UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 04
Volume 8
Number 4
January 22, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
SPHERICAL UFO SIGHTED IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL
On Saturday, January 18, 2003, at about 10 p.m., observers in the city of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana in southern Brazil, spotted a spherical, self- luminous UFO over their neighborhoods.
According to eyewitness Arthur Domingues Quieroz, "At 10:05 p.m., I was watching TV" at his home in the bairro O Centro (neighborhood) "when a strange object in the sky caught my attention. I observed for ten minutes a spherical object glowing in a color ranging from yellow to yellow-green. During this time, the object made several movements from a high altitude to a low altitude. Also, it made sudden side movements to the right and then descended to a lower altitude at an oblique angle."
Elsewhere in the city, eyewitness Sergio Valdemar reported, "I was in the bairro Portao (neighborhood) when I saw the same movements, which were made by a self- luminous object that crossed the sky at a rapid speed."
Curitiba is located about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Sao Paulo, which is the largest city in South America. (Muito obrigado a Ufologia Brasileira por esos casos.)
(Editor's Comment: Welcome to Hitting Below the Equator Week at UFO Roundup. Last week the aliens made their presence felt all over Earth's southern hemisphere. Read on...)
THREE RED-ORANGE UFOs SPOTTED OVER SYDNEY
On Monday, January 13, 2003, at 11:10 p.m., two people spotted a trio of red-orange UFOs over Sydney, the largest city in Australia.
Paul Van Komen, who lives in the suburbs west of Sydney's Central Business District, reported, "Dominika went outside to move the garden sprinkler. Walking back, she looked up to absorb a clear view of the Moon and Orion's Belt in a gap in the clouds when she noticed three spheres below the clouds to the east of us and called out to me."
"I joined her outside," Paul added, "It was immediately apparent that this was not normal air traffic. They glowed orange-red, made no sound and travelled slowly in a westerly direction."
"The first sphere was larger and maintained a steady speed and luminosity. The other two stopped occasionally and dimmed and brightened. They took a couple of minutes to get about 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of us, then faded and disappeared. They were several times larger than airplanes. Normal air traffic was absent for another half-hour after."
Paul estimated the UFOs' speed as "about 100 kilometers per hour" (60 miles per hour--J.T.) (Email Form Report)
DAYLIGHT DISC CAUGHT ON FILM IN NEW ZEALAND
"Is it a bra, is it some panties...no, it's an unidentified flying object."
"Cardona's 'bra fence' has attracted worldwide attention since it hit the headlines same time a year ago, but a photograph taken last month (December 2002) has some people questioning whether word has spread even further."
"Dunedin man Tom Ueyama noticed an odd sight in a photograph he took of the fence on (Friday) December 27 (2002)."
"The photo clearly shows 'something' in the sky, which, to the untrained eye, resembles the shape of a flying saucer."
"'I don't believe in aliens and extraterrestrial beings, but there's something in this photo that's not right,' Mr. Ueyama said."
"He did not notice the object when he was taking the photograph and claims the image has not been tampered with. Inspection of the photograph and negative did not show any signs of doctoring."
"Carters Observatory senior astronomer Brian Carter said he had doubts about its authenticity."
"'I suggest the photo has been doctored, but I'm no expert with photographs.'"
"'If it is genuine, then I have no idea what it is or could be,' Mr. Carter said."
"University of Otago optics technician and amateur astronomer Robin Gledhill could also not reach a conclusion but did not believe the image had been doctored."
"'As an astronomer, I don't believe in UFOs, but I can't honestly say what it is. It doesn't appear to be moving, whatever it is, and it's definitely not cloud.'"
Dunedin is on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, located about 160 miles (256 kilometers) south- southwest of Christchurch. (See the Otago Daily Times for January 14, 2003, "UFO over the bra fence?" Merci beaucoup a Robert Fischer pour cette article de journal.)
(Editor's Note: The Otago region around Dunedin has long been a major UFO hotspot in New Zealand. It was the site of a major "airship" flap way back in July 1909.)
UFOs AND USOs CONVERGE ON PAPUA NEW GUINEA
"Local police have received constant reports by tribesmen of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified submerged objects (USOs) in the southwestern province of the island nation" of Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia across the Arafura Sea.
