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From: Masinaigan@aol.com
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 1997 14:15:56 -0400 (EDT)
Fwd Date: Sun, 13 Apr 1997 16:03:12 -0400
Subject: UFO ROUNDUP, Volume 2, Number 15
UFO ROUNDUP
Volume 2, Number 15
April 13, 1997
Editor: Joseph Trainor
PILOT'S DISAPPEARANCE HAS
U.S. AIR FORCE PUZZLED
At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 2, 1997, three
U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt fighter planes took off
from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
Flying an A-10 (tail number 79-1234) was Capt. Craig
David Button, 32, of Massapequa, Long Island, N.Y.
At 10:40 a.m., the flight rendezvoused with an airborne
tanker over Tombstone, topped off their fuel tanks, and
turned west, heading for the Goldwater bombing range
south of Highway 9. Each fighter-bomber was equipped
with a 30mm Gatling gun and four 500-lb. Mark 82 GP
(General Purpose) bombs.
At 11:30 a.m., just east of the Goldwater range, the
planes, all from the 355th Fighter Wing, moved into
attack formation. At 11:38 a.m., as they passed over
Gila Bend, the flight leader asked for a radio check.
Capt. Button, who had been in the rear position, failed
to acknowledge. When his wingmates turned to look
for him, he was gone.
At 12:11 p.m., a farmer saw Button's A-10 flying low
over Apache Junction, Arizona (population 9,935), about
40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Phoenix.
"Western Air Defense Sector military radar in
southern Arizona...detected an unidentified aircraft
flying straight, low and level on a northeast heading.
The military assumes it was Button." (See the
Washington Post for April 13, 1997.)
At 12:20 p.m. a retired Navy pilot reported seeing
an A-10 north of Roosevelt Lake, flying low at an
estimated altitude of 6,500 feet, heading northeast.
The A-10 was next seen over Young, Arizona
(population 300).
At 12:47, the A-10 crossed the state line into
New Mexico at a point 15 miles (25 kilometers)
west of Shiprock (population 7,000). After four or
five minutes of flight, the A-10 crossed the state
line into Colorado, passing over the Ute Indian
reservation at Towaoc (population 300).
At 12:53 p.m., radar operators at the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) center in Denver
picked up Button's plane over Cortez, Colorado
(population 7,095)
At 1:22 p.m., eyewitnesses on the ground
near Montrose (population 8,722). The FAA Center
in Denver again picked up the flight on radar, but
the plane suddenly changed direction over the town
of Glenwood Springs (population 4,637), flying a
heading of 080 through Glenwood Canyon to the
town of Eagle (population 801).
The A-10 altered course again, flying a bearing
of 175, nearly due south, over foothills known as
the Seven Hermits and Hardscrabble Mountain.
Near the ski resort of Aspen, the A-10 changed
course twice, heading west and then northeast,
crossing Highway 82 and Red Table Mountain.
It crossed its own earlier flight path over Hardscrabble
Mountain and then flew a bearing 075 into the
peaks of the Sawatch mountain range. At 1:40 p.m.,
the last radar signal from the A-10 was recorded
near New York Mountain (elevation 12,580 feet or
3,700 meters).
For 11 days, the U.S. Air Force, the Colorado
Air National Guard and the Civil Air Patrol have
flown over 200 sorties in search of the missing
fighter-bomber. On Thursday, April 10, a U-2
reconnaissance plane from Beale Air Force Base
in California overflew the mountainous section of
Eagle County and identified five possible crash sites.
At first, the Air Force thought Button might have
become incapacitated due to illness or a stroke.
"'We are trained, if we do get disoriented or some
other situation, to switch on the autopilot. It's just
hitting a switch on the actual stick,' said Capt. Martha
McSally, 31, an A-10 pilot also based at Davis-
Monthan." (See USA Today, April 10, 1997, page 3A)
Authorities later rejected the theory because the
A-10 repeatedly changed course and altitude and
performed other flight maneuvers that could not be
done by the autopilot.
Col. Barry Barksdale, CO of the 355th Wing,
told the media, "This has gotten so bizarre.
Anything is possible," adding that, "Everything is
speculation until we recover the aircraft and pilot."
The search has been hampered by days of
inclement weather, including snowstorms which
have added two feet (0.6 meters) of snow to the
Sawatch range.
On Friday, April 11, one official speculated
that Capt. Button may have become despondent
over his parents' conversion to the Jehovah's
Witnesses and tried to commit suicide.
