebreaking the alleged Roswell alien writingsbecause Eisenhower was told to just read up on it in asupposed “Attachment E,” maybe as bedtime reading. Stanclaims that whenever such a shortcut of referring to Attach-ments in the EBD was done then no MJ-12 member’s name ismentioned, a few words or names of space is saved that wayand everything supposedly is more “tidy.” Flat out wrong! MJ-12 members Bush and Forrestal are named right next to a “SeeAttachment ‘A’” reference. Couldn’t Eisenhower have just readAttachment A and some space have been saved in the briefingdocument?

F: …Brad doesn’t [mention] that the EBD notes that “on 07July 1947, a secret operation was begun to assure recovery ofthe wreckage.” But I didn’t determine that Twining had indeedgone to New Mexico on July 7 until much later…. I listed morethan 20 facts not known until later [which he also ignored].Does his strong anti-Roswell and anti-MJ-12 bias interfere withhis objectivity?

S: In years past Stan has said that the start of the Roswellrecovery operation was actually on July 6, 1947, beginning withMarcel and Cavitt going out to the Debris Field to recover theUFO debris, not with Twining’s later flight on July 7. TheRoswell Incident book has a misprint where the Sunday July 6meeting of Brazel with Sheriff Wilcox, leading to Marcel’srecovery operation, was mistakenly typed as “July 7,” whichwas Monday.

I didn’t ignore the purported “20 facts not known untillater,” ( Appendix C in Stan’s TS/Majic book). I specificallypointed out in my paper (p. 104) that these supposed “20 facts”include Menzel’s cryptanalysis talents yet the EBD itself“knows” nothing about Menzel as a cryptanalyst and Stancannot quote where EBD says anything at all about Menzel asthe great codecracker. Does Stan’s strong pro-MJ-12 biasinterfere with his objectivity and cause him to see nonexistenttext in the EBD purportedly talking about Menzel as a crypt-analyst before anyone knew about that “secret life?”

F: Brad makes a big deal about the ongoing battle between theArmy and Air Force vs. the Navy.

S: Stan misses my point about inter-service rivalry and howit affects UFO history. I gave numerous specifics (see theOctober Journal summary of my paper). Does he deny it?

F: …he stresses that [NASA] is a civilian agency…. There is nomention of the fact that NASA has sponsored lots of classifiedwork….

S: I never said NASA had no classified work, this is a bogusstrawman argument. My article pointed out massive evidence ofDoty/AFOSI foisting disinformation that falsely blamed NASAfor the AF’s own UFO coverup, including even trying to blame

NASA for the Cash-Landrum UFO injuries, going so far as tomake an air force base into a secret “NASA” base in order toshift the blame. Stan ignores all that.

F: There seems to have been a disagreement between Brad andBarry about claims that documents were faked just to makemoney for Moore, Doty, and maybe Pratt, who would work withMoore on a [never published] fiction book about MJ-12 withDoty as a kind of silent partner.

S: Barry had zero facts showing MJ-12 was a greed-motivatedhoax, and had a number of false assertions which he couldn’t orwouldn’t document which had to be removed (e.g., he claimedEllsworth was an “admitted” Doty hoax).

F: He also claimed that Pratt had secretly taped his conversa-tions with Moore, Doty, etc. Mrs. Pratt, in Denver to accept aposthumous award for Bob for his outstanding UFO journalism,was very upset at the use of the term “secretly.” Brad providedno evidence that the other party was unaware of Bob’s taping.Bob kept copious notes and openly taped as much as hecould… [in] his consistent effort to be accurate.

S: Mrs. Pratt never talked to me in the Denver MUFON confer-ence about any such concerns.* In any case, Pratt secretlytaped Donald Keyhoe phone calls as well as with Moore, andthere is not a shred of evidence to the contrary. Nothing on thetapes contains permission to tape and “careful” reporters makesure that is recorded.

F: Brad apparently believes that, since there is a dearth ofofficial documents so far relating to Roswell and/or MJ-12, theymust not have been real. The old absence of evidence isevidence for absence ploy. … [There are] still literally tons ofclassified material that haven’t seen the light of day. … I amreminded of a number of UFO sightings in which the witnesscan’t separate observation from interpretation. The paper hastoo much “interpretation.”

S: Stan is again appealing to “absence of evidence as evidenceof presence,” the exact reverse of his trite saying. This is a God-of-the-gaps argument, that the proof of a mystery is in the gapsin the evidence, the thing not yet seen or found. This is not“evidence,” it is a lack of evidence, it is hocus-pocus. Readersshould go to the 2007 MUFON Proceedings article and judgefor themselves based on evidence not non-evidence.

As I quoted Stan earlier, he wrote in his TS/Majic book thatthe MJ-12 documents “must have been created by an insider”such as “insider ... Richard Doty of OSI.” I agree. Stan needs toagree with himself and close the case.

Brad Sparks

* Editor’s Note: Mrs. Pratt did speak to me immediately followingMr. Sparks’ presentation. She was very upset, insisting that herhusband never “secretly taped” anyone. SP

To obtain a copy of the MUFON 38th Annual International UFOSymposium Proceedings, go to www.mufon.com/symposia.htmand scroll to the bottom of the page.

Sparks’ Response


PercePtionsPercePtionsPercePtionsPercePtionsPercePtionsBy Stanton T. Friedman

Stanton Friedman

Opening the Cosmic Watergate?Every so often I am asked when I

expect disclosure from the U.S. Gov-ernment about UFOs. My answer isalways that I have no idea and haveseen no signs of anything happeningsoon. But what about the DisclosureProject and the Big Exopolitics move-ment? Again I see no particular evi-dence that either group is making anyprogress except perhaps in publicity forthe guys in charge. Yes, there are somegood people who have provided strongcases to the Disclosure Project. RobertSalas, for example, presented anexcellent paper at the MUFON 2007Symposiuim about the intriguing eventsat Malmstrom Air Force base on March16, 1967.

