UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 29
Volume 8
Number 29
August 6, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
VERMONT LAKE MONSTER DETECTED ON SONAR
"Champ, the famed 'monster' of Lake Champlain, might be real after all."
"Researchers working in the Button Bay area of the lake last month (June 2003) say highly sensitive sonar equipment on their boat captured underwater sounds similar to those emitted by a beluga whale or dolphin."
"'What we got was a biological creature creating bionsonar at a level that only a few underwater species can do,' said Elizabeth Von Muggenthaler, president of Fauna Communications Research, a Hillsborough, North Carolina firm that studies how animals communicate."
"Von Muggenthaler said her team was on the lake at the behest of the Discovery Channel, which was doing a television show about Champ. She said the TV crew departed a day prior to the first biosonar reading detected by her team."
"Von Muggenthaler declined to speculate on the size, nature or physical characteristics of the creature her equipment monitored. She acknowledged that there is no evidence the lake is home to a freshwater whale or dolphin."
"The biosonar noises picked up by the equipment sound like a rapid series of ticks and are emitted by underwater creatures in their search for food."
"What is unusual about the sonar heard in this case was the volume: ten times louder than any known fish species in the lake. She said the irregular sequence of ticks also ruled out the chance the noises were produced by a mechanical device or 'fish finder.'"
"Von Muggenthaler said the readings were recorded on multiple instruments on June 3, 4 and 10 (2003). Some of the readings lasted as long as 10 minutes, and she suspects the creature came within 30 feet (9 meters) of her boat during one of the episodes."
"While the readings provide no clue about the creature's physical makeup, she said she should be able to say how fast it was moving once analysis of her data by National Instruments Inc. of Austin, Texas is completed" in August.
"'I don't know what else to tell you,' she said, 'That's what I got. That's what it is.'"
"Von Muggenthaler said she hoped her discovery would not cause a spate of ill-advised Champ hunting on the lake," which lies on the border of the USA's states of New York and Vermont.
"'It is important to remember that, if there is indeed a creature out there, it is protected by New York and Vermont (environmental protection) law,' she said, 'The best thing people could do for the creature, if it exists, is leave it alone.'"
"The readings by Von Muggenthaler represent the biggest development in the debate about the existence of Champ since the publication of Sandra Masi's (color) photograph of a serpent-like object taken during a family outing in 1977."
(Editor's Note: Sightings of Champ date back to the Seventeenth Century. The local indigenous people, the Ganegahaga-ono--also known as the Mohawk Indians--called the lake Caniaderi-Guarunte, meaning Lake of the Spirits. One of its spirit guardians was the monstrous serpent that slumbered on the lake bottom. This serpent was called Oniahrikowa by the Indians.)
"Over the years, hundreds of Champ sightings have been reported by fishermen, boaters and other lake users. Skeptics have claimed Champ is an extravagant piece of folklore perpetrated by witnesses making more out of what they saw than was actually there."
(Editor's Note: Attention, tourists! Your editor has heard that the best place to see Champ is the bluff just east of Route 22 in Essex, N.Y.)
"Von Muggenthaler, a native of Charlotte, was skeptical of Champ's existence while growing up in Vermont."
"'I was sort of a scientist at an early age,' she said, 'To me, you had to see it to believe it.'"
"Steve Smith, director of facilities at ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, said he was uncertain what to make of Von Muggenthaler's discovery."
"'I just don't know,' he said, 'Who is to say that it is beyond the realm of possibility' that she had found Champ? He said he is familiar with her work in bioacoustics from a time when she was able to record communications between giraffes at a North Carolina zoo where he was employed."
"'Her work is well-respected in the zoo community,' he said." (See the Burlington, Vt. Free Press for July 28, 2003, "Lake's first 'Champ-hearing' recorded." Many thanks to Glenn O. Boyde for forwarding this article.)
(Editor's Comment: And welcome to Lake Monsters Week here at UFO Roundup. Last week saw a sudden upsurge in what cryptozoologist Loren Coleman calls "seagoing cryptids.")
LAKEBED EVIDENCE HINTS AT PRESENCE OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
"An accidental discovery in the depths of Loch Ness could finally force the scientific community to acknowledge there could be a monster out there."
"An expert has claimed that two years of work by British and U.S. scientists proves the sea reached the now-landlocked stretch of water after the European Ice Age 125,000 years ago--and again about 12,800 years ago. The presence of sea urchin spines, clamshells and other seabed material--some of it about 13,000 years old--proves the ocean encroached as far as the legendary loch, almost certainly bringing sea creatures, large and small, with it."
