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Strange Days Indeed! -
Celebrity UFO Encounters
By Jim Hickman <jhickman@itlnet.net>
7-6-00
 
 
This report is one of my favorite celebrity UFO encounters, it is by no means a comprehensive report, these are the best of what I have on file, and the reports are from various sources including a few of my own interviews on the topic.
 
Some of you might be familiar with the lyrics:
There's a UFO over New York & I ain't too surprised,
Nobody told me there'd be days like these,
Strange days indeed...

--from John Lennon's - 'Double Fantasy album'

 
John's back in the news, it seems the government has some secret documents that they won't release do to 'National Security', yea right! John was also watched over by the FBI who we now know kept a secret 'X-Files' of all UFO incidents they received.
 
Here's a portion of the article about John Lennon and the NSA--
 
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 ó Almost 20 years after the assassination of John Lennon, a government lawyer warned Friday that releasing documents about the former Beatle's left-wing political activities could damage national security.
 
But Justice Department Attorney Thomas Caballero told Wiener's attorney after the hearing that the U.S. government was likely to appeal Robbins' ruling because it still believes releasing the 10 documents in Lennon's file could jeopardize national security.
 
I wonder if his UFO activities are a part of the documents that they don't want released? Let's look into this a little deeper; I have John Lennon's UFO sighting report below.
 
 
John Lennon's Big Apple UFOs
 
"It looked like a flattened cone with a brilliant light on top." -May Pang, assistant to John Lennon, describing the object they allegedly saw from Lennon's balcony in NY City.
 
Though we'll never know for sure, we hope the aliens onboard the craft that buzzed John Lennon's 53rd Street Penthouse apartment weren't shy. For, according to the late Beatle's ex-girlfriend, the famed mod rocker was standing on the balcony in his birthday suit enjoying the view when his quiet evening at home was interrupted by the likes of a vehicle from another world. May Pang is one of the warmest people you'd ever want to meet. She's quick to smile and bring you into her confidence.
 
For unlike many others in the rock and roll business who can sometimes take themselves too seriously, May is happy to share her remembrances about one of the greatest legends of our time. John was always fascinated with the unusual, May explained, handing me his once-treasured copy of the I Ching that she still has on her library shelf. He was always caught up in his fate his destiny. He was it seems - trying to understand his greatness and the impact he had on millions growing up in a very confused, almost lost generation'
 
May Pang was more than willing to give me the scoop on John's Big Apple UFO encounter because - as it turned out - she was right there at his side during the incident. We had just ordered up some pizza and since it was such a warm evening, we decided to step out on the terrace. There were no windows directly facing us from across the street, so John just stepped outside with nothing on in order to catch a cool breeze that was coming in right off the East River. I remember I was just inside the bedroom getting dressed when John started shouting for me to come out onto the terrace.
 
I yelled back that I would be right there, but he kept screaming for me to join him that instant. As I walked out onto the terrace, my eye caught this large, circular object coming towards us. It was shaped like a flattened cone, and on top was a large, brilliant red light, not pulsating as on any of the aircraft we'd see heading for a landing at Newark Airport. May says she and John stood there mesmerized, unable to believe what they were in the process of observing. When it came a little closer, we could make out a row or circle of white lights that ran around the entire rim of the craft - these were also flashing on and off. There were so many of these lights that it was dazzling to the mind. Spellbound, the couple watched the UFO move directly over the building next to where they resided. It was, I would estimate, about the size of a Lear jet and it was so close that if we had something to throw at it, we probably would have hit it quite easily.
 
During the time that it was almost directly overhead, May says that she didn't hear any noise. We often had helicopters flying above us, but this was as silent as the night, seventeen stories up above street level. Finally the object passed from view, leaving John and May feeling that the excitement was over for the evening. But as it turned out, the UFO returned and they managed to set up a telescope and view it that way. The light was so brilliant coming from the craft, May recalls, that no additional details could be seen' We did take a couple of pictures but they turned up overexposed. Immediately John and May telephoned the Daily News, and were told that at least 7 other reports had been received.
 
We even called the police - that's how excited we were -and they told us to keep calm, that others had seen it too. According to May, all night long, John kept saying I couldn't believe it! I can't believe it...I've seen a flying saucer! As confirmation of his sighting, John wrote down what he saw and used it as part of the cover art on his Walls and Bridges album. John had always had an interest in UFOs, May Pang points out. He even used to subscribe to a British UFO Magazine, the Flying Saucer Review. But after seeing what we saw that night, he became even more fanatical, bringing up the subject all the time.
 
Next a person most older readers will fondly remember, Walter Chronkite and his UFO sighting.
 
