UFO ROUNDUP Volume 4 Number 20
Volume 4
Number 20
September 8, 1999
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
MASS SIGHTINGS REPORTED IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
On Wednesday, September 1, 1999, hundreds of residents of the USA's Pacific Northwest reported seeing seven or eight "flaming" UFOs crossing the sky.
Both the UFO Reporting Center in Washington state and Coast to Coast, Art Bell's popular radio talk show, received many faxes from northern California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.
Most of the sightings took place between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. One witness claimed to have seen several F-15 fighter jets from the Oregon Air National Guard take off from the international airport in Portland four minutes after the UFO overflight. Jet interceptors "on full afterburner" were reported around Bend, Oregon (population 20,469.)
Later in the week, Coast to Coast released summaries of the sightings reports, including
(1) "Seven or eight 'flaming' UFOs heading 'in formation' from northwest to southeast at a low altitude and at a surprisingly slow speed.."
(2) Eight UFOs 'with flaming tails traveling from west to east" taking "one-and-a-half minutes to cross the sky."
(3) "Seven to eight 'flaming objects in a straight line' traveling in formation from northwest to southeast. One broke formation, and one joined the formation."
Former U.S. Air Force officer Jerry Rolwes, director of MUFON for Washington state, contacted NORAD headquarters in Colorado and discussed the sightings with Major Nouis, Air Force Public Affairs officer.
According to Rolwes, Major Nouis explained that the sighting was caused "by a Russian rocket engine, NORAD Catalogue Number 25761," which was part of a Russian SL-12 supply rocket launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on February 28, 1999.
The SL-12 "reentered Earth's atmosphere at 10:11 p.m. (9:11 p.m. Pacific time--J.T.) at 17,000 miles per hour," resulting in the trail of flaming space debris seen by the witnesses. (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for this story.)
(Editor's Comment: There may be some questions about the timing of this particular display. See the following story.)
UFOs AGAIN ACTIVE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
On Sunday, August 22, 1999, at 11:25 p.m., Ralph S. spotted "a small glare that seemed ata very high altitude" over the city of San Jose, California (population 782.248), located 44 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
"I noticed the object only because I was staring out the window," Ralph reported, "It moved very slowly, then stopped in mid-air and hovered for approximately 15 minutes, then disappeared. I would have thought it was a star, except that I saw it move and then stop."
The object, which he described as "white and bright," "became smaller before it disappeared."
On Wednesday, September 1, 1999, at approximately 9 p.m., a couple in Chico, Cal. (populatioon 40,079), a city on Highway 32 about 77 miles (123 kilometers) north of Sacramento, the state capital, spotted a formation of fast-moving UFOs heading in a northeasterly direction.
"They thought it was a meteor shower," the man's mother reported, "I thought it was the strangest one I had ever heard of. They saw a large (maybe one-half inch in perspective) object trailing a long tail behind it and a number of smaller objects. Also another five to seven that seemed in formation or on course. Two or three smaller objects appeared to be descending at that moment. They traveled behind and 'above' the formation. The objects all vanished from sight shortly afterwards." (Many thanks to Kiki for this report.)
(Editor's Comment #1: Interesting! Kiki's family in Chico saw the UFO formation ten minutes before the Russian SL-12 rocket reentered the atmosphere.)
(Editor's Comment #2: Chico, California has a notorious reputation for Fortean events. In addition to countless UFO sightings, the city has experienced several weird incidents. These include (a) the crash of a mysterious object, made of "hard material" in March 1885; (b) a rain of catfish and perch from a cloudless sky on September 1, 1878; and (c) a shower of rocks "that fell from the clouds" onto a warehouse for weeks beginning March 13, 1922. See the book Weird America by Jim Brandon, E.P. Dutton, New York, N.Y., 1978, pages 22 and 23.)
HOVERING UFO SIGHTED IN BRIDGEPORT, OHIO
On Tuesday, August 31, 1999, at 10 p.m., Susan N.H. "went outside to look at the stars, as I normally do" and "saw some cold, colored lights to the northwest" in Bridgeport, Ohio (population 2,318.)
"I went and got my binoculars and looked to see if it was the thing I always see. It was--I couldn't make out any shape at all because it was so far away. But I could see lights running around it--red, yellow, blue and green."
Susan immediately telephoned a friend and told her about the sighting. The friend said she had seen similar lights recently over the water tower to the northeast of Bridgeport. Susan asked her to check it out right then and there.
"She called back to say she also saw a UFO over the water tower, and we went back out to have a look. It was also blinking the same colors. In the few minutes we were outside, it moved upwards but was still 'hovering.' They're around here a lot, always in the same position and at the same time of year."
