On February 9, 1951, United States Navy Flight 125 departed from Keflavik, Iceland en route to the Naval Air Station in Argentia, Newfoundland. The co-pilot was U.S. Naval Reserve Lieutenant Graham E. Bethune, a Disclosure Project witness who served 26 years on active duty. Lt. Bethune, who was stationed in Maryland at the time, was one of three officers suggested to fly to Keflavik for a classified meeting between Lockheed and the Icelandic government. The Icelanders had asked for American troops to protect them, stating they had been seeing unidentified craft off the coasts of Iceland. Lt. Bethune assumed they were observing classified, experimental craft. However, his opinion changed while on board Navy Flight 125.

Just after midnight, at 0055 on February 10, 1951, Lt. Bethune and his crew had an encounter with an unknown object. The following report is in Lt. Bethune’s own words:

The plane’s navigator, Lt. Noel J. P. Koger, remarked in his report:

The Air Intelligence Information Report prepared for this encounter summarizes the observances of the crew members, stating that Lt. Bethune was the first to see the object. The report states that all five crew members were experienced North Atlantic fliers and that all five observers agreed on the facts as stated.

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One of the most frequent rhetorical questions posed about UFOs is: if they are real, why don’t they just land on the White House lawn? Actually, they came pretty close to doing just that on two consecutive weekends in July of 1952.

The summer of 1952 was one of the most prolific for reported sightings of UFOs. There had been a significant number of reports flowing in all along the Eastern seaboard and from the Midwestern states for weeks. Intelligence officers grew increasingly more uneasy over the sharp rise in sightings. Of special concern was that many of these statements were coming from civilians. Prior to that fateful summer, most sightings had come from military personnel and had been kept from the public. But now the citizens themselves, including commercial airline pilots had become sources of information:

• July 10, 1962: A National Airlines plane over Quantico, Virginia observed a light at 2,000 feet which the crew stated was too slow to be a big meteor and too fast to be a lighted balloon.

• July 12, 1952: Former Air Force jet pilot Jack Green in Delphi, Indiana was one of many who witnessed a blue-white saucer-shaped object high in the sky.

• July 13, 1952: Thousands of people in Indianapolis witness a huge oval speed over the city at 5,000 feet, frightening many. An Eastern Air Lines captain, an Air Force pilot, and a private pilot all saw a controlled craft initially flying much higher which descended to about 5,000 feet and flew over the city of Indianapolis. This was the first low-range sighting witnessed by thousands of people, at least in the era of UFO sightings that began in the 40s. Just prior to its appearance over Indiana, possibly the same object - certainly one bearing the same description - was seen on Air Force radar at Kirksville, Missouri. It was estimated to be flying at 1,700 mph and to be the size of a B-36 bomber.

• July 13, 1962: A commercial pilot and crew, flying at 11,000 feet sixty miles southwest of Washington, spotted a light below them. The light rose to the same altitude as the plane, hovered to the left of the plane for several minutes, then rose rapidly when the pilot turned on the plane’s landing lights.

• July 14, 1952: A PanAm flight headed south to Miami from New York reported observing glowing orange UFOs near Newport News, Virginia. (Note: The first formation consisted of six discs were seen; two more were seen soon after the first formation flew off.) As the formation approached the plane, the lead disc turned on its edge. The others instantly did the same. All the discs flipped to horizontal, changed direction and sped off.

• July 17, 1952: An American Airlines flight near Denver received a radio transmission warning of a craft ahead. Captain Paul Carpenter and crew observed four saucers in formation flying at an estimated 3,000 mph.

UFOs Buzz the White House:

At ll:40 pm on July 19, 1952, dual radar stations at Washington National Airport picked up seven objects east and south of Andrews Air Force Base. Andrews also picked up the targets on their radar. Conventional aircraft were quickly ruled out as the cause; these targets would fly at 100-130 mph, suddenly accelerate to extremely high speeds and leave the area. One object was clocked at 7,200 miles per hour. Reportedly, the objects appeared in every sector of the radarscopes, including flying through restricted air space over the White House and Capitol building. The objects returned several times throughout the night and were also seen by airline pilots (at midnight and 2:00 a.m.), air traffic control tower operators, and jet fighter pilots who were dispatched from Andrews.

