- CHUPACABRA RAIDS HOME IN CAYEY,
PUERTO RICO
-
- On Thursday, December 24, 1998, at approximately
5 a.m., Luis Diaz heard a strange noise coming from the poultry yard behind
his house. But it wasn't Santa Claus--it was the Chupacabra! Diaz resides
in the Colinas Verdes section of barrio Beatriz in Cayey, a small city
at the intersection of Highways 1 and 167 about 33 miles (52 kilometers)
south of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hearing the odd sound, Diaz "upon
opening his window to investigate, was startled to see a strange animal
over his birds." "According to Diaz, the alleged Chupacabra killed
15 hens, two ducks and a variety of smaller poultry." The dead birds
showed "perforations in the neck and near the abdomen where the Chupacabra
supposedly sucked their blood." "'This animal either flies or
is capable of extremely high jumps,' Diaz said, noting that the strange
animal "'attacked them from above. It did not stop its attack for
any given moment.'" Strangely, "there were nine dogs at the Diaz
residence which did not bark at any time during the attack." "Diaz
described the creature as having copper- colored fur, very long hind legs,
short front legs and a broad body." "'I didn't believe in the
Chupacabra. I thought it was something else.'" But he quickly changed
his mind when he saw "'the creature attacking (his) chickens the same
day and killing them,'" Diaz said, adding that he would "stand
watch against the Chupacabra" to "protect the rest of his birds."
(See the newspaper El Vocero of San Juan, P.R. for December 24, 1998, "Chupacabras
Reappears in Cayey,' by Ivonne Y. Rosario. Many thanks to Scott Corrales,
author of CHUPACABRAS AND OTHER MYSTERIES, for forwarding the newspaper
article.)
-
- THOUSANDS WITNESS UFO OVERFLIGHT
IN MEXICO
-
- On Saturday, December 5, 1998, between
7 and 7:30 p.m., thousands of people in the states of Jalisco and Aguas
Caliente in Mexico watched a UFO described as "a very bright white
light" fly over the Sierra Madre mountains. The UFO was seen in the
cities of Chapala, Ocotlan, Tototlan, Yahualica, Teocaltiche, Villa Hidalgo
and Tepatitlan in Jalisco state and in Calvillo and Ciudad Aguascaliente
in Aguascaliente state. Many sightings were reported around Lago (Lake)
de Chapala, located in Jalisco state about 440 kilometers (275 miles) west
of Mexico City. According to eyewitness Karen H., who watched the UFO from
her mountainside home near Lago de Chapala, "The sky was clear, nothing
but stars. Apparently the light was seen from all over the state of Jalisco,
leading me to believe it was very high up and very bright. Because we
are in the Sierra Madre mountains, at approximately 5,200 feet (1,635 meters),
to me it appeared to be just a few kilometers away, over the south side
of Lake Chapala." "It had to have been very high, and I thought
it was maybe 1,000 to 2,000 meters (3,300 to 6,600 feet) high. But if it
was seen from Aguascaliente, the state north of us, then it would have
had to have been very high, maybe many kilometers up in the sky."
"The light was traveling west to northeast. They were saying it then
changed direction from west to southeast. There was no color, just bright
light like a large spotlight. At first my husband thought it was a helicopter
with a spotlight, but there was no noise. It seemed to move in a slow,
steady direction. From my perspective it changed direction at the last
moment." (Email Interview) (For more on the Jalisco mass sightings,
see the English-language newspaper Guadalajara Colony Reporter for December
7, 1998.) (Editor's Note: This type of "bright light" UFO was
first reported in the annals of Ixcoatl, the Aztec king who built Tenochtitlan--now
Mexico City-- back in 1431, the same year Joan of Arc was burned at the
stake. Aztec legends tell of a mysterious race called the Ixal (Nahuatl
for "Dark Ones"--J.T.), who are described as a "three-feet-tall
(0.9 meters) hairy black humanoid" who "flies through the air
and steals women." A similar "bright light" UFO was seen
over Tenejapa, in Chiapas state, on November 24, 1967 by California anthropologist
Brian Stoss.)
