"UFO Napster" Guidelines - Ivan Seeking

[Sting]

Ladies and Gentleman,

Ivan Seeking has brough up the idea of a "UFO Napster" of sorts that is similar to the Physics/Math Napster found in the Physics forum. These are the basic guidelines that Ivan has provided as to separate genuine scientific efforts and crackpottery and speculation.

These contributions should abide by these following guidelines:

1). Quotes and links from scientific papers and references

2). Reports from newspapers not found in grocery stores e.g. The National Enquirer, The Star, etc.

3). Major media links e.g. NBC, CBS, BBC etc.

4). Government links, or other official agency links such as foreign government sites, foreign news services, or any otherwise respectable source. Also, no posts from Pravda pllleeeeaaase!

5). Some latitude is allowed but links and posts made in blatant violation of the spirit of this UFO Napster will be deleted upon request.

6). Quotes and links only; no arguments are to be made here.


Any post that violates the general guidelines will be dealt with appropriately.

Any questions or comments, please feel free to IM me. Thanks.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Iran 1976: Military Intelligence Report to the NSA

One of the major UFO events of modern times - known as the Iran 1976 event - provides a nice snapshot of a high quality report.

Listed below are links to .pdf files at the National Security Agency; Freedom of Information Act, UFO results page. Found there are official copies of the original documents. Included in this first file are the distribution list/ routing, and a brief analysis of the event. Then the encounter is described in good detail.

The comments read:

a) [not readable]...necessary for a valid study of a UFO phenomenon.

[not readable]

b) The credibility of the many witnesses was high (an air force general, qualified aircrews, and experienced tower operators).

c) Visual sightings were confirmed by radar.

d) Similar electromagnetic effects (EME) were reported by three separate aircraft.

e) There were physiological effects on some crew members (i.e. loss of night vision due to the brightness of the object).

f) An inordinate amount of maneuver-ability was displayed by the UFO's.

The distribution of this report from defense intelligence includes the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, CIA, NSA, White House, the CSA and others. Be sure to read the entire report.

*This is the original report*
http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/ufo/routing_slip_ufo_iran.pdf
http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/ufo/joint_chiefs_staff_report.pdf

Better copy: see attachedVideo testimony and a reenactment of the events in Iran, with contributions from the former Iranian Government. Less one reference made in a CIA document, I am not aware of any official documentation beyond the report above. There is some information and a few claims made near the end of this video report not found in the NSA document, however I know of no reason to reject the additional details provided. The rest of the story is recounted fairly accurately.
Next, like the Iran '76 event above, this is a classic. One evening I spent about an hour on the telephone with Col Halt - former Deputy Commander of Bentwaters AFB - and I found his account to be most fascinating. A close encounter at RAF Woodbridge [aka the Bentwaters AFB, Rendlesham Forest incident]:

The official report
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/dep_ba1.pdf

Video testimony related to the official document above, and a reenactment of events as described by military personnel.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3492503939374176165&q=UFO+1980+Bentwaters+Woodbridge

The official Ministry of Defense files are linked later in this Napster.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Some reports and resources available from the U.S. government

Many raw UFO reports from the Air Force.
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00031.pdf

350 UFO files from the CIA:
Go to the Freedom of Information Act, CIA homepage; search UFO.
http://www.foia.cia.gov/

FBI foia page for unusual phenomena: [The real X-Files]
http://foia.fbi.gov/unusual.htm

An assorted mix of raw military reports. Many are not UFOs, but some reports are worth a look.
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/assort1.pdf

The NSA, FOIA, UFO Files:
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/

Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff Electronic Reading Room Documents Concerning UFO's
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/

NARA [National Archives and Records Administration]
FOIA Reading Room;
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/foia_reading_room/project_bluebook.html

DOD UFO FAQ page
http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/pis/16.html

Navy FAQ UFO page
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq29-1.htm

CIA:
http://www.odci.gov/csi/studies/97unclass/ufo.html

NASA:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/nasa_u1.pdf

Also, one finds oddities such as this: Communication with E.T [a how to manual]:
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00034.pdf

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Projects Sign and Grudge - the official investigations of the UFO phenomenon begin

Although Project Bluebook [next post below] is the definitive U.S. government study of UFOs, and though this is mainly historical information, projects Sign and Grudge mark the beginning of the official recognition of the UFO phenomenon.

* Many people have researched all of this and copies of the official documents referenced in this post are widely distributed and shown in the media, however I am still working to find official sources on the internet. In many cases these older files have only been available on microfilm at the national archives. Better sources for this information will be added as they become available.*

Sign was instigated following a recommendation from Lt. General Nathan F. Twining, then the head of Air Materiel Command. Just before this, Brig. Gen. George Schulgen, of the Army Air Forces air intelligence division, had completed a preliminary review of the many UFO reports--then called "flying discs" by military authorities--which had received considerable publicity following the Kenneth Arnold sighting of June 24, 1947. Schulgen's study, completed in late July 1947, concluded that the flying discs were real craft. Schulgen then asked Twining and his command, which included the intelligence and engineering divisions located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (then Wright Field), to carry out a more exhaustive review of the data.

Project Sign
http://stinet.dtic.mil/stinet/jsp/d...R+PUBLIC+RELEASE&XPC=&PAG=35+Pages(s)&MC=&PE=

Project Sign was an official U.S. government study of unidentified flying objects undertaken by the United States Air Force in late 1947 and dissolved in late 1948. Though Sign officially came to no conclusion about UFOs, some of the project's personnel came to favor the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Sign
http://rc.nicap.org/sign.htm
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1264.htm
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/hynekint.htm
http://www.ufoscience.org/history/swords.pdf

The Schulgen Memo

...It is the opinion that:
a. The phenomenon is something real and not visionary
or fictitious.

b. There are objects probably approximating the shape of a
disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as man-made
aircraft.

c. There is a possibility that some of the incidents may be
caused by natural phenomena, such as meteors.

d. The reported operating characteristics such as extreme
rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and motion which
must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly air-
craft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects
are controlled either manually, automatically or remotely.[continued]

http://www.project1947.com/fig/schulgen.htm
http://www.roswellfiles.com/pdf/TheRealSchulgenMemo.pdf

The Twining letter
http://www.project1947.com/fig/twinng47.htm

The Walker memo
http://www.roswellfiles.com/Articles/WalkerMemo.htm
http://www.roswellfiles.com/foia.htm

Other 1947 FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] memos: More are coming online every day.
http://www.project1947.com/fig/47docdex.htm

Project Grudge
http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0128982

Project Grudge was a short-lived project by the U.S. Air Force to investigate Unidentified flying objects. Grudge succeeded Project Sign in February, 1949, and was then followed by Project Blue Book. The project formally ended in December, 1949, but actually continued on in a very minimal capacity until late-1951

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Grudge
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1972.htm
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc728.htm

Until I can provide official sources for everything, in spite of appearances, this site does have a respectable database of official document photos: http://www.blackvault.com/

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Project Bluebook and the USAF on UFO's.

Project Bluebook:

The official position
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/proj_b1.pdf

Online Archive
http://www.bluebookarchive.org/browse.aspx

Condon Report
http://ncas.sawco.com/condon/

*Analysis of Condon Report*
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/ufo_reports/sturrock_condon/toc.html

Unsolved Bluebook cases
http://www.nicap.org/bluebook/bluelist.htm
http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/bluebookunknowns-v1-6.pdf

Secretary of Defense on the end of project Bluebook
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/asdpa1.pdf

Note: It is widely argued that Condon's summary of the report is not representitive of the report. I suggest a complete review before drawing any conclusions.

Also see:
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/ufo_reports/sturrock_condon/toc.html
http://www.ufoskeptic.org/condon.html
http://www.nicap.org/conrep.htm
http://www.cohenufo.org/nicapcondon.htm

Ruppelt - Former head of Project Bluebook

In the summer of 1952 a United States Air Force F-86 jet interceptor shot at a flying saucer.

