by Charles Lear
Some are born to it, some achieve it, and some have it thrust upon them. If one is talking about a life devoted to UFO research, Leonard Stringfield was in the last category. He was a prominent figure in the early days of UFO investigation and remained highly active until his death in 1994. Most notably, Stringfield was the only private investigator ever to have a direct line to the Air Force during their Project Blue Book investigation.
Born in 1920, Stringfield’s interest in UFOs began in 1945, just three days before the end of World War II. He was an Army Air Force intelligence officer, flying as a passenger in a C-46 headed for Iwo Jima. Mid-way, after taking off from Ie Shima, the plane developed a problem in its left engine and started losing altitude. As this was happening, Stringfield noticed “three unidentifiable blobs of brilliant white light, each about the size of a dime held at arm’s length.” The pilot regained control and as the plane ascended, Stringfield noted that the objects remained below and vanished into the clouds.
Writing about the incident in his 1957 book, “Saucer Post…3-0 Blue” he compared what he’d seen to the “foo fighters” reported by pilots from all sides of the war. He went on to write that he believed that the engine trouble had been caused by the objects.
In 1950, news reports of flying saucers revived Stringfield’s wartime memory. One report was from a family that had seen an object fly over their house that lit up the area under it as it passed. The other was of a blue light swinging like a pendulum over a ridge. The witnesses were fellow citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio and Stringfield was impressed by their “genuineness.” He became convinced that flying saucers were interplanetary and found this “ominous.” In 1952, there was a flap that included sightings in restricted airspace over Washington, D.C. during two consecutive weekends. On July 25th, Stringfield and other Cincinnatians observed a teardrop-shaped object moving quickly through the sky and changing direction. He was compelled to report it to the press and announce that he was forming a research group, the Civilian Investigating Group for Aerial Phenomena. Though the organization consisted only of Stringfield throughout its short, less than 2-year existence, he received hundreds of reports and was noted as a local flying saucer authority.
A lot of people are familiar with the mysterious airship wave over the United States that began in 1896. Beginning in California and continuing throughout the rest of the country, people reported seeing large ships in the sky, often described as cigar-shaped and with bright lights when seen at night. There were reports of landings and meetings with human-looking occupants and most thought they were seeing the results of some great inventor’s work. The sightings were reported in many newspapers of the day and they remain an intriguing part of American history. What many people are not aware of is that, in 1909, New Zealand experienced a similar wave of sightings.
The history of UFO reports in Finland is much like that of other countries except that it starts earlier than most, dating back to the early 20th century. As was the case for much of Scandinavia, Finland had reports in the 1930s and 1940s of mystery lights, aircraft and rockets but, unlike its neighbors and much of Europe, the government of Finland has been quite secretive regarding official UFO investigations. Despite the government’s secrecy, documents have been released and were examined by private researchers. These documents revealed that Finnish defense organizations were actively investigating UFO reports from the very beginning and some intriguing cases have been brought to light.
When it comes to reported UFO crash locations in New Mexico, everyone has heard of Roswell, many have heard of Aztec but few have heard of San Antonio. San Antonio is a small village, 12 miles south of Socorro just northeast of White Sands Missile Range. It was the childhood home of two men, Reme Baca and Jose Padilla who, in 2003, came forward with the story that they had discovered a crashed UFO there in 1945.
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, 
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.
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. 
As the internet was becoming more and more a part of everyone’s daily life, the mood of UFOlogy was becoming more and more paranoid. Growing numbers of people were reporting abductions and animal mutilations and the idea that our Earth based governments were collaborating with alien races was gaining acceptance beyond just a small fringe element of society. Little green men became little grey men (and large reptilians) and they were, reportedly, not very friendly. All of these elements converged in dark tales told about an area located in New Mexico. That area is near the town of Dulce and its history of strange activity goes back well before the internet.
In the 1970’s, the Dulce area was hit with a wave of reported cattle mutilations with accompanying black helicopters and strange lights. New Mexico State Police officer, Gabe Valdez, investigated many of the reports and became obsessed with the mystery for over 30 years. By 2005, Valdez had become 
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 
At this point in time, most people interested in UFOs are probably used to being able to look at official government documents if they want to do some research. The C.I.A., F.B.I. and N.S.A. all have UFO related documents available online and there is, of course, the enormous collection amassed by John Greenewald Jr. on his site, 
Ground Saucer Watch was formed in 1957 and its members included scientists, engineers and technicians. William Spaulding, the group’s director, was an aerospace quality control engineer who worked at a company called AIResearch. GSW was based in Arizona and was one of the first groups to respond to the 1975 
There is a discussion among UFO enthusiasts as to whether or not the objects being reported are actually material in nature. Cases where there have been physical traces left behind after a sighting support the argument that some objects are indeed solid but there were times when those traces were left behind none-too-gently. Actual collisions have been reported between UFOs and aircraft, cars and, possibly, even a train according to a report referenced to in the forum section of 
What was the first civilian organization solely dedicated to research on the subject of UFOs and when did they form? After a little research, most should agree that it was the Los Angeles based 
It often occurs among UFO enthusiasts that people will form a belief in a case and find it difficult to let go of that belief in spite of evidence that the case was more than likely a hoax. The alleged 1948 crash and retrieval of a flying disk near Aztec, New Mexico is a classic example. This case has spawned the well-known 1950 book by Frank Scully,