A new Australian UFO ebook - 'UFOs Down Under'

Introduction

'UFOs Down Under' is the title of a new ebook, by Australian Barry Watts. Barry Watts, B. Ed. was born in 1936 and attended LaTrobe University. He is now a retired teacher of adults, and lives on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. In 1999, Barry and his partner started 'Pegasus Book Orphanage,' an online secondhand book business, which continues today. Between 1975 and the present, Barry has published seven books. 'UFOs Down Under' is his first self-published effort (ebook and paperback [coming next month.]) While 'Pegasus Book Orphanage' books cover a wide range of topics from Aviation to UFOs, Barry has had a specific interest in the subject of UFOs for decades.

The book

The full title of the book is 'Australasian Encounter: UFOs Down Under - The files revisited,' published by Pegasus Education Group, PO Box 223, McCrae, Victoria, 3938; 241pp.

Image courtesy of Barry Watts

The introduction includes 'In this book I have re-examined over thirty UFO encounters in Australia, New Zealand and Papua-New Guinea in detail...some of these are well known...Others are old or obscure, but are nevertheless provocative mysteries.'

Included in the well-known category are:

* 5 February 1947, Port Augusta, South Australia. Five, egg shaped objects in formation pass over the town

* May 1954, East Malvern, Victoria. Six people report a giant football.

* 31 August 1954, Goulburn, New South Wales. Radar/visual sighting.

* 22 August 1968, Zanthus, Western Australia. Aircraft encounter with a formation of one large and several smaller objects

* 21 October 1978, Bass Strait. The Valentich disappearance.

Among the lesser known cases we find:

* 14 January 1969, Childers, Queensland. A family see entities

* 23 March 1975, Nebo, Queensland. A group of people report an encounter to both the police and RAAF

* 20 October 1979, Wonthaggi, Victoria. A motorcyclist encountered an object on the ground.

Barry draws on a variety of sources, including Australian government files; books; magazines; blogs; and newspapers.

Each sighting is well researched, and references used are cited. The work is easy to read; and provides the reader with an excellent overview of each case.

In appropriate places, Barry draws attention to pieces of data which appear incorrect, or in conflict, e.g. some of the recollections of O'Farrell in the 31 August 1954 radar/visual event, and errors in newspaper reports of the 4 October 1960 Cressy, Tasmania observation.

The ebook is an excellent summary of over 30 Australian cases of interest. Barry has obviously done his homework in compiling information about each incident.

The work of Australian researchers including Bill Chalker; George Simpson; Paul Norman; Ben Hurle; Peter Norris; Ray Brooke, and myself, are cited and referenced.

This ebook (and paperback when available) is recommended as an excellent source of detailed information on some of the best Australian UFO cases. Barry is to be commended for all his hard work in drawing this material together.

Copies of the ebook are currently available through Amazon.

Well done Barry!

Devoir de memorie - the duty of memory

Hi all,

Forbidden Science

I am currently reading a copy of Jacques Vallee's 'Forbidden Science: Volume Three - Journals 1980-1989 - On the Trail of Hidden Truths.' It was published, in 2016,  by Documatica Research, LLC. ISBN is 978-1-329-89437-2.

Image courtesy Amazon Books

In the introduction, Vallee writes 'The French call it Devoir de memoire, the duty of memory:anyone who lives through exceptional times, or has the privilege to work with exceptional people, should preserve the recollection of the thoughts, the deeds and even the feelings that characterised the era in question. It is only in this way that future researchers will be able to assess the testimony of contemporaries and verify key facts.'

It is in this spirit, assessing and verifying, that I will, in a series of blog posts, examine points of personal interest in this new book.

Skylab and Pine Gap

In an entry dated 26 January 1980, Vallee writes of a lunch with a college teacher named Tom Gates, and a journalist named Renwick Breck. Breck tells Vallee:

 '...about his experiences in Australia, where he was to report on the re-entry of Skylab. His adventures centred on Pine Gap, an American national security facility, that controls the orbital trajectories of spy satellites over the Southern hemisphere.'

'"Pine Gap does all sorts of things!" Ren said. "I found out it directed the Polaris submarines and ran experiments with particle beam weapons and Star Wars Platforms."

'Ren believes that a new phase of the discreet "cold" war in space has begun between the Soviets and us; their Soyouz space craft are suspected of carrying ant-satellite weapons. But there's more: "Pine Gap is hosting disk-shaped drones that may be used to direct particle beams towards specific targets," he told us, drawing donut-like objects on his napkin."They're often mistaken for flying saucers. They may be nothing more than big magnets, powered from the ground by an energy beam. Such weapons would change the balance , the nuclear stalemate, making atom bombs obsolete."

"So whatever happened to Skylab?" I asked. He laughed: "The damn thing came down in the middle of a news blackout. Imagine that! The communications workers of Australia went on strike just at the critical period. Guess who controls the Unions down there?"

I had no idea.

"The CIA, that's who! It was a very convenient strike. They did make one exception, to allow the broadcasting of the Miss World Pageant from Perth. For four days all you could see on TV from Australia was a bunch of bimbos in bathing suits. In the meantime Skylab crashed down, right smack on the highway to Pine Gap after narrowly missing two airliners Nasa hadn't bothered to warn. The world had been told that the final trajectory was unpredictable. What a joke! Tom here had computed it at the public planetarium in San Jose. The main safe from Skylab was picked up near the front door of the secret Pine Gap facility. Heavens knows what was inside. Nasa served as a cover for military experiments once again."'

Fact checking

So, what fact checking can be undertaken on the above story?

1. What is the function of Pine Gap?

An early shot of Pine Gap

The leading civilian authorities on the Pine Gap facility are Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter. Much of their work has been published via the 'Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability.'

These three authors, in a paper titled 'The SIGINT Satellites of Pine Gap. Conception, Development and in Orbit,' dated 15 October 2015, wrote as follows about the facility's function:

'Pine Gap's initial and still principal importance to the United States lies in its role as a ground control and processing station for geosynchronous sigint intelligence satellites...'

So, the statement in Vallee, that Pine Gap

 '...controls the orbital trajectories of spy satellites over the southern hemisphere.'

is partially correct, in that it does 'control,' but it also 'processes.' 

2. Did it run '...experiments with particle beam weapons and Star Wars Platforms?'

There is certainly much Internet material available today about exotic weapons and Pine Gap, e.g.

here and here. 

However, there is fewer sources speaking of this topic back in 1980. One Australian source is the book titled "The Cosmic Conspiracy" by American Stan Deyo. In the book, Deyo discusses, among other things, Pine Gap and UFOs. He reports sightings of strange objects around the facility. In addition he mentions rumours that the base had a large, nuclear power station plant; and worked with high voltage, high energy plasma accelerators.

