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Incident At Las Piñas - Story #3

[Original headline: UN team wants more data on ‘saucers’]

Unable to identify unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seen in the evening sky over
Las Piñas last Sept. 3, scientists from the United Nations (UN) want more data to
explain the sighting.
Last Friday night, the seven-member team led by Dr. Jean Chu viewed a 40-
minute video of the phenomenon taken by Antonio Israel.
During the screening, they fired a barrage of questions at Israel like how the
dancing balls of light moved, what the conditions were at the time, and if he or his
neighbors were feeling anything unusual when they saw the
lights.
"It would be interesting if we gather more data, talk to the
neighbors who witnessed it, and find out if residents of other
neighboring places in Metro Manila were able to see them," Chu
said.
The scientists inspected Israel’s home, Israel said,
particularly the spot where he stood when he filmed the lights, suspected to be
extraterrestrial spaceships by those who saw them.
They also inspected Israel’s neighborhood and nearby streets to see if the lights
were caused by anything on the ground.
They asked him anything unusual happened like malfunctioning
electrical or mechanical gadgets or appliances at the time of the UFO
sighting.
They were at a loss for words after viewing the video. "Maybe
one can’t really say when given just that footage to look at," one
scientist told the STAR when asked if the lights were indeed alien
spacecraft.
Chu and her team, in town to study the Philippines’ disaster
preparedness, said photos of the UFOs which appeared in the STAR
on Sept. 20 piqued their interest.
Chu stressed that their visit to Israel’s home was a private one.
She told him that their field of study also delved into the connection between
strange environmental events and disasters taking place where the phenomena
occurred.
Experts from the Philippine weather bureau were likewise stumped by the video
footage. Israel said he and his neighbors who saw the spectacle were convinced that
the lights were alien spacecraft.

• Story originally published in •

The Philippines Star | by :Rainier Allan Ronda - September 29 2000

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Incident At Las Piñas - Story #2
[Original headline: ‘Saucer’ footage stumps authorities ]

Authorities couldn’t agree yesterday on the nature of the saucer-shaped flying

objects caught on video by a Las Piñas resident.
Air traffic controllers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City said
yesterday they have previously seen the "small balls of fire" which Las Piñas resident
Antonio Israel said he was able to capture on video.
But officials of the Manila Observatory at the Ateneo de Manila University in Que-
zon City said their telescope was not able to monitor what are believed to be
unidentified flying objects (UFOs) on Sept. 3, the night an entire neighborhood in Las
Piñas was all astir because of the phenomenon.
Las Piñas resident Antonio Israel fears authorities may
dismiss as mere "planetary illusions" the disc-like objects he had
recorded on 40 minutes of video tape, which he said he and his
neighbors had seen with their own eyes.
An air traffic controller, who requested
anonymity, told The STAR yesterday that they see
"every now and then" those "red balls of fire," but that they were merely
satellites or heavenly bodies.
"Yes, we have seen them before," he said.
He was on duty the night Israel said he saw the "small balls of fire
dancing frenetically in the evening sky," but added that they had not
bothered to log the "sightings of unidentified flying objects" nor talked
about them because they were not considered significant.
However, the air traffic controller said he was not competent to declare whether
or not the "small balls of fire" that Israel had captured on film were UFOs.
He suggested that Israel’s video footage be brought to an astronomer for
analysis, particularly to the University of the Philippines Observatory in Diliman, Quezon
City.
Assistant Secretary Jacinto Ortega Jr., Air Transportation Office (ATO) director,
told The STAR yesterday he will ask the air traffic controllers if they have seen the
"glowing, dancing, flying objects," and whether they have submitted a report to his
office.
"I have not received a report on the so-called ‘flying objects’ from our air
controllers," he said.
Ortega said the air traffic controllers, who were on duty on the night of Sept. 3,
did not find "anything significant" with the "red balls of light which at times turned white
and yellow, moved around and danced" in the sky.
"There are too many things that can be seen in the evening sky," he said.
On the other hand, Fr. Victor Badillo, member of the Manila Observatory’s upper
atmospheric observation office, told The STAR yesterday their telescope was designed
to monitor planetary bodies in outer space.
Badillo said the Manila Observatory could not have detected any UFO which
might have appeared in the sky over Las Piñas on Sept. 3 as these would have been
within the earth’s atmosphere.
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Badillo said he doubts if the ATO has the equipment or the technical capability to
detect or record the appearances of any UFO as in the case of the "incident" in Las
Piñas.
"Actually, all over the world, such instances of mysterious objects appearing in
the sky and being recorded on camera has already been reported before," he said. "The
problem is how to explain it."
Badillo said the UFO investigating team of the Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, led by Elmor Escosa, is the
most authoritative body which could determine the authenticity of Israel’s footage.
Badillo said Escosa has been studying for a long time all reported UFO sightings
in the country and abroad, and that he is the most knowledgeable in the field.
But Escosa told The STAR yesterday his team was not able to make a "thorough
investigation" of Israel’s video tape because the businessman does not want to entrust
the tape to them.
In an interview with The STAR the other day, Israel said he was keeping the film
"for the time being to ensure its security and exclusivity."
Israel said he had not yet shown the public several minutes of the video tape,
which may indisputably prove "the balls of fire" were actually alien space ships.
"I’m still waiting for the right time to show them," he said.

