Issue 07 - July 11, 2002

Editor: Jim Aho

In this issue:
1. How to Spot a UFO
2. Helpful UFO Spotting Links
3. The Second Step in Dealing With Alien Contact
4. Out Of This World Fast Food
5. We Are Alien To This Planet

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How to Spot a UFO

Thanks To Steve Nance

Editor's Note: Steve provides some very practical information for anyone looking to see a UFO. A rather lengthy article, but I'd definitely recommend it. Hopefully it will help some of you in your search for your first UFO. If it does, please let us know!



First of all, I would like to start by saying that there is no set method or procedure (that I know of) that will guarantee that you shall ever have a genuine UFO sighting. Even though there are literally thousands of UFO sightings reported by people and sources from around the globe every year, UFO sightings still appear to be somewhat of a rare event. In most cases, no one ever plans on seeing a UFO. To sight one or more UFO(s) is a random and happenstance event that is more a matter of being at the right place at the right time. (There are some things that you can do to improve your chances of viewing UFOs and I will discuss them with you later in this article.)

What Are These UFOs?

I'm not sure that anyone knows what these UFOs really are and where they might be originating from. UFOs are exactly what the acronym stands for; Unidentified Flying Objects. UFOs first publicly appeared on the scene in the late 1940s, when a Seattle businessman named Kenneth Arnold (who was piloting his private aircraft back home from a business trip) spotted several crescent shaped objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington. He radioed in a report of this unusual sighting to the control tower at the field he was to land at. The press had been tipped to this odd report and interviewed Mr. Arnold shortly after he landed. He told the news reporters that the UFOs seemed to move through the sky in a jerky manner, much like a thrown saucer would skim across the top of the water. The reporters misquoted Mr. Arnold and dubbed his mysterious unidentified objects as 'flying saucers'. For some reason that name tag has stuck over the years and has been used to describe UFOs in general. This is actually quite humorous in that the vast majority of UFOs sighted are not saucer shaped at all. (The number one reported UFO configuration is spherical or orb shaped.)

UFOs have been reported to appear in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and configurations, such as: Triangular; Rectangular; Circular; Elliptical; Crescent; Cylindrical; Spherical and Disc shapes (to mention a few). Some have been reported with appendages and others without them. Some are glowing masses of various light intensities and colors. Others have what appear to be running lights configured on them that flash in random or in sequential patterns; yet others have no apparent luminescence to them at all. Even though there is such a large array of UFO sizes and shapes, these configurations seem to be consistent with documented UFO reports taken from around the world. Several UFO research and investigating organizations have been keeping track of the kinds and types of reported UFO configurations that have been sighted throughout the years. Some of these investigating agencies have actually published configuration profiles and silhouettes depicting some of the most commonly reported UFO configurations.

UFOs can be seen at anytime of the day or night. They appear to have no preference. UFOs sighted during the day are known as daylight discs, while UFOs spotted at night are called nocturnal lights. It is very curious to note that the majority of daylight UFOs are reported to be metallic in color and disc shaped while the majority of nighttime sightings are of self-illuminating objects. Statistically speaking, nighttime UFO sightings are much more likely than daytime sightings. Of course, it stands to good reason that being able to notice and sight an illuminated object in the night sky would be much easier than trying to spot that same object in broad daylight.

UFOs also seem to posses some very strange attributes in physical behavior and flight characteristics. They have been seen to literally defy our laws of science and physics. Observers have reported UFOs that dematerialized in one quadrant of the sky only to reappear again (a split second later) in an entirely different portion of the sky. They have been reported to hover for a time, then suddenly dart off at breakneck speeds to disappear completely out of the witnesses viewing range within scant seconds. UFOs have been observed to perform intricate aerobatic maneuvers and right angle turns at speeds that would turn a human pilot into a puddle of goop. They can accelerate from zero to thousands of miles per hour in a heartbeat, as well as decelerate from those fantastic speeds to stop on a dime in the blink of an eye.

Why should we even care about UFOs cavorting around in our atmosphere? After all, they appear to be harmless. This is what the government concluded in 1969. Government investigation and research in the 1950s and 60s supposedly determined that UFOs did not constitute a real threat to our national security. So, what difference would their existence make to us at all? There is one aspect of UFO behavior that keeps us interested in what these mysterious and bizarre objects might be and from where they might hale. Otherwise, UFOs would probably have been already summarily dismissed and categorized as some kind of yet unknown or misunderstood naturally occurring phenomenon; or some kind of undiscovered and exotic atmospheric life form. And that one thing is that: UFOs seem to be intelligently guided. And if that were true, then we would love to get our hands and minds on that kind of technology, not to mention the intriguing possibility of discovering a new and heretofore unknown intelligent life form.

