Cases

There is been a lot of UFO activity in Indiana and the last two or three years. Many new cases are being reported some of them that occurred recently in some of them of past historical encounters. We the Indiana field investigators are trying valiantly to get these cases cleared out. Unfortunately with a very unusual nature of our investigations is not possible to find adequate explanations in every case. But then it is the case conclusion "unknown" that makes this kind of investigation so very interesting.

Over the last few months fireballs been reported separately over Brownsburg Indiana, Valparaiso, Indiana, and North Manchester Indiana. Triangle shaped craft have been reported over Remington, Mount Vernon, and St. Joseph. Sphere shaped objects have been reported over Bremen, St. Joseph, Indianapolis, and Hamilton Indiana.

My own investigations included cases such as a number of spheres or sphere like objects sighted on July 5, 2013 over Avon Indianaand a similar wave over the same town within 1 mile of the previously mentioned sighting precisely one year before. There were sightings of triangular illuminated objects similar description to the Phoenix lights over Fortville Indiana and within two days of that sighting another on I 70 at the south end of Indianapolis international Airport that was seen by three female family members in the same car. Other cases that I am working on include a sphere over Indianapolis on May 2014, lights over Marion on April 2014, a triangle over Indianapolis on March 2014, a disc over Indianapolis on November 2013, a cylindrical is shaped object over Mooresville Indiana, January 2013, and a triangle over Coatesville in May 2013. There are in fact a lot more open cases. Some of these, at least reportedly, involve possible abductions.

On October 11 at 1 PM Indiana MUFON will be hosting a meeting that is open to the public at the public library in Greencastle Indiana. Detailed information on this meeting can be found that the MUFON Indiana website. I will be speaking on some of the cases listed here as well as a number of others that I have been investigating. Among the other speakers present will be Stewart Hill are state director.

Regression Session Failure

I haven't been blogging here for some time because I've been quite busy with investigations and other MUFON business. Approximately once every year Indiana MUFON tries to do a hypnotic regression event involving as many UFO experiencers who may be abductees as possible. This year I was directly involved in get this years session in operation. Unfortunately it did not work, and a great deal of time and effort done by our state director Stuart Hill and to a lesser degree myself has been wasted.

There are quite a number of important issues involved in using hypnotic regression to recover lost or hidden memories of a UFO related event. If any of these factors come into play they could taint or invalidate any evidence recovered using hypnosis. Far from our favorite form of investigation, hypnosis is rather on the bottom of the list of evidence sought by MUFON investigators. Its primary advantage is that it is evidence where other evidence is unobtainable. The stories and information obtained with hypnotic regression are susceptible to suggestion, subconscious fears, underlying psychiatric disorders which may present themselves as delusions that are perceived as reality, and on some occasions the strong desire of the subject consciously or unconsciously to please the investigators. Any of these can cause a confabulation to be presented during the session instead of a real memory.

The biggest obstacle however is anxiety on the part of the subject. It is widely believed that hypnosis can bring forth memories that have been long submerged. These can be terrifying images or experiences that the subject may not be ready to face. Therefore the most difficult issue is getting the subject to voluntarily present themselves at the session.

Another obstacle is the widely held belief that it is impossible to present or maintain a false story during the hypnotic state. An alleged witness who is in fact perpetrating a hoax will want to avoid any hypnotic regression for fear of being discovered.

This year after lining up all subjects for hypnotic regression and obtaining our certified hypnotherapist, all the subjects backed out and the session had to be canceled.

Hypnotic regression ranks last in the hierarchy of evidence for UFOs behind trace evidence, photographic evidence, and eye witness testimony. It does however offer some major advantages. It can fill in blanks in the story of a witness, and offer therapeutic relief for the extreme anxiety that often plagues the witness. This year MUFON Indiana lost an opportunity to fill in some of the blanks in our investigations and perhaps offer some needed assistance to UFO witnesses who may or may not be abductees. This is been to us a great disappointment.

