UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 04
Volume 7
Number 4
January 22, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
ALIEN SKULL DISCOVERED IN BULGARIA?
Leyla Degirmen, UFO Roundup correspondent in the Balkans, has come across a strange story in the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, which stated that an alien skull was found last May in southern Bulgaria.
"On May 21, 2001, a villager found an unusual skull on Rodolp Mountain in Bulgaria," somewhere near Ardino and Madan, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Sofia, the national capital.
"Some scientists held a meeting in Asenovgrad. Prof. Yordan Yordanov, one of the best-known anthropologists in Europe, claimed that he had never seen a human or an animal skull like this in his life. Katya Melamet, one of the archaeologists at the Bulgarian Science Academy, has also told that she has never seen anything like this."
"The story of the villager is also very interesting," Leyla writes, "He claimed that he had seen five people, with yellow metallic clothes, in his dream. They told the villager to go to the area on the 21st of May, and when he went there, he found the skull and a (small) elliptical metal object."
"The skull is (weighs) about 250 grams and has six holes in it to (which apparently) belong to the senses. The skull also has no mouth hole."
"This summary is from an article published in Milliyet on January 4, 2002."
"I thought it is a very important discovery, but the strange thing is that I cannot find the source of this information, or any other news related to it, no matter how hard I try. Milliyet is a leading newspaper in Turkey, and they have been very reliable for over thirty years."
Asenovgrad is a city located 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Sofia, Bulgaria. (See Milliyet for January 4, 2002. Many thanks to Leyla Degirmen for this report.)
(Editor's Comment: Another "now you see it, now you don't" newspaper story, eh? It could be a hoax. Or maybe somebody tampered with Milliyet's website. It's unlikely that aliens buried one of their own in the rugged Rodolpi range. Could it be that the aliens were bushwhacked by military units operating in the area during World War II, and a dead alien was hastily buried there? Perhaps more of our readers in southeastern Europe can contribute additional information.)
CYLINDRICAL UFO SIGHTED IN SOUTHERN SPAIN
"On Tuesday, January 8, 2002, at 3:15 p.m., a UFO was seen by a multitude of drivers along Sevilla's (a.k.a. Seville--J.T.) Ruta (Route) S-30 in the vicinity of Montequinto."
"The UFO was cylindrical in shape, with two whitish lights on its 'bow' and its 'stern,' respectively. Its overall aspect was metallic and wingless. There was only a protuberance on its nose," which gave it the appearance of the fuselage of a Concorde. "Two further protuberances were also seen on its aft section."
"It travelled in a constant direction towards downtown Sevilla and, although the sky was overcast, it flew at such a low altitude that it was clearly visible. Its size was considered to be roughly that of a twin-propeller (twin-rotor) military helicopter."
(See Anos Luz for January 9, 2002, "Multiple sightings over Sevilla." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, autor de los libros Chupacabras and Other Mysteries y Forbidden Mexico, y tambien Jose Antonio Roldan y Manuel Bautista para esas informaciones.)
AN UNUSUAL UFO DISPLAY IN NORTH YORKSHIRE, UK
Peter M. and his family "live in the village of South Stainley, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. While lying in bed at 12:30 a.m. on Friday, January 18, 2002--the curtains were drawn back--my attention was drawn to what I initially thought was a very bright star in a southwesterly direction. After looking at it for a couple of minutes, I realized it was moving slightly and seemed to be pulsating."
"I went downstairs to get my binoculars to have a better look. What I saw I find very hard to come to terms with. It appeared to be a long tube of linked rings of various colours which was expanding and contracting lengthwise. It then converted to a single line of short lines of different colours, which appeared to be 'hinged' at equal spacing. The 'line' then started forming a vast array of different shapes at fantastic speed. Apart from zigzagging up and down, it also formed oval and circular shapes and, believe it or not, a heart shape."
"This must have been quite a considerable distance away as, looking at it with the naked eye, it appeared as just a bright light. And, while watching it, I didn't have to move the binoculars to keep it in the picture. I watched the object for almost an hour as it slowly moved past my field of view."
"I made a point of looking for it again at 12:30 a.m. this morning," Saturday, January 19, 2002, "and went outside to see if I could get a better view. The same object was in approximately the same position performing exactly the same, though I didn't see the tubular shape I saw the night before."
