UFO Blog

California UFO Drones - The Hoax That Keeps On Giving (Bioware & LucasArts)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Bioware, LucasArts and the California Drones?!

Well it seems as if just as the shouts that the California Drones were part of a Viral campaign for the Sarah Connor Chronicles are fading away along comes, “Star Wars: The Old Republic”.

No doubt that this will spurn yet another batch of equally invalid claims that Lucasarts & Bioware were the ones responsible for initially pushing the Drone bandwagon rather than merely jumping on it…..

Don't get me wrong I believe the entire Drone debacle was undoubtedly a hoax, but viral marketing? I for one personally don't buy it and it seems that every time the Drones seem to dwindle in notoriety then yet another rejuvenation comes along, anyway here's the blurb about the game:

“Play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ and forge your own Star Wars™ saga in a story-driven massively-multiplayer online game from BioWare and LucasArts. Explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy.”

And of course the image in question:

And the text that accompanies the image:

“The Jedi have been the noble peacekeepers and diplomats for the Galactic Republic for 22,000 years. While law-abiding citizens look to the Jedi with respect and inspiration, the Galactic Republic's enemies regard the Jedi with suspicion, fear, and anger.

The success of the Sith Empire's military campaign during the Great War saw the deaths of thousands of Jedi. During the sacking of Coruscant, six Masters of the Jedi Council were killed, and in the time since, the Sith have started their own recruitment campaign to seek out Force-sensitive children around the galaxy.

These catastrophes have damaged the Galactic Republic's faith in its legendary protectors, but they are far from defeated. Overwhelmed but fearless, the Jedi have returned to their ancient homeworld of Tython, recommitting to their timeless principles and looking to the future, hoping to restore balance to the Force and peace and justice to the galaxy.

Despite their intentions, the Jedi Order's search for serenity on Tython has been strained. Among the ancient Tythonian ruins, mysterious Force energies abound, and the legacy of a long forgotten darkness has re-emerged. With the arrival of a Twi'lek pilgrim clan determined to settle on Tython in violation of Galactic Republic law, delicate and dangerous trials have arisen for Jedi Padawans in training and for the Order itself.”

Source

Incidentally this is probably the most believable viral marketing link to date if only because the original characters of the LAP were linked to Aurebesh due to their aesthetic similarities.

Source

Bristol UFO Video (May 2009) Delta/Triangle

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:48:00 +0000

A video alleged to have been taken in Bristol recently of a Delta/Triangular shaped UFO, the video was picked up by the local and national media (Telegraph).

A quick look at the video instantly struck me as a computer generated object although I haven't studied the video to any extent but let me explain why, if you follow the YouTube link it takes you to a user called *ikkleh* who is also known as Andrew Hadlington, he has a link to his website posted and it leads to ‘DigitalOranges.com' a quick visit shows the following image and nothing else (I've highlighted what I believe to be relevant). Also a quick look at the source code lists the keywords, “game, viral, viral marketing” amongst others and the title text reads:

“Digital Oranges Interactive - Specialists in Flash game development for the Online, Viral Marketing, and the Leisure and Gambling Industry.”

Hadlington also states he is a computer programmer (Flash game development) and a senior artist for Rage software (source), the Youtube video is accompanied with the following description:

"This UFO (or whatever it is) buzzed us twice - managed to get it the second time around. Freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. Source."

And here's the original video first, then brightened a little and then slowed down…..

UFO over Bristol - 10 May 2009

The Telegraph article stated:

Computer game writer Andy, 36, said:

"It was the freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. I was sitting in my office and saw it out of the corner of my eye….We're not far from the airport so I thought it could even have been a low-flying plane, so I was quite alarmed…..It was quite exciting – it sort of hovered past the houses. There was no sound. I ran downstairs and out of the garden to see where it went but I couldn't see anything…..My fiancée was out at the time but I'm sure other people must have seen it. It was so clear."

Now while I appreciate that the media often misrepresent people in their stories the above excerpt seems like a direct quote and more importantly a quote which seemingly contradicts the description that accompanied the original video.

But apart from this, the fact that the witness is well placed within the gaming industry to construct such a video and because he also appears to promote himself as a ‘viral marketer' alarm bells instantly were instantly ringing, especially when considered along with the facts that this object was apparently circling (due to the fact it passed the witness more than once) and was allegedly sighted at 5:30pm over a residential area (Sunday teatime), well, surely more than one witness would have seen such a phenomenon?

All in my humble opinion of course…..

Anyway here's the original Telegraph article (there was a related article suggesting that the object was a piece of cardboard but to be honest that's more unbelievable than the fact that it was a ‘nuts & bolts' physical object, hence its omission):

Andy Hadlington saw the mysterious blob silently hovering around and filmed it from the window of his office. The mysterious grey object glided around the residential area of Knowle, Bristol, at 5.30pm on Sunday without making a sound. UFO experts have been trying to verify the sighting and are hoping to speak to more witnesses and views of the eerie episode.

Computer game writer Andy, 36, said:

"It was the freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. I was sitting in my office and saw it out of the corner of my eye…..We're not far from the airport so I thought it could even have been a low-flying plane, so I was quite alarmed…..It was quite exciting – it sort of hovered past the houses. There was no sound. I ran downstairs and out of the garden to see where it went but I couldn't see anything…..My fiancée was out at the time but I'm sure other people must have seen it. It was so clear…..

Denis Plunkett, of the British Flying Saucer Bureau, based in Winterbourne, near Bristol, was unable to comment on the video but said there were ways to verify its authenticity, saying:

"There are ways to sort out good from bad. Firstly they are silent, there will be no noise…They can also become invisible. They can go in and out of MoD radar. They can change speed, direction and height in seconds…..The best thing is if there are multiple witnesses to the sighting. If more people saw this I'd be very interested.”

Source: The Telegraph

UK- UFO Over Glastonbury Tor (May 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:29:00 +0000

05-02-09 - Great Britain - Pulsating Light Show

I have just arrived home from a camping holiday in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. With me were my wife Fran, and our friend Julie. It was our last night and we were at our campsite in the larger of the two tents we had taken. I looked out of the doorway and noticed a bright reddish orange light above Glastonbury Tor. I mentioned this immediately to the others because it was an unusual colour for an aeroplane.

I must mention that there was cloud cover and no stars were visible. However, ground level visibility was good. The light ascended and started to pulsate - I suspect the pulsation was as it got nearer to and started entering the clouds, all of a sudden two more lights the same ascended and as they did the first one disappeared into the clouds. We were all amazed at this fantastic light show and it still hadn't ended because as the two lights reached the clouds another one appeared and this followed the same course.

All of this occurred at approx 23.25 - 23.40 BST on 2nd May, 2009. I had 2 mini-DV camcorders with me, but both had been used and due to us camping we never had a way of powering them, therefore no film. I had used all the batteries filming Mayday events.

Regards, Maurice Voice from Wirral, Merseyside, England

Source: UFOCasebook

UK - South Wales UFO Reported (May 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:12:00 +0000

(For all this particular account sounds like yet another case of Chinese Lanterns the witness seems well-versed in astronomy and the night sky in general).

UFO sighting shock

A head teacher from Ammanford has told how she was left “spooked” by a mysterious formation of bright lights she spotted above the town on Saturday night, Rhian Thomas, a self-confessed UFO sceptic, admits she is struggling to find an explanation to what she and her husband Alan witnessed above their home in Heol Ddu. Mrs Thomas, head teacher of Clydach junior school:

“I was leaving my home to take my dog for a walk…..The sky was very clear and my attention was seized by some extremely large and bright lights in the sky towards the north west…..Right across the skyline there were seven ‘stars' in a formation very similar to that of the constellation The Plough…..Each ‘star' had a reddish light and, as I looked, I could see they were all moving very slowly and silently towards the north. There was no vapour trail either…..The lights spanned the width of the sky and were brighter than Venus. It was a lovely clear night and I'll be very surprised if no-one else saw something ….We live on top of a hill overlooking Ammanford and occasionally see shooting stars, but never something like this…..Can anyone give me a rational explanation? It spooked me a bit to be quite honest – and I've always been a bit of a UFO sceptic.”

Mrs Thomas's husband dashed outside just in time to catch a glimpse of three of the lights before they disappeared from sight:

“Living where we do we are used to seeing transatlantic flights on a regular basis…..This was not a high-flying jet. It was lower, made no sound and was just, well, different.”

A spokesman for Ammanford police said they had not received any reports.

Source: South Wales Guardian

(UK) Peterborough UFO, Appeal For Witnesses (May 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:36:00 +0000

(To be honest the main report sounds like Chinese Lanterns but as the article includes several other sightings I thought it warranted a mention.)

Mystery surrounds the appearance of eight eerie orange lights which lit up Peterborough's skyline on Sunday evening and left star gazers in awe. The bright circular lights, which were spotted around the city by Evening Telegraph readers on Sunday (3 May), have re-ignited the great Peterborough UFO mystery.

Local people have reported between eight and 10 lights seen floating around Whittlesey, Coates, the Ortons and Hampton – the latest in a long line of mysterious heavenly sightings in and around the city in recent months – only some of which have been explained. Stacie Dunn, of Belton Road, Stanground, Peterborough, was driving along Fletton Parkway with her family at about 10.10pm when she noticed the bright lights. The family pulled over to take a closer look when they noticed there were eight glowing orange lights.

Stacie (18) said: “We all got out to look but there was no noise, a clear sky and these objects seemed to be heading towards Whittlesey”.

More sightings in Peterborough

A mysterious aircraft was seen circling the city on April 8 by eagle-eyed residents in Werrington. However , it was later revealed to be a aeroplane with thermal imaging equipment, which shows up heat use, carrying out a night-time mission over Peterborough to map out the energy use of city homes.

In January The Evening Telegraph reported other unexplained lights at about midnight on New Year's Day. While some thought aliens may have landed, it was revealed a city family had lit half a dozen Chinese lanterns and released them as part of their new years celebrations.

There was another sighting above the city in October last year, when residents in Werrington reported seeing a fireball streaking across the night sky. It turned out to be an "unusually large" meteor.

Other strange lights were spotted in Wisbech in November and above Peterborough in August – the latter of which was said to have been a recently- restored Vulcan bomber in flight:

"It was amazing. They were perfect circular objects, but we have no idea what they were. They seemed to be overtaking each other and as they moved along, their glow started to fade….."I tried to take a picture with my phone, but it didn't come out. We are just baffled and amazed as to what they may have been. I searched the internet the next day but I can't see anything that looks like they did."

