© Brian Allan 2000
UFO’s, Behind the Veil
A re-examination
Word count 13739
© Brian Allan 2000
I would like to thank Mr Malcolm Robinson and SPI for the investigative material used in the review of Scottish cases mentioned in this article.
The controversy regarding the reality or otherwise of UFO’s is surely one of the main ingredients that guarantee this enigma a permanent niche in the imagination of the general public. Since biblical times and before, people have seen signs and portents in the skies and, according to the prevailing social, cultural and religious beliefs, placed their own interpretation on them. Today, thanks to cynicism in the media, particularly tabloid newspapers, it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain any form of objectivity concerning the subject. Nowadays, anyone who reports a sighting of anything unusual in the sky is likely to automatically attribute it an extraterrestrial spacecraft, which is of course utterly and totally wrong. This erroneous opinion is largely due to the sensationalist manner in which the subject is portrayed.
If you examine the typical style of presentation employed by tabloid editors and their sub-editors, it is usual to find the report surrounded by pictures of ‘traditional’ spacecraft, stills from sci-fi films and the obligatory almond eyed ‘grey’. A UFO is exactly what it says it is, an Unidentified Flying Object, nothing more, it is certainly not of necessity a spacecraft, nor should it be presented as such, unfortunately, this does not sell newspapers. Regrettably, this is often the only method by which researchers can get their message across to the public and maintain an interest in the phenomenon, risk of ridicule notwithstanding.
It is my intention to comment, beginning with the earliest reports, gradually moving forward in time to the present day, presenting a case for and against evidence that has been amassed concerning the existence of extraterrestrial interaction with human beings. Obviously, one cannot examine the pros and cons of every single instance, but I have concentrated on a few of the better known, high profile encounters that have become recognised as landmarks. I have deliberately chosen accounts and personalities that, in my opinion, epitomise both irrefutable proof and accidental or deliberate mis-interpretation. From the outset, I should state clearly that the early protagonists of UFO’s and UFOlogy were and to a great extent still are their own worst enemies.
In the course of this research it has become evident that certain reports and sightings from late 19th century America closely mirror current sightings, speculation and denials. The eventual outcome of my investigation will, hopefully, lay before you a view of current levels of technology and how, because of official denials they have become synonymous with extraterrestrial craft. We are, as a race, rather more technically accomplished than we give ourselves credit for. It is self evident that television programmes epitomised in the ‘X’ Files have presented, among other aspects of the paranormal, the case for the UFO in an interesting and credible manner. This too helped to embed UFOlogy in the public psyche. Initially, Chris Carter, the instigator of the series, denied that they used actual case histories and descriptions as source material for the individual episodes. He now appears to have changed his mind and now agrees that this is exactly what happened, his admission was superfluous, because it was self evident that this had been the case from the outset.
Some of the earliest evidence of what may be depictions of extraterrestrials were found carved in granite on an island in Hunan province, China. These carvings, which feature cylindrical objects and what appear to be their occupants, are dated at circa 47,000 BC. There are many other instances of anomalous carvings and cave paintings apparently depicting eliptical outlines with figures inside that could also be interpreted as flying machines and beings wearing helmets and suits. These images are not confined to one race, culture, or period, but are instead widespread throughout history and indeed the planet. It is perhaps important at this early stage, to present an alternative perspective on what has just described.
Interpretation
While it is quite possible that these carvings represent extraterrestrial craft and their occupants, it is equally possible that they do not. A powerful image common to ancient people, was the almost magical process of birth. In a procedure which, although natural, was by no means well understood, these ancient people may well have wished to create an image of the unborn child as a totem to encourage fertility, and since they were essential to the survival of the group, protect pregnant women. This was vital, because numerically, these early tribes or clans, tended to consist of perhaps twenty, or at the most, thirty people rather than hundreds. Correspondingly, since life was short, harsh and brutish anyway, it was important that the young were nurtured and cared for. Therefore, a perfectly acceptable alternative interpretation of these carvings is a depiction of a child in it’s mother’s womb.
The ‘Ancient Astronauts’
Much of the information concerning this fascinating re-interpretation of ancient history has been brought into the public domain by, amongst others, the much maligned researcher and author Erich von Daniken. To be sure, he cannot be 100% correct in all his deductions, but, nevertheless, it was his efforts and determination that unearthed and collated otherwise ignored archaeological and cultural anomalies which tend to embarrass the status quo. One of his best known finds, - or perhaps that should be re-interpretations, - is the depiction of the Mayan ‘Astronaut’ snug inside what, with the best will in the world, appears to be some form of spacecraft.
Other items that have been brought to light by fellow researcher Dr Ivan Sanderson include what had previously been described as ‘ceremonial items’ and ‘jewellery’ discovered in ancient Colombian tombs. These ‘ceremonial items’, which are made of gold, had previously been labelled as representations of moths or bees. Even a cursory examination of them will reveal their striking similarity to modern jet aircraft. The artifacts were shown to a German fighter pilot and engineer, J.A.Ulrich, who had no prior knowledge of them, for his opinion. His immediate conclusion was that the object depicted a F102 fighter aircraft. Interestingly, at a conference, scale model gliders made to the specifications of the objects were projected into the air and actually flew. Alternatively, the fact that these scale models flew, although interesting, should not - depending on interpretation - in itself be too surprising. If the official explanation is correct, and these are items of jewellery representing moths or other flying insects, then a scale model - if made of the suitable materials - should be able to become airborne. On the other hand, it is also fair to point out that I do not recall an insect - or bird for that matter - possessing distinct tail wings and a fin…………..Hmmmmm.
Ancient Egyptian Sightings
One of the earliest written accounts of a sighting can be traced to the reign of the Pharaoh Thutmose III who ruled between 1504-1450 BC. The hieroglyphs translate as: 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 odour. 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 scrolls 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, an extended to 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. Therefore, 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, pp81-82].
Interpretation
These accounts, although produced by a much more sophisticated culture, must still be treated with as much caution as those in pre-history. It did not serve the cause of UFOlogy well, that pioneering researchers such as Brinsley Le Poer Trench, used any and all early reports of arial phenomena as justifications for extraterrestrial visits. Based on current scientific knowledge, it is now known that there are many formerly inexplicable atmospheric anomalies that can now be identified and categorised. Likewise, a modern understanding of aerodynamics can explain the odd flight characteristics of meteorites and bolides entering Earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, unless we have a good knowledge of contemporary religious beliefs and what the people understood about the world around them regarding natural phenomenon, it is difficult to evaluate these reports. The only givens here are,
1)The events were witnessed,
2)The events were recorded and
3)The events describe some form of arial phenomenon
.
Other than that there is little to suggest that they describe the manoeuvres of an extraterrestrial craft. It is more likely that what was observed was either an optical illusion, a bolide, the aftermath of an earthquake, or some form of atmospheric electrical disturbance. The mention of its breath as having a ‘foul odour’ indicates either a sulphurous compound or methane gas, which helps to underline the suggestion of some naturally occurring phenomenon.
Biblical Accounts
An arresting early biblical account of an alleged ,flying machines and their occupants is attributed to the prophet Ezekiel, he writes of ‘a strange vehicle’ landing near the Chebar River in what is now Iraq. This can be accurately dated to 592 BC in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The scripture tells us: ‘As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze’. He 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 the four sides they had human hands…and each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side…and 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 lightening’. What was he describing, people wearing environment suits and a device that allowed them to fly? He goes on: ‘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, like 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’. This description appears to refer to specific machines, devices, with which the ‘living creatures’ interacted. Could the eyes perhaps refer to portholes? The story finishes: ‘There was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire; and seated above the likeness of throne was the 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 that was round about…And when I saw it …I heard the voice of one speaking’.