While 1975 is considered the "banner year" for unidentified flying objects appearing over Strategic Air Command bases, significant incidents occurred much earlier.

A Disclosure Project witness supplied the following report:

Extracts from a NORAD Command Director’s Log from the fall of 1975 (see attached) chronicles a long list of sightings at a number of other SAC and Air Force bases:

The distinction for the best government documentation of a UFO event falls to the remarkable events that occurred in and above Tehran, Iran in September of 1976. The official U.S. government documents following this narrative were distributed at the time of its writing by the Defense Attaché at the United States Embassy in Tehran to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the White House, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of State.

At half-past midnight on September 19, 1976, the Imperial Iranian Air Force received telephone calls from residents in the Shemiran area of Tehran. The citizens reported "strange objects in the sky," some calling them bird-like and others referring to them as lighted helicopters. The command post knew there were no airborne helicopters at the time and told the citizens they were seeing stars in the sky. The command post checked with Memrabad Tower. Then, looking for himself, observed a large, bright star-like object. At 1:30 a.m., an F-4 jet was scrambled from Shahrokhi Air Force Base and sent up to investigate.

The official government reports follow this narrative. Written by Col. Frank B. McKenzie, United States Air Force, it states that the F-4 pilots compared the size of the object on radar to a 707 tanker, stating that a visual size estimate was difficult to the extreme brilliance of the UFO. However, the pilots were able to describe flashing, rectangular strobe lights in blue, green, red and orange. The sequence of the strobing lights was so rapid that all four colors could be seen at once, according to the report.

The incident grew even more strange as it continued. As the F-4 pursued the UFO south of Tehran, a second object ejected from the primary target. It was brilliantly lit and was estimated to be one-half to one-third the size of the moon. The second object zoomed towards the F-4. At this point, the F-4 pilot attempted to fire an AIM-9 missile at the UFO. Instantly, his weapons control panel lost all power, and communication capabilities were down once more. The pilot made an extreme evasive negative G dive to escape the UFO. As he did so, the UFO trailed the F-4 at an estimated distance of three to four nautical miles. As the pilot turned the jet, the secondary object appeared on the inside of his turn. It then returned to the primary UFO, rejoining perfectly with it. Almost immediately thereafter, another object ejected out the opposite side of the primary UFO. It fell towards the ground at a tremendous rate of speed. By now, the F-4’s communications and weapons systems were once again functioning normally.

The following day, the F-4 crew was taken by helicopter to the area where they had tracked the landed UFO. The spot turned out to be a dry lakebed. Instrumentation aboard the helicopter registered a strong beeping signal over and around the lakebed. The strongest signal came from the area of a small house. The helicopter landed and the residents were questioned by military personnel about events of the previous night. The family members said they heard a loud noise and saw a very bright light, similar to lightning. Further investigation was apparently done to determine possible radiation residue. We have found no documentation of the results of the radiation testing and other post-event investigation, although it should be noted that this event was confirmed by satellite. The satellite tracking numbers can be obtained from Mr. Tony Craddock of the Disclosure Project.

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One of the most important close encounters ever reported by the military, with documentation obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, is the multiple-witness events which occurred at a joint British/American NATO air base in England. The release to American researchers of the memorandum detailing the eye witness account of Lt. Col. Charles E. Halt (later promoted to Colonel), deputy commander of the base, gave tremendous credence to the investigative reports done at the time of the incident. It is important to note this Halt memorandum states that the initial event occurred "Early on the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L)." In September, 1994, one of the security men present at the encounter, Staff Sargent James Penniston underwent voluntary hypnosis about the event. He stated that though during hypnosis by government agents a few days after the event he was told that the stories from the witnesses would be the same, but would have different dates. This may explain why the dates in different reports are confusing. It is generally accepted that the initial event occurred early in the morning hours of December 26, 1980.