Who Reports These UFO Sightings?

People from literally every walk of life on this planet have reported sighting UFOs. The UFO phenomenon is not discriminating in terms of those who spot them and those who do not. Trained professional observers are most often called upon to report and to elaborate on what they have witnessed, because they prove to be less prone to mistaken observations and identification. What is a trained observer? A person whose livelihood and even perhaps their very lives could depend upon their abilities to make correct observations in the most expeditious, accurate and concise manner possible.

Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, Law Enforcement Officials and Military Personnel (just to name a few) are good examples of trained observers. A Meteorologist would easily recognize anomalous weather phenomenon, such as: sun dogs; temperature inversion layers; lenticular cloud formations; or light reflections from high altitude ice crystals. An Astronomer would readily identify the planet Venus in the night sky (which is the second brightest object in the heavens and the one object most often mistaken for nocturnal or nighttime UFO sightings). These are all naturally occurring phenomenon that are regularly misidentified and mistakenly reported as UFOs. The people that report these sightings are genuinely sincere in their claims. The vast majority of UFO sightings reported every year is merely mistaken natural or manmade phenomenon.

I have sighted and observed UFOs, both daylight and nocturnal. I feel extremely lucky that most of my personal UFO sightings have been multiple witnessed; which helps give me personal solace and comfort in realizing that what I did see was not a figment of imagination, a hallucination or mental aberration. I am a trained observer. I was in the Civil Air Patrol (C.A.P.), when I was a teenager. The C.A.P. is an organization of volunteers who are taught to recognize and identify the silhouettes and configurations of many different types of airborne craft from bombers to blimps (but was primarily used in spotting hostile enemy or foreign aircraft). We would go out every so often and watch the skies to spot and identify aircraft. I am a pilot and have logged hundreds of hours of flight time; however, I have never seen a UFO while airborne, either as a pilot or passenger. I was in a top security Strategic Reconnaissance Wing in the Air Force and worked on some of the most sophisticated aircraft and flight platform systems of the day. I was stationed in a war zone while in the Military. And I have been a professional firefighter and a certified weather spotter for NOAA (the National Oceanographic & Atmospherics Administration). Does this mean that beyond any shadow of doubt that I (as a trained observer) have actually seen genuine UFOs? Hardly; but it does mean that as a trained observer I have been able to rule out what these objects could or could not have been. And I am satisfied, after having met all the discernible criteria to make the judgment call that those objects were true unknowns. They were UFOs unidentifiable to myself. I don't know what they were. They were like nothing that I had ever witnessed before, and the people who were with me to witness these sightings were just as amazed and astounded as I was.

I firmly believe that some kind of foreign airborne craft or vehicles are cavorting around at will through our earth's atmosphere. Furthermore, I believe them to be intelligently controlled and alien in nature (alien in terms of the technologies that they exhibit). UFOs are real. There have been too many credible reports filed and documented by credible sources to discount, deny or ignore the possibilities of UFO existence. As I have mentioned, the government allegedly concluded that UFOs were not a threat to our national security. (Note that this government finding and statement in as much as admits the existence of UFOs; and that it's own studies determined that 18 percent of its documented investigations are not explainable.) You don't get confirmed radar returns and simultaneous sightings from observers located at separate and independent geographic locations from something that doesn't exist.

How to Spot UFOs

Now that you have some basic history and insight regarding UFOs, let's discuss how someday you may be able to actually sight one. It might interest you to know that I have friends, who for the last few years, have been trying to capture UFOs at night on digital video. Thus far, they have come up empty-handed. I also have a friend who works in the aviation industry. According to him a trusted friend of his family (and an ex Air Force pilot) had observed UFOs on two separate occasions while flying in the military. Because he knew that I too had witnessed UFOs, he asked me a couple of years ago what he could do to increase his chances of seeing a UFO for himself. My advice to him was that he spends more time looking up into the sky. Just last week he told me that he had finally spotted his first UFO near the airfield where he works. After I took his report, he then told me that it was my recommendation for him to observe the skies with more regularity that enabled him to spot it. The following are a few tips that might increase your odds in spotting a UFO.

