UFO ROUNDUP Volume 3 Number 25
Volume 3
Number 25
June 21, 1998
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
RAF TORNADO VANISHES FROM RADAR OVER THE NORTH SEA
On Monday, June 15, 1998, at 12:45 p.m., a Tornado F3 jet fighter from 29 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF) vanished from radar while flying at 10,000 feet (9,090) meters over the North Sea.
The Tornado took off from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire with two other F3s from 29 squadron for a "routine training mission" over the North Sea.
The Tornado's crew included Squadron Leader William Michael Vivian, 33, of Cheshire and Flight Lieutenant Derek Stuart Lacey, 33, of Altringham, Cheshire, UK. Both airmen had wives and young children, according to reports aired on BBC-1's Look North TV program.
When it disappeared from the radar screens, the Tornado was at 10,000 feet about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Flamborough Head, near Bridlington, East Yorkshire, which is 160 miles (256 kilometers) north of London.
According to the BBC, "After a seven-hour air and sea search, the wreckage of the F3 Tornado fighter was found 20 miles (32 kilometers) off the east Yorkshire coast."
The search was carried out by two RAF Sez King helicopters and lifeboats of the Humber coastguards.
During the 6:30 p.m. news broadcast on Look North, commentator Vicky Johnston reportedly "stated that the RAF had told personnel not to speak to the media, and that the mood at RAF Coningsby was somber and subdued."
Another BBC-1 reporter "interviewed Scottish aircraft expert Jim Ferguson, who said that the fact that the Tornado plunged two miles to the sea without having time to radio for help, only serves to 'deepen the mystery.'"
The weather over the North Sea that morning was described as "atrocious," according to the BBC. At last report, one airman's body had been recovered from the ocean, but the other remained missing. (See the BBC website for June 15, 1998, "Crew Killed in RAF Crash." Many thanks to Paul Hunter for sending us this news story.)
STAFFORDSHIRE POLICE RECEIVE MANY UFO REPORTS
The blue UFO that flew over the UK the night of Thursday, June 11, 1998, was seen by many in Staffordshire, including policemen.
According to the BBC, "Many people rang the police to report a flying saucer, while others feared that they had seen a burning aeroplane. Sergeant John Drake of Staffordshire police said, 'We had more than a dozen calls from people who had seen a single blue light... Many officers from police cars also radioed in, saying they had seen the same thing. We had calls from Keele in the north of the county to Tamworth in the south."
The blue UFO, attributed by officialdom to "three meteors," was also seen along motorway M4 near Reading in Berkshire. (See the BBC website for June 12, 1998.)
UFO FOLLOWS CURTIS HOME TO QUARTZITE, ARIZONA
After last week's UFO sighting in Indio, California, Jack L. Curtis had another strange encounter--this time in his hometown of Quartzite, Arizona.
"I was walking east on Main Street in Quartzite (population 1,876) and watched a very intense white light," Curtis reported, who described it as "about the size of a round star but incredibly bright. There was no aircraft visibly or audibly" present "before or immediately after the sighting. It (the UFO) was about 50 degrees elevation and descended to about 25 to 30 degrees before it disappeared. The object was in the east-southeastern sky, estimated azimuth was 110 degrees. During the seconds of its jagged descent path, it changed destination four times. It was first descending vertical, then jigged to the north, then the south, back to the north, then the south before disappearing. No sound was heard at all."
"Later, at about 8:50 p.m., as I was returning to my residence, I saw an orange-colored star that looked unusual and out of place. It was just to the north of where the intense white light had descended. It appeared to stay in the same location for about ten minutes. It was close to 90 degrees azimuth. For about two minutes it disappeared, Then, as I was near my residence, I noticed it again but it was moving rapidly. It was flying west about 280 degrees (heading--J.T.), and I quickly grabbed my binoculars. There was a steady red light on one end, a steady orange on the other, and a blinking red in the middle. It continued on the same flight pattern until out of sight at 9:15 p.m." (Email Interview)
WOMAN SEES GREEN UFO OVER DENVER SUBURB
On Thursday, June 11, 1998, at 9:45 p.m., Karen L. of Broomfield, Colorado saw "a strange green light in the sky. It was stationary for quite some time and then zipped back and forth in a zigzagging path. It was so unbelievably fast that the green light would leave a trailing path."
"There was a slight storm that night. After the light was done moving, it went to a stationary position and just being in the sky," she added. "Under the clouds of the storm came a great white light, then two other green-and-pink lights emerged and started moving towards the original green light. All three lights started going into this zigzagging dance. One even went from a stationary position and shot straight up and out of sight, leaving a (luminous) trail behind."
