Thinking that there were still several minutes before the TV show he had planned to watch, John rewired the radio quickly and checked the lighting system of the car. Elaine took the children up to bed and checked the clock. She was amazed to find that it was 1 A.M.; almost three hours had vanished.
The next day, Elaine told her mother about the green mist and the strange light but not about the time loss. They also decided it would be best to forget it. Apart from a deep weariness the next day, there were no ill effects felt at the time.
However, over the next three years, the lifestyle of the Avis family underwent a dramatic change. John had a nervous breakdown, for no apparent reason, within months. Both he and Elaine then began to gain enormously in self-confidence. Kevin, who was a backward reader at school, suddenly shot ahead in leaps and bounds. Within months, the whole family except Stuart stopped eating meat. In fact, they could not even stand the smell of it. Smoking and alcohol were also cut out. (John had previously smoked sixty to seventy cigarettes per day.) Eventually, the couple began to link their behavior change to the UFO, the green mist, and whatever happened during the missing three hours. They wanted to find out if there could be a connection, and in mid-1977, they reported the incident to local UFO investigators.
Andy Coffins and Barry King pursued the investigation for the British Flying Saucer Review and found that both John and Elaine (Kevin was not involved in the investigation by mutual agreement) had suffered peculiar dreams since the experience (which, according to their testimony, were not discussed with one another until questioned by investigators). The dreams were about weird creatures and examinations in operating, theater-type rooms.
A qualified hypnotist, Dr. Leonard Wilder, a dental surgeon by profession, was brought into the case and apparently released memories that had heretofore been buried in the Avises subconscious minds. After only two sessions with the hypnotist, John and Elaine began remembering details from that “missing period” on their own.
A graphic account of the “missing three hours” was obtained. It seemed that, when inside the green mist, the car (with the Avis family in it) had been teleported up a column of light into a very large “craft.” John, Elaine, and Kevin were separated (the other two children remained asleep) and given “medical examinations” by four-foot-tall creatures looking something like birds. In contrast to these beings were some tall entities (over six and a half feet tall) wearing “lurex” suits, and balaclava helmets, who gave John and Elaine a tour around the ship. The tour included an explanation of the ship’s propulsion system, and John was even shown a holographic “map” of a section of the “universe” (galaxy?), which included the aliens’ home planet. (John believes that visual information was implanted into his brain, to be triggered at a later date) The Avises were eventually returned to their car, which, in turn, was teleported back down to a spot on the road, about a half-mile beyond where they were abducted.
The true nature of this case is difficult to determine or to comprehend. There is no proof for or against an actual encounter with alien beings, even though, perhaps, the “abductees” firmly believe that to be the answer. Regardless of the final outcome of this case, if an explanation is forthcoming, be it from a physical or psychological perspective, that explanation should add to our knowledge in one of those two general areas.
—JENNY RANDLES
Avensa airline hoax This photo was originally submitted to the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) by a Mr. Delio Ribas, of Valera, State of Trujillo, Venezuela, in October 1966. Only the print was available for analysis, as the negative remained in the possession of the pilot who took the picture.
In his letter, Mr. Ribas said the photograph was taken sometime in 1965 by a pilot friend of his employed by the Avensa Airline, while they were on a flight between the city of Barcelona and the international Maiquetia Airport. He stated that “…the airline pilot who took the photograph and myself are absolutely certain that the object is one of the so-called ‘flying Saucers.’ The pilot does not wish to speak much on the subject because he has been the object of ridicule by some of his Venezuelan fellow pilots and also certain pilot friends in the USAF….”
Mr. Fernando de Calvet, a professional topographer and geometrician, made a study of the position of the shadows and demonstrated mathematically that all of the objects and details in the photograph have a self-consistent geometry. Also, Mr. Konrad Honeck, an electronics engineer and Mr. Miguel Sapowsky, another engineer in charge of the technical department of a large Caracas television station, substantiated de Calvet’s explanation.
