The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters

by Story, Ronald

  Unless we deal in an organized and effective manner with the hard evidence that has come to light, we are going to remain passive to what could be not only a valuable knowledge resource but also an intrusion into our world that may or may not be in our best interest. Given its intimacy and the incredibly provocative nature of many contact reports, that doesn’t seem wise.

  —WHITLEY STRIEBER

  (Position statement was adapted from Strieber’s book Confirmation, 1998).

  Swiatek, Robert P. (b. 1953). Robert Swiatek has been researching UFOs since 1968, becoming associated with the Fund for UFO Research in 1986. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer of that organization, and is also a director of the UFO Research Coalition

  Swiatek’s active participation with the Fund has necessitated his involvement with, inter alia, the Roswell incident, abductions, and UFO history.

  A Pennsylvania native, Swiatek received his B.A. degree from Bloomsburg State College in 1975—double-majoring in physics and Earth science—followed by one year of graduate study in physics at Lehigh University. In the summer of 1974, he worked at NASA Headquarters for the manager of the Seasat program.

  Since 1976 he has been employed as a physics patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia. Swiatek has evaluated applications in various “arts” at the Patent Office, including aeronautics and space technology.

  Address:

  10621 John Ayres Dr.

  Fairfax, VA 22032

  U.S.A.

  E-mail:

  swiman@pop.dn.net

  POSITION STATEMENT: Fifty-plus years of UFO activity have proffered no definitive proof that UFOs are extraterrestrial spacecraft, and researchers continue to maintain their traditional posture of collecting sighting reports, separating genuine unknowns from IFOs, and trying to convince a skeptical world that a legitimate phenomenon of unknown origin holds sway

  Robert Swiatek

  However, when objectively considered, the very best cases do indicate the presence of an unknown phenomenon that is not of human, atmospheric, or astronomical origin. Whether the unknowns are solid craft, weird intrusions of some kind from a postulated alternate universe, or holograms is mere conjecture, but in my opinion a nonhuman intelligence is behind them.

  Continued collection of sighting reports in the absence of both an instrumented effort to obtain empirical data and the construction of theories to explain sighting and landing trace details is useless inasmuch as thousands of excellent reports have been logged and investigated to date. Even so, if witnesses to the so-called Roswell debris and other crashed UFOs are correct, the U.S. Government has in its possession material to resolve the debate. Episodes of mass psychogenic illness and a consideration of UFO abductees—who rarely panic despite being allegedly taken by aliens onboard their craft—give no support to the view there will be a societal meltdown in the event UFOs are revealed to be alien vehicles.

  —ROBERT SWIATEK

  T

  Takeda (Japan) photo This UFO was allegedly observed and photographed by Shinichi Takeda (of Fujisaw City) near Enoshima Miani Beach, Japan. The time was approximately 11:30 A.M. The date was August 20, 1957.

  Mr. Takeda’s sister first called his attention to it. The object was reported as silvery in color, glowing brilliantly, and seemed to be at around three or four thousand feet altitude, traveling in a southerly direction. When directly overhead, the object made a 90-degree turn and increased its speed from what seemed to be about 250 to 500 kmph—then disappeared into the clouds.

  A few minutes later, about fifteen bathers at Enoshima Miani Beach reportedly spotted a similar object, which passed over the beach at high speed, without making a sound.

  —CORAL & JIM LORENZEN

  Tehran (Iran) jet chase This UFO encounter took place in the vicinity of Shahrokhi Air Force Base, Tehran, Iran, during the early morning hours of September 19, 1976. The incident involved multiple witnesses on the ground (both Iranian civilians and high-ranking military), pilots and crews of two F-4 Phantom jet fighters, radar confirmation, and apparent electromagnetic effects.