"New evidence revealed in Inverness last night (Thursday, July 31, 2003) by Bob Rines, of the Academy of Applied Science, challenges traditional thinking of the loch always being a freshwater lake."
"While pulling up anchor on their research boat in August 2001, a scientific team stumbled across the discovery that could change thinking on a large portion of Scotland's history."
"Retired Inverness geography teacher Frank Dougherty noted the clay on the anchor was different from other deposits found in the Urquhart Bay area of the loch where they were working."
"Carbon dating and amino acid testing of the clay indicated that marine life within the loch dated from 12,800 years ago--suggesting a warm-water break in the glacial conditions at about that time. Items dating from about 125,000 years ago were also revealed in the testing."
"Mr. Rines said, 'This discovery could rewrite the history books on how Scotland was formed. It had always been assumed that the ocean was never in the Great Glen. That's just not true.'"
"The findings will certainly reopen a debate traced back to" the 1970s "when an eminent scientist of the time claimed there was evidence of seawater having been in Loch Ness--but this was disputed by many of his peers."
"Mr. Rines added that the discovery--corroborated by institutions on both sides of the Atlantic--could shed light on some of the theories as to how a Loch Ness Monster could have got into a landlocked stretch of water in the first place."
"He added, 'Much of the scientific community thought Nessie believers were bonkers because they knew the sea was never in here. How could big animals get in? I believe this evidence answers that question.'"
"Loch Ness project leader Adrian Shine accepts that, on current evidence, any creature in the loch would have had to survive a millenium of icy conditions and a great flood."
"'In the 1960s, the monster-hunters had the idea that animals could have come into this fresh water and become trapped in some way,' he said, 'This business about big, big animals becoming trapped in the loch is a bit of a red herring. We were fully glacial again 11,000 years ago-- the loch was freezing in winter--and I don't know how such creatures would have been breathing. After that, there was an almighty flood--a catastrophic event. The (Loch Ness) project is not speculating about large animals, but we will continue to analyse the material. This discovery has provided a very interesting surprise.'" (See the North Scotland News and Journal for August 1, 2003, "Loch find rocks Nessie skeptics." Many thanks to Loren Coleman and Scott Corrales for forwarding this newspaper article.)
STRANGE WINGED HUMANOID SPOTTED IN CALAMA, CHILE
A bizarre winged humanoid was spotted by three youths in San Pedro de Atacama, a village near Calama in northern Chile.
"Diego, who is in his first year of middle school," went to his grandfather's shack in San Pedro de Atacama, "accompanied by his friends and neighbors, Jonathan and Carlos."
On Tuesday, July 23, 2003, at 8:30 p.m., after feeding the livestock, "the three youths decided to return to the grandfather's house and spend the night. Diego lit the stove to boil water and serve tea with some loaves of bread they had brought from Calama. His grandfather was out of the house. The only source of light came from a candle, since the (rural) area lacks electricity."
"At around 9:05 p.m., moments after the boys were serving up their supper, they could hear the dogs on the property issue strange noises and howls."
"At around 9:15 p.m., strange knocking sounds rattled the door of the house, swiftly increasing in violence and accompanied by scratches, which left the boys speechless and instinctively made them get up from their seats."
The trio climbed into bed and covered themselves with the blankets. "After three to five minutes, the sound ceased completely. Diego got out from under the blankets, looked out the window and did not see anyone. He opened the door but didn't see anything, either."
"'It's all right, boys. It's gone,'" he said.
As they left the shack, the boys saw "standing amid the pear trees" 15 meters (50 feet) away "a horrifying creature a meter-and-a-half (5 feet) tall, sprouting wings measuring 3.5 meters (11 feet). It was covered by glossy black skin, very clean and hairless. It appeared as though it had recently emerged from the water but without being wet. It had a large head and a small beak, presenting a sort of crest (like a rooster--J.T.) which was apparently missing a piece from a fight. Its eyes were immense and completely black, but sparkled brilliantly."
"They thought it was a prehistoric being, since its wings had a strong resemblance to those of pterodactyls or bats, featuring bone-like protuberances that form the skeletal frame of its wings. Its legs were sturdy and had powerful claws like those of a carrion bird, but much stronger."
