UFO ROUNDUP Volume 5 Number 43
Volume 5
Number 43
October 26, 2000
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
IRISH STUDENT REPORTS A UFO AND "MISSING TIME"
On Thursday, September 14, 2000, at 10:30 p.m., Alan Redmond, 19, left his apartment in Stillorgan, a suburb south of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, with his small dog, Ralphy. He Redmond, a college student, intended to take Ralphy for his evening walk.
"He reported, "I was walking my dog Ralphy in a field next to my housing estate (development in the USA--J.T.) and suddenly he started to jump and bark really loud for no reason. It was then that I looked up and saw a large greenish can-shaped (cylindrical) object was, almost silently, floating toward the mountains."
"I know it really sounds crazy but the next thing I knew I was lying face down in a wooded area about one kilometer (0.6 miles) away from where I was when I first saw the object. My dog was unconscious beside me, and he has acted different since then."
""I've never told anyone about this because they would probably think I was lying. I'm 19 and have dropped out college because I couldn't concentrate on my studies. I used to be on top of my class! My friend told me about this site, and so I wrote to you about my experience. I would like to find out if anyone else has had a similar experience in the city (Dublin--J.T.)." (Email Form Report)
UFOs SIGHTED IN ESSEX AND EAST YORKSHIRE
On Tuesday, October 17, 2000, at 10 p.m., Jan Hunter was outdoors near the small city of Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK when she spotted a cigar-shaped UFO with bright lights sitting motionless in the dark night sky.
Ms. Hunter described the UFO as "several golden or amber glowing lights. No movement of the lights. I couldn't describe it as moving, just 'there.'"
When she first noticed the lights, which were "running horizontally," she saw that "something flashed, until they came on and then off again...There was no movement--the lights just disappeared."
On Sunday, October 22, 2000, Sion B. saw an unusual object "10 metres (33 feet) high," sitting in a farm field in Witham, Essex, UK. "It was stationary, (having) landed in the field. I saw it out in the field as a strobe light flashed. The strobe light lit up the sky for a fraction of a second, revealing a complex mechanical object" with "a satellite dish on the side of the complex structure." He didn't stick around for a closer look. (Email Form Reports)
THREE UFO SIGHTINGS ARE REPORTED IN ITALY
On Monday, October 9, 2000, a woman standing on her apartment balcony in the city of Forli, Italy spotted "a very small fireball with a diameter of approximately 80 centimeters spiral upward into the sky. No sound was heard from the strange light." (See the Italian newspaper Il Resto de Carlino for October 10, 2000.)
(Editor's Comment: A possible case of ball lightning?)
The same evening, October 9, 2000, at 9 p.m., an upstairs maid in La Loggia, near Torino (Turin) was changing pillow cases when she heard a strange sound coming from the window.
"Opening the window, she observed from her balcony a strange round white light, much larger than the full moon, that was humming and rising into the sky with a spiral motion. The object had a short reddish tail and emitted a bright and intense light and moved rapidly away to the northeast."
On Thursday night, October 12, 2000, at 10 p.m.. "a married couple were driving near Argelato, not far from Bolongna, when they caught sight of a red object that rotated in an elliptical motion while emanating a strong and mysterious light. The couple kept the object in view for 15 kilometers (9 miles) before it vanished." (Grazie a Edoardo Russo, Renzo Cabassi, Massimo Teodorani, e Maurizio Murini di Centro Italiano di Studi Ufologici per questi rapporti.)
MYSTERIOUS MASS DEATH OF CATTLE IN NEW MEXICO
Twenty-four cattle were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Roswell, New Mexico on Thursday morning, October 19, 2000.
"Rancher Marcelo Macias doesn't know what happened to his herd of cows, but he knows he's out of a lot of money."
"Macias said 24 cows died mysteriously last week at his farm."
"The cattle were all healthy when he checked them at midnight Wednesday (October 19, 2000) but by early Thursday morning (October 19, 2000) nearly half of his herd lay dead."