  Initial reports came in shortly after midnight (local time), to the air base by telephone from citizens living in the Shemiran district of Tehran, who spotted an unusual bright light in the night sky. No shape was discerned, just a brilliant light source, like “a helicopter with a shining light.” A quick check by the command post duty officer showed no helicopters or planes to be in the area, so he called the deputy commander of operations for instructions. The deputy commander relayed a message to the effect that the citizens were merely observing stars, but the commander himself was not so sure. He proceeded to look for himself and, after observing a brilliant light (subsequently determined to be seventy miles distant at this point), decided to scramble an Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom jet to investigate.

  At 1:30 A.M., the jet was roaring down the Shahrokhi runway in pursuit of a UFO. As the F-4 crew were headed north of Tehran toward the unidentified light source, control tower operators watched from the base. The first forty-five miles of the flight proceeded uneventfully, but as the jet approached within twenty-five nautical miles of the object, all instrumentation and communications, both UHF and intercom, on the plane suddenly went dead. Rendered defenseless, the pilot broke off the intercept and headed back to base. As the plane retreated, all electronic systems were restored.

  As the first plane landed at 1:40 A.M., a second F-4 pilot took off to try his luck. Airborne radar contact was made at a distance of twenty-seven nautical miles from the object, the return being described as similar to the size of the return of a Boeing 707 tanker aircraft. As the second jet closed within twenty-five miles of the UFO, it pulled ahead, keeping the pursuer at that constant distance. The visual description of the object was “flashing strobe lights arranged in a rectangular pattern and alternating blue, green, red, and orange in color. The sequence of the lights was so fast that all the colors could be seen at once.”

  As the jet continued to pace the object, now on a course to the south of Tehran, the UFO suddenly ejected a smaller object, which came streaking toward the Phantom at a high rate of speed. As the (apparent) “projectile” came closer, the weapons-control panel and all communications on the jet were lost, just as had happened with the first F-4. The pilot, therefore, executed an evasive dive, but the projectile continued to trail him at an estimated distance of three to four miles. After an accelerated circular turn, the smaller UFO then proceeded to rejoin the primary object and merged back with it. Meanwhile, the jet’s weapons-control system and communications equipment became operative again, and the F-4 crew bravely continued their pursuit.

  Shortly, another smaller object again separated from the main UFO, but this time it headed for the ground below. Anticipating a great explosion, the crew of the jet watched as the jettisoned mini-object gently came to rest on a dry lake bed below, casting a bright light over an area of two to three kilometers all around. The light soon faded, and the main UFO disappeared also, speeding off into the night.

  A daylight inspection was made of the apparent “landing site,” but no traces were found. There was some corroboration, however, in the form of testimony from a local resident in the area who had heard a loud sound and seen a very bright light.

  An official document released under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act on August 31, 1977, by the United States Department of Defense, recounts the events which took place during the Iranian jet-chase episode but adds little to what was already reported. It did reiterate, however, the puzzling nature of this case; the fact that what was observed by multiple witnesses has yet to be satisfactorily explained.

  —RONALD D. STORY

  References

  Story, Ronald D. UFOs and the Limits of Science (William Morrow/New English Library, 1981).

  UFO Investigator (published by NICAP, November 1976).

  UFO Investigator (published by NICAP, September 1977).

  Te
mple of the Stars (Neville Spearman, 1962). Brinsley LePoer Trench use his second book on the ancient astronaut theme to make a case that Atlantis, Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and other megalithic monuments scattered over the planet were gifts from extraterrestrial visitors. Trench, a member of the British House of Lords believes the British Isles are sacred territory, because the megaliths there are a legacy of our Atlantean forebears who in turn owed their civilization to those space visitors known as the Sky People.

  —RANDALL FITZGERALD

  theories, UFO Numerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain UFO reports. They can be divided two major categories, the first advocating convent explanations (involving no purposeful intelligence) the second advocating unconventional explanations involving purposeful intelligence).

  The conventional category includes such mundane explanations as aircraft, balloons, birds, and planets may also encompass more imaginative possibilities, as ball lightning, swamp gas, insect swarms, as well as various psychological explanations. Hoaxes and hallucinations also fall under the conventional category.

