The Collinsville, Connecticut UFO Incident, December 13th, 1999 - Alternate Explanations - Part 5

Official Explanations and My Conclusions

There are no current official explanations given for this event so I will quickly get into my conclusions of this very interesting case.

As stated above this case is very intriguing for many reasons. First off we have multiple ‘exploding contrails’ that appear to have no rational cause in any mundane extent. The apparent steep direction of the contrails seems to me to suggest a possible decent from space, but that is only a theory and could be wrong. Then we have multiple witnesses’ claiming they saw a truly unusual and obviously non-conventional (well at least by public knowledge) bullet shaped aircraft, with another sphere object apparently hovering around the front of it that just passed over this short stretch of town before the sphere shot off and disappeared in a totally different direction than the main craft. We have one of the witnesses describing a strange humming sound, we have multiple witnesses describing a totally unheard of aircraft configuration, color, reflectivity, and propulsion means. Was it a coincidence there were multiple contrails seen descending shortly before the UFOs were seen? What was this object doing? What were the aircraft looking for after the sighting?

With all the extensive investigation done by CT MUFON apparently ruling out any probable mundane explanations for both the contrails and UFOs it seems all we are left with is either
A) A hoax, but why? The witnesses’ had NOTHING to gain from this. They also resisted all common tactics used to uncover hoaxes.
B) A true UFO event, whether it is a secret government project, alien, inter-dimensional, time travel related, or whatever.

Another question I have is why did not more people witness these contrails and UFOs? Of course there are many reasons for this, but none-the-less it raises some questions in my mind. However, to counter the above statement is a 40 plus hour investigation by professionals who believe this to be a true event, and I must say that personally I feel the same. I see no reason to think this was a hoax, but I can only judge from what I have researched, as I did not personally interview the witnesses. This is a truly unknown case in my humble opinion, although it is unlikely we will ever be able to solve it, it is defiantly worthy of widespread view, if for nothing else, to get this information out to the public, so they can all see that there are indeed strange events going on ALL OVER the planet. Some of these events (like this one) appear to lack any known explanations that mundane science can provide, so hence it comes to ufology or “fringe science”.

This case, in my personal opinion, must ‘officially’ go into a unknown category(and it will likely stay there). I see no reason to rush to a hoax conclusion and further investigation as appeared to pretty much rule out anything mundane. This does not mean alien, Galactic Federation of Light, Time Travelers, or even a super black government craft. It truly means UNKNOWN, all we can do is make theories based upon other events and evidence. In my personal opinion I am leaning more towards alien in origin, again this is based on multiple amounts of research of events that seem to point more towards that explanation more than any others. But I am still open to anything else as a explanation, if the proper evidence is presented. As always it is up to everyone to make their own conclusions based on the available evidence supplied. I also need to say that the researchers at the Connecticut branch of MUFON did a superb job of investigating this case, which made it possible for me to present such a case here to ATS. Anyways, I hope everyone finds this case as interesting as I did and hope people take a real and legitimate look at this case and many others like it(without photos, videos, etc), as in my opinion, this and others show that something truly is going on in our skies.

The Collinsville, Connecticut UFO Incident, December 13th, 1999 - Alternate Explanations - Part 4

Orbital Debris
Obviously the first mundane explanation we should consider would be the contrails. Considering their odd angle of descent and the flashes seen one would likely postulate that the witnesses’ might have seen orbital debris falling back to Earth. However, after a closer inspection of the facts surrounding known decayed orbits that day this is not possible and is therefore eliminated.
• Orbital Data for 12/13/99

Meteors
Still on the contrails, meteors are also a possible explanation for what the witnesses’ saw that day. Considering the data this can not be entirely ruled out, however existing documentation lists very few meteors known to leave any contrail type phenomena, especially not in the length of duration that was seen.

According to the following chart of this year's Geminids (www.imo.net...), compiled by the International Meteor Organization, the peak was actually 12/14/99; on the date in question, at the time of the sighting, the rate was roughly 38 per hour

Aircraft
Obviously conventional aircraft are known to regularly cause contrails, so this can not be entirely ruled out. However, considering there are no major air-traffic lanes over Collinsville there is no apparent reason for that number or orientation of contrails to have been observed.. Here are some more issues with this theory:

• [color=gold] The closest airway is significantly south of the sighting location, there is no way contrails from that airway would be seen at the location.
• The apparent “burst” and “flash” of the trails seem to defy any known conventional phenomena.

All in all this explanation can not be completely ruled out, however—logic and available facts point to no likely way that any mundane explanations could apply to the observed contrails and their very odd flight characteristics.
• Further Data

Balloons

Obviously there are few alternate explanations for the actual UFOs. In my opinion balloons is a ridiculous theory, BUT we must consider everything. I know of no known balloons that would remotely fit the description and flight characteristics of the UFOs, as well account for the humming sound. Also the overall look and color of the UFOs do not match any known balloon, let alone the ball that was floating around the bullet-like craft, which then proceeded to go off in its’ own direction in an apparent vanishing act. 

The Collinsville, Connecticut UFO Incident, December 13th, 1999 - The Investigation - Part 3

3. The Investigation

The investigation was carried out by the Connecticut MUFON, which dispatched two field investigators to interview the witness, collect data, etc. According to the investigators all attempts at leading the witnesses or any other forms used to discern inconsistencies consistent with hoaxes failed. They also noted other accounts, such as the concurring statements about birds purposefully flying in the opposite direction of the oncoming craft and other consistencies lend further credibility. In the investigators opinion the witnesses were not lying about what they saw. Bases on the witnesses’ sketches a geometry program was used to postulate the exact shape and orientation of the UFOs. The following images are the result of that work:
Perspective View 

Front View 

Left View 

Top View 

Spatial Arrangements and Angle

In this arrangement

The two objects are approximately the same diameter.

The sphere is slightly above the centerline of the bullet, slightly ahead of the central axis, and very close to the bullet.

If the objects were directly level with the observer, the angle of pitch would be about 30 degrees and roll also close to 30 degrees. Because of the fact that the witness was looking upward at an estimated angle of 25 degrees, both pitch and roll would be greater than thirty degrees. 

hose all represent the likely true appearance of the UFOs based on the available evidence. A lot of pictures I know, but it is truly important we dissect this UFO from all angles so we can get a decent idea of what the witnesses’ saw , so we can try to come to any mundane explanations ourselves, and maybe someone who knows something about objects of this shape will see this detailed analysis and speak up.


In addition to interviewing the witnesses’ and making the detailed computer graphics shown above, the investigators looked over the area in general to get a good perspective on things. Here is the investigator report:

The Collinsville, Connecticut UFO Incident, December 13th, 1999 - A UFO Close-Up - Part 2

The twelve year boy went back outside, only to come back into the shop to tell his father “you have to come outside”. The father went outside and looked south, southeast where he, his son, and his associate saw an “object with a ball next to it”. According to the witnesses the object was approximately bullet shaped and had two fins blended smoothly into the surface of the UFO. The bullet-like UFO’s size was estimated at no less than 12 feet across and no more than 120 feet across, with the sphere significantly smaller.. According to the witness the color was a soft medium blue-grey, with a non-metallic look. Both objects (the “ball” and “bullet”) appeared to be seamless in design(although “Y” believes he saw a longitudinal seam on the bullet-like object). Additionally there were no windows, engines, or exhaust observed on or near any of the objects, as there was also no sound heard at this time. The objects were moving left(north) from the observers’ perspective, this heading was taking the objects towards the witnesses’ canoe shop. The following photo is showing the approximate location of the objects as seen by the witness’ at the antique shop:

Witness’s sketches:

Drawn by “F”

Flight path according to “F”
**Important note on above sketch:

This image shows the views of the object based on their position on the trajectory. It has not yet (12/24/99) been determined if the curvature represents a real trajectory or not. The relative elevations do not (and are probably not intended to) match the site reenactment (also note East is really SE and W is really NW); at disappearance, the elevation was reduced by about 10 or more degrees from appearance, though that may have been a perspective effect.