Interpretation
This account is entirely different because of certain, much earlier, corroborating details recorded elsewhere and as such deserves a much closer look. In spite of the best efforts of translators, scribes and writers, who, with their own particular instructions and prejudices assembled the bible, there is still a remarkable wealth of detail. This is probably accidental, and due to there being nothing in the original records that specifically ran counter to contemporary church dogma. Make no mistake about it, if there had been the slightest hint of perceived heresy, then this section would have suffered the fate of many others, and been excised or altered beyond all recognition.
The description tells us that the ‘living creatures’ possessed ‘four faces’ and ‘glittering bodies’, this is significant and reminiscent of even earlier biblical references in the Book of Enoch, to a race of beings known as ‘The Seraphim’, the highest ranking amongst the angels, who’s name translates as ‘the burning ones’. If we compare Ezekial’s description of them ‘Gleaming like burnished bronze’ and ‘I saw as it were gleaming bronze…and there was brightness’ with the accepted earlier Enochian description of, ‘the burning ones’, we can imply a similarity.
The old testament describes how God despatched his lieutenants, these Seraphim, to destroy the bastard, hybrid offspring of the fallen angels and human women, ‘The Nephilim’, and retrieve their souls. This action was deemed necessary, as, - depending on which translation you read - in the course of being conceived, this mis-matched union of human and angel became distorted mutations who possessed in their deformed human bodies, the soul of an angel, and this could not be tolerated. The Seraphim therefore came to earth and set about their murderous business. The souls were retrieved and the luckless Nephilim destroyed, their eyes burned to cinders, having gazed on the power and majesty God’s lieutenants.
This version of the process cannot have been totally successful since the book of Genesis tells us: ‘And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth, and daughters were born unto them , that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all that they chose . There were Nephilim on the Earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them. the same became mighty men which were of old, men of wisdom’. The Book of Enoch specifically tells us that 200 angels, also known as ‘Watchers’, or ‘Annunaki’ rebelled against heavenly laws that required them to accept man as an equal. After either being forced out of ‘heaven’, or leaving voluntarily, they took wives amongst human women and produced offspring ‘The Nephilim. The term ‘Nephilim’ is translated from ancient Hebrew and means ‘those who have fallen’. The Greek translation is ‘Gigantes’, remember the biblical phrase ‘In those days there were giants’?
The main problem with this line of reasoning is that the dates are wrong, these reports are much too early, unless……….as reported by Ezekiel,…….these beings had returned to observe the results of their earlier endeavours. This interpretation addresses both the description of the ‘Living Creatures’ and the anomalous dates. The description of the ‘wheels’ also sits well with the ancient texts and their interpretation of the ‘gleaming wheels’. There is also a comparison with our own attempts at space flight in the reports of incredible noise, fire and smoke. If you have ever been privileged to witness the spectacle a spacecraft taking off from Cape Canaveral, then you will know exactly what they are talking about. The Hebrew researcher and author Zecharia Sitchin tells us that, according to his translation of ancient Hebrew texts, there is a 12th planet ‘Nibiru’ whose orbit crosses that of Earth every 3,600 years and the ‘Watchers’ or ‘Annunaki’ were from this planet. He also posits that the biblical descriptions of their flying machines where, ‘a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually’ mirrors a technology not too far removed from our own.
The Early Sightings Continue
The reports continue through the Roman era, with records of unusual sightings in 216 BC, 99BC and 65BC. An early chronicler, Conrad Wolffhart in 1567 records anomalous sightings in AD 393, which describe a swarm of bright lights ‘like bees’, that eventually coalesced and ‘blended together as one awful flame, a horrible two edged sword’. Sightings are again reported, this time in Japan on the night of September 24th 1235. And again on September the 12th 1271 and then in 1361,there are reports of an object ‘shaped like a drum’, there is a further sightings dated March 8th 1468 of a large, dark, object which made a ‘sound like a wheel’ which flew from Mt. Kasuga toward the west at midnight. [Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia, pp5-6]
The reports of unusual sights in the sky continued in Europe throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1322 AD a pillar of fire was sighted near Uxbridge, England. It was described as being ‘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, ‘a fervent red flame burst forth with beams of light’. ‘it’s speed increased and it flew through the air.’ Then, in 1387AD, during November and December, we find ‘A fire in the sky, like a burning and revolving wheel’, or, ‘A round barrel of flame, emitting fire from above’, and others in the shape of long fiery beams , were seen through a great deal of the winter, in the county of Leicester, and over Northamptonshire. In 1461AD at Arras, France, on November 1st, ‘A fiery thing like an iron rod of good length and as large as one half of the moon’ was observed for around 15 minutes. The 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 p9, Harold T Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp187, 188]
Interpretation
We now seem to be back with fairly standard displays of natural phenomena, probably meteoric in origin. It is a great pity that once again, mid 20th century researchers in their quest for information, were not a little more selective in their choice of material. They persistently attempted to attach significance to many sightings that are certainly unusual, but not unnatural. Although people like Jacques Vallee and Watkins were guilty of this, they were by no means the worst offenders. Hailing from America, came a personality who was perhaps, both the best and the worst representative that UFOlogy ever had. I refer of course to ‘The professor from Mt. Palomar’ George Adamski. If Adamski did in fact actually have a series of close encounters with ET’s, they rapidly became bogged down in his self aggrandising publicity machine. Some of his statements, in hindsight, were quite frankly, ludicrous. A prime example of this was his description of the moon having lakes and forests, and we must not forget the cows as well, although to be fair, they were rather small……..quite! Perhaps it serves to demonstrate the level of naiveté of the public that they were led so convincingly ‘up the garden path’ for so long. He certainly had many supporters and probably still does. Many of them act as apologists for him and justify his colourful description by mentioning his poor eye sight. We will return to Adamski and his colleagues in detail later.
The Eighteenth Century
This unusual report from the end of 18th century is worthy of note, ‘On Sept 19th 1799, all England saw at 8.30 PM, a beautiful ball, blazing with white light, and which passed from N.E to S.E. it moved rapidly with a gentle tremulous motion, and noiselessly. The light cast by it was very vivid, and a few red sparks detached themselves from it….On Nov. 12th 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 an extremely vivid electrical sort preceded its appearance, and at intervals of half an hour, several hours before. This was at 5.45 AM …..on this night, the moon shone with uncommon vividness, when, between 5 and 6 AM, 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 and some radiated. Some sparkled and some had large columns…..Nov 19th, at 6Am, folk at Huncoates 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, p211]
Interpretation
In this selection of reports, we begin to see a gradual recognition of the forms, a familiarity in the sightings that we are nowadays accustomed to seeing reported in the press. This is doubtless due to increasing familiarity with developing technology, which, although relatively primitive by our standards, encouraged observers to view the phenomena as being some from of vehicle rather than a spiritual manifestation. Although these accounts are still more likely to be a mis-representation of electrical phenomena, the trend was starting.
The Nineteenth Century
The beginning of the 19th century saw a marked increase in reports of alleged UFO’s, this account which appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine was written by one John Stavely, of Hatton Garden, London, following what he assumed to be a meteor shower observed during a thunderstorm on August 10th 1809. While there were many sightings recorded, this is an excellent example of, shall we say, a mid 20th century researcher, Ummm, mis-interpreting the facts. ‘I saw many meteors moving around the edge of a black cloud from which lightening flashed. They were like dazzling specks of light, dancing and traipsing through the clouds. One increased in size until it became of the magnitude and brilliancy of Venus on a clear evening, but I could see no body in the light. it moved with great rapidity, and coasted the edge of the cloud. Then it became stationary, dimmed its splendour and vanished. I saw these strange lights for minutes, not seconds. For at least an hour, these lights, so strange, and in innumerable points, played in and out of this black cloud. No lightening came from these clouds where the lights played. As the meteors increased in size, they seemed to descend. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, p215], please note that the italics are not mine.
