UFO ROUNDUP Volume 3 Number 31
Volume 3
Number 31
August 2, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
TWO CROP CIRCLES APPEAR IN NORTHERN UTAH
On Wednesday, July 22, 1998, a large crop circle measuring 102 feet (30 meters) in diameter was found in a wheat field in College Ward, near the town of Providence, Utah (population 3,344).
The formation consisted of a circle, rings and pathways. This was the second crop circle for Providence, where one appeared in August 1996.
On Thursday, July 24, 1998, another crop circle was found in Cove, near Garden City and the Idaho state line. This circle also consisted of an outer circle, rings and pathways.
The Cove crop circle was discovered by cerealogist Ryan Layton of Davis County. According to the Deseret News, "Layton had rented a small plane along with researchers Con Olsen and Tres Nixon to get a better look at the College Ward formation."
Layton, who has worked with Dr. W.C. Levengood on crop circle studies, "said the Cove formation is particularly intriguing because there are no visible tracks leading to it. He said Thursday he hopes to gain permission from the landowner to enter the field and study the Cove formation."
The College Ward formation was described as a "flattened ring 102 feet in diameter, and a second ring measuring 46 feet, that is encompassed by two half- circles. Layton said the Cove formation had a large central ring surrounded by two more flattened rings and two circles, he said."
"The Cache County Sheriff's Department took a look at the crop circle found two years ago in Providence, suspecting pranksters were to blame, but made no arrests." The department also "speculated that" the crop circles "could be the work of hungry gophers." (See the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah for July 24, 1998, "Baffling crop formations appear in Cache for third year in a row" by Zack Van Eyck.)
BRAZILIAN UFOLOGISTS INVESTIGATE REPORTS OF UNDERGROUND CITIES
Brazil's Sociedade de Estudos Extraterrestres (SOCEX) is currently investigating a flurry of reports of strange tunnels in the mountains of Santa Catarina and Parana states.
The "tunnel sightings" are concentrated around the city of Joinvile in Santa Catarina state, about 304 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Sao Paulo.
According to Eustaquio Andrea Patounas of SOCEX, "Recently two explorers entered a tunnel near Ponta Grossa (a city in Parana state 400 kilometers or 250 miles southwest of Sao Paulo--J.T.), and they spent five days in a subterranean city of more or less 50 inhabitants."
During their "tour," the unnamed Brazilians were provided with fruits grown hydroponically underground "by the city's chief, who said they took two years to produce."
The two men also claimed to have "entered a tunnel in Rincano," in the Serra da Paranapiacaba mountains "in the state of Parana and discovered a staircase underground" leading to four different levels.
In another case, a man identified as "J.D., a guide for Montanha Misterioso in Joinvile, S.C.said that many times luminous flying saucers have been seen around the opening of the tunnel, and that he had heard a chorus of men and women singing underground" near the site.
"He said that the discs are so bright that they converted darkest night to the luminosity of day. On this occasion, he encountered a group of strange subterraneans who were near the tunnel. They were white, of red beard and long hair, very muscular. When he approached them, they fled. Other times he has seen strange lights in this area which are probably related to the flying saucers."
An elderly man in Joinvile also claims to have seen subterraneans dressed like the barbarians on Xena, Warrior Princess. "He stated that he visited a strange tunnel near Conceiacao in the state of Sao Paulo and saw at a distance a marvelous underground city."
"An explorer named N.C. said he had visited a tunnel in Rio Castor and encountered a beautiful young woman who did not appear more than 20 years old. She spoke to him in Portuguese and said she was 2,500 years old. He also said he had met with those barbarous subterranean men."
"Another explorer named D.O. encountered a similar tunnel in Gaspar, S.C.," in the Serra do Mar mountains, "and sampled a mysterious fruit from an orchid." He also claimed to have seen subterraneans "talking to each other in high-pitched voices in an unknown language." (Muito obrigado a Eustaquio Andrea Patounas por eses casos.)
(Editor's Note: Stories of weird subterranean cities date back centuries in Brazil. See the Colonel Fawcett story in this week's column of "from the UFO Files...")
