UFO viewing tips

Posted: Friday, January 18, 2008 7:32 PM by Alan Boyle

KXAS-TV

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KXAS-TV's Scott Gordon
reports on the UFO frenzy
in Stephenville, Texas.

Ten days after the first sightings of lights in the sky over Texas, tales of UFOs are still sparking speculation. One of the witnesses, Steve Allen, is offering $5,000 for a good picture of the flying object - but he hasn’t bought any of the photos or videos offered so far. “The pictures weren’t worth a damn,” he told me.

On Saturday, he and other witnesses are gathering to pool their accounts for a national UFO organization – but there’s always a chance the Texas sightings will fade into the distance, just like the O’Hare UFO sighting over a year ago. What's the best way to document a sighting? Here are some tips:

Take a picture
Getting an image of something in the sky may sound like the best way to go, but as this month's reports illustrate, that's not always sure-fire. Allen was one of the most widely quoted witnesses of the purported flyover on Jan. 8, and it was his desire to have an image that led him to offer the $5,000 reward. "I'd have given five grand that day to have a camera," he explained.

Several residents from the area around Stephenville, Texas, responded - but Allen said the pictures showed little more than dots in the sky. "I don't need a dot standing out there," he said.

Today the Fort Worth Star Telegraph published a front-page picture of the sighting, taken by a trucker with his cell phone as he drove along Interstate 20. "It looked like a meteor entering the atmosphere," the truck driver, Sean Kiel, was quoted as saying.

Allen was unimpressed. "It's not worth a flip," he told me. The bright spot's position in relation to the sun reminded me of a sundog, and the speck on the upper part of the image looked like an airplane. But of course, I'm no expert.

Photos are easy to fake. For example, in the case of the O'Hare UFO sightings, there were rumblings for weeks afterward about photographs showing the strange saucer over the airport. However, more than a year after the story caused such a sensation, only one picture remains that hasn't been debunked, according to Above Top Secret. And that one is far from conclusive.

Take a reading
NBC News space analyst James Oberg is hardly a true believer. Over the years, he's been pilloried by ufologists for coming down too hard on claims of strange sightings. But in the Texas case, Oberg is reluctant to prejudge the witnesses. Rather, he merely says that observers should be alert if they have an opportunity to identify a strange sky object. Here's what he had to say in an e-mail:

"Anytime you get a revisiting UFO, you have the chance to narrow down the normally near-infinite candidate list of prosaic explanations. You can ask people to memorize or record positions in the sky and angular size and speed of the apparition - not make unhelpful and automatically suspect guesses of sheer size and range, guesses that always involve unspoken (and unrealized) guesses about exactly those parameters that are supposedly being reported. Compare the object to the size of a fingertip, or a fist, at arm's length.

"Note where you are when you see it, and where it is over - and later go back and convert that to a true compass bearing. Log the times as accurately as possible - and if by your own watch, later compare it to a clock on a news channel. That way, separate but simultaneous sightings can be combined to create parallax measurements of true range.

"If nobody does this serious observation stuff, they may all be excited and have fun, but they'll be of no use to figuring out what may be behind the apparitions - and there's lots of stuff, some of it deliberately clandestine, that could be masquerading.

"Seeing jets chasing a UFO is a common perception - it's happened to me at least twice - and one has to be cautious about interpretations. Even at ranges of a mile or two, three jets in a close row will give the impression of the first object being silent - a 'UFO' - because the sound delay makes the second jet appear to be the first object giving off engine noise. It is a striking misinterpretation that most folks are never warned about. I'm not offering it as an explanation - only as a cautionary admonition."

Take a meeting
The Texas chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON, has scheduled a session starting at 1 p.m. CT Saturday in Dublin, Texas, to interview Allen and other witnesses. To hear MUFON state director Ken Cherry tell it, the spectators and journalists in attendance might well outnumber those witnesses. "Normally we do this in a more private setting," he told me today.

Nevertheless, Cherry said he has received eyewitness reports from at least 40 to 50 "folks who sound credible," via telephone (817-379-0773) or the MUFON Web site.

"We consider this the most significant mass sighting since the Phoenix Lights of 1997," he said.

MUFON investigators will be asking the witnesses to fill out three-page questionnaires and also tell their stories - and the results will be eventually be compiled in a report. "The whole process will probably take several months," Cherry said.

Will the Texas sighting be the event that finally rips the lid off the UFO conspiracy, or will it go into the same file drawer where the O'Hare and Phoenix cases are sitting? Stay tuned for the next installment - and in the meantime, feel free to take our UFO quiz, register your opinion using our unscientific Live Vote, check out the archived Log items here and here ... and, as always, weigh in with your comments below.

