Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CIRCULAR EVIDENCE
MUFON UFO JOURNAL
(USPS 002-970)
(ISSN 0270-6822)
FROM THE EDITOR
103 Oldtowne Rd.
Seguin, Texas 78155-4099 U.S.A. Our apologies for the lateness of the Journal due to the
Symposium and other unavoidable considerations. We hope to
DENNIS W. STACY
be back on our regular schedule soon. Because of the
Editor chronology of controversy surrounding the Gulf Breeze case,
some material intended for this issue has been bumped back. In
WALTER H. ANDRUS, JR.
International Director and next and future numbers we'll feature a lively exchange of
Associate Editor letters, in-depth articles from Michael Persinger, the Rev. Barry
THOMAS P. DEULEY Downing, Loren Gross and others, Symposium coverage and
Art Director pictures, a delightful piece on photographic trickery from Clive
MILDRED BIESELE Tobin (including how-to samples!), and our regular departments
Contributing Editor and columns you've come to appreciate. Many favorable
ANN DRUFFEL comments were received in Lincoln regarding recent improve-
Contributing Editor ments in the Journal's contents and appearance. For these we
are appreciative and hope the same can still be said a year from
PAUL CERNY now.
Promotion/Publicity
MARGE CHRISTENSEN
Public Relations
REV. BARRY DOWNING
Religion and UFOs
In this issue
LUCIUS PARISH FROM THE EDITOR Dennis Stacy 2
Books/Periodicals/History EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTER HYPOTHESIS . . . . Peter Rojcewicz 3
ROSETTA HOLMES GULF BREEZE, FLORIDA PART IV Ware, Flannigan, Andrus 9
Promotion/Publicity CIRCULAR EVIDENCE Colin Andrews 11
"PREHISTORIC" UFOS Thomas E. Bullard 14
T. SCOTT CRAIN EXPERT VOUCHES FOR MJ-12 PAPERS Robert Bfetchman 16
GREG LONG ARKANSAS SIGHTINGS EdMazur 17
MICHAEL D. SWORDS LOOKING BACK Bob Gribble 18
Staff Writers CUTLER CORRECTION Bruce S. Maccabee 20
TED PHILLIPS UFO CONFERENCE 21
Landing Trace Cases JULYNIGHTSKY WalterWebb 22
DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE Walt Andrus 24
JOHN F. SCHUESSLER
Medical Cases
LEONARD STRINGFIELD
UFO Crash/Retrieval
WALTER N. WEBB
Astronomy The Mutual UFO Network, Inc. is exempt from Federal Income Tax
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. MUFON is a
NORMA E. SHORT
publicly supported organization of the type described in Section 509(a)(2).
DWIGHT CONNELLY
Donors may deduct contributions from their Federal Income Tax. In
DENNIS HAUCK
addition, bequests, legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts are deductible for
RICHARD H. HALL
Federal estate and gift tax purposes if they meet the applicable provisions
ROBERT V. PRATT
of Sections 2055, 2106, and 2522 of the code.
Editor/Publishers Emeritus
(Formerly SKYLOOK)
The series of articles published in hoax, Journal readers will be the first gists have better things to do with
the March, April, May and June 1988 to know. Up until this time it was their valuable time and resources
issues of the MUFON UFO Journal considered to constitute either one of than spend endless hours listening to
under the above heading have carried the most incredible cases in UFO his- tales of UFO visitations from Mr. X."
a disclaimer stating MUFON's posi- tory or a most fantastically orches- After passing two polygraph tests on
tion with respect to this controversial trated hoax, one that would challenge February 18 and 23, 1988, CUFOS's
case. As we have said, we are break- the production skills of Steven Spiel- Scientific Director and Investigator
ing a precedent by inviting our read- berg to duplicate. If the reader had Coordinator publicly insulted the wit-
ers to join the team of field investiga- access to the CUFOS Bulletin dated ness by saying, "It is well known that
tors via the pages of the Journal in April 1988, it stated, "The Gulf sociopathic personalities can pass lie
their search for evidence and answers Breeze photographs taken by Mr. X detector tests even when telling false-
to the incredible photographic case are most probably a hoax." It also hoods. CUFOS does not put much
that may be classified as a CE I, CE stated that "CUFOS expects this stock in the results of any lie detector
II, CE III and now a CE IV case. statement to be both the first and last test."