  The unconventional category is composed of eight major “theories,” although there is little to warrant the designation of “theory,”; a more appropriate label might be “speculation” or, in some cases, “hypothesis.” These eight “theories” are: (1) the secret weapon theory; (2) the hollow Earth theory; (3) the underwater civilization theory; (4) The space animal theory; (5) the extraterrestrial hypothesis; (6) the time travel theory; (7) the ultraterrestrial theory; and (8) the psychic projection theory. The likelihood of each theory is assessed below.

  The Secret Weapon Theory: This theory, especially popular in the 1950s and again in recent times, refers to advanced technological flying devices constructed by the U. S. Government or some foreign power. The proposition has some very serious problems. First, UFOs were reported soon after World War II, when military jet aircraft were barely operational. Had the U. S. had operational “saucers” capable of the performance described, it would not have expended the hundreds of billions of dollars that it has, since that time, in the development of alternate and less efficient military weapons systems.

  Secondly, even if such craft had been experimentally tested, or even operationally deployed, they would not have been permitted to approach civilian airports, urban centers, and all the everyday places where UFOs are reported. Also, they would not have been deployed to the dozens of countries from where UFO reports have come. On the other hand, such craft would very probably have been revealed to the world as a major technological breakthrough and as a warning to all potential adversaries. The political advantages of the latter would have been enormous.

  A third problem would be the question of security. The development and operation of such craft would have involved many thousands of persons over a long period of time, and it is almost inconceivable that the secret would not have eventually surfaced. These same arguments can, of course, be applied to a Soviet secret weapon, or one from any other country. A British/Canadian secret weapon theory, for example, was once in vogue, and one organization has been promoting a Nazi secret weapon theory, interwoven with Adolf Hitler’s possible survival and escape from Berlin. The organization has published a book supporting this claim and also makes available other Nazioriented books, posters, bumper stickers, and tapes (such as “Beautiful Nazi Songs and Marches,” “Songs of the Brownshirts,” Dr. Goebbels and the Third Reich,” and “Adolph Hitler Speaks to the Reichstag”). (Mattern and Friedrich, 1976) As with all other “secret weapon” theories, it is difficult to imagine how such craft could have been operated for over thirty years without political utilization or without the truth emerging.

  The Hollow Earth Theory: Perhaps the most ingenious of all, the original hollow Earth theory was advanced by several writers early in the century, but was later linked to UFOs and popularized by Ray Palmer and Dr. Raymond Bernard (who some think was one and the same person). In the early 1960s, Bernard claimed that the Earth was actually a hollow sphere, with two openings at the poles, and that “flying saucers” belonged to a secret civilization living inside the Earth. (Bernard, 1964)

  The theory supposedly gained support from observations made during Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. However, Dr. Laurence M. Gould, second in command during Byrd’s first Antarctic expedition, denied any such observations or discoveries. Dr. Gould, a distinguished University of Arizona geologist, discussed the matter with Admiral Byrd several times prior to the latter’s death in 1957, and both were amazed at the observations attributed to them. When he was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1953, Dr. Gould considered but finally declined an invitation to address the Hollow Earth Society, then meeting in Tucson, and believed that, had he accepted the invitation, it would have been promoted endlessly as an endorsement of the hollow Earth theory.

  The hollow Earth theory was examined in 1970 by Dr. John S. Derr, a professional seismologist, then working on the Viking Mars lander project with Martin Marrietta Corporation, and later with the U. S. Geological Survey. Dr. Derr discussed several types of geodetic and seismological data which clearly demonstrated that the Earth is not, and cannot be, hollow. Artificial satellite perturbations, for example, show not only that the Earth is solid, but that its mass is concentrated toward its center, contrary to that “predicted” by the hollow Earth theory. He also presented seismological data concerning the free oscillations of the Earth and the velocity of compressional and shear waves in the Earth following earthquakes. (Derr, 1970)

  Dr. Derr’s analysis, plus other less sophisticated but more obvious evidence (such as the fact that numerous U.S. and Soviet satellites, which continually fly over the poles, have not, apparently, photographed the openings) leaves little doubt that UFOs, whatever they are, do not originate from a civilization in a hollow Earth.

