SUBJECT: GEORGIA MUFON NEWSLETTER, 1990 FILE: UFO1597 GEORGIA SKYWATCH GEORGIA MUFON October-December 1990 Newsletter 90-2 THE UFO FORUM Atlanta, GA - Tricia McCannon, representing the New Age Information Network (NAIN) and Nedd Mockler, representing the Mutual UFO Network, have joined forces to start a new lecture series - The UFO Forum. "Both groups are intensely interested in UFOs and despite our differences we do have a lot in common." said Tricia McCannon. "There are a lot of people in and around Georgia that want to know more about UFO's. We think a lecture series like The UFO Forum can meet that need." "Both groups (MUFON and NAIN) offer knowledge, skills and experiences that can be helpful in acquiring a deeper understanding about this important subject. Our alliance to produce a UFO Awareness Lecture Series recognizes that both MUFON and NAIN are composed of people seriously interested in studying and researching all phenomena associated with unidentified flying objects. MUFON's role in this alliance will be to emphasize the need for objectivity, evidence gathering and appropriate scientific study in the search for answers to the UFO enigma," said Nedd Mockler, Assistant State Director for the MUFON organization in Georgia. The purpose of The UFO Forum is to present speakers and topics of public interest concerning UFOs and related phenomena. In addition, The UFO Forum will promote membership in the MUFON organization and to recruit interested individuals to the MUFON ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Georgia MUFON Membership Contest!" P R I Z E S See Inside For Details! ---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ OUR NEXT MEETING IS DECEMBER 3, 1990 - INNER SPACE ================================================================ The Georgia Mutual UFO Network (GEORGIA MUFON) is a part of the Mutual UFO Network, Inc. (MUFON), an international scientific organization of volunteers interested in studying the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), with headquarters at 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155. The contents of this newsletter are determined by the editor and do not necessarilty reflect the official position of MUFON or GA MUFON. This newsletter is published as required by GA MUFON activities and is distributed to GA MUFON members, certain university and law enforcement officials, and non-GA MUFON members who have contributed a minimum of $10 per year to GEORGIA MUFON. N. D. Mockler, Editor. 243 Jeweler's Ridge, Lilburn, GA 30247. Field Investigations Unit in Georgia, known as "Georgia SkyWatch." Another purpose of the Forum will be to establish a UFO' Awareness Lending Library (U'ALL) -- comprised of video and text materials for use by individuals and organizations interested in the study of UFO phenomena. Attendees to The UFO Forum make a contribution to help pay for speakers, meeting facilities, audio/visual equipment and library materials. The UFO Forum is the brainchild of Tricia and Nedd; and they are responsible for planning, directing and managing all Forum program presentations. A group of advisors serve as consultants and support staff. The advisory group includes: Jim Edwards, Delores Haake, John Heck, Mark Jaeger, Jan Lamb, Dan Lapour, Mark Losner, Charlie Pilcher, Robin Quale, and Will Southerland. Tricia and Nedd met at the WATL Channel 36 live filming of "Earth Mysteries - Alien Life Forms" featuring Linda Moulton Howe. Ms. Howe, considered to be the world authority on animal mutilations, filmed the Earth Mysteries pilot in Atlanta on August 22, 1990. The UFO Forum has already had two successful meetings. Video tapes of these meetings are available. $25. ================================================================= UFO FORUM PROGRAM ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10/15/90 UFOs: Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Scientific Mind. For over 45 years rumors of UFOs have persisted all over the world. In the Soviet Union as well as other countries they are front page news. What is the real story? What are people saying about UFOs? Join us for the 1st MUFON and NAIN sponsored meeting about this electrifying subject. Featured speaker: Regression hypnotist, Robin Quail. Also, Brian O'Leary on tape. Location: Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive, Sandy Springs. October 15, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm. $5. Attended by 80 people. 11/17/90 The UFO Forum Presents Cary Baker - Strange Lights in the Night Sky. Cary, Editor-In-Chief of two Alabama newspapers, will speak on the UFO sightings in Fyffe, Alabama. Strange lights have been occurring in the night sky for decades and repeat with frequency every 13-14 years. The latest rash of sightings began in February 1989. Location: Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive, Sandy Springs. November 17, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm. Contribution: $8. Attended by 40 people. 