"'All healthy yesterday and now look--just dead,' said the distraught farmer as he gestured towards the enclosures. 'All my work for nothing.'"
"Macias said his neighbors' cows all seem to be fine."
"Macias estimated his loss was at least $40,000. He said all of the 21 dead cows were pregnant, and that he paid $3,000 for one of the three dead bulls."
"Dr. Leonard Blach, a local veterinarian, examined the dead cattle and could not immediately determine what killed them. He said he won't know more until samples he took from the cows are tested at a lab."
"Neither Dr. Blach nor College Garden Animal Clinic, another local large animal hospital, had received any other calls of cattle dying." (See the Albuquerque, N.M. Journal for October 23, 2000, "Half of cow herd mysteriously dies." Many thanks to Patty Coleman for forwarding this newspaper article.)
MULTIPLE UFOs SEEN IN UNADILLA, NEW YORK
On Sunday, October 22, 2000, at 7:50 p.m., Robert L. and his family were at their home in Unadilla, New York (population 1,300), about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northest of Binghamton, when they spotted "a red object with four lights on it--red, blue, green and white."
The UFO was soon joined by "many others," he added, Too many of them to be airplanes, and they were witnessed by the whole family. Hard to distinguish any shapes. They formed triangles and (were) flashing."
Robert's family continued to watch the strange aerial display for several minutes. "I don't know how high they were. It's hard to distinguish height." (Email Form Report)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO HOVERS OVER TROUT LAKE, WASH.
The Self-Mastery Earth Institute, located on the outskirts of Trout Lake, Washington, had another UFO incident last week.
On Saturday, October 14, 2000, "five witnesses were present when a golden ship appeared in the north. It came in very slow and hovered for around a minute. Jupiter and Saturn were clearly visible in the east, and it (the UFO) dwarfed them in size and intensity. It moved to the east and faded out as a jet approached it from the west. The jet was moving very swiftly on a direct intercept (flight) path with the large golden object."
"This cat-and-mouse game will continue around the world until a military stand-down is set in place, and ambassadors of peace are chosen to meet them."
Trout Lake, Wash. (population 1,200) is on Highway 141 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Portland, Oregon. (Many thanks to James Gilliland for this report.)
OKLAHOMA UFO CAUSES MORE CONTROVERSY
The official explanation for the bright UFO seen over the USA's Lower Midwest on October 13, 2000. Now they're saying the object was a Russian Proton rocket reentering Earth's atmosphere, not a meteor.
On Saturday, October 21, 2000, KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City reported, "NASA had studied the (Wichita, Kansas) video and concluded that it was a Russian Proton rocket that had reentered the atmosphere."
"On Friday, the 13th of October, startled onlookers in Kansas saw the disintegrating fireball overhead."
"Earlier on Friday, a trio of Glonass satellites lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakjstan aboard a single Russian Proton rocket. Glonass is the Russian equivalent of" the USA's Global Positioning System (GPS). "The successful launch added three new satellites to the Glonass array and unexpectedly touched off Friday night's show over Texas."
"'In my opinion, it (the Oklahoma UFO) was the re-entry of a Proton rocket's four-stage casing,' said Alan Pickup, a satellite entry expert who works at the United Kingdom's Astronomy Technology Center at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. 'It was a cylinder 3.7 metres (11 feet) in diameter and four metres (12 feet) long that weighs about 800 kilograms.'"
"'The object had passed through perigee (its closest approach to Earth--J.T.) at 7:19 p.m. Central time (00:19 UTC) It would have passed about 3.1 degrees east of Abilene (Texas) at 7:25 p.m. and almost directly over Lubbock (Texas) 19 seconds later. It travelled over Oklahoma and Kansas toward Lincoln, Nebraska, which it would have reached at about 7:27 p.m. local time if it was still in orbit. Case closed.'"
However, Oklahoma ufologist Jim Hickman has unearthed yet another description of the October 13th UFO which places the object over Abilene nearly five minutes before the Proton rocket casing could have arrived.
