SUBJECT: ED'S ENCOUNTERS HAVE MADE HIS LIFE HELL FILE: UFO1260 NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE DATE OF ARTICLE: January 30, 1989 SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Tribune LOCATION: Tampa, Florida BYLINE: Jennifer Tucker ======================================================== (C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service All Rights Reserved. THIS FILE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE AND PREPARED BY PARANET ALPHA -- PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE BBS PARANET ALPHA DENVER, COLORADO NOTE: THESE FILES ARE NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE OF THE PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE NETWORK ======================================================== 'STATE OF SIEGE' ED'S UFO ENCOUNTERS HAVE MADE HIS LIFE HELL By Jennifer Tucker Tribune Staff Writer GULF BREEZE--Ed isn't the "UFO type." He's a WASPish baby boomer with a kid in college and a two car garage. As a custom home builder in a community full of custom homes, he depends on personal referrals for his livelihood. He doesn't seem to need the money he could earn from a best seller based on his experiences. Yet local sources indicate he has recently signed a book contract. Nevertheless, Ed is the guy who has taken all the photographs, made all the noise, caused all the fury. Just over a year ago, Ed says a UFO appeared in front of his house in Gulf Breeze and he immediately took several photographs of the craft. Ed walked into the street to get a closer look and a "blue beam" shot down from the ship, temporarily paralyzing him, he says. At the same time, Ed says he heard a loud "hum" and was instructed by an authoritative voice to "be still." Within seconds, he says, he was raised off the ground, then thrown to the concrete as the craft disappeared. From that moment on, Ed says, a resonant "hum" always preceded the appearance of the UFO. Seven months later, after 21 encounters resulting in more than 30 photographs and one videotape, Ed says he was abducted again. This time, the aliens removed the hum and he has not seen or photographed a UFO since, he says. To Ed, 42, this was no phantom object, no trick of nature or imagination. It was real. It made his life a living hell. And it forced him to defend himself, he says, not against the aliens, but against the people who call him crazy. WORDS POUND "Look," Ed says in one of a series of telephone interviews, his words pounding with the passion of a clenched fist. "Before Nov. 10, 1987, I wouldn't have believed in UFOs either unless one landed in my front yard. "Uh, no pun intended." Ed guffaws like Gulliver in a land of Lilliputians. If Ed has been enlightened with truths no scientist knows, then it is wisdom learned reluctantly. He can barely get through a sentence without revealing his fears or defending his position. He describes the experience as "a state of siege." Yet, he doesn't plead for understanding. And he doesn't expect it, really. Besides the photographs themselves, Ed's take it or leave it attitude is his most convincing argument. And it's an argument he can't win, critics say, not with a pocket full of Polaroids. Ed, meanwhile, has remained anonymous because he fears his fate. "I would always be known as the UFO guy." He'd rather be known as a good businessman, a good father and a good buddy to the kids he says he's kept off the streets by welcoming them into his home. "No, no, no. It was an awful experience. If you ever take a photograph (of a UFO), do not show it to anybody. Put it in a drawer and show it to your grandkids," he says wearily. Ed's story is lengthy and strange, and he knows it. He says his first encounter, in November 1987, resulted in five blurry color photographs he made with a 17 year old Polaroid camera. TAKE A PICTURE "Put yourself in the mood of peacefully sitting in your office and looking out your front window and you see something that...looks like it just escaped a Steven Speilberg movie," he says. "You figure you better take a picture of it." Ed's humor about his experience is as revealing as it is disarming. Like a schoolboy trying to explain a pock marked report card, Ed uses humor to cushion the blow. His laughter bounces and rolls like a runaway basketball, but his words slam into listeners' ears with the power of a Michael Jordan slam dunk. For months, Ed snapped dozens of pictures. Many were taken near his home, situated in the sleepy center of town next to a large, overgrown field. Others were taken at Shoreline Park, a spot facing the skinny barrier island called Pensacola Beach. Stray kittens crowd the wooded park, whose main features are a whitewashed gazebo and a good stretch of concrete. Still others were taken along deserted county roads, whose curves are familiar to Ed, the builder. Skeptics and believers agree--the photographs are remarkably unidentifiable. The craft (or crafts) captured on film are mostly spherical in shape, with dark, recessed points that Ed surmises are windows. Lights encircle the bottom of the craft and a round bulb is perched on top. In many instances, Ed snapped the pictures in what he describes as frenzied fear, at dusk or near dawn. Moreover, the craft maneuvered so rapidly that Ed says his opportunities for precise pictures were limited. ALIEN ENCOUNTERS He also was having alien encounters Ed says he couldn't capture on film. On several occasions, Ed says, he was pursued by a "blue beam" of light that shot from the craft. He says a bowl full of bubbling residue was found in his back yard after one late night visit. The Mutual UFO Network, which initiated investigation of Ed's claims, had the substance analyzed at independent chemical laboratories in Florida and Texas. These revealed a strange liquid high in magnesium and trace elements, Ed says. More frightening were face to face meetings with the aliens themselves--what scientists call an encounter of the third kind. The first time he saw one of the "creatures," Ed says he was awakened at 