UFO ROUNDUP Volume 5 Number 49
Volume 5
Number 49
December 7, 2000
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
METALLIC SPHERE UFO SHOWS UP IN BRAZIL
"A very shiny object appeared over the city of Campinas," in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, "baffling the local population. The strange object looked like a flashing silver-white ball of light and was seen the night of Wednesday, November 29, 2000."
Campinas is a large city located 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Sao Paulo, which is the largest city in South America.
"The popular rumors" in Campinas "talked of a flying saucer, an alien invasion, meteors, a weather balloon and a laser cannon."
"The witnesses claimed that the light started to flash in the districts of Cambua and Taquaral around 9 p.m. and lasted for thirty minutes. All agreed that the object blinked little sparkles that could be seen with a very strong clarity."
"Astronomer Julio Lobo of the Observatorio de Capricornia said that since last Friday," November 24, 2000, "he had received calls from people claiming to have seen possible UFOs."
"On Thursday, November 30, 2000, ten people phoned him, wanting to learn the source of the strange light."
"'The people get interested and want answers,' he said, 'Those who saw it said it 'was a thing from another world'.'"
"Taxi driver Andre de Moura said that he was amazed with what he saw. 'The light dropped and blinked a lot. Because it stayed in the same place, I concluded that it was a flying saucer.'"
"When he arrived at a neighbor's house, the man was looking at it, as well, but then the object disappeared."
"Another cabbie, Walmir Airton Possari, said he saw the light while driving to the market. According to him, all of the market's customers were amazed and went outside, looking at it to try to identify what kind of light it was."
"'I'm sure that it was two lights emitting powerful flashes of light,' he said."
"However, to his friend, Julio Nakanishi, the object was simply a balloon. He said that when he first saw the light, he thought it was an airplane or a helicopter."
"A spokesman for Viracopos Airport" near Campinas " stated that they had received no reports of any weird sightings." (See the newspaper Diario Popular of Sao Paulo for December 1, 2000. Muito obrigado a Thiago Tischetti por eso articulo do diario.)
UFOs HAVE A BUSY WEEKEND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
On Saturday, November 25, 2000, at 9:15 p.m., Nevel Bell "had just been to the supermarket" in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital "and was walking home. It was a clear night, and when it's clear, I always look up at the stars. I saw what looked like a satellite moving through the sky. But then, to the left of the satellite object, there was another."
"Perfectly normal, I thought. Then it all started to get weird."
"The two moving objects started to move close to each other, visibly picking up speed. Then they started to cross each other's path, and they did this several times."
"O.K. I thought to myself, There must be a logical explanation for this."
"I thought they could have been (RAF) fighter jets at high altitude, but there was no sound."
"The two star-like objects then arced across the sky at a tremendous speed, something I've never witnessed before. They then dipped down and disappeared into the horizon." (Many thanks to Gerry Lovell for forwarding this report.)
On Sunday, November 26, 2000, at 5:20 p.m., Jackie L. was walking down Craigdale Road in Hornchurch, Essex, UK when she spotted something strange in the sky.
"It was moving to the right very slowly," she reported, "It was around 5:20 p.m. whilst I was walking down the road. I could see this flourescent pink thing in the sky and just could not believe it. It was very sparkly, extremely bright (and) flashing. It appeared to stay there for awhile, then quietly moved sideways, then disappeared behind the houses, leaving behind a very thin 'smoke-like' trail from the top. It was an oblong shape but because it was sparkly there was no definition." (Email Form Report)
MAJOR UFO FLAP BREAKS OUT IN WISCONSIN
A major UFO flap broke out in Wisconsin during September, with three sightings at different locales around the state.
On Thursday, November 2, 2000, at 5:30 a.m., a man spotted a UFO in Medford, Wis. (population 4,200), a small town located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Wausau.
