UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 40
Volume 7
Number 40
October 1, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
CHUPACABRA KILLS 19 FARM ANIMALS IN PONCE, PUERTO RICO
"The story of the so-called Chupacabra, the shadowy character that attacks and slays animals, emerged once again in Ponce," a city on Puerto Rico's southern coast, "when 19 fighting roosters, rabbits, ducks and chickens turned up dead at a residence in the La Calzada neighborhood."
"'This is weird. I think it was the Chupacabra who slew my animals. I'm scared and alarmed by what occurred,' said the animals' owner, Ramon Luis Guzman Colon."
"Some of the animals were found yesterday morning (Sunday, September 22, 2002) by Guzman Colon outside their cages and others still within them. A rooster was dragged 30 meters (100 feet) from its cage and was still agonizing on Sunday afternoon. Four of the fighting roosters were dead, one beside the other, and in a strange case, two roosters were changed from their respective cages and were found dead facing each other."
"'It's weird. They swapped the roosters from one cage to another,'" he said.
"All of the animals have wounds on their necks or backs. Dozens of neighbors and curiosity seekers from other sections of Ponce swarmed around the humble dwelling for a glimpse of the strange event."
"'At two o'clock in the morning, I heard the dog barking in the alley, and when I came downstairs, the dog vanished. I heard no noise whatsoever and went back to bed,' noted Guzman Colon, 53, who is unemployed since the shutdown of the Central Mercedita sugar refinery."
"'I got up at 6:30 in the morning and found the 19 animals, largely roosters, dead. This is very weird,' he added, 'The way in which they were bitten, the same area (cannot be attributed--S.C.) to dogs.'"
"A black-and-white dog was (found) hiding in the hollow of a tree on Sunday."
"'Even the dog is scared. Something weird is going on,' said Guzman Colon, who showed some large tracks which he alleged 'belong to the animal that did this.'"
"'Look at these tracks. They're not those of a dog. They belong to a strange animal.'"
"Guzman Colon pointed out that he has 12 chickens and roosters left and showed some of the broken cages. 'The animal responsible for this is short (in stature--S.C.) because it broke the cages from below,' he theorized."
"Carlos Soto, a neighbor of the affected party, believes that a snake could have dragged itself from the adjacent lot and caused the deaths, but Guzman Colon insisted that serpents cannot break into cages."
"The legend of the Chupacabra emerged several years ago," following widespread reports in Puerto Rico in 1995, "when it allegedly killed cows, dogs and other animals. It is even believed that it did the same thing in Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic (and Brazil--J.T.). The alleged incidents began in the municipality of Canovanas, P.R." (See the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora for September 23, 2002, "Chupacabra reappears in Ponce, Puerto Rico." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Jose I. Gomez para eso articulo de diario.)
TRIANGULAR UFO SIGHTED OVER LONG ISLAND, N.Y.
On Sunday, September 8, 2002, at 11:30 a.m., Scott McIntosh "was sitting on my stoop" in Bellmore, Long Island, N.Y. "and saw something come over the house. Living between John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, that's not uncommon. But this wasn't an airplane."
"When it got above the house behind ours, it seemed to stop for a matter of two or three minutes. Long enough for me to have my girl friend and her mom come out."
"We watched this for a long time as it turned west and was gone out of sight. I was even watching it through glasses, so I got a good look at it. But it wasn't like anything I've ever seen. This was triangular-shaped and made no noise whatsoever."
"The object was white with some black on it. Was hard to tell. It was pretty high up. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. When it came over our house, it was moving fast but seemed to stop. I first thought it was a military aircraft." (Email Form Report)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO APPEARS OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA
On Tuesday, September 10, 2002, at 7:40 p.m., B.H. was on the deck outside her home in Prescott Valley, Arizona (population 23,535), about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Phoenix, when she saw something unusual in the sky.
"I usually sit on my deck at night to stargaze," she reported, "This object, very large, cigar-shaped, was approaching rapidly out of the northwest. When I observe something like this, I fix my binoculars on a nearby star to get an idea of the speed of the object. I tried this four times but the craft was moving too fast."
"It had deep red and bright white lights pulsing back and forth down the length of the craft that seemed to be moving about as fast as the object itself was. There was no sound as it flew low, as I have seen twin engines (airplanes) do just taking off from our airport nearby. I watched it disappear from sight to the southeast."