If this case is exposed as a grand one we make on Gulf Breeze. Ufolo- Mark Rodeghier, president and scien-
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
tific director and Jerome Clark, IUR exposure could be taken with Ed's ing. Obviously, they were embar-
editor were not content with the 14-year-old Polaroid. Analysis was rassed for the premature article in
CUFOS Bulletin's "first and last state- provided on the photographs taken the CUFOS Bulletin and the Interna-
ment," but devoted extensive cover- with the NIMSLO 3-D camera supp- tional UFO Reporter.
age to the Gulf Breeze Case in the lied by Tom Deuley of San Antonio Your MUFON Director was also
March/April 1988 Volume 13, Number and the self-referencing stereo camera very disappointed in the tactics employ-
2 of the International UFO Reporter composed of dual Polaroid Sun 600 ed by Mr. Boyd, since I initially
along with artwork on pages 13 and LMS cameras on a boom and mount invited him to join the Gulf Breeze
24 relating the object photographed suggested by Dr. Maccabee and built investigative team as the CUFOS
to hoax cases. It would not be in by Ed. Preliminary computer enhance- Investigator Coordinator and our new
good taste to debate each item of the ment was demonstrated via slides on State Director for Alabama, as a
misinformation published in Jerome a few of the questionable photos to cooperative action between MUFON
Clark's editorial titled, "111 Breeze" or eliminate skeptics' accusations. and CUFOS. (His report, "The Other
Mark Rodeghier's article "Gulf Breeze: Obviously, Dr. Maccabee had spent Side of the Coin," to CUFOS and a
A Note to the Committed," even hundreds of hours in his thorough select group of investigators familiar
though both consisted of public ridic- study of the case and photographs. with the case was in direct contradic-
ule of the MUFON investigative team's He is a world renowned UFO photo tion to good investigative practices,
work on this case. These gentlemen analyst. Dr. Robert Nathan of J.P.L. procedures, and policies.)
simply joined the crowd of "armchair in Pasadena, California, the inventor The charges that Ed was a hoaxer
ufologists" who injected themselves of computer photo enhancement, did were dispelled when he and his wife
into the case without having the not perform an analysis of the photo- Frances attended the symposium incog-
facts. graphs, but relied on the results of nito and volunteered to submit to a
Even before the April CUFOS Bulle- Bruce. barrage of questions and answers
tin was mailed, Mark Rodeghier and After seeing and hearing Dr. Mac- privately at the MUFON Board of
Jerome Clark were contacted by tel- cabee's in-depth presentation, the Directors Meeting. Ed and Frances
ephone or letter and advised by Budd majority of the audience was con- were open, frank, and sincere in their
Hopkins, Dr. Bruce Maccabee, and vinced that the Gulf Breeze Event answers concerning their community
Walt Andrus, that a hoax announce- was a very strong case and definitely relations as a businessman and both
ment was premature because the not a hoax. For a detailed account of as civic leaders. They were reluctant
investigation was still being conducted Dr. Maccabee's presentation, please to meet with CUFOS personnel due
and the photographs analyzed. CUFOS refer to the MUFON 1988 Interna- to the lies that Bob Boyd had written
leadership apparently had more faith tional UFO Symposium Proceedings about them and the inflammatory
and confidence in the misinformation for his paper titled "A History of the articles in the CUFOS publications.
being fed to them in Chicago by Gulf Breeze, Florida Sighting Events," This is certainly understandable.
Robert D. Boyd, their Investigator pages 113 through 204. Dr. Maccabee The CUFOS leadership will undoubt-
Coordinator in Mobile, Alabama, than literally demolished the objections edly go back to the drawing board
in the advice of Hopkins, Maccabee, and accusations of a host of skeptical and ask themselves many questions.
and Andrus who personally went to "armchair ufologists" with documented Why did Mark Rodeghier listen to
Gulf Breeze to investigate the inci- evidence, photo analysis and physical Bob Boyd and disregard the advice of
dent. Mark Rodeghier had the good measurements. Maccabee, Hopkins, and Andrus?
judgment to place considerable confi- During the question and answer Regardless of whether this case had
dence in the results of Dr. Bruce period on Sunday afternoon, Jerome been a hoax or conversely, a strong
Maccabee's photographic analysis, how- Clark was asked "what he thought of and very significant UFO event, many
ever, he became overzealous and did the Gulf Breeze Case now?" His brief lessons have been learned from the
not wait for the factual evidence and answer was "interesting". Since sev- experience which should influence
the analysis to be completed. eral of the CUFOS officers attended future investigations. It is sad that
On Saturday evening, June 25, the symposium, semi-private meetings CUFOS as a scientific UFO organiza-
1988 at the MUFON 1988 Interna- were held by Donald Ware with tion did not apply scientific investiga-
tional UFO Symposium in Lincoln, Jerome Clark, Donald Schmitt and tion principles and research instead
Nebraska, Walt Andrus presented a Nancy Conrad to answer questions of relying on historical patterns to
slide-illustrated lecture on the Gulf on Sunday morning. Sunday evening prematurely declare that the case
Breeze Case in conjunction with Dr. Walt Andrus met with Donald Schmitt was a probable hoax. As Mr. Ed has
Bruce S. Maccabee, who provided a and George Eberhart to provide fac- proclaimed — "The truth will prevail."