On Saturday, April 12, the pilot's parents
issued a statement to the media, explaining that
they had become Jehovah's Witnesses during the
1970s and denying that their son had considered
suicide.
According to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Button of
Massapequa, N.Y., "We just finished spending six
days with Craig" in Arizona and "when we left, he
was in good spirits."
Capt. Button graduated from the New York
Institute of Technology, Old Westport, Long Island,
N.Y. with a degree in aeronautical engineering,
in 1990. He joined the Air Force in 1991. Prior to
his assignment to Davis-Monthan, he served as
a flight training instructor at Laughlin Air Force Base
in Del Rio, Texas.
(Editor's Comment: At the risk of getting nasty email
from Hillary Clinton, I'd like to point out two UFO-
related aspects to this case. One, the A-10's flight
path took it right over Miller Mesa, near the Aldasoro
Ranch, where Nancy Brown and her husband spotted
a very large UFO at 1:30 a.m. on March 7, 1997.
(See the newspaper The Morning Sun for March 11,
1997). Two, New York Mountain, the site of the A-10's
suspected crash, is 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast
of Burns, the site of last November's UFO sighting and
resultant cattle mutilations. For more on strange
incidents in Colorado, see the next story.)
WEIRD HUM HAS COLORADO
RESIDENTS MYSTIFIED
Mike V. operates a concession stand and trailer
park in Alamosa County, not far from Great Sand Dunes
National Monument, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo
mountain range. For years, Mike and his neighbors
have been plagued by strange humming noises, very
similar to the famous "Taos Hum." But lately things
have been getting very strange.
Mike told veteran UFO investigator Christopher
O'Brien, author of THE MYSTERIOUS VALLEY
(St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1996), that lately the hum
has become so disturbing that it forced him out of
his underground home.
"We've had numerous reports going back 30 years
of hums, vibrations, booms" near Crestone, Mesita,
and the Great Sand Dunes National Monument," O'Brien
reported. "This is nothing new. What is new is that the
reports now claim that the sound is louder and has
changed to a higher frequency."
On December 29, 1996, Stephanie Vevea, who lives
at the Baca Grande Chalets, reported an "annoying,
almost nauseating low-pitched drone that permeated
her house." Looking out her bedroom window, Ms.
Vevea spotted "a bright white light" from from southwest
to northeast over the mountains. The droning persisted
even after the UFO left. Despite the continual drone,
she returned to bed and went to sleep. When she awoke
in the morning, the droning was still going on. Ms. Vevea
summouned a friend to her house, and the two women
listened to it until 9:40 a.m., when it finally ceased.
On August 13, 1996, at 10 p.m., while walking near
the amphitheater at Great Sand Dunes National
Monument, Steve Goroki heard the weird hum and saw
"a wildly vibrating street sign moving six inches from
side to side." (Many thanks to Chris O'Brien for these
reports.)
LUMINOUS UFOs SEEN NEAR
SYDNEY AND DARWIN
On Saturday, April 5, 1997, at 12:10 a.m., people
in Wanguri, near the city of Darwin in Australia's
Northern Territory (N.T.) saw "a large red fireball
travelling quickly overhead." The UFO was described
as "a very red color" and had "a small fiery rim." It
was "headed south toward the Alice (Springs) and was
about the same height as a small aircraft."
The condition of the sky was clear with no wind.
No sound was heard from the UFO, which "was larger
than the full moon, 12 o'clock high (directly overhead)
and moved faster than any aircraft."
The same evening, April 5, at 8:30 p.m., witnesses
in Sydney, Australia's largest city, reported seeing
"globes of light...orange illuminated light" in the
southwestern sky. The illuminations "split into two
pairs and speeded off in opposite directions, east and
west."
At 9:15 p.m., people in Campbelltown, New South
Wales (N.S.W.) saw a luminous orange orb in the
southeastern sky. It retreated to the southeast. At
11 p.m., Campbelltown residents spied "up to eight
illuminations" approaching the city from the southeast.
The UFOs hovered for a few minutes and then changed
direction, flying away to the west.
At 9:55 p.m., orange UFOs were also spotted
west and southwest of Mount Ousely and the town of
Nowra, N.S.W. (Many thanks to Ross Dowe of
Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline for these
reports.)
TASMANIA REPORTS STRANGE
UFO OVERFLIGHT
Also on Saturday, April 5, 1997, a strange-looking
UFO was seen in Tasmania, the island state off the
southern coast of Australia.
