The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters

by Story, Ronald

  Photo by Ed Walters, taken on May 1, 1988, showing two different UFOs

  No debris of a suspicious nature was ever found, even though many of the sighted objects were over the land when they disappeared. Several of the bubba sightings have been analyzed in detail and are presented in UFOs are Real…Here’s the Proof (Walters and Maccabee, 1997) along with the details of this author’s sighting. Also in that reference is an analysis of the January, 1990, sighting in which Ed Walters and other witnesses took pictures of a structured object with a red light on the bottom.

  After July, 1992, the sightings in the Gulf Breeze area diminished considerably.

  Photos taken by Ed Walters on January 12, 1994. The wide-angle view shows the jet and UFO in the same picture. Enlargements are superimposed to show more detail. The second insert shows the F-15 partially obscuring the UFO.

  Although there have been quite a few sightings in the years since, there has been nothing like the 1987-1988 and 1990-1992 concentrations. Ed Walters had nine sightings during the time period from 1993 through the end of 1996 and took pictures or videos of what he saw. The incident depicted in the above photos is described below.

  *

  January 12, 1994

  Ed Walters was in his office which has windows that face northward toward the Santa Rosa Sound (his house is on the north side of Pensacola Beach). Across the Sound is the south shore of Gulf Breeze.

  As he was working at his desk a glint from something shiny in the clear sky attracted his attention. He looked up and saw a strange object, stationary in the sky apparently above Gulf Breeze. Its shape indicated it was no ordinary object. He grabbed a 35 mm camera with zoom lens (with a maximum effective focal length of 214 mm) that he kept loaded in the event that something should appear, and ran outside where he had an unobstructed view. The camera was set on automatic so, based on subsequent experiments, its shutter speed was probably 1/250 or 1/500 sec.

  As he started to zoom and focus on the UFO, he heard the noise of jets. Lowering the camera he noticed two jets—one low and one high—coming from the east, heading west toward the object (he was looking north-northwest). They were not traveling at a high rate of speed (estimates based on the photos suggest about 300 mph). He un-zoomed the lens to get a wide angle shot and, when the lower jet appeared in the frame, he took the first picture. He wanted a close-up of the UFO, so he zoomed in on it and tried to hold the camera steady. This took a few seconds and, just as he was about to click the shutter button, he noticed that the lower jet was entering the field of view. He took the second shot and watched as the lower jet made a slight curve around the UFO and then headed west. The upper jet was still headed west. These two jets traveled westward for several seconds and then made a U turn and headed back toward the UFO. Suddenly it streaked away to the east and the jets then made a southward turn and flew over Pensacola Beach and off into the distance. The total sighting may have lasted about a minute.

  Ed described the UFO as appearing like a large egg with its axis vertical, with several smaller balllike or eggshaped objects forming a horizontal ring about the vertical center of the UFO. The photos support this description. The first photo shows the UFO and the jet approaching. The second photo is particularly remarkable, however, because the shutter opened just as the jet was passing between the camera and the UFO. From the known size of the jet, the known focal length of the camera lens at full zoom and image size on the film, one can calculate that the jet was about 8,500 ft from the camera and about 1,300 ft high. The image size of the UFO then indicates that it was about 30 ft wide and 20 ft high if it was only a few hundred feet farther from the camera than the jet (larger if it was farther away).

  The experiences of Walters, his wife and family, and many of the other witnesses have been documented in three books: The Gulf Breeze Sightings by Ed and Frances Walters (Morrow, 1990; Avon 1992), UFO Abductions in Gulf Breeze by Ed and Frances Walters (Avon, 1994), and UFOs are Real, Here’s the Proof by Ed Walters and Bruce Maccabee (Avon, 1997).