The Cosmic Conspiracy - image courtesy Amazon Books

So, the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck:

'...and ran experiments with particle beam weapons and Star Wars Platforms,'

cannot be confirmed or rejected.

3. Did Pine Gap host disk-shaped drones?

In 1980, the word 'drones' wasn't used terribly much; certainly not in terms we understand today, i.e. unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV.) A broad search failed to find any mention of Pine Gap and drones in 1979-1980.

So, the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck that:

"Pine Gap is hosting disk-shaped drones...' cannot be confirmed or rejected.

Location of Pine Gap facility - image courtesy Google maps

4. (a) Did Skylab come down in the middle of a news-blackout? (b) Did the communications workers go out on strike?

a. I couldn't find anything on a total news-blackout for this era. Certainly, newspapers such as 'The Canberra Times' were being published during the period around the re-entry of Skylab. The TROVE digitised newspaper collection of the National Library of Australia has numerous newspaper items from 'The Canberra Times' about the re-entry. It could well be, however, that television was affected.

b. 'The Canberra Times' dated 10 July 1979, on page one, speaking of the Skylab re-entry, reports 'The only contingency which might cause some difficulty could be the effects of the telecommunication employees bans on equipment but this was not expected to be a major problem.'

So, the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck, that:

'The damn thing came down in the middle of a news blackout. Imagine that! The communications workers of Australia went on strike just at the critical period,'

is partially correct.

5. Was there a Miss World Pageant on at the time?

The date of the Miss World Pageant 1979 was in fact the 15 November 1979, and the venue for the event was not Western Australia, but London, in the United Kingdom. 

I wondered if this might have been a mistaken reference to the Miss Universe event? I found that the 1979 Miss Universe event was held in Perth, Western Australia on 20 July 1979, The Skylab  re-entry was on 12 July 1979 (Australian time.)

So, the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck that:

'They did make one exception, to allow the broadcasting of the Miss World Pageant from Perth. For four days all you could see on TV from Australia was a bunch of bimbos in bathing suits. In the meantime Skylab crashed down...'

is incorrect. There was no Miss World Pageant from Perth; and the re-entry was 8 days before the Miss Universe event. 

6. Did Skylab crash on the highway to Pine Gap?

According to media reports from 1979, the re-entry of Skylab occurred on 12 July 1979 at about 1.07am Western Australian time (equal to 11 July 1979 at 16:37 UTC.) As a double check I looked at a table titled 'Visually Observed Natural Re-entries of Earth Satellites' compiled by Canadian researcher Ted Molczan. He has the re-entry timed at 11 July 1979 at 16:33 UTC. 

According to Benson, C. and Compton W D. (1983) 'Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab' (Washington DC) page 37, the debris field for Skylab was between Esperance, Western Australia ( latitude 33.86 degrees south; longitude 121.89 degrees east) and Rawlinna, Western Australia (latitude 30.76 degrees south; longitude 125.38 degrees east.) Pine Gap is at latitude  23.82 degrees south and longitude 133.73 degrees east.

Esperance and Rawlinna - image courtesy of Google maps

The direct line distance between Esperance and Pine Gap is approximately 1622 kilometres. The straight line distance between Rawlinna and Pine Gap is about 1145 kilometres.

So, the statement in Vallee, atrributed to Breck that:

'In the meantime Skylab crashed down, right smack on the highway to Pine Gap...'

is totally incorrect, according to NASA history, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

A second, small point is that there is no 'highway' to Pine Gap. Locals tell me that the road in 1979 was a standard bitumised, two lane; one in each direction; and not a 'highway.'

7. Did Skylab narrowly miss two airliners?

An Internet search revealed no such account. A search of 'The Canberra Times' newspaper's numerous stories on Skylab, also revealed no such accounts. Indeed, 'The Canberra Times;' dated 10 July 1979 stated that the Australian Department of Transport would declare a large area of airspace restricted, before the Skylab re-entry, to avoid just such a possibility. 

I did find a mention that '...and an airline pilot saw dozens of celestial firework-like flares.." as Skylab re-entered. This appears in Lewis, R S. 1984. 'The Voyages of Columbia.' New York. Columbia University Press. pp 80-82.

So, the statement in Vallee attributed to Breck, that:

'...after narrowly missing two airliners Nasa hadn't bothered to warn,'

appears incorrect.

8. Was the trajectory of Skylab unpredictable?

Time magazine, dated 16 July 1979, in an article titled 'Skylab's Fiery Fall,' mentions that NASA aimed to steer Skylab to a point in the ocean, some 810 miles SSE of Cape Town, South Africa, to avoid population centres.

Australian newspaper reports, such as 'The Canberra Times" dated 15 July 1979, page 4, provide further details:

Image courtesy TROVE digitised newspapers

Thus, the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck, that:

'The world had been told that the final trajectory was unpredictable,'

is true.

9. Was the main safe from Skylab picked up near Pine Gap?

As mentioned before, bits of Skylab were picked up between 1145 and 1622 kilometres from Pine Gap. Although the trajectory, if extended backwards from Esperance to Rawlinna, does pass near Pine Gap, at what height did Skylab start to disintegrate?

 Lewis, R S. 1984. 'The Voyages of Columbia.' New York. Columbia University press. pp 80-82, provides the answer in that 'Analysis of some debris indicated that the Skylab station had disintegrated 10 miles above the Earth...'

If this is correct, then when it was 10 miles above the Earth it couldn't have been near Pine Gap, so no 'main safe' could have fallen near Pine Gap.

Thus the statement in Vallee, attributed to Breck that:

'The main safe from Skylab was picked up near the front door of the secret Pine Gap facility,'

appears incorrect.

In summary

Here is a tantilising tale from journalist Renwick Breck told to, and recorded by, Jacques Vallee in 1980. 

At first glance, it seems to be a story of Skylab crashing down near a Top Secret US facility in Australia, with its main safe intact; complete with stories of particle beam experiments at the base.

However, when fact checked, we find some statements to be true; eg there was a beauty contest in July 1979 in Perth. Other statements such as Skylab crashing near Pine Gap, seem untrue. Finally, the more extreme statements that Pine Gap was hosting disk-shaped drones and conducting experiments with particle beam weapons, are in the end unable to be confirmed or rejected.

All in all, one has to be very wary of accepting the totality of such accounts despite the apparent sincerity of the teller of the tale, in this instance, journalist Renwick Breck.

Would any reader care to comment on this story?

New book alert - Contact Down Under - McGhee

Hi all,

An excellent new Australian book has just been published, titled "Contact Down Under: A century of UFO sightings in Australasia and the Western Pacific." Its author is Moira McGhee, and it is published by Independent Network of UFO Researchers (INUFOR); ISBN is 978-0646-305-042.