12/3/90 The UFO Forum Presents Etel DeLoach - Sky People. Join us for a look at Etel DeLoach's "Sky People." An alternative healing therapist Etel has had close and compelling encounters with UFO's and extra-terrestrial intelligences. Her friendships with people whose first- hand knowledge have contributed to the lore of UFOlogy make a unique and interesting story. Don't miss this third in a series of MUFON/NAIN presentations. Location: Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive, Sandy Springs. December 3, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm. Contribution: $8. Come early. Seating is limited to 80 people. 1/12/91 The UFO Forum Presents Ed and Francis Walters - The Gulf Breeze Sightings. Fact or fiction? Was this a hoax? Were some of the widely publicized photographs faked? If so, how do you explain the UFOs witnessed by dozens of other Gulf Breeze residents? The official MUFON position on the Gulf Breeze Sightings: "Its real and the photographs are authentic." Ed and Francis have agreed to give us a firsthand account of their story. Location and contribution to be announced. January 12, 1991. [Ed Note: See "The Florida Scene" elsewhere in this newsletter for an update on the Gulf Breeze situation.] 2/18/91 The UFO Forum Presents Don Ware - Eastern Region MUFON Director. What is happening in MUFON today? Is MUFON contributing to man's understanding of UFOs? Are we being visited by people from outer space? If so why are they here? What does their presence mean for us here on earth? Location and contribution to be announced. February 18, 1991. ================================================================= RUMORS - EARTHQUAKE? DECEMBER 3RD? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Did you watch "LA - The Big One" on national TV? A lot of reports are now circulating about a major earthquake expected along the line of the Madrid fault which runs through Kentucky and Tennessee. The prediction is that The South will experience a major earthquake on or about December 3rd. Nedd and Barbara Mockler experienced "The Great Alaskan Earthquake" while living in Anchorage, Alaska, in March of 1964. That quake measured 8.6 on the Richter Scale. The ground moved in an arc of eight inches, several vibrations a second and lasted for five and a half minutes. One hundred and twenty five people lost their lives and property damage ran in the millions. We don't believe in sensationalism. On the other hand our experience in Alaska has taught us that it never hurt to be prepared. What can you do to prepare for a major earthquake? Do you have a plan? Does your family know what to do in the event they are separated from you when an earthquake occurs? In a major earthquake roads and major lifelines may be unusable for several days...even weeks. Call the local chapter of the American Red Cross and ask for a copy of their suggestions for earthquake planning. An ounce of prevention.... ================================================================= THE GEORGIA SCENE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Atlanta - Our sources continue to tell us to be alert to strange lights in the night sky along the Atlanta to Macon corridor. Alert your contacts. Watch and listen. Contact Georgia SkyWatch, if you hear or see anything unusual. Day or night: 1-1-404-923-0739. If we don't respond within four hours, call the National UFO Reporting Center: 1-206-722-3000. ================================================================= THE FLORIDA SCENE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gulf Breeze - Rex and Carol Salisberry, the original MUFON investigators of the Gulf Breeze sightings recently provided information to the news media that at least one of the Ed Walters photographs (#19) had been faked. MUFON has been involved in a continuing effort to study the Gulf Breeze material and had asked the Salisberrys to undertake some additional investigative work. In a totally unprecedented action and before their work and conclusions could be evaluated by senior MUFON investigators and scientists the Salisberrys shotgunned their findings to the news media. Coincidentally, this rush to the media occurred one week prior to the elections. Ed Walters, who had been running for a council seat, lost. According to Don Ware, Eastern Director for MUFON, "It is MUFON's view that the photograph in question and others are authentic. A major assumption upon which the Salisberrys' conclusion was based is in error. This error would have been identified had the investigators followed proper procedure before releasing any information to the media." "Furthermore," Ware noted, "...the mission of MUFON is to learn the truth. Our purpose is NOT to punish or to discourage people from coming forward with reports of their UFO experiences. If we discover a hoax, we simply close the case...we don't take it to the media. I believe Ed and Francis Walters are basically honorable people, who have attempted to tell of their experiences as perceive them to the best of their ability." Few of us are in a position to judge the Ed and Francis Walters story. There is more to their story than any of us know and a lot yet to be reported. As MUFON investigators the Salisberrys' job was to complete their investigation and forward their report through well-defined channels. That review process is how MUFON checks the work of their investigators and maintains quality control throughout the investigative process. For MUFON investigators to act otherwise is neither professional nor ethical. ================================================================= UFO'S - ILLUSION OR REALITY ? