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The Dirty Dozen



Columnist: William B Stoecker Posted on Thursday, 17 April, 2014 | 6 comments Columnist:

Article Copyright© William B Stoecker - reproduced with permission.

The term “UFO” means “Unidentified Flying Object.” It does not mean that we are being visited by Sirian Beamships or Pleiadeian Space Brothers. All it means is that mysterious objects (and some of them may not even be solid objects) are flying around in our atmosphere, and, apparently, beneath our lakes, rivers, and oceans, and in space around the Earth at least as far away as our Moon. Recently one Mars Lander picture appeared to show an unknown object in the Martian sky. UFOs are what remains after we eliminate hoaxes, hallucinations, birds, balloons, etc. UFOs have not been explained by modern science; indeed, it is beginning to look as if science is not up to the challenge, and UFOs may indicate that the basic nature of reality itself is not what we imagine it to be. The interplanetary hypothesis may prove correct, or some UFOs may be bizarre life forms existing in our atmosphere and beyond, or paranormal entities, or man made devices perhaps built by our own government. It is quite likely that there are several explanations and that UFOs are not all one thing. I will summarize 12 of the strongest cases (one of them is actually an entire category of sightings). These are by no means the only really well documented cases; there are others just as good or perhaps even better, but these are hard to challenge, and, I believe, constitute overwhelming proof that we are being visited... by something. We just don’t know what.We’ll begin with Roswell. Entire books have been written on the subject, and much of the evidence seems confused, even contradictory. There may or may not have been a second crash site. There may or may not have been alien bodies. We are not certain even of the exact day of the crash... it was probably 7/4/47, give or take a day or two. The son of a chief witness claims that he handled some of the wreckage and it consisted of sheets of thin, light metal with incredible strength and beams of equally strong material covered by strange “hieroglyphics.” Skeptics claim that there was nothing but foil, rubber, and balsa wood and that the strange writing was nothing but decorative tape. But a few central facts seem indisputable. Ranch manager William “Mac” Brazel on the Foster Ranch between Roswell and Corona New Mexico rode out one morning to check on his sheep herd and found a mass of wreckage. Sometime later he told Sheriff Wilcox in Roswell, who notified Roswell Army Air Field, home to the nation’s (and the world’s) only nuclear-armed bomb wing (although the bombs were not stored there). Someone there sent Major Jesse Marcel, the Intelligence Officer, to investigate, either alone or with a small team (accounts vary). He brought wreckage back and told the wing commander, Colonel Blanchard, that the wreckage was that of a “flying disk,” a term already understood to mean something extraordinary, possibly of interplanetary origin. Col. Blanchard was sufficiently impressed to order the Information Officer, Lt. Walter Haut, to issue a press release to that effect. Yet, days later, the Army Air Force (within a few months it would become the US Air Force) retracted the story and claimed that the wreckage was that of a weather balloon. Years later they would change their story again and claim that it was a Project Mogul balloon, designed to detect Soviet nuclear tests. As I have said more than once before, a balloon is a balloon is a balloon. Neoprene is rubber and aluminum foil (or paper-backed foil) is foil. No one, I repeat, no one, not even civilians like Mac Brazel, let alone military officers, would ever mistake the wreckage of a balloon for anything else. Having once been a USAF Intelligence Officer myself, I can assure you, that, had I told my commander that a balloon was a "flying disk,” my career would have ended then and there and I probably would have been arrested. But Marcel was later promoted to Lt. Col., and Col. Blanchard was promoted again and again, all the way up to four stars. Whatever crashed north of Roswell was not a balloon, but it was most certainly a manufactured object, not a paranormal entity or strange life form. Either this was an elaborate disinformation operation by our government (which makes little sense) or it was some unknown technology, whether of interplanetary origin, manufactured by or for our government, or by some secret group (perhaps Nazis) here on Earth. Given the proximity of White Sands Missile Range and its Nazi scientists, our best guess is that it was some sort of advanced aircraft or spacecraft based on secret Nazi technology... perhaps the “Glocken,” or Bell (a rumored Nazi gravity control device). But this is only a hypothesis.Almost forgotten today, our nation’s capital was more or less invaded