UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 10
Volume 7
Number 10
March 5, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
UFOs SIGHTED BY MANY IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA
"It was a crisp, clear January (2002) night, and 22-year-old Mathieu Robichaud was at the wheel of his Chevy Cavalier, his girlfriend next to him holding his hand, headed for the video store the next town over."
"They were looking forward to a quiet Saturday night--just the two of them nestled together, watching movies back at the apartment they shared in the basement of her mother's house."
"The conversation between the two had fallen to silence. The familiarity of the road, the music on the radio and the tranquilizing hiss of the car heater had lulled them into a quiet comfort."
"Then...'Jesus!' he exclaimed, 'What's that?'"
"Two lights low in the sky."
"Jenny Laplante noticed them just at that moment, too. It's a plane, the 17-year-old high school student thought, and it's about to crash!
"But as they drove closer, the details became clearer--two lights morphed into four white lights--translucent, like lights spilling through a distant window. Smaller blue lights were set between the white."
"There was no way, they thought, that this was an airplane. It wasn't the right shape, and it moved too slowly."
"Craning his neck to follow it as it approached, Mr. Robichaud also noticed white lights on the bottom. He quickly pulled into the nearest driveway and jumped out of the car."
"He figured it was only 15 metres (50 feet) above him. He couldn't see the body of it in the dark, but the arrangement of lights made it appear as if it was shaped like a diamond. It looked to be about twice the width of his car and four times the length."
"He was struck by the silence--the thing made no noise. He watched as it banked into a sharp turn over the house to his right and floated off toward a neighbouring thicket of forest."
"He jumped back into his car. His girlfriend was frightened, crying. He raced down the road, trying to follow it. He lost it over the woods."
"He remains convinced that what he saw that night at 9:30 p.m." near Inkerman, New Brunswick, Canada "was not an earthly invention but a spacecraft from another planet. A genuine alien-owned-and-operated Unidentified Flying Object."
"'I'm sure it was,' he says, driving the same two-lane stretch of mottled road weeks later. He is a confident young man, square of jaw, unassuming, earnest. He earns his living outdoors, cutting back trees that encroach upon Hydro (Quebec power) lines. A black leather jacket hides the athletic build of his six-foot-plus (1.7 meter tall) frame. His hair is short and ink-black, his small eyes framed by small, metal-rimmed glasses."
"He has come without his girlfriend. She would like to forget it all. She went to bed that January night and dreamed about coming face-to-face with a big-headed alien with red eyes that chased her through a neighbour's yard."
(Editor's Comment: Let's all hope that was only a dream!)
"He is not alone. There have been more than 15 other reports of similar objects in the sky over this stretch of northern New Brunswick," about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northeast of Fredericton, the provincial capital, "making Inkerman, a fishing village of 900 souls on the Acadian Peninsula the new UFO capital of Canada."
"Like Mr. Robichaud, most folks who are reported to have witnessed a UFO in the skies above the village will not talk about it if their real identities are revealed. Either that or they flat-out refuse to discuss it."
"'I don't want to talk about that,' briskly declared one witness when called at home."
"Those who weren't eyewitnesses themselves do not mind chatting about it."
"'My brother saw it three months before Christmas (in September 2001--J.T.),' says Nicole Gagnon, a 27-year-old who works at the 30-bed nursing home in the village, 'He saw it with two of his friends.'"
"A friend of hers also saw it, she says. It came in low and falling as if it were about to crash. 'It's strange,' Ms. Gagnon says, 'Very strange.'"
"Declared a New Brunswick newspaper in its dispatch on the Inkerman, N.B. sightings, 'If an extraterrestrial explorer wanted to check out the planet Earth without attracting a lot of attention, this is a pretty good place to do it.'"
"Indeed, the folks in the village--unfailingly polite and friendly--go about life without seeming to care for the reason behind their new notoriety. If this spacecraft has indeed been hovering in their area, it doesn't bother them. Their reaction is neither excited nor scornful. Life meanders along as usual."