Update for 6:10 p.m. ET Jan. 20: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a report about the "crowded cacophony of confusion" at Saturday's UFO meeting, with seven investigators quizzing more than 50 witnesses as 400 onlookers (some in tinfoil hats) milled about. As Cherry said in advance of the event, it'll be several months before MUFON puts out its report. Among other media outlets in attendance were KXAS-TV, the Houston Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News.

Update for 6:30 p.m. ET Jan. 23: There will likely be more about this, but just for the record, I should pass along this U.S. Navy advisory issued today:

"NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE FORT WORTH, Texas - In the interest of public awareness, Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs realized an error was made regarding the reported training activity of military aircraft.

"Ten F-16s from the 457th Fighter Squadron were performing training ope,rations from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday January 8, 2008 in the Brownwood Miltary Operating Area (MOA), which includes the airspace above Erath county.

"A MOA is airspace designated for military training. ..."

Does this solve the mystery? Feel free to weigh in once more.

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Comments

I believe in a superior race outside our own realm, higher powers. Imagine for a few moments the scientific successes in the past stages of 25 years, 50 years, 100 years, unbelievable, and then consider the mindset of 'those people' back then,...if you had were to speak of contemporary scientific technology they would consider you,...what, crazy?! So today, it would seem logical, or just plain common sense we do not know whats all OUT there in space, or matter of fact, even in our own deep oceans. So, with all that in mind, I hope you can understand how I feel when I tell you of my ancestors stories of lights of our grandfather,...God, as we(believers) refer to him today. I am a Dakota American Indian, as most Americans refer to as Sioux. Lights in the sky was a predecessor to our belief in an all knowing higher power, forebearer to our spirituality beliefs. So, lights traveling at great speeds, changing colors, floating in the skys, at night and during the day is nothing new. And in a passage from ancient writings of the Hebrew, translated into a book called the bible, there is a vision of a man who was taken somwhere and there he seen the son of man, Jesus and a round tabel with other man like beings. It's there and I think that should be taken into consideration when UFO seekers question what they might be seeing is from OUT there or HERE. AND one question always baffles me,...Is there life out there? If we are a bible, God believing country, wouldn't that answer that question, there are no limits to Gods' power. And,...the human race,...you'd think God would, could or did create a better speicies than the hateful mankind of this planet.

Carmello Redwing Saul (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:04 PM)

i've always thought the UFO's were out there but i think they were just like us thousands of years ago. just think where we will be 2000 years from now. we will be visiting other planets and just maybe they will be so young and primative that we migt not make contact. just look around and leave maybe come back every 100 years and check out how they are progressing.

rich, kendallville,in (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:11 PM)

Groom Lake and Tonopah are not that far from Texas.
The black program doesn't file flight plans.

DARK STAR (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:13 PM)

This whole talk of a genuine "UFO photo" is pure nonsense in the article. The UFO phenomenon has been logically proven time and time once more by scientists and skeptics alike in being nothing more than a pathetic attempt to explain unusual phemomenon on the sky

Paul Maulis, Charleston, South Carolina (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:18 PM)

Re: Larry King UFO hour:

Notice James Fox's silly opening line -- "Uh, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but could it have been a comet?".

Two things. Of course he meant 'meteor', he just mispoke. Friedman gently corrected him.

Worse: he implied that 'intelligence' was a factor in avoiding misinterpretation of visual stimuli. This is a widespread delusion -- people who DO misinterpret things (as the vast majority of UFO witnesses are doing) get really torqued when somebody offers a prosaic explanation -- 'Are you saying I'm SToooPID?!?!?' is the standard response (Lucius Farish, despite his profound familiarity with the UFO literature, made exactly this gambit when I [correctly] identified a favorite personal UFO sighting of his with the Echo balloon). With their ego defense mechanisms engaged, and with the high-status thrill of now having personally become a witness to alien visitors, it becomes impossible to rationally investigate such witness reports further.

But as Hendry/Hynek results indicate, it is intelligent people who are more likely to 'cue up' earlier perceptual memories to 'fill in the gaps' and 'leap to conclusions' about baffling and ambiguous perceptions. It's why adults are easily fooled by deliberate prestidigitation, while children and lower IQ watchers are not -- the latter witnesses' minds are actually truer to the raw perceptions. It's why pilots make such lousy aviation accident witnesses, according to the NTSB investigation techniques -- they are too eager to over-interpret the meaning of what they are seeing, rather than noting and preserving RAW perceptions. Ditto pilots as UFO witnesses [pace Hynek].

