From: Lloyd Bayliss <lloyd@POWER-AGE.DEMON.CO.UK>
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 14:27:14 +0000
Fwd Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 16:24:07 -0500
Subject: {100} Part 4 - United Kingdom UFO Network
______ _______ ______
------ / / // ____// /---------------------------------------
U K / / // ___/ / / / March 1999
/ / // / / / / N E T W O R K Part 4 Issue 100
--- (_____//__/ (_____/------------------------------------------
The United Kingdom UFO Network - a free electronic magazine with
subscribers in over 58 countries.
[UK 7]******
From: Name & e-mail address supplied
Report Date: Monday 12th October 1998
A Radar Anomaly
Pete (pseudonym) is a keen scanner user with a long time interest
in aviation. He is ex RAF living near to RAF Northolt and Heathrow
airport. A major helicopter route in and out of London is also
nearby. Peter told uk.ufo.nw that he tends to leave his scanner on
monitoring various civil and military frequencies while he 'potters'
around the house. He said "You get to hear some very interesting
things from time to time."
Peter reports:
At approximately 12.15 on Monday 12th October, the Bovingdon
sector of London Air Traffic Control Centre acquired a target, on
primary radar, on or very close to major air routes into and out of
the London area. The target, there was no transponder signal, was
at an indicated height of 10,800 feet and it moved very little, if at
all. To my certain knowledge the captains of at least six aircraft, both
inbound and outbound, were asked to look for and report the origin
of the target. At least one passed less than one nautical mile from
the object's observed position, and no more than one thousand feet
above it. There was broken cloud at lower altitudes, but nothing at
that height. Each captain reported that nothing could be seen in the
area, and at least one stated "If there's anything there I would see
it". LATCC (London Air Traffic Control Centre) attempted to contact
the target by radio on the distress frequency of 121.500 mHz at
12.32, but got no response.
Eventually the controllers decided that there was nothing there, at
least that's what they told the aircraft they were controlling. That was
at 12.38.
Maybe not an actual UFO report, but its an anomaly and interesting -
at least I think so! :-)
---
[UK 8]******
Source: Sunday Times
Publish Date: 22nd November 1998
From: Roger Pate <r.pate@pindar.co.uk>
Alien Life Forms may be inside Earth
Author: Steve Farrar, Science Correspondent
LIFE FORMS so alien that scientists may simply not have recognised
evidence of their existence could inhabit the Earth, according to a
leading scientist.
Dr Tom Gold, emeritus professor of astronomy at Cornell University in
America, believes that organisms based on silicon - completely unrelated
to all the carbon-based life man has encountered so far - may live at
great depths.
In a forthcoming book he will suggest that scientists should take the
possibility more seriously. Gold, who is a member of the Royal Society,
previously predicted that vast amounts of more conventional bacteria
live miles down within the Earth's crust. Scientists initially
dismissed the idea, but many now agree with him.
"So long as nobody suspects there could be silicon-based life, we may
just not be clever enough to identify it", he said last week.
Rocks bearing signs of silicon-based organisms may already be sitting in
laboratories, he believes, with their signicance overlooked.
Every known living organism, from bacteria to mankind, is based on the
chemistry of carbon, which froms the complex molecules such as DNA that
are central to our existence. Scientists believe that if
extraterrestrial life is found, the chances are that it, too, will be
carbon-based.
Silicon has many chemical similarities to carbon, prompting scholars and
science fiction writers to dream up new life forms. Huge "space slugs"
that can swallow space ships appear in the film The Empire Strikes Back;
in an episode of Star Trek a rock-like alien attacked Captain Kirk's
crew; and killer parasites based on silicon surfaced in the X-Files when
scientists explored the interior of a volcano.
Gold's life forms, if they exist, would most likely be micro-organisms
capable of withstanding enormous pressures and temperatures, living in
time pores inside rock deep within the Earth's crust. They could draw
energy from dissolved gases and surrounding minerals.
