UFO ROUNDUP Volume 10 Number 7 February 16, 2005

LARGE TRIANGULAR UFO SIGHTED OVER PARIS

“A large triangular object was observed over Paris two nights ago,” i.e. on Monday, February 7, 2005.”

At 9:50 p.m., French ufologist Mathieu Cozanet and a friend were walking through “a small public park at the corner of the Rue D’Alesia and the Rue Vercingetorix in the First Arrondissement (urban district–J.T.) of Paris. The object was seen about 9:50 p.m., moving slowly through the sky at about rooftop height.”

“‘It was dark and, for Paris, an unusually clear night,'” Cozanet reported, “‘And I chanced to look up to see the stars. At that moment, I saw the craft, just visible against the night sky, moving across the Rue Vercingetorix and disappearing over the roof of a building. Unfortunately, the other person was looking in another direction and did not see anything.'”

“On June 30, 2004, another witness in Paris observed a triangular object, lit with a bright light at each corner and a red one in the center, passing silently overhead. Shortly thereafter, a second triangle appeared, this one brightly lit, and remained visible for a few seconds.” (See Banque OVNI for February 7, 2005, “Triangle au-dessus de Paris.” Merci beaucoup a Robert Fischer pour cette nouvelles.)

UFOs SIGHTED IN KENT AND CAMBRIDGESHIRE

“Strange bright lights seen in the sky of Chatteris,” Cambridgeshire, “were reported to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month (January 2005) and was one of Britain’s first UFO sightings of the new year.”

“These observations, which were reported by members of the public on Saturday, January 15, 2005, was one of a number of cases revealed from records of unidentified flying objects released by the Ministry of Defence’s UFO Unit.”

“Also this night, another similar sighting was reported from Whitstable, Kent, UK, and a ‘flying saucer’ was reported over Stoke-on-Trent.”

“When the Cambs. Times asked people in Chatteris about the sighting, some said they saw a number of bright lights in the sky at around the time the (UFO) reports were submitted” to MoD.

“From the information released, it was revealed that MoD’s UFO Unit received 88 reports from members of the public concerned about strange objects in British skies.” (See the Wisbech Standard for February 10, 2005, “UFO sightings in Chatteris first of year.” Many thanks to Robert Fischer and Stuart Miller for this newspaper article.)

CROP CIRCLES APPEAR IN EASTERN ARGENTINA

“More circles in grass were found at a potato processing plant on Route 88” near Mar del Plata, a large seaport in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province. “The circle is completely closed and (the area) was monitored” by closed-circuit TV cameras.

“No explanation for the strange phenomenon has been found.”

“More mysterious circular formations were found yesterday (Thursday, February 10, 2005) on the grass in several local areas, similar to the one found at El Paraiso at the 20-kilometer marker on Route 226.”

“This time, one of the cases–believed by many to be associated with UFO sightings–took place at the Fernando Hermanos Potato Processing plant, located on Route 88 in Hernandarias, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from El Paraiso.”

“The discovery was made Wednesday morning (February 9, 2005) but was reported yesterday by company management.”

“‘While it did seem to be something strange, we gave it little importance,'” a spokesman for Fernando Hermanos told the Argentinian newspaper La Capital, “‘When we read in the paper that something similar had happened on Route 226, we reported the case.'”

The crop circles, “around 10 in number–appeared in a broad lot in the middle of the establishment, next to a greenhouse and a truck loading and unloading dock.”

“The premises are fenced in and monitored, thus dismissing the possibility that a stranger could have broken in during the night.”

“One of the first to become aware of the situation was Hugo Giovannangelo, who performs maintenance duties for the company. ‘I arrived at 7 p.m. and, when I went out to the lot, I saw some very strange rings. I was accompanied by a co-worker, with whom I jested that UFOs might be involved.'”

“According to company management, no activity was carried on in that part of the premises which could account for the strange phenomenon. ‘We only mow the grass there. No chemical products are dumped there, and trucks weren’t allowed to park on it.'”

“Giovannangelo was startled by another fact. He stated that the guard dog was ‘very nervous and aggressive’ when he went out to feed it.”

“Oddly enough, at El Paraiso, where a local resident claimed having seen a light in the night sky, something similar happened to the animals. ‘We couldn’t sleep all night because the dogs were restless and the pigs were squealing,’ said one woman.”

“There were no witnesses on hand to explain what happened Wednesday morning in the case recorded at the potato plant. All of the personnel left Tuesday (February 8, 2005) at 10:30 p.m. after having eaten a meal. Only a watchman was left on the site, who claims having seen nothing at all.”

Footage of the crop circles was aired in Argentina on Canal (Channel) 2 in Mar del Plata and on Canal (Channel) 9 in the city of Buenos Aires. The cable TV channel Cronica also aired TV footage of the phenomenon.

A farmer saw a UFO about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from El Paraiso at the same time the crop circles appeared. “Romelio Tapia, a local resident, reported hearing a strange noise around 2 a.m. ‘similar to that of a strong wind or a turbine,’ and he raised some blinds in his bedroom to see what was going on. At that time, he noticed a pair of yellowish lights–similar to mercury vapor lamps–floating above a small grove of trees not far from his house. Tapia estimates that the lights were 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) above the ground. The lights seemed diffused, as though surrounded by a mist, and rose into the air before they vanished.”

“Upon examining the terrain at first light, locals discovered two strange circular marks of equal diameter” that “had appeared at the Tapia farm. Upon closer examination, they ascertained that it was some kind of ash that left a greasy black residue upon contact with the skin.”

“After the report to the local authorities, elements of the forensic police arrived at the site to collect samples of the ash and the grass, but they subsequently decided to remove” the entire layer of topsoil “leaving it utterly bare.”

“It is interesting to note in the days prior to the incident, the daughter of one of the residents suffered nightmares in which a luminous object ‘was after her.’ Upon awakening, she would make drawings of the object, which showed a typical saucer shape, with a crystal dome and legs in some cases.” (See the newspaper La Capital of Buenos Aires, Argentina for February 11, 2005, “Mystery prints found at industrial park.” Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Christian Quintero por este articulo de diario.)