Drawn by “S” (12 years old)


Continued.....

The Collinsville, Connecticut UFO Incident, December 13th, 1999 - Contrails - Part 1

This is an incredible case that has had extensive research put into by MUFONCT (Connecticut MUFON) and still lacks any reasonable alternate explanation of the very strange phenomena these four credible witnesses ranging in age from 12 to 80 saw. This is also yet another top case that has received little or no attention hardly anywhere in my opinion. There are two noticeable parts to this sighting, one observed from long range, and the other observed from a much closer range, with the totality of the sighting lasting about 40 minutes. There is also a fairly extensive analysis as well. Unfortunately (as in many top cases) there are no actual photographs known to exist, but there is much of everything else important. In the end, as always, it is up to every one of you to make up your own mind on what happened on the strange afternoon of December 13th, 1999 in Collinsville, Connecticut.

Chapter Summary
1.Strange Contrails
2.A UFO Close-Up
3. The Investigation
4. Alternate Explanations
5. Official Conclusions and My Conclusions

1. Strange Contrails

Before we start I want to quickly go over the witnesses(which chose to remain anonymous):
[color=gold]

Two adult men, 49 (called “Y”) and 51(called “F”)

The 12 year old son of “F” called “S”

An 80 year old female business associate called “W” 

Google Earth image overlooking Collinsville, Connecticut

This whole strange event starts at around 3:30 PM EST outside of an antique store in Collinsville, Connecticut on December 13th, 1999. The witness’s (F) son (S, who was twelve) was playing outside of the store when he ran in to tell his father “Dad, dad, something’s falling from the sky.” After being ignored the first time by his father the son came running back inside saying “Dad, you’ve got to come and see.” When his father finally went outside he reported that he witnessed a contrail, similar to that of an aircraft “dropping very slowly”. The direction of the contrail was straight down and the witness reported the width of the trial to be wider than a typical jet.

Map showing position of the sightings

Suddenly there was a “burst” and ”bright balls of light” from the contrail which had the witnesses thinking a plane had just exploded. However, the “contrail” continued its’ same heading before disappearing in a flash behind the near by hill.

Investigator sketch (under witness direction) showing the appearance of the contrails

After the father went inside feeling uneasy that he might have just witnessed a plane crash he asked his business associate(Y) to come take a look. When they went back outside there was another, second contrail. It appeared less wide than the first and was to the left of where the first one appeared but followed the same direction and pattern. It too had a “burst” mid way through its decent before it disappeared behind the hill like the previous one did. Suddenly the three witnesses saw a white dot comparable to a star appear in the sky. It got somewhat bigger then started showing a contrail, the witnesses saw 5 contrails(all displaying the same characteristics apparently) in all. Feeling somewhat scared the witnesses went inside.

Interview report of the witness “Y”:

Y, age 49, was one of at least four witnesses to an event that occurred on Monday, December 13, '99' at between 1500 and 1600 hours (EST). The witness was positive of the date since it was St. Lucia day, the beginning of his Christmas, but unsure of the particular day of the week (which was later determined from the calendar). He was certain of the time also, since one of his co-workers, F, drives his son, S from school to the antique shop (where they both work) at the same time each day. Both the co-worker and the son were witnesses, as well as an 81-year-old woman (also an employee of the antique store) named W.

The event actually takes place in two parts. Initially, F came in through the front door of the shop and alerted Y to the event. Upon exiting the front door onto the sidewalk, Y's attention was directed toward the west whereupon he observed what he described as a "light shower". Trails of light/light flashes were "coming down in slow motion through the sky " from approximately 60 degrees above the horizon. One of the "lights" split into "two balls of light" and continued to fall below the horizon. These light balls were numerous, occurred one at a time with one disappearing below the horizon before the next one began to fall, were bright, and left no "trail". Each one took approximately 60 seconds from appearance in the sky until it fell below the horizon, and they continued to materialize and fall for 20 minutes. During this event the witness was in and out of the store assisting customers. All falling objects originated and fell between 250 degrees and 260 degrees (magnetic). The witness believes that at least one falling object hit something because there was a bright flash just after it fell below the horizon.

The weather was clear; similar to the day that this interview took place, and we were facing almost directly into the setting sun which was still above the horizon at 1530 hours on the day of the interview. Y reports that on the day of the event the sun had already set behind the steep and tall ridgeline that comprises the western horizon. This interviewer believes that this must have been the case due to the reported time, and the fact that it was nearly impossible to look to the west during the interview because of the brightness of the setting sun. The witness reports that the light conditions were "dusky" during the event, which would have pegged the time at 1600 hours or later. Sunset was at 1612 hours on December 13.

It should be noted that the mountain range or ridgeline to the west is quite close to the position of the observers (less than 3 kilometers), making the top of the hill, which is the actual western horizon, approximately 20 degrees up from level. In addition, just over the hilltop lies Nepaug Reservoir.

The following is the site photo with the red dot showing the approximate origination elevation and azimuth of the contrails, all of which terminated at the horizon reportedly(From the antique shop perspective).

Aurora, Texas – 1897 UFO incident

Aurora is a small town in the state of Texas. However, Aurora has been designated as a “historical site” by the government, which is surprising enough considering the sparsely populated stature, dwelling who are simple farming communities and the fact that no such prominent historical events that were known to the world occurred here.

Newspaper article from April 19, 1897: “A Windmill Demolishes It”

On exploring more about the “historical” significance, it was discovered that UFOs had appeared at this place during 1897. Considering the year 1897, which was five years before the Wright brothers even experimented their first flight, sighting a flying object was one of the strangest things to see. Also, considering the lack of technology and communication links prevailing back then, this incident failed to gain much significance and importance. Apparently, sightings of the UFO happened all over the country, finally before appearing clearly in a small and otherwise never heard of the town, Aurora.

On the 17^th of April at 6 AM in the morning, the otherwise usual day for the residents of Aurora was entirely different. People who started their day early were taken aback to spot an airship slowly moving at a speed ranging from 10 to 12 miles approximately. As per the residents, the slow speed was due to a malfunction or damage in the machinery of the airship. Various accounts claim that the UFO had never been flying so close to the Earth before, during the earlier times it was spotted.

Alien Gravesite in Aurora Cemetery

The UFO flew gradually over the public square before proceeding towards the Northern part of the town, with the onlookers watching the incident while being bewildered. However, when it reached the Northern Part of Aurora, it hit the windmill owned by a Judge J.S. Proctor. Due to the impact of the collision, the aircraft came down crashing and burst into pieces, resulting in a terrific explosion. The residents of Aurora rushed to the spot to discover the debris. The tower of the windmill was destroyed, and the debris were found scattered all around in acres of land. This collision also destroyed the water tank and also the flower garden of Proctor. However, there is no information about the type of wreckage and debris obtained at the crash site. But as per rumors, the debris consisted of hieroglyphic-type etching.

