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From: Masinaigan@aol.com
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 12:48:09 -0400 (EDT)
Fwd Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 23:50:26 -0400
Subject: Volume 2, Number 26, June 29, 1997
UFO ROUNDUP
Volume 2, Number 26
June 29, 1997
Editor: Joseph Trainor
USAF SAYS ROSWELL ALIENS
WERE ONLY "TEST DUMMIES"
On Tuesday, June 24, 1997, the 50th anniversary
of the Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" sighting, the U.S.
Air Force released a new report on the Roswell incident.
In its 231-page document, "The Roswell Report--Case
Closed," the Air Force stated that it had "found no
evidence whatsoever of flying saucers, space aliens or
sinister government coverups."
The new report is "a followup to a 1,000-page 1994
study" which claimed that "debris found in 1947 came
from the crash of an Air Force (Project Mogul) balloon
that was monitoring the atmosphere for evidence of
Soviet nuclear tests."
"The Tuesday report was designed to answer...what
Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall called 'a complete
and open explanation.' It said that as many as 67 life-
sized dummies were dropped over New Mexico by high-
altitude balloons between 1954 and 1959 to measure
the impact of parachute falls on pilots."
"The report suggested (Roswell) witnesses confused
memories of the 1947 crash with the 1950s dummies."
(See USA Today for June 25, 1997, page 3A.)
GIANT V-SHAPED UFO SEEN
NEAR LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
While U.S. Air Force officials were busily
debunking the 1947 Roswell case, several UFO
incidents took place in the southwestern United
States. The first of these took place at 9:30 p.m.
on Monday, June 23, 1997, near Las Vegas,
Nevada.
According to the AP report, Las Vegas Metro
Police received "quite a few calls" from residents,
who reported a giant wedge-shaped or V-shaped
UFO northwest of the city, near Area 51.
"A police dispatcher who declined to give her
name said she and other family members spotted
the mysterious object hovering in the sky about
9:30 p.m."
"'It was like a pyramid or a V-shaped wedge,
with pulsating yellow lights,' the dispatcher told the
Associated Press. "It split up; then it came back
together. 'We got quite a few calls on it. From all
reports, it was something similar to what was seen
over Phoenix'" on March 13, 1997.
"'It looked like they took the lights of a football
field and put them way up in the sky,' said the
dispatcher's neice, who also requested anonymity.
The woman said she has never witnessed such a
display in the 37 years she has lived in Las Vegas.
She said her husband and three children witnessed
the lights, as well. 'They were these huge round lights,
like they were in formation,' she said, 'They were in a
wide V-shape and they broke up and disappeared.'"
(See the Las Vegas Review-Journal for June 24, 1997.
Many thanks to Jared Anderson and Errol Bruce-Knapp
for forwarding the AP story.)
DAYLIGHT DISC TOUCHES DOWN
ON AN ARIZONA MOUNTAIN
On Monday, June 23, 1997, Arizona ufologist Tom King
and his brother, Rob, were driving back to Phoenix from
Tucson, when Tom suddenly spotted a glimmer in the
Sierra Estrella mountains, just west of Bapchule
(population 380).
"I saw a strange object on the side of a mountain peak,"
Tom reported. "I pointed this out to my brother Rob, and
we watched it for ten minutes. It seemed to pulse, and
after viewing it for some time, we ruled out a car next to
the peak, or someone holding up a large mirror reflecting
the sun. What we saw was a metal object. The mountain
was over 20 miles (32 kilometers) away from our position."
"After 10 minutes of watching it...the object suddenly
vanished, only to reappear one minute later on another
part of the mountain," he reported. "It moved over four
miles in one minute...At this point we were kicking ourselves
in the ass for not bringing a videocamera to work."
"We lost sight of it as another mountain blocked our
view for 10 minutes...As the (first) mountain came back
into view again, the object was gone. I realized we were
looking at the Estrella Mountains...part of the Gila River
Indian Reservation."
On March 13, 1997, Tom videotaped several glowing
orange-sphere UFOs as they hovered above the Sierra
Estrella range, which, he adds, "have been a hot spot for
seeing UFOs for the past three years."
