- UFOLOGISTS LOOK INTO AIR BATTLE
IN FINLAND
-
- Ufologists in Finland are looking into
a reported air battle between a Finnish jet fighter and a squadron of five
UFOs.
-
- According to Lars Osterman, the dogfight
took place on March 31, 1997 in northern Finland. Local researchers learned
of it when the pilot, whose name has been kept under wraps, phoned a radio
talk show and reportedly said he was "having trouble dealing with"
the experience.
-
- According to Osterman, the fighter was
an F-18A Hornet of the Suomen Ilmaviomat (Finnish Air Force--J.T.), which
was posted to the Lapin Lennosto (Far North Air Department) air base at
Rovaniemi, 400 kilometers (240 miles) north of Helsinki.
-
- The F-18 took off on "a routine
960-kilometer patrol of the border" with Russia. As the jet flew
over the frozen tundra southeast of Lake Inarijarvi, the pilot spotted
three discoid UFOs flying in a northeasterly direction.
-
- Going in for a closer look, the pilot
saw that "there seemed to be five saucers, instead of just three."
He then radioed Rovaniemi and advised them of the situation. Lapin Lennosto
Flight Control ordered him to intercept the objects.
-
- The five UFOs, described by the pilot
as "glowing orange objects," veered sharply to the northwest.
The F-18 pursued them to Ivalo, a city 200 kilometers (120 miles) north
of Rovaniemi. From there, the F-18 chased the saucers west to Inari, 40
kilometers (24 miles) to the northwest. Then the saucers darted eastward,
high above Lake Inarijarvi.
-
- The pilot told Flight Control that the
UFOs were breaking formation and requested permission to fire at them.
Flight Control responded, "Permission granted. Fire at will."
-
- The pilot got behind one glowing saucer
and lined it up with the reticule on his windshield "heads up"
display. But instead of picking up the "target acquisition tone"
in his earphones, he heard the raucous honk of an alarm.
-
- All at once, the targeting computer went
off-line. The "heads up" display disappeared. The F-18's firing
system for the 20mm cannon was also down. Instantly the pilot hit the "arming"
switch for his air-to-air missiles. The red Malfunction light began blinking
on the dashboard.
-
- According to Osterman, the saucers regrouped
and flew away to the east "at Mach 4 or 5. They had an orange glow
around them."
-
- None of the F-18's flight control systems
were affected, and the pilot returned safely to Rovaniemi.
-
- "They tested the computers for days
afterward but could find nothing wrong with them," he added.
-
- The saucers crossed the border and were
last seen heading for Talvikula in Russia. (Email Interview)
-
- MORE UFO SIGHTINGS REPORTED
IN ARKANSAS
-
- On Tuesday, December 29, 1998, at midnight,
a man named Cart was entertaining 20 guests at his home near Kelhi Avenue
in Sherwood, Arkansas (population 18,893), a suburb of Little Rock just
north of the Arkansas River, when they noticed a strange light in the sky.
-
- "We had it in view for 20 minutes,"
Cart said, "All twenty of us saw it. The UFO approached from the north,
maybe at 10 degrees above the horizon. There was a luminous aura all around
the craft. It was a green color. The UFO had a definite shape. We did
not hear any sound associated with this object."
-
- "I'd estimate that it was traveling
at about 120 miles per hour," he added. (Email Interview)
-
- Elsewhere in Arkansas, MUFON investigator
Christine Lippert has uncovered more strange sightings around the town
of Mountain Home (population 9,029), located 146 miles (233 kilometers)
north of Little Rock.
-
- "Andy Lewis, a pilot and former
airport commissioner, told The Bulletin he also saw the bright lights the
same night (November 12, 1998) as an anonymous caller, and in the same
general area--near Valley Airport."
-
- "Besides the two sightings of lights,
Lewis claims to have seen a gold object in the sky recently, too."
-
- "'I was so concerned about it, I
called the FAA. (Federal Aviation Administration--J.T.),' Lewis said."
He described the UFO as "gray in color with black stripes on the underside
of it. 'I'd never seen anything like that...I hope it doesn't come back.'"
-
- "A couple of other people in the
Cotter/Glassville area claim to have seen an object that was shaped like
a barrel, while a Mountain Home woman said she saw an object shaped like
a cigar in the sky as she was coming home from church Halloween night."
