NEWS Archive

 19 September 2003 - Graham Birdsall

Sadly, Graham Birdsall passed over today. Graham never recovered consciousness after surgery following his sudden illness.

The news of Graham's sudden illness at such an early age was shocking in itself, but his untimely passing is more so. Our condolences and warmest regards go to Graham's family at this time, especially to Graham's wife Christine, and his brother Mark, whose wife also passed over all too little time ago.

While I wasn't a close friend of Graham, I had known him for a number of years, exchanging news and information on Ufology and its related subjects - as we all strive to find answers to these enigmas. Graham was of course editor of UFO Magazine, but he was a tireless researcher and seeker of knowledge. Graham was also the driving force behind UFO Magazines' very successful conferences, and he and his team moved such events onto a commercial footing as never before in the UK. 

Without Graham, would we have had the likes of Stanton Friedman, John Mack, Budd Hopkins, Jaime Maussan, A J Gevaerd, Dr Steven Greer, Lynda Moulton-Howe, Larry Warren & Peter Robbins, Dr. Robert Wood & Ryan Wood, Robert Dean, Roger Leir, Alan Alford, Nick Redfern, Nick Pope, Tim Good, Georgina Bruni etc. etc. regularly lecturing to wide audiences across the UK - I think not. Graham's ambition, determination and drive will be sadly missed by all that knew him.

In having the vision and determination to first create UFO Magazine and then make it the success that has become, Graham personally dragged the subject of UK Ufology up and out of the petty politicking and ego battles that so riddle research groups in this country, and took the subject out to the media and the public - this was a major achievement in itself, and one that I will remember him for.

Perhaps Graham's biggest legacy in Ufology in Britain was that he built up professional relationships - not just with fellow researchers, but with prominent people in the scientific and academic worlds, as well as the broader news media - Graham was a big man in every sense, his passing will leave a massive hole in the whole UFO network that we will all have to strive to fill...

Graham's passing comes very soon after that of Gordon Creighton - long time editor of Flying Saucer Review - so the UK has now lost two people who achieved a great deal for British Ufology across many years.

 27 August 2003 - Avebury Flying Saucer Update

Given that the hoaxed flying saucer flown over Avebury on skywatch night was in some ways quite elaborate, we had expected a rapid posting or publishing of reports and photos by the perpetrators. However, internet search engines were not revealing anything other than our own report and pictures.

James Hill spotted that the Swindon Evening Advertiser (EA) were the first to 'break' the story, with their report and pictures in both the paper, and on the ThisisWiltshire website on 21 August. The EA had sourced eyewitness reports, including one from a person who had seen the model disk being launched, and who followed it to watch it land in a field off the A4 Calne to Avebury road. He said: "I saw it in a field. There were two men dismantling it and loading it into a white van. I asked them what they were doing, and they told me they couldn't say because it was top secret." He added
"They seemed worried, as if they wanted to get it packed away before anyone saw them."

The EA report also stated that "Even sceptics were forced to admit that they were baffled by the saucer, which appeared in the sky at around 8.30pm on Saturday.", and that "UFO spotters will be dismayed to learn that the object was not being flown by little green men, but by a pair of pranksters in a disguised microlight." This witness said it looked just like a classic flying saucer, but for some reason the paper chose to run with his theory that it was being flown but by this 'pair of pranksters in a disguised microlight.' To anyone who had seen the saucer, it was obvious that it was no microlight, as it was flying far too slow to achieve sufficient lift and thereby fly.

Needless we immediately contacted the EA to correct the erroneous statements made over what us 'sceptics' and 'UFO spotters' had believed, and to correct the theory on the nature of the saucer itself. As yet they have not published the researchers side of the evening's events, butt hen that would negate the sensationalist aspect of what was really a non-story wouldn't it ;-)

James also first noticed more updates on the matter, this time courtesy of rense.com. This highlighted the report as it had been broadcast by Channel 7 News in Australia. I had been told that an account had been published in a UK paper on 21 August, but didn't know which one, but rense.com had the details, it was the Daily Mirror. The Mirror had sourced the alleged real perpetrators of the event - TV firm Chrysalis had it built for a planned Channel 4 documentary, with a working title How To Build a Spaceship!

Danny Cohen, of Channel 4, said:

"We were trying to see whether we could build a convincing looking spaceship and in that regard undoubtedly we succeeded. Dozens of people saw it and couldn't quite understand what they had seen. So I think it did work. It stayed quite high in the sky and looked harmless, so it frightened nobody. I think people were more bewildered by what they were seeing. People were left rubbing their heads, wondering what was going on". It took eight months to research, design and build the £50,000 aircraft.

Suspicion for the hoax first fell on UFO buffs (ie the APRA 'away team'!) holding their annual skywatch in the village, Avebury, Wilts. But producer Mark Raphael said they weren't fooled - despite the eerie setting of a stone circle. He said "They spent the rest of the night looking at nothing, and yet when the craft flew over they hardly got out of their seats".