The UFO appeared at 9:30 p.m. over Bicheno,
192 kilometers (116 miles) north of Hobart, the state
capital. Witnesses said the object "appeared like an
aircraft with port and starboard (left and right-side)
lights. However, the fuselage was like a white
flouro tube (flourescent light), and it seemed to have
an electrical field around it."
Bicheno residents got out their binoculars and
telescopes. While they had no trouble picking out the
object's red and green lights, they claimed "they could
not focus upon" the white portion--it was too bright.
The UFO hovered for five minutes and then moved
toward the crowd of onlookers "at a frightening speed."
A middle-aged witness said, "I was spooked by it.
I thought it was coming to get us. I ran inside and hid
in the cupboard (closet)." Other witnesses stood their
ground and watched as the UFO suddenly changed
direction and flew off to the west. (Many thanks to Ross
Dowe for this report.)
UFO FLAP BREAKS OUT IN
NEW JERSEY
On Thursday, April 3, 1997, at 7:45 p.m., Dan Robb
was driving on Route 532 in Tuckerton, New Jersey
(population 2,472), about 20 miles (32 kilometers)
north of Atlantic City. All at once, he noticed "a string
of orange lights low in the sky." He estimated that
the object was ahead of him, about one mile from
Route 72. "It was a group of five or six together," he
reported. "I later saw them from Route 72, a group of
four lights together with one split off to the right. Later
one appeared to stay 45 degrees up from the horizon.
I saw them for five seconds, then they disappeared."
(Email Interview)
The following evening, Friday, April 4, 1997, two
boys, K.C.K. and Erik C., saw "a low-flying, slow-
moving group of orange lights. They were too long,
fore and aft, to be U.S. planes. Anyway, they were way
too low to be a helicopter or a bomber." The boys
sighted the mysterious flight in Millstone, New Jersey,
on Route 533, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast
of Newark. (Email Interview)
COUPLE SPIES UFO OVER
NORTH CAROLINA
On Saturday, April 5, 1997, at 9 p.m., Therese V.
and her husband went for a stroll in their hometown
of Rich Square, North Carolina (population 1,057).
Rich Square is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south
of the Virginia state line and 115 miles (190 kilometers)
northeast of Raleigh.
They were "just enjoying the stars," when Mr. V
saw something moving silently through the sky. "We
saw an object--kind of spheroid-shaped--in the
eastern sky," Mrs. V. said, "Orangeish yellow. It was
very fast but did not have any blinking lights, and it
made no sound. It approached from the southwest
and departed to the northeast." She estimated the
size of the UFO as "rather like a dime held at arm's
length."
"We went out to the country" to get a better look,
she added, "But we saw nothing more" of the UFO.
(Email Interview)
CIGAR-SHAPED UFO SEEN
OVER NEWBURGH, N.Y.
On March 16, 1997, at 8:20 a.m., Mike O. spotted
a "cigar-shaped object" over the city of Newburgh, N.Y.
(population 23,438). Newburgh is located on the west
bank of the Hudson River, 70 miles (112 kilometers)
north of New York City.
The "cigar-shaped object skipped through the sky
behind the tree line behind my house," he reported.
"It was about a quarter of a mile away (400 meters),
at about 1,000 feet (330 meters) altitude. It looked
just like an aircraft fuselage but had absolutely no
wings, vertical or horizontal stabilizers, or any other
appendages of any kind. I know this because it was
a crisp clear morning...It was white along the top
length and black along the bottom. I have been in
aviation for 28 years, and this was beyond my
experience. I might describe it also as a missile but
it wasn't really moving that fast. Just silently slipping
through the air with no evidence of a propulsion
system."
He estimated the object's airspeed at 300 to
400 knots. "That's a guess again, but it 'feels' right
from what I saw." (Many thanks to Bruce Cornet
for this story.)
FLAP CONTINUES IN THE
NETHERLANDS
Hard on the heels of last week's sighting in
Oosterwijk come five reports of UFOs in the
eastern Netherlands, close to the border with
Germany.
On Wednesday, April 2, 1997, at 10 p.m.,
"three lightning balls" appeared over the Dutch
city of Hengelo (population 67,000). The first
witness, a young woman, was sitting in her car
when she spied "three objects passing through the
northern part of the sky. At first I thought they were
satellites, and then the white objects slowed to a
standstill and hovered there for a very short period
of time." She estimated that the UFOs were 40
degrees above the horizon. Then, she added,
they "went away quickly towards the east,"
seemingly heading for Schuttorf, Germany.
