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<\/p>\nEleven
\nyears ago, on a clear August morning, Surrey resident Gord Heath
\nwitnessed something he\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n
At the time, he was
\nliving in a townhouse with a balcony at the back where he could watch
\nthe planes overhead, on their way to the airport on Sea Island in
\nRichmond.<\/p>\n
In an interview in the Georgia Straight<\/em> boardroom, Heath \u201cIt was travelling at least 10 times as fast as the jet,\u201d Heath Heath said he ran inside to grab his binoculars. Upon closer Approximately five minutes later, it floated away. \u201cI was just Afterward, Heath hooked up with the citizens\u2019 group UFO B.C.<\/a>, which investigates sightings of Now Written by New York journalist Leslie Kean, UFOs<\/em> \u201cThe first step is to bring credibility to the subject\u2014to make it UFOs<\/em> has attracted high praise from people you wouldn\u2019t For example, research Former president Bill Clinton\u2019s director of the White Clinton\u2019s former chief of staff, John Podesta, wrote the \u201cThe American people\u2014and people around the world\u2014want to know, and Kean said she first became interested in UFOs 10 years ago, when The group included a four-star According to UFOs<\/em>, the document suggested that about Instead, these experts wrote, the \u201cextraterrestrial <\/p>\n Kean said her first article on the subject was for the Boston \u201cI felt at that point I had a leg to stand on because I had What makes Kean\u2019s work different from other UFO books are As well, there are essays by government The man who ran the French government\u2019s UFO agency for 21 years, Moreover, they demonstrate \u201ca According to Velasco, that includes \u201cstationary and silent He also states that in \u201cI am fascinated with the possible correlation between nuclear During her interview with the Straight<\/em>, Kean pointed out \u201cMost UFO sightings are meaningless,\u201d She also emphasized that a UFO is merely an object that cannot be \u201cI can\u2019t The first case cited in her book occurred over Belgium during a According to Maj. De Brouwer Witnesses claimed that these large UFOs were able to hover One Belgian man took two colour-slide photos of the UFOs, which They Several Kean said these incidents generated media UFOs<\/em> also covers a wave of similar sightings in New Witnesses claimed at the time that these objects were as Kean said the \u201cHow could it not be all over Some of the more remarkable stories in the book take place in Two retired high-ranking officers in the May 19, 1986, is known as \u201cWhat were those objects?\u201d he asks in his essay. \u201cNo one knows. Pereira ends his chapter with a plea to all technologically Two air-force pilots have contributed chapters to Kean\u2019s book Retired Iranian Retired Peruvian Commandante Oscar Santa Mar\u00eda Huertas writes Kean obtained a U.S. government memorandum on the Iranian In November 1982, Portuguese air-force pilot J\u00falio Guerra claimed It Guerra states that he planned an \u201cintercept\u201d, but that the object A 30-member, multidisciplinary team of experts investigated and At other times, Richard Haines, the former NASA scientist, has focused his He also states that \u201cHistory is filled with accounts of previously ridiculed subjects The U.S. experience with UFOs differs significantly from several In 1951, the U.S. air force launched Project According to Kean\u2019s investigation, it soon turned into a She explained to the Straight<\/em> After four days, the panel suggested creating a new A When the Straight<\/em> asked Kean why the U.S. government was \u201cMaybe there is some kind of a secret program that they don\u2019t UBC University of British Columbia astronomer Erik He noted people in Norway once \u201cIt The head of a Vancouver group of skeptics questions whether Lee Moller, chairman of B.C. Skeptics, told the Straight<\/em> Then, in a reference to crop circles, he quipped: \u201cIf I were But these types of comments don\u2019t dissuade Gord Heath of UFO B.C.<\/p>\n Before leaving the Straight<\/em> office, he turned over Neither the media nor the Canadian government paid much attention to Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com\/csmithstraight<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nsaid that as he was watching a plane cruise past, he noticed a contrail
\nshoot at stunning speed over the aircraft before suddenly halting. Then
