Filer's Files

#18-1998
May 6, 1998

MUFON Skywatch Investigations
George A. Filer, Director, Mutual UFO Network Eastern

George Filer: Majorstar@verizon.net
Webmaster Chuck Warren
My website is at: www.nationalufocenter.com

Sightings continue with indications of large electrical output and plasma balls.

CONNECTICUT

MUFON State Section Director Bruce Tilden and Assistant State Director, Mark Cashman report a hovering UFO was observed around 9:00 PM on April 18 or 19, 1998. The witness was driving to Middletown when he drove slowly past the Mount Higby Reservoir and saw the UFO from three observation points. (Latitude 41.538515N Longitude -72.722789W.) He also provided a sketch of the object. The investigators will be revisiting the witness and the site for site photographs and a reenactment. Based on the initial information, my calculations indicate that the object was at an approximate altitude of about 50 feet above the reservoir, at an approximate distance of 500 feet. The UFO was a 100 feet across. The object was hovering over the water near some pine trees and its reflection was observed in the water. There were three lights in a triangle formation, which were very bright point sources that do not seem to have cast light on the nearby trees. The lights were slightly bluish white, closer to fluorescent light than halogen. No scintillation was observed, but some halation may have been present due to the brightness. The object was twisted such that the closest point was skewed slightly to the west. The witness did not see the object in front of any background objects at any position. Therefore it remains possible that these were three lights in formation rather than an object. No thickness was discerned. The witness did observe the lights through trees from the third reference point, which is about 30 feet higher than the other two locations. The triangulation indicates that the object or formation was close to or over the west shore of the reservoir. The observation between locations one and two may have been about a half minute. No engine interference was noted. The object turned out its lights or was obscured shortly after the witness passed the third observation point. The witness constructed a model of the object by tearing paper into a triangle and demonstrating the orientation of the object with the model. He seems to be stable, courteous, intelligent, and cooperative. His mother indicates that the witness was shaking and would not immediately enter the house after his sighting. The investigation is continuing. Thanks to Mark Cashman, creator of The Temporal Doorway at http://www.geocities.com/~mcashman

GEORGIA

A 21 year old male witness living in Comer and physics major at the University of Georgia, senior year reports a UFO sighting. The witness was interviewed two days after his April 25, 1998, sighting. He stated, he was at home on 25 April when his 15 year old brother came inside about 11:50 PM and stated there was an unusual light hovering on the distant horizon. The witness being an amateur astronomer in conjunction with his physics major then checked sky charts for bright celestial objects and found none. He continued outside with some 7X35 binoculars and located a fuzzy dull red line object in the southern horizon. It was brighter or more focused in the middle, and fuzzy toward the edges. It was horizontal, and about as long as an aspirin is wide when held at arm's length. He watched it for ten minutes. The UFO suddenly moved about 45 degrees to the SE at an incredible speed, then hovered there for about a minute. The UFO quickly returned its initial southern position. He was unable to identify the object and returned inside, leaving his brother to continue the observation. The total sighting was for 30 minutes. Follow-up investigation into this matter continues. Thanks to ISUR Board member John Thompson.

Information was received on 29 April regarding a gigantic UFO that slowly overflew Marietta Georgia in 1959, ten years before MUFON's existence. This event was observed by hundreds of citizens and reported to the air traffic controller at the adjacent Dobbins AFB and to the local newspapers. The reporting witness is a retired long distance telephone operator and life long Marietta area resident. She stated that she was driving south on Fairground Street near downtown at about 10:30 PM. As she approached Lawrence Street she indicated that it could not have been more than 300 to 400 feet in altitude and was almost right over them and slightly to the front. She indicated that she and her aunt looked right up at its bottom side as it passed. She described it as being about the size of a football field, egg shaped, no protuberances on its surface, and glowing a silver color about the same intensity and shade as the full moon. The witness was raised a mile from Dobbins Air Force Base and the Lockheed Georgia Company and this was nothing like she had ever observed. The object passed directly overhead. She phoned the Dobbins tower about 30 minutes later and was told that their phones were "burning up" with citizens' reports of the craft. One of the newspapers ran headlines about the UFO the next day. Thanks to Chief Sheets, GA State MUFON Director.

