UFO ROUNDUP Volume 3 Number 14
Volume 3
Number 14
April 5, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
TRIANGULAR UFOs SIGHTED IN SOUTHERN INDIANA
Numerous V-shaped or triangular UFOs were sighted last week in southern Indiana around Evansville (population 126,272).
On Sunday, March 22, 1998, at 10 p.m., ufologist Lynn Taylor and his wife Linda were driving home to Bloomington on Highway 37. As they neared Martinsville (population 11,677), about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Indianapolis, the couple "got a glimpse of a giant, round, dimly-lit object, perhaps 50 feet above a hill, off to our right," i.e. to the west. Taylor reported, "This is only the fourth time I have witnessed this type of object."
On Monday, March 23, 1998, Cal Washburn, an Indiana TV producer, spotted a UFO in the sky over Spurgeon, Ind. (population 250), while traveling on Highway Highway 61 about 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of Petersburg.
As he reached a hilltop, Washburn "could see through (the branches of) a tree, some lights that were 'enormous.'" He counted "four to six red-colored lights that were in a 'perfect row.'" He reported that "another four or five lights went off and on intermittently...They moved in a perfect formation. It was as if they were attached to something."
On Friday evening, March 27, 1998, three residents of Evansville called WTVW Channel 7 and reported seeing "a light twice as bright as Venus." Looking closer, they spied a triangular UFO with "yellow, white and blue bright lights...with a brilliant white light on the leading edge."
In Princeton, Ind. (population 8,127), located on Highway 64 about 27 miles (43 kilometers) north of Evansville, residents reported "a large ring of UFOs seen at the rear of the Toyota manufacturing plant" on the outskirts of town.
In Petersburg, Ind. (population 2,449), located on Highway 57 about 14 miles (23 kilometers) north of Princeton, people reported seeing "a large grey triangle with five lights on one side."
A "giant flying triangle" was also reported that evening in Otwell, Ind. (population 500), located on Highway 257 about eight miles (11 kilometers) southeast of Petersburg.
At 11:02 p.m., Jana Taylor, 14, daughter of Lynn and Linda Taylor of Bloomington, was riding in a car with her friend Karen and Karen's mother, Kate, on old Highway 37 just south of Dolan, Ind. when she spotted something strange in the sky.
Jana said she "spotted a triangle-shaped craft hovering motionless, about 15 feet above the trees on a hillside off to our right."
"You could make out the shape because of light pollution from (nearby) Bloomington," Jana reported, "The object had a large, bright bluish-white light at each of the three corners. You know what it would look like if you had a blue lens, then put a white lightbulb behind it that's too bright, how the white will overpower the blue, but you could still see some blue?"
Jana pointed it out to Karen and her mother. Kate pulled onto a side road. Here they saw more lights on the craft, which Jana described as "four non-blinking red lights that could be seen in the middle area." The UFO then "turned southwest towards Bloomington and dropped behind the hills nearby." (Many thanks to Lynn Taylor, Steve Wilson Sr., Jerry Stevers of MUFON and Kenneth Young of Tri-States Advocates for Scientific Knowledge, T.A.S.K., for these reports.)
TWO UFO SIGHTINGS REPORTED IN WESTERN KENTUCKY
On Saturday evening, March 28, 1998, witnesses in Hawesville, Kentucky (population 1,150), a town on the south shore of the Ohio River 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Evansville, Indiana, reported sighting "a very bright light in the eastern sky, moving slowly to the south."
On Tuesday, March 31, 1998, Mortimer V. Sloane spotted a "blinking red light on my farm coming from the southwest. I didn't see any structure, just the flashing lights. I have to tell you, this cannot be seen without binoculars--there's something about the red. It's hard to pick out. They stayed in view for two to five minutes. They were about 45 degrees (above the horizon), maybe a little higher. There was no other glow except for the blinking red light."
He described the UFO as looking like this * in the binoculars' field of view.