Moira has been interested in the subject for many years, and is an extremely dedicated researcher. She founded INUFOR and still coordinates it today. In the past, Moira has been associated with  the British UFO Research Association  in the United Kingdom; UFO Research Australia; the Australian Centre for UFO Studies; and the Mutual UFO Network in the USA.

This book is aimed at members of the general public, and as such, gives a representative overview of sightings in Australasia and the Western Pacific, over the last hundred years, focusing on Australia.

It is packed full of both well-known (eg Mundrabilla, WA, 20 January 1988; pp 152-156) and little-known (eg Portland, NSW, 12 March 1997; pp 104-108) observations. The spectrum of sightings range from anecdotal (eg Queensland, June 1984 "UFO crash;" p127) to well documented (eg Llangothlin, NSW, 19 October 1975: pp 78-81.) Some are sketchy (eg Trunkey Creek, NSW, 1997; p 104); while others are described in detail (eg Roma, Qld, 1963; pp 231-235.) There are sightings where mundane stimuli are the likely cause ( eg Ivy Tank, SA, September 1973; p 150); while others remain a mystery after a competent investigation (eg Boianai, Papua New Guinea, June 1959 pp 206-208.)

There are cases which cry out for a much longer treatment, eg Mundrabilla, WA; pp 152-156; but in a general work of this nature, this is not possible. There are others which Moira outlines, especially from central Australia, which I would like to see further investigated, documented and published.

As with all works, there are errors; eg page 3 tells us that the American A-12 aircraft could "hover"; not so. There are two versions, dated 28 May 1963 and 1965, of the same case on page 209. However, these do not really detract from the main thrust of the book, namely, sighting reports.

A long term blog reader will be aware that I enjoy a book which has plenty of factual information, together with analysis. This book has all of this. It is a treasure trove of Australian material.

I found that the book provides a great introduction to the topic. I thoroughly recommend you obtain, and read, a copy of this book. Details of how you may purchase it can be found at http://independentnetuforesearchers.com.au/

New book alert - "Selected by Extraterrestrials - Tompkins

Hi all,

Another recent book is "Selected by Extraterrestrials: My Life in the Top Secret World of UFOs; Think Tanks and Nordic Secretaries." The author is William Mills Tompkins, and the book was published last year by Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, SC. The ISBN is 978-1-51521 -7466.

This book is said to be the autobiography of an individual who worked for US Naval Intelligence, before he took up long term employment  with the Douglas Aircraft Company. It covers the time period from his childhood to the late 1960's, and further volumes are to follow.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

What is the core of the book about?

"After extensive studies in 1953, Advanced Design concluded that UFOs were actually interplanetary spacecraft, piloted by extremely advanced extraterrestrial beings." (p.19).

Concerning a female employee of the company, "Was she, in some way, related to aliens?" A number of the engineering section thought that was exactly what she was." (p.88).

Tompkins relating thoughts of his boss " Several of us feel that certain extraterrestrials for whatever reason were influencing these people telepathically to develop the capability to  move off this planet." (p.103).

"Back in 1953, some unbelievable space studies came out of the Douglas Think Tank, stating that not only were top government heads aware of the alien involvement in human affairs, but that the old Soviet union was aware of it too. With Alien help, the Soviets were bent on getting to the Moon first, in order to establish missile bases there and threaten and control the entire planet." (p.169).

"The real mission to the Moon is to build a 2,000 man Naval base on the Moon. People just don't seem to understand this. " (p.238).

"It took several years for us to accept that the star girls really were aliens...It was many years before I realized that my secretary was a Nordic alien." (p.247).

"From an aerospace concept engineer's perspective, I can say without reservation that you, reading this volume, will live much longer and happier than previous generations. Our Navy spacecraft carriers will first explore our Milky Way Galaxy, then the galaxies in our universe and on into parallel universes." (p.250).

"At that time, we in the Tank had a large number of alien species documented in out files." (p.271).

Where do the authors ideas arise from?

The author's beliefs about an extraterrestrial presence at the Douglas Aircraft Company and other locations, appears to derive from "vision" or "flashes" he experienced from time to time.

"I had flash images of the beach..." (p.1).

"In the back of my mind, I started to wonder if our government was having problems with some really bad aliens." (p.2).

"I didn't read it, it just popped into my head." (p.36).

"I just got a flash..." (p.63).

"Jim, it just comes as a picture in my head." (p.73).

"...it's not really my concept; the aliens stuck it into my head. (p.102).

"He never got into remote viewing, like I did, however." (p274).

There are numerous other references in the book, all along the lines of the quotes above.

My comments

There is much to dislike about this book:

* Sentences are quite often missing words, so they do not make sense

* Sentences are sometimes so constructed, that it is not possible to understand what the author means by them

* Various parts of his account, are repeated over and over again on consecutive pages

* The author focuses much attention on the sexual attractiveness of women working in secretarial positions, in repetitive detail, which better belongs in a soft-porn novel

* The author fails to provide an effective timeline for his various accounts. So much so, that the reader often doesn't know which year is being referred to in a particular account.

As editor, Robert M Wood states in the Preface, there is little doubt that Tompkins did indeed work at the Douglas Aircraft Company. There are plenty of checkable facts about his employment given, which ring true. However, beyond that, it is simply a wild ride through the author's mind, which reads more like a b grade novel than an autobiography.

All in all, an unsatisfactory book. It is long on the author's opinions; short on actual facts when it comes to his central theme that aliens were manipulating their work; and ultimately short on believability.

New book alert - "The Aztec UFO Incident" - Ramsey, Ramsey and Thayer

Hi all,

The Aztec, New Mexico, USA, UFO crash account of 25 March 1948 first came to see the light of day in the 1950 book "Behind the Flying Saucers" by author Frank Scully. (Published by Henry Bolt & Co., New York, 1950.)

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

There is now a new book out, by three researchers, Scott Ramsey; Suzanne Ramsay and Frank Thayer. Its full title is "The Aztec UFO Incident: The Case, Evidence, and Elaborate Cover-up of One of the Most Perplexing Crashes In History." (Published by New Page Books, Wayne, N.J. ISBN 978-1-63265-001-6).

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

"By the mid-1950's, no responsible writer or UFO investigator would touch the Aztec story with a 10-foot pole. " (p.46).

In the mid-1980's came a fresh look at the incident, in a book "UFO Crash at Aztec: A Well-Kept Secret" by William Steinman and Wendelle Stevens. (UFO Photo Archives, Tucson, Arizona, 1986).

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

This was followed by a chapter in a 2003 book by Chris B. Evans, "Alien Conspiracy: Unraveling the UFO/Alien Mystery." (Published by Alarm Clock Publishing, Ceredo, W.Va.)

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

Scott Ramsey; Suzanne Ramsey; Frank Thayer; and Frank Warren, wrote "The Aztec Incident: Recovery at Hart Canyon." (Published by Aztec48 Publications. Mooresville, NC. 2012).

