; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Just the Facts? MUFON Investigates Sightings, Wild UFO Encounter and Humpback Whale Ride


Rash of UFOs over Lee’s Summit being probed

Reports of unidentified flying objects over Lee’s Summit have been flooding into an area office of the Mutual UFO Network, a nonprofit organization that investigates sightings.

And several of them can’t be explained, said Margie Kay, assistant state director for Missouri MUFON.

“Right now, we have over 60 sightings in the Lee’s Summit area from last week alone,” Kay, an Independence resident who volunteers for the organization, said Oct. 11. “We have some reports that were due to a group of pilots flying in formation out of Lee’s Summit. And Whiteman Air Force Base said the B2s are on yellow alert right now and running training missions throughout Missouri this month.

“But we have at least 40 sightings that cannot be explained, some with close encounters and large craft hovering.”

Among the reported objects yet to be explained were “orange balls of fire” seen hovering over yards and intersections in Lee’s Summit, then leaving in an easterly direction, Kay said. The fiery orbs, which reportedly ranged from three to 50 feet in diameter, were seen on Oct. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, she said.

“Some people have speculated they’re probes from other ships,” she said. “Maybe they’re other life forms. Maybe they’re something natural we just don’t understand yet.”

Kay acknowledged that many of the local sightings seem to have been explained late last week, when pilot Phillip Lamb of Blue Springs stepped forward.

“We’re pretty much the aliens,” Lamb said, explaining that his team of eight pilots flew out of Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport and practiced over this area and Arrowhead Stadium on the evenings of Oct. 3 and 4.

That’s when many of the local UFO reports came in, according to John Ohrazda, manager of the Lee’s Summit airport.

“But when MUFON called me last Thursday, they said there had been a large number of reports spread over several days,” Ohrazda said. “And some of the people described aircraft coming to a complete hover. … Airplanes can’t hover. And they don’t have the lights being described. So I don’t know what these people were seeing.”

According to one report filed with MUFON, a huge object with white and green lights was seen flying about 3,000 to 5,000 feet over Lee’s Summit at about 8:30 p.m., Oct. 3.

The person said, “I noticed what I thought was a low-flying plane” while driving north on Pryor Road. But “as it got closer, I realized how low it was flying and became concerned. Once it was within maybe a half-mile of my location, I realized this was no plane – I had my windows down and (there was) absolutely no sound coming from it.”

On the next evening, a local man told MUFON, he and his wife were driving home from the school they work at when “we saw a strange flashing object in the sky.” “At first, we thought it was an airplane landing at the Lee’s Summit airport,” the man reported. “Then it changed direction, completely turned sideways and showed a vast array of lights – white, green, blue, flashing in a pattern at first, and then quickly pulsating in a random pattern. It then hovered in place for a short time, then rotated back to horizontal. … It then very quickly flew southeast at approximately 300 to 400 mph, then stopped abruptly in the sky over what would be downtown Lee’s Summit.”

Lamb said he figures those reports stemmed from his team, called KC Flight, which was practicing four-aircraft formations over Lee’s Summit on Oct. 3 and six-aircraft formations over Lee’s Summit and Arrowhead stadium on Oct. 4. The team’s Oct. 4 flight might also explain the “close encounters” that Kay said were reported by residents of Raytown.

“One lady saw a very large craft hovering over the Apple Market on 63rd Street,” she said. “It hovered over the store for four minutes, then turned and took off at a high rate of speed. She saw lights in a circular pattern on the side of it.

“Another person reported a craft hovering over the Raytown water tower. It had multiple lights on the bottom that shone down, and no wings, no tail or any of the blinking red or green lights required by (the Federal Aviation Administration).” After hovering over the water tower, Kay said, that craft reportedly “rose up, turned on its side and took off at light speed.”

Lamb chuckled at the reports.

“At night, you don’t have the depth perception you think you do,” he said. “And there’s no point of reference in the sky to tell you how fast something’s moving or whether it’s moving at all.”

The all-aluminum single-engine planes his team uses for wedding, stadium and other types of flyovers are capable of quickly slowing and reaccelerating, Lamb said. And their strobing white, red and green lights can appear to be different colors in different types of weather, he added.