BRAZIL RELEASES FILES ON 1977 UFO FLAP

Brazil recently declassified security files pertaining to Operation Saucer, a top-secret investigation by the Fuerza Aerea Brasileira (FAB or Brazilian Air Force–J.T.) into the 1977 UFO flap in the northern state of Para.

“During the months of October, November and December 1977 and the first half of 1978, the Brazilian state of Para had been invaded by UFOs,” the newspaper O Liberal reported, “And it wasn’t simply sightings. Nothing to do with mysterious lights wandering at high altitudes. It was about bright objects in several shapes and sizes flying over the Baia de Marajo region (a bay at the mouth of the Amazon River, about 800 kilometers or 500 miles north of Brasilia, the national capital–J.T.) at low altitudes, a few meters above the trees and firing strange light beams at people.”

“The people harmed by the phenomenon–one of the most important in world ufology–gave several names to the bright and silent objects–vampire lights, bugs, the thing, and simply chupa-chupa (Portuguese for the sucker– J.T.)”

Witnesses “said the object’s pilots were no more than 1.2 to 1.3 meters (3 feet, eight inches to four feet) high.”

“The people called it chupa-chupa because of the neck scars that some of the witnesses bore on their bodies. The light beams used to leave strange marks on their skin. Among many, the scars were on their heads. They seemed to lose blood during the attacks.”

“Men and women complained of giddiness and fatigue after the attacks. The inhabitants of the cities of Colares, Santo Antonio de Tauca, Mosqueiro and Baia do Sul pondered on those days of bitter remembrance. The panic even reached the state’s capital, Belem, with a sequence of strange lights reports and chupa-chupa attacks in several quarters of the city.”

“The military report, called Operation Saucer, holds 2,000 pages, 500 photographs and 16 hours of (movie) film. It was sent to the leading officers of the Brazilian Air Force. At that time, however, the country was under a dictatorship and, because of this, the documents were classified Top Secret for 23 years. The Servicio Nacional da Informacoes (SNI) and the FAB Special Services Unit lobbied hard to keep the report classified.”

FAB Capt. Uyrange Hollanda gave an interview to Adelmar J. Gevaerd, editor of the Brazilian monthly magazine Revista UFO. describing many of the cases investigated by Operation Saucer. Capt. Hollanda “was the operations commander sent by the (Brazilian) government to investigate the facts and interview the chupa-chupa witnesses.”

“One of the most interesting reports came from Claudomira Paixao of Baia do Sul. ‘On the night of October 18, 1977,’ Claudomira “woke up when a strange light appeared through the house’s window. The air got warmer. At first the light was green. It touched my head and covered my face. I woke up completely, and the light became red. I could see a creature, like a man, wearing something like a diver’s clothes. It held a device like a pistol. It aimed at me, and the (pistol-like) object blinked three times, as if shooting at my breast, almost landing at the same place. It was hot and hurt me. I felt like some needles were piercing me. I think they collected my blood. I was terrified. I couldn’t even move my lips. I was shocked.'”

“Also in Baia do Sul, witnesses ‘were talking about the appearance of a space couple that shot at a woman with a light-beam pistol, leaving her fainted for several minutes.'”

“Capt. Hollanda recalled, ‘We always told them, ‘Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!’ But once, a strange light had been aimed at a carpenter. The man was 50 or 60 years old. He took his rifle and shot at the flying saucer. The light surrounded him, and he fell to the ground, almost paralyzed. For 15 days, the carpenter could barely move. On the first day, that man didn’t move at all. He could see, hear and speak. But it was very difficult for him to move.'”

“A Colares fisherman also saw UFOs coming in and out of the waters of Baia de Marajo (bay). Sometimes they could see the bluish light moving under the water.”

“‘Once I was sleeping when the sergeants–members of the (FAB) operation–told me they had just taken a photograph of a flying saucer diving into the water close to a fishing boat. I went to the dock and waited for the fisherman. When he came back, he told me what had happened. He was terrified,'” the captain said.

“‘Several weeks later, I saw a light close to a fishing boat. It was blue and circled the boat, covering about 300 meters (1,000 feet). Then it dived into the water. There wasn’t any sound. It was like a blade passing through the water,’ Capt. Hollanda said.”

“Operation Saucer never came to an end. The FAB cancelled the research” in June 1978 “without any explanation.”

Following his interview with Revista UFO in 1997, Capt. Hollanda “was found hanged with his own bathrobe belt on the second floor of his house by his daughter.” (See the Brazilian newspaper O Liberal for February 7, 2005. Muito obrigado a T. Peter Park, Steve Wilson Sr. e Brunilda Barros por esto articulo.)

UFOs APPEAR TWICE OVER MEXICO’S POPOCATEPETL

On Friday, February 4, 2005, a silvery daylight disc appeared over Mount Popocatepetl, a lofty volcano located 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Mexico City.

According to the witnesses, “We were astounded, to say the least, after reviewing our video recordings on February 4th, when a television camera turned towards a glowing object that was fixed in the daytime sky and began to zoom in on what can only be described as an Unidentified Flying Object. We were able to obtain some pretty good coverage free of static showing the outlines of the silver object. We then saved the image we had recordered and added it to the rest of the photos we have posted.”

“Another amazing fact is that the same object returned on Saturday, February 5 (2005) in the same spot in the sky at the exact same moment. This has been confirmed by the time-index of the photo which was 13:37 (1:37 p.m.).”

“Although the Feb. 5th photos came out less clear than those of the previous day, the object is still quite visible.”

The operators have been monitoring Mount Popocatepetl since February 2001 and “have seen similar shaped objects numerous times.”

UFO Roundup readers can check out the photos at this URL… http://community.webshots.com/user/spyman05

Mount Popocatepetl is probably Mexico’s hottest UFO spot, with hundreds of sightings since 1993. Silver daylight discs have been seen and videotaped just west of the volcano at San Rafael, Ozumba, Tepetlixpa and Tlalmanalco, as well.
(Many thanks to “Spyman” for this report.)