RAF/USAF Woodbridge is located eight miles east of Ipswich, Suffolk in England, and is one-half of the twin bases whose other half is the RAF Bentwaters NATO Air Base. All of the main buildings and quarters were at Bentwaters, although Woodbridge had its own runway. During World War II, the twin bases served as a maintenance unit for front line forces in Germany. Hercules transports and huge helicopters were based here. It was entirely a US base, manned almost exclusively with US personnel, with only a token Brit in residence who was given the rank of squadron leader. The large and dense Rendlesham Forest surrounds the bases.

On November 17, 1986, Captain Kenju Terauchi was at the helm of a B-747 cargo jet. The two-person crew consisted of a flight officer and a flight engineer. Captain Terauchi was a 29-year veteran pilot in 1986. Flight 1628 was en route to Tokyo via Rekyjavik, Iceland and Anchorage, Alaska. At approximately 6:00 pm in the evening, the aircraft was passing over the Canadian/Alaskan border and the crew was making preparations to land at Anchorage. At 6:19 pm Alaska Standard Time, Capt. Terauchi radioed a traffic information request to the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center. Air Traffic Control Specialist Carl Henley checked his radar and told the captain there was no traffic in his vicinity. Capt. Terauchi responded that lighted traffic was in close proximity at 12 o’clock at the same altitude as Flight 1628, following or shadowing his aircraft. Terauchi declined a request by Specialist Henley to check higher and lower altitude traffic, stating later that the object was level with the plane.

Henley checked with Elmendorf Air Force Base radar and learned they had a primary target in the same position Terauchi reported. During some of the frequent radio exchanges between Henley and Flight 1628, Henley did find primary returns in the same areas JL1628 reported traffic. Terauchi requested and obtained permission to make turns and deviations. The captain reported to Henley that the object stayed right with the 747. At one point, Terauchi asked for and obtained permission to make a 360° turn to the right to fly parallel to the object, at which time it was not visible. When Terauchi returned to his original course, the object was there, as if it had been waiting for them, the Captain later said in his statement for the FAA. Specialist Henley also vectored a United Airlines aircraft and a military C-130 within range to have a look. Each pilot reported no contact, although Terauchi had also lost visual sight of the UFO by then. During the course of the event, Henley observed three types of tentative radar targets.

When Henley asked Terauchi to describe the object, he stated that he could not identify any markings nor state what kind of aircraft it might be. Under clear, cloudless conditions, Terauchi stated that he saw white and yellow strobing lights on the unidentified craft. The 747’s on-board color radar was employed throughout the course of the sighting to determine the distance from the plane to the object as five to seven nautical miles. Capt. Terauchi and his crew were interviewed and debriefed by Jack Wright of the FAA upon landing at Anchorage. During the debriefing, Capt. Terauchi stated that this was the first time anything like this had happened to him.

Explaining the incident, Terauchi said that just after passing the Canadian/Alaskan border, flying at 35,000 feet, an object, at times larger than the B-747, with four or five lights in a line, appeared approximately five to seven nautical miles in front of the aircraft. At times, more than one UFO was visible. The sighting lasted nearly an hour--55 minutes per the FAA report. Although the Captain and his crew were a bit shaken, the FAA determined them to be professional and rational. According to Timothy Good’s account in his book Above Top Secret, Captain Terauchi reported that he was unable to explain the event in conventional terms and said that the objects may have been extraterrestrial in origin since they moved and stopped so quickly. The Captain remarked that they were carrying French wine to Japan, stating "maybe they wanted to drink it." See also the personal statements about this case by Air Traffic Control Specialist Carl E. Henley and an Alert Report by Franklin L. Cunningham, Director, AAL-1.

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Flying triangles — huge, silent, low — and slow-flying, yet capable of acceleration at extremely high speeds. We began to learn of these objects during the massive Belgium wave beginning in 1990. The Disclosure Project activated its first investigative team to do real-time research in March of 1992. Over 2,000 sightings were registered in Belgium, many of them by law enforcement and military personnel. Indeed, the triangle had been tracked on both civilian and military radar through maneuvers and exhibiting speeds far in excess of that which any conventional or experimental aircraft could be capable. In 1992, UFO activity increased dramatically in Scotland. Settled in the towns and valleys between Edinburgh and Glasgow, reports started coming in with regularity.

