UFO ROUNDUP Volume 10 Number 18 May 4, 2005 Editor: Joseph Trainor

SECOND WHITE HOUSE BUZZ BY A UFO SENDS BUSH HEADING FOR THE BUNKER

The second overflight of the White House by a possible UFO resulted in security agencies evacuating President George W. Bush from the USA’s executive mansion.

“A blip on a radar screen that was probably caused by a cloud or a flock of birds (or a UFO-J.T.) Wednesday,” April 27, 2005, “prompted security agencies to evacuate President Bush and Vice President (Dick) Cheney from the White House.”

“The alert was triggered at 10:35 a.m. when government radar screens” around Washington D.C. “showed a dot-mistaken for an airplane-about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Washington and moving slowly toward the city, said Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman Laura Brown.”

“Brown said the dot disappeared after about 10 minutes. She said it was not an aircraft but probably a cloud or several birds, which frequently show up on radar.”

“Security (black) helicopters on patrol around the capital quickly determined that an airplane hadn’t flown into restricted airspace, Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.”

“Armed Secret Service officers surrounded the White House compound as Bush was taken from the Oval Office to a bunker underneath the building, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center for only ‘a very short time.'”

“Cheney was taken Wednesday to a secure location that was not disclosed.”

“The last time that either Bush or Cheney is known to have been in the bunker was on September 11, 2001. Both spent part of the day there following the terrorist attacks. Bush has been in the bunker on at least one other occasion before Wednesday, according to McClellan. It’s ‘not the first time,’ he said, declining to elaborate.”

(Editor’s Note: A UFO buzzed the District of Columbia earlier this year.)

“Several federal agencies, including the Secret Service and the FBI, have been monitoring radar around Washington since 9/11.”

“Wednesday’s incident occurred as a congressional committee was approving a measure to allow private planes to fly within a mile of the White House and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Private planes have been barred from using the airport since 9/11 because their passengers, luggage and crew are not screened.”

“The Transportation Security Administration is developing a plan to gradually allow private planes to use the airport, TSA chief David Stone told lawmakers last month.”

Vice President Cheney “was notified about the scare and taken from the White House to a secure location, McClellan said.”

“The vice president was brought back inside the compound minutes after the situation was resolved.”

“Although the no-fly zone has been steadily expanded since 9/11 and now blankets a 30-mile (50-kilometer) radius from Washington, security officials are most worried about the tiny swath between the White House and Reagan National Airport, which an errant plane could cover in minutes.”

All in all, it was a rough week for the president. First Mr. Bush was photographed holding hands and air- kissing Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during a visit by the Saudi diplomat to the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. Then a liberal radio show broadcasted a skit in which Mr. Bush is assassinated.

“All-liberal Air America and talker Randi Rhodes apologized” Wednesday, April 27, 2005, “for a ‘bad taste’ comedy bit in which President Bush was shot.”

“The Secret Service said” the same day “that it was looking into the incident to see if it constituted a threat to the president.”

“Rhodes opened her Monday afternoon,” April 25, 2005, “radio show with an announcer blasting the president for his Social Security plan:”

“‘A spoiled child (referring to Mr. Bush-J.T.) is telling us our Social Security isn’t safe anymore, so he’s gonna fix it for us. Well, here’s your answer, you ungrateful whelp:’ (sound of three shotgun blasts).”

“‘The AAARP-the American Association for Armed Retired People (sound of a rifle being cocked). ‘Just try it, you little bastard.'”

“‘It was a bit. It was bad. I apologize a thousand times,’ Rhodes told listeners yesterday on WLIB (1190 AM)” in New York City, “adding, ‘I’m not in charge of the bits.'”

“‘Our normal vetting process failed…and we regret it,’ Air America’s Jon Sinton told” the New York Post.

“Informed of the bit at a White House press briefing, spokesman Scott McClellan said, ‘It sounds very inappropriate and over the line.'”

