Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 600 Date: 10-03-96 08:15
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 01:FI Guide Bk1 [01/05]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
URL - http://www.iufog.org/spotlight/book-1.html
------------------------------------------------
The OMNI Open Book Field Investigator's Guide: Part One
(Vol. 17, No. 6, March 1995, pp. 47-53)
By Dennis Stacy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's note: This is the first of twelve chapters in the OMNI Open
Book Field Investigator's Guide, the ultimate tool kit for hunting UFOs.
In his first installment, Dennis Stacy tells UFO hunters how to locate
"prey"--in other words, a UFO worth investigating at all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Need for a Guide
On November 2, 1957, at about 10:00 p.m.--long before the world at large
knew of it--the Soviets launched their second dog-carrying Sputnik. An
hour later, on the flat plains of the Texas panhandle, near the
otherwise unremarkable town of Levelland, ranch hands Pedro Saucedo and
Joe Salaz encountered something that forever changed their lives.
According to Saucedo's signed statement, "I was traveling north and west
on Route 116, driving my truck. At about four miles out of Levelland, I
saw a big flame, to my right front. I thought it was lightning." The
white and yellow torpedo-shaped object, Saucedo went on to say,
apparently made his truck's motor stop and the headlights fail.
Traveling at some 600 to 800 miles an hour, he estimated, the object
generated so much heat he "had to hit the ground."
Over the next two hours, Patrolman A. J. Fowler would receive at least a
dozen more calls, all of them from independent witnesses reporting much
the same thing. For instance, at 12:05 a.m., a 19-year-old Texas Tech
freshman said he was driving his car nine miles east of Levelland when
the motor suddenly "started cutting out like it was out of gas." The
headlights dimmed, then went out altogether after the car rolled to a
stop. The student raised the hood but could find nothing obviously wrong
with the engine or electrical wiring. Returning to the driver's seat, he
now noticed an egg-shaped object, flat on the bottom, sitting astride
the highway in front of him. It glowed bluish-green, he reported, and
looked to be 125 feet long and made of an aluminumlike material with no
visible details or markings. Frightened, he tried turning the motor over
again, but the car would not start. Shortly, the UFO rose "almost
straight up," disappearing "in a split instant." He tried the ignition
again; the car started, and the lights came on, and he drove home,
although he did not report the incident to Fowler--"for fear of
ridicule"--until the following afternoon, after his parents told him he
should.
Nationwide, the Levelland sightings garnered almost as much press
attention as the new Soviet satellite, eventually forcing the Air
Force's Project Blue Book to send an investigator to the site. (Project
Blue Book, first under the auspices of the Air Technical Intelligence
Center, or ATIC, and later run out of the Foreign Technology Division,
was the official Air Force agency charged with investigating UFOs. Its
immediate predecessors, also associated with the Air Force, were Project
Sign and Project Grudge.) According to the now-deceased astronomer J.
Allen Hynek of Northwestern University, then Project Blue Book's
scientific consultant, the Levelland investigation, conducted by a
member of the 1006th Air Intelligence Service Squadron (AISS) was
cursory at best. Writing in his now-classic book, THE UFO EXPERIENCE
(Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1972), Hynek states, "I was told that
the Blue Book investigation consisted of the appearance of one man in
civilian clothes at the sheriff's office at about 11:45 a.m. on November
5; he made two auto excursions during the day and then told Sheriff Clem
that he was finished."
According to Temple University historian David Jacobs, author of another
classic volume, THE UFO CONTROVERSY IN AMERICA (Indiana University
Press, Bloomington, 1975), "the officer failed to interview nine of the
fifteen witnesses and also erroneously stated that lightning had been in
the area at the time of the sightings." Indeed, the Air Force and
Project Blue Book ultimately attributed the incidents to "weather pheno
menon of [an] electrical nature, generally classified as `ball
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 601 Date: 10-03-96 08:15
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 02:FI Guide Bk1 [02/05]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
lightning' or `St. Elmo's fire,' caused by stormy conditions in the
area, including mist, rain, thunderstorms, and lightning." The engine
stalls and headlight failures? "Wet electrical circuits," said the Air
Force. "Privately," Jacobs observes, "Blue Book officers believed the
Levelland sightings were obviously an example of mass suggestion."