According to a report aired by KTXS-TV, Channel 12 News, "Law enforcement authorities and KTXS Channel 12 were bombarded with calls last night (October 13, 2000) about a bright object seen streaking across the sky. The object moved from the west to the east at 7:15 p.m. Many thought it was a plane on fire. However, the FAA had no reports of a (plane) crash."
(Editor's Comment: Not only is the timing off, witnesses in other cities in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas said the UFO flew from south to north or southwest to northeast. Did it change flight direction over Lubbock? See UFO Roundup, volume 5, number 42 for October 19, 2000, "Was a UFO shot down in Oklahoma?" page one.)
"Photographer Scott Martin on shooting video at Abilene Christian High School and captured the glowing object on tape as it raced across the sky. It was probably a meteor or it may have been a piece of space junk burning up as it enters the Earth's atmosphere."
Hickman's investigation is continuing. Many thanks to Jim Hickman for the updated reports.)
OPERATION PHANTOM HAS TROOPS ON THE MOVE
Reports of strange military maneuvers are circulating in three states of the USA--Indiana, Texas and Florida--all said to be part of Operation Phantom.
On Thursday, October 18, 2000, at 7:10 p.m., residents of Spencer, Indiana 600) in the state's southeastern corner, became alarmed when surged several times for about 30 seconds While this was happening, the whole sky suddenly changed color to a bright blue and many red lights were observed by many people appearing to land. Some people thought this was a military attack."
In Greenwood, Indiana (population 27,000), a small city 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Terre Haute, a strange event occurred on Thursday, October 19, 2000, at 3 p.m. :Power and lights went out all over town. Many phone calls were received from frightened people."
Residents also spotted numerous black-and-white cruisers with the logo Police on the car doors. However, the Fountain County Sheriff's Department reportedly had no idea who the mysterious police cruisers belonged to. The cruisers were said to be driven by "short-haired military young types" in civilian dress "with enough firepower to make the local police blush."
In Texas, eyewitnesses saw a long armored column traveling from Highway 287 to Highway 71. The convoy contained Humvees, M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) and M88 tank retrievers. "The column stopped on Round Mountain from Marble Falls to Fredericksburg, north of Austin (state capital of Texas--J.T.) Humvees were traveling with their machine guns exposed."
On Saturday, October 14, 2000, eyewitnesses in Beaumont, Texas, a port on the Gulf of Mexico 68 miles (108 kilometers) southeast of Houston, saw armored vehicles being loaded aboard ships.
A similar armored column, described as "one or two miles long," was also seen by a retired couple driving on Interstate Highway I-10 north of Live Oak, Florida. The column was heading east toward Jacksonville.
People are speculating about the reason behind the troop movements. Some say it's another field maneuver under the United nations and the Partnership for Peace program. Others claim that it related to the current NATO amphibious exercise in northern Turkey. (Fore more on this operation, see the following story--J.T.)
And still others claim that it's related to the present crisis in the Middle East. On Monday, October 23, 2000, the TV news show Al-Jazirah of Qatar made the claim that 10,000 U.S. Marines were on their way to the Persian Gulf to occupy the port city of Aden in Yemen. Aden is where the USS Cole was wracked by a massive bomb explosion on October 12, 2000.
President Ali Abdullah Selah of Yemen reportedly warned against any military action by the USA or its NATO allies, saying, "any attempts at occupation will be violently resisted by the Yemeni people." (See the Qatar TV news show Al-Jazirah for October 23, 2000, "An interview with President Selah." Many thanks to Kim Weber and Tony Myrick, also William, Gilbert and Anne Marie for these reports.)
GREECE PULLS PLANES OUT OF NATO MANEUVERS
The Defense Ministry of Greece "on Saturday," October 21, 2000, "asked NATO to cancel a major exercise in the region " after Turkish jets jumped two of their jet fighters crossing the Aegean Sea to take part in the exercise.
