UFO ROUNDUP Volume 3 Number 06
Volume 3
Number 6
February 8, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
BLACK HELICOPTER CHASES UFO OVER BROOKLYN
On Sunday, February 1, 1998, at 4:20 p.m., Alex Cavallari, New York state director of Skywatch International, was at his home in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, N.Y. when he spied a luminous red-orange sphere in the sky.
"It was a nice day, and I had to go outside on the roof of my house to adjust my radio antenna because some high winds had shifted its position," reported Cavallari, who is a ham radio enthusiast with the call letters KB2NYV.
Cavallari saw "a small orange/red colored light dot in the eastern sky" near Nostrand Avenue. Thinking it was a smudge on his glasses, he immediately cleaned the lenses and looked again. "I scanned the sky for a couple of seconds and, all of a sudden, the UFO appeared. It just appeared from nowhere."
"This time it was much bigger and clearer," he added. "But the size or diameter of a cigarette (1/4 inch) (0.5 centimeters--J.T.) at arm's length. I went inside and got my camera," a Minolta 35mm with 12X maximum zoom.
Returning outside, he looked for the UFO again and "it just appeared and swooped down in front of me and then it stopped for about three seconds and then it disappeared."
At its point of closest approach, the UFO "was bigger than the moon." Setting the camera on maximum zoom, he scanned the sky through the viewfinder, hoping for another glimpse of the UFO.
Six minutes later, turning to the north, he spied "a small colored dot" over Avenue X. "I aimed the camera, and it turned to the left, west, and it is right in front of me. I take one picture. The UFO started to move forward and down towards me and then stopped. It was the size of a basketball when viewed at arm's length--a bright red, orange, yellow and white orb. It appeared to be a solid mass of light."
Keeping the camera on it, Cavallari shot two more photos. "Then it flew for the right, north, stopped for about a second, and was no longer visible."
At 4:20 p.m., Cavallari was in the house washing up "when I heard the sound of a helicopter over the house. I went and got the camera and walked out onto the back porch. There was what looked like a black helicopter hovering directly over my house at about 1,500 to 2,000 feet."
Aiming the camera, Cavallari shot one photo of the black helicopter before running out of film.
"The helicopter did not appear to have any numbers or identification on it," he reported. "It did make a 'typical' sound a helicopter makes. It hovered for about two minutes. During that time, it appeared as if it was spraying" some sort of mist "from the bottom of the helicopter onto the ground and houses below."
While watching the helicopter, Cavallari's glasses became covered with some of the mist. Carefully he wiped them off and retrieved a sample of the mist.
Then "the helicopter turned and dipped its front end as if it was looking at me. It hovered in this position for about thirty seconds and then turned as it hovered and headed towards the (same) direction as the UFO sphere/orb. It headed for the southwest," towards Neptune Avenue and Brighton Beach.
Copies of the UFO and black helicopter photos are available in digital form. Readers can send a request to XELAUFO@aol.com. (Many thanks to Alex Cavallari for letting UFO ROUNDUP quote from his report.)
(Editor's Comment: The helicopter in the photo appears to be a 1997 Bell 407 Long Ranger. Note the odd-looking sprayer under the aircraft's "chin.")
STRANGE TUBE-SHAPED UFO APPEARS IN LEANDER, TEXAS
On Saturday, January 24, 1998, at 3:20 p.m., D.B. Michael was at his home in Leander, Texas (population 3,398) when he received a phone call from his brother, Dave, asking him to hurry outside, "You've got to see this!"
Leander is on Highway 183 about 23 miles north of Austin, the state capital.
"He and (D.B.'s son) Daniel were in their backyard, which joins mine." Hurrying outside, D.B. "observed the object moving in a northerly direction," describing the UFO as "a cylinder object that was positioned upright, not oblong."
The men shot several photos of the UFO with their two 35mm cameras while "the object stayed vertical without any rotation."
"We followed it on U.S. Highway 183 heading off at (county highway) 2243 East. We then travelled on 2243 East and pulled off the road. It passed over us...We then commenced east again intending to go to Interstate (Highway) 35 and intercept it again."
