- Lancashire UFO Society was contacted
by the Red Rose Radio chat-show host Tony Newman on Friday 10th October
regarding 35 phone calls received from listeners relating to UFO sightings
over the Lancashire Coast the previous night. Tony is known for his interest
in UFOs and LUFOS has built up a good relationship with him as a result
of detailed investigations, our reputation as sensible researchers and
our grass roots activism.
-
- Two of the calls received on the Thursday
phone-in programme were from HMS Shetland. The young man dealing with all
the calls for Newman could only remember that it was "HMS Sh"
- it was his first night on the job by all accounts! Baptism by fire no
doubt!
-
- The caller insisted that a large UFO
with a bright light was approaching the ship which was operating off the
Lancashire Coast at the time, possibly in relation to the Conservative
Party Conference at Blackpool.
-
- Eric Morris of the British UFO Studies
Centre (in the Navy from 1970-1985), who has just formed the Northern Federation
of Indepedent Ufologists with Lancashire UFO Society and the Pendle, Hyndburn
UFO Group and other indepedent researchers, immediately contacted "Navy
News" to see whether the they or the MOD could confirm any of these
details. "Navy News" phoned the MOD.
-
- A woman from the MOD phoned 15 minuted
later to confirm to Eric that HMS Shetland, a new 60 metre ship with sloped
funnels, pennant number (P) 298 was indeed off the Lancashire Coast at
the time.
-
- (Tim Matthews and Rory Lushman were witnesses
to the conversation.)
-
- Has an incident involving HMS Shetland
and a UFO taken place? The implication are enormous if it has......
-
- Calls to Blackpool Airport, Coastguard,
operators of Laser light shows etc etc have not borne fruit.
-
- The last week has seen unprecedented
UFO activity with "unbelieveable" video footage being filmed
in East Anglia, sightings in Southern England reported to us as well our
phone calls relating to anomalous lights and "spinning discs"
in the Blackpool, Bamber Bridge, Burnley, Southport and Crosby areas of
the North West.
-
- Once again our groups have been at the
forefront of investigations. Our focus has as usual been upon details and
upon correct reporting procedures.
-
- This is an example to everyone. We recently
formed the National Campaign Against UFO Secrecy, a moderate though active
campaign calling for the release of all government-held UFO documents.
The Campaign has already been joined by 9 groups and received the support
of top researcher Nick Redfern, whose new book on the subject of government
UFO investigations entitled "A Covert Agenda" is on sale now.
-
- In addition, we have received coverage
in many local newspapers, on the radio and on TV. Let us hope that the
whole movement can pull together on the question of secrecy at least.
-
- And let us hope that witness confidentiality
will be respected. At a time when it was hoped that the problem of UFO
researchers giving names of witnesses to journalists had been sorted out,
we learn to our horror that a "respected" welsh ufologist has
given personal details of "Close Encounter" witness to a reporter.
This kind of thing must be stamped out.
-
- Unless we get a grip, start to follow
a basic code of practice (as laid down by BUFORA for instance) and follow
a strict methodology we will forever be written off as alien cultists more
concerned with belief not fact.
-
- If our groups can work together then
so can others. Not only have we agreed to standardize our reporting procedures
but also to abandon our separate group magazines in order to produce a
joint effort entitled "UFO NEWS".
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