On close examination, the residents found that a badly disfigured body was found, and apparently was the only one on board the spacecraft. Even in the disgruntled state, it was apparent and clear to identify that the body found did not belong to this world, thereby concluding that it was a non-earthly being in the UFO that crashed. The residents, without any knowledge, went ahead to dispose of the body and clear the debris. The apparent alien was given a proper burial as per Christian rites and customs by the residents, in the Aurora cemetery.

The Texas Historical Commission put up a marker near the grave of the alien, summarizing the incident about how it happened, as per the accounts of residents. The mystery further intensified when the property of Judge Proctor was purchased by Mr. Brawley Oates. He used the water from the well, which was also subject to debris of the airship and eventually, fell ill and extremely complicated case of arthritis. He claimed that it was a result of consumption of water contaminated by the debris and sealed the well soon.

With this incident gaining prominence slowly, UFO investigators started investigating this incident. Attempts were made to exhume and examine the remains of the “unearthly body” that was buried by the residents. The Aurora Cemetery Association, however challenged this move and was successful in stopping the attempts to exhume the body. More details about the alien body still continue to be a mystery, with no much information available on this matter. However, after several attempts, a new eyewitness who was also present during this incident could be contacted to throw more light into the matter. Mary Evans, 15 years old when this incident happened, discussed how her parents went to the crash site and restricted her from accompanying them fearing the scene prevailing at the crash site. When contacted, she had turned 91 years old and said that she had entirely forgotten about the incident until she read a report regarding the same in a newspaper. Mary Evans went on to describe how her parents spoke about the “small body” that was disfigured and about the body not being an inhabitant of Earth.

A North Texas State University professor also tried to gather more information about this incident. He claimed to have found a few metal fragments in a gas station in the vicinity of Judge Proctor’s property. The professor said that one metal fragment was the “most intriguing” as it was comprised of iron but failed to exhibit magnetic properties, which all materials consisting of iron do.

With no concrete evidence about the Aurora UFO sighting, mainly due to the non-availability of evidence and unreachable eyewitnesses, mystery continues to shroud regarding the UFO sighting.

Find out more at our Aurora UFO incident tag.

Famous UFO cases: Rendlesham Forest UFO incident – 1980

The Rendlesham Forest Incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of a craft of unknown origin in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England  in late December 1980. Some Ufologists believe it is perhaps the most famous UFO event to have happened in Britain, ranking amongst the best-known UFO events worldwide. It has been compared to the Roswell UFO incident in the United States and is sometimes referred to as “Britain’s Roswell”.

Following the event, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied that it posed any threat to national security and stated that it was therefore never investigated as a security matter. Later evidence indicated that there was a substantial MoD file on the subject and this led to claims of a cover-up. Some interpreted this as part of a larger pattern of information suppression concerning the true nature of unidentified flying objects, by both the United States and British governments (see the UFO conspiracy theory). However, when the file was released in 2001 it turned out to consist mostly of internal correspondence and responses to inquiries from the public. The lack of any in-depth investigation confirmed that the case was never taken seriously by the MoD.

Location

Rendlesham Forest is owned by the Forestry Commission and consists of approximately 15 square kilometres (3700 acres) of coniferous plantations, interspersed with broadleaved belts, heathland and wetland areas. It is located in the county of Suffolk, about eight miles (13 km) to the east of the town of Ipswich.

The incident occurred in the vicinity of two military bases (now both abandoned by the USAF). These are RAF Bentwaters, which is situated just to the north of the forest, and RAF Woodbridge which extends into the forest from the west. At the time, both were being used by the United States Air Force (USAF) and were under the command of wing commander Colonel Gordon E. Williams. The base commander was Col Ted Conrad, and his deputy was Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt. It is Halt’s written memo to the Ministry of Defence on the incident, and his personal involvement in the second night of the sightings, that has given the case credibility.

The main events of the incident, including the supposed landing, took place in the forest, almost a mile (1600 m) to the east of the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge.

Orford Ness lighthouse, which skeptics identify as the flashing light seen off to the coast by the airmen, is another five miles (8 km) further east of this location.

All these locations are shown on the adjacent map. Commentators have published more detailed maps of the location and a modern aerial view of the region can be found on Google Maps.

Date

Retired Sgt. John Burroughs (LE) states that the events took place over three successive nights (pm into am); 25th-26th, 26th-27th and 27th–28th December 1980. One of the key pieces of primary evidence—the “Halt memo”, described below—suggests that the first sightings were on the 27th, rather than 26th. However, the memo was written almost two weeks after the event and its author later agreed that he had probably made a mistake in his recollection of the dates. This discrepancy in dates has not only confused subsequent researchers but also led to confusion at the time, for example in the MoD’s investigation and analysis of contemporaneous radar records.

Main events

26 December

Around 3 a.m. on 26 December 1980 strange lights were reported by a security patrol near the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge. Servicemen initially thought it was a downed aircraft but, upon entering the forest to investigate, they saw many strange lights moving through the trees, as well as a bright light from an unidentified object. Shortly after 4 a.m. local police were called to the scene but reported that the only lights they could see were those from the Orford Ness lighthouse, some miles away on the coast. Some reports claim that local farmyard animals had been behaving in a state of fear and panic, although this was an arable farm and had no animals.

Three servicemen were sent out to investigate and came upon a triangular and brightly lit object silently hovering in the woods several feet off the ground. It was a conical metallic object, suspended in a yellow mist, hovering over a clearing in the trees, with a pulsating blue and red circle of light above. One made detailed notes of its features, touched its “warm” surface, and copied the numerous symbols on its body. The object flew away after their brief encounter. One eyewitness claims to have seen triangular landing gear on the object leaving three impressions in the ground that were visible the next day.

The airmen were allegedly debriefed, threatened and ordered to sign documents that vowed silence; one even claimed to have been forced to sign a document claiming the UFO was a lighthouse. Some reports suggest that they were reportedly ordered to stay quiet, with the warning “bullets are cheap”. Lieutenant Colonel Halt, however, claimed in a 2008 interview for U.S. news channel CNN that to this day he has not been debriefed over the incident.

After daybreak on the morning of 26 December, servicemen returned to the small clearing where the conical object had been seen, and found three small impressions in a triangular pattern, as well as burn marks and broken branches on nearby trees. Plaster casts of the imprints were taken and have been shown in television documentaries. At 10.30 a.m. the local police were called out again, this time to see the impressions on the ground, which they thought could have been made by an animal.

28 December

The servicemen returned to the site again in the early hours of 28 December 1980 with radiation detectors, although the significance of the readings they obtained is disputed. The deputy base commander Lt Col Charles I. Halt investigated this sighting personally and recorded the events on a micro-cassette recorder (see “The Halt Tape”, below). The site investigated by Halt was near the eastern edge of the forest, at approximately 52° 05’ 20” N, 1° 26’ 57” E.

It was during this investigation that a flashing light was seen across the field to the east, almost in line with a farmhouse.