\nthe plume disappeared.<\/p>\n
\nrecalled. \u201cWhen it stopped, it looked like a light in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nexamination, he claimed, the unidentified flying object resembled a
\nsphere with a silvery-gold colour\u2014not metallic, but with more of a
\npearly texture.<\/p>\n
\nkind of fascinated,\u201d Heath stated. \u201cIt was, you know, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s
\nweird.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
\nunexplained aerial phenomena in this province and the Yukon.<\/p>\n
\na director of the organization, he spoke to the Straight<\/em> a few
\ndays before the August 10 release of the book UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and
\nGovernment Officials Go on the Record<\/a><\/em> (Harmony Books, $30.99),
\nwhich has been widely anticipated by Heath and others interested in the
\nsubject.<\/p>\n
\nadvocates the creation of a small U.S. government office that will work
\nwith other countries already formally investigating and reporting on
\nUFO sightings.<\/p>\n
\nclear within the mainstream that there are high-level military and
\ngovernment officials and aviation officials around the world who have
\nbeen collecting data on these UFO events,\u201d Kean told the Straight<\/em>
\nby phone from Wellfleet, Massachusetts. \u201cAnd it\u2019s worthy of
\nconsideration because of the credibility of those people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nexpect to be interested in flying saucers.<\/p>\n
\nastronomer Rudy Schild of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
\nAstrophysics calls it a \u201cterrific book, researched with great care and
\nprecision\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nHouse Office of Science and Technology Policy, Neal Lane, describes it
\nas a \u201cfascinating, thought-provoking book\u201d. Renowned physicist Michio
\nKaku says it\u2019s \u201cbound to set the gold standard for UFO research\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nforeword. He also cochaired President Barack Obama\u2019s transition team.<\/p>\n
\nthey can<\/em> handle the truth,\u201d Podesta states in the book.<\/p>\n
\nshe received a copy of a 90-page report by retired generals, scientists,
\nand space experts in France.<\/p>\n
\ngeneral, a three-star admiral, and the former head of the French
\nequivalent of NASA. The 13-member panel had spent three years reviewing
\nvarious encounters between UFOs and pilots or military personnel.<\/p>\n
\nfive percent of UFO sightings cannot be easily attributed to earthly
\nsources.<\/p>\n
\nhypothesis\u201d offered the best explanation. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nGlobe<\/em>, and was distributed nationally through the New York
\nTimes<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\npublished a story that was very legitimate,\u201d she remarked. \u201cBut over the
\nyears, I haven\u2019t communicated with very many journalists, to tell you
\nthe truth. I\u2019m often surprised that more journalists don\u2019t contact me
\nand don\u2019t want to jump in and follow up on some of these things
\nthemselves, especially journalists that have the backing of a major
\nnewspaper, like the Washington Post<\/em> or the New York Times<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nchapters written by pilots and high-ranking military officials, who
\nclaim to have seen UFOs.<\/p>\n
\nofficials from several countries, including the United Kingdom and
\nFrance, who have investigated these phenomena.<\/p>\n
\nJean-Jacques Velasco, writes that a few cases involve objects that are
\n\u201cdistinct from ordinary phenomena\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nphysics seemingly far different from that which we employ in our most
\ntechnologically advanced countries\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nflights, accelerations and speeds defying the laws of inertia, effects
\non electronic navigation or transmission systems, and the apparent
\nability to induce electrical blackouts\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nthese rare cases, the UFOs appear to be under some kind of \u201cintelligent
\ncontrol\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nactivity, the location of nuclear weapon storage facilities, and the
\npresence of UFOs,\u201d Velasco observes in the book. \u201cWe can see on a graph
\nthe relationship between atomic explosions and visual\/radar sightings,
\nby looking at the similarity in the two curves. We can\u2019t be certain why,
