There's Life, Jim !

The term UFO, an Unidentified Flying Object, is given to anything that flies which seems strange, or behaves in an unlikely manner, and has given rise to many a strange tale over the past hundred years.

All reports mention little or no sound, tremendous speeds, sudden appearance and disappearances, bright lights, or spectacular halts and hovers, all unknown in current air transport. Some also produce an electrical disturbance in the immediate surroundings.

UFOs gained the name ~Flying Saucers" in 1947, when a pilot, Kenneth Arnold, spotted 9 craft flying in formation between the Cascade Mountains in America. Astonished, he reported what he had seen when he landed. He described their movement as similar to "a saucer skimming across water". Journalists reporting the incident nicknamed the craft as "flying saucers" and the name had stuck. Since that time, most reported sightings are saucer shaped.

Not all are described that way, however. Some are cylindrical, or spherical, and some are reported as a glowing orb. There have also been several sightings of V- shaped craft or V-formations. A V-formation of red and white lights was seen in Arizona in 1997, which obscured the stars for the distance of a mile. In 1951 a Texan college student took a photo of a V-shape of blue lights near Lubbock, but investigators found a rancher who had also seen the lights, and recognised them for what they were - plovers, birds known to reflect the lights of cities they fly over with their white breasts.

Not all these craft show up on radar either. Many reports of sightings are given by people who are trained to examine the skies; experienced pilots or air traffic controllers, people who have learned to differentiate between normal and the abnormal. Many others can confirm their sightings, as in the reported sighting in June 1954 of strange metallic shapes which followed alongside an aircraft as it flew across the Atlantic. The passengers gave the pilot's story credence, but the episode was never fully explained.

In 1986, a Dassault Mirage III fighter plane was surrounded by twelve mysterious objects when over Sao Paulo. The pilot was alerted by the Air Force, who had picked up the anomaly on radar. The pilot, however, couldn't see anything unusual. Only when the mystery objects speeded up and overflew the plane, could the pilot see them. He described them as similar to multi-coloured ping-pong balls. Another Brazilian reported an explosion over the beach in Ubatuba. The witness saw a 'flying disc' explode. Metal fragments of the disc were recovered and analysed by scientists. They were found to be made of a pure magnesium, made in an unknown way.

UFOs not not common just to the United States. There have been reported sightings from all over the world, and not just by one or two people at a time. Below are some of the major reports from around the world, seen from the ground.

Belgium saw a wave of sightings lasting three full months. It started on 29th November 1989, when two Sergeant Majors from the Belgium Gendarmerie were on patrol at dusk that day. They were travelling down the road from Eupen to Kittenis when they noticed something strange. A slow moving dark triangular object was hovering two hundred yards from the road at about one thousand feet above a field and shining three powerful lights down from its underside. In the centre of the three lights was a larger coloured light which pulsed from red to orange. It was silent except for a low humming sound. Suddenly the craft swung round and overflew them and travelled slowly to Eupen, where it stopped again and hovered over the dam at Gileppe for 45 minutes. When it moved again, it headed toward Baelen and Spa, and disappeared.

The two Gendarmes alerted the Royal Belgian Air Force at Beirset, which along with the Glons and Butgenbach radar stations, had already detected an anomalous blip on their radar screens. They had ruled out ghost contacts from thermal inversions, unusual electromagnetic interference and other radar signals. Aachen and Maastricht air bases were notified and an AWACS - an airborne warning and control system aircraft - was sent from Gelsenkirchen. By this time the flying triangle had been spotted by a further 19 gendarmes attending an event near Eupen. Other witnesses from the surrounding areas had also called the gendarmerie to report seeing a UFO. As all the descriptions were identical, there was no doubt that all were seeing the same object. The sightings covered a two-and-a-half hour period. Just over an hour later, the first two gendarmes saw another flying triangle much larger than the first. It appeared at ground level from behind a wood, and climbed slowly following the road. Both sightings were also witnessed by the Belgian military. In December, the flying triangle was spotted again by hundreds of Belgians, who all reported identical descriptions, just like the earlier sighting.

