So, in the absence of a detailed analysis of the debates which is already in progress, here is a Halloween type item: the alien abduction lamp, which while not UFO news in the purest sense, is what is offered today as something fresh, if not completely serious since it features an interchangeable cow or human in a plastic cone to illuminate the darkness:
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Presidential Debates Drown Out UFO news
All UFO-related attention in the media is turned to last night's Presidential debates where a candidate was asked about a UFO. Hundreds of stories have popped up as a result. None of which are about people's encounters about UFOs but about more about national policy, government attitudes and presidential capability. There are many comments in the on-line responses about peoples feelings. It is the intersection of politics and the unknown, and fundamental beliefs are involved with both political agendas as people's partisan feelings come out and complicated feelings and attitudes about UFOs, rather than UFOs themselves. The old saying about not discussing politics or religion in polite conversation comes to the fore, and the passion that people bring in their comments in the various responses to the online stories is quite visible, but not particularly different than the standard comments that can be seen on any web site about UFOs. So alternatively, we offer a less controversial article on the debate about what not to discuss as we sit in the pumpkin patch waiting for an ethereal visit of another kind:
So, in the absence of a detailed analysis of the debates which is already in progress, here is a Halloween type item: the alien abduction lamp, which while not UFO news in the purest sense, is what is offered today as something fresh, if not completely serious since it features an interchangeable cow or human in a plastic cone to illuminate the darkness:
So, in the absence of a detailed analysis of the debates which is already in progress, here is a Halloween type item: the alien abduction lamp, which while not UFO news in the purest sense, is what is offered today as something fresh, if not completely serious since it features an interchangeable cow or human in a plastic cone to illuminate the darkness:
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Calcutta UFO Met With Calm By Scientists
Two articles about the recent sighting in Kolkata (Calcutta) which do not draw any immediate conclusions - Planet Venus? or Comet Holmes? The planetarium director says it could be an optical illusion or clouds:
And a second article in the same vein about the position of the object close to the Perseus constellation:
And a second article in the same vein about the position of the object close to the Perseus constellation:
Monday, October 29, 2007
Richardson Comments On UFO - Kolkata UFO
The UFO community is apparently excited by a comment made at Dell Computers (presumably at Round Rock, Texas), during a meeting with employees in which he discussed Roswell with an employee. He said if he was elected that he would look into it. With comedian Stephen Colbert already ahead of Richardson in his one-state race in terms of polling numbers, this looks like a long shot. There is also some other news of the unknown included:
Something popped up today on the Times of India entry for Kolkata - which we assume is the updated name for Calcutta. Their first ever UFO sighting:
Something popped up today on the Times of India entry for Kolkata - which we assume is the updated name for Calcutta. Their first ever UFO sighting:
Time of India Story Calcutta UFO story
This is probably the You-Tube Video that goes with the story and with 1800 views is still emerging as a story, unfortunately it is a shaky blinking light with little detail:
Reading the comments at the bottom of the video, some viewers claim it is a currently visible celestial object Comet Holmes (17P). There are a number of videos of this, visible in the Northeast sky after sunset. Compare for yourself and see the difference.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
No UFO sightings - Just UFO related stories
The National UFO center has moved. It files reports called in via telephone, and has a database of information going back years:
National UFO Reporting Center
It has moved into an old missile silo as outlined in this article:
Missile Silo Story from Jackson Hole Star-Tribune
It would seem that News of the Paranormal is driving out stories about UFOs. The - Halloween Ghost Stories are popping up all over the cable channels - we won't select one - there are too many - just turn on the TV and be bombarded by the stories of ectoplasm and visitations. There must be viewers, and in fact Sci-Fi has the 13 days of Halloween which features a whole series of fictional treatments of things ethereal.
Are there such things as ghostly UFOs? We will do the research. Google turns up little in that category, because this is an intersection of two popular topics, which are related by interest, grouped into the paranormal, but are seemingly somewhat separate. Ghosts are more intuitive - having to do with the past, the idea of a restless spirit, while the UFO phenomena is more scientific and technical, and has a more recent history - starting officially in 1947 with the sightings in Washington. Of course, history is being rewritten all the time.
Here is what one blogger described as a "ghostly UFO" which we present from the Wikipedia entry:
Are there such things as ghostly UFOs? We will do the research. Google turns up little in that category, because this is an intersection of two popular topics, which are related by interest, grouped into the paranormal, but are seemingly somewhat separate. Ghosts are more intuitive - having to do with the past, the idea of a restless spirit, while the UFO phenomena is more scientific and technical, and has a more recent history - starting officially in 1947 with the sightings in Washington. Of course, history is being rewritten all the time.
