Montreal leading the way in UFO sightings

By James Foster

If there really is life beyond Planet Earth, a new report suggests they may have a hankering for some poutine.

The annual Canadian UFO Survey released by UFOlogy Research of Manitoba shows there were 1,101 people who claim to have seen unusual lights and shapes in Canada's skies in 2017.

"UFOs still seem to be thing. They haven't gone away. And they don't seem to be declining in any numbers," science writer Chris Rutkowski told CTVNews.ca

Nearly half of the sightings last year were right here in La Belle Province, with 518 sightings (up from 430 in 2016). Ontario was second with 241.

Overall the research center said there are about three UFO sightings in Canada each day. 

While the majority of unexplained happenings in the night sky come from rural areas, Montreal was Canada's UFO big city capital, with 74 reported sightings, Torontonians not wanting to be outdone reported 57 bizarre lights and objects flying overhead.

"It's not just an average person seeing a light in the sky. It's someone with a good background of observing the sky … who sees something a bit more structured," Rutkowski said.

"None of these cases are proof that aliens are visiting us," Rutkowski said. "What it does say, what our report overall says is that people continue to see UFOs in significant numbers and Canadians are certainly reporting them in very significant numbers."

In the 29 years since the UFO report began, the centre has catalogued 19,138 UFO reports in Canada.

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Manitoba−based Ufology Research has released its most recent UFO sightings survey and analysis. Eight per cent of the 1,101 reported eye−witness accounts across Canada in 2017 could not be explained. Here are some other findings from the survey:

Sightings reported in 1989 (first year of survey): 154

Sightings reported in 2017: 1,101

Highest number of sightings: 2015 with 1,267

Top three provinces for sightings: Quebec (518), Ontario (241) and British Columbia (128)

Cities with most UFO sightings: Montreal (74), Toronto (57), Vancouver (46), Edmonton (29), Hamilton (28), Ottawa (26), Calgary (24), Winnipeg (9)

Average number of witnesses per sighting: 2

Typical length of sightings: 15 minutes

Shape of sightings: Boomerang, cigar, cone, cylinder, diamond, disc, fireball, irregular, line, oval, point source, rectangle, round, sphere, square, triangle

Source: Ufology Research

Sylvia Strojek, The Canadian Press

World UFO Day: Arizona's top 5 UFO sightings

By News 4 Tucson Staff

5. The Rhodes Photos, July 7, 1947
A man named William Rhodes saw a disk circling above him in Phoenix. He took two photographs which are one of the first and best UFO pictures ever taken.

"That was the first Air Force investigation and it happened right here in Arizona," said Alejandro Rojas, who hosts Open Minds UFO Radio.

One day later, on July 8, the Roswell incident happened. Coincidence?

4. The Dreamy Draw UFO Crash October of 1947
Months after the Roswell Crash, witnesses reported seeing a 36-foot spacecraft crash near what is now the Dreamy Draw Dam.

The conspiracy theory is that the government built the 455-foot-long Dreamy Draw Dam in order to hide the wreckage.

"Really I think it's more of an urban legend that's been mixed up," said Rojas.

3. Marana Air Base Sighting April of 1952
Air Force instructors reported seeing a bright polished metallic object in the sky over the base. Pilots took off to get a better look but it quickly vanished. It was investigated by the Air Force in Project Blue Book.

2. The Travis Walton abduction
On November 5, 1975, while working with a logging crew in northern Arizona, Walton noticed a bright object in the distance. When he approached it, he says, he was hit by a light and his body lifted into the air. His colleagues left the scene and Walton was missing for five days before reappearing.

"Travis' case really makes me scratch my head. I've gotten to know him very well. He's a very credible person," said Rojas.

1. The Phoenix Lights
One of the largest mass UFO sightings in the world happened here in Phoenix on March 13, 1997. Glowing orbs in the shape of a V hovered over Arizona silently moving south.

Most recently, commercial airline pilots reported seeing a bright object thousands of feet above them while flying over southeastern Arizona.

City of Buckhannon recognizes World UFO Day

By: Katie Kuba

Mayor touts local author who sparked Men in Black franchise

BUCKHANNON — From the roof of the historic Colonial Theatre’s newly restored marquee Monday, city officials celebrated all things extraterrestrial.