“Secret Service spokesperson Lorie Lewis told the Post that ‘if we determine that questions need to be asked, we will attempt to get them answered, but at this point we have not made any inquiries to anyone connected with the show.'” (See USA Today for April 28, 2005, “Radar alert sends Bush into White House bunker,” page 2A; the New York Daily News for April 28, 2005, “A blip on radar sends W rushing to bomb shelter,” page 6; and the New York Post for April 28, 2005, “White House ‘flyover’ scare puts Bush in bunker,” page 11; and “Air America shoots off an apology,” page 111.)

MYSTERY METEOR SEEN IN DAYLIGHT OVER WESTERN MANITOBA

“Stargazing experts have been fielding dozens of calls from people who spotted a massive meteor in the daytime sky over western Manitoba on Saturday,” April 23, 2005.

“Scott Young of the Manitoba Museum’s planetarium says calls are coming in ‘fast and furious’ from people who saw or heard the meteor, which passed over Riding Mountain before exploding high over the St. Ambroise area, north of Portage La Prairie.”

“‘About half of the people heard it only because of the sonic boom-the explosion-and people were thinking maybe it’s a plane crash or something like that. They ran outside and would see the cloud of smoke that was expanding in the upper atmosphere that was visible for tens of minutes,’ said Young.”

“‘The people who saw it described it as a flaming baseball or a Roman candle with all sorts of flames and trailing smoke arching across the sky and ten detonating in a final explosion. Sounds like a spectacular sight.'”

“Astronomers say this type of spectacle doesn’t happen very often.”

“‘We’ve been trying to find other references to meteors that were bright enough to be seen in the daytime, and there’s perhaps a handful throughout all of recorded history in the Prairies at all. There was one in Manitoba maybe 20 years ago,’ said Young.”

“‘It’s a very rare kind of thing. Most of the meteors that we see at night are just little grains of sand, and a really bright one might be the size of a marble. But this was probably the size of a suitcase.'” (See the St. Paul, Minn. Pioneer Press for April 26, 2005, “Meteor sighting thrills Manitoba.” Many thanks to Bob Eggebrecht for this newspaper article.)

TWO WOMEN LYNCHED FOR WITCHCRAFT IN ASSAM, INDIA

“A tribal mob in northeastern India lynched and decapitated two women accused of practicing witchcraft, threw their bodies into a river and paraded their heads as trophies, police said.”

“The mob dragged the 60-year-old Bodo tribal women and her 30-year-old daughter from their village in Jarbari, 280 kilometers (168 miles) west of Assam state’s main city of Guwahati, and killed them.”

“‘The attack was gruesome, with the mob killing them and chopping off their heads and throwing the decapitated bodies in the river,’ a police official said.”

“Villagers believed the women ‘had cast evil spells,’ the police official said, and afterwards paraded the heads ‘as trophies.'”

“Eight people have been arrested over the attack. Witchcraft is practiced in various areas of India but is particularly popular in some parts of the remote northeast where it is used to treat ailments or cast spells on enemies.” (See the Indian newspaper New Statesman for April 27, 2005, “‘Witches’ lynched by a mob in Assam.” Many thanks to Krishnari Bai Dharapurnanda for this newspaper article.)

RUSSIAN “SUPERGIRL” ASTOUNDS SCIENTISTS

“Scientists say Russia’s ‘X-Ray Vision Girl,’ who claims to be able to see inside the human body, can also spot internal injuries just be looking at a photograph.”

“Natalia Demkina has been undergoing tests in Japan into her apparent x-ray vision,” which, like that of the comic book character Superman, “enabled her to diagnose medical conditions, reported the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.”

“Previous tests in London and New York City led to mixed results. British scientists were convinced, but there were doubts in the U.S. where she could determine the illnesses of only four out of seven people.”

“The latest experiments were carried out by Professor Yoshio Machi at Tokyo University, who specializes in studying apparent superpowers in human beings.”

(Editor’s Comment: How about that! A real-life “Professor X!”)

“Professor Machi said, ‘We did a whole range of tests, and the strangest thing was that we found she could also use her abilities on photographs, even on tiny passport photos.'”

“‘She was able to look at them and apparently see what the problem was. Her ability is not x-ray vision, but she definitely has some kind of talent that we can’t explain yet.” (See Ananova for April 26, 2005, “X-ray vision girl amazes scientists.” Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for this article.)