1. First rule: If you never look up into the sky, then chances are that you will never see a UFO. UFOs are an airborne phenomenon. Of course, we cannot go around with our noses stuck in the clouds for 24/7; but you can take the time to do some stargazing (which I personally find very soothing) or to just set and look up at the clouds and sky on a beautiful sunny day.

2. Groom yourself to become a trained observer by getting involved with one or more of the following observation and recognition activities:

a.) There are several Internet resources where you can obtain star charts of the constellations. Get one and study it or take your family to visit the local Planetarium. Then, go outside and become familiar with the stars in the heavens and see those occasional spectacular shooting stars. It is an extremely educational and wholesome endeavor that the entire family can participate in. You might even enjoy it enough to eventually purchase an affordable backyard telescope to get an even better look at our neighbor's in the cosmos.

b.) Volunteer to become a weather spotter in your community. You probably won't see a UFO, while out watching for severe or foul weather; but the experience and training that you will acquire from doing that job will enhance your skills of observation considerably. Being a weather watcher can be a very rewarding experience in it's own right and enables you to make a positive contribution to your own community. As a weather spotter you will also be given some studies and training in basic Meteorology that can only make you more aware of what's going on in the skies around you. Consequently giving you more insight into your abilities to recognize and identify all types of anomalous weather phenomenon.

c.) Join a bird watcher's club or society to learn how to recognize and observe our feathered friends. It's a great way to hone your personal observation skills and to have fun at the same time. As with stargazing, it's a rewarding exercise in observation for the whole family.

d.) Join the Civil Air Patrol (the 'United States Air Force Auxiliary'). The C.A.P. these days is not as concerned or involved in the identification of enemy aircraft in our national skies as it used to be (this being attributed mostly to the end of the cold war hostilities with the Soviet Union.) Today the C.A.P. is more involved with homeland security and emergency volunteer services. But, the teaching of observational skill still remains one of the highest priorities of the organization. The C.A.P. has a great website (that I've linked in the summary) and it will tell you all about all the great programs that are offered.

3. Travel to a 'UFO Flap Area'. Seems that UFOs can sometimes be seen in waves or flaps that occur every few years. These flaps of concentrated UFO activity are generally confined to one specific geographic location, lasting from several days to a couple of weeks. You can find out when and where these flaps are occurring by logging onto many of the privately funded UFO research and investigation organization web sites or by subscribing to their newsletters.

4. It would be a good idea to have a camera or camcorder with you at all times. This doesn't assure that you will ever get a UFO on film, even if you spot one. Remember a UFO sighting more times than not, is a very fleeting event, which will last on an average of only a few seconds. I have had a camera with me on two of the occasions when I have observed UFOs, but was not able to get to it in time to take a snapshot before they were gone from view. I still carry a camera with me in the hopes that someday I might eventually be able get a UFO on film. More and more people around the world are using cameras and camcorder equipment. As a result, the last few years have rendered forth more pictures and videos of UFOs than all the pictures and videos that were taken over the many decades preceding them.

Note: I feel that I would be remiss if I did not inform you that close proximity to UFOs has been reported (and documented) to occasionally cause it's observers some considerable mental disorientation. In a few rare cases, even bring about physical discomfort and/or personal injury to those observing them. Some injury claims that have been associated with close proximity with UFOs are; mental confusion, physical fatigue, eye irritation (ranging from mild to severe), headaches, skin rashes, skin burns and even some types of leukemic cancers. I personally would recommend that if you see a UFO at extremely close proximity (say within a mile's radius) that you should act immediately to avoid contact with it. Remember that we really do not know what we are dealing with when it comes to UFOs and what makes them tick. They do seem to emit vast amounts of radiated energies. And the effects of high radiation levels upon human beings are not fully understood at this point in time. Therefore, until such time that their effects on people are more understood and recognized I recommend that you exercise extreme caution when finding yourself near UFO activity.

Summary

In conclusion (and the bottom line), your powers of observation and recognition are going to be the best tools that you can possibly have in aiding you to sight a UFO. You will never know the wonderful fragrance of blooming roses, unless you take the time to stop and smell them. The same holds true with trying to spot UFO. You must stop and look up every now and then.

Who knows, it may be possible that the ongoing observations of these mysterious craft may eventually reveal to us a much clearer picture and a better understanding of UFOs and what it really is that we are dealing with. You could be instrumental in helping to unlock the mysteries of the UFO. So, keep an eye on the skies. You'll be surprised at what you might see. Good luck and good spotting.

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Helpful UFO Spotting Links

Thanks to Colleen F Johnston

Editor's Note: The following information provided by Colleen works hand in hand with the above article by Steve Nance. She was also kind enough to provide some personal background info about Steve so we can get a better picture of where he is coming from.



