Reports of “flying saucers” seem to have been present throughout the history of mankind. From shooting stars to actual alien spacecraft, UFO’s have fascinated and intrigued humanity.
Aurora, Texas
On 19th April 1897, an article in the Dallas Morning News claimed that a UFO had crashed into a windmill on the property of a local judge. The pilot of the craft was killed and given a Christian burial, with an unmarked grave.
The whole report was later claimed to be a hoax perpetrated by the author of the article, S.E. Haydon. His purpose was to generate publicity for the town which had been besieged by failures and was apparently dying out.
Two subsequent investigations into the alleged sighting deemed it inconclusive.
Foo Fighters
“Foo Fighters” was the name given to various UFO’s and strange lights observed by aircraft pilots during the Second World War.
The first official sighting was reported in November 1944, by pilots flying over Germany, although since the end of WW2 others claim to have witnessed this strange phenomenon before then.
One such claim was made by the pilots of the 384th Group, who reported that on 14th October 1943, they witnessed “silver coloured” discs “ about one inch thick and three inches in diameter.”
UFOs Sighted in Rendlesham, England
On 26th December 1980, locals of Woodbridge, Suffolk, reported seeing “dome shaped” lights hovering near a NATO airbase in Rendlesham Forrest which drifted away. Later that night, two American security guards came across a “cone shaped” object which stood on three legs. The object began to hover from the ground and move through the trees when approached.
Others reported seeing strange flying objects and lights that night. The event was further magnified by official military personnel issuing statements reinforcing their validity, and has become known as England’s Roswell.
The Phoenix Lights
On 13th March 1997, a V-shaped object comprised of six lights was reported over Henderson, Nevada. This sparked a series of sightings by a reputed several hundred witnesses over several hours.
One such witness was an ex-police officer who reported seeing a cluster of five orange coloured lights which travelled through the sky until they disappeared over the horizon some two minutes later. Another was a man claiming to be serving in the Air Force who was stationed at Luke Air Force Base to the west of Phoenix.
Within minutes of these first sightings, hundreds of phone calls were received by various organizations including the National UFO Reporting Centre as well as local law enforcement authorities.
The sightings were predominantly to the north and west of Phoenix, Arizona, hence the now famous name.
However, the descriptions given by alleged witnesses vary to such an extent (for example, some reported five lights while other reported seven; the colours varied between orange or red and white or blue; and they were claimed to be traveling extremely fast or very slowly), that debate continues as to what was actually witnessed.
ConclusionWhether the above examples really were alien visitations remains to be proved, but willingness to believe they were is clearly high. With the advent of space travel, perhaps the day is comming when we will know for sure whether we are alone in the universe.
Sources:
- An Interview with Roy Lake, Chairman for the London UFO Studies Group,Paranormal Magazine, Issue 1, November 2005, pg 36-37.
- 1980: Rendlesham UFO Crash?
- UFO BRIGANTIA No 66, JULY 1990.
- In Search of Foo Fighter by Andy Roberts,
- The Phoenix Lights, Full Report, Peter B. Davenport, National UFO Reporting Centre.
- The Dallas Morning News, 19th April, 1897.
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