ARCHIVES FOR UFO RESEARCH

AFU

UFO-Aktuellt issue 4/2002

Issue 4, 2002 reached its Swedish subscribers on December 27, 2002.  Translations by Stefan Isaksson    Page 2: Strange Cloud Explained by Danes.  Short article accompanied by a curious photograph. The photograph was taken in 1974 in Norway, by a man out walking along the eastern side of (lake) Nörre Sö in Viborg. Suddenly he became aware of a strange cloud in the sky, quickly snapped a picture, and then turned around to see if there were other people around who could verify his sighting. There were none, and when he looked up to the sky again the cloud was gone. The strange photograph came to be published in UFO magazines all over the world, and the pro-saucer minded Hungarian Colman von Kevieczky ,  among others, claimed it was an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

However, Danish organization SUFOI   managed to prove him wrong. After investigating the case thoroughly they came to the conclusion that it was simply a cloud of smoke coming from a local power plant.

Page 3: Editorial.  Chairman Clas Svahn   reminds his readers about the importance of supporting UFO Sweden and its magazine.  As with most other UFO organizations, UFO Sweden is a non-profit organization with no salaries whatsoever, and thus the money matter is always somewhat of a problem. However, even though funding is sparse, UFO Sweden manages to survive year after year, thanks to its dedicated co-workers and supporters. Still, no good thing lasts forever, and now the organization is forced to raise the prize of subscriptions with 10 SEK, which actually isn’t very much. But still, with the economic troubles of CUFOS   in mind one must remember how even the largest of organization will crumble unless its supporters continue supporting it.

Pages 4-5: Vapor Trails Causes Confusion.  Article by Svahn accompanied by several photographs, dealing with the very natural, but sometimes confusing, phenomena of vapor trails. During special circumstances, such as the position of the sun and special seasons of the year, these long trails following airplanes crossing the sky, can look very strange and not at all natural. Even though vapor trails have been around as long as airplanes have, the last few years have seen a steady increase in reports connected to them. Some people, most in America, even accuse the CIA   for releasing toxic substances into the air using these phenomena. So-called "chemtrails" supposedly make people sick, and there is even a website devoted to these conspiracy theories. Obviously, the government denies this. Additionally, a reporter from Fortean Times   points out that reports of mass-sickness from alleged poisoning by the CIA has occurred during the flu season. Another explanation to strange vapor trails, though not very down-to-earth, is offered by Chen Hon-Ming , leader of the God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation,  who says the vapor trails are created by "God’s machines" in an attempt to warn for the coming Armageddon.

Page 6: Archaeology at Roswell.  Short article by Svahn about an excavation in the desert outside of Roswell, New Mexico, sponsored by the Sci-Fi Channel .  Archaeologists from the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology   and ufologists Tom Carey   and Don Schmitt   excavated a site during the fall of 2002, and the result was broadcast on American TV the 22^nd of November. However, the documentary was somewhat of a disappointment, and many people have accused the Sci-Fi Channel of being more interested in profits than in facts. Svahn also reports that the investigations continue of the document Roger Ramey   can be seen holding on a photo taken in Ramey's office at the Roswell Army Air Base on the 8^th of July 1947.  

Pages 7-9: Among ghost fliers and missiles.  Andreas Ohlsson  's three page report on new sightings found - and old sightings revisited - during UFO-Sweden's investigation project in the county of Varmland, on the Norwegian border. A more detailed report on this project will eventually be published by UFO-Sweden. 

Pages 10-11: Media Watch.  C Göran Norlén   is at it again, as always with news clippings from Swedish media, this time from early September to middle of November. He notes, as he always does, that Svahn appears in different media from time to time, and also that the field investigator training course held by UFO Sweden was mentioned in some media. Norlén is also pleased to note an overall increase in "sane" articles, and a decrease in sensationalist pseudo-scientific articles. He gives UFO Sweden credit for having enlightened the Swedish media with down-to-earth examples of how to approach the UFO phenomena. On a more sarcastic note, Norlén contemplates about the quite irrational question "do you believe in UFOs", and suggests that someone should contact the Guinness Book of World Records   and file it as "the most stupid question in history".

