UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 37
Volume 7
Number 37
September 10, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
MUHNOCHWA STRIKES AGAIN IN INDIA
"In the hands of Hollywood, this would be a movie. Having duped villagers, officials and scientists alike, Muhnochwa (Hindi for Face Scorcher --J.T.), it seems, has jumped over UP (India's state of Uttar Pradesh) borders into the hills of Uttranchal (state). And, in the process, the insect/ET/Pak (Pakistani) concoction has added a new stellar dimension; a cosmic green light streaking across the dark night sky."
"Yesterday night (Monday, September 2, 2002) the 'light' appeared over a large stretch in the Terai area of Kumaon, and had the same effect Muhnochwa has been having in UP. Many people reported a burning sensation, and there were more than a dozen injuries."
"Villagers say it was a dark night, and, around 8 p.m., in Khatima, Sitarganj, Kichha, Kashipur, Jaspur and Maldwani in Udham Singh Nagar district, they saw a bright green, rod-like light streak across from the west to the east. In villages where there was no power loss, the light could be seen more clearly for 20 seconds."
"Arvind Bisht of Ramnijaswa village says he was sitting in his courtyard when he was 'dazzled' by it."
"In Punnapur village, near Khatima, two girls, Ruby and Ramita, fainted. So did Sunita, who also reported a burning sensation in the face."
"Others too called in with similar complaints. Someone mentioned Muhnochwa, and the others fired into the air."
"As usual, scientists say they have an explanation, and, as usual, it is too mundane to find an audience. Dr. Ramsagar, director of the State Observatory at Mainital--which could not record the event because the sky was hazy--says it may have been a meteor and then burned on entering the earth's orbit."
"'It may have burnt longer and emitted a bright light,' he feels."
"On the 'injuries' some people received, Dr. Ramsagar says they may have been hit by small meteor stones, which break off and fall and are hot. A journalist at Kichha Mahid Khan told The Indian Express a small burning stone had fallen near him." (See The Indian Express for September 3, 2002, "Muhnochwa: Now Uttranchal sees UP signs," page 5. Many thanks to Prasant Solomon, UFO Roundup's correspondent in India, for this newspaper article.)
UFOs AND A CROP CIRCLE REPORTED IN KAZAKHSTAN
"The discovery of a strange circle in a garden in the city of Zhitkaya in northern Kazakhstan put the place on alert. Experts are studying the trail of an alleged UFO."
"When the owner of one of the gardens located on Aerdromnaya Street in Zhitkaya," in Kazakhstan's Qostanay region, "went out in the morning to her front yard, she could not believe her eyes."
"All that was left of the spot where a vegetable garden grew, in the shade of a leafy apple tree, was a perfect circle measuring 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches) in diameter. What was left of her vegetables was stamped into the ground."
"The 60-year-old woman pointed out that the parties responsible for creating the circle were 'aliens'...which is exactly what she told Zhitkaya police officers, who had already been alerted to several UFO sightings the previous day (Monday, September 2, 2002)."
"The woman's neighbors rejected any doubts about her sanity. A sign of the seriousness with which the Kazakh authorities are treating the case can be seen in the immediate dispatching of a team of experts to the city to study this 'X-File' of the Central Asian steppes." (See the newspaper El Norte of Mexico City for September 4, 2002, "Mysterious circle in Kazakhstan raises questions." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Rafael Garcia para eso articulo de diario.)
DARK DIAMOND-SHAPED UFO PHOTOGRAPHED IN FRANCE
On Monday, September 2, 2002, at precisely 12 noon, Scott Turner was in the town of Tenteniac, near Rennes, in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, France, about 225 kilometers (135 miles) west-southwest of Paris, when he spotted a UFO.
"I was facing east," Scott reported, "The object appeared while I was taking a digital photo of a military plane. I have the photos of the UFO on my computer at 300 pix sq. in., and the object can be seen and enlarged to a high degree. No birds were in the air at the time."