"Suddenly, the being fluttered its wings, shaking up the (pear) tree in front of it, and rising into the air with extraordinary ease, losing itself in the dark of night."
"Fearing its return, which fortunately did not occur, the three boys slept in a single bed that night."
The city of Calama is now in the third year of an ongoing flap and has had numerous sightings of UFOs and aliens since February 2001. (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, Dr. Virgilio Sanchez Ocejo y Jaime Ferrer del Centro OVNI de Calama para esas noticias.)
LARGE NIGHT SAUCER SEEN OVER SALVADOR IN BRAZIL
On Saturday, July 26, 2003, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Antonio Lauro Filho was outdoors in the bairro Itaigara (neighborhood) of Salvador, capital of Bahia state in northern Brazil. He reported, "My father saw a disc-shaped object of immense proportions descending vertically into our neighborhood. Unfortunately, I myself did not see this object, but my father said it was not a satellite or a meteor. Later I spoke to many people in Itaigara, who had also seen the saucer."
Salvador is a port city on the South Atlantic, located about 700 kilometers (420 miles) north-northeast of Rio de Janeiro. (Muito obrigado a Alexandre de Carvalho Borges por eso caso.)
TEN UFOs PUT ON A DISPLAY IN WESTERN TEXAS
On Saturday, July 19, 2003, around 11 p.m., eyewitness Sherry L. reported, "My husband and I were camping on a desert property located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) east from El Paso, Texas on Highway 62/180, which is the highway going to Carlsbad, New Mexico."
(Editor's Note: The campground was about 10 miles or 16 kilometers east of Cornudas, Texas.)
Sherry's husband "saw these things, too, but wants to think we saw a satellite in the sky and some sort of military maneuvers, or drug runners, or the Border Patrol doing something. I'm not so sure."
"My husband went to bed, but I stayed up with the binoculars to look at the sky. All lights were off at the campsite so nothing would distort my view. The sky was crystal clear and spectacular. The Milky Way was beautiful."
"I noticed a bright white object that seemed to move, but this isn't unusual because the atmosphere will make stars look like they are moving. I even thought it was Mars because it is so close to the Earth right now. But when I looked at it through the binoculars, I clearly saw two distinct objects."
Both were bright white. One "was rod-shaped and
slightly slanted toward" the other, which Sherry called objects A and B. The cylinder-shaped UFO "seemed to be moving around B. (Object) A did not twinkle, but B seemed to twinkle and pulsate."
"The moon had not yet come up above the horizon. It would be another 20 minutes or so before moon-rise. Thus, it was still a very dark night, and the stars were brilliant."
"At this time I also noticed additional lights on the north side of the ridge, looking towards Highway 62/180." In this area, "one cannot see vehicle lights from the highway due to the rise" in the desert terrain. "This one is about one-and-a-half miles (2 kilometers) from our campsite and about one-and-a-half miles northeast of the highway."
"There were three groups of lights. From left to right, the colors were blue, gold and yellow. Maybe the different colored lights were a little over 200 feet (60 meters) apart."
"Each group was made up of two distinct objects. I labeled them on the drawing. Blue lights were labeled C and D; gold lights E and F; and yellow lights G and H."
"Lights C, E and G from each group were static in their color. Their shapes were each the same, not exactly triangular but very near that shape."
"Lights D, F and H twinkled/pulsated to the point of looking as if sparks were flying from them. Much like a sparkler but with a dark center."
"I awoke my husband so he could see them. He looked at them, watched with me for a short while but went back to bed."
"I continued to watch these strange lights after my husband went back to bed for another 45 minutes or so. It really started to get strange after my husband went back to bed."
"Through the binoculars, I could see some sort of movement around the gold and yellow lights. Both blue lights were starting to get dim. I could not make out the distinctive shapes of the objects that were moving around lights E and G. They looked like moving globs of dark shadow."
"At one point, lights F (gold) and H (yellow) moved toward each other, and, when they met, light F moved over and beyond light H for a few moments, and then they moved back to their original positions. They did not twinkle or sparkle during this maneuver."
"The gold lights then dimmed out completely for a few moments and suddenly reappeared."
"At this point, three long, narrow, rod-shaped lights, each a very dim red color, moved from light E (gold) to light D (blue). Blue did not get any brighter after this."
"The first two lights in the sky (A and B--J.T.) had moved to the west and were now nearly directly over the group of ground lights. But when I looked at them through the binoculars, I could only make out one large bright light. At this point, I noticed movement above the horizon in the sky, below A and B slightly to the west."