I believe Disclosure has made toolittle use of government documents toprove there has been a cover-up andthat there is serious evidence forvisitations to planet Earth by aliens. Ithas also linked the UFO cover-up withsupposed free energy systems suppo-sedly being withheld, but withoutproviding any evidence thereof. TheExopolitics guys, as I have notedbefore, talk very big with grandiosenotions of peaceful aliens and blindacceptance of every so called whistle-blower story that comes down the pike.They have, for example, hyped formerCanadian Defense Minster PaulHellyer’s opinions, but without support-ing them with data.

I’ve been asked, “All right, Stan,what would you like to see done to puteverything about UFOs out on thetable?” My answer, of course, is that Idon’t want to see technical data out onthe table where it is readily available toany rich madman wanting to increasehis own power on the world scene. AsI have repeatedly noted, one cannot tell

one’s friends without telling one’senemies.

What would I want to see? I wouldlike to see some major media group(New York Times, Washington Post, 60Minutes, Time, Newsweek, US Newsand World Report, USA Today, et al),put as much effort into blowing the lidoff the Cosmic Watergate as was putinto disclosing the political Watergate. Itwasn’t just Woodward and Bernstein.For example, there were many peoplefollowing the money. By that, I meanlet’s provide chapter and verse about ahost of government lies about UFOs—going back to Roswell, to Blue BookSpecial Report 14, to the many liesabout the annual UFO statistics, to themany attempts to shoot down UFOs inthe 1950s, to the cases of airplanesbeing downed by UFOs. I give anumber of these lies on my website(see “Government UFO Lies”).

I would like to see a compilation ofhuge black budget projects—aboutwhich we now know—by the NationalReconnaissance Office, by the NavalResearch Laboratory, by Lockheed, etc,showing that secrets can indeed bekept. There are still media and otherpeople claiming that secrets can’t bekept, despite the evidence to thecontrary such as the multi-billion dollarCorona and Poppy satellite programs,the Stealth fighter, etc. There werethose 166 military crew members ofreconnaissance planes shot down bythe Russians whose families were liedto for decades.

I would like to see a major effortmade to get amnesty for militarywitnesses who know of important UFOevents perhaps at least 50 years ago.This would include demonstrating thatthe standard Air Force lines about “no

threat to the security of the UnitedStates” are frankly nonsense. In TOPSECRET/MAJIC I have a five-pageresponse to USAF Colonel ThomasShubert’sgrosslymisleading pageof statements toSenator PattyMurray.

I would liketo see a fullblown effort toget at the“reports ofUFOs whichcould affectnational Security (and) are not part ofthe Blue Book System” according toGeneral Carroll Bolender (October 20,1969). The public has never beeninformed about them and yet theseCIRVIS Reports are, by far, moreimportant than run-of-the-mill UFOsightings.

Retired General Thomas JeffersonDuBose, chief of Staff to GeneralRoger Ramey in Fort Worth Texas inJuly, 1947, told me he liked what I wasdoing and would tell me if he recalledanything more. He said “What can theydo to me now?” How many others feelthe same way about their UFO eventinvolvement?

One example of persons involved inclassified activities who finally cameforward to tell the truth was the My Laimassacre in Vietnam on March 16,1968. People of good conscience didcome forward. One man, RonRidenhour, had worked hard to get theMy Lai story out with no luck despitemany letters. Finally, when PulitzerPrize winning journalist Seymour Hershpublished the story, a number of other


witnesses came forward. Nobodywants to take all the risk on his own,but there is strength in numbers. Ifrequently hear quick stories offascinating cases.

How can these people who haveexperienced UFOs be found? Nationalpublicity such as a call for witnesses ineditorials while providing a guarantee ofanonymity, a toll free number, a mailingaddress, e-mail address might well doit. Think how successful “America’sMost Wanted” has been at findingcriminals wanted by the authorities. Thekey is to spread a very wide net. Howabout petitions by members of varioustechnical societies such as the AmericanInstitute of Aeronautics andAstronautics to set up a committee andcollect data?

One major goal might be to findformer Navy personnel involved withobservations from ships at sea andfrom Navy aircraft flying from aircraftcarriers. Truth-seekers have focusedprimarily on the Air Force, but oceanscover three-quarters of the planet. Ithink it is time to reach these “lostwitnesses.” While several astronautshave spoken out, NASA has certainlyobtained more data via surveillancesystems, astronaut flights, and so on,than has been revealed to the public.There are some people who think that,since NASA is supposedly a civilianagency, everything it does is in theopen. I certainly worked on programsco-sponsored by NASA which involvedclassified data such as the nuclearrocket program. NASA was a directoutgrowth in 1958 of the old NationalAdvisory Committee on Aeronautics(NACA) which did loads of militaryresearch and development.

Another important aspect of anyattempt to get reluctant witnesses tocome forward is to have more of us inufology stop being apologist ufologistsand closet ufologists. This might meana frontal attack on the nasty noisynegativists such as Dr. MichaelShermer. I had a lot of excellent

feedback regarding my confrontation ofShermer on the Larry King Show onJuly 13 and on Coast to Coast radio onAugust 1. We need to confront theancient academics and fossilizedphysicists to show they haven’t studiedthe evidence, know little about securityand are unaware of relevant physics. Iam so sick of hearing PhDs rant aboutEinstein and the limit of the speed oflight, but totally ignoring the rest of theEinstein story—specifically that timeslows down for things moving close tothe speed of light. I have no qualmsabout pointing out how far off pastpronouncements have been about thepossibility of flight in airplanes, oforbiting satellites, of flights to themoon, because the so-called expertknew almost nothing about theprocesses involved despite having aPhD.