To help you improve your UFO sighting skills, please visit the links below. They will help you to eliminate common mistakes often reported as UFO's. Some links require that your Java viewing capacity be enabled.



It is suggested that you familiarize yourself with flight patterns of all airports in your locale including privatized, cargo, small airstrips, commercial and military activities in your area. Many a 747 has been mistaken as a UFO just because the plane's trajectory was at an unusual angle or the sighting of an unfamiliar experimental Air Force or other military type aircraft being tested or flown.

Colleen Provides Some Background on Steve Nance:

Steve Nance joined the United States Air Force in 1965 and was issued a Top Secret security clearance and was educated and trained for an Air Force critical career field in Electronic Warfare And Countermeasures Systems. Steve was assigned to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, which was located at Strategic Air Command (SAC) Headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska. Steve was associated with and worked on the first "mobilized aircraft systems status test computer" (MSM-42) in the military inventory. This mobile computer was used to check out the electronic reconnaissance equipment aboard the EC-135 Strategic Reconnaissance Platform. He also worked on the USAF's "Operation Looking Glass" (a SAC flying command post) and with a NASA U-2 spy plane detachment, based at Offutt. Steve also got his first taste of piloting at Offutt AFB, by attended flight school at the Base Flying Club and has since logged over several-hundred flight hours.

In 1968, Steve received orders to go to Vietnam. He served at a number of Air Force base installations throughout Southeast Asia, including a brief tour of duty to South Korea. Steve was also a systems pilot debriefer in Vietnam and heard many accounts of UFO activity reported by returning and debriefed mission fighter pilots. In September of 1968, Steve was injured in the line of duty. The injuries received were not considered to be life threatening and after a brief recuperation, he was re-assigned to "Project Lancer"; the Air Force's initial deployment and field evaluation of the variable swing-winged General Dynamics F-111 Fighter/Bomber.

Steve hosted his own Internet radio show called 'Pinnacles of the Unknown', which explored the realms of Ufology and the anomalies associated with it. He has personally observed several UFO sightings, interviewed UFO sighting witnesses and has experienced a personal close proximity UFO encounter as well.

Steve is also a very talented professional jazz musician and is an exceptional trumpeter and vocalist. He performs with several local live dance bands and is a studio recording session musician.

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The Second Step in Dealing With Alien Contact

Thanks To Mush

Editor's Note: This article builds on the ideas that Mush presented in the first edition of Pancake Perspectives. In that issue she emphasized that the hardest part of dealing with personal alien contact is talking about it in the first place. In this article, she lets us know that there may be more support around than many people realize.

Support Systems

As difficult as this step is, the best source of understanding and support is your family. Often, they know you more intimately than anyone else and a supportive atmosphere already exists with them.

I can recall quite vividly the evening I sat down with my elderly father and my older brother to relate my experiences and divulge what I suspected may be occurring. I was very nervous about their possible response. Would they think I was crazy? Would they try to distance themselves from me? Would the isolation I had been experiencing be further impacted by this move? And most important...how in blazes do you even begin to tell someone about these strange encounters?

I determined the best way to start would be to ask them if they recalled my unusual claims as a child of seeing "little men" come through my bedroom window and of flying outside the house. At the time, it was considered the family joke...Michelle and her little green men (even though I never described them as being green in color). My brother recalled this but my father did not. I then proceeded to tell them about the conscious experiences I had as an adult. They listened attentively and did not immediately dismiss my statements out of hand. Although somewhat skeptical, they assured me that they believed that I was telling the truth as I saw it to be.

Buoyed by this response, I eventually told my other siblings and some close relatives and friends. Rarely did I encounter any outright disbelief. Most were open to the possibility that I was being truthful. In some cases, they related their own anomalous experiences. One relative even related her memory of seeing what she described as a UFO hovering over our house many years ago. She had forgotten about it completely until I brought the subject up. It was the only sighting she has ever had.

After some meetings with Dr. Maurice Kouguell, a noted psychologist, it was suggested I might be interested in talking with others that were experiencing these strange episodes. I agreed and he put me in touch with a young woman by the name of Kathy (pseudonym). Kathy and I were close in age, we both had teenage children and lived within just a few miles of each other.