Model flight specialists Cutting Edge effects built the saucer using a carbon fibre hoop as the skeleton. This was set in a reflective-plastic balloon filled with helium. After a US military engine was deemed to be too heavy, electric fan engines from Germany proved the key to making the 'saucer' fly at just the required speed - 20mph. Though as we saw on the night, these motors were all too obvious, and were quite underpowered. The vehicle required seven 'pilots' to fly the aircraft by remote control for the three mile flight over Avebury.

APRA are currently trying to contact any of the production crew from Channel 4 or Chrysalis, so we might at least compare notes on our observations of the night's events, as clearly we didn't agree with Danny Cohen's view that they had  built and flew a "convincing looking spaceship". While it might have been elaborate, it was not in any way realistic or convincing. The saucer was too slow and too obviously powered by electric fans - which could be heard when it first came into view from over the Marlborough Downs, when it was still a good 500m away. The saucer was flown too low to stand a chance of convincing anyone with an objective mind - so that ruled out us cynical researchers then.

We have to ask the question whether this 'flight' was deliberately timed to coincide with the planned and publicised skywatch by APRA, SUFOG and participants from other groups.

Will they try any further stunts for the SPI skywatch at Rendlesham Forest on 30 August?

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 31 May 2003 - A Phenomenal Day!

As readers of these pages will have noted, the sunrise of 31 May was going to be special because the sun would be rising while eclipsed.  APRA Research Coordinator Brian P James had a most interesting day...

Brian was driving over to the east coast for the sunrise, and left home just after midnight.  Only 15  minutes into his journey, Brian saw a big-cat bound across the road between Benson and Britwell in Oxfordshire - it was dark brown rather than black, but as this location was less than 10km from Aston Rowant - its possible that this was the same cat seen by "MW" back in March (see the OOP Creatures pages for the Aston Rowant cat sighting).

After watching the sunrise at Orford Quay in Suffolk, Brian made his way back over to nearby Rendlesham Forest for an early morning walk.  Brian had only just started his walk down Track 10, when he looked up to see two small FT's coming in from the east, and almost out of the sun.

Initially Brian had assumed that he was watching two aircraft of terrestrial origin, but this belief was put into context somewhat when the FT's vanished into this air overhead - as if they had 'cloaked'!

More on both of these events will appear on these pages soon...

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 May 2003 - Another Out of Place Creature...

The Oxford Mail of 19 May and the Didcot Herald of 22 May both carried an article on the latest 'Out of Place Creature' to be seen in Oxfordshire - this time a wallaby.

The witness was driving to his work at at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) at Chilton, when he saw a lone wallaby hopping around in the fields next to the Harwell atomic energy site.  Despite the witness being a 'doctor', he was nevertheless disbelieved by his colleagues - until a check on the internet showed other wallaby sightings in the area [See our own OOP Creatures page].

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 May 2003 - A New Experiencer Therapy & Support Initiative

APRA are pleased to have been able to assist Karin Hoppe Holloway, CMHt in her recent initiative, an on-line course for the College of Integrated Therapies on CE Analysis and Integration Therapy.  Karin has included the experiencer accounts of CK (see ET Encounter page) as part of the course material.

Please see Karin's website and course details at www.experiencers.net

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8 May 2003 - More Rendlesham Claims

It seems the Rendlesham Incident shows no signs of going away - yet another UFO documentary on Sky One last night featured more interviews with Charles Halt and Jim Penniston.

A new 'surprise' came out of this programme, as Penniston suddenly states that the craft he saw on 'Night 1' left three indentations (from landing gear) in the ground - yet I don't recall his earlier statements referring to this, indeed in the documentary screened on only 15 March he gave no such indication, and stated that he and his colleagues were looking under the craft as it was floating in the air.  Its always been claimed by various parties and authors that the three 'landing marks' were at the Capel Green site where Halt and his team had been investigating on either 'Night 2' or 'Night 3'.

Furthermore, Penniston produced plaster casts of these indentations - which were pretty inconclusive.  Given all the claims and counter claims over this case down the years - notably by Warren in Left at East Gate - it does seem strange that such 'evidence' stayed in Penniston's possession.

The documentary itself made the possible connection between the Rendlesham Incident and the Huffman, Texas sighting by Betty Cash and Vicky Landrum on the same night - this possible connection has been explored many times, but for some reason this documentary chose to spice up the claim by now claiming that the Huffman craft was the same shape as that seen at Rendlesham - yet for 20-odd years the Rendlesham craft has been acknowledged to have been triangular/delta, and the Huffman craft was diamond-shaped stood on end!  I don't think there's too much doubt that the Huffman craft was very much terrestrial in origin, and was an experimental craft with nuclear propulsion (derived from the NERVA project?) - the radiation burns suffered by both Betty Cash and Vicky Landrum, and indeed Vicky's son Corey were clearly identifiable.