Just then, "a dark helicopter was observed flying for the south at an altitude of about 500 feet," he added, "Reaching I-35, we looked about but found nothing. We traveled west on Highway 29. We observed three jet aircraft that appeared to be in V formation...in a flight that that would have intercepted the object if it had continued in the direction of travel last seen by us." (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for this report.)
MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS SEEN IN SAN BERNARDINO
On Saturday, January 24, 1998, at 9:30 p.m., Doris W. was at home in San Bernardino, California (population 164,164), a large city on Interstate Highway 10 approximately 63 miles (101 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, when she got a real surprise.
When her son came home from work, Doris reported, "I opened the door and behind him were three large lights like the colors of the sky when seen first thing in the morning."
Doris noticed "that the three lights were side by side in a straight longitudinal position."
"I asked my son what they were. He turned around to look and immediately got his camera."
Meanwhile, Doris went across the street and alerted her neighbors. Soon there were six people on the sidewalk, looking up at the lights. "One of the lights moved eastward and vanished. The other two were in the southern part of the sky. When a jet approached us, they disappeared without a trace." (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister of NACOMM for this report.)
THREE-DAY UFO FLAP HITS PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
Skywatchers just south of Pensacola, Florida (population 58,615) had their patience rewarded when a red spherical UFO appeared for three nights straight over the Gulf of Mexico.
Pensacola is 195 miles (312 kilometers) west of Tallahassee, the state capital.
On Thursday, January 29, 1998, Roy and Elsie Pollock of Florida MUFON spied a UFO over the city at 6:22 p.m.
"It was a typical red light 'Bubba,'" he reported, like those seen on many occasions in nearby Gulf Breeze, Florida. "It appeared approximately halfway between the horizon" and the zenith, and "gradually moved north and rising until it was the same elevation in the sky as the moon. It moved perhaps 15 to 20 degrees to the west and then changed direction to an east/southeast movement."
"The object was a mostly brilliant at times red red light--it pulsated from very bright to mediumly bright and occasionally will disappear completely. Pulse rate is about 7.5 times per second...It hovered rotating and silently over the Shoreline Park area."
The following night, Friday, January 30, 1998, Anne Morrison and her fellow skywatchers set up camp in Pensacola Beach (population 4,000) on Highway 399 just south of the city.
"We were at Pensacola Beach, at water's edge, at the Dunes Hotel at 6:07 p.m.," she reported. "Looking to the northwest at approximately 30 to 40 degrees elevation. As we watched...it very slowly moved higher in the sky, pulsing randomly. It was slowly coming towards" the beach "and took eight to ten minutes to come directly over our heads. Then it moved to the east of us...then disappeared."
The 12 skywatchers then saw "another steady red object in the east, but only five to seven degrees above the horizon and over the Gulf (of Mexico). It remained in this position for about three minutes, then disappeared. There were 12 witnesses, eight of whom have a great deal of experience seeing the Gulf Breeze red object."
The next night, Saturday, January 31, 1998, at 6:27 p.m., the skywatchers went to the last public parking lot on Fort Pickens Road in Pensacola Beach.
"We had barely arrived when we saw a steady red light to the north/northwest at about seven degrees above the horizon. The red light made a long arc above us and was not as bright as the night before." The UFO "remained in view for 22 minutes. It moved very slowly, appearing higher in the sky and going more east." (See Filer's Files #5 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer, Ray Pollock and Anne Morrison of MUFON for these reports.)
UK MEN SPOT A UFO OVER GREAT BENTLY, ESSEX
On December 3, 1997, at 8 p.m., two men, one 18, the other 34, were walking in Great Bently, Essex, about 55 miles (88 kilometers) northeast of London when they spied a strange light in the sky.
"To start with, it was very small," the younger witness reported, "Only about the size of a normal aeroplane light. But as it got closer to us, it got bigger and at one point it was much bigger than a coin held at arm's length."