Being misled by a visual apparition is NOT an insult to a witness's intelligence. More often than not, it is a tribute to it -- while reflecting poorly on that person's EXPERIENCE as a witness. And reflecting poorly on foolish people who think SMART people are more credible as UFO witnesses.

Jim Oberg (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:19 PM)

Having someone like "Jumping James Oberg" give his opinion on what happened at O'Hare is the same as asking Bush his opinion about New Orleans - no chance of truth being spoken there.

As one psychiatrist passenger told a pilot after the crew, other passengers and in fact the whole plane witness a flying saucer.
"Yea it was a flying saucer. I didn't look. I don't believe in those."
Debunkers never look.

Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters

Joe Capp (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:22 PM)

You can ask me any time of the day, and I'll tell you life that is alien to ours most probably exists in our galaxy and certainly in other galaxies. Life we would consider 'intelligent' is certainly as probable. Do these sitings have any crediblity? No. I find it far more likely a huge portion of sitings deal with atmospheric phenemona, and the rest military exercises. Will the government deny those? You bet. They don't want every country on Earth to know what they do at night out west.

So as soon as the 'aliens' stop flashing little lights across the sky and actually send a real message, or land on the White House lawn, we'll have something a little more solid to go by.

Ryan (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:26 PM)

I am 64 years old and I have never seen a ghost, a Big Foot, or a UFO however that doesn't mean that they don't exist. I spent several years in California and most of my life in tornado alley and I have never felt an earthquake or seen a tornado either but I know they exist so I keep an open mind. Science and its insistence on hard evidence is a good tool for learning but it should not be the end-all. If it was, all scientists by definition would be Atheists and many do profess a religious belief of one kind or another. When we are ready, all things will be known to us but not before!

David Shepherd (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:43 PM)

i love this mini flap i hope it changes over into a major wave.i have been investigating and researching ufos for over 40 years and we are way overdue for a ufo wave in this country.anyone wanting to discuss ufos face to face in sw ga and n fl can do so 2nd sat at 12 noon thomasville ga library.billy thomasville ga

billy j rachels thomasville ga (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:44 PM)

This kind of stuff happens all the time where I live, I live in a town called Huffman, Texas and the military is always doing stuff like this. Alot of people have moved because of the effects it has had on the wildlife and the local water supply.

Michael, Huffman, Texas (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:55 PM)

As a former Deputy Sheriff in New York State during the 60's, I saw two events that still put goose bumps on my skin. Swamp,Approx 40'diameter, hovering, real shiny metal, no sound, almost dusk, I walked 100'+ to within 25'-. It started UP, slow rotation, I drew my service revolver .357 Magnum Colt Python. THOUGHT, if this is ALIEN, they have weapons better than my revolver, so I holstered it. The revolving stopped,it lowered back down to less than 3' off the ground above the swamp water.I am standing in water,shaking in my soaked boots, it is cold, but I was scared to death. Bottom was basically flat with slight upturn near edges. Ten minutes passed, then from center of the ?????????, a round (4' to 5') post/compartment lowered down to the surface of the water. It did not touch water, I could not see the opposite side of the "chamber" but I sure watched real hard. Heard slight sounds of movement/metal to metal/humming/but saw nothing else. Then the (compartment) raised back up to the base of the object and went inside leaving a totally flat bottom with the bottom of the compartment now flush with the bottom of the object.

I swore outloud (don't know why)I was only 10/12 feet away from outer edge of ring. My back was hurting very badly,I looked around for a place to sit but one that I could react to events very quickly. No such luck, I found a small tree stump 2' high and slowly sat down. All of a sudden, the object went up and down three times about 1 foot each time. I heard more sounds, one of them could have been my heart beating wildly. I decided that darkness was approaching quickly and I did not want to be there in the dark. I stood up and was about to turn around and go back the way I had come behind the Morman Religious site known as HILL CUMORAH. The Mormans put on a beautiful religious theatric presentation every year Ausgust?. Thousands, visit the Shrine. The Statue is of the Angel Marconi (?). I am not Morman, do not know the exact details. It is located South of Palmyra, New York, Ontario County, New York State.
Before I could start walking more than five feet back up the hill towards my car and the road, the object began to rise up slowly, no turning, no revolving, and then after reaching 15' or 16' feet, it moved directly away from the direction I was going, Probably Westerly, I was not paying attention to directions.