The one aspect of the Huffman case that was highlighted again was the claim that the witnesses, who were watching this event in the dark, were later able to identify the escort flight of many "twin rotor helicopters" were Boeing CH-47 Chinooks - how could they tell this in the dark?  The documentary itself managed to highlight the difficulty in such identification, showing stock footage of Boeing CH-46 Sea Knights all during this section!  The Chinook and Sea Knight are very different helicopters, despite both being manufactured by Boeing...

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24 March 2003 - New Big Cat Sighting

We received a phonecall today from "MT", who had been travelling on the Oxford Tube bus service along the M40 just after 6.30am this morning.  As the bus was approaching the cutting at Lewknor, MT noticed a large feline-looking creature crossing the Ridgeway and into the field below the nature reserve at Beacon Hill.  The creature was large, dark, and displayed very feline characteristics - long tail, general walking gait etc.

APRA hope to visit the site in the very near future...  See Big Cat at Aston Rowant?

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 22 March 2003 - A Strange Rain on the RIdgeway?

Not so much a sighting, but a report with echoes of a Fortean 'strange rain'!  In today's Oxford Mail, a letter writer was commenting on the dreadful state of the Ridgeway path near Didcot (this is true for all too much of the Ridgeway these days).  We won't get into the arguments of what vehicles are causing the deep ruts (be it tractors or 4WDs!), but the letter writer asked a question, based on what they had seen in one of the deep ruts - "How did 8 trout come to be on the Ridgeway?"

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15 & 22 March 2003 - Rendlesham on BBC3

As part of the BBC3 features around the screening of Steven Spielberg's Taken, BBC3 also screened a programme on Britain's Roswell - the Rendlesham Incident of December 1980.  To its credit, this did have some new footage of some of the people involved - in both the event itself, as well as the investigators who tried to solve the case.

This was the first time I've seen Charles Halt interviewed while back at 'the scene', and what I at last found most pleasing was his clarification that his investigations team were able to see the beam from Orford Ness lighthouse as well as the UFO they were observing, and Halt was most indignant at Ian Ridpath's dismissal that they were watching nothing other than the lighthouse.  Having said that, it is odd that its taken Halt so long to confirm a basic factor such as this.

The testimony that intrigues me most was that of Jim Penniston, who was one of the security team who went out to investigate the 'crashed UFO' seen on the first night of the sightings.  Penniston indicated that the object he and his team investigated very closely was much closer to the end of the runway at Woodbridge than I had concluded based on other accounts.  Contrary to other claims that the object was deep into the forest near towards Capel Green, Pennston indicated the first object was in the forest no more than 20m in from the current treeline immediately opposite the end of the runway.  He indicated that his team took their jeep as far as they could onto the logging track, but then went by foot into the treeline, where they observed a delta-shaped UFO sitting above the ground.  Curiously, the location indicated by Penniston is one where I have experienced odd feelings in a rather 'ritual-like' site just into the treeline, and where the photo used for the above graphic was taken - so yes, a twist of synchronicity!

Penniston is indicating that the first nights UFO was much closer to the Woodbridge base than first assumed, and was some 200m or more NW of the 'missile and crater' with the three fire crew as detailed by a witness to Brenda Butler (and the location that Brenda indicated when we have met her there in recent visits).  Halt as his team must have passed this spot when they made their investigation on the subsequent night when they went further into the forest and Capel Green.  The testimony that wasn't given any airing was that of Larry Warren - who of course placed the UFO landing even further SE at the edge of Capel Green, and who indicated his vehicle convoy went down the same logging track that Penniston must have been on.

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 8 March 2003

Those of you in the Trowbridge and Bradford-upon-Avon area of Wiltshire (Yes, very much Rudloe Manor country!), might have heard Brian James on the new local radio station MoonrakeFM 106.8.  Brian was invited to do a Q&A session with Saturday morning breakfast presenter Dave Garwood, on the subject of crop circles.  This was fairly short session, but hopefully Brian was able to put across some of the mystery of crop circles, as well as the accepted human element of land-artists.

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 8 March 2003

Today's Daily Express ran a 2-page feature on the final episode of the X Files (or at least BBC2's belated screening of the final episode, months after it was broadcast on BSkyB). 

The feature, written by respected researcher Nick Redfern, also covered the 'real' X Files of the British Government and associated agencies, which are slowly becoming released. Nick gives references to many areas of 'the paranormal' that were being investigated by officialdom in the years of WW2.  These include:

• Police with dowsing skills being used to locate trapped people, and bodies, under bombed buildings.

• MI5 investigating occurences resembling crop circles in fields across Britain.

• Intelligence research into the occult fixation of Hitler and others in the Nazi regime.