"Then I noticed some similar lights at various points in the sky around my house, and when I focused on them, they were doing exactly the same thing. Some were not as bright, obviously being at a greater distance, but one I could see from the side of my house," facing east, "that was about the same as the original one. They all appeared to be more or less static (stationary in the USA--J.T.) in the sky, apart from the movement while making shapes, which was constant." (Email Interview)
UFO FLAP FOCUS SWITCHES TO CUERNAVACA, MEXICO
Mexico's UFO flap continued last week in the state of Morelos, with most of the action taking place in and around the city of Cuernavaca.
On Sunday, January 13, 2002, "a spherical UFO of great size was seen by more than a dozen people over a hospital in the city of Cuernavaca. The UFO hovered at a low altitude. Finally, the UFO turned transparent and then vanished completely and could no longer be seen."
That same evening, around midnight, "two luminous spheres were seen by 10 eyewitnesses in la colonia Santa Rosa Xochiac, a small village in the Los Leones desert," southwest of Mexico City, the national capital.
"The two strange objects emitted much light and hovered at a low altitude over some trees, sending off vibrations that rattled windows in some of the houses in the zone. Afterward, there was an intense thunderstorm that extended all throughout the (desert) valley."
On Monday, January 14, 2002, at 8 a.m., "a tubular UFO was seen by five witnesses in Ajusco, to the south of Mexico City. They described it as 'a cylindrical UFO of a metallic aspect, which hovered over the mountains overlooking Ajusco and was seen by motorists driving (north) into the Distrito Federal."
"On Monday, January 14, 2002, at 3:30 p.m., "a disc-shaped object with a dome on the top was seen by airline personnel at Mexico City's international airport. Witnesses described 'a strange object of metallic appearance in the sky over the capital.'" (See NotiOVNI for January 20, 2002. Muchas gracias a Daniel Munoz y Alfonso Salazar para esas noticias.)
LUMINOUS UFO VIDEOTAPED JUST WEST OF BRASILIA
On Sunday, December 23, 2001, "a UFO was filmed by a TV crew near Brasilia," the capital of Brazil. "They were returning from a work-related trip to Goiania, the capital of the state of Goias."
"According to the witnesses," and to the videotape images seen by investigating Brazilian ufologists, "the object was real round and was shiny. It was yellow-colored. By the camera, you could see details that were not seen by the naked eye, such as some sparkles on the top of the object."
"According to the cameraman that we interviewed, at the moment the light came over the highway, they stopped the car and began to film it."
The camera crew then "called CINDACTA (Brazil's NORAD--J.T.) to tell them what they were seeing, and a few minutes later, two commercial aircraft passed close to the object. The object made impossible movements" that no conventional aircraft could make "and made no sound."
The videotape was analyzed by Ricardo Varela, director of imaging for the Brazilian Entity for Extraterrestrial Research (EBE-ET) The witnesses were interviewed by Roberto Beck and Thiago Luiz Tichetti of EBE-ET. (Muito obrigado a Thiago Luiz Tichetti por esas informacoes.)
(Editor's Comment: South America is having a major UFO flap this week. There's more to come, so stay tuned.)
UFO FLAP BREAKS OUT IN COLOMBIA
On Sunday, January 6, 2002, at 11:30 p.m., dozens of residents of Tabio, a town in the Pena de Huaila region of Colombia, "spotted the approach of a great light on the horizon, followed by several smaller lights. The (lead) UFO, changing its shape, was captured by a hand-held video camera, and the image is excellent."
The Tabio videotape was broadcast on Canal (Channel) Caracol on RCN-TV in Bogota, the national capital.
The following day, Monday, January 7, 2002, at 8:05 a.m., "a luminous ovoid object appeared and hovered at an altitude of 500 meters (1,650 feet) and was seen both by laborers in Tabio and campesinos (farmhands) in Pena de Huaila."
On Wednesday, January 16, 2002, "at 10:30 a.m., in the village of Timiza, near Bogota, a gigantic luminous object approached and flew over the village and caused such excitement that the mayor and several residents telephoned Organizacion Contacto OVNI (Spanish for UFO Contact Organization --J.T.) in the capital."
(Muchas gracias a William Chavez y Roberto Gomez del Organizacion Contacto OVNI para esas noticias.)
CYLINDRICAL UFO HOVERS NEAR CALAMA, CHILE
On Wednesday, January 16, 2002, "residents of the El Loa region saw an enigmatic and cylindrical light at a certain distance from Calama," a town in northern Chile that has been the location of UFO and Chupacabra incidents for the past two years.