The reports are coming from the Fly River region, located 600 kilometers (360 miles) west-northwest of Port Moresby, the national capital. The UFOs seen in daylight have been described as silver spheres and discs. Those seen at night are reported to be "luminous" and "glowing."
The USOs sighted by fishermen at the mouth of the Fly River south of Balimo are described as "fast-moving submarines without conning towers."
"The report stated that Police Commander John Marru declared that he had received numerous reports, principally from the Fly River area, without even obtaining a satisfactory answer despite intensive on-site investigations of each and every case."
"Marru said he had passed on all of the reports to the Australian Federal Police and to (Australia's) National Intelligence Organization and Defense Intelligence Organization without receiving any reply from these agencies." (See the Post-Courier of Port Moresby for January 7, 2003. Also NotiOVNI for January 12, 2003. Muchas gracias a Daniel Munoz para eso articulo de diario.)
UFO PHOTOS STUDIED AT MEXICAN CONFERENCE
On Wednesday and Thursday, January 15 and 16, 2003, Mexican ufologists held a conference at the Teatro de Segura Social in Monterrey, capital of Mexico's northeastern state of Nuevo Leon. Ufologist and television journalist Jaime Maussan presented UFO photos to the audience.
"One of the most recent items of evidence is an unknown object seen (Monday) December 23 (2002) over Mexico City."
"'It was apparently a meteorite, but it was videotaped for over five minutes, making it impossible that it could indeed be a meteorite. It was something unexplained, and it fell to Earth,'" Maussan said.
"'If I had seen it coming down, I would have believed (I had seen) the end of the world. It is said that it measured about 50 meters (165 feet), but it could have been well over a hundred meters (330 feet) and it was 100 kilometers (60 miles) away and progressed at a rate of 600 kilometers (360 miles) per second. A meteorite (only) travels at 70 kilometers (42 miles) a second.'"
Maussan also presented "a photograph taken at El Alamo by Sr. Ivan Geraldo."
"'The photo shows a very small, strange figure of a being that looks at the people who have the camera. 'Some say this is a hoax and can prove it; others say it is real and can prove it. Javier Niebla, who is perhaps the best video analyst in Mexico, says it's fake, while Dan Airia (sic), an expert in the U.S., says it is real,'" Maussan said.
Maussan "explained that the person who took the photo never saw the being that appears in the print since they were using their camera to scare away a skunk." (See the Mexican newspaper El Norte for January 12, 2003, "Maussan's new extraterrestrial." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales para eso articulo de diario.)
VIRGIN MARY APPEARS IN MASSACHUSETTS
"After an hour of praying the rosary with the congregation in St. Joseph's Church" on South Main Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts (population 42,068), "Friday night (January 10, 2003), Ivan Dragicevic left his pew and walked up to the altar, then knelt down and saw Mary, the mother of Jesus, he said later."
"For about ten minutes, he remained at the altar amidst total silence by an estimated 500 people who had gathered to pray the rosary, attend Mass and witness his vision."
"Later Dragicevic told worshippers that he had seen Mary (birth name: Miriam bat-Joachim--J.T.) during those ten minutes, just as he has seen her every day since June 24, 1981 when she first appeared to him and five other teenagers in their home village of Medjugorje in what is now Bosnia-Hercegovina."
"During the time of the vision, there was no evidence that anything unusual was occurring and, when it was over, Dragicevic walked back to his seat with his eyes downcast, and the evening of prayer resumed."
"Following a Mass celebrated by a dozen (Roman Catholic) priests, Dragicevic spoke to the congregation through an interpreter for about an hour. He retold the details of the first (Medjugorje) apparition 21 years ago and of the vision he had (in Attleboro) earlier that evening, and reiterating many of the messages that he had said Mary had given him and the other (Medjugorje) visionaries since that first day."
"Dragicevic said there was the usual time of the daily apparition's approach, approximately 6:40 p.m.-- which coincides with the time of the first apparition 21 years ago--he starts sensing that the vision is near."
"'I feel her closeness in my heart once more,' he said."
"The moment he knelt at the altar was the moment that the vision arrived, he said. First, a light appears, then he sees her with her gray dress, white veil, blue eyes, rosy cheeks, dark hair."
"'I can see Our Lady as I can see you,' he said, 'I am talking to her as I am talking to you. I can touch her.'"
"When he sees Mary, he said, he sees no one else around him. 'I see only her.'"
