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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 →

Abstract: Nearly 25% of the universe is composed of a mysterious substance known as dark matter (while 70% of the cosmos is something called “dark energy”) making it the height of hubris to think that we know all there is to know about physics and astronomy today. This talk will review the strong evidence behind the existence of dark matter, such as gravitational lensing, then discuss how it might lead to naturally occurring anomalies not involving craft piloted by intelligent beings at all. Next, I will cover the possibility for its use as fuel for interstellar flight, one that can be gathered in transit, given its natural abundance being 5x that of interstellar hydrogen.

by Charles Lear

  Every so often, there are concentrations of UFO sightings reports, known as flaps or waves that receive a substantial amount of press coverage.  This occurred in the U.S. in the early years of the modern UFO era and the press generated by one flap in 1952, which included sightings over the Capital, caused a great deal of concern in Washington.  In 1954, there was a flap that was worldwide that involved reports of not only flying saucers, but also of landed saucers and humanoid occupants.  There are reports on record from South America to Africa and the Middle East but the heaviest concentration was over France.  It was there that French researcher, Aimé Michel came to international prominence as he investigated, collected data and tried to unravel the mystery.  A young Jaques Vallée first became interested in flying saucers at this time and was inspired by Michel’s work to go on to even greater prominence as a respected and influential figure in the field.

On September 10, 1954, an incident was reported to police by a 34 year-old man in Quarouble that went on to be covered by the press extensively, not only in France, but worldwide.  Marius Dewilde told police that at 10:30 PM, he was sitting in his house by the railroad tracks, when his dog, Kiki, started barking outside.  Dewilde went to investigate, bringing his flashlight, as it was dark.  Outside, he noticed a large object, which he assumed was a harvest cart, six meters from his front door.  He then saw two figures on a nearby path that was often used by smugglers.  He shined his flashlight at them and it reflected off of what he perceived was a helmet on one of the figures, both of which he estimated to be about a meter in height.  At that moment, a door opened up on the side of the object, a blinding light came out and Dewilde said he was paralyzed by fear.  He closed his eyes and when he opened them, the object had risen ten meters in the air and it then shot off to the west like “lightning.” Later, indentations were found in railroad ties that were thought to have possibly come from the object’s landing gear.  As the story made its way from newspaper to newspaper, Dewilde’s being paralyzed by fear turned into Dewilde being paralyzed by a beam of light.

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