Why I know there's something to UFOs.
Someone who’s always wrong says there’s nothing to them.
“I want them to think whatever they think," Trump said of the Navy pilots. "I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.” — Donald J. Trump, June 2019
Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/15/trump-says-he-doesnt-particularly-believe-ufo-reports-1365848
Spoken like someone who believes he already knows all he’ll ever need to know about everything.
Expert Testimony plus Radar-Photographic evidence of something unknown.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/65585-ufo-sightings-us-pilots.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Vallée's opposition to the ETH theory is summarised in his paper, "Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects", Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1990:
Scientific opinion has generally followed public opinion in the belief that unidentified flying objects either do not exist (the "natural phenomena hypothesis"
or, if they do, must represent evidence of a visitation by some advanced race of space travellers (the extraterrestrial hypothesis or "ETH" .
It is the view of the author that research on UFOs need not be restricted to these two alternatives. On the contrary, the accumulated data base exhibits several patterns tending to indicate that UFOs are real, represent a previously unrecognized phenomenon, and that the facts do not support the common concept of "space visitors". Five specific arguments articulated here contradict the ETH:
1. unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth;
2. the humanoid body structure of the alleged "aliens" is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel;
3. the reported behavior in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race;
4. the extension of the phenomenon throughout recorded human history demonstrates that UFOs are not a contemporary phenomenon; and
5. the apparent ability of UFOs to manipulate space and time suggests radically different and richer alternatives.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vallée
Vallee applied information science to the phenomenon. He wrote the data show a more complicated explanation than extraterrestrial hypothesis. While he would be disappointed if UFOs turned out to be alien visitors, he fears humanity may get the visitors we deserve.
And I plan to be there.
Like aspects of the phenomenon itself, completely absurd.
State UFO experts say give peace a chance
By Jim Stingl of the Journal Sentinel
Published on: 5/4/2010
My favorite UFO story from Wisconsin - and there are zillions - is about an Eagle River chicken farmer who said the spacemen served him pancakes.
In the spring of 1961, Joseph Simonton said the silver flying saucer landed in his yard. Three short men who appeared to be of Italian descent indicated they wanted a jug filled with water, which he gladly did. One of the visitors on the ship "was frying food on a flameless grill of some sort," Simonton, 60, said in a Milwaukee Journal article from back then.
They gave him three small pancakes, but no syrup, and zoomed off. The locals backed up Simonton as a solid citizen and, according to the sheriff, not a drinking man. The Air Force investigated and proclaimed the space food to be ordinary pancakes.
The encounter was peaceful and friendly, not at all like the ones envisioned by Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, who last week warned that extraterrestrials that show up here someday will be interested mostly in conquering and colonizing us.
Source: https://archive.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/92831654.html/
Then, within all that noise is some serious information, the makings of an unforgettable story.
Designed by Linda Salzman Sagan.
For the two Voyagers:
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” — Arthur C. Clarke
Same can be said for being or not being on the government payroll.
When a dozen luminous, disc-shaped objects flashed across a clear blue sky on July 2, 1952, near Tremonton, Utah, Navy Chief Delbert C. Newhouse pulled his car off the road, grabbed his 16mm movie camera and filmed what he knew was a bizarre sight.
Newhouse, who had more than 1,000 hours of aerial photography mission experience, shot 1,200 frames of one of the objects, which has been described as "two pie pans, one inverted on top of the other."
After rigorous examination of the 75-second film, Navy analysts concluded that the objects were not conventional aircraft, but some sort of "intelligently controlled" vehicles. They stopped short of calling them space vehicles. The Air Force, however, called them "possible birds."
Source: https://www.stripes.com/news/is-the-sky-falling-this-man-says-maybe-not-1.130358
With the Argentine armada in the International Geophysical Year of 1958...
The Trindade Island UFO Incidents and Photographs
Brent Raynes, Classic UFO Cases
original source | fair use notice
Summary: On January 16, 1958, while a Brazilian Navy ship known as the Almirante Saldanha sat anchored off the south coast of Trindade, a small rocky island located in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, it seems that a most remarkable event transpired.