Interpretation
It is easy to put a fanciful interpretation of the preceding case, but, from the descriptions given, it is virtually certain that some of the reports describe unusual characteristics inherent in high voltage electrical phenomena, particularly the balls of light ‘They were like dazzling specks of light, dancing and traipsing through the clouds’. The electrical potential developed during lightning strikes runs into millions of volts. Many of these effects were initially duplicated in a laboratory environment by Nicola Tesla in his research into high voltage physics. As described, the phenomena witnessed tallies almost exactly with descriptions of ball lightning, both natural and artificial. I consider myself fortunate to have actually witnessed the unusual manifestation of ball lightening. In my case, the brilliant, crackling, blue sphere passed within feet of me, I will never forget it.
North America
Although the myths and traditions of Native American tribes are full of encounters with celestial beings, it was not until the late 19th, early 20th century that the really interesting sightings begin, although this time the objects, reflecting current technology, were likened to airships. Dozens of examples reported in U.S and Canadian newspapers between 1896/97 refer to flying, barrel or cigar shaped ‘airships’ Dating from November 1896, these UFO’s were mainly sighted in California, but also in Washington State and Canada. In Tulare, California, hundreds of witnesses saw something descend, rise, then abruptly veer away to the west. The object, whatever it was, emitted powerful red, white and blue lights. The Californian sightings ended in January 1897, but by February stories of mysterious craft and lights in the night sky were coming in from Nebraska.
March heralded sightings from Kansas and Michigan. Finally, in April, reportedly 10.000 people, residents of Kansas City, Missouri, observed a huge, black ‘airship’ hovering in the sky. The Chicago Record of April the 22nd, reported, "The object appeared very swiftly, then appeared to stop and hover over the city for ten minutes at a time, then, after flashing green, blue and white lights, shot upwards into space". The inhabitants of Everest, Kansas, described the object as resembling a 25 to 30 ft long Indian Canoe with, "A searchlight of varying colours" The vast majority of reports dating from this time are surprisingly similar, all the sightings of these ‘craft’ uniformly describe them as being ‘cigar shaped’. The main differences relate to an assortment of attachments on the otherwise smooth bodies, including wings, fins and propellers. The objects were sighted both during the day and at night, when vivid multicoloured lights are also observed. [The Encyclopaedia of UFO’s, Ronald D. Storey, ed. pp8-11]
Interpretation
In the American accounts, there are haunting similarities between some of these late 19th century reports and todays encounters with highly classified military aircraft. It is usually mentioned when these cases are quoted, that airships were still to make their appearance. It is my opinion that what was witness were actually seeing were tests of highly classified government sponsored projects involving experimental aircraft. It is also interesting to note that as quoted, the ‘airships’ do not seem to possess any exotic forms of propulsion. Rather, there are specific mentions of wings and propellers, this would sit well with the contemporary level of technology. It is also curious to note the close parallels between these descriptions and the contemporary fictional stories of French author Jules Vernes The graphic depictions of the airship and its weaponry in ‘Master of the World’ is a case in point. Likewise his predictions regarding the use of nuclear reactors and electric drives aboard the submarine ‘Nautilus’ in the visionary novel ‘20.000 Leagues under the Sea’ and implications relating to the misuse of both are remarkably accurate. Was he, like 20th century visionary Arthur C Clarke, perhaps unwittingly acting as a channel, a point of contact with the future.
20th Century Sightings
So the sightings continued, each wave becoming successively more and more technically advanced, sleeker, smoother, capable of increasingly accomplished arial manoeuvres. As we progress into the 20th century, so the scale of the reports and sightings steadily increase.1946, at the end of the 2nd world war ushers in reports of so called ‘ghost rockets’ from northern Europe. Official recognition of the phenomena originated in Finland, when radio Helsinki announced ‘Inordinate meteor activity’ over northern Finland in close proximity to the Arctic Circle. The reports mention: an object ‘Spewing a trail of smoke’ and leaving a luminous afterglow as it shot through the sky at an altitude estimated at 1000ft. Other sightings reported on the radio include ‘An unidentified luminous body giving off glowing vapour that had approached the Finnish coast from the direction of the Baltic, only to abruptly turn and retrace its course’. Other objects were reportedly seen flying horizontally, climbing, diving, barrel-rolling, and backtracking. Sometimes crossing the sky at great speed, sometimes moving slowly, almost in a leisurely fashion. The descriptions of the objects varied, but still fell within the parameters of what has been observed: ‘round and elongated’, ‘luminous bodies’, ‘shining ball’, ‘huge soap bubble’ and ‘rotating object emitting sparks’. Likewise: ‘football shaped’, ‘cigar shaped’, ‘missilelike’, ‘elliptical’ and ‘like a squash racket’
The phenomenon spread south to Sweden where hundreds of similar sightings were reported. The southern drift continued during 1946, and by September of that year, sightings were reported from Tangier, Italy and Greece, even as far south as India. Of all these countries, Sweden was the worst affected, resulting in the Swedish government, suspecting Russian military involvement, putting its armed forces on alert. In spite of repeated searches for tangible traces of ‘rockets’, that in some cases had apparently exploded , nothing except the occasional find of barely identifiable dark slag was recovered, in others, nothing at all was found. Of all the sightings recorded in Sweden, the government declared that a surprisingly high 20% were ‘unidentified’, therefore by definition, UFO’s. [The Encyclopaedia of UFO’s, Ronald D. Storey, ed., pp147-149; Jacques Vallee, UFO’s in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p.47]
The year 1947, was in many ways a watershed for UFO’s and UFOlogy. The occurrences of that year reset the parameters of what was possible. The comments of pilot and part time fire fighter Kenneth Arnold, when he sighted flying discs that ‘Skipped like a saucer on water’ over the Cascade Mountain range in the US, were seized on by the press and introduced the term ‘Flying Saucer’ to the lexicon. The now almost infamous, so called ‘alien crash and retrieval’ at Roswell, New Mexico also occurred in this year, although at the time, any worthwhile information was, for obvious security reasons, suppressed. Perhaps, in recent years, this single incident has done more to sensitise the public consciousness to the possibility of contact with interstellar beings.
Unfortunately, several attendant side-shows attached themselves to the money making ‘Roswell Express’. One of the more infamous was of course the so called Alien Autopsy, produced by Ray Santilli, which featured a grainy, monochrome, supposedly documentary account of an autopsy being performed on the remains of an occupant of the downed UFO. I have no wish to dwell on this already well travelled route, save to say that the subject took on a life and identity of its own, becoming a virtual ‘cash cow’, and an entire, probably undeserved, culture and mythos has developed around it.
As far as recent sightings in the UK are concerned, perhaps one of the best on record concerns an occurrence at Rendlesham Forest, on Dec 27, 1980. I have deliberately included an extended report on this particular encounter because firstly, it contains all the ingredients of a true encounter, secondly there is a wealth of apparently corroborating detail, and finally it has not yet been swamped with a mythology designed to bolster personal reputations. There is also however, the dead hand of MOD disinformation and denial designed to fudge the issue, nevertheless, the available information has the feel of truth, we will examine this at the end of the article.
