Filer's Files

#5-1999
February 4, 1999

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

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SAW UFOs

LEARY--President Carter filed two formal reports when he was governor of Georgia describing his observation of a UFO to organizations that collect and promote UFO sightings as unexplained phenomena. Thirty years ago, Jimmy Carter risked being labeled a "crackpot" when he said he saw a UFO. Now, other prominent Americans join him. It was just another fun night at the Lion's Club for Jimmy Carter — when suddenly from the sky a UFO "as bright as the moon" flashed before his eyes. While leaving a Lion's Club, then-Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter noticed an object in the sky. A red and green glowing orb radiated as it hurtled across the southwestern Georgia skies that January 1969 evening. Ten minutes later, it vanished. That was Jimmy Carter's story — and he's sticking to it. Carter became the first major politician to risk achieving "crackpot" status by claiming he had had a close encounter. "I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs," Carter said at a Southern Governors Conference a few years later. "I've seen one myself." Two weeks ago, Silicon Valley legend Joe Firmage quit his job as the CEO of USWeb/CKS, a $2 billion company that employs nearly 2,000 people. The reason: He's had contact with extraterrestrials and wants to expose the government conspiracy to conceal a 1947 space crash in Roswell, NM Astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper say that new investigations are warranted. UFOs: 50 Years of Denial?, a documentary set to air March 3 on The Learning Channel. "The evidence points to the fact that Roswell was a real incident and that indeed an alien craft did crash and that material was recovered from that crash site," says Mitchell, who became the sixth man on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission. He says he's met with high-ranking military officers who admitted involvement with alien technology and hardware. Astronaut Cooper told a UN committee recently, "Every day in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition unknown to us." In the documentary, Cooper speculates that public skepticism toward UFOs will shift dramatically. Pictures of flying saucers strike a dramatic image. Nick Pope notes a phenomenon that many of the people he's interviewed have developed spontaneous skills in music, painting, and poetry "It can be a life-transforming event. Whatever happened to these people," he says, "It somehow comes out." It's hard to say how Carter was affected by his close encounter. In recent years, Carter has become a prolific writer and peace activist. But the former president has never really spoken of the impact of those mysterious red and green lights all those years ago. Yet while he was on the campaign trail, he tried to use it to his advantage. "A light appeared and disappeared in the sky," he told a Washington Post reporter in 1975. "It goes brighter and brighter … I have no idea what it was … I think it was a light beckoning me to run in the California primary. The rest is history. Thanks to Buck Wolf ABCNEWS.com 1/22/99.

MARYLAND

GERMANTOWN -- QuBr@aol.com reports that on January 29, 1999, he had very clear sighting of a circular/saucer -- shaped craft while driving northbound on I-270 between Germantown and Frederick. There were lights both on the bottom and around the circumference, some of which were pulsing. I noticed about 4 planes that were flying in a large circle around the craft. After about 5 minutes, the craft moved upward and toward the South, stopped again, then after a few more minutes, pulsed brightly several times (still stationary) and disappeared. By this time I had pulled over to watch. After it disappeared, the other planes seemed to change flights paths, sort-of crisscrossing like they were looking for something. The sky was almost completely clear, and with the near-full moon, the shape of the craft was EASILY seen, including the parts that weren't lit. On my return southbound, I noticed several contrails coming from the West (the direction I had seen the object) heading east, with the endpoints of the contrails getting closer together (ie.same destination).
Thanks to CAUS and QuBr@aol.com.

GEORGIA CASE SOLVED

Aviation expert Bill Rose proposed that a low level flight of a B1-B Lancer bomber was responsible for the extreme noise and fire heard and seen in Georgia on December 10, 1998. MUFON State Section Director John C. Thompson responds that a low-flying unknown craft generated considerable confusion while flying over Heard, Troup, Meriwether and other Georgia counties at 10:20 to 10:30 PM. I'm a UFO investigator who investigated the sighting, and like to pin UFOs down to explainable solutions. I'm inclined to agree that what was seen was a B1-B Lancer bomber. I contacted the FAA and the 116th Bomb Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard that operates the B1-B out of Robbins AFB. I located a witness who was directly under the path of the unknown object in north Troup County. This ex-Air Wing Marine says it was definitely flying under 1000 feet and when directly overhead was seen only as a fireball of orange-yellow color making a huge roaring noise like thunder. On it moving off to the ESE, he said it appeared to have a dark gray bottom, a long delta shaped craft with a rectangular shaped boxed-off end, with four fires coming out of the "box." Another witness said its end was boxed-shaped. He said he saw no wings nor aircraft lights, and that it looked much like drawings of the Aurora craft that is alleged to be flying. It was considerably bigger than an F-16. The racket it made he said in both intensity and duration was like no other aircraft he has ever heard. I also talked to a Meriwether Sheriffs Dept. dispatcher in Greenville, who saw it. She said that it had a blinking red light. Just received an e-mail from John Birdsong (civilian civil service) in the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Office of Public Affairs. Who stated in part: Since the 116th arrived at Robins the number of complaints have risen significantly mainly because people locally and throughout the Eastern US are not familiar with the B-1 bomber. I looked over the messages to MSgt. Saunders and I feel confident in saying what was seen by residents in West Central GA and Southeast GA was a B-1B Lancer bomber on a low level training exercise. There is a low level training route in each of the areas mentioned and the aircraft fly at approximately 1000 AGL. At night, it probably seems 100 ft. especially with the noise created by a B-1. The B-1 is the loudest aircraft in the Air Force inventory. The times given in the message also are times a B-1 would possibly be on a low level night mission out of Robins. We are very proud to have the 116th at Robins who fly to protect our great nation with a dedicated force of men and women. If we can be of further assistance, please contact me via e-mail or by phone. My number is (912) 926-2137. Sincerely, John Birdsong.