Nevertheless, Lamb’s explanations in the media late last week were rebutted by many who claimed, “There’s no way that was an aircraft,” he said. “Some people are diehard UFO fans, I guess,” Lamb said.

According to Kay, she has been fascinated by UFOs since sighting one herself in 1985.

“It was so strange. I knew it wasn’t anything manmade,” she said.

According to Kay, she’s currently putting together a timeline of all the recent reports in hopes of uncovering more patterns and explanations.

The information will be posted on the organization’s website, www.missourimufon.org.

Those with additional reports are asked to file them on another website, www.mufon.com/reportufo.htm.

“Then I will be contacting them” to investigate the sighting, Kay said. - lsjournal

UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record

The Real Men In Black: Evidence, Famous Cases, and True Stories of These Mysterious Men and their Connection to UFO PhenomenaUnexplained Mystery Books)

**********

Disclaimer: No zombies were injured while making this film...Oops!

Emergency crews called to an accident on a film set in Toronto were confronted with alarming blood and gore - but it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Actors dressed as zombies for the latest Resident Evil film were injured when a high platform moved suddenly.

"It did kind of catch us off-guard when we walked in," said police Sergeant Andrew Gibson.

Twelve actors were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from bruising to a broken leg.

Nicole Rodrigues, EMS: "I was trying to figure out where the blood was coming from and what blood was real blood."

"I could see the look on the first paramedic, saying 'Oh my God'," Toronto emergency medical services Commander David Ralph told Associated Press news agency.

The accident happened when the zombie actors were moving between two platforms at the Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto and a gap opened up, police said.

Seven of the injured zombies were walking again on the set later in the day. - BBC

**********

Wild UFO encounter in Texas

(Unedited): Some time around 1995, I and a teacher I was dating came out of the diner in Giddings, Tx and headed east on HW 290. We noticed a bright light in the distance, towards Houston, under the cloud cover and it resembled a train light. We laughed since we had seen a UFO abduction movie and noted the time, 3:15 am. As we drove out approximately 10 miles towards Ledbetter, HW 180 I believe, we noticed that it was not a plane and was really about 5 miles north on HW 180 and 5 miles east of 180.

We turned north on 180 and started getting pretty nervous, it appeared to be hovering and the light was very bright and it was apparent that it was a craft.

We got home, 5 miles or so north on 180 and as I got out of the truck to get the gate, my girl yelled, "look, it's moving" and I saw it move at a high rate of speed at 90 and 45 degree angles, hundreds of miles an hour, and return to it's original position.

I got my binocs and it was a cigar shaped craft with triangle shaped features on the bottom and top of the craft. We drove out the front gate, under trees, and it was gone when we got to 180. This was approximately 3:35am.

The area it was over was towards Sommerville lake, but exactly over pasture land that was declared a federal oil reserve, hmmm. So, we took off to go look at the area but saw nothing. I went to the pay phone at Somerville lake entrance and called Lee county sheriff's dept and told them who I was (I worked in county law enforcement also, juvenile) and they said,"Hey, there is a drunk mexican on HW 290 east of FM 180 a mile or so and he is claiming that a UFO came from teh north and ran him off the road and overturned his truck. But, call the next county over,Burleson county, and ask them." Then they said that they see this all the time and said I should report it.

I called Burleson county, they said that they saw UFO's all the time and gave me MUFON's number and said that the exact place of the overturned truck was another county, Washington, which I called. They said the same thing, "We see that stuff over Somerville lake all the time, report it. I got the exact location of the truck and drove out there.

When we pulled up, there was a pickup truck overturned on the northside of HW 290, a mile or so, east of 180 with a trooper there and he had a mexican national handcuffed in the back. I showed him my badge, told him the story and ask to speak to the guy in the car. He walked back to his car, spoke to the man, then came back to me and said, "He is a Mexican state police officer and does not want to talk to you, he said that this happens all the time in Mexico and he will get fired if he speaks about it." The trooper said they got the call at about 3:37 am....2 minutes AFTER we lost sight of the object.