On January 16, 1958, while a Brazilian Navy ship known as the Almirante Saldanha sat anchored off the south coast of Trindade, a small rocky island located in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, it seems that a most remarkable event transpired. Forty-eight (48) crew members and passengers onboard at the time were witnesses. What made the event even more memorable, besides the large number of eyewitnesses, were the remarkable photographs taken by a skilled civilian photographer at the time. The incident began at 12:15 p.m., when an airborne object was spotted approaching the island. The photographer, Almiro Barauna, described as a member of the Icarai Club for Submarine Hunting, was the official photographer assigned to this unit because of his skill in underwater photography. In October 1957, the island had become a scientific research station for oceanographic and meteorological studies for the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Before that it hadn’t been occupied since World War II, when it had been used as an American and Brazilian anti-submarine base.
In a statement made soon afterwards to the Jornal Do Brasil, a newspaper in Rio de Janeiro, Barauna described how he was up on deck when a Amilar Vieira and retired Air Force Captain Jose Teobaldo Viegas began pointing toward the sky, yelling about a bright object that was moving toward the island. Barauna was trying to see it when Lt. Homero Ribeiro, the ship’s dentist, came running excitedly in his direction, also pointing skyward and yelling about some kind of object. After about 30 seconds of looking, he was finally able to see it. By this time, the object was close to the island. Barauna was able to detect it on account of a flash it emitted. He described how it glittered at certain times, and he wasn’t certain if this was the reflection of sunlight or the object’s own light.
Barauna shot two pictures of the object just before it disappeared behind a certain Desejado Peak. After several seconds the object reappeared. It was closer, flying lower and faster, and moving in the opposite direction. He then shot his third photograph. This was followed by a fourth and a fifth attempt that proved unsuccessful on account of being pushed and nudged by others also trying to observe the UFO. As a consequence, those two photographs only contained the sea and the island.
The object was then flying back out to sea, from the general direction it had arrived from. For a brief time it seemed to hang in mid-air. This was when Barauna shot his last picture, which had also been the last one on the film. About 10 seconds later, the UFO began to move off into the distance again and soon disappeared from sight.
The object was described as metallic looking, dark gray in color, was solid-looking but was surrounded by a greenish, phosphorescent haze or mist. There was also a ring around its mid- section that gave it an appearance similar to the planet Saturn.
Continues...
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc644.htm
The Chilean Navy in 2014
Chilean Navy helicopter pilot shoots video of UFO
BY MCCLATCHY FEBRUARY 7, 2018, 8:03 PM
On Nov. 11, 2014, a Navy captain and technician were on a routine daytime patrol mission flying north along the Chilean coast, west of Santiago, and filmed an unidentified flying object.
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article125629429.html#storylink=cpy
Video here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article125658529.html
PS: Wish I was a better photographer, too. I’ve never seen a saucer or photographed one, but I imagine it would be difficult to frame a moving subject that may be shocking to experience in person, relatively small at a distance, exhibits a bright glow, covered by what appears to be shiny or rumpled metal, might be observable/unobservable on radar, from far away...Great we have images at all.
New Jersey in 2020.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/36473/goodyear-blimp-halts-new-jersey-traffic-after-drivers-mistake-it-for-a-ufo
Dr. Hynek classified similar reports to your second story, “Nocturnal Lights.” Upon investigation, some have been identified — odd aircraft strobes, tumbling booster stages reflecting sunlight near the terminator, and other more mundane explanations.
The ones that remain unidentifiable get classified as NL. Some of these have been photographed.
A string of lights seen floating in the night sky east of Charlotte (January 2021) has ignited debate on social media, including talk of UFOs and test rockets. ALISA HOMEWOOD PHOTO
Source: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article248795870.html
👽👽👽Great song, that. Thanks!
Saw Frank and the Mothers of Invention in Detroit on a Mother’s Day in 1973, I think.
I love the Andes. Here are some nearby volcanoes I visited a couple years back.
I DO know UFO reports exist — including eyewitness accounts and cases that left physical traces, such as burned bushes, radar tracks and photographs.
