- SPHERICAL UFO HOVERS OVER
FRENCH BACKYARD
-
- On Sunday afternoon, September 6, 1998,
a family of four living in Voreppe, a town near Grenoble in the French
Alps, received the shock of their lives. Looking up, the unidentified husband
and wife, their three-year-old child and the grandmother spotted "a
slow, hovering, seemingly metallic shiny sphere about two meters (6.6 feet)
above the top of a cherry tree." As the UFO hovered and hummed, the
man ran indoors to fetch his camcorder. When he rushed back outside, he
switched it on and "shot two minutes of videotape, showing the departure
of the object." The family then telephoned the Gendarmerie (French
police--J.T.) The officers took the videotape, contacted SEPRA, the French
government agency devoted to UFO research, and reportedly advised the witnesses
"not to speak to any ufologists about the incident." Two investigators
from the SEPRA office in Toulouse spent two days investigating the encounter
scene. They took burned branches from the cherry tree for lab analysis.
In a brief statement, SEPRA said the videotape was "very interesting"
and "useable" in terms of further UFO research. The case was
also investigated by the Rhone-Alpes delegation of SOS OVNI, the French
ufological study group, which is based in Lyon. On Friday, September 11,
1998, representatives of the Centre Nacional des Etudes Spaciaux (CNES)
saw the videotape and also interviewed the four eyewitnesses. Jean-Jacques
Velasco of CNES said the UFO "looks as if it is floating and then
moves away in a curious way." He described the object as "a
round disc, about 5 meters (16.5 feet) across with a few protuberances
coming out of it and a red ring around its bottom." Voreppe is in
the department of Isere about 400 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Paris.
(Merci beaucoup a Perry Petrakis de SOS OVNI pour ces nouvelles.)
-
- NEW "ANGEL HAIR"
CASE IN NEW SOUTH WALES
-
- On August 9, 1998, Eunice Stansfield,
her daughter and her son-in-law Mario witnessed a fall of "angel hair"
from a squadron of 20 silver-sphere UFOs near Quirindi, a town in New South
Wales, Australia. However, a second "angel hair" incident took
place the same day, three hours earlier at 2 p.m. That day, Gary S., a
Telstra technician, drove from his home in Gunnedah, N.S.W. to the telephone
exchange at Piallaway, 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of Quirindi, to do
some repair work. Reaching his destination at about 2 p.m., Gary emerged
from his car and "noticed masses of white cobweb-like material falling
down all around him, falling onto fences, telephones lines and onto his
car. He could not see anything up in the clear blue sky at all."
Gary telephoned the Stansfields after reading about their experience in
the Sydney Daily Telegraph for August 11, 1998. Meanwhile, Mrs. Stansfield
and her daughter had saved several long filaments of the white material
and stored them in a yogurt jar. They turned over the sample to ufologists
Moira McGhee of INUFOR and Bryan Dickeson of UFORNSW on August 13. They
reportedly made arrangements with ufologist Bill Chalker to have the sample
tested at a private laboratory in Sydney. Among the tests scheduled are
vacuum chamber and gas chromatography analysis. Piallaway, N.S.W. is about
340 kilometers (204 miles) northwest of Sydney. (See Australian UFO Reports
and Encounters #7 for September 1998. Many thanks to editor Robert Frola
for letting UFO Roundup quote from the issue.)
-
- UFO PHOTOGRAPHED ON A MOUNTAIN
IN CROATIA
-
- On Monday, September 7, 1998, photographer
Dijano Pavlinovic and a friend, Milivoj Vela, left their hometown of Podgora
in southern Croatia and hiked up to the Biokovo alpine valley. Along the
way, Pavlinovic shot many photos of flowers, hillsides and ridges. He
hopes to use them in a future exhibition entitled Flowers and Stones. While
developing the pictures at a photo shop in Podgora, Pavlinovic "nearly
fell on his bottom in surprise. Dijano, who is in love with his home area,
had apparently photographed something that apparently does not have any
connection" with the Biokovo region. "To be more precise, it
doesn't have any connection with any area on this planet." "'What
do you think this is?' Dijano asked, showing the photo to the owner of
the shop." "'Dijano! Mother of God, you have photographed a
spaceship!' the man said, crossing himself." All eight customers in
the shop rushed to have a look at the photo, "and everyone agreed
that Dijano had had a close encounter of the third kind." "Immediately,
several people of Podgora" hiked up to Biokovo "to see if the
aliens were still there." "So here was only this photograph--unexplainable
flash of the saucer above stones and plants, probably containing visitors
who didn't stop for food or coffee and who are not interested in when the
Split/Zagreb road (Highway 7) will be finished." Podgora is a small
city near the port of Ploche, about 275 kilometers (165 miles) south of
Zagreb, Croatia's capital. (See the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija
for September 10, 1998, page 5. Many thanks to Giuliano Marinkovic of
AGETI for this news story.)