photo analysis, addressing discrepan- tual information, since they had unwit- It now appears that the CUFOS
cies in some photos pointed out by tingly accepted the distorted informa- leadership has accepted the fact that
skeptics, various methods of hoaxing tion supplied by Robert D. Boyd. this is indeed a very significant UFO
a UFO photograph, actual measure- Both Don and George seemed shocked case and deserves further in-depth
ments of the craft and distances from by the revelations of the truth, since study. The MUFON investigator's
the camera. He demonstrated to Ed they had been "taken-in" by Bob team will continue to be available for
and Charles Flannigan how a double Boyd's prejudiced and biased report- this purpose. It is our prayer and
10 MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
hope that a reconciliation of philo- petent team of investigators can now events surrounding his May 1st pho-
sophy will be reinstated between concentrate on the numerous other tographs will be published as Part V
CUFOS and MUFON. cases that have been reported to in the August 1988 issue of the
The Gulf Breeze investigation will them since last November, since it MUFON UFO Journal. As we origi-
continue with professional hypnosis appears that the stereo photographs nally promised, the readers of the
sessions to help reveal what hap- made by Ed in Shoreline Park on MUFON Journal will be the first to
pened to Ed and several other people May 1st marked the end of his fami- know the ultimate decision on the
in the immediate locale who have had ly's traumatic and terrifying experien- Gulf Breeze UFO event. Yes, it is
unusual experiences. He wasn't the ces. (Nothing further has happened one of the most significant cases in
only person to view entities in north- to Ed, Frances, or their children as of UFO history and you read it here
western Florida and southeast Ala- July 6, 1988.) first. Stay tuned!
bama. Don Ware and his very com- More detailed information on the
Circular Evidence
By Colin Andrews
Article and Photographs Subject to Copyright ©1987
Between May 8 and August 29, rings can be clearly seen with the hill about the circles in The Times that
1987 no less than 63 circles and two behind rising up to Bratton Castle. day were above the White Horse
individual rings were found in fields An event which occurred a few min- when they spotted this circle and our
across Southern England. As if this utes after this photograph was taken team below the Bratton Castle escarp-
number were not enough, during the could be significant and will be ment on which they were standing.
same period I also received reports referred to later. George Wingfield, his wife and two
that the same kind of phenomena This huge 30.28 meter diameter young sons walked down the steep
was appearing in France and Australia. formation was one of many to appear hillside towards the edge of the field
Our team of investigating engineers in the area on August 8, 1987. The in which were the circle and two
and scientists, including a member of large 16.3 meter diameter circle con- Saturn rings. Mrs. Wingfield sat down
the British Parliament and a retired sisted of flattened wheat plants, swirled on the hillside and held on to her two
British diplomat, are quite confident around in a tight 2.25 revolution dogs to keep them out of the corn-
that the cause of these mysterious "Catherine Wheel" pattern. The plants field, but for no reason she felt
compressions are not meteorological, were not as firmly pressed to the uneasy and decided to continue on
nor are they hoaxes of any kind. The ground as many we had seen before. down.
extensive data now gathered at our The inner ring was one meter wide, Her husband and sons were walk-
base in Andover, Hampshire indicates varying by a few centimeters in pla- ing down some yards in front of her
some form of intelligence is involved, ces. The wheat had been pushed and as she lifted her eyes from the
probably working in tandem with the down with similar pressure swirled steep bank she was surprised by a
magnetic field around our planet and anti-clockwise. The outer ring was blue flashing light which appeared to
could be an aerial entity of some slightly wider but this time the plants come from overhead and sweep
kind. were pushed down clockwise. The across the ground in front. The light
A number of equally intriguing standing walls surrounding the forma- swept the ground as if reflecting off a
occurrences have been experienced tion were as upright as ever, appar- shiny surface which was spinning.
not only by our team but also by ently totally unaffected by the event. The following words are those con-
members of the public close to these Weather data supplied by the Brit- tained in a written statement given to
sites. Two of them are referred to in ish Meteorological Office was checked us by Mrs. Wingfield.