"The object followed the plane out of visual range over the farm fields. We didn't realize we had the picture until we downloaded the data onto our PC, and there it was."
Scott described the UFO as "a matte black diamond shape flying at 500 to 700 feet (150 to 210 meters) at over 200 miles per hour (320 kilometers per hour). The temperature was 75 degrees Fahrenheit, no clouds, visibility good." (Email Form Report)
CALF FOUND MUTILATED NEAR SANTA ROSA, ARGENTINA
"At midday yesterday (Monday, September 2, 2002), a mutilated calf was discovered on the El Globo farm, which is owned by the Berazategui family, located just west of the Health Works," near Santa Rosa, in La Pampa province, Argentina.
"A farm employee named Leiciza reported the case to the Second Section of the La Pampa police, and police commissioner Fabian Alem visited the crime scene to observe the carcass."
"The police told El Diario that the victim was a calf that had been born the previous day (Sunday, September 1, 2002) and appeared dead from a large number of strange incisions, similar to those that have been attributed by the authorities to the red-muzzled mouse."
"Also found were 'strange circular cuts with burnt edges, on the left side of the roof of the mouth, and the calf was missing its tongue, testicles, the navel and an ear.' They also found cuts on the belly."
"A local veterinarian examined the carcass of the animal, whose posterior was completely incinerated. The last cattle mutilation in this area occurred a month and a half ago." (See the Argentinian newspaper El Diario de Santa Rosa for September 3, 2002, "Calf found mutilated." Also OVNIs y Mutilaciones #47 for September 4, 2002. Muchas gracias a Norberto Mollo y Nedda Mollo para eso articulo de diario.)
BLUE-WHITE UFO SIGHTED IN SOUTHERN SPAIN
On Tuesday, July 23, 2002, "around 9:45 p.m., L.L.R. was heading back toward Sevilla," a large city in southern Spain, "after spending a day working in the Sierra de Hueva (mountains). The witness was driving along the road belonging to the now-defunct Boliden-Apirsa Mining Company when he saw a light in the distance that appeared to be crossing the road."
"'As I approached, I thought it might be a motorcycle, and that it would stop at the crossing to yield,' he told" Spanish UFO investigators. L.L.R., "believing that the light belonged to a normal vehicle, did not slow down, but was struck by the bluish-white hue of the light."
"When he was some 30 meters (100 feet) away from the object, he realized that the 'thing' appeared not to be aware of his presence. 'I kept getting closer, and, when I saw that it had no intentions of braking, I flashed it with my high-beams (headlights--J.T.) without slowing down. Next thing I knew, the thing was right in front of my car.'"
"'I collided against it and turned away, expecting an impact, but it didn't occur. There was only an explosion of multicolored lights.'"
"'I got out of the car to see what happened, but there was nothing on the road! No accident, no casualties, nothing whatsoever! I became hysterical. I scoured the length of the road and even looked under my car, but found no traces of glass or other materials, and, of course, there were no casualties, either.'"
"Although the witness failed to find any signs of impact, the hood ( bonnet in UK--J.T.) of his car showed signs that something had indeed made contact with the vehicle. 'I thought that if I collided with something, the front of the car would be very damaged,' admitted L.L.R., 'But when I looked, there was nothing, only some sort of thick water that vanished upon touching it...nothing more. I thought I was going to pass out, but I am glad not to have run anyone over. I returned to Sevilla as calmly as I could, but I did have trouble starting the car, and the battery refused to work.'"
Ufologists investigating this case believe the incident happened in a rural area outside Aznacollar, near Sevilla. (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, Rafael Garcia, Jose Manuel Garcia Bautista y Rafael Cabello para eso caso.)
LUMINOUS UFO SEEN NEAR CONCEPCION, CHILE
"The UFO recorded on Monday night (September 2, 2002) by a Cronica reporter in the Los Lirios de Concepcion sector, which was also witnessed in various other locations, is thought-provoking. The video recording of the object was made using a Samsung camera, and it clearly shows a solid-looking object which remained suspended several meters over the crest of Cerro Carracol (hill) for a number of minutes."