 
Walter Chronkite's UFO encounter
 
As CBS Evening News Anchor for many years, Chronite became a part of many American families as he brought us the news in a straight-forward and fair manner. No matter how he felt personally, you never saw that during his broadcast. He did this all before cable TV became such a big part of viewing, so for many he was more then just a Reporter. Walter Chronkite became a trusted friend of almost all who viewed his work.
 
In the 1950s Chronkite was part of a pool of News Reporters brought out to a small South Pacific island to watch the test of a new Air Force missile. After a short inspection of the new system by the reporters, they were lead to an area a safe distance from the launch site.
 
The missile was mounted on a specially built launcher that was attached to a cement base. It was obvious that the area had been quickly built just for the test. The details about the missile were going to be given to the reporters in he form of hand-out sheets and press releases after the test.
 
As the test was ready to proceed, Chronkite mentioned that photography of the event by the press was forbidden' They would have to give verbal descriptions so everyone was writing as fast as they could.
 
As Air Force guards walked around the perimeter of the test area with guard dogs and the news reporters watched, the missile was fired-up and about to be released. Just then, a large disc-type UFO appeared on the scene!
 
Chronkite guessed that the object was about 50-60 feet in diameter, a dull grey color and had no visible means of propulsion' Because the noise of activity around him and the missile engine was so loud, he couldn't tell whether the disc made any noise. He did not notice any noise coming directly from the object.
 
As Air Force guards ran toward the object with their dogs, the disc hovered about 30 feet off of the ground. It suddenly sent out a blue beam of light, which struck the missile, a guard and a dog all at the same time!
 
The missile was frozen in mid-air about 70 feet from the launcher, as it had taken off. A guard was frozen in mid-step and a dog frozen in mid-air as it had jumped at the disc. Chronkite reminded me that this all happened within the space of about five minutes or less.
 
Suddenly, the missile exploded! After that, the disc vanished. The guard and dog looked all right, but were quickly taken away by medical personnel always present at tests in case anyone would be injured. At the same time, guards rapidly ushered the reporters into a concrete observation bunker. After about thirty minutes of sitting in that hot box, they were brought out into the air again and addressed by an Air Force Colonel.
 
The officer told them, "It was all part of the test." Obviously making it up as he went along, the Colonel said that the event was "staged" to test media reaction to UFOs. He reinforced the usual line to the reporters that Flying Saucers were probably not extra-terrestrial, but people were actually seeing secret planes being tested by the Air Force. This test was designed to show the media how "shocking" it could be to suddenly view a new technology.
 
Well, Chronkite was certain that what he viewed was a "new technology" but he was also sure it was not an Earthly one! He didn't believe the Air Force explanation then, and he didn't believe it as he told me the story.
 
After the event reporters were told that since it was a test of media reaction to new technology, they could not report on it! But, they would be compensated later with exclusive stories on new Air Force projects (a promise that was never kept).
 
 
"Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher"
 
Guest: Musician Sammy Hagar Note: I've edited his replies into a more readable form -JH
 
I'm a real firm believer in aliens, right? They're definitely out there. I've had contact. Yes, I have and they're smart son of a guns, man' 1967, was the summer of love. In Fontana, California. I was lying in bed, in my room. And, all of a sudden, I felt like something was going on' And I was sleeping. I was sleeping. It was 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. And I opened my eyes, my body couldn't move. And my room was pure white, I mean, like as bright as you could possibly imagine.
 
And I felt, you know, like a communication kind of like through a- antenna-type communication' And as soon as I got hip, they got hip that I started getting hip that it was happening, and they had a code that was sort of a like a computer code that broke the concentration, I mean, broke the connection' And as soon as that happened, my room went black with my eyes still wide open and I could move again' And I got up. I ran outside. And I ran around, I was so wired.
 
And from that day--synchronicity in my life exists. I see things happen as they're supposed to happen' And I put everything together. Everything makes sense to me. I'm sorry to say that, but actually, this life actually makes sense to me. It was alien' I mean, they were in a craft. They were actually in a craft. I could see them while we were connected. And it's a thing like that. After it's happens to you, you go on this little quest, and you find things. You find these little clues all over in your life about things that lead you from one thing to the other. And it's like a mission' I don't know.
 
I don't know if I was programmed, or zapped, or deprogrammed or what, but I don't feel special or nothing, it's just that that really changed a lot of things in my life. It was really cool. They're constant-they're experimenting all the time with us.
 
There are bad ones. There are three or four different ones, too. Some of them are bad; they come and take body parts and stuff. The gray ones, you don't want to mess with the gray ones.
 
No, there's no life in our solar system. I mean, you know, maybe dead ants or something, but- I mean on the other planets. No, there are three or four different ones. There's the ones-there's some robots that do actual space travel and they're like computers, real robots, you know, that look like people. They look like aliens, but they're-those are the ones that got the guys in Pascagoula, Mississippi. If you remember that case of Calvin Parker and this guy, his nephew, Charlie. And one of the guys killed himself afterwards. And those robots got to him.
 