Over the next few months, the Belgian Air Force were scrambled to intercept the flying triangle, but each time, the craft was too fast for them. Even NATOs F-16s were not able to cope with speeds of well over their capabilities of 1,250 miles per hour. There were also a few false alarms, which turned out to be lights from laser displays. Plans were drawn up to respond immediately, should the vessel appear again, but only if confirmed by radar and/or gendarmes. Through the night of 30th March 1990 and the early hours of the following morning, these plans were put to the test. A citizen of the Wavre region, 14 miles south east of Brussels phoned at 11.00 to say he had just seen the triangular craft. The gendarme ran outside, and then ran back to the phone to confirm the sighting. He called the radar station at Glons, who confirmed they had it on radar at an altitude of 10 thousand feet. NATOs radar station at Semmerzake also confirmed the finding and notified the Air Force. The radar scans from both stations were compared and matched with those from the earlier sighting at Eupen. Two F-16s took off and intercepted the craft over Brussels. Several times, both aircraft locked their weapons onto the craft, but before they could fire, the craft sped away "like a dancing bee". Both pilots were highly trained and experienced, but found the craft an impossible target with acceleration above 46G and such abrupt halts, that any human pilot attempting such manoeuvres would have been killed. After an hour, it simply disappeared. Many videos and photographs were taken that night, and have been extensively analysed, including thousands of statements made by witnesses. Authorities have no doubt that, failing any rational explanations, they were indeed, looking at a craft beyond the capabilities of mankind. The Belgium Minister of Defence said in Parliament that "the government did not know what these craft were. This is quite astonishing as all over the world, the existence of UFOs has always been denied.

UK Three years later exactly to the day, 31st March 1993, the flying triangle was spotted over the Midlands of the UK. The descriptions were similar to the previous sightings over Belgium and in America. RAF Cosford personnel also witnessed it, although the radar showed nothing. The meteorologist at RAF Shawbury, a few miles away, saw it heading straight for the base, where it came to a stop, and shone a beam of light down to the ground, sweeping the area, as if looking for something. Then the light went out, and the craft flew slowly away over the base. The Ministry of Defence ordered a full investigation, but no feasible explanations could be found, despite extensive research and questioning. The British government were forced to admit that they could offer no explanations.

Was the craft the same as had been observed over Belgium, and will it appear again? Mexico Mexico City citizens were preparing to witness an unusual spectacular on the afternoon of 11th July 1991, of a total eclipse of the sun, lasting for 6 minutes. Millions of people stood waiting and watching for a natural phenomenon to take place, and were totally unprepared for the drama which unfolded during the eclipse. Just as the eclipse had started, a shiny metallic object appeared close to the eclipsing sun, and hovered there for half an hour. After a television appeal for photographic evidence, the TV company was snowed under with spectacular video footage which clearly showed the craft during the eclipse. Further evidence was submitted of other sightings over other cities in Mexico, both at the same time and on other occasions afterwards. Mexicans were gripped with UFO madness. All videos were analysed and digitally enhanced, and clearly show a metallic solid disk, and have not been tampered with. Several videos show smaller craft alongside it which had been previously invisible to the naked eye. Again, all craft appear to have reached incredible speeds, far in excess of human capabilities. Again no rational explanations have been made as to the origins of these craft.

France During Janauary 1981 in Trans-en-Provence, a village in southern France, Renato Nicolai was absorbed in completing a building near his home, when he was disturbed by a strange noise. Startled, he looked up to see a strangely shaped object in the sky above a nearby hill, descending. Curious, he stopped work to watch the object, which looked like "two bowls turned one on top of the other". He thought it was a military craft in distress as it appeared to be falling from the sky. He made his way closer as the craft hit the ground with a thud, before he realised that it had landed on small legs. There was no smoke or flames, and it just sat on the hill. As he watched, it made a shrill whistling noise and shot upwards and away at a remarkable speed, after picking up a small amount of soil. He made his way to the spot and found clear marks where the craft had landed. He told his wife, who naturally did not believe him, until he showed her the marks. They then phoned their neighbours, who also came for a look, who summoned the gendarmes.

