The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters

by Story, Ronald

  In 1986, he was a candidate for the Washington State legislature, and in 1992, he was a candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives.

  Davenport has had an active interest in the UFO phenomenon from his early boyhood. He experienced his first UFO sighting over the St. Louis municipal airport in the summer of 1954, and he investigated his first UFO case during the summer of 1965 in Exeter, New Hampshire.

  He has been witness to several anomalous events, possibly UFO-related, including a dramatic sighting over Baja, California, in February 1990, and several nighttime sightings over Washington State during 1992.

  In addition to being the Director of the National UFO Reporting Center, Davenport has served as the director of investigations for the Washington Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network.

  Address:

  P.O. Box 45623

  University Station

  Seattle, WA 98145

  U.S.A.

  Peter Davenport

  E-mail:

  director@ufocenter.com

  Web site:

  www.UFOcenter.com

  Hotline:

  (206) 722-3000

  (8 A.M. to midnight

  Pacific Time preferred)

  POSITION STATEMENT: The issue of whether UFOs are both real and of extraterrestrial origin has been extant in the public forum since its first appearance in the 1940s. For over half a century, it has remained a subject of heated debate, with skeptics citing the fact that there is no “hard” evidence supporting the existence of UFOs.

  The proponents, on the other hand, offer up impressive quantities of principally eyewitness data, which although largely subjective and circumstantial in nature, is nevertheless quite intriguing. Despite the fact that most eyewitness reports are of low quality, many of the high-quality sighting reports involve certain objective aspects, which, to an open-minded bystander, are quite impressive.

  As a full-time, and serious-minded, UFO investigator, I strongly side with the proponents. It seems indisputable that the phenomenon is real, and that it falls outside the scope of “normal” human experience.

  Strong evidence suggests that we are dealing with a phenomenon that is being caused by palpable, solid objects whose characteristics are not of human design, and whose behavior is suggestive of intelligent control.

  As a scientist, however, I am quick to add that our understanding of UFOs is still quite limited, and that the proponents of the phenomenon, and of its unambiguous involvement with extraterrestrial intelligence, have not provided unambiguous proof in support of their position. However, that absence of incontrovertible evidence could change very quickly.

  —PETER DAVENPORT

  Dawson encounter This event allegedly occurred on August 6, 1977, near Pelham, Georgia (20 miles north of Thomasville), in Mitchell County. At 10:30 A.M., retired automobile salesman Tom Dawson (sixty-three years old, at the time) took a walk down to his favorite pond to see how it looked for fishing later that day.

  Just as he got inside the fence surrounding the pond, a circular space ship zipped right in between the trees and hovered just a few feet above the ground. At the same time he found himself, his two dogs and twenty head of cattle, frozen in place by an unseen force.

  Dawson said the craft was about 15 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. It had portholes all around and a dome on top. It made no sound and changed colors rapidly from one to another. Suddenly, a ramp came down and out came seven hairless, snowwhite beings, about 5 feet tall, with pointed ears and noses.

  Some had on tight fitting one-piece suits while others wore nothing. They talked in a high-pitched gibberish he could not understand.

  They conducted what he thought to be a medical exam of some kind. They placed a skullcap-like device on his head and a large hula hoop-shaped thing (connected to a box) around his midsection. After they had collected “some leaves and stuff,” they got back on the ship and were gone in the blink of an eye.

  Once free, Mr. Dawson ran uphill (about 300 yards) to his trailer. He was having trouble breathing and talking, so he was taken to the Mitchell County Hospital, where the doctor said he had been shaken both mentally and physically from his encounter with the UFO and its occupants. He was treated for hysteria (given something to calm him down) and later released. Dawson said he believed that if he had been a younger man the extraterrestrials would have taken him away.

  —BILLY J. RACHELS

  Day After Roswell, The (Pocket Books, 1997). Retired U.S. Army Colonel Philip J. Corso claims in this book that he seeded alien technology harvested from the Roswell spacecraft crash to American defense contractors resulting in the development of night vision equipment, lasers, integrated circuit chips, and other breakthroughs. Though not present at the Roswell crash site in 1947, he describes what happened and who was there anyway, and says he saw firsthand one of the extraterrestrial bodies while it was being shipped by truck to Wright Field in Ohio. This “secret history of the United States since 1947,” as Corso calls it, culminated in President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, whose real target wasn’t Soviet ICBM missiles but rather alien spacecraft invading our skies.