As it went it was basically quiet, but it did bump against any and all branches that were exceeding the height that it was at, including some rather big ones. They broke off with ease and then the object stopped and then rose directly upwards until it cleared the trees and bushes it had been in. Then, it headed in the same direction that it had been going in at the lower elevation and I watched it for about four minutes as it floated evenly down the valley, it was in and gradually rose on an even scale and went out of sight. I did not report it, I was there for another reason, and did not want to jeopordize the outcome of that surveilance. Later when I told a couple of other Deputies, they reacted just as I expected.

David Earl Downey, Vail, Arizona 85641-2103 (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:13 PM)

Earthlings...we come in peace... We mean you no harm...We are here to provide you with the knowledge and ability to MMMMMM, is that a McDonalds?

Mork N Mindy, Iowa City, Iowa (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:13 PM)

Everyone who believes in God, believes that humans are a small portion of the VAST universe. Scientists have discovered probably .001% of what the whole universe holds...and they think they are gods! I have never had a UFO/alien sighting, but I believe in God, so OBVIOUSLY anything is possible. It would be hypocritical for us to think anything else, right? My pet peeve? People so negative and judgemental that don't have an open/logical mind that this could happen. Government conspiracy or not...it could happen.

Sven (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:26 PM)

Hello Rick from Perry, Ohio. Let us pray that you are mistaken about that! It sounds frightening. If you consider the current relationship that has been uncovered or released with the Freedom of Information Act, that details a secret, ongoing relationship with our govn't and et's, then what do you feel the real reason is for all the changes they're making to our people? Wouldn't demons just take a shorter route to success? I have no idea...just thinking out loud. Either reality should make everyone tremble.

G, Acadiana, Louisiana (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:38 PM)

To Joe, Alexandria, VA, Wow, you are really reaching if you have assumed that anyone who takes you against your will, again and again, is actually moving with good intentions. However, it's very wise for the criminal to convince those who can remember that it is the very case. However, there are many in America who still believe that kidnapping is criminal. What kidnapper do you know took a child or anyone for that matter with good intentions? Even if we bridged a public communication about such events, what would people do if they learned there is more to fear than to learn from? What if the et's forgot about the original agreement because they could? What if we have very little control over what is happening?

G, Acadiana, Louisiana (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:47 PM)

God created the earth,our stars and our sun...who is to say this is the only universe that God created...the"universe" may be larger then Man on Earth knows to exsist....time will give us all the answers we need....if this is part of "God's Creation"we will know before "It is finished".

Thelma Scott,Greensboro,NC 27407 (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:00 PM)

Just of note is that over the last past week there were several very bright Iridium Flare events in the evening sky from .5Kms to 30Kms of Stephenville,Texas.Also satellites do fly in groups such as the NOSS satellite systems which can be in groups of two's and three's.Also space junk can be observed flying in groups.I have seen Fengyun-C1 satellite debris in groups flying together.For satellite information passes for your area check out www.heavens-above.com. Not all strange lights in the sky are beings from outer space or the US Air-force.
Thomas Dorman
Horizon City,Texas

Thomas Dorman Horizon City,Texas (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:02 PM)

People have been seeing UFOs for centuries. Astronauts, Air Force pilots(present).Before airplanes were even invented they were witnessed by a president of the U.S. Even back in the Bible times the prophets and apostles saw chariots of fire in the sky. After the Rosewell incident, our technology just took off. People were riding on wagons pulled by horses, 30 or so years later planes were flying all over, and 30 or so more years later we were sending rocketships to the moon. 3 explanations to UFOs. (1)An earlier civilization advanced more than us and left earth, leaving several cluse behind. (2)There is other intelligent life out there. (3)God's angels, or the Devil's angels are watching us.

Armando R., Dallas, Texas (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:05 PM)

My son got his camera and videod when a bright light outside is window woke him up from sleep two different times on two different nights a couple weeks ago. Just like Linda from Northfield - who do you contact?

cindy, dubois, pa (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:17 PM)

When we try to explain things that have a scientific nature, it is important to maintain some rules of science. Therefore, what many people don't understand is that we must always keep a rule out list, or other possible explanations. We systematically either include or exclude possibilities based on data and facts. I think that is what James Oberg is trying to say to do. If we only rely on our feelings at the time, our perceptions become clouded whether we want them to or not. In order for a true conclusion to come out of something we must use a fact based approach, using evidence that cannot be refuted.