“AQUAMAN” SPOTTED IN THE CASPIAN SEA

“Fisherman claim to have spotted an amphibious creature resembling a human in the Caspian Sea.”

“Gafar Gasanof, the captain of the M/V Baku,” a trawler registered in Azerbaijan, “told the Iranian newspaper Zindagi that ‘the creature was swimming a parallel course near the boat for a long time.'”

“‘At the beginning, we thought it was a big fish, but then we spotted hair on the head of the monster and his fins looked pretty strange, the front part of his body was equipped with arms.'”

“According to reports from the region, the ‘man of the sea’ has been spotted with increasing regularity since off-shore oil production began in the Caspian Sea.”

“Eyewitnesses say the marine humanoid is about 1.65 meters (5 feet, 6 inches), of strong build with a protruding stomach, webbed hands and black-green hair.”

“His lower lip is said to join smoothly to his neck above the gills.”

Except for the “protruding stomach,” the entity resembles the DC comic book character Aquaman.

Ayesha al-Khatabi, UFO Roundup’s Middle East correspondent, commented that Aquaman would have more fans if he “took off that silly orange shirt” and “showed off those gorgeous pecs.” (See the Iranian newspaper Zindagi for April 27, 2005, “‘Merman’ spotted again by a fishing boat on the Caspian.” Many thanks to Ayesha al-Khatabi for this newspaper article.)

EXPLODING TOADS PUZZLE SCIENTISTS IN GERMANY AND DENMARK

“Officials are scratching their heads-and ducking- thanks to an outbreak of exploding toads.”

“Thousands of them have died near a lake in a fashionable part of Hamburg,” the large seaport city in northern Germany, “swelling to more than three times their normal size before popping.”

“‘The worst thing is that they’re not dead immediately,’ said Heidi Mayerhofer, a biologist called in to find an answer to the mystery. ‘They have to fight for their lives for minutes on end, despite the fact that their entrails have been shot across the park.”

“Dogs and children have been warned away from the lake, which (German) tabloid newspapers are calling ‘the Pond of Death.'”

“The force of the explosions is impressive.”

“‘It’s like hitting a slightly rotten orange with a golf iron,’ one Green activist explained” Monday, April 25, 2005.

“More than 1,000 toad corpses have been found at a pond in Hamburg, Germany and over the border in Denmark after bloating and bursting.”

“It has left onlookers baffled.”

“The pond water in Hamburg has been tested, but its quality is no better or worse than elsewhere in the city.”

“The toad remains have been checked for a virus or bacterium, but none has been found.”

“One scientist studying the splattered amphibian remains has a theory: Hungry crows are pecking out their livers.”

“Based on the wounds, said veterinarian Frank Mutschmann, it appears that a bird pecks into the toad with its beak between the amphibian’s chest and abdominal cavity, and the toad puffs itself up as a defense mechanism.”

“But, because the liver is missing and there’s a hole in the toad’s body, the blood vessels and lungs burst and other organs ooze out, he said.”

“Local environmental workers in Hamburg has described it as a scene out of a horror movie.”

“Biblical plague, extraterrestrial bacteria or climate changes? Thousands of toads are exploding across northern Germany and central Denmark, baffled animal experts report.”

“Hundreds of toads have begun to explode near a lake in the town of Lasby in Mid-Jutland in Denmark. According to the reports, the toads climb up on land, swell up to three times their normal size and burst, casting their innards up to one meter (3 feet, 3 inches) in the air.”

“A similar phenomenon has also been reported in the German city of Hamburg, where authorities report that over 1,000 toads are dead.”

“Experts are at a loss to explain what is causing the toads’ painful deaths, which primarily take place between 2 and 3 a.m.”

“‘It’s like a science fiction film,’ said Werner Smolnik, a representative for a Hamburg animal welfare organization. ‘You can see the animals crawling around on the ground, then they well up, and finally they burst.'”

“Frank Jensen, curator of Denmark’s Museum of Natural History, said to Denmark’s TV2 that the mysterious deaths likely had an earthly explanation, namely toxins found in fertilizers or changes in the ozone layer.”

“The Danish Meteorological Institute warned yesterday (Wednesday, April 27, 2005) of increased ozone radiation reaching Denmark. Amphibians such as toads and frogs are known to be sensitive to slight environmental changes.”

