UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 18
Volume 8
Number 18
May 7, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
SURPRISE APPEARANCE BY SADDAM STARTLES IRAQIS
"Warplanes roared overhead. Haze and smoke rose from the city's edges as U.S. troops battled their way in."
"But for 30 minutes on (Wednesday) April 9 (2003), some people from Baghdad's al-Azamiyah neighborhood said they were riveted by another sight: a visit from Saddam Hussein."
"'It was Saddam for sure and whoever says it was his double is a liar,' said Salah Abu Seif, 38, who said he had seen Saddam several times previously."
"Saddam waved to the crowd" of about 400 Iraqis "from a green Mercedes, drove away, then returned to the (al- Azamiyah) neighborhood. The Iraqi leader stepped out of his car to salute the hundreds of people who flocked to see him."
"He was accompanied by his son Qusay; his secretary Abed Hamoud, and Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed; a camera was recording the tour."
The video of Saddam's appearance was aired on Abu Dhabi TV on Friday, April 18, 2003.
"Abu Dhabi TV's correspondent, Jaber Obeid, said the person who handed the videotape to the network assured them it was shot in Azamiyah on April 9."
"'We always suspected, because of the many sightings of Saddam Hussein, that somebody--somehow, somewhere-- would shoot a picture of him, would shoot a video,' anchor Jasim al-Azz Azzawi told CNN. "We went out of our way to make sure that the tape would fall into our hands.'"
"U.S. intelligence officials in Washington say they cannot yet determine whether the man in the video was the Iraqi leader nor when it was taped. They also say they don't know whether Saddam is alive or dead."
The Saddam video "is the talk of everyone in Baghdad," reported Ayesha al-Khatabi, a UFO Roundup Middle East correspondent. "But what is most puzzling is the mysterious golden necklace Saddam was wearing when the Azamiyah video was made. Qusay was wearing one, as well. Since Saddam is not known for wearing jewelry with his uniforms, my sources in Iraq cannot understand why he chose to wear it that day."
Fellow correspondent Mohammed Daud al-Hayyat has a theory that the golden necklaces worn by Saddam and his son Qusay are protective devices given to them by the reputed Zarzi aliens.
(Editor's Note: According to an urban legend, a UFO crashed in Iraq either during 1991 or 1998. Saddam granted the surviving aliens sanctuary, allowing them to live in either an underground base at Zarzi or at the centuries-old citadel at Qalaat-e-Julundi in the As-Zab as-Saghir (Little Zab) river valley in northern Iraq.)
"People say that when they wear these necklaces, Saddam and Qusay have only to clasp hands, and the circle of light will appear," Mohammed explained, "The alien vortex will instantly transport them to safety. In this manner, they can create the circle without the Zarzi aliens being present."
Two days after Saddam's appearance, "on April 11 (2003)," al-Azamiyah "was the site of a firefight between Iraqis holed up in a mosque and U.S. Marines hunting for leaders of Saddam's regime."
Ayesha noted that "al-Azamiyah is primarily a neighborhood of Sunni Muslims, so Saddam Hussein knew he would be among friends when he appeared there."
Also on Wednesday, April 9, 2003, according to ufologist Jose Escamilla, a cylindrical UFO was seen dodging American anti-aircraft bursts while flying over Baghdad.
"I found a rod (cylindrical UFO) that zipped through anti-aircraft explosions over the city," Escamilla reported, "And this rod flew effortlessly and was not hit nor affected by the explosions in the air. Clear shot and it was moving very fast."
Ayesha speculated that this "may have been the UFO that brought Saddam Hussein to al-Azamiyah earlier. The Escamilla video may actually show Saddam and Qusay leaving the city after their surprise appearance."
On Wednesday, April 30, 2003, the ousted dictator created another stir when "a London-based Arabic newspaper published a handwritten letter purportedly signed by Saddam Hussein that called on Iraqis to rise up against American forces."
Saddam "urged Iraqis to rebel against the 'infidel, criminal, murderous and cowardly occupier,' promised that people who collaborated with American-led forces would be punished and predicted that 'the day of liberation and victory will come.'"