Later, starlike lights were seen in the sky to the north and south, the brightest of which seemed to beam down a stream of light from time to time.

There are claims that the incident was videoed by the USAF; but, if so, the resulting tape has not been made public.

Primary and secondary sources

The first public report of the incident was published in the tabloid newspaper News of the World, on 2 October 1983, beneath the sensational headline UFO lands in Suffolk – and that’s official. The story was based on an account by a former US airman, using the pseudonym Art Wallace (supposedly to protect himself against retribution from the USAF), although his real name was Larry Warren.

The Halt memo

The first piece of primary evidence to be made available to the public was a memorandum written by the deputy base commander, Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Known as the “Halt memo”, this was made available publicly in the United States under the US Freedom of Information Act in 1983. The memorandum (left), was dated “13 Jan 81″ and headed “Unexplained Lights”. The two-week delay between the incident and the report might account for errors in dates and times given. The memo was not classified in any way.

Picture right: Letter from Lt. Col. Charles Halt. Click to enlarge.

Statements from eyewitnesses on 26 December

The Scottish researcher James Easton succeeded in obtaining the original witness statements made for Col. Halt by Fred A. Buran, 81st Security Police Squadron, Airman First Class John Burroughs, 81st LE, Airman Edward N. Cabansag, 81st Security Police Squadron, Master-Sergeant J. D. Chandler, 81st Security Police Squadron and Staff-Sergeant Jim Penniston, 81st Security Police Squadron. These documents are now in the public domain and scans of them are available on Ian Ridpath’s website.

These documents describe the sightings of strange lights. Penniston, for instance, states that a “large yellow glowing light was emitting above the trees. In the center of the lighted area directly in the center ground level, there was a red light blinking on and off 5 to 10 sec intervals. And a blue light that was being for the most part steady.”

There were some strange noises, too. Burroughs reported a noise “like a woman was screaming” and also that “you could hear the farm animals making a lot of noises”. Halt heard the same noises two nights later. In a CNN interview in January 2008 he said: “The livestock around the barn seemed to be going crazy”. However, other sources dispute that there were animals on the nearby farm. Such noise could also have been made by Muntjac deer in the forest, which are known for their loud, shrill bark when alarmed. Burroughs’ statement also states that “We could see a beacon going around so we went towards it. We followed it for about two miles [3 km] before we could [see] it was coming from a light house.”

Penniston’s statement is the only one that positively identifies a mechanical object as the source of the lights. He states that he was within 50 metres of the object and “it was defidently mechaniclal in nature” [spelling as in original]. Penniston has shown on television a notebook in which he claims to have made real-time notes and sketches of the object. The notebook is headed with the date 27 December and the time 12:20 (00:20 GMT), which does not accord with the date and time given by the other witnesses for the encounter. In addition, Penniston claims that he saw the object at a different landing site from the one investigated by Halt, much closer to RAF Woodbridge.

The witnesses were unnerved by their experience and believed that they had witnessed something, as Buran expresses it, “out of the realm of explanation”.

The Halt Tape

Also, in 1984, a copy of what became known as the “Halt Tape” fell into the hands of researchers. Unfortunately, because of static and the fact that the tape had been dubbed on an old machine, much of its background conversations could not be discerned. The US Sci Fi Channel acquired the original recording, which documents Halt and his patrol investigating a UFO sighting in Rendlesham Forest in December 1980. This tape not only reveals much more of the background conversations but features names that could not be heard on the poor-quality 1984 dub. The tape has also been transcribed by researcher Ian Ridpath, who includes a link to an audio download.

Suffolk Police log

Suffolk Constabulary have a record, dated 26 December 1980, of a report from the law Enforcement Desk of RAF Woodbridge, stating that “We have a sighting of some unusual lights in the sky, we have sent some unarmed troops to investigate, we are terming it as a U.F.O. at present”. The police investigated this report and the result is recorded as follows: “Air Traffic Control West Drayton checked. No knowledge of aircraft. Reports received of aerial phenomena over southern England during the night. Only lights visible this area was from Orford light house. Search made of area – negative.” The “aerial phenomena” probably refers to the re-entry of the Russian Cosmos 749 rocket which was widely seen over southern England on the evening of December 25. A letter in the police file notes that one of the PCs returned to the site in daylight in case he had missed something. “There was nothing to be seen and he remains unconvinced that the occurrence was genuine. The immediate area was swept by powerful light beams from a landing beacon at RAF Bentwaters and the Orfordness lighthouse. I know from personal experience that at night, in certain weather and cloud conditions, these beams were very pronounced and certainly caused strange visual effects.” A scan of the report is available at Suffolk Constabulary’s website.

Other military installation involvement

Some researchers have claimed that personnel from Porton Down visited Rendlesham in 1980 after the Rendlesham Forest Incident. However, no evidence has been presented and there seems to be confusion with other alleged UFO incidents.

Lord Hill-Norton asked Her Majesty’s Government: “Whether they are aware of any involvement by Special Branch in the investigation of the 1980 Rendlesham Forest Incident [HL303]”. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean gave the reply that “Special Branch officers may have been aware of the incident but would not have shown any interest unless there was evidence of a potential threat to national security. No such interest appears to have been shown.”

In 2001 the British Government released its file on the incident to researchers following a request from Dr David Clarke under the Code of Practice for Access to Government Documents, a precursor to the Freedom of Information Act. The Ministry of Defence has since made these documents available online. However, the United States continues to remain silent despite the SciFi Channel-sponsored investigation entitled “UFO Invasion at Rendlesham”, the History Channel’s “UFO Files – Britain’s Roswell” and Coalition for Freedom of Information inquiries.

Scepticism

Jim Penniston and John Burroughs went to investigate the craft together. However, there is a major inconsistency in separate interviews of Jim Penniston and John Burroughs. In an interview with Larry King on November 9, 2007, Jim Penniston claimed that he did a 45 minutes full investigation of the craft on the ground, touched the craft and took photos of the craft. However, in a separate interview in Robert Stack’s Unsolved Mysteries, John Burroughs described that after suddenly encountering the craft on the ground, “we all hit the ground, and it went up into the trees”. The interviews with Jim Penniston and John Burroughs have subsequently been made available on Youtube.

Science writer Ian Ridpath investigated the incident in 1983, initially for BBC TV’s Breakfast Time news programme, and on 5 January 1985 wrote an article for The Guardian which did much to discredit the accounts of the UFO sightings at Rendlesham. Ridpath asked local forester Vince Thurkettle about the flashing light, and he indicated that it originated from a nearby lighthouse, which as seen from the forest edge appears to hover slightly above the ground and would appear to move as the witnesses moved. Also, if a UFO was present, the airmen should have reported a second source of light (the lighthouse) in the same line of sight. In the Halt tape (mentioned above), one can hear an unidentified airman call out “There it is again…there it is” with an interval of 5 seconds, the same frequency at which the Orford Ness lighthouse flashes. Video footage of the lighthouse as seen from Col Halt’s vantage point at the edge of the forest shows it flashing at this rate.

