A 1980 Brazilian UFO Abduction Case

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear

Brazilian UFO cases have aspects to them that, while not unheard of in other countries, come up over and over again giving them a commonality that is unique to Brazil. Lost time, traveling long distances in trucks and cars in far less time and using far less fuel than it should take, humanoid encounters, and injuries are a few of these. A case from 1980 has all of these aspects except injury, and it is described in the cover story of the March 1982 APRO Bulletin.

According to the article headlined “1980 Brazilian Abduction,” the case came to light “during the question and answer period following a UFO lecture by APRO’s Brazilian Representative, Mrs. Irene Granchi.” Granchi later interviewed the people involved, Elias Seixas de Matos, 38; Guaraci Fernandes de Sousa, 47; and Alberto Seixas Vierra, 26. Granchi later wrote about the case in an article (link to original article broken at this time) published in the April 1995 issue of UFO Magazine. There, she says she was lecturing about the work of Rio de Janeiro-based “hypnologist,” Dr. Silvio Lago. According to her, the three men were introduced to her, and it was explained that they wanted to meet Lago as they all seemed to have experienced partial amnesia and couldn’t recall long stretches of time during a delivery run in a truck. Read more

Mini UFO in Pennsylvania

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear

Coming across contemporary UFO cases of interest these days when government-related UFO stories dominate the news is difficult. Fortunately, there are still some active civilian investigators out there who share their information (without a subscription) on their websites. Stan Gordon is one of those, and he helped bring attention to a case investigated by fellow researcher Jim Brown.

Stan Gordon maintains a website, Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone. According to his bio on the site, he was a trained electronics technician who specialized in radio and “worked in the advanced consumer electronics sales field for over forty years.” He has lived his whole life in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, became interested in UFOs and strangeness in 1959 at the age of ten, was the investigations coordinator for telephone reports coming into the UFO Research Institute of Pittsburgh in the late 1960s, and became an active field investigator in 1965. That year he was the primary investigator for the “December 9, 1965, UFO crash-recovery incident that occurred near Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.” Gordon established a hotline in 1969 so he could receive UFO reports and formed his own organization, the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group, in 1970. Read more

PART II: Encounter in Detchmont Woods

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear

In last week’s blog, we looked at a case involving a 1979 report by a forestry worker in Scotland who said he not only saw a mysterious domed object sitting on the ground, but that he was assaulted by two spherical objects with spike-like protrusions that rolled towards him rapidly, rolled over onto his sides, and seemed to be pulling on his pants. At this point he went unconscious. According to him, when he came to, he heard a “whooshing” noise and then saw that the object was gone. He was extremely thirsty, had a headache, pain in his chin and legs, and couldn’t walk or speak. He crawled back to his pickup truck, which was 300 meters away, found himself incapable of driving it, but was then able to make his way home on foot. Upon returning “with others” the next day, there were physical traces seen that gave support to his claims. This week, we’ll look at the aftermath and the physical evidence.

The case got the attention of Flying Saucer Review Editor Charles Bowen, who made arrangements to have it investigated by members of the UFO Investigators Network, an organization funded by FSR and formed in 1977 with the help of Jenny Randles who had proposed the idea. The resulting three-part report by UFOIN investigators Martin Keatman and Andrew Collins appears in the November-December 1979, Spring 1980, and September 1980 issues. Read more

Encounter in Detchmont Woods

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear

When a single witness reports an episode of high strangeness involving a UFO encounter, having physical evidence in the form of traces left on the ground, or on the witness, really helps when arguing for the witness’s credibility. This was the case in the 1979 report by a forestry worker in Scotland who said he not only saw a mysterious domed object sitting on the ground, but that he was assaulted by two spherical objects with spike-like protrusions that rolled towards him. The case got the attention Flying Saucer Review Editor Charles Bowen, who made arrangements to have it investigated by members of the UFO Investigators Network, an organization funded by FSR and formed in 1977 with the help of Jenny Randles who had proposed the idea. The resulting three-part report by UFOIN investigators Martin Keatman and Andrew Collins appears in the November-December 1979, Spring 1980, and September 1980 issues. The case was also investigated by employees of the Livingston Development Corporation and local police from two stations. Read more