"The object was first seen at around 9:25 p.m. and remained at the site for some ten minutes. The object was somewhat larger than a star and smaller than a light bulb, and was at 20 degrees elevation."
"The night was completely clear, and it was indeed possible to see the stars. Even Venus, the planet habitually mistaken for a UFO, was slightly visible--on the opposite side of the celestial dome (sky--J.T.)."
"The alleged object remained static (stationary) throughout the time it remained at that location, giving the impression of brushing against the treetops, but it later diminished gradually in size, creating the effect of a candle being blown out. Oddly enough, when it was no longer visible at Los Lirios, it remained visible above the Avenida Los Carrera, where it was seen for a few minutes more."
"The Carriel Sur airport records practically no information regarding the strange and unexplained object in the sky. According to Juan Gomez, the airport's director of operations, at the time when the startling event was recorded--at around 9 p.m.--there was commercial air traffic from the south, specifically from Temuco. Consulted about a reasonable explanation, (Gomez) the air traffic controller, agreed that he could only think of some heavenly body," such as Venus.
"Erika Vasquez was one of the people who saw the suggestive light. According to this resident of the Collao sector, her daughter called her by phone, asking her to look at the object through the window."
"'I went up to the second story of my house and saw it to the left of some new buildings at around 9 o'clock at night,' said the woman, who went back upstairs after a while to continue her observations but on this occasion could only see part of the object, since trees covered some parts of the object."
"'I was dumbfounded when I saw it,' she remembered."
"A resident of the barrio Santa Sabina (neighborhood)--who wishes to remain anonymous--also witnessed the shining object at around 9:30 p.m., as he noted, when he went out to buy a drink at a store close to his home. As he walked, he saw a mysterious source of light to the southwest which under no circumstances could be mistaken for a star, he said, noting that the body's luminosity and size was larger than that of a star, believing that it could be some planet visible during the early hours of the evening. However, he paid no further heed.'" (See the Chilean newspaper Cronica for September 4, 2002, "The mystery of a 'Strange Visitor' in the Chilean night sky." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para eso articulo de diario.)
(Editor's Comment: And now for something a whole lot scarier than a luminous UFO in South America!)
MAN IN BLACK RAIDS UTAH NERVE GAS FACILITY
"An Army depot" in Tooele, Utah (population 22,502) "where nerve gas and other chemical weapons are stored sounded a terrorist alert Thursday," September 5, 2002, "after a possible intruder was reported."
"One person was spotted within the heavily-guarded perimeter" of the U.S. Army storage depot, located southwest of Salt Lake City. The intruder's presence began "touching off a search," according to Sheila Culley, a spokesperson at the Deseret Chemical Depot."
(Editor's Note: Deseret was the original name given to Utah by the settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons. The word means honeybee.)
"Four hours later, the trespasser, apparently dressed in dark clothes, had not been caught, authorities said."
"In Washington D.C., a senior (Bush) administration official speaking on conditions of anonymity, said there was no evidence that anything was stolen or that terrorism was involved."
"The possible intruder was spotted about a mile from the incinerator used to destroy the chemical weapons, said Chris Kramer of the Utah Department of Public Safety."
Tooele County "Sheriff's deputies set up a roadblock around the depot after the alarm sounded at 9:24 a.m., and state law officers (of the Utah Highway Patrol--J.T.) used a helicopter to search the grounds. There was no immediate evacuation of the depot or surrounding areas."
"The depot, which is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City, covers 19,000 acres of mostly barren, windswept desert dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia to you botany majors--J.T.) and stores chemical weapons such as nerve gas and mustard gas. It has been destroying a stockpile of chemical weapons since 1996." (See the Washington Post for September 6, 2002. Many thanks to Loren Coleman for this newspaper article.)