(See the Baxter Bulletin of Mountain Home, Arkansas for November 17, 1998,
"Odd sightings still reported" by Bruce Roberts. Many thanks
to Lou Farrish of UFO Newsclipping Service for forwarding this newspaper
article.)
-
- CHRISTMAS WEEK SEES UFOs ACTIVE
IN MICHIGAN
-
- On December 24, 1998, at 9:15 p.m., Michigan
ufologist Jeff Westover was driving home from Saginaw (population 69,100).
Near the intersection of Interstate Highway I-75 and Michigan Highway 20,
Jeff "first noticed the object low in the eastern sky (about 10 to
15 degrees above the horizon.) I first thought that a star or planet was
rising, as it twinkled and flared brightly in an orangeish color due to
atmospheric refraction. But I soon noticed it changing direction in relation
to the other stars above it."
-
- He described the UFO as "a flaring
amber light" that "just sat, drifted and flared. It did not
maneuver strangely."
-
- "I turned east on Michigan Highway
81 (ten miles south of the interchange) to get a better look at the light,"
Jeff reported. "It was now approximately 50 degrees above the eastern
horizon. The amber light quickly dimmed to a single point of light or a
very dim star. I noticed no FAA-compliant anti-collision strobes or wingtip
lights as it flew slowly above." (Email Interview)
-
- On Friday, December 25, 1998, at 7 p.m.,
a man visiting his parents in Memphis, Michigan (population 1,221), a town
on Highway 19 about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Detroit, "noticed
some colored lights in the southern sky."
-
- "There were about five different
lights that would start off dim and then get real bright, then fade off,
only to reappear," the witness reported. "I figured they could
be helicopters looking for something, shining a spotlight. I wanted to
get a closer look, so me and the old man took off in that direction. We
went about 10 miles south and found an open area with no houses (to impede
their view--J.T.) to stop and look up into the night sky."
-
- "At first they seemed to be gone.
But then two dim lights in the distance appeared periodically, not quite
as bright as before. So, after a half hour out there, we headed home.
But when we got home, they were back on the southern horizon, as bright
as ever." (Many thanks to Jeff Westover for referring this witness
statement.)
-
- On Tuesday, December 29, 1998, at around
9:30 p.m., two witnesses "were traveling eastbound on (Interstate
Highway) I-94." As they passed through Sunrise Heights (population
1,400), a town "30 or 32 miles east of Kalamazoo, somewhere between
mile markers 110 and 113," they spotted "a strange craft flying
very slowly about 20 feet (6 meters) up from the ground over the freeway."
-
- "At first glance, we thought it
was a LOW-flying airplane, but the craft had so many yellow lights (25
or more) across in a horizontal position. There was a central yellow light
that appeared brighter than the rest, which were blinking in sync."
-
- "Upon noticing this, and its shape
was so odd... we determined that the craft could not have been a helicopter
or an airplane." "Then, as we approached an area full of cell
(cellular telephone--J.T.) towers, the craft descended in a direct-vertical
motion, landing on the ground about 20 feet from the edge of the freeway
in a dark grassy area."
-
- Slowing the car to 20 miles per hour,
the pair took a closer look at the UFO, which they described as "an
upside-down spider...The middle was ball-like (spherical)...and it had
large arms/appendages on top coming out all over. And the arms/appendages
had holes through them in a vertical pattern. The arms seemed to be upright,
but bent out at an elbow and appeared to have a metal end coming from each
with a light at the tip. The craft seemed to be as large as a car but
wider."
-
- The UFO may have been seen by other motorists,
they added, "We are rueful that we didn't stop." (Many thanks
to Peter A. Gersten of CAUS for this news story.)
-
-
- BRILLIANT DISC SEEN IN HICKORY,
NORTH CAROLINA
-
- On Saturday, December 26, 1998, Paul
T. and his son were driving on Interstate Highway I-40 in Hickory, North
Carolina (population 28,301), a city 178 miles (285 kilometers) west of
Raleigh, when they saw "a strange object pass directly overhead."
-
- "The object looked like a shirt
button at arm's length," Paul reported, "Like a saucer on its
side. The object was a brilliant bright white. When I first saw the object,
it was almost directly overhead. I guess about 90 degrees. It moved westward
over a wooded area." "There was no sound whatsoever--none!"
"Although it moved westward, it made several zigzag maneuvers while
doing so," he added, "That is the only way I can describe it.