The witness reported, "Just prior to going to work at the local factory, I saw what looked like blinking, although it was still dark. The object was really white, triangular and 40 degrees (above the horizon--J.T.) I watched the bright object to my south. It was not moving at this time. The object was brighter than any (other) object in the sky. The object then moved at a high rate of speed for about nine seconds until it was out of my sight."
On Monday, November 20, 2000, a UFO incident took place in Oostburg, Wis. (population 2,000), a small port town on Lake Michigan approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Sheboygan.
"It happened at 8:30 p.m.," the witness reported. "In the east/southeast sky, a bright object hovered for a long period of time. The night was very clear, and at first I thought it was a very bright star. But it appeared to be blinking red, green and blue lights."
"Since it was blinking, I thought it may be some type of aircraft, but it was not moving at all. I got a pair of binoculars to get a better look, but it was so far out over Lake Michigan that it only made the lights more defined. I was just wondering if there were any more reports of it. Or an explanation." (Editor's Comment: Add this sighting to the casebook of the Lake Michigan Triangle.)
The most recent UFO sighting took place in the southwestern part of the state. On Thursday, November 23, 2000, Timothy and Jonathan Dust drove to their parents' rural home in Fountain City, Wis. (population 400) for the Thanksgiving holiday. Fountain City is just east of the Mississippi River and located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Eau Claire.
Timothy Dust reported, "My brother Jonathan and I were both at our parents' cabin just outside of Fountain City, celebrating the holiday. After dinner, around 6:25 p.m., my brother and I decided to go outside on our deck for a breath of fresh air since my father was burning wood to supplement the electric heaters in the house," adding that the outdoor temperature of about 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
"The deck is just off the second floor," Tim added, "The floor of the deck is at treetop height. We had an awesome view of the night sky this evening."
"Looking around at the stars, I suddenly noticed a large 'stationary' red and orange object hovering 100 feet (30 meters) above an adjacent ridge of bluffs called Canada Ridge. Canada Ridge is about a half-mile (800 meters) away from the cabin, and the object was within one mile (1,600 meters)) of us."
"My brother went to get a pair of high-powered binoculars to view it more closely. I just watched it with my own eyes."
off to the southwest about two miles away, hovering over the ridge treeline like it was hiding. Then, five minutes later, it looked like it landed. We watched the area but it did not reappear until at least a half-hour later."
Tim added, "The (UFO's) color changed, as well, from rosy red to orange to white with a hint of green and then back to red."
"At one point, it looked as if it was leaving the area and then it came back to the original spot just above the ridge. We both watched the orb for, say, 40 to 45 minutes. There was no sound." (Many thanks to Jim Aho of the W-Files and Peter B. Davenport of the National UFO Reporting Center for these reports.)
HOVERING UFO SIGHTED OVER A SMALL TENNESSEE TOWN
On Thursday, November 30, 2000, at 9 p.m., Michael Smith and his family were driving north on Interstate Highway I-75 when he spotted an unusual object in the sky to the east of the highway.
"My wife and I were heading home to Indiana from Florida, where we'd spent Thanksgiving weekend with some relations. We were just north of Knoxville, Tennessee. She was driving, and I was in the passenger seat, looking out the window at the stars."
"I noticed a particularly bright star. At first I thought that it was a pale-blue colored object, but while I watched it from the mountain, it seemed to be stationary."
"I know it wasn't a plane, and it appeared to hover over a small town down in a valley in the Appalachian Mountains near (east of) the interstate. I know it wasn't a star because I had to turn my head to keep it in view, and stars appear to
move when you move because of the great distances."
(Editor's Note: From Mike's description, it appears that the UFO was hovering over Halls Crossroads, Tennessee-- population 450, which is located about 10 miles north of Knoxville. Interestingly, there was a UFO flap in nearby Dandridge, Tenn. during 1999.)
"The (UFO) was hovering. At one point, I had to turn all the way around in my seat to see it. And it was in the same spot! A plane or helicopter would have some movement. I probably watched it for around ten minutes. It was very bright, with an estimated altitude of 1,500 feet (450 meters)." (Email Form Report)
FAMILY SEES A UFO NEAR EASLEY, SOUTH CAROLINA
On Monday, November 27, 2000, at 5:15 p.m., Vicki Rholetter, her husband and her mother-in-law were on Highway 129, returning home from a holiday shopping trip to Greenville, South Carolina.