Thurkettle saw the alleged “landing marks”, as did the local police, and believed them simply to be old “rabbit diggings” covered with pine needles. USAF photographs of the marks discovered by researcher Georgina Bruni were sent to the MoD by Lord Hill-Norton in 2001 and released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2007. Moreover, the supposed burn marks in the trees were actually axe cuts made by foresters that indicated the trees were ready to be felled. To give further pause to accepting the alleged UFO sighting, a meteor “almost as bright as the full Moon” was spotted over southern England at exactly the time of the initial reports of a bright object “landing” in the forest, according to Dr John Mason, who collects reports of meteor sightings for the British Astronomical Association.

Crucial amongst the evidence is the interpretation of the levels of radiation in the area (clearly heard on the “Halt tape”). Experts at the UK’s National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) have pointed out that the equipment used for this measurement was not intended to measure background radiation and therefore the readings at the low end of the measurement scale are meaningless.

Steuart Campbell proposes an alternative explanation. He agrees with the standard explanation that the incident began with the sighting of a fireball (bolide) which was interpreted by guards at the base as an aircraft falling in flames in the nearby forest. In fact it would have been hundreds of miles away over the North Sea. Campbell argues that the object subsequently seen by Halt and his men on their nocturnal expedition was the lightvessel Shipwash and that the supposed “spacecraft” were actually bright planets, such as Venus. Campbell is critical of the USAF’s abilities with their equipment.

Another theory is that the incident was a hoax. The BBC reported that a former US security policeman, Kevin Conde, claimed responsibility for creating strange lights in the forest by driving around in a police vehicle whose lights he had modified. Conde has since withdrawn the claim that he was responsible for the incident. “It is my impression that I pulled my stunt during an exercise. We would not have had an exercise during the Christmas holiday [when the UFO sightings occurred]. That is a strong indication that my stunt is not the source of this specific incident”. However, it remains possible that the coloured lights seen in the forest on the first night of the incident were due to a hoax by a perpetrator who has never come forward.

Other explanations for the incident have included a downed Soviet spy satellite or a nuclear incident.

Researchers and commentators

Some of the first people to examine the event in detail were the British Ufologist Jenny Randles in her book “Sky Crash”, and Nick Redfern in his books “Cosmic Crashes” and “A Covert Agenda”.

Georgina Bruni has researched the subject and in her book You Can’t Tell the People publishes a photograph of the supposed landing site taken on the morning after the first sighting. The late Lord Hill-Norton, (Admiral of the Fleet and former Chief of the Defence Staff of the UK) also believed that a UFO landed at Rendlesham and repeatedly questioned the UK Government on the issue.

Larry Warren who was the source of the original News of the World article has written extensively on the subject and is a firm believer in an extraterrestrial explanation. Warren was certainly a USAF airman at the Woodbridge base, but his own claims that he was a witness to the incident are disputed by others, notably by Col. Halt.

Bruni and Warren do not, however, agree on the details and have clashed publicly over the supposed inaccuracies of their respective accounts.

Prominent amongst the sceptics is Ian Ridpath (mentioned above). Much of his research is available on his website, which also includes much of the raw evidence, including the original eyewitness statements.

Jenny Randles, who originally brought the case to prominence, wrote an extensive article in her book with David Clarke and Andy Roberts, (The UFOs That Never Were) entitled “Rendle Shame Forest” where she came to the conclusion that “While some puzzles remain, we can probably say that no unearthly craft were seen in Rendlesham Forest. We can also argue with confidence that the main focus of the events was a series of misperceptions of everyday things encountered in less than everyday circumstances.”

One of the most prominent believers in the extraterrestrial origin of the Rendlesham UFOs is Nick Pope who worked for the MoD, researching and investigating UFO phenomena between 1991 and 1994. He discussed the Rendlesham Forest Incident in his various books and in his articles: “Selected Documents”, which relates to the MOD documents on the Rendlesham Forest incident, “Rendlesham – The Unresolved Mystery”, “The Rendlesham Files Reviewed” (a detailed commentary and analysis of the MOD documents) and “Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident”. He has gone on record as saying that “the Rendlesham Forest Incident is bigger than Roswell”.

Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) Charles I Halt, the former Deputy Base Commander of USAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge, who was a major witness to these events, is also a firm believer and contributor to books and documentaries.

Forest clearing in the UFO Trail at Rendlesham Forest

 

Rendlesham Forest today

Today, the forest looks quite different: the Great Storm of 1987 (winds equivalent to a category 3 hurricane) caused extensive destruction of trees, and the Forestry Commission undertook a massive replanting programme in its aftermath. However, some of the locations associated with the supposed incident are still identifiable and the Forestry Commission have marked a trail (the UFO Trail) for walkers, which includes the principal locations such as the small clearing where the object allegedly landed.

At the start of the UFO trail, there is a large triangular shaped metal information board. It features a map of the forest, clearly marking the UFO trail and gives a basic account of what happened in 1980, although with an erroneous date for the initial sighting:

“In December 1980 several sightings of UFOs were reported in Rendlesham Forest. Many think these mysterious events are the most significant UFO incident to have occurred in the UK.

“During the evening of 26 December a resident of Sudbourne, a village approximately 6 miles (10 km) to the North East of Rendlesham Forest, reported a mysterious shape (like an upturned mushroom) in the sky above his garden. Later that night two USAF patrolmen at the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge spotted unusual lights in the forest, and were given permission to investigate. What they reported was very strange.

“This was the time of the ‘Cold War’ and because of the sensitive military situation at the time, the incident was officially reported to the Military Authorities by the Deputy Base Commander Lt. Colonel Charles Halt, USAF.

“There is, of course, no tangible evidence of a UFO on the ground – no debris was found apart from some broken tree top branches. We can, however, piece together, from transcripts and recordings which were taken at the time, an intriguing picture.”

Official government sources

    * MOD Documents covering the UFO incident at Rendlesham Forest in 1980 were first released in May 2001 to Dr. David Clarke of Sheffield University who had requested them under the Code of Practice for Access to Government Information (which preceded the UK’s Freedom of Information Act). Dr Clarke discusses them on his website In 2008 the files were transferred from MoD to The National Archives (TNA) and removed from the MoD website.

    * As of August 2009, all documents relating to the incident are available on the National Archives UFO section under reference DEFE 24/1948. These documents include the request above, along with details of the Ombudsman judgment which followed. For the next few months, access to this file, and other files released on the same date will be free to view and download.

    * The Halt Memo

sources:

en.wikipedia.org

youtube.com

UFO Landing in ENGLAND in 1980
This is a military document that reports a UFO landing near airforce base in England in 1980. They were 3 witness on site that day.
Bentwaters UFO Case Dec 1980
A look at the Bentwaters UFO case in the UK of December 1980.
SCI-FI Declassified – UFO Invasion At Rendlesham

The Rendlesham Forest Incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of an extraterrestrial spacecraft in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England in late December 1980. It is perhaps the most famous UFO event to have happened in Britain, ranking amongst the best-known UFO events worldwide. It has been compared to the Roswell UFO incident in the United States and is commonly referred to as “Britain’s Roswell” or the “English Roswell”.