  *

  —RANDALL FITZGERALD

  Drawing by Billy Norris as described by the witness in the “Dawson encounter.”

  *

  Day the Earth Stood Still, The (20th Century Fox, 1951; directed by Robert Wise.) An historic “flying saucer” film of the Cold War era, starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, and Hugh Marlowe.

  Unlike most alien-invasion films of the 1950s, the extraterrestrial in this one is not a monster, but a clean-cut human being who brings a message of love and peace—backed by enough firepower to annihilate any troublemakers. Accompanied by an 8-ft.-tall robot wielding an awesome death ray, this emissary from another planet lands his saucer in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House lawn. “Klaatu,” as he is called, has come to warn the people of Earth that those with whom we share the solar system will not tolerate our ignorant and evil ways. Worried about the atomic bomb in particular and our tendency toward violence in general, we are told that the Space People are fully prepared to reduce the Earth to a “burnt-out cinder,” if need be.

  As a demonstration of their power—in addition to the robot’s death ray—Klaatu arranges for all electrical equipment on Earth to stop, at a prearranged time, for one day; hence the title of the movie.

  As an allegory to Jesus Christ, Klaatu is shot dead by a soldier and subsequently resurrected by the robot, exercising advanced technology that is indistinguisable from magic.

  Obviously inspired by paranoiac fears of communist subversion, the film is also important as a prelude to the UFO “contactees” who echoed the same philosophy, in their bestselling books, a few years later.

  —RONALD D. STORY & MARTIN S. KOTTMEYER

  Delphos (Kansas) landing trace This case won the National Enquirer’s $5,000 prize for the UFO story “that supplied the most scientifically valuable evidence” (of extraterrestrial life) out of more than 1,000 entries submitted in 1972. The selection was made by the Enquirer’s “Blue Ribbon Panel,” consisting of the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, then an astronomer at Northwestern University; Dr. James A. Harder, professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of California at Berkeley; Dr R. Leo Sprinkle, then professor of counseling services (psychologist) at the University of Wyoming, Laramie; Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, professor of plant physiology at Utah State University, Logan; and Dr. Robert F. Creegan, professor of philosophy at the State University of New York, Albany (the one panel member who did not vote for the Delphos case).

  Here is the story: Shortly after sunset (about 7 P.M. CST), on November 2, 1971, sixteen-year-old Ronnie Johnson was finishing his chores on his parents’ farm when he suddenly heard a loud “rumbling” sound in the direction of the hog house. Looking up, he suddenly saw a brilliantly lit “mushroom-shaped” object hovering about two feet above the ground, with a shaft of white light below and glowing with intensely bright
multicolored light (red, blue, orange, and yellow), “like the light of a welder’s arc.”

  After about five minutes, the nine-foot diameter “craft” suddenly ascended and started heading south. As it passed over the hog shed, about fifty feet from the witness, the boy said that the rumbling sound changed to a high pitch “like a jet,” at which time Ronnie said he was temporarily blinded and completely paralyzed. About fifteen minutes later (now 7:20 P.M.), his sight and mobility returned and he burst into the house to tell his parents, Durel, 54, and Erma Johnson, 49. They rushed out of the house (they were eating dinner at the time, and had called Ronnie in earlier) just in time to see a bright object receding to the south. (Apparently, the object was moving very slowly, since it required fifteen minutes to travel only about 200 feet, as later estimated by Mr. Johnson, and was close enough to be described by Mrs. Johnson as looking “like a giant washtub.”)

  The Johnsons then rushed over to the spot where the UFO had hovered, and found the extraordinary, eight foot-diameter-ring, which they said “glowed in the dark.” (The “ring” was actually shaped something like “an irregular horseshoe…with an open space to the northwest. The outer diameter was approximately 90 inches in a northsouth direction and 99 inches in an east-west direction. The thickness of the horseshoe/ring varied from 12 inches to 30 inches.”)