This fact, like so many others that make up the full flying saucer story has never before been told.

I know the full story about flying saucers and I know that it has never before been told because I organized and was chief of the Air Force Project Blue Book, the special project set up to investigate and analyze unidentified flying object, or UFO reports. (UFO is the official term that I created to replace the words 'flying saucers.") [continued]

http://www.nicap.org/rufo/contents.htm

U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS AND AIR FORCE PROJECT BLUE BOOK

From 1947 to 1969, the Air Force investigated Unidentified Flying Objects under Project Blue Book. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was terminated Dec. 17, 1969. Of a total of 12,618 sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remained "unidentified."

The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;" a review of the University of Colorado's report by the National Academy of Sciences; previous UFO studies and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports during 1940 to 1969.

As a result of these investigations, studies and experience gained from investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book were:

No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security;

There was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of modern scientific knowledge; and

There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.
[Note by Ivan: The chief scientist for project bluebook - Hynek - disputes this statement]

With the termination of Project Blue Book, the Air Force regulation establishing and controlling the program for investigating and analyzing UFOs was rescinded. Documentation regarding the former Blue Book investigation was permanently transferred to the Modern Military Branch, National Archives and Records Service, and is available for public review and analysis.

Since the termination of Project Blue Book, nothing has occurred that would support a resumption of UFO investigations by the Air Force. Given the current environment of steadily decreasing defense budgets, it is unlikely the Air Force would become involved in such a costly project in the foreseeable future.

There are a number of universities and professional scientific organizations that have considered UFO phenomena during periodic meetings and seminars. A list of private organizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in "Encyclopedia of Associations," published by Gale Research. Interest in and timely review of UFO reports by private groups ensures that sound evidence is not overlooked by the scientific community. Persons wishing to report UFO sightings should be advised to contact local law enforcement agencies.

POINT OF CONTACT
Requests for copies of records and general information about Project Blue Book should be sent to: Modern Military Records, National Archives, 8601 Adelphi Rd, College Park, MD 20740-6001, (301)713-7250

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=188

The general position of the USAF:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/usaf_f1.pdf

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Some scientific papers and essays on UFOs

I will be adding here from time to time

*The COMETA Report: Description*

On Friday July 16, 1999 an important document was published in France entitled, UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for? ("Les Ovni Et La Defense: A quoi doit-on se préparer?"). This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs...

Its name, "COMETA" stands for "Committee for in-depth studies." A non-exhaustive list of members is given at the beginning which is quiteimpressive. It includes:

General Bruno Lemoine, of the Air Force (FA of IHEDN)
Admiral Marc Merlo, (FA of IHEDN)
Michel Algrin, Doctor in Political Sciences, attorney at law (FA of IHEDN)
General Pierre Bescond, engineer for armaments (FA of IHEDN)
Denis Blancher, Chief National Police superintendent at the Ministry of the Interior
Christian Marchal, chief engineer of the national Corps des Mines and Research Director at the National Office of Aeronautical Research (ONERA)
General Alain Orszag, Ph.D. in physics, armaments engineer
The committee also expresses its gratitude to outside contributors including Jean-Jacques Vélasco, head of SEPRA at CNES, François Louange, President of Fleximage, specialist in photo analysis, and General Joseph Domange, of the Air Force, general delegate of the Association of Auditors at IHEDN...

In its conclusion, COMETA claims that the physical reality of UFOs, under control of intelligent beings, is "quasi-certain." Only one hypothesis takes into account the available data: the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitors. This hypothesis is of course unproven, but has far-reaching consequences. The goals of these alleged visitors remain unknown but must be the subject of speculations and prospective scenarios. [continued]

http://www.cufos.org/cometa.html

*COMETA Report*
http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/Cometa.htm

Alternate source:
The COMETA Report Part 1
http://www.narcap.org/COMETA_Part1.pdf
The COMETA Report Part 2
http://www.narcap.org/COMETA_Part2.pdf


Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) in the UK Air Defence Region
Project Condign

During a policy review in 1996 into the handling of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sighting reports received by the Ministry of Defence, a study was undertaken to determine the potential value, if any, of such reports to Defence Intelligence. Consistent with Ministry of Defence policy, the available data was studied principally to ascertain whether there is any evidence of a threat to the UK, and secondly, should the opportunity arise, to identify any potential military technologies of interest.

The Ministry of Defence has released this report in response to a Freedom of Information request and we are pleased to now make it available to a wider audience via the MOD Freedom of Information Publication Scheme. Where indicated information is withheld in accordance with Section 26 (Defence), Section 27 (International Relations) and Section 40 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/PublicationScheme/SearchPublicationScheme/UnidentifiedAerialPhenomenauapInTheUkAirDefenceRegion.htm
See also:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/projectcondign.htm

INFLATION-THEORY IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITATION
J. Deardorff, B. Haisch, B. Maccabee and H.E. Puthoff
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol 58, pp. 43-50, 2005.
http://www.ufoskeptic.org/JBIS.pdf

Are UFO Events related to Sidereal Time - Jacques F. Vallee
http://www.ufoskeptic.org/Vallee_LST.pdf
PF Thread

The UFO Controversy in America
by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, 1975
http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/ufocontroversy.pdf

Refuting Fermi: John B Alexander Ph.D.
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc311.htm

What Is The Responsibility Of The Scientist?
by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, 1966
http://www.nicap.org/whatresp.htm

UFOs, Social Intelligence, and the Condon Committee:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05082000-09580026/unrestricted/UFOCRITIQUE.pdf

Still in Default
by Dr. Bruce Maccabee
http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/stillindefault.pdf

Physical Evidence Related to UFO Reports
The Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the
Pocantico Conference Center, Tarrytown, New York
September 29 – October 4, 1997 :
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/ufo_reports/sturrock/toc.html

Unidentified Flying Objects: An Historical Perspective
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Design Engineering Conference
George W. Earley
Americana Hotel, New York City
May 15-18, 1967
http://www.nicap.org/histper.htm

FIFTY-SIX AIRCRAFT PILOT SIGHTlNGS INVOLVING
ELECTROMAGNETIC EFFECTS
Richard F. Haines, Ph.D.
Copyright 1992
http://www.nicap.org/papers/92apsiee.htm

"The UFO hypothesis and Survival Questions"
---declassified from SECRET.
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00035.pdf

Atmosphere or UFO?
by Bruce Maccabee Ph.D.
Optical physicist for the Navy Deparment
--on RADAR events
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/maccabee/1.html

ACCELERATION
Bruce S. Maccabee, Ph.D.
http://www.nidsci.org/articles/maccabee/acceleration.html

The Case for the Extraterrestrial Origins of Flying Saucers
by Stanton Friedman
http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/friedman.pdf

PANEL URGES STUDY OF UFO REPORTS
Unexplained Phenomena Need Scrutiny, Science Group Says
By Kathy Sawyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 29, 1998; Page A01
http://www.aliensonearth.com/misc/1998/jun/d29-001.shtml

Re: French Government UFO Study
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00012.pdf

UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA
EIGHTY YEARS OF PILOT SIGHTINGS
Catalog of Military, Airliner, Private Pilots’ Sightings from 1916 to 2000
http://www.ufoevidence.org/newsite/files/WeinsteinPilotCatalog.pdf

USAF contacts with the Joint Intelligence Committee regarding UFOs.
http://www.cufos.org/IUR_article1.html

The Rockefeller Report:
http://www.cohenufo.org/authorsc.html#rckrpt

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS; DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS - USAF
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/afu.htm

THE UFO PROBLEM: TIME FOR A REASSESSMENT
A Thesis Submitted to the Air and Staff College of
Air University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for Graduation - June 1968.
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/afthes2.htm

Aviation Safety in America
A Previously Neglected Factor (1)
By Richard F. Haines
http://www.narcap.org/REPORTS/AIRSAFETY_P1.HTM

A Preliminary Study of Sixty Four Pilot Sighting Reports
Involving Alleged Electro-Magnetic Effects on Aircraft Systems
http://www.narcap.org/REPORTS/Emcarm.htm

PROJECT 1947
http://www.nicap.org/schulgen.htm

From Richard Hall, former Assistant Diretor of NICAP
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00009.pdf

UFO Files: The Untold Story
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00004.pdf

"Now You See It, Now You Don't" by Captain Henry S. Shields, HQ USAFE/INOMP
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00016.pdf

More Scientific papers and reviews:
Go to SSE and search UFO at the top of the page.