I’m thinking that my next book—after Flying Saucers and Science (NewPage Books of Career Press, 2008)—should be It’s Impossible? Isn’t It?,exposing the totally wrong reasoning ofwell educated people talking aboutsubjects about which they know almostnothing. There are many examples.

Furthermore, there needs to beserious international discussions aboutconcerns which would arise if a bigannouncement were to be made aboutthe presence of UFOs on earth. A majorconcern should be who speaks for thePlanet—surely not the president of theUnited States. But would there beelections, appointments by majorgovernments to an internationalConference? Have there been requestsfrom aliens to existing governmentsabout establishing trade deals? Could aninternational conference be held ofrepresentatives of major religions?Obviously it would be useful to know ifthere have been past interactionsbetween aliens and earthlings, perhapsdescribed in the “myths” and “legends”of ancient civilizations. Have therealready been discussions on a semi-official level between Earthlings andrepresentatives from outer space? Has

permission been given for abductions ofEarthlings? How much work has beendone to review the mind control aspectsthat show up in many abductions?Surely every government would like toknow how to get enemy soldiers todrop their weapons using telepathy orsome such technique.

We know there were hotlineslinking government officials in the USAwith similar officials in the SovietUnion. Have there been discussionsabout flying saucers observed by radarand spy satellites of each country toreassure the other that what just flewby was just one of those saucers andnot a missile from our country? Aserious article in an English languageSoviet publication pointed out that it isvery important for the USA and theSoviet Union to be able to distinguishbetween a UFO and a missile or aircraftfrom the other country to avoid startinga war.

NARCAP (The National AviationReporting Center for AnomalousPhenomena) has collected literallythousands of reports of UnidentifiedAerial Phenomena. Could airlines andpilot groups be openly solicited in aneffort to obtain reports from theiremployees without fear of ridicule orjob consequences? There are manymilitary reunion groups whosemembers have had good sightings. Isthere a way to tap these sourcesespecially if amnesty is offered, and if afocus is on older cases to avoidrevealing new technology? I think it canbe done. Sure it would help if there wasa big money grant, but past exposeshave been funded by media groupsinterested in truth followed by profit. Itis easy to prove the public is interested,Maybe a letter (or email writingcampaign) would convince the mediapowers that there is data, there isinterest, there is gold in them thar hills.

Stan Friedman [email protected]

The Cosmic WatergateContinued from page 14


Filer’s FilesFiler’s FilesFiler’s FilesFiler’s FilesFiler’s FilesBy George Filer

Director, MUFON Eastern Region

George Filer

Kucinich claimed to see UFO,MacLaine says

Democratic presidential candidateDennis Kucinich has claimed to have seena UFO, according to Shirley MacLaine inher new book, Sage-Ing While Age-Ing.

Congressman Kucinich “had a closesighting over myhome in Graham,Washington,when I livedthere,” theactress, a closeKucinich friend,wrote. “Dennisfound hisencounterextremely moving.

“The smell of roses drew him out tomy balcony where, when he looked up, hesaw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, andobserving him. It hovered, soundless, for10 minutes or so, and sped away with aspeed he couldn’t comprehend. He saidhe felt a connection in his heart and hearddirections in his mind.”

http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1193128634148360.xml&coll=2

Arizona 1946 Sightings

SAN CARLOS INDIAN RESERVATION—I was on Lookout Point on hills looking atlights south of Globe, around 9 PM, in1946, when I was fourteen years old. I wasthinking that some of the lights might bebonfires on the San Carlos IndianReservation, but I began feeling uneasy. Itwas pitch dark and very quiet at that timeof night and I was several miles from town

Note: These reports are presented inorder to keep readers informed of some ofthe vast number of sightings beingreported. Hoewever, these cases have notbee officially investigated, unless noted.

when I saw a huge object that remindedme of a throwing discus; to my right weretwo more of them. The craft appeared tobe 300 feet or more in diameter and flyingin sort of a staggered trail formation. Thefirst one was about 500 feet above me; thesecond was 50 feet to 100 feet higher. Thelast one was about 50 to 100 feet abovethe second one.

I was on high ground, as they passedover me, they descended to just above thedesert floor. They remained in a levelattitude as they descended. They seemedto be maintaining a constant height abovethe ground. I saw neither windows norlights on them. They glowed a very faintemerald color. They did cast a very dimlight on the ground as they passed over. Iheard no noise at all.

After they passed me, the three ofthem became a point of light because ofthe distance. When they approached MtBaldy, they made a sharp turn to the rightand flew out of sight to the east. I countedthe seconds until they turned east. Later, Ibecame a Navy pilot, and measured thedistance that they covered on a map, thenusing the seconds I counted, I calculateda speed which is probably way off theactual speed. I was excited and probablycounted too fast, but at the time, I believethey were doing almost 9000 miles perhour.

California

SAN MARCOS—On October 7, 2007, Iwent outside for a smoke after dinner at6:15 PM, and spotted a glowing amberrectangular object with a multicoloredassembly of geometric shapes directlybeneath. It was no more than a half a mileaway at maybe 2000 feet. I grabbed mybinoculars and focused on anunidentifiable thing below the amberrectangle that flipped over, maintaining itsposition below the rectangle. Two of myneighbors also caught sight of it and I had

the impressionthey werefrightened. I toldthem I’d seen itthrough mybinoculars, and itwas not ahelicopter.