from 7/12/52 to 7/29/52 by UFOs. The most dramatic events were on 7/19/52 when Washington Airport radar controller Edward Nugent saw seven objects on radar; these were also witnessed by his supervisor, Harry Barnes. Technicians checked the radar and found no malfunctions. Another controller, Howard Cocklin, also saw them on radar, and visually, on the same heading (and apparently at the same elevation angle), he saw an orange light in the sky, bright enough to be visible in daylight. This is important because microwaves (radar) and visible light refract at different angles, which rules out anomalous propagation caused by, say, temperature inversions. Objects were seen flying over the White House and the Capitol Building, and an orange light or disk was also seen by more people at the airport and from the tower at Andrews AFB. Capital Airlines pilot S.C. Pierman, from the runway, saw six white lights, which also coincided with radar “paints.” Jets were scrambled from Newcastle AFB in Delaware, but the objects left before they could be intercepted, only to return after the jets landed... indicating a conscious intelligence. On 7/26/52 a National Airlines pilot and flight attendant saw the lights, and they were again also detected on radar. Given the multiple sightings by reliable witnesses, the simultaneous radar and visual sightings, and the behavior of the objects, we can say with absolute certainty that something very real and very unknown was flying over D.C., and, whatever it was, it was under intelligent control.On 12/9/65 at around 4:45 PM a “fireball” was reported by hundreds of witnesses over Ontario and the eastern U.S. Several people reported that it appeared to drop debris in Michigan and northern Ohio, starting grass fires. So far, it sounds like an ordinary meteorite, or the reentry of Russia’s failed Venus probe Kosmos 96... but the probe had crashed thirteen hours earlier. Regarding the meteor theory, some witnesses reported that it made a sharp course change, impossible for a meteor, and all reports indicate that its original heading was some 90 degrees off the course it would have to have taken to reach Kecksburg, PA, where, early in the evening, minutes after the fireball sightings, something crashed in the woods just outside the town. Several townspeople reported seeing it crash; some heard a crashing or thumping sound; and some saw smoke. A police officer reported a flashing blue light in the woods. Although one witness claimed that the object, seen on the ground, was shaped like a four-pointed star, all the others who approached it (including several volunteer firemen) said it was an acorn-shaped object the size of a small car, bronze in color, with a ring of “hieroglyphic” writing around it near one end. Note the similarity to the “hieroglyphics” reported at Roswell. The witnesses were not saying that the writing (if it was writing) literally resembled Egyptian hieroglyphs, but simply that it did not resemble any known alphabet or writing system, including Japanese or Chinese. Most people, as far back as 1947 (Roswell), were familiar with the general appearance of oriental writing and Egyptian hieroglyphs. Several townspeople reported that Army troops arrived; people were ordered away from the site; and something was taken away, covered by a tarp, on a flatbed truck. The Army claimed that they found absolutely nothing... but this is an admission that their troops were there. If so, why? Reporter John Murphy of Station WHJB in Greensburg, PA investigated and planned to devote a radio program to the event, but, according to his widow, two men in plain clothes entered the studio, confiscated his recording and his photographs, and told him to keep quiet. In 1967 he was struck and killed by a never-identified hit and run driver (UFO researcher John Mack was also killed by a car), right after, according to his widow, he had announced that he planned to reopen the investigation. This object actually resembled the legendary Nazi Bell, and it would not be surprising if the strange writing was, indeed, identical to that reported at Roswell.At around 11:20 on the night of 10/4/67 at Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, multiple witnesses reported seeing a glowing object fly across the sky (some, initially, saw four flashing orange lights which they believed to be on one craft perhaps 60 feet in diameter) and land in the water; many reported a whistling sound and a crash or boom when it struck the surface. About five witnesses saw it floating on the water, perhaps 900-1,000 feet off shore. RCMP officers arrived about 15 minutes later and reported seeing the object sink, and then saw a yellow light moving and sinking under the water, leaving a yellow foam, which was also reported later by the Canadian Coast Guard. No planes had been reported missing. Canadian Navy divers began searching the bottom two days later, and (officially at least) found