UFO ROUNDUP Volume 5 Number 11
Volume 5
Number 11
March 16, 2000
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
LOW-FLYING TRIANGULAR UFO SEEN BY THOUSANDS IN LIMA, PERU
On Friday, March 10, 2000, at 1:30 a.m., a triangular UFO with four bright lights appeared over Lima, the capital of Peru, and overflew several city districts at a low altitude.
A municipal street sweeper described the UFO as "a big ship with red and yellow lights, with ten little ships coming out of it."
The object flew over Callao, Los Olivos, San Martin de Porres and Villa El Salvador in Lima, one of the largest cities in South America with a population exceeding one million.
Several thousand people witnessed the UFO's slow overflight and flooded the offices of Radio Programas del Peru (RFP) with phone calls.
Bruno Guzman, a Peruvian journalist, said that when the calls came in, he and his crew "looked out the windows of our office, which is on the seventh floor, and we climbed up on the rooftop, and we've been able to attest to the lights."
"It is quite startling to go from receiving the phone calls and eyewitness accounts to being a participant in the event, the spectacle we've just seen. We can't quite explain properly or scientifically what happened this morning."
He added, "These points of light changed from blue and red to white, moving strangely."
Hours later, at 12 noon, Television Panamericana, Canal (Channel) 5 in Lima broadcasted video footage of the UFO on its news program, 24 Horas (24 Hours-- J.T.) The footage was shot by Television Panamericana cameraman Juan C. Amoretti..
During the broadcast, anchorwoman Valia Barak stated, "A strange object crossed the skies over Lima this morning. Thousands of citizens witnessed the phenomenon."
As video footage of the UFO aired, on-site reporter Viviana Cohello said in voiceover, "This was the object observed by many at 1:30 a.m. Strange movements and plays of lights were seen in the heavens over the city of Lima, drawing the attention of hundreds of onlookers."
This was the first big UFO sighting in Lima since the overflight of February 9, 1999, just over thirteen months ago. (See UFO Roundup, Volume 4, Number 8 for February 22, 1999, "UFOs Videotaped in the Skies of Peru." (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, autor de Chupacabras and Other Mysteries y Forbidden Mexico para la traduccion y Virgilio Sanchez Ocejo para esta historia.)
ORANGE SPHERE UFOs ARE ACTIVE AGAIN IN AUSTRALIA
On Sunday, February 27, 2000, at 1:15 a.m., Sharon H., her husband and her two children were driving to their home in Adelaide, South Australia, returning after attending her brother's 50th birthday party.
"Whilst getting out of the car in the driveway," Sharon "happened to glance up into the night sky and saw an orange orb/ball-shaped object. She told her husband, who also then looked up" and "her two older children," who also saw the unusual object.
"They stood and watched it travel slowly from east to west" for about five minutes.
"During this time, one of her children ran inside to obtain one of her younger children's binoculars. Even though the binoculars were 'toy' ones, her husband could clearly see a tail" at one end of the orange orb.
A month earlier, on January 29, 2000, two sets of eyewitnesses spotted orange-sphere UFOs over Penrith, a city in New South Wales approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Sydney.
Just after midnight on January 29, Kathleen H. saw "five bright orange lights moving slowly upward heading northwest toward the Blue Mountains." Kathleen "stated that the objects were very bright and moving northwest. Initially they were positioned at 45 degrees above the horizon and faded out of sight at 90 degrees, the highest one disappeared out of view first," said Kathleen, who observed the spheres from her second-story balcony.
At 9:20 p.m. on January 29, Monica S. spotted "four roundish bright orange lights, each the size of a five-cent coin held at arm's length."
Monica said her attention was captured when she heard a sound like "four firecrackers." Turning and looking upward, she saw "already in the sky at about 70 degrees above the horizon three bright orange flashing lights. A fourth one moved towards the others a few minutes later. The sky was partially overcast."
Monica and her family observed the UFOs from the Robertson Park area of Penrith South and kept them in view until "they were eventually lost from sight due to cloud cover."
A week earlier, on January 22, 2000, a man named Andrew spotted a UFO in Glenmore Park, New South Wales. He reported that it was "a very bright orange light moving very slowly, pea-sized at arm's length. It was heading west toward the Blue Mountains." (Many thanks to Diane Harrison of the Australian UFO Research Network for these reports.)
MYSTERIOUS LIGHT STARTLES MOTORIST IN MILAN, ITALY
On Wednesday, March 8, 2000, at 8:42 p.m., a motorist driving through the San Siro section of the city of Milano (Milan) in northern Italy saw a mysterious bright light in the sky.