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS UFO OVER IQUIQUE, CHILE

On Friday, February 4, 2005, “Carlos Bruna, an official with the city of Iquique in Chile’s First Region,” just south of that country’s border with Peru, “visited Playa Tres Islas (beach), a ten-minute drive from the city to take a break. Since he had purchased a digital camera in recent days, he began taking photos of the (Andes) mountains and their contrast with the summery blue sky.”

(Editor’s Note: Right now it’s summer in Chile and Australia and the other countries of Earth’s southern hemisphere.)

“To his surprise, upon loading the photos into his computer, he saw that one of the images showed a lens- shaped object, expelling some sort of white energy, flying high above the mountains.”

“‘The fact is that when they informed me that this was the case, I only expected to see the alleged evidence. I thought it might correspond to one of many explained phenomena. But I think the photo shows some interesting details,’ said Rodrigo Fuenzalida,” director of the Chilean UFO group AION.

“‘When I received the material, I found that the mountains were too well-outlined, and the colors had a curious clarity. However, upon listening to Carlos, I found his account to be an honest one. I think the photo is genuine. Now the challenge consists of determining the origins of the stimulus captured by the camera’s eye,'” Fuenzalida added.

“According to AION’s representative in (Chile’s) Region 1, Mario Pizarro, the image is genuine and studies conducted on the site” at Playa Tres Islas “suggest that the object had a diameter of 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet).” (Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Guillermo Gimenez para estas noticias.)

MYSTERY STREAK CAPTURED ON CAMERA IN HAWAII

“An unidentified streak moving through the night sky above Hawaii has sky watchers puzzled.”

“The streak, which can be viewed in motion on a NASA Webpage, was captured on film by a camera positioned on an active volcano at Haleakala, Hawaii. It moved from southeast to northwest. According to the NASA site, the streak was spotted on the night of December 17, 2004.”

“Another camera, trained on the night sky of Hawaii, at Mauna Kea also captured the image.”

“While the streak may have been dismissed as a satellite, NASA says no record of a satellite in that position exists on a Web site” devoted to satellite research.

One observer commented online, “What is truly bizarre is that this object is visible for a good 55 minutes at Haleakala and then for 30 minutes at Mauna Kea. Usually, satellites take a few dozen seconds or so–at the most, a couple of minutes–to cross the entire sky. If this was a satellite, it was either very slow-moving or at a very high altitude. I observed all the possibilities at Heavens Above, and no satellite passage seems to fit the description. It is also impossible to be a meteorite.” (See WorldNet Daily for February 8, 2005, “UFO over Hawaii puzzles astronomers.” Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for this article.)

NIGHT SAUCER SPOTTED BY PAIR IN SYRACUSE, N.Y.

On Monday, February 7, 2005, at 10 p.m., Jackie K. and her sister were walking in Schiller Park in Syracuse, New York (population 147,306) when they spotted “something strange approaching from the east.”

“It was a large disc-shaped object which I saw on a walk on my street with my sister,” Jackie reported, “We were looking towards a large parking lot when we noticed this very large craft, which was low in the sky. At first we thought it was a large airplane. It was moving very slowly, had very bright lights and was very long.”

“It was at treetop level and was continuing on a steady course. It then dipped behind a building at the street corner, so we ran down the sidewalk to see where it was going.”

“By now, I could see that there was no visible protuberance or tail on the craft. At this time, the object came to a stop, at an angle, and disappeared behind the trees and houses and out of our sight.”

“I was absolutely shocked. I could not believe what I had just seen, and my sister couldn’t believe it, either. She ran home to get my binoculars. I stayed at the spot to see if I could see anything else. I didn’t observe any other activity.”

“As she returned with my binoculars, we walked to a point where we thought it may have landed. We did not have any luck, and we both were disappointed but very excited over what we had seen. It didn’t seem to make any sound, but we were a distance from it. I would estimate that we were two to three blocks away, but it was gigantic to me, at least three average-sized jetliners long.”

The UFO “was extremely low. I would estimate that it was 40 feet (12 meters) above the ground, maybe lower. The speed of the object was around 10 to 15 miles per hour (16 to 24 kilometers) per hour as it approached. I would say it headed away a lot faster.” (Email Form Report)

SEMI-OCTAGONAL UFO SEEN IN LOS OSOS, CALIFORNIA

On Wednesday, February 9, 2004, at 8:30 p.m., eyewitness D.R. was at the Montana de Oro State Park two miles (3 kilometers) south of Los Osos, California (population 10,500) when he spotted something strange approaching from the northeast.

“As I entered the campground in my car, I noticed a semi-octagonal arrangement of bright white lights hanging in the sky, unmoving, northeast of the campground,” D.R. reported, “Within the circumference of the shape, there were two larger and more brilliant lights, one red, one blue, and each seeming to be round in shape. I estimated that they were 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilometers) away from me. The red and blue lights moved freely and erratically. They rapidly changed speed and direction and in a manner that was extremely unnatural.”

“My car rounded a bend, and I lost sight of the spectacle. As I parked my car and started up a campfire, I thought over what I had seen and dismissed it as some sort of celebratory event that most likely included helicopters with searchlights.”

“However, less than 10 minutes later, the blue and red lights appeared again, this time over the larger of the low hills directly north of the campground. They appeared to be closer now, perhaps 2 to 5 miles (3 to 8 kilometers) out. (That is, they were either nearer or else bigger than before, seeing that their observable size had increased in one way or another, or both–D.R.)”

“They were now visible not as lights but as luminescent and roundish objects with exteriors featuring several types of light sources–twirling, flashing and steady directional lights. The objects dived about. There was no discernible pattern to their movement. They would alternately revolve around each other, seperate and move in a different direction, hang still, etc.”

“At least four times, the blue ball moved closer to the campground, shining a very powerful and concentrated beam in my direction (and sending a chill up my spine– D.R.). The campground lit up with blue-white light each time this happened, but the diameter of the beam, where it hit the campground, was only about 60 feet (18 meters).”