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Scientists find ready explanations for most UFO incidents in terms of known physical phenomena, such as celestial bodies, electrical occurrences in the atmosphere, the warping of light rays, and weather balloons. But in the meantime the complexity of the UFO phenomena has provoked a relatively new approach to the whole question of their reality. Could it be that accounts of UFO's are related to the many psychic and paranormal experiences recounted by human beings throughout history? Certainly the reports of these strange objects, and their odd occupants who sometimes convey social messages to humans, have a mythical and often visionary quality. In his book Passport to Magonia, Jacque Vallee, a computer scientist and student of UFOlogy, traces the many parallels between the ancient myths of all cultures and today's stories of UFO's. He goes on to propose that UFO experiences are paranormal in nature and are the space-age equivalent of a phenomenon that assumes different guises in different historical contexts. Vallee suggests that human life is controlled by imagination and myth and that paranormal experiences are the means by which man's ideas about himself and his universe are constantly shaped. Such experiences, he adds, become especially important in times of social stress. In his view the UFO phenomenon is the present-day "tool" in this control system. The great mystery is whether this control is part of man's genetic makeup or whether it is imposed upon him from without -- through alien intervention. Psychiatrist Carl G. Jung, who is widely known for his theories concerning the human psyche, also proposed a "supernormal" explanation for UFO's. In a book published in 1958, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, Jung suggested that the UFO phenomenon is a manifestation of man's "collective unconscious," a repository of archetypal images and impressions that surface in symbols, dreams, and myths and predispose man to produce very similar ideas, regardless of time or place. He pointed out the parallels between the ancient religious symbol he called the mandala -- a circular pattern representing "the idea of the universal" -- and the round shape of most UFO's. Jung regarded UFO's as a psychological projection of man's hopes and fears in an uncertain world. Thus he deprived them of physical reality. Vallee's ideas are similar to Jung's in many respects; but he differs by accepting the reality of UFO's, in the sense that UFO witnesses have been exposed to a real event. In the February 1978 issue of Fate, he suggests that what they experienced is some sort of change in electromagnetic energy in their immediate vicinity. This change in energy may be produced by the witness himself, internally and spontaneously, or by some external agency. In any case, says Vallee: "What they [the witnesses] tell us is that they've seen a flying saucer [or had an encounter with aliens]. Now they may have seen that or ... the image of a flying saucer or they may have hallucinated it under the influence of microwave radiation, or any of a number of things may have happened. The fact is that the witnesses were exposed to an event and as a result they experienced a highly complex alteration of perception which caused them to describe the object or objects that figure in their testimony." Jung's and Vallee's theories seem supported by an analysis of the stories told by UFO "abductees." (Under hypnosis, those who experienced "time loss" are able to "remember" all the details of their sojourn aboard an alien vessel.) Although their accounts vary greatly in detail, they describe a similar chain of events: the person sees a shining light, is guided to the vessel, often in a semiconscious, almost "out-of-body" state, is physically examined, enters into telepathic communication with the "alien," and finally returns home. What is truly fascinating is that the same sequence of events is described by hypnotized subjects who have never had the experience of a UFO encounter but have simply been told to imagine one. This in no way denies the validity of the testimony of the "real" witnesses -- rather it suggests that the human mind is "programmed" to think in a certain way in response to certain stimuli. Apparently any number of stimuli can produce the particular state of consciousness susceptible to UFO-like experiences. Such stimuli might be mind-altering drugs, a brush with death, perhaps the physical charge of ball lightning, or -- an actual physical