Other references to be found in military files include giant sea serpents, and animal mutilations.

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1 March 2003 - Comet Hysteria

In the past week there has been much web speculation, not to say hysteria, about a comet that was supposed to strike the Earth today - so if you're reading this then I guess it didn't happen...

To be brutally honest, seldom has a story generated so much drivel (polite description) by people determined to speculate based on a lack of fact - and yes, I dare say boost their web-hits!  Why does the I-net community thrive on such material?

Simple facts for those people who didn't want to look, or for whom a few facts didn't suit:

• Comet Bradfield 1976-D1 did exist.  Had these people chosen to visit any number of astronomy websites - including the SETI Institute - they would have seen that Australian comet-hunter George Bradfield has been a discoverer of comets for many decades.

• Comet Bradfield 1976-D1 passed close to the Earth - and yes, uncomfortable close in Solar System terms - in 1976, not 2003.

• Astronomers in the southern hemisphere (rather than the armchair new-ageists who have spouted so much drivel) were looking forward to what promised to be a spectacular meteor shower as the Earth passed through the debris trail of 1976-D1.

• The meteor shower was designated beforehand as the "Beta Tucanid" shower, as the radiant was known/predicted to be in the southern constellation of Tucana.  This shower was known and predicted to the point where the maximum ZHR would be at 21.54 GMT, and the shower would only last for around 30 minutes.  Sorry, this is hardly a 'surprise' meteor shower!

I don't make any effort to diminish the reality that rogue comets, asteroids - known as NEOs (Near Earth Objects) - do present a very real threat should one ever strike the Earth.  If you want to read more on NEOs and the efforts to limit their threat to Earth, then visit www.spaceguarduk.com  Yes, there is a threat from NEOs, but let's get a grip on reality here!

Also see The Comet That Wasn't There!

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15 January 2003 - More Columbia Curiosities

Further to reports below, I have now been given further information from colleagues in the 'States who have seen shuttle re-entries.  They too described the doomed re-entry of Columbia as looking 'wrong' - it didn't have the normal orange-white fireball-like trail.  This time it was very white, suggesting the shuttle was experiencing much more heat than normal - does this suggest that a problem occurred with the re-entry rocket burn?

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8 January 2003 - The Columbia Disaster Conspiracy Theories Grow

In the mere seven days since the shuttle Columbia tragedy, numerous rumours have started to surface, and not just relating to the cause of the disaster.

Obviously much speculation does revolve around what caused the catastrophic destruction of the shuttle.  Focus has perhaps moved from damaged thermal heat-shield tiles, to more serious problems with the very airframe of the craft itself - one piece of footage taken from the robot arm during Columbia's ill-fated last mission appeared to show a significant crack in the upper wing root itself.  Late this week some sources have suggested that the USAF had obtained hi-resolution images that showed structural damage to the orbiter's left wing - though it begs the question why the brave crew were allowed to attempt re-entry if this sort of damage was known about.

The media made references for both investigators and sightseers to beware of the possibly toxic and contaminant nature of some of the debris - this isn't to be unexpected given the chemical components of fuels etc, and indeed some of the construction materials.  However, the more surprising warnings have been over radioactive debris, and was the week has gone on, it appears to have been confirmed that Columbia was carrying radioactive materials - either in terms of experiments or cargo of some description.  Speculation also mounted over what sort of mission Columbia was actually on, and this increased when investigators, backed up by state troopers, began to seal off areas of the crash sites - on the basis that they were looking for a highly secret communications device of some description.  For more details on these claims, see www.rense.com

Other curiosities have evolved during the week.  While chatting to a work colleague over in California, he told me of strange vapour trails in the sky that fateful morning.  "ES" is an aviation enthusiast, who has seen several flights of the shuttle as it has flown over on its way into landing at Edwards AFB, and has frequently heard the sonic booms as the shuttle has re-entered over the western seaboard.  Columbia came in further north last Saturday, so ES didn't see the last flight, but when he was outside he noted two very strange parallel vapour trails across the clear blue sky.  These trails were totally unlike any conventional contrail - they were much wider, and lasted for much longer than conventional trails, with very slow dissipation.  What caused these trails - given the locality, the old favourite of Aurora or similar is a possibility, although we are certainly not suggesting that this has any connection tot he shuttle tragedy.

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30 January 2003 - Big Cats Again

The BBC South News today carried a report from Southampton of a school having to keep pupils inside school grounds at break times, as two people - including one of the teachers - reported seeing panther-like creatures in the adjoining woodland.  In this case 'evidence' was found, in the form of paw prints in muddy patches in the woods - these looked distinctly canine, rather than feline.  This inaccuracy over the paw prints was confirmed by a keeper from nearby Marwell Zoo, who pointed out that the paw prints clearly showed claws (cats normally have their claws retracted), and he alos pointed out that the paw prints were about half the size of those of big cats at the zoo - ie those of a jaguar, panther etc.

