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"We tell it as it is" Number 86 The UFO Monthly 75 January, 1975 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION Of MUFONJ MUTUAL UFO NETWORK, INC. Dr. Felix Y. Zigel, assistant professor at the Moscow Aviation Institute, is probably the top expert on UFOs in the Soviet Union. In this issue of SKYLOOK, Inter- national Coordinator Joe Brill describes Dr. Zigel's work. In future issues he will quote directly from Dr. Zigel's Russian manuscript, which Brill has obtained through an unofficial source and had translated.
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Page 1: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

"We tell it as it is"

Number 86 The UFO Monthly75January, 1975

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION Of MUFONJ MUTUAL UFO NETWORK, INC.

Dr. Felix Y. Zigel, assistant professor at the MoscowAviation Institute, is probably the top expert on UFOsin the Soviet Union. In this issue of SKYLOOK, Inter-national Coordinator Joe Brill describes Dr. Zigel's

work. In future issues he will quote directly from Dr.Zigel's Russian manuscript, which Brill has obtainedthrough an unofficial source and had translated.

Page 2: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

SKYLOOKThe UFO Monthly26 Edgewood DriveQuincy, Illinois 62301

Dwight ConnellyEditor

Carolyn ConnellyBusiness Manager

Walter H. AndrusDirector of MUFON

Ted BloecherHurrianoid/Occupant Cases

Joseph M. BrUlInternational Coordinator

The Rev. Dr. Barry DowningReligion and UFOs

Lucius ParishBooks, Periodicals, History

Marjorie FishExtraterrestrial Life

Stan GordonCreatures & UFO's

Mark HerbstrittAstronomy

Rosetta HolmesPromotion/Publicity

Bob KirkpatrickWest Coast Coordinator

Ted PhillipsUFO Landing Traces

David A. SchrothSt. Louis/Mass Media

John F. SchuesslerUFO Propulsion

Norma £. ShortEditor-Publisher Emeritus

In, Italy, landing case 3

Close-in lighted globe in California SCriticism of Eric Von Daniken continues 8Tasmania, Australia, has rash of sightings - 1 0Gordon explains need for creature research .. .. .. .13UFO's Behind the Iron Curtain discusses Zigel 14Auto damaged by glowing object 15In Others' Words . . . . . . . . 16Project Starlight International explained 17MUFON Director's Message 18N.C. group checks reported UFO 19Recapping and Commenting . .20

EDITORIAL COMMENT

As noted briefly in the last issue ofSKYLOOK, the basic subscriptionprice for the magazine will be $8.00per year, rather than the $10 previous-ly announced. MUFON members willpay a combination dues/subscriptionprice of $12 per year, effective Jan. 1,with special provisions for multi-member households and membersunder the age of 18 (see Director'sMessage in this issue).

Also as announced in the last issue,SKYLOOK will remain a financiallyindependent publication, as it hassince 1967, rather than merging com-pletely with MUFON at this time.SKYLOOK will, of course, continueto serve as MUFON's Official Publi-cation, as it has since 1969. Through aseries of meetings, both MUFON andSKYLOOK agreed that it would bebest to delay the proposed merger,pending completion of organizationalchanges now underway

MUFON is in the process of stream-lining its Board of Directors struc-ture to reflect the extensive growthof the organization, and this processwill take a great deal of work andtime. It is hoped that the proposedreorganization can be finalized at the1975 MUFON Symposium meeting inDes Moines, Iowa, in July. As detailsof the reorganization are decided,SKYLOOK's eventual financial rela-tionship with MUFON can be deter-mined more adequately than at pres-

ent, In the meantime SKYLOOK andMUFON will, of course, continue towork as a unit in serving membersand readers.

Under the new $8.QQ per year sub-scription rate, SKYLOOK will nothave much leeway in absorbing -in-creased printing costs, UNLESS sukscriptions rise dramatically in thenext few months. Subscriptions havebeen increasing gradually, out therate of increase needs to be faster ifthe pep-unit cost is to be kept in linein these times, of rising costs. We willcontinue to dp many of the things wewould normally expect a commercialprinter to do, and this will help, butwe need the help of our readers, too.

Here is what we are asking you todo; contact your local libraries, bothpublic and school, and request thatthey subscribe to SKYLOOK. In addi-tion, get ONE other person to sub?scribe, If all our readers would do this(or even a substantial number), theper-unit price would go down dra-matically. Members of UFO groups?who are now sharing copies can helpby purchasing individual subscrip-tions (they make nice files and col-lectors' items).

A significant increase in subscrip-tions would mean we could hold theline on subscription rates, and prob-ably enlarge and otherwise improveSKYLOOK.

Will you help? :SKYLOOK THE UFO MONTHLY is published monthly by Dwight Connelly, 26 Edge-

wood, Quincy, IL. 62301 U.S.A. Subscription rates: U.S. $8.00 per year; foreign $9,00 per year.Single copy, 75 cents.

Second Class postage paid at Quincy, IL. 62301.Advertising rates: $5.00 per column inch. Minimum charge of $5.00. All ads subject

to approval of editor

—2—

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Jul)LlP, 1974

it-

Italian UFO leaves—tracesby: Dr. MarcoRepresentative

Sent to MUFONMarianti, MUFONfor Italy.

Submitted through Joe Brill, Inter-national Coordinator for MUFON.

First phase: Time: 10:35 or 10:40p.m. Date: July 10,1974.

Three girls, Maria Grazia Gandini,Patrizia Cremonesi and GiovannaRagni, were walking along the streetwhen Giovanna Ragni called the at-tention of her companions to a "verystrange light" which was moving veryquickly through the sky.

It had a diameter apparently great-er than that of a star, and its colorchanged from yellow to reddish-orange. The "thing" approached witha right angular diagonal type of di-rection with regard to the earth andwith a very wavy type of motion, sothat the witnesses had the impressionthat it had the form of a perfect"semisphere."

The "strange thing" passed directly

over their heads and the girls wavedtheir arms in a sign of greeting andsuddenly they observed in the lowersection a light go on and off inter-mittently. The flashes of light werevery well separated from each other."They were like normal lamps . . .""They were of a white yellowish colorand very bright," the witnesses re-ported.

The object slowed in its velocityand made a "gentle turn" always inan undulating flight and then again itresumed the right angle turn towardthe earth and in departing in a wavyflight disappeared behind a house.After having run along the street alittle further, the girls observed moreclearly a sort of "spot of fire" whichshined forth in a field on the horizon.

Second Phase: Time: 11:25 p.m.Date: July 10,1974.

Giovanna Ragni returned home andreported what she and her friends hadseen to her family, and they did notgive her story any attention or think

it to be of any real importance, butthen they went out on the balcony, oftheir house and all the members ofthe Ragni family (the father, themother, Giovanna and her brotherGuido) observed in a distant field avery strange thing which was similarto what Giovanna .had reported to allof them.

It was a luminous sphere whichseemed to hover at a short distanceabove the ground and emanate a pul-sating light which varied in its in-tensity and in color without ever com-pletely going out. In the moments ofgreat intensity, the light assumed avery strong red, while in the momentsof less intensity the color became aclear orange.

Guido Ragni, a security policeman,picked up the telephone and calledthe fire department of Pavia, but hewas informed that if he was notspeaking of a real fire that wasspreading, they could not respond be-cause this affair would not be of their

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Page 4: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

concern.The policeman returned to the bal-

cony and noticed that many otherpersons were standing and observingthis luminous object in the field, fromthe balconies of nearby houses, but healone decided to go and investigatefor himself at close range'. He askedhis sister to go with him. His mother,moved by a protective sense for herson, insisted and also went with themto get a better look at this thing.

Third Phase: Time: 11:45 p.m.Date: July 10,1974.

These three individuals climbedinto their automobile and after leav-ing the main highway they threadedtheir way along a dirt road whichtook them into the area that theywere interested in, but instead of see-ing the "luminous object" they sawnothing but complete darkness.

The day had been hot and serene—a typical Italian summer day in July—the moon had already set and thenight was dark and perfectly clear.Everything was in order, and in thesky many stars were shining whichseemed to smile down ironically, butthere were no strange noises heard.

Now, rather completely confused,the policeman supposed that all thewitnesses, himself included, had beendeceived by a very unusual naturalphenomena, and after a short whilethey decided to go back home. Butthen the mother let out a scream, andGuido turned suddenly to see what itwas. There in the field hovering wasthe same object they had seen fromthe balcony of their house, shiningbrilliantly.

It was a "luminous semisphere" of

Two "very scorched"areas

about ten meters in diameter, flat onits base, part of the object going ver-tically up. Meanwhile, the witnesseswere truly frightened and they scram-bled into their car and sped away asfast as possible. The mother observedother particulars: a sort of "pillow"of red dust between the base of theobject and the ground below it" and asort of "fixed light" pointed towardthe ground in the lower part of theobject.

They calculated that the UFO wasabout three hundred meters fromthem, and they heard no sound norsmelled any odor nor had any other

This sketch of the alleged UFO ap-peared in the Aug. 1, 1974, editionof "Corriere d'lnformazione."

E-M effects of any kind.Fourth Phase: Time: 00:15 hours.

Date: July 11,1974.On returning home, the policeman

,Ragm called the Carabinieri (Italiannational police) of Pavia and withthem returned to the site. The UFOwas no longer there, but they dis-covered a very large trace on theground formed by the stubbles (thegrain had been cut previously by thepeasants) which had been burned andscorched in a circular manner, witha whole line of dust and ashes scat-tered on the surface.

The traces were many meters froma very dusty road which ran along-side this grain field. The trace had theform of a rectangle (about 30 x 15meters), with the broad side parallel

The electrical power station.

to the road. On the other broad'side ofthe rectangle there were three burnttracks in the form of triangles point-ing towards Pavia.

It should clearly be pointed out thatthe field where these traces were dis-covered had been sprinkled abundant-ly after the harvesting so that on the13th of July the ground was stillsoaked with water, so that, a normalfire was simply impossible.

While investigating this sighting,the Carabinieri discovered anothertrace on the road which bordered onthe field. There was a circular im-print of about one and a half metersin diameter (one meter and 50 centi-meters exactly) and very definitly"fresh," according to the Carabinieri.

Some newspapers reported that twopersons (Mr. Vecchi and his daughterElda, who live near the landing site)between 11:45 and 00:15 hrs. wentinto the corn field to extinguish alittle fire that was burning.

Very near to the landing tracesthere pass electric power lines, andthere is also an electric power cabindirectly in front of the burnt trace onthe other side of the dirt road.