See also NICAP, http://www.nidsci.org/articles/articles1.php , and UFO Skeptic

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Quotes of note

“I know that neither Russia nor this country has anything even approaching such high speeds and maneuvers. Behind the scenes high ranking officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs, but through official secrecy and ridicule many citizens are led to believe that the unknown flying objects are nonsense.”

Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, Former Director of the CIA.
1960 NICAP press conference

"When Prof. Peter Sturrock, a prominent Stanford University plasma physicist, conducted a survey of the membership of the American Astronomical Society he found that astronomers who spent time reading up on the UFO phenomenon developed more interest in it. If there were nothing to it, you would expect the opposite."

Bernard Haisch, Ph.D.,
Director of the California Institute For Physics and Astrophysics

[1998] "An international panel of scientists that convened to ponder the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors was not about to answer that question, but they said the physical evidence in some UFO sightings merits further serious scientific review." --- A.P. Release

See 1998 Scientific review of the UFO question

"The definitive resolution of the UFO enigma will not come about unless and until the problem is subjected to open and extensive scientific study by the normal procedures of established science. This requires a change in attitude primarily on the part of scientists and administrators in universities." (Sturrock, Peter A., Report on a Survey of the American Astronomical Society concerning the UFO Phenomenon, Stanford University Report SUIPR 68IR, 1977.)

"Although... the scientific community has tended to minimize the significance of the UFO phenomenon, certain individual scientists have argued that the phenomenon is both real and significant. Such views have been presented in the Hearings of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics [and elsewhere]. It is also notable that one major national scientific society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, set up a subcommittee in 1967 to 'gain a fresh and objective perspective on the UFO phenomenon.'
In their public statements (but not necessarily in their private statements), scientists express a generally negative attitude towards the UFO problem, and it is interesting to try to understand this attitude. Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon. To a scientist, the main source of hard information (other than his own experiments' observations) is provided by the scientific journals. With rare exceptions, scientific journals do not publish reports of UFO observations. The decision not to publish is made by the editor acting on the advice of reviewers. This process is self-reinforcing: the apparent lack of data confirms the view that there is nothing to the UFO phenomenon, and this view works against the presentation of relevant data." (Sturrock, Peter A., "An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project," Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1987.)"

-- Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, Professor of Space Science and Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the Center for Space Sciences and Astrophysics at Stanford University; Director of the Skylab Workshop on Solar Flares in 1977

"During the years that I have been its consultant, the Air Force has consistently argued that UFO's were either hoaxes, hallucinations or misinterpretations of natural phenomena. For the most part I would agree with the Air Force. As a professional astronomer--I am chairman of the department of astronomy at Northwestern University--I have had no trouble explaining the vast majority of the reported sightings. But I cannot explain them all. Of the 15,000 cases that have come to my attention, several hundred are puzzling, and some of the puzzling incidents, perhaps one in 25, are bewildering. I have wanted to learn much more about these cases than I have been able to get from either the reports or the witnesses...Getting at the truth of "flying saucers" has been extraordinarily difficult because the subject automatically engenders such instantaneous reactions and passionate beliefs. Nearly all of my scientific colleagues, I regret to say, have scoffed at the reports of UFO's as so much balderdash, although this was a most unscientific reaction since virtually none of them had ever studied the evidence. Until recently my friends in the physical sciences wouldn't even discuss UFO's with me. The subject, in fact, rarely came up. My friends were obviously mystified as to how I, a scientist, could have gotten mixed up with "flying saucers" ---Saturday Evening Post: 1966

-- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Professor emeritus and chairman of the astronomy department at Northwestern University. Earlier, he was director of the Lundheimer Astronomical Research Center at Northwestern. He has written astronomy books and articles that have appeared in numerous science journals, as well as an astronomy column for Science Digest magazine. He was chief scientist for NASA's satellite tracking program, and for twenty years was the scientific consultant to the United States Air Force in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. He is credited with coining the phrase "close encounters of the third kind" and was Steven Spielberg's technical consultant on the film of that name. Dr. Hynek died in April 1986.

"The UFO was bouncing around the 747. [It] was a huge ball with lights running around it….Well, I’ve been involved in a lot of cover-ups with the FAA. When we gave the presentation to the Reagan staff, they had all those people swear that this never happened. But they never had me swear it never happened. I can tell you what I’ve seen with my own eyes. I’ve got a videotape. I’ve got the voice tape. I’ve got the reports that were filed that will confirm what I’ve been telling you."

John Callahan
FAA Division Chief of Accidents and Investigations

" I have no doubt that something landed at this U.S. Air Force base [Bentwaters] and I have no doubt that it has got the people concerned into a considerable state. The Ministry of Defense has doggedly stuck to it's normal line, that nothing of defense interest took place. Either large numbers of people , including the commanding general at Bentwaters,were hallucinating, and for an American Air Force nuclear base , this is extremely dangerous - or what they say did happen.
In either of these circumstances, there can be only one answer - that it was of extreme defense interest to the U.K."

Admiral Lord Hill-Norton;
Former chief of the British Defense Staff

"I have frequently been asked why a person of my background—a former Chief of the Defense Staff, a former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee—why I think there is a cover-up [of] the facts about UFOs. I believe governments fear that if they did disclose those facts, people would panic. I don’t believe that at all. There is a serious possibility that we are being visited by people from outer space. It behooves us to find out who they are, where they come from, and what they want."

Admiral Lord Hill-Norton;
Former chief of the British Defense Staff

"A saucer flew right over [us], put down three landing gears, and landed out on the dry lakebed. [The cameramen] went out there with their cameras towards the UFO….I had a chance to hold [the film] up to the window. Good close-up shots. There was no doubt in my mind that it was made someplace other than on this earth."

Mercury & Gemini Astronaut, Colonel Gordon Cooper

“…I firmly believe it is time for openness and disclosure by the government”

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell on the subject of UFOs

"There is a [military] publication called JANAP 146E that has a section that says you will not reveal any information regarding the UFO phenomenon under penalty of $10,000 fine and ten years in jail. So the secret has been kept."

US Navy Pilot, Lieutenant Frederick Fox

"What I found [in doing research for the book Project Delta] was compelling evidence to claim that most of these aerial objects far exceeded the terrestrial technology of the era in which they were seen. I was forced to conclude that there is a great likelihood that Earth is being visited by highly advanced aerospace vehicles under highly 'intelligent' control indeed."

-Dr. Richard F. Haines, retired NASA senior research scientist at Ames Research Center and the Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science where he worked on the International Space Station.--From the preface of his book, CE-5, 1998.

[The UFO] was buried in the side of a cliff. When I first saw it, I was scared. I think the creatures calmed me….[Later] I was arrested [by an Air Force officer]. He was saying, "Do you like the Constitution?" I’m like, "Yeah." He said, "We don’t obey. We just do what we want. And if you tell anybody [about us or the UFO], you will just come up missing."

Marine Corps, Corporal Jonathan Weygandt

A red and green glowing orb radiated as it hurtled across the southwestern Georgia skies that January 1969 evening. Ten minutes later, it vanished. That was Jimmy Carter's story — and he's sticking to it. Carter, then Georgia's governor, became the first major politician to risk achieving "crackpot" status by claiming he had had a close encounter."... "I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs," Carter said at a Southern Governors Conference a few years later. "I've seen one myself."

Former President Jimmy Carter
ABC News interview

"If aliens exist, or if aliens don't exist, either way, it is a frightening thought. If aliens don't exist, then we are alone, and that's very scary. If we are not alone, that's even scarier, because look at the history of what happens when different civilizations collided in the last four hundred years."