The upshot of the ball lightning pronouncement was an angry spate of
criticisms by editorial writers and the growing legion of civilian UFO
organizations, charging the Air Force with ignorance or incompetence at
best and a purposeful cover-up of the UFO phenomenon at worst. The
outrage was exacerbated when 500 more UFO cases poured into Project Blue
Book over the next couple of months, making it the most explosive UFO
year since 1952.
In response to all the brouhaha, the Air Force launched an investigation
of its own UFO operation. The recommendation? That some 20 men be
assigned to a UFO detail. What's more, suggested the Air Technical
Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio,
where the study was done, the Air Force would do well to create a
standard UFO kit containing an operating procedure manual and other
tools necessary for investigating the mysterious, alleged craft. That
way, when the 20 UFO experts went out on assignment, there would be no
more foolish errors. They'd know what to do.
The report also recommended that the Air Force investigate press reports
and not just those reaching Project Blue Book through direct channels,
including Air Force pilots or radar operators. It was assumed that such
actions might deflect civilian criticism and at the same time
drastically reduce the number of reports classified "unknown" or
"insufficient data." Indeed, as of November 1958, these two categories
were accounting for 20 percent of all UFO reports received to date.
Unfortunately, the staff recommendations were never implemented. The
notion of a UFO tool kit was quickly quashed, along with any idea of a
rapid deployment team. Instead, Project Blue Book limped along much as
it had before, understaffed and underfunded. Press clippings were
stuffed into boxes and later thrown away. Letters and reports from the
general public generally went unanswered and uninvestigated.
Even so, from the summer of 1947 until December 19, 1969, Air Force
representatives amassed 12,618 official case reports of UFOs, defined by
the Air Force as "any aerial object or phenomenon which the observer is
unable to identify." (Hynek would later amend the definition of a UFO to
refer to any flying objects which "remain unidentified after close
scrutiny of all available evidence by persons who are technically
capable of making a common-sense identification, if one is possible.")
Of the 12,000-plus cases studied, 701, or almost 6 percent, were
classified "unknown."
Those cases that were investigated--like Levelland--were typically
looked into lackadaisically when they were looked into at all. The Air
Force also indulged in a little creative bookkeeping. Those cases
classified as "probable" or "insufficient data" were counted on the
solved side of the ledger instead of the unsolved side, skewing the
percentage of true unknowns. A growing number of critics contended that,
far from being an investigative agency, Project Blue Book amounted to
little more than a public relations ploy, one designed to downplay the
phenomenon's prevalence and possible importance.
Even Hynek himself was ultimately disillusioned by his experience as
scientific consultant. "I can safely say that the whole time I was with
the Air Force, we never had anything that resembled a really good
scientific dialogue on the subject," he said shortly before his death in
1986.
Project Blue Book's death knell was sounded in the spring of 1966, in
the wake of another Air Force boondoggle. At a press conference in March
of that year, Hynek attributed some intriguing Michigan sightings to
"swamp gas"--the spontaneous ignition of methane. The resulting
editorial uproar pictured the Air Force team more as buffoons than
villains. If the ball lightning and mass hysteria explanation of almost
a decade earlier had been the first straw in the public's negative
perception of the Air Force's handling of UFO investigations, swamp gas
was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Before the decade was up, the Air Force would be out of the UFO business
for good. One driving force: a controversial University of Colorado
study directed by physicist Edward U. Condon. Condon's largely negative
report summary concluded that chasing UFOs was a waste of time. Indeed,
UFOs seemed shrouded in secrecy, Condon declared, only because the Air
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 602 Date: 10-03-96 08:15
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 03:FI Guide Bk1 [03/05]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Force resisted "premature publication of incomplete studies of reports."