Another reader, Laura Saidler, from Orton Longueville, wrote in to say she also saw about 10 lights floating in the sky:

"They were quite low down and all floating together. They were an orange and yellow colour and looked like candles floating…..There was no noise coming from them…..We tried to take pictures but nothing came out on the camera and the lights floated towards Orton Hall Hotel."

However, Mike Dunne, from Castor, near Peterborough, believes the lights were a result of someone shining a very strong light on to the low cloud base:

"My daughter spotted these strange lights in the sky and phoned me…..I had a look and, although faint, a beam of light could be seen coming from the Peterborough area. It was obviously someone shining a very strong light on to the low cloud base. UFOs – rubbish."

Source: Peterborough ET

Firefighters Investigate ‘Burning object’ UFO alert - Shadsworth UK (May 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:25:00 +0000

‘Burning object’ UFO Alert

AN unidentified flying object was seen over the skies of Blackburn.

A ‘burning’ object which then shot through the sky at speed was witnessed by a 15-year-old boy and a resident in Arran Avenue on Friday night.

Firefighters were alerted around 9.30pm to the unusual goings on over Shadsworth.

Crew manager Paul Jennings said:

“We were called to reports of a UFO around 9.30pm in Arran Avenue.....A 15-year-old lad and one of the neighbours said they had seen a burning objects in the sky. They said it was almost like a hot air balloon but it was moving too fast....It had disappeared by the time we got there. We spoke to the lad but we would not have been able to do anything had we seen it.”

Source: Lancashire Telegraph

Morristown, New Jersey UFO Hoax – Looking For Pseudoscience In All The Wrong Places?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:55:00 +0000

As regular readers no doubt know I have always been interested in UFO hoaxes and the various guises in which they manifest for nearly as long as I have been interested in genuinely unexplainable UFO reports, in fact if the truth be known then the UFO hoax aspect is practically inseparable from the broader UFO phenomenon itself and I believe hoaxes and their effects are also more than worthy of study, or at the very least acknowledgement…..

Eskeptic published an admission last month (April 1st 2009) by Joe Rudy (who holds a B.S. in science and actually teaches science as well as beings a private classical music teacher) and Chris Russo (who has a degree in management and economics and is a former model & actor) that they had personally perpetrated (and documented on video) the Morristown UFO Sightings (Jan 2009).

In the Eskeptic reveal which was titled, “How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax” Chris Russo & Joe Rudy wrote:

“In November of 2008, we found ourselves sitting around one evening discussing pseudoscience and the large numbers of people that still believe in its various guises. We had always had a strong interest in why people were so easily fooled by such irrational superstitions as psychic ability, spiritual mediums, alien abductions, and the like. Despite the lack of evidence to support these notions, we were baffled. How could so many people in an age of science still buy into dogma that is no more or less ridiculous than the notion of an elderly obese man delivering presents to every child on Earth in one evening? And like most other people, we had always heard about the uneducated farmer spotting an alien spaceship hovering over his farm, but we wondered if that amount of gullibility could be found in our upper-middle class hometown of Hanover, NJ, and the surrounding cities. “

“…..60 years later, despite the fact that there is still no evidence of their existence, the UFO myth is as strong today as ever, fed by cable channel shows that prop up UFO “experts” who claim to be authorities on a subject that's on par with astrology and palm reading. These charlatans make a career by perpetuating the E.T. fairy tale and exploiting credulous people who want nothing more than a good conspiracy theory to believe in.”

“It is in this context that we set out on a mission to help people think rationally and question the credibility of so-called UFO “professionals.” We brainstormed the idea of producing a spaceship hoax to fool people, bring the charlatans out of the woodwork to drum up controversy, and then expose it as nothing more than a prank to show everyone how unreliable eyewitness accounts are, along with investigators of UFOs.”

Source: Eskeptic

So, puzzled as to why people still believed in pseudoscience they ‘set out on a mission' to produce a ‘spaceship hoax,' well, each to their own and that's fair enough I suppose, however it appears that far from being an experiment of any description and the entire catalogue of events was nothing more than a fishing trip of sorts, but an experiment?

Perhaps, but surely the only real conclusion that can be drawn is that ‘confirmation bias' was inherent and that the ‘experiment' was rendered useless by applying the pseudoscientific method (that they claim to abhor) with such liberal disregard.

“Identifying pseudoscience” - A field, practice, or body of knowledge might reasonably be called pseudoscientific when (1) it is presented as consistent with the accepted norms of scientific research; but (2) it demonstrably fails to meet these norms, most importantly, in misuse of scientific method. (Source)

Ah yes, the scientific method…..

“Scientific method”- Refers to bodies of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.....Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge..... Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results. (Source)

So one of the main identifiers of pseudoscience is ‘misuse of the scientific method' which in turn shares a universally accepted & steadfast rule that it must be ‘objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results,' yet Russo and Rudy after launching their balloons would call the news media to report a UFO sighting and can be seen doing so on the video, saying, "There are really strange lights in Morristown…..Doesn't look like a plane or anything." Not content with that they also appeared on TV further supporting the hoax by giving interviews of their ‘UFO sightings' and by doing so completely contaminated any results and consequently any/all conclusions.

But personally speaking, it was the actual reporting on the hoax which forced that old familiar feeling of contempt to stir, contempt the kind of which is almost exclusively reserved for journalists and politicians. However I suspect I run the risk of appearing to be generalising to an extent equal to that which I so often accuse the mass-media of, so I'll specify as it's ‘Newsweek' in particular I'm referring to. Of course this is nothing that hasn't been mentioned across the Blogosphere prior to my meagre contribution, most notably by Billy Cox, who in an article titled, “Nicely Done Newsweak” wrote:

“What's actually more revealing is how, within hours, Newsweek was the first to cheerlead the caper for its novel approach to promoting critical thinking. ‘Nicely done, guys,' wrote Sharon Begley for the magazine's Web page.”

Source: HeraldTribune

The crux of the complaints (mine included) is that -tactless reporting aside- the media took a great deal more notice once the fact that it was a hoax was admitted, and positively relished the opportunity to yet again portray the UFO community in a negative light, worse still it appears as if they believed they were justified in doing so, completely ignoring the suspect methodology employed by the hoaxers and instead actually championing the flawed experiment, “Nicely done guys” indeed……

2009 Petten ‘Drone/Kite' – Raison d'être?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sat, 02 May 2009 19:10:00 +0000

I posted a few days ago about what I believed was a kite being touted as a Drone. I was a little surprised at how quickly this was embraced as such by LMH, especially considering her last few posts were almost a year ago. Earthfiles posted a bit when the flap was ongoing in the summer 2007 but in all of 2008 and until April 2009 only four related posts were made:

• 06/06/2008 — Aerial Ring with Antennas in Southern Ohio Forest and Chicago Dragonfly Drone

• 05/09/2008 — Dragonfly Drones - Surveillance Technology?

• 04/04/2008 — Wingless, “Dragonfly” Sighting On March 31, 2008

• 03/21/2008 — Part 2, Dragonfly-Shaped Aerial Craft: Current Media Misinformation Versus Eyewitnesses 1987 to 2007

• 03/07/2008 — Mysterious Aerial “Drones” - Oklahoma and Arkansas

Also all of these witnesses made the Drone association themselves which is why it seemed doubly strange when the most recent Petten witness was blissfully unaware of the Drones and indeed their implications when quizzed by LMH. Yet the association was still made and LMH gleefully added this new account to her Drone timeline while the second post regarding this was a couple of emails, both of which made tenuous connections. The first one with the Petten reactor and the second with another one of LMH's marketable passions, crop circles, but as I said I was a little puzzled as to why this report was being ‘overcooked' as it were.

I was also puzzled as to why the sudden interest by LMH in what was an explainable sighting and her eagerness to portray it as a Drone, well, that was until I found the following which was recently posted to Whitley Strieber's website, it's from the press release for the Dreamland-II festival in June (2009) and states that:

The crop circles of 2008 astonished researchers and silenced debunkers, and Linda Moulton Howe is going to tell us why and then go beyond public knowledge and into the mysterious world of leaked documents and attempts to back-engineer technology based on the patterns. One pattern in 2008 amazed scientists when the first ten digits of the infinite number Pi were found embedded in t. This coded circle was found near Barbury castle, where a 1991 circle inspired astronomer Gerald Hawkins to discover new geometry theorems. Further, in 2008 and 1991, the same Barbury Castle ratcheted spiral designs in which numbers have been embedded is found in an alleged leaked document from the 1980s linked to back-engineering extraterrestrial technology. This is THE crop circle presentation. There has been nothing like it before. EVER.

Source: Dreamland Store

Obviously the, “leaked document from the 1980s linked to back-engineering extraterrestrial technology” is none other than the documentation which accompanied the Drones and crudely presented as genuine by Isaac, yep, the faked Caret documents.

All for a measly $250!!

So you see really it's a most fortuitous coincidence that the Drones are indeed still making headlines, even if it does only appear to be at Earthfiles…..

“Classic” Diamond Shaped UFO Spotted, Tavistock (UK)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:33:00 +0000

A nice change from the ‘lights in the sky' which seem to be standard fare lately, the witness describes a diamond shaped UFO with a point light source on the underside, which sounds remarkably like the triangular UFOs which plagued Belgium in 1989/90.

The following was reported on the 30th April, 2009.

A WALKER and her friend had a shock when they spotted a strange object flying over the moors last week. Tavistock resident Emma Cockayne witnessed the encounter while out walking with a friend on Whitchurch Down at around 7pm on Tuesday, April 21.

Miss Cockayne said:

“We were walking down to the right of the Pimple, towards the trees…..We were just chatting away when all of a sudden my friend looked up and pointed to this thing flying in the sky. It was black or grey and shaped like a diamond, with a red light or flame in the middle……It was flying lower than a plane, it looked like something you'd see on TV.”

There have been numerous sightings of unidentified objects around the Whitchurch and Pew Tor area this year. In February a family claimed to see a mysterious orange glowing object flying in the sky in February.

Miss Cockayne added:

“We just couldn't get our heads around what we were seeing, it was totally and utterly intriguing. I have never seen anything like it before.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence in the South West said:

“The MOD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity…..Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported.”

Source: Tavistock-Today

Swine Flu – The Facts(?)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:16:00 +0000

I thought I'd mention a couple of articles I'd seen, firstly the Independent traces the origin of the disease:

Swine flu: Was first victim a modern Typhoid Mary?

Authorities admit that census taker transmitted the virus door-to-door.