"Now these damn Hockey Pucks (UFOs) have us
climbing mountains, looking for them," Tom commented.
"What's next?"
(Editor's Comment: The late Al Jolson said it best, Tom.
"You ain't seen nothin' yet, folks!")
UFO SIGHTINGS ARE ON THE
RISE IN COLORADO
UFO sightings are on the upswing in Colorado's
San Luis Valley, with much activity taking place in
Chaffee County.
On Monday, June 9, 1997, at 4:50 p.m., rancher
Jim Roberts and his son, Jeff, spied a silvery disc
"moving into a thunderhead cloud" near tiny Howard,
Colorado (population 55). The men snapped a photo
of the UFO. "The picture shows a slight outline of
what may be a disc. It's hard to tell."
Four hours later, at 8:50 p.m., the Roberts men
took a second photo of "a yellowish-white globe
hovering over the treeline and foothills to the northwest.
Moving zigzag at times and hovering. Still (photo) shows
a bright white globe about half the size of the full moon.
Globe is real clear with the outside edge being a little
fuzzy. No structure visible. It doesn't appear to be
too distant. Only a crescent moon was out on this
night."
The following afternoon, June 10, 1997, a "bright
silver object (was) spotted in a westerly direction,
moving west about 40 miles per hour." Again the
Roberts men snapped a photo. "The still shows a small
white cigar. No structure (visible)."
On Friday, June 20, 1997, at 11:15 a.m., Jim and
Jeff Roberts walked out of a restaurant in nearby
Salida, Colorado (population 4,870) and "while walking
to their car saw a very bright reflective silver disc-shaped
object hovering and then banking and taking off at a high
rate of speed to the west. They were able to get four
other people in the restaurant (owned by ufologist Tim
Edwards) to view it."
"They also described a black band around it. They
saw no dome. It was hovering and banking for about 20
seconds when viewed right in front of The Boot (a terrain
feature of Methodist Mountain just south of Salida that
resembles a boot--J.T.) at 9,200 feet elevation. This is
only two and a half miles (5 kilometers) south of Salida.
The object was near a power line."
Jim and Jeff Roberts spotted their first UFO in
Howard on February 20. In April, when Jeff returned to
his home in Ankeny, Iowa, he and seven other witnesses
spotted a hovering UFO. Tim Edwards remarks, "These
guys have been like magnets lately for UFOs."
(Many thanks to Tim Edwards for this report.)
LARGE UFO DESCENDS NEAR
PALMDALE, CALIFORNIA
At 1 a.m. on Tuesday, June 24, 1997, Anne S. was
driving home from a council meeting in Simi Valley on
California Highway 14, about 20 miles (32 kilometers)
north of Los Angeles.
As she neared the ridgeline near Acton, she
"noticed on my left a large object that was streaking
to earth, much like you would expect a falling star--but
this was VERY large. Also, I noticed two streams of
fire out the back side."
"The sky was fairly bright last night, and although
the object was dark (black, it was silhouetted against
the lighter night sky), it appeared to be of an unusual
shape, like a crescent or simply not symmetrical. My
impression is that it was a meteor, because it was
irregularly shaped and there were no lights visible.
There was no green color; the object was black and
the fire sparks were light yellow to orange...I had clear
view for about 10 seconds and it was very low as it
passed over the hills. In fact, I was surprised when it
cleared them."
"The trajectory was towards Elizabeth Lake, or
to the north and west of where I was. It was coming
down very rapidly, not like an object falling, but possibly
like a meteor or an aircraft with some speed behind it.
The object disappeared behind the hills to my left
(northwest)." (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for
forwarding this story.)
UFOs, BLACK HELICOPTERS
STALK CHICAGO SUBURB
On Saturday, June 14, 1997, at approximately
3 p.m., the Simmons family was startled when "a
very loud and low helicopter went over my house
traveling from the south to the north."
The Simmons's home is in Streamwood,
Illinois, south of Schaumburg Road, about 19 miles
(30 kilometers) west of the Chicago Loop.