In 1971, the photo was studied by APRO consultant Dr. B. Roy Frieden of the University of Arizona’s Optical Sciences Center. Dr. Frieden noted that the “UFO” seemed too sharp to be a large distant object, and then determined that its shadow was far less dense than the shadow of the plane, indicating that it had been drawn in. Finally, an engineer in Caracas, Venezuela, confessed to hoaxing the photo. His motive: revenge against “UFO buffs” who had ridiculed him for not believing in “flying saucers.”
He did it by placing a photo of a button onto an enlargement of the aerial shot, which was then rephotographed; he then “burned” in the “UFO” shadow, when the print was made.
—APRO
This “flying saucer” turned out to be a button superimposed on the background scene.
B
B-57 bomber photo Originally intended as merely a promotional shot of the Martin (Canberra) B-57 bomber, the photograph—which seems to clearly show more than one aeroform—found its way to NICAP (the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena) and subsequently became a UFO-photo classic. It was taken near Edwards Air Force Base in California about 1954.
According to Mr. Ralph Rankow, who analyzed the photo for NICAP: “No one actually reported seeing, with their own eyes, the saucerlike object in the upper right portion of the picture. Even so, the object evoked such curiosity that another flight was reportedly made over the same area to look for ground reflections that might have caused it-although I understand none were observed….”
Photo of B-57 bomber with apparent UFO (upper-right corner)
Close-up of UFO
“A close scrutiny of the B-57 photo shows the trees, bushes, and houses all casting long shadows, but the object throws no shadows on the ground whatsoever. Moreover (and this point is very important), the dark parts of the object are much too strong to be so far away. As the trees, bushes, and houses get farther away, the haze cuts down their intensity and contrast. And the wooded area in the distance directly behind the object is fuzzy and weak by comparison with the strong highlights and shadows on the UFO itself.
“In my analysis report to NICAP, I also pointed out that the object obviously had dimension. Its pattern of light and shadow is consistent with the rest of the picture, with the sun low and coming from the left. The object is also symmetrically shaped and contains all tones of gray, from white to black.”
The Martin Aircraft Company never could satisfactorily explain what the second image was. It appeared to be following their B-57 plane in flight, although they tried to persuade UFO investigators that it was merely a “scratch” or “rub” on the film. The curious photo underwent a series of unexplained “touch up” jobs by the Martin Company during the course of their supplying prints to different UFO investigators.
Three different versions of the photo exist: (1) the original (which is reproduced here), (2) one with a scratch across the UFO (producing a jagged appearance), and (3) one with the UFO nearly blotted out. No one could ever supply a satisfactory reason for the touch-ups, nor a solution to the mystery of the UFO in the original picture.
—RONALD D. STORY
Baker, Robert A., Jr. (b. 1921). A native Kentuckian and World War II veteran, Dr. Baker received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Kentucky and his Ph.D. degree in psychology from Stanford in 1952. Following employment as an MIT Research Psychologist and a similar position
with the U.S. Army, Baker also worked as a clinical and forensic psychologist before teaching and doing research at the University of Kentucky from 1970 to 1990.
Robert A. Baker
Dr. Baker has published over 100 professional journal articles, is editor of several collections of scientific humor (as well as a history of the American detective story) and had edited several textbooks. He has also written They Call It Hypnosis (1990), Missing Pieces (with Joe Nickell), Hidden Memories (1995), Mind Games (1996), and most recently, he has edited Child Sexual Abuse and False Memory Syndrome (1999). He is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as CSICOP (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) and a regular contributor to The Skeptical Inquirer and Skeptical Briefs regarding UFOs, aliens and alleged abductees.
Address:
3495 Castleton Hill
Lexington, KY 40517
U.S.A.