Therectangle wassteady with nowobble but thegeometric shapesdid another flip. They were geometricreflective and red, green, blue, and gold. Iheard a jet and found it with thebinoculars, and then looked for the objectand it was gone just like that. Thanks toBrian Vike - Director of HBCC UFOResearch http://www.hbccufo.org/

Delaware–Metal Fell From Outer Space?

WILMINGTON—UFO watchers have anew topic for their Internet forums. TheFAA has ruled a 16-inch-long piece ofmetal, which fell from the sky in DelawareMonday, October 17, 2007, was not part ofan airplane. The object landed withenough force to blow right through theroof of an SUV, and was hot enough tostill be smoldering when firefightersarrived.

“The metal was still too hot tohandle,” Delaware State Police spokesmanCpl. Jeff Whitmarsh told the WilmingtonNews-Journal. Photos from the sceneshow a metal object that looks a little like apiece of construction rebar bent into theshape of the Greek letter omega. Theimpact on the SUV sounded like anexplosion. Could it be a piece of spacejunk which re-entered after its orbitdecayed? Or is it a cotter pin from a hugealien spacecraft? http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?



Illinois Orb and Triangle

CHICAGO—I was standing on the MetraPlatform at Van Buren Street waiting forthe South Shore Train to Indiana when Inoticed a light in the sky. I initiallythought it was a flare rising at a 45 degreeangle but it leveled out and traveled forroughly three seconds south, and thenwithout a turning motion began movingnorth in the opposite direction. At thattime another light moved up to roughly

the same elevation as the first light. Thetwo lights then began traveling back andforth and up and down very strangely. Ipointed at the object and asked “Do yousee that?” The witness also saw them asanother object appeared from a cloudbank and joined the other two. All threeobjects were moving erratically andcompletely independently of each otherfor about four more minutes. About fifteenmore people began looking at the objectsas well making exclamations of excitementand amazement.

My train arrived at 5:31PM and Iboarded but within thirty seconds weexperienced a furious hail storm. After thehail cleared I saw two military fighter jetstraveling at an extremely high rate ofspeed and very low toward the locationthe objects were originally sighted. Theobjects looked like very bright stars andtheir speed was amazingly fast. I con-tacted WGN News and ABC News duringthe evening to see if anyone had reportedthe lights. Thanks to Peter Davenport,http://www.ufocenter.com/

Missouri Saucer with Dome

COLUMBIA—I was driving on Highway Zabout seven miles north of Columbia on

October 15, 2007, at 6:58 PM and sawsomething with a dull matte gray color. Itlooked like two inverted contact lensesstuck together to make a domed discshape with a little square turret on top. Ithad a large round blue/white light on oneside that always faced toward the viewer.It was dark and the blue/white light wasbright. A vehicle was stopped on the otherside of the road with three occupants in it,watching the object. I pulled over, andturned my vehicle off to see if I could hearanything. One of the males yelled over tome and asked if I saw it. I answered, “Yes,that’s why I stopped, but I don’t knowwhat it is.” The object would stay in onespot for a while, then move very slowly,then stop, then move again, never withany noise. It finally arced around andmoved faster away towards the northwest.

Investigator’s Notes: The witness hasdescribed a “classic flying saucer.”Considering that the clouds were fairlylow the object must have been flying low.I have been unable to reach the witness toobtain any additional information. Thanksto Bill Puckett UFOS Northwest http://ufosnw.com/

Nebraska Large Craft Makes a U-turn

LINCOLN—We witnessed a strange sighton October 10, 2007 at 8:30 PM. I can onlydescribe it as a very large aircraft, nolights, no sound, faint but visible againstthe night sky. Imagine a boomerangshape, but smoothed out at the curve. Itflew north for a few seconds, then madefar too sharp turn-around for a normalaircraft, and continued back to the south.We lost track of it after that. It was visibleto us for several minutes. Four of us saw itin this south neighborhood. Thanks toBrian Vike - Director of HBCC UFOResearch and radio host of the VikeReport. http://www.hbccufo.org/

New Jersey Flying Triangle

FORKED RIVER—I was returning homefrom work driving Lacey Road, a remotestretch of road in the Pine Barrens atabout 11:20 PM on September 15, 2007. Iwas chatting on my cell to a friend, when Isaw two very bright objects flying too lowfor most planes. They were triangular inshape and had two very bright blue lightson the side and a red light on the back.They flew slowly very close together and

then one changed position and hoveredabove the other. I had another driver onmy tail so I slowed down and when Ilooked up they had disappeared intocloud cover. We are close to Fort Dix sothis has to be a weird Army thing right?Thanks to Peter Davenport Director http://www.ufocenter.com.

MAPLE SHADE— A county governmentofficial called me on Monday, October 22,2007, to tell me there were numerous lightsabove his home maneuvering and flying inwild patterns about 9:30 PM. At first hethought they might be search lights butthey continued until to after 10 PM. Hewas contacting the police.

BLAIRSTOWN—I spoke to Joe whostated, “While I was going to bed at 9:30PM, on October 14, 2007, my wife and Isaw outside our window a huge triangularcraft with lights at its ends showing methe shape.”

It was flying slowly north at 3000 feetaltitude and probably had been followingthe Delaware River north and passed overthe power plant. Commercial aircraft flewnear this object but did not seem botheredby it. Since I did not see the actual bodyof the craft, but there were lights on thethree corners that made me think that itwas manmade. I mean why would a craftlike this show running lights? This craftdid not make a sound? I woke my wife toshow her and we would have loved to seeits body. Had I had foresight I would havetaken a picture and used an optical deviceto look at it. Thanks to Joe ZerresMUFON CMS

New York Strange Lights Seen on LakeOntario

NIAGARA—For almost a month now mydaughter and I have been watching thesky at the golf course along the lake. Weseem to be seeing what look like stars atfirst, but actually have a circle in themiddle with lines on either side. Webrought out the binoculars and were ableto see flashing red, blue, green and ambercolored lights. Eventually they would justdisappear. What I can’t understand is howthese things can hover in the samecoordinates for hours. This would beSeptember into last evening which isOctober 14, 2007. Thanks to Brian Vike.