"The helicopter was a very dark gray, and my
husband thought it might be an Apache (AH-64--J.T.)"
"Later that night, at about 11 p.m., when I went
outside to move my van, I noticed an extremely bright
red light to the west (near Elgin, Illinois). It appeared
to be stationary in the sky," Mrs. Simmons reported.
"I watched it for a moment or two, wondering why the
lights were not blinking, and then noticed to the east,
in the direction of O'Hare (International) Airport, an
airplane making its approach. The difference between
the lights was dramatic, and I noted that there were no
white lights or green lights on this object...This was a
very bright red light, like a Christmas light."
On Monday, June 16, 1997, at 10:45 p.m., a friend
of Mrs. Simmons's, who lives about a mile away, went
outdoors and "immediately noticed an 'intense' red light
moving from the west to the east. The light was not as
high as a satellite would be, but was definitely higher
than the plane traffic. It was moving fast."
The following day, June 17, 1997, in the "early
afternoon," Mrs. Simmons's friend "saw a black
helicopter traveling low enough to see the pilot and
moving from southwest to the northeast over
Streamwood," apparently heading for Barrington
Road. (Email Interview)
BLACK HELICOPTERS SEEN
AROUND EASTERN TEXAS
On Tuesday, June 10, 1997, at 3:51 p.m.,
witnesses in Spicewood, Texas, about 27 miles
(43 kilometers) west of the state capital, Austin,
sighted a flight of seven to nine black helicopters,
tentatively identified as AH-64 Apaches, flying
low over the Pedernales River just west of Lake
Travis.
On Saturday, June 21, 1997, local residents
saw "about a dozen" black helicopters of a model
unfamiliar to them tied down on the tarmac at the
airport in San Saba, Texas (population 2,336),
45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Austin.
On Wednesday, June 25, 1997, people in
Oilton, Texas sighted six black helicopters--five
AH-64 Apaches and one UH-60 Blackhawk--flying
over the town, heading west towards Laredo.
(Unsolicited Email)
UFOs BUZZ SEASIDE HOTEL
IN CANCUN, MEXICO
On Sunday, June 15, 1997, at 9:30 p.m., Cathy
C. was relaxing at her hotel suite in the resort city
of Cancun, Mexico with her son, Matthew, and a
fellow American, Richard H. Cancun is in the state
of Quintana Roo, on the eastern tip of the Yucatan
Peninsula, 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) east of
Mexico City.
"Rick and I were on the balcony skywatching
when something flew in front of us," Cathy reported.
"My response was 'What the hell was that!?' I jumped
up and ran to the edge and never took my eyes off it."
Cathy's suite was on the 5th floor of the hotel,
facing the Atlantic Ocean. "It seemed to almost
'buzz' the hotel one time, as if the say, 'Look at me!'
It flew in a straight line and then veered off and went
straight up...As for size, I would equate it with a small
military jet," and the shape "seemed to be triangular,
no colored lights, just a softly glowing sphere that
appeared to be in the middle section. It moved very
quickly and very aerobatically."
The UFO was soon joined by three others. "We
all saw the four," she reported, "My son and I stayed
out watching for over three hours, and yet it felt like
minutes. We had no idea we were out there that long.
At times, 'they' appeared playful, as if they wanted us
to watch the show. At one point they flew straight down.
The distance, according to Matt, was several hundred
yards...As for speed, at times they were up in the stars
and seconds later, they were down in the clouds, still
not ever any noise."
At one point, they witnessed "what appeared to be
a falling star, but it was one of the objects followed by a
stream of fire. Then both disappeared for a few seconds
and then would reappear in another area close by.
That happened three times."
"Also...the objects would appear to fly out into the
outer atmosphere, as they would fly up and disappear,
and then reappear shortly...We strongly feel that it
wanted to be seen or did not care if it was seen...Time
seemed to stand still. It was amazing! We will never
forget that night." (Email Interview)
BLIMP TRIGGERS NEAR-PANIC
AS THE AUSTRALIAN UFO
FLAP CONTINUES
When a blimp advertising Whitman's Chocolates
flew over Sydney and its suburbs earlier this week, it
triggered a cascade of phone calls to Australia's
National 24-Hour Hotline. According to hotline
director Ross Dowe, his office received thousands
of calls, the most ever for one night.