The UFO "appeared to be hovering in the sky in a south or southeasterly direction," Vicki reported, "My husband, my mother-in-law and I were returning home from a shopping trip to Greenville, S.C. As we were driving down Highway 129, my husband, who was driving, brought my mother-in-law's and my attention to a large object in the sky on the driver's (left) side of the car. It didn't appear to be an airplane, and it looked a little too low off the ground for that, and there were none of the usual flashing (navigation) lights one would expect with an airplane. It didn't look like a helicopter, either. In fact, it didn't appear to be made of any metal, not that we could see."
"As far as we could tell, it just looked like a big white glob of light in the sky. It appeared to be hovering. If it was moving at all, then it was only very, very slowly."
"It also changed shape, too, before it disappeared. My husband said that it looked a little triangular to him. But to me it appeared more cylindrical at first. As we watched it, it started to 'pulse'."
"First it got very bright, then dim, then very bright again and finally very dim, and then it just faded away. Just disappeared completely. I noticed that as it got dimmer, it took on a rounder shape."
"I'm really a little skeptical of UFO sightings, but I really don't know what else it might be. It's definitely one of the weirdest things I've ever seen."
Vicki estimated that they were just outside of Easley, S.C. (population 14,000) when they spied the UFO. Easley is located 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Columbia, the state capital. (Email Form Report)
LARGE UFO HOVERS OVER A HOME IN RIMROCK, ARIZONA
On Thursday, November 30, 2000, shortly after 7 p.m., Bob and Dar Meyers were at their home in Rimrock, Arizona when something strange happened.
"At 7:18 p.m., I went to the window in my living room and saw a light in the yard," Bob reported, "'Dar,' I said, "Come here and look at this.'"
"She said, 'That's a UFO.' She immediately ran outside and came (back) in again. 'Grab your camera.'"
"So I grabbed my equipment and ran out to the trees And when I looked, there it was--a huge UFO 1,000 feet (300 meters) off the ground."
"I started to video it, and that's when the ships appeared. Not one but two. Then it started to shine a beam of light down on the ground. Then it started to come towards us, then stopped, then, all of a sudden, the ship blinked out and disappeared."
"I continued to observe the craft and still was staying where I saw it. I came in the house and called a friend and asked him to go outside to see if he could see it, and he said yes." (Many thanks to Steve Wilson for forwarding the Meyers' report.)
FRENCH ASTRONOMER HAS EVIDENCE OF MYSTERIOUS GLOWS ON THE MOON
Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP for short) have been observed by Earth-based astronomers since Galileo invented the first telescope. For centuries, astronomers have dismissed TLPs as "optical illusions." But now a French scientist asserts that the TLPs are quite real.
"For hundreds of years, claims of changes on the lunar surface have always been controversial. Many scientists have dismissed the occasional reported sightings of glows and mists hanging over certain lunar features."
"Now a French astronomer has obtained some of the best evidence yet that occasionally something has disturbed the lunar surface."
"It was seen in 1992 by veteran lunar observer Audoin Dollfuss of the Observatoire de Paris, using the one-meter (39-inch) Mendon reflecting telescope. He has only just finished analysing the results and has submitted them for publication" in the December 2000 issue of the astronomical journal Fading Light.
"On 30 December (1992) he noticed a series of glows on the floor of the crater Langrenus. They were definitely not there the day before. Professor Dollfuss observed them for several days before they faded. Clouds of light were seen dancing inside the crater."
"Each time he returned to the telescope, he noticed that the shape of the glow had changed. He believes that the glows were due to escaping gas that lifted dust above the lunar surface into sunlight."
(Editor's Note: In geology, this activity is known as outgassing.)