"The UFO was supposed to have sailed right over Cyrus Robichaud's farm."
"'It could be,' says the 68-year-old (farmer), his face heavily creased, weathered by all those years working the (Canadian National) railway. 'If I had seen it, I'd tell you the truth. But I didn't see it.'"
"A mother who lives the next farm over seems unfazed."
"'I can't say I don't believe it,' she says, standing in the doorway of her well-kept farmhouse as three children do homework at the kitchen table. 'I can't say I believe it, either. I'll have to see it.'"
"The village started attracting attention after L'Acadie Nouvelle, the province's French language daily newspaper, wrote about the first eyewitness account. Others started coming forward, saying they had seen the same thing."
"Gaotane Caissie read the newspaper report and called over her 11-year-old daughter, Janick. 'That's what I saw,' the girl said."
Janick Caissie "was outside the hockey arena in Baie-Sainte-Anne," a fishing village on the south shore of New Brunswick's Miramichi Bay, "roughly 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Inkerman--with a girlfriend on (Sunday) January 13 (2002), the day after the first reported sighting. Their brothers were playing a bantam (hockey) game inside, their folks cheering from the bleachers."
"The girls were bored with the game and went outside to grab some fresh air. It was about 3:30 p.m. Janick noticed a black diamond-shaped craft in the sky. It looked bigger than a car. She watched it as it cleared the arena rooftop. It made no noise--she could not hear it."
"The girls ran back to get their parents and convinced them to come outside. They made it out in time to see it sail out over the mouth of Miramichi Bay."
"'I watched it until it disappeared,' Ms. Caissie, a 41-year-old mom and part-time tree worker says from her home in Neguac, N.B., a coastal community roughly halfway between Baie-Sainte-Anne and Inkerman. 'It was weird.'" (See the Ottawa Citizen for February 24, 2002, "The X-Files come to Inkerman." Many thanks to Gerry Lovell for forwarding this newspaper article.)
(Editor's Comment: Welcome to Canada, Front and Center Week at UFO Roundup. There's a lot of UFO activity in the USA's neighbor to the north.)
MYSTERIOUS FIREBALL PASSES OVER WINDSOR, ONTARIO
On Wednesday, February 13, 2002, at 8:02 p.m., "a large, bright, long-duration fireball with well-timed sonic booms occurred over southern Ontario" province in Canada.
"Reports have come in from three ground-based observers--two in Michigan (USA) and one in Ontario."
"The fireball was east of the Detroit (Michigan)/Windsor (Ontario) area and west of the RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) observer station at Fingal, Ont. The sonic boom delay puts a portion of the trajectory some 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Fingal. This fireball was also reported by three separate commercial air flights." (Many thanks to Todd Lemire of Michigan UFO Central for this report.)
COUPLE SEES A BRIGHT UFO IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
UFOs have been seen in recent weeks in and around Houston, British Columbia, Canada (population 3,934), a town about 700 miles (1,120 kilometers) north of the seaport city of Vancouver.
"The most recent sighting took place on" Friday, February 22, 2002 around 9 p.m. Several witnesses watched a very 'large' bright white light break through the cloud cover and descend to just over treetop level. The light moved alongside the highway and right over the top of some of the witnesses."
One witness reported, "Earlier this year, on Hungry Hill, my wife and I were travelling from Smithers to Houston, heading west. Only ten minutes away, we saw what appeared to be a very large craft with very dim lights glowing from underneath. We watched it for a long time as we climbed Hungry Hill. We both agreed it could not be a plane."
"I remarked to my wife jokingly that the lights on the craft were so dim that he should hit the high-beams. Well, just then, the lights got super, super bright and the craft sped off."
"There were a lot of cars on the highway that night that must have seen it."