The Sloane farm is near Wakefield, Kentucky, on Highway 85 about 36 miles (58 kilometers) southeast of Louisville. (Email Interview)
TWO NEW SIGHTINGS ON FLORIDA'S EAST COAST
On Sunday, March 29, 1998, at 5:30 p.m., Kathy D. woke up at her home in North Palm Beach, Florida (population 11,343) on Route 1 about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Miami. "I rose early at 5:30 a.m. to get my cat, who was out on the patio, and looked up in the east-southeast sky to see a light, and I do mean a huge, bright white light. It was about one-third the size of a full moon. Unbelievable!"
"My first thought is that it was a UFO, but then I tried to rationalize it. I thought perhaps it was an airplane headlight...it was so big and bright, heading directly towards me. It was approaching West Palm Beach from the (Atlantic) ocean at about 3,000 to 5,000 feet. But it didn't change course or move at all. The clouds obscured it, and minutes later, it was gone."
Thinking no more of it, Kathy went back to bed. Later on Sunday, however, she received a phone call from some friends living in Hobe Sound, Fla. (population 11,507) on Route 1 about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of North Palm Beach. "And they had seen the same thing--a large bright light in the sky which they viewed for a half hour, from 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m." (Email Interview)
GLOWING UFO SIGHTED IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS
On Saturday, March 28, 1998, at 11 p.m., Mike H., a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and his son, Charlie, 17 "were driving on Texas Highway 287 south and approaching (Interstate Highway) I-30 out of downtown Fort Worth (population 447,619) when we watched an unusual object over the Trinity River area."
"At first we thought it was just an airplane," Mike reported. "But then we noticed that the object had several very intense rapidly-strobing green, red and white lights, all three strobing at the same time, almost the way it looks when a police car pulls someone over."
"We noticed that there were no other lights visible on the object during the strobing effect. Then, suddenly, the light turned to an all-green light, then all white. This lasted only about a second, then back to the strobing effect again. We did notice the object darting back and forth rapidly. Sometimes it appeared to jump from side to side, causing the light to strobe here, then suddenly a few feet (away) in another direction."
"It also darted off about a half mile in one direction, then suddenly dart up 1,000 feet (300 meters), then back in the opposite direction. Then it changed course, moving at an incredible speed in an easterly direction...Then it suddenly turned and went in the opposite direction."
With Mike driving east on I-30, son Charlie kept the object in view "for another five minutes" until they "lost sight of it." (Email Interview)
UFO SEEN APPROACHING A JETLINER IN OKLAHOMA
On Saturday, March 28, 1998, at 8:30 p.m., Hal A. was outdoors near his home in McAlester, Oklahoma (population 16,370), on Highway 270 about 128 miles (205 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, when he spotted an unusual light in the sky.
"I spotted a solid color orange-yellow light traveling northeast," Hal reported. "I watched it for about two minutes. I first thought it was a satellite, but at the same time a commercial jet--it had (standard FAA) blinking red and white strobe lights--was traveling southwest on the same flight path."
"The yellow object passed underneath the jet, and was so close it lit up the bottom of the plane!"
"I thought they were going to collide up to that point. The object traveled for another five minutes and then blinked out. Just disappeared." (Many thanks to Jim Hickman, vice president of Skywatch International, for this report.)
SAUCER TOUCHES DOWN NEAR SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA
On Thursday, April 2, 1998, at 12:30 a.m., editor Stefan Duncan of American UFO Newsletter (AUFON) was staked out on the shore of High Rock Lake ten miles (16 kilometers) east of Salisbury, North Carolina (population 23,087). Using a pair of 7X10 binoculars, he scanned the night sky.
Salisbury is on Highway 29 about 115 miles (184 kilometers) west of Raleigh.
Stefan then spotted "a light in the sky, not blinking, of white, yellow, red...At times it appeared like it had a line of light running across, like looking at Saturn straight on with its rings." (That is, a sphere with an illuminated raised rim--J.T.)