3 a.m. by the now familiar hum that preceded their visits. When he peered out the glass doors of his bedroom, Ed says, he was face to face with a childlike creature clad in gray. He says he saw more of these creatures at a later date, an experience that produced one of the most dramatic photographs in Ed's portfolio. In it, the craft is pictured hovering just above the road, lights reflecting on the wet pavement. Moments after he took this picture, Ed says he realized the craft was moving toward him so he slid from the truck and crawled underneath it. From his prone position, Ed says he could see a blue beam flash from the craft several times, each time depositing a creature on the road. He assumed the creatures were "after him" and, riddled with terror, he jumped back in the truck and sped away. He didn't even think about taking a picture, he says. OFFICIAL VISIT After Ed's photographs began to appear in the Gulf Breeze Sentinel newspaper--with his approval but without his name--Ed says he was visited by two men who identified themselves as U.S. Air Force personnel. Wielding badges printed with "Air Force Special Security Services," the visitors behaved "very aggressively" and demanded Ed turn over his photographs, he says. Ed refused, explaining they were in the hands of professional photographic analysts. (Many were; others were still in Ed's possession.) By spring, two major UFO organizations--the Mutual UFO Network and the Center for UFO Studies--had been in touch with Ed. So had dozens of media representatives, including the National Enquirer, which Ed says turned down the story because one analysis tentatively labeled the photographs a hoax. With that, the seed of suspicion was planted. And Ed, who states vehemently, "My word is my bond," was forced into a corner full of accusations. After taking 24 photographs with his old Polaroid, Ed began using cameras and film provided by UFO researchers--unbroken packages and factory perfect equipment. He produced 11 photographs with the new equipment supplied by UFO investigators. Ed also built a so called stereo camera that allowed him to take two pictures simultaneously, creating a 3-D effect. With this camera, he took about eight photographs. "If I hadn't taken any pictures with these cameras, I would have been branded guilty by non photography," he says, sarcastically. By using mathematical equations, analysts studying the photographs could determine its distance from the camera and its size. Most often, these conclusions placed the craft 65 to 180 feet from the camera, at an approximate size of 12 feet in diameter and 9 feet high. UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE These estimates correspond quite precisely to an unusual occurrence in Gulf Breeze during the spring. A circular patch of dead grass was discovered on the high school grounds, and lab analysis by UFO investigators revealed the grass wasn't killed by disease or suffocated by petroleum derivatives. The patch had a 12 foot diameter. In addition to providing his photographs for publication, Ed agreed to numerous psychological exams, a lie detector test that included a five hour interview, and an electronic voice analysis. In each case, investigators concluded Ed was sane and honest. "There was never any question that what happened, happened," Ed says. "But I don't know why me--why I was privy to these things. "I didn't feel 'chosen,' I felt abused," he says. "I was tormented, a prisoner in my own house. I surrounded myself with people at work and family at home. "My kids never knew if Daddy was going to go away and not come back." Ed says he took the photographs to the local newspaper because he felt a kind of civic duty to warn nearby residents. Yet his reward from skeptics was name calling tirades that labeled him "everything from an agitated fool to a schizophrenic," Ed says. People trying to discredit him, he says, have played "hide and seek with the truth" while distorting the facts to fit their opinion. CLASSIC CAMPAIGN "What this is is a classic disinformation campaign by the debunkers in order to brand me as loony tunes," Ed says, his voice rising in defense. "They ran out of legitimate scientific criticisms of the photographic evidence. You have to keep in mind that none of these debunkers have ever talked to any of the other witnesses." Dozens of independent eyewitnesses in Gulf Breeze and Pensacola have reported seeing UFOs in the last year, and many of these reports coincide with the appearance of Ed's photographs. Yet Ed has been criticized for being alone in his torment-- the only one able to take photographs of the craft. "Look, where are you at 3 a.m.? It would have been pretty bizarre to have a mass of people around me at 3 a.m.," he says. Moreover, Ed says his closest neighbors have seen the UFO. But they are afraid of ridicule. Currently, Ed says he has no plans to make his identity public or to sell the detailed, chronological log that he's written about the ordeal. (Sources in Gulf Breeze, however, report Ed has signed a lucrative book contract.) "I have no monetary motive here," he says. "Sometimes, I think a book might be the right thing to do for public education, but it might not be the right thing for my family. "What might be a lot of money to some people is not enough for me to sell my soul," Ed says. After long conversations, Ed's words are punctuated by sighs instead of laughter. He sounds less enthusiastic about the subject and more excited by the solitude he's enjoyed for several months. "Not to be frivolous, but I'm still the same old Ed. I've still got my feet on the ground. "But it has affected me almost daily," he says, chuckling softly. "I'll be doing mundane chores, like pumping gas or buying bolts at the hardware store. And I'll look around and wonder. "I wonder if they (the aliens) need gas. Or on a rainy, miserable day, I wonder if they are getting wet. "It's just...I know they are out there." ================================================================= JOURNAL EXCERPTS REVEAL ED'S FEAR The Gulf Breeze Sentinel published many of Ed's photographs as he presented them, even creating a special edition to showcase these images. The following are excerpts from Ed's commentary that accompanied the photographs appearing in the special section. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "After taking those original five photos in my front yard, what was unreported was the UFO shot a blue beam that froze and lifted me from the ground. The blue beam keeps you from moving even your eyelids, and your chest cannot expand, so you have to pant to breath. While in the blue beam, the UFO can talk to you using telepathy." ----------------------------------------------------------------- "A strange hum began in my head...I really thought I was going crazy but when I went outside, I again saw the UFO appear in the same spot in the sky...Finally, there was a telepathic voice command that I 'step forward.' I thought to myself, 'No way' and took another picture. The voice said in another language, 'Photographs are prohibited.'" ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The UFO was hovering at the back of the house as I went out with gun and camera in hand. I pointed the camera and the gun. I wasn't really going to shoot. I was just scared. The UFO winked out." ----------------------------------------------------------------- "At 3:30 a.m., we were in bed when I heard the dog bark. I jumped up and pulled up quickly the blind on the French door. There standing only 12 inches from my face was a shielded creature looking straight back into my eyes. I fell back and it turned to leave. When I recovered and ran out, the UFO was overhead...The UFO stopped me from following the creature so that the UFO could shoot over and beam the creature up in the blue beam." ----------------------------------------------------------------- "At 2 a.m., the hum returned and when we checked in the front I saw and photographed a totally different UFO, which seemed to have an energy veil shooting from the bottom." ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The sightings have changed me and my family and, if given the chance, I would simply not have taken the first picture which led to the next and next, until my contact with the UFO has become overwhelming." ================================================================= PHOTOGRAPHS IN QUESTION By Jennifer Tucker Tribune Staff Writer GULF BREEZE--The controversy in Gulf Breeze is not limited to a pocketful of Polaroids. It is made more puzzling by new explanations and startling accusations that threaten the credibility of Ed, the principal photographer of UFOs in Gulf Breeze. At the center of the debate is a teenager and his mother. And an old photograph that turned up several weeks ago. Seventeen year old Bill, who refuses to reveal his real name, was one of a group of kids who spent a lot of time at Ed's house during the last three years. He says they participated in games and activities designed to help forget the smallness of the city. Gulf Breeze has no movie theater, bowling alley or skating rink, and is situated in dry Santa Rosa county. Nevertheless, he and his friends used to have a lot of fun at Ed's house, Bill says. Among the activities were so called "spooky" games--seances, ghost stories and the like. Often, Bill says, Ed would take Polaroid photographs of the players and some of the pictures would reveal a "phantom...foggy thing" next to the image of the person. "It was all in fun," Bill says. "It got everybody spooked and stuff." "One time," Bill says, "Ed asked his house guests something like, 'Wouldn't it be great if we did an ultimate joke?'" Although Ed never revealed his plans, Bill believes the answer appeared in the form of a UFO. "Because I saw the pictures he took of the ghost thing, I figured this has got to be it...the prank," Bill says. "Ed never told anyone how he did the photographs. We all thought it was trick photography." Ed bristles at the notion that he has pulled a sophisticated prank. "First, I categorically deny that I ever used those exact words," Ed says. "There is nothing that I have ever done that can be construed as a prank." And that includes the 'ghost' photograph revealed only weeks ago, he adds. This photograph, of a young girl and a fuzzy white blur, were the combined result of a 17 year old camera, a film defect, and a game room full of mirrors and glass, Ed explains. He attributes the blur to reflections off glass. He did, however, take out of focus pictures when the kids' talk turned to ghost stories. "I did not recreate that photo repeatedly and intentionally at parties. No," Ed says. His rage also swells at the suggestion these gatherings were 'ritual seances.' "Kids like to tell ghost stories...and if that sounds like a ritual seance, I'll kiss your butt," he says, angrily. Bill's mother, Linda Chepult, says her son has been unfairly criticized for his honesty, and his reputation has been sullied by those who believe the UFO pictures are real. "The whole thing has gone to such an extreme that for an average person with reasonable intelligence, it's hard to believe," she says. "But I don't think Ed will ever come out and tell the truth because too many prominent people have supported him. "And besides," Linda adds, "I didn't like the seances and the blobs appearing over the kids' heads." Bill explains he has no reason to lie about what he saw or heard at Ed's house. "I believe in life on other planets," Bill says, "but I don't believe they are coming to Gulf Breeze." Ed, meanwhile, says he won't be labeled a liar so easily. "I'm standing up for my honesty," Ed says. "I'm not going to let somebody call me a liar without standing up and saying they are wrong. "Listen, the most important thing to me is my family. It is my first responsibility," Ed says. "Why would I want to make this up?" ================================================================= 5/89 ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo * **********************************************