UFO ROUNDUP Volume 3 Number 08
Volume 3
Number 8
February 22, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
UFOs SWEEP ACROSS MAINE
UFOs visited several towns in Maine, the largest state in the USA's northeastern region, on Tuesday, January 27, 1998, in an astounding one-night flap.
A UFO visited Deer Island in Penobscot Bay, on Maine's Atlantic Ocean coast, illuminating several homes.
Janet Stanley of Stonington, Me. (population 700), a port town on the southern tip of the island, had just turned on her TV set to watch President Clinton's State of the Union speech. As she entered the bathroom, she "was startled by an immensely bright blue light that came through the miniblinds on her west-facing window." Opening the blinds, "she saw the western sky filled with a deep bright blue (glow) with yellow vertical streaks resembling lightning strikes."
Nine miles to the north, in Little Deer Isle, Me., "Seth Harkness was watching the speech...at ten minutes after nine (9:10 p.m.) when a blinding white light came through the east-facing windows of his living room."
In St. Agatha, Me., Pam Pelletier was taking her dog for a walk when she "began hearing a series of huge sky explosions, maybe 7 or 8 of them." The incident took place at 7:30 p.m.
At 9:10 p.m., Grace Ouellette was at her home near Long Lake in Madawaska, Me. (population 3,653), a town on the Canadian border approximately 215 miles (344 kilometers) north of Bangor when she spotted "a large orange ball with white flashing lights." At first she thought it was a small plane about to crash at the airport in nearby Frenchville (population 475).
Across the St. Johns River, in St. Francois de Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada, Roger Bard "reported that he had seen a ball of fire go down on the American side of the river. 'It did not look like a falling star,' he said."
St. Francois de Madawaska is 213 miles (341 kilometers) northwest of Fredericton, capital of New Brunswick province.
In Millinocket, Me. (population 6,922), a small city 69 miles (110 kilometers) north of Bangor, Ellen Cousins "said she saw a bright orange streak as she looked north at 7:30 p.m."
Evelyn Robinson was driving on Interstate Highway 95 from Houlton (population 5,627) to Island Falls (population 650) at 9:30 p.m. when she "spotted a huge blue-green light streaking from east to west and leaving sparks behind."
"Robinson said, 'It was very fast, falling to the ground at a 45 degree angle. It was very startling and unnerved me a bit.'"
In Oakland, Me. (population 3,510), located on Maine Highway 11 about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Bangor, local police Officer Rick Stubbert "received a report of something falling from the sky into McGrath Pond...and planned to send divers out on Friday."
Elsewhere in Oakland, Kelly Sirois and her father, Ron Sirois, "heard loud explosions at 8:30 and at 10:30 p.m. that caused both to think that something had impacted with their house."
UFO phenomena were also reported in Deer Isle, six miles (10 kilometers) north of Stonington, and in Lincoln, Me. (population 3,399), a town on Highway 6 approximately 49 miles (78 kilometers) north of Bangor. (See the Bangor Daily News for January 30, 1998, "Witnesses see fireball in sky near Madawaska" and "More witnesses report seeing bright-colored county fireball." Many thanks to Gordon J. Gianninoto for these news stories.)
(Editor's Comment: Well, I guess we know what Stephen King's next novel is going to be about.)
MORE UFO SIGHTINGS NEAR PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
A spherical silver UFO appeared repeatedly over the Florida panhandle and southern Alabama and was seen by dozens of eyewitnesses.
In Gulf Breeze, Fla. (population 5,530), a resort town seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Pensacola, columnist Carole Baker of the Pensacola Beach Islander was driving on Shoreline Road at 6:35 p.m. on January 31, 1998 when she saw "not one but two bright red objects low on the horizon to the east."
Ms. Baker kept the objects in view for 90 seconds, adding, "The two red objects had a distinctive shape. Each central, large, ruby red light had adjacent to it on either side one smaller red light...This was suggestive to me of a ring-shaped configuration which we have witnessed in this area many times before."
On Thursday, February 5, 1998, Vicki Lyons of Pensacola, Fla. (population 58,165) experienced a strange compulsion at 2:30 p.m. "I suddenly without any real reason began to think that I should leave earlier."