"The strangest of all was that it shot straight back down and also stopped in a stationary point again. This went on for approximately 15 minutes. Suddenly, all three shot straight up into the sky and disappeared in less than a second."
Karen reported her sighting to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Broomfield (population 24,638) is on Colorado Highway 11 approximately 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of Denver. (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister of NACOMM for this report.)
BLINKING UFO SPOTTED OVER DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS
On Sunday, June 14, 1998, at 10 p.m., Susan G. was working at the computer at her home in Des Plaines, Illinois (population 53,223) when she noticed a strange object beyond her window.
"The UFO was moving from south to north," Susan reported, "I was facing east when I saw it. Between 30 to 50 degrees above the horizon."
She described the UFO as a discoidal object with "multi-colored flashing/blinking lights around its edges," flying "near Des Plaines River Road and Route 294, about four seconds before it passed behind a building. It seemed to be round and flat, like a pancake with a dome in the middle. I was alone (at the time), shutting down my computer."
Des Plaines is a suburb of Chicago, located 21 miles (34 kilometers) northwest of the Loop. (Email Interview)
NEW UFO SIGHTING IN LAGRANGE, GEORGIA
On Sunday, June 17, 1998, two 12-year-old boys spotted a UFO in their hometown of LaGrange, Georgia (population 25,597), a city approximately 64 miles (102 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta.
The boys said the UFO "resembled a white light that had a red circle around it, moving to the north" at around 10 p.m. "The non-blinking light 'dropped,' according to one boy, after 15 seconds. The sky was clear. Its apparent size was smaller than Venus but as big as 'the brightest star'...The light did not blink and was flying in their estimation much higher than a commercial airliner."
The UFO "was moving in a generally straight path from the south, with the moon to the east and a bright star west of it." After it moved out of sight, the boys ran indoors and told their families. (Many thanks to John C. Thompson for this report.)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO SEEN BY THREE IN NORTHERN OHIO
On Monday, June 14, 1998, at about 8:15 p.m., Steven J. Neely, director of Ohio Skywatch International, his son Doug and a friend, Kyle, were at the Marion Fish and Game Club in Marion, Ohio when they spotted "an object in the sky, very shiny...as it came over low on the horizon."
Neely estimated that the UFO was flying at an altitude of 3,000 to 5,000 feet.
"By then, Kyle, using his rifle scope (3 by 9), looked at the object...The object was cigar-shaped, very shiny (metallic), almost a mirror finish, and we estimated the size at 65 feet to 80 feet (20 to 25 meters) in length. We watched it traveling north for about five minutes. It then made a 90-degree turn to the east and moved away at a high rate of speed."
Marion (population 34,075) is located on Ohio Routes 4 and 309 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Columbus, the state capital. (Many thanks to Steven J. Neely for this report.)
WEIRD SCREAMS HEARD NEAR TEXAS UFO SITE
On Sunday, June 14, 1998, at 8:34 p.m., ufologist D.M. of Leander, Texas, also known as "Pappie" and his son were on a skywatch out in the nearby Hill Country when they had an unusual encounter.
"We parked on a country road about two miles (4 kilometers) west of Leander, Texas," D.M. reported, "We were on a hill and could see other hills and valleys around us. The sky was clear."
They "saw two lights in the sky. Both traveled at a steady speed. One went southwest and was seen to traverse the entire sky. The other was traveling in a southern direction and was viewed for a good distance."
Then they "witnessed a third light," and "the first two seemed to cross each other. All (were) too low to be satellites."
In a valley to the west of their position, he added, "the area was suddenly lit up from the ground for about five seconds with a blue-colored light. The lit area (illuminated area) covered about a football field."
Then they heard a strange sound coming from one of the wooded valleys below their hilltop position. "Then a scream was heard from the woods to the southwest. In about four seconds, it was heard from the southeast. No human could have traveled that distance in that amount of time."
Neither witness could recognize the sound as the scream of a known animal. Their investigation continues.
Leander (population 3,398) is on Highway 1431 about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Austin, the state capital. (See Filer's Files #24 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer, Eastern Director of MUFON, for this report.)
(Editor's Comment: A similar blue flash was seen at a UFO site near Grays Harbor, Washington in 1997.)
CAVALLARI SNAPS ANOTHER UFO PHOTO IN BROOKLYN
On Thursday, May 28, 1998, ufologist and ham radio enthusiast Alex Cavallari snapped another color photograph of a UFO flying over the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
Cavallari, who lives near Neptune Avenue in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay section, shot the photo using a Minolta Freedom Zoom 90C camera with Kodak ASA400 color film.