Thrilled by Condon's publicized pronouncements--few reporters were about
to wade through a 965-page report in search of any UFO gems--the Air
Force seized the offered brass ring. On December 17, 1969, in the wake
of the Colorado/Condon study, Secretary of the Air Force Robert C.
Seamans, Jr., announced the closure of Project Blue Book, saying that
its continuance "cannot be justified either on the ground of national
security or in the interest of science."
Hynek was one of several scientists who saw the situation differently.
"When the long-awaited solution to the UFO problem comes," he said, "I
believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the
march of science, but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum jump."
A Civilian Blue Book?
With the Air Force out of the picture since 1969, the burden of
investigating the UFO phenomenon has largely fallen on the shoulders of
individuals and a handful of civilian UFO organizations. While
individuals are hardly hampered by bureaucratic rules, public relations
considerations, and other policy requirements, they can only do so much
on their own. Moreover, the weight of their public pronouncements is
linked, directly or indirectly, to their personal and professional
credentials. It's one thing for an established astronomer, such as
Hynek, to speak out about the phenomenon in general; it's another thing
altogether for, say, an advertising executive or fast-food clerk to
claim that Earth is being invaded by genetic engineers from another
planet or galaxy.
The same is also true of UFO organizations, which are only as good and
efficient as their collective members. One overripe member may not spoil
the whole barrel, but he or she can certainly detract from the overall
respectability of the subject by his or her unbridled comments about
what the UFO phenomenon does or does not ultimately mean. As Hynek and
others have been quick to point out, the U in UFO stands for
"Unidentified," not necessarily for extraterrestrial spaceships and
alien abductors in that order. All three may or may not be related. Some
UFOs, however, are almost certainly unrecognized or little understood
natural phenomena, swamp gas and ball lightning very possibly included.
The one undeniable truth about the UFO phenomenon--Air Force
pronouncements aside--is that further investigation is still required.
According to one Gallup Poll, some 15 million adult Americans have at
one time or another in their lives witnessed what they believed to be a
UFO. Compare that figure with the 12,618 UFO reports the Air Force
collected over 22 years, extrapolate it worldwide, and it's painfully
clear that the UFO phenomenon represents both the most prevalent and
underreported anomalous phenomena of this or any other century. Even if
UFOs aren't a three-dimensional, solid, physical object, any student of
human psychology or sociology worth his or her salt should be suitably
intrigued as to why humans continue to report UFOs in vast numbers in
the absence of any unusual stimuli. To say that the best interests of
science will not be served by further study of the UFO phenomenon--in
all its myriad, mysterious manifestations--is to say that science should
concern itself only with things humans don't do, as one of the things
they do do is report UFOs--even in the face of peer and public ridicule
for doing so. If human behavior isn't of scientific interest, then we
might as well drop the soft science disciplines of anthropology,
perceptual psychology, and social interaction from the academic
curriculum.
In installments to follow, OMNI will provide you with the UFO tool kit
the Air Force never produced. The Project Open Book tool kit will allow
you to conduct your own investigation of the persistent UFO phenomenon.
It will contain tips and techniques about locating and classifying UFO
reports. It will tell you, precisely, how to investigate UFO reports.
And, it will tell you how to report and then investigate a sighting of
your own. You'll learn how to interview witnesses, how to collect
physical evidence (where indicated), and how to sniff out potential
hoaxes. You'll be instructed in the finer arts of audio and photographic
analysis, both still and video. And you will be provided with the names
and numbers of information sources, both print and electronic. Ho
pefully, when your own research is done, you'll share it with your
colleagues. Collectively, we may be able to do what the Air Force
couldn't.
Overcoming the Ridicule Factor
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 603 Date: 10-03-96 08:16
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 04:FI Guide Bk1 [04/05]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
In order to investigate a UFO case, you must, of course, first find one.