Getting in her car, Ms. Lyons drove west on Interstate Highway 10 into Alabama. As she neared Elsanore, Ala. 16 miles (26 kilometers) west of Pensacola, "All of a sudden, I watched streaking across my windshield to the southwest a perfectly round silver ball, so silver it looked like a sterling silver perfect 'marble' in the sky."
Ms. Lyons told CNI News that the UFO "looked like an aspirin held at arm's length" and was about one mile away "It contrasted sharply against the cloudless blue sky. As I was looking at it and pondering pulling off the interstate (highway), it suddenly took off at tremendously fast speed and crossed in front of me, over the interstate and off to the north. The speed of the object was indescribable! It was so spectacular that I screamed in excitement when it flashed across in front of me."
On Saturday, February 7, 1998, Christie Edwards of Robertsdale, Ala., a town on Highway 90 about 27 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, videotaped the silver sphere as it hovered above her house.
Two days later, on Monday, February 9, 1998, the UFO returned to Robertsdale. Ms. Edwards said, "It looks just like a bright light, but it's real big. And it looks like nothing I've ever seen before...a small, circular-looking silver object against a blue sky."
Fox Channel 10 TV aired the Edwards video during their evening broadcast on February 9.
On Wednesday, February 11, 1998, Pat Crumbley and her husband Buddy were driving on Interstate Highway 10 in Milton, Fla. (population 7,216) about 16 miles (26 kilometers) northeast of Pensacola when she spotted the silvery UFO.
"About 15 degrees off the horizon I saw a silver ball-shaped object," Mrs. Crumbley reported. "About one-half inch (one centimeter) in diameter at arm's length." She was so startled that "it took a couple of seconds to say, 'Buddy, look!' As he turned to look, it just disappeared." (See CNI News, Volume 3, Number 24, Part 1. Many thanks to Mike Lindemann of CNI News for letting UFO ROUNDUP quote from his news story. See also Filer's Files #6 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer of MUFON for the information.)
BLACK HELICOPTER STALKS UFO OVER AN IOWA FARM
On Monday, February 2, 1998, at 10 p.m., Susan Landers, 50, her daughter Melissa Edgewick, 27, and son Michael Landers, 20 were at the family farm near Sioux City, Iowa (population 80,505) about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east of Des Moines when Melissa "heard the sound of jets but did not see them." She "then heard a high-pitched hum but did not locate the source of the noise."
"Next a dark-colored helicopter came over their house at less than 50 feet altitude. No markings were observed. Very large motor," reported Beverly Trout of Iowa MUFON, who interviewed the family.
"About 15 minutes later, the mother heard the copter and stepped out onto her bedroom's second- floor deck (balcony). The copter was overhead, and she could see its bottom and could feel vibration in the house."
Michael Landers, standing outdoors on the south side of the house, "could feel the disturbance 'wind' from the rotors. At first, the copter was right over their house."
Susan Landers "described two white lights--one at each end and a red light in the middle. Since she was aware of the green light requirement on aircraft, she specifically looked for a green light. There was none on the copter."
"After the copter left, all three watched through binoculars a bright orange ball move from the east to the southwest and then to the northwest of their residence. At one point, the ball stopped, then moved back to the southwest."
A week later, on Monday, February 9, 1998, at 11:45 a.m., Mrs. Landers and another son, Todd, 33, were driving to Sioux City when they saw a strange object hovering about a half-mile away.
The UFO was "200 feet above a nearby hill" and "perhaps at 500 feet altitude." Both witnesses described it as "a rectangular 'refrigerator' shaped object, perhaps a little smaller than a mid-sized car."
At first they thought they were "looking at the back end of a helicopter, but they saw that it had no wings. It was moving very fast and was a dull metallic gray in color."
Todd Landers described the UFO "as a refrigerator laying horizontal," while his mother described "some sort of energy bands coming from the top and bottom of the object, each had extended outward for about one-third the size of the object."
The glow created a shimmering effect, which Todd Landers described as "like looking through a fire."
