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UFO-Aktuellt issue 3/2003 Issue 3, 2003 reached its Swedish subscribers in September, 2003.  English summaries by Stefan Isaksson  Page 2: A Stroke of Lightning Did It On a picture taken by a  Mr.Chuck Fehlis  on the 8th of July this year, a strange ring can be seen in the sky. But it's no mystery; according to the National Weather Service in New Braunfels it's simply a ring created by an immense explosion from a stroke of lightning. For the UFO community, this is of some importance since the ring on the picture closely resembles that of pictures taken by Rex Heflin in August 1965.

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Page 3: Editorial.  Chairman Clas Svahn devotes his editorial to ufologists who sadly are no longer with us, especially Gordon Creighton,  since 1982 the editor of British magazine Flying Saucer Review   (for more, see article on pp. 7-14). Graham Birdsall ,  editor of British UFO Magazine has also passed on, along with some other more or less prominent ufologists. As it that wasn't sad enough, well-renowned skeptic Phil Klass   announces in the last issue of his newsletter Skeptic's UFO Newsletter that he due to health problems is forced to retire from ufology. The next issue of UFO Aktuellt will see a big interview with Mr. Klass, and Svahn keeps his fingers crossed that the successors of these great men will pick up where the deceased left off.

Pages 4-6: UFO Over Stockholm Not Very Otherworldly.  Article by   Andreas Ohlsson , detailing the investigation of a strange picture sent in to UFO Sweden on the 24th of June this year. Numerous pictures are annually sent to UFO-Sweden, and some are stranger than others. The one picture dealt with in the article was taken by a 10-year old girl while sitting in the backseat of her father's car taking snapshots with his rather exclusive digital camera. As the story often goes, nothing unusual was seen while the picture was taken, only to change drastically once the picture was viewed on the computer. The father as well as the daughter claimed to have no knowledge of what the weird-looking image on the picture could be. However, it was soon discovered that the man's spouse had - without his knowing - edited the image using Photoshop. The strange picture was simply a very earthly a lamp-post.

Page 6: Spielberg Does it Again.  Short article by Svahn, determining that the mini-series Taken , produced by Steven Spielberg has hit the stores in Sweden, and that it's not as bad as one could fear. Ufologically speaking the abduction-themed series contributes nothing, based as it is on old myths and traditional extraterrestrials, but it's still good entertainment.

Gordon Creighton, 90+ young in his study in London. Photo by Clas Svahn

Pages 7-14: The Life and Works of Gordon Creighton. Article by Svahn, in which he describes a conversation he and the UFO-Aktuellt editor Håkan Ekstrand did with the, in the editorial mentioned, Gordon Creighton  a few years ago. Creighton can easily pass as one of the grand old men of British ufology, living as he did a long and exciting life devoted to most things paranormal. Creighton was in many aspects an extraordinary man, lived in many different countries throughout his life, and could speak or read 20 languages. He himself witnessed a UFO in 1941. However, he didn't think much of the idea of benevolent Space Brothers, seeing it more as a manifestation of something evil. He was critical to many aspects of the phenomena, even though he believed in things most often heard of within the New Age scene. Conspiracies and cover-ups, however, was something Creighton embraced, and to his death he was convinced that the authorities knew more than they cared to confess, and that his own work and ideas was hampered by the state. Flying Saucer Review was at the time of the interview in great financial troubles, and that too was the result of government conspiracies. To the end Creighton maintained his conviction that forces outside of his control worked against him.

Pages 15-17: The Mysterious Big Cats of Britain.  Our own expert of fortean phenomena,  Richard Svensson , writes (and as always, draws) about bizarre things, not necessarily UFO related. This time it's the strange cat-like creatures all over the British Isles that comes under examination. Year after year new witnesses come forward to tell of sightings and encounters with bizarre cats, great lions, pumas, and similar animals. The organization British Big Cats Society is a group devoted to researching these animals, and every year new animals are run over on caught on tape.

Page 18: Book Reviews.  Two books reviewed by this time, one by Svahn and one by Stefan Isaksson. Svahn's book is called Without Consent, and deals with alien abduction and abductees. Isaksson's review is of a fiction book in Swedish called  Svarta Skuggor  [eng: Black Shadows].

Page 19: Digital UFOs.  Short article by Mikael Karlson , about yet another strange picture sent to UFO-Sweden. On this picture, taken outside of Lund in southern Sweden, four strange objects can be seen in the sky. The photographer never saw anything while taking the photograph. After visiting the site Karlson manages to find an explanation. The objects seen in the photograph is simply a TV-antenna, distorted by the camera.

Pages 20-21: International ufology.  Stefan Roslund   has fifteen short news about the international UFO, and forteana, scene. Among other things, Roslund mentions the financial problems of MUFON, Erich von Däniken's theme park in Switzerland, the elusive Champ in Lake Champlain, ancient pyramids in Italy, and a close encounter reported by a Nobel Prize winner.

Pages 22-23: Media Watch.  C Göran Norlén gives a review of news clippings from Swedish media, this time from the end of May 2003 to the beginning of August 2003. Norlén apologizes for the media watch of this issue being somewhat short, and wonders if there is a recession in the UFO matter much as there is in rest of Swedish society. Among other things, Norlén mentions crop circles and various Swedish sightings.

Pages 25-25: Bizarre Blotches on the Ground.  Anders Persson  has written an article about different mysterious blotches of burnt or discolored grass on the ground. Many such sites have been recorded throughout history, but even if the sites look mysterious indeed one very possible explanation is that they're all simply matters of lightning strikes burning the ground. Persson describes a case from Strömstad in the western part of Sweden from October 2nd 1992.

Pages 26-29: UFO-Sweden in McMinnville. Certain pictures are more well-known than others in the world of ufology. Some of the most famous pictures ever taken of a UFO are the ones taken on the 11th of May 1950 in the town of McMinnville, Oregon.   Farmer  Paul Trent   took, on that day, what is still regarded as some of the best UFO photographs to date. UFO-Sweden's  Daniel Åsenlund  visited the small town himself to see if he could dig up something new about the case. The article chronicles his meetings and experiences and is accompanied by several pictures, some taken by himself and some by Paul Trent. åsenlund fails to solve the case, but is more determined than ever that the pictures are not hoaxes.

Page 30: Very Busy Six Months. Svahn tells of all the different activities UFO-Sweden has been up to the last six months, focusing on an exhibition that was held over the summer,  Anders Liljegren  who has spent much time registering the Archive's entire book collection, and the course for field investigators that was held on the 6th to 7th of September.

Back page: Investigator's Course.  A nice picture of all the participants of this year's course for field investigators, together with a picture of seven UFO balloons that were sent up. Next course is held on the 11th to 12th of September 2004, and interested parties are welcome to contact UFO-Sweden.