UFO ROUNDUP Volume 1 Number 8
Volume 1 Number 8
April 7, 1996
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
BRITISH OFFICIAL CONFIRMS 1956 UFO SIGHTING
On April 2, 1996, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) presented a UFO talk show on its shortwave World Service program. Longtime UFO researcher Jenny Randles interviewed a retired air marshal from the Royal Air Force. The air marshal admitted that the famouse UFO case of August 13, 1956 did indeed take place.
"We had radar reports of objects travelling at 4,000 miles per hour," he said, adding that British radar operators tracked the UFOs as they crossed the beach "into British airspace--objects as big as battleships."
The incident began at 9:30 p.m. at RAF Bentwaters when an RAF radar operator reported "a very large object" crossing the North Sea at 5,000 miles per hour. Radarmen also confirmed a number of smaller UFOs much closer to the East Anglian shore, about eight miles out, flying at 300 mph.
A T-33 from the RAF's 512 Squadron on its way to Bentwaters was sent east to hunt for the objects. The T-33 lacked an airborne radar set so it was unable to find them.
At 10:30 p.m., radar at RAF Bentwaters picked up the big UFO again, heading straight for them at 4,000 mph. The pilot of a U.S. Air Force C-47 transport plane actually saw the object, describing it as "a bright light streaking beneath my plane."
The RAF immediately went on red alert. Radar operators at the 7th Air Division and 3rd Air Division Command Posts also picked up the large UFO. At RAF Neatished, a deHavilland Venom jet interceptor was scrambled and launched. Just before midnight, the Venom pilot picked up the big UFO on his airborne radar. Looking out his canopy, he then saw the craft itself, a "dull silver cigar," which accelerated away as if the Venom "was standing still."
The BBC will be rebroadcasting the Jenny Randles show on Saturday, April 13. If you have a shortwave radio, listen in!
LAMPETER LIGHTS RETURN
Those mysterious lights made a surprise reappearance in the town of Lampeter, Dryfed, Wales on Wednesday, March 27, 1996. The weather was cloudy with no wind. The lights performed their weird sky show once again, between 10 p.m. and midnight, about 45 degrees above the western horizon. As with the earlier light show, the Lampeter lights appeared to "burst," showing four bright and distinct spikes.
Townspeople are more puzzled than frightened of the aerial phenomenon. They said "the possibility of it being lightning is rather remote," adding that "the flashes were indeed random, no two appearing in the same spot in the sky."
Others say the lights were "just a distant electrical storm."
Note: If it was just an "electrical storm," then why wasn't the phenomenon seen in Cardiff or Pontypridd?
UFO FLAP STILL GOING STRONG IN AUSTRALIA
Since last November, UFOs have been seen repeatedly in rural areas of Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia. The April 1996 issue of UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE has a number of UFO news stories from Down Under. Here are some of the highlights:
Northern Territory News, Darwin, N.T. - On February 4, 1996, a UFO appeared over Jingili, a suburb of Darwin and was seen by 14 people. Neil Veavea was having an outdoor barbecue with his wife, Aloha, and their children, Rheannon, Yazman, Chontelle and Neil Junior when he saw "a bright orange light" moving just below the clouds for about 30 seconds, "dimmed for a few seconds, blinked twice and disappeared."
"We all just sat there like stunned mullets," Veavea said.
The Veavea children got a flashlight and repeatedly signalled the UFO. Meanwhile, their father yelled for the neighbors to come and see the object. Six adults and eight children came to watch the UFO. One adult, Stephanie Motlop of Wulagi confirmed the sightings, saying that they were all aghast when they saw it. Northern Territory News, Darwin, N.T. - Salesman Peter Jacobs photographed a UFO over Palmerston, N.T. on December 31.
Another UFO was seen at Ruby Down Station, N.T. in early January.
Michael and Kerri Benton of Garden Point, Melville Island, N.T. spotted a UFO just after midnight on January 21, 1996. Benton said the object was "just above tree height," and he added, "The object was orange and dashed from side to side. There was a reddish light inside the orange glow, towards the bottom."
The Chronicle, Wangaratta, N.T. - On January 1, at 9:30 p.m., while camping out at Myrrhee, a remote desert area 30 miles from Wangaratta, Geoff Simpson, his wife Robyn, and their daughter Maree, age 9, spotted a UFO hovering above the hills just north of their campsite and watched it for 30 minutes.
Geoff Simpson said the UFO "was bigger than the moon" and from 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) away, "still looked as big as two cars."
Maree Simpson said the object "looked like a disco ball...its centre the same color as a Coca-Cola label."
The Myrree UFO reappeared each night for five days straight. On January 5, Chronicle reporter David Newport visited the site. He got lost and arrived just as the UFO departed.
"Trying to find something interesting to see, I scanned the heavens through a pair of powerful bincoulars," Newport wrote. "I gave up on the binoculars and resorted to the naked eye. I saw something. 'Look,' I said, 'there's a satellite.'"
"We looked. The satellite traced a slow and elegant path through the sky towards the constellation of Orion. Then, suddenly and inexplicably, it vanished from view."
"Was that the UFO? Who knows? It was all very strange and mysterious."
Note: Thirty years ago, in January 1966, a farmer near Tully, Queensland, Australia saw a metallic disk 25 feet in diameter and 9 feet thick in the center rise from a field. The UFO left behind a circular mat of flattened reeds, one of the earliest crop circles.
You'll find a photo of this 1966 crop circle in the photo section of BEYOND EARTH: MAN'S CONTACT WITH UFOs by Ralph and Judy Blum, Bantam Books, New York, NY April 1974. Look it up!
What do you think, readers? Did the Simpsons and David Newport see a UFO making the jump into hyperspace?
See you next Sunday. Have a great week!