Nothing can move that way." (Email Interview)
-
-
- PULSATING UFO SIGHTED IN WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
-
- On Thursday, December 24, 1998, at 7:50
p.m., a UFO "with pulsating red, green and white lights was zigzagging
through the northern Goldfields sky" at Murrin Murrin, Western Australia.
-
- Security personnel at the Murrin Murrin
mine "watched the light for about a half hour on Christmas Eve."
-
- "The security officers said in their
report that the star began to pulsate red and green and white and travelling
up and down in jerking movements, with the red and green lights seeming
more round. It then moved lower and zigzagged from side to side before
emitting a burst of white light and disappearing below the tree line."
(See the Western Australian of Perth, W.A. for December 28, 1998, "Flashing
light heralds Santa." Many thanks to Patricia Ziegler for this newspaper
article.)
-
-
- RETIRED NURSE PHOTOGRAPHS
UFO IN TOOWONG, QUEENSLAND
-
- On November 6, 1998, retired nurse Madeleine
Patterson, 63, had a sudden strange urge to go outdoors and snap a photograph.
Grabbing her camera, she stepped out onto the backstairs of her home in
Toowong, Queensland, Australia and tapped the shutter.
-
- When the film was developed, she found
the image of a silver disc UFO in the photo.
-
- "I didn't see the UFO at all,"
Mrs. Patterson said, "What I had was a feeling there might be something
strange to photograph. It's something like when people get a feeling there's
going to be a storm."
-
- "Retired nurse Mrs. Patterson, who
is also a naturopath and nutritionist, has added the photograph to her
growing collection of photographs of cross formations and angels. It includes
six photographs of UFOs."
-
- "'These things are there for everyone
to see. All my life I've been interested in things that are beyond physical
and material spheres, and I watch these things closely.'"
-
- Mrs. Patterson also believes that ETs
exist. She said, "Otherwise, we'd be like cave people, thinking we
are the only people in the universe." (See Australia's Sunday Mail
for January 3, 1999, "The truth is out there. So are the UFOs"
by Elissa Lawrence, page 86. Many thanks to Diane Harrison for this newspaper
article.)
-
-
- TWO UFOs PUT ON DISPLAY IN
MASSACHUSETTS
-
- On December 10, 1998, at 9 p.m., a witness
near Route 44 in Middleboro, Massachusetts (population 6,837), a town about
43 miles (69 kilometers) south of Boston, "watched a strange, brightly-lit
craft" in the southern sky.
-
- "The craft had numerous red, green
and white lights. As the witnesses watched, it split into two UFOs."
-
- The two UFOs then performed a series
of dazzling aerobatic maneuvers over Assawompsett Pond, a large glaial
like just south of Middleboro. "The two crafts flew geometric patterns
at high speed around the sky." after which "the two UFOs combined
into one and shortly thereafter disappeared."
-
- A short while later, the witness reported,
a few jets, which he believed to be U.S. Air Force jet interceptors, flew
over Middleboro. (See Filer's Files #52 for 1998. Many thanks to George
A. Filer, Eastern director of MUFON, for allowing UFO Roundup to use this
report.)
-
-
- PRE-COLUMBIAN STONE CALENDAR
FOUND IN MIAMI
-
- Archaeologists believe they have discovered
a 4,000-year-old calendar stone used by the Tequesta people, an indigenous
Native American tribe who lived in Miami, Florida millenia ago.
-
- Planets such as Mars, Venus, Jupiter
and Saturn, plus familiar constellations, are visible on the stone, which
was discovered at a construction site on Bricknell Key back in August 1998.
-
- The stone measures 38 feet (11 meters)
in diameter and "is pockmarked with small dents and holes."
-
- "It's a striking find. The holes
could have been used to measure time, the sun, the stars," said Miami
archaeologist Paul George. "It shows tremendous intelligence on their
part, carving something like this using rudimentary tools."
-
- "The Tequesta disappeared shortly
after Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida in 1513, introducing
European diseases and war." (See the Miami Herald for December 28,
1998. Many thanks to "Colonel Churchward" for the newspaper article.)
-
- (Editor's Comment: So much for the "primitive
Tequesta shell fishermen" living on the shores of the Miami River!
The Tequesta artifact bears a strong resemblance to the Mayan calendar
stones. Which is no surprise, when you consider that southern Florida
is only 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of the Mayan homeland in Mexico's
Yucatan Peninsula.)