\nbut perhaps UFOs are \u2018monitoring,\u2019 and this activity was heightened
\nduring times of dangerous nuclear activity on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthat many things can be mistaken for a UFO. They include weather
\nballoons, flares, planes flying in formation, secret military aircraft,
\nbirds reflecting sunlight, blimps, helicopters, and planets such as
\nVenus and Mars, as well as meteors, meteorites, and numerous other
\nnaturally occurring events.<\/p>\n
\nshe said. \u201cThey really can be explained. We\u2019re talking about a very
\nspecific group of sightings. Those are the cases in my book.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nidentified, and not necessarily an alien spacecraft.<\/p>\n
\ntell you how much of a barrier that creates,\u201d Kean said. \u201cWhen you
\nreally, properly define what a UFO means, it really has nothing to do
\nwith anyone\u2019s belief system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ntwo-year period beginning in late 1989.<\/p>\n
\nWilfried De Brouwer, retired head of operations for the Belgian air
\nstaff, there were 143 sightings\u2014observed by 250 people\u2014on a single
\nevening in November 1989. Among those filing reports were 13 police
\nofficers; 70 of the sightings were investigated.<\/p>\n
\nwrites that none could be explained by conventional technology.<\/p>\n
\nmotionless in the sky. U.S. officials told De Brouwer that no stealth
\naircraft were operating in the area.<\/p>\n
\nwere later examined by a trio of researchers: former NASA senior
\nscientist Richard Haines, French satellite-imagery specialist Fran\u00e7ois
\nLouange, and University of Paris-Sud professor Andr\u00e9 Marion.<\/p>\n
\nconcluded that there was no tampering with the slide.<\/p>\n
\nyears later, in a subsequent analysis using more sophisticated
\ntechnology, Marion noticed a halo surrounding the UFO. It was in the
\nform of a snowflake pattern, similar to the appearance of iron filings
\nin a magnetic field.<\/p>\n
\ncoverage in Belgium, but not much in North America. <\/p>\n
\nYork\u2019s Hudson Valley region that lasted several years in the early
\n1980s.<\/p>\n
\nlarge as football fields and could travel at incredible speeds, either
\nremaining silent or emitting a humming noise.<\/p>\n
\nHudson Valley sightings generated no government investigations and
\nlittle media coverage in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\nthe front pages?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\nSouth America, where there\u2019s a keen interest in UFOs among military and
\ngovernment officials.<\/p>\n
\nChilean military, as well as a retired Brazilian brigadier-general, have
\ncontributed chapters to UFOs<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cUFO night\u201d in Brazil, writes Brig.-Gen. Jos\u00e9 Carlos Pereira; on this
\ndate, radar showed 21 unidentified objects in the sky between S\u00e3o Paolo
\nand Rio de Janeiro. Pereira notes that jets carrying missiles were
\ndispatched, but he didn\u2019t feel that the UFOs posed a threat to national
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
\nThey were not foreign jets attacking. They were unidentified flying
\nobjects.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nadvanced countries to set up government agencies focused on UFOs: \u201cThe
\nUnited States should certainly lead the way, since that country is and
\nwill remain the planet\u2019s greatest technological power, with a great
\nability to aggregate knowledge from other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nrecounting their attempts to shoot down UFOs.<\/p>\n
\ngeneral Parviz Jafari tells the story of pursuing a UFO over Tehran in
\n1976, as it flashed intense red, green, orange, and blue lights. When he
\ngot ready to fire, he writes, his weapons jammed and his radio failed. <\/p>\n
\nabout firing at a balloon-like object. On three occasions, it suddenly
\nshot upward. The UFO was seen by more than 1,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
\nincident, which stated that the case \u201cmeets all the criteria necessary
\nfor a valid study of UFO phenomena\u201d. It was seen by multiple witnesses
\nwas confirmed by radar.<\/p>\n
\nthat an oval-shaped object without a tail or wings appeared to the left
\nof his plane at an altitude of between 5,000 and 5,500 feet.<\/p>\n
\nhad climbed from the ground in less than 10 seconds, and finally stopped
\nin front of him. In his chapter in UFOs, Guerra describes it as a