Probably old hat for you, Stuart G, but for those new to the subject, what police officer Lonnie Zamora reported provides a great overview:
In late afternoon on Friday, April 24, 1964, Socorro Police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora departed his cruiser on a rough and rocky dirt road to investigate an unidentified flying object which came to rest in an arroyo south of Socorro. The desolate, undeveloped area was primarily made up of mesquite and creosote bushes. What Sergeant Zamora witnessed at approximately 5:45 p.m. was an “egg shaped craft” traveling into Socorro from the south. It was later reported and documented as having been witnessed (in flight) by 5 tourists traveling through Socorro. Zamora, in an interview following the incident, stated that he witnessed a bluish flame and a loud roar coming from the direction of the arroyo.
Zamora approached the area where he believed the craft had landed. Zamora later stated that he had first seen the object from about 150 yards and believed it to be a car or some sort of vehicle in need of assistance. Zamora then radioed the Sheriff’s Office about a possible accident he would be investigating. Zamora then contacted New Mexico State Police Sergeant Samuel Chavez, someone who Zamora trusted to assist in the investigation. After requesting the assistance of NMSP Sergeant Chavez, Zamora once again began approaching the object.
At about 50 feet from the object, Zamora noted seeing landing gear and a red insignia which he later drew for authorities. Zamora then noted bright blue flames and another loud roar until ultimately the object began lifting away from its resting place. Following the incident, many local residents visited the sight and witnessed not only burned bushes but also landing gear depressions in the ground. This incident has been recorded in many newspapers and magazine articles as well as written about in many books.
Source: https://www.socorronm.org/attractions/socorro-landing-a-ufo-story/
Others nearby that day also reported an egg shaped object: https://sentinel63.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/desert-encounter-with-the-unknown/
As for why they won’t make direct contact, your hypothesis is as good as anyone’s. Humanity really may not be ready. Look at the panic Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre caused.
The thing is, “they” or it or us or the universe or the multiverse themselves may be screwing with us. You know, putting on a show to make us remember a strange story. And that story may contain enough information to manipulate those who hear it into believing in things or behaving in ways they would not have done previously.
Jacques Vallee calls “those” who are behind that part of the phenomenon, the ones who make these things appear before our eyes, “Messengers of Deception.” They have an agenda. What’s on it, we can only guess.
I was a newspaper reporter on the cop beat. This story happened almost 20 years before I met him.
One fall night in the mid-1970s, he was called to a lakefront home in southeastern Michigan. The residents called the station to report an object — saucer shaped and shiny — was sitting on their lawn by their beach. As the officer drove up, he saw a bright light flying low across the lake, away from where he was heading. Upon investigation by flashlight, he found a patch of burned grass about 30-feet across. He didn’t know what it was, but he saw something weird and it left marks on the ground.
Over five years, the guy never lied to me about a crime or story I was working on. There was no reason for me to disbelieve him then.
There are reports people who’ve experienced similar things, including Clarence “Kelly” Johnson of Lockheed Skunkworks fame, one of history’s great aircraft designers, was inspired to explore new avenues of investigation. His story:
The UFO Incident
On December 16, Johnson and his wife Althea were visiting their Lindero Ranch near Agoura, California, which was situated on a hillside facing the coast not far from Pt Mugu Naval Air Station, an aircraft and missile test facility. At about 5 PM Johnson was looking through a window at the brilliant sunset when he noticed a dark elliptical shape in the sky in the direction of Pt Mugu cape. His first thought was that it was a lenticular cloud, or possibly a smoke trail from an aircraft, but it remained stationary and unchanged for several minutes. He called for Althea to bring him his 8-power binoculars and ran outside. By that time the object had begun to move, accelerating away from him in a shallow climb in a direction opposite to the motion of the other clouds in the sky. It seemed to be very large and distant, and moving fast, but he had no real way of knowing its actual size, distance or speed.