-
-
- GROUP INVESTIGATES UFO SIGHTINGS
IN ARGENTINA
-
- On Friday, December 11, 1998, the group
Red Argentina de Ovniologia (Argentinian Net of Ufology) held a press conference,
revealing that they have compiled a total of 40 UFO sightings in their
South American country during 1998. RAO coordinator Carlos Ferguson said
his group is investigating two intriguing cases of UFOs filmed hovering
over the South Atlantic seaport city of Mar del Plata, located 385 kilometers
(241 miles) south of Buenos Aires, the national capital. According to the
Argentinian news agency TELAM, "On August 27, 1998, an OVNI (Spanish
acronym for UFO--J.T.) was seen by witnesses near the harbor area of Puerto
Marplatense at 7:07 p.m.--a nocturnal hour in this part of the world--and
was captured on film during the 51-second encounter." "On September
12, 1998, at 7:30 p.m., witnesses who were in the harborside zone of Mar
del Plata saw a UFO and filmed it for 89 seconds." "'In both
cases, they saw luminous discs with certain circular or ovoidal forms,
with secondary lights, and traveling through a fringe of airspace,' said
Ferguson, who added that 'at the time, climactic conditions were good.'"
(Muchas gracias a Jesus Millan para esas noticias de TELAM.) (Editor's
Note: UFOs have been seen many times near the harbors of Argentina. In
June 1959, the Argentinian Navy chased an unidentified submerged object
(USO) in the Rio de la Plata south of Bueno Aires. And on September 30,
1964, a man saw luminous discs emerge from the sea and take off near Comodoro
Rivadavia.)
-
- SPHERICAL ORANGE UFO SPOTTED
IN MELBOURNE
-
- On Thursday night, December 24, 1998,
at 10:40 p.m., Darren B. was at his home in Sunshine, Melbourne, Victoria
state, Australia when his sister and her friend suddenly rushed outside.
"My sister and her friend rushed out of the house into the backyard,"
he reported, "It took me about a minute to get dressed and into the
backyard where I found my sister and her friend really shaken." "They
described seeing a bright orange ball of light in the sky at about the
height of an aircraft and as big as the moon, if it was full. It approached
from the northwest and travelled in a south-southeast direction before
vanishing behind the treeline. I didn't get out of the house in time to
witness the object, although I wish I had." "They saw it for
about a minute and said it was travelling in a straight line a bit faster
than an aircraft. There was no sound heard from it. They said it was
definitely not an aircraft or a meteor. The witnesses did not believe in
UFOs prior to their experience." (Email Interview)
-
- FAST FLYBY IN UTAH
-
- On Wednesday, December 23, 1998, at 9:15
p.m., Manuel F., his wife and a couple of other witnesses watched three
UFOs fly over the Wasatch mountain range in Park City, Utah (population
4,468). "Tonight...my wife and I saw three bright white lights in
a triangular formation silently streak across the sky at a tremendous speed,
at first in a straight line and then make a left turn and recede until
they disappeared, over the space of about five seconds. Did anyone else
see this?" Park City is a popular ski resort on the eastern slope
of the Wasatch range, located about 32 miles (51 kilometers) east of Salt
Lake City, the state capital. (Many thanks to Stig Agermose for forwarding
this item.)
-
- DESPITE MYSTERIOUS BLACKOUT,
NEAR PROCEEDS TO EROS
-
- The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)
spacecraft photographed its target--the asteroid Eros--as it began its
close approach on Wednesday, December 23, 1998. NEAR shot 28 images of
Eros between 10:44 a.m. and 12:44 p.m. During this period, the asteroid
completed 50 percent of a rotation. (Eros takes four hours to complete
a rotation on its axis. So one Earth day is equal to six Erosian days--J.T.)
As the spacecraft's camera clicked away, NEAR traveled four thousand miles
closer to Eros, going from a point 7,300 miles (11,100 kilometers) to 3,300
miles (5,300 kilometers) from the asteroid. NEAR's Multispectral Imager
recorded 1,100 images of the asteroid, "to determine the size, shape,
morphology, rotational status and color properties of Eros and to search
for small moons." The Infrared Spectrometer searched the asteroid
for minerals, while the onboard Magnetometer studied its magnetic field.
The last lap of NEAR's flight to Eros was not without mishap, however.
On Sunday evening, December 20, 1998, the mission team at Johns Hopkins
University began "a series of rocket firings" to "send the
small spacecraft into an orbit of Eros to complete a journey of almost
three years." "Contact was lost about 5 p.m. Sunday as the spacecraft
was being accelerated to catch the asteroid Eros at about 240 million miles
from Earth." NEAR suddenly "shut itself down and began running
in a so-called 'safe mode' just as its speed was being boosted by a series
of rocket engine firings." For the next 27 hours, there was no contact
with the robot spacecraft. "At about 8 p.m. ET Monday," December
21, 1998, NASA's Deep Space Network "located the craft's signal."