Following the event, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied that it posed any threat to national security and stated that it was therefore never investigated as a security matter. Later evidence indicated that there was a substantial MoD file on the subject and this led to claims of a cover-up. Some interpreted this as part of a larger pattern of information suppression concerning the true nature of unidentified flying objects, by both the United States and British governments (see the UFO conspiracy theory). However, when the file was released in 2001 it turned out to consist mostly of internal correspondence and responses to inquiries from the public. The lack of any in-depth investigation confirmed that the case was never taken seriously by the MoD.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

_____________________________________________________________

November 2, 2010 UPDATE:

Rendlesham UFO tapes released

Famous UFO cases: Kaikoura lights – New Zealand, 1978

Is UFO a meteor or a shooting star? Or Kaikoura lights? The famous UFO Sighting took place in New Zealand in December 1978. In the annals of these alleged UFO sightings, this wasn’t the first of its kind, but definitely the biggest conundrums of New Zealand. The title Kaikoura lights was coined by the media, to memorialize the Kaikoura mountain ranges where the inexplicable phenomenon was perceived.

The conception of this random encounter, with an anonymous target detected on the air base radio was a scare for the Argosy freighter on December 21st, 1978. The aerial vehicle displayed eccentric behavior. For a moment, it would vanish into thin air and in the next; it would re-emerge from a different direction. As put by the pilot, the gleaming lights pulsated intermittently. Consequently, an investigation was called for, pertinent to these UFO sightings. On December 30, 1978, a television crew from Australia rendered a peripheral film for a network show aired on the interviews about these UFO sightings. Aboard the plane, one of the crew members’s claimed to have witnessed a streak of lights and then disappeared abruptly. Struck with astonishment, the pilot turned the plane to get a perspective of what was after them. Only this time, the crew got a 30 second tape recording on the object. After a substantial success, the plane landed safely at its destination, with the UFO still beeping a red dot on the radar.

Following the nature of events that took place that night, the New Zealand air force was on high alert to intercept any detectable UFOs in sight. One whimsical interpretation purported by the media was that the crew on the air plane had apprehended Venus that night. On the legal front, the police collaborated with the air force to investigate into the matter but later, the famous UFO case of Kaikoura lights, 1978, was referred to the UFO cases department in the intelligence agencies.

© 2010 www.Latest-UFO-Sightings.net

The Kaikoura Lights New Zealand UFO Sighting

The Kaikoura Lights is a name given by the New Zealand media to a series of sightings that occurred in December 1978, over the skies above the Kaikoura mountain ranges of the northeastern South Island of New Zealand. The first sightings were made on December 21 when the crew of a Safe Air Ltd cargo aircraft began observing a series of strange lights around their Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy aircraft, which tracked along with their aircraft for several minutes before disappearing and then reappearing elsewhere. The pilots described some of the lights to be the size of a house and others small but flashing brilliantly. These objects appeared on the air traffic controller radar in Wellington and also on the aircraft’s on-board radar. The objects were also seen by hundreds of people on the ground.

On December 30, 1978, a television crew from Australia recorded background film for a network show on interviews about the sightings. For many minutes at a time on the flight to Christchurch, unidentified lights were observed by five people on the flight deck, were tracked by Wellington Air Traffic Controllers, and filmed in color by the television crew. One object reportedly followed the aircraft almost until landing. The cargo plane then took off again with the television crew still on board, heading for Blenheim. When the aircraft reached about 2000 feet, it encountered a gigantic lighted orb, which fell into station off the wing tip and tracked along with the cargo aircraft for almost quarter of an hour, while being filmed, watched, tracked on the aircraft radar and described on a tape recording made by the TV film crew.

UFO – Kaikoura Coast, New Zealand, January 3, 1979

A UFO over Kaikoura Coast, New Zealand on January 3, 1979.

Kaikoura UFO

It has been almost 30 years since unidentified flying objects were observed off the coast of Kaikoura during the Christmas/New Year break of 1978.

The sightings are to be marked soon with a commemorative flight, a gathering of enthusiasts and even a musical.

At the time, news of the sightings was reported worldwide and to this day they remain a huge source of controversy.

But the remarkable thing about the sightings is whatever was flying around that night was not just observed, it showed up on radar too and was caught on film.

It is one of New Zealand’s biggest mysteries and one of the world’s best documented sightings of a UFO.

“The most important thing I think about his story is that even to this day, the flight crew and the air traffic controllers are adamant that we saw something highly unusual that can’t be explained in mundane terms,” says journalist Quentin Fogarty. “Now, 30 years later, they still believe that.”

Mr Fogarty was the reporter, with a news crew, that filmed the UFOs on an Argosy freight plane the night of the December 30, 1978.

Famous UFO cases: Phoenix lights, 1997 & 2007

The Phoenix Lights (sometimes referred to as the “lights over Phoenix”) were a series of widely sighted optical phenomena (generally unidentified flying objects) that occurred in the skies over the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, and the Mexican state of Sonora on March 13, 1997. A repeat of the lights occurred February 6, 2007, and was filmed by the local Fox News TV station. 

 A similar incident occurred April 21, 2008. This incident was later revealed to be prank–flares attached to helium balloons.

Lights of varying descriptions were seen by thousands of people between 19:30 and 22:30 MST, in a space of about 300 miles, from the Nevada line, through Phoenix, to the edge of Tucson. There were two distinct events involved in the incident: a triangular formation of lights seen to pass over the state, and a series of stationary lights seen in the Phoenix area. The United States Air Force (USAF) identified the second group of lights as flares dropped by A-10 Warthog aircraft which were on training exercises at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona. Witnesses claim to have observed a huge carpenter’s square-shaped UFO, containing lights or possibly light-emitting engines. Fife Symington, the governor at the time, was one witness to this incident.

History
Initial reports

At about 18:55 PST (6:55 PM PST), (19:55 MST [7:55 PM MST]), a man reported seeing a V-shaped object above Henderson, Nevada. He said it was about the “size of a (Boeing) 747″, sounded like “rushing wind”, and had six lights on its leading edge. The lights reportedly traversed northwest to the southeast.

An unidentified former police officer from Paulden, Arizona is claimed to have been the next person to report a sighting after leaving his house at about 20:15 MST (8:15 PM MST). As he was driving north, he reputedly saw a cluster of reddish or orange lights in the sky, comprising four lights together and a fifth light trailing them. Each of the individual lights in the formation appeared to the witness to consist of two separate point sources of orange light. He returned home and through binoculars watched the lights until they disappeared south over the horizon.

Prescott and Prescott Valley

Lights were also reportedly seen in the areas of Prescott and Prescott Valley. At approximately 20:17 MST, callers began reporting the object was definitely solid because it blocked out much of the starry sky as it passed over.

John Kaiser was standing outside with his wife and sons in Prescott Valley, when they noticed a cluster of lights to the west-northwest of their position. The lights formed a triangular pattern, but all of them appeared to be red, except the light at the nose of the object, which was distinctly white. The object, or objects, which had been observed for approximately 2–3 minutes with binoculars, then passed directly overhead the observers, they were seen to “bank to the right”, and they then disappeared in the night sky to the southeast of Prescott Valley. The altitude could not be determined, however it was fairly low and made no sound whatsoever.

The National UFO Reporting Center received the following report from the Prescott area:

“While doing astrophotography I observed five yellow-white lights in a “V” formation moving slowly from the northwest, across the sky to the northeast, then turn almost due south and continue until out of sight. The point of the “V” was in the direction of movement. The first three lights were in a fairly tight “V” while two of the lights were further back along the lines of the “V”‘s legs. During the NW-NE transit one of the trailing lights moved up and joined the three and then dropped back to the trailing position. I estimated the three light “V” to cover about 0.5 degrees of sky and the whole group of five lights to cover about 1 degree of sky.”