“The display as seen from my position lasted for about 10 minutes until the object dropped beneath the horizon and did not re-emerge. I search the sky for a few more minutes, but the object did not reappear.”

“I took an empty water bottle and started walking with it to the water tank in the campground. A bright red star to the south-southwest caught the corner of my left eye. I stopped walking and examined the star, because its brilliance and heft of color was very unclear. I surveyed the star for probably 30 seconds before concluding that the red star might be the red object I had been observing earlier. I stood and examined the object for a good two to three minutes, during which time it did not appear to move. In fact, it stood still enough that I was convinced it was a star. The night sky, after all, was quite littered with stars on this particular evening.”

“I filled my water bottle at the tank. As I was returning to my campsite, the red star now caught the corner of my right eye as I turned to see that it was now moving east or northeast. It moved in a straight line for a few seconds, then “bobbed, made small loops and made other small changes in velocity. The passage of the object took it out of my sight, past the dozens of nearby trees after a burst of generally eastward movement.”

Los Osos, Cal. is located 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of San Luis Obispo. (Email Form Report)

STRANGE PHENOMENON IN SAULT SAINTE MARIE, ONT.

“The big cross on the St. George Avenue hill” in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, at the eastern end of Lake Superior, “is a local landmark.”

“At 120 feet (36 meters) tall and brightly lit, it is the first sight seen by U.S. visitors crossing the International Bridge into Canada.”

“It’s intended to be a symbol of spiritual unity at the geographic centre of North America.”

“At the foot of the cross is a non-denominational Oasis of Peace garden.”

“Also located there is Notre Dame de Grand Lacs (Translated: Our Lady of the Great Lakes–J.T.), a French- language school by the Conseil Scolaire du District Catholique de Nouvelle-Ontario.”

“And around the school, there’s talk of an extremely odd occurrence said to have happened there 11 days ago.”

“Witnesses told Soo Today that the cross was seen doing something nobody has ever seen before, something that a consulting engineer says is impossible.”

“The school principal, its groundskeeper, a math teacher and a large number of students saw the steel structure swaying from side to side during a 150-minute period on Monday, January 24, 2005.”

“The visual observation was sufficient to prompt school officials to move teacher Christopher Gravelle and his Grade 10 math class out of a nearby portable classroom into the school’s library.”

“The phenomenon also prompted them to call in a consulting engineer from M.R. Wright and Associates Ltd., who found no structural damage. It has been noted that there was no way the cross could have flexed the way the witnesses said it did.”

“The cross’s alleged activity was first witnessed by students, who reported it to Stephane Picard, the school’s principal.”

“Math teacher Gravelle told Soo Today that around 8:30 a.m. on January 24, he was in the main school building when he was approached by Picard.”

“‘My principal came up to me and said, ‘Come here, I want you to see something,’ and we stepped out from the school and walked to the cross,’ Gravelle recalled.”

“He was preparing to teach his Grade 10 math class in a portable (trailer) located 20 meters (66 feet) northwest of the cross.”

“‘I saw the cross was basically wavering. It seemed like it was moving left and right about a foot (30 centimeters) in each direction,’ Gravelle said.”

“The principal also contacted Gerry Ouellette, author of the 2002 book The Cross at the Center of the Continent and the site’s groundskeeper.”

“‘I got a call from the principal of the school,’ Ouellette says, ”You better come out here and look at this,’ is what he told me.'”

“Ouellette says he arrived at the Oasis of Peace a short time after receiving the call and also witnessed movement in the solid steel structure.”

“‘I didn’t even believe it when I saw it,’ he says.”

“‘About 25 to 30 feet (8 to 9 meters) from below the cross’s arms, close to the bottom, was just stationary. And the top part was just going left-to-right, left-to- right, left-to-right,’ Ouellette insists.”

“The sight rattled Ouellette, considered the local expert on ‘the Cross on the Hill,’ as the structure is commonly known around the Soo.”

“‘That thing never moves,’ he says, ‘I thought it’s going to have to come down because this thing doesn’t move the way it’s braced and welded,’ Ouellette said.”

“Gravelle, who’s been teaching at Notre Dame de Grand Lacs since 1991, said that principal Picard shared Ouellette’s concern for the structure’s integrity and decided to relocate Gravelle’s classes into the library until further notice.”

“Students from Notre Dame de Grand Lacs and the adjacent St. Basil Secondary School had an opportunity to come out into the yard and watch the cross sway until around 11 a.m.”

“Gravelle, who also teaches music, described the motion of the cross as similar to that of a metronome.”

“He timed it and found it to be moving at 44 beats per minute.”

“‘It was constant, like a metronome, and it was going left to right,’ Gravelle says.”

“Both Gravelle and Ouellette reported hearing a crunching noise as the top of the cross reached either extreme of its arc.”

“‘There was no wind, and it was a cold day, this I know. If there was wind, I could understand, but there was no wind at all. It was constant, the same rhythym, and it lasted all morning,’ Gravelle told Soo Today.”

“Ouellette says the next step the principal took was to contact Bob Wood of M.R. Wright and Associates Ltd., a group of consulting engineers, to have the cross checked for structural damage.”

“By the time Wood arrived, the cross was motionless again.”

“‘It wasn’t moving and there was nothing wrong with it after 11 a.m.,’ said Ouellette.”

“Since 11 a.m. on January 24 (2005), no one has reported seeing the cross move again.”

“‘It was really something to see, though,’ said Ouellette, who says he doesn’t know why the alleged phenomenon occurred. He’s certain, however, that it’s a sign of something.”

Sault Sainte Marie, Ont. (population 80,054) is on Provincial Highway 17, approximately 429 miles (686 kilometers) northwest of Toronto. (See the newspaper Soo Today for February 4, 2005, “Miracle on St. George hill? Did the big cross move?”)

(Editor’s Comment: I think this one was more geological than supernatural. It sounds like the cross was vibrating like a giant tuning fork, reacting to a disturbance deep within the earth. It went on for two-and-a-half hours. What really bothers me, though, is…how come the seismographs didn’t pick it up?)