Indiana MUFON conducts hypnotic regression sessions in full compliance with the guidelines presented to us by the MUFON international leadership. These guidelines state that the actual hypnotic session must be conducted by a certified hypnotherapist. This essentially defines the hypnotic session as a medical procedure. In addition to the confidential nature of almost all investigations and the promise of MUFON to maintain the confidentiality of any UFO witness who wishes to remain anonymous, hypnotic regression sessions also fall under the HIPPA law. Detailed information on this very important law can be found at this website. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/

This law protects your privacy during any medical procedure. Unauthorized release of such information can in fact cause great harm. Let me offer this hypothetical example. Nurse "Betsy" works on a medical floor of a major hospital. Congressman "X" has just been admitted to her floor. He is there with a mild cardiac complaint. Nurse "Betsy" is a member of a major political party and strongly believes in the platforms in the policies of that party. Congressman "X" is a major player in the party on the other side of the aisle. He has recently announced his candidacy for the presidency. The policies and platforms that he believes in are in direct opposition to those held important by nurse "Betsy". While studying the medical record of Congressman "X" Nurse "Betsy" discovers that in the past the Congressman has been prescribed antipsychotic drugs and undergone electroshock therapy. Nurse "Betsy" now wonders if she might be doing a public service by leaking this information about the Congressman's background. If she were to do this she would not only be violating the confidentiality of her patient but she could also face several years in a federal prison for violating a federal law. And consider the other harm done to the Congressman. There is a huge amount of prejudice involving the kind of therapies the Congressman reportedly had. In fact the Congressman might be more sane and capable then Nurse "Betsy".

Information obtained during a hypnotic regression session or any other medical procedure whatever is restricted specifically to the medical caregivers directly involved in the patient's care and to those whom the patient has designated to receive this information.

Foo Fighters and Other Thoughts

Unidentified flying objects were in fact nothing new when they first came upon the public consciousness after 1947. Pilots in all theaters of World War II had been seeing them following and keeping pace with their aircraft for some time. Without guidance from their commanders , Allied airmen chose their own name to refer to these objects. They called them foo fighters. They borrowed this name from a popular comic strip of the day called Smokey Stover. http://www.smokey-stover.com/ Smokey was a fireman who drove an impossible vehicle to fight fires called The Foomobile. This vehicle was a small two-man fire engine that had only two wheels on a single axle. In the comic strip of course this worked just fine, while if such a vehicle had been created it would've simply fallen over with the technology of the 1940s. It simply could not work. Since the foo fighters appeared to operate in a manner inexplicable in the 1940s the Allied airmen decided to name them after Smokey Stover's impossible Foomobile.

This wasn't the only time that a comic strip was used to suggest a name for an object used by the military and World War II. The awkwardly named general purpose vehicle became a much loved and ubiquitous tool used by all services. It was initially commonly referred to by its initials GP. This four-wheel-drive vehicle could go anywhere. Shortly before its introduction the popular comic and cartoon character Popeye introduce another comic character called the Jeep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYK66ysrhiY This strange creature resembled a small dog walked upright on two legs and went anywhere. It would walk up walls walk across ceilings with a complete disregard for gravity, and walk over buildings. No obstacle slowed it down. Therefore it comes to no surprise that almost every G.I. in every theater simultaneously came to the conclusion that the general purpose vehicle had to be called the Jeep.

Interestingly with present-day technology the Foomobile is actually quite possible. Its basic design in the comic strip is quite similar to that of the present day Segway. A Foomobile could be constructed today using the computer controlled gyroscopic system of a Segway. This of course could not even be imagined during World War II.

Similarly the flight characteristics and physical behavior of unidentified flying objects have been impossible to understand and completely impossible to explain since their first appearance in antiquity. The fact that the mechanism of their flight behavior cannot be explained in any way by commonly accepted science has been a major argument for skeptics and debunkers. If the flight characteristics of UFOs appear to be impossible then the objects themselves are equally impossible. This however may change dramatically quite soon. Scientists are making new breakthroughs that might explain them. Boaz Almog is a physicist in Israel. He has made a fascinating presentation for the TED talk series. This presentation can be watched in its entirety at the TED website. http://www.ted.com/speakers/boaz_almog In this he describes his research into superconductors and

magnetic fields and an amazing principle that he refers to as quantum locking. In the demonstration viewable on the Ted website he takes extremely thin sapphire discs and super cools them to near absolute zero using liquid nitrogen tuning them into superconductors. He then places the disc over a magnet where it becomes locked within the magnetic field and maintains its position completely defying gravity in relation to the magnet. This is accomplished by quantum locking, a principal described by Almog in detail in the video. The behavior of the super cooled superconducting discs in this video is strikingly similar to the behavior commonly attributed to unidentified flying objects. Boaz Almog may not believe in unidentified flying objects himself, he certainly doesn’t comment on them in the video, but is very possible that he may have explained how they might possibly work within the science that is known today.

