Filer's Files

#33-1998
August 20, 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

UFO ACTIVITY IS INCREASING

I wish to announce and give special recognition to a longtime MUFON member, Travis Goodson of Alabama who just passed his MUFON Field investigator's exam with a high score of 90. Congratulations, Travis this is one of the highest scores that I am aware of for this test. So keep up the good work. Now, your detective work begins in your search for UFOs!

VERMONT

Thomas McFarland writes: "Things have started off with a bang with UFO sightings and development of the MUFON Vermont Web site. A couple in their late twenties on August 3, 1998, saw a bright "shimmering" light in the North sky at 12:25 to 01:30 PM and again the next night about the same time. The object was thirty degrees off the horizon, moving very slowly, "Almost hovering." They watched it through a high powered rifle scope until it traveled out of sight. The object had three bright evenly spaced lights in a horizontal line. On the outside of these lights was another white light, but much dimmer. The object appeared round and had both red and green flashing lights "in a manner and pattern that made it impossible to state from where they came." I received another report today of a similar "shimmering" bright object in the NNW sky in recent days. I will post on the MUFON VT web site at http://homepages.together.net/~nightowl. Thanks to Thomas McFarland.

NEW YORK:

Mary Island: Larry Hatch reports, "On August 8, 1998, several families were camping at the Mary Island State Camp Grounds in the St. Lawrence river near the entrance to Lake Ontario. While watching a large full orange 'harvest' moon, one person noticed an unusual steady orange light to the south, some twenty degrees above the horizon. At 9:00 PM, the witness pointed it out to the others. They watched the light, described as the size of a thumbnail at arm’s length, when they noticed it appeared to be silently approaching over the water. After about two minutes it changed color to bright white, then abruptly winked out." One witness had a similar sighting at their home on Otisco Lake a few years before. They had noticed a white light silently moving towards them over a lake. They went into their home to get another person to come out and see it, when a brilliant light flooded the interior of their home. Suddenly, the light went out and the object was gone. The number of lake related sightings suggests a fruitful research project may be to select a lake and conduct a formal survey of people having property along the shoreline. These sightings will be added to the online database at http://www.nymufon.org. Thanks to Larry Clark, NY. MUFON at mbarry4@ibm.net.

GEORGIA

Athens: MUFON/ISUR’s John Thompson reports that now August is here, activity is picking up. He received a call from Peter Davenport of the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) who had talked to a gentlemen from Athens who had just seen a UFO at 5:30 PM. The caller said he was facing the airport at Athens, when he saw a white oval shaped craft move horizontally between him and the airport. Within three seconds the oval shaped craft stopped and shot straight up at an almost instantaneous speed. Peter said this witness is drawing a sketch and has been advised that someone from MUFON will be in touch with him.

LaGrange: On August 10, 1998, a former college football player reported, he had see a UFO in east LaGrange at approximately 12:30 AM. Getting up from bed, he said he noticed as he passed his window that it was totally dark. As a street light is only 70 feet from his two story high bedroom window, and is always spilling light into his apartment, he knew something was amiss. Looking north he saw nothing except gray darkness, no light, no sky, no trees, no stars; nothing but dark gray. While trying to locate his familiar street light, he saw that "something" was beginning to move away from him. Non- blinking red and yellow lights soon appeared. Then he saw an intensely bright bluish-green florescent light. When the unknown object was at 100 yards away its size finally became apparent, so that its entire perimeter could be seen in the confines of his 36 inch wide window. The dark gray object looked like a "Colonial loaf of bread" seen from one end and had yellow and red lights around its edges. The bottom of the UFO was squared off and its straight perpendicular sides lead to a more rounded and symmetrical top. Somewhere from the middle, or on the squared off bottom edge, of the UFO the bluish green light shined brilliantly. He watch the object ascend at a 20 degree angle until it leveled after twenty seconds. Suddenly, it streaked off at a speed slower than lightning but many times faster than a jet plane. Its green light left a trail as it sped away. The UFO was considerably larger than a house and was less than 70 feet away. No sound was made by the UFO. After the UFO left, the view outside returned to normal. The street lamp was on and nearby houses and trees were lighted from the glare of the lamp. Weather conditions were 85 degrees F., partly cloudy with southerly winds of 5 mph. It was hovering at less than twenty feet high for thirty seconds before departing northward. A check with 911 revealed no other UFO reports. A MUFON general case form was completed and signed by the witness. A search for other witnesses is being made. Thanks to John Thompson.