The first person to die of swine flu was a 39-year-old tax inspector whose job required her to make door-to-door visits, putting her in contact with at least 300 unsuspecting members of the public when the disease was at its most virulent, Mexican authorities have said.

Maria Adela Gutierrez, a census-taker in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca, was admitted to a local hospital on 8 April and died five days later. She'd been suffering acute respiratory problems, exacerbated by diabetes and severe diarrhoea, and is believed to have infected scores of people.

The story of her death, which occurred three weeks before the virus was officially identified, came as Mexico remained on a state of high alert, with schools, government offices and many workplaces closed. The suspected death toll in Mexico reached 152 last night, with over 2,000 people infected. In the US the confirmed total of cases jumped to 64; California, with more than a dozen infected, declared a public health emergency and the World Health Organisation said it had notification of 79 confirmed cases worldwide.

Ms Gutierrez's demise may fuel controversy over Mexico's handling of the outbreak, which has been criticised as chaotic and secretive. Authorities at Oaxaca's Hospital Civil Aurelio Valdivieso, where she was treated, did not confirm that an infectious disease had broken out there until 21 April, by which time one further patient had also died.

Doctors initially thought Gutierrez was suffering from pneumonia. But when 16 further patients exhibited signs of severe respiratory infection, they established a quarantine area around the emergency room. Shortly afterwards, state health authorities began to track down every person she'd had recent contact with and conduct check-ups.

That discreet search suggested that Gutierrez may have unwittingly been a latter-day "Typhoid Mary". It turned up more than 300 people, including many members of the public whom she'd interviewed as she knocked on doors in late March and early April. Local sources told Veratect, the US disease-tracking company which sounded the alarm, that between 33 and 61 of those interviewees "exhibited symptoms" of a flu-like illness, though none have died.

Oaxaca is the historic capital of Oaxaca state, a mountainous region on Mexico's southern Pacific coast. Its location may be crucial to tracking the spread of swine flu, because it borders Veracruz, the state where the virus is believed to have first infected humans.

Edgar Hernandez, a boy who contracted the disease on 2 April and subsequently made a full recovery, was on Monday identified by Mexico's health secretary Jose Angel Cordova as "patient zero" – the first officially identified victim of the disease. He lives in the small town of La Gloria, in Veracruz province, five miles downwind of a vast pig farm identified a potential source of the outbreak. The farm is owned by owned by Smithfield Foods, a US agribusiness corporation, whose Mexican subsidiary raises a million pigs per year.

In February, dozens of locals began falling ill from a mysterious, flu-like disease. On 6 April, authorities in La Gloria declared an "alert," saying 400 people had required treatment and 1,800 were exhibiting respiratory problems. The town has a population of 3,000.

Public health workers sealed off the town and began exterminating huge numbers of flies that had reportedly begun swarming through homes. However, they are yet to identify this outbreak as swine flu. News teams who have descended on the town have been urged against jumping to conclusions.

But the locals aren't convinced. Jose Luis Martinez, a 34-year-old resident of La Gloria, told reporters yesterday that he knew the disease which had infected his town was swine flu the minute he heard description of its symptoms: fever, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhoea. "When we saw it on the television, we said to ourselves, 'This is what we had,' " he said. "The symptoms they are suffering are the same that we had here."

Factory farming is already a contentious issue in Veracruz state because thousands of farmers claim they were evicted from their land there by the Mexican government in 1992, in an alleged move to make way for US farming companies seeking to exploit relaxed welfare standards. If La Gloria was indeed the source of the original outbreak, it is likely to have quickly spread to major cities. Roughly half the people with homes in the town live and work in Mexico City during the week.

Yesterday, the capital was again in a state of high alert. Most people were wearing surgical masks in public, large gatherings of people are banned, restaurants can only serve take-out food, and bars forced to shut at 6pm. Those measures are almost certainly too late. Swine flu is likely to have arrived in the city during the first fortnight of April – timing which may have been fatal, since it coincided with Semana Santa (Holy Week), bringing a million people to the capital from all over the country.

'Typhoid Mary'

Mary Mallon was an Irish chef who became the first person in the US to be identified as a carrier of typhoid fever. She is believed to have infected 53 people, three of whom died. She denied spreading the disease and refused to cease working. Born in 1869, she died in quarantine in 1938.

Source: Independent

And secondly the Guardian tries to break it down a little and offers a decent swine flu FAQ:

What is swine flu?

Swine flu is a form of influenza that originated in pigs but can now be caught by and spread among people. The current outbreak started in Mexico, with cases now confirmed in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, Germany, Austria, Israel, Costa Rica and South Korea. At the time of writing there have been more than 150 confirmed deaths from the infection in Mexico but only one death elsewhere, a 23-month-old Mexican boy in Texas.

Human strains of flu kill a few hundred thousand people worldwide every year, but strains of flu virus that originate in livestock such as pigs or chickens have the potential to kill millions worldwide if they start spreading among people. This is because, unlike ordinary strains of winter flu, humans have little resistance to them.

Swine flu is caused by a type A influenza virus, and the new strain belongs to the most common subtype, known as H1N1. Public health experts are particularly concerned about strains like this one that have spread from pigs to humans, because the animals can act as "crucibles", harbouring several flu viruses at once which can swap genes and become more virulent.

Influenza viruses are made up of only eight genes: the new strain has six genes from a swine flu virus known to have been circulating in North America – itself a mixture of human, pig and avian flu viruses – and two from a swine virus found in European and Asian pigs.

How do humans catch it?

Swine flu spreads to people in two ways. They can acquire the virus after being in contact with infected pigs or areas where the pigs have been – which is only likely to happen in Mexico – or they can catch it from an infected person. The disease spreads in the same way as human flu, by inhaling airborne particles from coughs and sneezes, or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching the nose or mouth.

It should be emphasised that in most cases the infection makes people unwell but is not life-threatening. For reasons that are not yet known, the infection seems to be more severe in Mexico than elsewhere. From published data on confirmed cases, the mortality rate in Mexico appears to be 4% and outside Mexico 1%.

What can I do to avoid infection – and stop spreading it to others?

Virus particles can survive for hours on surfaces such as doorhandles, so it's important to wash your hands frequently with soap and water. You should cover your mouth with a handkerchief if you cough or sneeze. If you don't have a handkerchief, cover your mouth with the crook of your elbow rather than your hand. But if you do use your hands when coughing or sneezing, wash them as soon as possible afterwards.

Avoid touching your mouth and nose with your hands or rubbing your eyes.

Should I wear a mask?

There is little point wearing a mask unless you yourself or someone you are caring for is suspected of having the infection. Masks only work if changed regularly and they get damp easily, becoming an infection risk. Not all masks will be effective. Surgical masks are not designed to prevent virus particles being inhaled but to stop germs spreading from doctors to patients. Masks that protect against viruses conform to the European standard FFP3 and the US equivalent N95.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to normal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, aching limbs, chills and fatigue. Some patients infected with swine flu have also reported loss of appetite, diarrhoea and vomiting. In very young children, the warning signs include fast or troubled breathing, a bluish skin tone, a failure to interact with others, and being highly irritable.

As with seasonal flu, swine flu varies in severity, with the worst cases leading to fatal pneumonia and respiratory failure. The new strain seems to be more lethal to those in the 25 to 45 age range. This was a hallmark of the Spanish 1918 flu pandemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Younger people were probably hit harder than the elderly by the 1918 flu virus because their immune systems overreacted.

What should I do if I think I'm infected?

This is highly unlikely in the UK unless you have recently returned from Mexico or the US, or have come into contact with someone who has. Ordinary flu and any number of other infections can cause flu-like symptoms.

However, if you've been to Mexico or the US, or another country that has been affected by swine flu, the UK's Health Protection Agency says you should monitor your health for seven days after your return. If you develop flu-like symptoms during that time, you should stay at home and phone your GP, or phone NHS Direct on 0800 1513 513. Make sure you tell them where you've been travelling. Further information about swine flu is available online from the UK government's Directgov website.

Your doctor may arrange diagnostic tests, which can be carried out at home or in hospital. Until you get the results you should avoid contact with other people. You should also take sensible hygiene precautions (see above) to avoid spreading the virus.

Are there effective treatments?

The antiviral medicines oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are effective treatments for swine flu. The UK has sufficient stocks to provide a total of 33.5 million treatment courses.

Is there a vaccine for swine flu?

The seasonal flu jab given to the elderly over the winter months works well against human flu viruses, but is unlikely to be effective against swine flu. The World Health Organisation will decide whether to divert resources from manufacturing regular flu vaccine into making swine flu vaccine.

What is the UK government doing to control the spread of infection?

GPs and hospitals across the UK are preparing for a pandemic, and the UK government is working with the WHO to monitor the situation. Confirmed cases are being treated with antiviral drugs. The UK has agreements with manufacturers to produce a vaccine if the WHO gives the green light.

What do the WHO's pandemic categories mean?

The WHO defines stages in the progression towards a pandemic from level one to six, with level one meaning there are no animal viruses reported to be infectious to people, and level six meaning an animal virus has caused sustained community outbreaks in two or more WHO regions and a pandemic is declared. At the time of writing we are at level five.

Source: Guardian

Even though the above article is just over 24 hours old there are new cases being reported worldwide almost hourly so the totals are constantly changing.....

Nick Pope Internet Radio (Sat 25th April 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:28:00 +0000

I just received a message on one of my YouTube accounts from “Pair a normal guys” that said that Nick Pope had just given an interview with them on the 25th April 2009. And for a change (with Pope) I was pleasantly surprised at the sober tone of the interview, and I was shocked to find that his views on disclosure and what exactly the government knows echo my views to an extent as does the fabled 'acclimatisation' theory. Pope also discusses Rendlesham and Condign briefly as well as the usual suspects (Roswell etc.) as well as the recent XConference at which Pope was a speaker.

Here’s the less than accurate blurb (Minister?) that accompanies the interview:

UK DEFENSE MINISTER AND UFO RESEARCHER Sec(AS)2a (Secretariat of the Air Staff).NICK POPE WILL JOIN PAIR A NORMAL GUYS INC TO DISCUSS SOME MEMORABLE UFO CASES IN THE UK ALSO HOW UFO SIGHTINGS ARE REALLY HANDLED BY THE MILITARY AND GOVERNMENTS AND NEW EVENTS AND SIGHTINGS AS WELL. PLUS OTHER PARANORMAL TOPICS ALSO WILL BE COVERED. JOIN US AS WE GET A UK PERSPECTIVE ON UFOS.

And the interview can be heard here.