nothing. MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) investigators Doug Ledger and Chris Styles investigated the case and said the Navy divers told them that they had heard that the object apparently travelled 25 miles underwater to Government Point, where it was detected by sonar. Navy ships reportedly converged on the object, but then a second object arrived. A week later the two objects moved away under water, and then broke the surface and flew away. The two MUFON investigators say several military and civilian officials corroborated the story. This is one of the very best of many, many accounts of USOs (Unidentified Submerged Objects).The problem with most accounts of UFO abductions is that usually we have to rely on the word of just one experiencer, leaving open the strong possibility of hallucination or hoax. Even the famous Betty and Barney Hill case involved only two people, a married couple. But there are a few cases with much stronger evidence. On 11/5/75 22 year old Travis Walton and six other men, including his friend and boss Mike Rogers, who had a contract for the work with the US Forest Service, were clearing underbrush in Apache Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. As they were heading home just after six in the evening (dark at that time of year) they saw a bright light in the sky; as it approached them it looked like a glowing disk. They stopped, and Walton, who admittedly was interested in UFOs, got out to investigate. When it began making a humming sound he apparently thought better of the idea, and began walking away. The other men all said that the disk then hit him with a blue-green light beam, which lifted him into the air and threw him onto the ground. They panicked, and drove away, and then called the sheriff in Heber, Arizona. Searchers were unable to find him, but on 11/10 Walton called home from a gas station in Heber, and told everyone that he had been taken on board the UFO, and had seen classic “Gray Aliens” and also a being who appeared to be human and who had large, gold-colored eyes. Walton said that the beings put him to sleep with a sort of gas mask, and he awoke in Heber. Let’s analyze the facts. There is no way that seven men would all get together and invent the whole story and stick to it for decades, and there is no real motive for most of them. Okay, says the skeptic, the light was real (but there is probably some “logical” explanation for it), but Walton, seeing his chance, ran off and hid to do a hoax. There is no way that he could have anticipated the light and prepared in advance, and anyone who imagines that he would have survived even the first night at that high altitude in November... he was wearing only shoes, pants, a shirt, and a light jacket... is not familiar with mountain survival. Remember, the searchers saw no fires, and Walton had no food or water. It would have been next to impossible for him to have walked out of the mountains (the area is on the Mogollon Rim, the up-tilted southern end of the vast Colorado Plateau), reached shelter before succumbing to hypothermia, and hidden out for five days, even if, say, his brother had helped him. Another favorite theory of the skeptics claims that Walton’s brother was somehow lying in wait for the loggers, and released a “Chinese lantern,” or fire balloon, which somehow drifted in just the right direction and somehow shot a beam of light at Walton... give me a break. This was almost certainly not a hoax, but who, or what abducted Travis Walton? Are beings from another planet doing genetic experiments or some bizarre cross breeding program, or are abductions really paranormal in nature, perhaps, as some believe, even demonic? Again, we have many questions and no real answers.Another well documented abduction took place near Allagash, Maine on the night of 4/20/76. Charlie Foltz, Chuck Rak, and twin brothers Jack and Jim Weiner were camping on the Allagash Waterway near either Eagle Lake or Smith Pond beginning 4/18. The next night they all saw a strange light in the sky, which then vanished. The next night after that, 4/20, they built a large beacon fire to guide them back to their campsite, and canoed out on the lake. Again, they saw the light, and Foltz signaled it with a flashlight. A beam of light struck them, and they tried to paddle back to shore. Suddenly, they found themselves back at camp... and their fire had almost completely burned out, indicating the passage of time. Later, long after the camping trip, Jack Weiner began dreaming of being examined by long-necked humanoids with large heads, “insect-like” four digit hands, and big, glowing eyes. Then the other three men began having similar dreams. Supposedly, according to UFO investigator Raymond Fowler, all four men passed polygraph tests and were also found to be psychologically stable. As they were all artists, they painted the humanoids, depicting beaked, birdlike heads. It is most unlikely that