FROM PURSUIT MAGAZINE, V. 6, N. 1
"YESU" OF THE DRUIDS
There has been a legend in the southwest peninsula (Somerset and Cornwall) of England; and southern Ireland through recorded history that the Palestinian Essene whom we call "Jesus Christ" visited and resided at a place today called Glastonbury in northern Somerset. This is a matter of enormous historical interest, and not only to theologians. Just look it up in any encyclopedia.
Let us, however, leave the theological aspects of this out of the picture for the moment and concentrate on the historical, with some reference to botanical matters. It is our intention to find as much space as we can in future issues of this journal to present as many findings on this story as we can, and especially those suggested by our members. But for now let us try to dispose of two corellary matters; first the matter of the flowering thorn tree which is really the basis for this whole legend.
In Glastonbury, Country of Somerset, England, and only there in all of western Europe, is there found a thorn bush which flowers twice a year, and almost exactly on Christmas and the Christian Easter. The story goes that these bushes in that area are all descended from a staff left outside a hut by one Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent Hebraic and Roman official, who was also the uncle of Christ and his guardian, on one of his periodic visits to the tin mines of Britain.
The so-called "thorn trees" constitute the genus Crataegus (a member of the Rosaceae family) of which there are at least 150 full species and now over 900 sub-species, though most of the latter were developed in North America. The common species of Britain is Cretaegus oxyacantha - of which there are also numerous very distinct natural sub-species. They are all shrubs or small trees, with occasionally, an old giant up to 45 feet. The original indigenous distribution of this species was apparently from northwestern Europe north to 62 - 1/2 degree north latitude in Sweden; and then east again, north on the mountains to Asia Minor and North Africa. However, there is another species known as C. praccox that flowers twice a year and which is indigenous to the eastern Mediterranean, and thence east, south of the distribution of the C. oxyacantha group.
So why is there only one tiny place in western Europe where this species has become implanted; and why should seeds taken from it there (cross-bred or otherwise) fail to perform?
Next, there can in no way be any doubt that the Phoenicians and other Palestinians obtained a major part of their supply of tin and other metals from this area in the islands that the Greeks called the Cassiterides. Therefore, who would wish to deny that a leading metal trader, such as this Joseph of Armathaea, should have taken his adopted son, age 12, on a trip with him to the west? As to whether or not this adopted son happened to be the man we know (historically) as Jesus Christ is of no concern to us at the moment; but since that person appears to have been missing from Palestine from the age of 12 until 30 there is no reason to suppose that it was not he.
Finally, as you will see from this journal (Vol. 5. No. 1, p. 16), it has been suggested (by Colin Renfrew) that the most ancient monotheistic theological influences spread not from the eastern Mediterranean to the north and west but from the north and west to the south and east. In other words, the late neolithic, and especially the Celtic ecclesiasties (often erroneously called the "Druids") were the first montheists and they could probably teach a Palestinian Essene more than could any other people whom he could reach, a pure philosphy that he could develop to apply to what Christians call his "Ministry" when he went home. The fascinating thing is that the Celts had a Messiah belief, and this great philosopher and teacher-to-be, was called by them YESU. Coincidence?
For now, we would just like to revive this fascinating legend, and introduce it to this country.
How many of you "experted" Celts have observations to make on this. Try an encyclopedia first; then see if you have any "ancestors" still alive; re-read the Bible; and then bombard us. There's more to this legend than meets the eye.
____________
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNIA
JOSEPH OF ARMATHEA
Saint, an influential Pharisee who obtained Pilote's permission to bury Jesus in his own tomb. To leave bodies hanging overnight, particularly with the Sabbath approaching, was a violation of Jewish law, is disputed; Joseph may have been as Luke interprets (23.50) a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin which condemned Jesus; Luke adds that Joseph disagreed with the verdict. The fact that he earnestly awaited the coming of the kingdom of God has led some to claim that he was a secret disciple of Jesus (John 19:38). Legend adds that he was expelled from the Sanhedrin and exiled, and after evengelizing in Gaul he became the first Christian missionary in England where supposedly, he erected a church at Glastonbury (from his thorn staff the famous "Glastonbury thorn" was said to have grown). His life, and the Holy Grael which he is reported to have carried with him, have been the subject of many myths, poems, and dramatic productions.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
FROM THE GOD LIKE PRODUCTIONS FORUM
Letter from Barbara F. regarding an event of 1935
I have heard it said among some "professional UFOlogists," J.C. comes to mind, that those who see lizard type aliens are suspected of being liars, as most ufologists now only believe one type of alien exists, grays. Well...
I lived in the same home my mom grew up in. It was about 1935 or 36, I guess she would have been 18. This was the outskirts of Houston TX in the post depression era. When I grew up there it was a lower middle class neighborhood. But back then it was still a bit like the frontier area it had been, no indoor plumbing and no electricity, outhouses, kerosene lanterns. It was still pretty rural then and no one was sure the last wild wolf in the area had been killed.
So the family and mom tell the story, years later, of how she woke up one night and saw arms outstretched across her body, and her window's heavy screen had been removed. She jumped across the room and slammed into a wall, releasing a scream as she looked at what she could see of the intruder by the kerosene lantern (which burned all night in order to find one's way to the outhouse). She got off one scream before losing her voice from sheer fright.
When my grandfather and uncle responded to her scream all she could do was point to the open window. She couldn't speak to tell them what frightened her. The fact the screen was off clued them in it was no mere nightmare I would assume. They gave chase. When I was a child I think my uncle talked of this but I never paid much attention, I wish I had. My mom always concludes the tale by insisting she thinks it was a dirty old man playing a joke by wearing a mask.
Well, much later in my own life when abductions got so hot as a subject, I reluctantly started to look into them and noted similarities to much of what my mother had said ... doctors said it was a nervous breakdown on her part and she got shock therapy for it. (When I was 7 and again when I was 12, we hospitalized her for staying up all night trying to escape "them" -- them being men from the moon in floating platforms shooting beams at her.)
Anyway, I grilled her intensively about 10 years ago on what was so horrible looking about the intruders "mask" as to make her lose her voice for 20 minutes and be unable to stand. I tried mundane suggestions at first, "was it pock marks?" "burn scars?" I was looking for a description that might fit a known skin disease (I have my skeptical side you know). She finally admitted it looked like scales, then amended the scale description to "alligator hyde" look. Then she admitted that this was also on the hands and forearms. "Good Mask," I'm thinking. So OK, now we have a guy creating Hollywood style quality costumes in the 1930s to scare one 18 year old girl? She always described the intruder as "not looking human ... like a monster."
Tie this tale in with the fact my Mom starting making noises that sound just like those of a modern abduction victim of today, in 1935, then again in about 1959, and again in 1964, and I have to wonder. She still exhibits abductee symptomology. But unlike many abductees you almost need to inject her with truth serum to get her to talk about it. She will go out of her way to avoid subjects like aliens and UFO's and such. Says she does not want to think about all that "weird" stuff. She is 77 years old now, and could have been described as a pretty average American woman, with normal interests and pursuits.
Excerpt from:
Bewilderness, Chapter 18, by PJ Gaenir
I have heard it said among some "professional UFOlogists," J.C. comes to mind, that those who see lizard type aliens are suspected of being liars, as most ufologists now only believe one type of alien exists, grays. Well...
I lived in the same home my mom grew up in. It was about 1935 or 36, I guess she would have been 18. This was the outskirts of Houston TX in the post depression era. When I grew up there it was a lower middle class neighborhood. But back then it was still a bit like the frontier area it had been, no indoor plumbing and no electricity, outhouses, kerosene lanterns. It was still pretty rural then and no one was sure the last wild wolf in the area had been killed.
So the family and mom tell the story, years later, of how she woke up one night and saw arms outstretched across her body, and her window's heavy screen had been removed. She jumped across the room and slammed into a wall, releasing a scream as she looked at what she could see of the intruder by the kerosene lantern (which burned all night in order to find one's way to the outhouse). She got off one scream before losing her voice from sheer fright.
When my grandfather and uncle responded to her scream all she could do was point to the open window. She couldn't speak to tell them what frightened her. The fact the screen was off clued them in it was no mere nightmare I would assume. They gave chase. When I was a child I think my uncle talked of this but I never paid much attention, I wish I had. My mom always concludes the tale by insisting she thinks it was a dirty old man playing a joke by wearing a mask.
Well, much later in my own life when abductions got so hot as a subject, I reluctantly started to look into them and noted similarities to much of what my mother had said ... doctors said it was a nervous breakdown on her part and she got shock therapy for it. (When I was 7 and again when I was 12, we hospitalized her for staying up all night trying to escape "them" -- them being men from the moon in floating platforms shooting beams at her.)
Anyway, I grilled her intensively about 10 years ago on what was so horrible looking about the intruders "mask" as to make her lose her voice for 20 minutes and be unable to stand. I tried mundane suggestions at first, "was it pock marks?" "burn scars?" I was looking for a description that might fit a known skin disease (I have my skeptical side you know). She finally admitted it looked like scales, then amended the scale description to "alligator hyde" look. Then she admitted that this was also on the hands and forearms. "Good Mask," I'm thinking. So OK, now we have a guy creating Hollywood style quality costumes in the 1930s to scare one 18 year old girl? She always described the intruder as "not looking human ... like a monster."
Tie this tale in with the fact my Mom starting making noises that sound just like those of a modern abduction victim of today, in 1935, then again in about 1959, and again in 1964, and I have to wonder. She still exhibits abductee symptomology. But unlike many abductees you almost need to inject her with truth serum to get her to talk about it. She will go out of her way to avoid subjects like aliens and UFO's and such. Says she does not want to think about all that "weird" stuff. She is 77 years old now, and could have been described as a pretty average American woman, with normal interests and pursuits.
Excerpt from:
Bewilderness, Chapter 18, by PJ Gaenir
Sunday, October 28, 2007
ALIENS BLEW UP REFRIGERATORS
The Scotsman
Sunday, 28th October 2007
International
Sat 27 Oct 2007
Spaced out, or switched on? Aliens blew up our fridge
NICK PISA IN ROME
A GOVERNMENT investigation into a series of unexplained fires in fridges, televisions and mobile phones in an Italian village has concluded that the responsibility lies with "aliens testing secret weapons".
In scenes similar to the drama series The X-Files, Canneto di Caronia on Sicily was the centre of world attention three years ago after residents reported everyday household objects - electrical appliances, a pile of wedding presents and furniture bursting into flames.
Dozens of experts including scientists, electrical engineers and military experts, arrived in the village, in the north of the island, to investigate. One amazed scientist reported seeing an unplugged electrical cable burst into flames.
Arson was ruled out while locals blamed supernatural forces and the Vatican's chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth suggested it was Satan's work.
The report, by the Civil Protection Department, was ordered by the Italian government and brought together dozens of experts including a NASA scientist who asked to help with the £1 million investigation.
According to leaked copies, the fires were "caused by high power electromagnetic emissions which were not man-made and reached a power of between 12 and 15 gigawatts".
The report also details an incident of a possible UFO landing close to Caronia - 60 miles east of Palermo - after "burnt imprints which have not been explained were found in a field".
Yesterday Francesco Mantegna Venerando, Sicily's Civil Protection chief who
coordinated the report, said:
"We are not saying little green men from Mars started the fires, but that unnatural forces capable of creating a large amount of electromagnetic energy were responsible. This is just one possibility. We are also looking at another one which involves the testing of top-secret weapons by an unknown power which are also capable of producing an enormous amount of energy."
This contrasts with Father Amorth's explanation. "I've seen things like this before," he said. "Demons occupy a house and appear in electrical goods. Let's not forget Satan and his followers have immense powers."
But the conclusion that aliens had been responsible was backed up by numerous interviews with residents who claimed to have seen UFOs overhead at the time of the fires.
Pietro Imbrodino, owner of Hotel Ze Maria, in Caronia, said he had "always suspected something supernatural". He added:
"I haven't seen any little green men but I know some people have seen UFOs."
Among other suggested explanations is a theory that magma spreading along underground passages from Mount Etna produces flammable gas, which seeps up and ignites.
Sunday, 28th October 2007
International
Sat 27 Oct 2007
Spaced out, or switched on? Aliens blew up our fridge
NICK PISA IN ROME
A GOVERNMENT investigation into a series of unexplained fires in fridges, televisions and mobile phones in an Italian village has concluded that the responsibility lies with "aliens testing secret weapons".
In scenes similar to the drama series The X-Files, Canneto di Caronia on Sicily was the centre of world attention three years ago after residents reported everyday household objects - electrical appliances, a pile of wedding presents and furniture bursting into flames.
Dozens of experts including scientists, electrical engineers and military experts, arrived in the village, in the north of the island, to investigate. One amazed scientist reported seeing an unplugged electrical cable burst into flames.
Arson was ruled out while locals blamed supernatural forces and the Vatican's chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth suggested it was Satan's work.
The report, by the Civil Protection Department, was ordered by the Italian government and brought together dozens of experts including a NASA scientist who asked to help with the £1 million investigation.
According to leaked copies, the fires were "caused by high power electromagnetic emissions which were not man-made and reached a power of between 12 and 15 gigawatts".
The report also details an incident of a possible UFO landing close to Caronia - 60 miles east of Palermo - after "burnt imprints which have not been explained were found in a field".
Yesterday Francesco Mantegna Venerando, Sicily's Civil Protection chief who
coordinated the report, said:
"We are not saying little green men from Mars started the fires, but that unnatural forces capable of creating a large amount of electromagnetic energy were responsible. This is just one possibility. We are also looking at another one which involves the testing of top-secret weapons by an unknown power which are also capable of producing an enormous amount of energy."
This contrasts with Father Amorth's explanation. "I've seen things like this before," he said. "Demons occupy a house and appear in electrical goods. Let's not forget Satan and his followers have immense powers."
But the conclusion that aliens had been responsible was backed up by numerous interviews with residents who claimed to have seen UFOs overhead at the time of the fires.
Pietro Imbrodino, owner of Hotel Ze Maria, in Caronia, said he had "always suspected something supernatural". He added:
"I haven't seen any little green men but I know some people have seen UFOs."
Among other suggested explanations is a theory that magma spreading along underground passages from Mount Etna produces flammable gas, which seeps up and ignites.
A TRUE SPOOKY TALE!
The following events are happening at the present to friends of mine. You never know how circumstances can affect what you do next in life! To explain: My friends were in Cheyenne, Wyoming in their motor home pulling a SUV. A nice young couple invited them to dinner. People in motor homes do that as they travel and park (usually at Walmart parking lots). While they were eating the young man slipped out and poured sugar in both gas tanks. When they started the motor home it went approximately 5 feet and died.
When they reported this to the police the retort was it was a childish prank and that was it. Unfortunately they didn't have money to fix the motors as it would cost thouosands of dollars. So they went to a church nearby which happened to be Catholic and told them what happened. They said they would hire them as maintenance workers, pay them a small salary, an apartment and meals. So they settled for that. The priest sold the motor vehicle to some people for practically nothing. He also sold all the things they had in the motorhome. They were left almost destitute and dependent on the good graces of the church. They soon found out why.
An apartment was given to them where a priest used to live. The young priest even arranged for a stove to be brought up to their apartment. Snow suits were provided in flourescent colors for winter so they could get rid of the snow. They couldn't get over their good fortune after such a devastating thing had happened to them.
The first night they spent in the apartment all sorts of spooky things happened. They heard "Mack the Knife" playing on what they thought was a radio. Later they learned after removing the radio from the apartment the music came from the walls. They also heard a news broadcast where Roosevelt was visiting Wyoming. They didn't know which one it was, Teddy Roosevelt or the more recent one. Since that first night the music has changed and they have heard two different songs so far.
The second song's words were:
You and me, we used to be together, Every day together always.
I really feel, that I'm losing my best friend, I can't believe this could be the end.
It looks as though you're letting go and if it's real, well I don't want to know.
Don't speak, I know just what you're saying, so please stop explaining.
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Don't speak
I know what you're thinking.
I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts.
Our memories, they can be inviting, But some are altogether mighty frightening.
As we die, both you and I, with my head in my hands, I sit and cry.
(These words were found on the internet after writing down words they could decipher. All you need is a few words and you will be able to find any song.)
The ground the rectory was on originally was where gypsies would camp. They were chased out when a mental hospital was built on the land. It burned down. Later it would be where the rectory was built for the church. They believe the gypsies put a curse on the land and they were the recipients of the phenomena that occurred at night.
One morning the priests and the nuns were gone - completely disappeared. A couple of days ago they found out from the lady in the office that the priests had died many years ago as had the nuns! This really unnerved them. They had been talking to solid ghosts! The nuns even cooked for them. They did notice they didn't eat the food, only picked at it. The lady in the office was not aware of what was happening about the ghosts.
The following is the procedure that takes place at night between 12 am and 1:45 am.
The events start at midnight with a temperature drop of 15 degrees and music that seems to come from the walls themselves.
A mysterious bluish white light comes from under the bedroom closet door and two traditionally garbed alter boys walk through the closed door. Other ghosts seem to be interacting with each other but not with the living.
An older man in an expensive looking black suit asks "is it warm enough for you?" but doesnt linger for an answer before disappearing through the bedroom wall.
A woman wearing a black evening dress seems to pace impatiently back and forth several times before disappearing into thin air.
Suddenly a baby will cry as if in distress then stops as abruptly as it started. An old man with dirty clothes and unkept hair stares out from the bedroom dresser mirror as if looking out a window followed by a young woman dressed in an old fashioned white blouse and gray skirt.
An elderly couple walk out of the closet hand in hand like lovers on their honeymoon.
None of the spectors interact with my two friends who live in this haunted rectory but, to make this story even more spooky, the spirits of the two priests are amoung the last to appear.
At 1:45am the spirits seem to return to the closet for the evening only to repeat the process again the next evening. By 2am everything returns to normal.
A day or so ago one of the priests who they had been talking with and had disappeared came out of the closet. He had died in 1988. They were able to talk to him. He said the spirits could not leave until the puzzle was solved. They asked what puzzle and he said the woman that had set fire to the mental hospital and killed all the people in it had to be brought to justice. He even gave her name.
Several nights ago all the ghosts appeared in formal clothes coming out of the closet one by one and two by two. My friends tried to figure out why they would be dressed like that. I believe it was for them because that was the last night they heard or saw the ghosts. Two days later the church told my friends they were no longer needed as they didn't have the money to pay them a salary. I think the ghosts came to say goodbye and they knew my friends would be leaving.
They are actively pursuing anything that would explain what is going on here or has gone on in the past that led to this haunting.
I have never heard of solid ghosts. When the priest left he just dissolved! The next night he came but did not interact with them.
And that my friends, is a true Halloween story!