the following extracts from a book for the possible time of arrival of the "I had suddenly felt uneasy and as I
called Circular Evidence which it is formation and again drew a blank. walked down towards the circle I saw
hoped will be published shortly in The wind direction varied from 280° blue flashes on the ground which
Great Britain by Souvenir Press. The to 270° and mean speed from 6.3 occurred with regular frequency. This
book is co-authored by myself, an knots to 9.3 knots over the period. happened with the evening sun shin-
electrical engineer and Mr. Pat Del- August 8 was overcast with only 0.1 ing and was quite distinctive but was
gado, a retired N.A.S.A. engineer. hours sunshine and a temperature not seen by my husband or sons who
maximum of 16.9 C. Rainfall showed a were further down the hill. The
BRATTON -1987 trace. The high hill nearby was to the flashes appeared like reflections from
south of this field and consequently something unseen and occurred every
You can see in Plate 1 (cover) the ruled out formation by some new second or possibly with shorter fre-
only double-ringed circle known to unknown kind of weather vortices quency. They were like the reflec-
us. The team is carrying out the forming in the lea of a hill. tions from a blue reflector on, say,
investigation inside the circle. Both The Wingfield family who had read the slowly rotating blades of a helic-
11
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
Plate Two: Westbury Circle ©1987 Colin Andrews
opter. When the sun passed beyond Dyke, who found the quintuplets also independent ring yet found and like
a cloud, the blue flashes ceased." saw this single circle in the middle of the other one at Kimpton, near
Another 15.6 meter diameter circle a field between Westbury village and Andover, Hampshire, it was in a field
had one of the most spectacular floor the famous White Horse. with a nearby circle. The same phen-
patterns we had seen. The radial Plate 3 shows this field and others omena appeared to be responsible for
swirl was so impressive it felt just too in which many circles have appeared both circles and rings.
good to walk on. The floor had a dis- in recent years. The most recent can
tinct similarity to the effect one sees be seen bottom center, just two days In addition, we have thoroughly
at a fireworks display when the more after it appeared and as photographed investigated a photograph taken by
expensive fireworks rockets explode by us during our reconnaisance on Busty of Pat and I in the circle. In the
at high altitude, throwing out hundreds Saturday, August 8, 1987. Our trip picture, a white, disc-shaped object
of radial lines of burning phosphorous. was memorable; not only did we could be seen about 18 cms. from the
This circle in a Westbury cornfield observe and photograph the six cir- swirled center of the circle. Pat and I
took on a 0.5 revolution, anti-clock- cles, but we found others. We were both appeared to be looking at this
wise swirl as though the entity pro- quite confident fifteen circles had object but neither of us can recall
ducing the circle was revolving. Plate appeared around the town of War- why we were looking in that direc-
2 shows Pat and Busty in the circle minster in less than 24 hours. Most tion. We certainly did not see any-
with the White Horse on the hillside were less than 12 hours old when thing of that description at the time.
in the background (Plate 3). Tens of discovered. The sun had just set behind Busty
wheat stems were broken, many of My photographs of this circle, when the picture was taken, which
them thrown out on to the surround- taken from the aeroplane, were being would seem to rule out light refraction.
ing area. The force involved was so entered into the file when I noticed We have taken highly magnified
great it caused the dry crusted sur- an unusual marking in the field on prints of this object which also
face soil to break up into powder. one of them, some 35 meters southwest appeared on the negatives. They
We gathered at Old Sarum airfield to of the circle. Under the magnifying show a very clear disc-shaped object,
await the arrival of our aircraft. We glass I was sure this was a narrow, bright white in color and with well-
planned a reconnaisance that would single ring. I telephoned Dr. Terence defined edges, it remains another
take us over the new set of five cir- Meaden, who lived much nearer the facet to the subject we are frankly
cles at Upton Scudamore, which site that I, and asked him if he would unable to account for. We have
were formed sometime between dusk check it out. Two hours later, he learned how important it is to keep
on August 6 and approximately mid- called me and confirmed it was as I an open mind and remain flexible in
day on August 7. The pilot, Barry had thought, only the second known receptivity. (Disc. Plate 4)
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988 13
"Prehistoric" UFOs: A Review
By Thomas E. Bullard, PhD.
Dr. Bullard holds a doctorate in Clark (Jan. - Feb. 1965, July - Aug. tion Trojan Horse (1970), David M.
folklore from Indiana University 1966, July - Aug. 1967), Lucius Parish Jacobs' The UFO Controversy in
where he wrote his dissertation (May - June 1965), Clark and Parish America (1975), and Paris Flam-
on UFOs. His last appearance (Sept. - Oct. 1968, Jan. - Feb. 1969), monde's UFO Exist! (1976). As the
here was a comparative summary Donald B. Hanlon (Sept. - Oct. 1966) literature has grown, so has the need
of UFO abduction reports. and Hanlon and Jacques Vallee (Jan. for self-correction. The Leroy, Kan-
- Feb. 1967) detailed sightings and sas, "calfnapping" case made famous
What Charles Fort started when he landings from a dozen states. Airship by Vallee in Anatomy of a Pheno-
collected old reports of strange aerial articles spread to Fate with an article menon (1965) proved to be a hoax
phenomena has continued as a dis- by Parish (Nov. 1966) and a series of when researched in depth by Clark
tinctive and vigorous branch of ufol- three articles there by Clark and (Fare, Feb. 1977), and H. Michael
ogy today. Historical research lures Loren Coleman (May - July 1973). Simmons exposed the equally familiar
investigators with the hope of digging Clark and Parish again collaborated Aurora, Texas, crash in his article,
out bygone sightings and even un- during the mid-1970s in articles for "Once Upon A Time in the West"
known fossil evidence for a whole lost Saga's UFO Report. Parish carried (Magonia, Aug. 1985).
