Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Number 268
) August 1990
' $2.50
UPON
1990 INTERNATIONAL UFO
SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS
Robert Durant is a MUFON ages of UFOs intercepted by the pilots tween Liege and the German/Neth-
State Section Director living in Pen- of their F-16 fighters. It was the preci- erlands border, reported UFOs. All of
nington, New Jersey. sion and clarity of the pictures that those witnesses observed for hours a
convinced the Defense Minister to strange triangular object nearly silent,
Paris Match is a slick French week- order full resources deployed in the maneuvering at very low speed and
ly something like a classy cross be- gigantic chase of the UFO during the very low altitude, without creating the
tween Time and People magazines. Easter weekend. Paris Match takes least amount of turbulence.
It is very widely read and something you behind the symbols and numbers As do all the world's Air Forces, the
of a journalistic institution. Although of these exceptional pictures to Belgian military have at their disposal
the reader can count on the latest discover the incredible performance supersonic interceptor airplanes ready
gossip concerning Charles and Lady of those flying objects which are very 24 hours a day to take off with five
Di, each issue also contains serious real but nonetheless unidentified. We minutes' notice. In this case we are
coverage of political and scientific may not be the only ones in the talking about two F-16 single-pilot
issues. universe. fighters, armed with missiles. Head-
Thanks to the linguistic abilities of There are people in the military ser- quarters was prudent and conser-
my wife, I have translated an vices who are normally silent on this vative. During the previous month the
astonishing article that appeared in subject, but who now say the UFOs two planes have twice been sent in
the July 5, 1990 issue. This recounts are not a myth. On June 22nd, for response to sightings, but without
a series of sightings of a UFO over the first time in history, an Air Force results. The first time they saw
Belgium. There were thousands of revealed an important piece of this nothing. The second instance was at-
witnesses, and the object was tracked story which is not science fiction. tributed to an advertising searchlight
simultaneously by two ground radar On this day, after going through a for a night club.
installations and by the airborne in- meticulous security screening, I found On the night of March 30th, one
tercept radars of two F-16 fighters sent myself in the headquarters of the of the callers reporting a UFO was a
to chase it. Belgian Air Force, near Brussels. In Captain of the national police at Pin-
But by far the most significant a small room, Colonel DeBrouwer, son, and Headquarters decided to
aspect of this case is that the Belgian Chief of Operations of the Belgian Air make a serious effort to verify the
government released all the data and Force, started a video tape recorder. reports. In addition to the visual
worked in close cooperation with a On the screen appeared the film that sightings, two radar installations also
civilian UFO research organization. To was brought back in the "black box" saw the UFO. One radar is at Glons,
the best of my knowledge, this is uni- of the F-16 that was launched to southeast of Brussels, which is part of
que in the history of ufology. chase the UFO. This, it turned out, the NATO defense group, and one at
Indeed, it is the "political" aspect that was not the really important chase, Semmerzake, west of the Capitol,
prodded me to take the considerable which would happen two weeks later, which controls the military and civilian
time and effort to make this translation when practically all of Belgium tried traffic of the entire Beligan territory.
available to ufologists worldwide via the to capture the UFO. But until now we The range of the two radars is 300
MUFON UFO Journal. were not told about the one Col. kilometers, which is more than
The article itself, by Marie-Therese Brouwer was about to describe. enough to cover the area where the
de Brosses, is copyrighted by Paris The Belgian military had been on reports took place. In this region the
Match. the alert since November 1989, when land is fairly flat, rolling country
numerous reports by the Gendar- without any prominent hills. The
The Belgian Defense Minister has merie (National police force) began radar has a perfect view of all flying
authorized us to publish this report. pouring in daily telling of observations objects with an altitude about 200
It is the "scoop of the sky." These two of the UFOs above Belgian territory. meters over the ground. Nevertheless,
screens (see photos) are the incon- It had started on the crazy night of Headquarters determined to do some
testable witnesses of a meeting of November 29, 1989, during which 30 very precise studies during the next
science and fiction. In an unprece- groups of witnesses, among them 55 minutes to eliminate the possibili-
dented action, the Belgian Air Force three police patrols, scattered over ty of prosaic explanations for the radar
has released pictures of the radar im- 800 square kilometers of territory be- images. Excellent atmospheric con-
and had fewer windows or "port- concerning his UFO experiences.) but a City Councilwoman herself
holes" than those in the original Walters' conclusion was "the UFO witnessed a UFO shaped like those in
Polaroid shots. And to make it look model is a hoax, planted to discredit the Walters' photos, as have dozens
like Walters had built the model, draf- the local sightings." of other local residents and MUFON
ting paper from his own office and in The model affair, however, was field investigators.