Bridgeport is located in the Ohio River valley approximately 2 miles (3 kilometers) west of Wheeling, West Virginia. (Email Interview)
TWO TUBULAR UFOs SEEN OVER INDIANAPOLIS
Two tube-shaped UFOs performed "flashing light" aerial maneuvers in broad daylight over the Castleton Square Mall, located in the northeast section of Indianapolis, Indiana (population 731,327).
According to eyewitness V.G., "While on break, I witnessed two objects pass overhead from direct south to the northeast, over the (mall) parking lot. These objects had the appearance of butterflies in flight...They passed overhead to the northeast and then leveled out at 75 to 80 degrees off the horizon. There was a lot of white blinking or flashing taking place with the objects."
Between the periodic flashes, V.G. discerned "a grey tube-like object." He added that the UFOs "did a 'spiral-like dance' as they chased each other. The dance continued for several minutes" before the UFOs sped away to the north.
V.G. described the objects as "one-eighth of an inch in size and 75 degrees above the northeast horizon." (Email Interview)
CROP CIRCLE CLUSTER FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
On Friday, September 3, 1999, Dave Robertson found a cluster of ten crop circles while swathing a wheat field in Neilburg, Saskatchewan, Canada.
According to local farmer Laura Herle, the circles "were definitely not there last week when he (Dave) was fertilizing that field."
The cluster consisted of "three 'arms' of circles coming out from a larger central circle. The centre circle is about 25 feet (7.5 meters) in diameter, the others range from four feet (1.3 meters) to 22 feet (6.7 meters) The 'top' two circles and centre circles are clockwise; the others are all counterclockwise, all with very neat swirling and flattening of the crop. No tracks, paths or other damage was found" in the field by investigators."
"The whole pattern is about 200 feet (60.6 meters) across."
Acording to Paul Anderson of Circles Phenomenon Research-Canada, this is Canada's seventh formation of 1999 and the first to be found in Saskatchewan this year.
Neilburg (population 90) is on Provincial Highway 40 about 132 miles (211 kilometers) northwest of Saskatoon. (Many thanks to Paul Anderson of CPR-Canada for this news story.)
BIZARRE SYMBOLS APPEAR ON JAPANESE CAR COMPUTERS
"Hundreds of people in Japan complained Sunday," August 29, 1999 "after their automobile navigation systems went haywire-- the result of a Y2K-like glitch in the satellite system used in navigation devices worldwide."
"Screens went blank, and bizarre symbols turned up on the electronic navigators, essential for millions of drivers in a country where urban streets are a chaotic jumble."
There was chaos in heavy traffic in several areas of Tokyo, including Takadanobaba, Shibuya and Shinjuku, reported Tomo T., a UFO Roundup reader in Japan. "Some of the symbols resembled the crop circles."
"Pioneer Corp., a major manufacturer of car navigation systems, received about 600 calls on its Help hotline, said company spokesman Hidehiko Shimizu."
"Shimizu said callers were referred to the nearest repair shop, where their systems were fixed for free."
"The breakdows stemmed from a glitch in the Global Positioning System (GPS)--a navigation system that uses a series of satellites to pinpoint exact locations on Earth."
"But the systems were only designed to count to 1,024 weeks. That maximum was reached Saturday," August 28, "so the time clocks on the locators were resetting to zero," creating havoc in the dashboard computers of Japanese automobiles. (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for September 4, 1999, auto section, page 4, "Hundreds of cars in Japan hit by GPS glitch.")
UFOs SIGHTED NEAR GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
On Saturday, August 21, 1999, at 6 p.m., J.K. was with some friends in Cumbernauld, a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, when the group spotted an unusual object in the sky.
"The object was witnessed by a few people," he reported, "And I could not identify what I was seeing, and I wanted the others to witness it."
The UFO "went initially east, then southeast, then northwest. It was white or silver. At first it was stationary, then moved dlowly east, then southeast. It then went behind some clouds and appeared 15 minutes later. When it changed course and went northwest, it disappeared in the clouds totally."
"I showed my wife and her friend, and they saw it also. When it disappeared and reappeared, I went to my neighbour and asked if he had his videocamera. He also saw the object, as did his daughter."
On Thursday, August 26, 1999, at 10 p.m., a couple driving through Monkton, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK, a town about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Glasgow, "when in the sky above them there was a bright blue flash."
"The 'light' then shot down towards them and then hovered above the car for a number of seconds, before 'travelling' away in the opposite direction" from the motorist's direction.
"The 'light' was only a matter of feet above the vehicle and blocked out their windscreen (windshield in the USA--J.T.) The couple was terrified but otherwise unharmed." (Many thanks to Dave Ledger of UFO Scotland for these reports.)
GIANT TRIANGULAR UFO FLIES OVER ISRAEL
On Thursday, July 22, 1999, at 7:30 p.m., residents of Tsfat and Yokneam, two small cities in northern Israel, spotted a large dark triangular UFO with bright lights at each of the three corners.