The main source of information relating to the incident originates from American Airman Larry Warren who was stationed at RAF Bentwaters during this period. Warren relates that following a brilliant light being seen in the forest: "Along with other military personnel, we were driven in Jeeps to the edge of the forest. We were ordered to hand in our weapons and issued with flashlights then headed into the forest. We approached a clearing and I could see some really bright lights, I noticed one of our security guards being cared for by a medical orderly, the guard was crying. The clearing was swarming with RAF and USAF police, (he estimates the number at 200), Some film cameras had been set up and there were helicopters overhead. We saw the object, it was shaped like a huge aspirin and it was transparent". Warren continues, "We heard a noise and we looked up, up saw a red light coming towards us over the trees, from our viewpoint, it looked to be about 100ft high. It looked like it was setting itself up to land. It slowly descended over the’ transparent aspirin’ until it enveloped it. There was no sound at all, we were almost hypnotised. Suddenly, the red light ‘exploded’. The place was filled with all sorts of colours. I was blinded, then the colours died down and my eyesight returned, there was a machine there, right in front of us. The aspirin shape had gone, there was a triangular shape there now, covered with pipes and valves, stuff like that. It was around 20ft across the bottom with sloping sides up to the top, 12 or 15 feet high, it looked big enough to take people.
A captain indicated that we should approach the ship / vehicle. We walked right up to it, close enough to touch. It gave off a bluish light, almost metallic. There were three groups of four security men circling the thing. I could see our shadows on the craft. As we walked our shadows moved too, but when we stopped, our shadows seemed to take an extra pace, really weird.
Abruptly a green light came on at the top of the spaceship. It moved down the side of the craft until it reached our heads then bounced from one to the other along the side, just like the ball bounces on a video game. Then I realised that three were people, things, on board the machine. I couldn’t see clearly because I was on the wrong side, but others did. They said there were three, they were wearing silver suits, I felt strange, sick, and blacked out.
The next thing I knew, it was 5am. and I was lying across my bunk,. I was still wearing my uniform and had mud up to my knees. I have no idea how I got back to the barracks, or what happened after I saw the green light bounce of our shadows. My room mate told me that I’d been brought in by some people - he didn’t know who - and dumped on my bed. Later on that day me and some other guys were checked over with a Geiger counter, but were never given the results. Later, we were called to the base security office at Bentwaters and told that what we’d seen was classified ‘Top Secret
Our own guys didn’t do any of the talking, it was civilians, we assumed they were CIA. They told us that if we ever told the story, no one would believe us. One guy added that if we did talk, "Bullets are cheap". They actually threatened our lives, it looked like he meant it. Looking back on it, I get the impression that our own officers and the civilians knew all about it, they didn’t seem all that surprised’. [Nicholas Redfern, ‘A Covert Agenda’ 1979 pp141-143]
This then is the account of Larry Warren, fortunately there is corroboration from other sources that ‘something’ happened in the forest that night. The Deputy Base Commander at RAF Woodbridge issued a statement on January the 13th 1981which was sent to the MOD for their inspection. A copy of this report was released under the American FOIA to American researcher Robert Todd. Curiously, in a letter to Todd, Col Peter Bent, Commander of the 513th Combat Support Group admitted that " It might interest you to know that the US Air Force no longer has a copy of the13th January 1981 letter written by Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt. The Air Force file copy has been properly been disposed of in accordance with Air Force regulations. Fortunately, through diligent inquiry and the gracious consent of Her Majesty’s government, the British Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force, the US Air Force was provided with a
copy for you". [Nicholas Redfern ‘A Covert Agenda’ 1997 pp143-144]
Among details of the memorandum issued by Col. Halt was a report of physical traces left by the ‘object’ in the forest. "The next day, three depressions one and one half inches deep and seven inches in diameter were found where the object had been sighted on the ground. the following night, Dec 29th the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgens (millirads) with peak readings in the three depressions and near the centre of the formed by the depressions. A nearby tree had a moderate (.05-.07 millirads) reading on the side of the tree facing the depressions". [Nicholas Redfern ‘A Covert Agenda’ 1997 p145]
British researcher Jenny Randles carried out an extensive in-depth investigation into this particular case and as a result of this the tenacious enquiry, a grudging admission was forced from MOD spokeswoman Pam Titchmarsh, that her department (DS8) still had a copy of Col. Halt’s report, but, "The events of December 1980 have no defence significance". Later, an audio tape allegedly made within Rendlesham Forest emerged that corroborates much Col. Halt’s original report. The tape, which is available commercially, appears to contain a conversation between Col. Halt and an unidentified eyewitness in the forest.
An aspect of the Rendlesham incident that is frequently overlooked, was a series of (at the time) highly classified projects taking place in the area. The projects were under the auspices of the American NSA, (National Security Agency), aided and abetted by the British government, and involved the development of ‘over the horizon’ radar systems, initially code named ‘Cobra Mist’. When this project was officially terminated, it was re-activated as ‘Cold Witness’. It is possible that these experiments were a precursor to the ‘Star Wars’ anti missile programme inaugurated by the Ronald Regan administration. There were several reports at the time of aircraft experiencing instrument malfunction as they overflew the area. Another report suggests that the experiments may have caused the premature re-entry of a Russian satellite, this may not have been accidental. The entire project may have its origins rooted in the 1930’s and the claims of scientific visionary pioneer and genius mentioned earlier in this article, Nikola Tesla.
Tesla claimed that he could destroy "10.000 aircraft 250 miles away" by means of a mysterious ‘Death Ray’. While the terms of his claim may, on reflection, appear to be nonsensical, grandiose and bombastic, there is little doubt that they may have been solidly founded in his research. In is a matter of fact that the US government took his claims seriously, seriously enough to use his talents in various classified projects. Even now there is ongoing research into pulsed microwave devices that are designed to neutralise or destroy the electronic engine control systems associated with aircraft and vehicles. On Tesla’s death in 1943, his laboratory notes and experiments were promptly impounded by the US ‘Custodian of Alien Property’, this itself makes little sense as Tesla had been a naturalised US citizen for decades. There was no official reason for the seizure of these documents, but is practically certain that they were scrutinised by government scientists for any possible military use. They were eventually returned, perhaps incomplete, there is no way to tell, to a nephew who gifted them to the Tesla museum in Belgrade.
Another possibility is, that during the experiments with these immensely powerful microwave beams, there was an accident, somehow, the fabric of space/time was breached and ‘something’ fell through. It is interesting to note that Tesla implied as much, based on his own research into resonance and frequency fifty years earlier.
Recent Encounters
Of the more recent British UFO encounters there are four which are of particular interest, these are .The A70 Abduction, The Craigluscar Reservoir Sighting, The Fife Incident and finally, the bizarre encounter of forestry worker Bob Taylor in Dechmont Forest, we will start by looking at:
The Fife Incident
This case has been a source of much dissent within the ranks of various paranormal researchers throughout Britain, Several groups investigated the incident and because of this there were differences of opinion as to it’s authenticity. What follows is an overview of these accounts.
Towards the end of September in 1996, Mary (pseudonym), her son aged ten and a family friend Ann (pseudonym), set out by car from their home in Fife to purchase some groceries from a nearby village. Shortly after setting out, they were alarmed to see a large, silently hovering triangular aircraft appear in front of their car. The craft proceeded to emit three beams of light from its underside onto the surface of the road. The lights were of a particularly searing, white intensity causing everything illuminated by them to look stark and unreal. This phenomena lasted for a few seconds, then as quickly as it had appeared, the lights vanished and the craft sped off leaving them startled and not a little afraid.
Although still shaken, they completed their errand and incredibly, on their return journey, they saw the same or at least similar craft again. When they arrived home, Mary told her daughter (then aged 15) what she and the others had witnessed. Not surprisingly, she was extremely sceptical of her mothers claims, asking her if they could try to find the craft again. The four of them got back into the car and set off in the direction in which the craft was first spotted. As they approached the spot, they saw fingers of brilliant white light coming from a stand of trees, spearing into the night sky like lasers. They stopped the car by the roadside and climbed out, gazing with a mixture of fear and fascination at the scene before them. As well as the ‘laser’ lights, there appeared to be a dozens of brilliant starlike objects hanging low in the sky. As they watched, a haze or mist developed in front of the trees, within this haze were of ‘hundreds’ small grey creatures apparently lifting and carrying boxes and cylinders.