"He said the vision came joyously and greeted all who were present, then prayed and talked to him (Dragicevic) privately, giving messages meant only for him. But he said people can learn from the last public message she gave all of the (Medjugorje) visionaries."
"Earlier in the evening, before the rosary began, Father Edward Murphy of Holy Name (Roman Catholic) parish in Fall River, Mass., who has been to Medjugorje several times and was there on New Year's Day (Wednesday, January 1, 2003) said people usually do not feel anything extraordinary during the apparition itself."
"'A while later, a feeling of peace comes over you,' he said."
"In his homily during the Mass, the Rev. Michael Carvill, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, said Mary came 'to introduce us to Jesus, to give us Jesus,' as she did 2,000 years ago."
"'This was the reason she comes to Medjugorje, and why she visited us today,' he said."
"Three of the Medjugorje visionaries have been given ten secrets and no longer see Mary, while three, including Dragicevic, have been given only nine and continue to have visions."
"After his talk, a number of people went up to Dragicevic to greet him and shake his hand, and he graciously accomodated them all. Some were saying that the experience had been wonderful, incredible, emotional, thought-provoking. One woman said that Dragicevic had made her think about things she hadn't thought about since her childhood. Many believed in the apparitions and none so firmly as those who have gone to Medjugorje, people like Maureen O'Brien of St. Joseph's (parish), who organized Friday night's events and who, during one of her visits to the (Bosnian) village, said she saw in the distance a woman surrounded by golden light on the hillside that is known as Apparition Hill, and she believes this woman was Mary."
"Another local Catholic, Bill Copley of St. Mark's parish in North Attleboro, Mass. said he was planning to go to Medjugorje a few years ago but his plans had to be changed. So he asked Mary for a sign and gradually saw that the silver-colored beads on the rosary beads he had owned for 30 years had begun changing to gold."
"His wife Rita went to Medjugorje as a skeptic, saw nothing there to change her mind until she bought silver- colored rosary beads, brought them home (to the USA), prayed with them, and noticed that they were gradually changing. Now the beads are a bright golden color."
"Other local Catholics who have gone there describe seeing supernatural phenomena there, like the spinning of the sun, unexplained colors and lights, and rosaries that turn from silver to gold. In an interview late Friday night, Dragicevic said that he has never seen the sun spinning or the unexplained rays and lights and never had a rosary turn from silver to gold, but he knows that others have. He believes these experiences are signs that are given by Mary." (See the Attleboro, Mass. Sun- Chronicle for January 12, 2003, "Message from Mary." Many thanks to Mary Lou Jones-Drown for forwarding this newspaper article.)
MAN SEES A HOVERING UFO IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK
On Monday, January 13, 2003, "late at night," Robert J. reported, "There was a light in the sky approaching from the northwest" in his home city of Buffalo, N.Y. (population 292,648). I thought it was an airplane, but then it stopped in mid-air. I turned on my flashlight (torch in UK and Australia--J.T.) and observed an upside- down-bowl-like flying thing. It had a long rounded tower at the top, and what appeared to be a 'gun' of some kind at the bottom. It was pretty close. Then I dove into my truck and saw it head south" toward Lackawanna, N.Y.
"I was really scared," Robert noted, adding that the UFO was "gray color, bowl-shaped, 'gun'-like object at the bottom, also a tower on top. I think it had windows, too. It was 750 feet off the ground" and traveling at "400 miles (640 kilometers) per hour when departing." (Email Form Report)
LUMINOUS UFO SIGHTED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
On Thursday, January 16, 2003, at 6:20 p.m., the witness was outdoors in Portadown, a city in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK "when something approached from east to west. It was a solitary 'light bulb' travelling very fast and absolutely silent. It was below cloud level, perhaps 600 feet (180 meters) up, and had an estimated speed of between 1,000 and 1,400 miles (1,600 to 2,240 kilometers) per hour." (Email Form Report)
"GHOST SHIP" FOUND OFF THE COAST OF AUSTRALIA
"Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, before the sun's rays bounced off the waves on the third day of 2003, something happened aboard the High Aim No. 6, a long-line fishing boat."
"When the (Royal) Australian Navy came upon the 80- foot vessel six days later, on (Thursday) January 9 (2003) it was drifting, on full throttle, the main gas tank dry. The auxiliary fuel tanks, full, had not been switched on. When the sailors boarded, they found 10 tons of valuable bonito tuna in the refrigerated hold."