Did you see these UFOs? (Isle Of Wight April 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:27:00 +0000

A RYDE woman who said she saw a late night UFO ‘near miss' has appealed for other witnesses to come forward. She said at 11.10pm on Saturday the police spotter plane, circling the south of the town, was involved in a low-altitude ‘ near miss' with three other craft. Police, who confirmed their spotter plane was in the area and that three officers were on the ground searching for occupants of a stolen car, who ran off after a crash, said none of the officers reported seeing any unusual activity.

A police statement said:

“The pilot, observers and police officers on the ground did not see, hear or come into contact with any other aircraft while flying over the Island at this time…We are satisfied that Hampshire Police Air Support Unit was not involved in an air near-miss incident.”

But the woman maintained:

“I was watching from the bedroom window, which faces east, at 11.10pm…What appeared to be three jets came very fast from the west and flew even lower towards the plane…f these had collided, half the houses in Ashey Road would have been wiped out…The strange thing is, the three craft didn't make any noise…I do not want publicity, do not drink and have never taken drugs. Somebody must have a record of what these craft were up to?

“The spotter plane had lights under each wing and one on the nose. The three, that appeared as fast as the Red Arrows, had only one light…Surely someone else must have been watching at the same time?”

This report follows a Sandown woman describing a bright orange circular object making its way silently across the sky on Wednesday last week. Meanwhile, on Bank Holiday Monday, a Bonchurch resident reported seeing a luminous ball of light in the sky. Again, it made no noise.

Source: IWCP.com

(The scourge of UK UFOlogy?)

When is a Drone Not a Drone? (Petten, Holland, 2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +0000

PLEASE NOTE : For reasons which will quickly become apparent I refer to the Petten, Holland object as a, “Drone” purely because this is how it is being referred to in the course of being perpetuated across the internet and will ultimately enable ease of access for SE's/reference purposes.

I personally do NOT believe this object is related to the 2007 Californian Drone Hoax in any way shape or form (and I am apparently in the minority) but for what it's worth I believe that the witness of this recent (Petten, Holland) object is sincere and has shared the circumstances surrounding the sighting to the best of his recollection.

It was first reported by BJ Booth at the UFO Casebook on 12th April (2009) with the following title and message:

Drone-Like UFO Photographed in Holland, 2007

Petten, Holland, September, 2007

I was fishing with my wife, when I noticed something in the sky. I could not see what it was, because off in the distance we saw it as a black spot.

Altitude was about 300 meters. I took my camera, Nikon D50 and had a 300 mm lens on it. I just shot some pics (about 12), so I could see it on the computer.

It stayed for about half an hour, and then it disappeared (we didn't see it flying away). Photograph was taken in Holland, near Petten, on September 8, 2007.

regards,

Source: UFOCasebook Front Page

This was then followed up on the 14th April (2009) with another two photographs then after further contact with the witness the full thirteen images were released at UFOCasebook as a zip file.

It was in this third posting that BJ Booth also wrote:

“I had a phone conversation with Linda Moulton Howe this afternoon, and we are collaborating on the research and information gathering aspect of the Holland drone-like photographs... more info will be coming soon. thanks again.”

To be honest my (and many others) initial thought was that it was a kite of some description, this was just from the first release which contained just the one image, this seemed to be further confirmed by the second release of two images. And when the full sequence of (13) images were all released in their entirety this further confirmed that we were indeed looking at the motion very similar to that of a kite:

Animation Of Petten UFO

Where's Waldof?!

The witness joined the UFOCasebook forum after the first image was released (April 13 th 2009) and was a willing participant in the discussion elaborating and answering more questions regarding his experience, his user name was/is *Ruud*.

Below are some of the kites located which were of a similar structure to the object that was photographed in Petten, Holland.

Here's an overlay courtesy of UFOCasebook forum member Marvin.

All of the above were posted to the Casebook thread on or before the 16th April (2009).

Most are from the following link which also describes how you can even construct your own Waldof kite!! (Source)

Also, as well as a multitude of similar kites being found a couple of kite forums were contacted in the process of trying to positively identify the object as a kite, here's the first reply to the question on the kitebuilder.com forum.

Hate to disappoint anyone but .....

I got no hesitation, that is a kite

Moves like a kite, looks like a kite..it's a kite.

I reckon you even named it. A Waldorf [*Edit: SP – Waldof] Box (or Variant)

pic courtesy of Kite plan base

Any of our guys want to own up

BTW, some of your guys saying about reported lack of wind.

Bare[sic] in mind, skies like that, on a beach, very unlikely to be zero wind.

May have been light, witness/photographer may have been in wind shadow from dunes or the like but I wouldn't belive[sic] zero wind.

Also, most non kite flyers underestimated the amount of wind needed to fly a well built and suitable kite. The Waldorf will fly in 10mph winds happily..... and stronger winds would be likely at 300m

Most people reckon 10mph is nothing, especially if they are sheltered.

It's also quite normal for wind to be selective, stronger in one place then another close by...ask any sailor or kite flyer

Source: Kitebuilder.com

I expressed my concern and disappointment at the time that this particular sighting was being associated with the Drones at all, irrespective of whether this was merely an aesthetic similarity or not. Mainly because I suspected it would (and now has) become inextricably linked to the original California Drones of 2007 which are widely recognised and accepted as an internet hoax, I also suspected that as a result of this vague marrying of rings and appendages the recent Petten image would be classified as ‘ guilty by association ' and wouldn't receive a fraction of the attention and analysis that the original Drone images had.

Well, I was also apprehensive of myself and others being too eager at drawing parallels with the Drones as I can still remember –with some clarity- the circus atmosphere that surrounded the Drone debacle once a couple of Ufology's ‘bigger' and more media-friendly players caught scent of a story. It was an atmosphere reminiscent of ‘old –school' Ufology with the one-upmanship mentality, ad-hominem attacks and refusal to co-operate. As a matter of fact Linda Moulton Howe (LMH) of the Earthfiles website still believes that she is perfectly justified in withholding vital evidence in the form of eleven high-resolution photographs (part of a set of twelve) which she was trusted to share in their entirety from one of the original five Drone witnesses, but I've wrote about this a couple of times prior so rather than rehash it again it can still be viewed online by visiting here.

Regarding the Drone association BJ Booth has since stated (April 15th 2009) that:

“I never asked him [the witness] about the drones. It was I who first used the phrase, "drone-like" simply because that was the first thing that came to mind. What should I have called it?

(snip)

I do not know what it [Petten object] is, and I have never said what it is.”

Source: BJ Booth - UFOCasebook Forum

So it's clear to see that this link to the Drones was nothing more than a familiar phrase used to describe an otherwise difficult to explain shape and the heading of the UFOCasebook page in question even states that the object was “Drone- like” rather than a Drone.

Then in the early hours of the 17th April the witness (Ruud) wrote the following (please bear in mind that English is his second language and I've posted the comment exactly as it was originally posted):

Personaly I didn't made a link to a drone. I thougt drones were much bigger and much more suffisticated.

More alien so to speak. (fake or not)

I never heard about woldof kites, now I know there is a variaty of kites in al kind of shapes (impressive).

I have no benefit what so ever of posting those pics, (only that my English is updated).

I like to watch the sky, especially at night.

I don't believe in god, I have seen lots of meteorites, sattelites speeding through the space. I have seen UFO balloons. (Thai balloons). I have seen Skylab and the ISS.

I have also seen the Hayley comet (with the tail).

I am just a sober guy from Holland wich could not explain something I took pictures of.

LMH Strikes Again

And later on the 17th April and Earthfiles (after gaining access to the witness) writes a piece with the headline of:

Spider-Like “Drone” Photographed Over Petten, Holland.

Did you notice the less-than subtle difference between UFOCasebook's title?

UFOCasebook called it a “Drone-like UFO” while LMH (Earthfiles.com) removed the possibility of a UFO completely and called it a “Spider-like Drone”.

Then LMH writes:

“No other 2007 photographs of the mysterious “drones” emerged - until now…..So now, I am adding another line to the chronological list of eyewitnesses:”

This should surely raise questions about the investigative prowess of LMH in all persons, from the casual reader to the hardened ‘nuts & bolts' Ufologist.

As apart from the fact that the witness has stated prior that it in no way reminded him of a Drone LMH steamrollers over his opinion and classifies it 100% as a “Drone,” still, no real surprises there as “Drones” with a great deal worse defining criteria have qualified for LMH's –already laughable- list of “Drone-witnesses”.

When actually asked about the Drones by LMH Ruud stated that he wasn't really aware of them prior but was surprised that while his report was classed as a “Drone” people believed he was being less than truthful, this was due solely to the fact that everyone except LMH and a couple of hardcore Drone believers now accept that the 2007 California Drones were a deliberate internet hoax.

When Is A Kite Not A Kite?

In a thinly veiled attempting to justify this she states that:

“THAT WAS APPARENTLY PROVOKED BY SOME CALCULATED MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN BY PEOPLE UNKNOWN IN 2007 TRYING TO PAINT THE PHOTOS THAT EMERGED AS BEING HOAXED.”

I had to re-read it a couple of times!!

Firstly, apart from the fact that LMH completely ignored the fact that 2007 Drones were analysed and found to be CGI by every single specialist who took the time, some of whom are industry recognised professionals and I hasten to add these are not ‘debunkers' by any stretch of the imagination as they are also believers and/or have first hand experience of the nuts & bolts UFO phenomenon.

Secondly the entire Petten Drone/kite are and the full article by LMH is basically turning a kite into a Drone and then it climaxes with unknown persons waging a “MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN ”!!

Still, I suppose she is the expert…..

Anyway, after the interview was published with Ruud, he wrote:

“I have no intention my pictures going around knowing as an hoax.

I hate hoaxes.

I have seen pics of that phony thing you are calling a drone all speaking about that it is an hoax.

It never had my interest because it looked so unreal.

Also there is no resemblence with the pics I took.”

And for what it's worth here was my reply (to Ruud):

Regarding the Drones I agree with you and this is why I was keen to disassociate your report from them by posting to another board and when that failed by creating a new thread in the Drone section. However your report is destined to eternally be labelled as a “Drone” due almost exclusively to the portrayal of you and your account at Earthfiles.

I'm sure you can appreciate it's now a ‘done-deal' and you're a “Drone-witness” as far as LMH is concerned and what's good enough for her is good enough for die-hard Dronies the world over, as they all seem to classify and claim LMH's word as beyond reproach. But take heart because at least after this latest debacle a few more people have had their eyes opened to the media entrepreneur that is LMH, and hopefully also to her subscriber/ratings orientated method of investigative ‘scientific' reporting…..