One particular town, Bonnybridge, seemed to be the focal point of the flap. A close-knit community of about 5,500 people, young and old alike have reported numerous sightings of various craft, including the triangles. Bonnybridge Councilor Bill Buchanan stated in August of 1996, "To my knowledge, 3,000 people have seen something unusual in our skies during the past few years....And there may be many more who have been afraid to come forward. In the early years of the wave, most sightings involved balls of light, often spinning and maneuvering among themselves, or black discs. In the mid-1990’s, sightings of triangular craft were often reported.

Skysearch Scotland, an investigative group led by the Malcolm family in Falkirk, began amassing not only reports but videotape footage of what appeared to be lights in triangular formation, balls of light, and black triangular-shaped hovering craft. Witnesses reported seeing these objects dive into the sea or emerge from it. Several Bonnybridge area residents recounted Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind, or human-interactive experiences. A young gentleman from Armadale told of a 35-40 foot bar-shaped object that came rapidly down from the sky during a lightning storm. It flew low over the hedgerows and passed directly over the man’s car, then came to a halt in a field.

The witness reported, "it just sat there, hovering silently, about 15 feet off the ground. I got out of the car and pointed my halogen lamp at it to get a better look. Immediately, the bulb blew. Then my headlights went out. I tried the car ignition, but it wouldn’t start. Suddenly, the thing lept up and reversed at incredible speed over the top of the car." The witness called the police on his cell phone, but it was an hour later than when the sighting occurred. The gentleman cannot account for the missing hour. After his vehicle was towed back to town, the electrical system functioned perfectly once more. Starting in 1994, a spate of sightings of huge triangular craft began to come in from England.

Most reports came from the Midlands and to the north. However, several reports were received from the southwest of England. Each incident had remarkable similarities. Eye witnesses reported the triangular craft to be dark or black, blending in with the night sky. The craft often had a light at each apex of the triangle, and a different type of light in the center. The huge objects flew at a low altitude and a low speed. They were either totally silent or emitted a slight humming noise. In the summer of 1996, a family was coming home to Glastonbury in southwestern England about dusk on a Sunday evening. Suddenly, the driver - the father - noticed a dark, silent shape pacing the car.

The entire family observed a huge triangular craft at low altitude above them. After observing it for a bit, the object was seen to simply vanish. In October and November of 1996, significant waves of sightings of black triangles occurred in the United Kingdom, including a hot spot in the Cardigan Bay area of West Wales where numerous sightings were reported within these two months. Two articles in The Sunday Times (London) in August of 1996 report that the triangular craft has been identified as an experimental craft unveiled by the U.S. Air Force and NASA in August 1996. The articles speculate that because of a near collision with a 747 commercial jet in 1995, the government had come clean. Rumors have surfaced since 1995 of an experimental triangular craft sighted in California and Nevada which was called "The Flying Dorito", no doubt not its official name.

The solar eclipse in 1991 was total in Mexico City. Many people were outdoors observing and videotaping. Much to their surprise, what they captured on tape in addition to the eclipse began an unprecedented wave of UFO sightings that has continued unabated from 1991 to the time of this writing in 1997. On the day of the eclipse, seventeen people in four cities videoed what appears to be the same object: a silver disk whose chunky shape earned it the moniker of the "hockey puck." One tape was shot by a television network executive, another by a priest; indeed, by people from all walks of life in cities spread out across the vast Mexican landscape.

The tapes began arriving in the mail of Jaime Moussan, the host of "60 Minutos", the Mexican version of our "60 Minutes" in the USA. Sr. Moussan launched a thorough, in-depth investigation of the phenomenon. He had as guests on his show many of the people who had taken the videotapes. His investigation included extensive computer analyses. The results revealed that the same type of UFO, or "ovni" as it is called in Mexico, was captured by all the tapes, and each one appeared to disturb the air behind it. These features were noted in each one of the videotapes taken on that July day. Further investigation ruled out stars, planets or balloons as possible explanations.