The Saturn-shaped UFO "rose vertically, hovered and remained stationary for five minutes. Then the object began to descend straight down until it disappeared behind the trees" two miles away.
At 1 a.m., Stefan reported, "The object rose vertically from the same position of the treeline about two inches high (in the field of view) and remained stationary. It was the Saturn shape again. It brightened for about ten seconds, then resumed its regular shine."
At 1:25 a.m., a smaller object "with the same brightness" detached itself from the UFO. "It flashed brightly twice." He described the scene as resembling this:
o 0"They stayed in this position for about thirty seconds, and then reformed into one object. Then the object took on the Saturn shape. The light blacked out." (For the full story see, American UFO Newsletter #5 for 1998. Many thanks to Stefan Duncan for this report.)
UFO FLYBY WITNESSED IN VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA
On Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at 12:25 p.m., MUFON member Dennis Hawley was standing in a parking lot in Virginia Beach, Virginia (population 393,069) when he spotted a UFO.
"The UFO was flying very high and fast before disappearing into the haze." Dennis reported, adding that he "originally thought the object was a balloon, but realized it was flying too fast and straight. The UFO was first observed to the southeast flying in from the Atlantic Ocean about three miles away. The object flew on a straight course to the northwest."
He described the UFO as a "metallic disc, glowing and extremely fast" and estimated it to be "about the real size of an airliner."
Virginia Beach is on Highway 58 about 110 miles (176 kilometers) southeast of Richmond, the state capital. (See Filer's Files #13 for 1998. Many thanks to Dennis Hawley, George A. Filer and Rick Atristain, Virginia state MUFON director, for this report.)
COUPLE SIGHTS TRIANGULAR UFO IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN
On Thursday, March 26, 1998, at 9:15 p.m., Kenneth and Katarina M. "were enjoying the clear evening" at their home in Brighton, Michigan (population 5,686). a town on Interstate Highway I-23 about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Detroit.
"Suddenly, we noticed something unusual coming from the north," Katarina reported. "An object passed over our heads in a straight-line direction. The object had a V-shape with real bright white-yellowish lights underneath. We watched it for about four seconds until it passed behind our house. The object made no sound at all." (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister of NACOMM for this report.)
UFOs SEEN FREQUENTLY IN EAST KILBRIDE, SCOTLAND
East Kilbride is fast becoming the Gulf Breeze of Scotland. UFOs have been reported daily there during the past two weeks.
According to the East Kilbride News, "Dozens of residents have reported strange objects, including a pancake-shaped flying saucer, hovering above the town."
"David Cornes, 59, of Murray spotted three military jets chasing a flashing UFO the evening of January 25," 1998.
On Thursday, March 26, 1998, driving instructor Brenda Hughie, 39, of Greenhills was giving a road lesson to Tricia McLean, 46, on Strathaven Road. when "a flashing object crossed the sky."
"The dazzling light" startled Brenda, and she "got out of her grey Vauxhall Corsa for a better look."
"'I don't believe in UFOs, but afterwards I felt dizzy and weak,'" she reported, "'When I got home, the whole room was spinning. Everyone thinks I am crazy. They don't believe me!'"
Whitehills resident Tricia McLean reported, "I saw six flashing lights in the sky. Two were brighter and went in different directions. Brenda watched it out the windscreen (windshield) first, and then I stopped the car."
East Kilbride is 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city.
(See the East Kilbride News for March 27, 1998, "It's An L of a UFO" by Susie Kelly. Many thanks to Dave Ledger for this report.)
UFO VIDEOTAPED HOVERING OVER A BEACH IN BRAZIL
On Saturday, March 28, 1998, hundreds of people relaxing on the beach at Praia do Jose Menino in the seaport city of Santos were startled when an OVNI (Portuguese acronym for UFO) suddenly appeared offshore.