Abruptly, part of this haze containing some of these beings detached itself from the main body and drifted towards them across a ploughed field. By this time, the group had seen quite enough and quickly climbed into their car, not quickly enough however. Just as they were on the point of moving off, the daughter screamed out that there was a creature standing next to the car ‘grinning’ at them. As the vehicle moved off, an intense burst of blue light emanated from the field behind them throwing everything into sharp relief. Incredibly, when they arrived at the sanctuary of their home, although alarmed by what they had seen, displaying either great courage or astonishing foolhardiness, they decided to go back for another look. This they did and again claim to have seen more small creatures moving around in the woods. Some points to consider are,
There are many puzzling aspects to this case not least the fact that checks with the M.o.D, the Met Office, police and airports shed no light on the accounts. All the evidence we have is either entirely anecdotal, or totally apocryphal. Whatever, it is not the best foundation for a solid case. Other points to note are,
1) Mary subscribed to a number of UFO periodicals prior to her sighting. These included ‘Flying Saucer Review’ and ‘Alien Encounters’, she also avidly read accounts of alleged sightings and encounters in the press. One should remember that around this time, there was a considerable amount of high profile coverage of the alleged sightings at the Scottish village of Bonnybridge. Although this in itself does not preclude a UFO aficionado from experiencing an encounter, it does nevertheless tend to do one of two things. Either, because the witness is familiar with UFO lore, then they would make an excellent subject, or, because of this very familiarity they could concoct an excellent fabrication. I do not say that this is the case, but it does fuel doubt.
The points raised do not, as I noted, mean that the alleged events did not occur, but they do create a need to tread carefully and view the evidence (such as it is) with detachment. There is a feeling about the case that maybe, just maybe, it exemplifies a hoax that got out of hand and the instigators had in effect ‘painted themselves into a corner’. There were in a position, where, because of the attention they were receiving could not deny it. If on the other hand it is true, then the witnesses were extremely fortunate to have experienced an encounter of this kind. For myself, I have to state categorically that I have deep reservations about the case.
The A70 Report.
This particular encounter is, next to the Rendlesham Forest incident, perhaps one of the most important and spectacular cases in British UFOlogy. This is a really fascinating study of perhaps the most unnerving type of encounter, CE4, Alien Abduction.
This affected two men, Gary Wood and Colin Wright, both ordinary family men and neither given to flights of fancy. On the fateful night of the 27th of August 1992, the two friends set out from the south of Edinburgh to travel to the village of Tarbrax, a journey of some 15 miles. The purpose of the journey which normally takes around 30 minutes, was to have an a Sky satellite TV dish repaired by a friend. As they drove through the clear summers night at about 40 mph, they were chatting about their respective families and other matters of common interest. Rounding a blind corner, Colin abruptly leaned towards the windscreen exclaiming "What the hell’s that!"?. Gary peered through the windscreen, there ahead of the car, floating about 20ft above the road, was a UFO. Gary remembers it as being about 30ft wide, wider than the road, smooth, black and shiny with no windows. Wanting to get away as quickly as possible, he floored the accelerator urging the Vauxhall Astra up to almost 70 mph. As they passed below the hovering craft, a shimmering curtain of light descended on the car, Gary describes it as like looking at a TV which is detuned. Instantly, they were enveloped in total, complete darkness. They could see nothing, not even one another, Gary thought briefly that he was dead.
They blacked out for what, subjectively, felt like around 15 seconds, then, abruptly, they were awake and the car was swerving all over the road. Gary could hear Colin shouting at him to watch out, then thankfully, he was able to bring the car to a stop. They looked at each other in disbelief, what had happened to them?. The cool night air was a relief as they gathered their wits. Setting off again, they arrived in Tarbrax still discussing their bizarre encounter. Assuming the time to be around 10.40pm they unloaded the dish from the car and took it to their friends house. They knocked on the door, several minutes went by, they heard an upstairs window open and their friend’s head emerged. He enquired none to politely just what they were doing and informed them that it was 12.45am. Naturally they thought he was pulling their legs, but no, he was not, they had ‘lost’ two hours.
Neither Gary nor Colin reported the incident to the police in case they were not believed, they did however inform BUFORA ( the British UFO Research Association). Gary’s reaction to the event was to start studying books on UFOlogy in an attempt at understanding what he had seen. Eventually, Gary got to hear of S.P.I in the form of Malcolm Robinson who arranged a meeting. After the two met, Malcolm suggested using the controversial technique of hypnotic regression in an attempt to discover what had transpired during this ‘missing time’. Although Gary and Colin had some misgivings, this was arranged using commercial hypnotist and psychic Helen Walters.
During the first session, Gary became very emotional and burst into tears, but on this initial session, the images he recalled were only vague shapes. Later regression session were to prove much more revealing. He vividly remembers lying on a table of some kind and a long arm extending over his chest towards his head, he found this memory particularly alarming. On another occasion, he remembers a hole in the floor which seemed to be filled with a viscous liquid of some kind, like a gel. From this liquid a long, incredibly thin, frail looking creature was emerging, it was for all the world like a skeleton covered in skin. he remembers that the skin over its ribs looked discoloured and bruised. In all, Wood remembers there being around 20 or 30 creatures present, the majority tall, a pallid grey colour and frail looking. One notable variation from this was a smaller, rather bizarre looking being with an odd heart shaped face. On its face were some strangely familiar markings, these comprised coloured facial stripes, three, diagonally on each cheek. These were reminiscent of the tribal markings normally associated with natives of the American tribes. Perhaps Gary’s most worrying memory was seeing a young woman. She was seated naked on the floor, facing the wall, one of the tall creatures was standing beside her. As Gary looked at her, she turned her head towards him, she had been crying, and was clearly in the same predicament as himself. He is convinced that he would recognise her if they were to meet again. Colin who was also regressed had similar recollections.
Following on from this, Gary and Colin appeared to deal with their ordeal in different ways, Gary became deeply involved in the study of UFO’s and the paranormal. He went to the extent of setting up his own research group and on occasions has collaborated with another Scottish researcher, Ron Halliday. On the other hand, Colin went in the other direction entirely and has in effect rejected it, refusing to discuss the matter.
The Dechmont Forrest Case
On the fateful day of November 9, 1979, Bob Taylor aged 61, an employee of Livingston Development Corporation was to experience a bizarre encounter in the woods on Dechmont Law. These events were the enter the annals of Scottish and world UFOlogy.
Bob, accompanied by his dog Lara was as part of his duties, checking the area for stray cows and sheep, when they encountered what he later described as a ‘spaceship’. The strange object was hovering just above the grass in a clearing amongst the trees, Bob stopped in his tracks and gazed in disbelief . His dog Lara froze and wouldn’t move from his side. The object was spherical, with a narrow flange running around its circumference. It was a metallic gray colour and partially translucent. He was not aware of any noise at this time. The object is normally depicted as resting on three or four spindly legs, but this was not confirmed. As he watched, two objects dropped from the underside of the device. According to Bob’s account, the two objects resembled mines used during the last war, except that the ‘prongs’ were longer. Bob remembers the small pronged spheres rolling quickly towards him accompanied by a strong smell which caused him to experience a choking sensation. The small spheres extended the prongs into his trousers and dragged him towards the sphere. Understandably, Bob blacked out at this point, but as he did so, he remembers hearing a loud, clear ‘swishing’ sound reminiscent of a cane being swung vigorously through the air.