His wife "saw the craft again this year," adding that "it had flashing lights as well as the bright white lights. She thinks the (flashing) lights were red." (See Filer's Files #9 for February 27, 2002. Many thanks to Brian Vike and to George A. Filer, editor of Filer's Files for allowing UFO Roundup to publish this report.)
UFO SIGHTED AT KANGAROO CLIFFS, QUEENSLAND
On Monday, February 25, 2002, at 8 p.m., Randal F. "was being dropped home by some friends, who, incidentally, think that my interest in UFOs, etc. is ridiculous."
After the car pulled up at Randal's home on River Terrace in Kangaroo Cliffs, a suburb of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland state in Australia, he and his mates did some chatting. He reported, "We had stopped outside my home and were talking when Jenny, who was in the back seat, said, 'Look at that!'"
Jenny "pointed through the front window (windshield in the USA--J.T.) at about 75 degrees" above the horizon, he added, "I only got a glimpse of something moving very quickly to the west--really only a sense of movement. I asked what it was, and she said that it was 'a flat black triangle' and that it was wobbling and shot off when she pointed at it."
"Jenny kept saying, 'Wow! Wow!'"
"Later, at about 9:10 p.m., while lying in bed, I heard a military jet fly over from east to west. It was moving extremely fast, and my partner and I could hear a kind of low-pitched whistle preceding it. It is not a very common occurrence for military jets to fly over Brisbane except for when there are fireworks shows on the river. And I have not heard one fly at such a high speed." (Email Form Report)
UFOs AND BLACK HELICOPTERS SIGHTED IN COLOMBIA
South America's UFO flap continued last week with sightings of UFOs and black helicopters in Colombia, both north and south of Bogota, the national capital.
On Tuesday, February 26, 2002, at 10:30 a.m., "several silver spherical UFOs were seen in the Tinjan district. According to these reports, the strange spheres were also seen over the Cerro Majuil (hill) in the locality of Suba. The spheres were seen by many people in the plain light of day."
The Tinjan region is about 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Bogota.
Black helicopters were also seen the same day in El Caguan, a rain forest on the eastern side of the Cordillera Oriental about 410 kilometers (246 miles) south of Bogota. This is the site of the Zona Rebelde of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC--J.T.), which was reoccupied early last week by government troops loyal to President Andres Pastrana.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Colombian "Army generals Saturday (February 23, 2002) insisted they had the situation in the zone's main cities under control, but residents had plenty of reason to wonder. San Vicente and all of Caqueta province were still without power Sunday (February 24, 2002), days after rebels blew up a major electrical generating facility in Hulla."
"Military bombing of clandestine guerrilla airstrips and drug labs continued in the region's remote rural areas."
"Black military helicopters (my emphasis--J.T.) with helmeted machine gunners crisscrossed the region, but presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who had decided to visit the former rebel zone, disappeared Saturday night, presumably taken at a FARC roadblock while driving toward San Vicente." (See the Chicago Tribune for February 25, 2002, "Fears rise in former rebel town," page 4; also USA Today for March 1, 2002, "Colombian military powers expanded," page 6A; and NotiOVNI for March 3, 2002. Muchas gracias a Daniel Munoz y William Chavez Ariza del Contacto OVNI para esas noticias.)
SILVER SPHERE UFOs RULE THE SKY IN MEXICO CITY
UFOs shaped like silver spheres dominated the skies over Mexico last week, with sightings in the states of Yucatan and Morelos and over Mexico City itself.
The flap began Monday evening, February 25, 2002, in Merida, capital of the Yucatan. "Various reports of UFO sightings were received by Mexican ufologist Ulises Trujillo at the offices to TV Azteca in Merida. Trujillo said that the flap, which affected all of southeastern Mexico, lasted two hours, and the reports came in continually. He hopes to gather photos and other evidence from the witnesses" in the Merida area.
