Aliens On Earth.com Resources for those who are stranded here UFOs | Paranormal | Area 51 People | Places | Random Top 100 | What's New Catalog | New Books Search... for keyword(s)   in Page Titles in Book Title/Author in Contents of Pages ---other searches--- Metacrawler Yahoo FAST Search Google Altavista Dogpile Inference Find Northern Light IWon.com MSN Search Las Vegas Sun Our Bookstore is OPEN Mothership -> UFO -> Updates -> 1999 -> Jul -> Here

From: James Easton <voyager@ukonline.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 01:50:46 +0100
Fwd Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1999 23:28:09 -0400
Subject: Voyager Newsletter - Issue No. 6


Voyager Newsletter - Issue No. 6


When the 'UFO Research List' (UFORL) was set up earlier this
year, my intention was to provide a discussion forum which
addressed scientific evidence, including the interface between
UFOs and 'black projects'

As a number of invited subscribers have a recognised expertise in
'black projects', the list covers aviation and aerospace topics
which other 'UFO' related forums possibly wouldn't consider
appropriate. Conversely, it isn't likely you'll find debates on
'abductions', 'MJ-12', or conspiracies, etc.

I hoped that the list archives would, in part, be publicly
accessible to non subscribers, similar to the situation with the
'UFO UpDates' list. However, as some material posted is
specifically 'list only' and it was also a stated intention that
research data, etc., could be released and discussed in
confidence before being publicised, not all of the postings will
be open to non-subscriber viewing.

When material is intended for general information and may be of
interest to the 'UFO UpDates', Microsoft Network or 'Project
1947', etc. mailing lists, I would intend to duly cross-post it,
or at least highlight where it can be seen.

Details of how the public list material can be viewed, will be
confirmed in due course. In the meantime, what follows are some
relevant UFORL mailings and if any assistance can be given re the
questions raised therein, it would be appreciated.

Much of this will have originated from myself, as I can be sure
it's not confidential.


Date: 15/06/99
Re: Bentwaters and Lakenheath ­ 1956
UFO Research List

The following was received via e-mail during the past week and is
a further insight into one of the classic, historical cases.

Although initially discussing the December 1980 'Bentwaters'
incidents, the writer has correctly surmised that their father
was referring to a much earlier event!


Dear Sir,

I recall seeing a TV documentary with this subject matter, I
dismissed the testimonies of the contributors as a government
experiment or "somesuch" and left it to others "with too much
free time and  imagination" to conjecture upon.

However, I mentioned the programme to my father, he "corrected"
me, saying that the incident concerned occurred in the late
1950s. I dismissed his notion, telling him that, as ever, he
didn't listen to me. With the benefit of hindsight it would
Appear that we were talking about two very different stories.

He told me of a conversation with a long time acquaintance of
his, a radar engineer working for Racal, a telecommunications
Company. He told me that this man spun him a story about a
colleague who was called to R.A.F. Bentwaters to test radar
equipment, I have never bothered prying as my father would never
let-up with barracking me if he thought I saw this tale as
anything other than spooky nonsense, though his own postscript to
the story was that the tale had never varied in its detail over
the years.

In a nutshell, the engineer and his boss where called with some
urgency to test ground radar at Bentwaters, he (the engineer) was
surprised to see an American military technician from another
base (Lakenheath) already running magnetic tape spools on a
portable viewer, a C.R.T. and associated amplifiers, a radar
without the radar, if you will. He was requested to check and
test the consoles in the bases control tower. After several hours
he pronounced the equipment to be in good working order.

Both he and his boss where obviously curious because of the more
than usual lack of small talk with their clients and the brusque
attitude of the normally friendly American from Lakenheath. Some
weeks later the engineer related the morning in question to
another technician working at an R.A.F. base in East Anglia, this
fellow told the engineer he had heard from "someone who knew
someone" that the evening before his callout to Bentwaters there
was great panic at both Lakenheath and Bentwaters. The fellow
said that fighter aircraft had been scrambled after erratic but
"solid looking" radar traces where observed travelling from east
to west on first sighting. He said that the personnel on site at
Bentwaters (those on duty) all saw lights in the skies and that
Lakenheath base control tower personnel had telephoned their
concerns to Bentwaters.

As I have stated, it is a sketchy story to me at least, it
doesn't seem to have any substance, no dates or names. I have not
heard or seen of any mention concerning the alleged events but
thought it an interesting tale to mention. Perhaps I have not
looked very hard.

Best regards
[name deleted]

Although maybe nothing of new substance re what is presumably the
renowned August, 1956 'radar' case, an interesting tale
nonetheless.