Arthur C. Clarke

~ The question is not whether or not UFOs are crafts flown by aliens. The question is: Are any?

Stanton Friedman

“Of course it is possible that UFO's really do contain aliens, as many people believe, and the government is hushing it up. I couldn't possibly comment!"

Stephen Hawking: Millennium speech; The White House.

More quotes of note:
http://www.ufocasebook.com/ufoquotes1.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

DOD News Conference of note

]http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug1997/t08051997_t0805asd.html

Q: On the UFO study that the CIA did over the weekend, or it was released or reported on over the weekend -- as Pentagon spokesman are you concerned about a report that says that the government willfully misled individuals to conceal programs?

A: I've read the CIA study, and I have read what they said about the Air Force. It's their characterization of what the Air Force said. I have not gone back and checked what the Air Force said at the time, so I'd prefer not to comment on what the study said. It is not the policy of Secretary Cohen or any of the people who work for him to mislead the public.

Q: Were you at all aware of any misleading of the public that was done by the Air Force prior?

A: I was not aware of that. I will say that one interesting aspect of the report was that for years, UFO people have been charging that we've covered up the fact that there really are UFOs, and the CIA study confirms, as has every other study done by the government, that we have no evidence of UFOs. We have no evidence of extraterrestrial visitors to this planet. The study goes on to say that one explanation for many of these sightings might have been airplanes that were being tested at the time.

Q: Do you think that applies to any programs that might be tested now, or can you say categorically that the Department does not engage in that kind of public relations activity in terms of programs that are perhaps flying today?

A: First of all, we certainly have classified programs and we certainly have legitimate reasons for not disclosing some of the work we're doing, whether it's research and development or whether it's operations. I am not aware that we are putting out stories that misstate the truth about those programs. The distinction would be we just don't talk about the programs at all, so I certainly wouldn't talk about any of those programs today.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Roswell

Not one of my favorite subjects, this is some of the best information available.

The USAF on Roswell:
http://www.af.mil/library/roswell/

http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00039.pdf

GAO report on Roswell to Congressman Schiff of New Mexico:
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00032.pdf

A few observations:
Note 1:
Page 3 of the government response to Roswell states:
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00039.pdf

There is no dispute, however, that something happened near Roswell in July, 1947, since it was reported in a number of newspaper articles; the most famous of which were the July 8 and July 9 editions of the Roswell Daily Record. The July 8 edition reported “RAFF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region.”

However, on page 1, paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the General Accounting Office report requested by Congressman Schiff, we find:
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00032.pdf

“On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) public information office in Roswell, New Mexico, reported the crash and recovery of a ‘flying disc’. Army Air Force personnel from the RAAF’s 509th Bomb Group were credited with the recovery.”

Note 2:
A handwritten entry by Hoover; see page 45 of pdf#1 in the FBI UFO files.
http://foia.fbi.gov/ufo/ufo1.pdf

July 15th, 1947; responding to the urging of others for the FBI to stay out of the UFO business, Hoover writes the following: "I would do it but before agreeing to it we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance in the [unreadable] case the army grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination".

On television and in most of the current Roswell literature, this quote is often cited as evidence that Hoover had a continuing interest in the Roswell disc and the "other discs recovered". Here, it is shown that Hoover was asking about at least one case where the disc was known to be sixteen inches in diameter. I suspect that he was concerned about these being Soviet spying devices or weapons. Or, perhaps he was simply interested in arresting hoaxers, but I doubt he was interested due to concerns about ET.

Please see this handwritten entry by Hoover; page 45 of pdf#1 in the FBI UFO files.
http://foia.fbi.gov/ufo.htm
July 15th, 1947; responding to the urging of others for the FBI to stay out of the UFO business, Hoover writes the following:

I would do it but before agreeing to it we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance in the [unreadable] case the army grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination

Next, Hoover's memo is quoted and we see that the unreadable portion is the La. case. Please see the FBI pdf file; the first paragraph of p 38.
http://foia.fbi.gov/ufo/ufo1.pdf

Here is the definitive doc that shows clear knowledge by the FBI that the saucer in the La. case is "sixteen inches in diameter".
See p 4 of 79 of the FBI pdf #2:
http://foia.fbi.gov/ufo/ufo2.pdf

It turns out that Bruce Maccabee makes this point clear in his book: The UFO/FBI Connection [2000].

Note 3:

Barely noticeable in one of the 1947 photos and clutched in Gen. Ramey's left hand is a slip of paper (boxed in red). Probably unwittingly, Gen. Ramey had the text side facing towards the camera, allowing the text on this paper to be photographed. When blown up and analyzed, it tells a remarkably different story of events from the one Ramey or contemporary Air Force counter-intelligence wants you to believe.

http://www.roswellproof.homestead.com/

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A few notable UFO case reports more than 50 years old

I will be adding to this post from time to time.

Lakenheath/Bentwaters; 1956
A RADAR/visual case not to be confused with the Bentwaters AFB/ RAF Woodbridge, 1980 case.

Francis Ridge:
Many UFOlogists are aware of this case, but most other people are not. This is undoubtedly one of the most important UFO events in the Blue Book files, but, surprisingly, was not listed among the "unknowns". The case impressed Dr. James E. McDonald and Dr. J. Allen Hynek, and even more notably, the Condon Committee. This is another intercept mission where a pilot, faced with an unknown form of reality, was very frightened by his nocturnal encounter.

The Condon Report:
"... this is the most puzzling and unusual case in the radar-visual files. The apparently rational, intelligent behavior of the UFO suggests a mechanical device of unknown origin as the most probable explanation of this sighting. However, in view of the inevitable fallibility of witnesses, more conventional explanations of this report cannot be entirely ruled out."

http://www.nicap.org/lakendir.htm

Commentary on Lakenheath by Dr. James E. McDonald:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc632.htm

Missing F-89 Case; Michigan; 1953:
http://www.cufon.org/kinross/Kinross_acc_rept.htm
http://www.cufon.org/kinross/kinross_missing.htm
http://www.nuforc.org/mancla.html
http://www.nicap.org/kinrossdir.htm

The Ellsworth AFB; 1953

..."This was an unknown, one of the best", a ground witnessed visual, with a ground radar tracking, and the pursuit of the object by a jet interceptor that also locked on with its radar, with all the maneuvers independently verified. The UFO was playing a cat & mouse game with an F-84 "Thunderjet"...

http://www.nicap.org/ellsworthdir.htm

UFO's over Washington DC, 1952:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A31625-2002Jul19&notFound=true
http://www.spartechsoftware.com/dimensions/aliens/UFOWashington.htm
http://www.rense.com/general8/flew.htm
http://www.subversiveelement.com/UFOWashingtonDC.html

The Nash/Fortenberry Sighting; 1952
http://www.ufocasebook.com/nashfortenberrysighting1952.html
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case92.htm
http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/tulien.pdf

The McMinnville UFO; 1950:
http://www.nicap.org/mcmindir.htm
http://www.debunker.com/texts/BSMtrentPJK.html
http://www.nicap.org/cufospaper2.htm

Fargo, North Dakota - aka The Gorman/Fargo Incident; 1948

Captain Edward J. Ruppelt wrote in his book (The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects) that it was just a matter of days after the top secret Estimate of the Situation was signed, sealed, and sent on its way, that the third big sighting of 1948 took place. This was the famous Fargo, ND case, one of the cases "that 'proved' to ATIC's intelligence analysts that UFOs were real." Small lights in the sky are easy prey for the skeptics, until one reads the details of the reports.[continued]

http://www.nicap.org/gormandir.htm

The Kenneth Arnold Case; Near Mt. Ranier, Washington; June 24, 1947
This is widely perceived as the case that started the modern UFO era
http://www.nicap.org/arnolddir.htm

Note: If you look at Arnolds original report sketch at the bottom of the page http://www.nicap.org/arnoldka.htm . Also, it was the next day - July 8th, 1947 - that the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) public information office reported the recovery of a crashed disc.