"Some lunar observers have expressed surprise that such an event should have taken place because Langrenus was not regarded as a prime candidate for lunar changes. Professor Dollfuss points out that Langrenus, when observed in detail, has an extensive series of fractures on its crater floor and that gas could be escaping from there."
(Editor's Comment: That's a possibility. The crater Langrenus is 136 kilometers (84 miles) in diameter and resembles a shield volcano here on Earth. There may be significant geothermal activity just below the crater floor.)
In 1994," the lunar orbiter Clementine "observed the crater Aristarchus, before and after a TLP was seen from Earth," the spacecraft's spectrometer data "suggested that parts of the crater had changed color slightly." (See BBC Online for December 2, 2000. Many thanks to "the Space Cadets" for forwarding this article.)
ENDEAVOUR HEADS INTO SPACE FOR "POWER UP" MISSION
"The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off Thursday night," November 30, 2000, "on a mission to deliver giant solar panels to the International Space Station," also known as Station Alpha.
"The weather was perfect for the launch at 10:06 p.m. local (Florida, USA) time."
Endeavour's crew consisted of shuttle commander Brent Jett Jr., pilot Michael Bloomfield, Carlos Noriega, Joseph Tanner and Marc Carneau.
"The most powerful set of spacecraft solar wings are packed aboard Endeavour."
"Endeavour pulled up to the International Space Station on Saturday" December 2, 2000, "and docked, setting the stage for the attachment--and dramatic spreading--of the world's largest solar wings."
"Endeavour hooked up with Alpha as the spacecraft zoomed more than 280 miles (448 kilometers) above central Asia, ending a two-day chase. Shuttle commander Brent Jett Jr. steered his ship in from below, with practiced precision."
"Endeavour pulled into a docking port that was added by the last shuttle crew in October." Station Alpha "will be considerably wider once the new electricity-producing solar wings are installed."
"The $600 million wings were folded like an accordion for launch. Once opened, the wings will span 240 feet, longer than the wingspan of a Boeing 777 jetliner. And they will be 38 feet across."
On Sunday, December 3, 2000, astronauts Carlos Noriega and Joe Tanner donned spacesuits and performed the first spacewalk of the mission. The two astronauts attached the solar wings to Station Alpha. Now that the solar wings are attached, Alpha has become "the third brightest object in the night sky, after the moon and the star Sirius."
"The 35,000-lbs. of solar wings, batteries, radiators and extension beams will power the station. NASA expects the solar panels to generate four times the electricity produced by the Russian-built solar wings already on the space station."
The first glitch in the mission occurred on Monday, December 4, 2000. "NASA delayed unfurling the second of the set of solar wings after the first one appeared too slack."
"On Sunday night," December 3, 2000, "the right (solar) wing was extended via computer command to its entire length of 115 feet in just 13 minutes. But some slack tension cables left the blanket of solar cells less taut than desired."
"After hours of consultation, NASA flight controllers came up with a possible solution, instructing Endeavour's astronauts to open the folded left wing a little bit at a time Monday evening in a start-and-stop procedure."
"Alpha commander Bill Shepherd and his Russian crew need more power in order to spread out in the complex where they have been living for the past month."
"One of the space station's three rooms has been unheated and sealed to conserve power. A fourth room due to soar in January 2001, the American-made Destiny lab module, requires considerable electricity for experiments." (See USA Today for December 4, 2000, "Spacewalking astronauts attach solar wings to station," page 12A, and December 5, 2000, "Second space station wing to be spread little by little," page 10A; the Chicago Tribune for December 1, 2000, "Shuttle ferrying solar wings to station," page 5; and the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for December 3, 2000, "Endeavour docks with space station," page 13A.)
from the UFO Files...
2580 B.C.: TIME TRAVELERS?
Three women and their male companion visit a friend's home to see her new children. As they're leaving, one of the visitors asks a servant if it's okay if she leaves a package behind. The servant says yes.
Weeks later, the servant remembers the package and goes to fetch it. As she picks it up, she hears the sound of music coming from within. Obviously, she has accidentally switched on a Sony Walkman or a CD player.