COLORADO

After eight weeks of blissful relief, the livestock surgeons appear to have returned to the San Luis Valley, located in south central Colorado. Junne and Virgil Walkley were returning home when they happened upon a "mutilated cow" that appeared to be dropped on a fence line twelve miles east of Alamosa, CO. The animal had apparently been dead for three or four days. It was lying on its back directly on an old fence line that extended north-to-south, on the western edge of the San Luis Valley Ranch Estates. The Walkley's are subscribers to the Mysterious Valley Report, and avid skywatchers. The mandible flesh and hide had been removed cleanly from around the lower teeth, up and around the jaw, and back under the lower jaw around to the lower teeth. The rear end and lower internal organs had been reamed by coyotes and scavenging birds. At this time, the owner of the animal has not been established and no report has been made to authorities. A thorough investigation of the crime-scene was unable to locate any further clues as to the identity of the perpetrators. This makes seven cases in a perfect crescent-line along the Alamosa River. Thanks to Christopher O'Brien, CAUS/Skywatch, http://home.amigo.net/tmv

NEW MEXICO

ISUR Sighting: Matt G. Radley reports he saw a UFO between 8:30 PM and 11:00 PM on April 27, 1998. He first noticed a light west of Portales that did not move for a long time. It had white, red, and blue colors that caused him to notice its presence. It didn't move and then it suddenly disappeared. It then appeared northwest of the original location. A second light appeared at the original spot. He tried to get a movie camera picture but could not. The UFO appeared spherical in shape and stayed in one place, but appeared to move in circles. Six persons in my family saw the UFO. The witnesses gave their phone number: 505-356-2894 and address at 2140 Pojoaque Court Portales, NM 88130. Portales- red_chow@hotmail.com Thanks to John Thompson and ISUR.

UNITED KINGDOM

A UFO news story has created an uproar in the UK. Last week, we ran a story that the US had developed an experimental aircraft that could travel at Mach 50 allowing it to circle the planet in less than an hour. The British government has officially denied the following story that appeared in the Daily Express and Daily Mail Newspapers on 27 April 1998. The story written by science correspondent David Derbyshire claims that a 24,000 mph UFO BUZZED BRITAIN. The RAF has tracked a UFO 'as big as a battleship' off the coast of Britain, military sources revealed yesterday. They said the massive craft was tracked flying in a zigzag pattern at 17,000 mph over the North Sea. It then accelerated to 24,000 mph and zoomed off towards the Atlantic. The Dutch Air Force also tracked the UFO, but two F-16 fighters scrambled to intercept the objects, but were unable to keep up, it is claimed. RAF officials are said to be baffled by the object, spotted by the Ministry of Defense long-range listening station on Fylindales moor in North Yorkshire. 'It was definitely under control, judging by the various maneuvers executed,' said a source. 'It appeared to be triangular and was around the size of a battleship (about 900 ft long).' Radar records of the craft are due to be presented to science and military experts around the world, who will examine how to exploit space for military purposes at a conference at RAF College, Cranwell, Lincolnshire, in June. Other tapes of the UFO - thought to have been made during the last two years -- are being withheld because they give too much information about the radar base's scanning ability. However, military chiefs may release a second series of tapes, reported to show 12 UFOs changing shape in mid-flight. While the 'battleship' UFO is most likely to be an experimental aircraft or a sighting caused by a freak weather effect. UFO watchers believe it is further evidence that the Earth is being visited by alien craft. The latest theory gaining popularity among some dedicated UFO watcher is that the military deliberately release stories about UFO's as a 'smokescreen'- and that witnesses are rally seeing top-secret experimental aircraft. The base at RAF Fylingdales has been watching the skies since the end of the Cold War. A large pyramid-shaped, 360-degree radar has now replaced the gigantic landmark 'golf balls' tracking system. The base has concentrates on tracking satellites and pieces of space junk circling the Earth.

Tim Mathews checked the story out for our readers. He writes, "Hi there George. I spoke to the Daily Mail journalist at 10:30 AM the day the story 'broke' in his paper. He seemed to have little idea about UFOs and/or secret military aircraft but no matter. Having spoken to several real radar experts I am told that under no circumstances could even the most sophisticated radar systems pinpoint the shape of an aircraft/air vehicle/'aerial phenomena -- especially not at the speeds mentioned, 24,000mph. In any case this speed is a little unlikely and what would be the point of scrambling a jet aircraft to intercept? It'd be over your house before the damn thing took off!! My understanding of the situation is that the story was a fake, based entirely upon the disinformation of ex-MOD employee (Philip Burden) with a grudge against his former employer which led him to put out this nonsense -- and similar fantasy in the past. The Daily Mail has run several rather over-the- top alien stories recently to the extent that one particularly respected researcher that I know, who had written a number of objective and factually based stories for the paper in the past, felt unable to do any further work. Well, you know what they say about the Daily Mail, it is the establishment newspaper. The only fact in the story was a forthcoming military get together/conference that cost £200 for a ticket. The researchers interviewed were either deliberately misquoted, are given to making wild claims, or were lying. I wonder why these newspapers are so desperate for us to believe in aliens, and in such an uncritical and subjective fashion? A joint UK-US team has been testing secret military craft both over the Irish and North Seas for several years. Sightings of dart-shaped and/or triangular aircraft (possibly based upon Terrence Nonweilers' ground-breaking waverider theories) go back to the late 1960s. Well, either they want us to believe in aliens in order to hide their mind control, cloning and secret technology developments, or to sell papers. Thanks to Tim Matthews, Lancashire UFO Society