Despite the perceived plethora of sightings, this is not always as easy
as it seems. For one thing, the overwhelming majority of UFO sightings
are never reported. The reason for this reluctance is fairly
straightforward: fear of ridicule. Hynek lamented this situation in a
letter written to the magazine Physics Today, in which he solicited UFO
reports from scientifically trained observers. "It has been my estimate
over the past 20 years," Hynek noted, "that for every UFO report made,
there were at least 10 that went unreported. Evidence for this comes
from the Gallup Poll, the many UFO reports I subsequently learned of
that were not reported to the Air Force, and from my own queries. There
has always been a great reluctance to report in the face of almost
certain ridicule. It would seem that the more trained and sophisticated
the observer, the less prone he is to report unless he could be assured
of anonymity as well as respect for his report."
Many respondents only reinforced Hynek's fears. One report, from a man
who is now a professional astronomer, had gone unreported for 11 years,
precisely because of a reluctance to face ridicule or embarrassment by
peers--and this despite the fact that his own sighting was corroborated
by several other credible witnesses, including at least two police
officers.
In the summer of 1960, near Walkerton, Ontario, the story went, the man
had observed a ball of light hovering near a tree. As he and several of
his relatives approached to take a picture, "it noticed us, and
noiselessly accelerating at a very high rate, headed almost directly
south, disappearing over the horizon in about two and a half seconds."
Yet another astronomer had failed to report a pertinent observation out
of embarrassment as well. To sustain his self image as the ultimate
scientist, he "preferred to regard his sighting as being of an unusual
physical phenomenon," according to Hynek, "rather than admit the
possibility, perhaps even to himself, that it was a genuinely new
empirical observation."
Given the embarrassment that seizes the best, most respectable UFO
witnesses, any investigator worth his or her salt must learn to cope
with the "ridicule factor" before an investigation in earnest can begin.
But given the right circumstances, the right individual, and the right
approach, the curtain of ridicule can be overcome, as the large response
to Hynek's letter in Physics Today clearly indicates. For this to
happen, the witness/reporter must have confidence in his or her
confidante, as Physics Today respondents clearly did in Hynek after
seeing his credentials. Even with such confidence, moreover, the UFO
witness often must still be drawn out. Few of those embarrassed by a
close encounter, after all, will volunteer the information unless asked
to do so.
Given the ridicule factor, the UFO hunter in search of a case to
investigate must follow two basic rules: First, to learn about someone's
UFO experience, it's best to ask. Even a lifelong friend may be
reluctant to broach the subject of a UFO sighting unless drawn out. And
second, when you do ask, ask those who have the most confidence in
you--your family members and closest friends. A complete stranger is
likely to react with serious reservation when another stranger arrives
suddenly on his doorstep, asking questions about UFOs. (The stranger the
UFO experience this subject has had, moreover, the higher his or her
resistance will be.)
An example from my own experience may be instructive. In the early
1980s, I was hired to write a weekly column for the San Antonio
Express-News about unusual events that had taken place in the state of
Texas over the years. The first six months or so went well enough, but
inevitably the scramble for material, or at least significantly
different material, set in. By October (the series had begun the
previous December), I was asking friends and acquaintances--except for
"Rudy"--if anything strange or unusual had ever happened to them.
My reasons for not asking Rudy were obvious. He taught history at a
local community college, and the shelves of his personal library in a
prominent neighborhood on the north side of town were overburdened with
straight literature, including some 10,000 historical biographies. I had
worked with him on several occasions and was well aware of his disdain
for anything unusual--typified by his attitudes toward mysticism,
astrology, and anything else that remotely smacked of the occult. I
assumed this would naturally include flying saucers and UFOs, too. But I
also knew that he had been a B-24 bombardier during World War II and the
heyday of the so-called "foo-fighter" phenomenon, in which glowing balls
of light had perplexed both Allied and Axis aircrews during the closing
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 604 Date: 10-03-96 08:16
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 05:FI Guide Bk1 [05/05]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
nights of the war.
