UFO ROUNDUP Volume 2 Number 24
Volume 2 Number 24
June 15, 1997
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
PARISIAN SUBURBS SEE TWO UFO OVERFLIGHTS
Two communities in the southwest "peripherique" (suburbs) of Paris reported sightings of UFOs on Saturday, May 31, 1997.
The first incident took place at 5:25 p.m. in Rambouillet, a city 24 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Paris. Jean-Marc Ricca and his wife were relaxing in the park in front of Rambouillet Castle while their two children were playing nearby.
Suddenly, "My eyes were caught by a bright light above our head," Jean-Marc reported. "The sun was already low, and the light was really bright. What appeared surprising to me was that the light could be identified with a somewhat cylindrical object...I first thought of a plane but strangely the object was very high in the sky with very high speed (direction:north to south). The object didn't show any condensation trail, which was very easy to check because Paris skies are full of planes."
"But the surprise came when we spotted five other objects," he added, "Same shape, same brightness, very close to the first one. The total number was six, with the first five in a rather regular formation with the sixth a little bit further away. We were then convinced that what we were looking at was not usual. The overall observation lasted for five minutes at (in) bright sunlight. I would summarize it this way...high-speed flying objects at medium to high altitude, probably spherical shape, no condensation trail--looks metallic because they were highly illuminated by sunlight." (Email Interview)
Nearly four hours later, at 9:05 p.m. on May 31, photographer Gerard Wander was standing in the Place Denfers-Rochereau, near the Parc du Prince, in the nearby city of Boulogne-Billancourt. While watching a playoff rugby game, Wander and his wife "observed in the sky over the apartment houses what we first took for a children's balloon, then for an atmospheric balloon. From it dangled two long cables as rigid as tree trunks."
"The object flew slowly from the east (Paris) to the west (Sevres)," Wander reported. "It presented a surface of a shiny aluminum color which reflected the setting sun in our east. When it moved to the west, the front part became cloaked in shadow."
In size, the UFO "appeared similar to a 5 centimes piece held at the end of one's arm." Wander said. "About 15 millimeters. The shorter of the cables was 3 times the length of the object's diameter. The longer cable was 5 or 6 times that size. Its altitude was difficult to determine. I would say between 150 meters (4,950 feet) and 800 meters (26,400 feet). In relation to the sun, it passed within 200 meters (6,600 feet) of us. Its east-west trajectory was slowly ascending. I saw it for one minute, then the trees blocked my view. We changed our position but by then there was nothing to see but a black sphere in a clear blue sky, much further away in the sky." (Merci beaucoup a Marie Franck et Banque OVNI pour cette histoire.)
UFOs ACTIVE AGAIN IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
At 11:15 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, 1997, Tadd P. was looking out the window of his home in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania (population 3,422) "when something caught my eye." Fleetwood is on Route 662 about 72 miles (115 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia and 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Reading.
"I have no idea what made me look up, but for some strange reason I found myself looking directly out my window," Tadd said, "I spotted an object moving slowly for a split-second. All of a sudden, there was an extremely bright flash. I saw a circular structure when the object flashed (but) there was no pulsing that I could see."
"The flash was then followed by a long narrow streak. From the time the craft left my sight, the streak followed behind it as if the object was moving faster than light. I would say the object was about a mile up in the sky (600 meters), and the circular size of the object was about the size of a penny held six inches from your eye."
"My father (Jack P.) was watching television when I saw the first white UFO. We went outside seconds afterward, then we saw the second strange object... a strange bright red steady-flashing light moving slowly over the woods near (the) DEKA Batteries (factory). It then came to a halt, turned blue, and moved in the opposite direction, then vanished from our sight into the trees. I am hoping that someone else has seen it because I can't possibly be the only one." (Email Interview)
On Wednesday, June 12, 1997, at midnight, Edward D. went out on his backyard deck at his home near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (population 53,264) and "noticed a bright light pass right overhead, no sound and no strobe lights. It moved from the northwest, going southeast. A second light fitting the same description followed only seconds later--same course, just higher."
Ed reported that the mysterious lights "passed directly over Harrisburg, moving toward Lancaster County." (Email Interview)
NEW SIGHTING REPORTED NEAR CAMDEN, N.Y.