The sort of mishap that occurs every day, right?
But what if I told you that this happened in Egypt way back in 1580 B.C.?
Among the papyrus texts unearthed by archaeologists in the Nineteenth Century was the strange story of Rud-didet, the wife of high priest Ra-user.
Rud-didet and her husband lived during the reign of Pharaoh Kufu (Greek name Cheops), who is reputed to be the builder of the Great Pyramid.
According to the text, shortly after the couple's three children were born, the house of Ra-user was visited by three goddesses--Isis, Nebhat and Meskhent-- in the guise of dancing girls, and the god Khnumu, who was disguised as a porter. The divine visitors left a number of gifts for the newborns, including a model of the red-and- white double crown of Egypt and a bushel of barley.
"They then returned to he house of Ra-user and requested permission to leave the barley in a closed chamber, which they sealed up, and then took their leave."
"A few weeks afterward, Rud-didet asked her handmaid if the house and all that was in it were in good condition, and the handmaid replied that all was satisfactory except that the barley was not yet brought (to the kitchen). Her mistress inquired why that had not been done, and the servant answered that their store (room) had been given to the dancing girls who had arrived on the day of the children's birth, and that it now lay in a closed chamber under their seal."
"Rud-didet then ordered the servant to use it for the present, saying that Ra-user could replace it before their return. The girl opened the chamber, and entering, was surprised to hear people talking and singing, music and the sound of dancing, and such sounds as one hears in the court" of a pharaoh.
"She quickly returned and acquainted her mistress with what she had heard. Rud-didet entered the room herself and also heard the sounds but could not locate them. At last she laid her hand on the sack that held the barley, and found that the sounds proceeded from it."
"She at once placed it in a chest, which she put for security in a greater (larger) chest, and this she bound round with leather and laid in the store-room, taking the precaution to seal it, and when Ra-user returned she told him what had occurred."
"Some days after, Rud-didet had occasion to punish her servant and beat her with stripes (gave her a whipping--J.T.), and the servant grumbled and said to her companions, 'Why has this been done to me? I will go to Pharaoh Khufu and tell him that her three sons are destined to become rulers.'"
"She then betook herself to her uncle; but he would not hearken to her treachery and struck her a violent blow with a bunch of flax which he held. Feeling faint, she went down to the riverside (Nile) for a draught (drink) of water, and was seized upon by a crocodile, which carried her away."
"Her uncle then presented himself to Rud-didet whom he found in a most dejected condition. He asked her what made her downcast, and she replied that she feared treachery from the handmaiden."
"'You need not fear for her,' replied the man, 'because she has been seized upon by a crocodile.'"
As author Lewis Spence points out, "At this point the manuscript fails us."
We learn no more about Rud-didet and her mysterious visitors and just what was in that sack of barley.
What is most intriguing about the tale of Rud-didet are the "real life" details of ancient Egyptian life in the text-- the household protocols, the resentful servant, the crocodile attack on the banks of the Nile. The only paranormal note in this text consists of the handmaiden and Rud-didet hearing music emanating from the sack.
Did the visitors identify themselves as Isis, Nebhat, Meskhent and Khnumu? Or did Rud-didet and her husband decide that after this strange incident.
A music-producing electronic device small enough to be concealed in a sack of barley was unknown even in Spence's time (He died in 1942--J.T.) But if it had been in the sack, and the handmaiden had accidentally turned it on while she was poking about the store-room, that might explain the strange music the women heard.
Pharaoh Kufu reigned from 2590 B.C. to 2568 B.C., in the Fourth Dynasty. If the four visitors were really time travelers from the future, it's perfectly obvious why they went there.
They wanted to see if Kufu was building the Great Pyramid...or if it was already standing in Giza. (See the book Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt by Lewis Spence, Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, N.Y., pages 203 to 205.)
That's it for this week. Join us in seven days for more UFO and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home-UFO Roundup." See you then.