"We saw it up close for thirty seconds, but it was in view for at least a few minutes. It passed directly overhead at one point. The colour was white. The object seemed to be giving out light all over its surface."
"It came from the northeast and departed towards the southwest. It wasn't very high up. It was much lower than a normal plane, probably only about 100 feet (30 meters). It traveled much faster at first, but seemed to slow down when it passed over me." (Email Interview)
ITALIAN COUPLE VIDEOTAPES A UFO OVER CASSINO
On Tuesday, January 20, 1998, at 7:20 a.m., an Italian husband and wife spied a UFO over the small city of Cassino, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Rome.
The UFO was also seen in Cervara.
When they first saw the UFO, "it moved slowly from near the ascendant (zenith)" and flew in a horizontal trajectory.
Five minutes later, the silvery object returned, and "when the phenomenon repeated itself, the spouses got a camera and filmed it for seven minutes on videotape."
The case is being investigated by Giovanni Ascione, Antonio Cecere, Mario de Luca and Enzo Paliotti of Centro Italiano di Studi Ufologici. (Grazie a Edoardo Russo di CISU per questo rapporto.)
TWO TRIANGULAR UFOs FLY OVER NORTHERN TASMANIA
On Monday, February 2, 1998, at 11:55 p.m., witnesses in Devonport, on Australia's Bass Strait on the north shore of Tasmania "spotted two bright light triangular objects ripping through the night sky."
"The first object sped past at an incredible speed, at a low altitude on a westerly heading. A few seconds later, another white triangular object flew past on the same course and bearing. However, this object appeared to have a green light or glow following it. The objects appeared to be identical in shape and colour. There was no sound. The objects were definitely a right-angle triangle shape, that appeared to be like the broad swept-back wing of a Stealth or delta-winged American" aircraft. (Many thanks to Ross Dowe of Australia-New Zealand National UFO Hotline for this report.)
CASHMAN SOLVES MYSTERY OF THE CHESHIRE LIGHTS
A recent UFO has now been identified, thanks to the investigative work of Mark Cashman, assistant director of Connecticut MUFON.
On Friday, January 16, 1998, motorists spotted mysterious bluish-white flashes near Cheshire, Connecticut, about 25 miles (32 kilometers) south of Hartford. Mark Cashman subsequently talked with two of the eyewitnesses.
The incident took place between 10:45 and 11 p.m., Cashman said. "The other witness indicated that the cars were driving west on (Highway) 691, heading for (Interstate Highway) I-84, and the flashes were about 15 degrees behind the car, which would mean that the (initial) Sleeping Giant (state park) location just wasn't possible."
"I plotted the sight lines on a map based on information taken from the witnesses," he added, "and the sight lines converge at the densest part of Meriden, Connecticut."
Cashman then contacted the power company in Meriden and learned that "86,000 customers in that area were without power and transformer problems" as a result of the ice storm "could have caused the flashes."
"An arcing power line and certain kinds of transformer problems can cause extremely bright blue-white flashes of the kind reported." Based on this information, the recent Connecticut UFO should be classified as "identified." (Email Interview)
BLACK HELICOPTER FLYBY IN LEBANON, INDIANA
On December 28, 1997, a farm family living near Lebanon, Indiana (population 12,059), located on Interstate Highway I-65 approximately 27 miles (43 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis, reported a black helicopter flying very low and very fast over their property.
According to Lawrence R., the "helicopter passed directly over our place. It stirred up a pack of coyotes-- they started yapping and howling in the field beyond our barnyard." (See Farm and Ranch Living for February/March 1998, page 47)
L.A.'S BRENTWOOD SECTION HAS A MYSTERIOUS PAST
What do Monica Lewinsky, O.J. Simpson and Cindy Crawford have in common?
They all live in Brentwood, an upscale neighborhood in the west end of Los Angeles.
Monica Lewinsky, key figure in the current White House scandal, arrived at the home of her father, Dr. Bernard Lewinsky, at 12224 Darlington Avenue on Tuesday, February 3, 1998.