Two very intensely burnt areas ap-peared in the center and the right ofthe rectangular trace, and also thecircular imprint found on the road.

All of the witnesses seemed honestand sincere during the interviews.The Commanding Officer of the se-curity police guaranteed the unim-peachable seriousness and alertnessof the principal witness, Guido Ragni.

—4—

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California, May 23, 1974

Close-in lighted globe reportedBy Ann DruHel

MUFON InrestigatorThis sighting on May 23,1974 involv-

ing an unidentified flying object isrecounted in detail for three mainreasons:

•1. The closeness with which theUFO approached the witness;

2. The wealth of detail regardingthe UFO as noted by an exceptionallyobservant and eloquent witness; and

3. The nature of the witness herselfand the effect of the UFO upon herwhich might provide some clues to 'asuspected link between UFO activityand parapsychology.

Since the witness, Miss Ethel Berg-man, 64, is exceptionally well-read,educated, and uses very clear andmeaningful language, most of the textwill be in her own words. The nar-rative has been taken from a .45 .min-ute tape recording made at the sceneof the sighting. It is essentially se-quential, but has been edited down toa manageable length:

The Sighting

"At 12:57 a.m. (just past midnight)on that day, I stepped out onto mysecond-story balcony to shake out thedrapes. I'm that way. I do things whenthe mood strikes me. I was bangingaway at the drapes on the balconyrail, which faces east. I noted that theclouds were very high and thick, butthey did not cover the sky. They weretorn and ripped, and a lot of dark skyshowed between them.

"I had my eyes again on the drapes,when all of a sudden I felt that abright flashlight was in my eyes.Straight with the line of my vision,right over a red roof on the next block,I saw a bright white light so brilliantthat I couldn't see any nearby pointsin relation to it. The object had memesmerized immediately, not in thesense that I didn't know what I wasdoing, but I knew I'd never seen any-thing like it and probably never willagain. But it didn't occur to me thatit was anything out-of-space untillater on.

"It was a perfect circle, and thesize seemed to be about the size of awall there (pointing behind the in-

< ' I ' I I t I / / / / /O OOOOOCM3OOO OOOOOOOOOOO

\ \ \ \ \ \ \O O P • O o

ofvestigator), or about six to eight feetin diameter. All -I could think of wasthat they found me there and theythought they'd have some fun. Ihaven't been out since I've lived hereat 1:00 at night.

"It was right in front of me, fullsize, when I first saw it. The thing thathit me was the two different types oflighting on it. On the top half of thesphere, the inside had a glow like anilluminated milk-globe lamp, butmore translucent, really more like afrosted incandescent light bulb. Youcouldn't see through it — it was likesolid incandencent radiation, very in-tense.

Diamond-Like"Then right in the center of the

globe, just like a dividing line, weregleaming diamond-like points of light,pinpointing the outside. This verysharp lighting made a contrast withthe solid lighted portion above, evencompared with the intense glowabove. It was like a diamond tiaraaround the sphere, astonishinglybright. These points seemed to beextra lights coming from the outside.(See Sketch 1)

"This diamond effect must havegone around to the other side. Itseemed to encircle the sphere. I can'tremember, because of the sharpnessof the light, whether the entire bottomof the globe was sprinkled with these

—5—

diamond light points, or whether theimpression of extra outside lights onthe rest of the bottom was caused byreflection from the intense band, thetiara effect around the middle. Butthe entire bottom half was so brilliantthat it gave the same effect.

"When the globe was coming at me,it was very slow, even seemed closeto hovering at first. I don't rememberit growing in size as it came nearer.Its slow speed enabled me to get agood look at it. It was in full closeview for about 25 seconds.

"At no time was there any lightbeamed at me or the surroundingsfrom the thing. It radiated by itselfand within itself. It cast no shadowson the ground, at least none I noticed.I was staring at it so intensely Ididn't notice anything else around me.At no time did the lights on the ob-ject blink, but the lights around thecenter gave off sparkles, not in regu-lar rhythm, though. It was rather theirregular dimming and brightening ofscintillation, like a diamond, or thesun reflected on water, rather thanblinking. It wasn't an on-and-off deal,but a constant scintillation.

"After it approached me, movingeast to west, it veered to my right(south) went just over a tree abouttwenty feet away, and then startedleaping up and off southwest at adiagonal. I ran to the corner of theporch because I wanted to see whatthe back looked like. Naturally Iwasn't going to miss anything.

Fin Visible"In the darkness around the ball of

light I saw a little fin or fish-tailedthing sticking out from the bottom.(See Sketch 2) I've never been able tofigure the exact shape. I saw theshadow of an outline. There was noappurtenance over or under it, justthat little protuberance in the rear.

"The fin was darker than the back-ground of the sky, because the skyaround here gives off a little sheenfrom reflected lights of the city. I gota look of about five seconds at theback. On the back, the upper part wasnot so bright. The glow still camefrom the center, but the under part of

Page 6: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

the globe still reflected the samescintillating kind of glow, only not sobright as on the front of the thing. Theglow was enough, however, to make ashadow out of the fin-shaped thing.

"I didn't see exactly where the finwas.attached. It could have been up „into the body of the thing and stick-ing out from beyond the perimeter.That doesn't mean that it couldn'thave been stuck on up on the body,only that the light prevented me fromseeing it among the glare. If I had tochoose a color for the fin, I'd say itwas dark brown.

No Sound

"Lwas fascinated by it. There wasno sound at all. I have unusually goodhearing, being able to detect, the low-est and highest sounds audible to thehuman ear, according to audiometertests I've had. In fact, even ordinarynoise bothers me, like my landlord

. handling lumber or hammering in theback yard.

"The oddest thing of all was theway it disappeared. It leaped up intothe southwest sky and disappeared.When it took off, it was so fast it wasgone in the blink of an eye. It nevergot up into the clouds. My impressionwas that it disappeared maybe likeit went into another dimension andbecame invisible. You saw it, andthen it disappeared and it was gone!

"I'm mystified about how I saw itcome down so low. I never actuallysaw it go behind or in front of any-thing, but it seemed to be maneuveredin order to avoid bumping into thewires and trees in the back yard. Infact, I thought it was going to land inthe back yard!

"I saw it certainly no less thanthirty seconds, and it seemed as longas a minute. Not only do you losetrack of time, but you're just in a dif-ferent mood when you see somethinglike that. You're not thinking of thepassage of time, you're thinking thathere's something you've never seenbefore and you're concentrating onobserving it.

"It certainly wasn't more than ablock away when it came upon me,this I am certain. Look at the timing!It's a funny thing for me to do, shak-ing out dust from curtains at thathour of the night, but the thought justoccurred to me I'd better do it while

. I had a few minutes because I might

ftff-

forget to do it in the morning. It'snot like I was going out looking at thesky, even.

"It was like Jung calls synchro-nicity. It can't be coincidence, be-cause I'll probably never again seeanything like that so close. It aimedstraight at me, and then when it cameclose, it veered right off."

Viewing Angles

After the interview, angles were ob-tained by the investigator from theplaces on the porch where the objectwas viewed. The object was first seenat 80 degrees azimuth, and was at 200degrees azimuth when it disappeared.When first seen it was at five degreeselevation, and seventeen degrees ele-vation at disappearance.

At its closest point east to westtoward Mrs. Bergman, it was seven-teen degrees elevation, and main-tained that elevation as it passedabove a tree by her garage sometwenty feet from the southeast cornerof her porch, traveled through thesouthern sky, and finally disappearedat seventeen degrees elevation in thesouthwest. .

It is about nine feet from the spotwhere Mrs. Bergman was shaking herdrapes to the corner of the porchwhere she moved quickly to see theback of the object. We reenacted theentire sighting to obtain an estimateof its duration. It came to between 27-30 seconds.

The angles indicated that the ob-ject, in relation to her, was just abovea telephone wire some twenty feetfrom the porch due east, but of coursewe have only her own judgment that

—6—

the object was, in fact, really thatclose to her. The same applies to herjudgment that the object passed'above the nearby tree.

The fact that she did not at anytime notice it growing in size as it"moved toward her" indicates to methat- it was, in actuality, very close.Its failure to grow in size hints that itwas much nearer to her than a blockaway (400 feet) when first seen, eventhough it seemed to her that it wasover a red roof on the next block whenshe first saw it.

The sensation of its moving nearerwas doubtless caused by its movingfrom five degrees elevation to seven- 'teen degrees elevation during its"slow approach." Did the object, infact, "materialize" close to her, just *as it seemed to "dematerialize" at itsdisappearance?

The object subtended an angle ofabout two degrees arc. She comparedit to the size of a small bottle capheld at arm's length, after searchingthrough her house for an adequatecomparison, since the investigator'susual comparison objects, aspirin,dime, penny, quarter, etc., did not suither. The bottle cap is about one andone-half inch diameter (3.8 centi-meters).

The great apparent size, the wit-ness' unshakeable belief of closeness,and the fact that at no time did it passbehind any of the many available ref-erence points in and around the yardgive credence to the possibility thatthe object was, indeed, very close,perhaps on the order of twenty feetaway. These points also give credenceto the possibility that the object was,as the witness thinks, maneuveringabout the yard and house (and around I1'her?).

The tree over which it seemed to ?pass had branches reaching up to •about fifteen degrees elevation. Therewas no evidence of burned branches,wilted leaves, etc., on this tree.

Personal Data.On Witness

Miss Bergman is divorced, no chil-dren. She lives alone in a denselysettled area of Los Angeles, on thesecond story of a rental unit, situated"in the backyard of her landlord'shome. Miss Bergman is Jewish, wasformerly married to a man with anIrish surname, but took back her

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BEC DOUX El SES AMIS KEN MEAUX-EARl COMEAUX

rumi C'ETAITQUOI C ETAIT C'ETAIT UN DECES

maiden name when she divorced.She is retired, having formerly

been employed as a medical secre-tary. She is well-educated, with twoyears of law school training. Sheseems an extremely intelligent per-son. During the interview and twosubsequent phone calls she has notmade any attempt to embellish heroriginal account of the sighting.

She states before the incident shehad never given thought to UFOs be-fore. She was very skeptical aboutstories she'd heard, but now that shehas seen an unidentified flying objectherself, she accepts them as real.

She states that she has troublewearing a watch (a fact that seems tocrop up from time to time amongUFO witnesses). She has tried brandname after brand name, but theyeither refuse to run or run too ir-regularly to do any good. She has no-ticed, too, that electrical appliancesin her home have abnormally shortuse-lives. Radios go out after only afew months, her television is often inneed of repair, her refrigerator givesshocks.