As time went on, tapes continued to be taken and sent to investigators, including Sr. Moussan. Many ovnis were filmed near jets taking off or landing at the Mexico City airport. There was often a visual lock-on with the ovni by pilots or air traffic controllers; however, the objects did not appear on radar. There were several reports from pilots of instruments suddenly malfunctioning momentarily when the ovni was nearby. There was concern about safety for the aircraft. Thankfully, none experienced any danger at all. An interesting correlation to the Mexico wave of 1991 came from 4,000 miles away on the same date. What appears to be the identical object was videotaped from Mt. Unsen, Japan.

Indeed, when the videos from the four cities in Mexico are split-screened with the object shot in Japan, it is impossible to discern any differences. Those who would claim the entire Mexican wave on the solar eclipse is an elaborate hoax would be hard pressed to explain an identical, simultaneous sighting on the other side of the globe. Moreover, Sr. Moussan has received over 3,000 videos since 1991 of the ‘hockey puck’ UFO as well as huge triangular craft.

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Facts supplied by Vitorio Pacaccini, Belo Horizonte, Brazil On January 20, 1996, military forces captured two apparent extraterrestrial creatures - still alive - in Brazil. The captures occurred in neighboring areas of the city of Varginha, located in the state of Minas Gerais in central Brazil. The event is to be considered one of the most significant ever registered in Brazil, and perhaps in the entire world. Military authorities are keeping secret the details of the operation, but information has leaked to the UFO community due to the investigative work of Professor Vitorio Pacaccini and Ubirajara Rodrigues. Both men live nearby and are considered serious and dedicated researchers.

They have devoted over 3,000 hours of investigation to this case. On the afternoon of January 20, about 3:30 pm local time, three young girls named Liliana, Falquira and Katia were walking outside of town. They came upon a strange, small creature in an area of small bushes at the edge of a field only a few blocks from where they live. It was a Saturday and the girls were returning home from their jobs.

Crossing an empty area, their attention was attracted by a very weird creature just a few meters away. The ET was kneeling and looked as if it were hurt and suffering pain. No UFO was seen at that time. The girls observed the creature for a few minutes then ran away, afraid that what they had just encountered might be the devil. The three girls were extensively interrogated by the above-mentioned researchers, leaving no doubt whatsoever about what had happened. Very simple kids, they described the creature as being of a dark color with a small body of four to five feet in height. It had no hair at all, had a large brown head and small neck.

The face was described as possessing two eyes - large and red - with no pupils visible. There was a slit in place of a mouth, a very small nose and, interestingly, three protuberances right on the top of its forehead. The girls described the protuberances as horns, thus causing them to fear they had just encountered a devil. Following the leads, researchers Pacaccini and Rodrigues started making inquiries everywhere around the town of Varginha to see if anybody else had seen the same creature.

They found several people who observed the military operations as well as the creature in the same location and, perhaps, other creatures in different locations. While conducting the investigation, both men discovered that different witnesses had seen army trucks and other military vehicles and personnel that very morning, just a few blocks from where the girls had their encounter. While trying to find out what the military were doing, Pacaccini and Rodrigues came to meet a few soldiers and sergeants. One of the soldiers decided to talk secretly about the military mission and gave a confidential taped interview. The military man confirmed that at about 9:00 am on January 20, the Fire Department of Varginha was called by the military to capture a strange ‘animal’ in the Jardim Andere district.

Among the firemen who responded were Sergeant Palhares, Soldier Nivaldo, Corporal Rubens and Soldier Santos, under the command of Major Maciel who was reportedly present as well. Arriving at the scene, the firemen saw that this was no strange animal at all and realized the finding should be reported to the Army Sergeant School Command - Escola de Sargentos das Armas (ESA) in neighboring Tres Coracoes, about ten miles from Varginha. Before there could possibly be time for the Sergeant School to respond, an army truck appeared on the scene. The firemen understood that the high staff of ESA also had been informed about the incident.