Here is what one blogger described as a "ghostly UFO" which we present from the Wikipedia entry:
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Old News Made New Again
Someone has sued NASA to get information about the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania sightings from the 60's, some 43 years ago. When there is no new news there are always chances to rehash the past:
AP Story on NASA and Kecksburg
And there is another rehash about last year's O'Hare sightings from MSNBC:
Friday, October 26, 2007
One New Story - About a Blimp
A new blimp got people excited as it worked its way through some wind at low altitude on its way to the World Series at Fenway Park. What do people do when they see something? They call the police. It is notable because it is a new type of blimp and is just starting to fly around. Look for the red and green running lights, and the distinctive display for advertising.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A Second UFO Story from the U. K.
A sighting in Shoreham and Southwick, England, up the road on the coast near Brighton in Sussex in the Southern part of England - 5 green and red lights in the shape of "an inverted tick", which we will tentatively interpret for Americans as an upside down check mark. It was an individual sighting with some corroboration by relatives who saw the lights while driving. They discounted nearby aviation lights and possible fireworks that were also in the vicinity. No accompanying pictures. Observation was October 20th, 6:40 PM, reported today, the 25th of October.
There is a short article that features a You-Tube video on a Haitian sighting, but no real description or analysis - just a kind of skeptical, but we're not sure about this kind of phenomena from WMAR-TV and ABC affiliate in Maryland. The video cannot be shown here because of a user request, but it shows a couple of craft flying over palm trees, and with 800,000 plus views has obviously been around for a while and has already been dissected on-line. It does make for entertaining viewing.
There is a short article that features a You-Tube video on a Haitian sighting, but no real description or analysis - just a kind of skeptical, but we're not sure about this kind of phenomena from WMAR-TV and ABC affiliate in Maryland. The video cannot be shown here because of a user request, but it shows a couple of craft flying over palm trees, and with 800,000 plus views has obviously been around for a while and has already been dissected on-line. It does make for entertaining viewing.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A Story from the UK
An unusual UFO sighting with a picture from Islington in the Greater London area in England. The witness talks about a sense of calm. And drawing pictures in the clouds. This is certainly an intriguing encounter with a few novel elements. All we knew about Islington were some snide remarks in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if that's what they were talking about, we don't get every word they say since pronunciation differs from England to America. This article seems more of a psychological encounter than an encounter with a buzzing, whizzing, dot in the sky. And unlike many, it seems to be taking place in broad daylight.
Islington sighting
The part of the sculpting the clouds sounds a little like Neil Slade's cloudbusting - using mental abilities to cause changes in clouds. We first heard about it on Coast-To-Coast AM in the old Art Bell days of the early 2000's. Slade has a technique to stimulate the brain without any equipment that many people are excited about. While not strictly about UFOs it is quite insightful.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
No Big News, Only History
Still another slow day for news. Shirley MacLaine has a new book, and she claims a friend of hers who happens to be a Presidential candidate observed one at her house. It is a story, but not one we want to follow, but it may be compelling because it is the intersection of politics, celebrity and UFOs, a seldom seen configuration of unlikely events and people. We have enough trouble already with the rock group UFO which skews our research to follow up on this.
UFO Digest has a long article about a couple in the Canary Islands who had an unusual hours long experience back in September, which interestingly enough was not their first. Their take on the story is a little odd, and there are no photos of anything but a "re-creation" of an image of a triangular craft, which after several hours of observation in the daytime is sort of odd. But then, footage like that might show up on cable on some kind of special, so we will keep our eyes open for "UFOs - Canary Islands".
The University of New Hampshire is going to have a lecturer about some Air Force material that was uncovered using the Freedom of Information Act. But the subject extends way back to the 1950's and is part of an ongoing trend to revive old stories with a new look.
There is a story about some night-time sky divers being mistaken for a UFO, also in UFO Digest, but there is something wrong with the story since the English is either scrambled or submitted by a person not very fluent in the language. It says something like there were reports of UFOs, but it turns out that it was really a parasail crew zooming in on a stadium at night with flares and banners from a beer company. Quite spectacular, but not extraterrestrial. Perhaps there were reports of spacecraft, since at a distance of a mile or more, it would be difficult to tell. Turn down the volume on the video below, unless you are familiar with Portuguese, because it does make the viewing a little difficult, with all the yelling from an enthusiastic announcer. It looks like a tough way to make a living, flying through the sky at a high rate of speed in the dark, and also aiming for the stadium to land in. Don't confuse the flying insects for UFOs, but after about 10 seconds you can start to see the outlines of the parasail. About 1 minute 45 seconds you can see the flares.