  Mr. Johnson quickly photographed the ring, using a Polaroid camera with a flashbulb—later claiming that the picture constituted proof that the ring glowed! The Johnsons further claimed that when they touched the strange, grayish-white substance of the ring their fingers went numb. The effect did not last long in the case of Mr. Johnson, but Mrs. Johnson claimed a longterm numbness in her thigh, where she rubbed her hand after touching the “glowing ring.”

  The site where sixteen-year-old Ronnie Johnson, of Delphos, Kansas, claimed to have seen a glowing, mushroom-shaped UFO.

  Curiously, instead of calling a doctor or reporting the extraordinary incident to proper authorities (such as the Department of Public Safety or the police), Durel Johnson got into his truck with his son (this was about 8 P.M.), and headed straight for the office of the local newspaper. When the Johnsons arrived at the Delphos Republican, they found the editor Willard Critchfield, who was apparently unimpressed with the story; he made an excuse why he couldn’t go to the farm that night and see for himself the evidence of an alleged UFO landing; nor would he send anyone else to check on the bizarre tale.

  Not one to be discouraged, Mr. Johnson drove into town with Ronnie the next morning, this time seeking to find Critchfield at the main restaurant in town where the editor usually ate. It happened that Critchfield was not there, but Johnson did find, instead, Mrs. Lester (Thaddia) Smith, a reporter on the Republican, who had already heard the UFO story from her boss, and who already knew the Johnsons. (She later wrote, in a signed testimonial, that: “The Johnson family having lived in the Delphos Community their entire life are respected, truthful, conscientious, trustworthy, and well thought of, typical hard-working Kansas farm family.”)

  Mrs. Smith was, therefore, quite willing to visit the Johnson farm (which she did, in the company of her husband and son-in-law) at around 11:30 A.M. on the 3rd of November. Mrs. Smith apparently accepted the Johnsons’ story at face value, which she sought to help substantiate by collecting samples of the ring soil and some tree branches apparently broken off by the departing UFO. She, in turn, notified the Ottawa County sheriff , Ralph Enlow, who, with Kansas highway patrol trooper Kenneth Yager and undersheriff Harlan Enlow, arrived at the Johnson farm at about 2 P.M. also on 3 November. They talked to the Johnson family and inspected the “landing” site, taking photographs and soil samples. In addition, undersheriff Enlow stated in his report that: “We used a Civil Defense Radiological monitor to determine that the soil was not radioactive.”

  Ted Phillips arrived at the scene thirty-one days later, in the company of sheriff Enlow, for an on-site investigation at the request of Dr. Hynek, Director of the Center for UFO Studies. Phillips conducted a detailed investigation which included subsequent testing (by eighteen independent laboratories) of several soil samples (including comparisons between “ring soil” and “control soil”), but all the results were inconclusive. The upshot of Phillips’ investigation was: “no definitive conclusion…but, these traces in conjunction with over 1,000 physical trace reports from around the world do pose fascinating questions.”

  Most fascinating of all were the ring’s special properties. As stated in a sensational news story in the National Enquirer:

  …independent laboratory tests of the soil have shown that it:

  • Mysteriously resists water.

  • Retards plant growth.

  • Has a calcium content up to 10 times higher than the earth around it.

  • Contains a “white fibrous substance” that is not in nearby soil.

  What is so utterly amazing, however, is how these classic symptoms of the common fairy ring fungus, Marasmius oreades, had gone unrecognized after repeated analyses and “investigations” by so many “experts” and others who should have known better.

  What may appear to be a UFO “landing trace” in this picture is actually none other than the”fairy ring” mushroom, a fungus known to botanists as Marasmius oreades.

  According to the Turf Pest Management Handbook: “Fairy rings are likely to appear if there is an abundance of organic matter in the soil. These fungi decompose organic matter to products which first stimulate growth of grass. Then fungus filaments either become so dense that the soil cannot be wetted and grass plants die from lack of moisture, or they excrete a toxic substance which inhibits growth of the grass.”