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20 January 2003 - Skyflashes Explained...

Diligent research by Oxford & County Newspapers reporters confirmed a rather 'down to Earth' explanation for the skyflashes reported two days earlier.  The flashes had been reported over a wide area, but were due to faulty high-voltage power lines in the Kidlington area - as confirmed by Southern Electric engineers.

Having seen such flashes due to clashing high-voltage power lines, I can only say these are nothing like the 'real' skyflashes which can light up half the sky - Brian James..

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 18 January 2003: Mystery Skyflashes over Oxfordshire

The Oxford Mail of today carried a report from yesterday morning (Friday) of two Oxford Mail staff who saw mystery flashes in the sky at 6.30am.  One was driving on the M40, while the other was driving near Kidlington (this witness saw two successive flashes).  The reporters contacted Thames Valley Police and the Met Office, who were unable to explain the events.

This type of 'skyflash' became common from about the mid-1990s, and was widely believed at the time to be connected with the then new UFO-phenomena of Black/Flying Triangles.  I got so used to seeing such flashes in the summer of 1994 that I almost became blase about even noting them, and while they are not reported so frequently these days, they are still a mystery phenomena - when half the sky can be lit up like a camera flash, then you tend to notice them!

Of course the 1990s was when various stealth aircraft were either in development and indeed deployment, and there were many claims as to exotic propulsions.  There is undoubtedly a significant movement of aircraft as the US builds up towards possible war with Iraq, and RAF Fairford (about 20 miles from Oxford) is a forward operational base for the USAF's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, as well as the B-1B Lancer.  I wonder if something yet more exotic is also now deployed there?

Another possible cause of such skyflashes is of course Project HAARP, and its various streams of research into energies in the Ionosphere - Project HAARP was also being constructed in the mid-1990s time frame...

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12-Jan-2003: Taken Airs on UK TV

Steven Spielberg's latest sci-fi offering aired on BBC TV last night. Taken gained a huge audience in its run on US TV late in 2002, and it will be interesting to see if British audiences latch on to the series in the same way.  The series itself relates the lives of three families over a 50-year period (starting during WW2), all of whom have an continued interaction with an alien presence - CE5K, ie the alien abduction scenario.  Curiously, despite this being a Steven Spielberg production, I have to say that the overall 'effect' on screen was not what I had been expecting, with some very cheap-looking SFX work, but that shouldn't detract from the subject of the series itself... 

To be honest, based on the first episode, I'm not convinced that this is the 'vehicle' by which aliens and the whole alien abduction scenario will be brought to a wider public audience.  OK, the first episode wove in Foo-fighters, capture of an stricken aircraft by aliens, the Roswell incident (though with liberal license to deviate from the alleged 'facts'), and Greys.  However, why did it also re-write the Roswell incident to be more like the Roswell TV series with aliens masquerading as humans, and indeed there was more than a hint of John Carpenter's Starman in the young woman befriending the human-looking alien?  Reports of Shapeshifters are itself an increasing facet of 'the paranormal', but they seem to have been used here for story-telling effect rather than their mysterious nature.  Time will tell if the series evolves into a worthwhile depiction of the whole UFO/alien abduction scenario, and whether it makes the wider audience actually think.

However, what is interesting was the 'spin' being put on the series, and the 'reality' behind it.  Although I haven't seen the feature, the Daily Mail of 11 January ran a two-page spread on Taken, and the real-life claims of alien abduction.  The feature didn't take the expected 'ridicule' stance, and had input from a number of well-respected British UFO researchers (although it has to be said that dubious researchers were also quoted).  I also noted that after episode one ended, the BBC advertised its BBCi feature on the "history of alien abductions" - the continuity announcer's words, no mention of 'claimed' 'alleged' etc.  Another researcher who I was talking to on Saturday did pose the question on whether Taken, and the spin being placed on the series so far by reputable news media, may be a further indication of the 'drip-feed' of information on the whole UFO/alien subject?

Having looked at some of the web-chat messages after Taken was aired, there was the usual stupidity spouted by what I can only presume are the same people who logon to this sort of web-chat after such programmes (I recall my own involvement as a consultant on a UK Horizons web-chat on aliens!).  So far I haven't seen an opinion swing from any of the correspondents, but lets see if that changes over the 10 weeks that Taken is screened.

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4-Dec-2002 : UFO Cover-up Confirmed

The British media have given a fair amount of web-column inches this week to responses given in parliament to questions on UFOs and the British version of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).  It is now confirmed that information on one of the UK's most celebrated UFO cases - The Rendlesham Incident was suppressed by the MoD and British government defence chiefs.