"'I think we're pretty much convinced the signal was there all along,'
said Helen Worth, a spokeswoman for the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, which build the craft." "But
even a small deviation in the position of the spacecraft could have caused
scientists to lose the signal, she said." "NEAR is to spend almost
a year orbiting within nine miles of the surface of Eros, a brick-shaped
object 25 miles by 9 miles in size. Using six instruments, the robot will
probe the asteroid and determine its chemistry, mineral content, mass and
density." (See USA Today for December 23, 1998, "Spacecraft
back in contact but orbit of asteroid delayed," and the Boston, Mass.
Herald of December 22, 1998, "Spacecraft found after going MIA.")
(Editor's Comment: Here we go again. Another Earth spacecraft that rotated
out of position, just like the Galaxy IV back in May. Why did NEAR suddenly
go into "safe mode" defensive position? Did its onboard radar
pick up something making an approach? Questions, questions...)
-
- PREHISTORIC WRITING FOUND
IN EGYPT
-
- "Clay tablets uncovered in southern
Egypt from the tomb of a king named Scorpion might represent the earliest
known writing by humankind, an archaeologist said Tuesday." "Gunter
Dreyer, head of the German Archaeological Institute, said the tablets record
linen and oil deliveries made about 5,300 years ago as tithe (taxes) to
King Scorpion the First." (Editor's Note: Or about 500 years before
Menes united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt and crowned himself
Pharoah.) "He said the tablets have been carbon-dated with certainty
to between 3300 and 3200 B.C." "The Egyptian writings, in the
form of line drawings of animals, plants and mountains, are the first evidence
that hieroglyphics used by latter-day Pharoanic dynasties did not 'rise
as Phoenix from the ashes' but developed gradually, Dreyer said."
"'Linguists now have a larger history (of writing) to regard,' he
said." "The bulk of Dreyer's discovery is from Scorpion's tomb
in a cemetery in the Suhag province, 300 miles south of Cairo." (See
USA Today for December 16, 1998, "Ancient writings, a timeless subject."
page 3A.) (Editor's Comment: Among the pictographs found by Dreyer is
the "warrior-with-shield" motif. Curiously, this same figure
is found on the seals of the Harappan civilization at Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan,
on the rongorongo boards of Rapanui (better known as Easter Island), on
the rock art of southern Algeria. And now, here it is on the clay tablets
of pre-Pharaonic Upper Egypt.. Wonder what it means...)
-
- From the UFO Files...
-
- 1909: DUFFY'S ENCOUNTER
-
- Wrapping up this year's look back at
the December 1909 "airship" flap in New England, UFO Roundup
presents this incident, which took place in Lynn, Massachusetts, near Boston,
on December 23, 1909, the night thousands of Christmas shoppers watched
a mysterious object hover over Boston. At 7 p.m., James Duffy of Silsbee
Street, Lynn, was walking down Union Street in that community "when
his attention was attracted by a swishing sound similar to that made by
a flock of wild geese directly over his head." "Gazing upward,
he said he saw four bright lights and a big black object which was travelling
at such a high rate of speed that he was able to obtain only a fleeting
glimpse of it." (See the Lynn, Mass. Evening News for December 24,
1909. See also Fortean Studies, volume 1, "The New England Airship
Invastion of 1909" by Joseph Trainor, page 67.)
-
- LAST REFLECTIONS ON THE YEAR: Well, believe
it or not, this wraps up Volume 3 of UFO Roundup. Once again, your editor
would like to take this opportunity to thank the many readers who contributed
news items and news stories to UFO Roundup. Thanks, people. Without you,
I never could have gotten the job done. As the year closes, let me welcome
aboard our new readers from Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Austria, Sweden,
Ecuador, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Stick with us, gang, as we plunge headlong
into Nostradamus's big year---1999. UFO Roundup will continue to provide
attribution whever possible for each item that appears in the newsletter.
UFO Roundup will also diligently protect the confidentiality of UFO witnesses
who are interviewed by our newsletter. No witness's full name or address
will be published unless that witness gives UFO Roundup specific and explicit
permission to do so in writing. Once again, I'd like to reiterate the UFO
Roundup Pledge--to bring you complete and comprehensive coverage of the
continuing drama of the unidentified flying object. Here's wishing you
all a "Happy New Year!" from "the paper that goes home--UFO
Roundup."
-
- UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 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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