"It was another set of lights, just like A and B when I first looked at them" an hour earlier, "the only difference was that this set of lights, labeled I and J in the drawing, were much dimmer and closer to the horizon."
"I went to bed after nothing happened for a while. Have to admit I did take a sleeping pill, but they have never made me hallucinate before. And my husband did see the same lights." (Many thanks to Jim Hickman for this report.)
DAYLIGHT DISC SIGHTED IN PASCO, WASHINGTON
On Sunday, July 27, 2003, at 10:55 a.m., Steve K. was watching an air show at the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, Washington state (population 32,066). He reported that it was a "perfectly clear day, no clouds, very dry climate, temperature near 100 degrees Fahrenheit."
"The object was located by accident while observing the departure of two demonstration 'training jets,' that had just completed an exhibition for the local hydroplane races," Steve explained, "When first observed, I was looking to the west-southwest at an azimuth of approximately 240 degrees, elevation was approximately 20 to 25 degrees" above the horizon.
"While the object moved ever so slowly to the east, it was not motionless."
"As mentioned, I was watching the departure of the 'air show' jets. I watched them through my 8-millimeter Pentax binoculars, thinking they might come back for one more pass for the crowd. As I tracked the jets on their southerly course, a black object 'flashed' through my (field of) view."
"At first I thought it was a bird. Since I am always interested in large hawks and predatory birds, I dropped the jets and moved back to the black object. In the one or two seconds it took me to relocate the object, it had turned silver in appearance. It was obviously a very interesting object."
"So I watched this, this, this...flying machine...for several minutes. It moved in the pattern of a soaring hawk scanning a field for prey. If you can imagine a smooth valley, or 'bowl,' in the air, the object seemed to glide up the sides of the bowl to a certain point, then turn and glide up the other side. It looked as though the pilot was having fun exercising his machine."
"Finally, I decided to observe without binoculars. And since I knew exactly where to look, I could see the appearance of the black side followed by the silver side. The other witness saw both 'colors' as well and remarked that the object was 'really up there.' That remark was an indicator that the other witness thought the object was very far away--an impression I shared."
"When the (UFO's) 'bottom' was turned towards me, the object was perfectly round and black. There were no discernible features other than their white or silver ring around the black at the edge of the disk. When the object turned so that the 'top' was showing, I could see a smoothly contoured 'canopy.' It was not, however, symmetrical. It appeared to have a 'teardrop' shape--sort of pointed on one side and rounded on what I call the 'back' side of the disk. The upper surface of the disk was also uniformly silver and very bright."
"When the disk did catch the rays of the sun just right, the disk shone very, very brightly. With the naked eye, I could see the black 'bottom' and the bright flash of the silver top as it maneuvered."
"I eventually became so tired of holding my binoculars that I tried to find a more comfortable observing position. When I returned to locate the object, I could not find it again and could not discern where it went or in what direction." (Email Form Report)
UFO FLOTILLA APPEARS IN DUNMORE, ALBERTA
A flotilla of UFOs appeared last week in Dunmore, Alberta province, Canada.
The sighting took place on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at 11 p.m. The male witness reported "bright lights in the sky that looked like stars but moved fast and in many different directions, along with standing still and then moving again. We saw six different ones. One prominent one was hovering over a distant field, then it moved up" to an altitude of "500 meters (1,650 feet). We watched this until 11:45 p.m."
Interviewed by Canadian ufologist Brian Vike, the witness added that "two (UFOs) went south at different times; three went east at different times, and the one that hovered was in a northwesterly direction."
"I have 7.35-millimeter binoculars, and I could not distinguish an actual shape. They were very bright and only one light per object. The sky was very clear. They were a light yellow color with a little blue tinge. No sound. The big UFO hovered over the field for about 25 minutes, then just disappeared. The others were overhead- -west to east." (Many thanks to Brian Vike and John Hayes for this report.)
ANOTHER CROP CIRCLE FOUND IN ONTARIO
"The second Canadian crop formation for 2003 was found yesterday, (Wednesday) July 30, near Kippen, Ontario. Discovered by a farm worker combining a field" around 12 noon.
"Preliminary report of a triplet formation of three circles in wheat, the largest circle with a partial ring around it and the two smaller circles next to it."