encounter with a flying saucer. The events described by people who have returned to a normal state of consciousness -- whether from death's door or from a hallucinatory or hypnotic state or a religious trance -- are amazingly similar, incorporating the light, the "guide" or "abductor," the examination, the messages, and so forth. All this suggests the likelihood of some common matrix in the mind that can be triggered to allow paranormal experiences of the kind involving UFO's. To what degree such experiences can be called real becomes a questions of semantics. However, the "paranormal" theory offers a new look at what remains an inexplicable phenomenon. We encourage the submission of copy ready articles from members and friends of Georgia SkyWatch and Georgia MUFON. UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS Feature Article Millions of people have seen objects in the sky that they could not identify, and many thousands have taken the time and trouble to submit written reports about them. The vast majority of these sightings could well be of such things as meteors, planets, stars, weather balloons, swamp gas, and atmospheric disturbances. There remains however, a significant body of experiences that are truly inexplicable. There is no doubt that disk-shaped objects have been seen by a great many honest, sober, and mystified men and women. The objects have been tracked by ground-based and airborne radar and have been photographed by still and movie cameras in black and white and color. The craft have been observed to hover, move straight up or down, and accelerate and maneuver at speeds far beyond the capability of any known airplane. The following is a three part report about phenomena that challenge the preconceptions we have about the universe and the laws of physics we accept as the basis by which it exists. The first part is a chronological review of UFO reports recorded before 1800. =============================================================== UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS --------------------------------------------------------------- PART I UFO REPORTS BEFORE 1800 The sighting of strange objects in the sky may actually predate the emergence of modern man. Perhaps the earliest depiction of cylindrical objects resembling spacecraft, with what might be their extraterrestrial occupants, are those carved on a granite mountain and on rocks on an island in Hunan province, China. They have been assigned a tentative age of 47,000 years, which puts them within the time-span of Neanderthal man, predating modern Homo sapiens. (Jacque Vallee, UFO' s in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon. p.1.) One of the first written accounts of a UFO sighting -- a fleet of flying saucers, perhaps -- is the following excerpt from an Egyptian papyrus -- part of the annals of Thutmose III, who reigned around 1504-1450 B.C.: In the year 22 of the 3rd month of winter, sixth hour of the day...the scribes of the House of Life found it was a circle of fire that was coming in the sky... It had no head, the breath of its mouth had a foul odor. Its body one rod long and one rod wide. It had no voice. Their hearts became confused through it; then they laid themselves on their bellies... They went to the Pharaoh... to report it. His Majesty ordered... [an examination of] all which is written in the papyrus rolls of the House of Life. His Majesty was meditating upon what happened. Now after some days had passed, these things became more numerous in the skies than ever. They shone more in the sky than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of the heavens... Powerful was the position of the fire circles. The army of the Pharaoh looked on with him in their midst. It was after supper. Thereupon, these fire circles ascended higher in the sky towards the south... The Pharaoh caused incense to be brought to make peace on the hearth... And what happened was ordered by the Pharaoh to be written in the annals of the House of Life... so that it be remembered for ever." [Brinsley Le Poer Trench, The Flying Saucer Story, pp.81-82.] The prophet Ezekiel's "vision," recorded in the Bible, is thought by some to be a UFO sighting. His description is of a strange "vehicle" coming from the sky and landing near the Chebar River (or Canal) in Chaldea (now Iraq) in the fifth year of the Judean captivity (592 B.C.) under Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon: What kind of "machine" was this? Ezekiel continues: And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands... each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side... the face of an ox on the left side, and... the face of an eagle at the back... And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each [creature] went straight forward... without turning as they went... And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning. Who were these humanoid "occupants"? Space-helmeted, space-suited astronauts with a strapped-on flying device? Or, perhaps, extraterrestrial flying robots? The account continues: Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite... being as it were a wheel within a wheel... The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Were these humanoids going back and forth into a green-glowing spacecraft surrounded by a ring of portholes? But there is more: ...