-
-
- MARS POLAR LANDER HAS SUCCESSFUL
LAUNCH
-
- Despite a temporary delay due to rainy
weather, NASA's Mars Polar Lander lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday,
January 3, 1999, heading for the Antarctic region of the planet Mars.
-
- The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) is the second
of NASA's New Millenium space probes. MPL's sister spacecraft, the Mars
Climate Orbiter, blasted off in early December 1998.
-
- "NASA's Mars Polar Lander is bound
for the fringes of Mars's south polar cap, the farthest south any spacecraft
has ventured on the Red Planet. It's due to arrive in December (1999) when
it's late spring and the sun never sets on Mars," i.e. the Martian
south pole.
-
- "The Polar Lander's goal is to find
ice in the Martian soil. Where there's water, NASA's top space scientist
says, there could be life." "'We have a lot of reason to believe
there's water on Mars in the form of ice," (NASA Space Sciences Division
boss Ed) Weiler says, "But until you actually land there and find
it and measure it, you can't say for sure. That's one thing I think this
mission will demonstrate.'"
-
- "The Polar Lander is three-and-a-half
feet (1 meter) tall and 12 feet (3.7 meters) wide. It has three legs as
well as a six-and-a-half foot (2 meter) robot arm with a scoop at the end
to scrape beneath the Martian surface. The collected dirt will be heated,
allowing any water present to vaporize and be detected by a laser."
-
- "The Polar Lander is also equipped
with a pair of probes that will peel away minutes before touchdown and
slam into the Martian surface at 400 to 500 miles per hour, about 60 miles
from the lander."
-
- "Like the lander, the twin probes
will hunt for water but at a much greater depth. They could penetrate
as deep as three feet. The question is whether they will survive the impact
and radio back data." (See USA Today for January 4, 1999, "Mission
searches for water on Mars," by Marcia Dunn, Associated Press, page
4A.)
-
-
- From the UFO Files...
-
- 1956: TWO UFOs APPEAR OVER ANTARCTICA
-
- On January 8, 1956, at the height of
the Antarctic summer, four scientists from Chile were camped out on the
icecap of the Weddell Sea, performing weather experiments as part of the
International Geophysical Year.
-
- The weather was clear, with a blue sky
and the sun low on the horizon. "One man stepped outside and noticed
'two metallic cigar-shaped objects in a vertical position, perfectly still
and silent and flashing vividly the reflected rays of the sun.'"
-
- "One of the objects was almost at
the mid-heaven, and the other at a distance of some 30 degrees from the
first...the things looked utterly solid, with smooth, polished seemingly
metallic surfaces. He called a second man to come look at the 'spindles.'"
-
- "Then they moved to another vantage
point about 100 yards away to see if some sort of atmospheric optical effect
could be causing them; they did not change appearance."
-
- "Upon returning to their tent area,
two more men also saw the objects. The two objects remained motionless
until 2100 hours (9 p.m.) when the uppermost object tilted into horizontal
position and started to brighten and emit several colors. Then it began
to move and executed a number of maneuvers (90 degree turns, zigzag flight,
instantaneous starts and stops, etc.) Then it came to a stop and hovered
again."
-
- "The second object then began to
fly around for three minutes like the first object had just finished doing,
and then it too stopped and hovered."
-
- "The two objects remained motionless
throughout that day and through the twilight that was to be their nighttime.
The four men were afraid, yet nothing happened. Then, late in the afternoon
of the second day (i.e. January 9, 1956--J.T.) clouds approached, the altitude
of which were known approximately. And using a theodolite, the altitude
of the objects was determined to be about 24,000 feet (7,275 meters) with
each cigar about 450 feet long and 75 feet in diameter."
-
- "One of the men aimed a polarized
spotlight at one of the objects which unexpectedly flashed a bright light
in return and descended in altitude."
-
- "After a 'long pause,' it rose again
to its original position and stopped. Then it conducted 'another fantastic
sky dance.' Its velocity was measured at 40,000 kilometers per hour (24,000
miles per hour) starting from a dead stop. The objects eventually disappeared
from view because of the clouds that came in." (See Flying Saucer
Review volume 14, number 3, March-April 1968 issue, article by Gordon Creighton,
page 20. See also PROJECT DELTA: A STUDY OF MULTIPLE UFO by Richard F.
Haines, L.D.A. Press, Los Altos, California, 1994, pages 96 and 97.)
-
-
-
- UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1999 by Masinaigan
Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO
Roundup on their websites or in newsgroups provided that they credit the
newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the
item first appeared.
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