Pages 12-13: International ufology.  This time Stefan Roslund   has twelve short news stories from the international UFO, and forteana, scene. As in UFO Update #3, Roslund mentions alleged cattle mutilation in Argentina, or rather an explanation which hasn’t been very well received by ufologists, namely that a certain species of mice is behind the mutilations. Not just ufologists, but also a specialist on these rodents, argue that the explanation is not very likely. Also, the first mutilation case from Uruguay has now been reported. Other news Roslund mentions is about the passing of some well-renowned Japanese ufologists, the UFO-conference in Leeds, and Steven Spielberg’s  TV-series Taken   which began airing on Sci-Fi Channel the 1^st of December.

Page 14: The UFO Hotspots that are no more.  Short article by Svahn; a prequel to the longer article that starts on the same page. A brief history about the Cradle and Starr Hills in Warminster, England, which in the 60s and 70s became a Mecca for UFO enthusiasts.

Pages 14-18: The Warminster Photographs.  Long article, originally published in Magonia   July 2001, by David Simpson   and Ken Raine,  and translated by Stefan Roslund and Clas Svahn. Simpson and Raine were members of the Society for the Investigation of UFO Phenomena, SUIFOP ,  founded in 1967, and participated in "UFO-hunts" on the Warminster hills. The article is very enjoyable, and tells, in an honest and straightforward manner, how youthful enthusiasm sometimes can make UFO sightings more unexplainable than they really are. Simpson and Raine also tell of how they managed to find out what the strange lights they had originally seen indeed was, and furthermore how their skepticism met heavy resistance from ufologists devoted to the ET-theory. The members of SUIFOP arranged several hoaxes to test the skepticism of other ufologists, and much to their surprise they found: basically no skepticism at all, or very little at the best. "Our hoaxes", Simpson and Raine concludes, "were very interesting, stimulating, and caused much disillusion. But they also showed that people have a tendency to see what they want to see or what they expect to see". Very true, indeed.

Page 15: View From a Hill.  Short article by Svahn about Cradle Hill and Arthur Shuttlewood,  who was the most prominent of the three individuals who came to take many of the photographs there.

Page 18: Letters From the Readers. Two letters this time, one in which the reader asks questions (and receives answers) about the Rendlesham case, and one about the upcoming TV-series Taken   by Steven Spielberg.

Pages 19-21: Hybrids Now and Then.  Richard Svensson   presents another interesting article about fortean phenomena. This time he describes several encounters with hybrid monsters; creatures that seem to have been put together by many different species. Some examples are angels and mermaids, but other, more "exotic", are Pegasus and the "Batsquatch" (the winged version of the more well known Sasquatch). As with other fortean phenomena, encounters with strange and sometimes quite horrible creatures have been recorded throughout history, but the closer you get to modern times the fewer the sightings get. Either the monstrous creatures of earth have succumbed to modern-day civilization, or the monsters have actually never been more than myths and legends. Whatever the case may be, Svensson’s article is interesting and enjoyable as always, and of course accompanied by tremendous drawings from his own pen.

Pages 22-23: Book Reviews.  Three reviews this time, all by Svahn except James Moseley   and Karl Pflock’s Shockingly Close to the Truth ,  the autobiography of famous ufologist James Moseley, this review co-written with Anders Liljegren. This is also the longest review of the three. 

Page 28: News in Short.  Eight short paragraphs about miscellaneous UFO and forteana related news from Sweden and elsewhere.

Page 29: Thailand’s Mysterious Lightings.  Article by Svahn based on an e-mail from Karl Eklund,  who along with thousands other, witnessed strange balls of lightning over the Mekong River on the 21^st of October. This annual event attracts thousands and thousands of people; many convinced that it’s the Naga, the monstrous river snake, that shoots out the balls. Others think differently, but no one can tell for sure.

Pages 30-31: AFU Moves.  The famous Archives for UFO Research, AFU, has recently been given access to more storage room, as reported by Anders Liljegren. The well-renowned Swedish UFO archive is constantly growing, and it's been quite a troublesome issue the last couple of years to find more storage room. But now, fortunately, the issue is solved. Check www.afu.info for more details.

Back page: The Feds in Trouble.  Short article by Svahn, dealing with the mysterious objects filmed by an American camera man in Albany, New York, on the 20^th of October 2002. The footage contains so-called "rods", objects that never are seen by the naked eye, but only on film and only if you watch the tape in slow-motion. The footage puzzled it's viewers, and is now under investigation by the FBI.   UFO Sweden conducted experiments in the early 90s, and managed to produce similar effects simply by tossing a ball in front of the camera.  

On the bottom of the page is an ad telling how Swedes can, through UFO Sweden, subscribe to the International UFO Reporter , by many regarded as the no. 1 UFO magazine in the world.