"The request to cut short the Turkish-based exercise," Operation Destined Glory, "comes after days of escalating tension between the two neighbors which are at odds over military boundaries in the Aegean Sea."
"The Greek Defense Ministry "said two Greek A-7 Corsair jets had been harassed by Turkish warplanes Saturday while flying to and from to take part in the exercise."
"Defense Minister Akis Tszochadzopoulos, visiting Cyprus, said Greece would withdraw its planes from the two-week exercise, slated to end on Wednesday," October 25, 2000 "and requested that the maneuvers be stopped altogether."
"There was no immediate official response from NATO or Turkey."
"Besides Greece and Turkey, troops from the United States, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy are involved in Operation Destined Glory." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for October 22, 2000, "Greece asks NATO to cancel exercise amid tensions," page 13A.)
BAD WEATHER KEEPS SHUTTLE DISCOVERY IN ORBIT
Discovery's planned landing on Saturday, October 21, 2000, was delayed for four days because of high winds in Florida and rainstorms at the alternate landing site in California.
""Wind gusts reaching 30 miles per hour in Florida and rain clouds in California prevented space shuttle Discovery from returning to Earth...and it stretched the crew's flight to almost two weeks."
"Discovery has enough fuel and power to stay aloft until Wednesday," October 25, 2000. "As a last resort, NASA could send it to White Sands, New Mexico. However, NASA prefers landing the shuttle in Florida to save the nearly $1 million and one week required to ferry it cross-country."
On Sunday, October 22, 2000, "Mission Control told shuttle commander Brian Duffy that the crosswind was strong and steady and not expected to change, and that he should plan ahead."
"'The winds are not complying with us,' Mission Control said."
"'I understand,' Duffy replied."
Following a week of exhausting construction work on the International Space Station, the seven-man shuttle crew is ready to come home.
"Duffy and his crew installed a new docking port and an aluminum framework on the station, which orbits 240 miles above the Earth. The work required four spacewalks on four consecutive days."
But it wasn't all hard labor for the astronauts. Two spacewalkers got to play with their new NASA toys on Wednesday, October 18, 2000, when their construction tasks were completed.
""Jeff Wisoff and Michael Lopez-Alegria took turns jetting and around space shuttle Discovery's payload bay to test the small nitrogen-powered rocket backpack that could someday save an astronaut's life."
"They were on a leash the whole time. But it was a loose leash."
"'Jeff, what's it like being a satellite?' one of the astronauts inside Discovery asked as Wisoff propelled himself 240 miles above Earth."
"'Pretty awesome,' Wisoff replied. Later he murmured, 'Like falling in love.'"
""NASA insisted that the spacewalkers be tethered for the jetpack demonstration. Because Discovery is docked to the space station, the shuttle could not immediately dash after the astronauts if their jetpacks failed."
"The miniature jetpack, called Safer, is meant for use on a space station. Without the jetpack, an astronaut could drift away and become lost in space."
"Safer is much smaller and less powerful than the Buck Rogers-like jetpack that was used a few times by shuttle astronauts in 1984. That device has long since been retired."
(Editor's Note: This jetpack, sometimes called "the Rocking Chair," was first flown by astronaut Bruce McCandless in 1984.)
And then there were those astronauts who had the less pleasant duties.
""The crew's work was interrupted Thursday." October 19, 2000, "by an unexpected--and unpleasant--job. The solid waste compactor on the shuttle toilet jammed, and pilot Pamela Melroy and Jeff Wisoff were pressed into duty as plumbers. They put on gloves and unclogged the line."
"'Jeff is more of a hero than I think most people will appreciate,' Melroy reported." (See the Chicago Tribune for October 21, 2000, "End is near for Mir as new station gears up," page 8. Also USA Today for October 19, 2000, "Discovery's crew zips around bay on new jetpacks," page 25A; October 23, 2000, "Weather keeps weary shuttle crew in space," page 3A; and October 24, 2000, "Wind gusts keep Discovery from returning to Earth," page 3A.)
