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
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 
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.
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 
Because of all the media coverage regarding the 
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.
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.
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.
It may have had an unusual title: “
In the first year of the Air Force’s flying saucer investigation, then operating as Project Sign, a sighting was reported that was one of a few that convinced some members of the Air Force that flying saucers were interplanetary craft piloted by extraterrestrials. The witnesses were two commercial pilots flying for Eastern Airlines and one passenger. The pilots, after thinking at first that they were seeing a new Army jet, quickly thought otherwise.
The April 24, 1964 sighting by Socorro, NM, Police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora of a landed UFO with two beings standing next to it has been written about extensively and remains a fascinating mystery to this day. What’s noteworthy about this case is the large number of people who investigated it. Representatives from the Socorro Police, the New Mexico State Police, the F.B.I., and the Army were first on the scene. They were followed by the Lorenzens from the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, members of the Air Force and J. Allen Hynek as part of Project Blue Book, and Ray Stanford for the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. Besides the testimony of Zamora, there was trace evidence to examine, there were witnesses to interview who’d reported a similar craft, and there were reputed witnesses to the very craft Zamora reported who were searched for but never found. Despite the thoroughness of the inquiries and analyses by so many experienced investigators, no one was able to come up with an agreeable earthly explanation.
As he drove, he saw a funnel shaped, narrower at the top, blue and “sort of orange” flame slowly descend behind the hill. He turned onto a dirt road, made it up a hill after three tries, and after looking around for 15-20 seconds, saw what he thought was a car standing on end in a gully. As he got closer he noted two figures in what looked like white coveralls standing next to the “car.” As he drove quickly towards them to help, one of the figures turned towards him and seemed startled.
Tales of UFOs ejecting hot metal go back to the days when flying saucers were just becoming an American national obsession. In fact, the first flying saucer witness, Kenneth Arnold, encountered such a tale when he looked into the