his own handwriting was used in its neither the first nor the last attempt
manufacture. This, however, proved to discredit the case. In their lecture More Witnesses
to be the hoaxters' undoing, although at a packed Civic Center in Pensacola,
no one knows yet who was respon- Ed and Frances Walters went through Even reasonable skeptics would
sible. the list. The latest allegation was made agree that if the photos were eventual-
Walters builds only custom-made by Tommy Smith, a young man who ly proven to be fakes, there are still
houses and therefore no two floor- claims he was present when Walters dozens of sightings with a total of
plans are ever the same. After study- hoaxed some of the photographs. more than 100 witnesses, other
ing the notes and measurements on Smith's testimony was given at a press photos and videos, and related phe-
the drafting paper used in the model, conference in Pensacola prior to the nomena that need to be addressed
Walters determined that this was part symposium. Smith himself was not and explained. This last category in-
of "a floor plan I had designed and present, but his allegations were voic- cludes a circle in the grass similar to
discarded in Sept. 1989," whereas the ed by his parents and Gulf Breeze's England's famous crop circles, and
original photos emerged in the period Mayor and police chief. A third youth, mysterious "skyquakes" heard in late
between late 1987 and early 1988. Hank Boland, who was presumably January of this year.
Walters obtained a letter from his present with Smith and Walters' son Meanwhile the military, which has
client attesting to this fact and also when the alleged hoax was perpe- numerous Naval and Air Force
successfully passed a Psychological trated, later published a statement in facilities in the area, has been
Stress Evaluator Test on June 19, the Gulf Breeze Sentinel fully suppor- unusually quiet about the whole af-
showing he was not involved and ting Walters. fair. In a paper Walters published in
knew nothing about the model. (He UFOs have become a political "hot the MUFON Symposium Pro-
had previously passed two similar potato in Gulf Breeze and neighbor- ceedings, he recounts a multiple
tests and two polygraph examinations ing Pensacola. The mayor is opposed, witness sighting on the evening of
Roswell
Panic Myth
Miracles in Medjugorje
by Vince T. Migliore . ^ mmi
I've just returned from a trip to disk of the flat sun and sometimes cir- six visionariesireport the presence of
Medjugorje, Yugoslavia where people cle the central disk or move back and other ;humanrlike> entities-during -the
are reporting almost daily sightings of forth toward the church where the ap- . Virgin;Mary^s appearance;! which they
the Virgin Mary. These sightings are paritions are appearing (daily about take/toibe: arigels:or other saints.- T<he
often accompanied by changes to the 6:40 p.m.). Some observers report messages' rece'ived^iare', religious cm
sun (it seems to spin and "dance"). circles, wheels and rings, like the nature';'cjoriented .ttpwards; -peace,
There are also sightings of rings, "like Olympic Games' symbols, that move prayer and brotherhood. Thex.vast
the rings that are the symbols of the slowly towards the church, and zip majority>of iwitness"es;;report(the-ap-
Olympic games," that move from the back to the sun just before they touch pearances Iseemcsolid andi^real.onot
sun to the church at the time the the tower where the apparition is ghostlike fahdinoti hallucinatory .hi.1'••
Virgin Mary is appearing. The appari- occurring.
tions appear to both groups and Typically, hundreds of people •ini'j ?9ys>easfrr sriT -ji'dfju le^snL-)?.;
individuals. observe such events at the same time. . . - . . ...