Here's my opinion, I think that we're the aliens. I think the aliens are man, because we're the only ones that build computer and buildings. And no one else is doing that. I don't see my cat saying, "Look, I just built a new car." And we also, you know, the smog and everything, so we destroy our environment, which means we're not in harmony with the Earth. So we're the aliens. But even if there are aliens in outer space, okay, let's say there are. There are. Now, how am I going to pay my rent?
 
Many of us musician's look to Hendrix as a guitar god, not many know the real story behind--
 
JIMI HENDRIX: THE SPACE WIZARD
 
The author, Beckley, says, "I can't say in all honesty that I really knew Jimi Hendrix, but I did see him give a number of really good performances. It was at one of those post- Woodstock concerts where I managed to wind my way backstage. Jimi Hendrix was leaning up against a wall of amps and speakers. As I walked past him, we both just kind of nodded as if we recognized each other, and to this day I can swear I heard him ask me, 'and what planet are you from pal?'"
 
Jimi expressed a great interest in matters of an extraterrestrial nature, had admitted seeing UFOs, and once told a reporter from The New York Times that he was really from Mars. And he wasn't kidding either. David Henderson, in his book The Life of Jimi Hendrix (Bantam), quotes Jimi's feelings about life on other planets: "There are other people in the solar system, you know, and they have the same feelings too, not necessarily bad feelings, but see, it upsets their way of living for instance - and they are a whole lot heavier than we are."
 
"And it's no war games, because they all keep the same place. But like the solar system is going through a change soon and it's going to affect the Earth in about 30 years."
 
On several occasions during his career, UFOs just happened to show up while Jimi was giving a concert. During the last days of his life, he performed on the rim of an extinct volcano in Maui. Jimi played three 45-minute sets, says Henderson in his best-seller.
 
After each set, he retired to a special sacred Hopi Indian tent. Later, witnesses in Maui testified that they heard musical tones emanating from rocks and stones. UFOs were also sighted over the volcano by people who called in to a local radio show. A cameraman on the set said that he fell from his perch after seeing a UFO through his lens.
 
In the film Rainbow Bridge, Hendrix rattles on for several minutes about astral projection and the philosophy of the Space Brothers. He also tried to master the art of psychic healing, through color and sound. Fellow musician and songwriter, Curtis Knight, knew all about the episode involving the UFO in Maui. It was an odd-looking craft that glittered in the bright sunlight. Jimi felt certain the UFO had come down to put its spiritual stamp of approval on the show. He told me that he'd been emotionally and physically recharged by the experience.
 
During the course of our conversation, Curtis also revealed the fascinating details of the time a UFO landed in front of them and actually saved their lives.
 
The event took place on a cold winter's night near Woodstock, NY in 1965. According to Curtis, if it hadn't been for the occupants of this metallic stranger, Jimi and his fellow musicians might have frozen to death.
 
It was four o'clock in the morning, and we were trying to make it back to Manhattan - a drive of more than 100 miles - through the worst blizzard I can recall. The wind was whipping the snow around our van so fiercely that we missed the turn-off leading to the state highway that would put us in the direction of home. The next thing I remember is getting stuck in a drift that reached the hood of our vehicle. Soon it got so cold. The windows were rolled up tight, and we had the heater on full blast to protect us from the rawness of the elements. I had my doubts about seeing the light of day. We could have turned to human icicles very easily. That's how bitter it was!
 
Curtis says the road in front of them suddenly lit up, as a bright phosphorescent object cone-shaped, like a space capsule landed in the snow about 100 feet up ahead. It stood on tripod landing gear, and for all purposes gave the appearance of being something right out of science fiction' At first we thought it was an apparition caused by the cold and our confused state of mind. I mean, we just couldn't believe our eyes.
 
Prodding Jimi with his elbow, Curtis asked if his imagination was playing tricks on him or whether the rock star saw it too. Jimi didn't answer, but sort of smiled. He seemed to be staring out into the night, his eyes riveted on this thing resting within a stone's throw.
 
Curtis was overcome with fright. Before he could make a move of any kind, a door opened on the side of the craft and an entity came forth. He stood eight foot tall, his skin was yellowish, and instead of eyes, the creature had slits. His forehead came to a point, and his head ran straight into his chest, leaving the impression that he had no neck.
 