Santos is in southern Brazil, about 120 kilometers (72 miles) southeast of Sao Paulo.
As the UFO hovered over Ilha da Urubuquecaba, an offshore island, Valentim do Nascimento Junior picked up his videocam and began shooting footage. The UFO was described as "a disc-shaped object covered with a luminosity in the colors yellow, green and blue."
Nascimento videotaped the UFO for 40 minutes as the beachgoers watched it hover. Then, "the light flickering strangely," the UFO zipped away over the horizon.
Wallacy Albino, director-general of Grupo de Estudos Ufologicos do Guaruja, a Brazilian UFO group, has studied the Nascimento video. He said that at one point "a smaller light left the OVNI, circulated in the sky and then returned to the object." (See the Brazilian newspaper Gazeta de Limeira for March 30, 1998, "OVNI e Filmado por 40 Minutos na Praia de Jose Menino." Muito obrigado a Pedro Cunha por eso caso.)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO SEEN NEAR CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
Three people witnessed a cigar-shaped UFO in the sky over Bexley, just north of Christchurch, South Island, in New Zealand on Monday, March 30, 1998.
At 8:30 p.m., Edith Perkins saw what she called "a capsule or cigar-shaped object at first...silver-whitish body, darker grey forked tail."
"At the time I was doing some chores in our backyard," she reported, "We live by the coastal line of New Brighton. NaturallyI looked up and I observed, still overhead, the silver-whitish object coming. I was facing west. The rounded edges, front and back, of the object called my attention. Its size appeared to be about 10 centimeters (five inches) long (if held at arm's length--J.T.)." She estimated its altitude to be 30,000 feet but "was puzzled that there was no trail behind it."
Edith went to fetch a pair of 7X35 binoculars. She was soon joined by her husband and a home-care nurse. As they watched, "suddenly a very bright light covered the object. It did not happen as a flash of light. It had a beginning" and at the end of the light burst, "I was seeing a different rear on the craft, a forked end to it, the colour of it was dark grey."
Another burst of light occurred, "and the object presented a rim, all around the craft, with either intermittent colour lights on the rim or a rotating rim." She described the lights as "reddish-orange tones." The UFO flew out over Pegasus Bay, heading northeast. (Many thanks to Ross Dowe and the Australia/ New Zealand 24-Hour UFO Hotline for this report.)
TWO NEW UFO SIGHTINGS IN SOUTHEAST AUSTRALIA
Two UFOs were reported Friday night, March 27, 1998, in southeastern Australia.
At 7:30 p.m., people at Lake Corangamite in Victoria state, 192 kilometers (120 miles) west of Melbourne, reported "sighting a large and bright orange fireball cross the whole sky." They described it as "a large meteor with a long tail."
At 8:10 p.m., in Batemans Bay, New South Wales, a shore town 256 kilometers (160 miles) south of Sydney, witnesses saw "two orange lights with odd square or rectangular tails follow each other. They headed southeast south from the northeast. The illuminations were traveling too slow to be satellites and appeared to be in the atmosphere." (Many thanks to Ross Dowe and the Australia/New Zealand 24-Hour UFO Hotline for these reports.)
THREE SILVER SPHERE UFOs SPOTTED IN ONTARIO
On Saturday, March 28, 1998, at 7:09 p.m., Amy Hill was driving on Route 401 near Oshawa, Ontario, Canada (population 129,344) when she spotted three spherical, silvery UFOs in the night sky.
"My husband and I were driving westward on the 401," Amy reported, "We watched three circular objects. They were almost clear-looking whitish balls. They moved in a circular pattern and would come and join in the center, then move out, go around in a circle, and then repeat the same" maneuver. "We pulled over to watch."
Oshawa is 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Toronto. (Many thanks to Kenneth Young of T.A.S.K. for this report.)
from the UFO Files...
1485: CICERO'S DAUGHTER
or "Who Left the Light On?"