THE BIG FREEZE CHILLS THE BALKANS

The Big Freeze swept into the Balkans last week, creating record low temperatures and causing the Danube River to freeze over.

“The Blue Danube looked more like Lake Superior,” reader Nils Cortsen reported. “Parts of the river were like slow-moving pack ice in the Arctic. Upriver navigation was halted when ice choked the Danube at three spots. Sixty merchant ships had to drop anchor wherever they were” on Friday, February 11, 2005.

In Serbia, “the mercury reached a record low on Friday,” reader Aimee Kostunovic reported. “The temperature at Minicevo that day was minus 35 degrees Celsius (12 below zero on the Fahrenheit scale–J.T.). This was the coldest temperature in Serbia in a hundred years.”

Elsewhere in the world, heavy rains and flooding were reported.

“Troops in helicopters hauled relief supplies to flood-swamped villages in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday,” February 13, 2005, “as the nationwide death toll from a week of heavy rain and snow topped 360.”

“Hungry survivors, their homes and livestock swept away when the Shadikor Dam burst its banks” on Thursday, February 10, 2005, “huddled on high ground in the worst- hit province of Baluchistan, where at least 1,000 people were still missing.”

Pakistani “officials said a second smaller dam collapsed elsewhere in the province Sunday, killing seven people, while scores more casualties from avalanches and landslides were reported in the northwest and the Himalayan region of Kashmir.”

“About 4,000 (Pakistani) troops supported by helicopters, coast guard boats and C-130 transport planes hauled food, medicine and tents to Pasni, close to where the 490-foot (147-meter) long Shadikor Dam burst Thursday, sweeping 70 people into the Arabian Sea.”

In Venezuela, torrential rains along the northern coast caused flooding and evacuations from Puerto la Cruz to Capuano. The Venezuelan army sent in eight heavy-lift helicopters to assist the civilian population in escaping flooded areas.

In the USA, “for the second time in just a month and a half, the Southwest is reeling from the effects of a downpour-generating storm. Flood watches and warnings are out in perenially dry cities such as Phoenix and Tucson” in Arizona “and Las Vegas” in Nevada.

“Authorities elsewhere in Arizona were trying to cope with damage from the weekend storms–the state’s third round of heavy rains since late December (2004).”

“Flooding on the Verde River north of Phoenix damaged about 16 homes in a rural area. No injuries or deaths were reported.”

“In Wickenburg, 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of downtown Phoenix, two homes and a car were swept away by a swollen river. Mayor Ron Badowski said the area of town hardest hit received sewer, electric and water-line damage.”

“About 40 residents from two mobile home parks about 80 miles (124 kilometers) northeast of Phoenix left their homes because of rising water from Tonto Creek.”

“People living east of Tonto Creek in central Arizona were also stranded because of flooding at low water crossings, said Mariano Gonzalez, Gila County Emergency Management deputy director.”

Las Vegas had “more rain fall on Saturday,” February 12, 2005, “than usually comes down in two Februaries combined.”

Heavy rains took place over the weekend in southern California. “With heavy rains falling late Friday, Opids Camp in the mountains near Los Angeles had recorded 4.5 inches of rain (11.2 centimeters) while Beverly Hills received 2 inches (5 centimeters. The rain story over the past four months in Los Angeles has been stunning with 24.5 inches (57.25 centimeters) down since October 1 (2004)–nearly three times normal!” (See the Chicago Tribune for February 12, 2005, “L.A. rainfall well over 2 feet since October,” page 20; BBC World News for February 11, 2005; the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for February 14, 2005, “Death toll rises from flooding,” page 2A; and USA Today for February 14, 2005, “Flooding forces some Arizona residents to flee,” page 2A. Many thanks to Nils Cortsen and Aimee Kostunovic for the additional information.)

LAST SURVIVING FATIMA SEER DIES IN PORTUGAL

Lucia de Jesus Abobora dos Santos, “the last of the three children who claimed to see the Virgin of Fatima and whose vision is said to have foretold the attempt to kill Pope John Paul II, died on Sunday,” February 13, 2005. “She was 97.”

Lucia was born in Aljustrel, a village in the Serra da Aire mountains of central Portugal, on March 22, 1907, the daughter of Antonio and Maria Rosa dos Santos. She was the youngest of seven children.

“Dos Santos, who later became a nun, was the eldest of the three children who in 1917 told of seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary six times. She died at the Carmelite convent at Coimbra in central Portugal.”

“‘She had been ill for several months and had not left her cell,’ Bishop Albino Cleto of Coimbra told the (Roman Catholic) Radio Renascenca.”

“The Vatican interpreted one part of her vision as foretelling the attempt to kill the Pope and Communism’s persecution of Christianity. The apparitions took place the same year as the Russian Revolution.”

“The Pope believes the Lady of Fatima saved his life on May 13, 1982 when Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca nearly killed him in St. Peter’s Square.”

“In a sign of gratitude, a year after the assassination attempt, the Pope had one of the 9- millimeter bullets placed in the crown of the statue at Fatima.”

“‘One had fired the bullet and another guided it,’ the Pope once said of Agca’s attempt to kill him.”

“Dos Santos was said by believers to be the main recipient of prophecies from the Virgin about key Twentieth Century events. The first two parts of the prophecy were known for decades. The first was a vision of Hell. The second predicted the outbreak of World War II. But it was the third part, the so-called ‘Secret of Fatima,’ which kept the world intrigued for more than 80 years.”

“The Vatican released its interpretation of the vision during the Pope’s visit to Fatima in May 2000 on the anniversary of the assassination attempt. One of” Lucia’s “last public appearances was with the Pope at Fatima.”

“Dos Santos’s recollection of that part of the vision, which she wrote down in 1944, was ‘a bishop dressed in white (and) we had the impression it was the Holy Father (a pope of the future–J.T.).”

“As the vision continued, the children saw the Pope reaching the top of a mountain where ‘he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him.'”

(Editor’s Comment: This isn’t what happened in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. As far as I’m concerned, this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. I think this vision refers to the Pope of the Last Days–whoever he is.)