Gold's ideas, which centre on an alternative explanation for oil and
mineral deposits, will be published in his book, The Deep Hot Biosphere,
in January.
"It is speculative but logical that there could be a large biochemical
system very deep down which works better at high temperatures and
pressures" he said.
Others are sceptical. Dr Harold Klein, who headed the Viking lander
project team that searched for signs of life on Mars in the 1970's,
pinted out that silicon was far inferior to carbon at forming the
complex polymers crucial for life.
"I personally doubt the idea of silicon-based life. If we do find
organisms far down inside the Earth, I'd bet they'd be carbon-based", he
said.
Nevertheless, he urges future missions to Mars to carry an instrument to
test for non-carbon-based organisms - just in case.
It is possible that the chemistry of silicon is altered sufficiently by
the great temperatures and pressures deep in the Earth to make it more
suited to forming complex molecules, according to David Noever, a
research scientist at Nasa's new Astrobiology Institute.
He said some scientists at the American space agency were treating the
idea of silicon-based organisms seriously, particularly with a view to
searching for extraterrestrial life.
"It's almost naive to assume all life must be carbon-based; I could
possibly make good cases for life based on both silicon and phosphorus",
he said.
Silicon is used by some carbon-based single-cell organisms called
diatoms to form protective shells, according to Dr David williams, a
diatom researcher at th Natural History Museum in London. But diatoms
are still fundamentally carbon-based.
However, bizarre organisms have been found in recent years deep in the
Earth's crust. Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College
London, said; "There's an unknown universe down there that has already
produced organisms with metabolisms so strage that, by comparison, man
and mushrooms are almost identical, so God knows what else they'll
find".
Microbes have been found living on the ocean floor at depths and
temperatures where life was previously thought unsustainable.
Without knowing what silicon-based life forms might be like, said Dr
Harry Elderfield, an earth scientist at Cambridge University, it is
almost impossible to predict how scientists could even test for them.
Yet Gold has been described by Stephen Jay Gould, president of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, as one of the most
iconoclastic scientists - but one who is often right.
---
[UK 9]******
Source: Nidderdale Herald [Yorkshire, England]
Publish Date: 20th November 1998
From: "gerry" <ed@farshore.force9.co.uk>
'Space link' role for Menwith
THE US communications base at RAF Menwith Hill will be at the
forefront of a system which provides early warnings of ballistic
missile launches anywhere on earth.
Two new radomes - the prominent golf balls - are to be built on the
site, having a direct link with American infra-red eyes in space.
Armed Forces Minister Mr Doug Henderson said the work will begin in
November 1999 and is due to be completed in February 2000.
However, the move has brought criticism from the Menwith Hill peace
campaigners who say the base has now been moved to "a totally
different level."
A spokeswoman for the protest group said: "We are appalled and
outraged, but it is not a surprise. It was a major target as a
command and communication centre, but its new role makes it even more
important.
"This is another huge reason why Menwith Hill should not be here and
why at the very least it should be accountable."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the infra-red
tracking project will go ahead and should be operational by the
millennium.
---
[UK 10]******
From: "Peter Laurie" <peter@abbotsbury.co.uk>
Sighting Date: 7th November 1998
Sighting Location: Abbotsbury in Dorset, roughly 50 deg 40 min N, 2
deg 40 min W, at 6pm GMT 7
Saw an odd satellite recently. About 6pm, clear night, passing
through Cassiopaea, a *line* of lights. The line was quite straight
and had 4/5 evenly spaced lights with a last one about half the
distance. While we watched the lights faded and went out, presumably
because the thing dipped into the earth's shadow while we watched. It
was moving at the sort of speed one associates with visible
satellites.
