UFO ROUNDUP
  Volume 3, Number 11
  March 15, 1998
  Editor: Joseph Trainor
  
  TWIN UFOs SIGHTED ALL
  AROUND FLORIDA
  
       UFO sightings peaked in Florida last week with
  reports coming in from all over the state.
       On Monday, March 2, 1998, at 12:50 p.m., Don
  Rash was driving his daughter to her job at the
  Circle K convenience store in Pensacola Beach
  (population 4,000), a seaside town on the Florida
  panhandle.  As he drove home to Gulf Breeze, six
  miles (10 kilometers) to the north, "he suddenly
  looked up into the clouds and blue sky and saw a
  huge, silver, saucer-shaped object...Don described
  the object as being the size of a quarter at arm's
  length."
      The saucer "turned up on its side" for a few
  seconds, then "it disappeared 'as fast as lightning.'
  He estimated the object to be at 10 o'clock (i.e.
  about 75 degrees azimuth--J.T.) and to be over
  the famous Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze."  (Many
  thanks to Vicki Lyons for this report.)
       On Friday, March 6, 1998, a Cub Scout patrol
  and their two adult advisers were camped out near
  Titusville (population 39,394) and Cape Canaveral.
  While the boys slept, the two adults sat up to
  watch the fire and talk.
       At 11 p.m., one of the men reported, "I saw
  something in the sky and assumed it was a plane
  with just one headlight on.  As it got closer, I realized
  that it was going at an incredible rate of speed, and
  that the object didn't 'go away' as the angle of my view
  changed...It kept going in a northerly track..."
       "Bob said, 'Did you see that?'"
       "'Go get your binoculars.  This is the strangest
  thing I've ever seen.'"
       While Bob went to fetch the binoculars, the witness
  continued to observe the UFO.  "I noticed that it seemed
  to be changing direction," he reported, "It got many miles
  north of us and did make a U-turn and come back in a
  southerly direction."
       Taking the binoculars, he "looked at it, and it rotated
  a little--enough for me to see five lights...The lights that I
  saw were sort of in a V position...It stayed totally 
  illuminated the entire time...It made no sound and we
  were able to hear for miles and miles."
       The flap went into high gear the following day,
  Saturday, March 7, when the twin UFOs were seen
  in several cities on both Florida coasts.
       At 6:45 p.m., Craig W. and his wife were driving on
  Periwinkle Way on Sanibel, an offshore island in the
  Gulf of Mexico when they "caught a glimpse of two
  fuzzy, silver-white objects, rounded or perhaps
  spherical, and each trailing a fan-shaped whitish"
  contrail.  "They looked a lot like the recent (Hale-Bopp)
  comet would have if it were brighter."
       Further north, in Tampa (population 280,015), a large
  city 273 miles (437 kilometers) northwest of Miami,
  Joseph Murgia, his wife and 12 other employees at
  the City of Tampa cable TV access station spotted
  "two white lights."
       "At first they stayed together," Murgia reported,
  "as if they were mounted on the wing of a plane...
  Then, to our mild surprise, they broke off and separated.
  About 15 seconds later, they both 'faded' out within
  seconds of each other.  At arm's length, they were about
  the size of a tennis ball.  They made no sound..."
       Also at 6:45 p.m., in Okeechobee (population 4,943),
  on Highway 441 about 125 miles (200 kilometers)
  northwest of Miami, Danny Oakes, a pilot with the
  Confederate Air Force stunt team, "witnessed two
  brightly lighted objects approaching his location (on
  the north shore of Lake Okeechobee--J.T.) from the
  southwest at an extremely high velocity.  The objects
  appeared...to slow suddenly, after which one of the
  objects 'shot off' and then returned to its position
  beside the other object.  Then both objects appeared
  to go straight up into the atmosphere and disappeared."
       In Fort Myers (population 45,206), approximately
  129 miles (206 kilometers) south of Tampa, Dr. James
  Acker, a cardiologist from Knoxville, Tennessee who's
  vacationing in Florida, "was driving north on Fiddlesticks
  Boulevard...approximately one mile from the local airport
  when the (Acker) party witnessed two objects moving
  across the sky in formation for an estimated 15 to 20
  seconds (i.e. an estimated speed of between 720 and
  960 miles per hour--J.T.).  Both of the objects, he
  reported, appeared to be bright white lights, and each
  of them appeared to have a 'halo' around the center
  core of the lights."  Dr. Acker also reported that the
  objects had a "tail" resembling "a comet in space."
       Also at 6:45 p.m., in Vero Beach (population 17,350),
  a city on the Atlantic Ocean coast about 152 miles
  (243 kilometers) north of Miami, a witness reported
  "two bright lights moving towards us, one lower than
  the other.  One turned and disappeared, leaving an
  illuminated doughnut ring.  Then the other light did the
  exact same thing."
       At 6:50 p.m., two witnesses in Lehigh Acres, Fla.
  (population 13,611), on Highway 884 about 15 miles
  (25 kilometers) east of Fort Myers, saw "two glowing
  fireball objects with a huge afterglow spread out
  behind them" while they were "traveling east on
  23rd Street in Lehigh Acres and then north on Beth
  Stacy Boulevard."  The UFOs were "observed traveling
  southeast...The object on the left was higher than the
  one on the right.  About two minutes after the objects
  were spotted, the one on the left faded out for about two
  seconds but the afterglow remained."
       Also at 6:50 p.m., a couple in Island Park in
  Sarasota (population 50,961), a city on the Gulf coast
  45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Tampa, reported an
  "object coming from the southeast at twilight, sky very
  clear and not yet dark.  Object was white with a small
  white core came moving towards us...It moved steadily
  toward the northwest and seemed to dissolve."
       At 6:55 p.m., witnesses in Punta Gorda, Fla.
  (population 10,747), located 23 miles (37 kilometers)
  east of Fort Myers, reported "two brightly-glowing,
  disk-shaped objects at about 100 degrees magnetic
  and 40 to 50 degrees above the horizon.  Relationship
  to each other was line-abreast formation.  Movement
  was extremely slow and turned to the east."
       At 7 p.m., six adults sitting on a lanai in Port
  Charlotte, Fla. (population 41,535) located 28 miles
  (45 kilometers) north of Fort Myers, "observed two
  bright lights about five finger-breadths apart moving
  erratically" through the sky.
       The National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle
  also received calls from witnesses in Bonita Springs,
  Sarasota Springs and St. Petersburg.
       On Sunday, March 8, WINK-TV in Fort Myers
  aired an amateur video of the two UFOs on its
  6 p.m. news broadcast.  (See Florida Today for
  March 11, 1998, "Viewers Treated to Eerie Sky Show."
  Many thanks to Peter B. Davenport of the National
  UFO Reporting Center, George A. Filer of MUFON,
  Vicki Lyons, Joseph Murgia, Courtland Lewis and
  others for these reports.)
  