"The light flared for approximately two seconds and then subsided to a much smaller size before darting away at a high velocity. The witness said he had the feeling the OVNI (Italian acronym for UFO-- J.T.) was doing a reconnaissance of the San Siro area It was estimated to be 2,000 to 3,000 meters (6,600 to 10,000 feet) above the ground. However, it was difficult for the witness to determine the precise altitude because he had it in his field of view for only two seconds." (Grazie a Alfredo Lissoni e Gigi Barone di Centrol Ufologico Nazionale d'Italia per questo rapporto.)
POLICE SEE LUMINOUS DISC IN NORTHEASTERN OHIO
A UFO described as "a flat-type light" or luminous disc was seen on two nights in a row in Saybrook, Ohio (population 200). The sighting was confirmed by a county deputy and troopers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
It all began on Saturday night, February 26, 2000, when Dennis Johnson stepped outside his home on North Depot Road.
"Pointing toward the southwest, he said, 'When I came out, it was there. Now it's straight out, to the west. It's moving north. That's pretty strange, since most of the objects in the cloudless night sky--stars, mostly--were 'moving' in a different direction due to the rotation of the earth.'"
The following night, Sunday, February 27, 2000, Johnson saw the strange light again.
"'About 11:30 p.m. I was going outside to have a cigarette,because I don't smoke in the house, and I saw this odd-looking star,' Johnson said. 'It was a flat light instead of round and shiny, like a star.'"
"Johnson said he walked around the yard, trying to see it from several angles. 'It was just a flat-type light, so I lined it up with a telephone pole to see if it was moving.' Johnson said, 'It moved down, then to the left and the right.'"
"Johnson called his wife to come down, and she watched it for a while."
"'She told me to be careful who I call about it, because they would think I was crazy,' he said."
After watching the object for another few minutes, Johnson telephoned the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office.
"'I told them it wasn't an emergency, but I wanted to know if there were any other reports about it. They told me no,' Johnson said."
"Johnson didn't know it but a deputy was dispatched after his first phone call. In his report, the deputy said he drove into the area, scanned the skies and saw nothing but stars. He did not speak with Johnson."
"'I called again and said, 'Please send a car so I can show it to somebody,' Johnson said."
"The deputy was dispatched to the area again, with instructions to speak to the star-gazer at his home."
"When he arrived, Johnson pointed out the light, located to the west..."
"'The deputy said, 'Yeah, it's moving,' Johnson said."
Johnson and the deputy were then joined by two troopers from the Saybrook barracks of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, who also observed the strange light.
"'They were all joking, saying they weren't going to say anything because people will think they were crazy,' Johnson said."
After the officers left, Johnson stayed and watched the UFO a while longer.
"'I watched it go over the trees and out of sight,' he said. 'It just went gradually lower in the sky and disappeared.'"
The UFO 'was moving much faster than the constellations" as it set, Johnson pointed out.
Saybrook is on Ohio Route 64 approximately 55 miles (88 kilometers) east of Cleveland.
"Sheriff Billy Johnson said he believes his deputy 'saw something'" unusual.
"'I'm not going to say there aren't UFOs,' (Sheriff) Johnson said, 'Nobody's come down here and tapped me on the shoulder, but I can't rule out UFOs. All we can do is watch, observe.'" (See the Ashstabula, Ohio Star-Beacon for February 29, 2000, "Resident, troopers, deputy witness strange object moving across the sky," by Diana Lewis, page 1. Many thanks to Kenneth Young of Cincinnati UFO Research for forwarding the newspaper story.)
NEW DETAILS IN THE PALOS HILLS UFO/CHEMTRAILS CASE
Not since the great Arizona UFO flap of 1997 has a UFO Roundup story generated as much interest and excitement as last week's report from Palos Hills, Illinois, just south of Chicago.
To briefly recap, between 3:30 and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 29, 2000, our source, known as "the Public Eye," using a Model 2700 Vivitar Digital Camera, was out photographing the thick contrails known as "chemtrails" when the camera picked up images of dark UFOs in the sunny sky.
Due to a transcription error, UFO Roundup readers were unable to access the Eye's website. The correct URLs for the two photographs are
http://www.palos-hills.com/contrails/022900/27.jpg and
http://www.palos-hills.com/contrails/022900/29.jpg
The Public Eye is a 40-something male Chicago area resident who first began collecting photos of the mysterious and controversial chemtrails back in October 1999. He agreed to be interviewed by UFO Roundup.
"It was a sunny day and aircraft were shining brightly in the sky," he reported. "I took the photographs myself. As you can see, the objects appear to be black in color and non-reflective."
"The reason the photos were being taken was to document the chem/contrails."
Asked when he first become interested in the chemtrails, the Eye responded, "My interest was piqued by the reports on the Internet a year and a half ago. Then looking out my window and seeing the same things. Reading reports of 'substances' being found on driveways and rooftops."
The Public Eye added that he had found a similar "substance/goop" on his driveway about five years ago.