Since we were standing in about 50 North and the time was 1hr 40 min
after sunset it was possible to calculate that the thing was about
200 miles high. Two of the stars of the central triangle of
Cassiopaea point north and the thing was travelling just to the west
of this line. These stars are 4 deg 24 min apart (measured by plastic
sextant) and the length of the thing was about 1/4 - 1/2 the distance
between them (hard to tell exactly because it was moving so fast).
This implies that the line was 2 - 4 miles long. Which seems quite a
big satellite.
The height and polar orbit make it look like a recconnaissance
device. Maybe (as Ben suggests) the length is because it is a
synthetic aperture radar. With a length of miles, it ought to resolve
peanuts!
Any ideas what it was?
---
[UK 11]
Source: North Devon Journal
Publish Date: November 20 1998
From: "gerry" <ed@farshore.force9.co.uk>
UFO sightings 'extraordinary'
A NORTH DEVON man could have had an "encounter of the second kind"
when he witnessed strange flashing lights in the sky, an expert
believes.
Father and son Paul and Lee Holloway, of Rose Court, Bradworthy,
spotted the lights in the Monday [Nov 16] morning sky while driving
towards Bideford at about 6.35am.
"I saw something flashing in the sky like an aeroplane," Lee said.
"It moved from one direction to the other, we kept on driving then
from behind there was a massive flash of light, right across the
whole sky."
"On the left hand side flashing lights came on and off, there was
nothing there, then they were back to a different place then the
other, swapping positions," Lee added.
He compared the flash to lightning, but said it was several times
brighter, and lasted five or six seconds. From being behind their car
the lights went directly over them before disappearing. British UFO
Research Association regional investigator Doug Cooper described this as
a UFO sighting and added: "Lee is bordering on the classic encounter
kind of experience. "It's an encounter of the second kind -- an object -
- rather than alien beings." But Lee was not the only one to see
something strange in the sky that morning. Pauline Smith witnessed a
phenomenon while driving along the North Devon link road between South
Molton and Tiverton. "I was driving up the link road at about 6.15am and
it lasted for about half an hour. I saw two objects in the sky, about
5,000ft up. "They were equidistant from the moon and I think they had
identical flashing lights. They were both lined up with each other.
"They disappeared and came back. I think I saw one of them drop
vertically but I couldn't swear to it. Then one of them threw out a beam
of light," she said. There is no apparent astronomical or meteorological
explanation for what Pauline, of Sunnyside, Woolsery, saw. The armed
forces deny any flight movement over North Devon that morning. While
this was happening, Pauline said: "I felt that time sort of took on a
different meaning, I felt light-headed, nauseous and very disorientated.
"I remember thinking something weird is going on here," she said. Mr
Cooper said: "It's a typical UFO sighting -- what it was, I've got no
idea. The symptoms Pauline described are again typical of a sighting and
known to ufologists as the 'Oz Factor,' -- named after the Wizard of Oz
when Dorothy was in Oz -- the 'in between' land. "When you see something
which is not known to you, it feels as if everything around you has
stopped and you're in no man's land. It's the mind trying to cope
with what it's seen" He said a similar version of the Oz Factor was
experienced by troops in the First World War while they were waiting to
go over the top. Their concentration was so great their minds blocked
out everything else. Mr Cooper added: "Both Lee and Pauline have
experienced something quite extraordinary."
---
[UK 12]
Source: Express and Star (UK)
Publish Date: 16th November 1998
From: "Lee Edmunds"<Lee.Edmunds@altasystems.co.uk>
UFO Sighting !
(Letters Page)
I was interested to read the letter from David Rose in which he says he
saw a UFO on Sunday October 18th because I saw one on the same day at
the same time.
I was travelling with my dad from Sheffield to Wolverhampton at about
1.30pm. We both noticed a strange object in the sky directly in front of
us. It was a large rectangular mirror, and it seemed motionless.
Even though we were travelling at 70mph, we didn't seem to get any
closer to the object and it's size seemed unaltered.