"A partial carton of Marlboro cigarettes and a jar of Nescafe were on the dash above the helm in the wheelhouse, along with the captain's reading glasses. The crew members' clothes and international documents were neatly where they should be."
"But there was no crew. Vanished. Gone."
"What happened to the crew of the High Aim has baffled Australian investigators and salty sea veterans, as well as the residents" of Willie Creek, W.A. "in this sparsely populated, far-off corner of Australia, who have come to call it 'the ghost ship.'"
"The High Aim left Taiwan on October 31 (2002) with a captain and engineer and sailed to Indonesia, where on November 16 (2002) it picked up a crew of eight."
"The owner talked with his captain on (Monday) December 16 (2002). It was the last known contact with the boat."
"Every theory is quickly dashed on the shoals of contradicting facts, and more questions surface."
"The first assumption was that the boat had belonged to people smugglers. But for many reasons, that has been discounted, officials said."
"Mutiny comes to mind. But there was no blood on the boat and no other evidence of a struggle."
"The only thing that was missing was the high- frequency radio. This suggests that someone did not want the crew to radio for help. That suggests pirates. But pirates would have taken the boat and the valuable tuna."
"If the crew did flee in a life raft, where are they? The weather at sea" in the Indian Ocean "has been calm for the past two weeks, so they could have rowed to safety."
"'We wait with bated breath,' Australian Customs Service official Paul McCoy said." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for January 18, 2003, "Australia clueless about crewless boat," page 6A.)
(Editor's Comment: So here's the latest "mystery of the sea," a mass crew disappearance similar to the Marie Celeste in 1872 and the Joyita in 1955. Was the High Aim crew abducted by a passing saucer? Or did they cross the path of that fearsome sea phantom, the Flying Dutchman? You decide, readers.)
THREE NEW MOONS FOUND ORBITING NEPTUNE
"A team of Canadian and American astronomers has found three moons around the planet Neptune, bringing the number of known moons orbiting the distant planet to 11."
"The tiny moons, ranging from 18 to 24 miles (30 to 40 kilometers) across, are 100 million times fainter than objects that can be seen with the naked eye and were too faint to be seen by Voyager 2 when it flew by in 1989."
"The moons were detected using multiple-exposure images taken by telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. They appear to be part of a 'family' of moons caused by the collision of a comet or asteroid with a bigger moon, said one of the discoverers, J.J. Kavelaars of the National Research Council of Canada."
"The new moons join an oddball constellation of (natural) satellites around Neptune. The planet's largest moon, Triton, is strange because it is the only large satellite in the solar system to circle a planet in a direction opposite to the rotation of the planet. At 435 degrees (Fahrenheit) below zero, the moon (Triton) is even colder than Pluto. It is about one-third the size of our Moon and has giant geysers that send plumes of dust and gas into the air for miles."
Neptune's "second-largest moon, Nereid, has the most eccentric orbit of any object in the solar system. Astronomers are now studying the newly-discovered moons to determine their orbits." (See the Duluth, Minn. News- Tribune for January 19, 2003, "Astronomers find three new Neptune moons," page 15A.)
WEIRD AURORA OBSERVED ON A MOON OF JUPITER
"Astronomers report new insights into the aurora on Jupiter's fiery moon, Io."
"Io, the most volcanic locale in our solar system, has an aurora at its equator, unlike the northern lights (Aurora borealis--J.T.) on Earth."
"Hubble Space Telescope measurements reveal the lights arise on the (Jovian) moon because of Jupiter's magnetic field interacting with sulfur particles in Io's volcanic atmosphere, says Johns Hopkins University physicist Kurt Retherford, who reported his findings last week at the American Astronomical Society meeting."
"The lights dim with the collapse of Io's atmosphere as it enters into eclipse on the far side of Jupiter."
"Analysis of the magnetic field interests astronomers who hope it reveals the inner composition" of Jupiter, "the largest planet in our solar system and offers clues on how such massive planets form." (See USA Today for January 14, 2003, "Io's aurora could shed light on Jupiter," page 8D.)
READER FEEDBACK:
RECENT AUSTRALIAN UFOs WERE JUST U.S. NAVY SATELLITES
UFO Roundup readers in Australia have the answer to the recent "UFO sightings" in Ponto, New South Wales and Buchan, Victoria.