On Thursday evening, February 28, 2002, "flight mechanics on duty at the airport in Cuernavaca," a large city in the state of Morelos located 45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Mexico City, "observed a strange object flying over the area of Tres Marias along the superhighway" Camino 95D, on the border between the Distrito Federal and the state of Morelos.
At 11 p.m. that same evening, "engineer Enrique Aguirre and another witness spotted 11 UFOs flying over Mexico City, adding to a growing list of sightings over the capital."
On Saturday, March 2, 2002, "an impressive formation of UFOs was captured by still and video cameras between 10:30 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. in the skies over Mexico City."
"The first report came from ufologist Javier Guevara, who affirmed that he had captured video images of a large, strange, transparent tube with dark spheres in its interior."
(Editor's Comment: That's a new one. Some sort of alien UFO carrier, perhaps?)
"At 3:35 p.m., Pedro Avila, Ana Luisa Cid and Salvador Guerrero videotaped a very large silver sphere surrounded by others much smaller. They followed the UFO flotilla as it flew over several districts of Mexico City, such as El Centro, El Norte, Nordponiente and Oriente. During the same period, air controller Enrique Kolbeck confirmed the presence of a spherical UFO over Mexico City's International Airport."
"At 6:20 p.m., ufologist Ana Luisa Cid videotaped the overflight of other spherical silver UFOs over Cerro de los Tres Padres (hill) just north of Mexico City."
"The last sighting of the day came at Benito Juarez Airport where numerous people watched strange spheres perform maneuvers in the evening sky." (See NotiOVNI for March 3, 2002. Muchas gracias a Daniel Munoz para esas noticias.)
MYSTERIOUS WHALE DEATHS REPORTED IN JAPAN
"Eighty-five whales were found beached on a coast near Tokyo" in Japan on Monday, February 25, 2002, "one day after 10 whales believed to be from the same pod washed up on the same shore."
"Officials rescued 32 of the whales on the beach" in Ibaraki prefecture, "55 miles (88 kilometers) east of Tokyo, but the rest died. Town official Yasunari Jitsukawa said the melon-headed whales discovered over the past few days were six feet to ten feet (1.7 to 3 meters) long."
Japanese "television news footage showed the dead whales lined up in a row along the beach. They were to be buried in the sand after marine researchers examined them, said local official Kazuhiro Kosai."
"On Sunday," February 24, 2002, "local officials saved seven of the 10 beached whales. The three that died disappeared during rescue efforts, and town officials said they believe locals took them to eat." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for February 25, 2002, "85 whales found beached near Tokyo," page 6A.)
WEIRD SKIN DISEASE SPREADS TO THREE MORE STATES
"Federal health officials remain baffled over what is causing rashes (also known as dermatitis--J.T.) that have afflicted schoolchildren in 14 states" of the USA "since October," 2001.
"The mysterious rashes, typically appearing on the face, neck, hands and arms, have lasted from a few hours to two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" reported on Thursday, February 28, 2002.
"Although they don't appear to be serious, the rashes have alarmed parents. During one outbreak at Marsteller Middle School in Manassas, Virginia, roughly 300 of the school's 940 students were affected, says Irene Cromer, spokeswoman for Prince William County Schools. Officials closed the school twice as they searched unsuccessfully for an environmental or other cause, she says."
"Bacteria, fungi, cleaning products, pesticides and viruses have been suspected, but a common cause hasn't been found, the CDC report states."
"Carol Rubin, a CDC epidemologist, says a common thread is a lack of symptoms other than the rash. The CDC report says people with rashes caused by infectious agents typically have other symptoms, such as a fever or headache."
"'Each state is a little bit different,' Rubin says, 'It's likely that there is more than one thing going on.'"
"The CDC will continue to collect information from the local and state health departments to see whether there is a pattern, she says."
"Outbreaks have been reported in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, New York (state), Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington (state) and West Virginia."
Since the last report about the mysterious skin disease in UFO Roundup, new cases have popped up in three more states--Arizona, Connecticut and Georgia.