"Approximately five to six minutes later, I heard a roar in the sky behind me (the east--B.H.) and turned to see the strobing flash of two jet fighters dropping down out of the sky to about the same altitude as the UFO. They made a turn in the same direction (southeast) and followed the same flight path out of sight."
The UFO's "exact speed unknown, but as fast as I have seen jet fighters fly. It flew right over our (Prescott Valley) airport, which is probably what triggered the jet fighters being sent out." (Email Form Report)
TRIANGULAR UFO FLIES OVER A BRIDGE IN MONTREAL
The UFO flap in Canada's Quebec province continued last week with a sighting over the Champlain Bridge in Montreal.
On Friday, September 27, 2002, at 7:40 p.m., the male witness "was driving on the Champlain Bridge, going south. It was raining. I was in the middle lane and almost on the high point of the bridge when I saw from the corner of my eye what looked like a plane flying extremely low, coming from my right (the west--J.T.)."
"As I was getting to the highest point of the bridge (under the metal structure), the lights flew over the bridge in a horizontal flight pattern. It slowed down when crossing over the bridge. I then had a good look at this light formation. It then increased speed, when it broke its flight line (flight path--J.T.) at a right angle, going up into the sky over St.-Lambert," Quebec, Canada.
"As I was driving under the (metal) structure, I realized that what I was looking at was not a plane. The light formation was not a plane or anything I had ever seen before. It seemed that cars slowed down. I was stunned."
"The basic shape of the craft looked like a small square which is wider at the top, almost like a truncated triangle or a geometric U that widens halfway up."
(Editor's Note: Sort of like this...\_/...)
"The whole thing was the size of a small truck. I have a feeling I was looking at the end of the craft because I saw a light formation with lights that were circular, flat and red, and the diameter of the lights was the size of a dinner plate. Four lights on each side and three lights at the bottom of the geometric U." (Many thanks to Canadian ufologist Brian Vike for these reports.)
TRIANGULAR UFO SIGHTED NEAR WINNIPEG, MANITOBA
On Monday, July 15, 2002, "in the early morning between 1 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., a friend and I were going out for a cigarette when my friend noticed something in the sky," eyewitness J.C. reported, "It was triangular in shape and extremely silent for an object hovering roughly 350 to 450 meters (1,155 to 1,485 feet) in the air. As the object started moving, it made a slight 15-degree turn right and then another 15-degree turn right before going straight off into the cloudy night," eastward towards Winnipeg, the largest city in Canada's Manitoba province.
"Color of the object seen was reddish-brown. It was triangular in shape and fairly large (larger than a single-engine plane--J.C.). Underneath the body was a highly-definable boomerang shape. In the boomerang shape were roughly five to seven glowing reddish balls that illuminated the sky."
"The speed of the object was extremely slow. It was practically hovering in one spot for four seconds before it began moving. Last seen heading east of the city (Winnipeg--J.T.)."
"Coincidentally, my father, who was at work a few weeks later, was listening to (Canadian radio station) CJOB in the evening, when a caller called and reported seeing the same type of object roughly around the same time that we had seen ours." (Email Form Report)
UNUSUAL SKY BOOM HEARD IN PORTLAND, MAINE
On Thursday, September 26, 2002, at 9:40 p.m., Morgan Cathbadh was at her home in Portland, Maine (population 64,249) when a tremendous reverberating boom rattled her house.
"This is not a sighting but a 'hearing'," Morgan reported, "We had a big sonic boom, which lasted a very long time. Several minutes, at least. Rolled along like thunder. The reverberations shook the house. But it wasn't a jet's sonic boom, and it wasn't thunder. It was very strange."
"We live near the airport. Sonic booms are common. But this one was very different. There has been a lot of UFO activity here in Portland, Maine since the 1980s. Did anybody else hear it?" (Email Form Report)
MYSTERIOUS LIONS KILLED IN QUITMAN, ARKANSAS
"Lisa Vaughan says her log cabin in the woods was so peaceful that sometimes the only sound that could be heard was the trees swaying in the wind."
"Now she's listening for lions."
"In the past week, four 600- to 800-pound African lions believed to have some connection to a nearby exotic animal farm have been killed near" Quitman, Arkansas (population 714). "And residents say the terror may not be over because no one knows for sure whether more lions are on the loose."