Slowly regaining consciousness, he heard is dog barking frantically, he was alone, the mysterious sphere had gone. He noticed that there were marks in the ground where the object had been. Struggling to his feet, he noticed that his trousers were torn and he had a thumping headache. Fortunately, he was able to make his way back to his home, much to the consternation of his wife who thought that he had been in an accident, such was his appearance. S.P.I was able to get possession of the trousers worn by Bob on that day and had them examined by forensic experts. They are of heavy, robust, serge material, similar to those worn by police forces. The tests revealed that the tears on the fabric was consistent with considerable force having being applied in a upwards direction. This is in itself not conclusive, but it does serve to add credence to the story. It should be stressed that Bob is a down to earth man and not given to flights of fancy and was regarded by his workmates as a reliable and stable character.
Bob currently lives out his retirement in Blairgowrie and has resigned himself to never finding out what had occurred that November day. He is just pleased to be left alone, away from the circus that surrounded the original event. He remembers what happened with total clarity but is still at a loss to explain what it was that he saw.
Craigluscar Reservoir
This even concerned a sighting by Mr. Ian McPherson which took place in Fife beside the still waters of Craigluscar Reservoir. Ian, 44 from Rosyth was out walking, enjoying the fresh air and taking the opportunity to photograph the pleasant scenery. As he strolled along the banks of the reservoir he gradually became aware of a humming sound that slowly built in intensity. He turned to look over the water and there it was, a disc shaped craft hovering two or three hundred feet above the surface of the water. It was just hanging there, motionless. Ian, although holding his camera, felt almost powerless to use it, as if he was witnessing something that should not be seen, something utterly alien. Ian estimated the time he spent looking at the object to be around 15 minutes, he could see that it was metallic and had several areas of light on its underside inside a darker metallic rim. By this time he realised what an opportunity he was missing and raised his camera to take a photograph. As he did this, the craft started to move away, as if somehow sensing what he was about to do.
Quickly, he succeeded in taking two frames of film, but by the time he had wound on again, the craft had accelerated away at an incredible speed, rapidly shrinking to a dot in the sky. On returning home, Ian contacted a national newspaper who processed the film. Ian, who is a good amateur artist, was also able to make some sketches of what he had seen.. The authorities were informed and as is usual in most cases of this kind, denied everything. Nick Pope, who at that time manned the UFO desk for the Ministry of Defence examined the photo’s, and stated that they would be evaluated using image enhancement techniques. They may well have been, but sadly, that was the end of it and we heard no more of it. No doubt it is buried in some government ‘X’ file’. While Mr. Pope may have, as he claimed, to have seen all the reports that were filed with the MOD, there is good reason to doubt his impartiality. I find in difficult to accept that he was the ‘final arbiter’ regarding the ultimate disposition of the many reports file. Surely it is more reasonable to wonder just who was watching him, in other words, who was he fronting for. It is my opinion that it is much more likely he was in effect, a mouthpiece for ‘the establishment’. The British government, who’s reputation for obsessive secrecy is well known, would not hesitate to spread dis-information, mis-information and downright lies by whatever means necessary to obscure the truth. It is therefore likely that all information released through Mr. Pope, is, by nature of its source, highly suspect.
Interpretation
Although these important cases make fascinating reading, there is always room for doubt, in the case of the Fife Incident, there is not one shred of material evidence, nothing other than the witness statements. No photographs, not even indentations on the ground. The alleged scratches and marks on their bodies could easily have been sustained in their haste to get away from the area. As far as the son and his alleged ‘invisible friend’ are concerned, this seems to be a typical demonstration of a youngster basking in the limelight. At best this entire encounter is a case of mistaken identity, at worst, a glaring example attention seeking, manipulation and deliberate deception.
The A70 case is rather different. Although I not totally convinced about the effectiveness of regressive hypnotherapy, I think on the whole that Gary and Colin did see something. From their descriptions of the craft, there is more than a few similarities to the triangular vehicles seen from time to time. Could this have been an example of a MILAB, or military abduction being perpetrated? There is increasing evidence that these events have, and still do, take place under the auspices of so called ‘Black Projects’. Experiments so covert that they are literally above top secret, Before embarking on an alternative entire natural explanation for UFO sightings, it would be only fair to consider one of the longest running and best known British UFO waves: Bonnybridge.
The Bonnybridge Equation
Many pages have been written and opinions expressed regarding what happened to a village in Stirlingshire over a period of about four years from approximately 1993 until 1997. What occurred caused media and TV teams from all over the world to descend this small unremarkable village, turning it into an international UFO hotspot. There was a continuous stream of sightings of UFO’s both in the air and on the ground, during the day and at night. The witnesses were from all walks of life and age groups, the one thing they had in common was that they had all seen something that they could not explain. Just what was it that were they seeing and why Bonnybridge?. Also interesting is the apparent upswing in paranormal incidents, ghostly sightings and the like that were reported in the area during this time. In retrospect, there are now explanations based on current thinking that would present a credible explanation for some of these sightings
One such sighting was by the Slogget family who witnessed what they are convinced was a UFO whilst out walking on the moorland above Bonnybridge. They claim to have seen what daughter Carole then aged 26 described as a huge ‘Tonka Toy’ emerge from behind some trees. The sighting was heralded by an intense blue light that illuminated the road around them and the object appeared emitting a loud whirring noise. A door was heard opening accompanied by a ‘howling’ sound. A brilliant white flash emanated from the object, rather like a photographic flash gun, then it disappeared behind the trees again. Another local man accompanied by his twin daughters, observed an odd glowing shape in the sky above the village.
During one of the regular skywatches held by various groups while the activity was at its height, one of the researchers was visited by the police. In an attempt to confirm a sighting the researcher had stopped a passing car. He asked the occupants of the car if they had seen a ball of light in the sky, they said that they had not and drove away. The following day, he was visited by the police who asked him what he had been doing in the area at that time. How had they obtained his name and address, and perhaps what is more important, why?. In spite of repeated requests for some sort of Government assistance in attempting to find an explanation for the happenings, there has been continual ‘stonewalling’ by the authorities. The official answer most often received is "There is nothing here to investigate." This response begs the question, "If that’s the case, then why are the security services here?". Without wishing to go too far down the road of the conspiracy theorists, just how much official interest is there in the UFO question?. It is quite frankly insulting to the intelligence of the public as a whole to be confronted with continual denials by the responsible government agencies.
There were literally hundreds of sighting reports from the village and the surrounding area. Denny, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Shieldhill all experienced a wave of sightings at this time, so much so, that this area of central Scotland became known as the ‘Bonnybridge Triangle.' Just about every conceivable type of craft known to UFOlogy has been sighted in the area. Balls of light, the more conventional inverted saucer, the cigar shaped ‘mother ship.' Even the rather more sinister black, triangular variety have been reported. Perhaps the strangest of all the sightings was a ‘Toblerone’ shaped craft, strange, but still triangular!
One sighting made in the Grangemouth area was particularly spectacular. The witness Robert Muir (pseudonym) managed to take a photograph of what he is certain is a UFO. While on high ground overlooking the brightly lit BP AMOCO petrochemical complex intent on taking some photographs of the lightshow below, he had a ‘close encounter.' Sensing that something was above him and glanced up. He was shocked to observe a glowing disc apparently rapidly descending upon him.
Displaying remarkable presence of mind, he leaned back, raised his camera and released the shutter. The resulting photograph revealed a slightly blurred circular object, light grey in colour at the middle and darker at the edges. The grey area has what seems to be a slight blister at its centre that leads to out to the darker perimeter. Where this slightly raised section terminates, there is a brightly lit area that looks rather like a window illuminated from the inside. On either side of this brightly illuminated area, there are two smaller grey ‘tubes’ which are also illuminated. There is another larger illuminated section at the edge where the light and darker areas meet. At the perimeter of the dark outer circumference there is a slight ‘corona,' as if it was backlit. The object then sped off, flying over the complex. The witness although astonished by what he had seen, was none the worse for his experience and had the film developed at the first opportunity. It has been examined and does not appear to be a hoax.