I wondered what type of person Kathy would be. Although I was aware that other people had claimed to have had experiences similar to mine, I had yet to actually talk or meet with them. Crazy images ran through my mind. Would she greet me wearing a tin foil helmet? With great trepidation, I contacted Kathy by phone. To my surprise, she sounded very normal. We spoke about the area we lived in, raising teenagers and briefly hit on the subject that prompted my phone call. We both felt comfortable enough to arrange a meeting in person.

Imagine our surprise when I answered the doorbell and recognized the woman standing there! I had met her a few months previous in the office where I worked. What a relief it was to be facing someone I had considered just a "regular" person. It confirmed for me the realization that this phenomenon touches the lives of many ordinary people. Kathy and I became friendly, sharing many hours of conversation concerning the abduction phenomenon and how it affected our lives and those of our family members. Our opinions were sometimes different, but our committment to provide support to each other never wavered.

Kathy and I attended an experiencer support group in Manhattan and it made us appreciate the need for a local support group in our area. With the assistance of Dr. Kouguell, the Long Island Abductee Support Network was formed in September, 1996. It is a peer support group that has brought together people from every age group and all walks of life. We don't portend to take the place of professional assistance, but to provide a safe haven with which to discuss the phenomenon and it's impact on our lives.

Mission Statement - Long Island Abductee Support Network

In September, 1996, the Long Island Abductee Support Network was founded. This forum was begun for those experiencing contact of some sort with what appear to be non-human beings, commonly known in mass media as "alien abduction" as well as abductions perpetrated by what appear to be human military personnel. This is not an investigative forum, but rather offers a non-condemning ear to those who truly need to talk about these admittedly bizarre events. Often the experiencer believes that they are alone in such encounters, and struggle in a sort of ridiculed silence. But with the aid of this forum we hope that through talking with others openly, many might be able to integrate the experience, and its emotional impact, into their everyday lives.

The group, and its member's participation, do not constitute an attempt to provide professional support of any kind. These meetings are an open forum for the benefit of the participants. Courtesy and tolerance of all viewpoints is a prerequisite for participation. No forum can take the place of a professional therapist or doctor, and we encourage everyone to consider all their personal medical and psychological options regarding any problems or issues they might discuss during these meetings.

Note: Since writing this I have moved to SW Florida and no longer have meetings of this group. I host an online AOL chat room designed to provide a haven of support and tolerance.

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Out Of This World Fast Food

Thanks To Ray

Editor's Note: I've actually heard many cases of contactees remembering contact via dreams. Maybe this is something that happens more often than people realize. Ray's story sounds like one of these cases.

I had an experience I think was a dream as are most of my other experiences. This was the latest to date.

I became aware I was on a ship. After a small physical I was transported to a hallway - I can only describe it as transported. When I was there I saw a man/boy behind a counter wiping down the counter as if he were working at a fast food joint: hat, white clothes and all. There was a person by the opening and all I could see of her was the back of her head and back. The boy/guy said "How old do you think she is?" I looked a little closer and said "20 or 25 years old." She then turned around and I saw she was older. She said "I am 2500 years old." I acted as if this was accepted.

Then I was transported down the hall (I have no other way to describe this) to another place/room and in the middle was a being with knots on his head blood red eyes and smiling at me. He seemed to be amid white cloth that resembled clouds. I became frightened and had a thought of defense. Then came this sound that was stealing my life and holding me immobilized the next thing I know after a minute of nothing I awoke.

The girl told me her name and what place she was from. She said "or-ee-on" not "or-ri-on."

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We Are Alien To This Planet

Thanks To Marc

Editor's Note: Here's an interesting take on alien life. What if we are the ones alien to the planet? Can't argue with the fact that we don't really treat it like our home sometimes. Here's what Marc has to say:

We are the best Alien experience alive, because I really believe that we are actually Aliens to this planet.

I started thinking about that when I realized that we are living really in a dinosaur's planet because they lived here for more then 200 million years, and we came after that meteor felt and killed them, I believe the same rock brought the our DNA that spread with the dusty cloud that came after the impact.

Our way of living is completely different than the rest of the world species and we actually have to build our own world to live in. The rest of the species seems to blend with this planet.

Also I believe the reason we are building space ships is really to go back from where we came from one day, because I don't think we belong to this planet and for that reason we will not stay here as long as the dinosaurs did. Because we are hurting this planet so much I believe that it will strike back one day and we better get out here by that time.

Just look around...

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DISCLAIMER: Pancake Perspectives is an open forum filled with stories, experiences, beliefs, and theories from many people. The views within the newsletter are the opinion of the individual writer(s), and do not reflect the opinions, views, or beliefs of UFOWisconsin.