world of past observations and beliefs on a column about historical UFOs In several books the airships have
by which to gain a unique perspective with emphasis on 1897 in Skylook moved to center stage. They occupy
on the present. Takers have been throughout 1972. a large fraction of Mysteries in the
many and diligent. The result is a Geographically specialized articles Skies: UFOs in Perspective, by Gor-
growing but scattered literature too appeared as early as 1938, in the win- don I.R. Lore and Harold H. Deneault
often overlooked and unappreciated. ter issue of Prairie Schooner, when (1968), and Loren Gross devoted The
This review will highlight some of the Rudolph Umland published an ac- UFO Wave of 1896 (1974) to a
important contributions to pre-1947 count of the airship over Nebraska, detailed study of the first phase of the
historical research. based on WPA research in newspap- wave. The most extensive investiga-
ers from that state. A second article tion of sources ever undertaken was
PHANTOM AIRSHIPS on Nebraska airships, authored by completed recently by Robert G.
Roger L. Welsch, appeared in the Neeley, Jr., who spent three years
The chief focus and biggest find of 1979 volume of Nebraska History. travelling throughout the country to
historical ufology is the phantom air- Robert G. Neeley, Jr. presented an search some 5,000 newspapers for
ship wave of 1896-97. Fort turned up exhaustively researched record of the airship reports. His The Airship Chron-
a few reports from April 1897 in the airship in Illinois in the Journal of icle, published by the Fund for UFO
New York newspapers, and Donald UFO Research (1979), George M. Research, summarizes the sightings
Keyhoe referred to a lighted airship Eberhart followed the ship through he uncovered in some 2,500 entries
over the Midwest in his list of old Ohio (Pursuit, Winter 1977), and and offers a definitive record of this
sightings in The Flying Saucers Are Hanlon's 1966 article covered activity largest of airship waves.
Real (1950). In his first UFO book, in Texas. Dale M. Titler added a
Flying Saucers (1953), skeptic Donald Canadian and Siberian phase to the THEORIES
H. Menzel extended the wave in time wave with reports of a stray balloon
and space with reports from Califor- from the summer and fall of 1897 (see Interpretation of the airships as
nia late in 1896. References to these Clark and Parish, FSR, Jan. - Feb. something other than spaceships seen
airships became part of a litany 1969), while Loren Gross expanded through turn-of-the-century eyes has
recited by many subsequent authors on this discovery in his book Charles been the focus of several books and
to prove that UFOS were nothing Fort, the Fortean Society, and UFOs articles. Clark and Coleman adapted
new and by no means discountable in (1976), and William Retoff gave further their findings to a chapter in The
every case as misidentified airplanes. details in "The Great Canadian Star- Unidentified (1975), a book seeking to
By the mid-1960s researchers turned ship Invasion" (Ideal's UFO Maga- link UFO phenomena with the psycho-
from authority to original sources and zine, August 1980). logical archetypes of C.G. Jung. Ron
began to search old newspapers in Extended surveys of the 1896 - 97 Miller's "Jules Verne and the Great
earnest for airship reports. The extent wave became the norm in many UFO Airship Scare" (IUR May - June 1987)
and complexity of this wave became books published during the 1970s, favors the sociological argument that
plain as articles in FSR by Jerome notably John Keel's UFOs - Opera- whatever the ultimate nature of the
14 MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
Charles Fort actually proves a Johnny-come-lately in historical perspective.
objects may have been, the descrip- fliers" over Sweden, and John Keel tean Society and UFOs cover the
tions derived from expectations of reported in depth on these 1933 - 37 period from the 1896 wave to 1947 by
the day. Louis Winkler holds out for sightings in FSR (May - June, July - revealing many unfamiliar reports.
the airship being an actual invention Aug. 1970; July - Aug., Sept. - Oct. The series by Clark and Parish in UFO
on trial (MUFON UFO Journal, Mar. 1971). The "ghost rockets" appeared Report also includes some "strays,"
1982), while Daniel Cohen's book, in 1946 and again received mention in especially the article on UFOs from
The Great Airship Mystery (1981), Doubt (#16, 17). A survey by Bjorn the 1920s.
takes the opposite view that all the Overbye was published in FSR (May Perhaps the most thorough survey
sightings originate in conventional -June, July - Aug. 1970), and Loren of all is Michel Bougard's La Chro-
phenomena. The longest study is Gross devoted a booklet, The Mys- nique des Ol/M (1977), which culls
Jean Sider's L'Airship de 1897 (1987), tery of the Ghost Rockets (1974, 2nd. reports for the period 1800-1947 from
a careful history based on extensive ed. 1982), to these reports. Swedish many UFO publications and lists
sources. Unlike Cohen, Sider recog- investigators have obtained access to summaries in chronological order. A
nizes the dynamic aspects of the extensive Swedish government files survey of historical New Zealand
wave and traces its spread through- concerning these sightings and are reports by Harold J. Knapman and a
out the country. He analyzes the also collecting newspaper reports and similar survey for Australia by Bill
descriptions along with the context of interviewing witnesses, so the "ghost" Chalker appeared in UFO Research
experimentation and fiction literature, waves promise to be the best-research- Australia Newsletter (Nov. - Dec.