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. And upward from... his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze... and there was brightness... Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about... And when I saw it... I heard the voice of one speaking. Ezekiel is told that the Israelites have transgressed and are to be punished unless they obey the Lord's commandments. Ezekiel is selected as the messenger to his people and is taken on board ("the Spirit lifted me up"). The spacecraft takes off ("I heard... the sound of the wheels... that sounded like a great earthquake"), and Ezekiel is carried to Tel-abib where his fellow exiles are and where he sits "overwhelmed among them seven days," traumatized by his experience. (Ezekiel 1-3) (As we can see from contemporary UFO encounters, this could be interpreted as an almost classic report of the abduction and return of humans.) The Roman author Julius Obsequens, believed to have lived in the fourth century A.D., drew on Livy as well as other sources of his time to compile his book Prodigorium liber, which describes many peculiar phenomena, some of which could be interpreted as UFO sightings. Here are just a few examples: [216 B.C.] Things like ships were seen in the sky over Italy... At Arpi (180 Roman miles, east of Rome, in Apulia) a round shield was seen in the sky... At Capua, the sky was all on fire, and one saw figures like ships... [99 B.C.] When C. Murius and L. Valerius were consuls, in Tarquinia, there fell in different places... a thing like a flaming torch, and it came suddenly from the sky. Towards sunset, a round object like a globe, or round or circular shield took its path in the sky, from west to east. [90 B.C.] In the territory of Spoletium (65 Roman miles north of Rome, in Umbria) a globe of fire, of golden colour, fell to the earth, gyrating. It then seemed to increase in size, rose from the earth, and ascended into the sky, where it obscured the disc of the sun, with its brilliance. It revolved towards the eastern quadrant of the sky. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp.164-69] A later chronicler of inexplicable phenomena, one Conrad Wolffhart (a professor of grammar and dialectics who under the pen name of Lycosthenes wrote the compendium Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon, published in 1567), mentions the following events: [A.D. 393] Strange lights were seen in the sky in the days of the Emperor Theodosius. On a sudden, a bright globe appeared at midnight. It shone brilliantly near the day star (planet, Venus), about the circle of the zodiac. This globe shone little less brilliantly than the planet, and little by little, a great number of other glowing orbs drew near the first globe. The spectacle was like a swarm of bees flying round the bee-keeper, and the light of these orbs was as if they were dashing violently against each other. Soon, they blended together into one awful flame, and bodied forth to the eye as a horrible two- edged sword. The strange globe which was first seen now appeared like the pommel to a handle, and all the little orbs, fused with the first, shone as brilliantly as the first globe. [This report is similar to modern accounts of UFO formations.] [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp.174, 177] A rare typeset book from 1493, now preserved in a museum at Verdun, France, contains what may be the earliest pictorial representation of a UFO in Europe. Hartmann Schedel, author of the book Liber Chronicarum, describes a strange firey sphere -- seen in 1034 -- soaring through the sky in a straight course from south to east and then veering toward the setting sun. The illustration accompanying the account shows a cigar-shaped form haloed by flames, sailing through a blue sky over a green, rolling countryside. (Jacque Vallee, UFO's in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p.9) A term equivalent to our "flying saucer" was actually used by the Japanese approximately 700 years before it came into use in the West. Ancient documents describe an unusual shining object seen the night of October 27, 1180, as a flying "earthenware vessel." After a while the object, which had been heading northeast from a mountain in Kii province, changed its direction and vanished below the horizon, leaving a luminous trail. (Jacques Valley, Passport to Magonia, pp.4-5) Here is a classical description from William of Newburgh's Chronicle of a flying saucer seen in England toward the end of the 12th century: At Byland, or Begeland Abbey (the largest Cistercian abbey in England), in the North Yorkshire Riding, while the abbot and monks were in the refectorium, a flat, round, shining, silvery object ["discus" is the word used in the Latin account] flew over the abbey and caused the utmost terror. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, p.185] The first official investigation of a UFO sighting occurred in Japan in 1235. During the night of September 24, while General Yoritsume and his army were encamped, they observed mysterious lights in the heavens. The lights were seen in the southwest for many hours, swinging, circling, and moving in loops. The general ordered a "full-scale scientific investigation" of these strange events. The report finally submitted to him as the "soothing" ring of many contemporary explanations offered for UFO phenomena. In essence it read: "the whole thing is completely natural, General. It is... only the wind making the stars sway." (Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia, p.5) Many unusual celestial events were recorded in Japanese chronicles during the Middle Ages. As in Western society, such occurrences were usually considered "portents," often resulting in panics and other social disturbances. Here are some examples: ...on September 12, 1271, the famous priest Nichiren was about to be beheaded at Tatsunokuchi, Kamakura, when there appeared in the sky an object like a full moon, shiny and bright. Needless to say, the officials panicked and the execution was not carried out. In 1361, a flying object described as being "shaped like a drum, about twenty feet in diameter" emerged from the inland sea off western Japan.... ...on March 8, 1468, a dark object, which made a "sound like a wheel," flew from Mt. Kasuga toward the west at midnight. {Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia, pp.5-6] The European record of possible UFO sightings continued through the 14th and 15th centuries: [A.D. 1322] In the first hour of the night of Novr. 4... there was seen in the sky over Uxbridge, England, a pile (pillar) of fire the size of a small boat, pallid and livid in colour. It rose from the south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion and went north. Out of the front of the pile, a fervent red flame burst forth with great beams of light. Its speed increased, and it flew thro' the air.... [A.D. 1387] In Novr. and Decr. of this year, a fire in the sky, like a burning and revolving wheel, or round barrel of flame, emitting fire from above, and others in the shape of a long fiery beam, were seen through a great deal of the winter, in the county of Leicester, Eng., and in Northamptonshire. [A.D. 1461] On November 1, a fiery thing like an iron rod of good length and as large as one half of the moon was seen in the sky, over... Arras, France for less than a quarter of an hour. This object was also described as being "shaped like a ship, from which fire was seen flowing." [Jacques Vallee, UFO's in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p.9; Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp.187, 188] From 1733 another classic account of one of those gleaming, silvery bodies today referred to as flying saucers: Something in the sky which appeared in the north, but vanished from my sight, as it was intercepted by trees, from my vision. I was standing in a valley. The weather was warm, the sun shone brightly. On a sudden it re-appeared, darting in and out of my sight with an amazing coruscation. The colour of this phenomenon was like burnished, or new washed silver. It shot with speed like a star falling in the night. But it has a body much larger and a train longer than any shooting star I have seen.... Next day, Mr. Edgecombe informed me that he and another gentleman had seen this strange phenomenon at the same time as I had. It was about 15 miles from where I saw it, and steering a course from E. to N. The witness of this event was a Mr. Cracker of Fleet, a small township in Dorset, England. Mr. Cracker said that he saw his "flying saucer" in broad daylight on December 8, 1733. (Fate, April 1951, p.24) A fellow of the Royal Society in London was about to cross St. James's Park on his way home from a meeting on December 16, 1742, when he was startled by the appearance of a remarkable celestial object: ...a light arose from behind the trees and houses, to the south and west, which at first I thought was a rocket, of large size. But when it rose 20 degrees, it moved parallel to the horizon, and waved like this -- he draws an undulating line -- and went on in the direction of north by east. It seemed very near, Its motion was very slow.I had it for about half a mile in view. A light flame was turned backward by the resistance the air made to it. From, one end, it emitted a bright glare and fire like that of a burning charcoal. That end was a frame like bars of iron, and quite opaque to my sight. At one point, on the longitudinal frame, or cylinder, issued a train in the shape of a tail of light more bright at one point on the rod or cylinder, and growing gradually fainter at the end of the rod or cylinder; so that it was transparent for more than half of its length. The head of this strange object seemed about half a degree in diameter, and