  The Underwater Civilization Theory: Reports of unknown objects entering or leaving large bodies of water (or proceeding through them) have been made from time to time and have been labeled unidentified submarine objects (USOs). Numerous theorists have consequently speculated that secret UFO bases might be located on the ocean beds, far from human activities and possible detection. By moving underwater, UFOs would have access to all continents and, by proceeding up major rivers and tributaries, could reach many inland locations without risking detection by atmospheric flight.

  Vehicles capable of interstellar flight, some proponents of the extraterrestrial hypothesis point out, would certainly be able to withstand the pressures and stresses of deep oceanic environments. This point has some validity, and it can also be stated that some of the most remote areas of the planet are located in parts of the southern Pacific and Indian oceans, providing easy access from the atmosphere with minimum_chance of visual or electronic detection.

  At the same time, it could be asked why the UFO operators go to such lengths to remain unobserved, only to display their vehicles so blatantly in such populated areas as the United States and Europe.

  One of the proponents of the underwater theory was the late naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson, who not only proposed that an extraterrestrial civilization could be using the ocean depths, but that a native civilization, one having evolved underwater long before man, could also be doing so. He concluded, in fact, that “it is likely that both suggestions apply.” Although he provided no sources or references, Sanderson stated that over 50 percent of all UFO reports concerned objects over, coming from, or going towards (or into) bodies of water. (Sanderson, 1970)

  The underwater civilization theory, like the hollow Earth theory, addresses the question of the possible location of UFO operational centers. As such, it is not altogether unreasonable, but it provides no real answer to the question of UFO origin.

  The Space Animal Theory: One of the least popular of all “unconventional” theories, the space animal theory was first brought to public attention, curiously enough, by the U. S. Air Force during its Project Sign
activity in the late 1940s. The Project “Saucer” (Sign was then still a classified code name) press release of April 27, 1949, admitted that the idea had been “remotely considered,” and that many UFOs “acted more like animals than anything else.” The Air Force concluded that few such reports were reliable. The concept was also contained in the final Project Sign Technical Report of February 1949 (declassified in 1961).

  Trevor James Constable (writing under the pen name of Trevor James) advocated a space animal explanation for UFOs in 1958, and none other than Kenneth Arnold), the man whose sighting opened the UFO era (and who was responsible for coining the label “flying saucer”), concluded that UFOs “… are groups and masses of living organisms that are as much a part of our atmosphere and space as the life we find in the oceans.” (Arnold, 1962)

  Naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson again addressed the question, and many others, in 1967, concluding that there was “… nothing illogical, irrational, or even improbable about it. In fact, it is so probable that it must be given first rank in consideration of the question, ‘What could UAO’s [unexplained aerial objects] be?’” (Sanderson, 1967) That same year, Vincent H. Gaddis addressed the topic, attributing the original idea to a John P. Bessor, who had sent it to the Air Force the month following Arnold’s classic 1947 sighting. Gaddis discussed the writings on the subject by Austrian Countess Zoe Wassilko-Serecki, and John Cage, a New Jersey inventor, and concluded that “…the time will come when one or more of these entities will be caught, weighed, measured, and exhibited.” (Gaddis, 1967)

  Trevor James Constable again wrote about space animals in the 1970s, this time in more detail. (Constable, 1976; 1978) He postulated that the UFO space animals “…are amoebalike lifeforms existing in the plasma state. They are not solid, liquid, or gas. Rather, they exist in the fourth state matter—plasma—as living heat-substance at the upper border of physical nature.” He also believed that they are of low intelligence and, because they remain in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, usually invisible. He concluded that they had “…deeply confused UFO research.” Although life may be found in some of the harshest of conditions and in some of the most unlikely places on the planet, it is doubtful that complex lifeforms could evolve in space or even in the upper regions of the atmosphere, where exposure to cosmic rays and other radiations, such as those originating from solar flares, would be maximized. The absence of oxygen for carbon-based life would also rule out biological space animals, and the possibility of life existing in a plasma state is, at best, speculative.