Five days later, on Saturday, February 14, 1998, Michael Landers and Melissa Edgewick were returning home at 9:30 p.m. when they spied a UFO they described as "a 40-foot triangle" hovering above the road.
The UFO "was at about a one-and-one-half telephone pole in height" (33 feet or 10 meters--J.T.) above the road with "three bright white flashing lights at each corner of the triangle and a red light in the middle. The object moved from the east side of the road to the west side, and at one point the bright light from the object reflected on the nearby trees." (Many thanks to Beverly Trout of Iowa MUFON for these reports.)
TRUCKER VIDEOTAPES UFO IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
On Saturday, February 14, 1998, truck driver Bill Sauter of San Diego, California was driving his rig on Interstate Highway 10 near Deming, New Mexico (population 10,970) about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of El Paso, Texas.
As he was listening to his CB radio, "he heard talk about a strange object in the sky."
Since he always carries a video camcorder with him, Sauter pulled off the highway and stepped down from the cab. Spying the UFO over the desert, he lifted his camcorder and began shooting footage.
"It just picked up speed and--woosh--it was gone," Sauter told Channel 10 TV news in San Diego." He reportedly described it as "something out there that was not a missile and wasn't a blimp. It looked like a (Boeing) 747 but without wings."
Pictures of the UFO may be found at the San Diego UFO Information homepage at this URL: http://www.arroweb.com/n6rpf/sauter.html. (Many thanks to Paul Cook for this news story.)
BLACK TRIANGULAR UFO SPOTTED IN MICHIGAN
On Thursday, February 5, 1998, at 7:45 p.m., high school senior Greg Parkins, 18, was driving through Howell, Michigan (population 8,184), located 57 miles (91 kilometers) west of Detroit, when he spotted a strange object in the sky.
He described the UFO as "a black triangular object...heading west and paralleling Mason Road and at an elevation of 55 to 60 degrees. Noted that the object had three real white blinking lights at the three points (corners) of the triangle."
Greg "pulled over to the side of the road to get a better look" and estimated that "the object was the size of a quarter held at arm's length...Although he made a point of looking for them, no navigational strobes--red, green or white--were seen at any time. He estimated the speed of the object to be 60 miles per hour." (See Filer's Files #6 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer of MUFON and Dave Parrish, Michigan director of Skywatch International, for this report.)
NEW UFO FLAP RATTLES FOUR STATES IN AUSTRALIA
February was an active month for UFOs in the southern hemisphere, as well, with a new flap in Australia.
On Monday, February 9, 1998, at 9:50 p.m., "a dark triangular-shaped object with three orange illuminations" appeared in the sky over Geelong, Victoria (Vic.), a city 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Melbourne. Witnesses reported that "it traveled very slowly, slower than an aircraft would fly" toward the Yan Yang Mountains northwest of Geelong.
Also, at 9:50 p.m. that night, in Blackwood, South Australia (S.A.), witnesses reported seeing "a very bright ball of white light. It appeared to pass across the sky at about 20 to 25 degrees above the northern horizon, heading west or northwest of Adelaide. Illumination flew straight and level."
On Wednesday, February 11, 1998, at 10:05 p.m., people in Toodyay, Western Australia (W.A.) near Perth saw "an object or illumination" come from the east and move to a stationary position near the moon. "It came to a holding (hovering) position just under the moon and changed colours. It then moved southward and changed direction. It crossed right overhead to the southwest of Perth in only seconds."
Minutes later, the UFO returned from the southwest, again flew over Toodyay and headed east. "It also traveled extremely fast. As the object traveled overhead the first time, it appeared to stop at one point--rise sharply up, then drop."
Smaller lights appeared to revolve around the UFO. A rumbling sound was heard following it. One witness reported, "Animals in the area--cockatoos, gallah sheep and dogs--were going crazy."
On Friday, February 13, 1998, at 9:22 p.m., witnesses at Stones Corner in Brisbane, Queensland (Qnld.) "spotted a bright point of light in the northern sky." As they watched, the UFO "exploded" into a bright circle of light that remained for several seconds. "The exploded illumination appeared to be the size of an orange at arm's length. It also did appear to have an orange-red glow" that "was very bright in the center."