 

The research

 

"Our research is a compilation of work gathered for almost 29 years. In that time, we have travelled to more than 28 states; personally spent $500,000; and archived 55,000 related documents from sources including the United States Army , United States Air Force, FBI and CIA, and directly from the desk of J Edgar Hoover." (p.11).

 

The authors describe:

 

* Finding and interviewing a number of individuals who claim they were present at the incident, and who describe the craft and associated beings

 

* Other individuals who relate second hand, descriptions which they heard from first hand sources

 

* Their research into Frank Scully; J.P. Cahn; Silas Newton and others who were part of the 1950's work "Behind the Flying Saucers."

 

In undertaking their research, the authors:

 

* Visited the Aztec crash site on numerous occasions

 

* Travelled across the US to interview individuals

 

* Located a thought long lost wire audio recording of Silas Newton of his famous lecture of 8 March 1950

 

* Unearthed  a never finished autobiography of Silas Newton

 

* Explored and dismissed alternate mundane explanations for the crashed object, such as a V-2 rocket.

 

 

Outcomes



 

What do the authors tell us they found?

 

"This book reveals not only the incontrovertible proof of the flying saucer recovered on Hart Canyon mesa in March, 1948, it also shows the successful Army cover-up following that recovery." (p.231).

 

" At the beginning of this quest, we would never have bet money that so many Aztec saucer documents existed...The documents are real, and most have never been seen by other researchers." (p.297).

 

"A 100-foot-diameter flying saucer was recovered and moved off of a mesa above Hart Canyon Road near Aztec after it was discovered on March 25, 1948. The crew of 16 humanoid bodies lay dead inside the craft with at least two slumped over the controls. The craft was carted away to some secure government facility." (p.301).

 

"We hope the reader understands that we, the authors, know the Aztec incident is a real event and that knowledge of the recovery at Hart Canyon should have been made known to the American public long ago." (p.303).

 

 

Comments

 

Long term readers of this blog will know that I favour the conducting of original research into cases. This book is a good example of a motto (with a dash from the TV series, The X-files) which I myself use, namely "Trust no-one, conduct your own research." In fact, the authors, themselves write, "Do one's own research and do not count on others." (p.43).

 

The very fact that the authors located previously unknown witnesses, and written documentation, indicates the thoroughness of their work. Their methodology is to be congratulated,

 

It is a pity that in Australia, the publishing of such a detailed document/book, has not been carried out on such incidents as the 6 April 1966, Westall, Victoria, event. Doing so would enable much better peer review, of these sort of high profile incidents.

 

Finally, have the book's authors convinced me that their interpretation of the Aztec crash is the correct one? Well, no. They present no official US Government documents stating that the crash occurred, was a UFO and that there was indeed a recovery. They provide no piece of non-earthly technology from the incident. They provide us with no dead alien bodies to look at for ourselves.

New book alert - "Roswell Revealed" - SUNRISE Information Services

Hi all,

Rarely does one come across an Australian researcher, or group of researchers, who provide a book length treatment on just one UAP event. However, the book "Roswell Revealed" is just such a work.

Its full title is "Roswell Revealed: The New Scientific Breakthrough into the Controversial UFO crash of 1947." The book was published by SUNRISE Information Services, Canberra, Australia in 2015. ISBN 978-0-957735-00-2.

The "About the Author" page reads

"SUNRISE Information Services (SUNRISE) is a private research center aimed at producing original, stable, interesting and easy-to-read educational and research information for the global community, while uncovering new and original knowledge."

What is it about?

The book examines the 1947 Roswell crash incident in general; but specifically, and in exhaustive detail, the "shape-memory foils" reported by the witnesses. Its major premise may be summed up by quoting from the book:

"...we have two opposing groups looking at the exact same materials in all their glory, and yet they have managed to come up with completely different descriptions. On the one hand, we have the USAF claiming the metallic foil is made of flimsy aluminium foil with no unusual properties, and, on the other hand, the witnesses claimed a  dark-grey metal was observed as being virtually indestructible when subjected to the high temperatures of a blow torch and with heavy blows from a sledgehammer." (p.9.)

Image courtesy of AmazoBooks

What research did SUNRISE undertake?

Much has been made about the large volume of information about the Roswell event. "Then, in the early 1990s, an Australian researcher noticed, within the original witnesses' statements, a particular observation never before analyzed at the time. It concerns the dark-grey foil found at the Roswell crash site... The "distinctly dark-grey" shape-memory alloy at the center of this research is NiTi (or nitinol)...Not expecting to find anything unusual, the researcher made a study into the alloy's properties..." (p.21.)

One of the numerous individuals involved in the Roswell saga was "...former US Army Colonel James Bond Edward Johnson (1926-2006)...military reporter and representative of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram." (p.63.)

Johnson interviewed Brigadier-General Ramey and saw first hand, and photographed, what he was told was the Roswell debris - a weather balloon.  SUNRISE contacted Johnson directly. "Mr Johnson had a personal website and email address for the public to contact him. SUNRISE took the opportunity to notify him on February 13, 2006 of the latest Australian research into the Roswell case and asked for his comments regarding the history..." (p.72.)

SUNRISE carefully examines all the original source material available, about the "shape-memory foils," as gained by Roswell researchers, from individuals who claim to have seen it. SUNRISE also gathered, analysed and presents, in great detail, the history of US research into nitinol, and other shape-memory metals. " It began in 1994 when an Australian researcher approached Russian metallurgist Dr Andrzej (Andrew) Calka... The researcher asked for Dr Calka's insights into Ni Ti..." (p.216.)

As part of their research, SUNRISE consulted "...the metal journals from the Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU)..." (p.174.)

SUNRISE located, read and digested, a number of USAF/Battelle sub-contracted technical reports on the subject of shape-memory metals. A fascinating story in itself.

SUNRISE engaged in dialogue with Roswell researcher Anthony Bragalia in 2008. "Mr Bragalia believes the Roswell object is alien and that science can never understand alien technology. SUNRISE takes on a more balanced position...However SUNRISE is open-minded to other possibilities if the evidence supports it." (p.255.)

My comments

I was pleasantly surprised  to find an Australian group of researchers conducting research on this level. Very little original research is undertaken in this country by UAP researchers. Here though, is a group taking the time, over several years in fact, (version one of the book appeared in 2011) to carefully, and in great detail, explore a highly technical area of UAP research.

I read SUNRISE's work with great interest, and congratulate them on this work and book. I hope we might hear more of this high standard of work, from them, in the future.

I would recommend, that whatever your position on the Roswell incident, that you obtain and read carefully, a copy of this book.