-
- TRIANGULAR UFO SEEN BY FOUR
OVER WEYMOUTH
-
- On Sunday, August 30, 1998, at just after
10 p.m., Mark G. and three companions were "on a road near the old
coast road" in Weymouth, Dorset, UK when they spotted something unusual
in the sky. "One of our party noticed something and pointed, I think,
to the east," Mark reported. "I looked across and saw three
faint but glowing lights similar to stars, arranged in an irregular triangular
shape. They were also ten degrees above the horizon and moving across
the sky to the right, keeping the same elevation, heading south or southwest,
I think." "The triangular shape the lights made was actually
rotating clockwise as they were moving, and I got the impression that the
lights did not keep the same distance from each other as they rotated."
"The 'shape' was probably a little smaller than a coin at arm's length
and seemed to be several miles away. I had it in view for about eight
seconds and then lost sight, as it was going quite fast. It covered about
90 degrees of the horizon in this time. I told the others that I had lost
sight, but one of them still had it in view, saying several other lights
had appeared to the right. They also disappeared from view." Mark
added that he "cannot think of anything airbourne that would behave
in that way." Weymouth is on Britain's south coast about 110 miles
(176 kilometers) southwest of London. (Email Interview)
-
- TWO UFOs SPOTTED IN SOUTHERN
TURKEY
-
- On Saturday, August 22, 1998, at about
12:30 a.m., travel agent Hakan Solyer, his wife and his brother's wife
were on a quiet beach near Antalya, a Turkish city on the Mediterranean
Sea. Suddenly, "We saw two lights coming from the Olympos Valley,"
Hakan reported, "The UFOs were very close to each other and very fast.
The closest UFO to us was very bright. We did not see any colored lights
on their wings or hear any sound." The trio then spied a third UFO.
"They moved very fast, creating a delta-shape, and in a very short
time they became like stars and disappeared. For these reasons, we do
not think they were military jets. We could not see any stars for a while
in the area where they disappeared. Three of us observed them--my wife,
my brother's wife and myself." Antalya is on Turkey's south coast
about 360 kilometers (216 miles) southwest of Ankara, the national capital.
(See Filer's Files #36 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer, Eastern
director of MUFON for this news story.)
-
- TRIANGULAR UFO SEEN AT ENSCHEDE,
NETHERLANDS
-
- Triangular UFOs were seen in the Netherlands
during August, at the same time similar UFOs were observed over the Ardennes
forest in nearby France and Belgium. According to Dutch ufologist Andy
Denne of A.U.R.A., residents of Enschede, a city located 200 kilometers
(120 miles) east of Amsterdam, on August 1, 1998 "saw a lone dark
triangle. After watching the object flying in a straight line for 30 minutes,
it suddenly changed its course and shot off in the direction of the German
border." On August 12, 1998, other Enschede residents "observed
a triangular UFO with a bright white light at each corner. The witnesses
reported seeing the object three times" that night. This case was
investigated by UFO Werkgruppe Nederland, a UFO study group based in Enschede.
According to UFO Werkgruppe Nederland, "all of them (the witnesses)
saw the object in the evening at 11 p.m., 11:15 p.m. and at about 11:45
p.m." The first sighting reported "three lights in a triangle."
During the second sighting at 11:15 p.m., "the three lights were moving.
And later, seen by one of the witnesses, moving around each other."