"In Martinsville, Indiana, 18 third graders (8-year-old children) and a substitute teacher at Waverly Elementary School came down with the rashes last fall."
"'They looked pretty miserable, itchy,' says Wayne Staggs, an epidemologist with the Indiana Department of Health. The rashes disappeared in three or four days."
"Health officials checked classrooms and the school's playground. They ruled out every theory they had."
"'It's just a mystery,' Staggs says." (See USA Today for March 1, 2002, "CDC scratching its head over school rashes," page 3A. Also UFO Roundup, volume 7, number 8 for February 19, 2002, "Mysterious rash afflicts children in several states of the USA," page 6.)
RELIGIOUS WAR BREAKS OUT IN INDIA
Bitter fighting has broken out in India between Hindus and Muslims, claiming the lives of 500 people during the first five days.
Thirteen Muslims were killed in Gujarat state on Sunday, March 3, 2002. "In one town, Deodhar, four Muslims were burned to death Sunday, and (Indian) police fatally shot two people in the Hindu crowd attacking them."
"In Aligarh, a city with a history of Hindu-Muslim violence in the central state of Uttar Pradesh," about 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of New Delhi, the national capital, "police said a fourteenth victim, a Muslim (street) vendor was stabbed to death Sunday, and followers of both faiths threw rocks at each other."
"About 2,000 paramilitary troops were sent into the city. A curfew was imposed to prevent further clashes."
"Most of the victims in Gujarat (state) were killed days ago, but their bodies are only now being discovered, said K. Nityanandam, Home Secretary of Gujarat."
"The rioting and violence between Hindus and Muslims is the worst India has seen in ten years, when more than 2,000 people were killed nationwide after Muslims tore down" the Babri Masjid mosque, built in 1598, "in the northeast town of Ayodhya," located 552 kilometers (345 miles) east of New Delhi."
(Editor's Note: Hindus believe Ayodhya to be millions of years old. According to the Mahabharata, it was the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama back in 900,000 B.C. More recently, Yasmina Devi was the queen there in 8,000 B.C.)
"More than 20,000 Hindu activists" of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Hindi for World Hindu Council--J.T.) have gathered in Ayodhya "since the council announced it would break ground on a temple by March 15 in defiance of court orders banning construction at the disputed site."
(Editor's Note: Some Hindus believe that the Cosmic Wheel is about to turn and the current world-age, the Kali Yuga, is about to end. Building a new temple in Ayodhya to replace the one destroyed millenia ago--and building it on Rama's birthday--will sort of kick-start the new yuga. There are stranger legends than that in Mother India. I've read about temples that were built on sites where golden statues spontaneously popped out of the ground.)
"The killings started Wednesday morning," February 27, 2002, when the Sabarmati Express "carrying 2,000 Hindus home from a religious ceremony in Ayodhya stopped in the Gujarat town of Godhra," 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Ahmadabad. The Hindus, preparing to build a controversial temple at the site of the demolished mosque, started yelling religious slogans, witnesses said."
"Muslims attacked, throwing stones and pouring kerosene on the train and lighting four cars on fire. Fifty-eight people died."
"On Thursday," February 28, 2002, "Hindus retaliated in Ahmadabad," a large city located 470 kilometers (282 miles) south-southwest of New Delhi, The worst violence lasted about 24 hours."
"'I saw my father, sister and mother being burned alive,' Moineddin Sheikh told Reuters (news service). 'Despite pleas for help, nobody came to our rescue. Will someone take action against them for being responsible for my family's brutal killing?'"
"P.C. Pande, Ahmadabad's police commissioner, said his officers did all they could, given the looting and arson in the city, the capital of Gujarat. He pointed out that police had shot and killed rioters who wouldn't disperse. In Ahmadabad, police killed 40 people."
"Elsewhere in the state, (Indian) security forces killed more than 35 people."