On the extremely remote possibility that he might have encountered a
foo-fighter, I asked Rudy if anything strange had ever happened to him
during his flying days in the war. "No, nothing ever did," he said
matter-of-factly, and that, I assumed, was naturally that. After a brief
pause, though, he said, "but last November, I was driving back from
Austin...," and promptly launched into his personal UFO story. Rudy had
a sister who lived in Austin, 75 miles north of San Antonio on
Interstate Highway 35, whom he frequently visited. He had been returning
to San Antonio alone late one night, probably after Thanksgiving, and
was just south of New Braunfels, about 20 miles from his own home. The
sky was overcast, with a ceiling of about a thousand feet, and traffic
on the highway was relatively light, although there were other cars and
trucks in both the north- and southbound lanes of the four-lane highway.
(Continued)
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 605 Date: 10-03-96 08:20
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 01:FI Guide Bk2 [01/04]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
URL - http://www.iufog.org/spotlight/book-2.html
-----------------------------------------------
The OMNI Open Book Field Investigator's Guide: Part One (Part 2)
(Continued from The OMNI Open Book Field Investigator's Guide: Part One)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rudy first became aware of something visible in the upper portion of his
windshield, but continued driving while leaning forward to look up
through the curved glass. To his amazement, he told me, what looked like
a flying saucer flew into view, traveling slowly southward and directly
over the righthand lane he was in. He pulled off onto the shoulder--the
only car to do so--stopped, and stepped outside for a better view.
The object was underneath the overcast, probably 800 or 900 feet
overhead. "I can see it clear as daylight now," he said, a year after
the fact. "It was perfectly circular and just under 100 feet in
diameter. The outer rim consisted of a broad flange divided into what
might be flaps or at least individual segments. An antenna hung down
from the middle of the object, and the central portion, the area inside
the flaps or flanges, slowly rotated on its own axis as the whole
continued southward down the highway."
A short distance away, Rudy told me, the vehicle initiated a sharp
U-turn and started back up the north side of the highway, slowly rising
as it did. Eventually it entered the clouds and disappeared from view.
Rudy waited a few more minutes to see if it would reappear. When it
didn't, he got in his car and drove home. "All the way home," he said,
"I kept thinking. Well, that's it. I'll get up in the morning and the
headline will read `UFO Mystery Solved!"' But if anyone else had seen or
reported Rudy's UFO it certainly wasn't in the San Antonio papers, and
it was almost certainly nothing Rudy himself would ever bring up in
casual cocktail or coffee conversation unless directly confronted.
Almost as remarkable as the sighting itself, perhaps, was Rudy's
reaction to it. True, it was unusual and unexpected, apparently a flying
craft of technology radically different from his old B-24 Liberator--but
also nothing to lose a night's sleep over. Class was tomorrow night, and
life went on. Besides, who does the average citizen call to report a
UFO, especially when that UFO has already disappeared into the clouds?
One might say, then, that the UFO investigation begins at home. Ask your
parents, your husband or wife, your aunts and uncles, your cousins, your
neighbors and acquaintances. Many of these cases may only be anecdotal;
others may involve data--such as the names of other witnesses and a
possible paper trail--that can be used to fill in and corroborate the
historical record, if nothing else.
If the witness you wish to approach is a total stranger, we suggest you
do so with kid gloves. It would help if you had some credentials--say, a
few UFO cases you have investigated in the past--to boost your
credibility. Otherwise, you should utilize what, in the vernacular of
the Nineties, we call "networking." For instance, if a friend has
witnessed something unusual, and then refers you to a second witness,
the second witness, knowing your connection to the case, may be more
willing to talk. Above all, do not approach potential witnesses,
especially strangers, with theories involving aliens and
extraterrestrial ships. You will be far more likely to gain confidence
if you say, simply, "I understand the other night you witnessed
something a bit out of the ordinary. I've been collecting some
information on this and wonder if I could speak to you as well." (This
will be covered in greater detail in an upcoming chapter on interviewing
witnesses.)
UFOs in Print
If you find it hard to get your leads from people, you may be interested
to learn that a countless variety of fascinating cases--most merely
reported but not thoroughly investigated--are described in print.