then eliminates alternative explana- ed of all historical UFO events. Some 1983). George M. Eberhart's Geobifa-
tions to conclude that a legitimate results have been published by And- liography of Anomalies includes a
unknown accounts for some of the ers Liljegren (FSR, Dec. 1986; nearly great many historical reports from
reports. every issue of the AFU Newsletter the U.S. and Canada, while from Eng-
[Box 11027, S-600, 11 Norrkoping, land, David Clarke and Granville
EUROPEAN ENCOUNTERS Sweden] also contains an article on Oldroyd concentrate on a particular
this work). In 1987 Erland Sundqvist kind of phenomenon often reported
England joined the airship business published Spokflygama - 46, a book early in the century in their booklet,
with waves in the spring of 1909 and devoted mostly to the ghost rockets. Spooklights: A British Survey (1985).
winter of 1913, both discovered by The best summary of Swedish research The UFO literature contains many
Fort and explored in depth by recent is "The Ghost Rockets," by Liljegren other old reports, but the reader
researchers. In FSR (Nov. - Dec. and Clas Svahn, in UFOs 1947 -1987. must look far and wide for these indi-
1970, Jan. - Feb. 1971), Carl Grove vidual cases, some of them accidental
published his collection of 1909 re- OTHER WAVES discoveries and some the reminiscen-
ports. Paul Screeton followed one ces of witnesses speaking out after
newspaper's coverage (MUFOB, Sum- A summary and bibliography of decades. A few examples include
mer 1980). David Clarke, Granville other waves can be found in Nigel Jerome Clark's discussion of a sup-
Oldroyd and Nigel Watson have just Watson's booklet, Phantom Aerial posed 1884 airship crash in Nebraska
completed a massive catalogue of Waves and Flaps (1987), an essential (IUR Nov. - Dec. 1986), Dwight
1913 newspaper reports for the Fund survey of UFO concentrations over Whalen's discovery of a mystery air-
for UFO Research. These two waves the past century and a half. Historical plane over Ontario in 1911 (Fate
intertwine so closely with fears of reports not associated with a wave Dec. 1982), and the reprint of a
German invasion that they have pro- are scattered and difficult to find. Of newsclipping about an 1889 airship
vided ammunition for an interpreta- course Fort's books are major sour- over Paris, Texas (Crux Summer
tion of airships as a form of social ces, as are the pages of Doubf and 1985). Madge Brosius Allyn kept
panic (Roger Sandell, Peter Roger- Carl Pabst's ongoing "Notes of Cha- secret her observation of a flying
son, MUFOB, Autumn 1978; Watson, rles Fort" column in each issue of "cucumber" in 1903 for 68 year (Fate
Magonia, Spring 1980). Hints that the Pursuit. The sourcebooks compiled March 1971), Paul T. Collins recalled
Russians also shared in the 1913 by William Corliss from old scientific the 1942 "Battle of Los Angeles"
wave have appeared in FSR (Mar. publications carry on Fort's work in a UFO (Fate July 1987), while William
1984, Feb. 1987). more systematic way, and often pro- D. Leet and Leonard H. Stringfield
Scandinavia has been another busy vide full texts of reports. Louis reported their "foo fighter" sightings
area for UFOs, with "balloon" reports Winkler's Catalogue of UFO-Like from World War II (MUFON UFO
from 1897, phantom airships in 1909, Data Before 1947 (Fund for UFO Journal Jan. - Feb. 1979; Inside
and phantom airplanes during World Research, 1984) contains a valuable Saucer Post... 3-0 Blue [1957]).
War I. Then the action really began: list of reports as well. Lore and PRE-1800
An article by David G. Markham in Deneault's Mysferies in the Skies and Treatments of aerial phenomena
Doubt (Jan. 1942) dealt with "ghost Loren Gross's Charles Fort, the For- before 1800 are even more hapha-
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
15
zard, and often left to the discredited 1985) or 18th century sightings in the translated in v. 14 of Loeb Classical
"ancient astronauts" school. Yet the Clark and Parish series. George M. Library set of Livy's works). In the 16th
peoples of ancient and Medieval Eberhart includes an extensive biblio- century a French author, Simon Gou-
times saw strange sights in the sky, graphy of pre-1800 UFOs in his lart, collected similar strange events,
and the Reformation period was a gold- UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Con- and his interest in UFOs is treated in
en age for aerial wonders. Donald H. tact Movement (1986). A concise Les So/ei/s de Simon Goulart (1981), by
Menzel draws on original sources for summary of UFOs in these eras I.L. Olivier and Jean-Francois Boedec.