"Faxed to the offices of Al-Quds al-Arabi, the letter was dated April 28, the date of Saddam's 66th birthday."
"The newspaper's editor, Abdel Bari Atwan...said he had seen Saddam's signature before and believed the one on the letter was 'definitely' his."
However, "U.S. officials were skeptical about the authenticity" of Saddam's letter and "are unsure whether Saddam survived two bombings that targeted buildings where he was believed to be, one at the outset of the war and one at the closing days."
President George W. Bush, "speaking Sunday (April 20, 2003) at Fort Hood in Texas, said that if Saddam was alive, 'I would suggest he not pop his head up.'"
"In the last week, Iraqis say they have seen Saddam emerging from an underground tunnel in his hometown of Tikrit, riding in a taxi in the southern city of Basra and living in a former Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad."
"'There have been more sightings of Saddam Hussein than of Elvis,' Rick Wiles, editor of American Freedom News, said."
"Opinion is equally divided. Some people say Saddam is at Zarzi with the aliens," Mohammed Daud al-Hayyat added, "Others say he is at the underground base at al- Ouja, two kilometers (1.2 miles) north of Tikrit. The latest rumor is that Saddam will shortly address the people of Iraq from an alien base on the moon! They say this will happen in four or five days." (See the newspapers USA Today for April 21, 2003, "Fear of Saddam and his thugs lingers," page 4A; the Providence, R.I. Journal for April 20, 2003, "Residents say Saddam was seen after bombing," page 1; the Boston, Mass. Herald for April 21, 2003, "Saddam: A narrow escape?" page 7; the Attleboro, Mass. Sun-Chronicle for April 21, 2003, "Report: Saddam remains in Iraq," page 20; the New York Daily News for April 19, 2003, "Two tapes of Saddam on Arab TV," page 9; the Pawtucket, R.I. Times for April 19, 2003, "Saddam gone, but provocative footage surfaces," page B1; the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for May 1, 2003, "Arabic paper says it has letter from Saddam," page 9A; and USA Today for May 1, 2003, "Purported Saddam letter questioned," page 10A. Many thanks to Ayesha al-Khatabi, Robert Fischer, Steve Wilson Sr., Mohammed Daud al-Hayyat, Jim Hickman, Jose Escamilla, Rick Wiles and others for these Saddam updates.)
'Rod' over Baghdad - image courtesy of Jim Dilettoso & Tedd St.Rain
UFOs ARE ACTIVE IN EASTERN BRAZIL
During the evening hours of Tuesday, April 22, 2003, Carlos Magno was outside at his home in Sao Mateus, a small city in the north of Espiritu Santo state in eastern Brazil. He saw a formation of bright lights approaching from the west, "which halted and hovered, then returned in the same direction from which they came. Astronomers said they were 'meteors.'"
A few hours earlier, in Santana da Boa Vista, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, eyewitness Joao Arapecido "saw a daylight disk hovering over the Cerra do Cantareira (hill)."
The same afternoon, at Taquaritinga, in the state of Sao Paulo, "a high school teacher saw an object which appeared to be a silvery flying disc. This object made a series of zigzagging motions as it flew across the blue sky." (Muito obrigado a Jonas Marcelo A. Coelho do Grupo LEONI por esos casos.)
UFOs SIGHTED BY MANY IN CALIFORNIA
On Saturday, April 19, 2003, eyewitness Brenda and her family were camping out in a wooded area off Rasor Road in Baker, California (population 1,030), located about 180 miles (288 kilometers) east-northeast of Los Angeles, when they spotted a UFO.
"I was sitting down at the campfire, facing the west, when I noticed a bright light moving in my direction. It waited and, spiralling, going back and forth, from side to side, it continued on. It was almost like a radio- controlled object or a satellite. It was moving just too much in the 30 minutes that I watched it with three other people at the campfire."