Los Angeles; 1942:
One major WWII UFO event is inappropriately called The Battle of Los Angeles. I have some direct knowledge of this event since my father and other family members were there. The newspaper reports are widely available and the only real question is at what, if anything, did the civil defenses of Los Angeles fire over 1400 anti-aircraft rounds in 1942. The following link provides mostly factual information. Please ignore any introductory hype. The reports that follow are directly from the local papers of the time. Next, a link to Bruce Maccabee's analysis of the photos is given.
http://www.rense.com/ufo/battleofLA.htm
http://www.rense.com/general28/histla.htm
PF Thread
http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BOLA1.html

This appears to be the actual news broadcast reporting on the event.
WMP: http://mfile.akamai.com/5022/wma/coast.download.akamai.com/5022/clips/05/12/120705_cbs_news_ufo.asx
Real Player: http://mfile.akamai.com/5022/rm/coast.download.akamai.com/5022/clips/05/12/120705_cbs_news_ufo.ram

More from WWII:
http://www.ufo.it/german/

Himalayas; 1929:
I contacted the Roerich Museum in New York and confirmed the following quote. The curator’s assistant, being very familiar with this excerpt, then added that Roerich’s wife was also on this expedition. In her diary she comments that this must have been a craft with people from somewhere else; then she suggests the existence of life on other planets. [Ivan]

“On August fifth [1929] - something remarkable! We were in our camp in the Kukunor district not far from the Humboldt Chain. In the morning about half-past nine some of our caravaneers noticed a remarkably big black eagle flying over us. Seven of us began to watch this unusual bird. At this same moment another of our caravaneers remarked, ‘There is something far above the bird’. And he shouted in his astonishment. We all saw, in a direction from north to south, something big and shiny reflecting the sun, like a huge oval moving at great speed. Crossing our camp the thing changed in its direction from south to southwest. And we saw how it disappeared in the intense blue sky. We even had time to take our field glasses and saw quite distinctly an oval form with shiny surface, one side of which was brilliant from the sun.”
-----Nicholas Roerich, Altai-Himalaya

Next, from the San Francisco Call, Nov 26, 1896: This light was observed by many prominent individuals including Deputy Secretary of State George A. McCalvy, District Attorney Frank D. Ryan, and E. D. McCabe, the governor's personal secretary.

"When [the mysterious light] first appeared it was seen moving rapidly from the northeast and heading in a southwesterly direction. As it neared the southern boundary of the city [of Sacramento] it turned directly toward the west and after passing the city went south, being distinctly visible for upward of 20 minutes."

Other potential references:

45,000 BC China: Rock carvings of round UFO-like objects have been found in China's Hunan province. The depictions date back to age of the Neanderthals.

12,000 BC China: The Dropa, the name given to visitors from Sirius, came down from the clouds with their air gliders.

8000 BC Australia: The Aborigine believed in "dawn beings" from the stars. Australian aboriginal cave drawings depict celestial beings, with antenna and x-ray style drawings. They were very advanced in "aerodynamics". The boomerang is identical to a modern day aircraft wing. Aborigine means "from the beginning".

4000 BC The Sumerians from today’s Iraq had contact with extraterrestrial civilizations according to their text. The extraterrestrials also interbred with humans and traveled with them to the stars. The kings were taken to the stars by the extraterrestrials. Sumerian text coincides with "the book of genesis". Their astronomy was highly developed. They had numbers with 15 digits! The Sumerians say extraterrestrials are from Mars, the star system Pleiades, and the star Sirius. Sumerian text shows drawings of solar system.

3000 BC China: From the book " Memories of the Sovereigns and the Kings " published in the 3rd century AD, in China, in the third millennium B.C., before the birth of Huang Ti or of Chi You , "sons from the sky", would descend to Earth on a star which was the shape of a saucer. [continued]

http://www.bibleufo.com/ufos.htm

Potential references to UFOs in art and literature.
http://ufos.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=ufos&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crystalinks.com%2Fufohistory.html
http://www.ufoartwork.com/

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The Foo Fighters of WWII

Foo-Fighters

From CUFON - UFO Information Service Seattle, Washington

History of UFO's During World War II
During world war II the accumulation of sightings of mysterious celestial objects, finally started to worry the military authorities.

In both camps, high-ranking officials of the intelligence services started to study these strange objects and investigation committees composed of military and scientific personnel were set up in various countries. They had a double purpose: first of all to determine the nature of these flying objects and then to see if they constituted a threat to the security of the nation.

During world war II, the Allies, just like the Germans, noticed the presence of these enigmatic flying objects above their secret bases. The first reaction of each side was obviously to suspect espionage on the part of their enemy.

In 1943 the British were the first to set up a special group to enquire into the question of these object. The British set up a small organization to collect evidence. It was headed by Lieutenant General Massey and was inspired by reports from a spy who, in fact was a double agent operating under the orders of the Mayor of Cologne. He had confirmed that the "Foo-fighters" were not German devices, but that the Germans thought that they were Allied weapons which, of course, the British knew was not so.

Later in 1966, was learned from the British Aviation Minister that project Massey had been officially classified in 1944. Perhaps it was pure coincidence, but the double agent was denounced and executed at the beginning of that year. For their part the Germans did not remain inactive. But in 1944, the Wehemacht asked Oberkommando of the "Luftwaffe (aviation)" to set up a center to collect information on all the various sightings of these mysterious celestial objects.

This was known as Sonderburo No 13 which, until the time of the German defeat scrupulously applied itself to its job. The short time that this commission was in existence prevented it from coming to any definite conclusions, but it collected an impressive amount of information.

The first sighting, studied by the Sonderburo, went back two years and came from Hauptmann Fischer, an engineer in civil life. On March 14,1942, at 5:35 p.m., Fischer landed at the secret air base at Banak, in Norway. At that instant the radar picked up a luminous object and Fischer was asked to go up and identify it. At about 10,000 feet the pilot caught sight of the object, and gave a description by radio to the base: an enormous streamlined craft about 300 feet long and about 50 feet in diameter. The "aerial whale" which was Fischer's title for it stayed horizontal for a long moment before rising vertically and disappearing at great speed.

It was not a machine constructed by the hand of man, Fischer stated in his report. On reading the report, Air Marshall Hermann Goering concluded that the solitude of the north does not seem to have done much for this pilot.

The report of another interesting incident was carefully preserved in the archives of the German Investigation Committee: that of the launching of an experimental rocket on February 12, 1944, at the Kummersdorf test center.

On that day the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, S.S. Reichsfuhrer Himmler and S.S. Gruppenfuhrer Heinz Kammler were present at the launching which was being filmed. Some days later the authorities at the base organized a showing of the film. The astonished spectators, could see very clearly a spherical body which followed the rocket and circled around it.

The authorities immediately suspected Allied espionage. However, an agent informed Himmler that the English were themselves victims of the same sort of phenomenon and thought that it was a new type of German prototype craft. However, the most convincing evidence filed away by the Sonderburo came from a military flying ace.

On September 29, 1944, at 10:45 a.m., a test pilot was trying out a new Messerschmitt jet, ME 262 Schwalbe, when his attention was suddenly caught by two luminous points situated on his right. He shot at full speed in that direction and found himself face to face with a cylindrical object, more than three hundred feet long with some openings along its side, and fitted with long antennae placed in front up to about halfway along its length. Having approached within about 1,500 feet of the craft the pilot was amazed to see that it was moving at a speed of more than 1,200 m.p.h.