Dewey

At the town of Dewey, 10 miles south of Prescott, Arizona, six people saw a large cluster of lights while driving northbound on Highway 69. The five adults and a youth stopped their car to observe the lights which were directly overhead when they exited the car.

The lights appeared to hover for several minutes. The caller, who was an experienced flyer, said that the object was so large that he could clench his fist and hold it at arm’s length and still not completely cover the light. He estimated the object to be not over 1,000 feet above the ground and that it was moving at a considerably slower pace than an aircraft would fly. Calls to the UFO centre were also received from Chino Valley, Tempe, and Glendale.

First sighting from Phoenix

Tim Ley and his wife Bobbi, his son Hal and his grandson Damien Turnidge first saw the lights when they were above Prescott Valley about 65 miles away from them. At first they appeared to them as five separate and distinct lights in an arc shape like they were on top of a balloon, but they soon realized the lights appeared to be moving towards them. Over the next ten or so minutes they appeared to be coming closer and the distance between the lights increased and they took on the shape of an upside down V. Eventually when the lights appeared to be a couple of miles away the witnesses could make out a shape that looked like a carpenter’s square with the five lights set into it, with one at the front and two on each side. Soon the lights appeared to be coming right down the street where they lived about 100 to 150 feet above them, traveling so slowly it appeared to hover and was silent. The lights then seemed to pass over their heads and went through a V opening in the peaks of the mountain range towards Squaw Peak Mountain and toward the direction of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Arriving in Phoenix

When the triangular formation entered the Phoenix area, Mitch Stanley, an amateur astronomer, observed the lights using a Dobsonian telescope outfitted with a TELEVUE 32mm Plössl eyepiece, which produces 43x magnification. After observing the lights, he told his mother, who was present at the time, that the lights were aircraft.

Even though former Phoenix Councilwomen and Vice Mayor, Frances Emma Barwood, received over 700 reports of mile wide V or boomerang shaped craft and orbs, Mitch Stanley’s report was the only one publicized in the Arizona print media.

In addition to the triangular formation, a separate phenomenon occurred in the Phoenix area. A series of lights appeared, one by one, and then were extinguished one by one. At this point many widely publicized videos and photographs were taken.

Bill Greiner, a cement driver hauling a load down a mountain north of Phoenix, described the second group of lights: “I’ll never be the same. Before this, if anybody had told me they saw a UFO, I would’ve said, ‘Yeah, and I believe in the tooth fairy’. Now I’ve got a whole new view. I may be just a dumb truck driver, but I’ve seen something that don’t belong here”. Greiner stated that the lights hovered over the area for in excess of 2 hours.

After Phoenix

A report came from a young man in the Kingman area who stopped his car at a payphone to report the incident. “[The] young man, en route to Los Angeles, called from a phone booth to report having seen a large and bizarre cluster of lights moving slowly in the northern sky”.

Reports

Governor

In March 2007, former Arizona Governor Fife Symington III (photo right) said that he had witnessed one of the “crafts of unknown origin” during the 1997 event, but noted that he did not go public with the information. Shortly after the lights, Symington held a press conference, stating that “they found who was responsible”. He proceeded to make light of the situation by bringing his aide on stage dressed in an alien costume. (Dateline, NBC). In an interview with The Daily Courier in Prescott, Arizona, Symington said, “I’m a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people. I don’t know why people would ridicule it”. Symington had earlier said, “It was enormous and inexplicable. Who knows where it came from? A lot of people saw it, and I saw it too. It was dramatic. And it couldn’t have been flares because it was too symmetrical. It had a geometric outline, a constant shape.

Symington also noted that he requested information from the commander of Luke Air Force Base, the general of the National Guard, and the head of the Department of Public Safety. But none of the officials he contacted had an answer for what had happened, and were also “perplexed”. Later, he responded to an Air Force “explanation” that the lights were flares: “As a pilot and a former Air Force Officer, I can definitively say that this craft did not resemble any man made object I’d ever seen. And it was certainly not high-altitude flares because flares don’t fly in formation”.

Frances Barwood, the 1997 Phoenix city councilwoman who launched an investigation into the event, said that of the over 700 witnesses she interviewed, “The government never interviewed even one”.

Videotapes, still photos

Imagery of the Phoenix Lights falls into two categories: images of the triangular formation seen prior to 10 pm in Prescott and Dewey, and images of the 10 pm Phoenix event. All known images were produced using a variety of commercially available camcorders and cameras. There are no known images taken by equipment designed for scientific analysis, nor are there any known images taken using high powered optics or night vision equipment.

During the Phoenix event, numerous still photographs and videotapes were made, distinctly showing a series of lights appearing at a regular interval, remaining illuminated for several moments and then going out. These images have been repeatedly aired by documentary TV channels such as the Discovery Channel and the History Channel as part of their UFO documentary programming.

The most frequently seen sequence shows what appears to be an arc of lights appearing one by one, then going out one by one. UFO advocates claim that these images show that the lights were some form of “running light” or other aircraft illumination along the leading edge of a large craft (estimated to be as large as a mile in diameter) hovering over the city of Phoenix. Other similar sequences reportedly taken over a half hour period show differing numbers of lights in a V or arrowhead array. Thousands of witnesses throughout Arizona also reported a silent, mile wide V or boomerang shaped craft with varying numbers of huge orbs. A significant number of witnesses reported that the craft was silently gliding directly overhead at low altitude. The first-hand witnesses consistently reported that the lights appeared as “canisters of swimming light”, while the underbelly of the craft was undulating “like looking through water”. However, skeptics claim that the video is evidence that mountains not visible at night partially obstructed views from certain angles, thereby bolstering the claim that the lights were more distant than UFO advocates claim.

UFO advocate Jim Dilettoso claimed to have performed “spectral analysis” of photographs and video imagery that proved the lights could not have been produced by a man-made source. Dilettoso claimed to have used software called “Image Pro Plus” (exact version unknown) to determine the amount of red, green and blue in the various photographic and video images and construct histograms of the data,

which were then compared to several photographs known to be of flares. Several sources have pointed out, however, that it is impossible to determine the spectral signature of a light source based solely on photographic or video imagery, as film and electronics inherently alter the spectral signature of a light source by shifting hue in the visible spectrum, and experts in spectroscopy have dismissed his claims as being scientifically invalid. Normal photographic equipment also eliminates light outside the visible spectrum (e.g., infrared and ultraviolet) that would be necessary for a complete spectral analysis. The maker of “Image Pro Plus”, Media Cybernetic, has stated that its software is incapable of performing spectroscopic analysis.

Cognitech, an independent video laboratory, superimposed video imagery taken of the Phoenix Lights onto video imagery it shot during daytime from the same location. In the composite image, the lights are seen to extinguish at the moment they reach the Estrella mountain range, which is visible in the daytime, but invisible in the footage shot at night. A broadcast by local Fox Broadcasting affiliate KSAZ-TV claimed to have performed a similar test that showed the lights were in front of the mountain range and suggested that the Cognitech data might have been altered. Dr. Paul Scowen, visiting professor of Astronomy at Arizona State University, performed a third analysis using daytime imagery overlaid with video shot of the lights and his findings were consistent with Cognitech. The Phoenix New Times subsequently reported the television station had simply overlaid two video tracks on a video editing machine without using a computer to match the zoom and scale of the two images.