POSITION STATEMENT: My conviction is that historians of future generations will look at the current ET hypothesis, with its UFOs and alien abductions, as the greatest mass delusion of the 20th century—equivalent in all respects to the 19th century’s Age of Spiritualism with its ghosts, mediums, and seances. What is truly mind-boggling is the ease with which a few zealous salesmen of the supernatural convinced millions there was something to their nonsense. Raised on a steady diet of Star Wars, Star Trek, and The X-Files, and aided by wishful thinking, pseudoscience and pop-psychology, the average citizen was ready to be persuaded that the truth was, indeed, “out there” and that an evil and conspiratorial government was denying him and her their “right to know.” Future students of the behavioral sciences will, literally, “have a ball” dissecting this massive irrationality.
—ROBERT A. BAKER
Balwyn (Australia) photo Said to have been taken by a prominent Melbourne businessman on April 2, 1966, the Balwyn photo has appeared in numerous .books and films, and is always represented as a “genuine UFO.”
According to the story, at 2:20 P.M. the man was in his garden using up the remaining film in his Polaroid camera. Suddenly, he said, a bright reflection caught his eye. As he looked up, he saw a bell-shaped object hovering, on its side, over a house. The man snapped the photo, whereupon the object accelerated at great speed and took off in a northerly direction. He estimated the object was about 20 to 25 feet in diameter and at an altitude of about 150 feet.
However, when the photo was examined by Aerial Phenomena Research Organization consultant Dr. B. Roy Frieden, Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, he found that the chimney in the lower part of the photo was more blurred than the alleged UFO, which prompted him to examine the photo more closely. He then found a jagged line of discontinuity running across the center of the photo, through the cloud field, which suggests that there are actually two separate photos joined together and rephotographed to make the one.
—APRO
Balwyn, Australia, “UFO”
Behind the Flying Saucers (Henry Holt, 1950). Variety columnist Frank Scully wrote this book based on a series of 1949 columns he wrote for the show business tabloid describing how two informants revealed to him details of a U.S. Air Force retrieval, somewhere east of Aztec, New Mexico, of a crashed flying saucer and its crew of sixteen aliens. Though Scully’s account was convincingly undermined by other journalists, especially the credibility of his two witnesses, this tale helped inspire later variations on the story culminating in the Roswell crashed saucer stories of the 1980s and 90s.
—RANDALL FITZGERALD
Belgian UFO wave of 1989-90 Over the weekend of November 25-26, 1989, alarmed citizens from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium reported seeing a strange luminous disk circling their homes. Later it turned out that the sightings had been caused by a light show of a disco in Halen (province of Limbourg). The owner had been trying to attract youngsters by projecting a rotating xenon lamp onto the cloud-deck. Despite the fact that a local UFO group had identified the culprit, the light-show continued to spark off UFO reports in the area until December 16th when, after the Belgian Air Force had sent two F-16 fighter planes into the air in an attempt to identify the mysterious disk, the Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the disco manager to switch off his installation.
THE COMING OF THE TRIANGLES
Meanwhile, another UFO incident had occurred 70 km southeast of Halen. This time the events were to create waves far beyond the borders of the small Belgian state. From 5:24 P.M. until 8:39 P.M. on November 29, 1989, two members of the gendarmerie, driving their patrol car just south of the city of Eupen (the German-speaking part of Belgium), found themselves entangled in a cat and mouse game with an unknown flying object.
The policemen described what they had seen as “a dark solid mass in the shape of an isosceles triangle.” According to their statements, it carried “three blinding white lights in each corner and a pulsating red light in the centre.” In the course of the events, the two men had also spotted “a white ball of light” over the watchtower of the lake of Gileppe with “what looked like beams of red light shooting out in opposite directions” (investigators later found that Venus was probably responsible for this phase of the sightings).
Throughout the three-hour incident, the policemen had been in constant contact with their headquarters in Eupen. Greatly to their relief, the dispatch officer informed them that he too had seen the triangular object and that additional sightings were being reported by patrols in nearby communities. Several witnesses—out of 150 eyewitness accounts that were gathered that night—mentioned a distinct sound that reminded them of a ventilator. One policeman reported that he had also noticed “something at the back of the craft that was turning round, like a turbine.”