The same Friday night, at 9:35 p.m., witnesses in Elstenwick, Vic., a suburb of Melbourne "sighted a navy blue or black disc-shaped object hovering to the northwest...The object looked like a Second World War British battle helmet and it moved from side to side" as it flew. Witnesses had the UFO in view for five or six minutes.
On Saturday, February 14, 1998, the black disc appeared again, this time over Queensland's Gold Coast. The UFO, which "appeared to be a solid functioning object, flew over at about 1,000 to 1,500 feet (altitude.) This disc-shaped object heading due north and flew on a straight and level course, its speed was slower than a commercial airliner and was only sighted for one to two minutes before disappearing."
On Sunday, February 15, 1998, at 9:45 p.m., witnesses in the St. Mary's section of Sydney, New South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia's largest city, "saw two very bight orange fireball illuminations crossing the sky underneath cloud" at about 3,600 feet altitude. The UFOs came from the direction of the RAAF Richmond air base "and they were heading towards Liverpool or the (Australian) Army's Hollsworthy base." (Many thanks to Ross Dowe of the Australia-New Zealand National UFO Hotline for these reports.)
SAUCERS CONVERGE ON NORTHERN BRAZIL
Disc-shaped UFOs overflew Fortaleza, the largest city in Brazil's Ceara state, and its suburbs three times on Monday, February 16, 1998.
Fortaleza is 1,760 kilometers (1,100 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro.
At 7:30 a.m., Neil Oliveiras Chagas spotted "a white object in the form of two inverted trapezoids with rounded edges and two blue lights." Oliveiras Chagas, an electrician by trade, grabbed his video camcorder and shot footage of the UFO.
At 5:20 p.m., Reginaldo Athayde, director-general of Centro de Pesquisas Ufologicas do Ceara (CPU-CE), a Brazilian UFO study group, while investigating the morning's sighting, witnessed another UFO overflight in Centro, Fortaleza's downtown district.
According to Sr. Athayde, he "saw another object in the sky of Centro, crossing the Rua Barrio de Rio Branco and the Rua Pedro Pereira. The object was very big, with a spherical form," moving first to the south and then heading east. It was last seen flying east over the South Atlantic.
A disc-shaped OVNI (Portuguese acronym for UFO) also appeared over the suburb of Cambeba, where it was videotaped by a TV crew from Verdes Mares.
At 6:30 p.m., "a luminous white point" was seen overhead in Varjota, another suburb of Fortaleza.
Saucers were also reported in Papicu, Messejana, Parangaba and Barru de Ceara, all districts of Fortaleza.
Later in the evening, "an object of discoidal form" was seen flying towards the South Atlantic from the beach at Praia do Futuro.
Sr. Athayde said, "We are going to analyze all of the material collected." (See the Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Povo for February 17, 1998, "Objeto Nao Identificado Sao Vistos Sobrevando Fortaleza." Muito obrigado a Pedro Cunha por eso caso.)
CHILE TV NETWORK AIRS VILLARICA UFO VIDEO
On Saturday, February 14, 1998, Television Nacional de Chile (TVN) aired an amateur video of a UFO encounter that took place last November.
On November 24, 1997, Vicente Constant, 26, and his family were driving to the Andes on vacation. They planned to visit Villarica volcano, a tourist attraction 688 kilometers (430 miles) south of Santiago de Chile, the national capital.
As they neared the volcano, Vicente took out his camcorder and began shooting footage of the Chilean countryside. Although they were in the Andes at a relatively high altitude--1,600 meters (5,280 feet, same as Denver, Colorado--J.T.), he reported, "Suddenly we began feeling a heavy pressure in the air."
"While moving the camera around (from the windshield to the right front window), just above the volcano appeared a cigar-shaped object that went from the upper right of the (view) screen to the left part. Then the object suddenly made a turn and took off, heading toward the upper left part of the screen. The scene seemed like a UFO entering Earth's atmosphere and then flying off. This object left no trail."
The videotape is being examined by Dr. Rafael Vera Mege of the University of Concepcion. A request to view and examine the tape has been made by Agrupacion de Investigaciones Ovniologicas (AION), Chile's famous UFO study group. (Muchas gracias a Luis Sanchez Perry para esas noticias.)
from the UFO Files...