GERMAN COUPLE SEES A LARGE ROTATING UFO
During the evening of April 3, 1998, Michael M. and his wife were driving on Highway B241, the Moringen-Lutterbeck road, in Fredelsloh, a small village in Germany about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Hannover. Suddenly, Frau M. spotted something unusual in the sky.
"When my wife looked at the sky through the passenger window," Michael reported, "she saw something dark cover the sky over our car. One minute later, a big rotating object flew over our car and crossed the road. We only saw its lights, which were in two concentric circles."
He estimated that there "were about ten lights in the outer (circle), seven in the inner. The distance was about 50 meters (165 feet). There were no colored lights. All the lights were white and as bright as the headlights on a car The (object's) rotation speed was about 1.5 rotations per second. The diameter of the lights was about 0.5 meters. The object flew at a height (altitude) of 10 to 20 meters (33 to 67 feet) above the car. Turned by changing its inclination, like an airplane or a helicopter."
"Two minutes later, it turned and flew over our car (again). This (maneuver) was repeated five or six times on our way. There was no sound or noise. There was no smoke. The radio was turned off."
Michael added that the encounter lasted just under 12 minutes. (Email Interview)
SKYWATCH TEAM SPIES A UFO IN SEDONA, ARIZONA
On July 11, 1998, Arizona ufologist Tom King, his brother Rob King, a daughter and Rhonda set up camp just outside Sedona (population 7,720).
According to Tom King, "Around 2:30 a.m., Rob King went outside to smoke a cigarette." King then noticed "a very bright orange/white ball of light in the sky. He said it was four times brighter than any other star in the sky."
King noticed the UFO because "the strange object hovered just over the mountain ridge." Then "it moved (from) side to side...moved upward towards the moon, and hovered for about two more hours."
"This sighting was consistent with the UFO" seen "by Rob Meyers and friends a month earlier," Tom King reported. He added that an Arizona Skywatch team will be in Sedona on August 1 with videocameras and night vision equipment to search for UFOs.
Sedona is on Highway 89A approximately 24 miles (38 kilometers) south of Flagstaff. (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for this news story.)
BLACK TRIANGULAR UFO SEEN IN ELMWOOD, OKLAHOMA
On Sunday, June 21, 1998, at 11:30 p.m., Cliff C. was working on a farm in Elmwood, Oklahoma (population 150) with his father-in-law and brother-in- law when they spotted a huge black triangular UFO fly overhead.
Returning to the farmhouse, Cliff "decided to stay out a few minutes and do a little stargazing." Since the sky was clear, he pointed out a satellite passing high overhead to his father-in-law.
At 11:45 p.m., Cliff's brother-in-law pointed out a strange object in the southern sky. "I instantly turned and saw what looked like a small black rectangle above the horizon," Cliff reported. "The object was quickly heading towards us, moving from south to north."
"The 'black triangle' continued to come straight at us" at a speed "that seemed about 94 miles per hour, until it was only two miles away, then it slowed to 40 or 50 miles per hour. As it came closer...I noticed that it was not rectangular but was in fact triangular with one tip (edge point) facing us."
"As the triangle approached (to within) one mile of our location, I estimated its dimensions as best I could ...the triangle was one and one-half miles (2.8 kilometers) from tip to tip., its altitude was around 1,000 to 1,500 feet, its height 200 to 300 feet, and 400 to 500 feet in length. There were no lights of any kind on the object and no surface details were visible."
At about a mile from the farm, the UFO "suddenly started moving westward...The right angle (90 degree) change in direction was instantaneous. The triangle continued for one to two miles, then returned to a north-northwesterly course."
As the triangular UFO departed, Cliff reported seeing "faint lights floating above the triangle. The strange thing was that they would make a faint J shape above the left and right edges of the triangle." He noticed this phenomenon "about three times" during his observation of the UFO.
Elmwood is on Highway 270 in the "Oklahoma Panhandle" about 210 miles (336 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City.