When they reported this to the police the retort was it was a childish prank and that was it. Unfortunately they didn't have money to fix the motors as it would cost thouosands of dollars. So they went to a church nearby which happened to be Catholic and told them what happened. They said they would hire them as maintenance workers, pay them a small salary, an apartment and meals. So they settled for that. The priest sold the motor vehicle to some people for practically nothing. He also sold all the things they had in the motorhome. They were left almost destitute and dependent on the good graces of the church. They soon found out why.
An apartment was given to them where a priest used to live. The young priest even arranged for a stove to be brought up to their apartment. Snow suits were provided in flourescent colors for winter so they could get rid of the snow. They couldn't get over their good fortune after such a devastating thing had happened to them.
The first night they spent in the apartment all sorts of spooky things happened. They heard "Mack the Knife" playing on what they thought was a radio. Later they learned after removing the radio from the apartment the music came from the walls. They also heard a news broadcast where Roosevelt was visiting Wyoming. They didn't know which one it was, Teddy Roosevelt or the more recent one. Since that first night the music has changed and they have heard two different songs so far.
The second song's words were:
You and me, we used to be together, Every day together always.
I really feel, that I'm losing my best friend, I can't believe this could be the end.
It looks as though you're letting go and if it's real, well I don't want to know.
Don't speak, I know just what you're saying, so please stop explaining.
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Don't speak
I know what you're thinking.
I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts.
Our memories, they can be inviting, But some are altogether mighty frightening.
As we die, both you and I, with my head in my hands, I sit and cry.
(These words were found on the internet after writing down words they could decipher. All you need is a few words and you will be able to find any song.)
The ground the rectory was on originally was where gypsies would camp. They were chased out when a mental hospital was built on the land. It burned down. Later it would be where the rectory was built for the church. They believe the gypsies put a curse on the land and they were the recipients of the phenomena that occurred at night.
One morning the priests and the nuns were gone - completely disappeared. A couple of days ago they found out from the lady in the office that the priests had died many years ago as had the nuns! This really unnerved them. They had been talking to solid ghosts! The nuns even cooked for them. They did notice they didn't eat the food, only picked at it. The lady in the office was not aware of what was happening about the ghosts.
The following is the procedure that takes place at night between 12 am and 1:45 am.
The events start at midnight with a temperature drop of 15 degrees and music that seems to come from the walls themselves.
A mysterious bluish white light comes from under the bedroom closet door and two traditionally garbed alter boys walk through the closed door. Other ghosts seem to be interacting with each other but not with the living.
An older man in an expensive looking black suit asks "is it warm enough for you?" but doesnt linger for an answer before disappearing through the bedroom wall.
A woman wearing a black evening dress seems to pace impatiently back and forth several times before disappearing into thin air.
Suddenly a baby will cry as if in distress then stops as abruptly as it started. An old man with dirty clothes and unkept hair stares out from the bedroom dresser mirror as if looking out a window followed by a young woman dressed in an old fashioned white blouse and gray skirt.
An elderly couple walk out of the closet hand in hand like lovers on their honeymoon.
None of the spectors interact with my two friends who live in this haunted rectory but, to make this story even more spooky, the spirits of the two priests are amoung the last to appear.
At 1:45am the spirits seem to return to the closet for the evening only to repeat the process again the next evening. By 2am everything returns to normal.
A day or so ago one of the priests who they had been talking with and had disappeared came out of the closet. He had died in 1988. They were able to talk to him. He said the spirits could not leave until the puzzle was solved. They asked what puzzle and he said the woman that had set fire to the mental hospital and killed all the people in it had to be brought to justice. He even gave her name.
Several nights ago all the ghosts appeared in formal clothes coming out of the closet one by one and two by two. My friends tried to figure out why they would be dressed like that. I believe it was for them because that was the last night they heard or saw the ghosts. Two days later the church told my friends they were no longer needed as they didn't have the money to pay them a salary. I think the ghosts came to say goodbye and they knew my friends would be leaving.
They are actively pursuing anything that would explain what is going on here or has gone on in the past that led to this haunting.
I have never heard of solid ghosts. When the priest left he just dissolved! The next night he came but did not interact with them.
And that my friends, is a true Halloween story!
Friday, October 26, 2007
ALOR ISLAND BEINGS
The Alor Beings
From Billy Booth,
Sometimes, in the field of Ufology, I get overwhelmed with the responsibility of proving everything to everybody, and fielding hundreds of differing opinions on the same case. That is why I often take a bit of time to break away from the stringent, narrow path that I walk so ever carefully on, and just read a good old story and don't worry about verifying and documenting a thing. Normally, a story like this falls into the category of UFO Folklore.
One of these stories of myth and legend that I have come across is the "Strange Beings of the Alor Islands." The account comes from the book, "UFO: One of World Problem in Present Day," Jakarta, Yayasan Idayu (Idayu Foundation), page 49-51. I was fortunate enough to see a translated version of the portion of the book that talked about the Alor Island beings. This incident supposedly occurred in 1959.
Now, we have always had our creature stories, like Bigfoot, the Mothman, the Flatwoods monster, the Lock Ness monster, and others, but the Alor story seems to tell us of a totally different type of being. According to the report by police chief Alwi Alnadad, the beings were of a reddish skin tone, about 5' 6 inches tall, and had white, wavy hair. The police chief, at first very skeptical of the stories, finally became a believer in these bizarre looking beings.
These beings allegedly landed their space ship, and began looking around an Aloran village. The frightened local residents shot their arrows at the invaders, but without success. The arrows caused the beings to jump real high, and leave the area. They were nowhere to be found.
A few days later, in another village not far away, the beings were again sighted. This time, as many as six different witnesses reported their presence. Again, they seemed to be searching for something. Only days later, it was reported that the beings had kidnapped a man who had been surrounded by them. He reported that the beings spoke in an unintelligible language. The man was paralyzed, but eventually escaped the clutches of the uninvited beings.
A five-year-old child would be the next victim of the beings from another world. Eventually released, the child was found in a field, dazed and confused. By this time, police chief Alnadad had had enough, and organized a police group to hunt down the beings and rid the island of the pests.
The police, following reports by the villagers, finally located and surrounded the other-worldly beings. The police were there to kill or be killed, and the group of 6 or more policemen fired their weapons at the beings, but again, they jumped very high, and were nowhere to be found. This would be the last time they were seen in the Aloran's home. One final report, made shortly after their escape, stated that a white, glowing object was seen leaving the village. The beings would never again return to Alora.
__________
NOTE:
Re: Veterans Close Encounter previously published, a comment.
Concerning the Veteran's story:
I can verify that some UFOs DO make sounds like diesel engines even when they are not damaged by a bullet. UFO sounds are quite rare. CUFOs has one in its archives. The UFO was over a river in the state of Oregon. A ham radio operator stuck his microphone out his window and radioed the sound to a police radio where it was recorded by a small personal recorder. In the other instance a UFO hovered over a house in Canada making a sound that the occupants recorded that strongly resembled a loud diesel engine. The high strangeness of several aspects of this experience lend it validity in my view that the craft was not a conventional vehicle of earth based technology.
In Florida a small UFO cruised along side a police cruser as it was passing a orange grove during late night rounds.The color the UFO emitted was a bluish green. It also seemed to lower the ambient temperature for while it was flying beside him he noticed he could see his breath as he frantically radioed the dispatcher to inform them of his circumstances and request backup. I don't suppose that the vet noticed any temperature changes during his experience. There was probably too much excitement to distract him from an observation like that unless it was an extreme change. Also it may already have been cold to the point were the UFO made no difference in the dew point. Fla is usually very humid so it doesn't take much of a temp drop to get to the dew point most of the year.
DR
From Billy Booth,
Sometimes, in the field of Ufology, I get overwhelmed with the responsibility of proving everything to everybody, and fielding hundreds of differing opinions on the same case. That is why I often take a bit of time to break away from the stringent, narrow path that I walk so ever carefully on, and just read a good old story and don't worry about verifying and documenting a thing. Normally, a story like this falls into the category of UFO Folklore.
One of these stories of myth and legend that I have come across is the "Strange Beings of the Alor Islands." The account comes from the book, "UFO: One of World Problem in Present Day," Jakarta, Yayasan Idayu (Idayu Foundation), page 49-51. I was fortunate enough to see a translated version of the portion of the book that talked about the Alor Island beings. This incident supposedly occurred in 1959.
Now, we have always had our creature stories, like Bigfoot, the Mothman, the Flatwoods monster, the Lock Ness monster, and others, but the Alor story seems to tell us of a totally different type of being. According to the report by police chief Alwi Alnadad, the beings were of a reddish skin tone, about 5' 6 inches tall, and had white, wavy hair. The police chief, at first very skeptical of the stories, finally became a believer in these bizarre looking beings.
These beings allegedly landed their space ship, and began looking around an Aloran village. The frightened local residents shot their arrows at the invaders, but without success. The arrows caused the beings to jump real high, and leave the area. They were nowhere to be found.
A few days later, in another village not far away, the beings were again sighted. This time, as many as six different witnesses reported their presence. Again, they seemed to be searching for something. Only days later, it was reported that the beings had kidnapped a man who had been surrounded by them. He reported that the beings spoke in an unintelligible language. The man was paralyzed, but eventually escaped the clutches of the uninvited beings.
A five-year-old child would be the next victim of the beings from another world. Eventually released, the child was found in a field, dazed and confused. By this time, police chief Alnadad had had enough, and organized a police group to hunt down the beings and rid the island of the pests.
The police, following reports by the villagers, finally located and surrounded the other-worldly beings. The police were there to kill or be killed, and the group of 6 or more policemen fired their weapons at the beings, but again, they jumped very high, and were nowhere to be found. This would be the last time they were seen in the Aloran's home. One final report, made shortly after their escape, stated that a white, glowing object was seen leaving the village. The beings would never again return to Alora.
__________
NOTE:
Re: Veterans Close Encounter previously published, a comment.
Concerning the Veteran's story:
I can verify that some UFOs DO make sounds like diesel engines even when they are not damaged by a bullet. UFO sounds are quite rare. CUFOs has one in its archives. The UFO was over a river in the state of Oregon. A ham radio operator stuck his microphone out his window and radioed the sound to a police radio where it was recorded by a small personal recorder. In the other instance a UFO hovered over a house in Canada making a sound that the occupants recorded that strongly resembled a loud diesel engine. The high strangeness of several aspects of this experience lend it validity in my view that the craft was not a conventional vehicle of earth based technology.
In Florida a small UFO cruised along side a police cruser as it was passing a orange grove during late night rounds.The color the UFO emitted was a bluish green. It also seemed to lower the ambient temperature for while it was flying beside him he noticed he could see his breath as he frantically radioed the dispatcher to inform them of his circumstances and request backup. I don't suppose that the vet noticed any temperature changes during his experience. There was probably too much excitement to distract him from an observation like that unless it was an extreme change. Also it may already have been cold to the point were the UFO made no difference in the dew point. Fla is usually very humid so it doesn't take much of a temp drop to get to the dew point most of the year.
DR
Thursday, October 25, 2007
ONE VETERAN'S CE-II
By Richard F. Haines
UFO Magazine July/August 1995
Testimony of Francis P. Wall, Private First Class in the US Army during the Korean War.
"This event that I am about to relate to you is the truth, so help me God. It happened in the early Spring of 1951 in the country of Korea. We were in the Army infantry. I was in the 25th Division, 27th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 'Easy' Company.
"We were in what is known on the miltary maps as the Iron Triangle, near Chorwon. We were to the left of Chorwon, just across the mountain ridge from this city - town -- whatever you want to call it. It is night. We are located upon the slopes of a mountain, between the fingers of a mountain as they run down toward the valley below where there is a Korean village.
"Previously we have sent our men into this village to warn the populous that we are going to bombard it with artillery. Upon this night that I'm talkin' about, we were doin' just that. We had aerial artillery bursts coming' in. And we suddenly noticed down, with the mountains to our backs, we noticed on our right-hand side what appeared to be a jack-o-lantern come wafting down across the mountain.
"And at first no one thorught anything about it. So we noticed that this thing continued on down to the village to where, indeed, the artillery air bursts were exploding. And we further noticed that this object would get right into... it was that quick that it could get into the center of an airburst of artillery and yet remain unharmed. And, subsequently, this time element on this, I can't recall exactly. I would say anywhere from oh, forty-five minutes to an hour all told."
BRILLIANT LIGHT
"But then this object approached us. And it turned a blue-green brilliant light It's hard to distinguish the size of it, there's no way to compare it. It pulsated. The light, that is, was pulsating. It wasn't ah, regular.
"Alright, this object approached us. I asked for and received permission from Lt. Evans, our company commander at that time, to fire upon this object, which I did with an M-1 rifle with armor-piercing bullets, or rounds in it. And I did hit it. It must have been metallic because you could hear when the projectile slammed into it.
"Now what do you say, why would that, ah, bullet damage this craft if the artillery rounds didn't? I don't know unless they had dropped their protective field around 'em, or whatever. That this, ah, technology envisions, that they had to protect it. But the object went wild and it... the light was goin' on and off and it went off completely once, briefly. And it was moving erratically from side to side as though it might crash to the ground.
"The, ah, sound, which we had heard no sound previous to this, the sound of, like of, ah, you've heard diesel locomotives reving up. That's the way this thing sounded. And, then, we were attacked, I guess you would call it. In any event, we were swept by some form of a ray that was emitted in pulses, in waves that you could visually see only when it was aiming directly at you. That is to say, like a searchlight sweeps around and the segments of light you would see it coming at you.
BURNING, TINGLING SENSATION
"Now you would feel a burning, tingling sensation all over your body, as though something were penetrating you. And, ah, so the company commander, Lt. evans, hauled us into our bunkers. We didn't know what was going to happen. We were to look out to fire at the enemy. So, I'm in my bunker with another man. We're peeping out at this thing. It hovered over us for a while, lit up the whole area with its light that I'm telling you about, and then I saw it shoot off at a 45-degree angle, it's that quick, just, it was there and was gone. That quick. And it was as though that was the end of it.
"But, three days later the entire company of men had to be evacuated by ambulance. They had to cut roads in there and haul them out, they were too weak to walk. And they had dysentery and then subsequently, ah, when the doctor did see them, ah, they had an extremely high white blood cell count which the doctors could not account for.
"Now let me inform you on this. In the military, especially the Army, each day you file a report, a company report. Now, we had a confab about that. What do we do about this? Do we file it in the report or not? And the consensus was 'no.' Because they'd lock every one of us up, and think we were crazy. At that time no such thing as a UFO had ever been heard of and we didn't know what it was.
"And I still don't know what it was. But I do know that since that time I have periods of disorientation, memory loss, and ah, I dropped from 180 pounds to 138 pounds after I got back to this country. And I've had great difficulty keeping my weight up. Indeed, I'm retired and disabled today."
"Oh, there's one thing I forgot. I'm not trying to add to the story but there is one thing that's important. You know I told you I fired at it with the M-1 rifle...made contact. And the thing went wild like it was gonna fall.
"Alright, subsequently, we opened up with everything we had and after that nothing would affect it...That one shot got it. But evidently, their defenses were lowered, briefly, and when I connected, and when their defenses were thrown back up, and after that, nothing could hit it.
There was no contact?
"No contact. But the first time I did connect. And it was metallic because it was an armor piercing projectile from an M-1 rifle. And we did hear the metal to metal, as it impacted.
Was it almost instantaneously, because apparently the object wasn't very far away?
"It wasn't far away, no. It was hovering right above us, like that, about like that ah, ceiling there...and apparently observing us...It apparently had NO HOSTILE INTENT at that time, until I fired.
Did you recall whether there was any sound associated with the event?
"There was no sound until I hit the object. That's what I'm telling you, that this sound of locomotives reving up, diesel locomotives. Yeh, a deep sound. And that thing was winding up...and it, it recovered from this impact. And it was fully operational.
"But I did see the blue-green light on one of your pictures there... like I described to you...It was orange in the beginning and then it changed to a bluegreen light...I do believe that these things are real and I think that there is a cover up, and we were ordered to say nothing about this. That shows you they are covering up...It is foolish to believe that we have the only technology anywhere, you know? There are other intelligences...Well I hope, I wish...if I can raise up any of the names of the men, possibly, that are still alive, and I doubt if you could get them to come forth, but if I could, there would be some way to verify this. I'm 60 years old now, but back when I was younger there were three days I still can't account for.
"There's three days I still can't account for. Why, ever since I came back home. My wife can tell you about it but I still don't remember...I've had these extreme headaches. They'd have to send me home, put me in the hospital and so forth..but you could talk to my wife, ah, what's left of my family, half of them are in the grave...and they'll tell you that I've told the same story many times. And if I was lying I think I'd get mixed up in it after a while.
What do you think the object was?
"An alien spacecraft - nothing like I had ever seen.
CORROBORATION
This close encounter of the first and second kind contains interesting corroborative data to the March 10, 1951 pilot sighting near Chinnampo, North Korea, the January 29, 1952 sighting by three military pilots flying near Wonson at night, and the February 24, 1952 bomber crew sighting over Antung, and the May 31, 1952 pilot sighting south of Chorwon.
This particular sighting report also contains valuable details related to the nature of this aerial reality such as apparent three-dimensionality and mass, emitted noises and luminous radiation in a partially collimated fashion (in seeming reaction to the impact of the soldier's rifle projectile), biological interaction (immediate skin sensations and subsequent skin surface and internal sequelae), and a responsiveness that is (allegedly) in direct response to the witness' "aggressive" behavior. The identity of what is behind this phenomenon remains shrouded in mystery.
___________
In those days they knew nothing of radiation poisoning. He had the classic symptoms.
UFO Magazine July/August 1995
Testimony of Francis P. Wall, Private First Class in the US Army during the Korean War.
"This event that I am about to relate to you is the truth, so help me God. It happened in the early Spring of 1951 in the country of Korea. We were in the Army infantry. I was in the 25th Division, 27th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 'Easy' Company.
"We were in what is known on the miltary maps as the Iron Triangle, near Chorwon. We were to the left of Chorwon, just across the mountain ridge from this city - town -- whatever you want to call it. It is night. We are located upon the slopes of a mountain, between the fingers of a mountain as they run down toward the valley below where there is a Korean village.
"Previously we have sent our men into this village to warn the populous that we are going to bombard it with artillery. Upon this night that I'm talkin' about, we were doin' just that. We had aerial artillery bursts coming' in. And we suddenly noticed down, with the mountains to our backs, we noticed on our right-hand side what appeared to be a jack-o-lantern come wafting down across the mountain.
"And at first no one thorught anything about it. So we noticed that this thing continued on down to the village to where, indeed, the artillery air bursts were exploding. And we further noticed that this object would get right into... it was that quick that it could get into the center of an airburst of artillery and yet remain unharmed. And, subsequently, this time element on this, I can't recall exactly. I would say anywhere from oh, forty-five minutes to an hour all told."