Soon other objects joined the first, Brenda added, "They were all hovering and appeared to be big/bright stars, yet they all had red/green lights flashing towards the top rear of them. The objects moved in my direction, then waited. There was no noise from any of them, but they just seemed to bounce around" at speeds "which were too fast for any helicopter or plane."
The first UFO "vanished behind the sand ridge" in the Devil's Playground region of the Mojave National Preserve, "where an old abandoned house was. It turned itself off, not to be seen again. Shortly thereafter, the other two objects seemed to have disappeared. The formation of these objects seemed to have been in a half-circular position with some equal distance between them."
"This is the first time I have ever seen anything like this," she added, "in the five years we've been going camping."
On Saturday, April 26, 2003, Daniel M. was walking home in Costa Mesa, California (population 108,724), about 110 miles (166 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles when he spied a UFO.
"My wife and I were walking home in Costa Mesa," he reported, "When we arrived there, I noticed three lights in the sky. They were either very tiny or very far away. They seemed very high up in altitude. Then they had moved to a different pattern."
One UFO moved a little closer to him, he added. "I called out my wife's parents to see the sight, which they did. The only color which we could see was that of the lights. And when they got farther away, they seemed to resemble stars in the sky. An indication to me that they were very high up in altitude." (Email Form Reports)
ANOTHER BLUE UFO BUZZES SANDIA PEAK, NEW MEXICO
On Tuesday, April 29, 2003, at 2:30 a.m., trucker Steve Goldman was driving on Interstate Highway I-40 through Moriarty, New Mexico (population 1,765), located 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of Albuquerque, when he noticed a strange blue flying object passing overhead.
"As I approached Moriarty from the east on I-40, the object zipped into view in my front windshield," Steve reported, "It was a bright, light blue, flourescent color, lozenge-shaped, and it was descending at a 15-degree angle from the horizon. It appeared to be descending after passing over Sandia Peak."
"The craft was oriented parallel to the horizon, but it was descending. It was about the size of a hot dog (large sausage--J.T.) held at arm's length, so it was quite close. When it passed about 1,000 feet (300 meters) overhead, the front part of the craft flickered, then the object 'turned off' and disappeared from view."
This was Steve's second sighting of a blue UFO over Sandia Peak in recent months. (Email Form Report)
(Editor's Note: The Sandia Labs, the USA's top-secret nuclear reseach facilities, are located in this area.)
TWO WHITE UFOs ARE SEEN OVER ROWLETT, TEXAS
On Monday, April 28, 2003, at 9:45 p.m., Laurie M. was outdoors at her home in Rowlett, Texas (population 44,503), located on Lake Ray Hubbard 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Dallas, when she sighted some strange lights in the sky.
"Two white lighted objects were going round and round in circles as if they were playing tag," Laurie reported, "At times, one would pass the other. This went on for approximately 20 minutes. Their speed was incredible, and these were perfectly consistent circles."
"The white lights were above the clouds, with an occasional break in the clouds where you could see the object itself. The two UFOs departed to the west. Then my husband called a local television station" to report the sighting. (Email Form Report)
(Editor's Comment: And look who else was in Texas at the time of the sighting in Rowlett!)
MYSTERIOUS ROUNDUP VAN APPEARS IN EASTERN TEXAS
The mysterious white van, which bears the website address for UFO Roundup, put in a surprise appearance in eastern Texas at the same time two UFOs were seen over Rowlett, near Dallas.
The ultra-modern white van, which is not owned by either UFO Roundup or UFOINFO, has been seen on several occasions since early 1999. Appearances of the vehicle are rare, and its owners and operators are unknown. The vehicle is distinctive because of its dark upholstered interior, its dashboard full of high-tech electronic equipment and its small dish antennas sprouting from the roof.
The van was last seen in southern Arizona last year. Its previous appearances have been in the USA's states of Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, California, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan and Arizona.
On Saturday, May 3, 2003, Dorothy Hamilton contacted UFOINFO webmaster John Hayes and reported, "I live in Winnie, Texas and, for the past few days, I've seen a big van with satellite (dishes) and (electronic) equipment. I had just returned from a trip to the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico."