She has wondered often, even be-fore the UFO incident, if the electri-cal charge in her body is somehowabnormal. She speculated about thepossibility that the UFO might havedetected this about her, accountingfor its extremely close approach to

LES PRIX OESONTTROP

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PRICES TOO HI6H.GWN6' 6ACK

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her (curiosity?)

Parapsychological Aspects

Toward the end of the interview,the investigator on impulse askedMiss Bergman if she considers her-self "psychic." She unhesitatingly re-plied that she did. She told of havinggone through an "awakening of grace"in 1947, and since that time she hasrealized that life is not a quest forpersonal success or comfort butrather a period of opportunity forone's personal spiritual development.

She considers herself Jewish butdoesn't practice any orthodox re-ligion. She accepts Christ as herspiritual leader. She feels that she is"an old soul," one which has livedother lives before in its quest for per-sonal development.

She speculates that the objectmight possibly have found her differ-ent, not only because of her effect onelectrical equipment, but also be-cause of her concentration on psychicand spiritual development. She feltthat the object "had an existence inanother dimension," but temporarilyappeared to her eyes in a physicalstate for whatever its reasons mightbe.

She commented that since the spir-itual or psychic world is of a vibra-tory rate different from the physicaluniverse, there might be some con-

nection.'She was entirely free of a prideful

manner. She spoke of the possiblepsychic connection only when di-rectly asked by the investigator, giv-ing answers to specific questions. Shewas as objective in her mannerdiscussing the psychic factors as shewas in her straightforward descrip-tion of the sighting.

Investigator Druffel points out thesimilarities between the Bergmansighting and the sighting by DarrelNickels in Oklahoma on Nov. 30, 1973(May, 1974, Skylook).

Meteorological and wind conditionsfor the day and time of sighting indi-cate that the object was travelingcounter to the flow of wind.

UFO course plannedat U of Alabama

A Course entitled "UFOs: A Scien-tific Approach""will be taught May12 through May 30 during the InterimTerm at The University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, Ala. Professor E. J.Planz, Associate Professor of Metal-lurgical Engineering and MUFONState Director for Alabama, is,con-ducting the course.

Anyone interested in enrolling inthe courss may obtain particulars bywriting to Dr. Donald Noble, DirectorInterim Term, Box BG, University,Alabama 35486.

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Serious researchers dubious

Criticism of Von Daniken continuesBy David Branch

Santa Ana Register

Copyright 1974 by David Branch

Von Daniken: If I find that whatI've written is wrong, then I will bethe first to correct i t . . . I never in-vent anything.

Interviewer: In the book ("TheGold of the Gods") you say (archaeol-ogist) Moricz led you in darkness,then gave yon the command, "Switchon your torches!" You write, "We arestanding dumbfounded and amazed inthe middle of a gigantic hall" Is thatwhat really happened?

Von Daniken: No, that is not true.It is what I call theatrical effect. —"Playboy," August 1974.

The 25 million-copy internationalbest-selling books by Erich von Dani-ken ("GodsiFrom Outer Space," "TheGold of the Gods," "In search of theGods," and "Chariots of the Gods?"),in which the Swiss author argues thatastronauts from outer space visitedthe earth in ancient times, have comeunder devastating attacks recently.

(Von Daniken has become a mod-ern phenomenon; his theory, a world-wide fad. In America, Playboy maga-zine said recently, "Von Danikenranks in popularity ... somewhere be-tween the streaking and the exorcismcraze. 'Chariots' is in its 44th paper-back printing, with U.S. sales esti-mated at 5,000,000 copies.")

Both in a book titled, "Some Trustin Chariots" (Popular Library: NewYork; 128 pp., 95$), and in a cuttinginterview in Playboy magazine(August, 1974), the "evidence" sup-porting the ancient-astronaut hypoth-esis is dismantled to what somecritics believe to be an irreparabledegree.

One scholar who has followed theVon Daniken controversy, Dr. AlvinH. Lawson, professor of English at theCalifornia State University at LongBeach, is conducting studies into thelogic and semantics of the UFO (un-identified-f lying-object) debate aspart of a course in UFO literature he

—Photo by Dwight Connelly

Eric Von Daniken was a featuredmember of a discussion panel at thefirst conference of the Ancient As-tronaut Society last summer inChicago.

is now teaching. "Playboy demolishedVon Daniken," Lawson said to merecently.

Prior to reading the Playboy inter-view last week, I had discovered"Some Trust," a compilation fromAustralia of authoritative analyses ofVon Daniken's "Chariots." Salientstatements from "Some Trust" fol-low:

—A.D. Crown, senior lecturer, De-partment of Semitic Studies, Univer-sity of Sydney: "There can be littledoubt that a group of responsiblescholars drawing on their trainingcan demolish the arguments put for-ward by Von Daniken in his 'Chariotsof the Gods?', for there is barely astatement in the book which willstand scrutiny."

—Colin Gauld, lecturer in ScienceEducation, University of New SouthWales: "Von Daniken makes someremarkable statements about specu-lation which he openly contradicts inother sections . . . This inconsistencyborders on academic dishonesty!"

—Professor Basil Hennessy, visit-ing professor of Near Eastern Ar-chaeology, University of Sydney; for-mer director, British School of Ar-chaeology, Jerusalem: "Von Dani-ken's 'non-existent' rope (used to con-struct the Great Pyramid in Egypt)

—8—

. . . can be seen in quantities in theCairo and other museums . . . (He)may well ask why the Egyptianpriests lied so shamelessly to thetraveler Herodotus (about allegedgods from the sky . . . but we mayequally well ask why the modernHerodotus (Von Daniken) with allthe contrary facts before him shouldso shamelessly continue the decep-tion."

—E.C.B. MacLaurin, head of the fDepartment of Semitic Studies, Uni- "versity of Sydney: "Von Daniken'schief weakness is sheer ignorance ... '(His) book is superficially plausiblebut cannot stand up to examination.."

—Barbara Thiering, lecturer inHebrew and Biblical Studies, Univer-sity of Sydney—specialist in the DeadSea Scrolls: "Von Daniken's state-ments about the Dead Sea Scrolls re-veal ignorance of basic fact and basicmethodology."

—Gordon Whittaker, lecturer inAztec Civilization at Brandeis Uni-versity, U.S.A.: "Von Daniken ap-pears to have gone out of his way todistort and ignore the known facts ofAztec civilization."

—N.K. Weeks, lecturer in AncientHistory, University of Sydney: "Fromthe point of view of the Mesopota-mian evidence, this book is so full oferror, mis-statement and untruth asto be worthless."

—Clive Houlsby, chartered civil en-gineer, Australia (who analyzed VonDaniken's claims of outer-space in-fluence in the construction of the fEgyptian pyramids): "It seemsfatuous of Herr von Daniken to have fbuilt such an extensive theory on such '*'readily disprovable premises."

Although authoritative opinions donot in themselves disprove the an-cient-astronaut theory, they do indi-cate that serious readers should ap-proach Von Daniken's books withcaution and skepticism. And "SomeTrust" contains numerous concreteobjections to Von Daniken's views.

Playboy interviewer Timothy Fer-ris asked Von Daniken, at one pointduring their three-day talk, for hisstrongest evidence that astronauts

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landed on Earth in ancient times. Inreply, Von Daniken cited a stone carv-ing in Yucatan that allegedly showsan astronaut piloting a rocket.

"— at his nose he has what I wouldcall an oxygen mask," said Von Dani-ken. "He is operating some controlswith his hands, turning somethingon—you can recognize every detail—and the heel of his left foot seems tobe on a pedal which has differentadjustments. Behind him you seesome circles, some boxes, all kindsof mysterious things. And outside is aflame like an exhaust."

Aztec specialist Gordon Whittaker,however, points out that a quetzalbird (the national bird of Guatemala)is perched on the nose of Von Dani-ken's "rocket."

"But then," Whittaker continues,"Von Daniken does not mention therather distasteful skull with the bigfangs pictured below the astronaut'sseat either. Nordoes he mention thelife-expectancy of the astronaut, whois sticking his head outside therocket.

"And now that I think about it, theastronaut must have taken his trendyjacket off, since all I can see is anecklace and ornament on his chest.His shorts are sadly too much likethe commonplace Maya kilt—he prob-ably picked it up on his travels. Hisantenna could easily be mistaken fora Maya hairdo—camouflage, I sus-pect.

"One has to hand it to Von Danikenfor not being fooled by the arrogantmembers of the Establishment whosay that the relief only shows aMayan dignitary on a throne abovethe skull of the Lord of the Earth, andthat the dignitary is about to pluck afruit from the Tree of life, on top ofwhich is a sacred bird representingthe zenith direction.

"After all, who ever heard of anastronaut in the company of a birdblasting off into space in a tree?"

Interviewer Ferris asked Von Dani-ken in conclusion: "In 'Gold of theGods'.. . you suggest that the bananawas brought to Earth from space.Were you serious?"

"No and not many people realizethat," Von Daniken said.

"Is all your writing a put-on?" askedFerris. .

" . . . yes and no In some part.".-..

I mean what I say seriously. In otherways, I mean to make people laugh."

Playboy reports that at the age of19 Von Daniken was examined by apsychiatrist who said he displayed a"tendency to lie." Some years later

—9—

he was convicted of "repeated andsustained acts of embezzlement . . .fraud . . . forgery' — and served ayear in prison. At his trial, a court-appointed psychiatrist described himas a liar and a criminal psychopath."

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Tasmania, Australia, reportsLight in skyat ScamanderReported by: Paul B. Jackson,

MUFON Research Associate, TheTasmanian UFO Investigation Cen-tre.

Submitted by: Joe Brill, InternationalCoordinator.It was a lucky day for the Tasman-

ian UFO Investigation Centre whenRoger Brooks, a senior English Mas-ter and Garry Bensemann sighted aUFO at Scamander on Aug. 30, 1974.Their meticulous notes on the sight-ing resulted in one of the best docu-mented reports to the Centre.

About 10:20 p.m. the two men wereout walking a dog on Scamanderbeach when the dog became excit-able; it was then they noticed whatlooked to be a bright aircraft light,estimated to be Vz a mile out over thesea to the southeast.

After watching the light movingerratically for 10 minutes and realiz-ing it wasn't a plane, Brooks tele-phoned the Hobart Airport; they inturn gave him the Centre's telephonenumber.

Sightings Officer Ken Bennetto wasable to give Brooks hints on how toobserve the strange light and the twowitnesses then formed a simple rec-tangle with sticks driven into thesand. Watching the light, they loggedits flight path.

The UFO darted at strange anglesaround the sky, hovered, alteredspeed and flashed colored lights.