Like Smokey Stover's impossible Foomobile modern theoretical science might now have explained how unidentified flying objects just might possibly work and how we might someday be able to build them. No matter how impossible, if it can be imagined today it can be done tomorrow.

Your comments

The most recent comment I have received about this blog concerns OBOLs (Orange Balls of Light).  The comment is published below.  OBOLs are frequently reported in Indiana during the summer.  I have written articles about them in this blog.

The commenter is reporting a fascinating close, personal experience with an OBOL.  I want to hear about cases like this.  The greater the catalog of reports available to MUFON Investigators like myself, the greater our chances to to find a clue that could help solve this mystery and others surrounding UFOs.  If you see an OBOL, UFO or anything else you think might be related please report it on the MUFON website.  There is a link near the top of this blog.  There are easy instructions there for filling out the report and your identity will be kept in confidence if you wish.  Reporting in this fashion allows us to investigate your sighting and places it in a reference data base for further research.

The Surprise Film

Conventional wisdom within the ufology community says that the US military and government know all about UFOs and are keeping what they know secret. This may indeed be true but historically the behavior of military and government personnel has been highly inconsistent. There are many documented cases of officials trying to cover up cases and silence witnesses. There are also cases where no attempt to keep anyone quiet was made by any agency. Then there is The Surprise Film (my term) which, in a coverup protocol, makes no sense at all.

The Surprise Film works like this: a group of military personnel is directed to enter a room at a military facility. In the room they are shown a film that quite clearly shows aliens, alien vehicles or both. The clarity of the film is striking. Those who have talked about the films are absolutely convinced of the reality of UFOs. Then the audience is asked to leave. There is no introduction to the film. They are given no instructions or explanations before, during or after the film. They are not asked to be quiet about the film or to agree to any kind of secrecy.

My first encounter with the story of The Surprise Film was when I was a teenager. My father had just returned from training duty with the Navy. His career with the US Navy and The Naval Reserve spanned forty years. As a reservist he spent two weeks every year on active duty. Most often this was aboard ship but on that year he was assigned to The Pentagon. Like the incident described above, he and other officers of similar rank were directed to enter a room and sit down. They were shown a film and afterward told to leave. They were told nothing before, during, or after the film. Before the film my father did not believe in flying saucers. Afterward he did.

A similar occurrence is discussed in the latest issue of The MUFON UFO Journal, January, 2014 No. 549. Access has recently been obtained by MUFON to the research of the late Leonard Stringfield who was interested in UFO crashes and subsequent retrieval of the downed objects. He had received a report from a retired Air Force Colonel who was shown a film during a regularly scheduled briefing, possibly in 1956. The film showed a circular, silver-colored disk on the ground. The interior of the apparent craft was shown as well as at least three short bodies. He stated that no details were given before, during, or after the film. He did say that things discussed during briefings were considered military business and not to be discussed.

I have learned that others have been shown films like this. Most often these are reported to be interceptor gun camera footage of UFOs in flight.

If the Air Force or Army wants to cover up UFOs, why show anyone this kind of film? It's completely counter-intuitive.

Two hypotheses come to mind: 1. a psychological experiment 2. a security test.

The psychological experiment hypothesis is reminiscent of the wild experiments run by the CIA. During the fifties and sixties, for example, the CIA exposed unwitting Americans to LSD to see how they would react. Exposing Americans to apparently conclusive evidence that UFOs are real and that we are not alone in the universe may seem tame by comparison but it's important to remember that, for most people, this revelation would be a life changing event. It would completely reorient how they perceived themselves in the universe.