"The jet aircraft in the picture had just taken off from (John F.) Kennedy (International) Airport and was climbing and turning to the southeast," Cavallari reported. "I noticed the UFO enter (the field of view) through my camera's view finder, and I took this picture. I tried to take more pictures as fast as the camera would take them, but the UFO was traveling at a great rate of speed and was out of my field of vision within two seconds."
"The UFO appeared to be a gray/silver-colored spherical/orb-shaped craft. There was no trail or smear seen during the filming, but the picture shows a tail or smear behind the UFO. The UFO traveled north towards New York City I believe the craft was about 50 to 75 feet in diameter."
Cavallari said he thinks the "tail or smear" in the photograph is probably a "motion blur" which resulted because his camera or the film "was too slow in response time to capture the craft's image in a still or motionless position." (Copyright 1998 by Alex Cavallari. Many thanks, Alex, for letting UFO Roundup quote from your report.)
BOYLE RESIDENTS REPORT NEW FLURRY OF SIGHTINGS
A new UFO flap has excited residents of Boyle, a town in County Roscommon, Eire, the site of an alleged saucer crash two years ago.
In May 1996, several residents reported seeing a large silver saucer plunge from the sky, clip some treetops on a hillside and crash in a lake just north of Boyle.
According to some accounts, several occupants of the craft survived the crash and were taken into custody by the Gardai (Irish police--J.T.) A NATO task force then reportedly moved into the crash zone and remained there for several months.
Now Boyle is the site of a new UFO flap, according to the Roscommon Herald. "The Herald has heard several reports of bright blue lights moving back and forward slowly in the heavens in the early last Saturday night/early Sunday morning," i.e. June 6/June 7, 1998. Boyle is about 168 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Dublin, the national capital.
"According to one observer, the mysterious lights were hovering over the Ballymote Road of Boyle and could apparently be seen for many miles around." (See the Roscommon Herald for June 10, 1998, "'Flying Saucer' in Boyle." Many thanks to Daev Walsh of Blather for forwarding the article.)
SOMBRERO-SHAPED UFO SIGHTED IN QUEENSLAND
Two Australian men, both in their mid-fifties, sighted a UFO "shaped like a Mexican hat" at Paradise Point, Queensland, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Brisbane last week.
Gerhard S. and Waltraud S. saw the UFO from their home in Paradise Point. "They describe the object as very bright, white and some orange light underneath." The object, they said, "was a flat disc with a dome in the center and a bright light underneath."
"The object was moving very slowly over the sky, coming from the northwest. It disappeared and reappeared several times and, after several minutes, disappeared behind trees and houses in a southerly direction. The size was a bit smaller than the moon, about a third of a degree arc, but was brighter than the moon. Seemed to be several kilometers away. It looked similar to a Mexican hat, no similarity to aircraft or helicopters, etc." (Email Interview)
UFOs SIGHTED ALL OVER NORTH CENTRAL ITALY
North central Italy was rocked by a UFO flap the night of Monday, June 8, 1998.
"At 9:40 p.m., some red lights were observed turning around a tall TV tower in the city of Firenze (Florence)," about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Rome.
"At 10:10 p.m., two white lights were seen moving in tandem through the skies above Caselle Torinese from the northeast to the south, and, a few seconds later, the same witnesses saw a white light like a lighthouse beacon in the west, which several seconds later moved to a higher altitude."
At 10:50 p.m., "two mysterious lights were moving parallel to each other from north to south in the vicinity of Piacenza," a city 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Rome.
At 11:10 p.m., the same phenomenon was seen at Viconza, a small city in Veneto province about 96 kilometers (58 miles) west of Venezia (Venice).
Also that night, at 10 p.m., a "mysterious light was photographed at Mizza" in northern Italy.
At 2:55 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 1998, "a single reddish sphere" was photographed over Rome. This case is being investigated by the Centro Italiano di Studi Ufologici (CISU). (Grazie a Renzo Cabassi, Daniele Maffetone, Paolo Tosselli, Alfredo Lissoni e Edoardo Russo di CISU per questo rapporto.)
MYSTERIOUS FIREBALL SEEN IN NORTHERN ARGENTINA
A mysterious fireball crossed the sky over Misiones province in northern Argentina the afternoon of Monday, June 8, 1998, leaving a luminous trail that remained visible for minutes afterward--even during a tropical downpour.
"Several witnesses observed the afternoon of Monday, June 8, a ball of fire, which, say the witnesses, crossed over Colonia Julio Martin, seven kilometers (5 miles) from the city of Campo Viera."
