Podcast UFO

by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

On November 15, 1976, 42-year-old Joyce Bowles, and her 58-year-old friend, Ted Pratt, appeared on the BBC television program South Today.  They were interviewed about their reported encounters with UFOs and humanoids the night before. Their case got the interest of researchers from various organizations and there are FOUR articles examining it in the February 1977, Vol. 22, No. 5 Flying Saucer Review: an article by Bournemouth Unexplained Phenomena Research Group Investigator Leslie Harris headlined “UFO & Silver-Suited Entity Seen Near Winchester,” an article by British UFO Research Association Investigator Richard Nash that consists mostly of a transcription of a tape recorded interview with Bowles and Pratt conducted by Nash, “Questions and Comments on the Nash Interview” by BUFORA Research Coordinator Jenny Randles, and an article by BUFORA Investigator Frank J. Wood based on two reports prepared by him headlined “Alleged CE-III at Winchester: Vehicle Examination,” with the subheading “Together with a few other matters of interest.” There is also an article by Lionel Beer in the March/April BUFORA Journal headlined “The Winchester Encounters. There are several sensational claims in this case, and while it is based on the testimony of two witnesses, Mrs. Bowles had a history of reporting other paranormal encounters, which caused some doubt among researchers. However, Jacques Vallée’s 1969 book, Passport to Magonia, had an impact on the thinking of researchers at that time, as did the work of John Keel, an FSR contributor, and an increasing number were considering the idea that UFOs might be more paranormal in nature than physical craft being piloted by extraterrestrials.

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Prologue by Martin Willis: Charles Lear suggested that I repost this blog in honor of the loss of dear friend, and iconic UFO researcher, Lee Speigel last week. I titled it according to what Lee told me his response was to J. Allen Hynek’s request. Hynek asked him to travel to North Carolina to meet with police officers experiencing a repeating encounter with a triangle UFO. Lee’s response was; “You want me to go to North Carolina to check out a flying Dorito? Of course I will, I am in!”

by Charles Lear (re-post)

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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It greaves me to announce, a wonderful friend, and one of the true icons of the UFO world, Lee Speigel passed away from a short-term illness on August 15.

*NEW Help Send Lee Speigel’s ashes into space! https://rb.gy/ym1ns

Lee Speigel has presented credible, compelling stories about UFOs, Science and the Paranormal since 1975, when he produced and wrote a documentary record album, “UFOs: The Credibility Factor,” for CBS Inc. This marked the first time that a major recording company offered a UFO-related product to the public via a prime time TV infomercial. During production of his UFO album, Speigel and numerous law enforcement officers were involved in a historic UFO encounter in Lumberton, No. Carolina — the first well-documented, multiple witness, triangular-shaped UFO incident in America, highlighted in David Marler’s 2013 book, “Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation.” In 1978, Speigel’s second attempt at UFO disclosure took place on a world stage when he became the only person in history to produce a milestone presentation on UFOs at the United Nations. Under the sponsorship of Grenada, he brought together leading military and scientific experts (including astronomers J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee), who urged world leaders to establish an international UFO study committee. Read more →

by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

In the November 1978 Vol. 24, No. 3, Flying Saucer Review, there is an article (page 9 of pdf) by W. K. Allan headlined, “The Fort St. James Sightings,” that details Allan’s investigation of a case in British Columbia, Canada, along with the editor of the Canadian UFO Report, John Magor. Allan describes becoming interested in the case upon seeing a report (page 2 of pdf) headlined, “Possible Canadian Abduction,” in the March 1977 APRO Bulletin. According to Allan, he and Magor travelled, along with their wives, to Fort St. James to interview the witness, who identifies himself as Kirk Alore in the transcription of his story as told on tape. His account includes what seems to be a period of missing time, and this is likely what led the APRO investigator, Michael Sinclair, to consider that Alore might have been abducted. As they looked into the case further, they encountered some problems with Alore’s story but got corroboration from his parents. Read more →