James.

NOTE:
At least we now know the radar apparently wasn't faulty.

It has been pointed out that a faulty radar was one explanation
offered by Phil Klass.



Date: 29/06/99
Re: Trent Photographs
UFO Research List

There's a 'UFO' photograph which may not be well known and which
depicts an object similar to the 'flying saucer' photographed by
Paul Trent on 11 May, 1950.

If it's of interest, I've uploaded the respective images for
comparison and they can be seen at:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/voyager/similar.jpg

Some notes:

- the 'new' photograph is looking down on the 'object' - a
perspective not seen in the Trent pictures - and shows a 'rim',
which would appear to be consistent with the two Trent profiles

- the object is flat on top, similar to the Trent image

- it also has a comparable 'antenna'

- the dark 'blobs' visible may be photographic artefacts - I
don't know

- for convenience, all images have been rotated to appear
horizontal.


All I can ascertain is that the more recent photograph was
apparently taken by Herr Walter Schilling, on 3 Jul 1977, in
Hamburg, Germany.

My source is a 1993 CD-ROM entitled, `UFO'.

Although the CD-ROM contains numerous hoaxed photographs, some of
the other material is interesting and maybe not so well known.

Of the Schilling photograph, it states:

"Herr Walter Schilling observed and photographed a flying disc
with a curious rotating, fluorescent periscope-like mast. The
object was very close to the ground and was tilted at an angle as
it cast a 30ft shadow on the grass to its right".

The reason why I suspect it's an obvious fake, aside from it
being the archetypal and mythical `flying saucer', will, I'm
sure, be evident on seeing the full sized photograph. There's a
copy on my web site at:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/voyager/schillng.jpg

Another (inferior quality) copy, plus further material from this
CD-ROM can be found at:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~pro/033.htm

So, what became of Herr Schilling's photograph?

I may have been overly optimistic in expecting to find further
references to it. Do any of our colleagues in Germany perhaps
know more about this `Trent look-alike' case?


James.



Date: 01/07/99
Re: Flying Triangles
UFO Research List

Here's an interesting organisation which encompasses all things
`hovering':

AHS International - The Vertical Flight Society

"The professional society for the advancement of vertical flight
technology and its useful application throughout the world".

"...a professional technical society founded in 1943 to advance
vertical flight. The Society's members include more than 6,000
aerospace engineers, managers, scientists and technicians, and
most of the world's major rotorcraft manufacturers and industry
suppliers".

http://www.vtol.org/

The site contains an article entitled, "V/STOL: The First Half-
Century", which notes of the apparent delta-winged `Boeing X-32':

"As part of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, the Boeing X-
32 concept demonstrator (artist's drawing above) uses a
derivative of the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine with Rolls-Royce
lift components. The X-32 concept has a chin inlet and a blended
delta wing. In short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) mode,
the engine closes the vectorable cruise nozzle and opens two lift
nozzles at the aircraft c.g. First flight is planned for 2000.
The winner of the JSF source selection in 2001 will then develop
its operational STOVL version of the concept as a supersonic
multirole aircraft to replace the Harrier. Boeing's design for
the operational aircraft has an empty weight of about 22,000 lb,
length of 45 ft and a wingspan of 30 ft; maximum take-off weight
would be about 50,000 lb. During the Concept Development Phase
that ended in November 1996, Boeing completed 11,700 hours of
developmental testing and piloted simulations, including testing
of a Pratt & Whitney YF119-powered 94% scale model in 1995".

I presume this implies that no test planforms were (`officially')
flown.

If this is a proposed replacement for the Harrier, I wonder if
any testing of a hovering, delta-shaped aircraft, might have been
carried out in the UK?


A must-see in this article is a photograph of the `SNECMA C450
Coleoptere':

"In France, the Societe Nationale d'Etude et Construction de
Moteurs d'Aviation (SNECMA) began working on a jet powered tail-
sitter in 1954. Various rigs were tested from 1955-1957 powered
by the 6,400 lb thrust Atar D jet engine, each with increasing
complexity".

I hesitate to call it an aircraft, as it looks like something out
of a low-budget, 1950s sci-fi movie!

The article's at:

http://www.vtol.org/wheel/wheel.jpg

and note also the link to a useful diagram - :

http://www.vtol.org/wheel/same.html


James.



Date: 04/07/99
Re: 'Triangular UFO' Footage?
UFO Research List

Also shown in the UK, earlier tonight on Channel 5 national TV,
was a program, 'UFOs: The Best Evidence Ever - Caught on Tape'.

I believe this has been seen before here.