When the gendarmes arrived, they took statements and samples of soil and plants from the area to send for analysis in Toulouse. Further investigations showed where the craft had hit a wall upon landing. After analysis, the samples and reports were sent to the UFO investigation bureau, GEPAN. Investigators arrived at the site a month after the event, but nothing was visible. They filed a report, indicating that the soil in the immediate area appeared to have been crushed, as if a very heavy weight had been applied at the spot. Soil samples showed that the area had been heated to 600 degrees C, leaving deposits of iron, zinc and phosphates. Most of the plants in the immediate area seemed to have been stripped of 50% of their chlorophyll, with an artificial biochemical aging of the leaves.

The biochemists were baffled, and stated that they "had never come across anything of the like on the planet". Another similar case to the above occurred in October 1982. A strange egg-shaped craft was seen flying over a French garden. It stopped over an amaranth bush for twenty minutes before shooting skywards. On examination, the bush had been dehydrated, seeds had ripened and burst, and the plant was left a dark brown colour. GEPAN were called in, who took samples to compare with the earlier incident, but no further conclusions were made public.

Australia Australia's most famed UFO sighting was on 20th January 1988. The Knowles family, 3 brothers and their mother, along with the family's two dogs, were travelling from Perth to Melbourne across the Nullarbor Plain along the Eyre Highway, to visit some relatives. They travelled through the night, to avoid the heat of the day. Around 1.30 am, the car radio started picking up strange interference, before losing all signals. Around 15 minutes later, they saw something ahead of them on the road. At first, they thought it was a truck with only one headlamp working. As they got closer, it was clearly a truck, driving erratically on the wrong side of the road - but the light was a glowing ball above the truck! Alarmed, they manoeuvred their way around the truck and carried on. A little way further ahead they saw a car with a similar hovering ball light above it. They began to follow the car, intrigued. Unfortunately, the ball of light changed direction and started to chase them. Although they tried to outrun it, the ball had soon caught them, and landed on the roof of the car with a loud bang. Although they still struggled to outrun it in panic, they did not realise that the ball of light had picked up the car and it was no longer on the road at all.

The mother wound down the window to get a better look at the object and touched something warm and spongy, like a suction pad. When she withdrew her hand in horror, it was red, swollen and cold, and she began to scream. The inside of the car smelt of "decomposing bodies" and everything was covered in a black, ash- like substance. Everything started to happen as if if time was in slow motion, their voices sounded slow and distorted. Then the ball released them. Only then did they realise they had been off the ground, as a rear tyre burst through the impact, and they were jolted around. They slammed on the brakes, stopped and ran for cover in some nearby bushes. There, they watched the ball of light, fearfully. It seemed to be searching for them, circling the area, using a sort of searchlight. As day dawned, it vanished. They described it as "resembling an egg in a cup" and it made a low humming sound. Their voices were still strangely distorted, lasting for quite some time, as they changed the wheel. Things were just returning to normal, when the ball returned. They scrambled into the car and raced off towards the nearest service station which was twenty five miles away. The ball followed, only disappearing as they reached the service station. There, they told staff and truck drivers what they had experienced. At first, the tale was taken as a joke, until the mother's hand was examined, which was still swollen. Their dogs had also started to lose large clumps of hair.

On 30th January, the Knowles family were interviewed by a member of the Victoria UFO Research Society and their car was inspected. Although the radio was now working perfectly, there were marks on the roof which correlated with the story. Samples of the ash-like dust were tested and found to contain large amounts of iron oxide, often produced by worn brake pads. One of the truck drivers they had spoken to was a keen racing driver and he said it looked more like silicon, and had a strange feel to it, totally unlike brake dust. A sample was sent to NASA in California, who reported its findings. It certainly did not come from brake pads and was made up mainly of silicon, carbon, oxygen and potassium, with a trace of astatine, which is a radio-active chemical only produced synthetically and was still radio-active, long after the event, when it should have decayed. This helped to explain the mother's swollen hand. The rear tyre which had burst was also examined. It had blown in an unusual way. Normally, when a tyre bursts under similar circumstances, it would have split apart, but instead, it had ripped all the way round the circumference.