The UFO had been moving vaguelynorth and was due east of the wit-nesses by 10:45 p.m. Then it startedto move steadily south along the coastso the witnesses rushed to their car.They drove some 8 or 9 miles south ofScamander, keeping the UFO in sight.However, it was moving faster thanthey were, and became fainter; by11:30 p.m. it looked like a movingstar and at 12:15 a.m. disappearedinto increasing clouds.

Description of UFOThe UFO was mainly composed of

lights. The brightest, a pale yellow,

was shaped like a sharp dome; be-neath that, green, pink, and occasionalwhite and pale blue light moved fromleft to right around what appeared tobe a disc like an unturned plate. Thislower part did not appear solid, butrather was an area of light.

Its apparent size was about one-sixteenth moon sized; at Vz a milethis could roughtly be a width of atleast 20 ft. plus.

The light from the object did notmake shafts in the sky, but rathertwinkled brightly.

Clouds began to appear some halfhour after the object was firstsighted; Jupiter and the stars wentdim, but not the UFO—only when itdisappeared south into the increasingcloud did it fade about 11:50 p.m. Itwas seen again just after midnightvery distant before going into cloudsagain after some 12 minutes.

MovementsIn relation with St. Patricks head to

the south, the UFO appeared to be thesame height of around 1,600 feet: Thelight was first seen to the southeastand came northward initially.

When it was moving in a darting,hovering pattern the witnesses set uptheir rectangle of sticks. There wasno circular or curved flight noticed.At times it moved at slow steadycar speed, then the speed of a fastcar, and at other times like the speedof an aircraft on take off.

When it was stationary it would re-main in the one position for some 10to 20 seconds before moving on. Whenit travelled away to the south gainingelevation, it did so steadily but at anincreasing speed.

ConclusionsScamander is over 150 miles from

Hobart, situated on the state's eastcoast, being only 35 miles as the crowflies southeast of Gladstone. The re-port certainly fits in well with theUFO Flap from the North East and afurther sighting at St. Marys soonafter..

Checks with DCA proved that therewere no aircraft in the sighting area,while our astronomical adviser dis-counted satellites. The brightest as-tronomical object, Jupiter, was noted

— 10—

by the witnesses at the time of thesighting. The weather tallied withwitnesses' descriptions, being fine atfirst with increasing clouds later.

No one else viewed the UFO, mostpeople being in bed at the time.

Family'buzzed/Shocked by UFO

Investigator: Mr. R. Brooks. f:Sent to Joe M. Brill, International '

Coordinator, by Paul Jackson, Cor- 'respondence Officer, Tasmanian UFO •Investigation Center.

Date of Sighting: Sept. 16, 1974.Location: Near St. Helens, Tas-

mania, Australia.Since May, northeast Tasmania has

seen cars followed, hunters ap-proached, and brilliant low levelUFO's, but on the night of Sept. 16the UFO came south to the St. Marysarea a number of miles inland fromthe Aug. 30 case at Scamander.

The sighting was headlined in theHobart "Mercury" of Sept. 21 under,"UFO's BUZZED FAMILY." The pa-per told the story of the Richards fam-ily being terrorized by a UFO. Fol-lowing up the paper story revealedthe location of the sighting was infact on the Anson's Bay Road four tofive miles north of St. Helens, a smallport 12 miles north of Scamander.The sighting area is only 20 milessoutheast of the Gladstone district.

Mrs. A. Richards of "The Marshes," tabout 12 miles north of St. Helens,was returning home from Launceston ,..with her two children, Janine (8 yrs. ,jold) and Kathleen (5 yrs. old). Afterstopping at her sister-in-law's, Mrs.Richards continued on home. Kath-leen, by now being very tired, went tosleep. The car at this stage was run-ning well.

Mr. R. Brooks of Scamander, anEnglish teacher, visited the witnesson behalf of TUFOIC and we are in-debted to him for the following nar-rative. -

Sequence of EventsIt was dark with light drizzle when

Mrs. Richards approached a bridge

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series of 1974 UFO sightingson Ansons Bay Road approximatelyfour to five miles north of St. Helens.She noticed that the car radio wentstatic. Previously there had beengood reception and she hadn't noticedthis trouble before.

Following the radio going static, thesky marked by the witness' field ofvision ahead was lighted brightly. Asthe car crossed the bridge it lostpower on a gentle incline, thenstopped dead and all the lights of thecar went out: headlights, radio, heat-er, and dashboard — total darknessexcept for the light in the sky.

Mrs. Richards tried to start thecar, but after ten seconds a deafeningvibrating noise enveloped the car"like 30 to 40 large jets. I felt my headwas splitting oepn. I thought theworld was coming to an end," saidMrs. Richards. The noise forced herio cover her ears.

Kathleen was still asleep, butJanine said the sound was "deafen-ing." Almost simultaneously, quitepainful electric shocks began pene-trating their bodies—like electric vi-brations, far worse than a shock froman electric kettle. (Mrs. Richardsguessed about 400 to 500 volts). Thisall lasted for about a minute, duringwhich she thinks she screamed.

A Choking GasThen the car was filled by an in-

visible smell—a penetrating gas, farstronger than commercial bottledgas, and nothing recognizable. Janinesmelt it too and both leaped out ofthe car for air. "All I wanted wasfresh air and to breathe properly,"said Mrs. Richards.

They dragged Kathleen, who wasdazed, half awake, from the car andfled down the road. By this time therewas only light in the sky.

Around 9:45 p.m. they reached thehouse of Mr. H. Chappel, about twomiles from the car. Mr. Chappel was

.alarmed by Mrs. Richards' uncon-trolled state. He returned with hisbrother and Mrs. Richards to the carand there was no sign of any light.The car started faultlessly althoughthere was little water in the radiator.Mr. Chappel is a mechanic, and atthat time could find nothing wrong

with the car except a hot hood-probably the radiator had boiled. Mrs.Richards finally continued on home.

Husband Second WitnessAt the time of the experience Mr.

Richards, who was waiting at home,saw lights in the sky and heard a dis-tant roar. He though it was his wifedriving along the farm road and tooklittle notice, expecting her to arriveat any minute. He was surprised whenthe car did not come over the hill.

Car Checked

The next day a St. Helens garageproprietor, Mr. G. Stone, examinedthe car thoroughly and could findnothing wrong; the radio worked andthe electrical system was in workingorder.

After Effects on WitnessThe day after the event, Mrs.

Richards' arms and fingers werebadly swollen and she had difficultyin walking. She had a numb right faceand a red mark (2 cent size) aboveher right eyebrow. She claims she didnot bruise herself, but that the vibra-tions did it.

Despite-tranquillizers the witness'nerves have been in a poor state sincethe incident. Mrs. Richards consulteda doctor, who felt she was sufferingfrom severe emotional reaction. Thechildren suffered no after effects.

Mrs. Richards says her greatestfrustrations have come from tryingto convince people of what happened.She has never had any form of men-tal disorder or delusions. She doesn'tdrink'and has not been sick.

Investigator's Conclusions '

Mrs. Richards was badly shaken bythe occurrence, and though some de-tails might have become confused,she has genuinely.been frightened bysomething. She says, "I ,am hardlylikely to make up a story like this,why should I?" People the investiga-tor spoke with described the witnessas sane, healthy, hard working, andsincere, and' were emphatic that thiswas not a made up story.

— 11 —

UFO straightenswoman's hair

This Report sent to Joe M. Brill,International Coordinator, by PaulB. Jackson, MUFON Research Asso-ciate for Tasmania, The TasmanianUFO Investigation Center.

It was raining with mist on themountains when Mrs. W. (name onfile with SKYLOOK and the TUFOIC)parked 200 yards from the junction ofthe Tayene and Diddleum Plainsroads late on the afternoon of Sept.22,1974. The area is roughtly 30 milesnortheast of Launceston, Tasmania,Australia.

She was waiting for a relative toarrive. Owing to the steep bank onthe left side of the road, she parkedon the wrong side to ensure that logtrucks using the road would see thecar on the narrow road.

Mrs. W. heard over the car radiothat the time was 5:20 p.m., then allof a sudden the whole area lit up, thebright light penetrating the interiorof the car, and at the same time theradio developed a very high pitchedwhistle.

The witness leaned over, intendingto turn the radio off. In this positionshe could see up the hill on the leftside of the road and noticed at once aglowing orange and silver objectcoming between two grees and downthe hill towards the road.

The object was moving slowly andappeared the size of a large car. Itwas 15 to 20 meters high and drop-ping down towards the road.

. Mrs. W. now panicked and startedher car and backed up the road. TheUFO kept approaching until it was atfence top height in the middle of theroad, about 20 to 30 meters away, asestimated the witness. The car radiowas still emitting a piercing noise.

After backing up the road some 100yards, she backed over the edge andthe car stuck. The UFO now becamestationary tor about 60 seconds infront of the witness. Mrs. W. was veryfrightened and found that the glaefrom the dome-shaped top of the ob-

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ject made it hard to discern the upperportion of the object.

After hovering briefly, the UFOdipped over to the right and movedaway from the road over a .valleyarea alongside the road (to the south-west, after coming in i t i a l ly Irom thesoutheast). It then went straight upfarily fast and was lost from the wit-ness' field ol vision. Mrs. W's nerve-shattering experience had lastedthree to tour minutes.

Mrs. W. was very shaken by theincident and was sick for a number ofdays with nervous tension. Her fresh-ly permed hair turned straight alterthe encounter with the UFO. Mrs. W,did not believe in UFO's prior to thesighting, although her husband did.Her relatives said she should reportthe sighting.

It would appear the presence of theUFO affected the car's radio. Beforethe sighting it was claimed to be inperfect working order, but has suf-fered from distortion since.

The next day when the car wastowed home it was noticed how ex-ceptionally clean the front of the carwas. although the rest was still dirty.Previously there had been cat foot-prints all over the hood, but the frontwas cleaned as though given a goodcut and polish. Neither the witnessnor her husband felt it was possiblefor the hood to be cleaned by the rainof the previous day while the rest ofthe car was so dirty.

The UFO was domed on top, butMrs. W. found it hard to see detailsbecause of the intense orange/yellowlight that it gave off. The. witnesstherefore found it hard to give anestimate on the size of the dome.

Beneath the dome the UFO wassilvery/grey, with a wider brim onwhich the witness thought there couldhave been portholes. Below were 6 toreversed stepped bands estimated tobe about five feet in depth. The ob-ject's width was some twelve feet.

At the base in the center was asmall revolving disc, and below thisa protruding box or tube of shortlength. The tube object appeared tosplit into four sections as the UFOsped,off.