Editors Note: Thanks to John Thompson and Bill Rose who did a great job in solving this case. John never thought it was a UFO due to the loud noise of the engines. It also shows our witnesses reports were excellent.

ILLINOIS

CAUS thanks Allan Stagg (Allan.Stagg@ABC.com) for this report I was driving home from my overnight job in Chicago in the predawn hours of Thursday, December 17th, 1998. I was northbound on the Edens (I-94) about a mile south of the spur to the Tri-State (I-294). At 5:46 AM CST I observed a light that appeared about the intensity of the landing lights on commercial jetliners I often see circling O'Hare in the evenings as I head into town. It seemed no further than a half-mile up and a half-mile away out my windshield heading southeast. What caught my attention was a second light, about half the intensity of the first, which seemed to come up in a subtle curve from horizon line in the Northeast and headed downward toward the Southwest clearly impacting the first light. The impact caused an initial burst of light followed by a lengthy stream of white sparks trailing the first light as it continued in a southeasterly direction. The second light appeared to fall practically straight down following the collision. I was shocked at what I saw and began to brake thinking I had witnessed a midair crash between a smaller and larger aircraft. I even looked around at other cars, early risers heading to work, for a reaction of some sort but traffic continued on. There were no reports on radio or television of a crash. The event was eerily reminiscent of night footage of Patriot missiles striking Scuds during the Gulf War. Thanks to Ken Young http://home.fuse.net/ufo/

MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR BEGINS AEROBRAKING MANEUVERS

PASADENA — (AP) The Sacramento Bee January 30, 1999, reports that the Mars Global Surveyor fired its rocket engine in the first of a series of critical steps to end the aerobraking process that sends the spacecraft through the fringes of the atmosphere to tighten its orbit around the red planet. The spacecraft was launched Nov. 7, 1996, on a $250 million mission. It reached Mars in September 1997, going into an enormous elliptical orbit that swept very close to the planet at one end and thousands of miles out on the other end. Aerobraking was originally supposed to be done in time to begin mapping in March 1998. Mapping is now expected to begin at the end of February, Hardin said. The spacecraft's camera has already returned numerous detailed photographs of features on Mars, but even better ones are expected. Thanks to John Antczak and Gerry @ Far Shores

NEW RUSSIAN STEALTH FIGHTER USES PLASMA

The Keldysh Research Center has developed new technology allowing dramatic decrease in aircraft's' radar observability. Russian approach to low observability (LO) technology is completely different from US Stealth and offers complete surreptitious movement of the protected object at a significantly lower price. An exclusive interview about these technologies was conducted by Nicolai Novichkov, ITAR-TASS with director of the Center, Anatoliy Korteev. As academic explained, American approach to LO (Stealth technology) applied on B-2, F-117A, and fifth generation fighter F-22 "Raptor" is based on designing the airframes and radiation absorbing materials to minimize their radar cross section. The main drawbacks of the Stealth technology are its negative effects on the flight and agility of the stealth aircraft. Russian scientists approach the issue from the other direction. They proposed to create a plasma formation around protected object, which prevents radars from seeing it. Thus, the aerodynamical characteristics of the plane itself does not suffer. An artificially created plasma cloud surrounds the plane and guarantees more than hundred times decrease in its observability. The cloud interacts with electromagnetic waves radiated by enemy radar. First, an absorption of electromagnetic energy occurs in the cloud, since during plasma penetration it interacts with plasma charged particles, pass onto them a portion of its energy, and fades. Second, due to specific physical processes, electromagnetic wave tends to pass around plasma cloud. Both of these phenomena's results in a dramatic decrease of the reflected signal. Static and flight experiments proved the effectiveness of this technology. The first generation devices, produce a plasma field surrounding an aircraft and decrease the reflected signal were created in the Center. Later, a method of creating second generation advanced systems (capable of not only decreasing reflected signal and changing its wavelength, but also producing some false signals) was discovered. Such systems significantly complicate determination of actual aircraft's speed, its location and leads to development of completely new approaches to LO provision, unachievable to conventional Stealth technology. Furthermore, the weight of the systems developed in Russia do not exceed 100 kg, and power consumption ranges from kilowatts to tens of kilowatts. Advances in development of the third generation are on the new MIG 29. Thanks to: Anatoliy Korteev. 26/01/99 (c) ITAR-TASS, Translation by Philip Kaploun.