At the same time, coincidentally, a Lockheed airplane was in the air on a test flight along the Los Angeles coastline. Constellation airframe 4301 was the prototype for a Navy Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, the WV-2 Warning Star. The WV-2 was a large four-engine transport equipped with huge blisters housing radar antennas (a search radar unit in the belly and a height-finder in a dorsal fairing), and was designed to fly very long standing patrols far off the coasts of North America to provide long-range detection of incoming Soviet bombers. Constellation 4301 was the first of a long line of Navy WV-2s and Air Force EC-121s that would provide a vital part of the North American air defense network throughout the 1950s and '60s.
At the controls of the Warning Star were Rudy Thoren and Roy Wimmer, both highly experienced senior test pilots in the Constellation program, assisted by Joseph F. Ware, Jr, another longtime Lockheed engineering test pilot.[3] Also in the cockpit were Charlie Grugan, another veteran company pilot, and Lockheed's Chief Aerodynamicist, Philip A Colman. It was customary for Lockheed engineers to ride aboard their planes during test flights, and Johnson himself often did so. (There are no indications that the elaborate radar systems, which required a crew of at least a dozen men, were active during the flight.)
Thoren had been recruited by Johnson from their alma mater, the aeronautical engineering school at University of Michigan, and had been Chief of Flight Test for Lockheed since 1946, in charge of all the company's test pilots. Colman was a Cal Tech graduate who had made valuable contributions to the P-38 program, and who would soon be tasked by Johnson with designing the wings for the new CL-282 recon plane. All of the crewmen were top representatives of their fields, having flown for the company for years in development programs of a variety of sophisticated aircraft.
The exact purpose of the test flight is not detailed in the sighting reports, but such flights typically involved calibration of airspeed vs engine power settings at various altitudes, and therefore the crewmen were very conscious of the height of the aircraft. Altitude recording instruments were carried on board.
Though Wimmer was technically the pilot in command, he had turned the controls over to Thoren and was maintaining a watch for other air traffic as Thoren conducted his tests. They had turned from a southeast heading to west, just off the coast of Long Beach, when, at 4:58 PM, Wimmer noticed a dark shape ahead at about their altitude of 14,000 feet. After watching it for a few moments and noting that it was not moving, he jokingly pointed it out to Thoren, saying "Look out, there's a flying saucer." Thoren turned the WV-2 a bit to the right to head toward the object. The other men saw the object too and watched it for a few minutes with a growing sense of curiosity. It appeared to be a very large aircraft of some type, but as it remained stationary and unchanged in shape over at least a five minute period, they became more and more intrigued. Thoren finally diverted from his course and headed directly at it. They flew toward it at about 225 mph for some time without appearing to gain on it at all. Then Wimmer, who was less occupied with piloting tasks and was able to keep a constant watch on the object, commented that it seemed to be disappearing. Within a few moments it appeared to head west directly away from them at high speed, remaining dark and solid-looking the entire time as it dwindled to a tiny dot. They all felt that it was a large object at a considerable distance, and compared its size to the largest types of transport or bomber aircraft. The men later reported that they thought little more of the incident at the time due to their preoccupation with completing the test mission, but Thoren was intrigued enough that upon returning home that evening he told his family about the sighting and sketched the object.
The following day, Kelly Johnson had returned to work and was discussing the WV-2 test flight with Thoren, who was still ruminating on the incident. A bit worried that Johnson would ridicule him, the pilot casually mentioned the sighting. Thoren was surprised when Johnson excitedly interrupted him and described his own sighting in detail. Both concluded that all the witnesses had been viewing the same object at the same time. Over the course of the next few weeks each of the pilots wrote a detailed personal account of the case, probably at Johnson's urging, and the Chief Engineer, in his typical meticulous style, assembled them into a file (Lockheed file LAC/149536) and drafted a personal cover letter addressed to the "Air Force Investigation Group on Flying Saucers" at Wright Field. Then, tough and combative as he was, Johnson hesitated to send the report. After all, he was hoping to get a foot in the door of the Air Force's new covert strategic reconnaissance aircraft competition and was very concerned that a UFO report might jeopardize his credibility. He may have sought the advice of his friend, Lt General Donald Putt.
Source: http://ufxufo.org/stealth/lockiur.htm
There’s so much weirdness there, it’s a book by itself.