Coverage of UFO sightings by the nation's major daily newspapers tends
to vary widely, depending on whether or not UFOs are in vogue at a
particular time. A much more consistent source of UFO sighting reports
is the small community daily or weekly newspaper. So many sightings have
been reported in the Gulf Breeze, Florida, area in recent years, for
example, that the local paper, The Islander (P.O. Box 292, Gulf Breeze,
Florida 32562), has been offering mail subscriptions to investigators.
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 606 Date: 10-03-96 08:20
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 02:FI Guide Bk2 [02/04]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Another excellent source of current UFO sightings in localities around
the United States is the U.F.O. Newsclipping Service, edited and
published by Lucius Farish, Route 1, Box 220, Plumerville, Arkansas
72127. Each 20-page issue consists of copies of newspaper clippings
submitted by Farish's far-flung web of correspondents and clippers. It
regularly includes Canadian and English newspaper clippings, as well as
articles translated from foreign-language papers.
Numerous annual national and regional UFO conferences also provide a
rich source of contemporary reports--and often the original witnesses
themselves. To find out about local conferences and newsletters which
may alert you to cases open for investigation in your area, you may
contact:
The Mutual UFO Network of Seguin, Texas. MUFON holds an annual symposium
every July; this year's will be in Seattle. For more information, write
international director Walter Andrus, Jr., at MUFON, 103 Oldtowne Road,
Seguin, Texas 78155-4099. For other case material, you can subscribe to
the MUFON UFO Journal.
The J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, 2457 West Peterson Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois 60659. The center also publishes the annual Journal of
UFO Studies and the bi-monthly International UFO Reporter.
The nonprofit Fund for UFO Research at Box 277, Mount Rainier, Maryland
20712, which sells copies of its reports.
Finally, for those of you online, the Internet is a great place to learn
of UFO sightings in your area. As you traipse from one bulletin board to
the next, you will read the postings of local residents whose stories
have never been reported before. You can correspond with these witnesses
through E-mail, gathering potentially interesting data, possibly
discovering a case you feel is worth further investment of your time.
Blast from the Past
If you can't find a suitable case in periodical literature, at
conferences, or online, moreover, you might try digging around in the
past. "Consult your local library or the major archives," advises Jan
Aldrich, a UFO researcher recently retired from the military. "You'll
probably be surprised by the treasure trove of uninvestigated cases."
With a grant from the Maryland-based Fund for UFO Research, Aldrich is
presently re-examining UFO press clippings from the year 1947, popularly
perceived by the public as the year the modern UFO era began, following
the sighting by pilot Kenneth Arnold of nine silvery, crescent-shaped
objects near Mount Rainier, Washington, on June 24, 1947.
Much of Aldrich's present work replicates an earlier 1967 study done by
investigator Ted Bloecher while with the now-defunct National
Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. Bloecher's "Report on the
UFO Wave of 1947" was, essentially, a collection and analysis of press
clippings demonstrating that Arnold was hardly alone in his experience.
In fact, UFOs were being seen and reported in large numbers up and down
the country, from Washington to Maine.
But Aldrich's ongoing investigation delves even further. "Good as
Bloecher's study was," says Aldrich, "it wasn't complete. For example,
he didn't include any newspapers from Montana or from many provinces in
Canada."
By examining the Helena, Montana, Independent Record, Aldrich discovered
that a local flurry of UFO sightings was just getting underway, even as
the national flap spurred by Arnold's sighting was fading in other areas
of the country. Aldrich also discovered that UFOs continued to be
reported in Canada in great numbers. "In fact," he notes, "the Canadian
wave was even more pronounced in terms of population density than what
was happening in the United States."