See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter
http://www.qtm.net/~geibdan/newse/foo/
http://www.qtm.net/~geibdan/newse/foo/foo2.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Some Major events of the last 50 years

RB-47 over the Gulf of Mexico; 1957

If we had to list only ten of the very best UFO cases on record, the RB-47 UFO incident would be on that list.

http://www.nicap.org/rb47dir.htm
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case665.htm

Father Gill and the night visitors; 1959:
http://www.nicap.org/en-590626rep.htm

Betty and Barney Hill: 1961
Note: I normally stay away from "abducties" but this case is considered a classic...(Classic what I'm not sure)
Considered by many to be the original modern abduction case.
http://www.nicap.org/hilldir.htm

The Big Sur missile test filming: 1964
http://www.nicap.org/bigsurdir.htm
Note: I attempted to speak with Mr Mansmann a couple of times. Unfortunately he was too ill to speak and then passed away. I did speak with his wife twice and she was kind enough to have a short discussion with me on both occasions. According to Mrs. Mansmann, Mr. Mansmann maintained the truth of this story until his death last year.

Shag Harbor; 1967
[the NICAP link had been redirected]
http://www.ufocasebook.com/Shagharbor.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shag_Harbour_incident

Mansfield, Ohio, Coyne Helicopter Incident; 1973

This case is cited by many as being on most researcher's "top ten" list.

http://www.nicap.org/coynedir.htm

The FOIA document for this event:
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/foia_007.htm

Bentwaters AFB: 1980
AKA the RAF Woodbridge, or Rendlesham Forest incident. The two bases are separated by Rendlesham Forest.
Temp note: The link for the UK's Ministry Of Defense files is now dead. Until updated, the files can be downloaded from this site:
http://www.ufocasebook.com/pdffiles.html
See also:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/dep_ba1.pdf
http://www.flyingsaucery.com/Rendlesham/

JAL Flight 1628 over Alaska: 1986
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache...+JAL+1628+UFO+Alaska&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8
http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/JALalaska.htm

Belgium; 1989-1991:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/belgium.htm
http://www.cohenufo.org/Belgium/unslvdmyst.html

London: 1999

A UFO that narrowly avoided colliding with a passenger jet flying from London's Heathrow Airport has baffled aviation experts.

The metallic grey-coloured object was spotted by the pilots of an Oslo-bound McDonnell Douglas MD81 plane on 12 June 1998, and passed just 20-50 metres from them. [continued]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/448267.stm

Illinois:2000

After multiple telephone calls to the locale, NIDS dispatched two investigators to the location to conduct face-to-face interviews with eyewitnesses. The following can be summarized from the interview transcripts:


The civilian, who had driven to his miniature golf course in Highland at 4:01 AM, reported an object like ?a floating house? with very bright internal lights flying at a low altitude from northeast and moving southwest. The object was two to three stories high and was the length of a football field. The eyewitness immediately drove to the Highland PD and reported the sighting. The police dispatcher from Highland contacted The Central Communications dispatcher from St. Clair County, who in turn requested the Lebanon Police Department to look out for the object.

At approximately 4:10 am the police officer from Lebanon, responding to the dispatch from Highland, reported a low flying ?massive elongated triangle? emitting intense white light. The object came to within 1000 feet of the witness and then appeared to rotate slowly and fly extremely quickly and suddenly across the sky toward Shiloh, Illinois. The maneuver was executed with no noise. The officer had turned off his vehicle engine, his light bar and his main police radio so that he could listen for noise.

A police officer from Shiloh reported a large black arrowhead shaped craft that was moving slowly. The object then gathered speed and flew about four to five miles across the sky at a very high rate of speed. According to the officer, who was watching from his vehicle with the windows rolled down and the engine shut off, this maneuver was executed silently. Since there was little, if any wind at the time, this maneuver is judged to be inconsistent with the behavior of a blimp.

A Millstadt police officer described the object flying very slowly between 500 and 1000 feet altitude. It was very large. It was shaped like a fat arrowhead. The rear of the object was concave and looked to contain dim, white, flashing strobes.

According to the testimony from the police officers, the flight path of the object was in a southwesterly direction from Highland, over Lebanon, Shiloh, Millstadt and then turning northwest to Dupo. The flight path would have taken the object almost directly over Scott Air-Force base. According to all inquiries by NIDS, including interviews with two separate AFOSI officers on the base, nothing was in the air from Scott Air Force base that night between 4:00 and 5:00 am. All individuals disavowed knowledge of any flying objects in the region around Scott AFB.

Two separate inquiries from NIDS to the Boeing St. Louis facility showed that Boeing does not conduct testing of military aircraft at their facility. According to Boeing, the facility conducts acceptance testing of newly manufactured (from the assembly line) aircraft during the day at the local commercial airport. A Boeing spokesperson confirmed that there were no Boeing St. Louis derived aircraft flying around St. Louis and surrounding areas during the early morning (midnight to sunrise) dark hours of Jan 5, 2000.

This report will contain short summaries of each eyewitness testimony followed by transcripts. The appendix will contain original drawings by three police officers as well as copies of the original reports and transcripts from the dispatch communications.
Because of the intense media publicity surrounding the case both locally and nationally, NIDS has received additional potential eyewitness leads to investigate. The investigation of the case is ongoing and will be updated on the NIDS website www.nidsci.org[/URL] in the next few days when more data is available.[continued][/quote]
[PLAIN]http://www.nidsci.org/news/illinois_contents.php
See also:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/illinoissighting.htm

More select cases:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/ufocaseshome.asp
http://www.nicap.org/chrono.htm
http://www.nicap.org/ufois.htm

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Some typical, popular UFO references

http://www.disclosureproject.org/
http://www.ufoevidence.org/
http://ufoinfo.com
http://www.rense.com/general/whatis.htm
http://www.rense.com/ufo/ufo.htm
http://www.ufo.it/english/linkusa1.htm
http://www.unmuseum.org/ufo.htm
http://ufos.about.com/msub52.htm
http://www.fastdog.karoo.net/blue-book.htm

The Avrocar and Project Silverbug:
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/Silverbug.pdf

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Scientific and Science oriented UFO reference sites

NICAP - National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon.
http://www.nicap.org

CUFOS HOME PAGE:
http://www.cufos.org

CUFON HOME PAGE:
http://www.cufon.org

NARCAP:
http://www.narcap.org/

Bruce Maccabee's website
http://brumac.8k.com/

Society for Scientific Exploration:
http://www.scientificexploration.org/

National Institute for Discovery Science
http://www.nidsci.org/

UFO Skeptic
http://www.ufoskeptic.org/

CSICOP
http://www.csicop.org/klassfiles/Home.html

COHENUFO:
http://www.cohenufo.org/index.html
http://www.cohenufo.org/Hynek/hynk_lgh_study.htm

International Committee for UFO Research:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/el82/icur.htm

Coalition for Freedom of Information Website:
http://www.freedomofinfo.org

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Report Databases and Case Files

*National UFO Reporting Center*
http://www.nwlink.com/~ufocntr/

NARCAP
http://www.narcap.org/international%20orgs%20case%20files/intlorgscases.htm

About.com
http://ufos.about.com/library/bldata/blsight4.htm

UFO Info
http://www.ufoinfo.com/organizations/index.shtml

UFO Sweden
http://www.ufo.se/english.html

UFO India:
http://www.ufoindia.org/

Victorian U.F.O. Research Society Inc.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~vufors/sighting.htm

NICAP:
http://www.nicap.org

The Filer Files:
http://www.ufoinfo.com/filer/index.shtml

UFOs Northwest
http://www.ufosnw.com/index.htm

Shadow Research:
http://www.shadowresearch.com/ufo/ufo_reports.htm

MUFON:
http://www.mufon.com/

Aerosphere Magazine:
http://www.aerosphere.com/Magazine/UFO_stories_/ufo_stories_.shtml Some video and photo databases:
[Viewer beware! Many photos and videos are obviously hoaxes or nothing of significance]
*http://www.ufocasebook.com/bestufopictures.html*
*http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=UFO&hl=en *
*http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=UFO*
http://ufos.about.com/od/visualproofphotosvideo/a/photosvideo_3.htm
http://www.qtm.net/~geibdan/videoclips/
http://www.ufocasebook.com/videos2.html
http://www.ufowisconsin.com/pvgallery.html
http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicvideos.html
http://www.ufodigest.com/video.html
http://www.galactic-server.net/video/video.html
http://www.uforc.com/
http://members.tripod.com/~RELYR/UFO_Videos.html
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/videos.php?cat=15

 

[Ivan Seeking]

China

BEIJING [1/11/2000] -- The last few months have been a boom time for U.F.O. enthusiasts in China.