Leah, Denver, Co (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:26 PM)

what has been described in the texas sighting is not too much unlike what i myself had seen some years ago. the difference between the two is size. what i first thought was a hang glider turned out to be nothing of the sort. no pilot for one thing, no sound, no means of propulsion. it moved at a walking pace or slower. straight across level movement. i stood across the street where i was just moving into when i had this sighting. it was right in front of me just above the trees, had i been in the treetop i couldve reached out and touched it. this craft whatever it was, was blacker than jet black, no seams visable. it had a boomerang type shape, almost organic. its "wingspan" was approx. 70-80 ft. the leading edge had some sort of array of lights but they were not incondesant or flouresant but more like a glow like phosphorous or glow in the dark type light. all this occured in broad daylight as well between 4 and 430pm for about a minute or two. it moved from my right to left and i was facing nnw at the time, so it moved east to west. it eventually dissapeared beyond the tree line and was never seen again. i describe my feeeling as being like a deer in the headlights, all i could do is just stand and stare at this extremely unusual craft. my location at the time was less than 5 miles from the local airport and i know for a fact it was not and airplane, swamp gas, the planet venus, a swarm of bees, a flock of geese, nor anything we know of conventional flight. if it is a gov craft, what are they doing with it, and why was it "flying where it was right in front of me?" if it is some sort of mapping craft then why are we not told this and not to be "alarmed" that its only for mapping. it seems to me most are not willing to admit that there IS something going on for fear of being labeled crazy or delusional, that to me is a load of hot air. until i had this sighting there was an edge of non belief but now, i am a firm believer simply because what i have seen is way beyond anything that we know we have that can perform in such an unusual way. for the non believers, your time will come. mark page, dubuque, iowa.

mark page dubuque, iowa (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 4:27 PM)

I may be no scientist, and I may not have a four year degree, I may not be in the military or in the media as a skeptic, but I do know this...the universe is just too blasted big for us to be alone in it. I myself can't even lay claim to having seen a UFO. But I do believe there are things out there not explainable by swamp gas or experimental weather balloons. True, some few have spent their time ruining the way for those who have indeed seen something unexplainable. But that doesn't make what others see untrue. Come on people. Skepticism is okay, but don't take it too far. Give people a break. Cut them some slack and give them credit for being rational, responsible people. Don't discount them so easily. Just imagine what it would be like if YOU were the one who was there!

Lynn, Parker, CO (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 7:26 PM)

I have a problem with the testimony of all those folks telling how big it is and how fast it moved---that just cannot be. By their own descriptions, this object was silent. Nope, can't happen and here's why: take something as big as they think it was and move it quickly thru the air and you will have the most God awful roaring along with condensation turbulence in it's wake! Nope, that was not a physical object, whatever it was they saw. Too bad, I wish it was a spaceship, but so far, no evidence at all.

Gerald Goegelein, Phoenix, Arizona (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 7:36 PM)

I've been interested in UFOs since I was a kid growing up in the '60s and one thing hasn't changed in 40 years: Those darn grainy pictures!!! With today's digital technology why are we not seeing more and better UFO photographs? Most are no better than what we were seeing in books and magazines back when Star Trek was on Friday nights after the Wild, Wild West.

L Beacham (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 10:56 PM)

7 basic rules to keep you from getting caught up in this:

1. Just because something is not identified does not make it an alien spacecraft.

2. The possibility of life elsewhere in the galaxy does not mean that they are here.

3. Not being able to DISprove something is not the same as proving it.

4. A second hand story (or even first hand) with no evidence is just a story.

5. The increase in sightings since the atomic bomb coincides with increased popularity of science fiction.

6. No clear proof of UFOs has resulted from advanced technology like cell phone cameras and GPS.

7. Be open minded: don't dismiss skeptics out of hand, the way believers think skeptics dismiss sightings. Read both sides. Writers like Philip Klass and Curtis Peebles and journals like SKEPTIC and SKEPTICAL INQUIRER do a thorough job of explaining sightings.

Kevin Breen, Wichita, Kansas (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 10:58 PM)

Anyone up at 5 am on Thurs., Jan 17th? Did you see a red light as bright as Mars crossing the sky faster than a jet or satelite with no sound? Let me know, I was tired and smoking a cigerette at the time, but I have seen ufos before and because my dad was Air Force Missile personnel, I know how fast our crap goes and this was hauling ***. Any comment would be appreciated, I thought I was seeing things. ps, I am in Central Ca, near Vanderburg AFB.

Elaine Boyce, Nipomo, Ca (Sent Saturday, January 19, 2008 11:33 PM)

Maybe the people that are coming here from outer space are looking for "xoligg" . maybe the stuffs really valuable to them, but they keep on finding out that there's none to be found, so they leave, because there's nothing we have that they need.Also maybe they are NOT coming here,we are moving through space very fast, maybe it is us that is going towards them.