This statement is from a Westminster watchdog, so must be taken seriously.  Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham reports that "..the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had broken open government rules three times in recent months over (UFO) cases.", and this includes on tabled parliamentary questions on the Rendlesham Forest UFO events of December 1980.  Information on accounts of these events has been available for many years in the US, courtesy of its far more open FoIA, and notably the publication of so-called the 'Halt Memo' (which itself must have been lodged with the MoD) - by USAF Lt Col Charles I Halt, Deputy Base Commander of RAF Bentwaters at the time of the UFO events.

For more details, and links to a very biased observation on UFOs by acknowledged UFO-sceptic BBC Science Correspondent David Whitehouse, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2537115.stm

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Stealth Over the UK - RAF Fairford

James Hill noticed that the Swindon Evening Advertiser is continuing its interest in stealth at RAF Fairford in Gloucerstershire.  An article on 18 November - in both the paper and on the ThisisSwindon website - revealed that "THREE US stealth bombers have arrived at RAF Fairford".

The curiosity here being that the article refers to "B-1"  bomber stealth aircraft.  Of course the actual variant of tactical supersonic bomber in the USAF's forces is the B-1B Lancer (The B-1 itself being a strategic bomber project cancelled by the Carter administration), and while stealthy, cannot be described as a stealth bomber itself.

As you will see from the earlier story (below), this is not the first time that the USAF has based B-1B's at RAF Fairford.  Whether Fairford is now the base for B-1B's or B-2's - I suggest that we all keep an eye (and ear!) alert to unusual aircraft over southern England!

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X (and Y) Plane Revealed - Its a Bird of Prey

If you haven't already seen it - go and get a copy of the December issue of Aircraft Illustrated.  The cover picture is quite stunning - being of a hitherto unpublicised Boeing 'X-Plane' stealth aircraft - codenamed Bird of Prey*, and the magazine features a 5-page feature on the aircraft. 

This aircraft was a single-seater evaluator of stealth technology.  Its flight performance was by modern standards very limited for a jet-aircraft (max 300mph and 20,000' ceiling), but it was a technology demonstrator.  A key difference to both the F-117 and B-2 feeder projects is that unlike these two aircraft, the Bird of Prey project was to demonstrate a day/night interdictor aircraft (the F-117 and B-2 being designed specifically for night-time operations).

The most significant aspect of the Bird of Prey project was its secrecy.  The flight-testing phase of the project lasted from 1996 - 1999, and probably operated out of Nellis AFB for much of this time.  Despite keen aviation watchers, and no small number of UFO enthusiasts, speculating on various stealth aircraft being tested at Groom Lake and Tonopah etc, this particular test aircraft seems to have slipped through the enthusiast's net.

*Why do these projects keep getting Sci-fi codenames - was there a Star Trek fan managing the project?  That said, despite these stealth prototypes tending to be dubbed with 'X' designations, when you see the photos, you'll wonder why it wasn't dubbed 'Y Wing' - from the fighters in Star Wars!

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The 'Aurora' Photographs - Fake, Or More Disinformation?

The December issue of Aircraft Illustrated also has another stealth 'exclusive '., with a slightly mischievous cover picture purporting to be the Aurora.  There is a 1-page feature with more photos, although some of you will have already seen these on www.rense.com - with some fairly critical comments that they appeared to be of a model.

AI publishes a letter/statement that these are indeed shots of a model - claimed to be a modified Testors XR7-Thundercart kit.  If we are to believe the claims, the model may have been made and photographed as far back as 1994!  The person claims they put the exposed film into their fridge (us photographers know that's not as daft as it sounds!), where it was then forgotten until this year.  The person found that he still had usable photos, and apparently published them on the net with no comment - baiting the conspiracy theorists with some success it seems.

Question is - who is deceiving whom here?  Is the claim itself disinformation - make your own mind up!

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  'Flying Triangles' Confirmed in the UK?

At the end of October, much coverage was given by the BBC (and later other local media sources) to its access to the USAF's 509 Bomb Wing from Whiteman AFB in Missouri - the B2 Spirit stealth bomber force.  This was also then featured, and analyzed by American radio presenter Jeff Rense on www.rense.com.

The main point of the features and articles was to inform the British public that in the event of further escalation of the ongoing Iraq crisis, and presumed conflict, that the 509th's aircraft would be deployed to forward operational bases - at RAF Fairford in the UK, and the British airbase at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.  The principle being simple - as the B-2 Spirit has such a slow flight-time (being very subsonic in performance*) between its home base at Whiteman and any intended target, that it limits the number of bombing sorties than can be achieved.  If the bombers are deployed to bases much closer to their targets (in this case Iraq and Afghanistan), then they can perform more sorties over the same period.

Odd that the British public is now only being informed of this 'decision' and 'policy' - most aviation commentators, and indeed many UFO researchers have been pointing out for many years that RAF Fairford would be used as a forward base,  and this was why its runway had to be upgraded - rather than any possibility of it being used as an emergency runway for NASA's space shuttle fleet. 