"'I had a terrible headache, and my blood pressure has been up...It's been a terrible ordeal,' says Vaughan, whose husband, Johnny, killed two of the lions with his 30.06 (calibre) rifle."
"'Everybody is scared around here,' neighbor Arvil Skinner says. 'People have to sit out with a high-powered rifle just to let their kids play in the yard. That's just how serious it is. It might be all right, and it might not. They might still be out there. We just don't know.'"
"The Vaughans say they believe that the lions belong to animal farm operator Steve Henning, who moved in on the other side of the patch of trees almost a year ago. He brought with him 11 African lions, 30 tigers, five mountain lions and a lynx."
"Henning says the lions killed in the woods were not his. He speculates that someone who tried to give him lions last week turned them loose on the 44-acre property of Safari Unlimited, the lion and tiger farm he operates."
"The farm is not open to the public, Henning says. Aside from the pens where Henning keeps his (big) cats, the property is not fully fenced."
"Neighbors express disbelief over Henning's response. 'That really blows my mind how anyone could believe that story,' Lisa Vaughan says."
"Henning was not able to give Cleburne County Sheriff's deputies or the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission the name of a person they could track down, authorities say. 'Mr. Henning told us the guy goes by different names, and he doesn't know where he lives,' Deputy Jack Allen says."
"Sheriff Dudley Lemon, who has inspected Safari Unlimited, says he thinks Henning is telling the truth. But, he adds, believing Henning's story does mean more big cats could be roaming the woods."
"Johnny Vaughan says he will be the first to apologize to Henning if it's proven the lions that have been killed didn't belong to him."
"But he and his neighbors in this town of 700 people about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Little Rock want local laws amended so that Henning can't keep lions and tigers in their neighborhood."
A few days later, "The Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge near Eureka Springs," Ark. (population 2,500) "said it would accept 56 tigers, lions and other big cats now living at Safari Unlimited."
"Four lions were shot and killed last week after roaming free in the woods near Safari Unlimited...The farm's owner said the animals weren't his." (See USA Today for September 24, 2002, "Four lions killed; Ark. town fears more are loose," page 9A., and USA Today for September 27, 2002, "Arkansas," page 5A.)
(Editor's Note: In Forteana, this type of event falls under the heading of phantom panthers. Black panthers are the usual animals seen, caught or killed, but occasionally it's lions or tigers. Classic phantom panther cases include Pittsburgh, Pa. in July 1907; Gardner, Mass. in December 1909 and Decatur, Illinois in July 1917. More recently, in January 1999, an out-of-place Siberian tiger was shot and killed in central New Jersey. For more on this tiger, see UFO Roundup, volume 4, number 5 for February 1, 1999, "Mysterious tiger on the prowl in New Jersey," page 6.)
BENGAL TIGER KILLED IN BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
"A 400-pound (1,000-kilogram) Bengal tiger escaped from its owner's trailer and hid in shrubbery just outside a residential neighborhood" in Bloomington, Illinois (population 64,808) "for about eight hours before police shot and killed it."
"Residents had been warned to stay indoors Saturday morning," September 28, 2002, "while police and zoo experts tried to capture the tiger using tranquilizer darts."
"They fired four darts but failed to hit the tiger and ended up shooting it when it tried to sneak away from the area where officers had it cornered, Bloomington Police spokesman Duane Moss said."
"The tiger had escaped from the trailer at a truck stop about 5 a.m. and hid for most of the afternoon near a six-foot (1.8-meter) high fence line just beyond homes. Police shot it when it started toward a truck on which two Illinois Conservation Officers were standing."
"Police said the escaped tiger belonged to a Texas woman who was convicted in Illinois of endangering a child after the tiger bit a young girl. Mary Jeane Williams, 44, had been ordered by a judge on Thursday," September 26, 2002, "to remove the tiger from the state." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for September 30, 2002, "Officials kill escaped tiger," page 2A.)
(Editor's Comment: Although, unlike Quitman, Arkansas, this tiger's ownership and presence have been clearly established, it's strange that we've had two "big cat" episodes in the USA during the past week. Synchronicity, anyone?)
READER FEEDBACK:
The controversry over "switchover mode," UFO Roundup's method of printing measurements in both English and metric, generated a lot of reader responses. The majority responding were in favor of keeping it, as you'll see in the letters below:
READERS SAY, "KEEP METRIC!"