Auburn: Sometime around August 10, 1998, Couple Dennis and Dee Stone and friends of mine from the automobile business, reported that they saw a UFO hover over and near their house. In a conversation with Dennis on August 14, 1998, he stated that the UFO was triangular shaped and that it had blue lights that overlapped and one was revolving counterclockwise and the other clockwise. He demonstrated the movement of these lights by using two pieces of paper. They have invited me to spend some time up at their home in Auburn to see if the UFO returns. The area behind Dennis and Dee's house is empty fields around 10 plus acres. Since the UFO arrived, Dennis' dog Shattzie, a very friendly dog, turned somewhat "violent" toward David. Dennis children who just came down from Boston became sick a day after the UFO was sighted. Thanks to David Norcross dogstardave20@hotmail.com (David Brown)

FLORIDA

Del Ray Beach: Mary Margaret Zimmer provides a completed MUFON investigation of two similar sightings by an excellent witness (whose name is being withheld by request). On June 17, 1998, a security guard at the Rainbery Lakes gated community heard a strange sound like a DC-7 aircraft engine, with a core sound of a woo, woo, woo, woo, woo in second intervals. At 1:35 AM, she ran towards the sound and saw a large strange object in the sky at an altitude of 750 feet moving at 200 mph. The witness describes the UFO has a monster craft flying over the tree tops. It was 150 feet long with a red pulsating nose and tail. The fuselage was a dark Grey color and was slightly bent down cigar or rod. The red flashing lights were slightly lower than the main part of the craft. The tree-tops near the tennis courts where the craft was first observed were burned and the ground was scarred. The observer was very frightened by the encounter. We are attempting to have the soil analyzed. Because of the previous sighting, the security officer started bringing her camera to work. Two weeks later, on June 30, she noticed a small Piper Cub aircraft that seems to precede the UFO sightings. An hour later at 8:10 PM, she saw a large UFO moving at 60 mph at only 200 feet in altitude. The object appeared to be the same as the first with the pulsing red lights at each end and two white lights in the back. This time she was able to take four photographs of the object. The photographs appear to be very long exposures as the lights move over Lake Ida. The photos are being analyzed by Jeff Saino. They show several well- separated lights moving fairly erratically around the night sky. The lights appear to move in exact tandem implying that they are on a fixed wing or fuselage. However, the photos do not reveal a structure of any kind even though there is a dim outline of trees. Thanks to Mary Margaret Zimmer

MICHIGAN

Alex Cavallari writes about his recent five day trip to film Rods, Orbs and a high speed saucer shaped UFOs. On July 13, 1998, on a sunny and clear day with the temperature in the low 90s he noticed flashes over Lake Michigan from the corner of his eye. Above the coast line he noticed a bright form of light. Alex states, "I immediately knew it was an Orb, the color, intensity and their look is very unique. This was the Standard White Orb. This Orb was seen darting about in angular turns, with instant starting and stopping. It also just appears and disappears while hovering in position for two minutes. In one of the Orb pictures I was fortunate enough to capture what appears to be a "Rod" traveling across my field of view. The "Rod" appears as the dark streak in the picture. It’s possible this is a very high speed saucer. My experience has taught me that, a Rod and a high speed saucer can both appear as a blur of darkness with a tapered front and back area."
Tuesday we visited East Grand Traverse City Bay and took up a position directly in front of the bay waterway. After about thirty minutes we noticed flashes and streaks of white light coming from above the tree line to the west. We took some pictures of a few small Orbs hovering in the distance that suddenly vanished. About 60 minutes later, I moved to a shady picnic table and noticed a big amber colored Orb appear almost directly in the middle of the bay about a mile away. The Orb was about 4 inches above the water line and about 1/4 inch in diameter when viewed at arm’s length. The Orbs appearance changed to very bright white just before it vanished. We watched this hovering Orb for ten minutes when gained altitude going straight up. On Wednesday the temperature was 85 to 90F., dew point about 50 to 60%. We traveled to the Torch Lake area and noticed a dark form flying around for ten minutes. It appeared to be just a streak or blur of darkness passing very quickly in my field of view. We stopped the car on the side of the road and I got out and started to look around the sky. I said, "There is a super high speed saucer flying around. After five minutes, we agreed we thought we saw a dark colored saucer flying around. I started to view the sky through the cameras viewfinder and after a few minutes I saw the saucer hovering and I tried to take some pictures. After the first picture the saucer took off and was gone in less then a second. The enhanced images clearly show an object which is saucer shaped."
Thursday, low level cloud formations moved in with a slight breeze. We had no plan for today so we just started driving around looking for clear sky. While we were driving, I noticed an Orb appear directly in front of the car. We pulled the car over near a road sign. I got both the sign and Orb in the picture. The "Standard White Orb" hovered and appeared to be much brighter than any thing around. The Orb was about 1/8 inch in diameter when viewed at arm’s length, and had a slight gleam around the perimeter. I looked over towards the power lines and noticed a group of white Orbs hovering under the cloud formation. They appeared to range in size from about 1/16 to 1/8 inch in diameter when viewed at arm’s length. I do believe there is some form of intelligence which is in control of these UFOs that is an "Electrical Plasma Lifeform," and not an Extraterrestrial. On Friday, July 17, 1998, the temperature cooled in Detroit, to the mid 70s where I boarded my plane for home. I was able to get a window seat. We were flying at about 30,000 feet when I saw some streaks of light near the horizon. I aimed the camera and saw a big white Orb pacing along side. It was the brightest thing in the sky moving up down, circular movements at various speeds, zigzagging, but holding its general position in my field of view. After twenty seconds the Orb disappeared in a blur of white light. I believe this is the first time in history that Orb’s were filmed at 30,000 feet. These pictures are of great importance to UFO researchers and scientists. The orbs were about 1/8 inch when viewed at arm’s length. The passenger sitting next to me also witnessed these orbs. Thanks to Alex Cavallari, NY Director of Skywatch.