One of the films shown, from 'Midway City', Florida in 1993, was
particularly interesting.

It shows what could be... I say, could be... one of them
hovering, tree-top level, lights-a-blazin' triangular-UFOs.

Is this footage likely to be authentic?

>From a brief 'web search', I haven't seen anything to the
contrary and it seems this purported videotape evidence hasn't
really been highlighted as we might expect.

What struck me on seeing it for the first time was the similarity
with many 'triangular UFO' reports in recent years.

The footage is essentially of lights, apparently hovering above
trees in a forest. The lights do momentarily disappear behind
what seem to be trees, which ostensibly argues in favour of its
authenticity.

Most prominent is a large central light, from which a focused
beam of light is directed downwards.

Surrounding this central light are other smaller lights and
noticeable is that the light at the top is blinking on and off.

It isn't possible to determine the presumed object's outline,
however, taking all of the lights as an indication, it's not far
off being triangular shaped.

Using my video recorder's freeze frame, I've stepped through the
frames and there are some where it does look as though a
'triangular outline' is more evident. It's impossible to be
certain about this - it may just be an illusion.

Assuming the footage is genuine, the only obvious candidates I
could think of would be a helicopter, or a small 'blimp'.

Although I couldn't locate any additional information about this
case, I discovered that part of the footage is available on Dave
Ledger's 'UFO Scotland' site. For those who haven't seen Dave's
site, it contains probably the largest collection of 'UFO'
footage on the 'net.

The video doesn't take long to play and can be seen at:

http://wkweb5.cableinet.co.uk/dledger/videos3.htm

It's described thus:

"This clip was recorded simultaneously by three separate cameras
near the Gulf Breeze area of Florida USA. The footage ,taken near
Midway City on the 4th of August 1993, was filmed at three
different angles by three separate witnesses. They were lucky
enough to capture the craft on tape as it seemed to hover over
some dense forest at night. The object seemed to give off puffs
of dense smoke and at one point, it seems to shine an intense
beam of light straight at the camera lens".

The possibility of additional witnesses and film needs to be
clarified - does anyone know the full story?

If not, I'll make further enquiries.

'Gulf Breeze'... [sharp intake of breath] is somewhat contentious
as a 'UFO hotspot'. That acknowledged, it's not a 'flying saucer'
on film, or even an apparent attempt to suggest this.

It may be that this video has been regarded as simply a 'UFO'
and never previously considered as _conceivably_
depicting the same 'triangular UFOs' as others have been
reporting.

My initial conclusions would be that, if authentic, this might be
significant film. Whatever is captured on tape has key elements
of the 'triangular UFO' enigma.

It should be noted that this video was taken by someone who has
published footage of another 'UFO' (a completely different,
daylight film which 'looks OK' and depicts a 'non-standard', odd
object).

Apparently a 'UFO hunter', if he is out searching for anomalous
aerial artefacts - and his video camera looks like *serious*
equipment - then he's more likely than not to eventually film
something.

I would only contend that it's worth seeing.


James.



Date: 06/07/99
Re: NUFORC 'Triangular UFO' Reports
UFO Research List

I've received permission from Peter Davenport, director of the
National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), to make available their
published 'triangular UFO' reports, which I've previously
mentioned and often cited extracts from.

Containing over 200 cases which feature 'triangles', 'deltas',
etc., it's a consummate source of raw data.

Coming with my disclaimer, 'sold as seen - you never bought it
'ere mate', these reports cover most, maybe all, of the elements
which encapsulate that twilight zone between UFOs/black
aircraft/contemporary mythology.

Some can be attributed to the satellite triplets previously
identified, others might be explained as commercial aircraft
appearing in an unfamiliar guise to the observer, a few could
conceivably be sightings of 'unusual' aircraft and there's the
expected, occasional 'total whacko' experience [easily spotted!].

There remains that core of cases which seem ostensibly credible -
and most of them probably are - yet are difficult to rationalise
at _face value_.

What distinguishes these and has always set the 'triangular UFO'
aspect aside, are the detailed descriptions, often of an object,
or objects, allegedly seen at close proximity. Mercifully, no
'hypnotic regression' involved either.

The case reports have been collated in one large text file which
can downloaded from my web site at:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/voyager/nuforc.txt

The file is 383k in size.


Re the 'Midway city' video ­

The NUFORC data includes several reports where a 'beam' is
directed downwards from the perceived object (outwith the NUFORC
material there are other such claims) and emitted from a large,
central light.

Not exactly what we would expect from advanced alien technology,
it has to be said.

Col. Halt's, documented on tape, 'laser-like' beam of light from
an unidentified, overhead object comes to mind.