AUSTRALIA

On May 2, 1998, at 5:40 PM a silver gray disc was observed hovering 100 meters overhead a family. It was near dusk on Saturday, when a family visiting the remote Tarra-Bluga National Park in Victoria sighted and heard a silver gray disc. The UFO hovered 100 meters overhead for about four minutes before taking off. The UFO had a large dome on top and three oval-shaped bulbuls or ball like protrusions underneath. The craft was about the size of 3 or 4 cars. The object emitted a low frequency buzz or hum that could only be heard while directly underneath. The investigation continues. Thanks to Ross Dowe Australian UFO Hotline ippoz@eisa.net.au

On October 11, 1997, several million Australians observed extremely bright fluorescent lime green illumination across the skies. These illuminations have been observed in other parts of the world such as Mexico and the United States. Ross Dowe National UFO Hotline in Melbourne received well over 1000 telephone calls from Australian residents of the eastern states of New South Wales and Queensland. The sun was setting in the sky at 18:12 to 18:14 hours when the lime green illumination crossed from SW to NE in 8 to 10 seconds. The light was said to be an "enormous light" like a semitrailer in the skies, and it flew with a very long illuminated green tail. As this light descended it got much larger. As the illumination dipped down some 25 degrees below it's initial high altitude it appeared to break into two main lights. Some observers saw nine lights in a trail. The initial single light exploded into a huge fireworks display as it approached ground level with literally thousands of lights exploding out in all directions before cascading downwards in an umbrella shape. Some exploded pieces reportedly spiraled downwards leaving dark brown smoke trails.

A crop-duster pilot operating near Warwick in southern Queensland spent 10 valuable last light minutes searching for glowing objects on the ground -- after seeing many GLOWING PLASMA balls fly past his wing and over a nearby hill and apparently rain down to ground level around him. He could find no evidence that anything had hit the ground and/or survived the fall, but the explosion was apparently near Warwick. The "objects" flight and its low altitude explosion left a huge sound trail that reverberated around in the clouds and sky for some five minutes as an intense shuddering noise. Cracks and booms with rolling thunder were heard from as far south as Sydney. Editor's Note: It appears these large plasma displays are becoming more common in our skies. A scientist who has contacted me, believes these displays may be the result of electrical plasma forming around chemical particles or pollution in the highest reaches of our atmosphere. During my numerous flights across the oceans, I noted the tremendous energy surrounding Aurora Borealis in the upper atmosphere. It is possible our immense electrical output and our polluted skies are causing this energy to form around these particles. Another possibility is that high performance craft entering our atmosphere is causing these plasmas to form.

SRI LANKA

May 3rd, Sunday Times article by Chris Kamalendran reports: "Bandarawela, Diyatalawa and surrounding areas are all agog and sky-gazing, partly in fear and partly in fascination, after several people reported seeing a glittering unidentified flying object (UFO) coming in, landing and going off during the past few days. According to the principal of Adikaram Primary School in Bandarawela, several school boys and teachers had told him they had seen the UFO. Grade Five student Harsha Ellawellagedera said he had seen the object around 6:30 a.m., on Thursday while several others reported they had seen it at different times. If school boys might be prone to some imagination, then the District Medical Officer of Diyatalawa, Kamani Pushpakumara, would contradict the skeptics. She said she had seen a UFO flying over her garden a few days ago. Frightened by it, she ran into the house and told her husband to close the door. A driver in the area is also reported he had seen a UFO. Investigations are continuing with space science students likely to join hundreds of long-weekend holiday makers in the resort towns to discover more about the extraordinary scenes in the sky. Thanks to Asoka Liyanage at asoka@dns.paci.gov.kw, and Suntimes http://www.lacnet.org/suntimes/980503/frontm.html#LABEL1.