BRILLIANT LIGHT
"But then this object approached us. And it turned a blue-green brilliant light It's hard to distinguish the size of it, there's no way to compare it. It pulsated. The light, that is, was pulsating. It wasn't ah, regular.
"Alright, this object approached us. I asked for and received permission from Lt. Evans, our company commander at that time, to fire upon this object, which I did with an M-1 rifle with armor-piercing bullets, or rounds in it. And I did hit it. It must have been metallic because you could hear when the projectile slammed into it.
"Now what do you say, why would that, ah, bullet damage this craft if the artillery rounds didn't? I don't know unless they had dropped their protective field around 'em, or whatever. That this, ah, technology envisions, that they had to protect it. But the object went wild and it... the light was goin' on and off and it went off completely once, briefly. And it was moving erratically from side to side as though it might crash to the ground.
"The, ah, sound, which we had heard no sound previous to this, the sound of, like of, ah, you've heard diesel locomotives reving up. That's the way this thing sounded. And, then, we were attacked, I guess you would call it. In any event, we were swept by some form of a ray that was emitted in pulses, in waves that you could visually see only when it was aiming directly at you. That is to say, like a searchlight sweeps around and the segments of light you would see it coming at you.
BURNING, TINGLING SENSATION
"Now you would feel a burning, tingling sensation all over your body, as though something were penetrating you. And, ah, so the company commander, Lt. evans, hauled us into our bunkers. We didn't know what was going to happen. We were to look out to fire at the enemy. So, I'm in my bunker with another man. We're peeping out at this thing. It hovered over us for a while, lit up the whole area with its light that I'm telling you about, and then I saw it shoot off at a 45-degree angle, it's that quick, just, it was there and was gone. That quick. And it was as though that was the end of it.
"But, three days later the entire company of men had to be evacuated by ambulance. They had to cut roads in there and haul them out, they were too weak to walk. And they had dysentery and then subsequently, ah, when the doctor did see them, ah, they had an extremely high white blood cell count which the doctors could not account for.
"Now let me inform you on this. In the military, especially the Army, each day you file a report, a company report. Now, we had a confab about that. What do we do about this? Do we file it in the report or not? And the consensus was 'no.' Because they'd lock every one of us up, and think we were crazy. At that time no such thing as a UFO had ever been heard of and we didn't know what it was.
"And I still don't know what it was. But I do know that since that time I have periods of disorientation, memory loss, and ah, I dropped from 180 pounds to 138 pounds after I got back to this country. And I've had great difficulty keeping my weight up. Indeed, I'm retired and disabled today."
"Oh, there's one thing I forgot. I'm not trying to add to the story but there is one thing that's important. You know I told you I fired at it with the M-1 rifle...made contact. And the thing went wild like it was gonna fall.
"Alright, subsequently, we opened up with everything we had and after that nothing would affect it...That one shot got it. But evidently, their defenses were lowered, briefly, and when I connected, and when their defenses were thrown back up, and after that, nothing could hit it.
There was no contact?
"No contact. But the first time I did connect. And it was metallic because it was an armor piercing projectile from an M-1 rifle. And we did hear the metal to metal, as it impacted.
Was it almost instantaneously, because apparently the object wasn't very far away?
"It wasn't far away, no. It was hovering right above us, like that, about like that ah, ceiling there...and apparently observing us...It apparently had NO HOSTILE INTENT at that time, until I fired.
Did you recall whether there was any sound associated with the event?
"There was no sound until I hit the object. That's what I'm telling you, that this sound of locomotives reving up, diesel locomotives. Yeh, a deep sound. And that thing was winding up...and it, it recovered from this impact. And it was fully operational.
"But I did see the blue-green light on one of your pictures there... like I described to you...It was orange in the beginning and then it changed to a bluegreen light...I do believe that these things are real and I think that there is a cover up, and we were ordered to say nothing about this. That shows you they are covering up...It is foolish to believe that we have the only technology anywhere, you know? There are other intelligences...Well I hope, I wish...if I can raise up any of the names of the men, possibly, that are still alive, and I doubt if you could get them to come forth, but if I could, there would be some way to verify this. I'm 60 years old now, but back when I was younger there were three days I still can't account for.
"There's three days I still can't account for. Why, ever since I came back home. My wife can tell you about it but I still don't remember...I've had these extreme headaches. They'd have to send me home, put me in the hospital and so forth..but you could talk to my wife, ah, what's left of my family, half of them are in the grave...and they'll tell you that I've told the same story many times. And if I was lying I think I'd get mixed up in it after a while.
What do you think the object was?
"An alien spacecraft - nothing like I had ever seen.
CORROBORATION
This close encounter of the first and second kind contains interesting corroborative data to the March 10, 1951 pilot sighting near Chinnampo, North Korea, the January 29, 1952 sighting by three military pilots flying near Wonson at night, and the February 24, 1952 bomber crew sighting over Antung, and the May 31, 1952 pilot sighting south of Chorwon.
This particular sighting report also contains valuable details related to the nature of this aerial reality such as apparent three-dimensionality and mass, emitted noises and luminous radiation in a partially collimated fashion (in seeming reaction to the impact of the soldier's rifle projectile), biological interaction (immediate skin sensations and subsequent skin surface and internal sequelae), and a responsiveness that is (allegedly) in direct response to the witness' "aggressive" behavior. The identity of what is behind this phenomenon remains shrouded in mystery.
___________
In those days they knew nothing of radiation poisoning. He had the classic symptoms.
TIMOTHY GOOD
Timothy Good, Author of Need to Know: UFOs chats with Judyth Piazza
By Judyth Piazza
Worldwide research, interviewing key witnesses and discussing the subject with astronauts, military and intelligence specialists, pilots, politicians and scientists, has established Timothy Good as a leading authority on UFOs and the alien presence - the most highly classified subject on Earth.
He became interested in the subject in 1955, when his passion for aviation and space led him to read a book by Major Donald Keyhoe describing UFO sightings by qualified observers such as military and civilian pilots. In 1961, after reading a book by Captain Edward Ruppelt, a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, he began to conduct his own research. Since then, he has amassed a wealth of evidence, including several thousand declassified intelligence documents.
Timothy Good has lectured at universities, schools, and at many organizations, including the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, the Royal Canadian Military Institute, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Naval Air Reserve Branch, the House of Lords All-Party UFO Study Group, and the Oxford and Cambridge Union societies. In January 1989, following the dissolution of the Soviet empire, he became the first UFO researcher from the West to be interviewed on Russian television. He was invited for discussions at the Pentagon in 1998, and at the headquarters of the French Air Force in 2002. He has also acted as consultant for several U.S. Congress investigations. He is known to millions through his numerous television appearances and has co-produced several documentaries on the subject.
Timothy Good's first book, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-up (1987) became an instant bestseller, and is regarded widely as the definitive work on the subject, together with the fully revised and updated book replacing it, Beyond Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Security Threat (1996), which remained for five weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Alien Liaison: The Ultimate Secret (1991) spent thirteen weeks on the same bestseller list. Alien Base: Earth's Encounters with Extraterrestrials (1998) went to No.4 on the Guardian bestseller list. His book, Unearthly Disclosure: Conflicting Interests in the Control of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2000) was serialized in the Daily Mail. He has also edited a number of books on the subject, including the bestselling Alien Update (1993). Four of these books have a foreword by Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Hill-Norton, former Chief of the Defence Staff and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. His latest book is Need to Know: UFOs, the Military and Intelligence, now published in paperback in the U.K. (July 2007) and in the U.S. and Canada (September 2007).
Born in London, Timothy Good completed his formal education at The King's School, Canterbury. As a violinist he gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he won prizes for solo, chamber and orchestral playing. His professional career began in 1963 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He played for fourteen years with the London Symphony Orchestra, and has freelanced with the English Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mantovani Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra, among others. Composers he has played for include Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky and William Walton. He has also freelanced as a session player for television dramas, commercials, feature films, and recordings with pop musicians. Among those he has recorded for are Phil Collins, Depeche Mode, George Harrison, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and U2.
For More Information: http://www.timothygood.co.uk/
The American Perspective is a cutting edge radio program that is full of inspiration and information. It's intended to help people succeed in life. Each week the American Perspective features celebrity guests from around the nation such as Zig Ziglar, Yolanda King, Billy D. Williams, Tony Little, Mark Victor Hansen, Dave Ramsey and many many more.
"It's the next generation of Inter-tainment"
For More information: judy@thesop.org
Source: The Student Operated Press
By Judyth Piazza
Worldwide research, interviewing key witnesses and discussing the subject with astronauts, military and intelligence specialists, pilots, politicians and scientists, has established Timothy Good as a leading authority on UFOs and the alien presence - the most highly classified subject on Earth.
He became interested in the subject in 1955, when his passion for aviation and space led him to read a book by Major Donald Keyhoe describing UFO sightings by qualified observers such as military and civilian pilots. In 1961, after reading a book by Captain Edward Ruppelt, a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, he began to conduct his own research. Since then, he has amassed a wealth of evidence, including several thousand declassified intelligence documents.
Timothy Good has lectured at universities, schools, and at many organizations, including the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, the Royal Canadian Military Institute, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Naval Air Reserve Branch, the House of Lords All-Party UFO Study Group, and the Oxford and Cambridge Union societies. In January 1989, following the dissolution of the Soviet empire, he became the first UFO researcher from the West to be interviewed on Russian television. He was invited for discussions at the Pentagon in 1998, and at the headquarters of the French Air Force in 2002. He has also acted as consultant for several U.S. Congress investigations. He is known to millions through his numerous television appearances and has co-produced several documentaries on the subject.
Timothy Good's first book, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-up (1987) became an instant bestseller, and is regarded widely as the definitive work on the subject, together with the fully revised and updated book replacing it, Beyond Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Security Threat (1996), which remained for five weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Alien Liaison: The Ultimate Secret (1991) spent thirteen weeks on the same bestseller list. Alien Base: Earth's Encounters with Extraterrestrials (1998) went to No.4 on the Guardian bestseller list. His book, Unearthly Disclosure: Conflicting Interests in the Control of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2000) was serialized in the Daily Mail. He has also edited a number of books on the subject, including the bestselling Alien Update (1993). Four of these books have a foreword by Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Hill-Norton, former Chief of the Defence Staff and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. His latest book is Need to Know: UFOs, the Military and Intelligence, now published in paperback in the U.K. (July 2007) and in the U.S. and Canada (September 2007).
Born in London, Timothy Good completed his formal education at The King's School, Canterbury. As a violinist he gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he won prizes for solo, chamber and orchestral playing. His professional career began in 1963 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He played for fourteen years with the London Symphony Orchestra, and has freelanced with the English Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mantovani Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra, among others. Composers he has played for include Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky and William Walton. He has also freelanced as a session player for television dramas, commercials, feature films, and recordings with pop musicians. Among those he has recorded for are Phil Collins, Depeche Mode, George Harrison, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and U2.
For More Information: http://www.timothygood.co.uk/
The American Perspective is a cutting edge radio program that is full of inspiration and information. It's intended to help people succeed in life. Each week the American Perspective features celebrity guests from around the nation such as Zig Ziglar, Yolanda King, Billy D. Williams, Tony Little, Mark Victor Hansen, Dave Ramsey and many many more.
"It's the next generation of Inter-tainment"
For More information: judy@thesop.org
Source: The Student Operated Press
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OVER ISLINGTON, UK.
My close encounter with UFOs over Islington
nlnews@archant.co.uk
24 October 2007
A ""Christ-like"" figure in the sky
SURREAL photos capture what one man believes are visitors from outer space darting through the skies above Islington - the second UFO spotting in the borough this year.
Dennis Gray, 33, a car dealer who lives in Sebbon Street, Islington, has told of the "deep sense of calm" he felt after capturing the startling images from his front window.
He claims he saw a floating orb and a triangle shaped craft hovering above the Angel in broad daylight.
Though initially worried about speaking out in case he became the "laughing stock of Islington", Mr Gray has decided to tell the world about his "close encounter".
He said: "I looked out of the window and saw this sphere pop out from behind a cloud and start zooming across the sky. It was like it was watching me, but I was not scared at all. It looked a bit like a meteorite, but then it started drawing pictures in the clouds. I never believed in all this sort of stuff before it happened to me. I told my friends and they thought I was having a laugh. But when I showed them the photos they were all amazed."
It is the second time this year that mysterious objects have been seen above Islington. In February Archway was brought to a standstill by a "squadron" of floating lights, although many believe they were no more than glowing balloons.
Mr Gray said: "When the Archway sighting happened a lot of people thought they were lanterns and I can accept that. But what I saw was no lantern. I had contact with an alien being - I'm sure of it. I felt a comfort like no other."
One of the photos appears to show a meteorite-like streak of flame in the sky, while Mr Gray says two figure-like shapes in the clouds were the result of the craft's artistic endeavour.
Paul Southcott, of the Islington-based UFO and Supernatural Studies group, has over 30 years experience in the field and thinks the sighting should be taken seriously. He said: "Amber orbs are often followed by a triangle in the sky. That makes me know he is not mucking about. It sounds like a proper sighting to me."
But he admitted that a UFO doing "paintings" was completely unheard of, adding: "I have never heard of them painting pictures - that's a new one. I would be happy to talk to him about his experience though. Sometimes people get a bit stressed out after a sighting and would like someone to help them through it.
nlnews@archant.co.uk
24 October 2007
A ""Christ-like"" figure in the sky
SURREAL photos capture what one man believes are visitors from outer space darting through the skies above Islington - the second UFO spotting in the borough this year.
Dennis Gray, 33, a car dealer who lives in Sebbon Street, Islington, has told of the "deep sense of calm" he felt after capturing the startling images from his front window.
He claims he saw a floating orb and a triangle shaped craft hovering above the Angel in broad daylight.
Though initially worried about speaking out in case he became the "laughing stock of Islington", Mr Gray has decided to tell the world about his "close encounter".
He said: "I looked out of the window and saw this sphere pop out from behind a cloud and start zooming across the sky. It was like it was watching me, but I was not scared at all. It looked a bit like a meteorite, but then it started drawing pictures in the clouds. I never believed in all this sort of stuff before it happened to me. I told my friends and they thought I was having a laugh. But when I showed them the photos they were all amazed."
It is the second time this year that mysterious objects have been seen above Islington. In February Archway was brought to a standstill by a "squadron" of floating lights, although many believe they were no more than glowing balloons.
Mr Gray said: "When the Archway sighting happened a lot of people thought they were lanterns and I can accept that. But what I saw was no lantern. I had contact with an alien being - I'm sure of it. I felt a comfort like no other."
One of the photos appears to show a meteorite-like streak of flame in the sky, while Mr Gray says two figure-like shapes in the clouds were the result of the craft's artistic endeavour.
Paul Southcott, of the Islington-based UFO and Supernatural Studies group, has over 30 years experience in the field and thinks the sighting should be taken seriously. He said: "Amber orbs are often followed by a triangle in the sky. That makes me know he is not mucking about. It sounds like a proper sighting to me."
But he admitted that a UFO doing "paintings" was completely unheard of, adding: "I have never heard of them painting pictures - that's a new one. I would be happy to talk to him about his experience though. Sometimes people get a bit stressed out after a sighting and would like someone to help them through it.
ROBERT BIGELOW
WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.11
Hotel Biz Zillionaire's Next Venture? Inflatable Space Pods.
By Vince Beiser 10.23.07 | 12:00 AM
CASTLES IN THE AIR
A uniformed guard, his pistol holstered on his hip, waves me to a halt outside a sprawling compound 15 minutes north of Las Vegas. On either side of the main gate, razor-wire fence stretches out into the Nevada desert. The rent-a-cop leans inside the open window of my van, giving its contents and me a quick, professional appraisal. On his shoulder is a military-style patch. But in place of an insignia denoting rank is an oval alien head.
"Morning," he says affably. "You can just follow me."
They've been expecting my visit. No one comes here without an invitation — or without having their identity verified in advance. The guard takes me into a trailer, where someone else checks my driver's license and pats me down to make sure I'm not carrying weapons "of any kind," as he puts it. For good measure, I will have an armed escort at all times while meeting with The Boss: the supersecretive, super-rich owner of the Budget Suites hotel chain, Robert T. Bigelow.
It's easy to snicker at the James Bond theatrics at the headquarters of Bigelow's eight-year-old company, Bigelow Aerospace. It's even easier when you find out he's trying to build his very own space station. An inflatable space station, to be precise — a massive bouncy castle meant to expand when it gets into orbit. It will be the first privately owned destination in space, and Bigelow proposes to rent it out as an orbital research lab, a training facility, or even a tourist hotel. Sure, have a chuckle. But here's the thing: He's actually doing it.
In the past 16 months, BA has successfully shot two Hummer-sized prototypes of the station into orbit. Dubbed Genesis I and II, they're circling the globe as you read this. The last one went up in June, blasting out of Earth's atmosphere on the back of a modified Soviet-era SS-18 missile. It was launched from a space complex in central Russia, ISC Kosmotras, the rocket-for-hire venture run by Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
The Genesis prototypes are one-third-size models of the inflata-structures Bigelow plans to launch eventually. Their outer shells are made of a superstrong Kevlar-like fabric that rolls up tightly for transit and then expands to full size in orbit. The system offers a crucial advantage over conventional metal spacecraft: Its smaller mass and weight make it cheaper to build and launch.
These proof-of-concept test models aren't just idly traipsing through space. Dozens of cameras mounted on the pods take regular photos of Earth from 350 miles up; you can check them out on the company Web site. Genesis II also sports a projection system that currently displays, on the outside of the craft, images of BA staffers; later, Bigelow intends to sell ads to go on these exterior walls. Inside the vessels, a menagerie of ants, cockroaches, and scorpions are being studied for their responses to microgravity. There's even an onboard bingo game involving a system that randomly selects numbered balls floating around in a box. Fans can play over the Internet. Also drifting about: hundreds of photos, figurines, ornaments, mechanical pencils, Ping-Pong balls, and other keepsakes. Before the launch, the public was invited to put such personal trinkets aboard for $295 a pop.
This peculiar mix of ambition, technical sophistication, and gimmickry tells you something about Bigelow. Even by the standards of reclusive zillionaires and would-be space entrepreneurs, the 63-year-old is particularly odd. Take his obsession with secrecy. He has never sent an email in his life — not secure enough, he says. Neither he nor any of the 120-plus staffers have office voicemail. Until a few years ago, Bigelow didn't allow pictures of himself to be printed. A framed sign in the guard trailer reads KEEP YOUR WORK AND THE WORK OF COWORKERS VERY PRIVATE FROM PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE COMPANY.