  UFO FLIGHT OVER BERMUDA
  STARTLES RESIDENTS
  
       On Saturday, March 7, 1998, the same evening
  the two UFOs appeared in southwestern Florida, a
  similar glowing UFO was seen in Bermuda.
       Bermuda is an island in the Atlantic Ocean
  approximately 650 miles (1,040 kilometers) northeast
  of Titusville, Florida.
       The majority of the sightings were reported on
  the south side of the island, in Warwick, Smiths,
  Devonshire and Paget.  One witness described the
  object as "a red light traveling east."
       Dozens of witnesses telephoned the police and
  reported "mysterious lights hovering over the island"
  between 7:45 and 8 p.m., local time.
       "Eyewitness Jean Plath was driving down Middle
  Road when she saw the lights."
       "'It was huge, big as a stadium arena light,' Mrs.
  Plath said, 'At first it looked like a helicopter with a
  searchlight   I couldn't say how high up it was, but it
  wasn't that high.  It was really white and had a shaft
  (of light) coming down.'"
       "' Then it just evaporated.  It turned into two hazy
  lights and took off into the air.  Then something even
  stranger happened.  I looked across the street, and
  there was this sort of pink haze everywhere, like a
  mist."
       On March 9, the Bermuda sighting was
  attributed to a missile test, the launch of two D-25
  missiles from the Trident submarine USS West
  Virginia.  (See the Royal Gazette of Bermuda
  for March 9, 1998, "Inhabitants Jarred Over UFO
  Sighting," and March 10, 1998, "UFO Lights Caused
  by US Missile Launch."  Many thanks to Jay in
  Hamilton for these news stories.)
  