During the third sighting at 11:45 p.m., "the three lights were again
in a triangular shape. There was no sound." (Many thanks to Errol
Bruce-Knapp and UFO Werkgruppe Nederland for this story.)
-
- DAYLIGHT DISC SIGHTED IN BIG
SPRING, TEXAS
-
- On Monday, September 7, 1998, at 2:40
p.m., ufologist Mike Harman was driving west on Interstate Highway I-20
near Big Spring, Texas (population 23,093) "when I suddenly had an
urge to look left out of my car window." "I spotted a silver
or gray-colored saucer moving in an easterly direction," Mike reported.
"I could make out the oval or saucer shape quite clearly...it had
no wings or tail. It reflected the sunlight as it went by. The UFO was
in view for approximately 10 seconds and was moving rather slowly throughout
the sighting." "If this object had been any smaller, I probably
would not have been able to make out its shape and eventually lost sight
of it as it moved into the clear blue sky." Big Spring, Texas is approximately
293 miles (469 kilometers) west of Dallas. (Many thanks to Mike Harman
for this news story.)
-
- POSSIBLE "MISSING TIME"
CASE IN TENNESSEE
-
- On Monday, September 7, 1998, at 9:30
p.m., college student Elizabeth G., age 18, left her friend's house to
drive home. It's a fifteen-minute drive. However, Elizabeth did not arrive
home until 10:45 p.m. Moreover, she has no recollection of driving on
Interstate Highway I-40 between White Pine (population 1,771) and Dandridge
(population 1,540), Tennessee. According to her mother, Patricia G., Elizabeth
"had just gotten on Interstate 81 south. She only remembers what she
thought was a semi truck's lights behind her--then waiting until the stop
sign changed at the 417 exit." The next thing Elizabeth knew, "she
was pulling into our driveway (at 10:45 p.m.), feeling disoriented, confused
and extremely anxious." The next day, Elizabeth found "a red
mark on the nape of her neck" that she could not explain. Patricia
explained that her daughter is a college freshman and a National Honor
Society student. The family, which formerly resided in Edgewood, New Mexico,
moved to Tennessee four years ago. Dandridge is located 31 miles (49 kilometers)
east of Knoxville, Tennessee. Both mother and daughter have been plagued
by recurring bouts of clicking or humming noises in the head, quite different
from conventional tintinnitis symptoms. (Email Interview)
-
- SKYWATCHER SPOTS UFOs IN TAYLORSVILLE,
KENTUCKY
-
- On Wednesday, September 9, 1998, skywatcher
Mary S. grabbed her 50X binoculars and went out in the backyard of her
home in Taylorsville, Kentucky (population 774). She decided to use the
"sun watch" technique in an effort to spot UFOs. She reported
several sightings. 9:40 a.m. - Mary spotted "a white oval shape at
about 55 degrees" above the horizon. "I watched until the object
vanished." 10:28 a.m. - "Small white oval objects moving, seemed
to zigzag about 60 degrees." 10:32 a.m. - "Bright white streak
(USAF jet?--J.T.) moving north to northeast about 80 degrees." 12:32
p.m. - "Several small white objects seemed to be floating, moving
south to southeast about 65 to 70 degrees." 1:07 p.m. - "A small
white vapor that made three small arches in the sky, although I could not
see a shape." 1:33 p.m. - "Swirls of vapor lasted about 8 seconds.
The swirls were constantly changing direction." 1:59 p.m. - "A
white oval shape about 85 degrees seemed to come from the south. It disappeared
after about five to seven seconds." Mary added, "I am a devout
Catholic and, as God is my witness, this is true. I know now for a fact
there are UFOs. This is nothing that can be explained away." Taylorsville
is at the intersection of Kentucky Highways 44 and 55, about 30 miles (48
kilometers) southeast of Louisville. (Email Interview)
-
- UFOs SIGHTED NEAR FAIRFIELD,
ILLINOIS
-
- Several local men, including a former
mayor, saw strange bright lights dancing in the sky at Pond Creek in Fairfield,
Illinois (population 5,439) on Wednesday night, September 2, 1998. According
to the Evansville, Indiana Courier, "A group of Wayne County men,
including a former Fairfield mayor and a police officer, say they saw strange
lights in the area Wednesday night." "The men, who were attending
a private gathering in the Pond Creek bottom near Fairfield, said a sequence
of bright white lights, then bright orange appeared about every five to
ten minutes for about an hour." "'They started shining up around
9:30 p.m.-- bright white lights dancing around in the sky,' said Fairfield
police officer Braden Willis. 'When the white light disappeared, we all
heard what sounded like distant thunder rolling toward us.'" "Harold
Tubbs, former Fairfield mayor, his son Richie and several Fairfield Municipal
workers told the Wayne County Sheriff's Department they saw the lights."