ANGLICAN BISHOPS BELIEVE IN ALIEN LIFE

Based on story by Maurice Chittendon of the Sunday Times. A recent survey of 42 Anglican (Church of England) bishops revealed that 40 of them, or 95%, believes in the possibility of alien life on other worlds. Thirty-one, or 74%, said some of that alien life might be intelligent. These beliefs are seen as a departure from traditional church dogma which holds that man is unique in the cosmos and created in the image of God. According to Henry Richmond, Bishop of Repton, "Alien life forms could exist. I'd like to think that ETs were human-like but we might have to adjust our ideas and recognize that even little green men are another form of intelligent life that we oughtn't to feel threatened by ."Michael Turnbull, Bishop of Durham, said the discovery of other life could be a positive force. "God created all life. If it were possible to engage with life on other planets it would open our lives to the greater wonders of God's creation." Most of those surveyed agree that the discovery of alien life would require a reappraisal of traditional doctrine. On the question of whether God might personally visit other worlds, Mark Green, Assistant Bishop of Chichester, said, "I would not be shocked if he had. If he has children on different planets he would visit them, the way a father would visit his children in different parts of the country." According to Lindsay Urwin, Bishop of Horsham, "Religion has never just simply looked at the Earth to learn about [God]. The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God and I would say that whatever is up there declares the glory of God." Frank Weston, Bishop of Knaresborough, agreed. "I am happy with an expanding universe and I am happy with universes beyond this one. God is an almighty creator and you can't limit his creativity. There must be life in other ways. I am rather excited about it." Thanks to Neil Cunningham and Tony Craddock CSETI Web Administrator webmaster@cseti.org

FIRST DESCRIPTION OF UFO IS USUALLY THE BEST

When investigating a UFO report, I suggest that you tape or carefully write down the description provided by the witness. The witnesses first description of the event is likely to be the best because everything else repeated will, by human fallibility, tend to be corrupted. Each telling tends to bring in minute exaggerations that geometrically enlarge with each repeat. Very similar to the children's game of "telephone" or software that loses minute fragments of files each time it is stored and transferred. The first over-all description of an object will be based upon their life experience, educational attainments and personal experience of the witness in relating the familiar with what they actually saw or experienced. When the story is repeated the witness will tend to make changes. This is normally not an attempt to lie. They are essentially changing their internal view to understand something that is beyond their comprehension. With the opportunity to analyze and refocus they may turn a light into a craft, in order to make it easier for them to discuss. They are attempting to over come their fear or confusion about an uncomfortable experience. So they make the description into something they can manage and control. It is self preservation or positioning. They may try to read the reactions of the investigator to obtain tips on what is expected. Therefore, it is best to be very noncommittal. The investigator can transfer his belief systems to the witness. This is commonly called transference and is a common psychological propensity of all human beings. The researcher if on the scene, will unconsciously begin to add or remove from the actuality of the event and witness statement by their own belief systems, etc. This is usually done unconsciously, but has immediate consequence. Later, when many days, weeks, months or years pass and researchers review or analyze the aspects of the case, the tendency to argue semantics of facts rather than the scenario itself becomes a lesson in futility. To avoid this the experienced and knowledgeable researcher will maintain that the first description, relating of events, etc., are the "closest" truth. Children are often good witnesses if you do not lead them with your own belief system. When you begin to question and dig deeper for more complex facts, the child will subtly begin to tell the you what you want to hear. Consequently, the most knowledgeable investigator will take the first description as the true fact in total and analyze based upon that description of the object or event. When a witness is giving his story, just listen until they've finished. Then you are probably closest to the real truth. Thanks to La Fem Nikita.

MID-ATLANTIC UFO SYMPOSIUM

The 1998 MUFON Mid-Atlantic UFO Symposium is taking place this Saturday, May 9th, from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM in Bethesda, Maryland. Scheduled speakers include Robert Swaitek - UFO/Abduction Researcher, Robert Hall - Sociologist and commentator on the UFO Abduction phenomena, Peter Resta - Abduction phenomenon researcher, Dr. Charles Emmons - of Gettysburg College, Linda Moulton Howe - noted UFO and cattle mutilation researcher, Dr. David Jacobs - of Temple University, author of "The Threat". Bruce Maccabee - co-author of "UFOs are Real, Here's the Proof," and myself. The event will be held at the Bethesda Ramanda Inn, 8400 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland (1.5 miles south of Interstate 495 [exit 34 - Wisconsin Avenue). I hope to see you there.

Please send comments and letters to George Filer at Majorstar@verizon.net.

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