New book alert - "UFOs Over Poland" - Piotr Cielebias

Hi all,

I am always interested to read a book about UAP observations from other countries. I had the opportunity recently, with Cielebias, P. 2015. "UFOs Over Poland: The Land of High Strangeness. Published by Flying Disk Press. Pontefract, England. ISBN 978-0-9934928-8. Cielebias holds an MA in history, a BA in Political Sciences, and is a writer and journalist. The book covers crash stories; entity cases; flying triangles; historical and photographic cases; and numerous close encounters.

Polish research

Image courtesy of Amazon Books.

 

As to research into the subject:

* "In 1961 the first Polish book featuring the UFO problem appeared. It was Latajace talerze (Flying Saucers) of Janusz Thor." (p.29.)

* "From 1978...according to Piechota's and Rzepecki's estimates, there were more than 400 reported accounts of unidentified flying objects in Poland with 1979 as the hottest year..." (p.35.)

* "In five years after the Emilcin encounter [1978-KB] there appeared around thirteen new UFO research groups all over Poland..." (p.53.)

Official responses include:

* "According to many military informants, the Polish Air Force of People's Polish Army issued a special protocol for potential UFO observers in uniform." (p.61.)

* "Official Polish government/military UFO files remains a controversial topic. If these ever existed they were surely not related to any specific project on unidentified aerial phenomena. " (p.61.)

* There is no doubt that the Polish Army has kept its eye on ufologists in the past and is still doing so even today." (p.63.)

In summary

Overall, Poland experiences the full range of aspects of the phenomenon as in many other countries.

I found the book easy to read; entertaining; informative; and well worth purchasing a copy to obtain a non-US perspective, which so often gets overlooked.

New book alert - "Walking Among Us" - David Jacobs

Hi all,

"I understand that alien integration into human society sounds ridiculous. The idea that alien/human hybrids are living on Earth is inherently preposterous...But as an academic researcher, I must follow the evidence where it leads." (p.1.)

This quote comes from the opening page of "Walking Among Us: The Alien Plan to Control Humanity." 2015. By David M Jacobs. Published by Disinformation Books. San Francisco, CA. ISBN 978-1-938875-14-4.

The central theme of the book is that alien/human hybrids (hubrids) are living on earth, integrating into humanity.

"My research had uncovered a substantial presence of hybrids living on Earth. This book tells how I came to this seemingly ridiculous conclusion." (p.xiv.)

What research did Jacobs undertake?

"The narrative is based on interviews with fourteen abductees." (p.xiv.) Jacobs lists these individuals providing for each, a pseudonym, birth year, birthplace and vocation. Jacobs informs us that these fourteen are from "...1,150 abduction events I have investigated over the years." (p.xiv.)

Jacobs advises (p4.) that "The raw data of abduction research is human memory retrieved through hypnosis, often administered by amateurs."

He goes on to say that "...abduction researchers rarely understand how to elicit accurate descriptions...Becoming competent with abduction hypnosis requires a thorough knowledge of the abduction phenomenon and an awareness of the pitfalls of retrieval memory. There are precious few people who are able to do this..." (pp4-5.)

"When researchers retrieve abductees' memories competently, they can give us a realistic glimpse into the extraordinary world of alien abductions." (p.5.)

He advises that "...confabulation is common in the first few hypnosis sessions and declines in subsequent attempts." (p.5.) Then states that "...inexperienced or highly trusting abduction researchers cannot identify confabulation..." (p.5.)

However, Jacobs sees himself as capable of seeing through this, and it seems he feels that he, and he alone, can cut through the difficulties he outlines. "I ask logical and chronological questions that can hardly be considered leading or suggestive....I often leave my questions open-ended so my own opinions do not influence their answers." (pp6-7.)

"With competent investigation, abductees say what they know and not what they do not know." (p.8.)

One question I have is, do we have full, unedited transcripts of sessions with the fourteen individuals? The answer appears to be "No" as Jacobs writes "In this book, I use edited verbatim transcripts..." (p2.) The non availability of full, unedited transcripts, or full audio recordings of sessions, does not allow us to check Jacobs' methodology.

Jacobs argues that "One of the critical aspects of the abduction phenomenon is that abductees all say the same thing about what is happening to them, even though they do not share knowledge of each other's experiences." (p.11.)

 I have two comments here. Firstly, that if "abductees all say the same thing..." why does he summarise the views of only 14 abductees about this questioning of are hybrids walking among us? Surely his pool of people saying this to draw on, should be 1,150? Secondly, the Internet is full of abductees sharing their experiences in great detail, which  is publicly available. There are websites discussing the question of hybrids, and individuals saying they know of hybrids, or even that their children are hybrids.

The book documents Jacob's exploration of his central hypothesis, presenting case studies from his fourteen individuals, elaborating on his thesis.

Jacobs' assertions

Among Jacobs' assertions are:

1. "While onboard, aliens require abductees to teach young adult hubrids about integration." (p.73.)

2. "Socialization - the ability to mingle among humans undetected - is an extremely important goal of the aliens." (p.93.)

3. "When hubrids move into a house or apartment on Earth, abductees are responsible for continuing to teach them about living in human society." (p.125.)

4. "And, if I had discovered hubrids in my corner of eastern Pennsylvania and in a few other places, it means that it is happening everywhere." (p.235.)

5. "Most people are not aware of the abduction program. It is clandestine. Although there are many reasons for secrecy, the most irrefutable and basic one is that the aliens do not want humans to know what they are doing. If humans knew about the program,. they would try to stop it." (p.245.)

6. "Secrecy must also extend to what bystanders may see. Thus, the craft they came in and the abduction itself are made invisible to nonabductees. Perhaps more than 99 percent of abductions are not witnessed by bystanders, although they may take place in crowded city streets in daytime." (p.246.)

How come abductees can't remember what happened?

"...abductees are under total control by the aliens...This control lasts until they are returned to their normal environment, whereupon they immediately forget the experiences they just had." (p.36.)

"...few abductees consciously recall their abductions." (p.4.)

"Abduction accounts remembered without the benefit of competent hypnosis are most often untrustworthy." (p.5.)

In summary:

"My favourite interview question is no longer: Are aliens walking among us? They are here and I know how insane I sound when I answer that question. I know that hybrids are indeed walking and living among us and they are doing so in great numbers." (p.262.)

"I began my journey in the mid-1960's being thrilled that the UFO phenomenon might signal contact with another species, It did, but not in the way I imagined. The abduction evidence has forced me to evolve into a fearful investigator. I have uncovered the alien reality, as much as I dislike it." (p.269.)

 

More comments

 

The inability to access full unedited interview sessions, or full audio recordings; combined with Jacobs' assertion that he has been able to penetrate through all the inherent difficulties of alien controlled abductees, where others have not, does not sit easy with me. It is also concerning to me, that some of his information has been obtained during dozens of hypnotic sessions with an individual.