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT SPAWNS STRANGE STORIES
The fighting on the West Bank has spawned some very strange stories. Here are three your editor has come across in the last couple of weeks:
Story #1: DI, THE HEAVENLY MESSENGER
At precisely midnight, on Thursday, September 28, 2000, the antique clock on the mantle began to chime at Highgrove, Prince Charles's country estate in Scotland. The prince and his companion, Camilla Parker-Bowles, had just gone to bed.
Suddenly, the bedroom became very cold. Prince Charles thought something had gone wrong with the central heating, and he decided to have Maintenance check it in the morning. Then a hazy fog or cloud appeared at the foot of the bed. As the couple gaped in astonishment, the white haze gradually congealed into the face and form of Princess Diana.
Yes, it was Diana, lovely as always in a sleeveless V-neck angelic white gown belted with a slender golden chain. Showing a concerned expression, she said, "Charles, eight hours from now, General (Ariel) Sharon is going to march on the Temple Mount. There will be a frightful war in the Holy Land. Hundreds of children will be killed. You must do something."
Visibly shaken, Charles replied, "Diana, there is only so much I can do. You know that."
"People are going to be killed. Charles! Do something. Call (Tony) Blair. At least warn him."
With that, Diana gestured at the night table, and the prince's cell phone levitated upward and began floating across the bed.
This was too much for Camilla. As the cell phone floated in front of her, she grabbed her hair curlers and let out an earsplitting scream.
Turning to her, Diana said, "Well, I see you've gotten what you've always wanted--my place in his bed." And she closed her eyes in exasperation. "Would you please hold your noise?"
And then she vanished.
Camilla's scream triggered the mansion's security sensors, and the security people came running. Charles put on a dressing gown over his pajamas and met them in the upstairs hall.
"Mr. Billings," he said, "we have just seen a ghost. My dead wife, I believe."
Bursting out of the bedroom, Camilla grabbed him by the lapels and shouted, "I cannot live like this! I'm losing my mind! Will she never leave us in peace?"
After Camilla finally calmed down, they retired to another one of the mansion's bedrooms. (Many thanks to Connie for this story.)
Story #2: THE SECRET TEMPLE
Vryburg is a small town in South Africa located about 120 kilometers (72 miles) west of Johannesburg. A few miles north of town, a spur railroad track shoots off into the hills. It used to link up with an old stone quarry that went out of business back in 1960. For years the quarry was abandoned. But when Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, the quarry was taken over by the Ministry of Justice.
Boers in the region claim to have seen some very strange things in recent months. Flated rail cars with convicts--all of them black--heading up the spur line to the quarry. But no rail car ever comes out, only the diesel engines. The old string-wire fence has been replaced by an electrified fence 3 meters (10 feet) high, topped with outward-leaning razor wire. And, although there's no synagogue in Vryburg, Hasidic Jews are frequently seen in town, black hats, frock coats and all.
A handful of blacks, who claim to have been to the quarry, say it is guarded by Israeli troops in full combat gear. They point to newspaper photos from the Middle East and claim these are the soldiers they've seen.
They also claim that the quarry is back in full operation. The black convicts, they say, are cutting marble for a large building. The dressed blocks are put on pallets next to the railroad tracks, and then the Hasidic Jews paint Hebrew letters on the corner of each block.
The Boers believe that the Third Temple is secretly being pre-fabricated at this quarry (sort of like Lincoln Logs, a toy here in the USA--J.T.) and it's ready to be shipped out by train at a moment's notice (Many thanks to "Kraalbaas" for this story.).
Story #3: THE MOSSAD GOES HOLLYWOOD
This one actually appeared in print! In the October 3, 2000 issue of the tabloid Globe, gossip columnist Charlene Tilton (the actress who portrayed "Lucy Ewing" on the TV show Dallas--J.T.) reported that "the newest fad in Hollywood" was "hiring ex-Mossad agents as bodyguards." Then she listed a number of actors, directors and producers now being guarded by agents of the Mossad.