“‘I have never seen anything like this,’ said veterinarian Otto Holst.” (See the newspapers the Copenhagen Post for April 28, 2005, “Toads now exploding in Denmark, too,” the New York Daily News for April 29, 2005, “Toads croak mysteriously in Germany,” page 9; and the Boston Herald for April 26, 2005, “Germany can’t piece together mystery of exploding toads, page 4. Many thanks to Erik Petersen and Terry Duckworth for these newspaper articles.)

(Editor’s Comment: Talk about synchronicity. Check out the next article from Peru.)

BOOTLEGGERS IN PERU TRIED TO TURN 4,000 FROGS INTO AN APHRODISIAC BEVERAGE

Police in Lima, the capital of Peru, raided a warehouse near the port of Callao and made an astonishing discovery-4,000 frogs that had been smuggled in from the tropical rain forests of the country’s Amazon jungle region.

Even more astounding was the intended fate of the frogs. They were scheduled to be thrown into blenders and turned into raw material for an elixir.

Police have now “launched a campaign to save frogs from being turned into an aphrodisiac drink.”

“‘Frogshake’ is popular among native Peruvians as a stimulant that enhances male sexual performance.”

“Police saved 4,000 frogs from being juiced to make the drink in a raid on a warehouse in Lima.”

According to the Web site for Terra Noticias Populares, the frogs had been trapped along the Rio Ucayali in eastern Peru and ‘were packed in boxes and were about to be liquidized.”

“The rescued animals were released into a nature reserve.”

“A police spokesman said, ‘It is our new crusade, to save the frogs from the juice-makers!'” (See the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio for April 28, 2005, “Police save frogs from juice-makers.” Muchas gracias a Monica Gaetano de Silva por este articulo de diario.)

HAS DUBYA CEDED LOS ANGELES BACK TO MEXICO?

A billboard ad for a Spanish-language TV newscast in Los Angeles has become a lightning rod for controversy in the ongoing immigration debate on the USA’s southern border with Mexico.

The billboard ad shows the ad for Noticias 62 at KRCA-TV in Los Angeles. The ad shows the two news anchors, the broadcast times of 12 noon and 9 p.m., the city skyline in the background and the slogan “Tu ciudad, tu equipo.” (Translated: “Your city, your team”-J.T.) But the top line shows “the “CA’ (for California-J.T.) abbreviation after ‘Los Angeles’ has been crossed out and the word ‘Mexico’ added in its place.”

“The billboard reportedly sits along the 605 Freeway in Southern California. A photo of the ad was taken by a commuter who says he first thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.”

The eyewitness, P.A., reported, “I travel every day to and from work on the 605 freeway. By the sand quarries and the river wash there are many billboards. I have noticed that it seems more and more of them are in Spanish.”

“‘Last week, I thought I noticed something strange on one of the billboards. The 605 moves fast usually at that point, so I went by again the next day and verified that the CA was crossed out and replaced with MEXICO.'”

“Still not wanting to believe my eyes, or hoping they were playing tricks on me, I went by again, Sunday afternoon,” April 24, 2005. “I went home and retrieved the digital camera. I drove north on the 605 past Ramona (California), and there it was on the right-hand side. I pulled off the road and took this all-too-sad photo. I guess they don’t have to hide their intentions anymore.'”

The city was originally founded by a Spanish missionary, Father Juniperro Serra, in 1776. It was originally called El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula. The city became part of Mexico after that country’s war of independence against Spain (1810-1821). By the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, following the USA’s war with Mexico, Los Angeles became part of the new California Territory. California was admitted to the Union as a state in 1850.

(Editor’s Note: Porciuncula is a small town in Italy, the birthplace of St. Francis of Assissi, who founded the Franciscan order of monks to which Father Serra belonged.)

“In the center of the billboard, placed within the L.A. skyline, is an image of the Angel of Independence, a well-known monument in Mexico City, further suggesting the merger of Los Angeles and Mexico.”

“Last month, ClearChannel, the apparent owner of the billboard, announced a ‘Multicultural Sales and Marketing Initiative’ to expand its focus on ‘serving the fast- growing U.S. Hispanic and African-American population.”