Mayor David McCauley declared Monday Gray Barker World UFO Day in honor of the late Barker, perhaps one of the country’s most famous UFOlogists and a prolific author who penned the book, “They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers,” which, in turn, is said to have spawned the “Men in Black” movies.

Born in Braxton County and educated at Glenville State College, Barker migrated to Buckhannon in the 1970s and owned the Colonial Theatre from 1973-1980. A UFOlogist is a person who studies reports of unidentified flying objects and sometimes, other paranormal phenomena.

While the city dedicated a placard to Barker installed on the outside of the Colonial Theatre more than a year ago on the anniversary of what would have been Barker’s 92nd birthday, Monday was also World UFO Day and the 71st anniversary of the Roswell, New Mexico incident, according to the World UFO website, which says the day is “dedicated to the existence of unidentified flying objects.”

On July 2, 1947, an unidentified object which government officials later said was simply a conventional weather balloon, crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico in a region now referred to as Area 51. 

“Our purpose in celebrating today is simply to exploit the connection to one of our celebrated, former own, Gray Barker, to the science fiction and UFO lore he spent a lifetime writing about,” McCauley said. “Undeniably, Gray Barker was one of the most colorful characters to ever walk our streets.” The World UFO Day website suggests people should celebrate the occasion by watching movies featuring UFOs and talking to friends about the possibility of the existence of UFOs and alien life.

Decades ago, one Upshur County resident, Neil Roth, watched movies at the theatre when Barker was its owner. Roth was on hand at Monday’s brief event to share a few memories he had of Barker, who he grew to respect as a stellar storyteller.

A self-described “audio buff,” Roth met Barker when, after being awed by the audio quality in the theatre, he asked to speak to the owner. Barker was more than happy to strike up a conversation with Roth, even showing him the projectors and other equipment in the theatre.

The next time Roth came to the Colonial to enjoy a movie, he completely missed it because he was so engaged in conversation with Barker, who let him sneak into the later showing. 

“He was fascinating to speak with and he told me, ‘any time you want to come back and talk to me, just tell the girl out front that you want to talk to Gray,’” Roth recalled. “So I did. We would sit, and he would tell me folklore – that’s what I was interested in. He was telling me, he was an author, he was president of this and that, and the UFO Club. Inside, I was kind of going inside, ‘why are you in Buckhannon running a theatre?’

“I just loved his stories. He could sell a pocket watch to blind man,” Roth added with a laugh. “He was very good at storytelling. He was a great fellow to know, and I really enjoyed all the times and the stories we told together.”

In fact, Roth first learned about the Mothman – a large winged creature supposedly spotted in Point Pleasant, W.Va. in 1966 and 1967 – from Barker. Barker authored “The Silver Bridge,” in 1970, prior to the release of John Keel’s 1975 book, “The Mothman Prophecies.” “The Silver Bridge” linked the Mothman to the collapse of the Point Pleasant-area bridge. See www.worldufoday for more information on the July 2, 1947 incident.

UFO's & The Skinwalker Ranch - Mac's UFO News June S5 Ep. 5

By Mac's UFO News

Studio / The Skinwalker Ranch / N.I.D.S. / Robert Bigelow / Jeremy Corbell - George Knapp - Robbie Williams - Hunt For The Skinwalker Trailer / Gary Heseltine - UFO Truth Magazine / Awakening UFO & Conscious Life Expo / Roswell UFO Festival / Mac Brazel Ranch Tours / Roswell Metal / Kecksburg UFO Doc. - Behind The Scenes / Exo Planets & Space Travel / Progress In Bio Physics & Monecullar Biology Review / UFO's In The News - Dr. John Alexander - I.R.V.A. Conference / UFO's A Brief US Project Review / Fmr. US Sen. Harry Reid & A.A.T.I.P. / Studio / Credits.