These phenomena have many si- Some also report seeing letters in the Usuallyionlyrthe original six
milarities to UFO sightings, and I was sky. The pilgrims I spoke with ch ildrerf s'ee thlerappgfitiOn
interested in gaining a first-hand ex- reported red block letters that "flash- t J.L "H'iir.n'J^.irM'itoi -\^ ;_!!..;...•*",
perience from a (hopefully) unbiased ed too fast to read." Others claim the of the virgin
J Mary. Those
n> j&.ju, ,.-•!•>' :'<;n-3 j i i ' i . ' . ' i
vantage point. The events have been letters spell "MIR," which is Serbo- observing thej3children: <at
going on since 1981, and are very Croation for Peace. this time report -seeing
similar to the occurrences at Fatima, • Individual Appearances. Many
Portugal. They resemble other Virgin pilgrims report paranormal episodes flashes of light and moving
Mary appearances that have been oc- during prayer, meditation, saying the globes of light in the vicini-
curring throughout Christian history. rosary, during Catholic Mass or dur- ty of the apparition.
Refer to "UFOs and the Miraculous," ing normal daily activities. Common-
by Michael Grosso, UFO, Volume 5, ly, the Virgin Mary appears to them,
Number 2, 1990 (March/April). sometimes with words of instruction.
Medjugorje is located in the hills Less frequently these appearances oc- Related Observations
near the Adriatic coast, about half way cur before or after their pilgrimage to
between Split and Dubrovnik. The site Medjugorje and in dreams. The overwhelming impression is
is quite remote, in a hilly, agricultural • Group Appearances. Infre- that Medjugorje is a religious ex-
area of Yugoslavia. The population is quently the Virgin appears inside St. perience. Most visitors are on a
essentially Catholic, Serbo-Croatian. James Church during the Catholic pilgrimage seeking a direct relation-
Over the years, Medjugorje has Mass or during the saying of the ship with the Divine, generally in the
become a pilgrimage site for the rosary. She has appeared to groups context of the Catholic religion. There
religious and the curious. Refer to an of people on "Cross Hill" (Krizevac is a hill west of the church where the
excellent article, "The Message of hill), a pilgrimage site about a mile Virgin first appeared, and many
Medjugorje" by Margaret Tabor Millin, north of the church, and at other loca- pilgrims visit this site. The real trek,
in New Realities, March/April 1990. tions in and around the town of Med- however, is to a larger hill about a mile
I spoke with several pilgrims, and the jugorje. These group appearances are north called Cross Hill.
most common anomalies are as often preceded by flashes of light. The Path of Peace leads up this hill:
follows (in order by frequency): • Flashes, Orbs of Light. Usually It is probably the most difficult!hike
• Flat Sun. The sun appears flat. only the original six children see the I've ever taken, consisting of extreme-
lYou can stare at it with no harmful ef- apparition of the Virgin Mary. Those ly jagged white rocks up a steepj in-
ffjects. The disk of the sun seems to be observing the children at this time cline in 106° weather at 95%,/hurhidir
Isilvery.iOjj.-gray, sometimes spinning, report seeing flashes of light and mov- ty. I was most impressed by the other
jjsometimes in the shape of a child's toy ing globes of light in the vicinity of the pilgrims on this trail. Many were&lder,-
](top?). Some pilgrims describe the apparition. ly and infirm, and many-jiwere
|disk"Qf;theisun"as»similartto.. the form None of the people I spoke with barefoot. I honestly feel that>the f faith,
of a communion wafer. reported landed craft, UFO entities, hope and devotion of these rseekers
• Lights, Objects Near the Sun. missing time or any sort of abduction cannot be separated from; thei.events
On occasion other lights surround the phenonena. On occasion the original occurring here. . nj-'O .'Mir-cKO
Suggestions
Looking Back
Bob Gribble
August 1950 • About 11:30 a.m. Mariana recalls that the Koda- whole body appeared to be made of
on the 5th (or 15th), Nick Mariana, chrome original — which was sub- silver metal that gave off an eerie light
38, general manager of a minor mitted to the Air Force — comprised in the darkness, like the glow from the
league baseball team, the Electrics, 315 frames. The first 30-odd frames radium dial on a watch. The being's
was working at the Legion ball park showed larger images of the UFOs hands were raised.