In comparison, there are few known images of the Prescott/Dewey lights. KSAZ reported that an individual named Richard Curtis took a detailed video that purportedly showed the outline of a space craft, but that the video had been lost. The only other known video is of poor quality and shows a group of lights with no craft visible.

Explanations and skepticism

There is some controversy as to how best classify the reports on the night in question. Some are of the opinion that the differing nature of the eyewitness reports indicates that several unidentified objects were in the area, each of which was its own separate ‘event.’ This is largely dismissed by skeptics as an over-extrapolation from standard deviation common in necessarily subjective eye-witness accounts. The media and most skeptical investigators have largely preferred to split the sightings into two distinct classes – a first and second event – for which two separate explanations are offered:

The first event—the “v,” which appeared over northern Arizona and gradually traveled south over nearly the entire length of the state, eventually passing south of Tucson—was the allegedly “wedge-shaped” object reported by then-Governor Symington and many others. This event started at about 8:15 over the Prescott area, and was seen south of Tucson by about 8:45.

The second event was the set of nine lights falling behind the Sierra Estrella, a mountain ridge to the southwest of Phoenix, at around 10pm. This was also observed by numerous people who may have thought they were seeing the same lights as those reported earlier.

Proponents of two separate events propose that the first event still has no provable explanation, but that some evidence exists that the lights were in fact airplanes. According to an article by reporter Janet Gonzales that appeared in the Phoenix New Times, videotape of the v shape shows the lights moving as separate entities, not as a single object; a phenomenon known as illusory contours can cause the human eye to see unconnected lines or dots as forming a single shape. Ortega also spoke with amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley, who was outside that night using a Dobsonian telescope, which yielded a view 60 times the magnification of the human eye.

According to Stanley, the lights were quite clearly individual airplanes; a companion who was with him recalled asking Stanley at the time what the lights were, and he said, “Planes”. However, no pilots have yet been found who admit to flying such a formation that night, and many witnesses continue to insist that they actually saw the entire object blocking the stars.

The second event has been more thoroughly covered by the media, due in part to the military’s backing of the explanation. The USAF explained the second event as slow falling, long burning flares dropped by an A-10 Warthog aircraft on a training exercise over Luke Air Force Base. An investigation by Luke AFB itself also came to this conclusion and declared the case solved.

Air National Guard pilot, Lt. Col. Ed Jones, responding to a March 2007 media query, confirmed that he had flown one of the aircraft n the formation that dropped flares on the night in question. The squadron to which he belonged was in fact in Arizona on a training exercise at the time, according to the Maryland Air National Guard. A history of the Maryland Air National Guard published in 2000 previously asserted that the squadron, the 104th Fighter Squadron, was responsible for the incident. The first reports that members of the Maryland Air National Guard were responsible for the incident were published in The Arizona Republic newspaper in July 1997.

Military flares such as these can be seen from hundreds of miles with correct environmental conditions. Later comparisons with known military flare drops were reported on local television stations, showing similarities between the known military flare drops and the Phoenix Lights. An analysis of the luminosity of LUU-2B/B illumination flares, the type which would have been in use by A-10 aircraft at the time, determined that the luminosity of such flares at a range of approximately 50–70 miles would fall well within the range of the lights viewed from Phoenix. However, this was not brought forward until July 1997, and the flares were reportedly dropped before the sightings took place.

The “Stealth Blimp” theory

The “giant V shaped object” (right picture: simulation) description also matches the description made by witnesses describing a similar object seen in Lebanon, Illinois, Guernsey, United Kingdom, and Stephenville, Texas. In the case of the Stephenville sighting, there is radar data from the FAA and National Weather Service that correlate to these eyewitness accounts. It is believed this object is a “Stealth Blimp”, which Lockheed Martin proposed building as far back as 1982.

Reappearance

On April 21, 2008, lights were again reported over Phoenix by local residents. These lights appeared to change from square to triangular formation over time.

A resident of Deer Valley in North Phoenix, Tony Toporek videotaped those lights. He was talking to neighbors around 8 p.m. when the lights appeared. Toporek stated, “Four brilliant red lights first formed a vertical or diagonal line, next a U-shape, then as I retrieved my camera and began to roll tape, the lights spread apart and made a diamond or cross shape, similar to the ‘Southern Cross'”.

Another resident reported that shortly after the lights appeared, three jets were seen heading west in the direction of the lights. An official from Luke Air Force Base denied any United States Air Force activity in the area.

Media coverage of the reappearance of the lights was significant, with photos and videos appearing on local and national newspapers, television news broadcasts, and web sites.

On April 22, 2008, a resident of Phoenix told a newspaper that the lights were nothing more than his neighbor releasing helium balloons with flares attached (photo left). This was confirmed by a police helicopter. The following day a Phoenix resident who declined to be identified in news reports stated he had attached flares to helium balloons and released them from his back yard.

source: en.wikipedia.org

Link: www.thephoenixlights.net

‘UFOs’ excerpt: A look at the Phoenix Lights 

(by Leslie Kean, the author of the New York Times best-seller “UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record” – Amazon link / Kindle edition)

It was March 13, 1997, a pleasant spring evening in Arizona, clear and still. Countless families were outside in larger-than-usual numbers gazing at the sky because Comet Hale-Bopp was to be visible that night.

Instead, beginning about 8 p.m, they were provided with an even more astounding aerial spectacle: a series of massive, eerily silent craft gliding overhead.

One central object moved from the north, southeast across the state, traveling about 200 miles from Paulden to Tucson, passing near Phoenix and surrounding communities. It was on display from 8:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Many hundreds – more likely thousands – saw it that night.

Police phone lines were jammed, and Luke Air Force Base was overwhelmed with calls. Reports of sightings from around the state flooded the lines at the National UFO Reporting Center, a well-known Seattle-based repository for UFO reports cited in the Federal Aviation Administration manual.

Even so, air-traffic controllers apparently did not register the strange objects on radar. Although descriptions of the array of lights differed, one overriding characteristic prevailed: The craft was massive; it was a solid object, not merely lights; and it often appeared to be low in the sky, blocking out the stars behind it.

No government officials were dispatched to investigate or respond to questions from alarmed and awestruck citizens. To put it bluntly, the federal government failed to react to the presence of something huge and unknown invading restricted airspace over a capital city in the United States.

Phoenix Councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood, responding to pressure from journalists and her constituents, was the only elected official to launch a public investigation.

But she said that she, too, received no information from any level of government. Barwood says she spoke with more than 700 witnesses who called her office, including police officers, pilots and former military personnel, all providing similar descriptions of the objects.

Minimal coverage was provided at the time of the incident by the media, even in Phoenix, with a few local papers and news stations making note but few following up.

Three months later, on June 18, that all changed when USA Today brought the case into the national spotlight with a front-page story. It was further catapulted onto the network evening news when the sightings were covered, although minimally, by ABC and NBC, and became known as the Phoenix Lights.

The next day, on June 19, Gov. Fife Symington announced that he was ordering a full investigation and would make “all the necessary inquiries.”

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” he said. “We’re going to find out if it was a UFO.”