The billboard has raised the ire of many in the USA’s rightwing militia movement.

“‘Normally I’d laugh if somebody told me that George W. (Bush) had given L.A. back to Mexico,’ Jeff Moss said, ‘But then I saw him holding hands with Ahab the Ay-rab. So now…who knows?'”

“Back in 1847, the Mormons of our state marched into

Los Angeles and made it part of the Union,’ said Todd Christiansen of Utah. “The day Old Glory comes down at L.A. City Hall..that’s the day the 15th Utah Avenging Angel Militia shows up, guns drawn and ready. Hooray for the Minutemen. Pat Buchanan said it best: ‘Ride to the sound of the guns.'” (See WorldNet Daily for April 26, 2005, “L.A. now in Mexico?” Many thanks to Todd Christiansen for this news story.)

(Editor’s Note: Actually, Todd, it was Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest who came up with that quote. But I’m sure Pat will be there, should the situation deteriorate to that point. And General Forrest, too, were he still on this level of existence.)

THE MINUTEMAN PROJECT GOES NORTH

“A controversial civilian patrol group that has been monitoring the Mexican border for illegal immigrants” all during April 2005 “is looking to expand its mission to the Canadian border, organizers said yesterday,” Tuesday, April 26, 2005.

“Minuteman Project leaders said their volunteers this month alerted federal authorities to more than 330 cases of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States over a 23-mile (37-kilometer) stretch of Arizona’s southern border.”

“Now they plan to extend their patrol along the rest of the (USA’s) border with Mexico and are helping to organize similar efforts in four states that neighbor Canada, including Vermont.”

“‘In the absence of the federal government doing its mandated duty to secure our borders, we will pick up the slack. Reluctantly,’ said Chris Simcox, a Minuteman co- organizer, who also operates Civil Homeland Defense, another Arizona group that monitors illegal immigrants.”

Simcox is also the publisher of the Tombstone, Arizona Citizen.

“Simcox offered no timeline on when the Canadian border patrol-to be organized in Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota and Vermont-might begin. But he said he hoped to start patrols near San Diego (California) by June (2005) and along the rest of the border by October (2005).”

“Mario Villareal, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said his agency ‘does not endorse the expansion of civilian patrols, as proposed by the citizens group in Arizona. We must leave the responsibility for protecting the nation’s borders to the highly-trained law enforcement personnel of the Border Patrol.”

In Sacramento, state capital of California, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who outraged some Mexican-American groups last week by calling for a closed border, praised the civilian volunteer Minuteman Project for its patrols to spot illegal immigrants.”

“‘Look, they’ve cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants by a huge percentage,’ Schwarzenegger told KFI- AM’s ‘The John and Ken Show’ on Thursday,” April 28, 2005.

California’s “Republican governor accused the (USA’s) federal government of failing to control the border and said it encouraged illicit border crossers by giving them access to water.”

“‘The whole system is set up to really invite people to come in here illegally, and that has to stop,’ he said.”

“The Minuteman Project involves hundreds of volunteers, some armed, who have been patrolling the Mexico-Arizona border since April 1 (2005) to document and report illegal crossings.”

“Chris Simcox, a Minuteman organizer welcome Schwarzenegger’s support. ‘It’s gratifying to see that elected officials are responding to the will of the people,’ he said.”

Simcox, “a Tombstone, Arizona newspaper publisher and founder of Arizona’s Civil Homeland Defense Corps (CHD)” will “tell the Congressional Immigration Caucus, during a closed meeting that the Minuteman volunteers shut down alien traffic along a 23-mile (37-kilometer) section of border while bringing nationwide attention to a national security crisis.”

“‘We demonstrated that ordinary citizens have not only the will, but the means to secure our border,’ said organizer James T. Gilchrist, a retired California certified public accountant and combat-wounded Vietnam veteran.”

“Mr. Simcox, whose CHD has reported more than 4,100 illegal aliens to the U.S. Border Patrol since November 2002, said the new volunteers will be ready in October (2005) to control illegal immigration along the U.S.- Mexico border from California to Texas.”