Spielberg, Close Encounters, and Conspiracy Theories

By Robbie Graham

http://robbiegraham.uk/

Since its original cinematic release in 1977, Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece Close Encounters of the Third Kind has been the subject of fervent speculation in the UFO conspiracy community. Many UFO buffs are convinced that the movie was produced as part of an official acclimation program in anticipation of an alien “disclosure” event. This speculation can be traced back to the production of the movie itself. On 23 July 1976, after a hard day’s shoot, around forty of the cast and crew, including stars Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon, gathered in the sticky night air of Mobile, Alabama, to hear a lecture delivered by the movie’s appointed advisor on UFOs, Professor J. Allen Hynek (the famed astronomer had been flown in for a brief cameo in the closing scenes). Shortly after Hynek’s lecture, actor Bob Balaban (who plays the character of translator David Laughlin), began to discuss with his colleagues an intriguing rumour that had been circulating during the production—“a rumour,” wrote Balaban in his production diary, “that the film is part of the necessary training that the human race must go through in order to accept an actual landing, and is being secretly sponsored by a government UFO agency.”

In 2014, I had the opportunity to interview Close Encountersproduction designer, Joe Alves. I asked him if ever he had heard any such rumours during the shoot, and if there was any substance to them. “There were a lot of rumours,” he told me, ambiguously, before changing the subject.

Back in 1977, even Spielberg himself seemed to be dropping hints: “I wouldn’t put it past this government that a cosmic Watergate has been underway for the last 25 years,” the director remarked during a Close Encounters promotional interview, “eventually they might want to tell us something about what they’ve discovered over the decades.” During the same interview, the director spoke with relish of “rumours” that President Carter was due to make “some unsettling disclosures” about UFOs later that year. Needless to say, no such disclosures were forthcoming.

Particularly curious is that the Carter Presidential Library contains no record of the film-loving President ever having viewed Close Encounters while in office. However, in a 1977 Canadian TV interview conducted directly after the movie’s theatrical release, Spielberg said matter-of-factly that Carter had viewed the movie “Last Saturday.” Spielberg remarked, “We haven’t heard the direct feedback,” but added, “We hear he [Carter] liked it quite a bit.”  The following March, The Phoenix Gazette cited Close Encounters as “Jimmy Carter’s favorite movie,” noting that “The President has seen the movie many times.” This is not the only discrepancy over the official record concerning Carter and Spielberg. Officially, Spielberg never set foot in the Carter White House and had never met the President, and yet a solitary photocopy of a photograph discovered in the Carter Presidential Library proves that the two men did meet. The photo shows Carter and Spielberg engaged in conversation and is signed: “To Steven Spielberg, [from] Jimmy Carter.” An accompanying White House stationary note signed by White House Social Secretary Gretchen Poston and addressed to Spielberg reads: “The President thought you would enjoy receiving the enclosed photograph.”

This apparent secrecy almost certainly resulted from a desire among Carter’s staff to keep the Administration from being further publicly associated with flying saucers. Famously, Carter had his own UFO sighting in 1969 in Leary, Georgia, witnessing a bright white round object that approached his position before stopping and then receding into the distance. Carter was with twelve other people at the time, all of whom witnessed the strange phenomenon.  Needless to say, a UFO-spotting President viewing the ultimate UFO movie at the White House and having get-togethers with its alien-obsessed director would have been a PR nightmare.

By far the most outlandish of the conspiracy theories surrounding Close Encounters relates to Project Serpo—an alleged human/alien exchange program between US military personnel and a race of extraterrestrials from the Zeta Reticuli star system. The story goes that, in July of 1965, twelve astronauts were taken to the planet Serpo aboard an alien spaceship and remained there for thirteen years. In exchange, the aliens left one of their own in the custody of the US government. This story didn’t emerge until 2005 in the form of a string of anonymous emails that were sent to selected UFO researchers, including Project Camelot/Avalon’s Bill Ryan, who created a website dedicated to the “leaks.”

The Serpo story lead some in the conspiracy community to speculate that Close Encounters was partly inspired by the alleged alien-human exchange program of 1965, which assumes that Spielberg himself was privy to inside information on the UFO issue. In the movie’s final scenes, a taller alien (designed by effects expert Carlo Rambaldi) is seen to exit the mothership and communicate with the character of Claude Lacombe via a series of hand gestures. Immediately before this we see twelve scientists clad in jumpsuits preparing to board the mothership and take permanent leave of planet Earth. Roy Neary joins the group as its thirteenth member.