"And when the upscale Brentwood district was recovering from the notoriety and gawkers brought by the O.J. Simpson case, the juggernaut of news coverage descended for a second time upon Bundy Drive, Gretna Green Way and other streets familiar to trial watchers." (See USA Today for February 5, 1998, page 3-A.)
"'It's a little deja vu,' said Elaine Katz, 40, strolling past the scene with her leashed saluki-shepherd mix, Shayne."
"Retired schoolteacher Joan Taylor, 75, struggled in vain to pull her family's Scotch terrier past the staked-out journalists. 'He wants to see what's going on,' Taylor said, 'I can hardly drag him home.'" (USA Today, February 5, 1998, ibid.)
"Lewinsky's father, Bernard, lives just a few blocks from the condo where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were knifed to death in 1994." Nicole's condo is at 875 South Bundy Drive.
"The oncologist's home is also not far from O.J.'s old estate" at 360 North Rockingham Avenue "where the media camped out for months before and after his sensational murder trial."
"Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Terri Brinkmeyer said cops expected 'a media circus' in Brentwood. 'But we're used to that, especially in this area.'" (See the New York Post for February 4, 1998, "Circus Is Back in Brentwood," page 3)
Probably neither the Lewinskys nor O.J. nor supermodel Cindy Crawford, who owns "a 4,000- square-foot, four-bedroom, Spanish-hacienda-style home in Brentwood" (See the Globe for February 10, 1998) are aware of the strange events that occurred in the district back in January 1934, which resulted in some wild claims and a mysterious disappearance.
In 1933, self-styled inventor and mining engineer G. Warren Shufelt came to Los Angeles, hoping to interest backers in his "radio X-ray" device, a kind of early-day subterranean sonar.
Visiting Brentwood, then a new post-World War One subdivision, Shufelt tested his invention and discovered underground tunnels running south to Santa Monica and the ocean. He also discovered tunnels deep beneath Dodger Stadium, the Central Library and Fort Moore Hill, now site of the Los Angeles Unified School Distrct headquarters.
"To understand his find, Shufelt said he took his secret to Arizona, to a famous Hopi Indian leader known as Chief Greenleaf."
"The Hopi tale the chief told him begins about 3,000 B.C. with a highly advanced race known as the Lizard People. According to legend, after a fire or meteor nearly destroyed their culture, the mysterious race built three underground cities along the Pacific coast."
"The capital of this underground world was said to be beneath downtown Los Angeles. (Another city was under Mount Shasta and nobody knows where the third city was.) Caverns and tunnels housing a thousand families supposedly were created with an unknown chemical solution that melted bedrock. Tunnels and rooms were said to be filled with gold--then a symbol of long life rather than wealth--and lined with a cement superior to any known to modern man."
"The legendary lost city of tunnels was built in the shape of a lizard, also a Hopi symbol for longevity." (See the Los Angeles Times for July 22, 1996, "L.A. Scene--The City Then and Now" by Cecilia Rasmussen.)
The Brentwood tunnel supposedly runs parallel to Sunset Boulevard, turning south beyond Bundy Drive, crossing San Vicente Boulevard and passing under the Brentwood Country Club before heading for Santa Monica.
Shufelt announced his plans to excavate the reputed "temple room" under Fort Moore Hill. (See the Los Angeles Times for January 29, 1934.)
"The city gave Shufelt permission to drill down to 1,000 feet, but after only reaching 350 feet, drilling stopped for fear of a cave-in. Breathless newspaper accounts were never followed up, and Shufelt disappeared." (Los Angeles Times, July 22, 1996)
A local psychic of the 1930s, Edith Elden Robinson of Paco Rivera said she had a vision of "a vast city...in mammoth tunnels extending to the seashore," with a few running under Brentwood.
(Editor's Comment: Prehistoric tunnels have also been found under Rome, Italy, apparently predating the Etruscan period, 1300 to 300 B.C. The Etruscans, a.k.a. the Rasenna, founded "Roma" on the site of an earlier city--Saturnia.)
from the UFO Files...