“Before the Vatican revealed the vision, papal envoys visited Dos Santos in her cloistered convent to seek her opinion of the Vatican’s interpretation and her permission to reveal it.”

“‘She repeated her conviction that the vision of Fatima concerned above all the struggle of atheistic communism against the Church and against Christians, and describes the terrible suffering of the victims of the faith in the Twentieth Century,’ a Vatican document said in 2000.”

“The events of Fatima unfolded against a backdrop of religious persecution under anti-clerical (Masonic) factions that ruled Portugal after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910.”

“In 1916, she experienced her first vision, when an angel appeared to the children, she wrote in her memoirs.”

“On May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to her and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, on an oak tree. On her last appearance (October 13, 1917), before an estimated 50,000 onlookers, witnesses claimed to have seen a 15-minute spectacle of bright lights and whirling colors.”

“In her memoirs, dos Santos said the Virgin Mary appeared to the children six times in 1917. Jacinta and Francisco died in the (Spanish) influenza pandemic of 1919 and 1920. The two were beatified–the last step to sainthood–by Pope John Paul II during his Fatima visit in May 2000.”

“One of” Lucia’s “last visitors was actor Mel Gibson, director of the 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ. He met with her at the convent in Coimbra in July 2004 and gave her a DVD of his movie.”

In 1929, while a novice Roman Catholic nun at Tuy in northern Spain, Lucia had another series of visions. In one, Jesus Christ appeared to her and warned that “the Last Days will be here sooner than anyone thinks.”

In 1938, she wrote her first set of memoirs. Her third and final account of the apparations was written in 1944 and submitted to the Bishop of Leiera. (See the Brazilian newspaper O Globo for February 14, 2005. Muito obrigado a Brunilda Barros, Manuel Figueiredo e Jim Hickman por eso caso. For more on Lucia’s two cousins, see UFO Roundup, volume 5, number 10 for March 9, 2000, “1910: Unforgettable Jacinta Marto,” page 6; and UFO Roundup, volume 7, number 24 for June 11, 2002, “1908: Unforgettable Francisco Marto,” page 8.)

(Editor’s Comment: Now that’s interesting. The Virgin Mary appeared on the 13th day of the month from May through October in 1917. And Lucia passed away on the 13th day of February in 2005.)

BLACK HELICOPTERS AND BLACKOUT IN REHOBOTH

On Friday, February 11, 2005, at 12:30 p.m., UFO Roundup correspondent Mary Lou Jones-Drown reported, “I was running the washing machine when I heard a strange noise outside. A couple of minutes later, I recognized it as helicopters. I went out into the backyard. I saw two of them right over my house” in Rehoboth, Mass., 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Boston. “They were black helicopters. Military. All black. Looked like (UH-60) Blackhawks. They weren’t very high up. Five hundred feet (150 meters), I’d say. They hovered over my house for several minutes and then they headed (east) towards Taunton (population 55,976).”

An hour later, she added, “I heard helicopters again. I went out to the barn and saw two of them. They were quite a distance away, right on the eastern horizon, flying from southeast to the northeast. There were two of them, one in front of the other. It looked like they were heading for Boston. When I went back in the house, both the TV and the lights went out. No power. We were without power until just before 3 p.m.”

By 3:30 p.m., Mary Lou reported, her telephone was ringing off the hook. “I had over a dozen reports of black helicopters. One elderly lady phoned me and said, ‘Did you see how the power went off when they flew over?'”

Some of the callers saw both sorties; most reported seeing only the south-to-north overflight. A woman in South Attleboro, Mass. called Massachusetts Electric and was reportedly told, ‘We’re having a power outage,’ but was not given a reason for the loss of power.

In the Dodgeville section of nearby Attleboro, Mass., a woman was driving south on Route 152 when “two black helicopters came over the fire station from the east, just above treetop height, and shot over the cemetery. Then they took off to the northwest.”

In North Rehoboth, a resident “saw the black helicopter hovering over my garage. I went outside, and it took off, heading for Route 118.”

In Seekonk, students at the high school, located at the corner of Fall River Avenue and Ledge Road, spotted “a line of black helicopters coming from Providence (Rhode Island, i.e. the west–J.T.) and going toward Rehoboth” while boarding school buses at 2 p.m.

The same Friday, witnesses driving on Route 16 in Hopedale, Mass. (population 4,518) “saw three black helicopters circling low over the old textile mill. By the time we got to Nipmunk Pond (southwest of Hopedale– J.T.), they broke off and flew away to the northeast. They were very loud.”

Hopedale is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Rehoboth, well out of the immediate area of the Friday sightings. (Many thanks to Mary Lou Jones- Drown for these reports.)

NASA ABANDONS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

“NASA plans to bury the Hubble Space Telescope rather than fix it, the space agency revealed Monday,” February 7, 2005.

“Outgoing NASA chief Sean O’Keefe made the announcement as he unveiled the agency’s $16.46 billion budget proposal for 2006.”

“Hubble, which was launched in 1990, is widely considered the crown jewel of U.S. space science. Astronomers, politicians and members of the public have been lobbying for a mission to extend its life.”

“But O’Keefe says NASA’s priorities are to meet President (George W.) Bush’s call for exploration of the moon and Mars. He also said the space agency had to meet obligations to finish construction of the International Space Station and launch a space shuttle this year.”

“NASA will continue financing Hubble operations until its failure, which is expected sometime after 2007. O’Keefe plans to bring the telescope out of orbit and dispose of it in the atmosphere by 2013.”

“‘It is my judgement call,’ O’Keefe says. He cited two reports:”

“(1) The Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s safety requirements for shuttle flights rule out Hubble repairs by astronauts. The board was formed after seven astronauts were killed in the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.”

“(2) A National Research Council panel maintained last year (2004) that a robot repair mission in 2007 was technologically too risky.”

“After a public outcry last year when O’Keefe disclosed plans to let Hubble die, the director backed off. He publicly supported a robotic repair mission, which will get a NASA review next month.”

“But by removing money from this budget for a robotic rescue, the window of opportunity to revive such an effort before Hubble’s batteries or stabilizing gyroscopes fail becomes much narrower.”