reports included in Flying Saucers appears in Michel Bougard's article in Another 16th century author qualifies
(1953) and The UFO Enigma (1977), UFOs: 1947 -1987. as the most ambitious collector of all:
as does Jacques Vallee in Anatomy Charles Fort actually proves a This was Conrad Lycosthenes, who
of a Phenomenon (1965) and Pass- Johnny-come-lately in historical pers- scoured numerous sources to compile
port fo Magonia (1969). Historical pective. A Roman author, Julius a collection of every strange event
reports from all ages are plentiful in Obsequens, gathered reports of "prod- reported from the creation of the world
Hying Saucers on the Attack (1954) igies" from Roman historians, most to his own time. His Prodigiorum ac
by H.T. Wllkins, and W. Raymond notably Livy, and these reports include Ostentorum Chronicon (1557) is a huge
Drake bases a whole series of books the aerial objects and falls of sub- listing of mainly aerial phenomena. An
on historical records. Again instances stances such as blood which we now English translation entitled The Conrad
turn up throughout the literature, for identify with Fort (the surviving frag- Chronicle is forthcoming this year from
instance Chinese reports (FSR June ments of Obsequens are included and the Dahlin Family Press.
Attorney Bletchman is MUFON through stylistics, a discipline of lingu- which don't concern unidentified fly-
State Director for Connecticut. istics, which deals with the more-or- ing objects (hereafter UFOs); those
less unique design or syntax of eve- written between 1952 and 1961, which
After viewing the Ted Koppel ABC- ryone's written language. Twenty-seven express an urgent interest in obtain-
TV "Night Line" program on June 24, (27) letters and memos written when ing more information about UFOs
1987, in which Bill Moore debated the Admiral Hillenkoetter headed up the and preventing military 'cover-ups' of
validity of the MJ-12 documents with C.I.A. were provided to Dr. Wescott the subject; and those written between
Philip J. Klass, I was intrigued as to along with the briefing memo. 1962 and 1970, which adopt a non-
how the briefing papers might be The following constitute quotations committal stance, maintaining interest
authenticated. Since Admiral Roscoe made by Dr. Wescott in his letter of but exhibiting scepticism about the
H. Hillenkoetter (MJ-1) was listed as April 3, 1988 to me. "Admiral Hillen- extra-terrestrial hypothesis (hereafter
the briefing officer on the report for koetter's epistolary style resembles ETH).
President-Elect Dwight D. Eisenhower, that of most bureaucrats, very blandly "The crucial time-period here is ob-
dated 18 November 1952, and was conventional and lacking the eccen- viously the fall of 1961, when Hillen-
listed first, I proposed to Bill Moore tricities of diction which make the koetter apparently withdrew from
that Hillenkoetter most likely authored writings of some individuals so dis- participation in the National Investiga-
the memo. Consequently, it was felt tinctive (and consequently so hard to tions Committee on Aerial Pheno-
that the authenticity of the author counterfeit). While it is true that mena (NICAP). Philip Klass and
could be tested by a comparison of some of his memoranda contain other critics of MUFON predictably
the writing style between known writ- errors of spelling and punctuation, treat both the presidential briefing
ings of Admiral Hillenkoetter and the these are rare and do not recur often memo of November 18, 1952, and the
briefing memo. enough to constitute stylistic markers. congressional letter of August 22,
Dr. Roger W. Wescott, Professor "On the other hand, I did find time 1961, as forgeries. But the stylistic
of Linguistics at Drew University in today to re-read all 27 of the Hillen- evidence that he cites seems to me to
Madison, New Jersey, and a reknowned koetter communications that you have be quite inconclusive: I myself, for
linguist, was contacted and his exper- sent me since August, 1987 and to example, alternate between writing
tise solicited to make such an analy- order them chronologically. They seem 'April 3, 1988' and '3 April 1988' in my
sis and evaluation. Dr. Wescott advised to fall rather clearly into three groups: own letters.
that he would approach the problem those written before 1947 and 1950, "In ambiguous situations like this, I
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988
16
tend to follow an equivalent of the After receiving his Ph.D. in Linguis- number of witnesses. During his
legal principle 'innocent till proven tics there in 1948, he held a Rhodes investigation, Paul himself spotted an
guilty.' My analog is 'authentic till Scholarship at Oxford. Following an- orange-colored glowing light rising in
proven fraudulent'." thropological fieldwork in Nigeria, he the western sky which he described
After eight hours of intensive study founded and directed the African as having a parallelogram configura-
of the 27 submitted memoranda and Language Program at Michigan State tion. After the object departed, the
letters, Dr. Roger W. Wescott mailed University. In addition to his aca- Sheriffs car he was in received a
another letter to me, dated April 7, demic duties, Mr. Wescott has directed radio report of another sighting about
1988, which is quoted verbatim: "Last radio programs and made network 15 miles away. That one was des-
evening I had a pleasant phone chat television appearances. cribed as triangular in shape.