EXCELLENT UFO VIDEOS ON INTERNET

Dave Ledger has some of the best UFO video footage on the Internet. UFO Scotland at http://wkweb5.cableinet.co.uk/dledger/video.htm

PRESIDENT CLINTON ADMITS AREA 51 EXISTS

On January 29, 1999, Clinton sent a letter to Congress. Consistent with section 6001(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (the "Act"), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), notification is hereby given that on September 25, 1998, I issued Presidential Determination No. 98-36 (copy attached) and thereby exercised the authority to grant certain exemptions under section 6001(a) of the Act. Presidential Determination No. 98-36 exempted the United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, State, interstate, or local hazardous or solid waste laws that might require the disclosure of classified information concerning that operating location to unauthorized persons. Information concerning activities at the operating location near Groom Lake has been properly determined to be classified, and its disclosure would be harmful to national security. Continued protection of this information is, therefore, in the paramount interest of the United States. The determination was not intended to imply that in the absence of a Presidential exemption, RCRA or any other provision of law permits or requires the disclosure of classified information to unauthorized persons. The determination also was not intended to limit the applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake except those provisions, if any, that would require the disclosure of classified information. Sincerely, WILLIAM J. CLINTON Thanks to Ufo contact

UNITED KINGDOM FLYING TRIANGLES

Tim Mathews reports: As you know I've been investigating Flying Triangle Sightings in the UK for four years now and have interviewed over 130 people who claim to have seen these aircraft. None of them have claimed that what they have seen was 'football field sized' although several have claimed sizes similar to the Vulcan bomber of old.

BROADGATE--On December 29, 1998, between 2200 to 2230 PM; Witness, a local DJ Peter H, saw a triangle flying at low speed, app 30 knots, flying from left to right next to the River Ribble. The triangle was somewhat larger than the jet fighters seen so often in the area and was notable for a pattern of red lights around its' entire perimeter. As it passed by, entirely silently at a distance of around 1/4 mile, Peter noticed a bright light (but not a beam as such) evident on the right side approximately half way down the leading edge. This was almost an equilateral triangle -- the triangle had a relatively broad back and probably not a 75 degree sweep. There was no evidence of high performance as such beyond the silent performance -- something that is always difficult to gauge. The craft adhered to the course of the River Ribble is instructive given similar events noted in my previous research papers and Jenny Randles 'Northern UFO News' and her book that draws on some of my research "Something In The Air." Thanks to Tim Mathews.

UNITED KINGDOM "STAR WARS" BASE

MENWITH HILL BASE -- The US communications base at RAF Menwith Hill is to play a front line role in a "Star Wars" system to warn the Americans of ballistic missile launches anywhere on earth. New radomes at the base on the outskirts on Harrogate will be directly linked to American infrared eyes in space and will be operational by the millennium. The change of direction at the controversial listening center has been confirmed by the Ministry of Defense. Previously the only comment about the erection of the two new radomes -- the distinctive golfballs which can be seen at the base -- has been local concern about the extension of the area of the base. Armed Forces Minister Mr. Doug Henderson said: "Construction of the two radomes at RAF Menwith Hill is due to begin in November 1999 and is scheduled for completion in February 2000. The radomes will support the new US Space Based Infrared System, providing early warning of ballistic missile launches." American personnel now number 1,370 at the base. Snip.. Graham Birdsall, editor of Quest Communications, an organization which monitors earthly aerial movements and reports of UFOs, said: "I am not that concerned about the function of monitoring what happens on the planet. What I find fascinating is the emphasis that this program gives to monitoring deep space. "That will be its capacity and it is slightly ironic bearing in mind years of denial about reports of unidentified craft." Thanks to the UK UFO Network Issue 99, 1/29/99, ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk

NEW IMAGE OF SYMBOLS ON 1947 ROSWELL BALLOON PHOTOS

Neil Morris from the University of Manchester, Dept. of Physics, reports he has placed further images on my RPIT site. This image is from the "balloon material" section of the Ramey Alone photograph. The main image is just a simple enlarged section and has had NO enhancement. The inset has had some level stretching only, to promote the apparent "symbol" displayed. The faint "3" symbol marked in the inset with a bar-* can be found repeated in various places within the FW images and interestingly also within the Irving Newton image. I encourage the reader to see the new images at: http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/new-1/index.htm . Or the image can be directly had from http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/new-1/rmblncrp.gif. Thanks to Neil Morris.

Editor's Note: The apparent markings on the alleged balloon material seems very odd. "By Jove, I think you've got it!"

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Filer's Files Copyright 1998 by George A. Filer, all rights reserved. Readers may post items from the Files on their Websites provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue that the item appeared.

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