"I'm very interested to know why they are here, and if they might need anything while in town. I own a restaurant just south of Winnie (population 2,914) called Skip's Outrageous Bar and Grille. They can come in and check out our UFO signs and posters and fill us in."
Commenting on the sighting, UFO Roundup editor Joseph Trainor said, "I can categorically state that neither John Hayes nor I have been in Texas recently. That is not our white van. I have no idea who it belongs to or why it carries our website address."
Dorothy added that the van "had Georgia license plates" and had the logo http://ufoinfo.com/roundup in black letters.
"If any of our USA readers spot the mysterious white van, please write down the license number and make a note of which state issued the license plates," Trainor added, "Then please email us at Masinaigan@aol.com. This van has been wandering around the USA for almost five years now. We would really like to get to the bottom of this mystery." (Many thanks to John Hayes for this report.)
(Note: Since writing to Joe I have had another reply from Dorothy and she states that the van is gray not white - John Hayes)
UFOs SIGHTED IN WISCONSIN
On Saturday, April 26, 2003, at 10 p.m., three friends camping outdoors in Gleason, Wisconsin, "sitting around a campfire in the middle of 6,000 acres of wilderness," spotted a UFO.
"One of my friends was looking around for shooting stars when he yelled, 'Did you see that!?'"
"We both turned and looked in the same direction he was and almost immediately (we) saw what he had just seen. It was a flash of greenish white light that rolled up from the bottom (horizon) of the southern sky about as wide as our vision and continued to almost above our heads."
"All three of us had never seen anything like this, and half-expected to hear a nuclear-type explosion somewhere in the world in that direction. It was completely silent, occurred two times and (the duration was) approximately two seconds long in between."
The same evening, "at 10:35 p.m., in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (population 62,916), a city located 86 miles (137 kilometers) north-northwest of Milwaukee, the male witness reported, "I was taking my dogs outside, and I always look up in the sky. I saw a dimly-lit, diamond- shaped object above my head and a little to the south. It looked gray but dimly lit. It was moving at an incredible speed, much faster than a jet. It took only five seconds from the time I first saw it to reach the eastern horizon and out of sight. There was no noise and no flashing lights of any kind. The sky was clear. It moved in a straight line at great speed. If you held a dime (a USA 10-cent coin--J.T.) at arm's length, it would kind of fit in the middle of it, with the diamond points touching the edges." (Many thanks to John and Jenny Hoppe of UFO Wisconsin for these reports.)
WEIRD OBJECTS FALL FROM THE SKY IN GUATEMALA
"A strange object that fell out of the sky was a cause for alarm among residents of the barrio Canton (neighborhood) in Mataescuintla" in southern Guatemala.
"The odd device, which resembled an axle wrapped in nylon, fell from the sky onto a coffee plantation belonging to Sra. Luvia Cruz Toledo, setting some of her coffee bushes on fire."
"A child near the site witnessed the fall and saw it leave a hole among the tree branches. After hitting the ground, it rolled some 20 meters (66 feet). Concerned residents notified the authorities."
"Members of the Explosive Brigade of (Guatemala's) Policia Nacional Civil (PNC) reached the area and carefully moved the artifact to dismantle it and analyze it."
"Elsewhere in Guatemala, as of this morning (Monday, April 28, 2003), no scientific analysis has been performed on the satellite fragment that fell during the early hours of Sunday (April 27, 2003) in barrio El Calvario (neighborhood)" in the small city of Chiquimulilla in Santa Rosa province, "causing widespread alarm during the past 24 hours."
"What is known about this object is contained in a police report confirming that it is not explosive, just a piece of space junk weighing approximately 30 pounds, having the length and diameter of what could be a metal axle. There is still no scientific analysis that is necessary in this case to determine the presence of radioactive waste harmful to those who have come into contact with it."
"Authorities in Guatemala believe both fragments are from the Italian satellite Beppo SIX, which has been in orbit since 1996" conducting X-ray astronomy experiments.