JFK got America to the moon and back in less than a decade. And things today change faster than ever and become seemingly more chaotic. Perhaps we need some good old fashioned friendly discussion and create a renewed sense of community. Then, we can roll up our sleeves and get some more really big work done.
I agree with you, colsohlibgal. Ours is an amazing universe or multiverse or cosmos. We know and understand but the smallest fraction of it.
The person, IMO, who best understands the phenomenon and its impact on our civilization, writes that UFOs seem to tell a story in a “language” that transfers meaning in a way that people in different times can relate and remember. The purpose may be to accelerate progress or instill new customs. We need, of course, more study.
http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/vallee_magonia.html
Three men and a woman, actually. They fell from the sky, it would seem, in the vicinity of Lyon in what’s now eastern France, early in the ninth century. They came from a place called Magonia.
So the local mob believed, as they prepared to stone them to death.
We have the story from Agobard, Archbishop of Lyon (c. 779-840), in a treatise directed against “the absurd opinion of the common folk concerning hail and thunder.” Agobard prided himself on his enlightenment; Scripture, not superstition, was for him the touchstone of truth. Here’s the story he tells, as translated by W. J. Lewis for the Internet Medieval Sourcebook:
“But we have seen and heard of many people overcome with so much foolishness, made crazy by so much stupidity, that they believe and say that there is a certain region, which is called Magonia, from which ships come in the clouds. In these ships the crops that fell because of hail and were lost in storms are carried back into that region; evidently these aerial sailors make a payment to the storm-makers, and take the grain and other crops. Among those so blinded with profound stupidity that they believe these things could happen we have seen many people in a kind of meeting, exhibiting four captives, three men and one woman, as if they had fallen from these very ships. As I have said, they exhibited these four, who had been chained up for some days, with such a meeting finally assembling in our presence, as if these captives ought to be stoned. But when truth had prevailed, however, after much argument, the people who had exhibited the captives, in accordance with the prophecy (Jeremiah 2:26) ‘were confounded … as the thief is confounded when he is taken.’ ”
This is a story well known in UFOlogical circles, for good reason. Forty-some years ago, it inspired the title of Jacques Vallee’s Passport to Magonia (Regnery, 1969), a stunningly original book that set forth the practically unheard-of possibility that it was possible to believe in UFOs without believing them to be visitors from outer space. Vallee noticed, and took seriously, the resemblance of the small humanoid beings who piloted the UFOs to the “wee folk” of European fairy lore. He suggested the two species of alien might have more in common than their small stature.
Not that the fairies and elves were misidentified spacemen, as the UFOlogists might have said. Nor (as the “debunkers” held) that UFOs are the same sort of nonsense as the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. Rather, both traditions attested to some realm beyond consensus reality, yet co-existing with ourselves through the length of human history. A realm that, for want of a better name, we might call “Magonia.”
Continues...
https://www.davidhalperin.net/the-mystery-men-of-magonia/
“One-Way Doors Out of the Universe”
The Daily Galaxy
Posted on May 24, 2021
Nobel-Prize laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for whom NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory was named, described black holes as “the most perfect macroscopic objects there are in the universe: the only elements in their construction are our concepts of space and time.”
Strange Cosmic Paradoxes
These strange cosmic paradoxes, which Princeton quantum physicist John Archibald Wheeler coined “black holes,” have no memory, yet are said to contain the earliest memories of the universe, as well as the most recent, while at the same time obliterating all memory by obliterating all its manifestations.
And yet, like a hologram, black holes have two dimensions, in which gravity disappears, but they reproduce an object in three dimensions, aligning with Einstein’s theory of relativity, which describes black holes as three dimensional, simple, spherical, and smooth, as they appear in the famous image of the black hole in M87 captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in April 2019. An image, EHT director Shep Deleman described as “one-way doors out of the Universe.”
Chandra X-ray Close-up of the Core of M87, EHT Image of Black Hole below (X-ray: NASA/CXC/Villanova University/J. Neilsen, Radio: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration)
Continues...
https://dailygalaxy.com/2021/05/five-amazing-facts-about-black-holes-one-way-doors-out-of-the-universe/#more-42424
Wondrous times to live in, ours, roamer65.