UFO Digest has a long article about a couple in the Canary Islands who had an unusual hours long experience back in September, which interestingly enough was not their first. Their take on the story is a little odd, and there are no photos of anything but a "re-creation" of an image of a triangular craft, which after several hours of observation in the daytime is sort of odd. But then, footage like that might show up on cable on some kind of special, so we will keep our eyes open for "UFOs - Canary Islands".
The University of New Hampshire is going to have a lecturer about some Air Force material that was uncovered using the Freedom of Information Act. But the subject extends way back to the 1950's and is part of an ongoing trend to revive old stories with a new look.
There is a story about some night-time sky divers being mistaken for a UFO, also in UFO Digest, but there is something wrong with the story since the English is either scrambled or submitted by a person not very fluent in the language. It says something like there were reports of UFOs, but it turns out that it was really a parasail crew zooming in on a stadium at night with flares and banners from a beer company. Quite spectacular, but not extraterrestrial. Perhaps there were reports of spacecraft, since at a distance of a mile or more, it would be difficult to tell. Turn down the volume on the video below, unless you are familiar with Portuguese, because it does make the viewing a little difficult, with all the yelling from an enthusiastic announcer. It looks like a tough way to make a living, flying through the sky at a high rate of speed in the dark, and also aiming for the stadium to land in. Don't confuse the flying insects for UFOs, but after about 10 seconds you can start to see the outlines of the parasail. About 1 minute 45 seconds you can see the flares.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Old News from the Past
Another slow day for UFOs. There is a story by Nick Pope, who has emerged as the "leading expert on the unexplained", as he puts it on his website about an UFO incident at the end of March in 1993 that occurred in the UK. It is online at the San Francisco Sentinel:
Sentinel Story
The Coast-To-Coast AM radio show had an interesting guest, Timothy Good, who called in from London and talked about Roswell being only one in a series of shoot-down incidents of "disc shaped" objects that were fired upon from apparent "alien" observations of V-2 flights that had begun in New Mexico using what he called "captured" German scientists. That word "captured" is a kind of new historical interpretation itself since historical accounts have the German scientists looking to surrender themselves to the Americans. He followed up with a related story of how Harry Truman had ordered an investigation what were claimed to be numerous crashes of military and civilian aircraft that occurred at the same time. George Knapp, the Sunday night host of Coast-To-Coast this week, was a little breathless when he teased the listeners before break with the new concept of a shooting war between the aliens and the humans.
It was a complete shock to the editors. And after 50 years (Timothy Good was talking about 1947) it will be hard to verify these tales of yesterday. He also claimed that something was shot down in the skies over Los Angeles during the post-Pearl Harbor jitters that ended up the civilian forces shooting at some object in the sky in early '42. Mr Good speculated that something unusual was in fact shot down, which was also news, since there were no indications in any available historical accounts that anything came down except for wayward artillery shells from the nervous gunners. We will have to peek at the new book Mr. Good has to find out what historical sources he used, though he did mention a good friend who had a collection of news clippings from the era. It is even more remarkable how this has been overlooked for all these years.
Those of you who saw the big-budget comic film 1942 with John Belushi, will remember the trigger-happy characters who comedically reprised the real night of panic when Los Angeles went into a full scale alert and people did not get much sleep. Check the Wikipedia entry for more details:
Battle of Los Angeles - 1942 Wikipedia entry
Sentinel Story
The Coast-To-Coast AM radio show had an interesting guest, Timothy Good, who called in from London and talked about Roswell being only one in a series of shoot-down incidents of "disc shaped" objects that were fired upon from apparent "alien" observations of V-2 flights that had begun in New Mexico using what he called "captured" German scientists. That word "captured" is a kind of new historical interpretation itself since historical accounts have the German scientists looking to surrender themselves to the Americans. He followed up with a related story of how Harry Truman had ordered an investigation what were claimed to be numerous crashes of military and civilian aircraft that occurred at the same time. George Knapp, the Sunday night host of Coast-To-Coast this week, was a little breathless when he teased the listeners before break with the new concept of a shooting war between the aliens and the humans.
It was a complete shock to the editors. And after 50 years (Timothy Good was talking about 1947) it will be hard to verify these tales of yesterday. He also claimed that something was shot down in the skies over Los Angeles during the post-Pearl Harbor jitters that ended up the civilian forces shooting at some object in the sky in early '42. Mr Good speculated that something unusual was in fact shot down, which was also news, since there were no indications in any available historical accounts that anything came down except for wayward artillery shells from the nervous gunners. We will have to peek at the new book Mr. Good has to find out what historical sources he used, though he did mention a good friend who had a collection of news clippings from the era. It is even more remarkable how this has been overlooked for all these years.