"'What more was expected of police?' Pande said, 'They just couldn't go out and start killing all the people on the street. It was a mob frenzy.'"
"Three police officers have also been killed in the rioting."
More trouble is expected because "more than 45,000 Hindus" are making a yatra (religious pilgrimage) to Ayodhya "as plans for the new temple continue."
(See the Chicago Tribune for February 28, 2002, "Muslims kill 57 on Indian train," and March 4, 2002, "Troops press Hindu-Muslim mobs in India." Also USA Today for February 28, 2002, "57 killed as Muslim mob torches train of Hindus in India. page 8A.)
SHIRLEY MACLAINE'S SPEECH MENTIONS "PAST LIFE"
Actress Shirley MacLaine "is up to her old loopy tricks again," the tabloid Globe reported in its March 5, 2002 edition (page 13).
"The longtime New Mexico resident recently appeared before the legislature to persuade lawmakers to spend more money attracting filmmakers to to shoot in the state," often called "The Land of Enchantment."
"But the poster girl for reincarnation had everyone scratching their heads over her own personal flashback."
"'Santa Fe is the oldest state capital in the country,' she said, 'It was founded 500 years ago. I know...I was there."
His interest piqued by this remark, your UFO Roundup editor did some research on Santa Fe and found some intriguing facts.
Of that vast region north of the Rio Grande known as El Norte, little was known to those Spanish viceroys in Mexico City. They knew it was inhabited. In his 1598 book, Onate first speaks of "los Apaches."
(Editor's Note: "Apache" is a corruption of the Zuni word apachu meaning enemy. The indigenous people's name for themselves was Dineh, although a few clans referred to themselves as Inde, pronounced een-day.)
Santa Fe "was founded in the winter of 1609-1610 by Don Pedro de Peralta, the third governor of La Provincia de Nueva Mejico, at a spot known to the Pueblo Indians as Kuapoga or 'the place of the shell beads near the water.'"
When Peralta's party arrived in November 1609, Kuapoga was a heap of ruins, a prehistoric city built by a mysterious people called the Tano. Even today, residents of Santa Fe, "in digging foundations for their homes, frequently unearth remnants of the prehistoric past in the form of pottery fragments, implements and human bones."
Living at Kuapoga at the time was Yapashi, an elderly woman serving as a medicine chief or what we would today call a spiritual advisor. Not too much is known about Yapashi. Some thought she was a Daughter of the Sun House of a Pueblo clan; some said she was the last Tano priestess. But she did watch Peralta "build the palacio as a fortress, laid out the plaza and planned a walled city."
Life in New Mexico changed swiftly after that. Seven years later, "by 1617, with only 48 Spanish soldiers and settlers in the province...the Franciscan friars had built eleven churches, had converted 14,000 Indians to the Roman Catholic faith and had prepared as many more for conversion."
Sometime during this period, Yapashi dropped out of sight. No more was she seen in Santa Fe. She might have died. Or she might have moved up into Frijoles Canyon, in what is now the Bandelier National Monument 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Santa Fe. There lie the ruins of Tyunonyi, another prehistoric Tano city which remained undiscovered for another several decades.
So, is Shirley MacLaine the reincarnation of Yapashi? Good question. Ms. MacLaine might decide to visit the kivas of the Temple of the Stone Panthers in Bandelier for herself. Then again, she might not. Some memories, afer all, are better left unremembered. (See the Globe for March 5, 2002, "Back to the future," page 13.)
READER FEEDBACK:
NEW WRINKLE IN THE REH MYSTERY
Pierre Lannion writes, "Greetings, Joseph. Concerning your statement that Robert E. Howard "wrote powerfully" of Conan until his death, that does not appear to be the case. The author (REH) died in June 1936. One month before his death, in a letter dated May 9, 1936, to (fellow fantasy writer) August Derleth, Howard wrote, 'I haven't written a weird story for nearly a year, though I've been contemplating one dealing with (Francisco de) Coronado's expedition on the Staked Plains (also known as the Llanos Estacados of West Texas--J.T.) in 1541."