His signature quirk, however, is an obsession with space that extends beyond his business interests. In addition to the $100million Bigelow has already put into BA (and the $400million more he has promised), he has doled out millions to fund research into alien abductions and UFO sightings. He's done some of the work himself, personally interviewing hundreds of people who claim to have had extraterrestrial encounters. In fact, one of the main reasons he's so eager to get his stations launched is that he thinks they might provide a step toward making contact.
So it's not too surprising that when this flying-saucer-chasing hotel operator started talking a few years back about building his own space stations, almost everyone laughed him off. But of all the private entrepreneurs trying to make money in outer space — a list that includes Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, PayPal cofounder Elon Musk, Doom creator John Carmack, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, and Virgin impresario Richard Branson — Bigelow is the only one to have actually gotten something into sustained orbit. What's more, his company built a working spacecraft of flexible materials — a feat even NASA hasn't pulled off. So these days when Bigelow talks about his plans to reach the stars, a great many people have stopped laughing and started listening.
Bigelow admires one of his six-man inflatable orbital modules. Made out of flexible fabric, the walls of the capsule are stronger than 3 inches of aluminum.
Gregg Segal: When I meet Bigelow inside the vast spaceship factory at his Nevada compound, he is dressed in white sneakers, dark pants, and a blue company shirt. He is lean and tall, with a Clark Gable mustache and deeply lined, slightly lupine features. Notorious for his compulsive attention to detail, Bigelow has been known to get involved in decisions as minuscule as whether a strap should be enlarged by an eighth of an inch. In person, he comes across as a gentleman of the old school, his voice even and moderate, his manner unfailingly polite. Still, as he talks about his recent successes, he allows himself a moment of triumphalism: "Some graybeards at the old aerospace companies might still be snickering at us," he says. "But not as much as a few years ago."
Bigelow is a product of Las Vegas — born, raised, and still living in the world's most preposterous city. That fact does not seem coincidental. Vegas is built on the proposition that if you've got the money, you can create anything you want. A re-creation of Venice, complete with indoor canals? Sure. An ersatz beach with a wave machine so tourists can body surf in the middle of the desert? No problem. A privately owned, inflatable space station? Why not?
"When I was a kid, things were more unique here than any other place," he says. "They were doing above ground nuclear tests in those days. We'd watch the mushroom clouds from the playground at recess. You'd feel the earth shake."
Bigelow made his money not in the glittering fantasy realm of casinos (he doesn't even gamble) but in the solidly pragmatic precincts of real estate. After earning a business degree from Arizona State University, he returned to Vegas and, with his father's help, started buying, selling, and developing apartment buildings and motels — an easy way to make money in an eternal boomtown. In 1988 he founded Budget Suites of America, an apartment-hotel concept that offered modestly priced, furnished living spaces rentable by the week, month, or year. His timing was perfect: Newcomers in need of comfy but temporary digs were flocking to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other fast-growing southwestern cities. The privately owned chain now has 18 outlets in three states and has earned him a fortune totaling at least $1 billion (Bigelow declines to comment on his net worth).
But 35 years of empire building have been just a means to an end. Bigelow acknowledges that he got into real estate because it seemed the most practical way to get rich enough to fulfill his real goal, which he committed to when he was all of 15 years old: getting humanity into outer space.
Bigelow started BA in 1999. The plan was always to launch a private space station, but he didn't talk publicly about the details until last April. His coming-out party was the Space Foundation's annual conference in Colorado, a schmooze fest for the outer-space wing of the military-industrial complex. It's attended by some 7,000 officials from NASA, the Air Force, and pretty much every other federal agency having anything to do with the sky, along with their counterparts at corporations like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing. Bigelow was one of the featured speakers. He took the stage wearing a pin-striped suit and a gold tie, with a big diamond-studded horseshoe ring gleaming on his finger. Diane, his wife of 42 years, watched from the front row amid a gaggle of BA staffers, her bright orange hair piled elaborately atop her head. Only the general outline of Bigelow's enterprise had been reported before that point, leading to considerable derisive press characterizing Bigelow as the guy who was trying to build an inflatable hotel in outer space. Irritated by the coverage, he decided to make the company's business plan public. "We've been identified a lot as a space-hotel company. That is not the case," he told the crowd right off the bat. "Our complexes have a wide variety of uses, including space-hotel businesses — for Sir Richard Branson, or Marriott, or whomever, and we'd be very happy to talk to those folks about that. But we have an economic reach far beyond tourism."
BA, Bigelow says, will initially focus on courting governments and large corporations. On the government side, he hopes to market to the dozens of countries that are either assembling or already have a space agency but are stuck in the years-long wait for a trip to the International Space Station. (Japan, for example, has been waiting four years to start shuttling its experiments to the ISS). BA will offer them a place in orbit that can be tailored to whatever experiments or national-pride-burnishing displays they desire. As for corporations, Bigelow expects that many companies will be happy to pony up for the chance to do things in microgravity that they can't do on Earth. For instance, research suggests that, because of how molecules behave in zero gravity, it might be possible to manufacture superefficient fiber-optic cable or new pharmaceuticals in orbit. And just imagine the TV commercials Madison Avenue could shoot.
As a result, Bigelow expects his business customers to come from the communications, biotech, health services, and entertainment fields. These clients will want privacy, of course, so they'll get modules separate from those rented to government types. The pods will lease out by the month or year. For an extra fee, BA will also transport back to Earth any products developed or manufactured in space. "Satellites have gone from being a novelty in 1957 to a necessity today," Bigelow declared to his audience. "That's the direction we're going. We're trying to make low-Earth-orbit destinations a necessity."
In his speech to the Space Foundation audience, Bigelow outlined an ambitious timeline. In 2010, BA aims to send up Sundancer, a module that will house three people. By 2012, the company plans to launch the first of what will be its standard, six-person module. This will link up with Sundancer to form the nucleus of the first space complex. Subsequent modules can be ganged together; the idea ultimately is to have multiple stations that can hold anywhere from six people to several dozen.
These space habitats will be more comfortable than the ISS, with private sleeping quarters, plenty of windows, and, Bigelow promised, better food. The price for staying in his complex? About $12 million for transportation, training, and four weeks of "hang time." Lower rates will be available for longer bookings. The company, Bigelow informed his audience, is currently accepting reservations. The terms: 10 percent down, fully refundable.
The Colorado crowd reacted with a mixture of shock and hope. "Can a real estate guy actually do this?" said Elliot Pulham, president of the Space Foundation. "Well, Bill Boeing was in the lumber business before he built airplanes. In this industry, no one knows where the next small company with a big idea will come from."
In a cathedral-sized warehouse at BA, deputy program manager Jay Ingham walks me through a scale model of the station-to-be. We climb metal stairs to enter a central cabin that links three gray inflatable units, each slightly larger than a shipping container and shaped like a giant watermelon. Their 16- inch-thick skin, kept inflated by compressed, breathable air released from tanks in a steel core, is composed of numerous layers of flexible fabrics. The first is an air bladder that keeps the craft's atmosphere contained. It is surrounded by interwoven straps that hold it in the proper shape and ensure it doesn't burst. The outermost skin is five sheets of protective shielding, made of heavy-duty Kevlar and Vectran-like materials (the company won't reveal the exact composition). Its main job is to keep the craft from being punctured by micrometeorites like an expensive balloon. Sounds like a tall order for fabric, but the walls have more stopping power than three inches of aluminum.
Inside, the station feels like an empty submarine. The curving walls are set with portholes, and the space is cut into three floors by interlaced fabric bands. "The modules can be configured to whatever the user wants," Ingham says. "Living spaces, experiment areas, whatever." You'll be able to float around in your shirtsleeves. Or put on a spacesuit and step out into the void for a change of scenery.
The idea of an inflatable space habitat isn't new. In the 1960s, Goodyear Aircraft drew up designs for a doughnut-shaped expandable orbital station. At one point, NASA considered using inflatable passageways to connect space modules. In fact, Bigelow's technology started as a project called TransHab, an effort to add low-cost crew quarters to the ISS. When NASA killed that program in 2000, Bigelow bought the rights to the designs and hired more than a dozen ex-NASA professionals to put them into effect. BA technicians have since made countless modifications and upgrades, eight of which are patented under Bigelow's name — including the useful-sounding "biomass waste disposal method."
The manufacturing facility next door also houses the mission control area. Here, technicians at crescent-shaped desks face two banks of monitors covering a pair of walls. Some screens track the movements of the Genesis modules, others show their video feeds, and one displays the alien-head logo. Currently, BA engineers can communicate with the prototypes only during the 15-minute windows in which Genesis I and II are within range of company stations in Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Virginia. BA plans to add another half-dozen outposts in the coming years.
It's an enormous undertaking. But for Bigelow, it's just the first stage of a bigger, far stranger plan.
Bigelow's grandparents were driving down an empty stretch of blacktop in the desert north of Las Vegas one night in 1947 when they saw the UFO. At first they thought it was an airplane on fire — something glowing in the sky, hurtling toward them. But it was moving much faster than an airplane, and its light filled their windshield, eclipsing the night sky. They thought they were going to die.
Bigelow pauses here in telling me this story, regarding me levelly, his hands clasped on the table. Then, he says, the glowing craft made a right-angled turn and shot off into the sky. "Our aircraft don't make those maneuvers, even today — especially at close range," he notes.
Bigelow first heard this tale when he was 10. He also had an aunt and other people he knew who reported what he calls "very convincing" UFO-sighting experiences. It was these stories that made reaching space his life's work. "I kept it to myself for a long time, not even telling family or friends what I hoped to do," he says. "When you actually get involved in your dreams, that's a more appropriate time to talk about them."
Years before he started building space habitats, Bigelow began looking for the truths he was sure were out there. He says he has met with more than 230 people who claim to have witnessed ETs. In the 1990s, he gave millions of dollars to launch the National Institute for Discovery Science, whose staff — which included several PhDs and ex-FBI agents — researched alien abductions, out-of-body experiences, cattle mutilations, and other paranormal phenomena. In 1997, he donated $3.7million to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to create a Consciousness Studies program, which offered classes about near-death experiences and psychic phenomena. At one point, he even bought a 480-acre ranch in Utah that had been the scene of a number of alleged UFO sightings, animal disappearances, and other spooky weirdness. He wanted to own the land so he could monitor what went on there.
Bigelow stresses that all of this research has been carried out with as much scientific rigor as possible. He says that he has interviewed only carefully chosen subjects — sober-seeming people with jobs in the military or the sciences, or people who had experienced a phenomenon as a group. Wherever possible, he has cross-checked their assertions with those of other witnesses and with "forensic evidence" — samples he obtained of "various kinds of organic or nonorganic substances." He also claims to have been granted access to "very confidential" information from sources he won't disclose. He won't answer directly when I ask whether he has concluded from all of this that ETs have visited our planet. Choosing his words carefully, he says: "I have an enormous amount of data from a lot of different sources that give me some pretty strong convictions about the authenticity of the existence of anomalous phenomena, such as UFOs."
In 2000, one year after he started BA, Bigelow was less cautious with his views. In an essay posted to the NIDS Web site, he wrote: "I strongly believe that at least some UFOs owe their beginnings to being manufactured... from materials made in a microgravity environment." The effects of Earth's gravity, he explained, limit us to the elements and compounds we have here: In space, we might be able to develop all kinds of new substances with unguessable properties. Working in microgravity, Bigelow concluded, is therefore essential for manufacturing interstellar craft. "As for our UFO friends," he wrote, "we will not begin to match their early craft until we also begin to exploit space for manufacturing purposes."
But before anyone sets foot in one of his space stations, let alone starts building spaceships to help us catch up with our UFO friends, Bigelow has a long list of challenges to overcome. For starters, is there even a market for a private space station? NASA tried getting corporations interested in its proposed space station in the 1980s and, because of the price tag, received only a tepid response. There are also major technical hurdles; the craft's power supply, navigation, and life-support systems are all still in development. But at least Bigelow has people working on these things. He's leaving it up to others to answer perhaps the biggest question he faces: How will people actually get to his orbital complexes? Even though Bigelow's fee includes transportation to and from a station, he has no idea how this will work.
One obvious ferry, NASA's space shuttle, is scheduled to retire in 2010, and it could be years before its successor is ready. That will leave the Russian space agency's Soyuz capsules as the only vehicles capable of taking humans into space, and there aren't nearly enough of them for the dozen-plus annual launches Bigelow envisions needing by 2013. To solve the problem, he is following the example of the Ansari X Prize — the $10 million award that drove the creation of SpaceShipOne — by offering $50 million to any privately funded US company that builds a craft capable of getting to space and then docking with his stations. There haven't been any serious takers yet.
But Bigelow has a growing list of supporters, many of whom may be able to provide transportation service in the future. In particular, he enjoys enormous respect and goodwill among private space entrepreneurs. To them, his orbiting stations are both inspiring examples and potentially lucrative business opportunities. He already has agreements with two of them, Rocketplane Kistler and Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to work on transportation options. (Neither qualifies for Bigelow's $50 million prize because both take federal funds.)
"He's got the right idea," says Lon Levin, one of the founders of XM Satellite Radio who is now an executive with tSpace, another rocket startup. "There are a number of players chasing the transportation piece of space. But there are no destinations. He's chasing what should be a very profitable business."
Bigelow is also winning over a constituency in the stodgy world of established aerospace corporations and government agencies. "We're interested in partnering with him," says John Elbon, vice president of space exploration at Boeing. "There's no sense of threat, but rather an opportunity to work together." He likewise has an agreement with Lockheed Martin to study the use of its Atlas V rockets to get passengers to his space stations. His hobbies may raise the bureaucrats' eyebrows, but his successes have caught their attention. NASA, which plans to start sending people to the moon in the next decade, is interested in possibly adapting his technology to build inflatable lunar structures.
"He's got the money, the drive, and the expertise," says Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames Research Center in California. "I think he is going to succeed." As Bigelow would be the first to tell you, stranger things have happened.
Vince Beiser (vincelb@sbcglobal.net) wrote about the Army's simulated Iraqi cities in issue 14.06.
___________
Your editor met Robert Bigelow some time ago. A group of us presented a plan to build a domed complex on my property in Colorado. It would be for experiencers to live there. It contained hydroponic gardens, a publishing company, healing rooms, etc. The dome would be open and then would shut in case of an emergency. Some of you who receive this blog were in attendance with me. We were hoping for funding but it didn't work out. I will always remember his office with a glass sailing ship in a huge glass case. It was huge! Also he had juke box in his office. He was very personable, even called up John Carpenter so I could talk to him. I believe he funded John Carpenter in some aspect of UFOlogy.
Hotel Biz Zillionaire's Next Venture? Inflatable Space Pods.
By Vince Beiser 10.23.07 | 12:00 AM
CASTLES IN THE AIR
A uniformed guard, his pistol holstered on his hip, waves me to a halt outside a sprawling compound 15 minutes north of Las Vegas. On either side of the main gate, razor-wire fence stretches out into the Nevada desert. The rent-a-cop leans inside the open window of my van, giving its contents and me a quick, professional appraisal. On his shoulder is a military-style patch. But in place of an insignia denoting rank is an oval alien head.
"Morning," he says affably. "You can just follow me."
They've been expecting my visit. No one comes here without an invitation — or without having their identity verified in advance. The guard takes me into a trailer, where someone else checks my driver's license and pats me down to make sure I'm not carrying weapons "of any kind," as he puts it. For good measure, I will have an armed escort at all times while meeting with The Boss: the supersecretive, super-rich owner of the Budget Suites hotel chain, Robert T. Bigelow.
It's easy to snicker at the James Bond theatrics at the headquarters of Bigelow's eight-year-old company, Bigelow Aerospace. It's even easier when you find out he's trying to build his very own space station. An inflatable space station, to be precise — a massive bouncy castle meant to expand when it gets into orbit. It will be the first privately owned destination in space, and Bigelow proposes to rent it out as an orbital research lab, a training facility, or even a tourist hotel. Sure, have a chuckle. But here's the thing: He's actually doing it.
In the past 16 months, BA has successfully shot two Hummer-sized prototypes of the station into orbit. Dubbed Genesis I and II, they're circling the globe as you read this. The last one went up in June, blasting out of Earth's atmosphere on the back of a modified Soviet-era SS-18 missile. It was launched from a space complex in central Russia, ISC Kosmotras, the rocket-for-hire venture run by Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
The Genesis prototypes are one-third-size models of the inflata-structures Bigelow plans to launch eventually. Their outer shells are made of a superstrong Kevlar-like fabric that rolls up tightly for transit and then expands to full size in orbit. The system offers a crucial advantage over conventional metal spacecraft: Its smaller mass and weight make it cheaper to build and launch.
These proof-of-concept test models aren't just idly traipsing through space. Dozens of cameras mounted on the pods take regular photos of Earth from 350 miles up; you can check them out on the company Web site. Genesis II also sports a projection system that currently displays, on the outside of the craft, images of BA staffers; later, Bigelow intends to sell ads to go on these exterior walls. Inside the vessels, a menagerie of ants, cockroaches, and scorpions are being studied for their responses to microgravity. There's even an onboard bingo game involving a system that randomly selects numbered balls floating around in a box. Fans can play over the Internet. Also drifting about: hundreds of photos, figurines, ornaments, mechanical pencils, Ping-Pong balls, and other keepsakes. Before the launch, the public was invited to put such personal trinkets aboard for $295 a pop.
This peculiar mix of ambition, technical sophistication, and gimmickry tells you something about Bigelow. Even by the standards of reclusive zillionaires and would-be space entrepreneurs, the 63-year-old is particularly odd. Take his obsession with secrecy. He has never sent an email in his life — not secure enough, he says. Neither he nor any of the 120-plus staffers have office voicemail. Until a few years ago, Bigelow didn't allow pictures of himself to be printed. A framed sign in the guard trailer reads KEEP YOUR WORK AND THE WORK OF COWORKERS VERY PRIVATE FROM PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE COMPANY.
His signature quirk, however, is an obsession with space that extends beyond his business interests. In addition to the $100million Bigelow has already put into BA (and the $400million more he has promised), he has doled out millions to fund research into alien abductions and UFO sightings. He's done some of the work himself, personally interviewing hundreds of people who claim to have had extraterrestrial encounters. In fact, one of the main reasons he's so eager to get his stations launched is that he thinks they might provide a step toward making contact.
So it's not too surprising that when this flying-saucer-chasing hotel operator started talking a few years back about building his own space stations, almost everyone laughed him off. But of all the private entrepreneurs trying to make money in outer space — a list that includes Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, PayPal cofounder Elon Musk, Doom creator John Carmack, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, and Virgin impresario Richard Branson — Bigelow is the only one to have actually gotten something into sustained orbit. What's more, his company built a working spacecraft of flexible materials — a feat even NASA hasn't pulled off. So these days when Bigelow talks about his plans to reach the stars, a great many people have stopped laughing and started listening.
Bigelow admires one of his six-man inflatable orbital modules. Made out of flexible fabric, the walls of the capsule are stronger than 3 inches of aluminum.
