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By Charles Lear

Occasionally, a good, solid, interesting UFO case will slip away from memory only to be rediscovered, years later by an alert researcher.  A 1967 case involving a New York woman, Emma Funk, is a perfect example.  This case was found recently by New York based researcher and author, Linda Zimmermann, and discussed on the Hudson River Radio show she hosts, “UFO Headquarters.”  The Hudson River Valley of New York has long been an active area for UFO sightings and is particularly well known for a wave in the 1980s involving low flying, silent, black triangles, some the size of a football field.  The incident involving Funk occurred in Millerton, NY, which is just east of the Hudson River Valley near the Connecticut border.  It involved a collision with an object while driving and was remarkably similar to a case familiar to many, the “Val Johnson Incident”, that happened 12 years later.

On Tuesday morning, July 18, 1967, Emma Funk reported an incident to local police. Village patrolman Lewis Lindsay described the report for an article, which appeared in the July 19th edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.  According to the article, Funk was driving home after work on Monday at 11:25 PM.  She was heading north on route 22, when an object the size of a softball hit her windshield.  At that moment, her headlights went out, her car stalled and the inside of the car was filled with a bright light.  Funk was dazed and when she regained her composure and got the car back in motion, she realized she was driving south, in the opposite direction.  Lindsay checked the car, saw that there was a crack in the windshield and noted that he couldn’t make a determination as to its cause.  The article mentions that there had been “recurring reports of unidentified flying objects in Northeast Dutchess County.”  Lindsay said that there was a search planned in the area to try to locate “the sphere” but wouldn’t speculate whether the incident had any connection with the reported UFOs.

A follow up article in the August 5th edition of the same paper describes a meeting at LaGrange Town Office hosted by Aerial Investigations Research Corps Inc. where Funk’s windshield was on display.  The object is described in this article as baseball sized and black with an orange glow.  A.I.R.’s president, William Donovan, announced at the meeting that the windshield would be sent to the physics department of Syracuse University for “chemical and ballistics tests” and that pictures of it would be sent to the Condon committee.  The Condon committee was a group at the University of Colorado that was studying the UFO phenomenon on behalf of the Air Force.

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by Charles Lear

When it comes to popular culture, the Japanese people seem to have as much of an appetite for science fiction and the paranormal as the people in the United States.  With stories ranging from ghosts to Godzilla to aliens, Japanese media from film to comic book has not only entertained Japanese people, but people worldwide.  Despite the popularity of otherworldly subjects in that country, the Japanese government and its people have a history of being conservative regarding the subject of UFOs. According to journalist and television producer Michi Saito, “to most of the Japanese, they’re accepted as more like a mysterious fantasy.”  Japanese officials have only recently acknowledged a need to have some sort of official UFO policy.  This comes in the aftermath of the U.S. Department of Defense’s recent release of official UFO videos. That’s not to say there haven’t been believers within official circles or that there have been no significant cases in the country.  Japan’s UFO history goes back well before the 20th century and there are enough Japanese believers, researchers and enthusiasts to keep that history alive.

There are alleged reports from as early as 1015 that have been passed from author to author and all around the internet.  They’re interesting but they lack any reference to an original source from the period, or at least, one that can be found by a shameless armchair researcher.  One report, however, does come with an original source citation, and an explanation as wonderfully ridiculous as some of those offered by our modern debunkers. From the book, “Azuma Agami” a chronicle covering the years 1180 to 1266, comes a UFO report that was investigated by what could loosely be called, “scientific consultants.”  On October 2, 1235, Shogun, Yoritsune Suketoshi, reported that strange lights had been seen in the southwest, swinging and circling.  He ordered his astrology consultants, who had a good knowledge of astronomy, to investigate.  After consideration, they reported that the cause of the strange light activity was the wind causing the stars to sway.

Another ancient episode brought up by UFOlogists is known as the “Utsuro-bune” incident, which, according to legend, took place on February 22, 1803.  Utsuru-bune translates to “hollow boat” and it refers to a vessel that washed up on a beach in Hitachi province.  Inside was a woman with red hair who spoke a strange language.  No one was able to communicate with her so she was returned to the sea.  The description of the boat mentions wood and tree resin, which seems to make it a poor candidate for a spaceship. Read more →