I am however still pleased that LMH conducted the interview in her usual manner. I say this because as this time she wasn't the first port-of-call for the witness, it meant that she wasn't reporting on a sighting, witness & images that only she had exclusive access to (which was often the case with the original Drone reports).

So in my humble opinion and albeit inadvertently she's done us all a favour by once again reminding us of why the moniker of ‘story-teller' is infinitely more applicable than that of ‘investigative reporter' or a ‘scientific consultant' (which C2C touts her as when she appears on their show).

In short I believe that the 'kite' possibility at least warranted a mention, and certainly more than the inclusion of the report in the "Original Drone Timeline" did, but hey, what do I know.....

Disclosure Or Bust…..

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:44:00 +0000

PRG founder Stephen Bassett publicly stated on the 21st April 2009 that:

"If it does not disclose, by the end of May - this is not a threat or anything, you don't threaten the United States government, they're heavily armed ... the PRG has an enormous and substantial network, and quite a bit of documentary evidence connected to this, particularly politically ... and we are going to be extensively putting that out to the media, and we're just going to make it as difficult on them as possible,"

Bassett also added that there's a chance "above 50-50" that the United States could fall victim to another space gap, this time by being beaten by another nation more willing to finally admit " the extraterrestrial presence."

"We will wake up and pick up The Washington Post or The Washington Times and the headline will read: 'President [Nicolas] Sarkozy of France today will tell the French people about a confirmation of an extraterrestrial presence and provide evidence from defense military files.'We will follow, and they will lead."

Whether it's considered a threat, an ultimatum or just more empty rhetoric the time it seems is fast approaching when something has got to give, but whether that is indeed ‘confirmation of an extraterrestrial presence' or thousands of lacklustre UFO reports (with next to no investigation) remains to be seen.

(UK) South Harrow UFO Photographed - Flickr (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:19:00 +0000

The following caught my eye recently as it’s not the usual ‘run of the mill’ photograph of a UFO, it was originally posted to Flickr then subsequently picked up by the Harrow Observer who added further details to the report on the 6th April (2009).

UFO spotted in South Harrow

A mysterious light in the skies above South Harrow has been captured on film by an amateur photographer. The unidentified flying object appeared through the clouds at about 7.45pm on March 31 and was snapped by computer network engineer Ahmad Zaigham.

Mr Zaigham posted the picture on website Flickr where he said that he had spotted the alien ship out his window.

(Original Image)

He said: "The light coming from this thing is something I have never seen the like. I don't think any aircraft has a light like this…..And moments after this shot the object seemed to quickly fade in light and travel above at high speed. I did not hear any loud sound but I did hear a whistle kind of sound. I am still shocked."

Mr Zaigham said he may pass the picture on to Nasa.

Source: Harrow Observer

Mr Zaigham posted the following account to his Flickr account under the pseudonym, "SHUTTER-MOORGH".

“This Alien ship I spotted outside my window on the 31st march 2009 at 7:45:57 pm. The light coming from this thing is something I have never seen the like. I don’t think any aircraft has a light like this. And moments after this shot the object seemed to quickly fade in light and travel above at high speed. I did not hear any loud sound but I did hear a whistle kind of sound. I am still shocked.”

Zaigham also states that: “Yes this is the only picture i got. The ship was flying fast above and on the right side around 20 degree angle.”

However after checking the Flickr account in question it struck me as a little suspicious that Mr Zaigham is a member of a multitude of UFO orientated Flickr groups, has a sound photographic knowledge and high-end photography equipment and yet only managed one image of the object, which when coupled with the fact that (as quoted above) the first line of the description states somewhat unequivocally that Mr Zaigham believes the object is indeed an, “Alien ship”.

I am admittedly occasionally (!) overly cynical concerning such matters but personally I would attach a great deal more credence to the photograph if the image wasn’t (apparently) cropped and of course if access to the original was granted so that the exposure time (amongst other things) could be verified.....

(June 2005) Jellyfish Drone (UFO?) Mufon FI Report

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Mufon field investigator, Eddie Middleton talks about an older , “Drone-like” UFO report with ‘jellyfish' like properties:

Giant jellyfish/drone-like object sails across backyard in mid-town Memphis.

In June 2005 Linda Howe received from a lady in Memphis, Tennessee one of the strangest UFO reports I have ever read. Kathleen Deaton who lived at the time on Harbert Street in Mid-town Memphis said that on that hot Summer afternoon she was sitting on her back porch when she suddenly noticed at the far end of her yard about three or four feet over her garden an incredibly bizarre-looking, airborne object that was moving slowly towards her. She described it as an enormous, elongated jellyfish-like thing, somewhat helicopterish in structure, approximately five or six feet in length with a large, spherical-shaped head (or control cockpit) in the front and a body that tapered to what looked like some kind of tail or rudder. It was silvery in color and somewhat diaphanous in appearance. [It's hard to describe something like you ain't ever seen before!] The thing made no noise that she could detect. As it moved closer to her, following a smooth level path above the ground , she noticed more details. It seemed to have some kind of antennae on top of it. When it got at close range, not more than three or four feet away from her, it appeared like it could possibly be some kind of hybrid---artificial UAV and living creature combined---the real stuff of science fiction!

Kathleen was absolutely frozen in awe watching this thing. When it stopped at the foot of her porch stairs, she had the strong impression that it was taking cognizance of her and going through some kind of decision process what to do next. This extremely uneasy moment lasted only a few seconds. Then it slowly rose up just enough to clear the top of her roof and passed on over. Kathleen immediately ran through her house to get another view of this thing as it flew over her front yard, across the street, and then over the roof of the house on that side before disappearing into the distance to the North. She reported this to the police who didn't quite know what to make of it except to guess she had seen some kind of balloon. And so concludes the essential details of Kathleen's report.

And now to the main point of my article. As a MUFON Field Investigator, I was utterly fascinated when I read this account and wanted to do a full investigatrion of it. I was also somewhat appalled as this sighting had occurred just a few blocks from where I lived! I tried to contact the witness, but to no avail. She was not even listed in the phone directory. I called Linda Howe, and she didn't even know how to get back in touch with Mrs. Deaton. MUFON FI's sometimes have to deal with this kind of frustration. I was, however, absolutely determined to still investigate, as far as I possibly could, this extremely weird sighting that had practically happened in my own backyard.

I talked to an expert on weather balloons at the National Weather Bureau in Memphis. She looked at the artist's depiction on Linda Howe's website of what Kathleen claimed to have seen . This spokesperson said it could well have been a weather balloon because its size, shape, and color pretty well matched-up with what weather balloons in general looked like. She went on to tell me that every day at least one weather balloon was released between 4am and 6am from three different locations within striking distance of Memphis : Nashville, Little Rock, and Paducah, Kentucky. She said one of these balloons could easily have strayed as far as Memphis. She DID say, however, that for this thing to have been that low to the ground and coming across Mrs. Daton's backyard in the fashion she had described would have been very unusual but certainly within the realm of possibility. Another spokesperson I talked to at the Weather Bureau said that usually weather balloons when they run out of Helium , explode in the upper atmosphere. One thing the expert told me was that there would have been some kind of package hanging underneath the balloon. And this was not mentioned in Mrs. Deaton's account of what she said she saw.

Being as thorough as I could in my MUFON detective work, I also checked out the possibility that Kathy had seen some kind of Helium balloon that had strayed from Liberty Land which is in Mid-town at the Fair Grounds not far from her neighborhood. Liberty Land would have been in full swing in June of 2005 though it was permanently shut down in October of 2005. Robert Charles who was operating a Magic Shop at Liberty Land at that time told me that they were celebrating their 30th anniversity that month and had all kinds of Helium balloons out there.

So, using Occam's Razor, the most "logical," mundane, down-to-earth weather balloon explanation seems possibly plausible enough. It would certainly have been the "explanation" that a skeptic like Michael Shermer or Phillip Klass would have given and been quite comfortable with. As a MUFON Field Investigator, I would have had to have classified Kathy's sighitng as an IFO (Identifed Flying Object) ; that's because it is the scientific protocol at MUFON to always opt for the natural explanation of strange sighting reports whenever possible. That keeps the skeptical scientists happy and MUFON's reputation as a scientifically respectable research organization intact, but as for me personally, I cannot escape the feeling of strangness from this report. Who knows? This might have been one of those Sky Cirtters (living UFOs) that Trevor James Constable photographed in the late 50's and early 60's or possibly one of those darn drones that were being photographed with cell phones a few years ago. And, of course, one cannot rule out the possibility that Kathy was just telling a tall tale. But I will say this : if she was, I would still like to locate her so I could get her to enter a liers' contest and share some of her winnings with me.

Source: Nashville Examiner

(UK) UFO Reported Over Skegness (01 April 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:21:00 +0000

Geoffery Clarke, of Skegness, took several photos of a UFO spotted over Skegness in November.

Thursday, 12.08pm - A SKEGNESS man believes he may have witnessed a UFO hovering over the town. Geoffery Clarke, of Ridley Avenue, took photos into the Standard office of a strange shaped bright light he spotted in November. He was prompted to bring the photos in after seeing an article published in the Daily Mail last week about UFOs and one of the images matched what he saw that night.

He said: "I saw something in the sky so I got my camera with a telephoto lens. I have never seen anything like it before…. I don't know if I believe in UFOs but I just saw these things and then I saw the article….. It was a bright light in the sky and it was a long way away. At first it was static, then started to move so I thought I would keep with it. Then it disappeared."

He said he saw the thing moving towards Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve. The Daily Mail article was about Ministry of Defence files from 1987-1993 released by the National Archives which contain a spate of similar 'UFO' sightings.

They showed the MoD was less concerned about aliens and more worried the sightings were actually of stealth aircraft being produced by America or an enemy nation . A sketch of one of these sightings matches the arched light Mr Clarke photographed in November.

Source: Skegness Standard

California 2007 Drone (UFO) Hoax (April Fool)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:54:00 +0000

To commemorate April Fools day here’s the written word from the first witness account by Chad, (the original Drone witness) set to music…..

Music and voice-over by “WildAlf”,
Video by ufo-blog.com
Words by Chad (the anonymous hoaxer).

Last month (April 2007), my wife and I were on a walk when we noticed a very large, very strange "craft" in the sky. My wife took a picture with her cell phone camera (first photo below). A few days later a friend (and neighbor) lent me his camera and came with me to take photos of this "craft". We found it and took a number of very clear photos. Picture #4 is taken from right below this thing and I must give my friend credit as I was not brave enough to get close enough to take this picture myself!