I would guess that it was somewhere over north Leicestershire, but it
was difficult to be certain. After about 15 minutes we lost sight of the
object.
It was a very bright sunny day and my dad thinls that it may have been
some sort of reflection, but I'm not sure.
The above letter was submitted to the E&S by Jobey Bayliss of Nottingham
(aged 12). Hope you can use it. I will try and get a copy of the letter
from David Rose mentioned in the letter and forward it to you.
----------===============******************===============----------
World News
==========
[W 1]******
Source: Washington Associated Press
From: bernhard.nahrgang@ob.kamp.net (Bernhard Nahrgang)
Astronomers record gamma ray light
WASHINGTON (AP) - For the first time, astronomers have recorded visible
light from the source of a gamma ray burst, a mysterious deep space
eruption more powerful than the energy of 10 million billion stars,
researchers report.
The gamma ray burst was detected at 4:47 a.m. EST Saturday and was
detected by two orbiting observatories. News of the event was relayed
through a network to astronomers. Ground-based telescopes were able to
capture optical light from the fading afterglow that followed the
110-second peak of the burst. Gamma ray bursts are common, happening
several times a week. But they come and go so swiftly that astronomers
have never before been able to link optical observations with the gamma
ray detection.
Officials said the stellar eruption originated about 10 billion light
years away but was so powerful in visible light that it could have been
sighted from the ground with binoculars if, by chance, someone had been
looking.
"If the burst had occurred somewhere in our galactic neighborhood, it
would have been so bright that night would've turned into day," said
Chryssa Kouveliotou of the Universities Space Research Association, a
contract science group at the Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala.
NASA said that the burst appeared to originate from near the
constellation Corona Borealis, visible in the predawn northern sky.
The gamma ray burst phenomenon was discovered in 1967, but the bursts
remain mysterious. They occur randomly across the sky several hundred
times a year, with the peak of each burst lasting from a few
milliseconds to a few minutes. Astronomers do not know their origin or
precise cause. Some speculate that bursts originate from black holes.
Since gamma rays are invisible to the eye, the eruptions were unknown
until the development of gamma ray detectors.
The burst last Saturday was detected by NASA's Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory and by the Italian-Dutch satellite BeppoSAX. Both satellite
observatories regularly monitor the sky in search of such stellar
events. The satellites pinpointed the sky location of the burst, and the
data were relayed quickly to other observers. Visible light was then
detected by teams from the California Institute of Technology using a
telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory in California and by
observers from Washington's Carnegie Institute, using the Keck II
telescope in Hawaii.
Based on the measured intensities of the light and the gamma rays,
experts estimated energy released from the explosion could have been
equal to the energy of 10 million billion stars like the sun - that's
one followed by 16 zeroes. The energy estimate, however, could have been
affected by at least two factors, experts said.
Researchers at Cal Tech and Carnegie later determined that a foreground
galaxy may have been between Earth and the origin of the gamma ray
burst. Gravity from the foreground galaxy could have bent the light from
the burst and caused what is known as gravitation lensing. This could
cause the light to appear brighter than it actually was, rather as a
lens magnifies light.
Also researchers said the energy burst may have been in a beam, like a
focused flashlight, instead of going out in all directions, as from an
uncovered light bulb. A beamed burst also would appear to be more
powerful than a burst that spewed energy in all directions at once.
---
[W 2]******
Source: Source: Arizona Star / via The Guardian London
Publish Date: 28th January 1999
From: bernhard.nahrgang@ob.kamp.net (Bernhard Nahrgang)
Latest possibility in search for life is Charon, tiny moon orbiting
Pluto
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Charon, the tiny moon discovered 20 years ago orbiting
Pluto, is the latest candidate in the search for extraterrestrial life.
The little, dim satellite and its barely visible parent planet are at
the edge of the solar system, more than 2.6 billion miles from the sun.
NASA scientists think one of them may be warm enough for life.
