A UFO and Creatures in the Mountains of Taos, New Mexico

by Charles Lear

New Mexico is famous for its reports of landed (and crashed) UFOs and associated creatures. While many might think that these sorts of reports have long since ceased since the golden age of UFOs, there was a report just a couple of years ago of creatures and a huge landed craft in the mountains of Taos, NM.

According to an article by Staci Matlock in the September 5, 2019 Taos News, days before, on September 1, two bow hunters, Josh Brinkley, 41, and Daniel Lucero, 26, were looking for elk on Pot Mountain northwest of Taos. Brinkley had been coming to the mountain for fifteen years while it was the first visit for Lucero.

They set up on opposite sides of a field and waited for three hours with no luck. At around 9:30 a.m., Brinkley became restless and went walking through the woods looking for elk there. He got to the top of the mountain, which was the rim of a collapsed volcano known as a caldera. There, he saw what he thought were two fellow hunters about 35 yards away. He was preparing to speak to them when they disappeared. According to him, “They were gone, just gone.”

The more Brinkley thought about the figures he had seen, the less like hunters they seemed. He saw only their torsos above the brush that covered their lower half. They seemed to have been wearing large hoods that had what looked like pairs of ribbons on both sides that came to a point at the top and bottom. The left side was white and somewhat shiny and the right side was black. He described their torsos as “kind of black.”

Brinkley went back down the mountain and met up with Lucero. He didn’t tell Lucero what he’d seen until they were back at camp.

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UFOs and Esotericism

by Charles Lear

From the days of flying saucers in the 1940s and 1950s, up until the present where many now prefer the term “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP), investigators and researchers have approached the mystery using scientific methods. However, this is not the case for all who have sought answers as to the source and purpose of the reported encounters with strange things in our skies. Many have turned to esotericism, in addition to science, as a means of inquiry. This approach has actually been present from the very beginning of modern UFOlogy and those interested in the subject might consider looking into it, even if only from a historical or sociological perspective.

Esoteric is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone.” When one talks of esotericism in association with UFOs or the paranormal, one is usually referring to what has become known as “Western Esotericism” which is a term used to describe a loosely connected group of religious and philosophical ideas that deviate from Judeo-Christian beliefs and post-Enlightenment rationalism. By the late 19th century, organized groups and secret societies had developed around these esoteric ideas, two of the most prominent being the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society. Both of these adhered to the belief that there is a group of cosmic beings that can be contacted by adepts who wish to receive ancient wisdom and advice. The Theosophical Society still exists today.

Arguably, the first group to investigate claims of a mysterious flying object, was the Borderland Sciences Research Association. Formed in Southern California by Meade Layne along with Max Freedom Long, BSRA was an association dedicated to paranormal research and included parapsychologists, spiritualists, and Theosophists. Their research methods included Yoga, Qabalistic technique, and spirit channeling. Their main spirit channeler was Mark Probert, the “Telegnostic from San Diego.” The group put out its first newsletter, the Round Robin, in February 1945. It wasn’t long before they were investigating what they called, “The Ether Ship Mystery.”

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Floated Into a UFO

by Charles Lear

In the 1970s, New York artist and UFO investigator Budd Hopkins began to specialize in abduction research after being confronted by multiple reports. He wrote about his research in the 1981 book “Missing Time” and it wasn’t long after the book was published that people started to be featured in the press and on television with claims of their own abduction experiences. In an interview for the PBS series “Nova,” Hopkins stated that his “best case” was one that involved witnesses who claimed to have seen a woman accompanied by three small humanoids float out of a 12th story apartment in Manhattan and into a waiting craft close to the Brooklyn Bridge. The woman who was reportedly seen was originally identified by Hopkins as “Linda Cortile” (now known to be Linda Napolitano) and the case has become known as the “Linda Case” or the “Brooklyn Bridge Abduction Case.”

Hopkins described the “Linda Case” in his 1996 book, “Witnessed.” According to him, Linda had written him a letter in spring of 1989 after reading his 1987 book, “Intruders.” In the letter she described seeing strange nighttime visitors while lying paralyzed in bed as a child. She also wrote that she was asked by a doctor about what looked like evidence of surgery inside her nose as he was dealing with some built up cartilage that caused a lump that had concerned her. She wrote that she had never had surgery in her nose and that this was confirmed by her mother.