The formation "is now being extensively discussed, as a neighbouring landowner reported witnessing the three- circle formation form in about 12 seconds during a storm front which passed through the area."
"The formation near Kippen is actually closer to Hensall" and "is reminiscent of the formation at Cherhill Down in England in 1993." (Many thanks to Paul Anderson of Canadian Crop Circle Research Network for this report.)
TASK FORCE 20 LAUNCHES RAIDS ON AL-OUJA
Between Sunday, July 27, and Tuesday, July 29, 2003, Task Force 20, the combined U.S. Army Special Forces and CIA unit, conducted 58 raids in Iraq, including three on houses in Al-Ouja, a village 3 kilometers (2 miles) north of Tikrit, which was alleged to be the site of Saddam Hussein's large underground base.
"U.S. military officials declined to comment on Sunday's raid--as they have on all efforts of Task Force 20, the unit detailed with hunting down Hussein. Task Force 20 led the assault on Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay."
"Among those captured was Adnan Abdullah Abid al- Musslit, who commanders said was one of Saddam's most trusted bodyguards. Al-Musslit, who is Saddam's cousin, was believed to have detailed knowledge of the ex- dictator's hiding spots."
However, the raids on Al-Ouja failed to turn up any sign of Saddam Hussein or the tunnel leading to the purported underground base. According to Iraqi rumors, the base was built for Saddam by the Zarzi aliens, to whom the Iraqi dictator had granted sanctuary when their UFO crashed in Iraq in December 1998.
In other news, Saddam himself continued to make clandestine radio broadcasts, with two more coming out last week.
Speculation that Uday and Qusay had survived the July 22 gun battle in Mosul ended abruptly when Saddam himself acknowledged their deaths in his audiotape of Tuesday, July 29, 2003.
"In the nine-minute audiotape, a voice resembling Saddam's said he was glad Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed in battle because such a death 'is the hope of every fighter.'"
"An audio tape attributed to Saddam was released Friday," August 1, 2003, by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera, in which the speaker promised to again take power and return Iraq 'to its normal state.'"
"'Our faith is great that God will support us and that one day the occupation army will falter and that victory is possible at any moment in the future as a result of the painful strikes of the mujaheddin (Muslim guerrilla fighters--J.T.) and our people's insistence to stop the invaders,' said the voice."
"The tape was the fourth purportedly released by Saddam in two weeks." (See the Chicago Tribune for July 29, 2003, "Explosion kills GI in Humvee along highway," page 4; the Minneapolis, Minn. Star-Tribune for July 30, 2003, "Audiotape attributed to Saddam acknowledges death of 2 sons," page A7; USA Today for July 31, 2003, "High- tech tools used to hunt Saddam," page 5A; and the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for August 2, 2003, "Multiple attacks launched on U.S. forces," page 6A.)
From the UFO Files...
1896: BUTCH CASSIDY, THE SUNDANCE KID AND THE ILLUMINATI
It was August 4, 1896, and outlaw Matt Warner (birth name: Willard Erasmus Christiansen--J.T.) was not having a good day. He had recently survived a shootout with three gunmen in the Uintah Mountains of eastern Utah, killing two and wounding one. Matt considered it "fair shooting," but the sheriff of Uintah County had other ideas. Now Matt was a prisoner at the county jail in Vernal, Utah, charged with murder.
To make matters worse, "his wife was critically ill" at the outlaw stronghold called Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming. Held without bail, and, as a leader of "the Wild Bunch," certain to be convicted, Matt faced the firing squad.
(Editor's Note: Of the 50 states in the USA, Utah is the only one which executes condemned prisoners by firing squad.)
"The townspeople of Vernal, seeing" outlaws Butch Cassidy (birth name: Robert Leroy Parker--J.T.) and Elza Lay "suspected them of planning to break Matt out of jail, so he was transferred to Ogden, Utah for trial."
Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner had met in Colorado in 1889, shortly after Butch's release from a Wyoming prison. They decided that robbing banks and trains was more lucrative than stealing cattle and horses. They called their gang "the Train Robbers' Syndicate," but everybody in the West knew the pair and their Pennsylvania-born partner, Harry Longabaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid, as "the Wild Bunch."
"Butch and Elzy felt that Matt had killed in self- defense and therefore hired D.A. Preston to defend Matt. Preston was considered a very fine attorney, and he didn't come cheap. A fat fee was demanded."