"Authorities said they are taking a wait-and-see approach with the object, since it could be either as harmless as a cotton ball or, on the contrary, more hazardous than any explosive, although the consequences would be different. For this reason, they are waiting for a NASA scientist to come and inspect the artifact to see if it is necessary to isolate it to avoid any possible contamination."
Mataescuintla and Chiquimulilla are, respectively, 75 kilometers (45 miles) and 110 kilometers (66 miles) south of Guatemala City, the national capital. (See the newspaper Prensa Libre de Guatemala for April 28, 2003, "Strange artifact falls in Mataescuintla." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para eso articulo de diario.)
STRANGE PORTENT OCCURS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Old Man of the Mountain, the natural stone profile that appears on everything in" the USA's state of "New Hampshire from the road signs to the state quarter (25-cent coin--J.T.), fell from its mountainside, leaving nothing recognizable in the cliff face Saturday," May 3, 2003.
"Don Bliss, the state's director of emergency management, said there were no injuries when the stone fell sometime Friday night," May 2, 2003, "or Saturday" morning.
"It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fall, but Amy Bahr, president of the Franconia, N.H. Heritage Museum, said she has long been aware that the natural profile could slide."
"'I knew it would go sometime. I just didn't think it would happen in my lifetime,' she said."
"The ledges that made up the profile were perched above a slope covered with other fallen granite, and for years many feared it would join the pile."
"Niels Nielsen, a state highway worker who died in 2001, was the profile's official caretaker from 1960 until a few years ago, when he passed the job on to his son. Over the years, the two tried to secure the ledges with cables and epoxy."
"Nielsen told an interviewer in 1999 he thought the Old Man profile would outlive him by many years."
"'My gut feeling is that any baby that's born on this date, today, will not see the Old Man come down,' he had said."
"The profile, about 40 feet (12 meters) high and 25 feet (7 meters) wide was one of the most photographed sites in the state and was considered New Hampshire's state symbol."
"It was in Franconia State Park, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Concord (New Hampshire's state capital--J.T.) and to the west of Interstate (Highway) 93, about 1,200 feet (360 meters) above Profile Lake."
"'You don't think about it much, but it's what everybody comes to see, it's our thing. And now it's gone,' said Eric Mueller, who works at the Franconia Hardware Store."
"State Parks official Mike Pelchat said heavy rains, high winds and freezing temperatures brought it down. 'We always thought it was the hand of God holding him up, and he let go,' Pelchat said."
"Daniel Webster, a 19th Century New Hampshire statesman, once wrote of the Old Man of the Mountain: 'In the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men.'"
Fans of science fiction writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) have pointed out similarities between the giant granite profile in New Hampshire and a silhouette profile of Lovecraft done in the 1920s.
(Editor's Comment: Which certainly makes the giant granite feature's sudden disappearance even stranger.)
"It is generally believed that the first white men to see it were Francis Whitcomb and Luke Brooks, who were surveying a road through the Franconia Notch in 1805. While washing their hands in the lake, they are said to have looked up, and in amazement discovered the face."
According to Pennacook Indian legends, during the "Water-Sun" or previous world-age, a powaw (spiritual advisor, formerly called a "medicine man"--J.T.) and his wife were warned by the One Above that Earth was about to be destroyed by a great flood. The couple fled to the top of nearby Mount Lafayette, with the wife's pet rabbit. For weeks they lived on the mountaintop. After the floodwaters subsided, they let the rabbit loose. When it failed to return, they descended from the mountain. The powaw asked the One Above if ever again there would be another Deluge.
By way of reply, thick clouds covered the mountaintop, and thunder reverberated across Profile Lake. When the clouds lifted, the couple saw the image of the One Above, "that which the white man calls the Old Man of the Mountain" chiseled into the granite of the cliff.
"So long as my face looks upon the land, there will not be another flood," the One Above told them. (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for May 4, 2003, "New Hampshire loses face as fabled Old Man takes a spill," page 13A. Also USA Today for May 5, 2003, "'Old Man' tumbles from mountain in N.H.," page 3A.)