The experiment would involve first showing the subjects the film and then observing them to see their reactions. It's not unreasonable to suppose they might have been under surveillance for years. The data gathered from such an experiment might be useful in determining when, how, and perhaps if, the American public should be informed about existence of UFOs.

The security test hypothesis is much simpler. Show military people a film in a military environment, then watch them to see who talks. During World War Two, the FBI often tried to coax personnel attached to atomic bomb related projects to talk about their work. Those who did were often reassigned. An experiment like this might suggest who can be trusted with higher security clearances.

Neither of these hypotheses require that the films be genuine. They could be Hollywood type special effect productions. In fact, neither hypothesis requires that the experimenters themselves believe in UFOs. What makes me believe that they possibly were genuine however is the reaction of those who saw these films. They were struck with their clarity. After watching them any doubt vanished. They believed UFOs were real.

I am an enthusiastic fan of science fiction. I've seen every science fiction film I could and enjoyed them thoroughly. Even as a child, however, I could easily pick out which things in the movie was real and which were model or photographic special effects. I could spot the matte lines, recognize rear screen projection, and tell when stop motion animation was used. I'm sure most other people could spot these things as well. If they didn't recognize how a scene was done then at least they were aware that it was some kind of trick. It wasn't until the Nineties that special effects became so advanced that the line between the real and the imagined became difficult for the average viewer to distinguish. Yet no one who has seen The Surprise Film has come forward and said they were shown a Hollywood fake. Rather they believe that what they were shown was undeniably real.

Field Investigation Frustrations

A field investigation for MUFON can often be an extremely frustrating experience. When this becomes the case, the most important thing you know may be when to walk away.

I’d like to tell you about two cases in point that I have been investigating. Both are referred to by FIs as historical cases. They are cases that occurred years or decades ago and only now a witness has come forward to report them. This leaves the FI in a difficult position. Physical evidence can be difficult to impossible to find, if it ever existed, due to the passage of time and land development. Corroborative witnesses likewise. Often the only source the FI has is the original witness. All then depends on the cooperation of that one person.

The first case:

Sometime in the 1970s a group of teenagers spent the night out in a heavily wooded area for, what the primary witness (Witness A) referred to as, “a night of romance.” The location they chose was a deserted spot on the shore of a major reservoir. The surrounding area was undeveloped except for a few dozen houses on the shore, a few bait shops, and a marina. The reservoir was a popular fishing and boating area. Since then the area has been heavily developed and it's crowded with restaurants, strip malls, and very expensive houses.

According to the initial statement by Witness A, well after dark a large number of dogs began to bark from what he believed to be a kennel on the other side of the lake. A red lit object then descended over the water. It emitted a flash that silenced the dogs instantly. Most of the group, including all of the girls, then retreated to their cars in panic leaving two boys, Witness A and Witness B, to continued to watch from the shore. The red lit object resolved itself into a domed saucer shaped craft which hovered over the water, then and suddenly shined a light on the boys. It then appeared to depart quite abruptly. When the boys returned to the group they were asked what took them so long. Apparently a good deal of time had passed.

This had the potential to be a significant case. First, two individuals stayed to watch the object and may have experienced missing time. It was possible that both had been taken aboard the craft. If I could find the second individual he could corroborate the statement of the first. Hypnotic regression of both individuals revealing the same indecent from two entirely different points of view, could be very exiting. Second, there are the others who retreated to the car. These could be witnesses who experienced no missing time and may have been unaffected by the craft. Their statements could offer new details and vital support.

I was soon deflated. I was successful in identifying only three other witnesses. Witness B was deceased. My hopes of having two significant witnesses to an important case vanished. I located two of the girls whom I designated Witnesses C and D but they were difficult. Witness C refused to see me or speak on the telephone. Her only communication with me was a short email stating that the only thing she saw was a light on a boat and “We were all stoned out of our gourds, anyway.” Without more evidence that last sentence alone would invalidate the case.

Witness D refused to respond. Witness A didn't want to try to contact her himself.

MUFON Field Investigators are not police! We have no authority at all. We cannot just knock on somebody's door and insist they talk to us. Pestering someone to do something they don't want to do is called harassment. My final communication to both these witnesses was to inform them how to contact MUFON or myself should they decide to do so and to promise never to initiate contact myself again.