Filer’s FilesContinued from page 16



Ohio Triangle with Bright Lights

TOLEDO—On September 22, 2007, a largegroup of friends were having a bonfire outon the Maumee River very close to theToledo Zoo. A triangular formation of bluelights was seen over the river whichresembled L.E.D lights. The groupproceeded to watch as the lights hoveredfor some time, blinking in a pattern, andthen moved off into the distance. Severaldays later, Jackie my friend reported thatat least twenty other people had watchedthe same formation. A group of her friendshad been out in the wilderness near thequarry on Lime City Road on the otherside of the Maumee River. They encoun-tered an 8 foot tall black, anthropomorphiccreature that walked very slowly severalfeet in front of her, as if it purposefullywanted to be seen. Thanks to PeterDavenport Director http://www.ufocenter.com

1946 UFO Sighting in Oklahoma

COYLE—Sammie Binkley writes, “It was aclear spring day in l946, in the small townof Coyle at about 9 AM, when my Motherand I saw a flight of UFOs. We were in thewest side yard looking at the tulip leavesthat had just forced their way up about aninch in the flower bed. I looked up andsaw what looked like small objectssurrounded by strips of metallic ribbon. Isaid, ‘Mother, look, an airplane must havedropped some toys or something.’ Sheglanced up, looked at me and said, ‘Therehasn’t been a plane go over.’ ”

“The objects, which were just dots inthe sky at first, came down in a long spiral,each above and to the side of the lowerone. They were slowly rotating in aclockwise movement. As they got closerthey looked like a child’s top, round andnarrowing at the bottom. About a quarterof the way down there appeared to be arow of windows that went totally aroundthe objects. The bottom was flat but hadthree dark spots in a triangle which couldhave been recessed wheels. The“ribbons” I had first seen were white andred lights that were flashing from thetops—the red light was not the bright redof an emergency vehicle but darker, almost

a maroon. There were nine of the “tops.”They were metallic but not bright likealuminum—nearer to pewter color. Theywere large, about the size of a doublegarage.

“There was an electric pole in back ofour garage that was, I guess, a transformer—lines from all over town convergedthere. The objects came down, one at atime and sat, unmoving, slightly above theelectric lines. After about four or fiveminutes they would ascend, take theirplace at the top of the spiral and thelowest one would come down and sit.There was never the slightest sound, nowhistle, hum or anything. It was so quiet itreminded me of the calm just before astorm hits—even the birds were mute. Ittook approximately 45 minutes to an hour

for all of them to do this and then theysuddenly, in the blink of an eye, sweptinto a V formation and flew west. This wasso fast that they literally disappearedbefore our eyes.

I have been interested ever since thisevent in finding out what UFOs are. I was17 at the time, ready to start college andmy mother was 37 and an avid birdwatcher that could identify a bird sitting ina tree a mile away so I don’t think there isany chance that we saw a bunch of birdsor weather balloons.” Thanks to SammieBinkley

Oregon V-Shaped Distortion

LINCOLN BEACH—About 9:30 PM, onOctober 15, 2007, I was out on my frontporch 70 miles south of Portland, near thePacific Ocean and saw a very, huge andvery fast V-shaped distortion pass in frontof the Milky Way. The sky was so clearand there were so many stars, that I couldclearly see the shape. I would swear that itwasn’t a shadow, but that it was invisible.

Like it was distorting the light behind it,not blacking it out. I see a lot of jets passover. This was much bigger, and faster,and silent. It made no noise as it passedoverhead. It was like a distortion of thestars and Milky Way behind it. There wereso many stars that I could clearly see itsshape. It was just a moving pattern ofdistortion traveling from the north todirectly south. I have attached a drawingof the shape. The whole event took 30seconds.

Investigator’s Note: This is one ofmany sightings of a “V” shaped triangularobject that our group has received duringthe past few years. The witness is veryexplicit in his report and clearly thissighting was not of a “conventionalaircraft.” The shadow and distortion ofstars are somewhat reminiscent of thePhoenix Lights sightings in March of1997. Thanks to Bill Puckett UFOSNorthwest http://ufosnw.com /

Texas Meteor May Cover UFO Entry

DALLAS—Peter Davenport writes:NUFORC received four reports on October19, 2007, of a very dramatic meteor to thenorth of Dallas and Fort Worth. However,two independent witnesses have reportedthat immediately following the apparentmeteor, six “balls of orange light” rose upfrom the horizon, maneuvered, dimmed,and then one shot off at an astonishingvelocity. Thanks to Peter DavenportDirector http://www.ufocenter.com/

(Filer’s) Editor’s Note: Assuming weare dealing with intelligence life formsaboard UFOs entering our atmosphere,they may choose to closely follow ameteor into the atmosphere, or to maketheir entry appear as a meteor. Eventhough spectacular meteors are oftenobserved the actual meteorites are seldomfound even though they are quitevaluable. Green meteors apparently do notactually exist in nature and often signalthe entry of alien craft. These objects arecalled Fastwalkers or uncorrelated targets.They are not in the Air Force Data Base ofknown objects in space, thus the nameuncorrelated. I’m told several times a weekan uncorrelated target enters and exits ouratmosphere indicating there are regularsupply missions for our visitors.Additionally, many reports are indicating




the UFOs are foraging for food, water, andelectrical energy.