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by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

In October 1970, the publishers of the British magazine Flying Saucer Review put out the first issue of FSR Case Histories. Editor Charles Bowen explains at the beginning of that issue that readers had “suggested that FSR should be a monthly journal.” According to Bowen, the FSR staff worked in their spare time to put out the magazine, and while putting it out monthly wasn’t possible, it was possible to put out a supplemental journal in between the main issues. Other reasons Bowen gives for putting out a supplement are: to provide space for cases that might otherwise go unrecorded, to translate stories from foreign journals, to encourage readers to become part-time investigators, and to have “a vehicle to carry important re-investigations of old cases.” The February 1974 FSR Case Histories, Supplement 18, was the final issue and Bowen and Assistant Editor Eileen Buckle explain in that issue that this is due to “lukewarm support and the shocking rise of costs and postage.” A case from that issue that caught this writer’s interest is an example of a case that was translated from a foreign magazine, in this instance, from the December 1972 issue of the Spanish magazine, Stendak. Read more →

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by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

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. Read more →

by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

Just before Stanton Friedman got Roswell fever, one of the earliest saucer researchers, Leonard Stringfield, was hard at work researching and investigating reports that involved military recovery of crashed flying saucers and alien bodies. He presented the results of his work in the form of a paper titled “Retrievals of the Third Kind” at the July 28, 1978 MUFON Symposium. A three-part series by Stringfield based on that paper was published under the same title in Volume 25, numbers 4, 5, and 6, in the British magazine, Flying Saucer Review, starting with the July-August 1979 issue.

Stringfield begins his paper by presenting the “facts” that the “world public at large” and the scientific community do not believe in UFOs. He then expresses the frustration of those in the UFO community who have “no doubt that a real interloper from somewhere exists.” Read more →

by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

In 1966, John Keel, longtime fortean and author of several books on UFOs, including his most famous book published in 1975, The Mothman Prophecies, was just beginning to focus on the UFO phenomenon. At this time in his life, he was writing articles for the British publication, Flying Saucer Review and sharing his research with Jim and Coral Lorenzen of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization. He wrote an article (page 6 of pdf) about one case he looked into that year, headlined “New Landing and Creature Reports” that was published in the November-December 1966 Flying Saucer Review. The article’s main focus is on one incident that took place on July 31, 1966. Keel shared the details of the case with APRO, and they published their take on it (page 3 of pdf) headlined, “The Presque Isle Landing,” in the July-August 1966 APRO Bulletin.

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by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

While browsing through the archives of the UFO Newsclipping Service, we came across a headline that a co-worker commented would make a great T-shirt. We searched for other possible mentions of the story in periodicals of the time, and came across another headline that the reader might agree is also T-shirt worthy.

In the September 1988 UFO Newsclipping Service, there is an article on page 14 from the July 20, 1988 Eastbourne, England Gazette headlined, “UFO Kidnaps 26 Elephants.” According to the article, an African safari park in Lugo, Spain, lost 26 adult elephants. Read more →

by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

This is the third part in a series looking at a case involving a woman who claimed she was with Einstein as his assistant in 1947 when he went to examine a crashed flying saucer and aliens at a military base in the American Southwest. The case was originally investigated in 1993 by Mutual UFO Network affiliated researchers Leonard Stringfield and Sheila Franklin. Franklin got the woman’s story on tape and Stringfield wrote about it in his 1994 Status Report titled UFO Crash/Retrievals: Search for Proof in a Hall of Mirrors. As Einstein supposedly made the trip in 1947, Stringfield speculated that it might have involved the saucer that allegedly crashed at Roswell, and the woman told him, “I did hear that name pop up during my trip.” The woman had agreed to provide photos of the saucer and the aliens as well as documentation to back up her story, but these never materialized. According to Franklin and Stringfield, the woman was either lying or the victim of a Men-in-Black type campaign of harassment, surveillance, search, and seizure. Read more →