This left me with Witness A and his completely unsupported statement. I spoke to him extensively over the phone. He seemed very troubled by the event and was seeking help. He had read a good deal about UFOs. He agreed to meet me and other FIs for a hypnotic regression. This seemed to me the only way learn more about the event and to corroborate his statement.

In Indiana our hypnotherapist is Craig Lang. Craig is a certified hypnotherapist and has conducted hypnotic regression on many apparent UFO abductees. He has written a book on the subject, The Cosmic Bridge. He is also the Director of MUFON Minnesota, and has recently been appointed Assistant Director of MUFON's Abduction Research Team. Craig's approach is as much therapy as investigation. An abduction experience can be quite traumatic. Along with discovering details about the event, Craig helps the subject to deal with the trauma and leave the session in a better state than when they approached it.

Witness A did not appear for the session or call to say he wasn't coming. When I spoke to him about this he said that some friends had told him that hypnosis could “mess with your mind.” He was afraid to go deeper in this in any manner.

I closed the case.

The second case:

A similar case involved a couple who saw a large object at very close quarters while on a drive. This was also an historic case reportedly occurring in the summer of 1989. The couple was a man and a woman who it seems had an off again, on again relationship. They were on a drive together for the purpose of discussing the future of that relationship. At the time of the actual sighting they were arguing over Whitley Striber's book, Transformations, which had come out the previous year. At one point the woman threw the book out of the window. The couple noticed a light in the trees and decided it was a flying illuminated object and it appeared to be stalking them. After several minutes they drove around a bend and the object or craft was sitting on the ground waiting for them. Nothing else was remembered beyond that point.

The couple reported other experiences, including one where they were out doors again at night, they briefly noticed a light in the sky and then suddenly found themselves lying in the grass naked next to an astronomical observatory on a college campus. Their clothes were nearby.

Here was a case with two witnesses reporting the same experience. The similarity to The Betty an Barney Hill Case is striking.

The couple is no longer together. Both have married other people. He lives in Ohio, she, it turned out, lives about twenty minutes from my house. I thought this would be easy.

I interviewed both extensively over the phone. I arranged for them to meet with Craig Lang at one of Indiana MUFON's regression sessions. They both backed out.

Since the woman lived near me I decided to conduct a cognitive interview. This is an advanced technique of interview that must be conducted in person. It forces the subject to recall events in different chronological orders and from different points of view. This give the technique a capability of discovering new previously unremembered details almost as strong as hypnosis. Unlike hypnosis the subject remains fully awake and a trained practitioner is not required. It's described in detail in the MUFON FI manual as well as Wikipedia. Jill Beitz, Indiana's Chief Investigator, agreed to be present to observe. The witness also agreed to meet with us but on two occasions, when the time came she couldn't make it.

The man has again contacted MUFON HQ and I have spoken to him. Now he's reported nightmares. I'll try again to schedule a regression. So however I have never been able to meet either face to face.

I will visit the observatory site this summer with a Geiger counter and magnetometer. After so many years I really don't expect to find anything out of the ordinary. Barring a major development I will then walk away.

Both of these cases appeared to have great potential. Both have a complete lack of physical evidence. Both have apparently met a dead end due to a lack of cooperation from the witnesses. Both may not be true.

Hypnotic regression and cognitive interviews have another important capability beyond the discovery of new details. They can uncover a lie. The field investigator must keep in mind that if a purported witness is trying to carry out a hoax he might try to avoid something that would expose him. A skilled conman may try to string his target along with little snippets of information while keeping the prize just out of reach. Until one of these definitive techniques is applied these cases remain in a state of limbo. They may be hoaxes or they may be two important abduction cases where the subjects could benefit from hypnotherapy and understanding of the trauma they may have gone through.

Launch of a new blog

I've launched another blog. 

It's called  A Cosmic Artist's Notebook.

I mentioned elsewhere on this site that I am an artist specializing in paintings of astronomical and space related themes.   I've decided to blog about my artwork as well.  Sometimes writing about helps me to refine that work and plan new paintings. 


You can find a link to this blog in the right column of this blog.  I hope you enjoy it.