Washington Disc About 35 Feet

CLE ELUM—I was driving on the freewayabout 7 PM, and saw a bluish-gray disc inthe sky about 600-700 feet altitude onOctober 17, 2007. The weather was clear,raining slightly (mist). The disc seemed tobe hovering over the little town of CleElum, so I pulled over to watch. It wouldbobble slightly, but otherwise stay in oneposition. This lasted for about fiveminutes and then it just disappeared.

Investigator’s Notes: This sightinghas similar characteristics to a sightingover Lake Easton on October 10, 2007.The two sightings were only about 15miles apart.

LAKE EASTON—I saw a silver/gray discabout 35 feet radius hovering over LakeEaston for 3-5 minutes on October 10,2007 around 10:40 PM. I saw a beam ofvery bright greenish light whichilluminated the lake. Then we saw smallobjects floating up to the craft. My friendsaid they were fish.

Investigator’s Note: Reports ofunknown objects gathering material arerare. Thanks to Bill Puckett UFOSNorthwest http://ufosnw.com/

(Filer’s) Editor’s Note: Sightings ofdiscs in the Northwest have been reportedfor more than fifty years by hundreds ofwitnesses. The occupants are often seenforaging for food and water. Fish, elk, deerand other animals appear to be taken on aregular basis. This pattern providesevidence for an intelligent species thatneeds food to sustain life. Recently, I wascontacted by a Forest Ranger who claimedthat Rangers see them on a regular basis.

Germany Lights

GELSENKIRCHEN—On Sunday morning,September 16, 2007, around 8:15 PM, I wasout on my girlfriend’s tenth floor balconyand noticed a bright light with an auraaround it flying east. Suddenly anotherlight appeared to the left side of the firstobject and started getting brighter andadjusted its speed to the first one. Inoticed a pedestrian below and pointed,and he saw it too. The objects weremoving together when the second lightsuddenly made a sharp 90 degree left turn,speeded up and dimmed out. The first onewas now nearly over me as it rapidlydimmed out and disappeared. At thatmoment I noticed interference on myradio. Thanks to Peter Davenport Directorhttp://www.ufocenter.com/

Ireland Red LightsOn September 21, 2007, about 4:52 AM,

I saw a cylinder shaped UFO, a long redline with red lights blinking on and off.Object was off in the distance at a verylow speed sort of cruising. All of a suddenthe object shot straight up into the starsand disappeared after twenty seconds.Thanks to Peter Davenport Director http://www.ufocenter.com/

Norway Huge Bright Disc Light

KRISTIANSAND—It was amazing, at firstI just saw a huge bright light in the skyright above the tree-line. It was so huge Icalled for a buddy of mine to look and gotmy telescope, and saw there were twowhite/bright lights fairly close to eachother, with a red light beam goingdownwards in a pattern movement. Thiswas in between the two bright roundlights at each side of the disc.

I had it in my sights for maybe 45seconds as moved behind the tree-line,but then flew higher and I could see that itwas a black disc shaped object in themiddle of two bright lights. It was movingslow and then it turned again towards mybuddy and me and flew almost over ustotally silent. We both saw it in the scope.The white and red lights were fairly smallso if this object was that high in the airthis means the object had to be seriouslyhuge. Thanks to Brian Vike, DirectorHBCC UFO Research. http://www.hbccufo.org


Peru: Chance UFO Photo

ISLAS BALLESTAS— A chance photo-graph caught this UFO over the waternear the Island on 21 October 2007.

UK/England Flying Triangle

KEIGHLEY—On September 22, 2007, at 8PM, we had a major flap with a dozenUFOs all following the same flight path.About an hour ago, I noticed this redflickering ball in the sky and thirtyseconds into my walk, I saw severalpeople standing in their garden and heardthem say “Here comes some more, theyare quite evenly spaced out!” I lookedover my shoulder and sure enough therewas a pair of UFOs, totally silent andflickering red/orange.

I phoned my friend and he too sawthem! A couple of minutes later, two morecame strolling over the horizon, justambling along. They kept coming minutesapart, then finally one flew by on its own.I must have seen about ten, and judgingby the crowd of people in the garden therewas more before that! Thanks to PeterDavenport http://www.ufocenter.com/

MANCHESTER (WITHINGTON)—OnSeptember 22, 2007, about 10 PM, I wasstanding outside at a wedding receptionand looked up and saw what looked likebig stars, all moving the same speed information. They looked like a fleet quitehigh up, too low for stars or satellites, byhigh in the atmosphere though veryweird! This lasted around 7 to 10 minutesuntil they disappeared. Thanks to PeterDavenport http://www.ufocenter.com/

To read Filer’s Files online, go towww.nationalufocenter.com . Copyright2007 by George A. Filer, all rights reserved.Send your letters to [email protected].


Field Investigator’s Corner: CMS Rankings

MUFONField Investigators Manual

The official Mutual UFO Networkguidelines for in-depth

UFO investigation

Price includes shipping and handling:Member U.S. or Canada: $28.50Non-Member U.S. or Canada $38.50Member Foreign: $49.50Non-Member Foreign: $59.50

Order online at: www.mufon.com/invmanual.htm

Rank State Director Weighted Assigned Completed Rank (50/50)

By Chuck ReeverMUFON Director of Investigations

Here is October’s CMS RankingReport for all State Directors. Con-gratulations to Donald R. Burleson(New Mexico), Tracey C. Smith(Kansas), Cheryl Ann Gilmore(South Carolina) for being 1st, 2nd and3rd respectively in the month ofOctober. The top 10 State Directorsare highlighted .