It is important to note that the Serpo story, which has not a shred of evidence to support it, did not emerge until 2005, twenty-eight years after the release of Close Encounters. It’s probably safe to assume then that former inspired the latter, rather than vice versa.

Whether or not there is any truth to the conspiracy theories surrounding Close Encounters, Spielberg’s movie remains hugely significant for the fact that it played a central role in Hollywood’s mid-to-late-1970s economic revival—its $338 million worldwide box-office gross forced crusty studio executives to recognize America’s vast and largely neglected youth market and to adapt their output accordingly. Two other alien-themed movies of the period would also play a key role in this industrial paradigm shift: Star Wars (1977) and Superman(1978). Together, these three films about the wonders of the universe acted as adrenalin, shot straight into the heart of a dying industry (though many critics would argue, perhaps justifiably, that this adrenalin acted as poison in the long-term, stifling creativity and individuality in Hollywood). Spielberg’s film also reignited public curiosity about UFOs as an enduring enigma, and its release closely coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the Roswell Incident. Just one year later, Jesse Marcel would spill the beans on his first-hand experiences of that event, opening the floodgates for hundreds more closely-corresponding Roswell testimonies.

With Vietnam and Watergate still fresh in the mind, Close Encounters came as a reassuring hug for America towards the end of a decade of disillusionment, and Spielberg’s movie would redefine Hollywood’s working relationship with aliens for much of the 1980s, resulting in movies such as E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Starman, Batteries Not Included, and The Abyss, to name but a few. Thanks to Close Encounters, what for so many decades had come only to conquer, could now come in peace.

Roswell Debris Drama - Unknown UFO Podcast Ep, 36

By Rogue Planet

Frank Kimbler, a scientist and resident of Roswell, New Mexico, has discovered some interesting things in the desert outside of Roswell where a UFO allegedly crashed in 1947. He’s having these artifacts scientifically tested, but his research may be in jeopardy now that the Bureau of Land Management has taken an interest in the samples he’s collected.

June Gave Us Some Truly Remarkable Crop Circles, Here Are The Best Ones!

By ModernGalaxy

This month was absolutely loaded with remarkable crop circles. It was a very busy month for those who are out doing the groundwork documenting these formations. In this video, you will get a detailed look at the best crop circles that were reported this month. As the summer goes on, it seems like the crop circles that appear to get more detailed and intricate.