Jean Waskiewicz (USA) - "Joseph, I, for one, appreciate the metric conversions and would like them left in your newsletters. These conversons, as well as your geographic notations, are a great help to me in visualizing where the event took place. Please keep both in."
Gary Smith (USA) - "I think Bob was a little too critical in his comment. I see you trying to put out something of interest in your way related to what few others try to do. It is easy to critique the cooking of others."
Dale Hoover (USA) - "Regarding Bob Reid's complaints, please continue with the 'switchover mode.' Those millions of us in the U.S. with just a public school education are so lacking in geography knowledge, metric system knowledge and so much more! Your thoroughness in this regard is so very helpful and appreciated. Perhaps Bob can just speed-read over the parts that 'bug' him."
Peter van der Male (Australia) - "Please continue with the metric measurements in your articles. Those of us not used to Imperial (English in the USA--J.T.) measurements and such are glad that you are taking the time to put in the metric measurements. '14,000 feet' means nothing to us, whereas in metric it's a little bit more helpful."
Doris Render (USA) - "Don't listen to this guy. You are trying to make things clearer for everyone. If I already knew it--no harm. If I don't, you've taught me something. I especially enjoy your historical stories at the end. I really like them."
Jim Deardorff (USA) - "Regarding your question on metric-English units, I wouldn't mind seeing your inclusion of the metric units continue, myself. It's subliminally educational for those who have fallen back into depending only on English units and have forgotten the metric, especially during the Bush years when only the United States and our systems count."
Dr. Grey M. Woodman (South Africa) - "I am not too proud to accept your help in translation from inches to meters. Keep right on with the good work."
Jim Corbett (UK) - "Your cogent and thoughtful use of crossover empirical and observation data is very well accepted. Your readership is aware of both systems, but the general mass only uses one of the two in their everyday life...and having the familiar measure at our immediate reference actually makes the intake of the data much smoother than stopping to interface or convert the data to the other format."
Rose Vrabel (USA) - "Keep them conversions coming. I don't know a meter from a mile and really don't intend to learn. You do a great job."
David Baker (USA) - "I like your use of the 'switchover mode,' even to the extent that I have adapted it in some of my writing, as well. It adds to my understanding of the story, and it conveys to me that you have an interest in your readers. Thank you."
J.M. Kriek (South Africa) - "I personally appreciate the explanations. I cannot make these conversions easily."
(Editor's Comment: However, Bob Reid has his supporters, too. Read on...)
BOB REID IS RIGHT. DUMP METRIC.
Sonya Porter (UK) - "By all means, tell the Americans that a torch is a flashlight, but I should forget about metric measurements. Even young children still measure their height in feet and inches; try asking a a teenager his chest size or a woman of any age her hip size. Everyone can calculate in metric (which was wrongly measured to begin with, back in the late 18th Century and is not a division of the world's surface, after all--S.P.) since it's been taught along with Imperial for over a century. But people know what Imperial is. Even the French still sell tomatoes and bread in pounds and cut wood lengths to one metre, 20 centimetres so that it can be divided into thirds, quarters, eighths, etc. And I gather that all sorts of odd things are still sold and calculated in Imperial because it is more practical. So--you can save space by omitting metric in your reports!"
From the UFO Files...
1995: SAUCER LANDS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
"On 15 September 1995, at 22 h 20 (10:20 p.m.) local time, a black farmer, Mr. Peter Lachasa, notified Sgt. Thobo of the Leribe Police Department that he found a very strange-looking craft on his farm, which lay 12 kilometers (7 miles) west of the Madibamatso River in Lesotho."
(Editor's Note: Lesotho is a small independent nation entirely surrounded by the nation of South Africa.)
"According to Mr. Lachasa, at 21 h 15 (9:15 p.m.) local time, he heard a strange sound in the sky near his farm which frightened his cattle and livestock. Approximately two minutes later (9:17 p.m.) a dull explosion was heard. The complainant then went outside his house to investigate the cause."
"Friends of Mr. Lachasa, who also live in the boundaries of his farm, informed him that they had been watching a bright light in the sky that was slowly descending on a course toward the Lesotho foothills. According to the witnesses, the object exploded on impact, giving off a series of blinding flashes."