The creature was captured using nets and other equipment normally used to capture wild animals. The still-living creature was placed in a one meter square wooden box, which was covered with a resistant fabric and the whole affair was placed atop the army truck. The creature was curled up in the box and wrapped in net. The witnesses stated that it was emitting a buzzing sound similar to a bee.

The vehicle headed to the ESA. All personnel involved were ordered by Lieutenant Colonel Wanderley to refrain from talking about the incident with anyone else, telling the men it was a secret operation. Interestingly, Lt. Col. Wanderley’s expertise was in atomic-biological-chemical warfare. Perhaps this is why he was put in charge of the operation even though there was a general in command of the ESA at the time. Policeman Marco Chereze was involved with the capture of one of the creatures. He touched the life form without protection. He died two weeks later with a general infection.

On March 13, 1997, flying objects traveled across a large portion of southern Arizona. Seen by thousands, videotaped by many, evoking comment from the military and government, the most significant UFO event in a decade occupied a prominent place in the press and gained worldwide attention. The National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle, Washington, received its first call at 8:16 pm on March 13. A retired police officer from Paulden, Arizona, sixty miles north of Phoenix, called in to report observing five red lights in a cluster headed south. In less than two minutes, another report came in from Prescott, fifteen miles south of Paulden.

It all broke loose after that, with multiple calls coming in from Wickenburg to Tempe. The Center’s director, Peter Davenport, who describes himself as usually skeptical about the reports received at the Center, stated: "The incident over Arizona was the most dramatic I’ve seen...what we have here is the real thing. They are here." As the airborne objects came over the flight paths leading to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, more than one commercial pilot radioed to the control tower asking for an identification of the lights.

The air traffic controllers had no answers. They could visually see the objects, yet nothing unaccounted for appeared on their radar screens. Investigation subsequent to March 13 revealed that callers jammed police department phone lines, as well as television and radio station phones. Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix was also besieged with calls of sighting reports as the objects traveled south over the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The objects’ speed over greater Phoenix was estimated by many observers as a leisurely 30 miles per hour.

This certainly suggests that the objects indeed wanted to be seen and videotaped. A variety of UFOs were reported: triangles, lights in a straight line, orbs in a V-shaped or delta formation, an actual solid triangular-shaped object. Many witnesses stated that the lights seemed to glow from within — they were very bright but did not shine or cast light. Most observers who saw them at closer range stated the lights were white with orange to red edges and centers. Some witnesses could discern a dim, dark shape behind the light formation that distorted or blotted out the stars as it slowly passed.

The Disclosure Project’s director and research director spoke with a retired Air Force pilot on the evening of March 14 who saw the lights clearly from his home. He resides in Carefree, which is north of Phoenix and has much less light pollution than within the city. He described the lights as silent, slow moving and maintaining a formation. He stated that this was unlike anything he had witnessed in the skies during his entire career as a military pilot.

Regardless of the type of formation seen, all observers agreed that the lights or objects were slow moving, very large and totally silent. The size of the object was estimated as being from 900 feet to more than a mile in length. Computer analysis of witness’s videotapes done by Village Labs in Tempe marked the length as 6,000 feet — well over a mile long. Richard Price of USA Today, in an article appearing in the June 18, 1997 issue, interviewed witness Bill Greiner, who stated he would never be the same after the sighting. Mr. Greiner turned from a skeptic to someone who saw what he describes as "astonishing and a little frightening."

Mr. Greiner, a cement truck driver, was hauling a load of cement down a mountain north of Phoenix when he saw two white, orange and red UFOs. He described them as having spinning tops. Greiner observed one of the orbs break away and fly over Luke Air Force Base. He stated that three F-16 fighter jets went in pursuit of the UFO. As the jets approached, the UFO shot straight up and quickly vanished. In Mr. Greiner’s words:

"It was crazy. I know those pilots saw it. Hell, I’ll take a lie detector test on national TV if that guy from the base does the same thing... I wish the government would just admit it. It’s like having 50,000 people in a stadium watch a football game and then having someone tell us we weren’t there."