2004 Nimitz TIC TAC UFO / Cmdr. David Fravor / Parts 1 & 2 / Presented by Jeremy Corbell

By Jeremy Corbell

Commander David Fravor is a badass Top Gun fighter pilot, and in 2004, the Cmdr. Officer of VFA-41 - the Black Aces. On November 14th of that year began a typical Sunday for Cmdr. Fravor. About 100 miles S/W off the coast of San Diego, it was 70 Degrees and clear skies and an average wind speed of 3 mph. But this wasn’t a typical day. Not at all. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group was preparing for deployment to the Arabian Sea, with routine pre-deployment workups. Starting on November 10th the USS Princeton had been detecting multiple AAVs (Anomalous Aerospace Vehicles… UFOs), operating in and around the vicinity of the Strike Group. The vehicles of unknown origin and function were tracked on radar, with returns descending from far above the radar’s scan volume - somewhere higher than 80,000 ft. The targets would drop from above 80,000 ft to hover roughly 50 ft above the water in a matter of seconds. An impossibly fast rate of decent. And from what I’ve been told, at ICBM trajectories.  On the 14th, Cmdr. Fravor launched with his WSO (Weapons & Sensors Officer), into the clear blue sky. Their Call Sign was FASTEAGLE 01. Cmdr. Fravor was flying a F/A-18F Super Hornet when he received vectors to an unknown contact. A controller on the USS Princeton with the call sign “POISEN” asked, “What ordnance do you have on board?”. This was an odd request, due to the fact Cmdr. Fravor was NOT in an active combat area, a hot-zone. He replied that he had no live ordnance. This was real-world tasking.  He then preceded to the location of the contact, located it visually… and went after it. The Anomalous Aerospace Vehicle outmaneuvered anything imaginable by modern / advanced human technology. The craft of undetermined origin and unknown operators… displayed flight characteristics far beyond current propulsion technology known to man or even understood within current physics. This event has become one of the best documented UFO close encounter cases in history.  I’ve been working on this case for a long time, years before it became the tip of the spear about government confirmation or acknowledgment of UFOs. Before this case was publicly known, I was hunting for the truth and establishing dialogue with the key witnesses involved… most of which I have never spoken about publicly. Cmdr. David Fravor is included in that. Over that time we have developed a rapport, and this interview is an important aspect of my efforts to find detailed clarity on this case… extinguishing the noise and raising the signal.  Cmdr. Fravor IS the primary witness to this astonishing UFO event series.  Over the years, I have come to understand and appreciate his integrity, professionalism, humor and candor. We should listen to what Cmdr. Fravor has to say, as his testimony has become part of the fabric of our time. Cmdr. Fravor is the real deal; and that’s just something you’re gonna have to come to terms with. For those of you who remember, the Tic Tac UFO case is one that I reported on, on Coast to Coast AM with George Knapp, both in May and October of 2017.  http://www.extraordinarybeliefs.com/n... As you will recall, on December 21st, 2017 there was a tectonic shift in secrecy around the subject of UFOs. The Department of Defense authorized two videos of fighter pilots engaging UFOs to be released to the public, and the New York times published a story about our government’s involvement in studying the subject. One of those videos was of the UFO Cmdr. David Fravor saw and chased. Jeremy -- Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell http://www.ExtraordinaryBeliefs.com

US Army Troops Could Be Headed to the Space Force

Change of command ceremony at the Army 1st Space Brigade, at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Credit: U.S. Army

By Sandra Erwin

WASHINGTON — If and when a new military branch for space gets off the ground, its ranks would be dominated by airmen. But Army soldiers also would have a role by virtue of much they rely on military satellites in peacetime or in war.

More than 70 percent of the Army's major weapons and equipment need satellites to function. About 2,220 active-duty soldiers, reservists and civilians make up the "space forces" under the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

"We are the biggest users of space," said Brig. Gen. Tim Lawson, deputy commanding general for operations at the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. [Watch Trump Order the Space Force]

The Army has not publicly weighed in on whether any of its units should be part of the Space Force. Lawson said it's only been two weeks since President Trump ordered the Pentagon to create a Space Force so it's too soon to tell. "We'll see where it takes us," he said on Wednesday at the 2018 MilSatCom USA conference in Arlington, Virginia.

"Do we want to be part of the Space Force? That is yet to be determined," Lawson said. "I think there's a lot more to come, and the Army is part of this planning process."

Army Forces Strategic Command reports to U.S. Strategic Command, led by Gen. John Hyten. Lawson said both Hyten and Air Force Space Command's Gen. John Raymond are "two of the smartest space guys." If the Space Force moves forward, "these are the two guys that are going to get us there and are going to get us there right."

Army space forces are responsible for five key missions – intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; missile warning; environmental monitoring; satellite communications; and positioning, navigation and timing, or PNT.

Troops are hugely dependent on space systems. Each Army brigade requires at least 2,500 PNT devices and 250 satellite communications terminals.

The 53rd Signal Battalion of the Army 1st Space Brigade manages a portion of the Wideband Global Satcom network of satellites the military relies upon for routine communications, broadcasting and data sharing.

The Army also deploys its own satellites. One of its constellations of small satellites is called SNAP, short for Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command's nanosatellite program. These tiny spacecraft — the size of a loaf of bread — provide beyond line-of-sight communications using existing UHF tactical radios.

Last year the Army's Kestrel Eye remote sensing satellite was launched from the International Space Station. About the size of a small refrigerator, Kestrel Eye takes high-resolution pictures for Army commanders on the ground. SNAP satellites cost about $500,000 each, and Ketrel Eye is about $2 million, which Lawson said is a relatively small price tag for systems that provide valuable services.

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