Police Officers Who became UFO Investigators

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear

Chris DePerno

In the history of UFO sightings, police involvement is fairly common as they are often the first to be called by concerned citizens.  Often the officers sent to investigate end up becoming witnesses themselves and there are cases where they have given chase and involved other officers providing researchers with multiple, exceptionally qualified witnesses.  Then there are cases where the officers have been the primary witnesses and some were so moved by their encounters that they ended up becoming highly active UFO researchers and investigators themselves.  As would be expected, these investigators treat their cases as if they were doing a criminal investigation and when it comes to UFOs, this is an excellent approach. Read more

Dr. J. Allen Hynek and the International Center for UFO Research

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

In the late 1960s, Dr. J. Allen Hynek was a key figure in getting members of the scientific community to take flying saucers/UFOs seriously. He was a prominent astronomer who was involved in the mystery at the very beginning as a consultant for the Air Force’s investigation, which operated for most of its existence as Project Blue Book until its termination in 1969. He was born in Chicago in 1910 and worked and lived in Ohio from 1935 until he became chair of the astronomy department at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1960. In 1973, he founded the Center for UFO Studies, which was based in Chicago. Then, in 1984, after spending his entire life in the Midwest, he rather suddenly moved with his family from Chicago to Scottsdale, Arizona. In this blog, we’ll explore what was going on behind the scenes. Read more

The 1979 Case of Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

In August 1979, a case out of Minnesota that was chock full of trace evidence, including physical effects displayed by the witness in the aftermath, was investigated by Allen Hendry for the Center for UFO Studies. The incident and the related activity are described two days afterwards in the August 29, 1979, edition of the local Warren, Minnesota, Sheaf.

According to the article (page 8 of the pdf) headlined “Deputy Johnson Stunned by UFO Monday Morning,” Marshall County Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson was in his patrol car about 11 miles west of Stephen, Minnesota, headed south on TH 220 just before 1:30 am when he saw a bright light about a mile away, hovering over the road. Thinking it might be an aircraft in distress, he sped up.

As he did so, the light came towards him, and as it filled the interior of the car, he heard the sound of glass breaking. He lost consciousness and remembered nothing of about 40 minutes after that. The Warren Sheriff’s office received a 1088 (officer in distress) from Johnson at 2:19 am, and he is described as having sounded rational but disoriented. When he was asked about his situation he said, “Something just hit my car – strange. Something attacked my car – brakes locked up. I don’t know what is going on.” He was asked if he needed an ambulance and replied, “I don’t think so. I don’t think I’m leaking blood. My eyes hurt.” Read more

Part III: The Case of Piero Fortunato Zanfretta

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

This is the last of a three-part series of blogs covering the case of an Italian security guard (with the company Val Bisagno), Piero Fortunato Zanfretta, who reported a number of encounters with UFOs and their occupants.  After the first incident, he described in conscious recall being confronted by “an enormous green, ugly and frightful creature, with undulating skin, no less than ten feet tall.” Under hypnosis the story came out that he was taken up into a craft where he was interrogated and examined by as many as ten creatures “about 10 feet tall, with hairy green skin, yellow triangular eyes and red veins across the forehead” with metal strips over their mouths. He said they told him they were from the “third galaxy,” wanted to talk to the people of Earth, and would return soon in greater numbers. Italian journalist Rino Di Stefano became interested in the case, stuck with it, and wrote a book about it titled The Zanfretta Case, first published in Italian in 1984 and then in English in 2014. The reader can refer to his website promoting the book for most of the information. What makes this case unique is that there is corroborating evidence in the form of possible landing traces, giant footprints, witness testimony from his co-workers, and observations made during the investigation by the Italian military police known there as the Carabinieri. Read more