From a microfilm copy of Project Blue Book files scheduled to be
destroyed but inadvertently discovered at the last minute by a
university researcher, Aldrich was able to locate another unpublished
discovery: 2,000 to 3,000 letters written by U.S. citizens in the wake
of an April 1952 article about UFOs by Bob Ginna published in Life
magazine. "Blue Book was swamped at the time," says Aldrich, "and
then-director Edward Ruppelt apparently didn't care about the letters or
trying to follow them up. They were just stuffed into a file, which,
fortunately, someone put on microfilm." The majority of the letters,
says Aldrich, consist of individual theories or explanations for the UFO
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 607 Date: 10-03-96 08:20
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 03:FI Guide Bk2 [03/04]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
phenomenon, "but about 20 percent were personal case reports, the
earliest dating back to 1913."
Interestingly, letters addressed simply "Flying Saucers, Washington,
DC," eventually found their way into the file. In toto, the letters
indicate that, while Arnold may have gotten the headlines and generated
the furor, the UFO phenomenon itself was arguably around much earlier.
It also proves that one individual, armed with nothing more than a
microfilm reader, can still make a difference in our eventual
understanding of what may well be one of this century's most
misunderstood mysteries.
Choosing Your Case
As a UFO investigator, you will soon find that, with the right approach
and the right reading material, you will unearth endless instances of
reported UFOs. But the truth of the matter is, not all reports are
created equal. For instance, you may want to delve into the past, but if
all the witnesses to a given sighting have died, and if there is little
documentation, there may not be much you can do. A UFO reported by your
friend, a college student, while drunk and staring at the stars, is not
as compelling as a UFO reported by three separate individuals--such as a
policeman, an astronomy professor, and a teacher--while stone sober. If
the second UFO has left any physical evidence--from a burnt area of land
to some blips on the airport's radar screen--so much the better.
As you hunt down UFO cases you wish to investigate, you will also find
it is better to pursue those closer to home. Indeed, a thorough UFO
investigation is time-intensive. It often requires multiple interviews
with multiple witnesses. You may need to visit the site of the report at
various times of the day and year, sometimes with specialists in tow.
What's more, the input of those well versed in local habits, history,
geography, and atmospheric phenomena may be invaluable to your research.
For instance, a few years back, hundreds of witnesses reported a weird,
boomerang-shaped UFO over Westchester County and other parts of New
York. It later turned out that at least some of the reports were made
when pilot-hoaxers using a local airport in the town of Stormville
decided to fly in boomerang formation. Someone making a few phone calls
from London could not have learned about the hoax as easily--if at
all--as the local investigators on the scene who ultimately did. The
take-home message is this: If you live in New Jersey, it makes more
sense to investigate cases in Newark or Asbury Park than in Santa
Barbara.
Starting a File
This chapter has given you enough material to get started. We suggest
that you empty a file drawer, get a few folders out, and start
collecting. We'd like you to spend the next few weeks just keeping your
eyes and ears open. Speak to friends and relatives. Read the local
paper. Scour the Internet. Anytime something of interest enters your
field of vision, clip it, load it onto a disk, or jot it down, and put
it in your drawer.
At the end of this period, you may have a case--a completely original
case, never before investigated by anyone--you feel is worthy of your
time and effort.
Next month, in the second installment of the OMNI Open Book Field
Investigator's Guide, we'll provide you with some tools of the trade, so
your own investigation may begin.
Sidebar:
Anyone hoping to investigate UFOs must, of course, keep track of
research that has gone before. The best sources are those classics of
UFO literature that tell the story of this controversial field, often in
the words of the researchers who know it best.
UFO books vary widely in quality and reliability from sober, reflective
studies such as Hynek's Experience, to the self-promoting personal
anecdotes typified by the early contactee movement of the 1950s.
Any list of the best UFO books is highly subjective. Here, however, are
11 UFO classics recommended for any UFO investigator seeking the right
reference tools.