Just before the start of the year 2000, there were dozens of sightings. Strange shining objects were observed scooting through the sky by hundreds of people, from former airport workers to college deans.

"Warning Wuhan! Warning Dalian! Warning Xian! Jiangsu! Beijing! Shanghai!" exulted the Jiangsu U.F.O. Research Society's Web site. "Frequent U.F.O. visits have enveloped all of China."

Buoyed in part by the sightings, the ranks of the research societies in major Chinese cities devoted to unidentified flying objects have grown to more than 40,000 members.

More important still, the normally conservative official news media have been lavishing attention on U.F.O. news, with documentaries on the main government television station, CCTV-1, and credulous newspaper articles.

"The level of interest and acceptance is definitely rising," said Sun Shili, a retired Foreign Ministry official who is president of the Beijing U.F.O. Research Society. "Because of the frequent sightings recently in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities that have had many witnesses, even the media -- which are very serious and careful -- have been paying attention." [continued]

http://nytimes.com/library/world/asia/011100china-ufos.html

Also:
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/04/12/hk.ufology.china/
http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/phenomena/ufo_china_000126.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Recent News Items

'UFO' lights caught on film: 7/23/03, BBC

BBC cameraman spotted three bright lights in the sky over the Malverns near the village of Hanbury on Tuesday and filmed them with a video camera.

Some thought it could have been flares.

But cameraman Tom Hines, who works on the BBC drama series Doctors, said he is convinced it was a UFO. [continued]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/3090649.stm

I suspect that this is a photo of either ball lightning, or a phenomenon that has an appearance similar to ball lighning that is the cause of many UFO reports.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A theory of UFOs: by John Walker

*Nominated to the Napster by selfAdjoint*

So given that, how far does a little deduction get us in answering some of the most puzzling aspects of the UFO phenomenon? Pretty far. I'll explore the issue in a question and answer format, addressing a number of the enigmas posed by the body of UFO reports amassed over the decades.

http://www.fourmilab.to/goldberg/saucers.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

UFO case blocked by MoD

Details of one of Britain's most famous UFO scares was among information repeatedly suppressed by government defence chiefs, according to a Westminster watchdog.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2537115.stm


THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

Noah talks with Peter Sturrock, Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University. Professor Sturrock recently assembled a panel of scientists to review data from a collection of UFO sightings. This panel made the first independent review of UFO sightings since 1970 and concluded that a collection of alleged UFO sightings merit additional scientific study. Professor Sturrock believes that a lack of institutional support hinders the study of UFOs.

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1034787


UFO REPORT

[A] team of scientists published the first independent review of UFO phenomena in thirty years. While they found no signs of alien intelligence, they did conclude that there is some UFO evidence that can't be explained. In this hour, we'll take a closer look at the report. Plus, we'll talk about a new approach to spinal cord repair in rats.

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1010519


CIA, UFO'S & SECRECY

NPR's Steve Inskeep reports on the C-I-A's admission that it deceived the public for decades when asked about sightings of unidentified flying objects. For much of that time, the agency denied that UPO's even existed, explaining them away as `unusual weather phenomena,' Now the CIA admits that the objects were actually U-S high altitude aircraft used to spy on other countries.

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1028513

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Former Air Force Commander Discusses UFOs

Alejandro Guillier (journalist): UFOs, well...nothing better than to ask a war pilot about the experiences he’s had if he’s seen anything, but it turns out that I’ve heard talk about there being a military pilot in Antofagasta who toward the late Seventies -- ’78 -- had been flying and ran into a very strange thing. It also turns out that the pilot became a general, retired general Hernan Gabrielli, and we’re going to talk to him about this rather interesting experience. How do you do, general? Good morning

http://www.paranormalnews.com/article.asp?ArticleID=715

 

[selfAdjoint]

Well then, how do you explain your cases?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by selfAdjoint
Well then, how do you explain your cases?

I don't. I have a few guesses and I understand why there are so many ET believers, but after nearly 20 years of serious interest I don't know what to think! Most frustrating!

In my own mind I have ruled out any possibility that all events can be explained by hoaxes, misperceptions, lies, exotic but human technology, familiar natural phenomena, and fantasy prone personalities. My best guess is that several explanations are needed including [perhaps]:

1). The military uses real UFOs as a convenient smokescreen; i.e. they are glad to allow military test craft to be interpreted as alien spacecraft . [edit: then deny the whole things as more UFO nonsense]

2). One or perhaps several highly exotic but "natural" and unrecognized phenomena exist. The possibility of a plurality of natural explanations is my best hope to kill ET: There must be a plasma phenomenon or something else that produces a lot of EM, and maybe other "things", maybe chemically driven, that produce the appearance of a saucer and many other geometric forms. Also, I see no other way to account for some highly compelling witnesses except to assume that proximity to some of these things will or can cause dramatic hallucinations [e.g. in Persinger's work with EM fields and the brain]. One of my biggest objections to the earthlights explanations is that we can't account for stable, floating, darting and dashing, weapons systems killing, and plane chasing ellipsoids. Many skeptics use this explanation AS IF it settles the mystery. Even if we all agree that earthlights are the source, we still have quite a mystery!

3). Really out on a limb now...[edit: just some wild speculation here - not to be considered a theory or hypothesis of mine] perhaps we are seeing unknown cosmic phenomena...or even macroscopic quantum phenomena...EDIT: OK I shouldn't have said that...I'll take that back, but some stuff that I have seen on tape is just too weird! I have seen some very good videos of some very, very strange things - not really UFOs, and almost certainly not anything familiar.

4) I can't rule out the exotic explanations e.g. ET, time travelers etc, but I don't accept them either...and there I'm stuck.

Also, as for the government conspiracy theories: IMO, either we have a 50 year old conspiracy by perhaps thousands of military personnel to perpetuate the UFO myth, including some of our highest ranking officials [some who continue to tell lies even on their death beds], including a couple of personal friends and relatives, or there IS a conspiracy to hide [some] information about UFOs; And/Or the government is just as confused as I am.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have talked with a few of the central figures in what I consider to be interesting, alleged UFO events. After a conversation with someone like Col. Halt in the Rendlesham case, for example, I could believe just about anything; I don't, but some of these people are really hard to dismiss.

Also, many of the biggest proponents of government conspiracy theories are people formerly associated with the intelligence community and or the military. This has always bothered me quite a bit. Of course, it is possible that the government condones this behavior to perpetuate the myth, or maybe these guys have just figured out that UFOs can mean big profit, but this gets into conspiracies to falsify UFO reports and events while on duty at places like nuclear weapons bases. These reports are then used later, say after retirement, which gets a little long the tooth as well. Also, many of these reports were classified and predate the Freedom of Information Act – which is what now makes these reports public information…to the extent that they’re not blacked out.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

SelfAdjoint and I put this thread a little off track. Please keep this thread limited to links and very brief comments. Sorry folks, that was my fault.

 

[Andre]

So how is this? no UFO, not even a FO.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The 2004 Mexican AF UFO event

The PF thread on this subject:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=25286

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The Frederick Valentich Disappearance, Bass Strait - October 21st, 1978

During the evening of October 21, 1978, twenty year old Australian Pilot Frederick Valentich disappeared over Bass Strait, while flying from Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport to King Island, off the coast of Victoria. His last communication occurred at 7:12 p.m., during the largest UFO flap in Australian history. Nearly fourteen years after that fatal Saturday evening, no trace has ever been found of either the pilot or his blue and white Cessna model 182 aircraft.