Despite all the evidence, the event has been dismissed as a hoax and several theories put forward. Either the tale had been invented for insurance purposes to claim for the damage to the car, as they had all fallen asleep, or the long drive through the desert had given them all collective hallucinations. Other explanations for the ball of light include a meteorite, a stray missile from Woomera Test Range in the desert, or some kind of electrical storm or electrically charged tornado. Even the marks on the roof of their car have been dismissed as being caused by a roof rack, which the Knowles family state they have never fitted. Whatever the theory, it is certainly clear that something strange happened that night, and for the Knowles family it was a very real experience.

Scotland Some places seem to have more encounters with UFOs than others. These are called "window areas". Scotland has had a far share of sightings in an area called the Bonnybridge triangle.

The Comfort Inn in Falkirk stages official UFO weekends because of interest in the area. These have been very successful, attracting UFO spotters from as far as America and Japan, hoping for a glimpse of the strange lights or craft which are often reported in the area. It is all due to an article written in the 26th September 1992 edition of the Scottish newspaper, The Scotsman, by Albert Morris, entitled "Where on earth did the Martians go?", the content of which was the falling of UFO reports.

It drew attention, however, to the fact that Scotland lays claim to two of the UKs window areas. Other newspapers, as well as TV and radio, ran further articles implying Scotland's skies were teeming the UFOs. The result was that Bonnybridge became a UFO hot-spot for hunters of aliens. This was encouraged by the local council as a tourist attraction and appointed Billy Buchanan as UFO officer, who started to investigate witnesses stories. A wave of sightings had begun in March 1992, when three people walking down a back road to Bonnybridge were scared by a huge blue light which made a whirring, rattling sound when it came out of roadside trees. Buchanan appealed for more witnesses and within a week, he had twenty two cases on record. Before long, he had organised open meetings in the town hall, and demanded government action regarding the Bonnybridge sightings. Pennines A tenth of all U.K. encounters happen in a narrow moorland area in the Pennines, in a triangle stretching between Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, with the most intense stretch lying between Bacup and Todmorden.

Strange encounters and supernatural happenings have been happening in this area for centuries, and it is not surprising that UFOs feature amongst the reports. Balls of light have been associated with the Devil's Elbow, and Pendle Hill, close to Bacup, was believed to be home to "demons", and ~witches" were tried there. A hundred years ago, a local constable reported seeing a strange airship over Pendle Hill, and there was a report in 1977 of UFOs hovering at the summit of Pendle Hill. On 24th January 1979, Mike Sachs and his wife, from Bacup saw a strange orange object flying silently and slowly over the Rossendale Valley. As they watched, it descended, stopped and hovered, then changed course and shot off at high speed. Judging from it's position, Mike thought the object had landed in a nearby quarry, so set off there with his camera to investigate. As he neared the quarry, he could hear a strange voice saying "Portakabin, Portakabin" over and over in his head.

When he looked down into the quarry, he could set a group of lights resembling a Portakabin, but when he returned the next day, he could find no building anywhere in the quarry and nothing which could have looked like a Portakabin. Other people had also reported seeing the strange object, including two policemen. On another occasion, Alf Kyme spotted a dome-shaped object surrounded with red rings descend into the quarry. A local taxi driver had chased it until it reached the quarry, but lost sight of it there. The Ministry of Defence claimed that all sightings were of a 'special exercise', but the base commander at Upper Heyford denied the knowledge of any Air Force activity in the area during those times, according to his records. The last witness claimed to have seen the UFO whilst on Blackpool pier, with an RAF jet chasing it. The strange craft dropped into the sea, and when the jet abandoned the search and left the area, the craft rose from the sea, and shot off vertically into the sky. The government hold all such reports for thirty years, before being released to the public, so researchers will have to wait until 2009 for further details.

Russia During the days of the Iron Curtain, most UFO sightings were thought to be new Russian craft being tested. After 1991, and the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the KGB released files showing that, they too, have had their fair share of UFO encounters. On 3rd February 1995, Privates Schepen and Zhabanov from the Russian Army on guard duty at the Guzev fuel depot saw a luminous dot flying low and parallel to the ground for several minutes around midnight. A faint click, similar to a cigarette lighter was heard but on investigation, there was nothing suspicious. Then they became aware of a bright light above them, a luminous dot of green, similar to a flare with a tail like a comet was seen for a few seconds travelling at great speeds at 18 metres from the ground, before splitting into two parts. One part seemed to "go out", but the other, larger one, descended and turned into a small dot, then also appeared to burn out, before disappearing from sight. The following morning, two other soldiers guarding another post at the depot saw something similar, although they both reported a ball of light flying above the depot. He also said that he knew of reports regarding similar events at the depot in December 1983. No investigation had provided any explanations, but it was confirmed that experimental aircraft were not being tested in the area at that time.