At 10:15 p.m., a middle-aged couple driving from
Enschede (population 157,000) to Hengelo spotted
"a glowing object" in the northern sky. They watched
the UFO for one minute while it zigzagged through the
sky.
At 11 p.m., a man in Delden "saw two light-balls."
He watched them for several seconds as "they flew
away to the northeast."
Another woman saw "three objects moving and
hovering in the sky above Hengelo." She described the
UFOs as "like the brightest stars (first-magnitude)."
She watched them "only for a few seconds before
they flew away." (Many thanks to Jeroen Kumeling
and UFO-Werkgroep Oost-Nederland (UFOWON)
for these reports.)
TWO MEN CLAIM A BLACK
TRIANGLE UFO CRASHED
NEAR SHEFFIELD
On March 24, 1997, at 10:06 p.m., a mysterious
explosion rocked South Yorkshire. The boom,
confirmed by Edinburgh University, was attributed
to a sonic boom from an RAF jet flying too low at
supersonic speed or to a bolide or exploding meteor.
Now two men, one a ufologist who wishes to
remain anonymous, claim they saw a black triangular
UFO pass over their house near Sheffield and
Dronenfield, Yorks. just prior to the blast.
The ufologist's friend claims he looked out the
window at 9:45 p.m. on March 24 and saw a large
object fly over the house. He described it as
a triangle, "200 feet in size, with a light at each tip
and a large blue intense light in the center bottom."
He also claims to have seen the object followed
by six RAF Tornado jet fighters, "first two, then two
more, then two more. Following that, helicopters
began to appear."
Hearing the explosion, the friend told the ufologist,
and together they drove down Highway A57, also
known as Snake Pass Road, hoping to find the crash
site. They then ran into a police roadblock, which
prevented them from entering "the barrens" beyond
Sheffield.
Rumors of a "Black Triangle" (BT) crash persist
in Britain, despite the official denials. Supporters of the
theory cite an alert that evening at the Royal Hospital
at Halamshire to expect the arrival of "plane crash
victims." Also, there are unconfirmed reports of UFO
radar contact at the bases RAF Cosford and RAF
Shawcross. Investigation of these reports by
Britain's UFO community continues. (Thanks to
Errol Bruce-Knapp for forwarding this story.)
Letter FROM the Editor
The newspaper The Bee in Fresno, California needs
the help of UFO ROUNDUP readers. Reporter James
S. Howard at The Bee is doing a feature story on the
UFO sightings at Sacramento, Modesto and Marysville
in 1996, and he would like to talk to anyone who has
witnessed a UFO over California's Central Valley. Jim
assures me that this is no Hillary Hatchet Job on the
UFO community but a straight feature on the
continuing UFO phenomenon in the Fresno area.
So if you're a reader from the Central Valley, and you
don't mind talking about your UFO experience, you
can reach Jim at this number...1-800-877-7300,
extension 6208. I'm not going to advise our readers
either way. It's your decision to make. Just remember,
there may be unforeseen consequences if you do go
public with your story.
FUN UFO WEBSITES
Between the missing A-10 and the weird hum at the
Great Sand Dunes National Monument, UFO author/
investigator Christopher O'Brien really has his plate full.
But he does take time out to update the news at his
Website. Follow the quests of Chris and his brother,
Brendan, at this URL: http://rainbow.rmi.net/~tmv/
Tony O'Neil, who tracked the UFO over Hardwick,
Vermont on March 20, just opened his site. If you like
UFOs, and know your way around Radio Shack, try out
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
Newcomer BDC Andy has a new UFO site on the
Web. You'll find him at http://members.aol.com/
lodmirage/home.html
The UFO Page, better known as TUFOP, has a
new home. You'll find TUFOP at this address:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/7595
The new Crop Circles and Cattle Mutilations
Message Board just opened this week. Log in at
http://www.ufonetwork.com/public/crops/
wwwboard/
"The Last UFO" is a page operated by both
Brian Scott and Josh McKee. So you'll find it at
two addresses:
(1) http://www.nni.com/~bscott
(2) http://www.peak.org./~mckeej
Again, don't miss our parent site, UFOINFO.
John Hayes makes certain we have the latest,
most up-to-date information available. It's at
http://www.ftech.net/~ufoinfo/index.htm
And, for back issues of UFO ROUNDUP,
try our site at http://www.ftech.net/~ufoinfo/
roundup.hts
That's all for now. More news next Sunday
from "the paper that covers the saucers--UFO
ROUNDUP." See you then!
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1997 by Masinaigan
Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may
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Websites or in newsgroups provided that they
credit the newsletter and its editor by name and
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