 

On the bigger picture, Jacobs offers no evidence that he has ever sought to meet and speak with one of these hybrids, who spend large amounts of time with abductees who live close enough to Jacobs to be able to attend sessions with him several times a week.

 

There is also no mention of Jacobs having a DNA analysis done on any of these hybrids which visit his abductees. All in all, we are simply left with patterns which Jacobs tells us he has found by hypnotically retrieving memories from a very small sample of individuals.

New book alert - "Bad UFOs."

Hi all,

"Both skeptics and "sceptical believers" agree that the UFO field, as it now stands, is filled to the brim with rubbish. The latter group expects that, when the rubbish is cleared away, there will be a signal in the noise, while the former expects that nothing will be left." So writes Robert Sheaffer in the acknowledgements section (p.ix)  of his new, 2016, book titled "Bad UFOs: Critical Thinking About UFO Claims," "made in the USA." San Bernardino, CA, on 06 February 2016." ISBN 978-1519260840.

Who is Robert Sheaffer?

 

The book's back cover tells us that "He is a fellow of the well-known Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI, formerly CSICOP)...author of UFO Sightings (1998), Psychic Vibrations (2011), and has appeared on many radio and TV programs...He is a regular columnist for The Skeptical Inquirer ...His website is www.debunker.com and his blog is www.BadUFOs.com."

 

Coverage

 

The book covers "big picture" areas of the UFO subject; including sightings, videos and photographs; crashes and retrievals; abductions; conspiracy and "disclosure."

 

In each of thee areas; Sheaffer describes the subject material, then provides his perspective, based on the evidence he, or others, have gathered.

 

Sightings

 

The 11 December 1996, Yukon; Canada, mass observation of an apparent large object traversing the sky, is revealed, after diligent analysis, to have been "...the re-entry of the 2nd stage of the rocket that placed Cosmos 2335 into orbit..." (p.17.)

 

The first part of the 13 March 1997 Phoenix lights event, is said to have been due to "...five Air National Guard A-10 aircraft..." (p.26.)

 

The most likely culprit, which caused delays to airline flights at Hangzhou's Xiaoshan airport on 7 July 2010, and on 11 September 2010 in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, was the planet Venus.

 

Photographs and videos

 

Sheaffer points out "...a photo or video cannot simple "stand by itself" as evidence of anything. For a photo or video to be convincing, we must know a great deal about its origins, the photographer, the location, etc." (p.59.) He reminds us that anonymous videos regularly feature on You Tube without explanation, or such details.

 

He reviews the 1950 McMinnville, Oregon photographs; the 1965 Santa Ana, California Polaroids; the April 1990 Petit Rechain, Belgium photograph; the 2011 Jerusalem videos; the "UFO drones" of the late 2000's; and others; and finds them all wanting as pieces of evidence for anything unusual.

 

Crashes and retrievals

 

Roswell, is of course the "crash" story everyone knows. Sheaffer writes simply, "There is no credible evidence that what was recovered at Roswell was ever anything bigger than tinfoil and sticks." (pp95-96.)

 

The 1950 FBI Hottel memo "...traces back, eighth-hand, to claims made by con-man Silas Newton about the supposed Aztec crash! " (p.101.)

 

Finally, he covers the very recent "Roswell Slides" fiasco in some detail.

 

Abductions

 

In chapter five, Sheaffer starts off by examining the Betty and Barney Hill case. He states in respect of the known weather details of that night "...the Hill's recollection is seriously in error." (p.122.) As regards the two hours of 'missing time' "...the Hill's account of that evening's timetable has never been fully consistent." (p.123.) On the radar confirmation "The only piece of evidence in existence that in any way supports the supposed radar confirmation of the sighting is a brief paragraph from Pease Air Force Base." (pp.126-127.) On the topic of the 'Alien star map' "Today the Fish Map retains no credibility whatsoever..." (p.129.)

 

Sheaffer, then moves on to the 1975 Travis Walton abduction and "bedroom intrusions", before giving his views on Whitley Strieber; the David Jacobs/'Emma Woods' saga; and  the recent revelations from Carol Rainey, Budd Hopkins' ex-wife.

 

Conspiracy

 

Sheaffer likes to use the term "science fiction" UFOlogists when referring to people who identify with 'Scientific UFOlogy' (p.2.)

 

So, when it comes to UFO conspiracies, his perspective is "Given the near-universal belief among "science fiction" UFOlogists that UFO crashes, secret programs, and even alien captures have taken place, it follows that there must exist conspiracies of gigantic scale with vast resource to successfully conceal UFO secrets from the world at large." (p.164.)

 

 

Chapter six discusses Richard C Hoagland; Linda Moulton Howe; Joseph Firmage; the  Rendelsham UK 1980 incidents; Jacques Vallee and the 'Pentacle Memorandum'; amongst other topics. Needless, to say, he is far from impressed with the evidence presented.

 

Disclosure

 

Dr Steven Greer's 'Disclosure Project' features heavily in chapter seven on disclosure. Also featured are Dr Dan Burisch; English hacker Garry McKinnon; and Nick Pope. Exopolitics as espoused by such individuals as Michael Salla; Andrew D Basiago and Laura Magdalene Eisenhower received coverage and comment. The latter two individuals' claims about a 'secret colony' on Mars is met with Sheaffer's "As one might expect, the proof offered to support this claim is pretty thin." (p.216.) Sheaffer concludes this chapter with ""UFO Disclosure" remains a dream, but it is a dream that seems destined to go on for a very long time." (p.222.)

 

Chapters eight and nine cover UFO researchers' views on the source/origin of UFOs; 'cosmic doomsday' stories and predictions.

 

Final chapter

 

The last chapter is titled "UFO skeptics are from Mars, UFO proponents are from Venus." Included here, we find "After one has been in the "UFO business" for a while, one realizes that, with a few rare exceptions, nobody on one side ever converts somebody on the other side." (p.265.)

 

Sheaffer names a number of well-known UFO proponents - James Moseley; Bruce Maccabee; Kevin Randle; John Alexander; Allan Hynek and Karl Pflock as people he got to know.

 

He then poses the questions "What is it that separates sophisticated UFO proponents from skeptics.." (p.265.)

 

His response is:

 

1. "UFO proponents generally place very high credibility in the "testimony" (strictly speaking, "anecdotes") of those who claim to have had experiences involving UFOs." (pp 265-266.)

 

2. "Very seldom does a proponent of UFOs or other weird things properly apply Occam's Razor to the situation." (p.267.)

 

3. Failure to understand important facts in astronomy or other sciences.

 

4. Personal experience. "Of course, people who have had such intense personal experiences seldom understand the  unreliability of human eyewitness testimony, the malleability of memory, sleep -related hallucinations and misperceptions; and the mind's tendency to interpret the unfamiliar in terms of something that is familiar (such as a "flying saucer".) (p.269.)

