When UFOs and Cars Collide

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By Charles Lear

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, “UFO Headquarters.”  The Hudson River Valley of New York has long been an active area for UFO sightings and is particularly well known for a wave in the 1980s involving low flying, silent, black triangles, some the size of a football field.  The incident involving Funk occurred in Millerton, NY, which is just east of the Hudson River Valley near the Connecticut border.  It involved a collision with an object while driving and was remarkably similar to a case familiar to many, the “Val Johnson Incident”, that happened 12 years later.

On Tuesday morning, July 18, 1967, Emma Funk reported an incident to local police. Village patrolman Lewis Lindsay described the report for an article, which appeared in the July 19th edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.  According to the article, Funk was driving home after work on Monday at 11:25 PM.  She was heading north on route 22, when an object the size of a softball hit her windshield.  At that moment, her headlights went out, her car stalled and the inside of the car was filled with a bright light.  Funk was dazed and when she regained her composure and got the car back in motion, she realized she was driving south, in the opposite direction.  Lindsay checked the car, saw that there was a crack in the windshield and noted that he couldn’t make a determination as to its cause.  The article mentions that there had been “recurring reports of unidentified flying objects in Northeast Dutchess County.”  Lindsay said that there was a search planned in the area to try to locate “the sphere” but wouldn’t speculate whether the incident had any connection with the reported UFOs.

A follow up article in the August 5th edition of the same paper describes a meeting at LaGrange Town Office hosted by Aerial Investigations Research Corps Inc. where Funk’s windshield was on display.  The object is described in this article as baseball sized and black with an orange glow.  A.I.R.’s president, William Donovan, announced at the meeting that the windshield would be sent to the physics department of Syracuse University for “chemical and ballistics tests” and that pictures of it would be sent to the Condon committee.  The Condon committee was a group at the University of Colorado that was studying the UFO phenomenon on behalf of the Air Force.

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UFOs Over Japan

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by Charles Lear

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.

There are alleged reports from as early as 1015 that have been passed from author to author and all around the internet.  They’re interesting but they lack any reference to an original source from the period, or at least, one that can be found by a shameless armchair researcher.  One report, however, does come with an original source citation, and an explanation as wonderfully ridiculous as some of those offered by our modern debunkers. From the book, “Azuma Agami” a chronicle covering the years 1180 to 1266, comes a UFO report that was investigated by what could loosely be called, “scientific consultants.”  On October 2, 1235, Shogun, Yoritsune Suketoshi, reported that strange lights had been seen in the southwest, swinging and circling.  He ordered his astrology consultants, who had a good knowledge of astronomy, to investigate.  After consideration, they reported that the cause of the strange light activity was the wind causing the stars to sway.

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. Read more →

Fear and Loathing and UFOs in Dulce

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By Charles Lear

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.

Even before the alleged alien activity, Dulce was the location of some unusual human activity.  In 1967, someone had the bright idea to recover natural gas trapped underneath Dulce by setting off a nuclear device 4000 feet below the surface.  The operation was named, “Project Gasbuggy” and was an early attempt at fracking.  Unfortunately, when one sets off a nuclear device near natural gas, the gas becomes too radioactive to be usable.

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 convinced that the mutilations were the result of human researchers but, by that time, many had come to believe quite the opposite.  From its beginning in early 1980’s, a story had grown that there was a secret underground base near Dulce under a formation called Archuleta Mesa.  This base was reportedly populated by aliens conducting nightmarish experiments on humans as well as cattle.  This story is still believed by many people today.

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Latest Stream of the SCU, What is the Possible Connection between UAP’s and Dark Matter?

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Abstract: Nearly 25% of the universe is composed of a mysterious substance known as dark matter (while 70% of the cosmos is something called “dark energy”) making it the height of hubris to think that we know all there is to know about physics and astronomy today. This talk will review the strong evidence behind the existence of dark matter, such as gravitational lensing, then discuss how it might lead to naturally occurring anomalies not involving craft piloted by intelligent beings at all. Next, I will cover the possibility for its use as fuel for interstellar flight, one that can be gathered in transit, given its natural abundance being 5x that of interstellar hydrogen.

When UFOs Were Soucoupes Volantes

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by Charles Lear

  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 sightings over the Capital, caused a great deal of concern in Washington.  In 1954, there was a flap that was worldwide that involved reports of not only flying saucers, but also of landed saucers and humanoid occupants.  There are reports on record from South America to Africa and the Middle East but the heaviest concentration was over France.  It was there that French researcher, Aimé Michel came to international prominence as he investigated, collected data and tried to unravel the mystery.  A young Jaques Vallée first became interested in flying saucers at this time and was inspired by Michel’s work to go on to even greater prominence as a respected and influential figure in the field.