In April 1485, workmen quarrying for marble near the old Appian Way in Rome, Italy made a strange discovery. They broke into an underground chamber with "walls of smooth stone" that was "illuminated by a bright lampada (lamp) cool to the touch."
They also discovered the body of a black-haired teenaged girl in unfamiliar clothing.
Among those who visited the mysterious crypt was Bartolomeo Fonte, a Renaissance artist from Firenze (Florence). He described the find in a letter to his friend, Francesco Sassetti.
"They discovered there a marble sarcophagus. On opening it they found a body on its back covered by a substance two inches thick, greasy and perfumed. The oforous crust was removed beginning at the head, there appeared to them a face of such limpid paleness it seemed as if the young lady had been buried that day. Her long black hair still hung from her skull, parted and knotted to suit a young girl and fastened in a little net of silk and gold."
Some people thought she was Tullia, daughter of the Roman writer/statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. Tullia married Cornelius Dolabella in 47 B.C. and dropped out of the history books.
Others were not so sure, however. Ponte wrote, "Tiny ears, low forehead, black eyelashes, finally eyes of singular shape, under whose eyelids the cornea still appeared. Even the nostrils were still intact and so soft as to vibrate at the simple touch of a finger. Her red lips half-closed, small and white teeth, her scarlet tongue near the palate. Her cheeks, tongue, neck seemed to palpitate. Her arms hung down intact from her shoulders so that you wished you could have moved them. Her nails still adhered firmly to her long, outstretched hands, also if you had tried, you would not have succeeded in detaching them. Her breasts, stomach and womb were, on the contrary, compressed at one side and, after the removal of the aromatic crust, they decomposed. Her back, sides and buttocks instead had conserved their contours and marvelous shapes, just like her thighs and legs, which in life had presented even greater prizes than her face."
"In short, this must have concerned the most beautiful young woman of noble family during the period when Rome was at its greatest splendor. However, the majestic monument under the crypt had been destroyed many centuries or so ago, without there remaining even an inscription. Also the sarcophagus did not bear any sign. We know neither the name of the young woman nor her origin nor her age."
The discovery also upset a lot of people, notably Pope Innocent VIII. He was troubled by the implications of the "aromatic crust," some sort of ancient preservative that completely stymied decomposition. Even worse was the mysterious lamp "cool to the touch" that had been burning for at least 1,400 years.
The pope ordered the Capitoline Hill crypt sealed and had "Tullia" quietly reburied in an Italian convent.
As a result, today all that remains of "Tullia" is the charcoal sketch of her Bartolomeo Fonte drew in that mysterious vault five hundred years ago. (See the article "Il Franciulla e La Lampada" in Il Giornale del Misteri, Number 7, Autumn 1971, by Mara Calabri, Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, Italy. Reprinted in GODS AND SPACEMEN IN GREECE AND ROME by W. Raymond Drake, Signet Books, New American Library, New York, N.Y. 1976, page 174.)
(Editor's Comment: I sometimes wonder if "Tullia" might be a dead princess from the lost civilization of Saturnia. The mysterious crypt was found on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Roman author Marcus Terrentius Varro, in his book DE LINGUA LATINA, writes, "This hill was previously called the Saturnian Hill, we are informed by the writers, and from this Latium has been called the Saturnian Land...It is recorded that on this hill was an old town named Saturnia. Even now (That is, in 50 B.C., when the real Tullia was still a schoolgirl--J.T.) there remain evidences of it; that there is a temple of Saturn by the passage leading to the hill; that there is a Saturnian gate, which Junius writes of as there, which they now call Pondana, that behind the temple of Saturn in the lawns for the buildings of private persons, the back walls are mentioned as the Saturnian Wells.")
Today is the birthday of Judith Ann Resnick, one of the seven astronauts who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger January 28, 1986. Judy was born on April 5, 1949.
We'll be back next week with 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 items from UFO ROUNDUP on their websites and in newsgroups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the news item first appeared.