According to Israeli ufologist Barry Chamish, the UFOs "were videotaped in both places."
Alerted by others in Israel's ufological community, researchers Doron Cohen and his uncle, Dr. Rami Shkalim, were ready in the city of Yavre when the "flying triangle" passed overhead.
Yavre is 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of Jerusalem.
In Yavre, "two hundred witnesses, in three groups, saw the UFO," Chamish reported. Cohen and Dr. Shkalim "viewed the craft until it disappeared at approximately 12:30 a.m." on Friday, July 23, 1999.
Dr. Shkalim had his Sony 320 videocamera with him and shot ten minutes of footage. The video showed "a craft with two silvery lights, both surrounded by perfectly circular red auras twice their size. Then the craft seemed to turn, and we saw a tiny third light at the left."
The UFO then emitted "two spirally-turning lights, like twirling fireworks, before the craft disappeared to the west."
Dr. Shkalim and his video appeared on the morning talk show, Good Morning, Israel. Dr. Shkalim holds Ph.D. degrees in both physics and philosophy and is professor of the Kabbalah at Bar Ilan University. (Many thanks to Barry Chamish for letting UFO Roundup quote from his report.)
SCUBA DIVER MISSING IN LAKE MICHIGAN TRIANGLE
"Rescuers continued searching Sunday," September 5, 1999, "for a 52-year-old man who disappeared Saturday afternoon while scuba diving with friends, officials said."
"The U.S. Coast Guard used three boats, a helicopter and an airplane to search for the ,am, who was reported missing about 2:40 p.m. Saturday, according to Senior Chief Howard Hathaway of the Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin) Coast Guard (station.)"
"The search was halted Sunday afternoon."
"Friends of the missing man, an experienced diver from Iowa, told officials they were exploring the sunken vessel Lakeland in 170 feet of water."
"The diver, whose name was not released, was last seen at 80 feet, where he appeared to be in trouble, the Coast Guard said."
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (population 9,176) is on Highway 57 approximately 155 miles (248 kilometers) north of Milwaukee. (See the Milwaukee, Wis. Journal-Sentinel for September 6, 1999, page 28, "Search continues for missing scuba diver.")
(Editor's Comment: Sturgeon Bay is said to be a nexus of the Lake Michigan Triangle. Two schooners vanished just east of this Lake Michigan port--the Ottawa in 1911 and the Rouse Simmons in 1913.)
STRANGE ATTACK ON A HORSE IN WISCONSIN
A mysterious attack on a horse near Eau Claire, Wis. (population 56,856) is now being investigated by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
DNR officials "are investigating whether a gash in a horse, closed with about 40 stitches, was caused by a bear."
"Tom Wright, owner of the 8-year-old mare, Breeze, and his wife, Ruth, called the natural resources department Saturday," August 28, 1999, "after Ruth Wright noticed the wound."
Eau Claire is on Interstate Highway I-94 approximately 241 miles (385 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee.
"'If this is in fact an animal that's causing the problem, we'll do everything we can to make sure it's controlled," said a DNR official named Weitz. (See the Chicago Tribune for August 31, 1999, "Possible bear attack probed.")
from the UFO Files...
1919: TROLLS GO ON MANEUVERS
On a late summer's night in 1919, thirteen- year-old Harry Anderson, his family and some friends went for a drive in the family's new Ford Model T automobile.
At about 10 p.m., as they were headed back to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the car's engine began running a little rough. Papa Anderson eased it to a halt on the southbound lane of Highway 25.
"We're running low on oil," he said, handing the oil can to his son. "Head on up the road, Harry, and see if you can get some old farmer to lend you some."
And so, with the empty oil can swinging from his hand, Harry hiked down the darkened road. A roadside sign told him he was just outside Barron, Wis., about five miles west of Rice Lake. Seeing the roof of a farmhouse on the horizon, he took a shortcut across a cornfield.
The farmer filled Harry's oil can for him, and, "as he was walking back, he saw twenty little men walking towards him in single file. They had bald heads and white skins, and wore leather 'knee-pants' held up by braces over their shoulders. (Lederhosen in Germany-- J.T.)"
Startled, Harry ducked behind a red maple tree, staying out of sight as the dwarfish platoon marched by. His ears caught fragments of their conversation, mostly mutterings and a quirky little song.
"We won't stop fighting
Till the end of the war
In Nineteen-Hundred
and Ninety-Four.
Sound off--one, two
Sound off--three, four
Detail, one, two, three, four
One--two...three--four!
The column marched on into the forest, leaving Harry, in his own words, "heart pumping and terrified." (See Fate magazine for November 1978, "Encounters with Little Men," page 85.)
(Editor's Comment: An end to war in 1994? What a bunch of optimists!)
That's it for this week. Join us next week for more UFO news from around the planet, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you then!
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1999 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.