  —BRUCE MACCABEE

  POSTSCRIPT: This whole “three-ring flying saucer circus,” claims science writer Robert Sheaffer, has been exposed as a hoax perpetrated by Walters for financial gain. A Gulf Breeze youth came forward to confess that he and two others, including Walters’ son, had helped to fabricate the photos. Equally damning, occupants of a house Walters had lived in during the alleged UFO blitz found a UFO model—hidden under some insulation in the garage attic—which resembled the object seen in the Walters photos. The model was wrapped in part of an old house plan drawn by Walters himself. News photographers were able to use the model to essentially duplicate some of the UFO photos that had made Walters rich and famous.

  When two MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) investigators (Rex and Carol Salisberry) took another look at Walters, they found that he was “adept at trick photography,” and the case had all the earmarks of a clever hoax; one that enriched Walters with a book deal and fees from movie and television producers, which reportedly added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  Interestingly, this updated finding caused MUFON to lose confidence in the Salisberrys—who had previously received an award from MUFON for their outstanding investigations—but not in Walters.

  —RANDALL FITZGERALD

  H

  Haines, Richard F. (b. 1937). Dr. Haines retired from NASA as a senior research scientist in 1988. Originally from Seattle, Washington, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees (in experimental psychology and physiology) from Michigan State University in 1962 and 1964 respectively.

  Richard Haines

  He then worked for the NASA Ames Research Center, where he developed and then directed NASA’s “High Luminance Vision Laboratory” carrying out rendezvous and docking simulation studies for America’s Gemini and Apollo Programs.

  From 1967 to 1985 Haines was a research scientist in various NASA life science divisions carrying out theoretical and applied research on astronaut and aircraft pilot vision. He was appointed Chief of the Space Human Factors Office at Ames (1986-1988) and retired from government service in 1988.

  Dr. Haines was also an associate professor of psychology at San Jose State University, and a senior research scientist for the Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (1988-1992). In 1993 he joined the staff of RECOM Technologies, Inc. to carry out advanced research and development in multimedia telecommunications for NASA’s International Space Station, and, more recently, for an advanced air traffic control research simulator to be built at Ames.

  Dr. Haines is the author or editor of six books on UFO themes, including: UFO Phenomena and the Behavioral Scientist (1969), Observing UFOs (1980), and Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (1998).

  Address:

  325 Langton Ave.

  Los Altos, CA 94022 U.S.A.

  POSITION STATEMENT: Although I do not yet have enough reliable information concerning the relevant characteristics of the UFO phenomenon with which to form a scientific judgment of its “core” identity, I do believe that the phenomenon is objectively real; i.e., I believe that the many thousands of eyewitnesses around the world are experiencing UFO phenomena in a manner very similar to the way any other human with normal sensory capabilities would perceive it if they happened to be present. And the wide variety of reported characteristics of UFOs suggests that there is also a cognitive (psychological?) component present which brings into play deeply submerged sub-or preconscious protosymbols lying largely dormant within most people. I also think that we will one day discover the phenomenon’s “core” identity. When that day comes, we are likely to be in for some big surprises concerning the nature of reality and infancy of our sciences.

  —RICHARD F. HAINES

  Hall, Richard H. (b. 1930). Richard Hall is a graduate (in philosophy) of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1958), and is currently employed by a major publishing firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Among numerous other credits in the UFO field, he was assistant director of the Nation
al Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) from 1958 to 1967, and former editor of the MUFON UFO Journal.

  Richard Hall

  He is currently Director of Publications (and a Board Member) of MUFON; a National Board Member for the Fund for UFO Research; and Consulting Editor for the International UFO Reporter (IUR) (published by the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, Illinois). Hall was the compiler-editor of The UFO Evidence, published by NICAP in 1964, and the author of Uninvited Guests: A Documented History of UFO Sightings, Alien Encounters, and Coverups, published by Aurora Press in 1988). He is presently compiling and editing The UFO Evidence: Volume II: 1964-1993, to be published by Scarecrow Press in 2001.

  Address:

  4418 39th St.

  Brentwood, MD 20722

  U.S.A.

  POSITION STATEMENT: Among the hundreds of so-called “UFO reports” each year, a sizable fraction of those clearly observed by reputable witnesses remain unexplained—and difficult to explain in conventional terms. There is a modicum of physical evidence, radar cases, residual effects, and some films and photographs in support of the unexplained cases. Collectively, these cases constitute a genuine scientific mystery, badly in need of well-supported, systematic investigation.