(Editor's Note: From this point on, the Leribe Police report refers to Peter Lachasa as "the primary witness.")
"According to the primary witness (Lachasa), an electronic humming sound emanated from the craft, after which the light around it diminished, and the object became dull grey in colour. An intense heat field surrounded the craft, which made close-up inspection by the primary witness impossible. Dry grass in the area was set alight by the intense field surrounding the craft."
"Fearing that the craft might have injured occupants, the primary witness decided to inform the local police department at Leribe of the incident."
After Lachasa visited the Leribe police station, "at 22 h 34 (10:34 p.m.) local time, Sgt. Thobo and Constable Nandi escorted the witnesses to the site to investigate the complaint. On arrival the police officers made the following entry into their Incident Report."
"(1) A large, round, disk-shaped object lay within the boundaries of Mr. Lachasa's farm."
"(2) The object measured approximately 18 meters (60 feet) in length and 3 meters (10 feet) in height."
"(3) The object was dull grey in colour."
"(4) No windows/portholes or any form of entry/exit could be seen on the craft."
"(5) The craft did not appear to have any external damage breakage even though the terrain surrounding the craft was severely disturbed."
"Sgt. Thobo radioed his observations to the Leribe Police Department whilst on the site and was instructed to return to the department and make an official report."
"At 00 h 15 (12:15 a.m., September 16, 1995) local time, a Lesotho Government official was contacted, and a report consisting of two pages was faxed to South African Military Command, SAI Intelligence Unit in Bloemfontein (South Africa) on authorization of the Lesotho Government."
"The Intelligence Unit at 1 SAI received a fax from the Lesotho Ministry of Defence in Maseru at 00 h 17 (12:17 a.m.) local time regarding a crash of an alleged unidentified/unconventional flying object that impacted on the farm of Mr. Peter Lachasa, a black cattle and livestock farmer who is located 12 kilometers west of the Madibamatso River near Leribe."
"Due to the nature of the incident, it was decided to request information and possible confirmation from military air traffic control in Bloemfontein on any military/civilian aircraft in the sector at the time of the incident."
"It was noted that there was no aircraft in the area other than a routine (South African) Air Force Puma helicopter, which patrolled the South African/Lesotho border approximately 30 minutes before the alleged incident took place."
"Commander George Human from the Airborne Division at 1 SAI/1 PARA (Parachute or Airborne--J.T.) Battalion instructed an aerial assessment of the area in question. Two (SAAF) Alouette rescue helicopters were sent into the area. At 01 h 17 (1:17 a.m.) local time, Captain Manie Louw reported that he was at the designated area and that a fierce veldt (prairie in the USA--J.T.) fire had engulfed the area."
Captain Louw "then went on to report his observations of the area as follows:"
"(1) An area of approximately 400 square meters engulfed in fire."
"(2) A disc-shaped, metallic-looking object of about 20 meters (66 feet) in length that seemed to be intact."
"(3) The terrain around the object was torn up and severely disturbed by the impact."
"(4) Due to the fact that it was night, and smoke from the fire obscured vision, clear observations could not be made at the time."
"Captain Manie Louw was instructed to patrol/secure the area until further instructions were given."
"Military Intelligence in Pretoria (South Africa's capital--J.T.) was informed and instructed 1 SAI Intel (Intelligence Unit) to maintain a sterile area of 150 meters (500 feet) around the craft, after which they will take complete control over the situation."
"Third Battalion from 1 SAI Intelligence Unit was flown to the area to guard/secure the object until Foreign Technology Recovery Division from (SAAF) Valhalla Air Force Base arrived at the site."
"At 03 h 47 (3:47 a.m.) local time, the area and object was secured and Operation ROLD TSR came into effect. Due to the fact that this was a military intelligence operation dealing with an unidentifiable foreign technology, all members of Third Battalion were issued orders to arrest any intruders who strayed into the secured area."
"The area remained sterile until Foreign Technology Recovery Unit arrived at 05 h 55 (5:55 a.m.) local time." (See Extra-Terrestrial Association Newsletter #3 for 1999, "Leribe Police Department Secret/Geheim Priority Internal Report" and "Military Report, Military Command/1 SAI Intelligence Unit, Bloemfontein," pages 4 and 5. Many thanks to Roger Day of South Africa's Extra-Terrestrial Association for the copy of the newsletter.)
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 2002 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.