The sighting was initially reportedto the Royal Australian Air Force.They could find no explanation for

gmur CONGE-rail*, HARD D

DISCERN.

AFF&OED T& SEWXRATEINTO 4- SECTIONSIT MOVED OFF.

this daylight sighting. The RAAF didnot visit the sighting area, but inter-viewed the witness by telephone.

The Center's Northern Representa-tive, John C. Dean, visited the sightingarea and checked the surroundingground for any marks or magneticvariations. Nothing was found. Mrs.W. was still disturbed by the incidentwhen Dean called to see her twoweeks after the encounter. The car

was not available for inspection atthe time.

Explanations such as weather bal-loons, aircraft, helicopters, andmeteorlogical phenomena were allruled out, leaving us with a good lowlevel daylight sighting.

It is interesting to compare thereport with the "automobile stop"near St. Helens six days earlier andabout 30 miles to the east.

Ancient Astronauts' conferenceThe Second World Conference on

Ancient Astronauts .will be held inZurich, Switzerland, on May 29, 30, 31,1975, at the Hotel Movenpick-HolidayInn. The admission price is $25 perperson. The conference is sponsoredby the Ancient Astronaut Society.

Thus far, the list of speakers in-cludes Erich Von Daniken, JacquesBergier, Louis Pauwels, Jean Sendy,Peter Krassa, Baron Johannes VonButtlar, Peter Doberer, Dr. AdolfSchneider, Frede Melhedegaard,Josef Blumrich, and Dr. Luis Navia.

SWISSAIR will make arrangementsfor a group flight which will leaveChicago O'Hare at 6:45 p.m. on Tues-day, May 27. The flight may also stopin Boston to pick up passengers. Theexact price has not been determined,but it will be approximately $625 perperson, including round trip air farefrom Chicago to Zurich, four nightsat Hotel Movenpick (based upon

single occupancy room), and the Con-ference ticket.

Depending upon the number of pas-sengers, the group may spend eithertwo or three weeks in Europe, withparticipants on their own after theConference, or a part of an escortedbus tour through Switzerland, Austriaand Germany, depending on the de-sires of the group.

Additional information is availablefrom the Ancient Astronaut Society,600 Talcott Rd., Park Ridge, IL. 60068.

Attention MUFON HAMs: Mo-bile and Tuscaloosa Counties inAlabama need Amateur RadioOperators for MUFON Net-work. Please refer to RobertBoyd, 121 Huron Road, Mobile,Alabama 3660 (AC 205) 661-0318.

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Creatures and UFOs

Multi-discipline research neededBy Stan Gordon

Most of the readers of SKYLOOKare probably aware of the research Ihave been doing on incidents involv-ing Bigfoot-like creatures, which insome cases seem to be connectedwith UFO activity.

Within a short time after I becameinvolved in this, particular area of re-search, I.started to feel pressure ofdisbelief of the events from a few inthe general public and several re-spected UFO researchers. This issomething that I would expect froman uninformed citizen who might beignorant of the UFO subject, but I amquite disturbed at the attitude of theUFOlogists. .

An open mindI have always -learned, as a very

active UFO investigator, to go into allcases with an open mind, no matterhow strange the circumstances mightbe. Just because 'a case you confrontmight be unique to you as an investi-gator, that doesn't mean that a simi-lar event didn't occur somewhereelse in the world.

In many cases that I have been in-volved in, it wasn't until years afterthe initial investigation that anotherincident of almost identical detailwas reported. I also have learned thata good researcher doesn't give anopinion on a case until he has person-ally made an attempt to learn all thedetails of the incident, and properlyevaluate the findings.

I now find myself in a positionwhich some UFOlogists occupied anumber of years ago when they ex-pressed their beliefs that three-foottall humanoid-like creatures accom-panied some UFO vehicles. Sincenone of these small humanoids haveever been captured, this belief wasprimarily based on the numerousworldwide sightings of such crea-tures.

Today the majority of UFOlogistsaccept the possibility that these hu-manoids do exist, but only after moreof these encounters were brought tolight. The problem of disbelief fromboth the public and UFOlogists seem

to be a combination of two factors:psychology and politics.

Families changed

In regard to the psychological fac-tor of the, Bigfoot incidents, I havefound in many cases, particularly inthe family lives of the creature wit-nesses, that their normal personalitypattern was drastically changed be-cause their loved ones refused to be-lieve that they could have seen such acreature. I know of one case wherethe daughter of a doctor had seen acreature, and upon telling this to herfather, he became enraged and nearlythrew her out of the house.

I am familiar with a number ofcases of parents who have punishedtheir children when they continued toinsist that they had seen a "Bigfoot."There were several families nearlybroken up by divorce due to the factthat one of the mates refused to be-lieve the other's encounter.

It seems as though humans havemade up their minds. that if suchthings aren't supposed to exist, thenthey can't.

The second factor that I mentionedseems to be primarily that when anincident is reported that doesn't fitthe basic ideas or patterns whichhave been accepted by ah individualas fact, then this person tries to tearapart the event as being untrue, eventhough in most cases little attempthas been made to investigate the oc-currence. Or else the knowledge ofthe event is purposely forgotten inorder not to interfere with his presenttheories.

Very little researchAs I stated before, the most critical

problem in regard to the Bigfoot-UFOcases is that very little research isbeing conducted into this area ofUFOlogy. In most cases, a researcherupon hearing of a Bigfoot report, nor-mally doesn't investigate further,thinking that there is no UFO tie-in.What must be stressed is that eventhough the creatures which have beenin some cases observed with a UFOlook almost identical physically to theBigfoot or Sasquatcb, THEY ARE

-13-

NOT THE SAME SPECIES.This is the most important item to

remember. The news media has beenresponsible in most cases for callingthese creatures "Bigfoot," since theylook so similar. At this time the onlymajor difference that really sep-arates the Earth-type Bigfoot and thecreatures connected with the UFO'sis that the latter have only three toes.This factor has shown up throughoutthe country.

Reports widespreadJust within the past few months,

a handful of other researchers havebegun to look into this data, and theyare uncovering the same exact typeof incidents in their locales. Reportsof these creatures have again in-creased in Pennsylvania. We alsohave reports from many other states,including New York, Illinois, Tennes-see, and California, where these sametypes of events are occurring. •

As I have mentioned in past ar-ticles, and as I will discuss in futurereports, there appears to be a greatamount of psychic phenomena andpsychological changes which have oc-curred to some of those involved inthese incidents. These cases should bestudied by not only scientists and an-thropologists, but by psychiatristsand psychologists as well.

At this office we are presently do-ing a massive study of large hairyape-like creatures from throughoutthe world, and we are hoping to comeup with some answers. If any re-searchers have any cases of thesetypes of sightings on file, particularlycases involving these creatures andUFO's seen at the same time, I wouldappreciate it if you would send a copyof the report to me to compare toother cases. I am convinced that thisparticular area of UFOlogy is themost important aspect of the phe-nomena that has ever been uncov-ered.

Any comments or suggestions con-cerning this research is welcome bywriting to the Westmoreland CountyUFO Study Group, 6 Oakhill Avenue,Greensburg, Pa., 15601.

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UFO's Behind the Iron CurtainBy Joe Brill

In this month's article I would liketo introduce SKYLOOK readers to aRussian scientist who has for manyyears been interested in (and whohas attempted to prompt the Russiangovernment into a serious study of)the UFO phenomenon that has beenreported in the Soviet Union.

His name is Felix Y. Zigel and atpresent he is an Assistant Professorat the Moscow Aviation Institute. Heis a Candidate of Physico-Mathemat-ical Sciences and he graduated fromthe Moscow University in 1942. He re-ceived his Candidate Degree in as-tronomy at the USSR Academy ofSciences in 1948.

On May 17, 1967, a group of well-known and respected Russian scien-tists met in Moscow to form an un-official body whose purpose it wouldbe to conduct a preliminary scientificinvestigation of Unidentified FlyingObjects.

In October of that same year a com-mittee was set up with the title of theUFO Section of the All-Union Cos-monautics Committee, and a retiredAir Force Major General was electedas the chairman. This chairman wasMajor General Porfiri Stolyarov. Dr.Zigel was elected as the deputy chair-man of this committee, and he agreedto serve at this position as he wasanxious to see that this subject was atlast receiving the attention hethought it so rightfully deserved.

Then on Nov. 10, 1967, GeneralStolyarov and Dr. Zigel appeared onMoscow Central Television to an-nounce the creation of this new De-partment of UFO's of the All-UnionCommittee on Cosmonautics of theDOSAAF (Equal to the Departmentof Defense), and asked the viewerswho had observed UFO's to send in areport of their sightings to this newly-formed department. The conse-quences of this appearance provedto be unexpected. Hundreds of reportscame in, telling of Soviet citizens'sightings of what appeared to themto be UFO's.

At the end of November theDOSAAF Central Committee underthe chairmanship of Army GeneralA. L. Getman adopted and passed aresolution on the dissolution of theDepartment on UFO's. None of themembers of the Stolyarov Committeewere invited to this session, whichcalled for the dissolution of this newdepartment, nor were any of themembers ever informed as to thecause for this decision by theDOSAAF. It was done without theirknowledge or involvement.

An article entitled "Again FlyingSaucers" was published in Pravda onFeb. 29, 1968. This article was auth-ored by several members of the USSRAcademy of Sciences who were ob-viously misinformed and unversed onIhe UFO subject. Their article pre-sented a very poor excuse for an ex-planation of the entire UFO pheno-menon, but it was stated with muchauthority and prestige, and they werenot seeking any debates or opposingopinions on the matter. The questionwas settled that UFO's did not exist.At least to those authors and in theSoviet Union that is all that is neces-sary.

However, many reports had beenreceived from that initial televisionappearance, and several well-writtenarticles on the subject by Dr. Zigelwere published in Soviet magazinesand these could be valuable if placedin the proper hands. None of the reported observations were vere scien-tifically investigated by the Sovietauthorities.

So, in March of 1968 Dr. Zigel beganthe tedious job of sifting and sortingout these reports that had been sentin, and then began to type out thesereports so that they would not be lostto posterity.

In the end, this work consisted of200 typewritten pages of Russian,with some 250 observations. Most ofthese reports were of bright lights,but there were some very excellentreports that if lost would have made

— 14—

the entire effort fruitless.However, the reports were assem-

bled in manuscript form by Dr. Zigeland titled "Sightings of UFO's Overthe USSR" Vol. 1.1 had supposed thatthere was a hope for a Vol. 2, and Ihad heard from a few sources thatsuch a Work did exist, but to date allmy efforts to secure it have resultedin ought. In several of the reports,photographs were taken of the objectsin question but none of these photo-graphs were included with the docu-ment.