  In answer to the skeptical objection that the alleged unexplained cases have not been thoroughly investigated, that is exactly my point. They should be. The circumstantial and sometimes physical—evidence indicates that something real is going on for which no satisfactory explanation currently exists.

  The available “theories” include: (1) Extraterrestrial, (a) visitors from another planet, (b) “time travelers,” (c) gods or other not entirely physical beings from realms unknown; (2) Terrestrial, (a) mistaken observations of Earth technology or familiar events misidentified, (b) advanced secret technology, (c) psychic projections of the human mind, (d) hoaxes/imagination.

  I reject (2-a) and (2-d) as inapplicable to the hardcore unexplained cases. Among the other choices, by Occam’s razor, I prefer (1-a—the so-called “nuts and bolts” visitors from elsewhere.

  —RICHARD H. HALL

  Harmonic 33 (A.W. Reed, 1968). New Zealand airline pilot Bruce Cathie, seeking an explanation for six of his own UFO sightings, writes about his discovery of a worldwide grid system set up by aliens in ancient times to power their spaceships using gravitational frequencies. He suspects that scientist Nikola Tesla uncovered the power grid’s secrets, which were seized at his death by U.S. government officials who have since exploited this information.

  —RANDALL FITZGERALD

  harvest This is a central term used in The RA Material and other spiritually based ET channeled sources to denote the impending physical, energetic, and consciousness transformation on Earth. This global shift is predicted to occur during the time period of 2010-2013 A.D., after which the planet will enter a higher dimension of cosmic life. Geological upheaval, climatic and solar anomalies, increasing UFO visitation, socio-cultural stresses, and the entire range of global ET contacts are all believed to be due to the imminence of this major cycle change in human evolution.

  This change is also alluded to by other mystic, indigenous, and New Age sources, including esoteric Christianity (“the Rapture, Ascension, Revelation, Kingdom of Heaven”), Judaism and Islam (“Return of the Messiah/Imam Mahdi”), Hinduism (“end of the Kali Yuga”), Theosophy (“the Aquarian Age”), as well as the Mayans and Hopis (“the Fifth World”), Edgar Cayce, and Nostradamus. It is held that only those individuals who embrace love, compassion, and kindness to a sufficient degree will be able to remain in incarnation on the physical planet, after Earth enters its new cycle of evolution.

  —SCOTT MANDELKER

  Hesemann, Michael (b. 1964). One of Europe’s leading UFO researchers, Michael Hesemann studied cultural anthropology and history at Göttingen University. Since 1984 he has published Magazine 2000, Europe’s most popular magazine on the paranormal. His international bestsellers The Cosmic Connection, Beyond Roswell (with Philip Mantle), UFOs: A Secret History, and The Fatima-Secret were published in eighteen countries with a circulation of nearly a million copies.

  Hesemann has produced several award-winning video documentaries (distributed in fifteen countries) and worked as a UFO expert and advisor for several TV programs in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Mexico, and Japan. He is an sssociate member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and the Israel Exploration Society.

  He received honorary membership in the Italian Centro Ufologico Nazionale (C.U.N.) and was honored with the Colman VonKeviczky Medal of Hungarian UFOology. In 1989, Hesemann organized the world’s largest UFO conference, “Dialogue with the Universe,” with 1830 participants and 44 speakers in Frankfurt, Germany. It was the first time that Russian scientists, military, and UFO researchers presented their evidence to a Western audience. Because of his contacts in Russia, Hesemann was able to publish the KGB UFO files.

  Hesemann has investigated UFO incidents in forty-four countries and has travelled more than 700.000 miles in search of answers. He has interviewed U.S. sstronauts as well as Russian cosmonauts on their UFO experiences. He has lectured at international conferences in twenty-three countries, at dozens of universities, the United Nations, and was personally received by Pope John Paul II.