To raise the money for his friend's defense, Butch made plans to rob the bank in Montpelier, Idaho, in the Bear Lake valley just north of the Utah state line. He had personal reasons for hitting that bank. The Bank of Montpelier was the oldest in the region, and its board consisted of wealthy Mormon ranchers, whom Butch had detested from his childhood in Circleville, Utah.
"On Thursday afternoon," August 13, 1896, "at 3:20 o'clock, while the citizens of Montpelier were quietly engaged in their usual daily avocation, three men (Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay and Henry "Bob" Meeks--J.T.), none of them masked, rode quietly down Washington Street to the Bank of Montpelier and dismounted. Cashier (John) Gray and Edward Hoover were standing in front of the building talking. One of the men (Butch) invited them inside, at the same time drawing a six-shooter (pistol--J.T.)."
"They did as directed, and when inside were told to stand with their faces to the wall and hands up. Two more men who happened to pass the bank door were also ordered in."
"Then one of the robbers (Elza Lay) went around behind the counter and held up Bud McIntosh, the assistant cashier, taking all the money in sight and dumping it into a sack."
"While Butch covered the bank patrons with his gun, Elzy almost casually walked out the back door where Bob Meeks held the waiting horses. He tied the heavy gold and silver bags to the little sorrel's pack and slung the lighter sack of bills across his own cantle."
"'Don't make a sound for ten minutes,'" Butch told the patrons.
Then, "he, too, walked out the door and mounted his horse, and the three, with the loaded pack mare trailing behind, trotted out of town. Butch, a natural born actor, could have fooled anyone with his act."
"Once out of town, they broke into a dead run and headed up Montpelier Canyon...The robbers took the canyon road leading to Thomas's Fork," then "several miles away, they changed horses and, crossing Thomas's Creek, took to the mountains."
"The alarm spread quickly, and Deputy (Frederick) Cruikshank and Attorney Bagley were soon on the trail, closely followed by Sheriff Davis, who was in Paris (Idaho, not France--J.T.) when the robbery occurred, and a large posse."
But, with the fresh horses provided by the Sundance Kid at Thomas's Creek, the outlaws got clean away. The Bank of Montpelier reported a loss of $16,500.
According to the Salt Lake Herald, "It is alleged that the bank was robbed by Cassidy and his gang to secure funds for Warner's defense and that one of the attorneys in the case has already received $1,000 of the bank's money."
The allegation produced an angry response from Preston, and therein lies the mystery.
"Attorney Preston is back from Rock Springs (Wyoming)...says that inference... is a malicious falsehood...He received his fee before the Montpelier robbery occurred. He was not employed by Cassidy or any of the Cassidy gang."
If Preston was telling the truth, then there is no way the perpetually-broke Wild Bunch could have paid him $1,000 before the robbery. So who contributed the money towards Matt Warner's courtroom defense?
One possibility is Matt's friend from his days in Colorado, Dr. Franz Hartmann. The two had known each other for two years before Dr. Hartmann departed for India in 1883. A prominent Illuminatus and associate of Madame Blavatsky, Dr. Hartmann was back in Europe in 1896 and building his New Age resort in Ascona, Switzerland. Having lived in the USA for 18 years, Dr. Hartmann may have kept up his habit of reading American newspapers and learned of his young friend's plight out in Utah. And sent Preston a bank draft for $1,000.
At the trial, Matt Warner was convicted, but he "got off with just five years, on the whole a rather light sentence."
"By the time Warner got out of prison" in 1900, "the Wild Bunch had busted up, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fleeing to South America, where they continued in the robbery business."
As for Matt Warner, he "settled in Carbon County, Utah, was elected justice of the peace and became a deputy sheriff. He worked as a policeman in Price, Utah, moonlighting on the side as a bootlegger." In 1938, "at the age of 74, Warner died a much-respected citizen." (See the books Folklore in the Bear Lake Valley and Flickering Memories by Bonnie Thompson, Printers Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1977, pages 62, 63 and 173. Also The Encyclopedia of American Crime by Carl Sifakis, Facts on File, Inc., 1982, page 748. See also the Montpelier, Idaho News-Examiner for August 25, 1896; the Ogden, Utah Standard for September 10, 1896; and the Salt Lake Herald for September 8, 1896. For more on Dr. Hartmann, see UFO Roundup, volume 8, number 28 for July 30, 2003, "1881: Outlaw Doc," page 8)
That's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the world, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you in seven days.