PART II: The Case of Piero Fortunato Zanfretta

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

In last week’s blog, we looked at the first two UFO and occupant encounters reported by Italian security guard Piero Fortunato Zanfretta. The case was investigated by the Carabinieri (Italian Military Police) and evidence was found in the form of possible landing traces in the first and second instances with the addition of huge footprints in the second. In conscious recall, Zanfretta described encountering “an enormous green, ugly and frightful creature, with undulating skin, no less than ten feet tall.” Under hypnosis after the first instance, he said he was taken to a bright, hot place and examined by “monsters about 10 feet tall, with hairy green skin, yellow triangular eyes and red veins across the forehead” (he also described them having metal strips over their mouths) that told him they were from the “third galaxy,” wanted to talk to the people of Earth, and would return soon in greater numbers. Italian journalist Rino Di Stefano became interested in the case, stuck with it, and wrote a book about it titled The Zanfretta Case, first published in Italian in 1984 and then in English in 2014. The reader can refer to his website promoting the book for most of the information. Read more

The Case of Piero Fortunato Zanfretta

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

In the last couple of blogs, we looked at the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena 1978 UFO Chronology, which was unusual for the large number of humanoid reports with space suits, helmets and antennas in the descriptions. We also noted that there seemed to have been a flap in Italy in December and that one case listed that month is worthy of individual attention. The principal witness/experiencer was Piero Fortunato Zanfretta, and his story was investigated by Italian journalist Rino Di Stefano, who wrote a book about it that he published in 2014 titled The Zanfretta Case. Read more

Remembering Ray Stanford

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

Ray Stanford at Socorro

Ray Stanford, longtime friend of the show and longtime fixture in the UFO/flying saucer scene, passed away on June 14. In the early days of Podcast UFO, he was a regular guest and caller, and was always enthusiastic and passionate in any discussion he was engaged in. He reached out to me when I was just starting out as a blogger with both praise and caution, and in one instance, chastised me for using a picture of a saucer nest as an illustration for one reported in Westall, Australia, for which there was no picture.

Ray was born on June 21, 1938, and was a colorful and controversial figure on the scene, having started out as a contactee, along with his brother Rex. They cowrote a book together titled Look Up, which was published in 1958 when Ray was just 19. He claimed up until 1980 to be in communication with various entities via trance channeling. Books he’s written on his own have subjects ranging from aura reading (What Your Aura Tells Me, 1978) to the Socorro Incident (A Socorro “Saucer” in a Pentagon Pantry, 1976) involving the report of a landed craft and two humanoids by Socorro Police Sgt. Lonnie Zamora. This is what I wrote in a blog way back when about Ray’s involvement in that case:

A researcher and NICAP member, Ray Stanford, had arrived in Socorro after Hynek and had tried in vain to make contact with Zamora. He went to the police station on Wednesday morning and was told by the dispatcher, Mike Martinez, that Zamora was in the southern section of town. Stanford, convinced Zamora was at the landing site, asked Martinez to make a call on the radio. Chavez answered and said they wanted privacy while Hynek was investigating, but Hynek interrupted and invited Stanford to come out as long as he came alone. Read more

The 1978 Italian UFO Flap

by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear 

In last week’s blog, we looked at the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena 1978 UFO Chronology and noted that there seemed to be a large number of humanoid reports where the creatures were said to be wearing silvery space suits and helmets with antennas. Towards the end of the chronology, in December, a flap seemed to be emerging in Italy, and we broke off to devote this week’s blog to that.

Out of the 27 cases in Italy listed that year (19 of which were in December), more than one involved car failure. There is a case from Giulianova, Italy, dated December 1, 1978, where a car’s entire electrical system is reported to have failed in the presence of 1.5-meter-diameter “luminous, orange and green saucer-shaped UFO” overhead. It is said to have functioned normally after the UFO flew off.

A case dated Dec. 8, 1978, from Portegrandi, Italy, involved a report by three policemen of a domed object with four windows that hovered over a roadway and “emitted rays of light,” and then shot off as they put their spotlight on it.

A case that was quite similar, dated December 9, from Reggio di Calabria, Sicily, involved policemen putting a spotlight on “a multi-colored object with intermittent flashing lights,” whereupon it reportedly shone a beam down onto their car. According to the account, when the spotlight was turned off, the beam went out. Read more