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The Allagash Abductions

by Michael Lauck  ~
Four friends studying at the Massachusetts College of Art, Chuck Rak, Charlie Foltz and twins Jim and Jack Weiner, set out from Boston for a wilderness vacation in late August 1976. They were dropped off in northern Maine by pontoon plane and canoed through the Allagash Waterway. On the night of Thursday, August 26 the men, all art students, were night fishing on Eagle Lake. In order to easily find their way back to their campsite in the dark, they had prepared a large log bonfire as a beacon to mark their camp.  Shortly after they began trout fishing a glowing oval object was spotted rising above the forest. Charlie Foltz signaled to the object with a flashlight which apparently caused it to stop its ascent and slowly move towards the students’ canoe. Read more

Government Funded UFO Study in France

by Charles Lear

Many countries around the world have active, state funded, long-term UFO studies. If the United States Congress follows up on the recommendation in the recently released Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force report that “additional funding for research and development could further the future study of the topics laid out in this report,” the U.S. may soon have one as well. The U.S. has had two acknowledged, publicly funded UFO investigations in the past. One was run by the Air Force under the name of “Project Blue Book” for most of its existence from 1948 until 1969, and the other by the Pentagon from 2007 until 2012 as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. While the 21-year run for the Air Force investigation may seem substantial, the investigation funded by the French government has lasted more than twice as long.

The group studying UFOs in France is now operating as Groupe d’Etude et Information des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés or GEIPAN. The group was first called Groupe d’Etude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés, or GEPAN, when it was started in 1977, and then Service d’Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrée Atmérique, or SEPRA from 1988 to 2004. GEIPAN operates as part of the French Space Agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales, or CNES. Read more

UFOs in the National Enquirer

by Charles Lear

Stories of UFOs and aliens have long been associated with tabloid newspapers, often with ridiculous headlines, dubious claims, and photos that only the most credulous could take seriously. While these might be considered innocuous pieces of entertainment by many, for the serious UFO researcher they make it harder to convince a skeptical public that the subject is deserving of careful scrutiny. One of the most famous and long lasting of the tabloids is the National Enquirer, and while it might not be considered to be a bastion of journalistic integrity, it launched Bob Pratt, who was a staff reporter for the paper, into a lifelong occupation (not always paid) as a serious UFOlogist. Read more

UFOs in Congress

It’s official: unidentified aerial phenomena exist, the Pentagon takes the subject seriously, but no there one can say if aliens are involved. This is according to the unclassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that was delivered to Congress this past Friday.

The fact that Congress is interested in the subject of what have long been known as UFOs has gotten quite a bit a media attention ever since the report was commissioned in legislation passed in 2020. But, this is not the first time Congress has shown an interest in the subject; in the 1960’s UFOs were discussed in Congress on two occasions, both times prompted by concerns that publicly funded UFO studies were not being taken seriously.

In 1966, there was a series of UFO sightings in Michigan that got the attention of the press and the Air Force. There was a great deal of excitement and Project Blue Book (the code name for the Air Force’s UFO study) scientific consultant, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, was sent in to help calm things down. At a press conference, he offered some possible explanations. Due to sightings over a marsh, he speculated that people there had seen ignited balls of swamp gas, some going out and others igniting, and that this created the illusion of movement. The swamp gas explanation made the headlines and outraged many Michigan residents, including Michigan Representative and House Minority Leader Gerald Ford. He sent a letter dated March 28, 1966, to the chairmen of the Science and Astronautics Committee and the Armed Services Committee, suggesting that one of them schedule “hearings on the subject of UFO’s”.  He mentioned Hynek’s explanations in the letter and, in a press release that same day, it is noted that he described Hynek’s swamp gas explanation as “flippant.”  Documents relating to Ford’s efforts and the resultant open hearing are housed at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

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The Aguadilla UFO

by Charles Lear

Because of all the media coverage regarding the Pentagon UFO videos, an extraordinary video reportedly captured by Department of Homeland Security personnel has fallen into the background. It has become known as the “Aguadilla” video and the identity of the object caught on video remains a mystery.