“‘The lock of money for a robotic Hubble mission is both an opening move in what the White House certainly knows will be a heated interaction with Congress and a ‘logical’ response to the NRC report,’ says John Logsdon of George Washington (D.C.) University.”

“The House Science Committee plans a hearing on NASA’s budget and Hubble this month.”

“‘Hubble’s best days are ahead of it, not behind it,’ says Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Democrat of Maryland). ‘I will fight in the Senate this year to fund a servicing mission to Hubble by 2008.'”

“A second science mission, the 2015 Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, is not financed yet. NASA’s Craig Steidle says the nuclear reactor needed for the mission was too advanced a technology to pull off by 2015.”

“‘My first reaction to the budget is quite positive,’ says Lennard Fisk, who heads the Research Council’s Space Studies Board. He notes that the budget includes financing for a Mars orbiter, a Pluto mission and an infrared telescope for 2011.” (See USA Today for February 8, 2005, “NASA decides to abandon, not repair, deteriorating Hubble telescope,” page 9D.)

SATURN IN THE NEWS

“Astronomers using a giant telescope atop a volcano have discovered a hot spot at the tip of Saturn’s south pole.”

“The infrared images captured by the Keck I telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii suggest a warm polar vortex–a large- scale weather pattern likened to a jet stream on Earth that occurs in the upper atmosphere. It’s the first such hot vortex ever discovered in the solar system.”

“The team of scientists say the images are the sharpest thermal views of Saturn ever taken from the ground.”

“This warm polar cap is believed to contain the highest temperatures on Saturn; the scientists did not give a temperature estimate.”

“On Earth, the Arctic Polar Vortex is typically located over eastern North America in Canada and plunges cold arctic air to the northern Plains in the United States.”

“Polar vortices are found on Earth, Jupiter, Mars and Venus, and are colder than their surroundings. The new images from the Keck Observatory show the first evidence of a polar vortex at much warmer temperatures.”

“‘Saturn’s is the first hot polar vortex that we’ve seen because it’s been sitting in the sunlight for about 18 years,’ said Glenn S. Orton, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and lead author.”

“Saturn, which takes many Earth years to orbit the sun, just had its summer solstice in 2002.”

Meanwhile, the robot spacecraft Cassini, now orbiting Saturn, picked up some interesting new data this week.

“New natural-color images from the orbiting Cassini spacecraft show that Saturn’s northern hemisphere has the blues.”

“The color of Saturn’s northern latitudes may be linked to the apparently cloud-free upper atmosphere, scientists say.”

“The images were taken with Cassini’s wide-angle camera on (Tuesday) December 14 (2004) from a distance of 446,900 miles (715,040 kilometers). The Cassini/Huygens mission is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.”

UFO Roundup readers can check out Cassini’s images at this Web site: http:www.nasa.gov/cassini (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for February 5, 2005, “Astronomers discover polar ‘hot spot’ on Saturn,” page 5A; and USA Today for February 10, 2005, “Cassini snaps blue views of Saturn,” page 8D.)

ODDBALL ARSON CASE IN NORTHERN LOUISIANA

A mysterious case of arson was reported in Cotton Valley, Louisiana (population 1,189).

“Two volunteer firefighters were charged with arson after admitting that they torched a former Masonic lodge, police said.”

“David Dick, 19, and Michael Musgrove, 18, have been suspended from the Cotton Valley Volunteer Fire Department. A third volunteer was charged with being an accessory after the fact.”

“The state fire marshal is trying to determine a motive.”

Cotton Valley is in northern Louisiana, at the intersection of Highway 371 and Route 160 about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Shreveport. (See USA Today for February 11, 2005, “Across the USA–Louisiana,” page 10A.)

SEA SERPENT WASHES ASHORE IN PERTH, W.A.

“A rare and dead oarfish washed up at City Beach in Perth,” the capital of Western Australia state in Australia on Saturday, February 5, 2005, “proving more than a handful for Troy Coward, Andy Mole and Axel Strauss.”

“The reptile-like animal was found 6 meters (20 feet) offshore, bring to at least six the number of oarfish that have washed up on the West Australian coast in recent months. Preferring to live in the depths of the (Indian) ocean, they have only been known to come to the surface when sick or dying and have rarely been seen alive.”

(Editor’s Comment: Six oarfish at the surface!? Clearly something is going on at the floor of the Indian Ocean, which may or may not be related to the December 26, 2004 earthquake that measured a whopping 9.0 on the Richter scale.)

“Living in the world’s warmer oceans,” the oarfish “feeds on plankton and is harmless to humans,” despite its snake-like appearance. “The longest bony fish in the sea, it grows up to 9 meters (30 feet) long with a bright red crest that runs the length of the body.”

“It is probably the creature that sparked ‘sea serpent’ legends following sightings by ancient mariners.”

“Last year (2004), a woman in Cleveland on the northeastern coast of England caught a 63.5 kilogram (31 pound), 3.5-meter (12-foot) long oarfish while fishing for cod using a squid bait. Scientists were disappointed when the woman sliced it up and put it in her freezer.”

“The fish was not good to eat.”

“The (Perth) specimen found yesterday was too decomposed to study and has been disposed of.” (See Underwater Times for February 6, 2005, “Rare sea serpent washes up on Aussie beach.” Many thanks to Nigel Murray for this newspaper article.)

(Editor’s Note: For more on undersea species being driven to the surface, see UFO Roundup, volume 10, number 4 for January 26, 2005, “Hundreds of squid invade southern California,” page 2.)

From the UFO Files…

1966: LAIR OF THE REPTOIDS

Numerous texts of ancient India contain references to space travel and alien beings. For example, the Surya Siddhanta, one of the oldest books on astronomy, “speaks of Siddhas and Vidyaharas, or philosophers and scientists, who were able to orbit the earth in a former epoch ‘below the moon but above the clouds.'”

Were these fanciful science fiction tales the ancient Hindus concocted to amuse themselves? Or were they fragmented recollections of a previous Space Age “when men flew in the air in skyships and heavenly beings came down from the sky?”