Gregg Segal: When I meet Bigelow inside the vast spaceship factory at his Nevada compound, he is dressed in white sneakers, dark pants, and a blue company shirt. He is lean and tall, with a Clark Gable mustache and deeply lined, slightly lupine features. Notorious for his compulsive attention to detail, Bigelow has been known to get involved in decisions as minuscule as whether a strap should be enlarged by an eighth of an inch. In person, he comes across as a gentleman of the old school, his voice even and moderate, his manner unfailingly polite. Still, as he talks about his recent successes, he allows himself a moment of triumphalism: "Some graybeards at the old aerospace companies might still be snickering at us," he says. "But not as much as a few years ago."
Bigelow is a product of Las Vegas — born, raised, and still living in the world's most preposterous city. That fact does not seem coincidental. Vegas is built on the proposition that if you've got the money, you can create anything you want. A re-creation of Venice, complete with indoor canals? Sure. An ersatz beach with a wave machine so tourists can body surf in the middle of the desert? No problem. A privately owned, inflatable space station? Why not?
"When I was a kid, things were more unique here than any other place," he says. "They were doing above ground nuclear tests in those days. We'd watch the mushroom clouds from the playground at recess. You'd feel the earth shake."
Bigelow made his money not in the glittering fantasy realm of casinos (he doesn't even gamble) but in the solidly pragmatic precincts of real estate. After earning a business degree from Arizona State University, he returned to Vegas and, with his father's help, started buying, selling, and developing apartment buildings and motels — an easy way to make money in an eternal boomtown. In 1988 he founded Budget Suites of America, an apartment-hotel concept that offered modestly priced, furnished living spaces rentable by the week, month, or year. His timing was perfect: Newcomers in need of comfy but temporary digs were flocking to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other fast-growing southwestern cities. The privately owned chain now has 18 outlets in three states and has earned him a fortune totaling at least $1 billion (Bigelow declines to comment on his net worth).
But 35 years of empire building have been just a means to an end. Bigelow acknowledges that he got into real estate because it seemed the most practical way to get rich enough to fulfill his real goal, which he committed to when he was all of 15 years old: getting humanity into outer space.
Bigelow started BA in 1999. The plan was always to launch a private space station, but he didn't talk publicly about the details until last April. His coming-out party was the Space Foundation's annual conference in Colorado, a schmooze fest for the outer-space wing of the military-industrial complex. It's attended by some 7,000 officials from NASA, the Air Force, and pretty much every other federal agency having anything to do with the sky, along with their counterparts at corporations like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing. Bigelow was one of the featured speakers. He took the stage wearing a pin-striped suit and a gold tie, with a big diamond-studded horseshoe ring gleaming on his finger. Diane, his wife of 42 years, watched from the front row amid a gaggle of BA staffers, her bright orange hair piled elaborately atop her head. Only the general outline of Bigelow's enterprise had been reported before that point, leading to considerable derisive press characterizing Bigelow as the guy who was trying to build an inflatable hotel in outer space. Irritated by the coverage, he decided to make the company's business plan public. "We've been identified a lot as a space-hotel company. That is not the case," he told the crowd right off the bat. "Our complexes have a wide variety of uses, including space-hotel businesses — for Sir Richard Branson, or Marriott, or whomever, and we'd be very happy to talk to those folks about that. But we have an economic reach far beyond tourism."
BA, Bigelow says, will initially focus on courting governments and large corporations. On the government side, he hopes to market to the dozens of countries that are either assembling or already have a space agency but are stuck in the years-long wait for a trip to the International Space Station. (Japan, for example, has been waiting four years to start shuttling its experiments to the ISS). BA will offer them a place in orbit that can be tailored to whatever experiments or national-pride-burnishing displays they desire. As for corporations, Bigelow expects that many companies will be happy to pony up for the chance to do things in microgravity that they can't do on Earth. For instance, research suggests that, because of how molecules behave in zero gravity, it might be possible to manufacture superefficient fiber-optic cable or new pharmaceuticals in orbit. And just imagine the TV commercials Madison Avenue could shoot.
As a result, Bigelow expects his business customers to come from the communications, biotech, health services, and entertainment fields. These clients will want privacy, of course, so they'll get modules separate from those rented to government types. The pods will lease out by the month or year. For an extra fee, BA will also transport back to Earth any products developed or manufactured in space. "Satellites have gone from being a novelty in 1957 to a necessity today," Bigelow declared to his audience. "That's the direction we're going. We're trying to make low-Earth-orbit destinations a necessity."
In his speech to the Space Foundation audience, Bigelow outlined an ambitious timeline. In 2010, BA aims to send up Sundancer, a module that will house three people. By 2012, the company plans to launch the first of what will be its standard, six-person module. This will link up with Sundancer to form the nucleus of the first space complex. Subsequent modules can be ganged together; the idea ultimately is to have multiple stations that can hold anywhere from six people to several dozen.
These space habitats will be more comfortable than the ISS, with private sleeping quarters, plenty of windows, and, Bigelow promised, better food. The price for staying in his complex? About $12 million for transportation, training, and four weeks of "hang time." Lower rates will be available for longer bookings. The company, Bigelow informed his audience, is currently accepting reservations. The terms: 10 percent down, fully refundable.
The Colorado crowd reacted with a mixture of shock and hope. "Can a real estate guy actually do this?" said Elliot Pulham, president of the Space Foundation. "Well, Bill Boeing was in the lumber business before he built airplanes. In this industry, no one knows where the next small company with a big idea will come from."
In a cathedral-sized warehouse at BA, deputy program manager Jay Ingham walks me through a scale model of the station-to-be. We climb metal stairs to enter a central cabin that links three gray inflatable units, each slightly larger than a shipping container and shaped like a giant watermelon. Their 16- inch-thick skin, kept inflated by compressed, breathable air released from tanks in a steel core, is composed of numerous layers of flexible fabrics. The first is an air bladder that keeps the craft's atmosphere contained. It is surrounded by interwoven straps that hold it in the proper shape and ensure it doesn't burst. The outermost skin is five sheets of protective shielding, made of heavy-duty Kevlar and Vectran-like materials (the company won't reveal the exact composition). Its main job is to keep the craft from being punctured by micrometeorites like an expensive balloon. Sounds like a tall order for fabric, but the walls have more stopping power than three inches of aluminum.
Inside, the station feels like an empty submarine. The curving walls are set with portholes, and the space is cut into three floors by interlaced fabric bands. "The modules can be configured to whatever the user wants," Ingham says. "Living spaces, experiment areas, whatever." You'll be able to float around in your shirtsleeves. Or put on a spacesuit and step out into the void for a change of scenery.
The idea of an inflatable space habitat isn't new. In the 1960s, Goodyear Aircraft drew up designs for a doughnut-shaped expandable orbital station. At one point, NASA considered using inflatable passageways to connect space modules. In fact, Bigelow's technology started as a project called TransHab, an effort to add low-cost crew quarters to the ISS. When NASA killed that program in 2000, Bigelow bought the rights to the designs and hired more than a dozen ex-NASA professionals to put them into effect. BA technicians have since made countless modifications and upgrades, eight of which are patented under Bigelow's name — including the useful-sounding "biomass waste disposal method."
The manufacturing facility next door also houses the mission control area. Here, technicians at crescent-shaped desks face two banks of monitors covering a pair of walls. Some screens track the movements of the Genesis modules, others show their video feeds, and one displays the alien-head logo. Currently, BA engineers can communicate with the prototypes only during the 15-minute windows in which Genesis I and II are within range of company stations in Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Virginia. BA plans to add another half-dozen outposts in the coming years.
It's an enormous undertaking. But for Bigelow, it's just the first stage of a bigger, far stranger plan.
Bigelow's grandparents were driving down an empty stretch of blacktop in the desert north of Las Vegas one night in 1947 when they saw the UFO. At first they thought it was an airplane on fire — something glowing in the sky, hurtling toward them. But it was moving much faster than an airplane, and its light filled their windshield, eclipsing the night sky. They thought they were going to die.
Bigelow pauses here in telling me this story, regarding me levelly, his hands clasped on the table. Then, he says, the glowing craft made a right-angled turn and shot off into the sky. "Our aircraft don't make those maneuvers, even today — especially at close range," he notes.
Bigelow first heard this tale when he was 10. He also had an aunt and other people he knew who reported what he calls "very convincing" UFO-sighting experiences. It was these stories that made reaching space his life's work. "I kept it to myself for a long time, not even telling family or friends what I hoped to do," he says. "When you actually get involved in your dreams, that's a more appropriate time to talk about them."
Years before he started building space habitats, Bigelow began looking for the truths he was sure were out there. He says he has met with more than 230 people who claim to have witnessed ETs. In the 1990s, he gave millions of dollars to launch the National Institute for Discovery Science, whose staff — which included several PhDs and ex-FBI agents — researched alien abductions, out-of-body experiences, cattle mutilations, and other paranormal phenomena. In 1997, he donated $3.7million to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to create a Consciousness Studies program, which offered classes about near-death experiences and psychic phenomena. At one point, he even bought a 480-acre ranch in Utah that had been the scene of a number of alleged UFO sightings, animal disappearances, and other spooky weirdness. He wanted to own the land so he could monitor what went on there.
Bigelow stresses that all of this research has been carried out with as much scientific rigor as possible. He says that he has interviewed only carefully chosen subjects — sober-seeming people with jobs in the military or the sciences, or people who had experienced a phenomenon as a group. Wherever possible, he has cross-checked their assertions with those of other witnesses and with "forensic evidence" — samples he obtained of "various kinds of organic or nonorganic substances." He also claims to have been granted access to "very confidential" information from sources he won't disclose. He won't answer directly when I ask whether he has concluded from all of this that ETs have visited our planet. Choosing his words carefully, he says: "I have an enormous amount of data from a lot of different sources that give me some pretty strong convictions about the authenticity of the existence of anomalous phenomena, such as UFOs."
In 2000, one year after he started BA, Bigelow was less cautious with his views. In an essay posted to the NIDS Web site, he wrote: "I strongly believe that at least some UFOs owe their beginnings to being manufactured... from materials made in a microgravity environment." The effects of Earth's gravity, he explained, limit us to the elements and compounds we have here: In space, we might be able to develop all kinds of new substances with unguessable properties. Working in microgravity, Bigelow concluded, is therefore essential for manufacturing interstellar craft. "As for our UFO friends," he wrote, "we will not begin to match their early craft until we also begin to exploit space for manufacturing purposes."
But before anyone sets foot in one of his space stations, let alone starts building spaceships to help us catch up with our UFO friends, Bigelow has a long list of challenges to overcome. For starters, is there even a market for a private space station? NASA tried getting corporations interested in its proposed space station in the 1980s and, because of the price tag, received only a tepid response. There are also major technical hurdles; the craft's power supply, navigation, and life-support systems are all still in development. But at least Bigelow has people working on these things. He's leaving it up to others to answer perhaps the biggest question he faces: How will people actually get to his orbital complexes? Even though Bigelow's fee includes transportation to and from a station, he has no idea how this will work.
One obvious ferry, NASA's space shuttle, is scheduled to retire in 2010, and it could be years before its successor is ready. That will leave the Russian space agency's Soyuz capsules as the only vehicles capable of taking humans into space, and there aren't nearly enough of them for the dozen-plus annual launches Bigelow envisions needing by 2013. To solve the problem, he is following the example of the Ansari X Prize — the $10 million award that drove the creation of SpaceShipOne — by offering $50 million to any privately funded US company that builds a craft capable of getting to space and then docking with his stations. There haven't been any serious takers yet.
But Bigelow has a growing list of supporters, many of whom may be able to provide transportation service in the future. In particular, he enjoys enormous respect and goodwill among private space entrepreneurs. To them, his orbiting stations are both inspiring examples and potentially lucrative business opportunities. He already has agreements with two of them, Rocketplane Kistler and Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to work on transportation options. (Neither qualifies for Bigelow's $50 million prize because both take federal funds.)
"He's got the right idea," says Lon Levin, one of the founders of XM Satellite Radio who is now an executive with tSpace, another rocket startup. "There are a number of players chasing the transportation piece of space. But there are no destinations. He's chasing what should be a very profitable business."
Bigelow is also winning over a constituency in the stodgy world of established aerospace corporations and government agencies. "We're interested in partnering with him," says John Elbon, vice president of space exploration at Boeing. "There's no sense of threat, but rather an opportunity to work together." He likewise has an agreement with Lockheed Martin to study the use of its Atlas V rockets to get passengers to his space stations. His hobbies may raise the bureaucrats' eyebrows, but his successes have caught their attention. NASA, which plans to start sending people to the moon in the next decade, is interested in possibly adapting his technology to build inflatable lunar structures.
"He's got the money, the drive, and the expertise," says Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames Research Center in California. "I think he is going to succeed." As Bigelow would be the first to tell you, stranger things have happened.
Vince Beiser (vincelb@sbcglobal.net) wrote about the Army's simulated Iraqi cities in issue 14.06.
___________
Your editor met Robert Bigelow some time ago. A group of us presented a plan to build a domed complex on my property in Colorado. It would be for experiencers to live there. It contained hydroponic gardens, a publishing company, healing rooms, etc. The dome would be open and then would shut in case of an emergency. Some of you who receive this blog were in attendance with me. We were hoping for funding but it didn't work out. I will always remember his office with a glass sailing ship in a huge glass case. It was huge! Also he had juke box in his office. He was very personable, even called up John Carpenter so I could talk to him. I believe he funded John Carpenter in some aspect of UFOlogy.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
HUMANOIDS
Location. Galveston, Texas
Date: March 21 2007 Time: 0300A
Mr. Harry White was awakened by noises coming from outside his opened window, he sat up in bed, and he was very alert since his cat had been keeping him awake all night. He could see most of his yard which he scanned (he possesses exceptional night vision) suddenly his eyes landed on an "object" that seemed out of place and moved with blinding speed behind a small metal building. It had been totally dark in his room but this figure that was light colored and perhaps 3ft tall, seemed to know that the witness noticed it.
Perhaps 5 minutes later the proximity lights came on and he heard noises on the roof. His room is located next to an attic over the garage. He then heard what he could only describe as breathing for about 5-10 minutes and when he put his ear to the wall something was scraped down the wall.
Strangely he was not afraid at the time but gets really scared when he thinks about it now. In the morning he searched the backyard with his Mag-light which immediately went dead.
He further described the figure as having a head and torso and being the size of a small child. He states that he had never seen anything move with the speed that he witnessed that night.
He has trouble recalling the sequence of events and thinks that he could not account for as much as an hour between the time he heard the scratching noise on the wall and actually walking outside to investigate.
HC addendum
Source: direct from Harry White whitewood41@yahoo.com
Location. Covilha, Cova da Beira, Portugal
Date: March 26 2007 Time: 0300A
A municipal waste department worker was out on his rounds collecting garbage in an industrial area and was approaching a container when he noticed a strange dark human like figure with a strange head walking near the container. The figure seemed to be about 1.50m in height and thin. It seemed to notice the witness which by now was standing still observing the strange figure, and suddenly ran off at incredible speed, covering a distance of 10 meters in 2 seconds. It disappeared into a darkened nearby field. The witness did not investigate.
HC addendum
Source: A.P.O. Portugal Forums
Location. Tennessee, exact location not given
Date: March 29 2007 Time: 0100A
The witness was awakened by a light coming into his bedroom window. He stepped out his back door to see what could have possibly been making the light and a blinding whitish green light came towards him.
He has a vague memory beyond that that point but woke up naked in some woods next to his house. When he got back inside his house it was 0600A. He had lost 6 hours and had no recollection of what had happened.
He experienced severe rectal bleeding after the incident and feels very nauseated. He feels attracted to circular objects and finds himself repeating the word "obtuse" over and over again, without noticing and even in his sleep.
A couple of days later he began to remember the ordeal. He recalled being drawn to the light and stepping forward. It seems that he fell into a trance and was pulled into this blinding light and he remembers entering a large room with many beings inside. They were all staring at him and making strange sounds that sounded like humans moaning during an orgasm.
They placed him in a container which quickly filled with a green liquid, however somehow he was still able to breathe, even when fully submerged. The beings resembled little elves with human-like features but little bodies. Their eyes looked like about the size of an orange.
HC addendum
Source: http://mufoncms.com
Location. Ponce, Puerto Rico
Date: April 7 2007 Time: 1920
A man S. I., who requests total anonymity, reported that his son had told him that while shopping with friends at the Caribe Plaza they observed in front of the American Eagle store three strange "persons", very short in stature, bizarre features and very pale yellowish skin. The strangers stared fixedly at the boys with large slanted eyes. They also had mouths and tiny pointy noses. When the three figures moved, they seemed to do so in strange synchronized movements. They briefly followed the boys and then inexplicably vanished. The boys further noted that the persons seemed to be wearing "blondish wigs". They were all very scared after the incident and felt "threatened" by the strangers.
HC addendum
Source: lucy@ovni.net
Comments: Translated by Albert S. Rosales
Location. Pico Rivera, California
Date: May 11 2007 Time: 1030A
This morning the witness, James Michael Gomez, was suddenly awakened with such an intense fear that he almost screamed. It was the same feeling you get when you wake up from a bad dream, only that he wasn't dreaming, and he felt like he was awakened because he was in some kind of danger and his body somehow could sense it.
His bed is pushed into the corner of his room and there is a window along the side, and he sleeps parallel to the window. The window is about 5 ft from the floor and is 2 ft x 4ft. After he nearly screamed, he instantly jerked his head to the right (where the window is located). Looking at him through the open blinds was a strange figure that was over five foot seven in height. Whatever it was outside looking in was able to look right in and stood to about the halfway mark of the window.
It appeared to be wearing a gold glittery type of robe and a hood-mask type covering on its head resembling that of a 'KKK' hood, it was slightly pointy and it went to the shoulders. Gomez froze for a second, he knew he was really awake and it wasn't a dream. The figure's outfit looked like a Halloween outfit. The eyes looked like you brush glue over the hood in the shape of an eye and sprinkle gold and silver glitter over it. The witness turned his head forward to see out the other window and when he quickly looked back to the window where the 'thing' was at it was gone.
He then jumped up and even though he was really scared and his heart was pounding, he ran out of his room and into the den to look out into the backyard. He didn't see anything but was too scared to go outside to check the backyard at this point.
He didn't go back to sleep he tried to watch television in the living room to attempt to forget about it.