  In fact, there was abundant organic matter found in the ring soil (according to a report by Dr Harold H. Williams, a geochemist, who analyzed a sample sent to him at Sunwapta Minerals Ltd. of Canada by APRO, and confirmed by an independent analysis performed at the request of Kansas City lawyer—and part-time UFO investigator—the late Clancy D. Tull).

  In addition, there were other factors which normally contribute to the accelerated growth of the fairy ring fungus: recent heavy rains, leaves having fallen from the overhanging elm trees (creating a good humus), and animal urine in the soil (providing the necessary nitrogen for good fertilization).

  There is also the curious fact that the “white fibrous substance” had “penetrated” the soil to a depth of fourteen inches. Such deep growth is also typical of Marasmius, which can sometimes grow to a depth of seven feet. Many of the surrounding elm trees also show signs of disease (as can be seen in photographs taken within a few days of the supposed incident) which, again, figured in the Johnson’s report. (It was said that the bark of the trees facing the ring also glowed in the dark, just as the ring did.) Indeed, Marasmius happens to be known as a wood-rotting fungus of living trees (especially elm) that appears on the outer bark—as can be verified by consulting the Index of Plant Diseases in the United States, Agricultural Research Service Handbook No 165.

  Another symptom is the accelerated growth of mushrooms (or “toadstools”) in the vicinity of the ring, which also occurred in due course. And, according to a letter dated 30 November 1972 (in APRO’s files), from Dr. Alexander H. Smith of the University of Michigan Herbarium, a sample sent to him by none other than Blue Ribbon Panel member and botanist Dr. Frank B. Salisbury was apparently identified as none other than Marasmius oreades, the common fairy ring mushroom!

  As for the associated UFO sighting, several factors tend to discredit the account given by the Johnson boy: all investigators agree that no evidence was ever found of soil-heating, as might be expected from a brilliantly-lit UFO “blasting off.” In fact, there is strong evidence that the ground (it is said) under the hovering UFO was not disturbed at all! As can be seen in photographs, taken within twenty-four hours of the supposed “landing” or “hovering” of the UFO, there were several small twigs resting directly on top of the whitish ring which showed no signs of being disturbed. If t
he object did indeed leave the “glowing ring” as evidence of its visit, one would logically expect that it would have at least deposited some of the same material on the overlying twigs, if not burning or blowing them completely away.

  To make matters worse, from the standpoint of witness credibility, Ronnie Johnson reported that the UFO returned on April 27, 1974, and he predicts it will return again a third time. Ronnie also claims to have acquired psychic powers since the first UFO incident, and to have observed other strange goings on. To wit, during the summer of 1973, he claims to have spotted, and chased, a creature dubbed the “Wolf Girl”—described “as having wild blonde hair, wearing a torn red dress of cloth, about three feet tall and standing with a stoop.

  “When it ran, it got down on all fours and ran away faster than anything human can run,” Ronnie said.

  —RONALD D. STORY

  Demon-Haunted World, The (Random House, 1995). Astronomer Carl Sagan’s last major book, published before his death. Addressing pseudoscience issues, Sagan devotes a section to alien abduction accounts, which he explains as a type of sleep disturbance that gullible researcher-hypnotists have manipulated for profit. Nonetheless, the eminent astronomer believes there is “genuine scientific paydirt in UFOs and alien abductions”—only it has to do with brain physiology, the nature of hallucinations, the psychology of systems of manipulation and belief, and “perhaps even the origins of our religions.”

  —RANDALL FITZGERALD

  demonic theory of UFOs One explanation of UFOs is that they are demonic in nature; a logical theory in the sense that if they could be angels from God, they could also be the Devil and his demons, or a mixture of both in a classical religious dualism. (See RELIGION AND UFOS)

  To ask if UFOs are demonic is to ask in the broadest sense if UFOs are evil, or at least, if their conduct toward man would be evil from man’s point of view. Much modern science fiction in books and movies has dealt with the theme that Earth might be “invaded” by evil powers from another world. This view is not too far from the view of Christian fundamentalism that there are evil powers, devils, and demons, beyond man’s control, which can invade this world.