SOBEPS COMES INTO PLAY
The next day the story of the Eupen “triangle” was highlighted in the press and on various Belgian television stations. During the first week of December 1989, members of the Société Belge d’Etude des Phénomènes Spatiaux (Belgian Society for the Study of Space Phenomena), Belgian’s largest UFO group, visited the region in search for additional witnesses. It marked the beginning of the group’s monopoly over the events that were to follow.
The “Beligian Triangle” as sketched by one of the gendarmes who spotted the “craft” over Eupen on November 29, 1989
December 11-12, 1989 was another memorable day for the Belgian UFOlogists. That night numerous people in the regions around the cities of Liège and Namur were baffled by a mysterious illuminated contraption that sailed over their homes. The sightings came to a strange end when, shortly after 2 A.M., a man in Jupille-sur-Meuse, was awakened by a deep, pulsating sound, and saw an eggshaped object that seemed to be stuck in a spruce-fir. The object carried three bright spotlights underneath and something that looked like a rudder at the back. On the hull there was a logo reminiscent of classic symbols that represent the orbits of electrons. It took a few seconds before it managed to tear itself loose, after which it headed towards the witness, flew over his house, and finally disappeared in the distance. According to the witness, the next day Army officers were searching the area.
On December 21, 1989, the Belgian Minister of Defense issued a statement telling the public that the Army had no idea what was causing the UFO reports. With no convincing explanations coming from the scientific community either, speculation and imagination were given free play, and it did not take long before almost any bright light in the sky was labelled a UFO.
As UFO reports kept pouring in for more than a year and a half, the popularity of SOBEPS increased at an equivalent pace. New volunteer investigators were recruited and interviews with members of the group were published in almost every newspaper and magazine in the country. In two years time, SOBEPS collected approximately 2,000 eyewitness accounts, some 450 of which were investigated. Most of these cases were regarded as unexplained. They are detailed in two large books.
The majority of the sightings occurred within an area of about 200 b
y 100 kilometers in size. While the first series of reports originated from the Dutch-and German speaking areas in the east of the country, the wave had shifted to the French speaking part of Belgium in a matter of days. To skeptics, this illustrated how socio-cultural factors, such as language, population and the location of UFO investigators, had strongly influenced the reporting process. They further pointed to the lack of experience of some of the new recruits and to the fact that SOBEP’s predisposition to promote an extraterrestrial origin for the events, had diverted the investigators’ attention from looking for down-to-earth explanations.
THE AIR FORCE CLOSES RANKS
Despite the criticism, SOBEPS managed to earn respect from both UFOlogists and non-UFOlogists, including the Belgian Air Force. During the first weeks of the wave, the BAF had been swamped with telephone calls. With an already chockfull agenda on his hands, Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfried Debrouwer, later promoted to Major-General, decided to call in SOBEPS. This marked the beginning of a short but intense relationship which reached its peak during the Easter days of 1990. During this prolonged holiday weekend of April 14-17, a Hawker Siddeley and a Brittan Norman reconnaissance airplane were put at standby during a skywatch organized by SOBEPS. The code-name of this historical collaboration was “Operation Identification Ovni.” Military men, civilians, investigators and newsmen took part. The only absentees were the UFOs themselves.
THE EVIDENCE
On July 11, 1990, De Brouwer held a remarkable press-conference at the NATO headquarters at Evere, Brussels. In the presence of a considerable press crowd he acknowledged that, on the night of March 30-31, 1990, two F-16 fighters had been scrambled to identify a number of inexplicable lights reported by a group of gendarmes. Although the pilots never had visual contact with anything unusual, one of them had managed to videotape the jet’s radar display. Analysis of the tape by scientists, military experts and skeptics revealed that the freakish radar returns had been caused by an unusual meteorological condition in combination with a malfunction of the radar’s electronics. The lights that had been seen just prior to the scramble were identified as bright stars and planets.
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters Page 20