ETA: Perhaps UFOs are doors into our universe? Or the universe itself is alive and communicates with us in symbols we can comprehend?
THE FLYING SAUCER
by T/Sgt Barnes
March 1950
Hearing tales of little men
and speeding ships on high.
Around me all most every day,
I cast a weary eye.
Today I saw men gathered
around the hangar door.
They said they saw a Saucer.
A tiny ship they swore.
They pointed to the cloudless sky.
“Past Vapor Trails”, they sigh,
I saw a faroff something,
Shining in the sky.
We watched it hard, it seemed to move
As vapors drifted by
I felt the strangest feelings
Of course I know not why.
A weather baloon sent up to give
The weather for the day.
Some said a star that shines so bright,
We see it in the day.
Elusions, stars or man made things
Ships from other planets.
We watched, we talked and wondered.
But none of us could name it.
Because I could not give them
The answer is not given,
What is the thing that shines so bright
So far up in the heavens.
T/Sgt Barnes
FINIS
Add “UFO” to the list.
He is the alien.
From Who Goes There? in PDF:
..."I know," McReady acknowledged. "The thing is not Earthly. It does not seem likely that it can have a lifechemistry sufficiently like ours to make crossinfection remotely possible. I would say that there is no danger."
McReady looked toward Dr. Copper. The physician shook his head slowly. "None whatever," he asserted confidently. "Man cannot infect or be infected by germs that live in such comparatively close relatives as the snakes. And they are, I assure you," his cleanshaven face grimaced uneasily, "much nearer to us than that."...
Good bet Dumpy never read a word written by Dr. J. Allen Hynek or anything on one of his favorite reports, a Close Encounter of the Third Kind with about 30 witnesses.
Papua New Guinea Sighting (1959)
William B. Gill, an Anglican priest with a mission in Bosinai, Papas New Guinea, observed craft-like UFOs — one with Humanoid figures on top — on two consecutive evenings, June 26-27, 1959. About twenty-five natives, including teachers and medical technicians, also observed the phenomena. They “signaled” the humanoids and received an apparent response. This was one of sixty UFO sightings within a few weeks in the New Guinea area.
Snip...
As indicated by his notes, Gill saw a bright white light in the north western sky. It appeared to be approaching the mission and hovering about 100 metres up. Eventually 38 people, including Gill, teachers Steven Gill Moi and Ananias Rarata, and Mrs Nessle Moi, gathered to watch the main UFO, which looked like a large, disc-shaped object. It was apparently solid and circular with a wide base and narrower upper deck. The object appeared to have four ‘legs’ underneath it. There also appeared to be about four ‘panels’ or ‘portholes’ on the side of the object, which seemed to glow a little brighter than the rest. At a number of intervals the object produced a shaft of blue light which shone upwards into the sky at an angle of about 45 degrees.
What looked like ‘men’ came out of the object, onto what seemed to be a deck on top of it. There were four men in all, occasionally two, then one, then three, then four. The shaft of blue light and the ‘men’ disappeared. The object then moved through some clouds. There were other UFO sightings during the night. Gill described the weather as variable sky scattered clouds to clear at first, becoming overcast after. He estimated the height of the clouds at about 600 meters. The first sighting over the sea, according to Rev. Gill, seemed to be about 150 metres above the water all times. The main UFO was clearly visible and seemed mostly stationary during the twenty-five minutes of observation.
Astonishingly, the aerial visitor put in a repeat performance the following night, 27 June. Gill prepared another statement.
‘Large UFO first sighted by Annie Laurie at 6 p.m. in apparently same position as last night (26/6/59) only seemed a little smaller, when W.B.G. saw it at 6.02 p.m. I called Ananias and several others and we stood in the open to watch it. Although the sun had set it was still quite light for the following fifteen minutes. We watched figures appear on top four of them, no doubt that they are human. Possibly the same object that I took to be the “Mother” ship last night. Two smaller UFOs were seen at the same time, stationary.