in Great Falls, Montana, when he with a notch or band at one point on Sutton and Taylor panicked, and
sported something strange in the sky. the periphery of the objects by which armed themselves. When the strange
"As I looked up I saw two silver ob- they could be seen to rotate in unison, visitor got to within 20 feet of the
jects moving swiftly out of the north- while on the rest of the film the ob- house both men fired their weapons.
west," Mariana said. "The objects jects show up only as unarticulated The being somersaulted backwards,
were very bright and about 10,000 bright white dots. The film, as re- "did a flip," scrambled to an upright
feet in the air. They appeared to be turned by the Air Force, according to position, and ran away into the
of a bright shiny metal, like polished Mariana, had the first 35 frames darkness. Again and again, several of
silver. Both were the same size and removed. the beings maneuvered around the
were traveling at the same rate of house, terrorizing the occupants.
speed which was much slower than • 1955 About 7 p.m. on the 21st, Shots had been fired at the short
the jets that shot by shortly after I eight adults and three children were humanoids at least four times. In one
filmed the discs. indoors at the Sutton farmhouse at encounter Sutton brought a shotgun
"Suddenly they stopped. It was Kelly, Kentucky. Half an hour later, to bear on one being and fired at point
then I remembered the camera in the Billy Ray Taylor had gone out to the blank range. It sounded as if the
glove compartment of my car. I raced well for a drink of water, and came pellets had hit a metal bucket. It was
downstairs and yelled for my running back into the house shouting about 11 p.m. when the occupants of
secretary, Miss Virginia Raunig. The that he had seen a UFO. He said he the farmhouse got into two cars and
distance from the top of the stairway observed a silvery object moving fled at high speed for the Hopkinsville
to my car is about 60 feet and I must silently toward the house, then pass police station. Chief of police Green-
have made that in about six jumps. about 30 or 40 feet overhead. It well was emphatic about what he saw:
I asked my secretary if she saw any- moved over the fields on a horizon- "... Those women were scared green.
thing and she said yes, two silvery tal course, slowed, came to a stop, Something scared those people.
spheres. I unlocked the glove com- then descended into the 40-foot gul- Something beyond reason, nothing
partment of my car, took out the ly at the end of the fields. No one in ordinary."
camera, turned the telephoto lens on the house even considered in- Except for the huge glowing eyes,
the turret into position, set the camera vestigating Taylor's story. Other the beings were the same color all
at f-22, picked up the objects in the witnesses on nearby farms also saw over. In the dark, this was a phos-
viewfinder and pressed the trigger. the object. phorescent or luminescent glow, but
"The spheres appeared to be spin- Around 8 p.m., the family dog when a light was turned on them this
ning like a top and were about 50 feet began to bark violently. Elmer Sutton changed to a dull metallic look. The
across and about 50 yards apart. I and Billy Taylor went to the back door glow of the bodies increased when
could not see any exhaust, wings or to investigate. Approaching from the they were shot at or shouted at. The
any kind of fuselage. There was no fields was a strange glow. As it came beings made no noise at any time; the
cabin, no odor, no sound, except I closer, they could make out what mouth, if such it was, never opened,
thought I heard a whooshing sound seemed to be a short "man," though and they made no sound when mov-
when I first saw them. As the film not much like any they had ever seen ing, although the weeds and bushes
clicked through the camera I could before. The being was about three- rustled when they fled into them.
see the objects moving southeast be- and-a-half feet tall with a large round They never exhibited any behavior
hind the General Mills grain building head and arms that reached almost that could be described as hostile, and
and the black water tank directly to the ground. It had large webbed made no attempt to retaliate for the
south of the ball park. I filmed the ob- hands with talons (claws) at the end shooting. Mrs. Glennie Lankford, the
jects until they disappeared into the of the fingers. The eyes were huge senior adult among those present at
blue sky behind the water tank." and glowed with a yellowish light. The the farmhouse said: "I kept telling
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