During my travels and correspondence, I have found many false stories circulating around the world regarding this most important case. I have found that these inaccurate statements are coming from individuals at home and abroad. These are people who live thousands of kilometres from the scene where the action took place, newcomers to the field, journalists who write about everything and are experts on nothing except misquotations and out of context reporting and last but not least, "Professors of Impossibility" from the scientific community who have concocted preconceived opinions and have tried to make their ideas fit around them.

Frederick Valentich was not the only person who reported a strange object over and near Bass Strait that day and night. Researchers have found over fifty reported observations in that area which occurred before, during and after his encounter. Most of this information would never have been found without the diligence of researchers from the Victorian UFO Research Society, based at Moorabbin, near the location from whence the mysterious flight originated.

ACTUAL TRANSCRIPTION OF MELBOURNE FLIGHT SERVICE
The transcript portion of the communication between Valentich and Melbourne Flight Service as released by the Australian Department of Transport follows: (FS - Flight Service, DSJ - Frederick Valentich aircraft designation).

1906:14
DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. Is there any known traffic below five thousand?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known traffic.
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I am, seems to be a large aircraft below five thousand.

1906:44
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, What type of aircraft is it?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I cannot affirm, it is four bright, it seems to me like landing lights.

1907
FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1907:31
DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet, the aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, and it is a large aircraft, confirmed?
DSJ Er-unknown, due to the speed it's travelling, is there any air force aircraft in the vicinity?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity.

1908:18
DSJ Melbourne, it's approaching now from due east towards me.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1908:41
DSJ (open microphone for two seconds.)

1908:48
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems to me that he's playing some sort of game, he's flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.

1909
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what is your actual level?
DSJ My level is four and a half thousand, four five zero zero.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, and you confirm you cannot identify the aircraft?
DSJ Affirmative.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, stand by.

1909:27
DSJ Melbourne, Delta Sierra Juliet, it's not an aircraft it is (open microphone for two seconds).

1909:42
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, can you describe the -er- aircraft?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, as it's flying past it's a long shape (open microphone for three seconds) cannot identify more than it has such speed (open microphone for three seconds). It's before me right now Melbourne.

1910
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger and how large would the - er - object be?

1910:19
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, it seems like it's stationary. What I'm doing right now is orbiting and the thing is just orbiting on top of me also. It's got a green light and sort of metallic like, it's all shiny on the outside.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1910:46
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet (open microphone for three seconds) It's just vanished.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1911
DSJ Melbourne, would you know what kind of aircraft I've got? Is it a military aircraft?
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, Confirm the - er ~ aircraft just vanished.
DSJ Say again.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you?
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet; it's (open microphone for two seconds) now approaching from the south-west.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet

1911:50
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, the engine is rough-idling. I've got it set at twenty three twenty-four and the thing is coughing.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what are your intentions?
DSJ My intentions are - ah - to go to King Island - ah - Melbourne. That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again (open microphone for two seconds). It is hovering and it's not an aircraft.
FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1912:28
DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet. Melbourne (open microphone for seventeen seconds).

No official conclusion has been given for the strange sound which was heard that interrupted the last statement of the pilot. [CONTINUED]

Please see this link for more information:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~vufors/valentich.htm

Edit: Until now I had never seen an official source or even a report number listed for this story. I would like to get an official source for this, such as gov.au, or mil.au, or whatever is appropriate down under, if anyone has one or knows where to look.

...The only official report to emerge on the affair was an Aircraft Accident Investigation Summary Report, reference No. V116/783/1047. The basic relevant events and transcript of the conversation between Valentich and Robey - a "radio encounter of a weird kind" - included in the report are given here...

http://www.project1947.com/forum/bcoz6.htm#dsj

A fascinating and perplexing event if the story is accurate.

 

[mouseonmoon]

and try this: from Bruce Maccabee
The Not Famous NEW ZEALAND FLASHING LIGHT film! (Not famous because it wasn't publicized.) ... in December, 1978? ... The New Zealand sightings may be the most "instrumented" in civilian ufology, with multiple witnesses, TWO INDEPENDENT TAPE RECORDINGS MADE DURING THE SIGHTINGS(!), 16 mm color movie film and ground and air radar...the so called SQUID BOAT sighting.

http://brumac.8k.com/

 

[Ivan Seeking]

From Mouseonmoon:

UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT SHOWS "BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE"
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=272208#post272208

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Flying Triangles

A nice synopsis from NIDS. Please see this thread.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=297005#post297005

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Senator Russell's UFO: Soviet Union, 1955

One of the most powerful U.S. senators in modern history actually eye-witnessed two UFO's while on a fact-finding trip through Russia in 1955-and the U.S. government kept the sightings a secret for more than three decades. The incredible encounter is detailed in 12 TOP SECRET CIA, FBI, and Air Force reports-and declassified in 1985. Those startling reports reveal that Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA)-then chairman of the Armed Services Committee-was on a Soviet train when he spotted a disc-shaped craft taking off near the tracks. He hurriedly called his military aide and interpreter to the window-and they saw the UFO, plus another one that appeared a minute later. The astonished trio reported the sightings to the U.S. Air Force as soon as they were out of Russia.[continued]

http://ufocasebook.com/senatorsrussia.html

For the original CIA reports, go to the following link and see the docs dates dated 10/1, and 10/20/55:
http://www.foia.cia.gov/search.asp?pageNumber=9&freqReqRecord=undefined&refinedText=undefined&freqSearchText=undefined&txtSearch=UFO&exactPhrase=&allWords=&anyWords=&withoutWords=&documentNumber=&startCreatedMonth=&startCreatedDay=&startCreatedYear=&endCreatedMonth=&endCreatedDay=&endCreatedYear=0&startReleasedMonth=&startReleasedDay=&startReleasedYear=&endReleasedMonth=&endReleasedDay=&endReleasedYear=0&sortOrder=ASC

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ike and the Alien Ambassadors

In spite of appearances I don't promote any ET hypotheses, but this is an interesting and amusing story.

The Whole Tooth About the President's Extraterrestrial Encounter

By Peter Carlson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 19, 2004; Page C01

Fifty years ago tomorrow -- on Feb. 20, 1954 -- President Dwight Eisenhower interrupted his vacation in Palm Springs, Calif., to make a secret nocturnal trip to a nearby Air Force base to meet two extraterrestrial aliens.

Or maybe not. Maybe Ike just went to the dentist. There's some dispute about this.

The Ike-met-with-ETs theory is advanced by Michael Salla, a former American University professor who now runs the Peace Ambassador Program at AU's Center for Global Peace.

The Ike-went-to-the-dentist theory is advanced by the folks at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kan. And by James M. Mixson, a dentist, professor of dentistry and historian of presidential dental work.

Just to make things more intriguing: On the night in question, the Associated Press reported this: "Pres. Eisenhower died tonight of a heart attack in Palm Springs."

Two minutes later, the AP retracted that bulletin and reported that Ike was still alive. [continued]

http://www.exopolitics.org/Wash-Post-Ike%20and%20ETs.htm

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Fire Officers’ Guide to Disaster Control

A commonly referenced item in the UFO lore, the origins of the UFO section for firefighters is revealed. It is noteworthy that many skeptics claimed that this chapter was a forgery, or that no such book even exists. Clearly they didn't really know.

Deerfield Twp. Fire Rescue Chief Bill Kramer is the co-author of a 1992 manual that serves as a guide for fire departments in disaster control. Along with Charles Bahme, Kramer penned a chapter in the manual Fire Officers’ Guide to Disaster Control on how fire departments should react if a UFO lands.

...Kramer said fire rescue personnel would be the first called if a UFO lands. Although there have not been any real encounters with UFOs, Kramer said the chapter essentially deals with panic control. He said there have been a number of incidents over the years that have induced panic. [continued]

http://www.pulsejournal.com/news/content/news/2004/12/09/pj1209japantv.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Little Black Holes

I see an awful lot of familiar descriptions in here. See especially the section about ball lightning.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=57039

Possibly more on little black holes
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=67745

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Good information on Hessdalen

Lots of good data and photos

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=20613