“‘There is no compromise; we will continue to exercise our civic duty until relieved by the National Guard or the U.S. military,’ Mr. Simcox said. ‘The Minuteman Project’s phenomenal success proved that our borders can be secured. Now it’s time to take our message to Washington-where the real battle begins.'”

“‘We will package what we’ve done here and do it again as a multistate border project. We will tell the government to do its job in securing this border or we will shut it down ourselves,’ he said.”

“Nearly 900 Minuteman volunteers-some armed-had spent at least one eight-hour shift in the field through Friday,” April 29, 2005, “in Cochise County, Arizona. Calls to the Border Patrol resulted in the arrests of 335 illegal immigrants.” (See the Boston Herald for April 27, 2005, “Civilians preparing to patrol Vermont border,” page 43; the Boston Herald for April 30, 2005, “Governator Arnold gives thumbs up to maverick border patrol,” page 45; the Providence, R.I. Journal for May 1, 2005, “Border patrollers hail their success;” and the Washington Times for April 27, 2005, “‘Minutemen’ to push Congress.”)

ACTIVISTS PROTEST J.LO AT LATIN MUSIC AWARDS

As promised, animal-rights activists launched Operation Chunky Butt last weekend, confronting singer- actress Jennifer Lopez at the Latin Music Awards in Los Angeles.

“After 11 months of staying mum about her marriage to Marc Anthony, Lopez chose Friday’s (April 29, 2005) Monster-in-Law premiere to show off a new haircut and step out very publicly with the love of her life. The previous evening, in Miami, the usually low-key couple also posed for photographers when Anthony was honored at the Billboard (magazine) Latin Music Awards.”

“The savvy singers knew their public display would take some of the attention away from the crowds of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-J.T.) picketers, who were brandishing posters of mink-loving Lopez wrapped in fur and with the caption ‘Monster-in- Fur.'”

“‘They have wonderful pictures of Jennifer,’ joked premiere guest Randy Quaid, while others including Sally Field, Jacqueline Bisset and Stockard Channing tried to look past images of skinned foxes.”

“‘Why pick on her?’ asked Robert Luketic, who directed the film,” which opens in the USA on Friday, May 13, 2005. “‘If you go snowboarding in Aspen (Colorado) in the winter, there’s fur from here to breakfast.'”

“Lopez, dressed in Neil Lane and Fred Leighton jewels and a satin Zac Posen gown (and not a hint of fur) said she and Anthony ‘want to support each other as a couple but at the same time try to maintain some privacy.’ The couple were inseparable after the party at Westwood’s Hammer Museum” in Los Angeles.

“Lopez said she is going to make every effort to be with her mother,” Guadalupe Lopez, “next Sunday (May 8, 2005) for Mother’s Day. ‘And also my grandma, because she’s getting up there.'”

“To shield PETA people from TV cameras and to protect Lopez from attacks, a tent was erected. But across the street, protesters such as UCLA student Lisette Alvarez, 22, were determined to be heard. ‘I don’t think Jennifer Lopez is sensitive to the issue of fur,’ she said, ‘She’s not a fashion icon; she’s a fashion moron.'”

“Lopez’s co-star, Jane Fonda, who famously spoke out against the Vietnam War” in the early 1970s, “laughed while walking the red carpet. Dressed in a gown by Italian designer Blumarine, Fonda said, ‘I’m not going to be one to say people don’t have a right to protest.’ She said she no longer wears fur because ‘I don’t want to be protested.'”

In other prominent Hispanic derriere news, actress “Penelope Cruz regrets grabbing her friend Salma Hayek’s rear end during a recent photo shoot, reports IMDB.com, because it sparked stories that they were lesbians.”

“The Spanish star insists she was sick with the flu and a little delirious when she let her hand linger on Hayek’s bottom at a news conference for their new film Bandidas.”

“‘I just grabbed Salma’s ass just to keep things moving, because everyone was a little slow,’ she says, ‘And, of course, the energy changed when I did that. There are magazine covers in Mexico describing us as lesbians because of that. A lot of people were saying we were lovers.'” (See USA Today for May 2, 2005, “‘Monster’ of a premiere,” page 3D and the Providence, R.I. Journal for May 1, 2005, “People in the News,” page 2A.)