The blimp incident followed a month of strange
sightings over the Australian states of Victoria
and Queensland.
On Monday, June 2, 1997, at 7:30 p.m., witnesses
in the Taylor Lakes area near Melbourne "reported
sighting a cloud-like illumination stopping and then
moving again towards the western sky, followed by
six orange illuminations."
On Tuesday, June 3, 1997, at 5 p.m., people
from Melbourne to Keilor Downs, Victoria (Vic.)
reported seeing "a flouro (flourescent) white, upside-
down banana-shaped illumination 'moving towards the
northwest sky.'"
On Wednesday, June 11, 1997, at 9 p.m., a UFO
was reported in Lindissar, on the island of Tasmania
off Australia's southern coast. A resident spotted
"a bright orange-yellow tubed or line-shaped object."
The following night, Thursday, June 12, 1997, at
6:55 p.m. people at Picnic Point on Queensland's
"Sunshine Coast," sighted "a lime-green line with a
golden football-shaped illumination halfway up the line."
Later that evening, in Rye, Vic., witnesses saw
"a foggy white football-shaped object...with (a) line of
light on either side of the object."
On Friday, June 13, 1997, at 7:30 p.m., local
residents saw "a stationary tube-shaped illumination"
hovering in the northwest sky at Lara, Vic.
On Saturday, June 16, 1997, at 11:20 p.m.,
witnesses at Holland Park, Queensland reported
sighting "a large bright white-line-shaped illumination
in the southeastern sky. The illumination was as long
as a little finger at arm's length." (Many thanks to
Ross Dowe of Australia's National 24-Hour UFO Hotline
for these recent sightings.)
MYSTERY METEORS BOMBARD
WAIKANAE, NEW ZEALAND
The town of Waikanae, on the North Island of New
Zealand, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of
Wellington, has been struck twice by strange
meteoric bombardments this month.
During the first week of June, a strange object
was seen in the southwest sky, about 5 kilometers
(3 miles) from Paraparaumu, between 6 and 9 p.m.
According to local ufologist David Butterfield,
"A fair number of witnesses saw it, but the paper
(the Kapiti Observer) only quoted about three or
four. The object was seen for maybe 30 to 60
seconds. It was approximately spherical, and
changed colour from green to red, I think. The
object was bright and left a trail of some
description, I believe."
New Zealand's National Television played
down the incident as "a meteor shower." But
David Butterfield adds, "The phenomenon took out
several television channels when it hit, as well."
On Friday, June 13, 1997, residents of the
Waikanae Valley reported "hundreds of green and
yellow illuminations crossing the sky...The lights
appeared to be something entering our atmosphere
and may have been from the trail left behind from
(the) Hale-Bopp (comet)."
According to Ross Dowe of Australia's National
24-Hour UFO Hotline, New Zealand's "Carter
Observatory advised that the showers of green and
yellow light were likely to be space junk or something
re-entering the atmosphere."
"Radio New Zealand reports Wellington Police as
saying the biggest meteor was a large green ball of
light that appeared to crash into valleys behind
Waikanae. No debris have been found at this stage."
(Many thanks to David Butterfield and Ross Dowe
for these stories.)
MAMLAMBO ON THE LOOSE
Nine people are reported dead in South Africa's
Eastern Cape province, all said to be victims of
Mamlambo, the river monster.
Most recently the giant reptile was sighted
near Lubaleko, a village on the Mzintlava River
not far from Mount Ayliff, about 176 kilometers
(110 miles) southeast of Durban.
"Like many rural villages in what used to be the
Transkei, Lubaleko is scattered over several square
kilometers of undulating hillside country. The houses,
some made of brick and others of mud, are far apart
and linked only by winding footpaths. There is no
electricity or piped water."
Police say the victims were drowned in the
Mzintlava, which was swollen by heavy rains in
Lesotho during the wet season.