"According to eyewitness accounts, the distance did not allow for a detailed view of the light. Therefore it could be fairly described as an unidentified flying object or UFO," reported Calama ufologist Jaime Ferrer.
"'The fact is that I don't know what it really was. It could have been a weather balloon or something else, but it looked very strange,' said a resident, who was heading towards Chuquicamata at that time of day."
Chile's Oficina de Aeronautica Civil (OAC) in Antofagasta, the nearest large city, pointed out that their airport radar sets "picked up nothing at the time in question."
"'Generally, people notify us when sightings of this type take place. But this time we received no reports of anything unusual,' explained Renzi Jara, manager of the El Loa (regional) airport." (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Jaime Ferrer del Centro OVNI de Calama (Spanish for UFO Center of Calama--J.T.) para esas noticias.)
FATHER, DAUGHTER SEE A GREEN UFO IN WEST VIRGINIA
A spherical green UFO was seen flying at a low altitude in August 2001 over Milton, West Virginia (population 3,500), a town on Interstate Highway I-64 approximately 36 miles (57 kilometers) west of Charleston, the state capital.
Darren E., age 41, reports, "My daughter and I saw a green ball fly right through our home town. It flew over the stop light (on the main street--J.T.) In fact, we only have two stop lights in the town. It was daylight. What a sight!"
"I was on a pay phone out in town. The booth is attached to the building. While I was walking to my truck, I watched this dull green ball fly across in front of me. It was 3 p.m. I was about 100 yards (97 meters) away. It was about 40 or 50 feet (12 or 15 meters) off the ground. It was right above the power lines so I could see it clearly. The green ball never had a smoke trail or anything. It just went across my home town like it knew its way around."
"My little girl Dara just froze in amazement. I'm 41 and my daughter is 14. A friend of my family was talking about it also. It flew out of sight after about 30 seconds' time." (Email Interview)
FIERY SPHEROID UFO SIGHTED IN PEARLAND, TEXAS
"Some Pearland residents are still scratching their heads after spotting a strange object in the sky Sunday," January 6, 2002. "But was it a UFO?"
Pearland, Tex. (population 18,700) is located on Highway 35 about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of Houston.
"There is a mystery unfolding in Pearland. But it may be awhile before this one involving a 'fire in the sky' is solved."
"Rocky Flint captured the image Sunday afternoon with his video recorder in Pearland. It appears to be a burning object in the sky. His wife, Cynthia, says it was hard to miss."
"'It resembled a floating fireball,' she said."
In the video, "the fiery ball appears to remain stationary for several minutes before moving downward and then disappearing. Mrs. Flint said she had no idea what she was witnessing."
"'There's nothing to describe what it was. It's so unique and so different. I've never in my whole life seen anything like it.' she said."
"Eyewitness News made calls to both (Houston's international) airport and anyone who could shed any light on the thing. The Brazoria County Sheriff's Department also received many calls, but they couldn't find anything. Flint's husband has his own theory."
"'He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He said it looked like a UFO,'" Cynthia said.
"Before Sunday, Mrs. Flint didn't believe in UFOs. 'I'm not a big believer of them. But I can't describe what I saw up there, either.'" (See the KTRK-TV website for January 7, 2002, "UFO sighting? Mystery object caught on tape." Many thanks to Gerry Lovell of Far Shores for this story.)
ANCIENT SUNKEN CITY FOUND OFF THE COAST OF INDIA
"Remains of a prehistoric civilization from 7,500 B.C. have been found in the sea off the west coast of India."
The remains were found just off the coast of Surat, in western India, "discovered 40 meters below the surface of the sea," about 9 kilometers (5 miles) from shore.
"Archaeologists found the pieces of wood, remains of pots, fossil bones and what appears to be construction material."
"'Clearly this is the work of a human civilization. They found a patio, a stairway, public baths and the ruins of a temple,' said Muril Manohar Joshi, India's Minister of Human Resources. 'It appears to be a civilization of the Harappan type but much, much older, flourishing in 7,500 B.C. It is much older than the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (in Pakistan--J.T.), two cities which reached their pinnacle in 3,000 B.C.'"
"The archaeological discovery was the joint work of two Indian institutes--the Institute of Archaeology and the Institute of Oceanic Studies. The ruins were found in the Gulf of Cambay, in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of the state of Gujarat."
"Also discovered at the site were urns filled with human bones and fossilized teeth. Carbon dating of wood samples produced the estimated date of 7,500 B.C. The prehistoric city was located on the shores of a river, which is now a gully in the seabed about 9 kilometers (5 miles) from shore."