The analyses of the amateur video tapes undertaken at Village Labs by Jim Dilettoso and his partner Michael Tanner reveal that four different formations or objects traveled from north to south on the evening of March 13, 1997. The transit across the region lasted 106 minutes. The lights were uniform, did not vary in brightness or intensity across the span of each light, and did not glow. They were determined not to be aircraft lights, holograms, lasers or military flares. Comparison with the lights on the Phoenix skyline seen in the videos shows the UFOs to be markedly unique. The residents of southern Arizona were intrigued, curious and expected an explanation from the civilian and military authorities. While several reports from various military personnel stated that the lights were flares being used during National Guard war game maneuvers, Mr. Dilettoso stated that investigation revealed the National Guard could not, would not and did not cause the lights that were seen by thousands of Arizonans on March 13, 1997.

While jets from Luke Air Force Base were in the Phoenix skies on that night, a spokesman from the base assured the press that the jets’ lights could not account for the sightings. Reacting to the groundswell coming from the local citizenry, Phoenix Councilwoman Frances Barrows raised a question at a city council meeting as to whether anyone was conducting an official investigation. Instantly, the public seized upon her comment and made her their "official" contact to the government.

Although Councilwoman Barrows said she did not see the objects herself, many of her constituents did. When the public and the media learned of her raising the question of an investigation, hundreds of calls were received from the curious citizens who now had a public servant upon whom to focus. But the city council, the mayor’s office, the governor’s office and US Senator John McCain were unable to effect any official action. Senator McCain referred it to the US Air Force, who announced in June 1997 that it would do nothing to investigate the incidents, referring it back to the local jurisdictions.

And, of course, this would be the Air Force’s position since they have officially been out of the UFO investigation business since the closure of Project Blue Book in 1969. Two years later, the above mentioned National UFO Reporting Center released a special update report on their web site based on a significant amount of evidence collected since the original sightings. The update substantiated the earlier reports of both the objects size, appearance, and movements. In contrast to sightings and reports by both air traffic controllers and a commercial flight crew on the ground at Sky Harbor Airport near Phoenix, "senior officers from Luke Air Force Base stated that they knew nothing about the incident, and that the base had received no reports from the public regarding the event" (as stated the day after the sighting event took place).

Long distance telephone bills, which indicate calls to the base, contradict the statements made by these officers. Finally, a witness who identified himself as an airman stationed at Luke Air Force Base, reported that the Air Force had launched two fighters from the base and "that one of the aircraft had ‘intercepted’ a gigantic object over the intersection of Indian School Road and 7^th Avenue."

It is not surprising that even after two years, the sorting out of the truth from conflicting reports makes an analysis of this very well documented event difficult. The search for additional clues into this momentous day in March 1997 continues to intrigue researchers, analysts, the media and thousands of residents of Arizona and beyond.

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One of the more recent and well-documented sightings observed by multiple witnesses occurred during the early morning hours of January 5, 2000 in St. Clair County, IL just east of St. Louis, MO. This sighting was researched by several organizations including NUFORC, MUFON, and NIDS and later a TV documentary was aired which included excellent computer simulations on what was seen based on all the various witness reports. The following summary description is quoted from the NUFORC report of the event. "On Wednesday, January 05, 2000, the National UFO Reporting Center received two telephone messages (at 0316 and 0351 hrs. Pacific Standard Time) from Officer Thomas ‘Ed’ Barton, employed by the Lebanon, IL, Police Department. 

The messages apprised our Center that a UFO sighting had occurred in St. Clair County, Illinois, and in surrounding areas, at approximately 0410 hrs. (Central) earlier that morning. "Later the same morning, we were able to talk to Officer Barton, who reported to us the following: At approximately 0410 hrs. (Central) on that morning, he overheard an announcement by the St. Clair (IL) Emergency Dispatch operator that a citizen had entered the Highland, IL, police station, and requested that an officer go outside and view a very peculiar object that was hovering nearby in the sky. 

The citizen had witnessed the bizarre looking object on his way to work, and he apparently refused to leave the station until a police officer had viewed the object with him. "Having heard the announcement about the incident over his radio, Officer Barton looked to the southeast from his location in Lebanon, and noticed two extremely bright white lights suspended in the sky, close to the horizon.