John writes, "The report from Australia in your January 15 (2003) edition is obviously of the NOSS trio, which are secret U.S. Navy spy satellites that move in a fixed 'triangular formation.'"
"As keen skywatchers, my wife and I have seen exactly the same thing from the same area. It is a spectacular sight, but they are only satellites. It is presumptuous to say 'they spotted some UFOs' (although they would be unidentified to those who are unaware of what they are--John). A Google search for 'NOSS trio' will confirm what I say."
"I enjoy reading your UFO Roundup."
James, who has been plotting the objects' trajectory since the first report from Ponto, N.S.W., writes, "I updated my analysis based upon the corroborating information from your new sighting report. It helps to confirm that it's a sighting of NOSS." (See UFO Roundup, volume 8, number 2 for January 8, 2003, "Three UFOs sighted in New South Wales," page 2; and UFO Roundup, volume 8, number 3 for January 15, 2003, "More star-like UFOs seen in Australia," page 3.)
From the UFO Files...
1924: IRAQ'S MYSTERIOUS SPOOK LIGHT
Paranormal researchers Beth Scott and Michael Norman noted that "anomalous lights, such as the Hornet Spook Light, have been reported all over the world for thousands of years. Some experts believe that these lights are electrical atmospheric charges generated by the shifting and grinding of rocks deep below the earth's crust. The distorted electrical field that results from these charges can make the light appear to act in an 'intelligent' way, changing direction and altitude and giving chase."
Here in the USA, the three most famous spook lights are near Hornet, Missouri; Maco, North Carolina and Marfa, Texas.
There is a similar spook light in Iraq, as well.
Few regions on Earth are as desolate as the western desert in Iraq's Al-Anbar province. Lying between the Wadi Hawran in the north and the Wadi al-Ghudal in the south, that stretch of desert between Rutba and Ramadi has about as many palm trees as it has polar bears.
In January 1924, an armored car patrol of the British Army "was slowly winding its way through the bleak sand dunes of the Mesopotamian Desert. It was a January afternoon, and a cold rain fell from a leaden sky."
"With the patrol was famed anthropologist Henry Field, long associated with Chicago's Field Museum (now the Chicago Museum of Natural History--V.H.G.) He had received permission from Air Vice Marshal Sir John Higgins (of the RAF) to join the patrol as he searched
for prehistoric flint implements."
"In the midst of the rain came hailstones. Clinging to the lurching car with numb hands, Field was looking toward the northwest when he saw a vivid green light appear in the sky. It resembled a Very light (flare in the USA--J.T.) used as a distress signal by Royal Air Force planes and patrols."
"Field told his companions what he had observed, and the patrol stopped. As he was speaking, the light appeared again, high in the air--a brilliant green. It hovered for a few seconds over the sands, then faded away."
"'Some of our boys may be in trouble, or it could be the natives (Arabs) playing with stolen equipment,' said the commanding officer, 'We'll investigate.'"
"The patrol reached the area where the light had appeared. Back and forth, with occasional signals, the (armored) cars covered the area in a search pattern. No tracks were found. Nothing was seen or heard."
"Later, at Rutba Fort, RAF headquarters in Baghdad was radioed and all planes were instructed to keep a watch west of Ramadi. Nothing that could have explained the lights was ever seen or reported."
"Twenty years later--in 1946--Field was with a group of desert caravan drivers (Bedouins) in Damascus (Syria). The drivers told the scientist that they were well acquainted with the strange reappearing light near Ramadi."
"Some of the Bedouins had seen it three or four times. In earlier years, they had searched unsuccessfully for a downed plane or occupants of a car in distress."
"'Now,' said a veteran driver, 'we just wave at it and drive on. We have no idea what it is. Many mysteries lie in the desert. The light is one.'" (See the books Mysterious Fires and Lights by Vincent H. Gaddis, Dell Publishing Co., New York, N.Y., 1967, pages 76 and 77; The Track of Man by Henry Field, Doubleday and Co., New York, N.Y., 1953 and Haunted Heartland by Beth Scott and Michael Norman, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, N.Y., 1985, page 307.)
Well, that's it for this week. Join us in seven days 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 2003 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO Roundup on their websites or in news groups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.