From the UFO Files...
1958: A CASE OF TIME TRAVEL IN MONTANA
In Montana's far north, just below the USA-Canada border and wedged between the Bearpaw Mountains and the Rockies, lies the Milk River valley, festooned with tumbleweeds, wild raspberries and yellow-flowered wild mustard. Tourists passing through on Montana Highway 29 think of it as a desolate place, shuddering at the eerie howl of the coyotes at night.
Yet, to the Siksikawa-Pikuni indigenous people (also known as Blackfeet Indians--J.T.), the valley is a sacred place. Mainly because it's the site of Writing On Stone State Park, one of the true places of mystery in the USA's West.
Most pictographs in the USA can be read by indigenous peoples ranging from the Arapaho to the Zuni. And, with a little coaching, it's not too hard a skill to master. Your editor learned how to read a buffalo-skin from a Siksikawa-Pikuni tribal elder at the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana during the summer of 1989.
However, the weird hieroglyphics at Writing on Stone, north of Whitlash, Montana, are something else again. As William Big Spring pointed out, "No one knows for sure what the markings on the rocks mean. In 1850, people were trying to find out what these 'writings' represented. The Indians then said they had been done by the 'old' people but no one could say if they were prophecies or records of things that had already happened."
"We started up to Writing on Stone one Sunday afternoon, back in 1958," William Big Spring wrote, "It's right on the border of the United States and Canada, near the town of Aden (Alberta province, Canada) on Milk River."
"It was a really nice day, and we reached Writing on Stone just as it turned dusk--that time of day when it's not daylight and it's not dark. I got out of the car to go look at the writings on the rocks. As I went through, I was disappointed that so many of them were ruined. Most were painted over or damaged so you couldn't make them out."
"All of a sudden, when I got to the end of the rocks and looked down, I could see teepees set up on the flat. I saw children running around, and everybody was happy."
"It was as real as when you look at another person next to you."
Incredible as it may seem, William Big Spring had literally stepped into the past. By some unknown means, he had travelled back a century to 1858, or perhaps even earlier, to a time when European people were a rarity in northern Montana and the nomadic Siksikawa-Pikuni tribal life was in full flower.
"I got such a strange feeling. I slowly moved away. The nape of my neck felt so strange. I took a few more steps backward. Pretty soon I turned about. I didn't actually run back to the car, but I got there as quickly as I could."
"I don't know what they were, but I saw them. I told myself then and there I'd never return at that time of day (dusk) again."
"I never told anybody of this until two years later (1960) when I told my wife."
(See the book Sta-ai-tsi-nix-sin Ghost Stories, edited by Conrad La Fromboise, Blackfeet Heritage Program, Browning, Montana, 1979, pages 14 and 15.)
(Editor's Note: This "time warp" phenomenon is rare but not unknown in Forteana, the classic case being the two British women and their "Versailles adventure" in the summer of 1901.)
Your editor had a chance to see X-2: The X-Men United a couple of days ago. In terms of pacing, action, character and dialogue, I thought it was far superior to Daredevil. And I liked Daredevil! But I was little disturbed by some of the scenes in X-2. Such as Rumsfeld's nitwit deputy, Dr. William Stryker, launching a full-scale military assault on Salem Center, N.Y. and an American agent in black BDUs shooting an eight-year-old boy. Then came the scene in which uniformed officers of the Boston, Mass. police department have the X-Men surrounded at Bobby Drake's house, and one officer shoots Wolverine in the head. Tayaa! I'm just glad I don't have to explain to the watch commander...to say nothing of Internal Affairs!...why I drew my weapon and blew away a suspect who was not resisting arrest or making any threatening moves against fellow officers.
Two weeks ago, in real life, police in southern California managed to arrest Scott Peterson without shooting up half of Chula Vista.
Whatever happened to due process, eh? I guess it's become a casualty of the "war on terrorism." Like Baghdad.
Join us again next week for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you in seven days!