four men would all have the same hallucination or all agree to do the same hoax, with no one ever recanting the story. All we can say is that something very strange and very unsettling happened to these men.Beginning on the night of 12/26/80 and going on through 12/28 and possibly 12/29, USAF personnel at RAF (Royal Air Force base) Woodbridge near Rendlesham Forest in England, including security police and the Deputy Base Commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt witnessed strange lights in the forest near the base, which was leased by the US. Lights were seen descending into the forest, breaking up into smaller lights, and sending beams of light down, nearly striking the security police. Lt. Col. Halt said that he saw one light that appeared to drip what looked like molten metal, though no metal was ever found. Security Police Sgt. Jim Penniston claimed that he touched what appeared to be a metallic, glowing object, and it felt warm, but did not burn him. He reported that the surface was covered with strange symbols (the “hieroglyphics” again?). Later, the men found broken tree branches and detected traces of radiation above the normal background count. Skeptics, more properly referred to as “debunkers,” claim that the trained USAF personnel were merely seeing the beam of light from the Orford Ness lighthouse, which is due east of the base and the forest. This level of arrogance and contempt for others is insulting. “Skeptics” who have never been there know what these men saw better than they themselves know? Remember, all of these men had been on base for some time, and had pulled night shifts before. The location and appearance of the lighthouse was well known. If we can trust these men to guard nuclear weapons, can we not trust them to recognize a familiar lighthouse? And if the Deputy Commander of a base like this cannot be trusted, we are all in considerable danger. Whatever happened at Woodbridge, it was not due to a hoax, a mass hallucination... or a lighthouse.On 12/29/80 (at the most, only a day after the Rendlesham Forest sightings) Bettie Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s young grandson Colby Landrum were driving at about 9:00 PM on a two lane road toward Denton, Texas, a small town in the dense pine forests north of Houston. They saw a light above the trees and then lost sight of it. Shortly thereafter they saw a diamond-shaped object (apparently the same light), which glowed brightly and emitted what appeared to be a flame from its base. They stopped and got out of their car and could feel heat from the object. It had a ring of blue lights around its center, and the flames went on and off. Even the metal of their car became hot. Then 23 helicopters, some apparently CH-47 Chinooks, joined the object and seemed to be escorting it. Dayton police officer Lamar Walker, his wife, and several other witnesses also saw the helicopters, and one witness, Jerry McDonald, reported seeing the strange object. Cash and Landrum claimed that the heat from the object partly melted the asphalt of the highway, and another witness told MUFON that he saw a road crew repairing the road in that area a few days later. Cash and the Landrums reported suffering from nausea, diarrhea, “sunburn,” weakness, and burning eyes. Pictures on the internet show the two women with their hair falling out. Like Roswell and Kecksburg, this case seems to indicate that at least some UFOs may be secret technology developed by our own government.At 5:11 PM on 11/17/86, dark at that time of year, Japan Airlines (JAL) Flight 1628, a Boeing 747 cargo plane, was over eastern Alaska en route from Paris to Tokyo. The crew saw two UFOs to their left, with rectangular glowing sections, perhaps exhausts of some kind, that lit up the plane’s cockpit, and the crew could even feel heat from the objects. These two objects flew away, but then a huge disk, far larger than the 747 (the experienced pilot estimated it to be about twice the size of an aircraft carrier), began following them, and was seen by the pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer. Around 6:00 PM, near Mt. McKinley, the object left. The crew reported that the first two objects made impossibly abrupt course changes. The pilot also saw the big disk on his radar, and it was briefly detected by the radar at Elmendorf AFB. This is one of the best of many, many UFOs reported by airliner crews, and, like many others, this involves multiple witnesses. The simultaneous radar and visual observation seems to rule out anomalous propagation, and if we cannot trust the judgment and honesty of airline crew reporting a UFO, why do we trust them with our lives?From 11/29/89 through 4/90, about 13,500 witnesses all over Belgian reported at least one huge flying object, triangular in shape, with lights at its corners, and many witnesses also saw a light in the center. Gendarmes on 3/30/90 reported seeing two such objects, or