 

5. Psychological and/or religious factors. "Some individuals are compelled by powerful psychological, ideological or religious factors to reach irrational conclusions." (p.269.)

 

 

My comments

 

It may surprise some blog readers, but not others, that I go along with much that Sheaffer has to say in this book; especially when it comes to case studies.

 

Many of today's UFO sightings have mundane explanations. I have previously written, and lectured about the rarity of interesting case, especially in the last few years. I have declared that the 'core' phenomenon is much rarer than the average UFO researcher believes.

 

Too many of my Australian UFO colleagues, go straight to the "it's a UFO" conclusion without conducting a critical analysis of the available raw data on a sighting.

 

I would hope that my Australian UFO colleagues will read Sheaffer's book and gain some insight into good case analysis, of Sheaffer and others, as presented in the work. I suspect however that most will either refuse to read the book, or give it short shrift. In my opinion, that would be a pity, because the fields needs individuals such as Sheaffer to provide a balance to the multitude of bizarre, weird and outright phony claims that make up a lot of todays' 'popular' ufology. 



New (older) book alert - "Mutants & Mystics."

Hi all,

Jeffrey J Kripal 

Jeffrey J Kripal is J Newton Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and religious thought at Rice University, Houston, Texas. I last reviewed a book of his, "Authors of the Impossible" in a blog post dated 16 January 2011.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

I recently came across a 2015 paperback edition of another of his books "Mutants & Mystics: Science Fiction, superhero comics, and the paranormal," which was originally published in 2011. Both editions are published by the University of Chicago Press; ISBN is 978-0-226-45383-5.

Image courtesy of Amazon books

Mutants & Mystics" explores paranormal currents. "By paranormal currents, I mean the real-life mind-over-matter experiences of artists and authors that often inspire and animate these stories, rendering them both mysteriously plausible and powerfully attractive." (p.2.)

The book is lavishly illustrated with samples of comic book strips; book covers and other colourful visual feasts.

Of what interest is this book to the UAP researcher?

Amongst others, in the book's 370 pages, we find:

Ray Palmer

Ray Palmer, who played "...a central role in the development of the flying saucer craze of the late 1940's and '50s..." (p.95.) We learn here, that Palmer saw his first saucer in 1939, "...a brilliant silvery disk, apparently at an elevation of 5,000 feet, directly west of Chicago's Loop." (p.98.)

In the spring of 1948, Palmer and Curtis Fuller published "Fate" magazine, with volume 1 number 1, featuring a cover story by none other than Kenneth Arnold.

Palmer published "...stories, and more stories, on flying saucers." (p.108.) Palmer and Arnold later co-wrote the book "The Coming of the Saucers" in 1952.

John Keel

John Keel, was a writer and a journalist. Kripal documents Keel's global explorations "...in the Middle East. Asia, Europe and the Americas, looking for anything that was bizarre, absurd or fantastic." (p.155.) UAP were a part of Keel's world, and he went on to publish a series of books on the subject.

"Significantly, the first edition of Strange Creatures" featured a striking Frank Frazetta painting. For the comic book fan, this linked the Keel paperback on the paranormal directly to the pulp fiction and comic book worlds, since Frazetta was already a legend in the latter worlds...." (p.158.)

 

Otto Binder

Otto Binder, wrote comic strips from 1939; particularly Captain Marvel, and later at the end of the 1950's entered the realm of popular science writing. From an initial sceptical viewpoint on UAP in 1961, he gradually came to change his mind on the phenomenon, ending up publishing three books on UAP.

Whitley Strieber

"...there is probably no author more illustrative of our mythemes and the experiential paranormal currents that they fictionalize within American popular culture than the  novelist Whitley Strieber." (pp292-293.)

Between 1977 and 1983 Strieber wrote conventional horror novels; but it was from 1985 that a series of interactions with unusual visitors changed his world view. He described the events, and the effect on him in a series of bestselling books. Relevant to Kripal's area of expertise, Kripal noted  "Perhaps most radical of all, however, are Strieber's speculations on the origin and nature of religion." (p.315.)

"Strieber's texts also very clearly participate in what in  Authors of the Impossible I have called the dialectic of consciousness and culture, that immensely rich historical process through which paranormal currents and mythical themes interact  - through out-of-body ecstasies and metaphysical energies as much as through books and institutions - with specific individuals to shape and reshape the form and feel of the real from age to age." (p.328.)

What are some of Kripal's concluding thoughts?

"I suppose the first thing to say is that all of this is completely impossible within our mirrored culture of religious fundamentalism and scientific materialism, which  appear oddly united in their ferocious 'damming' of the paranormal." (p.330.)

"My conclusion is that American popular culture is suffused with these seven mythemes...which are forming a kind of super-story, a modern living mythology, right in front of our eyes." (p.330.)

 

My comments

"Mutants & Mystics" is a deep and complex read, but elements of UAP are spread throughout this comprehensive review of science fiction, superhero comics and the paranormal. I learnt a lot about the early days of science fiction, and UAP. If you haven't had a chance to familiarise yourself with Kripal's valuable contribution to our area of interest, then I would suggest it's time to get yourself a copy of both "Authors of the Impossible" and "Mutants & Mystics."

New book alert - "Illuminations."

Hi all,

I have just been reading a book about a very different approach to the subject of UAP. Author Eric Ouellet has written a book titled "Illuminations: The UFO Experience as a Parapsychological Event." The work is published by Anomalist Books, San Antonio, Texas, USA; ISBN 978-1-938 398 537.

Image courtesy Amazon Books

The Author

"Eric Ouellet is a professor of military sociology with the Royal Military College of Canada, and he is Head of the Department of  Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto...He is a professional member of the Parapsychological Association...he graduated with a PhD in Sociology from York University in Toronto."

Introduction

Ouellet argues that "...since the early days of the modern UFO phenomenon...we have been stuck between two untenable alternatives: they are either aliens from another planet (or dimension), or they are all misperceptions...The enigma persists mainly because of another problem. Only a few of those who are seriously studying UFOs are willing to look at alternate approaches." (p.1.)

"This book proposes a way out of this situation...It proposes that UFOs are parapsychological phenomena." (p.2.)

Chapter one

This chapter reviews "What is known about UFOs." "UFOs tend to have electromagnetic properties." (p.16.)

Ouellet reviews the work of John Keel; Jacques Vallee; Paul Devereux; Michael Persinger and Albert Budden,in this area. Noting the elusive nature of UFO physical evidence, the author closes by noting that "A small number of UFO researchers have actually advocated since the late 1960's that the UFO phenomenon could be paranormal events. " (p.24.)

Chapter two

Here the author takes a look at what various researchers have noted about UFOs  and paranormal events. He cites the psychoanalysts Carl Jung "...eventually concluded that UFOs are probably shaped mental images triggered by socially stored anxieties." (p.26.) He remarks that Jacques Vallee "...came to believe that the UFO experience might indeed be a paranormal or parapsychological phenomenon." (p.27.)