MORE UFOs SIGHTED IN CENTRAL CANADA
UFO sightings are on the increase in Canada's central province of Ontario.
On Saturday, August 31, 2002, the Steed family was camped out near Bruce Mines, Ontario (population 653), a small town 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Sault Sainte Marie, when they had a UFO encounter.
"It was at a holiday campground," Mrs. Lynn Steed reported, "We were staying at a lighthouse converted to a resort cabin. There were four of us. It was a very clear dark night, no moon. We spotted an object in the sky that at first looked like an airplane with flashing lights, in the northeastern sky, at approximately 20 degrees up from the horizon. We almost dismissed it, until I noticed that this object was not moving--it was stationary. There were two flashing lights, green and red, one on each side. As we looked more closely with a pair of binoculars, we noticed that there were three lights; green, white in the middle, and red on the other side."
"The lights were flashing but it was not moving as an airplane would. It was in the same spot for a very long time. It did move once in a direction towards the southeast (towards Lake Huron--J.T.) very slowly. We had three reference lights on the horizon to compare it to, and also others such as the Big Dipper (Ursa Major--J.T.) and Cassiopeia."
"As we watched, the object moved in different ways. It would suddenly start to streak like a lighted playstick and leaving a trail of green and red streaks behind it. Up and down, then side to side, and actually looked like one of those static balls that you can buy as a curiosity (piece)."
"At other times it looked like a flat object in a sort of pyramid shape with three lights showing as green, white and red, and it appeared to be throbbing. We waited until about 12:30 a.m. or 12:45 a.m., and it was then flashing and appeared as a circle of fading light with a halo or corona around it. There was no noise."
Bruce Mines, Ont. is on the north shore of Lake Huron's North Channel, located at the intersection of Provincial Highway 17 and Route 638.
On Wednesday, September 4, 2002, J.B., a motorist driving "on Highway 401 between Kennedy and Victoria Park" in Toronto, Canada's largest city, reported seeing "a blue-green light larger than the stars shoot over my truck at about the height (altitude in the USA--J.T.) of a plane. The highway was long, so, when I got off at Victoria Park, I attracted the attention of another driver who had exited before me. He saw the same thing." (Email Form Reports)
UFO PURSUES A PRIVATE PLANE OVER IOWA
On Sunday, August 18, 2002, Marlene D. reported, "My husband and I were returning from Nashville, Tennessee enroute for southwest Wisconsin. We are both private pilots. We were flying an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules--J.T.) flight plan and had been at 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) for most of the trip because of clouds. The Chicago Flight Center cleared us to descend from 12,000 to 5,000 feet (3,600 to 1,500 meters)."
"During our descent of 500 feet (150 meters) per minute at around 140 knots, I looked back behind the right wing and saw a white light between the cloud banks and far in the distance. It appeared to me to be a landing light on a plane. I would say that when I first saw it, it was 5 miles (8 kilometers) or more away."
"Within a few seconds, I could see it was getting closer at a great rate of speed. As it was the closest to us (approximately 1,500 to 2,000 feet away--M.D.) I could see (that) the large white light was all it was. There were no wingtips or taillights; there were neither wings nor body (fuselage). In fact, as the light descended roughly next to us, it was still a white light from the back."
"This all happened in a matter of five to six seconds, from beginning to end. I felt it was on a collision course with us as we were descending into the same cloud it disappeared into. This happened at approximately 9,300 feet (2,790 meters) of altitude about 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 kilometers) south of Dubuque, Iowa."
"The (Chicago) ATC did not call us with info on another plane in our vicinity. The speed and path of its descent is not possible by any aircraft I am aware of. It had to travel five or six miles in a matter of five or six seconds. That's one mile per second!" (Many thanks to John Hoppe of UFO Wisconsin for this report.)
(Editor's Note: "One mile per second" works out to an airspeed of 3,600 miles per hour or 5,760 kilometers per hour.)