1. THE REPORT ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS by Edward J. Ruppelt
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Ä Area: UFO Topcis ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Msg#: 608 Date: 10-03-96 08:20
From: Don Allen Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark:
Subj: 04:FI Guide Bk2 [04/04]
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
(Doubleday, New York, 1956). For many of today's mainstream UFOlogists,
interest in the phenomenon was probably sparked by a reading of Captain
Ruppelt, who was the acting head of the Air Force's Project Blue Book
from 1951 to 1953. Widely available in used-book stores and libraries,
Report was published in two controversial versions. The first edition
ends with Chapter 17, "What Are UFOs?," and Ruppelt's own response,
"Only time will tell." Subsequent editions contain three additional c
hapters in which Ruppelt seems to recant his earlier stance and casts
doubt on the phenomenon as one of extraterrestrial origin.
2. THE UFO CONTROVERSY IN AMERICA by David Michael Jacobs (Indiana
University Press, Bloomington, 1975). A Temple University professor of
history, Dr. Jacobs' CONTROVERSY remains one of the few purely
historical treatments of the subject as it examines how UFOs were
approached by the American press, government, and public. Jacobs' most
recent book is a study of UFO abduction cases, SECRET LIFE (Simon &
Schuster, New York, 1992).
3. THE UFO EXPERIENCE by Dr. J. Allen Hynek (Henry Regnery Company,
Chicago, 1972). For 22 years, until its closure in 1969, astronomer
Hynek served as a scientific consultant to Project Blue Book. EXPERIENCE
is a thoughtful account of his own experiences and gradual awakening and
also an examination of the UFO phenomenon more or less in its entirety.
It's here that Hynek first uses the marquee phrase "close encounters of
the third kind."
4. ANATOMY OF A PHENOMENON by Jacques Vallee (Henry Regnery Company,
Chicago, 1965). A colleague of Hynek's, Vallee remains one of the
field's most original and prolific thinkers, although some of his most
recent work has fallen out of favor with the hardcore UFO crowd. In
ANATOMY, however, and again in CHALLENGE TO SCIENCE: THE UFO ENIGMA
(Henry Regnery, 1966), co-authored with wife Janine, Vallee is in fine
phenomenological form.
5. PASSPORT OT MAGONIA: FROM FOLKLORE TO FLYING SAUCERS by Jacques
Vallee (Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1969). One of the more
controversial books within UFOlogy as it posits parallels with the
observed UFO phenomenon and various past legends and lore associated
with the "fairy folk" and other nonhuman entities. Raises many
questions, especially about UFO abductions, which remain unanswered.
6. THE UFO ENCYCLOPEDIA, Volumes 1 and 2, by Jerome Clark (Omnigraphics,
Detroit, 1990, 1992). Clark's impressive and massive UFO survey is more
up to date and more comprehensive than preceding UFO encyclopedias. A
third volume, HIGH STRANGENESS, is expected to be available this year.
7. SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS, edited by Daniel S.
Gilmoor (Bantam Books, New York, 1969). The complete text of the
controversial University of Colorado, Boulder, study directed by
physicist Edward U. Condon under contract to the Air Force. Turgid and
tedious in parts, but still an indispensable reference book.
8. OBSERVING UFOS by Richard F. Haines (Nelson-Hall, Chicago, 1980). A
former perceptual psychologist with NASA's Ames Research Center, Haines
focuses here on perception, particularly the peculiarities of our visual
field and sense of time, as related to the observation of anomalous
aerial phenomena.
9. PROJECT BLUE BOOK, edited by Brad Steiger (Ballantine Books, New
York, 1976). A wildly miscellaneous grab-bag of odds and ends drawn
mostly from official (and declassified) Air Force Project Blue Book
files, including a list of those cases classified "unknown." Contains
much original source material found nowhere else.
10. THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY by John G. Fuller (Dell, New York, 1987).
The book that first introduced the UFO abduction phenomenon to the
public, this volume, first published in 1966, examines the case of Betty
and Barney Hill, who experienced a UFO close encounter which resulted in
nearly two hours of alleged missing time.
11. MISSING TIME by Budd Hopkins (Richard Marek Publishers, New York,
1981). Hopkins is an abstract artist widely recognized as the leading
proponent of the genetic-engineering theory of UFO abductions. A pioneer
in UFO abduction research, he gives his theories in this controversial
volume.
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