  ANOTHER HORSE MUTILATED
  NEAR ALAMOSA, COLORADO
  
       On Thursday, March 5, 1998, Skip, a six-year-old
  white gelding belonging to rancher Kim Miller of
  Sanford, Colorado, was found dead and mutilated in
  a pasture near the Rio Grande River, located 10
  miles (16 kilometers) south of Alamosa.
       The horse, one of a herd of 16, was found lying
  on its left side and "missing the flesh around the
  left mandible, the genitalia and the right ear."
       Miller and his 19-year-old son made the gruesome
  discovery early that morning.  The son reported that
  "fifty eagles were flying around like swallows."
       On Friday, March 6, 1998, at 10 a.m., author/
  investigator Christopher O'Brien met the Millers in
  Alamosa and drove out to the crime scene for an
  on-site investigation.
       O'Brien described the scene as a field of 
  "chimisia, sage and alkali flats."  As they arrived,
  fifteen agitated horses crowded the truck, momentarily
  preventing them from reaching the crime scene.
       "I've been running them out in this field for three
  years," Miller said, "and they've never acted like this
  before...they're trying to tell us something."
       O'Brien carefully examined Skip's carcass.  He
  reported, "The ear was removed in a three-inch
  (6 centimeter) diameter circle.  The horse also had
  a 'baseball-sized hole in the brisket.'   The carcass
  exhibited appearent evidence of being killed by
  proficient professionals.  The softball-sized brisket
  hole was especially impressive.  A 12-inch (24-
  centimeter) plug of heart/muscle had been completely
  removed without a single spilled drop of blood."
       "The horse's winter coat, about two-and-a-half
  inches (5 centimeters) in length, had been cut to
  one-eighth of an inch (0.25 centimeters) around the
  upper muzzle portion of the mandible excision."
       Strangest of all was the absence of tracks,
  including Skip's hoofprints, at the crime scene.
  O'Brien noted that the ground consists of fluffy
  white alkali, which displays tracks very well.
      "You could throw a pen out there and see it,"
  said Miller, an expert hunting guide.
       O'Brien collected three tissue and blood
  samples from the remains, which will be evaluated
  by the Rocky Ford state pathology laboratory,
  a veterinary pathology lab and a hematologist
  in Denver.  (Many thanks to Chris O'Brien, author
  of THE MYSTERIOUS VALLEY, for this report.)
  
  MORE UFOs SIGHTED IN
  WESTERN COLORADO
  
       UFOs were sighted in western Colorado last
  week, east of Grand Junction.
       On Monday, March 2, 1998, at about 2 a.m.,
  William R., who was "awake due to some back
  pain" heard his dogs whining at his home in
  Cedaredge, Colo. (population 1,380), a town on
  Highway 65 about 15 miles (25 kilometers) east
  of Delta.
       "He went out on the back porch to see what was
  bothering them.  To his surprise, his dogs were
  looking into the sky."
       "Above Cedaredge were seven objects that
  appeared to be 1,000 feet (300 meters) up in the air.
  stationary, soundless and quite large, with bright
  multi-colored lights on them, 'like Christmas lights.'
       He described the UFOs as "built like an
  octagon" and "all had white colored lights but one,
  which had amber-colored lights.  One object was
  located over the school, another over the golf course,
  another over a county road and the rest in various
  locations" around Cedaredge.  He then woke up his
  elderly mother and they watched the UFOs until
  about 3 a.m.  (Many thanks to ufologist Davina
  Ryszka for this news story.)
       On Friday, March 6, 1998, at 10 p.m., Chip
  Sierra was at his home on the Ruedi Reservoir
  near Basalt, Colo. (population 1,128) when he spied
  a UFO in the night sky.
       Basalt is just off Highway 82 about 25 miles
  (40 kilometers) southeast of Glenwood Springs.
       Chip reported that the UFO "first appeared in the
  southern sky and then moved to the southeast" and
  was "20 degrees above the horizon."  He added,
  "It was perhaps two or three times the diameter and
  brightness of Jupiter.  Or just smaller than the size
  of a pencil eraser held at arm's length."
       He described the UFO as "a fireball" of a bright
  white color that was "pretty well defined against
  the dark night sky.  I only saw it for a minute before
  it dropped behind the mountain."  (Email Interview)
  