HC addendum
Source: direct from JamesMichael@grid-magazine.org
Location. Near Wloclawek, Poland
Date: May 20 2007 Time: 1700
On this date a group of young people, three men and one woman were grilling near their cottage in a wooded area close to Wloclawek. The cottage is fenced and the fence touched the forest in its northern section. The forest separates the cottage from the Vistula River. The area is surrounded by other cottages and gardens. One of the men was lying on a blanket on the grass at about 5 meters from the others, at the same time the young woman was filming the event with the video camera in her mobile phone. In one brief instance the image of her friend lying on the blanket appeared on the video, which lasted about 1.5 sec. Minutes later while reviewing the video something bizarre caught her eye. Next to the body of the man on the blanket something seemed to suddenly materialize, it seemed to be a humanoid figure about 70 to 80cm in height which seemed to bend down and touched the man with a sort of wand or rod. No one knows what happened later since the frame moved towards the right and away from the scene.
After a while a dog that had been with them and had acted normally went to the location where the man was lying and acted nervously. It growled in the direction where the strange figure had appeared from. At that moment the others present did not connect the dog's behavior with the strange figure on the video.
The woman filming and the others had not seen anything out of the ordinary. Several days later three red spots appeared on the man's knee, they were placed in the shape of a triangle. According to the man it seemed to hurt like a snake bite. However he stated that he had not felt anything at the time.
HC addendum
Source: Stanislaw Barski, Poland
Translated by Robert K. Lesniakiewicz (CBZA)
Location. Oregon, exact location not given
Date: June 6 2007 Time: afternoon
The witness claims he was walking on a back trail with his dog when he saw six to ten 'ships' fly low overhead. Three of them were inverted 'Y' from the back and front. Those ships landed on a clearing while three more flew overhead. These three were black with a blue outline on the hexagon wings. From the front view they looked like an 'H' with a ball in the center. The ones that landed where white with white blinking lights, such as an aircraft on earth and a constant blue light on the back, their two wings were folded up on the bottom, making a 'W' shape. As they landed they emitted a deep moaning and whining sound like a jet engine.
When that happened, 6 ramps, two per ship opened up and then several human-like creatures came out. They wore white with black joint areas, one took off his helmet and he looked very human, he also carried what appeared to be some type of black automatic weapon. There were dozens of 'aliens' some were talking and some were unloading boxes. They spoke English, and seemed to be military but not 'ours'. The witness got a glance inside the only window on the ship closest to him and inside he saw a human wearing a space suit like those of an astronaut and a black helmet. Soon the ships departed and the witness left.
HC addendum
Source: http://mufoncms.com
Comments: Black Ops aircraft??
__________
Thank you Albert Rosales of Humanoid Contacts for the above interesting cases.
Date: March 21 2007 Time: 0300A
Mr. Harry White was awakened by noises coming from outside his opened window, he sat up in bed, and he was very alert since his cat had been keeping him awake all night. He could see most of his yard which he scanned (he possesses exceptional night vision) suddenly his eyes landed on an "object" that seemed out of place and moved with blinding speed behind a small metal building. It had been totally dark in his room but this figure that was light colored and perhaps 3ft tall, seemed to know that the witness noticed it.
Perhaps 5 minutes later the proximity lights came on and he heard noises on the roof. His room is located next to an attic over the garage. He then heard what he could only describe as breathing for about 5-10 minutes and when he put his ear to the wall something was scraped down the wall.
Strangely he was not afraid at the time but gets really scared when he thinks about it now. In the morning he searched the backyard with his Mag-light which immediately went dead.
He further described the figure as having a head and torso and being the size of a small child. He states that he had never seen anything move with the speed that he witnessed that night.
He has trouble recalling the sequence of events and thinks that he could not account for as much as an hour between the time he heard the scratching noise on the wall and actually walking outside to investigate.
HC addendum
Source: direct from Harry White whitewood41@yahoo.com
Location. Covilha, Cova da Beira, Portugal
Date: March 26 2007 Time: 0300A
A municipal waste department worker was out on his rounds collecting garbage in an industrial area and was approaching a container when he noticed a strange dark human like figure with a strange head walking near the container. The figure seemed to be about 1.50m in height and thin. It seemed to notice the witness which by now was standing still observing the strange figure, and suddenly ran off at incredible speed, covering a distance of 10 meters in 2 seconds. It disappeared into a darkened nearby field. The witness did not investigate.
HC addendum
Source: A.P.O. Portugal Forums
Location. Tennessee, exact location not given
Date: March 29 2007 Time: 0100A
The witness was awakened by a light coming into his bedroom window. He stepped out his back door to see what could have possibly been making the light and a blinding whitish green light came towards him.
He has a vague memory beyond that that point but woke up naked in some woods next to his house. When he got back inside his house it was 0600A. He had lost 6 hours and had no recollection of what had happened.
He experienced severe rectal bleeding after the incident and feels very nauseated. He feels attracted to circular objects and finds himself repeating the word "obtuse" over and over again, without noticing and even in his sleep.
A couple of days later he began to remember the ordeal. He recalled being drawn to the light and stepping forward. It seems that he fell into a trance and was pulled into this blinding light and he remembers entering a large room with many beings inside. They were all staring at him and making strange sounds that sounded like humans moaning during an orgasm.
They placed him in a container which quickly filled with a green liquid, however somehow he was still able to breathe, even when fully submerged. The beings resembled little elves with human-like features but little bodies. Their eyes looked like about the size of an orange.
HC addendum
Source: http://mufoncms.com
Location. Ponce, Puerto Rico
Date: April 7 2007 Time: 1920
A man S. I., who requests total anonymity, reported that his son had told him that while shopping with friends at the Caribe Plaza they observed in front of the American Eagle store three strange "persons", very short in stature, bizarre features and very pale yellowish skin. The strangers stared fixedly at the boys with large slanted eyes. They also had mouths and tiny pointy noses. When the three figures moved, they seemed to do so in strange synchronized movements. They briefly followed the boys and then inexplicably vanished. The boys further noted that the persons seemed to be wearing "blondish wigs". They were all very scared after the incident and felt "threatened" by the strangers.
HC addendum
Source: lucy@ovni.net
Comments: Translated by Albert S. Rosales
Location. Pico Rivera, California
Date: May 11 2007 Time: 1030A
This morning the witness, James Michael Gomez, was suddenly awakened with such an intense fear that he almost screamed. It was the same feeling you get when you wake up from a bad dream, only that he wasn't dreaming, and he felt like he was awakened because he was in some kind of danger and his body somehow could sense it.
His bed is pushed into the corner of his room and there is a window along the side, and he sleeps parallel to the window. The window is about 5 ft from the floor and is 2 ft x 4ft. After he nearly screamed, he instantly jerked his head to the right (where the window is located). Looking at him through the open blinds was a strange figure that was over five foot seven in height. Whatever it was outside looking in was able to look right in and stood to about the halfway mark of the window.
It appeared to be wearing a gold glittery type of robe and a hood-mask type covering on its head resembling that of a 'KKK' hood, it was slightly pointy and it went to the shoulders. Gomez froze for a second, he knew he was really awake and it wasn't a dream. The figure's outfit looked like a Halloween outfit. The eyes looked like you brush glue over the hood in the shape of an eye and sprinkle gold and silver glitter over it. The witness turned his head forward to see out the other window and when he quickly looked back to the window where the 'thing' was at it was gone.
He then jumped up and even though he was really scared and his heart was pounding, he ran out of his room and into the den to look out into the backyard. He didn't see anything but was too scared to go outside to check the backyard at this point.
He didn't go back to sleep he tried to watch television in the living room to attempt to forget about it.
HC addendum
Source: direct from JamesMichael@grid-magazine.org
Location. Near Wloclawek, Poland
Date: May 20 2007 Time: 1700
On this date a group of young people, three men and one woman were grilling near their cottage in a wooded area close to Wloclawek. The cottage is fenced and the fence touched the forest in its northern section. The forest separates the cottage from the Vistula River. The area is surrounded by other cottages and gardens. One of the men was lying on a blanket on the grass at about 5 meters from the others, at the same time the young woman was filming the event with the video camera in her mobile phone. In one brief instance the image of her friend lying on the blanket appeared on the video, which lasted about 1.5 sec. Minutes later while reviewing the video something bizarre caught her eye. Next to the body of the man on the blanket something seemed to suddenly materialize, it seemed to be a humanoid figure about 70 to 80cm in height which seemed to bend down and touched the man with a sort of wand or rod. No one knows what happened later since the frame moved towards the right and away from the scene.
After a while a dog that had been with them and had acted normally went to the location where the man was lying and acted nervously. It growled in the direction where the strange figure had appeared from. At that moment the others present did not connect the dog's behavior with the strange figure on the video.
The woman filming and the others had not seen anything out of the ordinary. Several days later three red spots appeared on the man's knee, they were placed in the shape of a triangle. According to the man it seemed to hurt like a snake bite. However he stated that he had not felt anything at the time.
HC addendum
Source: Stanislaw Barski, Poland
Translated by Robert K. Lesniakiewicz (CBZA)
Location. Oregon, exact location not given
Date: June 6 2007 Time: afternoon
The witness claims he was walking on a back trail with his dog when he saw six to ten 'ships' fly low overhead. Three of them were inverted 'Y' from the back and front. Those ships landed on a clearing while three more flew overhead. These three were black with a blue outline on the hexagon wings. From the front view they looked like an 'H' with a ball in the center. The ones that landed where white with white blinking lights, such as an aircraft on earth and a constant blue light on the back, their two wings were folded up on the bottom, making a 'W' shape. As they landed they emitted a deep moaning and whining sound like a jet engine.
When that happened, 6 ramps, two per ship opened up and then several human-like creatures came out. They wore white with black joint areas, one took off his helmet and he looked very human, he also carried what appeared to be some type of black automatic weapon. There were dozens of 'aliens' some were talking and some were unloading boxes. They spoke English, and seemed to be military but not 'ours'. The witness got a glance inside the only window on the ship closest to him and inside he saw a human wearing a space suit like those of an astronaut and a black helmet. Soon the ships departed and the witness left.
HC addendum
Source: http://mufoncms.com
Comments: Black Ops aircraft??
__________
Thank you Albert Rosales of Humanoid Contacts for the above interesting cases.
Monday, October 22, 2007
CALLED IN TO COAST TO COAST AM 2-7-04
A South African Brigadier General who called himself "Chris" called in to tell Art about an incident in 1992 that happened in South Africa.
He said they had observed "bogies" coming into the base where they were. He thought they were from another country so he had the air force go up and investigate. There was an object that was glowing and as the planes got closer they asked for orders on what to do. He was the head of security in searching out terrorists so he told them or one of the pilots to shoot it down. I think there were two objects and one went away but the pilot was able to shoot at one of them. The plane was outfitted with a lAser weapon so he shot at it. The object started bouncing like a rubber ball and eventually fell down to the earth. The only damage to the object was a basket ball size dent in the side. He still thoughT this was something from earth.
(Art asked him if S. Africa had nuclear bombs and he said yes. Also that S. Africa is the third largest country in the world for manufactuing weapons. They have very advanced weaponry, which included the laser weapon to shoot down the object.)
The General got into a helicopter and went to the area where it had landed. When they came within 2 miles the engines were sputtering so they landed. In this area they had foot soldiers that were always on surveillance because of terrorists coming into the country and planting bombs in the streets. So they were always on the lookout for them. So they were there when the General arrived.
Where this area was is on the edge of a reserve, something like Kruger Park. (He was a little hard to understand as he had a soft voice and it sounded like he was calling from far away.) A truck carrying petrol was already there when they got there. The diesel engine worked but the gasoline ones wouldn't.
The object was on the ground emitting rays in the colors of the rainbow. This lasted 5 hours. Everyone that got close to it became violently ill, retching and breaking out in blisters. Eventually four of them died. He said there were about 24 men surrounding it.
One of his men said "General a door has come open." He told the fellow not to approach. I should say that this general had never heard of UFOs or aliens so all this time he thought it was a secret kind of aircraft from another country. So the fellow that had approached said to him, why would they have children in there? I can see a child who has been burned because it is all gray! He told the fellow not to approach.
They brought in a diesel flat bed and crane to lift it. They trucked it 800 miles to the north to a base. Then they transferred it to another place and 3 days later transferred it to another place. The problem was they didn't know what to do with it. Finally the General's superior said we have to get rid of it so send it back where it came from. They thought it was from the US.
The General was really upset because he was retiring and his civilian job was as a civil engineer in another country where he would be gone for a year. He hadn't seen his family and if he didn't take this time to see them he wouldn't get to for a year. Nevertheless, his superior said it was up to him to transport it so he had to.
They put it into a C141 Starlifter along with two body bags. Since his job was to search out bombs he always had his troops look into every bag. When they put the body bags on board he insisted on looking in them for the possibility of bombs. He was told that the person guarding them was not to open them for anyone. He got upset and swore and said open this bag! Well the poor guy did because he was his superior. When he did he couldn't believe what he was seeing. A grey colored person with long bony fingers. I think he said three. Big eyes like a horse and a large head. He said zip it up quick. He said he never wanted to see anything like that again.
He didn't say how this happened or how they knew but he said that one of the aliens woke up and the guy guarding him hit him with his gun so hard that the guard broke his fingers. The alien didn't wake up again as he had killed it.
When they landed at Andrews Air Force Base they had to sit and wait before anyone came out to greet them. Finally an officer and some men came out. They marched right onto the plane and this officer started barking orders to the Brig. General's men. He got upset and said I am in command here and you won't be ordering my men around. Right then the ones who had accompanied the officer on board lifted their guns and aimed them at the Brig. Gen. He didn't say any more.
The Americans took the object and the body bags away and told the S. Africans to sit there 40 minutes before leaving, which they did.
The reason the Brig. Gen. called in was because he had seen a program about Bob Lazar and the object Bob saw at Area 51 was described exactly as the object they had brought to the US. He knew it was the same one.
Now the Brig. Gen. is in fear for his life. He said that the persons they had guarded against getting into their country are now in control and his life is not worth anything. He lives in fear that their long arm will reach him and kill him. He never stays in one place more than one night.
There was a person with him that Art read a letter from but I missed the letter. I turned on the radio just as "Chris" was coming on. Art said he would be repeating this. I am hoping that he also repeats the letter. If anyone heard the letter would you let me know what it said? Thanks in advance.
I might have posted this before, if so please excuse.
He said they had observed "bogies" coming into the base where they were. He thought they were from another country so he had the air force go up and investigate. There was an object that was glowing and as the planes got closer they asked for orders on what to do. He was the head of security in searching out terrorists so he told them or one of the pilots to shoot it down. I think there were two objects and one went away but the pilot was able to shoot at one of them. The plane was outfitted with a lAser weapon so he shot at it. The object started bouncing like a rubber ball and eventually fell down to the earth. The only damage to the object was a basket ball size dent in the side. He still thoughT this was something from earth.
(Art asked him if S. Africa had nuclear bombs and he said yes. Also that S. Africa is the third largest country in the world for manufactuing weapons. They have very advanced weaponry, which included the laser weapon to shoot down the object.)
The General got into a helicopter and went to the area where it had landed. When they came within 2 miles the engines were sputtering so they landed. In this area they had foot soldiers that were always on surveillance because of terrorists coming into the country and planting bombs in the streets. So they were always on the lookout for them. So they were there when the General arrived.
Where this area was is on the edge of a reserve, something like Kruger Park. (He was a little hard to understand as he had a soft voice and it sounded like he was calling from far away.) A truck carrying petrol was already there when they got there. The diesel engine worked but the gasoline ones wouldn't.
The object was on the ground emitting rays in the colors of the rainbow. This lasted 5 hours. Everyone that got close to it became violently ill, retching and breaking out in blisters. Eventually four of them died. He said there were about 24 men surrounding it.
One of his men said "General a door has come open." He told the fellow not to approach. I should say that this general had never heard of UFOs or aliens so all this time he thought it was a secret kind of aircraft from another country. So the fellow that had approached said to him, why would they have children in there? I can see a child who has been burned because it is all gray! He told the fellow not to approach.
They brought in a diesel flat bed and crane to lift it. They trucked it 800 miles to the north to a base. Then they transferred it to another place and 3 days later transferred it to another place. The problem was they didn't know what to do with it. Finally the General's superior said we have to get rid of it so send it back where it came from. They thought it was from the US.
The General was really upset because he was retiring and his civilian job was as a civil engineer in another country where he would be gone for a year. He hadn't seen his family and if he didn't take this time to see them he wouldn't get to for a year. Nevertheless, his superior said it was up to him to transport it so he had to.
They put it into a C141 Starlifter along with two body bags. Since his job was to search out bombs he always had his troops look into every bag. When they put the body bags on board he insisted on looking in them for the possibility of bombs. He was told that the person guarding them was not to open them for anyone. He got upset and swore and said open this bag! Well the poor guy did because he was his superior. When he did he couldn't believe what he was seeing. A grey colored person with long bony fingers. I think he said three. Big eyes like a horse and a large head. He said zip it up quick. He said he never wanted to see anything like that again.
He didn't say how this happened or how they knew but he said that one of the aliens woke up and the guy guarding him hit him with his gun so hard that the guard broke his fingers. The alien didn't wake up again as he had killed it.
When they landed at Andrews Air Force Base they had to sit and wait before anyone came out to greet them. Finally an officer and some men came out. They marched right onto the plane and this officer started barking orders to the Brig. General's men. He got upset and said I am in command here and you won't be ordering my men around. Right then the ones who had accompanied the officer on board lifted their guns and aimed them at the Brig. Gen. He didn't say any more.
The Americans took the object and the body bags away and told the S. Africans to sit there 40 minutes before leaving, which they did.
The reason the Brig. Gen. called in was because he had seen a program about Bob Lazar and the object Bob saw at Area 51 was described exactly as the object they had brought to the US. He knew it was the same one.
Now the Brig. Gen. is in fear for his life. He said that the persons they had guarded against getting into their country are now in control and his life is not worth anything. He lives in fear that their long arm will reach him and kill him. He never stays in one place more than one night.
There was a person with him that Art read a letter from but I missed the letter. I turned on the radio just as "Chris" was coming on. Art said he would be repeating this. I am hoping that he also repeats the letter. If anyone heard the letter would you let me know what it said? Thanks in advance.
I might have posted this before, if so please excuse.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
MY TRUE STORY
Sometime ago, like years, I met a couple in Seattle, Washington named Mason and Madeline Longmire. Perhaps some of you will recognize that name, Mason's grandfather started the Lodge at Mt. Rainier park by that name. They held development classes at their home. I was invited to attend. This is a story about how it all got started.
Madeline's sons were both Alaska Airline pilots. They were twins; Bill and Budd Donovan.
One night the house shook and Bill's dog that was being cared for by Madeline started to howl. Madeline knew something had happened to her son. She was correct, his plane had crashed in Alaska and everyone was killed. The authorities never were able to recover anything of the her son.
About that time Madeline and her husband Mason started seeing faces in the wood grain paneling in their family room. She was a devote Catholic so she asked the priest to come and look at these faces. He did. The priest told Madeline that they had witnessed such phenomena before but that she was to say nothing to his parishioners because it might cause them to turn away from the church. He was correct, Madeline never went back to the church.