possibly clusters of lights in triangular formations. The objects could go as slowly as 240 kilometers per hour or go supersonic without a boom. The objects were also detected by search radars, and F-16s were sent to intercept them. The pilots never saw the objects visually, but did get brief radar locks on them, which were quickly broken... the objects, like so many UFOs, were apparently capable of impossibly fast changes of direction at high speed. Some witnesses reported beams of light coming down and illuminating fields. The only known photograph is apparently a hoax, but many eyewitnesses made drawings, and most are identical.On the night of 3/13/97, either a triangular object of immense size with anywhere from five to nine lights on it, or, less likely, a group of lights in a V formation (most witnesses were certain that they saw a single large, dark object behind and between the lights, blotting out the stars) was seen by thousands of witnesses. The first report was over Henderson, Nevada at 7:55 MST; the witness reported six lights and a sound like the wind. The lights were then reported over Paulden, Arizona, then Prescott at about 8:17 MST, and then over Phoenix by 8:30 or 8:45... in other words, it was a very slow moving object traveling from the northwest to the southeast. Later, over Phoenix, a line of almost stationary lights was seen near Phoenix, slowly descending; these were probably a USAF flare drop, perhaps intended to confuse the public and provide an “explanation” for the earlier lights... which were definitely not flares.And this brings us to our last case, which involves multiple sightings, photographs, and videos taken by NASA astronauts. There are so many of these that I can only summarize a few of them. The Apollo Seven astronauts photographed green fireballs with tails streaking up from Earth. The Apollo Eight crew photographed clouds in the crater Goclenius... not technically a UFO, but an indication that we have much to learn about the supposedly airless Moon. This crew also saw, looking toward Earth, an object with six long, branching arms. The men of Apollo Ten saw, below them, a triangular object flying above the Lunar surface; such objects were reported so many times that NASA began referring to them as “Moon pigeons.” Later Apollo crews reported (from the Lunar surface) a small object in the sky and two blue lights with tails. The Apollo Twelve astronauts photographed one another while on the Moon, and, in one astronaut’s visor, an object in the sky is clearly reflected. I shouldn’t have to point out that there is not enough of an atmosphere on the Moon for temperature inversions, and, while much “space junk” is in orbit close to Earth, there was no such junk near the Moon during the time of Apollo. When the crew of Apollo Eleven inquired about the position of the S4B upper stage (it was 6,000 miles behind them) many “conspiracy nuts” concluded that they were actually seeing a UFO. This brought much ridicule from the professional debunkers, until, a few years ago, NASA admitted that an unknown object had, indeed, accompanied several of the Apollo craft (including Apollo Eleven) near the Moon, and even released a video of one. Later, they rationalized that the objects were just jettisoned “spacecraft adapter panels,” but it would have been very poor design to have designed the upper stages so such objects might possibly collide with the Apollo craft. Also, the astronauts were familiar with the shape of the panels; “Buzz” Aldrin didn’t believe they were adapter panels, and said that the object he saw had a bell shape... Die Glocken again? Astronauts in Earth orbit have reported innumerable mysterious objects; many of these probably are (as the debunkers claim) just paint flecks or frost particles shaken off the spacecraft, and, though they are small objects seen very close, they may appear as larger ones at a distance. The problem with this is that many of them change direction. NASA claims that these were simply struck by the gas from the space crafts’ attitude thrusters. The problem with this “explanation” is that if these thrusters were fired they would do what they are designed to do... turn the space craft. But in one video after another, the objects move in one direction and then another while the star field and the Earth do not appear to move... because the space craft did not turn, meaning the thrusters did not fire.Since the so-called “skeptics” tend to be professional debunkers supporting status quo, government-approved explanations, those of us who are interested in UFOs and other unexplained phenomena have a duty to be the real skeptics... not “true believers.” Confronted as we are by mysteries no one is even close to solving, mysteries that may be of vital importance to Humanity and perhaps even provide clues leading to a revolution in (for example) physics, we need to study and analyze these mysteries and keep our eyes and our minds open.