WASHINGTON:

Redmond: Kenney Brandon Blackwell reports that on August 1, 1998, at 8:43 AM he observed a green glow like the shape of stop sign. The object had about 50 or so lights around the outer edge. His phone is 425-558-1140, 18100 NE 95th Apt. AA2004.

CANADA

Beamsville, Ontario Andrew Davies reports that he saw two glowing lights in sky over Meadowood Forest on August 8, 1998, between 9:30 and 10:00 PM. It looked like a flying school bus. "I was with my friend Devon and we both took a look and bolted on our bikes. I looked back after about thirty meters and it wasn't there. So I stopped and looked around, it was now south of my original position. I still don’t know what it could have been." Thanks to Andrew Davies at St. Volodymyr Cres. Beamsville, ON Canada, L0R 1B5

Calgary, Alberta: On August 16, 1998, A witness saw what he first thought was a satellite moving in a SSW TO NNE direction at a very high altitude. After watching for ten seconds the object made a 90 degree turn to the right without slowing or banking at an amazingly fast movement. It made three more turns in the same fashion and then I lost it behind a cloud. There is no logical explanation for anything that can move that fast and turn so quick.

UNITED KINGDOM

Tooting, South London: Paul Hutchison reports that on August 8, 1998, five white lights were observed at a very high altitude flying in a V formation at 1930 hours. Two other white lights were seen flying towards them, slowing down, stopping and changing direction. They then disappeared. The sighting was witnessed by five people. 0181 715 3661,62 Surrey Grove Sutton, Surrey SM 3PN, England.

UK CROP CIRCLES

The Independent (London, UK) On August 8, 1998, reports: Corn Detectives Flock to the Great Who Dunnit of Summer By: Duff Hart-Davis. The fine weather may have sent thousands of holiday makers rushing to the coast, but it has also touched off a serious outbreak of crop-circle fever in the cornfields of Wiltshire and Hampshire. All day, every day, people are trekking out along the tramlines made by tractor wheels to inspect formations in standing wheat; at night they are sitting out on headlands, looking for peculiar lights in the sky. In every hostelry, rumors of new formations proliferate, and whenever a car pulls in to the side of a road other motorists draw up behind it to see what is happening. One new formation in a wheat field at Manor Farm, near Lockeridge in Wiltshire, drew a typical crowd. A complex of interlocking circles several hundred feet across, the shape appeared during Wednesday night. By Thursday lunch-time, there were a dozen vehicles parked at the bottom corner of the field, and a boy holding a makeshift notice in green ink was exacting £1 from every visitor. When I arrived, a woman was sitting near the centre wielding two L-shaped copper rods. An American seemed impressed rather than annoyed by the fact that his camera had twice refused to work (malfunctioning of electrical and mechanical equipment is common inside new formations). Andreas Mueller, a researcher from Germany, was taking measurements. On the question of whether the formation was natural or the work of fakers, Mr. Mueller remained reserved. "In Germany we've had 22 formations so far this year," he said, "and I'm quite sure that three were man-made, maybe more. In this one, what's surprising is that the corn is laid in several different directions. It wasn't just that somebody walked it down, all one way." Equally cautious was the indefatigable English researcher Lucy Pringle. "Unless I'm first into a new formation, and see exactly how the crop has gone over, I find it very difficult to tell whether it's real or fake," she said. But already this year she has photographed over 50 formations from the air and investigated 15 on the ground. In her view, the season has been "a terrifically busy one".