"If this statement is true, and there is scant reason to believe it is not, then Howard ceased writing of Conan in July or August of 1935. This poor, tormented individual was truly 'churning out the saga at white heat,' as you mentioned." (See UFO Roundup, volume 7, number 8, "Reader Feedback.)
(Editor's Comment: Very interesting, Pierre. That means REH wrote three full-length Conan novels and 18 short stories between February 1932 and August 1935. That's a grand total of 1,248 days. He literally must've been working day and night on the series. The feat itself has a whiff of the paranormal. Automatic writing, anyone?)
From the UFO Files...
1954: SAUCERS RUN WILD IN AUSTRALIA
It all started at 5 a.m. on the morning of January 12, 1954. A group of aboriginal people were breaking camp in the Hart's Range, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. As they watched the sunrise paint the eastern horizon a riot of bright colours, they heard a curious sound over the hum of the bullroarer.
"The Aborigines heard a strange whine coming from the east, from across the vast central Australian desert. Then, from under a cloud, came a screech and something streaked across the sky. The natives knew the sound of planes very well, and were sure it was not a plane. It startled them so that they rushed to the camp of an Australian prospector, Mark Mitchell, and woke him and his wife. It (was) the first time a saucer had been reported in this region."
The first time, to be sure, but not the last. In the days that followed, reports poured into "the Alice," descriptions of orange and green fireballs, strange white lights and silvery daylight discs.
On February 18, 1954, "a queer object streaked with a roar over Alice Springs, N.T. at 4:30 a.m. It was neither a jet nor any other type of terrestrial plane, says the Australian civil aviation traffic control."
The newspaper Centralian Advocate in late January 1954 published a photo "of a saucer, black, and over 150 feet (45 meters) in diameter, seen hovering over Mount Gillen. It whizzed off at terrific speed, and its size was enormous. The picture showed the thing was circular in shape and had heavy veins running to the rim of the circumference."
From "the Alice," the UFO flap spread to Australia's Victoria state. "An extraordinary unknown object was seen high over the beach at St. Kilda," near Melbourne (state capital of Victoria--J.T.) "At 11 a.m., the same object, like a large sheet of aluminum, rocked from side to side and flashed in the sunshine. Each flash was accompanied by an enveloping purple halo. It did not seem to give off light of its own, emitted no vapor, and it looked like a big silver butterfly. Speed computed at 1,800 miles per hour (2,880 kilometers per hour); altitude (was) 30,000 feet (9,000 meters); and must have been over 300 feet (90 meters) wide."
In Hamilton, Vic., 150 kilometers (90 miles) west of Melbourne, witnesses "reported sighting a dazzlingly bright orange thing, like a double saucer, the top one inverted. First seen at 9:45 p.m. It left a vapor trail lasting 20 minutes."
"An amazing object, like a large planet, moving swiftly vertically, then sideways (was) seen between 2:30 and 3:15 a.m. over Adelaide," the capital of South Australia state. The UFO was "yellow-white, shading to deep orange."
Next, a "man and wife (saw) a bright point of light circle the space ship (UFO) at high speed" over Adelaide, S.A.
"Two days earlier, a strange object with a corrugated top, seen flashing crimson lights (appeared) low on the horizon" in Sale, Vic., 120 kilometers (72 miles) east of Melbourne.
"At 7:40 p.m. the same day, February 10 (1954), pilot Booth in an Australian National Airways plane saw dead ahead, high in the sky, a very large unknown object moving erratically." Booth's Douglas DC-3 was over Jamestown, S.A., 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Adelaide at the time. (See the book Flying Saucers Uncensored by Harold T. Wilkins, Citadel Press, New York, N.Y., 1955, pages 65 through 69.)
That's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news, 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 item first appeared.