Raymond belanger, Las Vegas, nv. (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:34 AM)

To the jokers: I love a good joke, but your aluminum foil hats, Wacko U, hick and drunk insults, are suprise!--not funny. We've all heard it and it's played out like "Where's the beef" and old lines from Beavis and Butthead. 7th grade class clowns that need attention while the rest of us try to understand the truth-whether it be man made or not. Hopefully you can exist in this world with us unintelligent curious fools while you sit at your computer typing more repetitive comedy routines.

Please lets hear more of your great creative commentary that is so good that apparently Hollywood and the front page of the New York Times has missed all these years. Until then I'll let you get back to writing on bathroom walls.

Ringo Thomas, Seattle, WA (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 4:47 AM)

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I RESEARCHED THINGS OF THIS NATURE MYSELF, AS I FOCUSED MORE ON ENTITIES THAN LIGHTS OR ORBS IN THE SKY ETC. BUT I HAD MANY STRANGE EXPERIENCES AT THE TIME OF THE SHUTTER OF THE CAMERA BEING SNAPPED, AS WELL ON OCCASION MOMENTS PRIOR TO THAT,AND THE RESULTING PHOTOS LEADS ME TO STRANGELY BELIEVE THERE IS ENTITIES THAT MAY BE NEARER THAN YOU REALIZE. AS I CONTINUE TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND ,KEEP IN MIND THAT CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TOO WAS LAUGHED AT ---------------AS HE TOO FOCUSED ON HIS BELIEF , ALTHOUGH I BELIEVE IN GOD ,I ASK ALL PEOPLE---WHY ? BECAUSE HE WAS INSTILLED WITHIN ME,--US -- AS A CHILD.SO PEOPLE ,KEEP ON BELIEVING WHAT YOU WANT, PHOTOGRAPH, WHEN YOUR INSTINCTS INSTRUCT YOU TOO OR AS THE UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING THAT COMPELS YOU TO DO SO.AND YOU TOO MAY ALSO BE SURPRISED IN WHAT YOU HAVE CAPTURED ON FILM. AND TO THE REACTIONS DURING THE FEELING OF A PRESENCE OR BEING OVERCOME BY FEAR----AS YOU PRAY TO A GOD ,TO CONTINUE YOUR RIDE HOME SAFE.AS IT HAS HAPPENED TO ME.AND THE RESULTING DEVELOPED PHOTOS LATER HAS MADE ME A STRONG BELIEVER----WE ARE NOT ALONE.--------------SO LAUGH, GIGGLE AND CARRY ON ALL THE SKEPTICS BUT UNTIL YOU DO AS I DONE ----I RECOMEND YOU KEEP AN OPEN MIND ,YOUR OWN SALVATION PERHAPS MAY DEPEND ON ----NO ONE BUT YOU.

ROGER----------upstate ny (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 5:09 AM)

I wonder if UFO's have learned to use Dark Energy for propulsion. After all, DE is actively pushing the galaxies apart so it must be a form of anti-gravity. A vehicle that could harnes DE would be "pushing" against the gravity of the Earth to move silently and quickly, and could perform 90 degree turns as have been recorded.

Just a thought.

Brian in Riverview (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 5:27 AM)

Since Kenneth Arnold made headlines reporting silver disks over the Cascade mountains we have just on the verge of breaking this mystery. Fuzzy photos, thousands of credible witnesses, yet absolute proof eludes us. And it probably always will. It almost seems as if someone, or thing, is toying with us. Teasing us with amazing, compelling, and yet impossible to prove close encounters. Other beings sharing this dimension would have surely collided with us by now. There would have been hard contact and verifiable physical evidence many times over. Perhaps instead it is a spiritual event? Something driven by entities that exist somewhere on the other side of this reality? Whatever their unfathomable reasons, they do seem to have a sense of humor. Enjoy the show and good luck catching them.

Ray, Jacksonville, Florida (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:40 AM)

This reminds me of the mass sightings my family tell me about. It happened in Fort Smith, AR in 1965. There is very little in the public eye about it but it was huge then. The sightings went on for most of the evening. The Air Force sent up planes that looked laughable in comparison. The UFO's were said to fly over in formations, singles. One hovered over an area near the air port and others were said to have followed vehicles. The sightings happened up to several towns away in all directions.