I went to their house to observe a class. They started people out by having them place their hands on a table. Through the combined energy the table would tilt. The procedure was for the table to tip up and then tip down as they went through the letters of the alphabet or to tap once for yes or twice for no. I was not sitting at the table but just watching when the table started to tap out letters. No one could understand what it was writing. It started out r - o - y - g - a - r - o - u -t - t - e! They said what is this, it doesn't make sense. It did to me! It was my father's name. I immediately started weeping. That cut off the energy and there was no more but I knew he was there just for me even though I wasn't on the table myself.
Soon after that Madeline and Mason moved to Angle Lake, which is a beautiful little lake near the Seattle Tacoma airport. Their house was made of all cedar. It had a comfortable homey feeling. In the basement they had a room with no windows. It was used for the development class. I started attending every week.
In the daytime Madeline would smell roses in the house and then the radio would come on all by itself playing "Mother". She knew her son was trying to contact her. She began to write to mediums all over the world to try and get in touch with him. She received a tape from Maurice Barbanelle, a famous medium in England. Her son had already contacted him and gave him the address of his mother in Seattle. He told her that it was him that made the music come on and the smell of roses because that was her favorite flower.
After that she contacted Keith Rheinhart in Seattle at the Aquarian Foundation. She had heard about his mediumistic abilities. Keith performed materialization sceances and apports would come out of his neck and mouth. Madeline made an appointment.
The first time she went there her son Bill Donovan appeared in the ectoplasm from Keith while he was in trance. He was dressed in his pilot's uniform. Madeline was overjoyed. She had stuck a rose down the front of her dress. No one knew that. He told her mother I am going to give everyone in this room what you have in your dress. Roses dropped into their laps.
She still was dubious so she asked him if he would do something to prove it was really her son. He said I will ask the scientists on this side to help me do something to prove it. You come back in one week and I will let you know what we figured out.
The next week she went back, along with Mason. Mason was told that night he was to start sitting in the cabinet. For those of you who are not familiar with seances the cabinet meant in a curtain enclosed area away from the other sitters. Madeline was to meditate. She was the power house. Unfortunately she was almost deaf so she missed a lot - but that comes later.
That night he said the scientists and himself had found a way to prove to her it was really her son. Out of a trumpet dropped the rosary she had bought for him in Rome and had been blessed by the Pope. His twin brother had an identical one. I saw it hanging on his picture. She knew then that it was really him.
After that Mason and Madeline and a few friends would sit in the room and meditate. When it first began her son would let her know he was there by clicking, like electrical sparks. We would sing first which would raise the energy, and then he would come in and just like the table spelling out words by tapping its leg, he would use the sparks to spell out things. First it would always be his intials, click, click for B and then click, click, click, click for D. We knew he was there.
You could tell when he was very happy as the sparks were all over the room like he was in joy. As time went on he brought a teacher whose name was Chinlee Woo. He was a Chinese teacher and he would say in a whisper (because we hadn't developed enough yet for a loud voice) Whoo Heinie. That meant hello, and love, I believe. Bill gradually let Chinlee Woo take over.
One of my friends, Verne Frese, who was a physicist, developed a red light that would come on when a field was broken by the spirits. It came on so much we had to remove it! He recorded every class and what Chinlee Woo had said. Verne has passed on now so I do not know what has happened to those tapes or transcripts.
I finally quit going because when you asked a question that you would think an advanced being would know Chinlee Woo didn't seem to know much more than we did.
It was sad that when he would whisper answers Madeline was never aware of them because she couldn't hear. But if she wasn't in the room the energy was so low that Chinlee Woo could not come to us.
Eventually Madeline died and Mason never continued to sit in the cabinet so that period was over for many of us. It did teach me about spirits and what is beyond this dimension that we cannot see with our physical eyes. I always knew when they were coming (this would be after meditating for about 30 minutes) because I could feel them touching my hair and touching my bare legs. Sure enough it would be right after that that Chinlee Woo would say Whoo Heine. I was told that if my mind didn't hop around like a flea on a hot griddle that I could become a medium but I never could control my thinking, it went everywhere!
Another time I will tell you about Rollo!
The Editor of this blog.
Madeline's sons were both Alaska Airline pilots. They were twins; Bill and Budd Donovan.
One night the house shook and Bill's dog that was being cared for by Madeline started to howl. Madeline knew something had happened to her son. She was correct, his plane had crashed in Alaska and everyone was killed. The authorities never were able to recover anything of the her son.
About that time Madeline and her husband Mason started seeing faces in the wood grain paneling in their family room. She was a devote Catholic so she asked the priest to come and look at these faces. He did. The priest told Madeline that they had witnessed such phenomena before but that she was to say nothing to his parishioners because it might cause them to turn away from the church. He was correct, Madeline never went back to the church.
I went to their house to observe a class. They started people out by having them place their hands on a table. Through the combined energy the table would tilt. The procedure was for the table to tip up and then tip down as they went through the letters of the alphabet or to tap once for yes or twice for no. I was not sitting at the table but just watching when the table started to tap out letters. No one could understand what it was writing. It started out r - o - y - g - a - r - o - u -t - t - e! They said what is this, it doesn't make sense. It did to me! It was my father's name. I immediately started weeping. That cut off the energy and there was no more but I knew he was there just for me even though I wasn't on the table myself.
Soon after that Madeline and Mason moved to Angle Lake, which is a beautiful little lake near the Seattle Tacoma airport. Their house was made of all cedar. It had a comfortable homey feeling. In the basement they had a room with no windows. It was used for the development class. I started attending every week.
In the daytime Madeline would smell roses in the house and then the radio would come on all by itself playing "Mother". She knew her son was trying to contact her. She began to write to mediums all over the world to try and get in touch with him. She received a tape from Maurice Barbanelle, a famous medium in England. Her son had already contacted him and gave him the address of his mother in Seattle. He told her that it was him that made the music come on and the smell of roses because that was her favorite flower.
After that she contacted Keith Rheinhart in Seattle at the Aquarian Foundation. She had heard about his mediumistic abilities. Keith performed materialization sceances and apports would come out of his neck and mouth. Madeline made an appointment.
The first time she went there her son Bill Donovan appeared in the ectoplasm from Keith while he was in trance. He was dressed in his pilot's uniform. Madeline was overjoyed. She had stuck a rose down the front of her dress. No one knew that. He told her mother I am going to give everyone in this room what you have in your dress. Roses dropped into their laps.
She still was dubious so she asked him if he would do something to prove it was really her son. He said I will ask the scientists on this side to help me do something to prove it. You come back in one week and I will let you know what we figured out.
The next week she went back, along with Mason. Mason was told that night he was to start sitting in the cabinet. For those of you who are not familiar with seances the cabinet meant in a curtain enclosed area away from the other sitters. Madeline was to meditate. She was the power house. Unfortunately she was almost deaf so she missed a lot - but that comes later.
That night he said the scientists and himself had found a way to prove to her it was really her son. Out of a trumpet dropped the rosary she had bought for him in Rome and had been blessed by the Pope. His twin brother had an identical one. I saw it hanging on his picture. She knew then that it was really him.
After that Mason and Madeline and a few friends would sit in the room and meditate. When it first began her son would let her know he was there by clicking, like electrical sparks. We would sing first which would raise the energy, and then he would come in and just like the table spelling out words by tapping its leg, he would use the sparks to spell out things. First it would always be his intials, click, click for B and then click, click, click, click for D. We knew he was there.
You could tell when he was very happy as the sparks were all over the room like he was in joy. As time went on he brought a teacher whose name was Chinlee Woo. He was a Chinese teacher and he would say in a whisper (because we hadn't developed enough yet for a loud voice) Whoo Heinie. That meant hello, and love, I believe. Bill gradually let Chinlee Woo take over.
One of my friends, Verne Frese, who was a physicist, developed a red light that would come on when a field was broken by the spirits. It came on so much we had to remove it! He recorded every class and what Chinlee Woo had said. Verne has passed on now so I do not know what has happened to those tapes or transcripts.
I finally quit going because when you asked a question that you would think an advanced being would know Chinlee Woo didn't seem to know much more than we did.
It was sad that when he would whisper answers Madeline was never aware of them because she couldn't hear. But if she wasn't in the room the energy was so low that Chinlee Woo could not come to us.
Eventually Madeline died and Mason never continued to sit in the cabinet so that period was over for many of us. It did teach me about spirits and what is beyond this dimension that we cannot see with our physical eyes. I always knew when they were coming (this would be after meditating for about 30 minutes) because I could feel them touching my hair and touching my bare legs. Sure enough it would be right after that that Chinlee Woo would say Whoo Heine. I was told that if my mind didn't hop around like a flea on a hot griddle that I could become a medium but I never could control my thinking, it went everywhere!
Another time I will tell you about Rollo!
The Editor of this blog.
ET SHOOT-DOWN OVER GERMANY?
By Ed Komarek
10/17/07
Copy and Distribute Freely
My blog: http://exopolitics.blogspot.com/
Here is a case that fell though the cracks, that I had forgotten about for years. I just found it recently when going through old files. Apparently I did not give it much attention at the time because it came to me anonymously through the mail about the time Operation Right To Know was getting a lot of national media attention in the early 1990s. I am feeling a bit guilty that I apparently blew this very detailed case off at the time. I guess it is better late than never. Reading it now, it is obvious that if this very detailed story is true, somebody took a very great risk in sending it to me. Maybe it is the best that the story only comes out now because back in the early 1990's whoever wrote this would be in much greater trouble than today.
This is the kind of case that disturbs me greatly. Its cases such as these that appear to me to be flat out unadulterated, premeditated murder, involving a great many people in the US government. This along with other alien abuse cases prompted me to write my Crimes Against Aliens article that can be found at my blog site. Hopefully some serious researcher will take a little trouble to see if the names in the article are real, and if so, see if somebody involved will confirm the report. I had to type this whole story in by hand so I hope folks find value in this story. The report follows:
It was the night of May 23/24, 1974 at the height of the "Cold War". The men of the 4th Platoon, Bravo Company, B Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the 32nd Air Defense Command of the United States Army were deployed in a mountain pass northeast of Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. They were only a few kilometers from Landstuhl - a man-made mountain Adolph Hitler had created to protect his underground bunker/headquarters. Landstuhl was still in use in 1974 connected by an underground trolley to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Ramstein Air Force Base. The men were also very close to a multi-storied German Government Brothel.
First Lieutenant Robert Cardeni of Long Beach, CA was the 4th Platoon Leader and Captain Michael J. Shestak was commanding Bravo Company.
The men were all weary because they had been on this special duty for 10 days alternating every 72 hours with other units. Half of the men would be on duty while the other half slept. They alternated this pattern every 4 hours during their 72 hours of on-duty regimen.
These soldiers had been told the special duty was because the Russians and/or Warsaw Pact forces had been messing around trying out the Western Air defenses. This was a common tactic of both the NATO and Warsaw Pact alliances. Each would send aircraft into each others airspace to see how quickly the radar sites would come on, where they were located, and on what frequencies they were operating and how quickly the other side's fighter aircraft would intercept them. Usually the American forces would achieve missile and gun lockons on the hostile aircraft to scare them and armed American fighters would intercept the "hostiles" and give them the alternative of being escorted home or being shot down.
Up until that point in the "Cold War", the Western response had always been to scare and turn around. But now there seemed to be a big difference as the urgency of the mission was impressed upon the men and the fact that they brought live ammunition for the cannons and live Chaparral Antiaircraft Missiles.
In this eventful night, two Chaparral Missile emplacements were deployed in the valley not far from the whorehouse. The missile sites were linked by field telephones to observers on the mountainside.
Lieutenant Cardeni gave orders to the crews of the Vulcan 20 Millimeter Cannons to load canisters of live high explosive phosphorus rounds into their cannons and to maintain a steady alert. These orders were given about midnight local time.
The Vulcan Cannons had the capability of firing 2000 rounds a minute through their six rotating barrels at a kill and accuracy range of up to 6000 meters.
On the north side of the pass at about the 1050 foot level the Vulcan Cannon emplacement was manned by Specialist Houston "Tex" Thomas from Indio, CA. "Tex" was a big, jovial black man.
About 4000 meters south, the Vulcan Cannons across the pass at about the 850 foot level were manned by Private William Langdon from West Seneca, NY, the top gunner in the 4th Squad. Bill was of Quaker ancestry and was an enigma for not claiming "Conscientious Objector" status.
About 12:45 AM, Lieutenant Cardeni gave orders that something hostile was incoming and that the gunners were to shoot down anything coming through the pass. He stated that no "friendlies" would be flying below 2700 feet and anything else was to be shot down.
At that point, "Bill" Langdon suddenly came in touch with his Quaker upbringing, left his cannon and went back to awaken his squad leader, Aaron Yonts, from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Langdon refused to shoot down anything with someone in it.
The Private said his piece and climbed into one of the auxiliary vehicles and went to sleep while Sgt. Yonts shook himself awake and climbed into the Vulcan Cannon and began adjusting his eyesight to the bright moonlight. Yonts then got on his radio and confirmed that Lt. Cardeni had indeed issued orders to shoot down anything flying under 2700 feet of altitude.
About 1:00 AM local German Time, Sgt. Yonts had his chance as something came down the valley headed for the pass. He described it as a flattened ellipsoid with rounded edges, about 30 feet long, and glowing with a silvery iridescence. He said it was moving at a rapid speed that was impossible to judge accurately as it was apparently trying to be evasive by zigzagging side to side.
It took a few seconds for Sgt. Yonts's Cannon's computer and Doppler radar to calculate a precise speed, range, and direction of travel and to achieve a lockon. When the cannon was locked onto the object and he was visually sighting the object through the reticule gun-sights he began firing. First a few rounds for effect and then three four second bursts of 110 rounds each into the side of the object which was at about eye level.
Sgt. Yonts was almost eye level with the object as he watched his rounds pouring into its sides. He was expecting to see the "blooming flower" effect of the phosphorus rounds exploding but he did not, although he could clearly follow the trail of his shots pouring into the side of the object. "It was as if the shells were being absorbed or being vaporized at the explosion by some sort of "force field"., Yonts said. Yonts' perception was that the rounds were going into invisible tubes that contained the detonations, so that he saw only pie-tin sized explosions but not phosphorus "blooming" that he expected. this was quite a remarkable containment of shells having a 35 meter kill radius.
Sergeant Yonts could observe "Tex" Thomas shooting down on the object from the higher elevation across the pass and he noted that Tex's rounds were trailing the object missing it.
At the same time as the shooting was going on, on the mountainside, Sergeant William McCracken from Pittsburgh, KS was inside the launch control console of a Chaparral Missile Battery in the valley was rotating his console according to directions supplied by his uphill observer (the operator in the launch console could not see out at night because of the reflections on the Plexiglas's bubble from the instruments on his control panel). Up until that point, McCracken had not painted anything on his radar screen. When he had rotated to the 10 o'clock position (a heading of about 300 degrees), Sgt. McCracken saw a green light flashing on his console and heard a warbling tone indicating an infra-red signature lockon. After tuning adjustments, the sergeant pushed the "launch" button and a bright fire ignited on one of the launch rails as a Chaparral Antiaircraft Missile streaked skyward.
The missile climbed to about 900 feet (near the minimum operating altitude of the missile), found the flying object, moved along side of it, turned close in front of it, and detonated its 75 pounds of high explosives warhead. (The Chaparral, designed to bring down conventional aircraft with cockpits near the front. always moved to the front of a target before detonating so as to potentially kill the pilots and disable a plane's engines by shutting off their air.)
The gunners and observers on the two mountain sides, missile crews in the valley, and anyone else not currently known about, saw the target start wobbling and then stop forward motion and finally wobble downward to the valley floor in what the observers believe was a controlled descent.
The cannon and missile crews were ordered to immediately drive their artillery back to the Ramstein Air Force Base Motor Pool which was highly unusual because the artillery was normally stored in its own area for rapid reuse if needed. The crews were also told not to take time to pick up their expended brass - also highly unusual. The crews were told to quickly get the cannons and missile launchers to the motor pool and go right to bed and not to talk to each other about the incident and they would have the next day off.
As the crews were packing, they noticed Air Force Personnel moving into the valley to secure the crash (or landing?) site.
As is expected when someone is ordered not to talk about something, the men couldn't wait to talk about what they had seen once they got back to the barracks. Specialist Thomas swore he was shooting at a MIG-25 and Sergeant Yonts held fast that it was not an airplane at all and neither could the other. Sergeant McCracken from the Chaparral mount said that for all the saw he could have shot down the Oscar Meyer "Wiener Wagon".
At the same time as the American Soldiers were shooting at something in Germany, other events were set in motion in the United States. Major Mike Andrews, from Silver Spring, MD, had spent a week on ready alert duty at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, while his C141 Starlifter sat nearby, serviced and preflighted daily. The major was awaiting orders that would send him and his crew winging off to they knew not where. Now this was unusual because a transport like the C141 was not exactly a B52 bomber.
About 2025 hours (8:25 PM EDT), 1:45 in Germany, Major Andrews' waiting was over as he was handed typed orders. Quickly gathering together his crew, checking the weather, and filing a flight plan. Major Andrews and his crew were airborne at 2100 and flying South Southwest About 2200, they landed at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. They were met by an Air Force Brigadier general and a 50ish civilian bearing CIA identification.
Major Andrews was given sparse details of what was about to be his mission and was told he would be taking aboard air force personnel who would be arriving soon from Wright Patterson and Nellis Air Force Bases and that neither he nor any of his crew were to talk to any of the airmen they would be flying to Germany.
Shortly afterward, 26 airmen from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Ohio arrived carrying large cases of equipment. As they boarded the C141, Major Andrews noted that the airmen were all sergeants of one grade or another and that they all wore blue berets and white ascots and were armed, not with traditional .45 caliber automatic service sidearms, but with ivory handled revolvers. Major Andrews was told that the officers had flown on direct to Germany in a faster jet. About a half hour later a jet arrived from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, carrying 6 officers who were going along. They were waiting only for a helicopter from Aberdeen Army Proving Facility, Maryland that was bringing the last 3 passengers.
About 2300 (11 PM EDT) three army officers from the Army Vulnerability Assessment Laboratory in Alamogordo, New Mexico arrived by helicopter from Aberdeen, Maryland. At 23:30, Major Andrews was airborne and soon was winging over the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean carrying a strange group of passengers to Germany for he knew not what.
At 1030 German time, Major Andrews landed his C141 Starlifter at Ramstein Air Force Base in Southwestern Germany only about an hour's drive from Belgium. The disembarking passengers were met by a delegation of ranking air force officers including a few generals.