Had Dr. Zigel not had the insightto take the time required to performthis work we would never have knownabout these UFO sightings at all. Be-cause he did take this time to do whathe believed was necessary, and hopedthat someday this information mightfind its' way into the proper hands ofthose who could judge its worth by itscontent, we have at least some ideaof the sort of reports that have beenmade there.

Through many months of inquiryand requests (with no assistancefrom any Soviet official offices, pub-lications, or individual officials), Isecured a copy of this rare documentin its entirety. Another year passedbefore it was completely translatedinto English. And now it is finished,and now it will be revealed to the pub-lic that this document exists and wasassembled by Dr. Zigel in the hopethat serious UFO researchers every-where could benefit by his effort torecord what was reported to the Rus-sian UFO Committee in 1967.

Dr. Zigel is to be commended forhis foresight and courage in recordingthese observations, knowing that theSoviet government would never allowsuch a document to be published therein his own country. He has also con-tinued to encourage his governmentto initiate a serious study of thisproblem.

For the next several months I amgoing to select some of the betterreports from this manuscript of Dr.

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Bright object damages carBy Stan Gordon

At 7:50 p.m. on Oct. 12,1974, Mr. andMrs. Eugene Loyal were resting inthe living room of their mobile homeoutside of Connellsville, Pa. Mrs.Loyal noticed a bright orange glowcoming from the curtained window inher den, and ran to the window toopen the drapes, thinking that therewas a fire outside toward the front oftheir residence. When they wereopened, an area of about 40 feet wasdrenched in a bright orange color.The couple's 1969 Grand Prix wasparked within the glowing area.

Mrs. Loyal then yelled to her hus-band that there was a burning orangeobject just above the tree movingtoward their trailer. The couple wentout onto the porch and watched theobject move in a straight line towarda wooded area. When the object wasin the distance if'didn't appear to beburning.

The next morning the couple wasleaving for church when they noticedthat their newly painted black carhad dozens of small burned holes,with a white material around them,all over the body. They also noticedpieces of a white ash material in theiryard scatterd about. The couple thennotified the state police.

The WCUFOSG Control Center thencontacted the Loyal's and asked per-

Zigel's so that SKYLOOK readers andthe general public will fully realizethat Russia has had her equal shareof unusual encounters with UFO'sover her own territory. UFO's arenot any highly-secret Russian aircraftor weapon as many people would liketo believe, and the accounts forth-coming will prove that beyond ques-tion.

Beginning with the February, 1975,issue of SKYLOOK I will be quotingdirectly from Dr. Zigel's paper, and Iknow that all of those who have won-dered what has been seen in Russiaover the years will find these ac-counts most interesting and educa-tional.

Thank you, Dr Zigel, for your timeand the courage to state your case indefense of the existence of the UFOphenomenon, whatever it mifht be.

mission to investigate the sighting, Asix-member field team arrived at thelocation that afternoon. Radiationreadings were first taken, whichshowed only normal background read-ings. It had rained during the night,so if there was any abnormal levelsit probably would have been reducedby then.

' The team then interviewed the wit-nesses, took photos, made measure-ments, and took samples of the resi-due on the car and on the ground. Theteam members found the white ash onthe roof of the trailer where it haddiscolored the aluminum paint. Also,samples of the residue were locatedfor about a 400-foot area into the yardsof other residents in the trailer park.It was noticed that insects that camein contact with the material on thecar would struggle and would die in ashort time.

Further interviews with the wit-nesses revealed that the object wasabout 30 feet away from the trailerand about 50 feet high when first ob-served. The object itself was a verybright orange and appeared to beabout 3 feet in size. No definite shapecould be determined, but it appearedto be more elongated than round. Nosound or smell was detected by thewitnesses, and they didn't observeanything fair from the object. Theobject was moving from SW to NE.No TV or radio interference wasnoted, and the witnesses dog did notact abnormal during the incident.

On Oct. 14, consultants to theWCUFOSG ran a chemical analysison the material and found it to bemagnesium oxide. This material iscommonly found in flares. Magne-sium, however, normally is brightwhite in color when burning. Furtherinvestigation is being made into thecase. The possibility exists that some-one -could have tied some flares to aballoon; however, there are severalaspects to the case which are noteasily explained.

UFO Literature courseProf. A. H. Lawson, Dept. of Eng-

lish, Calif. State Univ. at Long Beach,Long Beach, Calif., is now conductinga full-fledged course on UFO Lit.

— 15—

UFO course taughtA special class* called "UFOs: A

Mysterious Reality" has begun ses-sions at the University of Californiaat San Diego (UCSD) Extension inSan Diego, Calif. Instructed by RobertP. Treash, B.A., the courjse is designedto provide an overview of nearly allaspects of UFO study. The first ses-sion opened with an overflow crowd.

UFO NEWSCLIPPINGSERVICE

The UFO NEWSCLIPPINGSERVICE will keep you in-formed of all the latest UnitedStates and World-Wide UFO ac-tivity, as it happens! Our ser-vice was started in 1969, atwhich time we contracted witha reputable international news-paper-clipping bureau to obtainfor us, those hard to find UFOreports (i.e., little known photo-graphic cases, close encounterand landing reports, occupantcases) and all other UFO re-ports, many of which are car-ried only in small town orforeign newspapers.

Our UFO Newsclipping ServiceReport, is a 20 page photo-offset,monthly publication containingthe latest United States andCanadian UFO newsclippings,with our foreign section carry-ing the latest English, Austra-lian, New Zealand, South Afri-can, and other foreign UFOnewsclippings! We publish moreUFO reports from around theglobe than ANY other publica-tion in the World! Stay informed-subscribe to the UFO NEWS-CLIPPING SERVICE!

For subscription informationand sample pages from our ser-vice, write today to:

UFO NEWSCLIPPINGSERVICE, Dept. S3521 S.W. 104thSeattle, Washington, 98146

Page 16: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

In Others' WordsBy Lucius Parish

NATIONAL ENQUIRER'S latestarticles on UFOs include an Italiansighting/landing trace case and Mu-hammad Ali's latest sighting, re-ported in the Nov. 26 issue; an Italianjet pilot's sighting report, in the Dec. 3issue; and the results of an EN-QUIRER-commissioned public opin-ion poll on UFOs (4 out of 10 Ameri-cans believe UFOs are real), in theDec. 17 issue.

The Dec. 8 issue of NATIONALTATTLER featured a 16-page "pull-out" section on the "ancient astro-naut" concept. Most of the materialwas reprinted from ANCIENTSKIES, the bi-monthly newsletter ofthe Ancient Astronaut Society. TheDec. 15 TATTLER contained twoUFO-related articles; actor CharlesPitts told of his underwater sightingof a "submarine"-type UFO, and SaltLake City barber/Ufologist JamesWardle received some well-deservedpublicity. Wardle has an outstandingcollection of UFO literature andphotos.

The January issue of SAGA hasanother article on possible links be-tween UFOs and Bigfoot. Interesting,but rather speculative. The Winterissue of SAGA'S UFO REPORT isnow out and contains the usualamount of intriguing material. SAGAis also issuing a UFO ANNUAL, con-sisting of reprints from various issuesof the UFO REPORT, as well as onenew article, columns on Ufologicaltopics, etc. This will sell for $1.00and will be available in January.

The January issue of STAG and theFebruary issue of MALE containUFO articles. To my mind, the STAGarticle is highly questionable. TheMALE piece is just rehash of a re-cent ENQUIRER article on sightingsat Calvert, Texas, with a fictionaloccupant case thrown in.

Readers might like to know thatFLYING SAUCER REVIEW hasagain changed its address. The newaddress is: P.O. Box 25 — Barnet —Herts. ENS 2NR, England. Currentsubscription rates for FSR (sea-mail)

are $7.50 for 6 issues and well worththe price.

Jacques Vallee's second book,CHALLENGE TO SCIENCE, has re-cently been reprinted in paperbackby Ballantine Books. This edition con-tains material not found in the pre-vious paperback edition from AceBooks. Vallee's ANATOMY OF APHENOMENON is also scheduled tobe reprinted by Ballantine shortly.

Two recent paperbacks are W. R.Drake's GODS AND SPACEMEN OFTHE ANCIENT PAST and RobertCharroux's MASTERS OF THEWORLD. Reviews of these titles willappear in future columns.

John Michell's first book, THEFLYING SAUCER VISION, has re-cently been reprinted in a Britishpaperback edition by Sphere BooksLtd. — 30-32 Gray's Inn Road — Lon-don WC1X 8JL, England. Michell wasone of the first writers to examinemyths, legends and other historicalmaterial in a search for UFO-relateddata. The present edition contains anew introduction, but in other re-spects, is unchanged from the origi-nal. It also includes the photographswhich were omitted from the AceBooks paperback edition. Well worthreading, it is available from the aboveaddress for $2.00.

A very good booklet by Loren E.Gross, THE UFO WAVE of 1896, iscurrently available. This is not an all-inclusive accounting of the California"airship" sightings of 1896, but it is ascomplete a summary as has yet beenpublished. Gross does omit some con-tactee accounts from the airship era,but the booklet is still a very goodvalue for $1.00. Copies may be ob-tained from the author at: 38675Paseo Padre No. 305 — Fremont, Cal-ifornia 94536.

UFO'S: A SCIENTIFIC DEBATE,edited by Carl Sagan and ThorntonPage, is now available in a paperbackedition from W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.— 55 Fifth Ave. - N.Y., N.Y. 10003.The price is $3.95. It may not be veryobjective to say that the only portionsof this book worth^ reading are the

-16-

pro-UFO papers by Dr. Hynek, thelate Dr. McDonald and others. How-ever, that pretty well sums up myopinion of this collection of writingson the UFO subject. Everyone, ofcourse,.is entitled to an opinion onUFOs, but only those persons whohave conducted actual research intothe subject are entitled to an in-formed opinion. The majority of thescientists whose papers are includedin this volume have not talked to UFOwitnesses or made other on-the-spotinvestigations. Therefore, for all theirsupposed "expertise," their opinionsare worth no more than those of theaverage man in the street. I wouldalso suggest that the book is some-what misnamed. This was a "debateby scientists," not 'a "scientific de-bate." There is usually a vast differ-ence between the two.

Volume 2 of William R. Corliss'STRANGE PHENOMENA is nowavailable from him (Box 107 — GlenArm, MD 21057) for $6.95. As with thefirst volume in this series, the currentoffering is definitely worth your at-tention. A variety of "Fortean"phenomena from many sources areincluded.