Some of the more bizarre theories expressed concerning the reason for these reports of arial phenomena have included; ‘dimensional windows,' ‘parallel universes’ and ‘alien breeding programmes.' One thing that is worth noting is that there is a geological fault beneath the village, a belt of an ultra hard quartz material. This fault created major problems with mining operations in the area and caused the tunnels to be re-routed to avoid this layer of almost impenetrable material. It is feasible that this substance is prone to the ‘piezzo crystal’ effect and generates electrical charges when subject to the mechanical stress of tectonic movement. This phenomena helps lend credence to a current theory that many UFO sightings have their origin in highly unusual, natural, geo-magnetic anomalies creating an electromagnetic field which in turn affects the temporal lobe in certain sensitive people. On a skywatch held one clear, cold night in October 1998, I witnessed a brief flash of bright blue light that seemed to emanate from the ground. The light appeared as a single ball, then flashed outwards from the ball in two opposing arms. While this sighting only lasted for a fraction of a second, it was seen by eight or nine people, this was unfortunately all that did occur that night.
This ‘piezzo crystal’ effect, may also create the so called ‘plasma balls’ seen from time to time during crop circle formation and is also almost certainly a contributing factor to the parallel phenomena of ‘earth lights.' However, it does not explain why in many cases why these balls of light appear to have a definite sense of purpose about them, to the point of being under intelligent control. The large number of electrical pylons that march across the hills and moorland around Bonnybridge may also be a contributing element in this enigma. There are numerous reports of balls of light being seen clustered around the insulators mounted on top of the pylons. Again there is a feasible explanation for this, is this another phase of electromagnetic phenomena, are these glowing spheres the result of a previously unexpected facet of high voltage physics?. Or, could it be that the impressions of intelligent control are the subjective opinions of witnesses adversely affected by localised electro magnetic fields and their attempts to rationalise what they’re seeing. It will be for future generations to decide whether the electromagnetic soup that surrounds us is, in the long term ,causing harmful effects on human beings. To be sure, EM (electromagnetic) experimentation continues to be carried out by all governments particularly the US authorities in Alaska under the title of HAARP, or High Altitude Auroral Research Project. This Pentagon funded project involves bombarding the ionosphere with high energy microwaves with purpose of creating an artificial lens, why?
There is every possibility that a large part of the Bonnybridge mystery is electromagnetic in nature and that the occurrences are the result of a unique set of circumstances. On the other hand, If we can accept that the village was actually being visited by extraterrestrial craft during this period then a tentative explanation can be offered for the bizarre events.
Given the unusual geological conditions beneath the area, the concentration of power lines criss-crossing it and the relatively uninhabited areas of hill and moorland, it would make an ideal ‘Window’ area. Many of the sightings were, I am convinced, attributable to ‘earthlights ’ and associated phenomena. An oddity to be sure, but a naturally occurring one created by the unusual geology of the area. Some are the product of the mis-interpretation of aircraft and satellite sightings. The rest could well have a rather more unearthly source. The sheer variety of craft observed fuels speculation that each type has a specific use. From the so called ‘scout craft’ to the ‘mother ships.' Perhaps they originate from different races, different galaxies, even from different times. Whatever their function, for a four year period, Bonnybridge allegedly became an interplanetary ‘Central Station’. It is possible that this village, because of an utterly unique set of circumstances provided an interface between two space time continuums, in effect a ‘portal’ or gateway into our continuum. This interface provided a way station for these craft to recharge or refuel, then apparently, this set of circumstances dramatically altered and the ‘portal’ closed. Whether this was a natural occurrence or a deliberate act on the part of the visitors no one can tell, irrespective, the outcome was, no more sightings, no more ‘visitors’. Perhaps they had accomplished their task and we were no longer required in their grand scheme. There is however, no reason to assume that this could not once again alter and the ‘portal’ reopen, perhaps, this time we would be better prepared.
The Main Players
Many of the credibility problems faced by UFO research and researchers has resulted from the antics and ridiculous pronouncements of mid 20th century so called ‘contactees’. Perhaps, among the worst offenders were two of the highest profile ‘UFO Messiahs’. George Adamski and his friend and collaborator, George Hunt Williamson. It is difficult to be really annoyed, because in many ways it is impossible not to feel an degree of affection for them.
George Adamski, was born of Polish and Egyptian parents in1891, emigrating from Poland to America with his parents at the age of two where they settled in New York state. He joined the US Cavalry regiment in 1913 and was stationed in Columbus New Mexico. In 1916 he was working in Yellowstone National Park as a painter and decorator, when in 1918 he joined the National Guard and was stationed at Portland Oregon. Although details of his education are unclear, he was evidently qualified to begin lecturing in philosophy California. This continued in fits and starts, until in 1934 he founded a monastery, ‘The Royal Order of Tibet’ at Laguna Beach. At this so called monastery he proceeded to teach ‘Universal Laws, and ‘Universal Progressive Christianity’. This turn of events conjures up the prospect of a cult in the making. At around this time, he donned the mantle of ‘Professor’, and upon occasion ‘Reverend’ these were certainly honourary awards, but doubtless served to enhance his reputation.
Around 1940, he moved with his family and some followers to Palomar Gardens, on the southern slopes of Mt. Palomar in California. It is at this stage that a great deal of confusion sets in. Adamski possessed a 15in reflector telescope, which was housed under a dome a at Palomar Gardens. This was often confused with the 200 in Hale telescope sited at the Mt. Palomar Observatory which suited ‘the Professor’ very well indeed. He also initially claimed to be employed at the observatory and have free access to the telescope, although he later retracted this.
From1952, following his first alleged encounter with ‘Orthon’ the ‘space person’, sometimes referred to as a ‘space brother’, his career and the cult of Adamski really took off, literally. According to ‘the professor’, he formed a friendly relationship with ‘Orthon’ and a number of his friends which culminated in trips into outer space and visits to the moon and ‘Orthon’s’ home planet, Venus. There are of course the photographs of the ‘Flying Saucers’ all classic ‘belljar’ shapes with three the hemispheres of the ‘anti-gravity engines’ below. Although his claims became ever wilder and driven by his ego, Adamski continued to be influential in the more wide-eyed fringes of cult UFOlogy until his death in the mid 1960’s.
Another of the larger than life characters sucked into the 50’s UFO frenzy was the enigmatic Dr. George Hunt Williamson, sometime channeller, mystic and maverick archaeologist. Williamson was a prolific writer, mainly on the subject of direct contact with extraterrestrials. Although little is known of his early life which of course adds to his mystique, according to French UFO and occult researcher Jacques Vallee, he also claimed to be named Michael d’ Obrenovic and of Yugoslavian descent. The facts point to something else, Williamson was born to George and Bernice Williamson in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois. Evidently his decision to use the title dates to 1961 when he attended a wedding claiming to be HRH Prince Michael d’ Obrenovic van Lazar, Duke of Samadya. According to existing accounts, he had a taste for adopting grandiose titles and aliases to suit his own ends. Rather like his associate Adamski, if he required an academic qualification, he would award himself one as this saved a considerable amount of time and trouble. Until his death in 1986,at the age of sixty Williamson formed part of Adamski’s coterie of enthusiastic followers. Even following ‘the Professors’ death Williamson, always with his eye on the main chance, continued to promote the cult of the ‘Space Brothers’, the world is a poorer place without him and his like.
The modern ‘Gurus’ Tim Good, Bob Lazar et all, although much more technically accomplished somehow lack the ‘chutzpah’ of the pioneers of the ‘50’s. Although they are all more polished and knowledgeable, we should remember one thing: UFOlogy is a broad church and always has been a mixture of the genuine researcher and the charlatan, the gullible and the huxter, this is what continues to make it such a fascinating subject.