One who tried to find out was Andreas Boncza- Tomaszewski, better known as “Andrew Tomas.” Born in 1906 to a wealthy Polish family living in St. Petersburg, then the capital of Russia, Andrew and his family fled during the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918. Andrew emigrated to Australia in 1948 and, with Edgar Jarrold, founded the Australian Flying Saucer Bureau in 1952.

In 1966, Andrew, intrigued by references to vimanas (UFOs) in the ancient writings of India, traveled to Darjeeling and visited the Ghum Monastery. From there he made the pilgrimage north to Mount Kinchinjunga, which he mentions in both of his books, We Are Not the First and On the Shores of Endless Worlds.

“Old Sanskrit texts speak of the Nagas, or Serpent Gods, who live in underground palaces lighted by luminous gems in the vastness of the Himalayas,” Andrew wrote, “The Nagas are flying creatures who go on long voyages in the sky. The belief in the Nagas is so firmly imprinted in the (Indian) national consciousness that even today motion pictures and large plays exploit this theme to the delight of Indian audiences.”

“The subterranean city of the Nagas–Bhogawati– brilliantly illuminated by diamonds may perhaps be a folklore image of a space base, lighted and air- conditioned. We wonder if those cosmonauts are still there.”

Judging from the recent reports coming out of the Himalayas, we’d have to say YES.

Is Bhogawati the name of the Reptoids’ base in the Himalayas? During his 1966 pilgrimage, Andrew interviewed a sadhu (itinerant Hindu holy man–J.T.) who said he knew someone who had actually been there.

“Even in this jet-age, every Hindu is familiar with and usually believes in the legend of the Nagas, the ‘serpents’ (Reptoids?) which live in extensive underground palaces in the rocky Himalayas. It is believed that these creatures are able to fly in space and that they possess amazing magical powers and intelligence. They are not too fond of man if he is a curiosity seeker, explorer or mountaineer.”

“According to the sacred traditions of the Hindus, the deep caverns of the Nagas contain fabulous treasures, illuminated by flashing precious stones. The subterranean abodes are known to be in certain parts of the Himalayas and Tibet, particularly around ‘the Lake of the Great Nagas,’ Lake Manasarowar.”

A few weeks after his stay in Darjeeling, Andrew “decided to go to the Kulu Valley in the Western part of the Himalayas to visit Naggar, where Nicholas Roerich had lived. Since I had known him personally (in the 1930s– J.T.), the trip had a sentimental overtone.”

“A narrow curving road, a precipice on one side with rocks and avalanches on the other, were not conducive to an enjoyable journey to this remote region near Ladakh and Tibet. The village of Naggar derives its name from Naga, the Serpent. High up in the mountains lies Roerich’s estate. Having been an artist of note, his two-storied house contains a museum of his paintings.”

(Editor’s Note: Nicholas Roerich also spotted a silver daylight disc over the Himalayas while riding in a caravan in July 1926.)

“As I began my ascent on the mountain path, I saw a tall, gray-haired sadhu, sitting by a mountain torrent. In his hand he held a cobra-shaped staff, which together with the markings on his forehead, signified that he was a devotee of Shiva. During the earlier, more peaceful times of the British Raj (1757-1947) these pilgrims would travel to the Lake of the Great Nagas, Lake Manasarowar, or to Mount Kailas, the abode of Shiva, in Tibetan territory.”

“I climbed the mountain and reached the terrace on which Roerich’s house is built. I spent at least an hour studying the master’s paintings. On the way back, I admired the narrow valley and the looming snow-capped mountain ridges on each side.”

“The sadhu was still there. I thought, ‘A place called Naggar, a devotee of the Nagas with the cobra staff, if he does not know something about the Nagas, then who does?’ Knowing the ways of the East, I saluted the holy man with the folded hands in the fashion that is customary in India, and waited for the older man to speak first.”

“‘You like Roerich’s paintings?’ he said in fluent English.”

“‘Very much, indeed. Tell me, did you know the Master in life?'”

“‘Yes, for many years. A great Rishi (Hindu wizard– J.T.) and a friend of (Prime Minister Jawarlahal Pandit) Nehru.'”

“‘Venerable sadhu, I believe in the Nagas. Have you seen them?’ I asked diplomatically.”

“‘I am a poor sadhu. I know nothing, sahib. But about twenty years ago (1947, the year of Kenneth Arnold’s UFO sighting–J.T.), my yogi teacher went into the mountain kingdom of the Nagas. Bright light everywhere, big halls like the Taj Mahal. Wonderful. The Nagas have many, many things and machines. They are clever, like Cambridge men, maybe more clever, sahib.'”

“I could not help laughing.”

“‘Your yogi must have been a Rishi. Don’t the Nagas destroy men by their sting?’ I asked.”

“‘Yes, though the Nagas are gods and wish nothing but good to man, they do not like men who have no business near their palaces,’ he replied.”

“‘If you ever see the Nagas, give them my greeting,’ I said before parting.”

“The sadhu tilted his head sideways three times, which in India replaces our (Western) nod.”

“‘China lets in no more pilgrims, I can only go through the long holes (ancient Uighur underground tunnels–J.T.), but I am too old now,’ he concluded.”

“Walking towards the village I looked back at the old sadhu with the cobra staff. My two encounters remain fresh in my memory,” Andrew wrote, “The one under the silvery glaciers of Kinchinjunga, the other by the torrent of Naggar, on the bank of which sat that ascetic of Aryavarta, the holy land of the Mahabharata.” (See the books We Are Not the First by Andrew Tomas, Bantam Books, New York, N.Y., 1973, pages 108, 109, 116 and 117; and On the Shores of Endless Worlds by Andrew Tomas, Bantam Books, New York, N.Y., 1976, pages 119, 120, 121, 123, 150, 151, 155, 156 and 157.)

 

Well, that’s it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth–and occasionally, Saturn–brought to you by “the paper that goes home, UFO Roundup.” See you next time.

UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2005 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO Roundup on their Web sites or in news groups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.

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