COLOR-CHANGING UFO SEEN IN PENNSYLVANIA
On Friday, August 30, 2002, at 12:45 a.m., T.W. was at home in Grove City, Pennsylvania (population 8,024), 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.
"I wasn't able to sleep, so I stayed up watching TV," he reported, "It was around 12:45 a.m. early Friday morning. I had to go to the bathroom and looked out the window. I watched a BIG bright white light in the distance, towards the northeast (Barkeyville, Pa.)."
"As I looked at it, I noticed that it changed from white to red, then green. I went to the bathroom and decided to see if it was still there when I came out. It was still there, so I stayed for a brief period of time and watched it. It started to change color and was VERY bright. Brighter than any other object in the sky, including all the stars."
Later the same day, T.W. told his roommate about the sighting, and that night they decided to have another look. He reported, "At around 12:30 a.m. on (Saturday) August 31 (2002), the light was there again. My roommate went to bed, but I decided to stay up and watch this strange bright light. It still changed from white to red to green, but this time I noticed it would sway to the right, then the left, then up and finally down. It did this for quite some time and then I decided to go to bed."
T.W. and his roommate were waiting by the window on Sunday, September 1, 2002 at the same time--12:30 a.m.--"but it hasn't been back at all." (Email Form Report)
WOMAN SEES TRIANGULAR UFO IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
On Monday, September 2, 2002, at 9:30 p.m., Stephanie P. was driving on Route 102 in Chester, New Hampshire (population 600) when she spotted an unusual light in the rainy sky.
"Driving home from a visit to my parents in Pelham, N.H., I saw something," Stephanie reported, "I am such a skeptic the only thing I can think of is that it was a flying wing, but the problem is that it hovered in one area, rotated in the spot as if it were a triangular plate with lighted corners, spinning on a stick except very slowly, and then shot off at a speed that was...well, downright impossible."
"It sounds bizarre, I know, but it happened."
"The thing was hovering near the Rod and Gun Club of Chester, N.H. on Route 102 sometime around 9:40 p.m. It was raining out, so the sky was pitch (black), and the lights from that flying wing or whatever highlighted the tops of the trees and reflected off the hood of my 4-Runner and the rivulets of rain on the windshield."
"At first I thought it was a plane and lights from the street, but a streetlight wouldn't be able to cast light into trees high above it. When it flew off so fast, I freaked. I am convinced the thing was an actual, palpable object. My boyfriend would not believe me if I told him, or try to explain it away. But I did see what I saw, and it was very real." (Email Form Report)
From the UFO Files...
1914: ANGELS ON THE BATTLEFIELD
Eighty-eight years ago, on August 23, 1914, a series of unusual paranormal events took place in a small town in western Belgium. Even today, they remain unexplained.
It happened shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by Sir John French, had moved from France into Belgium in cooperation with France's armies. The Allies hoped to halt the rapid advance of the Kaiser's armies through the Low Countries.
Instead, the BEF ran into a heavy artillery barrage. Lieutenant Bernard Law Montgomery of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment described what happened that day: "The Germans advanced...and began shelling us heavily...the fire was so heavy we had to retire as we had not time to entrench ourselves...We had to advance through a hail of bullets from rifles and machine guns and through a perfect storm of shrapnel fire...the whole air seemed full of bullets and bursting shells...the whole of the rest of the day we were heavily shelled by the Germans."
(Editor's Note: The lieutenant, who in later life became known as Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, also known as "Monty," was the best-known and best-loved British general of World War II. Although fans of "Uncle Bill" Slim might give me an argument about that.)
The BEF pulled back, withdrawing quickly through the woods on either side of the village of Mons, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Namur. Late that moning, several units were cut off from the Allied columns. And that's when the strange apparitions began.