Those of you who saw the big-budget comic film 1942 with John Belushi, will remember the trigger-happy characters who comedically reprised the real night of panic when Los Angeles went into a full scale alert and people did not get much sleep. Check the Wikipedia entry for more details:
Battle of Los Angeles - 1942 Wikipedia entry
Sunday, October 21, 2007
No UFO News, Only Commentary
Another slow day. Now we know why the paranormal is such a draw. When all things in the sky are short on substance, you can always revert to backup topics that have more activity.
Ben Bova writes some insightful commentary on intelligent life and why there has been no contact, even though the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and various predecessors have been checking since 1959. Center of the galaxy is a good spot - high density stars, but also high radiation levels - not good for DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) which are the building blocks of beings such as ourselves. Maybe they are too advanced for radio signals. Or, just like a Sci-Fi writer - they are too advanced for us, and we have to grow up a little before we are contacted.
Commentary on: Why Isn't There Anybody Answering?
Ben Bova writes some insightful commentary on intelligent life and why there has been no contact, even though the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and various predecessors have been checking since 1959. Center of the galaxy is a good spot - high density stars, but also high radiation levels - not good for DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) which are the building blocks of beings such as ourselves. Maybe they are too advanced for radio signals. Or, just like a Sci-Fi writer - they are too advanced for us, and we have to grow up a little before we are contacted.
Commentary on: Why Isn't There Anybody Answering?
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007 - Sparse Pickings
There is a story from Queensland that looks more like a press release than a report. It states that "QUEENSLANDERS are leading reporters of unidentified flying objects" as opposed to the rest of the country, which would be New Zealand. And there are some details about the kinds of reports, but nothing new. There is a photo of one of those dummy aliens made of rubber that looks like it has been through a bad time, but that is just to get your interest.
Queensland invaded by UFOs story
Queensland invaded by UFOs story
And in the same vein, a report in a larger article in the San Francisco Sentinel about sitings up in Manitoba, another hot spot. There is a story of a guy who last month reported "saw a light in the northern sky" being scared and jumping in his car after seeing the light land. So the guy reports to the Manitoba Ufology Research organization, who tells the story to the reporter at the Sentinel. And we are telling you - so is that a fourth hand story? And why would a moving light or floating disk (did we mention humming sound) make the guy run for it? Reports are up, people are more "aware of their surroundings" says the Manitoba Ufology interviewee. A dull day for news, since there are a couple of You-Tube Videos to pass the time as well, one of a pair of hands playing patriotic (Canadian?) music, that right "O Canada" played reverentially and then some ragtime version. We checked - no flying saucers, no UFOs, just somebody's living room and a piano.
San Francisco Sentinel Article
Friday, October 19, 2007
From Nakhchivan, an autonomous republic between Azerbaijan and Iran. Villagers report a sighting. Of course, there is probably a lot of aerial activity this week with all of the military maneuvers going on on the Iraqi border with Turkey, but this is a little off the beaten path for that if you look at the map of Nakhchivan on Wikipedia, but you could speculate that it might be some kind of surveillance from some earthly source in one of the adjoining states. Article is accompanied by small photo, which appears to be a stock photo and is unattributed:
Link to Ufo Nakhchivan Story
Here is an old Australian Story from October 3 about a UFO later identified as a meteor that got people excited:
Link to Meteor Story
Presumably news is slowing down in the Northern Hemisphere as people go indoors and maybe is perking up in the Southern Hemisphere as the seasons change from Sprint to Summer.
Here is some fresher news about an Albany, Oregon couple having a smoke and seeing a pair of UFOs that eventually split up and went in opposite directions. They reported it to the National UFO Reporting Center. There are also some sarcastic retorts in the feedback that follows the article by some presumably local residents.
Statesman-Journal Article
Link to Ufo Nakhchivan Story
Here is an old Australian Story from October 3 about a UFO later identified as a meteor that got people excited:
Link to Meteor Story
Presumably news is slowing down in the Northern Hemisphere as people go indoors and maybe is perking up in the Southern Hemisphere as the seasons change from Sprint to Summer.
Here is some fresher news about an Albany, Oregon couple having a smoke and seeing a pair of UFOs that eventually split up and went in opposite directions. They reported it to the National UFO Reporting Center. There are also some sarcastic retorts in the feedback that follows the article by some presumably local residents.
Statesman-Journal Article
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