• Story originally published in •

The Philippines Star | By Rey Arquiza, Rainier Allan Ronda - September 21 2000

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Incident At Las Piñas - Story #1

[Original headline: Is the truth out there?]

A businessman was able to film what he claims were unidentified flying objects
(UFOs) hovering in the sky over his neighborhood in Silver Street, Carmela Homes IV in
Las Piñas last Sept. 3.
Antonio Israel, 37, told The STAR yesterday he was able to capture on video
"small balls of light dancing frenetically in the evening sky."
Israel said the 40-minute footage showed "at times one, three and up to 12 balls
(of light) bouncing in the clear night," and the "show" gave him and his neighbors a
"visual treat."
Israel said he had just awakened in his small office near his home at around 7:30
p.m. last Sept. 3, when he looked up the sky to "gauge the weather" and "two odd-
looking stars or big red circles" caught his attention.
The "red balls of light, which at times turned to white and yellow, moved around
and danced" in the evening sky, he added.
Israel said he immediately grabbed his handycam and ran out of the house to
film the "event" as his neighbors yelled excitedly while pointing at the UFOs.
The shouts of Israel’s neighbors could be heard in the background of the video
footage as the sight of UFOs made them gasp in awe and disbelief.
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Israel told The STAR that the UFOs were also seen by residents of nearby
barangays in Las Piñas, and possibly people living in Parañaque City.
To prove the film’s authenticity, Israel said he had shown it to a team of UFO
investigators from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA), led by Elmor Escosa.
Escosa told The STAR in a telephone interview they have already watched the
footage, but he refused to comment on it’s authenticity until they have made a "thorough
examination" of the video tape.
Escosa said his team had already talked with Israel and his neighbors who
vouched that the film is genuine and that they had seen the UFO with their own eyes.
Escosa said they have not yet "thoroughly examined" the footage because Israel
refused to entrust the video tape to them for study.
Israel does not also want to give The STAR a copy of the film, but allowed the
paper to take snapshots from the video footage.
Israel said his reason for keeping the video tape is to ensure its "safety and
exclusivity" and hopes that a scientific institution, either local or foreign, takes interest in
the film so it can be studied further.
Israel said it was an experience in itself watching the UFOs move in the sky, and
that it was an experience of a lifetime for him and his neighbors.
"I think those balls of light were really UFOs," he said. "Some people may
dismiss our claims as just a fruit of a fertile imagination but my footage will prove them
wrong."

• Story originally published in •

The Philippines Star | by :Rainier Allan Ronda - September 20 2000