On Wednesday, May 28, 1997, Cathy K. was on her farm in Altmar, New York, just about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Camden (population 2,667), the site of a UFO flap that week, when she also spotted "orange lights in the sky."
"I noticed the orange lights in the sky and told my husband about them," Mrs. K. reported, "The lights were shaped in triangle shape and did not appear to move for hours. They were almost the same size as stars but just a little larger. I first noticed them at 9:30 (p.m.) when I was leaving the horses at the barn. I live on a hill and watch the sky often."
Cathy says tiny rural Altmar frequently plays host to UFOs. "Sometimes I see lights that appear to be a star almost at the horizon and then suddenly move up straight or to the size extremely fast. I am unable to explain these lights, but I see them often." (Email Interview)
STRANGE LIGHTS SPOTTED NEAR WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS
A man living in Lake County near Waukegan, Illinois (population 67,653), about 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of Chicago, on the western shore of Lake Michigan was out walking his dog when he spotted "what first appeared to be a satellite going across the sky."
The sighting took place on Monday, June 9, 1997, at 10:45 p.m. "As an avid skywatcher, I am able to tell a satellite when I see it," he reported, "This time the light--it simply appeared as a light very faint and high in the sky--was getting brighter and then fading to a very dim light. It was not multiple lights but the entire object would get brighter and then dim...The intensity varied slowly, and it was regular. not sporadic. I watched it as far as I could see, and it continued north in a straight path." (Email Interview)
UFO FLAP STIRS MANY IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE
UFOs have been seen repeatedly around the town of Saffron Walden, Cambs. in the UK. The flap began March 12 when a group of university graduates spotted a UFO while holding a bonfire on Mill Road in Cambridge.
"At first we thought it was a fighter plane," Phil Andrews, 24, said, "And we watched it for about 10 seconds moving south. Then it just shot off in an arc shape at ridiculous speed. There was no sound."
On May 1, 1997, a father and son living on Radwinter Road in Saffron Walden, Cambs. spotted "a huge red object" hovering above the motorway.
Two weeks later, on May 14, several people in the two reported sighting UFOs. One of them was Janice Wayback, who said, "My cat saw it first and suddenly sat up. I looked out nd saw what I originally thought was a firework but it carried on floating towards Ridgeons. I can't imagine what it could have been. My cat was fascinated."
Another resident reported seeing "a very strange rocket-like thing in the sky" near Saffron Walden County High School. "It moved quite fast and it was not a plane. It was a red gold colour."
Tina McCauley was making a Phone call from her home on Ashdon Road in Saffron Walden when she spotted "a round red-gold circular object. It seemed to have two rows of lights around the circumference. It was high enough to light up the sky. It made no noise. It just moved slowly and disappeared over Whiteshot Way." (See the British newspaper Saffron Walden Weekly News for May 22, 1997. Many thanks to SkyCam for sending us this news story.)
UFO SEEN OVER LITHUANIA
On May 12, 1997, at 4:15 p.m., five people in the village of Ginkunai in western Lithuania spotted a daylight disc flying overhead. Ginkunai is near the city of Siaulai, approximately 140 kilometers (84 miles) northwest of Vilnius, capital of the small European nation on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
One eyewitness, Kestutas Nesavas, described the UFO as "a saucer animated by a pulsation like a heart, with lights like a (car's) direction signal."
Nesvas was the first to see the saucer. He called his wife and three neighbors. According to their testimony, the saucer approached to within 10 meters (33 feet) of them, always in perfect silence, before flying away. (Merci beaucoup a Thierry Garnier pour ces nouvelles.)
UFO STARTLES MOTORISTS IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
The night of April 27, 1997, UFOs appeared at several locations on Tenerife Island in Spain's Islas Canarias (Canary Islands) group, off the coast of North Africa.
The first sighting took place southwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna, near the airport. Motorists driving south to La Orotava when they spotted "a static and luminous object that was not like any aeronautical, astronautical or astronomical form known."
The witnesses, who stopped their cars on the road, described the UFO as "greater than a star though less (smaller) than the moon, of a pale yellow color." They observed the object for "more than 20 minutes" before it flew away to the northeast.