Another incident was recorded in 1983, this time near Kursk in central Russia, at a top-secret installation, by a high ranking officer. At 6 am on 17th October, he saw a UFO, round with a bright halo around it, with a darker centre, sporadically moving, changing altitude and brightness, and occasionally emitting a beam of light down to the ground. It did not show on radar, but observers from other cities who also saw it, said it was not a star, due to it's erratic movement and the beam of light.

During 21st September to 28th October 1989, a large number of UFO sightings were reported around Vorenezh, three hundred miles from Moscow. In the Western Park, six landings and a hovering UFO were reported, including the appearance of walking beings. A wealth of witness statements and videos were collected, particularly from pupils at a nearby school. Inspection of the 'landing site' revealed imprints indicating an object weighing eleven tonnes had landed there, along with an incredibly high level of magnetism.

Lieutenant Colonel Kornienko reported an encounter on the night of 5/6th May 1985 of an object behaving strangely in the sky over Khabarovsk. It was cigar shaped flying fast vertically emitting pulses of light from beneath. On 23rd May 1985, a similar object crashed into the forest there around 4 am as reported by a senior navigator programmer and a meteorological section engineer. It was elliptical, emitting light beams up and down of a dull white colour, the lower beam being much more distinct, and moving at a high altitude and speed.

Hasan Kayumovich Rakhimov was on guard duty at Post Seven of a military base, when a ball of yellow-blue colour, the size of a football, suddenly appeared 30-40 metres from him. It was 19-20 metres above ground, but appeared to bounce up and down as high as 50-100 metres as it hopped around the base, before moving toward the dog breeding quarters and disappearing. Could it have been ball lightning? Another sighting only a few weeks before by two civilians out fishing on a lake in the same area, states they saw a UFO around 8.30 at night, moving at a higher speed than any aircraft. It had a searchlight beam but the beam did not reach the ground, but appeared to scatter. The craft was clearly visible against a starry sky. As it came closer to them, the engine on their motor boat stopped. After restarting, the engine glowed from the ignition coil sockets before stopping again. By this time the UFO was above them. As the UFO flew south towards Vladivostok, they spotted a satellite above it, which moved at the same speed in the same direction as the craft. They continued watching until the searchlight beam was switched off, and the UFO was no longer visible. Were both sightings connected in some way?

Flying triangles have also been reported over Russia. One report, made in September 1990, states that one attacked a radar station at Kuybishev in Samara. The report was made by Corporal S. Dudnik, who was on duty at the time. He described it as a large, black triangular craft, around 50 feet in length down each side, which landed slowly and vertically around 160 yards away from him, making a rattling noise. A flash of light came from the centre of the object, which shattered the radar antennae behind him. He could see no opening, but it seemed to be aiming at the target, and he was directly in the path of fire. Nothing appeared to happen to him, but the antennae collapsed and began to burn brightly. An inspection team examined the steel parts of the collapsed radar antennae which appeared to have melted, who could give no explanation of how a beam of light or energy could have done the damage.