Private Robert Cleaver was huddled behind a farm's stone wall with fellow soldiers from the First Cheshire Regiment. Peering around the wall's ragged edge, Cleaver could see a methodical line of mammoth explosions rhythymically tearing up the landscape. Shells from a battery of "Jack Johnsons," the Germans' much-feared 210-millimeter howitzers. The creeping barrage was coming straight towards them. At any minute, the big shells might come whistling down, blowing the stone wall--and them!--into dust and pebbles.
The ground shook like an earthquake. The sounds of multiple explosions momentarily deafened Robert. Then he heard the other "Tommies" talking.
"Blimey! We're done for now, ain't we?"
"Hold your noise, mate. Seen worse than this on the Northwest Frontier." (now northern Pakistan--J.T.)
"Who knows the words to Good Night, Ladies?"
"What do I look like--a bloody Oxford don!?"
And then he heard an awestruck voice. "Cor, look'ee there!"
Turning, Robert saw a line of men coming out of the dark woods. They were soldiers--British soldiers, from the look of them--but soldiers who had not been seen on Earth in 500 years. They were medieval bowmen, and they were wearing garb dating back to the Hundred Years War. Chainmal shirts, dish helmets, steel breastplates, tassets and greaves, leather boots and quivers filled with arrows. Each man carried a large oakwood longbow in his left hand. The apparitions were colored white, and a faint luminous aura of the same colour surrounded them.
Wide-eyed with amazement, Robert watched as the bowmen fanned out and formed a perfectly straight line right behind the huddled Tommies. Without even acknowledging the BEF men, the bowmen drew arrows from their quivers, nocked them to the string and stood ready, awaiting some silent signal.
A blood-chilling sound intruded, the tearing-silk shriek of incoming artillery shells. German 210mm howitzer shells heading straight for them. As Robert cast a desperate glance at the bowmen, he heard a disembodied voice say, "Take your mark."
As one the poised arrows lifted. The bowmen aimed at points in the smoky sky that only they could see. The voice sounded again. "Shoot!"
The glowing arrows shot upward. Then, hundreds of feet above the forest, the sky suddenly erupted in a paroxysm of explosive fury. Each and every German shell exploded in mid-air. Buffeted by the blast vibrations, Robert thought it was like being caught outdoors in a July thunderstorm.
The bowmen drew arrows again. This time they aimed at selected points within the forest. One by one, they fired, almost leisurely, and each time a luminous shaft sped unerringly through the trees into leafy darkness. And then, seconds later, an explosion blossomed above the trees, as yet another German 210mm howitzer was taken out. The last arrow created such a blast that oak and elm trees were tossed upward like matchsticks.
"Ammo dump," commented the "Oxford don."
Finally, one of the Tommies had the presence of mind to ask, "Who are you?"
The bowman at the end of the line lifted his hand in farewell. And the apparitions vanished.
"In September of the same year (1914), the (fantasy) writer Arthur Machen published a story called 'The Bowmen' in the London Evening News. In it, he told how struggling soldiers were saved from the advancing Germans by a vision of St. George and the bowmen of Agincourt," a battle fought in 1415 not far from Mons.
"Although Machen's story was a piece of fiction, it was taken for fact by a number of readers and found its way as a true story into a number of magazines...When Machen told the press that he made the story up, many people refused to believe him."
The controversy grew when British soldiers returning from the Western Front claimed to have actually seen "the angels of Mons."
"An affadavit was sworn by Private Robert Cleaver of the First Cheshire Regiment that 'I personally was at Mons and saw the vision of Angels with my own eyes.'"
One wonders if Machen "dreamed" the incident during an afternoon nap on August 23, 1914, thought it "a hell of a good story" and wrote it up for the editor at the Illustrated London News. It's possible that Arthur Machen had a bilocation experience, in which his astral self traveled to Mons and witnessed the appearance of the mysterious bowmen. (See Great Mysteries of the 20th Century by Tim Healey, Readers Digest Association Ltd., London, 1996, "The Angels of Mons," page 114.)
And we'll be back next week with more on the Angels of Mons and the usual collection of UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from all 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.