Astronomers believe there have been four possible homes for life in our
solar system at some point in history, David DesMarais of the NASA Ames
Research Center told the American Association for the Advancement of
Science meeting. They were Mars, Venus, Jupiter's moon Europa, and now
Charon. A NASA team announced two years ago that they thought they had
found fossil evidence of life in a meteorite from Mars. The Galileo
satellite orbiting the moons of Jupiter has sent back pictures which
hint at an ocean under the ice of Europa.
The confirmation that microbial life on Earth could be 3.8 billion years
old suggests that life might have had time to form on Venus before it
was wiped out by a runaway greenhouse effect. Pluto is so small, faint
and far away that it was discovered only 60 years ago.
Charon was not seen until 1978. Although it is 30 times the distance of
the Earth from the sun, it could have warmth: The little moon and its
twin planet Pluto are only 12,000 miles apart.
---
[W 3]******
Source: ABC Online News / Australia
Publish Date: 25th January 1999
From: bernhard.nahrgang@ob.kamp.net (Bernhard Nahrgang)
Marree Man Outline Mystery Deepens
Those responsible for the Marree Man outline in South Australia's far
north apparently will not be revealing themselves to the British media
this week. While the South Australian Government is playing down the
affair, interest from the British media is intensifying.
First there was a suggested link with an Oxford pub, then claims that
all would be revealed in a container buried near an ancient carved
warrior in Dorset.
Slowly, some would say skillfully, the British press is being reeled
into the story along with millions of Britons who have never heard of
Marree.
But now a fax, allegedly from the perpetrators, claims the media has
misinterpreted recent statements and there will be only the first of a
series of clues at the Dorset site. Also, the clues will only hint at
the answer - not reveal it.
The South Australian Government has banned public access to the Marree
Man outline, but will not waste resources tracking down the
perpetrators.
The ploughed outline is regarded by angry local Aborigines as an
insulting and sacrilegious stunt.
---
[W 4]******
Source: Associated Press
Publish Date: Thursday 14th January 1999
From: bernhard.nahrgang@ob.kamp.net (Bernhard Nahrgang)
Mrs. Clinton, Kids Dream of Mars
WASHINGTON (AP) - First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and arts officials
kicked off planning Thursday for the first permanent station on Mars by
some of the schoolkids who may eventually go there.
Youngsters are being asked to think about the year 2030 and a
``Millennium Mars Project.'' So far, only small experimental vehicles
have been landed on Mars.
``We will all be reliving, through these young people's imagination,
what it means to create a new world,'' Ms. Clinton said during the
kickoff at the National Air and Space Museum, part of the Smithsonian
Institution.
The idea is to get pupils and high school students working with
scientists and technicians on the design for a permanent Mars
settlement, according to officials at the National Endowment for the
Arts, which is putting $500,000 into the project.
``Our young citizens will not only imagine what new dance and music and
painting will emerge in a community on Mars,'' said NEA Chairman Bill
Ivey, ``but they must also consider what our interplanetary pioneers
will carry with them. They will need creative minds - imagination and
ingenuity - to solve the problems they are certain to encounter as they
invent their new world.''
Before her speech, Mrs. Clinton and Donna Shirley, who managed the Mars
Pathfinder project, met 15 pupils from Washington's Anne Beers
Elementary School.
Sitting under a prototype space suit for visitors to Mars, they talked
about work the children have done on how they imagined living conditions
would be - based on what has already been discovered about conditions on
the planet.
----------===============******************===============----------
And Finally!
------------
Dave_UFO says: I had to renew the insurance policy on my car this
month. Whilst reading through the policy manual which explains what
is covered and what isn't, is the below paragraph.
'What is not covered'
'Loss or damage occasioned by pressure waves caused by aircraft and
other aerial devices travelling at sonic or supersonic speeds'
Well that covers a multitude of possibilities don't you think?