The case was investigated by the Scientific Coalition for UFOlogy (now the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies) and a report was written that is available on the group’s website. According to the report, at around 9:30 p.m. on April 25, 2013, the departure of a commercial aircraft was delayed due to an unknown object flying at low altitude across the runway at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico. In the area at the time was an airborne U.S. Customs and Border Patrol aircraft and the crew managed to capture infrared video of the object

The SCU investigators describe having obtained a copy of the video from an official source who insisted on remaining anonymous. The authors state that the individual’s identity, background, and employment were all verified and that “extensive efforts were made to ensure that this video did not contain any classified information.” Read more

UFOs Over Indonesia

Charles Lear

Wherever there are UFOs, there are UFO enthusiasts, and since there are UFOs everywhere, UFO enthusiasts can be found everywhere as well. This week we’ll look at Indonesia, where members of that region’s largest UFO organization have recently offered their opinion to the local press on the upcoming Pentagon UAP Task Force unclassified report due to come out later this month.

An article written by Wulan Kusuma Wardhani and posted online for The Jakarta Post on Monday, June 7, 2021, is headlined, “Not a cult: Indonesia’s biggest UFO-community BETA-UFO weighs in on U.S. government report.” The two people speaking for the organization are 55-year-old Nur Agustinas and 48-year-old Anugerah Sentot Sudono. Agustinus was a cofounder of BETA-UFO IN 1997 along with Bayu Yunantias Amus and several others, and Sudono is described as a “senior member” in the article.

BETA is an acronym for “Benda Terbang Aneh,” which is Indonesian for “Unidentified Flying Object.” The term was introduced in the 1960s by Jacob Salutan, founder of the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space. Salutan was a vice air marshal in the Indonesian Air Force and started Studi UFO Indonesia (Indonesian UFO Studies/SUFOI). He wrote two books on UFOs: “UFO: Salah Satu Masalah Dunia Masa Kini” (UFO: One of the Current World Problems) and “Menyingkap Rahasia Piring Terbang” (Unveiling the Secrets of UFOs). As of this writing, SUFOI appears to be inactive.

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R.I.P. Mr. UFO

By Charles Lear

This past Memorial Day, May 31, 2021, UFO and paranormal researcher Timothy Green Beckley passed on. He was a colorful character who stood out in a field full of colorful characters, and while he might not have been the most serious of researchers, he was part of a circle of legendary characters from the days of flying saucers that included James Moseley, Gray Barker, and John Keel.

Records of Beckley’s age at the time of his passing range from 65 to 69. According to the IMDb, he was born on March 4, 1952 as Jeremy Stone. In addition to his interest in the paranormal, he was an actor in and producer of soft-core porn/horror movies and was known to fans as “Mr. Creepo.” He wrote and published many books on the paranormal with a definite sensationalized bent and was active in the community up until his death. According to what is believed to be his self-authored bio, “Tim Beckley had so many careers that even his own girlfriend didn’t know what he did for a living… Timothy Green Beckley has been described as the Hunter Thompson of UFOlogy by the editor of UFO magazine Nancy Birnes.” His bio contains the claims that his life was saved by an invisible force at the age of three, he started having out of body experiences at the age of six, he had his first UFO sighting at age ten, and had two more after that in the course of his life.

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A UFO in Lumberton, North Carolina

by Charles Lear

Illustration by Dale Hendrickson

It is often the case with UFO investigators that once they get to an area where a UFO has been reported, the UFO is long gone, and all they can do is interview witnesses. This is important as a means of creating a record of the case that can be referred to by future investigators and researchers. But, occasionally an investigator gets the chance to be a witness and actually observe what had been reported. This happened to investigator Lee Speigel who was looking into a series of sightings by as many as thirty police officers and 50 civilians in Lumberton, North Carolina in 1975. Spiegel submitted a report on the case to the director of the Center for UFO Studies and former Project Blue Book scientific consultant, J. Allen Hynek. The case file resides in the archives housed by David Marler in New Mexico.