Don't forget that as early as 1999, APRA researcher James Hill was able to observe a massed flight of six B-52 and four B-2 bombers being flown our of RAF Fairford.  During the Kosovo air war, the whole RAF Fairford area became the focus of very tight security as B-52 and B-1B bombers were based there.  There were various sightings of black triangular aircraft being flown out at the same time - B-2's or other yet to be declassified stealth aircraft?

* Does this give a lie to the claims by many aviation commentators that the B2 Spirit as seen in public is something of a sham, and that the 'real' B2 is capable of supersonic speeds courtesy of exotic propulsions - even some form of anti-gravity lift?  There is much contradictory evidence of the B2's capabilities (obvious in intelligence terms), but the necessity of such forward bases does suggest a certain reality that the aircraft has limited flight capabilities.

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 Ghosts Exist - its Official...

Not the most obvious source of news on ghosts, but the e-newsletter from 192.com on 31st October (Oh, Halloween - now there's a surprise) reported on the results of extensive research by the PYL Paranormal Foundation (based at the University of Bucharest, in Romania), conducted over a three-year period in the UK.  Concluding its research, the PYL claims to have evidence that proves the existence of Ghosts!

Based on the results of their research, PYL claim that a total of 58 Ghosts have been confirmed throughout the UK.   The PYL team used the commonplace sophisticated equipment that is able to monitor electrical charges in the air, and using this equipment and techniques,  the presence of paranormal activity was found in a number of specific locations.  This research shows that it is not only 'old' places that manifest ghostly paranormal events.

Professor Babble of the Foundation said the findings were supporting proof of the existence of Ghosts and went even further to suggest that Ghosts of all genders and age types were typical and that their presence was most easily felt during specific times of year.

During the three-year study, activity was heightened and reports of sightings were more abundant on one particular day, October 31st. Professor Babble believes that this particular night, and the position of the planets on this day appeared to generate more paranormal activity than any other day.

The majority of  Ghosts were found in Kent and Essex (almost half), with 4 Ghosts found in one house alone. However other Ghosts discovered, appeared to be scattered more widely across the whole of the UK, from Dorset to Scotland.  What the report didn't state of course was the total number of locations where experiments and research were conducted!
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Avebury Skywatch 2002 - August 3rd/4th

Well, after last year's washout, a small skywatching party had slightly better conditions in 2002. Conditions did not look at all favourable as the planned start time of 9.00pm approached, with very heavy clouds coming in from the north - and sure enough just after 8.00pm the heavy rain started!

Thankfully the rain started to clear after 8.30pm, so the team got ready to find a suitable site in the Avebury henge itself. By now our skywatching party was up to 7 people - Brian James, James Hill, Tim Field and his son Michael (the APRA contingent); along with John Churcher, with his family Vic and Caleb who had made their way down from Carshalton for the night. As a change from other years, we decided to go up onto the eastern bank of the henge (which was also nearer to the cars if we had to abandon rapidly due to rain!). We were joined a short while later by a father and son from Glastonbury (sorry guys - I didn't get your names).

The evening got off to a spectacular start, for all the wrong reasons, when a young chap decided to embark on some stunt-driving to our left at the junction of the Devizes/Avebury Avenue road - managing to get his Mondeo over the road verge and the fence (bending it slightly) - which must have been close on 2m high in total - before coming to rest about 8m inside the henge enclosure itself.  Thankfully he managed to miss the trees that stand beside that road junction, and only suffered minor injuries - but his car did attract the attention of the local traffic police on several occasions during the night! One wonders if this 'disturbance' might have affected the overall atmosphere for a skywatch?

Part of the western sky was clearing enough for us to see a high pass of the ISS Freedom at 10.45pm, and we saw it a surprising way across the sky considering the conditions. We were able to do a little stargazing, and at around 10.30pm James spotted a very rapidly moving flashing red light to our north, but it was lost to sight behind trees, and didn't appear on the other side of the clump of trees - which it should have done quite quickly. That was unfortunately, the sum total of our items of interest to watch in the skies.

By 11.00pm, mist was building up - although this did make the stone circle itself look quite spooky at times, with car headlights casting huge long shadows through the mist. The patch of clear sky was now disappearing, and by midnight we had no view of anything but low-level mist, and all-over cloud.

By 1.00am on the Sunday morning, the cloud was getting thicker, and as well as the mist and general dampness, spots of rain started coming down, and were getting heavier all the while. At this point the party decided to abandon the skywatch, and we all made our respective ways home.

The annoying thing was that by 2.15am, on my way home up the A34, the eastern sky had cleared enough to give a good view of the rising moon, although by the time I got home 15 minutes later this had gone behind clouds again. When I had a look outside at 5.00am from home, the sky was largely clear, so I have the funny feeling that we perhaps abandoned a little too early - oh well, there's always next year!*

Don't forget - we are planning another Avebury Skywatch in August 2003, to coincide with the closest opposition of Mars to the Earth in mankind's recorded history! This will either be on Saturday 23rd (although this is the Bank Holiday weekend), or Saturday 30th August. 