Trouble is, there are no "ex-Mossad agents." The Mossad, like the CIA, is one of those outfits you retire from with pallbearers. Which leads to the big question: why are all those Mossad agents in southern California?
Somehow I don't think they're there to protect the glitterati of Tinseltown from the Buford Furrow Fan Club.
from the UFO Files...
1957: A SAUCER'S MISSION OF MERCY
The evening of October 25, 1957, a rainstorm lashed the palm trees and gardens of Petropolis, a small city in the Serra da Orgao mountains, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. And in one hillside mansion, a young girl's agonized screams rivalled the booms of thunder.
Standing at the bedroom doorway, Marcelo Campos Soares watched anxiously as his wife, Joaquina, mopped the brow of their dying nine- year-old daughter, Graciela.
Graciela was dying of a stomach cancer. Their physician, Dr. Pinheiro, had pronounced the case inoperable and advised the family to make the little girl as comfortable as possible during her last days.
Graciela writhed in bed. Each scream was was more wrenching than the one before. Turning to her husband, a haggard Joaquina wailed, "She's in agony! Is there nothing we can do for her?"
Marcelo replied, "There are no more pills."
"We must get more!"
"We can't. The radio said the road is washed out. There's no way to get down to Rio."
"Call Dr. Pinheiro! Maybe he can give her some morphine," Joaquina suggested.
Marcelo nodded and rushed into the main hall. The other children gathered around him. He picked up the receiver, listened for a moment, and then, ashen-faced, put it down again. In tears, he sobbed, "The line's dead."
All five children began crying, as well. The youngest, three-year-old Delcia, ran to the family's household chapel. Then, imitating her older siblings, she knelt before the statues and murmured, "Please, please help my sister."
Minutes later, Delcia rejoined the family, now gathered around Graciela's bedside. Suddenly, Manoel, the oldest boy, pointed at the window. "What is that!?"
An eerie eye-searing golden light beam streamed down from the clouds.
"Lightning," Marcelo whispered, staring at the unearthly light. "It's only lightning."
"Papa, I don't think so," said another daughter.
"Seven members of her family witnessed the room filled with such light. Outside the home a flying saucer was 'de-planing' on a rescue mission."
The saucer was a flattened silver disc, about 30 meters (100 feet) long, with a thickened middle and emitting a bright golden aura. It hovered just above the spacious lawn of the Campos house.
Then two aliens phased right through the glass of the window. The aliens were "somewhere around four feet (1.3 meters) tall with long yellowish-red hair and bright green slanting eyes. The entities...approached the girl's bed and laid out medical instruments."
One of the aliens faced Graciela's stunned father. He heard a sibilant voice in his mind
What is ailing her?
Marcelo began, "She has--"
Do not speak. Just try to remember what the physician told you.
The alien touched his face. Marcelo experienced a weird buzzing in his brain.
"The entities shone a brilliant blue-white light on the girl's stomach; Her insides were made visible and cancerous tumors could be seen." The aliens then used a laser tool to open Graciela's abdominal cavity and began operating.
(Editor's Note: This was seven years before the first laser device was successfully tested in 1964.)
"One of the entities handed the girl's father a globular case containing thirty small white pills which had to be taken daily for a month."
Then the aliens levitated, phased back through the window and disappeared into the saucer's blinding golden glow.
Five days later, Graciela stunned her parents and delighted baby sister Delcia by hopping out of bed.
Two months later, in December 1957, Dr. Pinheiro took Graciela to Rio for a series of detailed medical examinations. and "verified that she had been completely cured of the cancer."
"The girl's recovery is a mystery," He wrote to a colleague. "The carcinoma was removed by a procedure utterly unknown to contemporary science." (See the book The UFO Encyclopedia, edited by John Spencer, Avon Books, New York, N.Y. 1991, page 243. Also Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago, Ill. 1969, page 260 and 261. Also Flying Saucer Review #67, page 5.)
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.