On the topic of John Keel, "...led him to think that the UFO phenomenon was difficult to distinguish from the paranormal." (p.28.) He goes on to note that  "Scott Rogo, one of the very few parapsychologists who seriously studied UFO phenomenon, also found a number of parallels between the UFO experience and the poltergeist disturbances." (p.29.)

Also mentioned are the views of Pierre Vieroudy; Bertrand Meheust; Jenny Randles; Berthold Schwartz and Manfred Cassirer.

Chapter three

Ouellet opens with an important differentiation. "This book is based on what I called the 'parapsychological hypothesis" which I wish to distinguish from the paranormal hypothesis regarding the origin of the UFO phenomenon." (p.34.)

The author elaborates "...the parapsychological hypothesis on UFOs does not incorporate any notions that UFOs are related to "dimensional beings", "ultraterrestrials" or any other non-human entities." (p.35.)

"Hence the basic assumption of the parapsychological hypothesis I will explain here is that humans are responsible for subconsciously producing paranormal phenomena - including UFOs." (p.35.)

Parapsychologists refer to the idea of "psi," in two forms, i.e. ESP and psycho-kinesis, with the subconscious or unconscious playing a key role in generating psi effects.

Parapsychologist Dean Radin has proposed "social psi" which "...implies that when many people are engaged in a common experience, this collectively contribute to, and are affected by, psi effects." (p.37.)

Walter von Lucadou noted that poltergeist events go through four phases ...they first tend to increase in intensity, then peak, followed by a decline, until finally they disappear."(p.41.)

Ouellet postulates that "...the following set of criteria could help us assess not only if a series of UFO events could possibly be unfolding like a poltergeist event, but locating a possible source of social psi that could account for the more impersonal dimensions as well." (p.46.)

These four criteria are:

1. "The observation system is social;" i.e. the general public note the UFO event.

2. "Geographical proximity" i.e.sightings will occur in areas where social tension is released.

3. "Chronological proximity" i.e. sightings will occur around the time of this social tension release.

4. Symbolic relationships"  i.e.events will carry emotional tensions.

Testing his hypothesis, Ouellet cites the 1954 French wave and notes it was a public event; hence the observation system was social; it was centred in one country - geographical proximity ; the Algerian/French conflict provided chronological proximity; and finally the symbolic relationship is between the conflict and things seen in the sky.

Subsequent chapters

Multiple chapters that follow, examine the 1952 Washington wave; the Belgian wave of 1989-1991; the Rendlesham incident of 1980, and tests his working hypothesis that they "unfolded like a large scale RSPK (poltergeist) event." (p.75.)

The author concludes that the Washington wave "...unfolded in ways that are structurally quite similar to a poltergeist disturbance. Left no tangible physical traces...was characterised by a high degree of elusiveness... These characteristics are the fundamental features of a paranormal event." (p.65.)

On the Belgian wave, it was "...a mixture of very personal experiences occurring simultaneously with those on a larger and much more impersonal scale...The synchronicity of the Belgium wave with the fall of communism in Europe is striking..." (p.89.)

As regards to Rendlesham, it "unfolded very much like a RSPK event, except that it happened within the social realm of people in positions of authority." (p.105.)

In later chapters, Ouellet looks at the Canadian wave of 1966-67 and the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, in the light of the parapsychological hypothesis.

Conclusion

"I argue that the paranormal is actually the core of the phenomenon." (p.161.)

"I think that by systematically integrating ideas and models from parapsychology into the study of UFOs we can get one step closer to making sense of the strangest aspects of the paranormal." (p.161.)

It is important to realize that psi phenomena are produced within a context of what sociologists call the social construction reality. What this means is that the actual experience is constructed based on our social and cultural assumptions. We see UFOs in the space age as we once saw ghost carriages in the pre-industrial era." (p.162.)

"The parapsychological hypothesis I have presented here is based on the notion that truly enigmatic UFO events are psi-related. The implication of this hypothesis is that, ultimately we are the ones producing UFOs, both as subjective projections of ourselves and as objective, but temporary, alterations of physical reality." (p.162.)

New book alert - "The Compelling Scientific Evidence for UFOs."

Hi all,

Introduction

I found an excellent new book, titled "The Compelling Scientific Evidence for UFOs: An Analysis of the Delphos, Kansas UFO Landing Report" (made in the USA Lexington, KY, 16 October 2015; ISBN 978-1502 715 524), by Dr Erol A Faruk, on Amazon Books.

Front cover image courtesy of Amazon Books


The author

The "About the author" section, tells us that Faruk has a BSc (Hons) in chemistry; and a PhD in chemistry. He is a British born scientist, and his PhD thesis was on "...the organic synthesis of unstable carotenoid..." He is now a retired pharmaceutical development chemist. An early interest in Astronomy "...indirectly led to his curiosity into the UFO phenomenon."

The case

At about 1900hrs on 2 November 1971, in Delphos, Kansas, USA, a 16 year old boy named Ronald Johnson reported seeing an illuminated object near the ground, about 75 feet away from him. He estimated the dimensions of the object as 9 feet in diameter and 10 feet high.

A rumbling noise was also audible at that point. After a while, the object departed. Ronald went to his parents and the three of them all observed a bright object, to the south, receding into the distance. A glowing ring of soil was noted where the object had been.

The family reported the incident to the local sheriff and samples and photographs were taken.

Investigation

UFO investigator Ted Phillips visited the site about one month later, and took samples and photographs. A number of analyses were conducted by various groups, with a range of findings. Faruk notes "Unfortunately, because of lack of sufficient funding and resources none of these laboratories were able to offer any clues as to the nature of the chemical changes that had arisen to cause the ring soil absorption anomalies."

Later, Faruk contacted the US Center for UFO Studies, and through them located Ted Phillips. Phillips "...duly sent me several grams of the material held within airtight opaque containers..." (p.3.)

His analysis

The book is in two parts, firstly an overview of the UFO phenomenon; followed by Faruk's analytical methodology; and findings. This second part, is full of technical details, but Faruk, however, also provides a basic level description of his findings.

Phyllis Budinger

In 1990, Faruk worked with another analysis, Phyllis Budinger, who conducted an independent analysis of more of the original soil sample. Her interesting results are discussed by Faruk. To read her full report click here.

Publication

Faruk attempted to get a paper about the case and the analytical findings, in a number of peer reviewed scientific journals. Unfortunately he was ultimately unsuccessful. His description of this process is illuminating.

In summary

For those who have followed this case, and analysis of soil samples, you may not find much new material here in this book. However, what is invaluable is to have all this material in one place.

I recommend this book, to anyone interested in the physical evidence aspects of the phenomenon.