Greater New England UFO Conference returns to Leominster

By Victor Infante

The truth is out there, certainly. In fact, it’s possible it’s in Leominster. All I know is that each thing happening at this weekend’s’ Annual Greater New England UFO Conference is more awesome than the next: UFO Marc D’Antonio? Check. David McCullough from regional big foot hunters Squatchachusetts? Check. A panel discussion with all bigfoot and cryptozoology speakers? This could not be more awesome. Phantom phone messages, aliens without UFOs, and an actual bigfoot impression! I want to believe.

What: Annual Greater New England UFO Conference
When: 6-9 p.m. Oct. 5, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 6
Where: Leominster City Hall, 25 West Street, Leominster
How much: Friday night, $15; Saturday, $30

Recent daytime UFO sighting over Cape Sable Island being showcased at Shag Harbour UFO Museum Oct. 6

By Kathy Johnson

SHAG HARBOUR, NS – Video and photographic evidence of a daytime UFO sighting over Cape Sable Island on Sept. 15 is being premiered at the Shag Harbour Incident Society UFO Museum on Saturday, Oct. 6.

UFO researcher Chris Styles – who was one of the witnesses to the Sept. 15 unidentified flying object sighting – will be on hand, as will UFO researchers Graham Simms and David Cvet.

Laurie Wickens was also a witnesses to the Sept. 15 sighting, and said the sighting lasted about an hour.

Wickens is also an eyewitnesses to the Oct. 4, 1967, Shag Harbour UFO incident, in which a sequence of lights was observed traveling along the horizon from some time before the unidentified flying object plunged into the water, leaving a yellow foam behind and unanswered questions that still linger to this day.

Wickens and other local eyewitnesses will be present to share their story at the museum on Saturday, Oct. 6, which opens for the day at 10 a.m. The special feature presentation on the Sept. 15 sighting will start at 2 p.m. Admission is by donation.

This year marks the 51st anniversary of the Shag Harbour UFO Incident, which has been called the best documented UFO case in Canada.

The Shag Harbour UFO Centre was also in the news recently for another reason, but not a pleasant one. In early September the centre was broken into and vandalized.

A former UAA professor’s take on UFOs

Lawrance Weiss, former professor at UAA, gave a talk on Sept. 25 about UFOs. Photo credit: Christian Cielo

By Caleigh Jenson

Is it irrational to believe in UFOs over Alaska? Professor Emeritus of Public Health Lawrence Weiss posed the question during a presentation last week and gave a simple answer: no.

“I think there’s definitely something going on,” Weiss said. “There’s trillions of planets out there that could be habitable. It seems to me that it’s almost inconceivable that we aren’t being visited by aliens from other parts of the universe.”

Weiss was a professor at UAA in various positions for nearly 20 years before retiring in 2004. During his time at the university, he taught both public health and sociology, founded the Master of Public Health program and assisted in creating the first Alaska Native studies minor. Although his field of study was not astronomy, Weiss’ interest in space led him to pursue it further.

“I have a Ph.D. but it’s not in ufology,” he said. “It’s mostly a hobby, but I do have certain beliefs.”

Weiss’ interest in flying saucers and extraterrestrial life began at a young age. He credits his father for inspiring him to look further into the subject.

“My dad was a very strange person,” he said. “He had a bunch of books around the house about UFOs. Reading those books and looking at the pictures as a kid was the starting point for me.”

With the rise of the internet, Weiss’ hobby was able to grow. Access to databases, documentation of UFO sightings and filmed talks about the subject expanded his knowledge and further convinced him of the reality of life outside of Earth.

“The best documented cases of a prolonged encounter between a commercial airline and multiple UFOs happened right here in Alaska,” according to Weiss.

The encounter took place on Nov. 17, 1986 when Japan Airlines flight 1628 flew over eastern Alaska on its way from Paris to Tokyo.

The crew witnessed two large rectangular objects rise from the clouds, causing the cabin of the aircraft to heat up, according to a video of the event. The flight captain, Terauchi, reported the object as a UFO and was consequently moved to a desk job and not reinstated as a pilot until years later.