One above the hills west, another over- head. On the large one two of the figures seemed to be doing something near the centre of the deck, were occasionally bending over and raising their arms as though adjusting or “setting up” something (not visible). One figure seemed to be standing looking down at us (a group of about a dozen). I stretched my arm above my head and waved. To our surprise the figure did the same. Ananias waved both arms over his head then the two outside figures did the same. Ananias and self began waving our arms and all four now seemed to wave back. There seemed to be no doubt that our movements were answered. All mission boys made audible gasps (of either joy or surprise, perhaps both).
Continues...
https://closeencounterproject.wordpress.com/papua-new-guinea-sighting/
More...
https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/father-gill-1959-papua-new-guinea-ufo-sighting/
Here’s audio of a lecture he made years later in Australia:
An employee of Orange County, California, Mr. Heflin took a series of four UFO images with his Polaroid while checking road signs that were being blocked by vegetation in 1965. Here's his first photo:
Note how the dust on the ground directly underneath the object is standing straight up. That is clear evidence for some type of unknown phenomenon.
Anne Druffel and associates studied the pictures and reported:
Excerpt...
Computer enhancement also confirmed that the UFO in Heflin’s photo is a large object, approximately 20 feet in diameter and more than 100 feet from the camera, as first estimated by Heflin. Kelson also independently detected an unusual blurring effect around the craft which he stated was not due to motion, camera focus, or to the gaussian effect. This correlates with Dr. Nathan’s finding 30 years prior of an unexplained fuzziness in the craft image.
Our reanalysis of the Heflin UFO photos in 2000 has led to the following conclusions:
1. The photos are totally consistent with Heflin’s written and verbal testimony regarding the sighting.
2. The photos depict a solid unidentified craft which is moving through the air, leaving a trail.
3. William Spaulding’s hoax conclusion in the mid-1970s was derived from faulty data.
4. The smoke-ring photo is linked by computer-enhancement data to the other three, by cloud and trail data which were previously unavailable.
There is evidence that for 28 years, three of the original four photos were in the hands of unknown persons who took good care of them while possibly accessing data from them. Why they were returned to Heflin under totally inexplicable circumstances remains an unsolved mystery.
The UFO field’s study of Rex Heflin’s incomparable photos continues, and will continue in years to come. Ongoing studies into more technical aspects are being conducted presently by Dr. Kelson, and there is more evidence emerging that the unexplained blur around the object might possibly be evidence of ionization, long speculated by many researchers and scientists in the field to be involved in UFO propulsion.
Source(via Wayback Machine Internet Archive):
http://www.anndruffel.com/articles/ufo/goodbyerexheflin.htm
Mr. Heflin was in the right place at the right time, with his camera at the ready, because photographing traffic accidents and roadway hazards were part of his job. Were it me that day in his stead, I likely would not get a single photo. Heck, I’d probably still be staring with my jaw on my chest.
FWIFW: There seem to be unreleased close-up photographs taken by USN pilots, going by recent revelations. With any luck, we might get to see what they show.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as “the flying saucer phenomenon.” I think it has three components and we have to deal with them in different ways.
First, there is a physical object. That may be a flying saucer or it may be a projection or it may be something entirely different. All we know about it is that it represents a tremendous quantity of electromagnetic energy in a small volume. I say that based upon the evidence gathered from traces, from electromagnetic and radar detection and from perturbations of the electromagnetic fields such as Dr. Claude Poher, the French space scientist, has recorded.
Second, there’s the phenomenon the witnesses perceive. What they tell us is that they’ve seen a flying saucer. Now they may have seen that or they may have seen an image of a flying saucer or they may have hallucinated it under the influence of microwave radiation, or any of a number of things may have happened. The fact is that the witnesses were exposed to an event and as a result they experienced a highly complex alteration of perception which caused them to describe the object or objects that figure in their testimony.
Beyond those — the physical phenomenon and the perception phenomenon — we have the third component, the social phenomenon. That’s what happens when the reports are submitted to society and enter the cultural arena. That’s the part which I find most interesting."
SOURCE: http://integralnews.blogspot.com/2008/01/jacques-vallees-integral-approach-to.html