Alternative Viewpoints
There were and still are schools of though that UFO’s are not solid nuts and bolts machines. It can be argued that a UFO is nothing more than a figment of the imagination elevated to subjective reality by the ‘common wiring’ inherent in our brains. In other words, the images are common to all people regardless of nationality or race and only require the correct set of circumstances to appear. The eminent pioneering psychiatrist Carl Jung referred to the images as ‘archetypes’, quote, " The UFO phenomenon may be a manifestation of mans ‘collective unconscious’, a repository of archetypal images and impressions that surface in symbols, dreams and myths, predisposing man to produce very similar images, regardless of time or place. He sites the parallels between ancient religious symbols he calls mandallas, circular patterns representing - "The ideas of the universal" - and the shape of most UFO’s. Obviously, Jung regarded UFO’s as a "Purely psychological manifestation of mans hopes and fears in an uncertain world", in this manner he separates them from physical reality. This description and explanation is fine as far as it goes, but it does not explain other sightings of ‘craft’ that do not conform to circular or eliptical shapes. It is however interesting to note that the circular shape is also the main feature, the ‘archetype’ if you like, of the crop circle.
Likewise, Jacques Vallee, holds similar views, but differs from Jung in that he accepts that UFO’s are a reality, in that witnesses have been exposed to a real event, it is the nature of the event that is the crux of the matter. He suggests that the witnesses experience some type of change in localised electromagnetic energy, which may be produced spontaneously by the witnesses themselves, quote, "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 number of things may have happened. The fact 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 feature in their testimony". This approach is, I feel, closer to the answer than the entirely non physical. There is a growing groundswell of research into the electromagnetic approach as an explanation for UFO sightings. Researcher and author Albert Budden has produced an impressive body of corroborative evidence for this explanation. I believe that the comment from Jacques Vallee 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 feature in their testimony" is as close to the truth as anything else. the key factor here is determining what caused the alteration of perception.
I think the really fascinating thing about all this, is that, in the case of hypnotic regression, in spite of all the arguments pro and con, the reports of persons who claim to have been abducted are amazingly similar to the accounts of people who have not been abducted but told to imagine that they have. This is why I argue that the images we have of ‘greys’ et all, may owe more to the wiring in the neural net of our brains than anything else..
Consider that similar stories have been attributed to people from various races and cultures, who have experienced ‘NDE’: going through a tunnel towards a powerful white light, the guide /abductor leading them, being given a message etc. It suggests a common framework, a neural matrix where the imagery is contained. I also accept that various governments are capable of anything to protect their latest toys. They will use dis information, mis information and outright lies. The technologies are likewise probably in place and available. I am not so foolish that I would dismiss the possibility of us having ever been visited at some time by ET beings, but there is precious little solid evidence to support it.
Conclusion
Where then does this leave us? We have looked at some of the seminal cases and players, we have seen alternative explanations for some of them. We have not yet considered what is perhaps the most important ingredient, the classified and ‘black’ projects of the military/industrial complex. These monoliths are not only exclusive the USA, every country has, to some degree, its own version of this. Especially the Russian Federation, which, contrary to popular belief is not the toothless dragon it’s made out to be, on the contrary, there is some really fancy technology tucked away in there, safe from prying eyes.
In this instance I will concentrate on the USA, because in spite of almost obsessive security, information does leak out in bits and pieces. At first there do not appear to be links, but there most certainly are. Let’s look at Groom Lake and what had been developed there in recent years. It is safe to say the everything observed by the dedicated band of Area 51 watchers at ‘Freedom Ridge’, has been terrestrial in its entirety. Lights ‘jinking’ around in the sky, incredible high speed manoeuvres that would destroy a pilot, strange tri-angular craft. None of this was due to any other worldly influence. It is virtually certain that what was being observed were two or three separate, distinct, ‘black’ projects.
The high speed aerobatics were and are part of a research project using unmanned drones. While we possess the technical ability and materials to produce aircraft capable of carrying out these manoeuvres, regrettably the pilots cannot do the same. A perfect example of this can be found under a former black project called ‘Low Flight’. The aircraft is a beautiful, sleek, tailless, drone capable of breathtaking aerobatics using a still classified type of vectored thrust, it is also unmanned, flown remotely using virtual reality. This machine, and its siblings, have been test flown and evaluated for years at Area 51, usually at night. Bear in mind one important fact, this is what they , the US Airforce, Lockheed-Martin and NASA-AMES etc. permit you to see, so, obviously, what is still under wraps, ? Lets have a peek.
A propulsion system termed ‘Magneto Hydro-Dynamics’ has been around for nearly thirty years, and is only now being publicly acknowledged. The remarkable technology originated as project AJAX in the former USSR, but following the end of the cold war it was shelved. An American aircraft designer happened on it and decided it was worth pursuing. To this end, he sought out and unearthed all the available related documents and information. He then contacted technicians and engineers who had worked on the project and effectively resurrected the project. The outcome was that the US military have now classified the entire subject and are spending vast sums of money on it.
What this technology does is remove, or attempt to remove, one of the main limiting factors on aircraft design: friction or the ‘drag factor’. No matter how smooth the surface of the fuselage, after a certain speed, heat related problems start. In order to attain hypersonic flight, in excess of mach 17and 18, friction must be kept to an absolute minimum. What Magneto Hydro Dynamics or MHD does is to induce an Electromagnetic (EM) field that effectively surrounds the aircraft in an ‘energy bubble’ deflecting the atmosphere away from the fuselage. This is similar concept to the Teflon coating on a frying pan which prevents an item of food sticking to the metal of the pan. In the case of the EM field, this is built up at the nose of the aircraft by means of a ‘plasma torch’ and tapers back over the fuselage. There is a separate equally powerful EM field generated approximately half way along the aircraft body which serves to accelerate the deflected air past the fuselage effectively increasing the speed of the aircraft. This then is a thirty year old technology only surfacing now, probably as a taster for the announcement of a ‘new’ concept in military aircraft. Incidentally, these aircraft are, surprise surprise, tri-angular and tailless. Could advanced projects be carried out in total secrecy? The answer is yes!! The incredibly beautiful Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird spyplane (which dates from the late 1950’s) was built almost like a kit by dozens of different manufacturers who had not a clue what the individual items were for. It was not until the aircraft was finally revealed to the public did it become obvious
At the very cutting edge of available technology is a type of craft powered by light. Still in the early stages of development, this system termed ‘Airspike’, uses a precisely shaped mirror finished cone and a powerful laser. Basically, the laser is fired in pulses into the hollow of the cone creating a burst of energy at the perimeter which pushes the cone forward. Once the system is scaled up, it will be interesting to see where it leads.
.NASA is at present trialling a successor to the current shuttle which will be a much more flexible vehicle. Indeed the Mark III version is already on the drawing board and will no doubt feature some exotic new propulsion system. Already proposed are variations on ‘Scram Jet’ and ‘Pulse Jet’ technology. Indeed, when representatives of NASA and the Lockheed-Martin ‘Skunk Works’ casually raise an eyebrow and mention ‘gravity modification’ as being in there somewhere, then one experiences a faint frisson of deja vu. Curiously, and perhaps significantly, both of these shuttle designs are basically triangular lifting bodies, almost like a caricature of the current shuttle. Reports of low flying, slow flying, tri-angular craft have abounded recently, being heralded as examples of alien technology. I do not believe this to be the case, what has been seen is almost certainly ‘black technology’ in action. As I have already stated here, the clues surround us, all that is required is to make the connections. What is still hidden from us, well, again the clues are there for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Gravity displacement, worm holes, invisibility………even time travel? I believe so. Quantum mechanics and theoretical research is showing the way as man strives for mastery over his environment and the laws of physics. We may yet live to see the day when we reach for the stars. Will mankind finally attain its final destiny and become true Masters of the Universe instead of wrecking and fouling his own planet? I hope so, but not I fear in my lifetime.
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