Keep an eye out for updates on www.apra.org.uk

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14 June 2002 - UFO Week on BBC South

Keep an eye on on BBC South's evening news programmes for its Southern Eye feature - during the week of 17th-21st June the programme will be searching for UFOs - literally courtesy of a UFO Webcam (although since it is refreshed every 5 minutes, the chances of it capturing anything will be small!)  Researchers such as David Kingston and Craig Roberts will be featured as they illustrate their aspects of investigations and research.  Also featured will be UFO footage shot over Hampshire and Dorset - including more fleets of Spheres.
Also check out the BBC South website for more information - www.bbc.co.uk/southampton

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  27th March 2002: APRA Speaker Meeting 
- James A Hill, on Underground in Wiltshire

The second of APRA's new format of formal speaker meetings has APRA co-ordinator James A Hill presenting a fascinating illustrated talk on the history of the various underground military bases in Wiltshire.  James related the visit that colleague Brian James had made to the Monkton Farleigh site in 1989 (this was the full account, not the edited version that appeared in the April 1998 issue of UFO Magazine)  James also covered the history of all of the underground facilities in that part of Wiltshire - Monkton Farleigh, Gastard, Corsham, Radstock etc.
James also related the many and varied accounts of work carried out at Rudloe Manor, related to him by workers he met (and still meets) during his job on construction sites - this makes sense, as the sheer size of the bases mean they need extensive maintenance work, which is carried out by contractors.  Another aspect of work at the bases was construction, and while James had not met anyone directly involved in construction work, he does know someone who was involved in delivering many thousands of tonnes of material to an underground facility at the Rudloe Manor site - and this was at a time when the base was destined for 'official' closure!  James has had the opportunity to speak to many people who have been working on the Rudloe base long after it was supposed to have been closed - a simple drive past the place, even on Sundays, shows a huge number of cars in parking areas, and with a significant security presence at the main gate - what are they guarding?
James extended his thanks to Nick McCamely, who provided material for James' talk.

This was the first time James has given a talk to such a group, and he did an excellent job - it is this sort of talk that is much more informative than talks by well-known 'circuit speakers'.  James, and  colleagues like him in other local groups are talking about personal experiences, and relating what they have done in research terms, not trying to tell people what other people have seen or done.  We should encourage more people like James to come forward and tell the real story of what is going on.

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 8th March 2002:  Conspiracy Theory Time!

Yesterday I was given the URL of a website that had, to put it mildly, some curious photos of the Pentagon building - which posed the pertinent question as to where exactly was the Boeing 757 that was supposed to have hit the building during the terrorist attacks of September 11th.  See for yourselves on www.asile.org/citoyens/numero13/pentagone/erreurs_en.htm

Today - one day later - the US Department of Defense issued CCTV footage that supposedly depicted the terrorist-controlled aircraft hitting the Pentagon.  The only problem being that either the Boeing 757 was invisible, or we are expected to believe that the large airliner vaporised on impact!

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7th March 2002:  Nearly Armageddon?

In this case I am referring to the film Armageddon.  

I had just arrived home at 10.40pm on the evening of 7th March, and was getting ready to put the keys in the front door lock when I glanced to the south - an saw the biggest, brightest fireball I have ever seen.  

The accompanying graphical representation is not exaggerating how big and bright it was.  However, such was its speed (which of course was a factor in its brightness), it was gone within a second - I have yet to attempt to calculate how fast this fireball may have been travelling, but it should be remembered it was across the motion of the Earth's rotation.

As it happens the local astronomy group had been out on an observing evening, but the incoming cloud had forced them to pack up about half and hour before this fireball streaked across the sky.  Then again, as it was so fleeting, corroborative sightings may well be few and far between.

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  30th January 2002:

The first of APRA's new format of meetings is a success.  A small but knowledgeable and interested audience were very appreciative of Stewart Edwards' very professional presentation on Marketing the Alien Agenda.

Stewart provided a thought-provoking talk on just why marketing arms of business companies - and some very big business's amongst them use 'alien imagery' to try to sell their products, most of them aimed at the younger and impressionable age-group.  However, as well as obvious product placement and marketing, Stewart also noted the more worrying examples of 'influencing the young' - one book aimed at the primary-school age-group included a questionnaire on 'how to tell if you've been abducted.  To be honest, given the nature of the questions, it would be very difficult for any impressionable youngster not to answer at least one of the questions in such a way as to convince them that they *had been* abducted - this has a very worrying implications for research!

A more detailed review will be posted here soon - but for more details on Stewart's work, see his own website - www.stewart-edwards.co.uk

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