with Stanton Friedman. He asked me Since 1966, Mr. Wescott has been Amateur astronomers, news repor-
to make a further statement on the Professor of Linguistics in the Humani- ters, former Air Force personnel, and
27 communications from Admiral Hil- ties Division of the Graduate School law enforcement officials attested to
lenkotter which you had sent me — a and Professor of Anthropology in the the presence of the unusual lights
statement which would be explicit to Social Science Division of the College and stated their strong beliefs that
the point of redundancy (and there- of Liberal Arts at Drew University in the objects could not have been stel-
fore almost impossible to misinter- Madison, New Jersey. He founded lar bodies or lights from any type of
pret). So here it is: Drew's Anthropology Department and aircraft.
"In my opinion, there is no compell- chaired it for 12 years. For the past Many were awed by what they
ing reason to regard any of these seven years, he has been Director of saw. Others were frightened. Three
communications as fraudulent or to Drew's Linguistic Program. girls driving home from a basketball
believe that any of them were written I am indebted to the following gen- game were chased by a pulsating red-
by anyone other than Hillenkoetter tlemen for their participation in bring- blue-green light. Evasive action failed
himself. This statement holds for the ing my idea to fruition in this impor- to shake the object. The driver then
controversial presidential briefing mem- tant disclosure on the MJ-12 papers: accelerated but the object kept pace.
orandum of November 18, 1952, as William L. "Bill" Moore, Stanton T. As the car pulled into the driveway of
well as for the letters, both official Friedman, J. Antonio Huneeus, Tom a friend's home, the object departed
and personal". (Associate Editor's A. Benson, and Walt Andrus (editing and was seen across a field and then
note: This is indeed a significant of this article). An expression of disappeared. All of the girls were
breakthrough on MJ-12). thanks is also offered to MUFON, scared to the point of hysteria and
A brief biographical sketch of the CUFOS, FUFOR, and Fair Witness have been experiencing nervous symp-
writer is in order: Roger Williams as America's most significant UFO toms ever since.
Wescott, born in Philadelphia in 1925, organizations for agreeing to pay Dr. State Section Director Charles Huf-
graduated summa cum laude and first Wescott for services rendered. fer, of Fayetteville, and- newspaper
in his class from Princeton in 1945. reporter Bill McComber, of the North-
west Times Herald, journeyed to
Foreman to check into the sightings.
Arkansas Sightings Charles, an amateur radio operator,
kept in contact with the State Direc-
tor, also a ham operator, and reported
By Ed Mazur, State Director that they too, had seen a glowing
orange object in the evening sky.
Ed Mazur is a MUFON state The sightings were first reported as Both Paul Rutherford and Charles
director. early as September and October. Huffer described a surface sighting by
They increased in November and a local woman who had seen a
Numerous sightings have been re- December even though many wit- brightly glowing object next to her
ported in and around Foreman and nesses were reluctant to report their barn that lit up the entire building
Ashdown in Southwestern Arkansas. experience for fear of ridicule. Janu- and the area around it. It appeared
Some have been quite spectacular ary brought forth the greatest number solid and glowed a dull red at the
and all have been seen at night. and prompted the radio stations in bottom. It did not appear to touch
The Sheriffs office in Little River Texarkana and Channel 4 News of the surface of the ground. The State
County has received over 60 reports Little Rock to cover the story. Director then drove to the area to
and they are still coming in. The The Arkansas State Director was examine the site with a radiation
aerial displays attracted visitors from contacted by a Texarkana news meter, take photos, and obtain soil
a four, state area to view the strange reporter on January 27th and he was samples.
lighted objects. Photographs were directed to our MUFON representa- Paul Rutherford is to be com-
taken and several of them were pub- tive and State Section Director, Paul mended for his diligent work in inter-
lished in the Ashdown Little River Rutherford. Paul was already on the viewing the witnesses to the sightings.
News. scene and had been interviewing a Continued on page 21
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, No. 243, July 1988 17
black in color, having an appearance
Meteor Showers:
MUTUAL
Meteor activity is intense from the second half of July through the first
UFO half of August. Not only are there two major meteor showers but also
several minor showers as well. So UFO investigators should be suspicious
NETWORK of any short-duration (seconds), fast-moving, glowing spheres or ovoids
reported during this period. The Delta Aquarids begin in mid-July and last
SEGUIN a month, achieving a peak on the morning of the 28th (about 20 meteors
per hour). Unfortunately a full moon interferes all night, severely diminish-
TEXAS ing the count. These meteors radiate from the direction of Aquarius in the
south. The swifter August Perseids commence in low numbers about July
78155 25.