Pedro C., a Spanish tourist from Barcelona, was staying at Room 216 at the Aparthotel Jarden Caletas in the fishing village of Las Caletas on Tenerife when he happened to step onto the hotel room balcony at 11 p.m. He spied "a yellowish light that was (moving) from the coast toward the interior of the island," i.e. travelling from the southwest to the northeast. He watched the UFO for 15 minutes, during which time "it projected a fantastic sparkle and thereinafter disappeared." (Muchas gracias a Pedro Canto y tambien Jose Gregorio Gonzalez Gutierrez of Tenerife, quien escribe el libro LOS OVNIS EN CANARIAS para esas noticias.)
BLACK TRIANGLES SIGHTED ALL AROUND AUSTRALIA
On Sunday, April 6, 1997, at 4:30 p.m., people in Liverpool, a suburb of Sydney, Australia spotted "a flying black rectangular object with a red/orange illumination underneath" heading for downtown Sydney.
A police sergeant "estimated the object to be approximately 6 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet in size, jet black with a bright light underneath and its speed was about 120 knots traveling to the east from the northwest. Its height appeared about 1,500 feet in altitude; no sound was heard; and the weather was clear with no wind."
On Friday, April 11, 1997, at 11:30 p.m., some people in Melbourne, Victoria (Vic.) sighted "a large matte black triangular shaped object slowly traveling from west to east. The object was sighted blocking out the view of the stars as it passed over."
The following day, Saturday, April 12, 1997, at 9:10 p.m., witnesses spotted "five bright orange illuminations in a triangle formation heading to the southeast" over Campbelltown, New South Wales (N.S.W.), about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Sydney.
Ten days later, on Tuesday, April 22, 1997, at 8:50 p.m., people in the Newscastle and Wallsend area of New South Wales reported "sighting a large black delta or triangular shaped object traveling overhead, followed by three yellow/orange ball lights" at an estimated altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 feet and at an estimated speed of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour.
On Monday, April 28, 1997, a family was driving their motor vehicle down the Pacific Highway from Newcastle, N.S.W. to Sydney. Then, at about 7 p.m., the 11 witnesses "encountered a triangular red illumination (that) pass(ed) over their motor vehicle on the highway to Sydney. The object slowly traveled over the 11 witnesses about 40 meters (132 feet) up and, once passed over, shot off at a great speed to the east." (Many thanks to Ross Dowe of Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline for forwarding these sightings.)
GLOWING UFOs SEEN OVER AUSTRALIAN DESERTS
On Tuesday, April 8, 1997, people in Fremantle, Western Australia (W.A.), a city about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the state capital of Perth, saw a strange glowing UFO.
The sighting took place at 10:45 p.m. The witnesses saw "a flouro (flourescent) green illumination descend about 1,000 feet and then hover. After a moment or two, the object then rocketed off to the north faster than a jet could travel. The illumination appeared like a line or green tube with bent ends that angled up at about 40 degrees, something like the wing's end of a (Boeing) 747 jumbo jet. The object was first seen slowly floating down (and) surprised the respondents when it stopped and more so when it 'rocketed off into a cloud.'"
Less than a week later, more glowing UFOs were reported over the deserts of northwestern Victoria state.
On Monday, April 14, 1997, at 6:15 p.m., people in Horsham, Vic. reported "sighting a very large ball illumination overhead heading toward South Australia." Horsham is 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of Melbourne, adjacent to the Little Desert National Park.
The same evening, at 6 p.m., witnesses living in Ouyen, Vic., 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Melbourne in the desert "Sunset Country," saw a "bright ball of light hovering above them for about 15 minutes before taking off towards the west." (Again, many thanks to Ross Dowe of Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline for these reports.)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO SEEN OVER SARNIA, ONTARIO
On Sunday, April 20, 1997, a woman was sitting on a park bench along the St. Clair River in Sarnia, Ontario (population 55,576) at approximately 1:40 p.m. when she spied a UFO.
"Directly in front of her suddenly appeared a greyish-white object, suspended in mid-air, with the bottom part of the object positioned at 25 degrees above the horizon. The town of Port Huron, Michigan (USA) was in the background, underneath the object, at the other side of the river."
"The object was a long tube-like shape, rounded at both ends, and fuzzy or diffuse around all edges. It was suspended vertically and its apparent size was about one inch or so along its vertical axis and perhaps 3/8 (of an) inch across its lateral axis."