On September 10, 1954, an incident was reported to police by a 34 year-old man in Quarouble that went on to be covered by the press extensively, not only in France, but worldwide.  Marius Dewilde told police that at 10:30 PM, he was sitting in his house by the railroad tracks, when his dog, Kiki, started barking outside.  Dewilde went to investigate, bringing his flashlight, as it was dark.  Outside, he noticed a large object, which he assumed was a harvest cart, six meters from his front door.  He then saw two figures on a nearby path that was often used by smugglers.  He shined his flashlight at them and it reflected off of what he perceived was a helmet on one of the figures, both of which he estimated to be about a meter in height.  At that moment, a door opened up on the side of the object, a blinding light came out and Dewilde said he was paralyzed by fear.  He closed his eyes and when he opened them, the object had risen ten meters in the air and it then shot off to the west like “lightning.” Later, indentations were found in railroad ties that were thought to have possibly come from the object’s landing gear.  As the story made its way from newspaper to newspaper, Dewilde’s being paralyzed by fear turned into Dewilde being paralyzed by a beam of light.

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Citizens Against UFO Secrecy

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by Charles Lear

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, The Black Vault.  One might think that the three letter agencies listed above would have been reluctant to make such documents readily available.  This was certainly the case in the early 1970’s when researchers began to use a new tool at their disposal known as the Freedom of Information Act.  The F.O.I.A. was passed in 1966 and required that government agencies release documents, not exempt according to the statute’s guidelines, to any citizen upon request.  Part of the idea was to provide citizens with insight into the operations of government agencies in the hope that they could play a part in making them more efficient.  The act was amended in 1974 and now offered citizens a judicial review if they felt a request had not been responded to satisfactorily.  Bruce Macabee, an optical physicist and UFO researcher, was one of the first to take advantage of the act but it was a private group, Ground Saucer Watch, that made headlines after successfully acquiring over 900 pages of documents from the C.I.A.  GSW was dissolved shortly thereafter in the midst of financial difficulties but some of its members had already formed Citizens Against UFO Secrecy.  CAUS went on to acquire documents from many agencies, and it was because of the efforts of these early adventurers who fearlessly confronted monstrous bureaucracies that we have the resources that are available today.

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 Travis Walton incident.  They achieved national notoriety thanks to a lawsuit filed against the C.I.A. in 1977.  Spaulding was seeking the release of requested documents and had retained the services of New York attorney, Peter Gerston who offered his services pro bono.  In order for C.I.A. to win, they had to establish that UFOs were a matter of national security (contrary to repeated statements of organizations such as the Air Force) and that they had legal authority to investigate UFOs.  While they awaited the outcome, in 1978, GSW members, Todd Zechel, Brad Sparks and others, along with Gerston, formed CAUS in order to “open the war on UFO secrecy on other fronts.”  Near the end of that year, the C.I.A. released almost 900 pages of documents and on January 14, 1979, an article appeared in The New York Times detailing some of the revelations.

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When UFOs Collide

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By Charles

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 Trains magazine.

The most famous case involving a UFO hitting a car comes from Marshall County, Minnesota.  At around 1:40 AM on August 27, 1979, Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson was driving on duty close to the North Dakota Border when he saw a light.  He described it in a taped statement for UFO investigator, Guy Wescott, as “a very bright, brilliant light, eight to twelve inches in diameter, three to four feet off the ground” with well-defined edges.  Thinking it was a landing light from a distressed aircraft, Johnson drove towards it, traveling a little over a mile, when it suddenly came towards him and “intercepted” the vehicle.  Johnson lost consciousness for “approximately thirty-nine minutes” and came to with his car stopped sideways across the road at the end of 99 feet of skid marks, and a total of 953 feet from the site of impact.  He radioed for help and Deputy Sheriff Everett Doolittle was the first to arrive.  Doolittle found Johnson sitting in the driver’s seat, in a state of mild shock, with his head against the steering wheel.  Johnson complained of pain in his eyes that reminded him of burns he’d experienced after welding and said his head felt as if he’d been hit “in the face with a four-hundred pound pillow.”  Doolittle called for an ambulance and Johnson was taken to a hospital where his eyes were treated with salve and bandaged. Read more →

Check Out the SCU’s First Livestream, Analysis of the “Ubatuba” material by Robert Powell

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Robert Powell reviewed recent testing he completed on a 99.88% pure magnesium sample first obtained in the Ubatuba region of Brazil in 1957. Powell also reviewed the history of the sample, previous chemical testing, isotopic analysis of the magnesium as well as isotopic analysis of impurities in the sample that were in 100ppm levels, namely strontium, barium, zinc, and copper. Lastly he discussed the meaning of the results that he obtained. For more information about the SCU visit: https://www.explorescu.org/

Borderland Science & UFOs

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By Charles Lear

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 Civilian Saucer Investigation formed in 1951.  What may surprise many is that there was a group interested in all things paranormal that was looking at aerial phenomena reports even before the June 24, 1947 Kenneth Arnold sighting.  What may be equally surprising is the longevity of the organization, which started in 1945 and is still represented by an active website today.