THREE DIFFERENT UFOs SEEN IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
On Wednesday, July 29, 1998, at 10 p.m., a couple traveling east on Interstate Highway 10 in Jacksonville, Florida (population 635,232) spotted a saucer in the night sky.
The couple described the object as "saucer-shaped craft that was glowing and flying south at 700 feet. The vehicle was the size of a blimp and half a mile (0.8 kilometers) in front of us as we traveled east at 70 miles per hour."
Two minutes later, they saw a second UFO "hovering above us. It was a silvery chrome metallic saucer with arches on the left and right side. The top and bottom were (respectively) convex and concave. It looked as though another saucer could fit on top. The craft flew at over 70 miles per hour," keeping pace with the couple's car.
"My wife said, 'It's beginning to move!' And it flew 20 miles in five seconds. When the vehicle went above the clouds, you could see (its) glowing light shine through the clouds."
"The third vehicle was the shape of a diamond standing on its point. The diamond was lit up with a yellowish incandescent light with a skirt of flourescent lights beaming down from it. The lights were about one-half the length of the ship. When the diamond moved, the beam stopped glowing. I think the vehicle was creating a magnetic field that ionized the clouds, causing them to glow. We could see the last UFO to our right and the moon to our left."
Jacksonville is a large seaport city in northeastern Florida approximately 341 miles (545 kilometers) north of Miami. (See Filer's Files #30 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer, MUFON Eastern director, for this news story.)
UFO SEEN BY BOAT CREW ON LAKE HURON
On Tuesday, July 14, 1998, at 2:30 a.m., Ed Lepps was running his sailboat north on Lake Huron, taking part in the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Island race.
"At 2:30 a.m., we were about 2.5 nautical miles north of Presque Isle (Michigan) when I looked up and saw a bright white sphere racing east across the sky," Ed reported. "It was moving very slowly and quite erratically from side to side. This lasted for about a minute, then it moved very rapidly at a 45-degrees angle into the sky and disappeared. Three other people were on the deck at the same time and saw the same thing."
Presque Isle is just off Michigan Highway 23, approximately 273 miles (437 kilometers) north of Detroit. (See Filer's Files #30 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer for this news story.)
BLACK HELICOPTERS SEEN IN IDAHO AND TEXAS
On Wednesday, July 22, 1998, at 2:30 p.m., Dr. T.B., a specialist physician, was driving near Parma, Idaho (population 1,597), five miles northwest of Interstate Highway 84, when he spotted a black helicopter.
"The helicopter was flying due west towards Oregon," the doctor reported. "It was about 10 degrees above the horizon while I had it in view."
He described the helicopter as having four rotor blades, a narrow black fuselage, skids instead of wheels, a long tail boom and a shrouded tail rotor. The sighting "lasted for about a minute and a half," he said. (Email Interview)
Parma is on Idaho Highway 95 about 31 miles (49 kilometers) west of Boise, the state capital.
On Tuesday, July 28, 1998, at 6:30 p.m., Brian E. was "driving home from the mall" and "saw a helicopter. But then, as it got closer, I saw that it wasn't a Channel 13 news chopper or something similar. But it was black and it had no markings on it, no numbers at all. I pulled over to the side to watch."
Brian said he was on Cedar Bayou Lynchburg Road in Baytown, Texas (population 63,850) a port city approximately 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of Houston. "It appeared to be 45 degrees above the horizon. It was flying westwardly. It was relatively close. I suspect its altitude was about 1,500 feet. I had it in view for about one minute."
"There appeared to be two (rotor) blades from what I could see," Brian reported. "Its fuselage was narrow, long tail. It appeared to have round objects near the wheels and an open back rotor." (Email Interview)
NASA RADAR LOCATES THE SILENCED SOHO SATELLITE
On Monday, July 27, 1998, NASA engineers announced that they had pinpointed the position of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which has been silent for the past month.
NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland lost contact with the sun- observing satellite on June 24.
"SOHO was located by beaming (radio) signals from the 990-foot radio telescope at" the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. "The signals apparently bounced off the satellite, which is about one million miles from Earth" and were picked up by NASA's Deep Space Network 85-foot (26-meter) antennae at Goldstone, California.