I have suggested that Halt's 'UFO' could have been a helicopter
and depending on which evidence you accept, it is claimed
helicopters had been scrambled at that time, although Halt
refutes this.

I've also corresponded with one of the helicopter's maintenance
support team who assures that no helicopters were airborne then.

How consistent is that 'Midway' footage with a helicopter's
focused, searchlight beam?


James.



[Edited from the UFO Research List]
Billion Dollar Secret

On Sunday 4 July, Channel 5 TV in the UK broadcast a documentary
entitled, 'Billion Dollar Secret', in which Nick Cook, a British
aviation journalist and correspondent for 'Jane's Defence
Weekly', investigated the US 'black budget' programmes.

The documentary featured interviews with Jack Gordon, CEO of the
'Skunk-Works' and Boyd Bushman, who works with 'advanced
concepts' for LockMart.

Bushman made an intriguing reference about research into applying
charges to objects, causing them to lose weight.

Also featured were Mark Farmer and Glenn Campbell, discussing
‘Area 51’.

The most interesting interview, I thought, was with Lt. Gen.
George Muellner who acknowledged that 'black projects' are kept
that way until they 'mature' - a very apt phrase.

The following discussion between Nick Cook (NC) and 'General'
Muellner (GM), transcribed from a recording of the program, was
incredible and most illuminating:

NC: General, I've just spent a couple of days in Southern
Colorado, where a lot of apparently credible witnesses are
reporting sightings of apparently unconventional aircraft, and I
mean things like huge black triangles, silent helicopters, all
kinds of extraordinary craft.

Should we be looking to the USAF for whatever is going on in this
place?

GM: Well, the only programmes that I'm aware of that we have
operating out in that environment... obviously are 117s operate
out of Holloman... they're triangular shaped, obviously they're
black and they operate at night quite frequently and so on.

All of the rest of the aeroplanes we have operating down in the
Holloman area in particular are all conventional airplanes.

So, I don't know of any other development programmes or anything
else that's going on down in that area or in southern Colorado in
general, or for that matter in the New Mexico area.

We don't have anything of significance operating there.

I can tell you as an aviator though, quite frequently it's very,
very difficult to discern what a platform is. B-2 for instance,
if you're looking near co-altitude with it, it just seems to
disappear into the background.

NC: But again, these people are describing things that literally
hover over them sometimes, seemingly unmistakable sightings of
these things.

GM: Well, I'll tell you, if they can get me the name of the
contractor and whosoever’s operating, I'd love to put them under
contract to develop some of these things.


Which is the most extraordinary confirmation of the point I've
been emphasising during recent years and specifically highlighted
in the material posted to the UFO Research List in the past
weeks.

There is no evidence that the USAF has any triangular-shaped
aircraft capable of hovering, or travelling at 'walking pace',
yet also able to suddenly accelerate at 'phenomenal' speed.

Even if USAF had developed such technology, they would not be
operating these aircraft over densely populated areas at the
frequently reported 'tree-top' level and especially, would
refrain from harassing people as reported in the numerous,
comparable, 'highway encounters', which are the essence of this
'triangular UFO' enigma.

Finally, someone was able to ask the simple question of a senior
USAF representative - should  these reports of amazingly low-
altitude, hovering, triangular-shaped 'UFOs' be attributed to
covert USAF developments [nudge, nudge, just give us a 'say no
more' nod].

The answer - if only we did have that capability.

If the USAF doesn't have it now, then presumably we can conclude
they certainly didn't have it in the 1960s/70s/80s.

There is of course possibly, if not probably, a mundane
explanation for all of the reports which come into this category.

However, there are some 'curious' repercussions from this
development.


I wonder what Lt. Gen. Muellner would have said in answer to
'UFO' sightings of 'triangular' craft, accompanied by recognised
USAF aircraft, say... over the North Sea in 1989.

Or the Belgian 'triangular UFO' reports.

Pity Nick didn't ask about this.


James.

NOTE:
Confirmed by a list subscriber -

Until July '98, Lt.Gen. Muellner was principal deputy, Office of
the Asst. Secretary of Air Force for Acquisition. In the late 70s
and early 80s he flight tested classified a/c. His duties whilst
in office included management of the USAS acquisition system.

So far as inside knowledge of ‘black budget’ programs goes,
basically, he’s ‘the man’!



Anyone who supports UFORL's objectives can subscribe by sending a
blank message to:

UFORL-subscribe@listbot.com

It's a moderated forum.


(c) James Easton
July 1999

E-mail: voyager@ukonline.co.uk
Voyager On-line: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/voyager/