The being proceeded to float to the ground and glided toward the trapped occupants of the van' It was then that Curtis noticed the snow was melting in the wake of the creature. His body generated tremendous heat, so much so that as it came across a small rise, the snow disappeared around in all directions. In a matter of what seemed like seconds, the being came over to the right- hand side of the van where Jimi was seated and looked right through the window. Jimi seemed to be communicating telepathically with it. Curtis relates that immediately the interior of their vehicle began to heat up. Suddenly, I was roasting! One moment it had been bitter cold, and the next moment we might as well have been in Haiti. The heat coming from the being evaporated the snow enough to free their imprisoned van' As it glided behind our van, I saw the drift had completely vanished. Turning on the ignition key, I gunned the motor and got out of there. As I looked back through the rear view window, I could see the road filling in with snow again' The object - the strange craft - was at the same instant lifting off like a rocket from a launching pad.
 
Jimi never did talk much about what happened. He sort of let me know that the cool thing to do was not to bring up the subject. It was to be our little secret. However, from what he did say, I sort of suspect that the object arrived to save our necks chiefly because Jimi had been practicing trying to communicate by ESP with the beings on board. I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm putting it straight, just like it happened, you hear!
 
The boys from the group who were with us remember nothing. They were out cold in the back. As we got into the main road, they revived. It's as if they had been placed under a spell - you know - hypnotized. A capsule review of Jimi's songs shows that he incorporated some of his interplanetary ties in with his music. The lyrics of many of his songs contain veiled references to UFOs. His album, Axis-Bold as Love, opens with an announcer talking about flying saucers, with a cut following being a catchy tune called, 'Up From the Stars'.
 
ANNOUNCER: (MITCH MITCHELL)
 
GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WELCOME TO RADIO STATION EXP. TONIGHT WE ARE FEATURING AN INTERVIEW WITH A VERY PECULIAR-LOOKING GENTLEMEN WHO GOES BY THE NAME OF MR. PAUL CORUSO, ON THE DODGY SUBJECT OF: ARE THERE OR ARE THERE NOT FLYING SAUCERS? OR... AHEM, UFO'S? PLEASE, MR CORUSO, PLEASE COULD YOU GIVE YOUR REGARDED OPINION ON THIS NONSENSE ABOUT SPACESHIPS AND EVEN SPACE PEOPLE.
 
MR CORUSO: (JIMI HENDRIX) THANK YOU. AS YOU ALL KNOW, YOU JUST CAN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE AND HEAR, CAN YOU? NOW, IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I MUST BE ON MY WAY.
 
ANNOUNCER: (MITCH MITCHELL) BUT... BUT...BUT... I...I... DON'T BELIEVE IT.
 
Others who have reported UFO's include:
 
Jackie Gleason, Actor -Gleason claimed to have seen UFOs over Florida and London'
 
From UFO Reporter Volume 1, Number 1 (March 1992)
 
UFOs and Jackie Gleason
 
The second wife of US comedian Jackie Gleason, Beverley McKittrick, provided a similar report. Gleason had arrived back at their Florida residence one evening in 1973, visibly shaken' The comedian had a long interest in UFOs, and his friend President Nixon had arranged for him to visit Homestead Air Force Base near Miami where he had seen the embalmed bodies of four small aliens. UFO investigators sent a Freedom of Information request to the U S Air Force for records of the visit but were told such records did not exist. Although Gleason was approached to confirm these details, he took what information he had to the grave
 
Dick Gregory, Actor/Comedian/Civil Rights Activist -Gregory claimed that on one occasion he watched a strange display of red and green lights dancing around in the sky for about an hour
 
William Shatner, Actor/Author-Shatner claimed to have seen some sort of shining, shimmering object in the sky while he was pushing his broken-down motorcycle down a road in the Mojave Desert.
 
Muhammad Ali -"If you look into the sky in the early morning you see them playing tag between the stars."
 
"They came over so regularly we could time them. Sometimes they stood still, other times they moved so fast it was hard to keep a steady eye on them." -David Bowie, Singer/Musician- For Bowie fans, his role as the titular bewildered extraterrestrial in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) was entirely believable.
 
He actually made several UFO sightings while making that film in New Mexico, and talked about his favorite SF writers in interviews. Ultimately, Ziggy brought many young rock-n-rollers to science fiction --Bowie devotees took up reading SF because they knew he liked it.
 
Many of you are familiar with the rock band Pink Floyd, but how many of you know that they got their start in 1967 in a club called 'The UFO' also, many of their songs are space/ufo related, 'obscured by clouds' is one, of course 'the dark side of the moon' remains a rock classic.
 
For Bowie fans, his role as the titular bewildered extraterrestrial in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) was entirely believable.
 
He actually made several UFO sightings while making that film in New Mexico, and talked about his favorite SF writers in interviews.
 
So, were not alone when we see things in the sky, some of the most famous people in the world have seen ëem, so keep watchin' the skies--
 
 
Jim Hickman Director-Aerial Phenomena Research Group Homepage: http://aerial.itlnet.net/ 2000 APRG all rights reserved worldwide



 
 
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