the tail near three degrees in length. The observer signed himself "C.M.," probably preferring to remain anonymous to avoid the expected skepticism and scoffing of his fellow members. (Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, p.206) First UFO photograph and a most unusual sighting was reported by Monsieur de Rostan, an amateur astronomer and member of the Medicophysical Society of Basel, Switzerland. On August 9, 1762, at Lausanne, Switzerland, he observed through a telescope a spindle-shaped object crossing and eclipsing the sun. Monsieur de Rostan was able to observe this object almost daily for close to a month. He also managed to trace its outline with a camera obscura and sent the picture to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. Unfortunately, this image -- probably the first one ever obtained of a UFO -- no longer exists. A friend of Monsieur de Rostan, living at Sole near Basel, also observed the spindle-shaped object against the sun, but it seemed to present more of an edge and was not quite as broad. Oddly enough, the UFO was not visible to a third astronomer, a Monsieur Messier who studied the sun, during the same time, from Paris -- an indication that the object was not a sunspot, since it was visible only from certain angles. (Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp.211-212) The last year of the 18th century had its share of celestial phenomena. An issue of Gentleman's Magazine contained the following story: On Sep. 19 [1799], all England saw, at 8:30 p.m., a beautiful ball blazing with white light, and which passed from N.W. to S.E. It moved rapidly with a gentle tremulous motion, and noiselessly. The light cast by it was very vivid, and few red sparks detached themselves from it.... On Nov. 12, something like a large red pillar of fire passed north to south over Hereford, and alarmed people in the Forest of Dean, some miles away. Flashes of extremely vivid electrical sort preceded its appearance, and at intervals of half an hour, several hours before. This was at 5:45 a.m.... On this night the moon shone with uncommon vividness, when between 5 and 6 a.m., bright lights in the sky became stationary. They then burst with no perceptible report, and passed north leaving behind them beautiful trains of floating fire. Some were pointed, some radiated. Some sparkled and some had large columns.... Nov. 19, at 6.a.m., folk of Huncoates, Lincolnshire, were alarmed by vivid flashes lasting 30 seconds, from a ball of fire passing in the sky. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, p.211] ================================================================= The purpose of the Georgia SkyWatch Newsletter is to stimulate the public's interest in and awareness of the UFO phenomena. ================================================================= ================================================================ INVESTIGATING UFO's ---------------------------------------------------------------- The history of the official documentation of UFO's began in 1948 when the U.S. Air Force created Project Sign. The following year this was reorganized in to Project Grudge, and then into Project Blue Book. The purpose of Project Blue Book was to investigate and evaluate UFO reports within the United States and at its stations and properties in other countries with regard to any potential threat to national security, whether from foreign powers or from outer space. Critics claimed that the project lacked a scientifically qualified staff and that it was simply a "cover-up" operation meant to reassure an alarmed public. Project Blue Book proved to be quite effective, however. During its 18 years of activity it accumulated more than 12,600 reported cases in its files, almost all of which were eventually explained as mistaken natural phenomena or as known aircraft. But 701 sightings remained classified as "unidentified." In 1966 the U.S. Air Force sponsored an independent, stepped-up investigation of UFO's by a team of scientists from the University of Colorado under the direction of Dr. Edward U. Condon, a prominent physicist and former head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Of the 59 cases they selected for serious investigation during the next two years, 23 eluded explanation. In his final report, in 1969, Condon nevertheless concluded that a total of 21 years of UFO study had added nothing to scientific knowledge and that "further extensive study" probably was not warranted. He also stated that "it is safe to assume that no ILE [intelligent life elsewhere] outside of our solar system has any possibility of visiting Earth in the next 10,000 years." To date, no one has determined the basis for Condon's estimate. Following publication of the Condon report, the U.S. Air Force agreed that UFO's posed no threat to national security and that there was no evidence the sighted objects were of extraterrestrial origin. Project Blue Book was then terminated, and all of its files were declassified. But the fact that some other documents