The men of Bravo Company had been told they would have Friday, May 24, 1974 off to catch up on their sleep. they were a little edgy when they were awakened before noon for a "debriefing".
The soldiers who had a direct active part in the mission less than 12 hours earlier met individually with the debriefers. The first debriefing was handled by the three officers from the Vulnerability Assessment laboratory in Alamogordo, NM. they wanted minute specific details about every phase of the operation from what kind of shells were being used to opinions on what type of damage was being done to the target.
The debriefings continued the rest of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning by groups of Air Force Officers. One central theme was repeated over and over to the debriefees: "You weren't up there, nothing happened, and don't ever talk about this to anyone."
The men were warned that if they ever told anyone about what they imagined had happened that they would never work for the government or any government contractors and warned of unspecified dire things that would happen to them should they ever talk. They were told that in following years people would question them about the night and these people would be testing them to see if they would divulge any details and if they did, "Too Bad". Then the men were required to sigh a security oath to never divulge the details of the night and if questioned in the future to deny it ever happened.
The men of Bravo Company felt confused and very irritable for about a week after the incident. The soldiers noted that they did not recognize any of the Air Force officers who debriefed them and they felt that although the officers were all in uniform they did not act like military. The debriefees felt that they were being questioned by civilians in air force uniforms.
More questions are raised about the incident than can be currently answered. Why had the men been on alert in Germany for a week and a half at the same time as a C141 crew was kept on alert in New Jersey for over a week?
Why was the object not picked up on the control tower radar at Ramstein Air force nor by the Chaparral Missile launcher? Was it because both used radio frequency radar whereas the Vulcan Cannons used Doppler radar?
Why would the Army and air force risk showing secret wartime defense emplacements to an incoming MIG?
What could have totally fried the IFF receiver on the Chaparral Missile? (All NATO aircraft then and today carry radio transmitters that emit a specific signal on a specific frequency. Other friendly aircraft and defense emplacements are fitted with IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) receivers that interrupt firing mechanisms on the guns or missiles from firing at each other.)
Why was it that when the soldiers of Bravo Company first saw their weapons systems at the tactical site a few days later, everything had been overhauled and cleaned? Sergeant Yonts' and Tex Thomas' Vulcan Cannons had been totally cleaned and the multiple barrels had been replaced so as no one could tell they had been fired. Sgt McCracken's Chaparral system was cleaned up and the burned up IFF unit replaced.
The official explanation for the incident was that a firepower demonstration was being conducted. But why would live ammunition be used in just a demonstration? Why would live ammunition and missiles be used near a civilian populated area?
Why was a first lieutenant the only officer at the scene? It is obvious that a first lieutenant did not have the authority to order firing live ordinance in peacetime.
Why had the army's chain of command been short circuited, and who gave Lieutenant Cardeni the orders to fire?
Perhaps the answers can be partially found on the afternoon of Saturday, May 25, 1974. Major Andrews and his crew were told to report to their aircraft which was then at a remote spot on the air base.
Major Andrews was shocked to see that a set of metal supports had been constructed on the wings and fuselage of his Starlifter and that something large and ellipsoid had been attached to the supports. Whatever it was was covered with olive drab green canvas tarpaulins with dangling ropes. The airmen returning to the US were already on board the plane.
Mike Andrews noted, when he prepared for takeoff that he had only a minimal fuel load aboard because of the weight on top of his bird. A motorized tractor called a "mule" towed the aircraft to a runway turn on position accompanied by armored security police vehicles with flashing red lights.
Once clearance for takeoff was obtained, the tarpaulins were pulled away and Major Andrews began his takeoff roll. His fuel supply dwindled rapidly as they took off with the heavy load. When they had achieved cruising altitude, a KC-135 was waiting to refuel the C141 with a much larger fuel load.
Major Andrews' orders were that he was not to land until he reached Wright Patterson Air force Base in Ohio and that he would be met by refueling tankers at strategic points across the Atlantic.
It was dark in Ohio when Major Andrews landed to disembark the airmen - all but 4 who were to remain aboard and who then were carrying M16 rifles in addition to their sidearms. The pilots and crew of the C141 were not allowed out of the plane while on the ground and they did not refuel.
Taking off again with a minimal fuel load, the were once again met at altitude by another KC135 tanker and flew on direct to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada where the crew was once again not allowed outside the aircraft as their wing-top cargo was offloaded and taken away again covered completely.
Upon returning to McGuire air Force Base, Major Andrews and his crew were debriefed by an Air force Colonel who told them they had just participated in a highly classified mission and they were never to talk about it to anyone.
For eighteen years they did not nor did the soldiers of Bravo Company.
10/17/07
Copy and Distribute Freely
My blog: http://exopolitics.blogspot.com/
Here is a case that fell though the cracks, that I had forgotten about for years. I just found it recently when going through old files. Apparently I did not give it much attention at the time because it came to me anonymously through the mail about the time Operation Right To Know was getting a lot of national media attention in the early 1990s. I am feeling a bit guilty that I apparently blew this very detailed case off at the time. I guess it is better late than never. Reading it now, it is obvious that if this very detailed story is true, somebody took a very great risk in sending it to me. Maybe it is the best that the story only comes out now because back in the early 1990's whoever wrote this would be in much greater trouble than today.
This is the kind of case that disturbs me greatly. Its cases such as these that appear to me to be flat out unadulterated, premeditated murder, involving a great many people in the US government. This along with other alien abuse cases prompted me to write my Crimes Against Aliens article that can be found at my blog site. Hopefully some serious researcher will take a little trouble to see if the names in the article are real, and if so, see if somebody involved will confirm the report. I had to type this whole story in by hand so I hope folks find value in this story. The report follows:
It was the night of May 23/24, 1974 at the height of the "Cold War". The men of the 4th Platoon, Bravo Company, B Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the 32nd Air Defense Command of the United States Army were deployed in a mountain pass northeast of Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. They were only a few kilometers from Landstuhl - a man-made mountain Adolph Hitler had created to protect his underground bunker/headquarters. Landstuhl was still in use in 1974 connected by an underground trolley to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Ramstein Air Force Base. The men were also very close to a multi-storied German Government Brothel.
First Lieutenant Robert Cardeni of Long Beach, CA was the 4th Platoon Leader and Captain Michael J. Shestak was commanding Bravo Company.
The men were all weary because they had been on this special duty for 10 days alternating every 72 hours with other units. Half of the men would be on duty while the other half slept. They alternated this pattern every 4 hours during their 72 hours of on-duty regimen.
These soldiers had been told the special duty was because the Russians and/or Warsaw Pact forces had been messing around trying out the Western Air defenses. This was a common tactic of both the NATO and Warsaw Pact alliances. Each would send aircraft into each others airspace to see how quickly the radar sites would come on, where they were located, and on what frequencies they were operating and how quickly the other side's fighter aircraft would intercept them. Usually the American forces would achieve missile and gun lockons on the hostile aircraft to scare them and armed American fighters would intercept the "hostiles" and give them the alternative of being escorted home or being shot down.
Up until that point in the "Cold War", the Western response had always been to scare and turn around. But now there seemed to be a big difference as the urgency of the mission was impressed upon the men and the fact that they brought live ammunition for the cannons and live Chaparral Antiaircraft Missiles.
In this eventful night, two Chaparral Missile emplacements were deployed in the valley not far from the whorehouse. The missile sites were linked by field telephones to observers on the mountainside.
Lieutenant Cardeni gave orders to the crews of the Vulcan 20 Millimeter Cannons to load canisters of live high explosive phosphorus rounds into their cannons and to maintain a steady alert. These orders were given about midnight local time.
The Vulcan Cannons had the capability of firing 2000 rounds a minute through their six rotating barrels at a kill and accuracy range of up to 6000 meters.
On the north side of the pass at about the 1050 foot level the Vulcan Cannon emplacement was manned by Specialist Houston "Tex" Thomas from Indio, CA. "Tex" was a big, jovial black man.
About 4000 meters south, the Vulcan Cannons across the pass at about the 850 foot level were manned by Private William Langdon from West Seneca, NY, the top gunner in the 4th Squad. Bill was of Quaker ancestry and was an enigma for not claiming "Conscientious Objector" status.
About 12:45 AM, Lieutenant Cardeni gave orders that something hostile was incoming and that the gunners were to shoot down anything coming through the pass. He stated that no "friendlies" would be flying below 2700 feet and anything else was to be shot down.
At that point, "Bill" Langdon suddenly came in touch with his Quaker upbringing, left his cannon and went back to awaken his squad leader, Aaron Yonts, from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Langdon refused to shoot down anything with someone in it.
The Private said his piece and climbed into one of the auxiliary vehicles and went to sleep while Sgt. Yonts shook himself awake and climbed into the Vulcan Cannon and began adjusting his eyesight to the bright moonlight. Yonts then got on his radio and confirmed that Lt. Cardeni had indeed issued orders to shoot down anything flying under 2700 feet of altitude.
About 1:00 AM local German Time, Sgt. Yonts had his chance as something came down the valley headed for the pass. He described it as a flattened ellipsoid with rounded edges, about 30 feet long, and glowing with a silvery iridescence. He said it was moving at a rapid speed that was impossible to judge accurately as it was apparently trying to be evasive by zigzagging side to side.
It took a few seconds for Sgt. Yonts's Cannon's computer and Doppler radar to calculate a precise speed, range, and direction of travel and to achieve a lockon. When the cannon was locked onto the object and he was visually sighting the object through the reticule gun-sights he began firing. First a few rounds for effect and then three four second bursts of 110 rounds each into the side of the object which was at about eye level.
Sgt. Yonts was almost eye level with the object as he watched his rounds pouring into its sides. He was expecting to see the "blooming flower" effect of the phosphorus rounds exploding but he did not, although he could clearly follow the trail of his shots pouring into the side of the object. "It was as if the shells were being absorbed or being vaporized at the explosion by some sort of "force field"., Yonts said. Yonts' perception was that the rounds were going into invisible tubes that contained the detonations, so that he saw only pie-tin sized explosions but not phosphorus "blooming" that he expected. this was quite a remarkable containment of shells having a 35 meter kill radius.
Sergeant Yonts could observe "Tex" Thomas shooting down on the object from the higher elevation across the pass and he noted that Tex's rounds were trailing the object missing it.
At the same time as the shooting was going on, on the mountainside, Sergeant William McCracken from Pittsburgh, KS was inside the launch control console of a Chaparral Missile Battery in the valley was rotating his console according to directions supplied by his uphill observer (the operator in the launch console could not see out at night because of the reflections on the Plexiglas's bubble from the instruments on his control panel). Up until that point, McCracken had not painted anything on his radar screen. When he had rotated to the 10 o'clock position (a heading of about 300 degrees), Sgt. McCracken saw a green light flashing on his console and heard a warbling tone indicating an infra-red signature lockon. After tuning adjustments, the sergeant pushed the "launch" button and a bright fire ignited on one of the launch rails as a Chaparral Antiaircraft Missile streaked skyward.
The missile climbed to about 900 feet (near the minimum operating altitude of the missile), found the flying object, moved along side of it, turned close in front of it, and detonated its 75 pounds of high explosives warhead. (The Chaparral, designed to bring down conventional aircraft with cockpits near the front. always moved to the front of a target before detonating so as to potentially kill the pilots and disable a plane's engines by shutting off their air.)
The gunners and observers on the two mountain sides, missile crews in the valley, and anyone else not currently known about, saw the target start wobbling and then stop forward motion and finally wobble downward to the valley floor in what the observers believe was a controlled descent.
The cannon and missile crews were ordered to immediately drive their artillery back to the Ramstein Air Force Base Motor Pool which was highly unusual because the artillery was normally stored in its own area for rapid reuse if needed. The crews were also told not to take time to pick up their expended brass - also highly unusual. The crews were told to quickly get the cannons and missile launchers to the motor pool and go right to bed and not to talk to each other about the incident and they would have the next day off.
As the crews were packing, they noticed Air Force Personnel moving into the valley to secure the crash (or landing?) site.
As is expected when someone is ordered not to talk about something, the men couldn't wait to talk about what they had seen once they got back to the barracks. Specialist Thomas swore he was shooting at a MIG-25 and Sergeant Yonts held fast that it was not an airplane at all and neither could the other. Sergeant McCracken from the Chaparral mount said that for all the saw he could have shot down the Oscar Meyer "Wiener Wagon".
At the same time as the American Soldiers were shooting at something in Germany, other events were set in motion in the United States. Major Mike Andrews, from Silver Spring, MD, had spent a week on ready alert duty at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, while his C141 Starlifter sat nearby, serviced and preflighted daily. The major was awaiting orders that would send him and his crew winging off to they knew not where. Now this was unusual because a transport like the C141 was not exactly a B52 bomber.
About 2025 hours (8:25 PM EDT), 1:45 in Germany, Major Andrews' waiting was over as he was handed typed orders. Quickly gathering together his crew, checking the weather, and filing a flight plan. Major Andrews and his crew were airborne at 2100 and flying South Southwest About 2200, they landed at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. They were met by an Air Force Brigadier general and a 50ish civilian bearing CIA identification.
Major Andrews was given sparse details of what was about to be his mission and was told he would be taking aboard air force personnel who would be arriving soon from Wright Patterson and Nellis Air Force Bases and that neither he nor any of his crew were to talk to any of the airmen they would be flying to Germany.
Shortly afterward, 26 airmen from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Ohio arrived carrying large cases of equipment. As they boarded the C141, Major Andrews noted that the airmen were all sergeants of one grade or another and that they all wore blue berets and white ascots and were armed, not with traditional .45 caliber automatic service sidearms, but with ivory handled revolvers. Major Andrews was told that the officers had flown on direct to Germany in a faster jet. About a half hour later a jet arrived from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, carrying 6 officers who were going along. They were waiting only for a helicopter from Aberdeen Army Proving Facility, Maryland that was bringing the last 3 passengers.
About 2300 (11 PM EDT) three army officers from the Army Vulnerability Assessment Laboratory in Alamogordo, New Mexico arrived by helicopter from Aberdeen, Maryland. At 23:30, Major Andrews was airborne and soon was winging over the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean carrying a strange group of passengers to Germany for he knew not what.
At 1030 German time, Major Andrews landed his C141 Starlifter at Ramstein Air Force Base in Southwestern Germany only about an hour's drive from Belgium. The disembarking passengers were met by a delegation of ranking air force officers including a few generals.
The men of Bravo Company had been told they would have Friday, May 24, 1974 off to catch up on their sleep. they were a little edgy when they were awakened before noon for a "debriefing".
The soldiers who had a direct active part in the mission less than 12 hours earlier met individually with the debriefers. The first debriefing was handled by the three officers from the Vulnerability Assessment laboratory in Alamogordo, NM. they wanted minute specific details about every phase of the operation from what kind of shells were being used to opinions on what type of damage was being done to the target.
The debriefings continued the rest of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning by groups of Air Force Officers. One central theme was repeated over and over to the debriefees: "You weren't up there, nothing happened, and don't ever talk about this to anyone."
The men were warned that if they ever told anyone about what they imagined had happened that they would never work for the government or any government contractors and warned of unspecified dire things that would happen to them should they ever talk. They were told that in following years people would question them about the night and these people would be testing them to see if they would divulge any details and if they did, "Too Bad". Then the men were required to sigh a security oath to never divulge the details of the night and if questioned in the future to deny it ever happened.
The men of Bravo Company felt confused and very irritable for about a week after the incident. The soldiers noted that they did not recognize any of the Air Force officers who debriefed them and they felt that although the officers were all in uniform they did not act like military. The debriefees felt that they were being questioned by civilians in air force uniforms.
More questions are raised about the incident than can be currently answered. Why had the men been on alert in Germany for a week and a half at the same time as a C141 crew was kept on alert in New Jersey for over a week?
Why was the object not picked up on the control tower radar at Ramstein Air force nor by the Chaparral Missile launcher? Was it because both used radio frequency radar whereas the Vulcan Cannons used Doppler radar?
Why would the Army and air force risk showing secret wartime defense emplacements to an incoming MIG?
What could have totally fried the IFF receiver on the Chaparral Missile? (All NATO aircraft then and today carry radio transmitters that emit a specific signal on a specific frequency. Other friendly aircraft and defense emplacements are fitted with IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) receivers that interrupt firing mechanisms on the guns or missiles from firing at each other.)
Why was it that when the soldiers of Bravo Company first saw their weapons systems at the tactical site a few days later, everything had been overhauled and cleaned? Sergeant Yonts' and Tex Thomas' Vulcan Cannons had been totally cleaned and the multiple barrels had been replaced so as no one could tell they had been fired. Sgt McCracken's Chaparral system was cleaned up and the burned up IFF unit replaced.
The official explanation for the incident was that a firepower demonstration was being conducted. But why would live ammunition be used in just a demonstration? Why would live ammunition and missiles be used near a civilian populated area?
Why was a first lieutenant the only officer at the scene? It is obvious that a first lieutenant did not have the authority to order firing live ordinance in peacetime.
Why had the army's chain of command been short circuited, and who gave Lieutenant Cardeni the orders to fire?
Perhaps the answers can be partially found on the afternoon of Saturday, May 25, 1974. Major Andrews and his crew were told to report to their aircraft which was then at a remote spot on the air base.
Major Andrews was shocked to see that a set of metal supports had been constructed on the wings and fuselage of his Starlifter and that something large and ellipsoid had been attached to the supports. Whatever it was was covered with olive drab green canvas tarpaulins with dangling ropes. The airmen returning to the US were already on board the plane.
Mike Andrews noted, when he prepared for takeoff that he had only a minimal fuel load aboard because of the weight on top of his bird. A motorized tractor called a "mule" towed the aircraft to a runway turn on position accompanied by armored security police vehicles with flashing red lights.
Once clearance for takeoff was obtained, the tarpaulins were pulled away and Major Andrews began his takeoff roll. His fuel supply dwindled rapidly as they took off with the heavy load. When they had achieved cruising altitude, a KC-135 was waiting to refuel the C141 with a much larger fuel load.
Major Andrews' orders were that he was not to land until he reached Wright Patterson Air force Base in Ohio and that he would be met by refueling tankers at strategic points across the Atlantic.
It was dark in Ohio when Major Andrews landed to disembark the airmen - all but 4 who were to remain aboard and who then were carrying M16 rifles in addition to their sidearms. The pilots and crew of the C141 were not allowed out of the plane while on the ground and they did not refuel.
Taking off again with a minimal fuel load, the were once again met at altitude by another KC135 tanker and flew on direct to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada where the crew was once again not allowed outside the aircraft as their wing-top cargo was offloaded and taken away again covered completely.
Upon returning to McGuire air Force Base, Major Andrews and his crew were debriefed by an Air force Colonel who told them they had just participated in a highly classified mission and they were never to talk about it to anyone.
For eighteen years they did not nor did the soldiers of Bravo Company.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)