"So bright was the spectacle" that the witnesses "entertained the possibility that they had seen an OVNI (Spanish acronym for UFO) but reports from a local observatory and specialists indicated that they had seen a meteorite."
"A great explosion was heard by the villagers and attributed to the (Argentinian) Air Force, and the astronomers said it was related to the heavenly body."
The trail remained visible "despite the intense rains that were reported in the area."
Campo Viera is 560 kilometers (350 miles) north of Buenos Aires, the capital. (See the Argentinian newspaper El Dia of La Plata for June 12, 1998. Muchas gracias a Carlos Iurchuk para esa historia.)
from the UFO Files...
1875: THE STRANGEST DAY
Here's a record in the field of Forteana--five weird events, all taking place at different points around the world on the same day. The day was June 25, 1875, and here are the incidents, fully documented.
USA - Tatanka Iotanka (Sitting Bull) is participating in the annual Sun Dance powwow at Standing Rock, Dakota Territory (now Mobridge, South Dakota.) All at once, he collapses into a trance. In his vision, he finds himself 400 miles to the west, in the hilly coulee country of eastern Montana. He meets White Buffalo Calf Woman, guardian spirit of the Lakota people. She tells him that in one year's time a big battle will be fought here. The Lakotas will be victorious, she says, but victory will bring much hardship, and she predicts a Lakota renaissance in a few generations. (See THE LANCE AND THE SHIELD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SITTING BULL by Robert M. Utley, Henry Holt, Inc. New York, N.Y. 1993. Chalk one up for White Buffalo Calf Woman. The Battle of the Little Bighorn, a.k.a. Little Ragnarok on the Prairie, was fought one year later, on June 25, 1876.)
USA - The same morning, on the east coast of Tunkashila (Lakota name for the USA), on West 47th Street in New York City, to be exact, a Russian noblewoman and mystic named Elena Petrovna von Hahn Blavatsky made her way slowly to her study. Elena had had a little date with Jack Daniels the previous night and now had a head as big as Siberia. Reaching her desk, she let out a scream. There, on the desktop, was "a pile of perhaps thirty pages, written--or perhaps one should say precipitated--by invisible hands while she slept." It was the start of Madame Blavatsky's first book, ISIS UNVEILED. (See MADAME BLAVATSKY'S BABOON by Peter Washington, Schoken Books, New York, N.Y. 1995, page 51.)
AUSTRIA - Guido Karl Anton List, journalist, folklorist and mountain climber, invites four fellow members of the Donauhort, a rowing club in Vienna, to take the day off from work and row down the Danube to the Roman ruins at Carnantum. "For List, lost in reverie, it was the 1,500th anniversary of the tribal German victory over the Romans, which he celebrated with a fire and the burial of eight wine bottles in the shape of a swastika beneath the arch of the Pagan Gate." This event marked the birth of the Armanenschaft, a forerunner of the Nazi Party. (See THE OCCULT ROOTS OF NAZISM by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, New York University Press, 1992, page 35)
UK - "Flashes that were seen in the sky upon the 25th of June, 1875 by Charles Gape, of Scole, Norfolk." (See THE COMPLETE BOOKS OF CHARLES FORT, Dover Publications Inc., New York, N.Y., 1974, page 434. I knew I could count on you, Chuck.)
AUSTRALIA - "A miner, a Mr. J.H. Campbell, was exploring scrubland on the southern slope of the Castle," a landform in the Jamison Valley near Katoomba Falls, New South Wales, "when he sighted what he later described as a hairy, two-metre-(6.6 feet)-tall, manlike ape-like animal moving through the scrub about 100 metres in front of him and seeminglt oblivious to his presence. Mr. Campbell picked up a strong piece of tree limb for protection and stalked the hairy creature (usually called aYowie in Australia--J.T.) for half a kilometre before it eluded him." (See MYSTERIOUS AUSTRALIA by Rex Gilroy, Nexus Publishing, Mapleton, Qld., 1995, page 197)
Your editor does not pretend to know the meaning of it all. But the concentration of strange incidents on this single day is certainly unusual.
FUN UFO WEBSITES:
For more on situation in Boyle, Eire, drop in at Daev Walsh's great site, Blather, a weekly compendium of Forteana, dogma destruction and high wierdness. Check it out at http://www.nua.ie/ blather.
Don't miss our parent site, UFOINFO, with its new links to Australia. Log in at this URL: http://ufoinfo.com.
Back issues of UFO Roundup are available for reading and downloading at our site. Drop in at http://ufoinfo.com/roundup
And that's it for now. Join us next weekend 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 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.