Jay Jay, Fort Smith, AR (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 12:53 PM)

Please enjoy my website @: http://CosmoStarMan.Tripod.com/ where I have posted photos and described a video taken in and near Jefferson City, MO which show more than a hundred videos. On this website I do not try to sell anything, there is no membership required and no fee of anykind. The one on the first page is the most startling UFO photo I have ever see. The ship is about 200 yards or less away at less than roof top level and would probably serve as a freighter. Showing that there is probably at least a semi-permanent alien operational base in that area. Most of my good quality close range photos and videos come from that one area. I started my earlier publication in early 2002 from that area and began my website from that area in April of 2004 from that area. During early 2004 The State Prison in that area was closed and decommissioned and the Federal Government moved in and took over the State Prison area. Photos can no longer be legally taken of the buildings on the federal propertyin that area. That prison area is located between the river and the edge of town with dozens of two and three story homes just across the street from the prison wall. The prison wall and buildings are being removed at a slow pace. A close range (60 - 70 yards distance) docked Alien 'Shuttle Craft' was photographed from that area. An Alien Cruiser (50 - 60 yards wide) was also spoted and photographed in that area. Dozens of smaller saucer shaped ships also showed up in photos taken in that area. Check out most of this free at the website of CosmoStarMan.

Gil McDonald, Hartsburg, Missouri (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:01 PM)

ignorance is blisss

if unot wanna be one watch this video if u dint so
already explains the lights and ufos

disclosure project if u not seen this video u seen nothing yet
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7vyVe-6YdUk

james detroit michigan (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:14 PM)

David Shepherd: " all scientists by definition would be Atheists and many do profess a religious belief of one kind or another."

Depends what you mean by many. Real studies have been done that infact show quite the opposite amongst the scientist population. Generally as education and intelligence increase, so does atheistic belief.

David Earl Downey..that is one nice story. Do I believe it? Well, the way you describe it so many years later, I would have to take it seriously. If it isn't true, I don't know why people like you have a need to make these stories up unless you are some kind of closet, un-noticed SCI-FI writer or something like that. Obviously what you didn't see was swamp gas.

Thomas Ashby, Calgary (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 2:08 PM)

It really doesn't matter how great of a picture you get. Someone will always debunk it it! It doesn't matter if it is the absolute REAL thing...people still won't believe it. What I find humorous is that the majority of people believe in this invisible, omnipotent being called God, or Allah, or whatever, but yet won't give any credence to life elsewhere, and then there is the old "The distances are too great for anyone to visit here." Ummmm yeah...according to OUR primitive science. Our technology is FAR, FAR from perfect....nothing works like it's supposed to. Our existence is a mere grain of sand on a beach compared to our time in the Universe. Bottom line is...we dont know squat about what's out there.

Don Mers (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 3:23 PM)

Readers may be interested in my latest book, "Need to Know: UFOs,the Military and Intelligence", published in the USA recently, which features several hundred reports from military and civilian pilots, naval officers and military and intelligence specialists, including some previously top-secret official documents.
Sincerely, Timothy Good (National Union of Journalists, U.K.)

Timothy Good, London, United Kingdom (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 4:23 PM)

Truely amazing. Back in the 50's to 80's we were all told that it was hard to get pics of ufo's because of the camara technology, etc. Now, everyone and their mother have camaras on their phones, digital camaras abound which can shoot almost instantly and in any light or condition, we even have software that can modify and make fake photos easily. Yet all we ever get are still these crappy, out of focus, non-scaled shots. Makes you think MAYBE, it's still just mainly a bunch of folk looking for a little attention. These people need to get a life.

Dahan, Saint Paul, Minnesota (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 4:57 PM)

One more thing, all you believers, please go get yourself a copy of "The Demon Haunted World" and give it a read.

Dahan, Saint Paul, Minnesota (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 4:59 PM)

For all the folks who think UFOS are not real and in their delusion a joke (and I don't mean OUR craft but others from the universe) I suggest you watch these two videos...the first took place at the National Press Club in Wash, D.C. May 9th, 2001 and was jammed by 32 Dept of Defense Web Addresses and I think you will understand why when you watch it...these 21 men and women that came forward were from the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force, CIA, NSA, DOD, NRO, FBI and FEMA...it's 1 hr and 55 mins long
The second video is one small piece of a 3 hour video called "Evidence The Case For NASA UFOS" you will see objects pulsing invisible (in ultraviolet energy) the objects number over 100 and each are approx. 3 miles across...guess what movie came out the same year for collusion? Independence Day...same size. HINT...the get here using Gravity Wave Theory...check it out
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1209347384905688996&q=evidence+the+case+for+nasa+uf
os&total=245&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