SOHO is still floating at the L-1 Lagrangian point, a region of space where the gravitational fields of Earth and its neighbors cancel each other out.
"Don Savage, a NASA spokesman, said engineers believe SOHO is spinning with its solar panels edge-on toward the sun. In this position, the panels do not generate the power needed to recharge SOHO's batteries."
"However, as the Earth moves about the sun, the angle of the solar panels will change, allowing them to capture more and more sunlight. Savage said it is hoped that within 90 days the solar panels will be able to generate enough power to recharge the batteries, permitting the satellite to respond to signals from the Earth." (See the Nando Times Health and Science Page for July 28, 1998. Many thanks to M.J. Clooney for forwarding this story.)
(Editor's Comment: M.J. pointed out a strange discrepancy in the NASA news releases for July 27 and July 28. The first one read, "Radio contact with SOHO was interrupted on June 24 due to a programming error on the ground." But the next day's release reads, "What caused the sudden loss of radio signals still is unknown but is being investigated by a band of NASA and European Space Agency engineers." A most interesting discrepancy, indeed.)
from the UFO Files...
1925: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF COLONEL FAWCETT
Seventy-three years ago, on August 1, 1925, Colonel Percy Fawcett, his son Jack Fawcett and their friend, Raleigh Rimmel, mysteriously disappeared while on an expedition into the remote jungles of the Serra do Roncador, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Following a successful career in the British Army, Col. Fawcett became an explorer and led several expeditions into the largely-unexplored interior of Brazil. Col. Fawcett was fascinated by recurring stories of unknown cities among the Indians of the selva. On one occasion, he himself saw strange bright lights hovering at night over the jungle.
Just prior to his last expedition, he wrote, "I have heard from Indians about 'collections of stone' and clothed Indians who worship the sun and guard the approaches to their cities with savage determination. Records in the archives of missions and governments also talk of clothed white Indians occasionally sighted but never contacted, of lost cities in the Brazilian forests on a scale greater still than those of the Inca empire. My own investigations lead me to believe that two of the ancient city sites I propse to investigate are inhabited by the remnants of the same race that built them... I expect the ruins to be monolithic in character, more ancient than the oldest Egyptian discoveries...There are rumours, too, of a source of light in the buildings, a phenomenon that filled with terror the Indians who claim to have seen it."
When contact with the Fawcett party was lost, the Brazilian government sent in search parties, but no trace of the three men was ever found.
In 1952, the colonel's surviving son, Brian Fawcett, received a letter from a German settler living in Brazil. The man wrote, "Your father and brother were advanced souls who were actually worshipped by the Indians and were alive in the subterranean cities of Matalir and Araracauga in the Roncador section of Mato Grosso... from these secret places issued Flying Saucers to make global reconnaissance flights."
In 1956, Dr. Henrique de Souza, president of the Sociedade de Teosofica Brasileira, claimed to have received a letter at his home in Sao Lourenco in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, stating that Col. Fawcett was still alive and "living in a subterranean city in the Serra do Roncador in Mato Grosso, whose presence could not be revealed to outsiders." (See RUINS IN THE SKY by Brian Fawcett, Hutchinson Ltd., London, 1957.)
FUN UFO WEBSITES
Follow the adventures of Tom King and his UFO- hunting associates at OVNI Chapterhouse. Log in at http://www.ufovideo.com
An automatic camera recently took a photo of a UFO over Mount Saint Helens in Washington state. View the image at http://www.sightings.com/ufo/sthelufo.htm
The Utah crop circles can be seen at the Crop Circle Connector website. Just drop in at http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/1998/1998.html
Don't miss our parent site, UFOINFO, and its dazzling array of news stories, photos, links and features. It's at http://ufoinfo.com
Back issues of UFO Roundup can be accessed and downloaded at our webpage. Feel free to drop in anytime at http://ufoinfo.com/roundup
To our readers in the South Pacific, have a great time on Youth Day, August 4. There will be a big celebration in the island nation of Kiribati. 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.