The incident was investigated for months afterward and the Federal Aviation Administration concluded that there was not enough information to confirm that the object was a UFO. Weiss believes that this event was covered up because the government knew it was out of their hands.

Another resource with extensive evidence of UFOs is Stanton Friedman, a retired nuclear physicist and ufologist. Friedman has participated in UFO research since the 50s and gone on to write numerous books and articles, publish videos and CDs and give many talks on the subject. According to Weiss, Friedman is “the most credible and experienced” person out there in regards to extraterrestrial activity.

Between the Alaskan UFO encounter, Friedman and the countless other resources he’s come across, Weiss believes that all the evidence of aliens is there, you just have to go look for it.

“A lot of people who denigrate this stuff don’t know about the existence of the evidence out there,” he said. “These are not goofy tinfoil hat people; they are trained observers and extremely credible sources.”

Sightings of UFOs can be reported to the Mutual UFO Network or MUFON website.

Where have all the UFOs gone? Blame the movies

By Peter Howell

Sightings of unidentified flying objects have declined worldwide. This news, reported last week by The Guardian newspaper, should alarm and sadden anyone who has ever gazed in wonder at the sky above.

Two major websites for UFO reports — the National UFO Reporting Center and the Mutual UFO Network — have both registered a steep drop in global sightings. The decline began in 2014, a peak year for UFOs, and by last year the total number of sightings had reached just 55 per cent of the 2014 tally.

The Guardian quotes several academics as to why this is happening, with various theories advanced. But the author of the piece, Philip Jaekl, reports the shocking truth out there may be that “more people don’t care anymore” about UFOs.

“As we are accustomed to being inundated with wild claims churned out by politicians, media and advertisers, the next report of a UFO is no more believed than the long-range weather forecast,” he writes.

If UFOs really are going the way of the dodo bird, I blame the movies.

The rocket ships on sci-fi screens today are simply boring, whether they are piloted by earthlings or space aliens. These creations by model makers and special-effects wizards fail to excite the eye and mind, and hence the imagination that would lead us to see wonderful strange things in the sky.

Consider the interstellar vehicles of the bug-faced invaders in The Predator, currently in theatres. They resemble flying Xbox game controllers — hardly something to set the pulse racing, unless you’re a 12-year-old gamer.

The ungainly extraterrestrial craft in last year’s Alien: Covenant resembled a giant flying shrimp. It was built by a race called the Engineers, who certainly weren’t artists. The human spacecraft in the film weren’t any prettier, just flying boxes with protruding gizmos.

Don’t get me started on the spaceships of Solo: A Star Wars Story, this year’s underachieving instalment of the never-ending intergalactic soap opera. It’s heretical to say, I know, but I’m not a huge fan of Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon, which looks as if it was built out of Lego — and there actually is a Lego version of it. Any attachment I have to the Millennium Falcon is entirely nostalgic, not aesthetic.

Remember when humans and aliens used to take pride in the design of their spaceships?

New UFO project underway in San Luis Valley

Christopher O’Brien.

By Helen Smith

ALAMOSA — Capturing unexplained aerial anomalies is the mission of Christopher O’Brien.

As a resident of the San Luis Valley from 1989 to 2002, O’Brien was the self-designated investigator of unusual events. He has written three books on his studies including one called “The Mysterious Valley.”

After leaving the Valley, O’Brien has been continuing his work. He is now in the process of installing three triangulated high definition cameras that have recording magnometers and other monitoring systems in order to attempt to be the first to capture the unexplained aerial anomalies in the San Luis Valley.  He is calling this new set of monitors UFODAP (Unidentified Flying Object Data Acquisition Project.) The system would monitor the landmass that stretches from Alamosa to Villa Grove.

He is working with a team of scientists, engineers, and former members of the intelligence community to make the project viable to the science community. Another goal is to be able to monitor the activity that happens in the San Luis Valley from anywhere in the world once the project is operational, he explained. The project is the result of 12 years of work.

O’Brien is not concerned with the messages of pop culture. He also hopes that there are more in the Valley who will take interest in his work, he said. He presented the project in Crestone on September 17th.