on UFO's remained classified prompted a few private UFO investigative groups to press for their release on the ground that the public is entitled to know all. Even today many UFO buffs believe that the real investigation of UFO's was -- and is -- being secretly conducted by high-level government personnel. But at this time only private organizations are involved in serious UFO research. Among the membership groups the best known are the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), founded in 1969; the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), founded in 1956 in Washington, D.C.; and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), founded in 1952 by Jim and Coral Lorenzen. A highly regarded nonmembership organization is the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), founded in 1973 by astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who for years was scientific consultant to Project Blue Book. By 1982 CUFOS had amassed a computerized list of 70,000 reported sightings from all over the world. It was found that about 80 percent of these were easily explained and dismissed; the other 20 percent remain subject to further investigation. Other countries, notably France, Britain, and Australia, also have civilian organizations that collect and seriously investigate UFO reports. although awareness of the phenomenon is kept alive solely by private enterprise, reports of unidentified flying objects from all over the world continue to accumulate and further compound the most elusive mystery of our time. ================================================================= FROM THE FIELD INVESTIGATOR'S NOTEBOOK ----------------------------------------------------------------- The next time you have one of those UFO sightings...in addition to looking at the UFO...note the time...direction...and stick your arm out straight toward the object with hand up fingers apart palm outward. Those aliens will think you are waving to them. In reality you will be comparing the size of the craft to the size of your finger nails and determining the azimuth of the craft by seeing how many outstretched hands you can put between the horizon and the craft. Your little finger nail is about the size of an aspirin...and when aimed at the moon will just about cover it. The size of your thumb nail is twice that size. By knowing the distance from your eyes to your outstretched hand (take a yard stick and measure it)...and estimating the distance between you and the object...and using a little trigonometry, it is possible for you to determine the size of the object. Knowing the size of the object can be very helpful in the field investigation to follow. ================================================================= FIELD INVESTIGATOR TRAINING ----------------------------------------------------------------- Future issues of Georgia SkyWatch will include Field Investigator Training information. Individuals interested in receiving formal Field Investigator training should contact Nedd Mockler, 923-0739. ================================================================= RUMORS - BY 1992 ??? ---------------------------------------------------------------- This report is given without evaluation..."Various people involved with channeling are reporting that... by 1992 certain events will take place that will make it very hard for anyone to deny the existence of alien visitation." ================================================================= GEORGIA MUFON MEMBERSHIP CONTEST ----------------------------------------------------------------- MUFON of Georgia is actively seeking new MUFON members. Georgia SKYWATCH is offering a prize to the two MUFON of Georgia members who recruit the most new members by December 31, 1990. If you are one of the two to qualify, you will win a brand new $120 NSA counter-top water system. Contest Rules To be eligible to participate you must: 1. Be a registered member of MUFON, Inc. New members are eligible to participate. Join now and compete. 2. Recruit no less than ten new MUFON members between now and December 25, 1990. The two members who recruit the most new members over ten will win! 3. Each new member must complete an Application for Membership to the Mutual UFO Network, Inc. 4. The completed application and a check for $25 made out to MUFON, Inc., must be sent to the Mutual UFO Network, Inc., 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155. 5. The words, "RECRUITED BY: (Name of Recruiter)," must be printed in the upper, right hand corner of the MUFON application. 6. A copy of the application should be sent to Georgia SKYWATCH, 243 Jeweler's Ridge, Lilburn, Georgia 30247. The price of MUFON membership is $25.00 per year and includes a subscription to the MUFON JOURNAL. An Application for Membership form is attached to this Newsletter. You may reproduce it and any other materials included herein to assist you with your recruitment campaign. ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo * **********************************************