Charles Berlitz's new book, THEBERMUDA TRIANLE, is currentlya very hot item in the bookstores. Ithas been in the "top 10" non-fictionbest-sellers in recent weeks. The bookcontains the usual amount of familiarmaterial, but it also includes someaccounts which have not been well-publicized previously. Various peo-ple who have "escaped" whateverforces supposedly lurk in the Trianglearea have told of very strange phe-nomena. A number of UFO sightingsare also discussed in the book. Ber-litz draws no firm conclusions, butincludes speculations on space visi-tors, Atlantean power plants, extra-dimensional visitations, etc. Wellillustrated with photos and drawings,THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE is cer-tainly worth reading. It may be ob-tained from Doubleday & Co., Inc. —245 Park Ave. - N.Y., N.Y. for $7.95.

Page 17: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

Project Starlight International

UFO Research facility constructedProject Starlight International

(P.S.I.), a research division of theAssociation for the Understanding ofMan, a non-profit scientific, research,and educational corporation head-quartered in Austin, Texas, takes adirect, scientific approach to solvingthe UFO mystery, according to its di-rector, Ray Stanford.

"The operating scientific philos-ophy of P.S.I, is not the collection ofUFO sighting reports, as some groupshave done for many years," says Stan-ford. "Instead, the project operates,and will be adding to, a research facil-ity about 15 miles northwest of Austinin an isolated hill-country location."

The facility contains instrumenta-tion and equipment to obtain UFOhard data and'to'test the interest (orlack of it) of UFO intelligences inexchanging intelligent communica-tion.

To monitor (photographically andelectronically), track, and signalUFOs is the aim of P.S.I, researchers.In a preliminary way, two of thesegoals may have already beenachieved.

Coded Response?

In addition to the Oct. 2 photo de-scribed in the December issue, P.S.I,signal site personnel, utilizing their100' diameter circle of 91 spotlights,with a coded light in the center, re-portedly received about 1:15 a.m. one

Highly recommendedby SKYLOOK

The Bibleand Flying Saucers

byDr. Barry H. Downing

192-page paperback$1.00 postpaid

fromSKYLOOK

26 Edgewood DriveQuincy, IL 62301

night in May, 1972, a seemingly codedlight response from a UFO that ap-proached and hovered high above thelight circle.

The UFO apparently transmittedwhat P.S.I, researchers feel was the"mathematical inverse" of theircoded "Pi" (3.14...).

Project personnel are now install-ing at the research site a sophisti-cated laser-telescope device capableof providing complex light transmis-sion to, and light reception from,UFOs. .

When a UFO is observed, the tele-scope will focus on the object whilean attached camera films it. Simul-taneously, an "identification" video-tape will modulate the laser to trans-mit ^identification data to the UFO.

That data will include a short video(TV) presentation of a daylight viewof the site, pictures of the faces ofproject leaders, a statement (both byvoice and by pictures) indicating thatthere are no weapons at the site, astatement of the P.S.I, scientific pur-poses, and an invitation to any intel-ligences receiving the transmission torespond by similar transmission(which P.S.I, equipment will recordand display on video screen) or elseby an actual landing. Digital timedata will simultaneously be recordedon the film of the UFO and on thetapes made.

Simultaneously, the magnetic pro-file of the UFO will be detected by ahighly sensitive magnetometer, andautomatically recorded with digitaltime data.

More Equipment

Within the year, P.S.I, personnelhope to add gravitometers, ion-sensors, broad band radio monitoringequipment, and other scientificallyuseful monitoring equipment to thelaboratory site. Part of the equipmentis capable of loading into a van fortrips to areas where UFO "flaps"seem to be occurring.

P.S.I. Director Stanford says thatthe layman, even a child, can make acrude magnetic UFO detector whichwould ring a bell if a UFO possessingcertain types of magnetic field comes

— 17—

within a mile or two. P.S.I, offersfree plans for such detectors (whichcan be built for $5 to $10) to anyonesending a stamped, self-addressedenvelope to: P.S.I., P.O. Box 5310, Aus-tin, Texas 78763.

P.S.I, is an open, scientific en-deavor, receptive to suggestions fromand cooperation with qualified UFOresearchers, engineers, ' and scien-tists.

"There is some evidence," theP.S.I, director says, "That a solutionto the UFO mystery might also di-rectly solve our energy-fuel problems.That, alone, is enough prospect tokeep our research going."

1973 MjDWEST UFOSYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS

"MUFON-A Dynamic Scien-tific Organization" presented byWalter H. Andrus, Jr.

"UFO Flight Characteristics"presented by John F. Schuessler

"Landing Traces, Physical Evi-dence for the UFO" presented byTed Phillips

"Vision, Photography & UFOs"presented by Adrian Vance

"Ufology and the Search forExtraterrestrial Life" presentedby Stanton T. Friedman

"The Embarrassment of Riches"presented by Dr. J. Allen Hynek

"Some Questions Concerning Dr.Menzel's Biblical Exegesis" sub-mitted paper by Dr. Barry H.Downing

For your copy of the 1973MUTUAL UFO SYMPOSIUMPROCEEDINGS, send $3.25($4.00 outside the United Statesor Canada) by check or moneyorder, to MUFON UFO NET-WORK, INC., 40 ChristopherCourt, Quincy, III. 62301, U.S.A.

Page 18: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

Director's MessageIt is a pleasure to announce that

Ted Bloecher, formerly a State-Section Director, has accepted theposition of State Director for NewYork. Ted resides at 317 East 83rdSt., New York, N.Y. 10028; Telephone:AC'212-TR 9-3099. He is best knownfor his privately published book titled"Report On The UFO Wave of 1947"released in 1967.

Bruce. C. Henne, 523 Ivy, Griffin,Georgia 30223; telephone AC 404-227-8144 has volunteered to serve as StateDirector for Georgia. His prior posi-tion as State-Section Director will befilled when a competent and qualifiedindividual is found.

In order to devote more of his UFOresearch time to his specialty as Co-Chairman of MUFON's "OccupantCommittee," David F. Webb of Wal-tham, Mass., has resigned as StateDirector for Massachusetts. He willcontinue to serve as Acting ..State Di-rector for New Hampshire until suchtime as this important post is as-signed. Joseph Santangelo, 194 Barb-ara Road, Waltham, Mass., 02154;telephone: AC 617-893-3257 has al-ready been appointed and has accept-ed the position of State Director forMassachusetts to fill the vacancycreated by Dave's resignation. Joe isa professional engineer and holds anamateur radio extra class licensewith call letters W1NXY. • . . .

Regretfully, Gordon I. R. Lore, Jr.,submitted his resignation as StateDirector for New Mexico when hemoved from Albuquerque, N. Mex. toLos Angeles, Calif., recently. We hopeto locate a talented and interestedindividual to assume the responsibil-ity for the State of New Mexico in the .near future.

Mrs. Idabel Epperson is extremelyproud to announce that William F.Hassel, Jr., Ph.D., has accepted theposition of State Section Director forLos Angeles County and will alsoserve as a Consultant to MUFON inPropulsion. Bill resides at 4625 StarkAve., Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364;Telephone: (H) AC 213-348-9346 and

By Walt Andrus

(B) AC 213-820-2503.Jacob Davidson, State Director for

Washington, has selected Jerry R.Phillips, 2116 Main St., Everett, Wash.98203; elephone: (H) AC 206-252-5037 and (B) AC 206-259-9514 as thenew State-Section Director for Sno-homish and Island Counties.

Effective January 1, 1975, a slightmodification of the MUFON duesstructure and SKYLOOK subscriptionfee as announced in the November,1974, issue of SKYLOOK will takeplace.

As previously reported, the com-bined MUFON membership and SKY-LOOK subscription will now be $12per year. The new dues arrangementis effective on Jan. 1, 1975, for newmembers or upon the date your pres-ent SKYLOOK subscription expires ifyou are presently a MUFON member.MUFON members who are undereighteen (18) years of age may takeadvantage of the special rate of $10annually.

The major revision in the originallyproposed plan concerns those.peoplewho desire to subscribe to SKYLOOKonly, but prefer not to participate ac-tively as a MUFON member. Thesesubscribers will send their $8 sub-scription fee to SKYLOOK, 26 Edge-wood Drive, Quincy, 111. 62301, whenthey renew their present subscriptionor request new subscribers.

MUFON members will send their$12 annual dues, which includes .aSKYLOOK subscription, to MUFON,40 Christopher Court, Quincy, 111.62301 U.S.A. Since the study of theUFO phenomenon is frequently afamily affair, members in the samefamily, that is, identical address, mayelect to receive only one copy ofSKYLOOK. When one MUFON mem-ber in the family pays the regular$12 dues/subscription rate, additionalpeople in the same family may beMUFON members for only $4 each ifthey so designate when sending intheir dues.

Your Board of Directors feel thatthese slight modifications will not

— 18—

only cover the increased costs of pub-lishing SKYLOOK each month, butwill help,to defray part of the salaryof our new Office Secretary, Mrs.Carol Ruggiero.

The NBC TV NEWS Documentarytitled "UFO's: Do You Believe?" wasviewed nationwide on Sunday, Dec.15, 1974, via 200 NBC affiliated sta-tions. Written and produced by CraigLeake and reported by Jim Hartz, thisspecial one-hour film was scheduledin the most opportune time.

Even though the show did not meetall of the expectations of those fa-miliar with the UFO scene, it pro-vided a very favorable exposure tothe nation's viewers of the work andactivities of MUFON. Regretfully, theCenter for UFO Studies was notmentioned; however, Dr. J. Allen Hy-nek was prominently presented. TedPhillips, MUFON Specialization Co-ordinator, and your Director had keyroles in this hour-long video film,which has brought about a deluge ofmail from across the nation, seekinginformation about MUFON and SKY-LOOK. ... .

Many of our MUFON members ap-peared on nationwide TV when theywere filmed at our 1974 UFO SYM-POSIUM in Akron, Ohio, on June 22and 23, and also at our UFO Picnic inCarlyle, III, on July 20 and 21.

Confidentially, we were a little dis-appointed in the selection of some ofthe UFO sighting reports depictedand the inability of the witnesses topresent strong and convincing evi-dence. However, contrasting this per-sonal critique, we have received"glowing" accounts about the show asevaluated by interested viewers.

In closing my message for the Jan-uary issue of SKYLOOK, I want toinvite our reade'rs to send "get well"cards to John M. Meloney, Box 59,Claremont, New Hampshire 03743,one of our State-Section Directors,who was recently injured seriously inan auto accident while investigatinga UFO sighting report in Townsend,VT... . ..