  GREEN FIREBALL CAUSES STIR
  IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
  
       On Sunday, March 8, 1998, at about 6 p.m., a bright
  green fireball appeared over Placerville, California
  (population 8,355), a small city on Highway 50 about
  44 miles (70 kilometers) east of Sacramento.
       Minutes later, the fireball hovered in the sky over
  Sacramento, the state capital.  Motorists stopped their
  cars on San Juan Road and Del Paso Road in the west
  end of the city to observe the phenomenon.
       "Traffic on Interstate (Highway) 80 between Davis and
  Dixon slowed to a halt as motorists stopped to watch
  the fireball.  Many drivers swamped the California Highway
  Patrol with phone calls, but the control tower at
  Sacramento (Metropolitan) airport insisted no planes
  were missing."
       Sacramento (population 369,365) is 91 miles
  (145 kilometers) east of San Francisco.
       In Monterey (population 31,954), located 125 miles
  (200 kilometers) south of San Francisco, witnesses
  reported the green fireball hovering over the bay.
       "The (U.S.) Coast Guard contacted Griffith
  Observatory in Los Angeles, which confirmed that it
  was a big meteor shower."
       Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Alan Tubbs said,
  "It was just getting dark and everybody was facing
  this direction just as the sun was coming down.  It
  was the king of all meteor showers."  (See the
  San Jose Mercury News for March 9, 1998, "Meteor
  Shower Stalls Traffic Near Sacramento."  Many
  thanks to Arnold Veness for forwarding this news
  story.)
  
  CAVALLARI SNAPS FOUR NEW
  UFO PHOTOS IN BROOKLYN
  
       On Sunday, March 1, 1998, at 11:50 a.m., Alex
  Cavallari "was waiting for some people to arrive" at his
  home in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, a
  borough of New York City, and decided to go out on
  the front porch.
       "While I was waiting, I was looking at the clouds
  in the sky and noticed a cigar-shaped UFO.  The
  object was first seen near the perimeter of a cloud
  formation."
       Getting his Minolta camera from the house, Alex
  "went back to looking at the cloud formation...and I
  noticed the object exiting the the cloud...There was
  a small clear (patch of) sky near where the object was
  exiting, and it (the UFO) appeared to be heading toward
  another cloud formation."
       While the object was in clear blue sky, Alex took
  four pictures with his camera.
       "As I was taking a picture, I saw a very bright object
  of white light in the vicinity.  It appeared a little like a
  fireworks rocket exploding.  There was no sound and the
  flash was very bright.  The flash looked like a point of
  white light exploding into very small white lights."
       "I then saw what appeared to be spheres/orbs," he
  added, "White colored dots all over the sky.  The
  spheres/orbs disappeared in about five seconds."
       "I was looking around and noticed the cigar-shaped
  UFO in the north, exiting a cloud formation.  It was
  entering clear sky, so I took a few more pictures."  He
  estimated the cigar-shaped UFO to be at an altitude
  of "10,000 feet at 60 to 70 degrees above the horizon."
  (Many thanks to Alex Cavallari for this report.  Alex is
  also a ham radio enthusiast and can be reached at
  KB2NYV.)
  
  NEW JERSEY MAN SAYS
  TRIANGULAR UFOs ARE
  ACTIVE ALONG THE SHORE
  
       Reports continue to pour in about UFO activity
  along New Jersey's Atlantic Ocean shore following
  the recent sightings in the Toms River area.
       Michael A., who lives in Eatontown, N.J.
  (population 13,800), located 20 miles (32 kilometers)
  north of Toms River, says his community has been
  visited by UFOs "for the past ten months."
       According to Mike, he, his girlfriend and Paul D.,
  another resident, have seen "many strange craft in
  both Monmouth and Ocean counties.  We have seen
  craft hovering over the CECOM Building, located in
  Tinton Falls, N.J. (population 12,361) thirty miles
  north of Toms River, also over top of the Electronic
  Weapons and Night Vision Development building,
  and over top of the Pulse power station."
       Mike also claims to "have seen in my area
  triangular craft flying low overhead from the east
  towards the west, observed over the Earle Naval
  Weapons base in Colts Neck, N.J.  They have
  been seen moving east towards the ocean along
  the Navasink and Shrewsbury Rivers."
       On two occasions, Mike and his friends "saw
  a round band of flourescent blue light on the underbelly
  of one of the hovering craft directly over the Gardern
  State Parkway (New Jersey Route 9) and it was
  clearly a triangular craft."  (Email Interview)
  