"I can assure you that this is no hoax," he added, "The photos on the site are not re-touched in any way."
"I would really like to hear from anyone else who has seen something similar to what I sighted in my photo." (Email Interview)
GALILEO/CASSINI TEAM-UP SET FOR LATER THIS YEAR
On Friday, March 10, 2000, NASA announced that the robot spacecraft Galileo will team up with the Saturn-bound spacecraft Cassini "for observations of the planet Jupiter later this year."
"In addition to the joint observations with Cassini, Galileo's extended mission includes two flybys of Ganymede and possibly other Jovian moons through the rest of the year."
'This extended travel ticket enables us to continue studying Jupiter and its fascinating moons,' Jim Erickson, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said this week."
"The second extended mission, called the Galileo Millennium Mission," will undertake the joint observations with the $3.4 billion Cassini spacecraft, now heading for the planet Saturn.
"Cassini will approach Jupiter this December (2000)" to pick up the gravity boost it needs "for a slingshot toward Saturn. The Cassini will observe Jupiter from afar while the Galileo will operate from within the (giant) planet's radiation belt."
"'For the first time ever, two spacecraft will simultaneously explore an outer planet,' said Dennis Matson of the Cassini Project. 'One spacecraft will be outside Jupiter's magnetic envelope, with the other where it can observe the powerful solar wind pressing on the envelope.'"
The Galileo Millennium Mission will cost an estimated $12 million.
"NASA has not yet decided how the probe will conclude its extended mission. The spacecraft may crash into Jupiter or its moon Io as a finale." (Many thanks to Steve L. Wilson Sr. for the NASA news release.)
(Editor's Comment: Crash the Galileo!? What a waste! The spacecraft has enough on-board power to keep operating for years. I have a better idea. If there's enough rocket fuel left in the tanks, why not try to soft-land Galileo on a small, low-gravity moon like Amalthea? If Galileo survives the landing with its instruments intact, we would have the first permanent robot observatory in the outer solar system.)
NEAR SENDS BACK FIRST CLOSE-UP IMAGES OF EROS
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft sent back its first close-up photos of the asteroid Eros last week.
Eros, which was the 433rd asteroid to be discovered by Earth astronomers, is essentially a large mountain drifting through space. Since February 14, it has been orbited by the NEAR. The spacecraft shot its close-up photos from an orbital altitude of 127 miles (204 kilometers) above the asteroid.
"The saddle area displays many interesting structural features. Visible on the left are a series of closely spaced grooves that follow the terrain downslope. Opposite, on the upper right wall, trending toward the back of the saddle, is a permanent ridge. Boulders are visible throughout the range. Features as small as 20 meters (66 feet) are discernible in the image." (Many thanks to Steve L. Wilson Sr. for the NASA news release.)
(Editor's Comment: My geologist friends and I are arguing about those downward-sloping grooves. The Basalt Gang says they're fracture zones. But us renegades think they may be dendritic drainage patterns caused by ancient water erosion. That slope may be sedimentary rock. Boulders are typical outwash features. Often I wonder what my old geology professor would have made of this strange world of Eros.)
from the UFO Files...
1874: OREGON'S DOORWAY TO THE BEYOND
Newport, Oregon (population 9,000), with its bay and waterfront, is one of the most picturesque towns in the USA's Pacific Northwest. It's also the site of one of the strangest disappearance cases on record.
During the 1870s, people in Oregon's Willamette Valley turned Newport into a summer resort. The Ocean House was first built in 1866, and, five years later in 1871, the Abbey House and the Fountain House went up to meet the needs of the summer visitors.
At this time, Newport was still pretty isolated. The Oregon Pacific Railroad, which linked the town to Portland, was not built until the 1890s.
In 1871, the USA's federal government built a lighthouse on a hill overlooking Yaquina Bay, a short distance from town. The beacon operated for three years and was then closed down when a new lighthouse was built three miles to the south at Yaquina Head. When the new lighthouse opened in the spring of 1874, lightkeeper Charles H. Pierce, his wife Sarah and their ten children piled their belongings in a wagon and left the old lighthouse.
The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse "is a single structure. Rather than building a separate light tower, the whale-oil light was placed in a tower above the lightkeeper's living quarters. The clapboard structure is the second-oldest lighthouse in Oregon and the oldest structure of its kind in the state."
About the time the Pierce family was packing to leave the lighthouse, a sloop docked at Newport. The ship's owner, Mr. Trevenard explained that he was sailing up the coast to Coos Bay, Oregon from San Francisco. He was accompanied by his sixteen-year-old daughter, Muriel. However, Muriel was no sailor. She'd had a rough time aboard, afflicted by seasickness, during the cruise up north. And they still had a few days of sailing ahead before reaching their destination. So Mr. Trevenard "asked the villagers if his daughter could stay in Newport until his return from Coos Bay."