1942: ARMY GUNNERS FIRE AT UFOs OVER LOS ANGELES
On Wednesday, February 25, 1942, at precisely 2 a.m., diners at the trendy Trocadero club in Hollywood were startled when the lights winked out and air raid sirens began to sound throughout greater Los Angeles.
"Searchlights scanned the skies and anti-aircraft guns protecting the vital aircraft and ship-building factories went into action. In the next few hours they would fire over 1,400 shells at an unidentified, slow- moving object in the sky over Los Angeles that looked like a blimp, or a balloon."
Author Ralph Blum, who was a nine-year-old boy at the time, wrote that he thought "the Japanese were bombing Beverly Hills."
"There were sirens, searchlights, even antiaircraft guns blamming away into the skies over Los Angeles. My father had been a balloon observation man (in the AEF) in World War One, and he knew big guns when he heard them. He ordered my mother to take my baby sisters to the underground projection room--our house was heavily supplied with Hollywood paraphernalia--while he and I went out onto the upstairs balcony."
"What a scene! It was after three in the morning. Searchlights probed the western sky. Tracers streamed upward. The racket was terrific."
Shooting at the aerial intruders were gunners of the 65th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment in Inglewood and the 205th Anti-Aircraft Regiment based in Santa Monica. The "white cigar-shaped object" took several direct hits but continued on its eastward flight.
Up to 25 silvery UFOs were also seen by observers on the ground.
Editor Peter Jenkins of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner reported, "I could clearly see the V formation of about 25 silvery planes overhead moving slowly across the sky toward Long Beach."
Long Beach Police Chief J.H. McClelland said, "I watched what was described as the second wave of planes from atop the seven-story Long Beach City Hall. I did not see any planes but the younger men with me said they could. An experienced Navy observer with powerful Carl Zeiss binoculars said he counted nine planes in the cone of the searchlight. He said they were silver in color. The (UFO) group passed along from one battery of searchlights to another, and under fire from the anti-aircraft guns, flew from the direction of Redondo Beach and Inglewood on the land side of Fort MacArthur, and continued toward Santa Ana and Huntington Beach. Anti-aircraft fire was so heavy we could not hear the motors of the planes."
Reporter Bill Henry of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "I was far enough away to see an object without being able to identify it...I would be willing to bet what shekels I have that there were a number of direct hits scored on the object."
At 2:21 a.m., Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt issued the cease-fire order, and the twenty-minute "battle of Los Angeles" was over. (See BEYOND EARTH: MAN'S CONTACT WITH UFOs by Ralph Blum, Bantam Books, New York, April 1974, page 68. See also the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and the Long Beach Press-Telegram for February 25, 1942. All newspaper quotes taken from "The Battle of Los Angeles, 1942" by Terrenz Sword, which appeared in Unsolved UFO Sightings, Spring 1996 issue, pages 57 through 62.)
(Editor's Comment: Maybe the gang at the Black Vault could use the Freedom of Information Act to get the Army's Situation Reports for February 25, 1942 for the 65th and 205th A.A. Regiments. Wouldn't that be interesting reading!)
FUN UFO WEBSITES
A 1988 UFO photo is available at this site, http://www.debshome.com/PilotsIncredibleSighting.html
Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands reportedly shot a photo of a UFO over the Olympic Games at Nagano, Japan last week. Check it out at this URL: http://members.xoom.com/marianne_timmer
Don't miss the San Diego UFO Information homepage at http://www.arroweb.com/n6rpf/sauter.html
As always, there are plenty of things to see at our parent homepage, UFOINFO. Drop in at http://ufoinfo.com
Back issues of UFO ROUNDUP can be accessed at our website. Feel free to browse around at http://ufoinfo.com/roundup/
Today is the birthday (February 22, 1857) of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, who can rightly be called the grandfather of radio, television and the Internet. To say nothing of the way he revolutionized the science of astronomy. Happy birthday, Heinrich!
We'll be back next Sunday 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 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 issue in which the item first appeared.