Thanks, Earl

Earl Benezet, Lexington, KY (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 5:11 PM)

I have never witnessed a UFO but I certainly think extra celestial activity is very possible. I find it quite amusing that the majority of people believe they will actually rise from the dead but pooh-pooh the existence of life on other planets.

pat o'brien, sierra vista, az. (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:46 PM)

As a ex-pro photographer, it is doubtfull that the normal citizen who saw the Stephenville, TX UFO's would have had access to an extreme low light, high speed film/digital/video camera that could accurately record a night time sighting with details as to be able to positively identify what was seen. These specialized cameras exist but the cost of such equipment is out of the reach of 99% of the residents of that area and I seriously doubt if one could afford such a camera, he/she would normally carry it around in their vehicle.

Regarding what was seen, when I was going to school at Sul Ross U. in Alpine, TX in June, 1971, myself and two female class mates went looking for the still unexplained Marfa Lights on a Friday night when we didn't have anything else to do (there wasn't much to do in that town!). We were able to go up into the area on private ranch land that they are normally seen from the highway hovering over. We had an encounter with two of the lights at a distance of less than 10 ft in front of my vehicle. From that experience, I certainly don't doubt what people in my area saw a few nights ago and why there are no quality photos. I had a 35mm SLR with a 50mm f/1.4 lens with me at the time with high speed B&W film and was too shook up by the experience to think to even try to take photos, which I seriously doubt would have shown anything more than a bright blob of light on a black background with the hood of my vehicle well lit by the light!

Wiley Clarkson, Walnut Springs, TX (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 9:18 PM)

Ask Art Bell.

Fred, Seattle, Wa. (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 9:41 PM)

I wonder !!!! If they landed in Texas would they be considered illegal Aliens. But I guess that's why we are building those fences.

D. Bickle,Arlington,Tex (Sent Sunday, January 20, 2008 10:42 PM)

This is going to be a very exciting year. The ETs will appear publicly more frequently, and the news media will be allowed to start reporting and discussing these sightings more openly. It's time for people to start opening up to the facts, to understand that we are not alone in this gallaxy or in the universe, that beings from other planets/dimensions have been here for milleniums, and that they are here at this time to save us and this planet from our selves. We should not fear them. For those who are interested and have an open mind, there is a whealth of information available. Start looking into it, educate yourselves, and then you can decide for yourselves whether they are for real or not. And yes, do some research and find out about secret govenment programs as well. Have fun, have faith, be grateful, be happy.

Believer, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 12:56 AM)

For those of you that ask, why don't they contact us? I put forth this question. Does a biologist try to contact a microbe?

Tracker Post Falls, Idaho (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 4:34 AM)

I think Arthur C Clarke said something like this:

"If you haven't seen as many UFOs as I have, you haven't been very observant. If you have, then you wouldn't believe in them either."

Alan Sheets (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 11:24 AM)

For what it's worth, I have seen UFOs, on one occasion - full description at http://tcsf.blogdrive.com/archive/28.html Now, here's a question: If aliens ever do arrive (or have arrived) - who would they contact? Perhaps in their minds our political leaders are not the most important wielders of influence. They might choose religious leaders, for example - and what would happen then?

Jeremiah Dissed (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 11:35 AM)

I think a lot of the sightings are explainable. For instance there are sightings in and around Newark Airport in NJ. They are mostly near the shore or in the meadowlands area. The thing about this area are that there are several airports, and a few military bases, including "three mile pier" in the bay. The sightings that I find hard to discredit are close encounters. Encounters where someone gets within a few yards of the craft. Especially when these individuals are law enforcement, military or other people in high responsible positions. (I am not saying that sightings from "ordinary" people are automatically false.)

One funny thing I remember is a show where kids made discs out of ordinary materials, paper, aluminum, et al. and they through them in the air and photographed them with ordinary cameras. The photos were no more or less convincing then the ones captured during "real" sightings.

Keith, nj (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 12:21 PM)

What strikes me odd about all these things, is that people seem to be just as quick to dismiss a sighting as something (planet, swamp gas, etc) as some are to say it's an alien. While it may be a long shot, it is possible that the earth is being visited by people from another time or creatures from another planet. Automatically dismissing all claims as mis-interperted natural occurances without do legit investigation in intellictually dishonest and probably stems (at least a little bit) from fear. While I believe that there is life out there somewhere, I am not sure I believe that they are visiting us, but I do KNOW that, in this vast universe, there is that possibility.

M T Columbus Ohio (Sent Monday, January 21, 2008 12:31 PM)

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