(Editor’s Comment: Yes, boys and girls, that item about Penelope and Salma really did appear in the Providence Journal. Maybe we should call this Cheek-to- Cheek Week at UFO Roundup.)

From the UFO Files…

1927: THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. MOSCATI

In 1987, sixty years after the candidate’s death, Pope John Paul II bestowed sainthood on an Italian physician, Dr, Giuseppe Moscati, whose canonization ceremony in Vatican City was attended by an astounding 150,000 people.

Many of the visitors in attendance were witnesses who claimed that they had been treated by Dr. Moscati years after his death.

“A blacksmith, dying of leukemia, said Dr. Moscati appeared to him in a vision and told him, ‘You are well.’ He immediately underwent medical tests-and, sure enough, all signs of his leukemia had vanished.”

Italian “doctors sent a man with terminal Addison’s disease home to die. He prayed to a portrait of Dr. Moscati-and said he later dreamed the physician was operating on him. Next morning he rushed back to the hospital and doctors confirmed he was cured.”

“With her teenaged son dying of meningitis, a desperate woman prayed at the tomb of Dr. Moscati” in Napoli (Naples). “When she returned to the hospital, she found her son’s bed surrounded by excited doctors. Her son had suddenly recovered.”

“In all three cases, the physicians involved submitted written testimony to the Vatican commission saying there was no medical explanation for the recoveries.”

“‘The miracles we selected can only be explained as the outcome of divine intervention,’ declared Father Paolo Molinari,” the chairman of the Vatican commission on canonization of the saints.

“Dr. Moscati-the first doctor in modern church history” to be canonized-“astounded people even while he was alive, often making diagnoses and prescribing treatments without even seeing his patients.”

(Editor’s Note: Sort of like his counterpart in the USA-Edgar Cayce.)

“‘His colleagues admired him for the almost prophetic way he could make diagnoses,’ Father Molinari said.”

“The kindly physician from Napoli spent his life treating patients’ bodies and souls before he died in 1927 at age 46-apparently from pushing his own body beyond its limits, Father Molinari said.”

“‘You could say he died from devotion.'”

“‘He worked in a public hospital ward and devoted his free time to the poorest districts, where people received him like a missionary to their misery.'”

“The deeply religious physician never asked the poor for payment.”

“After Dr. Moscati’s death, his remains were placed in a special tomb inside the Church of Jesus in Napoli, and thousands of pilgrims visited every day to seek cures for themselves and their families.”

“Out of the countless miraculous healings attributed to Dr. Moscati, the Vatican commission selected three for investigation and documented them beyond a doubt, said Father Luigi Garofalo, deputy chairman of the Vatican commission.”

(Editor’s Note: In the Roman Catholic Church, the investigating commission assigns one clergyman to serve as “the Devil’s Advocate.” His job is to dig up all of the reasons why the candidate should not be named a saint and dispute the candidate’s claim during every step of the process.)

The teenager cured of acute leukemia decades after Dr. Moscati’s death was Giuseppe Montefusco. “As Montefusco lay close to death in a hospital bed, his mother says Dr. Moscati appeared to her in a dream and told her, ‘Trust in God and you’ll see your son recover.'”

“With his mother’s help, Montefusco sneaked out of

the hospital and prayed at the late doctor’s tomb.”

“‘Then one night, I had a vision of Dr. Moscati,'” Montefusco reported, “‘He appeared in a long white coat and said, ‘There is no need for you to occupy a hospital bed. You are well and can go home.'”

“Montefusco was tested for leukemia by his family physician, Dr. Luigi DiPalma and Professor Mario D’Onofrio, chief of hematology and oncology at the University of Napoli (Naples)-and the doctors pronounced him in complete remission.”

“‘We looked at it as an amazing happening,’ said Dr. DiPalma.” (See the National Enquirer for April 19, 1988, “Catholic church’s newest saint cured three people on their deathbeds,” page 7.)

Well, that’s it for this week. Join us again in seven days-when your editor will hopefully be back in the Upper Midwest-for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by “the paper that goes home-UFO Roundup.” See you then!

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.