"Her attention was then taken by a white spherical object which seemed to have been discharged from the original object. This white sphere traveled a short distance, perhaps three inches apparent distance northwards toward Lake Huron and vanished."
The witness had the cigar-shaped UFO in view for about five seconds before it too disappeared. (Many thanks to Joe Daniels for this report.)
from the UFO Files...
1950: LAST CALL FOR NORTHWEST 2501
On Friday, June 23, 1950, Northwest Airlines Flight 2501, a Douglas DC-4 airliner with four propellor engines, took off from New York City on its way to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Flying the DC-4 was Capt. Robert C. Lind. To his right was co-pilot Verne F. Wolfe. In the passenger section were stewardess (flight attendant) Bonnie A. Feldman and 55 passengers."
As the DC-4 "Air Coach" passed over Battle Creek, Michigan, Capt. Lind notified Air Traffic Control by radio, "Northwest 2501, Battle Creek at 37 (That's 11:37 p.m.-- J.T.) past the hour. Estimating Milwaukee at 51. (11.51 p.m.--J.T.) Level 3,500. (3,500 feet above sea level or 1,100 meters)."
Hoping to avoid thunderstorms on Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, Illinois, Capt. Lind changed course between Battle Creek and the Lake Michigan shore. The plane headed in a northwesterly direction and began crossing the lake at a point between South Haven and Ludington.
The aircraft and all 58 people aboard were never seen again.
The U.S. Coast Guard began a search of Lake Michigan at 2 a.m. on Saturday, June 24, 1950. "An air-sea search for the giant DC-4 air coach was concentrated about 12 miles northwest of St. Joseph, Mich. when a Coast Guard lifeboat from South Haven recovered items from the plane."
"They were blankets with the markings 'NW' flanked by wings, a log book and a maintenance chart. Hope was virtually abandoned for any survivors after the discovery of the wreckage and fragments of bodies, making it the worst tragedy (up until 1950) of American commercial aviation."
In last year's Valujet and TWA Flight 800 cases, both of which went down over water, there were easily identifiable "debris fields." In the case of TWA 800, the debris fields floated on the ocean for weeks after the crash.
There was no debris field in the case of Northwest 2501, merely a handful of items recovered and a few "fragments of bodies."
At 2 a.m. on June 24, 1950, "two White Fish Bay, Wis. (Wisconsin) policemen were disturbed by what they saw hovering in the sky above Lake Michigan. The men noticed the object several miles out on the lake east-southeast of their position (heading west from Ludington--J.T.). They watched the eerie red object glowing for ten minutes. Then it disappeared."
The UFO report from White Fish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee, came just two hours after Capt. Lind's last call to Air Traffic Control. What happened to Northwest 2501 that night over Lake Michigan is still a mystery. (See the book THE GREAT LAKES TRIANGLE by Jay Gourley, Fawcett Gold-Medal Books, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1977, pages 8 and 34. Also, the Pawtuxet Valley Daily Times of West Warwick, R.I. for June 24, 1950, page 1, and June 26, 1950, page 6.)
FUN UFO WEBSITES:
To keep up with UFO sightings in Spain, try Pedro Canto's great site, Nuevas UFO Noticias, at this URL: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ppcanto.
For UFO news from Croatia and the Balkan countries, visit Berislav "Bero" Kucan's website at http://jagor/srce.hr/~bkucan
Crop circle news can be found at this site: http://www.sedona-goodtimes.com/~amlight/research.htm
Don't miss our parent site, UFOINFO, with its marvelous array of features. We're at this URL: http://ufoinfo.com/
For back issues of UFO ROUNDUP, check us out at http://ufoinfo.com/roundup/index.shtml If you see a UFO story in your local newspaper, clip it out and send it to our mail address at: UFO ROUNDUP,
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USA 02886. If you have a UFO to report, email us at this address: Masinaigan@aol.com. Well, that's it for this week. To our readers in Quebec, "Joyeux Jour de St. Jean Baptiste." See you next Sunday with more saucer news from "the paper that goes home--UFO ROUNDUP." UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1997 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post any news items from UFO ROUNDUP on their Websites or in newsgroups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of the issue in which the item first appeared.