The craft is almost completely silent and moves very smoothly. It usually moves slowly until it decides to take off. Then it moves VERY quickly and is out of sight in the blink of an eye. MORE THAN ANYTHING I simply want to understand what this is and why it is here?

We found your show with Google and I have listened for a few nights now. I have decided that if anyone can help me understand what this thing is, it is you and your audience. I must admit I am deeply unsettled by this thing. I have never seen anything like this in my life...

Location: I would prefer not to say for now.....

For a multitude of reasons why the 2007 California Drones are indeed a HOAX as well as a concise history then please visit my side project at: DroneHoax.com.

UFO Contactees: Whispers From (Inner) Space?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:45:00 +0000

I wrote a Blog post back on the 17th October (2008) (three days after the fabled representatives of the 'Federation Of Light' failed to materialise) and while I didn't connect it to Blossom Goodchild (BG) or to the UFO phenomenon in any way, shape or form I still think it's fairly obvious that it was at the forefront of my mind at the time of writing.

(Apologies If you landed here looking for the Gray Barker documentary).

Was the Blog post even relevant?

Well, I'll leave that to the individual to arrive at their own conclusion…..

If anything I was merely trying to weigh-up one of the more ‘unspoken' options (informed opinions and all that) and tried to accomplish this by considering an oft misunderstood aspect of the human condition. It may seem a bit strange when talking of BG to speak of diverse aspects and then not to include her predictions as an example of this diversity, but strangely once you've read some (any?) of the many accounts/predictions from people who believe themselves to be contactees then the BG one was pretty much standard fare and was indistinguishable from the majority of its predecessors. I should stress at this point that this post ISN'T directed at anyone in particular and certainly not at BG but rather it's directed at the broader contactee 'experience' as well as other experiences which involve conversing with or hearing disembodied voice/s.

Also EVERY single person (EVER!!) who has put themselves out there and hazarded a prediction at the date of any future global –extraterrestrial- contact (and which has come and gone) has been hung out to dry by their alleged sources. Actually nearly every (if not every?) prediction ever made regarding cataclysmic or epoch-type event/s has been found wanting (obviously or we'd ALL already know of them) or at best have been open to massively differing interpretations.

But specifically regarding contactees I personally think the real question demanding an answer is whether the people making these predictions are merely hapless victims of the ‘cosmic-trickster' that the elusive UFO phenomenon masquerades as, or whether the perceived contacts and their celestial messages are the combination of many influences, a sum total of parts which is ultimately and exclusively a direct product of the human condition. (Hoaxers notwithstanding as surely, SURELY, all those who believe they have been privy to such messages can't ALL be deliberately deceiving, can they?)

Anyway, I just thought I'd (re)frame and present it in the context I originally intended.

Food for thought if nothing else.....

Hallucinations, Psychosis & Subjective Reality

Psychosis literally means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality".
People suffering from psychosis are said to be psychotic.
People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs.

“One important and puzzling feature of psychosis is usually an accompanying lack of insight into the unusual, strange, or bizarre nature of the person's experience or behaviour. ”

(Carpenter, William, Strauss & Bartko - 1973)

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are essentially defined as sensory perception in the absence of external stimuli, i.e. perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli AND which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid, substantial, and located in external objective space.

These definitions distinguish hallucinations from the related phenomena of:

Dreaming, which does not involve consciousness;
Illusion, which involves distorted or misinterpreted real perception;
Imagery, which does not mimic real perception and is under voluntary control;

Hallucinations also differ from "delusional perceptions" in which a correctly sensed and interpreted genuine perception is given some additional and usually bizarre significance. (Hallucinations may occur in any of the five senses and take on almost any form).

Auditory hallucinations

Hallucinated voices may talk about, or to the person, and may involve several speakers with distinct personas.
Auditory hallucinations tend to be particularly distressing when they are derogatory, commanding or preoccupying.
Auditory hallucinations, and in particular the hearing of a voice as well as being a common and often prominent feature of psychosis are additionally thought of as particularly characteristic of people suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders characterized by disturbances in perception, affect, behaviour and communication lasting longer than 6 months. Symptoms are often described in terms of positive and negative with positive symptoms including delusions, auditory hallucinations, and thought disorder. These are typically regarded as manifestations of psychosis and for obvious reasons it is difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences and even in the case of an acute psychosis people may be completely unaware that their vivid hallucinations and delusions are in any way "unrealistic".

“If you talk to God, you are praying.
If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia…..”

(Psychiatrist & Professor of Psychiatry, Thomas S. Szasz)

Normal subjects also report auditory hallucinations to a surprising extent and many studies have shown that hallucinatory experiences take place worldwide. One study from as early as 1894 in a report on the census of hallucinations (Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research) reported that approximately 10% of the population experienced hallucinations.

Bentall and Slade conducted a study in 1985 (Reliability of a scale measuring disposition towards hallucination: a brief report ) and reported that as many as 15.4% of a population of 150 male students were prepared to endorse the statement ‘In the past I have had the experience of hearing a person's voice and then found that no one was there'.

Green and McCreery (Apparitions) found that 14% of their 1800 self-selected subjects reported a purely auditory hallucination, and of these nearly half involved the hearing of articulate or inarticulate human speech sounds.

Posey and Losch in their 1983 paper, “Imagination, Cognition and Personality” (Auditory hallucinations of hearing voices in 375 normal subjects) estimated that 10% of their population of 375 American college students had had this type of experience and temed it as: “Hearing a comforting or advising voice that is not perceived as being one's own thoughts.”

A four year survey of over 13,000 people (Prevalence of hallucinations and their pathological associations in the general population. Psychiatry Research) between 1996-1999 reported a much higher figure, the results which were published in 2000 and revealed that a staggering 39% of people reporting hallucinatory experiences, 27% of which were daytime hallucinations, mostly outside the context of illness or drug use.

Although many people not suffering from a detectable, noticeable or diagnosable mental illness can hear voices as well and there are several support/advocacy organizations and charities geared towards people who hallucinate voices, but do not otherwise show signs of mental illness or impairment. As shown above, research has shown that the majority of people who hear voices are not in need of psychiatric help. There are various explanations for the experience of hearing voices which have been shown to empower voice hearers, enabling them to live with the experience in a positive way and, “The Hearing Voices Movement” was created to support voice hearers, regardless of whether they are considered to have a mental illness or not.

INTERVOICE Online: (International hearing voices movement )
Hearing Voices Network

(The following was originally posted by Andrea Thompson at
Livescience.com 15 September 2006).

Hearing Voices: Some People Like It

For some people, hearing voices in their heads is a positive experience, not a sign of mental illness or cause for distress. Researchers at the University of Manchester are aiming to find out why. Traditionally these auditory hallucinations, as psychologists call them, are associated with mental illness. They can be a symptom of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and sometimes depression.

But studies by Dutch researchers that began in the 1990s found that some healthy people also regularly hear voices. The scientists ran a program on Dutch television asking for volunteers who heard voices, and they got a surprising response. Many of the people who contacted them did not find the voices disruptive and had never felt the need to consult mental health services. Some even said they found the experience to be positive or inspirational.

The resulting studies found that more people might hear voices than psychologists had thought, perhaps around 4 percent of the population. Aylish Campbell, a psychologist at the University of Manchester , is hoping to expand on the Dutch study by investigating why peoples' reactions to hearing voices vary so widely. Campbell has just begun looking for study participants in Britain . Campbell and her colleagues suspect the variation could be caused by different life experiences. Childhood traumas, beliefs that other people are untrustworthy or dangerous, and feelings of vulnerability might react with fear to cause people to hear voices.

The experience might be enjoyed by people who have positive outlooks, Campbell thinks anyone can hear voices, particularly when stressed. For example, those who are grieving over the recent loss of a loved one might hear that person's voice.

"We're looking for people who hear voices who have a range of experiences…..It might just be a normal human experience…..People are susceptible to different degrees…..If we can understand a bit more about the factors, we might be able to use that knowledge to help people who do find it distressing," said Campbell.

Campbell hopes that learning what triggers different reactions could help develop new psychological therapies to help people—at least those who don't like the phenomenon—to cope with the voices.

Source: LiveScience – Andrea Thompson (15 September 2006)

Auditory Hallucinations:
A comparison between patients and nonpatients.

Honig A, Romme MA, Ensink BJ, Escher SD, Pennings MH, deVries MW. (Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, Academic Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands).

The form and the content of chronic auditory hallucinations were compared in three cohorts, namely patients with schizophrenia, patients with a dissociative disorder, and nonpatient voice-hearers. The form of the hallucinatory experiences was not significantly different between the three groups. The subjects in the nonpatient group, unlike those in the patient groups, perceived their voices as predominantly positive: they were not alarmed or upset by their voices and felt in control of the experience. In most patients, the onset of auditory hallucinations was preceded by either a traumatic event or an event that activated the memory of earlier trauma. The significance of this study is that it presents evidence that the form of the hallucinations experienced by both patient and nonpatient groups is similar, irrespective of diagnosis. Differences between groups were predominantly related to the content, emotional quality, and locus of control of the voices. In this study the disability incurred by hearing voices is associated with (the reactivation of) previous trauma and abuse.

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Sources/Further Reading

Wikipedia: Hallucination, Psychosis
Differences and similarities in the sensory and cognitive signatures of voice-hearing, intrusions and thoughts. [Schizophr Res. 2008]
The omnipotence of voices: testing the validity of a cognitive model. [Psychol Med. 1997]
Emotional prosodic processing in auditory hallucinations. [Schizophr Res. 2007]
Interpretations of voices in patients with hallucinations and non-patient controls: a comparison and predictors of distress in patients. [Behav Res Ther. 2004]
Cognitive processes in auditory hallucinations: attributional biases and metacognition. [Psychol Med. 1998]

Ministry Of Defence Release Third Batch Of UFO Files

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Ministry Of Defence Release
Third Batch Of UFO Files
(Saturday, 22 March 2009)

The third collection of UK Ministry of Defence UFO files can now be downloaded from the The National Archives (TNA) dedicated website (here).

The initial media coverage seems to be as feverish as ever but really they are only working from the details released by Dr David Clarke who is the consultant for the TNA's UFO project. Dave prepared a detailed summary for both the national and international media and also recorded a podcast regarding this -the third- release of UFO MoD files.

Dave writes:

“This tranche consists of seven files containing more than 2,000 pages of material. Six of the files contain UFO reports copied to the MoD's secretive Defence Intelligence branch DI55, between November 1987 and April 1993. During this period 1200 individual sightings were reported to the authorities.