So, we went home, got up, and agreed that we had to investigate. We headed south on FM 180 to HW 290, headed east towards Houston. We stopped in at the next 5 stores, mostly antique stores, maybe a gas station, and asked them if they had seen any UFO's around. 4 of 5 people said yes. One pulled out a piece of paper, drew a cigar with triangles on top and bottom with one red light on top. I showed her my drawing and it was exactly the same but had two red lights. She said, and the 3 others did also, that they saw it towards Sommerville lake "all the time".

One other lady, I believe in either Burton or Carmine, Carmine I'm thinking. She said that she had a friend whose husband was the fire chief and she saw them driving a flat bed with alot of dead pigs in it. She asked what happened and the wife said that they woke up and found the pigs with burnt off genitals.

I called the jail then to bail the man out that overturned his truck and they said that they let him go since he was not legally drunk!!! But, they gave me the name of the man that got him out and it was a man that ran an auto parts store, dang, cant remember exactly where, but towards Brenham, maybe in Brenham. So, we drove there and asked him if he would call his, cousin I believe, and he said that he did not want to talk to anyone, period, since he might get in trouble.

Also, I think that we talked to the people at the Sommerville lake store adn I think, I remember them saying they saw it.

Another law enforcement officer had laughed at me, teasing me, but called me back in a year or so and said, "I'm sorry for teasing you, I was headed back from Houston to Giddings and saw A UFO off HW 290 near where you saw it.

Anyone near this area could take these steps to investigate:

1. Drive HW 290 from Giddings to Brenham and stop into each antique store, gas station and cafe and ask about seeing stuff over Sommerville lake.

2. Look up the police reports, if they are there, and document the name, I did have the info, but it has been to long.

3. Check out the auto parts stores towards brenham and ask about the person that works there with a cousin ? whom is a trooper in Mexico.

4. Drive the Sommerville lake, especially from FM 180 north past the lake and head east towards Sommerville and ask around.

5. Interview Lee county, Burleson and Washington county troopers, deputies and other county workers. - MUFON CMS

Crash: When UFOs Fall From the Sky: A History of Famous Incidents, Conspiracies, and Cover-UpsUFOs Books)

The Real Cowboys & Aliens: UFO Encounters of the Old West

**********

Humpback whale takes Australian couple on wild boat ride

An Australian couple have been taken for a terrifying boat ride by a humpback whale.

Glenn Wilson and Nerida Higgins were enjoying a quiet evening moored in their yacht off Australia's Queensland coast when the whale got their boat's anchor rope in its mouth and dragged them out to sea. The frightening trip lasted 15 minutes as their boat was dragged 1.8 miles (3km).

The couple called nearby boats, the coastguard and even police for help but all to no avail. "I don't think he believed me — I think they thought we'd had a few drinks of something," Ms Higgins said.

When a second humpback whale took the rope in its mouth, the couple decided to cut the line, fearing their boat would get smashed up. "We were hoping to see some whales but not actually that close," Mr Wilson said. The incident was captured on video by Ms Higgins, a bump in the night they will never forget.

Click for video

Songs of the Humpback Whale: A NovelContemporary Literature)

**********


Poland's 'crooked forest'

With their trunks all bent the northward, these trees look like something straight out of one of the more uncomfortable fairy tales.

Surrounded by a larger forest of straight growing pine trees near Gryfino, north-west Poland, this grove of curved trees - dubbed the 'Crooked Forest' - is a mystery.

The curved pines, of which there are about 400, were planted around 1930.

They were allowed to grow for seven to ten years before being held down in what is thought to have been some kind of human mechanical intervention.

Speculation as to what the trees may have been intended for ranges from use in making bent-wood furniture, the ribs for boat hulls or yokes for ox-drawn plows.

However, before they could be harvested, the outbreak of the Second World War interrupted the plans of whoever was growing and tending the grove, leaving their plans a mystery. - dailymail

Discover (2-year)Popular Science Magazines)

Science News (1-year auto-renewal)

Popular Science (1-year auto-renewal)Men's Magazines)
Fantasy & Science Fiction (print edition)Fantasy Magazines)

National GeographicNature Magazines & Ecology Magazines)

Wired (1-year auto-renewal)Games Magazines & Strategy Guides Magazines)

Scientific American (1-year auto-renewal)