"One possible explanation was that the 101st Fighter Group out of
Terre Haute, Ind. (Indiana--J.T.) often flies in that area, said Jeff Light,
an Evansville, Ind. Regional Airport air traffic control spokesman."
"A spokesman for the National Weather Service at Paducah, Ky. (Kentucky--J.T.)
said there was no unusual weather phenomena Wednesday night." Fairfield
is on Illinois Highway 15 about 311 miles (497 kilometers) south of Chicago.
The town is also 55 miles (88 kilometers) northwest of Evansville, Ind.,
which has been the site of much UFO activity during the past few months.
(See the Evansville, Ind. Courier for September 4, 1998, "What's That?"
by reporter Len Wells. Many thanks to Errol Bruce-Knapp for forwarding
the newspaper article.)
-
- SATELLITE JINX SPREADS TO
BAIKONUR - TWELVE ORBITERS DESTROYED
-
- Finishing off the summer of 1998 was
the most catastrophic satellite disaster yet. On Thursday, September 10,
1998, Russia tried to launch a rocket carrying 12 commercial satellites
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in neighboring Kazakhstan. The Zenit-2 rocket
lifted off from Baikonur on schedule. However, five minutes into the flight,
the rocket engines suddenly and unexpectedly shut down. "The Ukrainian
manufacturer acknowledged it might be responsible, saying it was probably
a computer malfunction." Aboard the Zenit-2 were twelve Globalstar
communications satellites, "built by Space Systems Loral, a subsidiary
of Loral Space and Communications Ltd. of New York. The satellites were
going to be used as part of a $2.6 billion global hand-held mobile satellite
phone system, said company spokesman David Benton." According to news
reports, the rocket and its payload of satellites "partially burned
up" during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. (See the Providence, R.I.
Journal for September 11, 1998, "U.S. satellites destroyed in Russian-led
launch," page A-7) (Editor's Comment: We just keep losing satellites,
don't we? First the Galaxy 4, then the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
(SOHO), then the Vortex, then the Galaxy 10, now the Globalstar bunch.
No mention of this in the mainstream media, though. I wonder why...)
-
- from the UFO Files...
-
- 1978: ITALIAN BARBER MEETS
TWO SMALL ALIENS
-
- Twenty years ago, on September 17, 1978,
a UFO flap rocked the small community of Torrita di Siena in Italy. It
started at 8:15 p.m. "when a woman and her son saw a descending red
ball illuminating the area, and watched houselights black out." "Shortly
afterwards a barber got in his car and drove a few meters, when suddenly
his engine and lights went out as a bright object descended over the road
just ahead of his car." "Hovering about a half-meter over the
road was a 3-meter orange-red diameter domed disc with three light beams
extending to the road. A panel opened, and two humanoids about 1.2 meters
(4 feet) tall, wearing green coveralls and helmets with antennae, 'floated'
toward the car. They circled the car, apparently more interested in it
than the passengers. Then they entered the UFO which took off in a flash
of light and explosive sound." "Three scorched circles about
50 centimeters in diameter were found on the road surface, apparently correspinding
to the three lights beams." (See MUFON UFO Journal #153 for November
1980, "The Italian UFO Wave of 1978" by Richard Hall. See also
UNINVITED GUESTS by Richard Hall, Aurora Press, Santa Fe, N.M. 1988, page
297.)
-
- ____________________
-
- UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 by Masinaigan
Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post items from UFO Roundup
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