"'We have formed a study group that will ask profound questions about this mysterious civilization and in which epoch this culture disappeared,' Joshi said."
Surat is located about 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of Mumbai (Bombay), the largest city in western India. (See The Hindustan Times for January 16, 2002 and USA Today for January 17, 2002, "Find in India suggests ancient city.")
(Editor's Comment: So much for the quaint notion that civilization originated in Sumeria (modern Iraq) in 3,500 B.C. This is the third discovery of ancient ruins and artifacts from 7,000 B.C., the Hyborian Age or "age undreamed of" by Texas author Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) The sunken city might even be the "Ayodhya" that Howard wrote about in Weird Tales. This is the story in which the wizards of the Black Circle kidnapped Yasmina Devi and turned her into their private nautch girl at their ashram "deep in the Himelias" (Himalayas--J.T.) Then Conan arrived and started "the Mother of All Jihads" by attacking the ashram and slicing up anybody who even looked like an intiate. You know, some day UFO Roundup will have to do a feature story on Bobby Howard's siesta dream in San Antonio in 1932 and the strange birth of "Conan of Cimmeria.")
MYSTERIOUS PLANE CRASH IN NEW ZEALAND KILLS SIX
"Five tourists and their young pilot died Saturday," January 19, 2002 "when their sightseeing plane slammed into a mountain in southern New Zealand, officials said."
"The Air Fiordland single-engine Cessna 207 was on a scenic flight from Te Anau to the pristine fiord of Milford Sound, said Russell Baker, the company's chief executive."
"Two Canadians, two Britons and two New Zealanders died in the crash."
"'I have no idea what could have gone wrong. It was a clear day with beautiful skies. (The pilot) was an experienced pilot and a highly-skilled one, and I can't even think about what could have happened,' Baker said." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for January 20, 2002, "Sightseeing plane crash kills 6," page 2A.)
"IT WAS MANY AND MANY A YEAR AGO, IN A KINGDOM BY THE SEA..."
In Baltimore, Maryland, "a small crowd gathered at the old church where Edgar Allan Poe lies buried, waiting, as they do every year, for the arrival of a stranger."
"A black-clad man arrived at 2:59 a.m. Saturday," January 19, 2002, "marking the poet's birthday with the traditional graveside tribute: three red roses and a half bottle of cognac. Only this and nothing more."
"It is a rite that has been carried out by a mysterious stranger every January 19 since 1949, a century after Poe drank himself to death in Baltimore at age 40."
"Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, and 15 invited guests watched from inside the church."
"The three roses represent Poe, his wife and his Aunt Maria Clemm, who are buried beneath the newer monument."
"The cognac is a mystery, Jerome has said, because there are no prominent references to it in Poe's works."
(Editor's Comment: Maybe a half-bottle of cognac was found near Poe's body when he died in 1849.)
"A prolific poet and critic, Poe wrote comedies, detective stories and tales of the macabre, including The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum and The Telltale Heart." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for January 20, 2002, "Poe cloaked in mystery, even in death," page 8A.)
(Editor's Comment: The Poe House, located at 123 North Amity Street in Baltimore, is the most haunted house in Maryland, displaying the most uncanny phenomena conceivable over the years. People have been known to go insane just stepping into the front room. But nothing is quite so strange as the continuing mystery of the Man in Black who visits the poet's grave every year. If you must visit the Poe House...whatever you do, don't pet the raven!)
From the UFO Files...
1913: MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP SPOTTED OVER WALES
During the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, there were a number of strange "airship" or UFO flaps. They took place in the USA, UK, Italy, Germany and New Zealand. In 1913, UK, in particular, was visited by a number of "dark airships." Here's a case from Wales.
"On 17 January (1913) at 4:45 p.m., Capt. L. Lindsay, Chief Constable of Glamorganshire (Wales) saw an airship flying over Cardiff, creating 'a dense volume of smoke.'" Lindsay "noted it was much bigger and faster than the locally-built Willows airship."
"Half an hour later," at 5:15 p.m., "Steven Morgan saw a similar ship, trailing smoke, over Merthyr, 30 miles (48 kilometers) away--a very high speed for airships of the era." (See UFO: The Complete Sightings by Peter Brookesmith, Barnes & Noble Inc., New York, N.Y., 1995, page 28.)
That's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--
UFO Roundup." See you then!
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2002 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 news item first appeared.