"As was the custom in isolated pioneer settlements, the townspeople agreed to provide shelter for the girl. They assured Trevenard that his daughter could stay at the Yaquina Bay Hotel, an establishment far less grand than the name would imply. The landlady promised that she would be responsible for the young lady's well-being."
"The weeks passed, and Muriel settled comfortably into the community. She made friends easily and showed an artistic flair, spending countless hours at the oceanside sketching the dramatic scenery spread before her."
"The girl was especially friendly with a group of people who had come down from the Willamette Valley to vacation along the coast. The mild weather was ideal for picnics and bonfires at the beach, hikes in the forest and star-gazing at night."
"Late one afternoon," Muriel and her teenaged friends "decided to visit the recently abandoned lighthouse. The hotel landlady had been left in charge of the only key, and she readily loaned it to the young people."
"The youngsters explored the lighthouse, going through the various rooms on the first and second floors, and then climbed to a small room that made up the entire third floor. An iron ladder gave access to the light tower itself, but the way was blocked off."
"However, the teens noticed a closet off the third-floor room. Shelves covered three of the walls, but a fourth wall was bare."
"A young man named Harold Welch, who was particularly smitten with the charming Muriel, noticed that a piece of the wainscoting was loose. When he tugged at it, the boards fell away to disclose an iron door."
Harold let out a soft whistle. "What in blazes is that!?"
"A storeroom, maybe?" another boy guessed.
"Let's see if we can open it," a girl suggested.
With some effort, Harold "was able to remove it, revealing a tunnel about seven or eight feet (2 to 2.5 meters) long. At its end, it appeared to dip downward."
The teens stared in disbelief. Here they were, on the third floor (my emphasis--J.T.), and the door led to a subterranean chamber. It seemed impossible, but there it was. Instead of looking out at an overcast sky and pine forests, the teens found themselves facing a darkly sinister cavern.
"Several of the group laughed nervously about smugglers or pirates using the hidden tunnel for their nefarious purposes."
The teens went back downstairs, leaving the iron door wide open.
"Darkness and a quickly descending fog convinced the group to leave the house. Harold Welch had the key in hand and stayed behind to close a stubborn front door lock. Muriel stayed with him while the others started down the trail toward town."
"At this point, the story takes a most peculiar turn. For some reason never made clear," Muriel asked, "Harry, could you let me back in the house for a minute?"
Harold gave her a surprised look. "What for?"
Showing a rueful expression, Muriel replied, "I left my scarf on the second floor."
"I'll go with you," he offered.
"Don't bother. I'll just be a minute or two," she said, as Harold opened the front door. "I'll let myself out through the kitchen."
"Harold relocked the front door and walked around to the kitchen. When Muriel didn't appear after several minutes, he rejoined his friends who had, by now, gotten about halfway down the trail. He thought she must have gone on without him."
"Muriel wasn't there."
"They were deciding what to do about the missing girl when a woman's scream came from the lighthouse."
"Harold led the group at a run up the trail. Once inside the house they looked quickly around the first floor. They found bloodstains that appeared to lead up the main staircase."
"In the third-floor closet the youngsters found Muriel's bloodstained handkerchief near the iron panel."
"Oddly, the wainscoting had been replaced and the iron door could not be jimmied open. (my emphasis--J.T.) Earlier they had left the entrance to the secret tunnel open."
"Newport was alerted, and searches were made of the lighthouse, the ocean beach and the surrounding grounds."
"Muriel Trevenard was never seen again."
The Trevenard case stirred much comment for years. In 1899, Lischen M. Miller, the sister of California poet Joaquin Miller, visited Newport and wrote an account of the girl's mysterious disappearance. A copy of this account is available at the Lincoln County Museum in Newport.
Today the restored Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is open to tours. During the summer, the lighthouse is open every day from 12 noon to 5 p.m. The rest of the year, it's open only on weekends.
But if you do visit, and if you do climb up to the third floor, try not to knock on the iron door and say, "Anybody home?"
You never know what might come out. (See Historic Haunted America by Michael Norman and Beth Scott, Tor Books, New York, N.Y., 1995, pages 413 to 416. Also Oregon Handbook, Moon Publications, Inc., Chico, CA, 1991, page 102)
Next Week: Aliens in Newport
Today is Saint Urho's Day, which is a holiday here in the Northland and in Finland. It's the day we honor an obscure Ninth Century bishop who reportedly drove the grasshoppers out of Finland, thereby saving the crops.
If you're in Finland, Minnesota this weekend, be sure to drop in at the annual St. Urho's Day Parade, set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
Join us next week for more UFO and paranormal news from around the Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you in seven days.
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2000 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.