1967: UFO CHASES AIRLINER OVER PERU
On February 2, 1967, a Douglas DC-4 airliner owned by Faucett Airlines took off from Piura in northern Peru. The four-engine propellor airliner was headed south to Lima, the national capital.
Flying the DC-4 was Captain Osvaldo Sanvitti and a crew of six. There were 52 passengers on board, including Colonel Alberto Rosell of the Peruvian Army.
As the DC-4 flew over Chiclayo, Capt. Sanvitti reported, "We were at an altitude of 7,000 feet when I suddenly noticed a luminous object to the right of the plane. It was beginning to get dark (about 7 p.m. February is summer in Peru--J.T.) and the object, which emitted a very strong light, was shaped like a reversed cone. It was more or less at eight miles (12 kilometers) from the plane, flying at the same speed, same altitude and keeping the same direction. In other words, it was flying in line with our plane as if it wanted to observe us closely."
"As I was observing it myself," he reported, "I saw it making a number of movements, all of which were done at a fantastic speed. It darted vertically in the air several times and then returned to its original place. I alerted my crew and then I told the passengers to watch the UFO. I told them that, in my opinion, it was observing us."
"The object followed us for a while to our right, making ascending and descending maneuvers from time to time, but always following our plane in a parallel route. Then, suddenly, it flew towards us like an arrow, passing above the plane. While doing this, it emitted flashes of vivid colors."
"When it approached the plane, it had a bluish light on its upper part and a red light below. But when it passed above us, I saw that its lower section was shaped like a funnel. I estimated that the upper section, which was the largest, had a diameter of about 230 feet. After passing above us, the UFO took a position to our left, at a distance of two miles from the plane."
Picking up his microphone, Capt. Sanvitti tried to contact the tower at Aeropuerto Jorge Chavez in Lima. He wanted to report the sighting, but all he got on the radio was static.
Meanwhile, in Lima, airport manager Edwin Boris "was very worried by the fact that Capt. Sanvitti was not in touch with us. I was unable to make any communication either with him or his plane."
Back on the DC-4, things were getting pretty scary.
The radio was still out. Even worse, the cabin and cockpit lights began to flicker and grow dimmer.
"The crew and passengers of the DC-4 suddenly noticed a second UFO flying next to the first one. 'The two objects were flying over our plane,' continued Sanvitti's testimony 'They both had the same size and shape. I was beginning to tell the control tower that there were two UFOs around us when suddenly both left at a fantastic speed in one blow and disappeared. It was our last sighting of them."
Immediately the DC-4's power was restored. At Chavez airport, Boris "could hear his (Sanvitti's) voice explaining what had happened. He was saying, 'A UFO has flown around us, observing us. The passengers are frightened.'"
Amazingly, this was Capt. Sanvitti's second UFO encounter. In 1953, while piloting a small plane over Barcelona in Venezuela he spotted "a silvery saucer-shaped object." (Many thanks to Antonio J. Huneeus for letting UFO ROUNDUP quote from his article, "Peru's Most Incredible Close Encounters," Unsolved UFO Sightings, Winter 1998 issue, pages 64 and 65. Copyright 1998 by Antonio J. Huneeus, all rights reserved.)
FUN UFO WEBSITES:
For more information on underground bases around the world, check out this site. It's at http://www.budget.net/~harbob/undbases.htm
Matt Overpeck's UFO HOME always has the welcome mat out. Drop in anytime at this URL: http://www.ccmsi.com/ufohome/
Definitely not to be missed is our parent site, UFO INFO, which is chock-full of photos, features and news. Browse at leisure at http://ufoinfo.com
Back issues of UFO ROUNDUP can be downloaded at our webpage. Read about hundreds of UFO sightings during 1996 and 1997 at http://ufoinfo.com/roundup/
To our readers in Norway, I hope you're enjoying today's Sun Pageant in Narvik. The festival celebrates the "return" of the sun to the city. The sun has been below the horizon, and Narvik has been cloaked in Arctic night, since the end of November.
Join us next week for more saucer news from "the paper that goes home--UFO ROUNDUP." See you then.
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post 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 the item first appeared.