The report is based on our twomeasures of UFO Investigationeffectiveness. Assigning reports within72 hours of receipt, and completing allinvestigations within 90 days of beingassigned. The “Assigned” column is asix month running average of thenumber of cases assigned within 72hours divided by the total number ofcases received in that six monthperiod. The “Completed” column isthe number of cases completedbeginning sixty-two (62) days backand going back six months from there(for a total of eight months back)divided by the total number of casesreported in the same period. The“Weighted Rank” is just the averageof the two columns expressed as apercent.

State Directors can improve theirscores by being sure to assign allcases within 72 hours, and to followup with their Field Investigators toensure all reports are completed within90 days. To be considered complete, areport must have been investigatedand placed in one of the three com-pleted status codes (Unknown, Hoaxor IFO) by you the State Director.

If you have any questions or needhelp with your investigations pleasecontact me at 530-414-4341 or 530-582-8339 or via e-mail [email protected] .

1 New Mexico Donald R. Burleson 100 % 15/15 20/202 Kansas Tracey C. Smith 100 % 8/8 13/133 South Carolina Cheryl Ann Gilmore 100 % 9/9 7/74 Tennessee Steven Purcell 94 % 8/9 18/185 Florida Bland Pugh 94 % 44/50 52/526 Texas Kenneth E. Cherry 93 % 40/46 61/617 Illinois Samuel Maranto 93 % 34/37 44/468 Wisconsin TG Whiteagle / DJ Watson 92 % 12/12 12/149 Georgia Walter Sheets 92 % 12/14 23/2310 California Georgeanne Cifarelli 86 % 61/71 69/79

11 Iowa Jim King 85 % 6/7 6/712 Indiana Jerry L. Sievers 81 % 37/45 33/4113 New Jersey George A. Filer, III 76 % 11/17 22/2514 Washington Laurence Childs 74 % 9/17 24/2515 Colorado Leslie H. Varnicle 70 % 45/53 27/4916 Utah Elaine Douglass / 69 % 13/16 4/7

Ronald S. Regehr17 Pennsylvania John Ventre 65 % 19/23 12/2518 Oregon Thomas Bowden 58 % 27/49 38/6119 North Carolina George E. Lund, III 57 % 9/16 13/2220 West Virginia John Ventre 57 % 5/7 4/921 Oklahoma Charles L. Pine 50 % 0/0 3/322 Delaware Ralph P. Flegal 50 % 1/1 0/023 Nebraska John C. Kasher 50 % 2/7 5/724 Michigan William J. Konkolesky 44 % 20/47 23/5025 Minnesota Richard D. Moss 40 % 3/17 9/1426 Arkansas Norman D. Walker 40 % 4/9 3/827 California Ruben J. Uriarte 33 % 23/65 24/7828 Ohio William Edward Jones 30 % 13/33 7/3229 Maryland Bruce S. Maccabee 29 % 1/16 11/2130 New York James G. Bouck, Jr. 27 % 25/51 3/5431 Nevada Mark Easter 20 % 3/19 6/2432 Hawaii Puuloa M. Teves 14 % 0/5 2/733 Louisiana Michael D. Sandras 12 % 2/8 0/534 Massachusetts Greg S. Berghorn 8 % 1/16 2/1935 Wyoming Richard Beckwith 7 % 1/7 0/736 Virginia Susan L. Swiatek 6 % 3/22 0/2637 Connecticut Erik Kubik 5 % 1/9 0/1038 Alaska J. Glen Harper 5 % 0/6 1/939 Arizona George C. Parks 4 % 1/26 2/4640 Alabama Roy E. Patterson, Jr. 3 % 1/16 0/1941 Idaho Robert Gates 0 % 0/11 0/742 Missouri Bruce A. Widaman 0 % 0/8 0/1943 New Hampshire Peter R. Geremia 0 % 0/7 0/744 Kentucky Earle T. Benezet 0 % 0/13 0/1945 Washington Gerald E. Rolwes 0 % 0/4 0/646 Vermont Dan Lavilette 0 % 0/4 0/4


Director’s MessageContinued from page 2

MUFON MembersMessage Board

mufonmembers.proboards55.comPassword: Hynek1947

(case sensitive)

Night Sky: DecemberContinued from page 24

rises. By month’s end Saturn will riseabove the eastern horizon about 6 hoursbefore the Sun and will be found highabove the northern horizon as the sunrises.

Other Celestial Phenomena

December 22nd: Winter Solstice (Marksthe first day of winter for earth’snorthern hemisphere and first day ofsummer for the Southern hemisphere).

Meteor Showers

Geminids:The annual Geminid meteor shower

will peak on the night of December13th/14th. This shower is one of thebetter showers since as many as 100meteors per hour may be seen. Whilethis certainly doesn’t rival the Leonidsin recent years, this is still a very highrate for a regular meteor shower. Thisis an unusual shower in that the sourceof the shower is not believed to be a

comet, but rather an object known as3200 Phaethon. This object is currentlyclassified as an asteroid, but somescientists believe that it might be anextinct comet with a thick crust ofinterplanetary dust.

Another thing that makes theGeminids unusual is that one doesn’thave to wait until after midnight tocatch this shower. The radiant risesearly and meteors can be seen around10:00 PM local time, but the best viewwill still be after midnight local time.This shower also boasts a broadmaximum, lasting nearly one whole day,so no matter where you live, you standa decent chance of catching sight ofsome Geminids. The actual peak willoccur around 4:00 UTC on the 14th(6:40 PM EST, 5:40 CST, 4:40 MST,and 3:40 PM PST on the 13th).Fortunately the Moon will be below thehorizon during the peak of the shower.

Ursids:The Ursids peak on December 22/

23 and have a peak hourly rate of 10 or

so, but in some years the hourly peakhas risen as high as 50. The full Moonwill diminish the enjoyment of thisyears display.