The release of these papers is in itself a victory for open government. For as recently as ten years ago the British Government refused even to acknowledge the existence of DI55, let alone comment upon their role in the investigation of UFO reports. The arrival of the Freedom of Information Act in 2005 brought this ludicrous situation to an end. But even then for at time it appeared unlikely we would discover anything further."

Source: Dr David Clarke's Blog

For further information regarding this latest release then as well as visiting the official TNA pages you should also visit Dr David Clarke's new Blog as he has an excellent run-down of the documents as well as sharing his personal insights gleaned from years of UFO research.

I suspect that this means that just as it seems that media interest was waning then this recent release will yet again increase public interest which in turn will inject more urgency into the reporting of any anomalous aerial phenomena. To be honest I've been pleasantly surprised of late with the handling of the UFO reports by the media in general as the ‘giggle factor' seems to be decreasing so it's a shame that this urgency generally means reporting wholly identifiable objects as unidentified.

There are exceptions to this ridicule-free approach and right at the forefront of this irresponsible gutter journalism is a UK paper, namely “The Sun”. In my opinion the sooner everyone realises that The Sun is quickly becoming the new, “Weekly Word News” then the sooner their ludicrous reporting of the phenomenon will be afforded the contempt it so rightly deserves. More than once in the last few months The Sun have approached UK UFO researchers asking for comments on a UFO report they have received and were given a thorough and concise (earthly) explanation of what was seen before promptly ignoring the explanation and running the story as a UFO sighting anyway, often quoting an obscure expert as verification or even more worryingly enlisting the help of their resident UFO expert Nick Pope. The only reason this is more worrying is that Pope is perceived by the general public as the UK UFO expert due solely to the fact that he manned the MoD's UFO desk part-time for a couple of years in the 1990's, a job which was/is effectively a ‘front,' representing the public face of the MoD's interest in the UFO phenomenon, however with the recent release of the UFO files it's obvious that this ‘interest' was more of an annoyance, a necessary evil to placate the growing public concern.

As Pope is currently employed by The Sun then it appears to me that his opinion is bought and paid for then as such any comments published should ONLY be considered as those of a spokesperson for The Sun rather the UFO expert he is often touted as……

Alien Abduction - Nigel Watson & “The Alien Deception”

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:22:00 +0000

A new book has just hit the shelves (March 2009) which is titled, “The Alien Deception”.

Written by Nigel Watson it is an, “Exploration of the AlienAbduction Phenomenon” and while I haven't yet obtained a copy of the book the write-up for it does sound promising and is as follows:

At times, after such encounters, the abductee has little conscious recollection of these events, and usually through nightmares, flashbacks and hypnosis they eventually learn more.

Some abductees even believe they have been used as part of a breeding project to create hybrid alien/humans. Almost all are truly bewildered by their experiences.

Ultimately, alien abductions make us consider fundamental questions about our place in the universe and our future evolution as a species. Are abductions real events that have momentous consequences for the whole of humanity or are they the product of rumour, psychosis, hoaxes, media hype and sensationalism?

Is there a grand Alien Deception manipulating our minds and our governments or are we deceiving ourselves?

Nigel Watson's groundbreaking exploration of alien abductions takes a comprehensive look at the reports by the earliest abductees (such as Betty and Barney Hill), right up to the latest encounters. Watson considers the possible historical, paranormal, extraterrestrial, psychological and media influences that might help explain the origin of these reports.”

The UK Spy-Drones (& The Thought Police…..)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:38:00 +0000

Way back in May 2007 I made a post detailing the specifics of our quickly diminishing personal rights in the UK, also foretelling of a truly Orwellian Britain that wasn't just hearsay but which was based entirely on fact, it made for quite disturbing reading (the original post can be viewed here).

I referenced many facets of these pending encroachments of civil liberties and also spoke of the unveiling of the “MicroDrone” and the fact that the UK police were going to commence trial runs utilising it in a civilian environment and capacity. I very rarely speak of such things and admittedly I used a somewhat tenuous premise by comparing the, “MicroDrone” to a UFO, which to be fair was due in most to the recent Californian Drone Hoax which was (at the time) mid-flap and was taking up most of my time.

Well roll on February 2009 and the following article posted by the Daily Mail (online):

Big Brother spy planes that track the Taliban
may soon hover over your home.

Pilotless planes used to track the Taliban could soon be hovering over our streets, it has emerged. Remote-controlled drones are already used widely by the military. Now ministers believe they are likely to become 'increasingly useful' for police work. Armed with heat-seeking cameras, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles would hover hundreds of feet in the air, gathering intelligence and watching suspects.

The Microdrone has been trialled by Merseyside police. The white top features GPS technology, which allows officers to navigate it. It contains a memory card to store recordings from several flights.

In theory, their advantages are clear. They are cheaper and quieter than conventional helicopters, can circle their target for hours without refuelling - and they don't get bored on long surveillance missions.

However, their use is likely to further fuel concerns about our march towards a Big Brother state. Britain already has more CCTV cameras than the rest of Europe put together. More than four million closed-circuit TV cameras cover the streets; cars are monitored using cameras that check registration plates and a new law will see footage taken of shoppers buying alcohol. The plan to deploy 'spy in the sky' planes is outlined in the Home Office's latest Science and Innovation Strategy.

It says: 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are likely to be an increasingly useful tool for police in the future, potentially reducing the number of dangerous situations the police may have to enter and also providing evidence for prosecutions and support police operations in "real time".'

Two years ago, Tony McNulty, then a Home Office minister, acknowledged that scientists were exploring the use of UAV technology for a 'range of policing and security applications' .

They could be used by MI5 to watch a suspect's address for long periods or track a car for miles. The drones could also help officers plan raids in locations that are hard to reach, to record and monitor accidents or to spot speeding offences or reckless or uninsured drivers.

Goggles enable officers to see exactly what the drone is filming:

Ministers are liaising with the Civil Aviation Authority about the introduction of UAVs, some of which measure as little as 2ft across. But the document cautions:

'We need to investigate how such vehicles could be used, and their ability to provide high-quality evidence for convictions.'

There are also safety concerns surrounding the planes. Those used by the military are prone to crashes on takeoff and landing. Many have been lost over battlefields. A trial by Merseyside police, of £30,000 remote-controlled miniature helicopters with still, video or infra-red cameras, highlighted more mundane problems related to battery life and the effects of bad weather on flights.

Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'I think a lot of people would be concerned at the Home Office looking to use technology more generally associated with the tribal borders of Pakistan and the fight against terror over British towns to watch the British public…..It is not necessarily as glamorous or as high-tech, but a bobby snapping cuffs on a criminal is the most productive approach.'

Source: Daily Mail

Also posted on February 24th (2009) by the Daily Mail was the following article titled:

I fear a Big Brother state ( reveals David Blunkett)

David Blunkett will today warn of the dangers of allowing an 'oppressive' and 'eventually self-destructive' Big Brother state to develop. The former Home Secretary has concerns about plans for mass data sharing by public bodies and the Home Office's proposal for a giant database holding records of every phone call and internet click. In a speech today, Mr Blunkett will also suggest one solution to the identity cards row would be to make passports compulsory for everyone, with ID cards only being issued to those who want one.

Mr Blunkett will tell the 21st annual law lecture at Essex University: 'We need principles on which we can base actions which may otherwise, in the name of protecting freedom and decency, become oppressive, intolerant of difference and eventually self-destructive.'

Mr Blunkett, who had many run-ins with the civil liberties lobby when Home Secretary between 2001 and 2004, will say there must be 'very clear rules' to protect the public from intrusion by the state and private businesses.

Source: Daily Mail

Remember, this is the person widely heralded as the architect of the ID cards speaking, one of the loudest and most influential voices on the subject back in the day when he was Home Secretary, anyway...... Finally and on a much lighter note, check out this San Francisco Chronicle Mp3 from an unfathomably irate reader and his overly verbose rant on the etymology of the word, “Drone” (drone, drone, drone).

(UK North) Sellafield UFOs? (Feb 8th 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:36:00 +0000

A local online newspaper article and yet another –imminent- ‘hotspot'. To be honest an wholly unremarkable article apart from the parallels drawn between the proximity of one of the sightings to the Sellafield power plant.

UFOs Take a Shine To Us (Feb 8th 2009)

UFO hunters have claimed the North is becoming a hotspot of extraterrestrial activity.

Ufologists across the region have reported what they believe is an unprecedented rise in the number of unexplained events in the night sky. Strange shapes and lights have been reported in several areas including locations near to sensitive military sites and nuclear power stations. The most recent sighting came in Cumbria when there were reports of orange lights above the Irish Sea off the coast of Ravenglass, just a few miles from the Sellafield power plant.

According to UFO investigator Pat Regan the lights are unlikely to have been maritime flares:

“The report was submitted by a man who has extensive knowledge of the area and is familiar with flares. He reported that what he saw were definitely not flares and that the lights moved without making any noise.”

Unlike flares or other possible sources such as Chinese lanterns Pat, a 51-year- old father of two, says the man, who does not want to be named, reported the lights changing direction a number of times on Saturday, January 24. Explaining that:

“There were two lights together then one veered off to the north. He kept watching this light which dipped to sea level then up again before heading off at speed.”

Whitehaven-based UFO investigator Sharon Larkin, 37, said she was aware of a recent increase in activity and claims Cumbria, especially the Lake District, is becoming a UFO hotspot.

“There has been a lot of activity lately. Some theories suggest the large amount of water in the lakes is useful to craft which may need it for propulsion systems. Another theory is that they are monitoring our use of nuclear power.”

Claims that visitors from outer space are monitoring our use of nuclear power and military bases also strike a chord with North Yorkshire-based UFO hunter Russ Kellett, Russ, 46, of Filey, claims a huge hot air balloon-type object was spotted in the skies over York at the beginning of the year.

“We had reports from a number of people that a hot air balloon-type object was seen in the skies around York on New Year's Day…..It really interests me because although they describe it as being like a hot air balloon they insist there was no basket underneath it and it moved too quickly and changed direction.”

Source: Sunday Sun

Danish Air Force Adds To Disclosure ‘Trickle'

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:28:00 +0000

Denmark joins the growing list of countries that has ‘de-classified' it's UFO reports and again a statement is issued which hints at the standard fare which is to be found:

Denmark releases UFO archives

The Danish Air Force has released 329 pages of previously classified archives on UFO sightings, including details on more than 200 unsolved cases.

Capt. Thomas Pedersen said the military released the documents after growing weary of journalists asking questions about them, the Copenhagen Post reported Friday.