Page 19: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

Object reported on roodDate: Aug. 27,1974.Location: east of Kernersville, N.C.Witness: Joseph Kent Needham.Investigated by Tarheel UFO Study

Group.Submitted by Richard C. Austin, N.

L. Bell, and M. B. Quate.Joseph Kent Needham, 16, a high

school student, was reportedly return-ing from work at 11:15 p.m. on Aug.27, 1974, when he observed an objectglowing brightly ahead of him whenhe rounded a bend in the road on US421. The object he described re-sembled a standard type saucer witha small dome.

He said it was as wide as the road(22 feet, 9 inches), and that two legswere visible, attached well in fromthe edge of the object and extendingoutward, resting on the pavement. Hehad the "impression" there was athird leg, but he di'd not see it

The entire outline, inluding legs,was fuzzy, but glowing brightly witha white light resembling in hue andbrilliance a full moon high in the sky.Moderate fog was present at the timeof the reported observation.

The witness says he slowed from50 miles per hour to 30 miles perhour upon seeing the object, and thatthe object "blinked out" when he gotabout 100 yards from it. Needharnsays he did not stop, but drovethrough the area where he had seen

UFO films slatedfor TV showings

Howard Lipstone, a partner in AlanLandsburg Productions, stated in arecent telephone conversation thattheir full-length motion picture filmpreviously titled "The Primal Fac-tor" has been changed to "The OuterSpace Connection" and will be re-leased early in February, 1975. Watchfor advanced billing in your localtheaters.

The Sandier Institutional Films mo-tion picture titled "UFO's Past, Pres-ent, and Future" written by RobertEmenegger and produced by Alan F.Sandier will be released for televisioninstead of the motion picture theatersas originally announced, but the show-ing date is unknown at this time.

the object.The witness says he felt no unu-

sual effects before, during, or afterthe sighting. The next day he filled outa sighting form he had receivedearlier from MUFON North CarolinaDirector George Fawcett at a lec-ture given by Fawcett.

Investigation by the Tarheel UFOStudy Group revealed no groundmarkings which could earily be con-nected with a UFO; it had rainedhard three times between the time ofthe alleged sighting and the investiga-tion, however. The Tarheel groupconcluded that "this does appear tobe one of the more credible sightingsin the area, even though no groundmarkings were in evidence."

Astronomy magazinefeatures Hill map

The December issue of AstronomyMagazine contains a lengthy and im-pressive article concerning the re-search conducted by SKYLOOK staff-er Marjorie Fish on the Betty andBarney Hill Star Map.

The 14-page lead article briefly re-views the Hill case (see The Inter-rupted Journey by John G. Fuller,Dial Press, 1966) and the developmentof a scale model of the universe byMiss Fish (see SKYLOOK, July,1974). The author of the article,Astronomy Editor Terence Dickin-son, visited with Miss Fish in Ohiowhile researching the article.

Perhaps the most helpful portion ofthe article is that which describes,step by step, the scientific search forstars most likely to be suitable forlife as we know it. Through extensivedescriptions and excellent illustra-tions in color, the somewhat compli-cated subject is clarified.

Dickinson draws no conclusions inthe article regarding estraterrestriallife, but does leave the question open.It is a very informative article, andone which is highly-recommended forSKYLOOK readers. Copies of the De-cember issue of Astronomy Maga-zine are available for $1.50 from 757North Broadway, Suite 204, Milwau-kee, Wisconsin 53202.

— 19—

A REVISED COSMOLOGYBy

Merrill B. Taylor

How can UFOs make sharp, rightangle turns, or instantaneousstops and reversals?How can they fly* at speeds of3-4,000 m.p.h., and yet fail tocreate sonic booms?This booklet presents a revisedcosmology in which these "im-possible'" phenomena might notbe impossible.Physics says that these phenom-ena cannot happen. But they dohappen, as attested by manythousands of observers. RE-VISED COSMOLOGY explainshow they CAN HAPPEN!

Price $3.00, postage paid from:1309 Broadway Dept. S-2Little Rock, Ark. 72202

1974 MUFON UFOSYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS

"MUFON—A Positive Ap-proach to the UFO Enigma" byWalter H. Andrus, Jr."UFO's—An Issue Whose TimeHas Almost Come" By RalphBlum"Religion and UFO's: The Extra*sensory Problem" by Barry H.Downing, Ph.D."UFO Trace-landing Cases" byTed Phillips"Journey Into the Hill StarMap" by Marjorie E. Fish"Saucers, PSI and Psychiatry"by Bert hold E. Schwarz, M.D."Flying Saucers and Physics" byStanton T, Friedman"UFO's, in Relation to CreatureSightings in Pennsylvania" byStan Gordon"Magnetic Explanation ofU FO's" by Eugene H.Burt

For your copy of the MUFON1974 UFO SYMPOSIUM PRO-CEEDINGS, send $3.25- ($4.00if outside of the United Statesor Canada) by check or moneyorder to MUFON, 40 Christo-pher Court, Quincy, III. 62301

"*>,-

Page 20: Mufon ufo journal   1975 1. january - skylook

Recapping and coiiimentingBy Richard Hall

(This column is directed towardarticles appearing in the October,1974, issue of SKYLOOK.)

Since this issue was rich in sightingdata, some comparison with pastsightings seems appropriate. The"sparkling wedge" of Austria bearssome resemblance to several 19thCentury reports of glowing and spark-ling masses described in Chapters 3-5of Mysteries of the Skies, by Lore &Deneault, including an interestingincidence of blue and red colors.

Merging Spheres

The reports from Romania includedtwo spheres merging into one object,a milky fog, green liquid on theground, and a UFO with greenishhalo. When .we were preparing TheUFO Evidence for publication, we al-most included categories- »that wecalled "merging" and "separation"cases, but decided against it becauseof,.having too few examples (maybe'a -.d'pzen or so of each).

These have .since become fairlywell established as recurring fea-.tures. The witness sketch of the merg-ing spheres brings to mind-a range ofreports with some family resem-blance, -including the relatively rare"dumbbell- shape (See The UFO Evi-dence, p. 64). Somewhat similar con-figurations were reported at Damon,Texas, 9-3-65 (UiEtfs: A New Look,p. 7) and by then Florida GovernorBurns 4-25-66* (U.F.O. Investigator,Vol. I I I No. 8, p. 3).

Fog or Vapor

Fog or vapor associated with uloshas potential significance for under-standing propulsion and/or inter-

McCampbell to speakat 1975 MUFON Symposium

James M. McCampbell, MUFONConsultant in Research Planning andauthor of the book "UFOLOGY—NewInsights from Science and CommonSense" will be a speaker at theMUFON 1975 UFO SYMPOSIUM inDes Molnes, Iowa, on July 5, 1975.

action with the environment. The3-8-67 Leominster, Mass., case (SeeUFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, Fow-ler p. 143-148) contains a parallel ex-ample of localized "fog," and manyreports describe wisps of "cloud" or"vapor" around UFOs (See StrangeEffects From UFOs, 11-10-57, Madi-son, Ohio, p. 11; 8-19-65, Cherry Creek,N.Y., p. 43).

The Cherry Creek case furtherincluded a purplish liquid .on theground, and both vapor and an oilysubstance appear .in the 6-29/64 La-vonia, Ga., case (Strange Effects, p.5). The elliptical UFO chased by apoliceman near Richmond',: Va;, 624-66was surrounded -by "a 'mist or vapor"(Strange Effects, p. 9).

The liquid substances at- UFO sitessuggest that part- of an investigator'skit should be some sterile cotton andsealed jars to absorb some of theliquid and preserve it for analysis.

Green Halo

The green halo effect has been pres-ent in the 3:19-65 Japanese airlinercase (also involving E-M effects), the7-13-59 Blenheim, N.Z., near-landingwith visible Occupants (UFOs: A NewLook, p. 29), and many others, oftenbrightly illuminating the surroundingarea.

Such patterns deserve far moreattention than, to my knowledge, theyhave received.

The following refers to a letter byRon Westrum in the Nov. issue.

Since Ron Westrum's letter objectsto some remarks rnad'e in this space(SKYLOOK,' N'o. -83') concerning hisnotion of "deceitful spaceme'n", I willapologize to him here for giving theimpression of hurliing\ep;ithets at him4.

The barbs hit 'the wrong target-, ap-parently due to my cramped wripfigon a complex subject. However, thewhole iss-ue is fundamentally impor-tant and worth some elaboration. Iwill stick by my guns in' disagreeingwith Ron.

My concluding remarks that ". . .

-20-

further discussions of this type mayhave some value in challenging ourpreconceptions" should^ have indir-, ^cated that 1 agreed with the possiblevalue of "trying to give the strategicpoint of view some airing." But I dis-agreed—and still disagree—that weshould even seriously consider beingable to match wits with the presumedspacemen. *•$

My basic point is this: Given; the *apparently mystifying degree of tee,h-f :>,nological superiority demonstrated in?*-:UFO reports (leading even Dr. Hyflek ,ito doubt that it will be possible to ,|account for UFOs within our present^scientific concepts; The lDipO^;Exper-ience, p. 225 )<, then if deiibeF'ate .deegit^is being, practisedI von ^ -wholefale,we-rnightas well•**'

If we assume spoint of depaijtfure for' study^tfJefife nolonger would-be' a'ny^rat'ional eRi'tena^^for arriving at t-fu^h. unless arid|until •the space'men wanted us to ."iShfow;.'':!what was.going on.

The analogy with Russian atte^np^s ;to decei've us about their strategic ''capabilities' serves to illustrate my,,:point better than Ron's. We knoivwhere the Russians a<re< have a teeh-^nolpgy on a par with th'eirs, and jfi&Sg, jclear-cut ways of siftihg;4nut'h^fjE61ii^fiction because we know what- eyidence we are looking ;f|)r-ja;nd^hfei\y-ti0get it. None of this appWes,to,:t'hi&'.pr.^!sumed spacemen. /

I do not by any means rule'.-put the,;possibility- that 'there may be" s'bme '.practiced deception by the spaeemen Y

—fbtal, or partial. Ishould", be.: bn -.gjuapdceptiori. But'jlist'how tftis co'uiid-'Be es- ,„;•':tablished'eludes me. : •• ' • •?

Also,-we know from experience thatthere is cohsiderablejgfl'iji&'pl'aying byself-styled ;JJFi)l.ogi.s'ts who thrive onmystification of the subject, and we 7|'should even more so be on guard'Jtagainst that since it is a known .factAnd the human capacity for self- 'deception—willing to believe what wewant to believe—is another major/?stumbling-block on the road to truth

4