Planetary Conjunction

The nearly full Moon will passacross a very bright Mars

Conjunctions and Occultations

December 1st: Saturn 2.0 degreesnorth of Mars.

December 24th: Mars 0.9 degreessouth of the Moon.

December 28th: Regulus 0.6degrees north of the Moon.

deserves to be recognized, please emailme with a detailed note on their contri-butions to [email protected]. Pleasealso include a photo of the member ifpossible.

In the next issue of the Journal, wewill be including a special section onsome of the important changes that arebeing made within MUFON. This willbe a primer on the MUFON STARTeam, STOV Team, Research Teams,and the future of MUFON investiga-tions. By understanding where MUFONis headed, we hope that you will decideto join in one of these efforts to furtherMUFON’s mission and goals.

MUFON is a scientific researchorganization. It is important that we goback to our roots and stress the scien-tific aspect of what we do. Ufology isfilled with pseudoscientific claims,allegations, conspiracies and disinfor-mation. MUFON’s job is to sift thewheat from the chaff and to get to the

heart of what is going on while usingwell established scientific protocols.

The public looks to MUFON forrational explanations of what they areexperiencing. We must approach ourinvestigations, research and publiceducation with a rational point of view.The ufological spectrum spans from theunquestioning believer on one end to the“unwilling to investigate” debunker onthe other end. MUFON should be in themiddle of the spectum neither blindlybelieving nor skeptically dismissingwithout doing our homework. Ourcommon goal should be to solve theUFO mystery, not perpetuate it.

Position Announcements

Jim DeManche has accepted theposition of MUFON Deputy Director ofInvestigations. More information on thisimportant position will be released in thenext Journal issue.

New State Directors:

Dave Watson has resigned as Co-StateDirector for Wisconsin. Timothy

Whiteagle is now the Wisconsin StateDirector.

New Assistant State Directors:

Jon Nowinski has accepted theposition of Assistant State Director forthe state of Connecticut.

New Field Investigators:

Stacey Wright of Mesa, Arizona,James Mann of Gilbert, Arizona, BrentWarp of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, GavinMcLeod of British Columbia, Canada,Rachel Mastracchio of Waterbury,Connecticut , Samuel Gallant of Putnam,Connecticut, Barbara LeVeque ofDawson, Illinois, David Pares of Omaha,Nebraska, Stacy Heatherly of Papillion,Nebraska, Donald Thurston of Coos Bay,Oregon, Brian Montenero of Coos Bay,Oregon, Jean Caldwell of Coos Bay,Oregon, Kenneth Beyer of Coos Bay,Oregon, Dana Hopkins of Coquille,Oregon, Linda Sweatt of North Bend,Oregon, Ann Fillmore of Reedsport,Oregon.


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World’s Best UFO CasesBy Dwight Connelly

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The Night SkyThe Night SkyThe Night SkyThe Night SkyThe Night SkyBy Gavin A. J. McLeod

December 2007 Sky


Moon Phases

Last Quarter December 1st

New Moon December 9th

First Quarter December 17th

Full Moon December 24th

Last Quarter December 31st

Bright Planets (Evening Sky)

Mars (magnitude -1.3 to -1.6):Moving from Gemini into Taurus. Fornorthern and southern hemisphereobservers Mars will be the planet towatch this month as it will be at itsbrightest for the year. For northernhemisphere observers Mars will riseabove the northeast horizon about 2hours after sunset and will be above thewestern horizon as the Sun rises. Bymonth’s end Mars will be found lowover the east-northeast horizon as theSun sets and will set in the northwestas the Sun rises. For southernhemisphere observers Mars will beginthe month rising above the northeasthorizon 2 ½ hours after Sunset and willabove the north-northwest horizon atsunrise. By month’s end Mars will befound low over the northeast horizon asthe Sun sets and will set in thenorthwest about three-quarters hourbefore sunrise.

Jupiter (magnitude -1.8): InSagittarius. For northern and southernhemisphere observers Jupiter will beginthe month just above the southwesthorizon as the Sun sets and willdisappear into the glare of the Sun wellbefore the middle of the month.

Bright Planets (Morning Sky)

Mercury (magnitude -0.8 to -1.2):Moving from Libra through Ophiuchusinto Sagittarius. For northern andsouthern hemisphere observersMercury will be barely visible above thesoutheast horizon before sunrise anddisappear into the glare of the Sun

before mid-month. For southernhemisphere observers Mercury will belost in the glare of the Sun for the entiremonth.

Venus (magnitude -4.1 to -4.0):Moving from Virgo into Libra. Fornorthern hemisphere observers Venuswill begin the month rising above theeast-southeast horizon about 4 hoursbefore the Sun and will be standingabove the southeast horizon as the Sunrises. By month’s end Venus will riseabout 3 ½ hours before the Sun. Forsouthern hemisphere observers Venuswill begin the month rising above theeastern horizon about 2 hours beforethe Sun and will be standing above theeastern horizon as the Sun rises. Bymonth’s end Venus will rise about 2 ½hours before the Sun.

Saturn (magnitude 0.7 to 0.6): InLeo. For northern hemisphereobservers Saturn will begin the monthrising above the eastern horizon about 7½ hours before the Sun and will befound high above the south-southwesthorizon as the sun rises. By month’send Saturn will rise above the easternhorizon about 10 hours before the Sun

and will be found high above the west-southwest horizon as the sun rises. Forsouthern hemisphere observers Saturnwill begin the month rising above theeastern horizon about 4 hours beforethe Sun and will be found high abovethe north-northeast horizon as the sun

After Sunset on December 23, 2007

mufon ufo journal - 2007 11. november

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