\n\u201cmetallic disc composed of two halves, one on the top and another on the
\nbottom, with some kind of band around the center, brilliant with the
\ntop reflecting the sun\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nwas faster than his own aircraft, and flew over his path, \u201cbreaking all
\nthe rules of aerodynamics\u201d. Two other pilots witnessed the event.<\/p>\n
\ndetermined that the object was flying vertically at more than 300 miles
\nper hour, which is impossible for a helicopter.<\/p>\n
\nit travelled at about 1,550 miles per hour, Guerra writes. The object
\nremained unidentified after the study was completed.<\/p>\n
\nresearch on the potential impact of unexplained aerial phenomena on
\naviation safety. He points out in his own chapter in Kean\u2019s book that
\nGuerra\u2019s experience demonstrates the dangers of a near miss with an
\nunidentified object in the skies.<\/p>\n
\nunidentified aerial phenomena can impair safety by interfering with
\nproper navigational equipment. A third concern is the distraction these
\napparent objects create for flight crews. <\/p>\n
\nthat have turned out to be important to mankind, as a study of the
\nhistory of science confirms,\u201d Haines writes.<\/p>\n
\nother countries.<\/p>\n
\nBlue Book, which was ostensibly created to receive UFO reports from
\ncitizens, conduct investigations, and provide explanations to the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
\npublic-relations operation intended to debunk UFO sightings and
\ndiscourage public interest in the topic.<\/p>\n
\nthat a key part of this shift was the Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s
\ncreation of a scientific advisory panel in 1953, chaired by H. P.
\nRobertson, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n
\npublic-education campaign focused on explaining away sightings.<\/p>\n
\nscientist who worked on Project Blue Book, J. Allen Hynek, was given
\nthis task. The U.S. UFO reporting system was shut down in 1970, and two
\nyears later Hynek wrote a book stating that the entire operation was set
\nup to discredit the existence of UFOs.<\/p>\n
\nso opposed to an open discussion of the topic, she said that the
\ndenials began during the Cold War, and there may have been fear that the
\nSoviet Union would take advantage of a UFO panic.<\/p>\n
\nwant anyone to know about,\u201d she added. \u201cThere is a whole lot of possible
\nreasons. I think the main point is they are not conducting policy
\nresponsibly, and it needs to change\u2014regardless of the reasons for it.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.straight.com\/files\/imagecache\/display\/\/gallery\/FEA_ErikR_2225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nastronomer Erik Rosolowsky says some UFOs can\u2019t be explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nRosolowsky<\/a> told the Straight<\/em> by phone that people
\noccasionally contact him with stories about UFOs. Many involve the Venus
\nor other planets or satellites.<\/p>\n
\nmistook a Russian manned space launch for a UFO. Over the past three
\nyears, he said, there have been only two instances brought to his
\nattention that he could not account for using standard astronomy.<\/p>\n
\ndoes seem like there is a small set of UFO phenomena that are not
\nexplained yet,\u201d Rosolowsky commented. \u201cThe nature of science is that
\nbecause they\u2019re not explained yet doesn\u2019t mean that they can\u2019t be
\nexplained. But at the same time, you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nextraterrestrial beings could even send a spacecraft from another galaxy
\nto Earth.<\/p>\n
\nby phone that one would think that society would be \u201chip-deep in
\nhigh-resolution photos of yetis and aliens right now\u201d, given the
\nabundance of cameras. \u201cBut we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ngoing to spend the trillions and trillions of dollars and the
\nunimaginable amount of energy that it would take for me to get from one
\nplanet to another, I think the place that I would want to post a message
\nwould be in the local wheat field.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nextensive reports that his group had prepared of two UFO sightings. One
\ninvolved a giant object in the skies over the Yukon on December 11,
\n1996, reportedly observed by 31 people. The other concerned a
\n57-year-old mystery about a pilot who disappeared over Lake Superior.<\/p>\n
\neither case. <\/p>\n
\n