  Hesemann’s historical work on religious relics was greeted by the Pontiff with “admiration and appreciation…for your laborious research.” Hesemann resides in Duesseldorf, Germany.

  Address:

  An der Obererft 88

  D-41464 Neuss

  Germany

  E-mail:

  michaelhesemann@

  www.hesemann.m-n-d.com

  Web site:

  www.hesemann.m-n-d.com

  POSITION STATEMENT: (1) After investigating the UFO phenomenon all over the world, after studying thousands of pages of released governmental documents, and interviewing eyewitnesses and insiders, including generals, intelligence officers, cosmonauts, and astronauts, military and commercial pilots, I do not have the shadow of a doubt anymore that we are indeed visited by extraterrestrial intelligences. The evidence just does not allow another conclusion.

  (2) We have to learn to deal with this situation and prepare for a contact. Studying the behavioral pattern of the phenomenon, I came to the conclusion that they are neither friend nor foe, but study our planet and civilization from a mainly scientific perspective. They are as curious to learn more about us, as we would love to study other human and humanoid civilizations.

  Michael Hesemann

  Most probably the ETs have been here since the beginning of mankind. They, during our history, intervened in our evolution several times. Today, after the human race have become “adults,” they prefer to be nonintrusive, obviously because every interference would contaminate their research subject. Therefore, any approach must come from our side, by a common, international effort, e.g. through the United Nations.

  (3) A contact with an extraterrestrial civilization is the greatest challenge for mankind in the Third Millennium. We would finally realize that we are indeed not alone, what could cause a new Copernican revolution, a quantum leap in our thinking and perspective. We would finally realize that we are one mankind and all the small differences which separate humans from each other today—nationality, race, religion—would disappear. Only together mankind can explore the universe, our true home and destiny.

  —MICHAEL HESEMANN

  Higdon experience Carl Higdon was elk hunting south of Rawlins, Wyoming, when he said he met a man from another planet. Higdon claims that the “man,” named “Ausso,” pointed a “fingerlike” appendage at him and, instantly, they were aboard a spaceship. The experience, which lasted from 4 P.M. to 6:30 P.M., supposedly involved a trip to Ausso’s home planet, 163,000 “light miles” away, and Higdon’s safe return to Earth.

  It was a Friday night, October 25, 1974, at about 4 P.M. Carl Higdon (an oil driller, employed by the AM Well Services of Riverton, Wyoming) was hun
ting elk on the north edge of the Medicine Bow National Forest, when his bizarre experience began to unfold.

  “I walked over this hill and saw five elk,” Higdon said. “I raised my rifle and fired, but the bullet only went about fifty feet and dropped.” He went over, got the bullet, and tucked it into a fold in his canteen pouch. “I heard a noise like a twig snapping and looked over to my right, and there in the shadow of the trees was this sort of man standing there.”

  Higdon described the “man” as being six feet two inches tall and weighing approximately 180 pounds. He was dressed in a black suit and black shoes and wore a belt with a star in the middle and a yellow emblem below it. Higdon also said the man was quite bowlegged, had a slanted head, and no chin. His hair was thin and stood straight up on his head.

  “He asked me if I was hungry and I said yes,” Higdon said, “so he tossed me some pills and I took one.” Higdon commented that he didn’t understand why he took the pills because ordinarily he doesn’t even like to take an aspirin. The man had told him that the pills were “four-day” pills, apparently to slake his hunger. Higdon said the man called himself “Ausso” and asked Higdon if he’d like to go with him. Higdon replied “yes” and the man pointed an appendage which came out of his sleeve.

  Higdon said he suddenly found himself in a transparent cubicle along with Ausso. He was sitting in a chair with “bands” around his arms (apparently holding him in the chair which resembled a high-backed “bucket seat”) and a helmet-like apparatus on his head somewhat like a football helmet, except that it had two wires on top and two on the sides leading to the back. On a sort of console opposite his chair, Higdon said he saw three levers of different sizes which had letters on them and which Ausso manipulated.