Borderland Sciences Research Associates was formed in San Diego, California in 1945 by Meade Layne along with fellow intellectuals interested in exploring subjects that lay between the realms of spiritualism and science.  Layne was an academic with a masters in English who supported his family as a teacher, taking jobs across the country.  In the course of his career, he was the English Department Head at Illinois Wesleyan University and Florida Southern College and a professor at the University of Southern California.  Prior to his involvement with BSRA he had contributed various writings and research papers to journals devoted to parapsychology, spiritualism and the occult.  As soon as the group was formed they published their own monthly newsletter, the Round Robin, and Layne was the editorial director.  The subjects that were written about covered the range of what can be best described as “Western esotericism.”

In the January, 1946 issue we get the first story of interest for UFO historians.  In an article titled, “Do You Hear Voices?” the writer addresses the “Shaver Mystery” which involved a man who heard voices while welding and believed them to be from degenerated humanoids living underground who flew through tunnels in technically advanced vehicles.  These vehicles were later thought by some to be responsible for Arnold’s sighting and those that followed.  This was likely due, in large part, to the influence of the men responsible for the mystery: writer, Richard Shaver and publisher, Ray Palmer.  What may be of equal interest to UFO enthusiasts are comments taken from a letter in that same issue regarding ball lightning and “will-o’-the-wisps” mentioning marsh gas being a common prosaic explanation offered for strange lights. Read more →

UFO Crash in Aztec New Mexico

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By Charles Lear

 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, “Behind the Flying Saucers”, two books that gave it new life, one in 1986 and one in 2011, and two extraordinary articles in True magazine that should serve as a model for investigative journalism.

Things got rolling on March 8, 1950 with a lecture at the University of Denver on the subject of flying saucers.  The lecturer spoke before a large group of students and remained anonymous for alleged security reasons.  He was originally chosen to provide a Basic Science class studying critical thinking something to work with but the word got out and, due to popular demand, it was necessary to move the lecture to a larger hall.  The man started with some background history, speculated that the craft were operated using magnetic propulsion and then mentioned that there had been four crashes and retrievals in America and a fifth in Africa.  A local paper wrote an article about the lecture and the hunt was on for the lecturer’s identity.  It was eventually discovered that the man in question was Silas P. Newton, who represented himself as a prominent geophysicist and businessman in the oil industry.  He happened to be a friend of Frank Scully, who was a writer for Variety, and Scully realized that he had a good story on his hands.  He talked with Newton who introduced him to a colleague who would be referred to only as “Dr. Gee” by Scully and the result was “Behind the Flying Saucers” published in September of that year.  It was in this book that details of the Aztec crash and retrieval were made public to a wide audience and a case was born that refuses to die in spite of evidence that the event in question never happened.

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The Socorro UFO Investigation

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By Charles Lear

The April 24, 1964 sighting of a landed UFO with two beings standing next to it by Socorro, NM Police Sergeant, Lonnie Zamora has been written about extensively and remains a fascinating mystery to this day.  What’s particularly interesting about this case is how many people investigated it.  Representatives from the Socorro Police, New Mexico State Police the F.B.I. and Army were first on the scene 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, witnesses to a similar craft to interview, and 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.

According to Zamora’s written report, he was chasing a speeder around 5:45 PM in the southeast section of Socorro when he heard what he described as a roar and saw a flame to the southwest.  Just over a nearby hill was a dynamite shack and Zamora was concerned that it might have blown up, so he broke pursuit and went to investigate.  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” and as he drove quickly towards them to help, one of the figures turned towards him and seemed startled.  Zamora was focused on the road and radioed that there had been an accident.  When he was close to the site, he went to get out of the car and dropped the mic as he was doing so.  He turned to replace it in its holder and, as soon as he turned away from the car to head down into the gully, he heard a roar, and saw flame coming out of the bottom of a white object shaped like an oval on its side, which was rising up slowly.  He described the roar as not being like a jet, going from lower pitch to higher pitch and increasing “from loud to very loud.”  During this time he noted a red insignia like an arrow under a crescent in the middle of the object.  Fearful of an explosion, Zamora ran behind his car, bumping his leg on it and dropping his sun glasses, and kept on running to duck down just over the edge of the hill.  He glanced back at the object as he did so and saw that it was completely out of the gully and level with his car.  He had intended to keep running down the hill when the roar stopped and was replaced by a whine that went from high to low pitch for about a second. The object then moved away towards the southwest in complete silence, with no flame, in a straight line maintaining a height of 10-15 feet, which Zamora estimated in relation to the dynamite shack, which it had cleared by around 3 feet.  According to Zamora the object moved quickly away and then ascended as it took off “across country.”  Zamora later recalled seeing legs when the object was landed, that held it about three feet off the ground.  Most likely, as he was thinking he was looking at a crashed car at the time, he was unable to put what he was seeing into a proper context.  He radioed headquarters and asked the operator, Nep Lopes to look out his window and tell him if he could see what he was looking at.  Lopes saw nothing and Zamora gave directions to him and Sergeant Sam Chavez of the State Police who monitored the same frequencies as the Socorro Police.

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