It began early, on the night of 19 April, when a double circle appeared in oilseed rape right under the approach to Thruxton airfield, in Hampshire. The next manifestation, a couple of days later, also in oilseed rape, was close to the prehistoric mound of Silbury Hill -- a double ring more than 200ft across, with 33 scroll-like bands between the rings. She likens it to a Beltane wheel - an ancient symbol used at Celtic festivals in May - and points out that, whatever produced it, the hard stalks of oilseed rape are exceedingly difficult to bend into accurate and attractive geometrical patterns. MS Pringle readily accepts that skilled fakers are at work, but after 10 years' research she remains convinced that many formations are the product of natural causes, probably the discharge of electromagnetic energy.

"We know that they appear suddenly, in from four to seven seconds, and that they can have powerful effects on people, sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful." She is annoyed that in July the BBC set out "to rubbish the whole phenomenon" by showing how easy it is to produce fakes, and hiring practiced hoaxers to construct a complex of circles on Milk Hill, near Alton Barnes. "It may look all right on the film," she said. "But as soon as you went into it on the ground, you could see it was a chaotic mess." Crop Circles: The Theories In order of increasing likelihood, there are three principal theories to explain crop circles. The first is extraterrestrial visitors; the second, natural phenomena such as unusual forms of lightning; and the third is humans armed with some string and a plank or garden roller.

William Levengood, a retired biologist from the University of Michigan, reckons that unstable vortices of ions in the ionosphere descend to the ground and cause a discharge which heats the corn -- swelling the nodes on the stems (as is sometimes observed) - as it whirls it round and lays it flat. Nobody has ever observed it, but nature is capable of strange things. Another weather theory suggests micro-tornadoes, as a cause but this does not explain the huge number of circles, nor the fact that their number has grown and fallen in line with media coverage. There is some evidence the crops may be genetically improved after being hit.

Lincs, England: The Grimsby Evening Telegraph August 5, 1998 Flying Saucers Sighted At Scartho. Note: Scartho is a southern suburb of this east coast town and located around 140 miles north of London. A UFO has been spotted over Scartho fork, according to a resident. The vast glowing disc hovered over the roundabout and then sped upwards, said the Springfield Road resident. He added that he had seen the object a total of five times. "The saucers zip up and down at unbelievable speeds," he said. "The first time I saw the UFO, I was frightened. The disc gave off a warm red glow and then turned green," he added. "The disc spun off in to the night sky, moving this way and that in an apparently random way. Who knows where it was going," he said. One week later, the disc returned on a moonlit night, he added. ''It was definitely the same disc and emitted the same colour light. He said, "It was hovering high up over the roundabout." Thanks to Skywatch and Gerry Lovell / Far Shores http://www.farshore.force9.co.uk

BELGIUM:

Banon (La Provence): Lennart reports, "I'm a 14 year old amateur-astronomer that was observing with the Aalst Astronomy Club on July 25, 1998. Suddenly, there were some objects with en green lines visible in our telescopes in the constellation of Sculptor. These objects were also visible in the finderscopes. They were slowly moving away. Their structure was irregular (something like aeroplane-gases). Magnitude: about m7.0. heaven-horizon. They were about 10° to 13° long. We saw four of them. P.S.: I'm not very interested in UFO's, but this was something strange." Thanks to John Thompson and ISUR,: DARIN CHEV86@HOTMAIL.COM

Filer's Files Copyright 1998 by MUFON EASTERN DIRECTOR all rights reserved. Readers may post items from the Files on their websites or in newsgroups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.

Send your letters to George A. Filer at Majorstar@verizon.net.

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