"'I have seen some of the bodies of the so-called
monster's victims,' Captain G. Mzuko of the Mount
Ayliff Police told (the Cape Argus). 'They had all been
in the water for some time and, as is often the case,
river crabs had eaten away the soft parts of the faces
and throats. In one case, the crabs were still clinging
to the body when it was brought in. As far as we are
concerned, there were cases of drowning, plain and
simple.'"
"But to the people of the village, the mutilation
just proves the monster's existence. 'It eats their
faces off and sucks out the people's brains,' said an
elderly Mr. Matshunga, walking the lonely track with
his dogs. 'It is a big snake, and I have seen what
it does.'"
Witnesses describe Mamlambo as being about
20 meters (67 feet) long, with short, stumpy legs,
a crocodilian body, plus "the head and neck of a
snake, and it shines at night with a green light."
"A group of women returning from a meeting at
the village school assured (Cape Argus reporter David
Biggs) that the monster was real."
"'We are not just ignorant, superstitious people,'
they told me. 'We are teachers. Educated. And we
know that the monster is there. That is why we do
not cross the river any more."
"Mthokozisi Sigcobeka (age 6) says his father
was eaten by the monster. When he's older, he
plans to get a gun and hunt it." (See the Cape Argus
of Capetown, South Africa for May 16, 1997. Also the
Johannesburg Star for April 30, 1997.)
(Editor's Comment: From the description, Mamlambo
sounds like Elasmosaurus, a member of the plesiosaur
family. Trouble is, Elasmosaurus became extinct during
the Jurassic Period 50 million years ago. Imagine the
novel Ernest Hemingway would have written if he had lived
to join this safari!)
from the UFO Files...
1947: EIGHT SAUCERS LAND
IN IDAHO
As we continue our celebration of the 50th Anniversay
of the UFO Flap of 1947, here's another actual AP news
story from the period:
Spokane, Wash., July 5 - (AP) - Eight flying saucers
were reported today to have made a landing on a
mountainside near St. Maries, Idaho in full view of 10
persons.
Mrs. Walter Johnson of suburban Dishman said the
saucers came down in timber there Thursday evening
(July 3, 1947) but had not been reported until she
returned to her home in Dishman today.
The saucers were seen to fall near Butler's Bay on
the St. Joe River six miles (9 kilometers) west of St.
Maries, where Mrs. Johnson was visiting her parents.
She said they came into view at an extreme speed,
traveling from the south to the north. Suddenly, they
slowed, she said, and then "fluttered like leaves to the
ground."
"The mysterious part was that we couldn't see
them after the landing," said Mrs. Johnson. "We could
see them flutter down into the timber, yet we couldn't
see that they did anything to the trees."
Both the CAA (now the Federal Aviation Administration)
and the Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) officials
were notified of the incident but no immediate plans for an
air search of the area were announced." (See the
Providence, R.I. Journal for July 6, 1947, page 3.)
(Editor's Note: On July 3, 1947, a silver disc with a small
dome on top flew over Vassouras, a small city about
40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Rio de Janeiro,
then the capital of Brazil. Among the witnesses was
a young woman named Irene Granchi, who went on to
become the "mother of Brazilian ufology.")
FUN UFO WEBSITES:
This week, the word is ROSWELL. For a look at the
"crashed saucer" issue of the Roswell Daily Record,
complete with colorful graphics and music, visit this site:
http://www.sierra-vista.com/roswell.
Don't miss our parent site, UFOINFO, at this URL:
http://www.digiserve.com/ufoinfo/
For back issues of UFO ROUNDUP, drop in at
http://www.digiserve.com/ufoinfo/roundup/index.shtml
That's it for this week. If you're one of the thousands
heading to Roswell, New Mexico for the gala celebration
of UFO Encounter 1997, try to pick up some extra
canteens and stock up on water for your campsite.
You can dehydrate very quickly under that July sun.
If anything big happens--and you know what I'm talking
about--send us the details pronto at our email address,
Masinaigan@aol.com.
Meanwhile, we'll be back next Sunday with more
saucer news from "the paper that goes home--UFO
ROUNDUP."
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1997 by Masinaigan
Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post any
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