The two lights were radiating so much light that the spectacle reminded Officer Barton of the Japanese ‘Rising Sun’ symbol, used on the Japanese battle flag.  A very short period of time later, the two large lights appeared to merge into one, and the illumination the object was radiating appeared to increase dramatically.

"Officer Barton began driving south and east in attempt to approach the object.  He turned his overhead flashers on, and at times was driving at 75-80 M.P.H. toward the object, which was still generally to the southeast of his position.  After a short period of time, Officer Barton realized that the object appeared to be traveling toward him. "

He stopped his vehicle, extinguished his overhead flashers, and rolled down the window on the passenger side of his vehicle. The object approached his location, and passed overhead at an estimated altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 feet, and within an estimated 100 feet lateral distance of his position on the ground. It was headed generally to the west, or northwest, at this time. The object was distinctly triangular in shape, with three white lights on the apices of the triangle, and it exhibited a ‘galaxy’ of peculiar lights on its aft end, including white, hues of red or pink, and perhaps other colors, as well. "After passing overhead Officer Barton, the object suddenly turned to its left, without either banking or yawing apparently, it suddenly accelerated quite dramatically, and seemed to ‘streak’ to the west, covering approximately 8 miles, the officer estimated, in approximately 3 seconds.

(Note: Officer Barton, in multiple telephone conversations with our organization, and during at least one radio broadcast, has emphasized how almost unbelievably quickly the object accelerated and moved a considerable distance to the southwest in just a few seconds. Its velocity was almost unimaginable, he reports. This is one aspect of the case that strongly suggests to us that the object almost certainly was not of human manufacture.)

"He radioed St. Clair County Emergency Dispatch, apprising them that he had the object in sight, and advising them as to the direction it had moved, generally to the southwest. He recommended that dispatch contact units to the south and west of his position, e.g. Shiloh, Millstadt and Dupo, to have the officers there attempt to spot the object from their vantage points. "

Apparently at least one officer from Shiloh, IL, witnessed the object next, and two other officers, who have not come forward and who apparently do not wish to be identified, witnessed the object while they were standing in the cemetery of their town, as well. "An officer from the Millstadt Police Department, Officer Craig Stevens, with whom NUFORC also spoke, overheard the broadcast, and moved his cruiser to a dark part of that town to see if he could spot the object in the night sky.  He quickly spotted the object to the west of his location, at approximately 45 degrees above the horizontal plane, and gauged its size as ‘huge.’ He estimated that it was ‘one or two stories tall, and perhaps three stories long.’ It had several very bright lights on it. "St. Clair Dispatch requested that someone, if possible, attempt to get a photograph of the object.

In response to that request, Officer Stevens removed Polaroid-type camera stored in the trunk of his cruiser and quickly photographed the object. Because the outside temperature was low, approximately 18-20°F, neither the camera, nor the film functioned well, so the resolution of the photograph is not good. "After Officer Stevens had taken the photograph, the object appeared to move further to the west, moving toward Dupo, IL, Cahokia, IL, and St. Louis, MO. 

A Dupo police officer may have witnessed the object at that time. "In the final analysis, the police departments and communities involved in the incident include the following:  Highland, Summerfield, Lebanon, Shiloh, Mascoutah, Millstadt, Dupo, and Cahokia, Illinois. The object was observed by officers from at least the following communities (in chronological sequence):  Lebanon, Shiloh, (Other?), Millstadt, Dupo, and Cahokia (?).("Notes and Addenda:"1) Scott Air Force Base: At one point during the sighting, we estimate, the object was within 2-3 statute miles of Scott Air Force Base. However, an official spokesman for that base reportedly made an official statement to the effect that,

A) their tower was closed for approximately one hour during the time of the sighting;

B) their base radar had been turned off for unspecified reasons during the same hour; and

C) none of their personnel was aware of the sighting, and none had seen the object." Five more notes and addenda follow this section and can be seen in the original report.

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