Along with Speigel’s report and contemporary newspaper clippings, there is also a series of paper slips in the file folder containing call information, presumably filled out at a CUFOS UFO call center. (If anyone can confirm this, please comment.) According to Speigel’s report, a violent thunderstorm in the area ended at 1:35 a.m. on April 3, 1975. A “call slip” in the case file has the information that at 1:45 a.m., Sheriff Ronn Thompson was monitoring the radio while working as the dispatcher at the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office in Lumberton when the first report of a strange object came in. It was seen by Robeson County Officer Phil Stanton and then by two officers from St. Paul. All three described the object as v-shaped with red, blue, and clear lights. A slip with 5:15 a.m., filled in for the time has the information that two Sampson County officers saw a similar object that put a spotlight on them as it moved off. One of the officers “clocked it” at 200 mph. It appears that there was a full fledge flap after 10:00 p.m. that night because a slip with 10:15-10:30 p.m. filled in for the time has information on the back that officers from four different police departments and 50 “citizens” reported seeing something.

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A Helicopter Crew Encounters a UFO

by Charles Lear

As one looks into UFO history, there are cases that turn up again and again in books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, and documentaries. These are the “classic cases” and they’re classics because they still intrigue those who come across them. A case known as the “Coyne Incident” is one of those, and it has all the elements that make a good case: multiple credible witnesses, an official report, extensive investigation, and contemporary news coverage.

According to the report, on October 18, 1973, four men with the U.S. Army Reserve took off from Port Columbus, Ohio, in a UH-1H helicopter at around 10:30 p.m. headed for Cleveland Hopkins airport. In command and at the controls in the right front seat was 36-year-old Capt. Lawrence J. Coyne. At the controls in the left front seat was 26-year-old 1st Lt. Arrigo Jezzi. Sitting behind them were 35-year-old Sergeant John Healey and 23-year-old Sergeant Robert Yanacsek. They were flying at an altitude of 2500 feet above sea level, 1300 feet above the ground over farmland with an elevation of 1200 feet. It was a clear night lit by a quarter moon.

At around 11:00 p.m., they were over Charles Mill Lake near Mansfield, Ohio, when Healy spotted a red light to the west moving south. Shortly thereafter, Yanacsek spotted a red light on the southeast horizon that he thought might be a tower beacon or airplane wing light. Then the light turned and moved rapidly towards the helicopter.

Worried about an impact, Coyne made a powered descent of 500 feet per minute and radioed the National Guard tower in Mansfield to find out if they had an aircraft in the area. After getting an initial response, radio contact was lost.

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UFOs, Science and Controversy at the University of Colorado

by Charles Lear

James E. McDonald

For a brief period in the late 1960’s, UFO enthusiasts were encouraged by the fact that some scientists were beginning to take the subject seriously. This was due in large part to renowned atmospheric physicist Dr. James McDonald’s coming forward and publicly acknowledging that he was investigating the mystery. Around the same time, in 1966, Project Blue Book scientific consultant Dr. J. Allen Hynek angered many in the state of Michigan by offering the possibility that some of the UFOs reported during a flap that year in the state were swamp gas. This lead to a congressional hearing looking into the Air Force’s handling of the UFO problem, and that resulted in an Air Force funded scientific study at the University of Colorado headed by physicist Dr. Edward U. Condon. This was something many in the UFO community had been hoping for, and they were optimistic that something positive might come of it. Unfortunately, the project ran into personality problems that nearly derailed it.

An article written by John G. Fuller and published in the May 14, 1968, issue of Look Magazine looks deeply into the matter. Under the headline “Flying Saucer Fiasco,” the article is introduced as “The extraordinary story of the half-million-dollar ‘trick’ to make Americans believe the Condon committee was conducting an objective investigation.”

After giving an overview of the project and its participants, Fuller references a story published early October 1966, in the Denver Post. Project Coordinator Robert J. Low, describing the UFO project as a function of the university, was quoted as saying that it “comes pretty close to the criteria of non acceptability.” Read more