East Anglia Rendlesham Forest is vast pine forest near Ipswich, which stretches across Suffolk, down to the coast at Orford Ness near the nuclear power station at Sizewell. Orford Ness is known for it's lighthouse, but also has other mysterious buildings belonging to America's National Security Agency and used for research purposes. Nearby are RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge, which at the time, were rented by USAF. On Christmas Day 1980, a UFO was spotted by Gordon Levett, from Sudbourne, who was in his garden with his dog. When his dog started barking frantically, he looked around and saw a UFO flying directly toward him, shaped like "an upturned mushroom, glowing with a phosphorescent green- white light. It stopped and hovered over him, around roof top height, then glided silently toward RAF Woodbridge. In the early hours of Boxing Day, the Webb family were returning from a Christmas party, driving down the road through the woodland between Woodbridge and Orford, when they spotted a huge white light through the trees, before plunging into the wood. They were used to aircraft in the area, but this light was very different from normal air traffic, and it was silent. The family were puzzled as to what it was. USAF security patrolmen, Budd Parker and John Burroughs were on duty at the east gate of RAFWoodbridge, and also saw the light in the sky, which, they said, looked like a Christmas tree. When it plunged into the forest, at first they thought an aircraft had crashed. Then they realised something odd was happening. The craft had drifted downwards, under control, and there was no explosion, or impact sound. All they could see was a mass of flashing lights. They phoned headquarters, to be told that no aircraft should have been in the area at that time. Base security despatched two men, Sergeant Jim Penniston and Herman Kavanasac, to investigate.

A courting couple, hoping darkness would cover their lovemaking, were disturbed by a bright light, and then the sound of something heavy crashing to the ground less than half a mile from them. They just had time to hurriedly dress when a military jeep came hurling down the forest track, lights flashing and sirens blaring, toward the crash site. They realised something serious had happened and fled.

Penniston and Kavanasac saw strange coloured lights flickering through the trees and told Parker and Burroughs that a plane had crashed in the forest and was burning furiously. They were not convinced, and explained that what ever it was, had landed not crashed. Penniston took command and, with Parker left manning the gate, led them all out into the forest. Radio contact with base began to break down, the further they went into the wood. Their radios were swamped with static as if they were in a massive electrical field. Kavanasac remained at the edge of an access route, where his radio still operated, to act as communications relay. Penniston and Burroughs continued on.

They were sure they would find an aircraft ablaze, but as they approached a clearing, the air was full of static electricity, causing their hair to stand on end, and their skin to tingle. There they saw a strange craft, around the size of a tank, conical and hovering about a foot above the ground on beams of light. It seemed to be made of moulded dark glass and had strange markings in black on the side, and it was bathed in a glowing aura. Although he had no ideas, it was Penniston's job to ascertain what the object was. As he tried to approach it, he was caught in a type of force field. He found walking very slow, similar to wading through treacle. As he neared the craft, it suddenly shot up in the air amidst a bright flash of light, leaving him open mouthed in surprise. All the birds in the area left their roosts and deer fled in terror. The hard light of the following morning provided visible proof of the visitation; a large swathe of damaged trees in the area, along with extraordinarily high levels of radiation detected by an A10 fighter. Three indentations were found in the frozen soil which bore out the story of craft having landed. Plaster casts were taken of the imprints, however, little interest was taken in further investigations. The following night a party was underway at RAF Bentwood, when the after dinner speeches were interrupted by the night security officer, who informed senior officers that a report had been received from a patrol near Woodbridge that the craft had returned.

A team of highly skilled airforce personnel was formed to investigate. Between them they carried a dictaphone, geiger counters, and gas powered arc lights. Burroughs was selected as part of the group. As they approached the wood, no lights were visible, although they knew the craft was there. Radio communications were swamped with static, as before, and a relay was set up. The arc lights proved troublesome, and more had to be acquisitioned. Notes were made on the dictaphone as they proceeded. The only lights were from the stars and the lighthouses.

The geiger counter was employed and showed high readings, getting stronger as they advanced. An infra red night vision detector picked up heat or some form of energy source, with samples being taken of vegetation. Burroughs led a smaller team deeper into the woods, and around 2 am he reported back that they had found something. It was a glowing, flashing red light, resting on a mist-like pillar, centrally split like light through a prism. The light grew and changed shape as it approached. The form changed to that of a large eye with a dark pupil. They chased the light through the woods, and a field for more than an hour. Without warning, the object took off into the air, then shone a beam towards the ground. Pursuit was now futile, so the weary and wet men made their way back to base, where the light could clearly still be seen over Woodbridge, the laser light shining down into the security area. Civilians in the area also witnessed the strange phenomenon, hampering the military's attempts to deny the occurrences.

Everyone has their own theories. Me? I have yet to see a UFO, but I have an open mind on this subject. Unless you can tell me differently..........