----------===============******************===============----------
UNITED KINGDOM UFO NETWORK
STATEMENT
UK-UFO-NW statement: The articles or text appearing within these
pages are not necessarily the views or opinions of United Kingdom UFO
Network.
REPORTS
Please forward all reports to: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk
WWW
Visit us on the World Wide Web at
http://www.holodeck.demon.co.uk/
BACK ISSUES & FILES
For information on receiving back issues and other files send mail
with REQUEST INFO in the subject area to: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk
IRC - (INTERNET RELAY CHAT)
The meetings take place at 11pm (2300hrs) each and every Saturday
night. Times will vary depending on your location in the world. If you
would like to know the time in your part of the world send a mail to:
ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk
In the subject section put: IRC TIME INFO
In the message of your mail please put:
a) Your Country
b) Your location
c) Nearest major City
You can also find times for many cities throughout the world at our web
site: http://www.holodeck.demon.co.uk/
Connecting to our weekly UFO meetings on the IRC (internet relay chat)
is now easier than ever.
**NEW**
Fully configured MIRC irc software for you to download
For some years now you have heard us go on about connecting to our
weekly UFO IRC meetings which we now hold on the Chatnet servers. You
are no doubt also aware that quite regularly we have special guests
join us on channel to answer your questions. Recent guests have been
Stanton Friedman, Nick Pope (UK MoD), John Carpenter, Kevin Randle,
Nick Redfern etc. Coming guests include Jesse Marcel jnr and Joyce
Murphy (Beyond Boundaries).
How you ever wished that you could join in, but have not really known
how too. We have special customised versions of MIRC for Win 3.1/3.11
& Win 95/98 that until now have only been available to our guests.
UK.UFO.NW would like you to join in our weekly IRC meetings. For this
reason we are making available customised versions of MIRC just for
you. They are totally free, so simple to use and customised with your
details. MIRC will be supplied with full instructions.
For your customised version of MIRC we need to know the below details.
SYSTEM: Win95/98 or Win3.1/3.11
YOUR NAME:
YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS:
NICKNAME: (the name you wish to be known by on channel)
ALTERNATIVE NICKNAME: (incase your first nickname is already being used)
AOL USER: YES/NO
SEND VIA E-MAIL: YES/NO (do you want MIRC sent as an e-mail attachment)
DOWNLOAD FROM WWW: (do you want to download MIRC via web site)
Send your mail with the following subject line: REQUEST MIRC
Send your request to ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk
A receipt will be sent acknowledging your request. Please be patient
while the program is customised for you. We are unable to give a
specific time of when the program will be ready for each individual.
For those of you needing help connecting to our IRC meetings send
your questions to:
ufo-irc-advice@crowman.demon.co.uk
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
The UK.UFO.NW free fortnightly e-zine covering UFO reports and
information from the UK and around the world is now available by
subscribing to our new List Server.
Send mail to:
listserv@sjuvm.stjohns.edu
In the main body of the mail put:
subscribe ufo fn ln
note: in place of fn put your first name.
in place of ln put your last name.
For example:
subscribe ufo John Smith
A confirm mail will then be sent to you which you need to reply to
within 48 hours to be put on the e-zine mailing list.
If you have problems you may also subscribe by sending mail to:
ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk
In the subject section of your mail type: SUBSCRIBE
That's it - see you next time!
#####
UFO UpDates - Toronto -
updates@globalserve.net
Operated by Errol Bruce-Knapp - ++ 416-696-0304
A Hand-Operated E-Mail Subscription Service for the Study of UFO Related
Phenomena.
To subscribe please send your first and last name to
updates@globalserve.net
Message submissions should be sent to the same address.
|
Link it to the appropriate Ufologist or UFO Topic page. |
Archived as a public service by Area 51 Research Center which is not
responsible for content.
Financial support for this web server is provided by the
Research Center Catalog.
Software by Glenn Campbell.
Technical contact:
webmaster@ufomind.com