"We decided to publish the archives because frankly there is nothing really secret in them," Pedersen said. "The Air Force has no interest in keeping unusual sightings a secret. Our job is to maintain national security, not investigate UFOs."

The Air Force said the archives contain details of unexplained events occurring between 1978 and 2002, before the job of chronicling UFO sightings went to a group called Scandinavian UFO Information.

COPENHAGEN , Denmark , Jan 30, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) –

Source: [Official] UPI Press Release

Boris Johnson criticised for defending UFO Hacker

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Naisbitt) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:58:00 +0000

The “Thinking Mans Idiot” London Mayor (Boris Johnson) strikes again, and this time it's in favour of soon to be extradited Gary McKinnon. To be honest I don't get involved or reference politics but I will make an exception and say that Boris is definitely my favourite [current] UK comedian…..

London mayor appealed to Obama to forgive British hacker who hit military computers.

January 29, 2009 (Computerworld) A former prosecutor says the mayor of London was ignoring the facts this week when he publicly threw his support behind the man who has admitted hacking into U.S. military computers in 2001. Scott Christie, an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey in 2002 when Gary McKinnon of London was indicted in the case, told Computerworld that London Mayor Boris Johnson's emotional defence of the hacker is obscuring the facts and circumstances surrounding the crime. McKinnon has acknowledged that he hacked into U.S. government and military computer systems simply to look for information on UFOs.

But while the U.S. government alleges McKinnon caused $900,000 in damages to computers in 14 states, and that he caused the shutdown of critical military networks shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the mayor of London offered a very different take on it in a column that he wrote for London 's Telegraph newspaper. The column was a public plea for President Barack Obama to drop the case against McKinnon.

Johnson called U.S. efforts to prosecute McKinnon a "legal nightmare." And saying that McKinnon is not a threat to the U.S. , Johnson also referred to the Department of Justice's ongoing efforts to extradite McKinnon to the U.S. for prosecution as "American bullying."

Christie, who now leads the information technology group at law firm McCarter & English LLP, said it's clear that Johnson doesn't have all the information about the case.

"[McKinnon] has created this cause celebre status in order to appeal to folks who will beat the drum on his behalf and they conveniently ignore the facts of the situation and the entire nature of his conduct," said Christie. "I think that, unfortunately, it lends some credence to the individuals who are painting McKinnon as a victim, to have the mayor of London weigh in as part of that team ... people are resorting to a distortion of the facts in order to further his celebrity status as a victim. It's troubling."

In his column, Johnson asserts that McKinnon is not a "proper hacker," adding, "He was so innocent and un-furtive in his investigations, that he left his own e-mail address, and messages such as 'Your security is crap.'"

Christie, though, says that's not true, noting that McKinnon had worked as a system administrator in the U.K. He also said that McKinnon was able to surreptitiously enter Department of Defense computers and cause a significant denial of service within weeks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He added that McKinnon also did not leave his e-mail address behind.

"That's not true. Mr. McKinnon took great pains to obscure ... where he was coming from and who he actually was," said Christie. "He certainly did not leave his e-mail address. He was able to be identified only through the hard work and diligent investigation by the Naval and Defense Department criminal investigators. It's unfortunate that that Mr. Johnson doesn't have a full understanding of the facts in his rant in favor of Mr. McKinnon."

He also said he was surprised that any plea to a national leader would be made so publicly and not through normal political channels.

Late last week, it was announced that McKinnon was getting yet another chance to avoid extradition when the High Court in London ruled that the case can be reviewed by Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions for England and Wales .

McKinnon, who was an unemployed system administrator in the U.K. at the time of the 2001 hack, has been using a series of legal manoeuvres and appeals over the past seven years to fight extradition to the U.S. McKinnon, now 43, was indicted in November 2002 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He has said he broke into U.S. military computers hoping to uncover evidence of UFOs.

McKinnon has admitted to hacking the computers and described how he did it in detail at computer security conferences in London .

Source: Computer World

And here's the original article penned by Boris Johnson for the Telegraph (26th January 2009)

Americans who want a harmless hacker extradited from Britain must be from a different planet, says Boris Johnson.

Way to go, Mr President. I think we can all agree that it has been a cracking first week. Apart from the swearing-in glitch – which was entirely the fault of that judge – I have supported just about everything that Barack Obama has done.

I liked the speech, and the promise that America is ready to lead again. It is good news that he is getting rid of Guantanamo and water-boarding and extraordinary rendition, all the dread apparatus of the Bush regime.

But before we all get too misty-eyed about the new era, and before Barack devotes himself entirely to the meltdown of the banks, there is one more thing in his diplomatic in-tray. There is one last piece of neocon lunacy that needs to be addressed, and Mr Obama could sort it out at the stroke of a pen.

In a legal nightmare that has lasted seven years, and cost untold millions to taxpayers both here and in America , the US Justice Department is persisting in its demented quest to extradite 43-year-old Londoner, Gary McKinnon.

To listen to the ravings of the US military, you would think that Mr McKinnon is a threat to national security on a par with Osama bin Laden. According to the Americans, this mild-mannered computer programmer has done more damage to their war-fighting capabilities than all the orange-pyjama-clad suspects of Guantanamo combined.

And how? He is a hacker. He hacked into the Pentagon, he hacked into the army, the navy, and the air force, and the Americans say he temporarily paralysed US Naval Weapons station Earle, by deleting some files.

In their continuing rage at this electronic lèse-majesté, the Americans want us to send him over there to face trial, and the possibility of a 70-year jail sentence. It is a comment on American bullying and British spinelessness that this farce is continuing, because Gary McKinnon is not and never has been any kind of threat to American security. He had only one reason for fossicking around in the databanks of Pentagon computers, and it had nothing to do with the war on terror or indeed the military capabilities of any country on earth.

Mr McKinnon believes in UFOs, and he is one of the large number of people who think that there is a gigantic conspiracy to conceal their existence from the rest of us, and that this conspiracy is organised by the US government.

I am not so brave as to claim that UFOs do not exist. The Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, has said he believes in life forms on other planets, and no decent empiricist could rule out the possibility.

It may be that the former footballer and BBC presenter David Icke is right, and that the world is run by giant lizards in disguise. Perhaps Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are themselves supersized saurians who have been sent on a 10-year mission to wreck the UK economy, in preparation for the great lizard takeover. Maybe the whole plot will climax in Davos this week, when all 2,500 leading economic and political lizards will meet in the Swiss alps – having done untold damage to global finances – and hail the arrival of the lizard mother ship as it perches on the mountain top.

All this is certainly theoretically possible, just as it is possible that there really was an accident involving an alien spacecraft at Roswell , and that there really is an extra large teapot in orbit around Mars. It is just that I happen to think it vanishingly unlikely, and we have a word for people who persist in believing in alien abduction. They are cranks, and they do not deserve to be persecuted. They do not deserve to be arrested, and have their lives ruined by the agonising delays of the law, unable to work, a drain on the resources of the state and of their families.

Gary McKinnon wasn't even a proper hacker. He did something called "blank password scanning", and because these military computers were so dumb as to lack proper passwords, he was able to roam around their intestines in search of evidence of little green men. He was so innocent and un-furtive in his investigations that he left his own email address, and messages such as "Your security is crap". And yes, since you ask, he does think that he found evidence that the US military is infiltrated by beings from the planet Tharg. He even knows the names and ranks of various non-terrestrial officers, though unfortunately they have been deleted from his hard drive.

It is brutal, mad and wrong even to consider sending this man to America for trial. He has been diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome, for heaven's sake. How can the British government be so protoplasmic, so pathetic, so heedless of the well-being of its own people, as to sign the warrant for his extradition? What kind of priorities do we have these days? We treat a harmless UFO-believer as an international terrorist, and are willing to send him to prison in America , and as for real terrorists – people who bombed and maimed innocent civilians in this country – we seem willing to give their families £12,000 each, on the grounds that they are all "victims" of the troubles in Northern Ireland .

The British government is obviously too feeble to help Mr McKinnon, and even though the courts last week granted him another review, it is plain that the matter will simply drag preposterously and expensively on.

It is time for Barack Obama to show the new leadership the world has been crying out for. It is time for the Commander-in-Chief to tell the US military to stop being so utterly wet, dry their eyes, and invest in some passwords that are slightly more difficult to crack.

In the words of the spiritual with which he began his inauguration ceremony, it is time for the new President to let our people go. To persist with this extradition is so cruel and so irrational that the only plausible explanation is that beneath their suits the US Justice Department and the UK Home Office are occupied by a conspiracy of great green gibbering geckos from outer space.

Source: The Telegraph

“I could not fail to disagree with you less.”

Boris Johnson

The following is from the Freegary.org.uk website & posted January 29th 2009:

Gary McKinnon and family thank supporters of the fight against his extradition to the USA

Gary and his Family would like to say a Huge Thank You to everyone that has helped him in his fight against extradition to America . Thank you for the support of everyone who has contributed to this website and to the brilliant fg who runs it.

Thank you to everyone that has gone on the Demos outside the Home Office and the American Embassy, often in freezing cold weather and Thank You to everyone that has taken the time and trouble to write to their MP's, to the Home Office, to the Director of Public Prosecutions and to President Barack Obama and to those that have come along to the court to lend support and to report on the events taking place.

We have no doubt that it is because of the spirited actions of people like you that this fight has been brought into the public eye, and is the reason that there have been some positive results of late.

In the last court hearing we all sat there listening to negative comments and rulings being read out by Justice Kay and suddenly we began to hear a few positives.

(Janis Gary's Mum said): I was scared to believe we might actually have won. I wasn't sure if the Judge was saying that Gary had won the right to a Judicial Review and I looked over at Gary 's solicitor Karen (Todner) and she had her head in her hands and was crying and I started to cry too.....

Journalist Ronke Philips said "so you've lost" and I said "No we've won this round" and Ronke said "but you and Karen are crying" and I said...."That's because for the first time Gary has won something and he now has a fighting chance of staying in the UK

This was an Amazing day for us and although it was a small victory; we were up against giants and we feel as though we've won a major battle.... and for the first time we have real hope.

Thank you so much to everyone out there who has stuck by us and supported Gary for such an incredibly long time and helped us to fight Goliath.

I know we've still got a way to go but for the very first time we have real hope....

WITH ALL OUR HEARTS....THANK YOU!!!

Janis, Wilson, Gary, Lucy, Charlie & Jeana & their sons... Gary 's brothers, Alan, Steven and Ryan.

Source: FreeGary.org