  UTAH MAILMEN SPOT GIANT
  UFO OVER GREAT SALT LAKE
  
       On February 26, 1998, at 1:05 a.m., postal workers
  Timothy N. and Samuel W. were driving to work on
  Interstate Highway 89 about 20 miles (32 kilometers)
  north of Salt Lake City when they spied a UFO.
       The men saw the UFO as they were driving through
  Syracuse, Utah (population 4,658).  The UFO was
  "hovering over Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake."
       "We looked out over the lake and saw a very unusual
  and peculiar sight," Tim reported.  "We couldn't tell what
  it was, so we drove toward the lake to take a closer look.
  There were dozens of dead seagulls on the side of the
  road.  As we got closer to the lights hovering down
  the road, the lights in our Chevrolet truck started to
  flicker.  This lasted only a brief moment."
       "As we got closer, we could tell that this was not an
  airplane.  It had a spherical shape and was one to two
  hundred yards (90 to 180 meters) in diameter.  As we
  got closer, we could see lights flashing bright, ranging
  from green to yellow to blue."
       The men saw the UFO "zigzagging and figure eights."
  When it stopped moving, "this is when we got our best
  look.  It had a metallic look to it and had lights that
  rotated."
       Next the object "slowly moved behind a mountain."
  Then "the UFO, giving off a faint hum, slowly appeared
  from behind the mountain, then just like a flash of
  lightning it flew off to the west and that was the last
  we saw of it."  (See Filer's Files #10 for 1998.  Many
  thanks to George A. Filer of MUFON for this report.)
  
  WOMAN HAS TWO SIGHTINGS
  IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
  
       On Wednesday, February 25, 1998, at about
  9:15 p.m., Debbie Hickman was driving west on
  Interstate Highway 40 in Oklahoma when she
  spied "a green fireball" in the night sky.
       Ms. Hickman saw the object "at mile marker
  126, west of El Reno, Okla. (population 15,414)."
       "I left Oklahoma City and was driving west on
  I-40 back to Elk City," she reported.  "I had passed
  the towns of Yukon and El Reno and was at mile
  marker 126 when I spotted a green fireball in the sky
  west of my position.  It appeared to be about the size
  of a golf ball at arm's length and traveled straight-line.
  I spotted the fireball as it came into the view of my
  windshield.  It was in view for three or four seconds as
  it traveled straight down and then impacted the ground...
  I saw green sparks fly up from the impact."
       The next evening, Thursday, February 26, 1998,
  Ms. Hickman saw "a huge white light just south of
  Clinton Lake.  The light was seen near the Clinton/
  Sherman Air Force Base but it was at treetop level.
  While (she was) observing the light, it 'instantly' came
  forward to the edge of the tree line...and the light could
  be seen through the trees.  It then moved up a few
  feet in altitude and moved over the interstate directly
  over her truck.  It then flew along I-40 for a few
  seconds."
       By the time Ms. Hickman reached mile marker 47,
  near Canute, Okla. (population 538), the mysterious
  light had vanished.  She added, "The light was so
  bright it illuminated the (truck's) cab."  (Many thanks
  to Cliff Capers and Jim Hickman of Skywatch
  International for this report.)
  
  TWO UFOs SEEN IN PORTUGAL
  
       On Friday, March 6, 1998, the same day a bright
  white UFO was seen near Cape Canaveral, Florida,
  two silvery disc-shaped objects were seen across
  the Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of Portugal.
        Three people walking the beach at Praia da
  Cabana do Pescador in Portugal's Costa da
  Caparica spotted a silvery glimmer in the blue
  afternoon sky.  One witness said, "The objects were
  small, disc-shaped, showing a luminous glow and
  showing a bright top when seen to turn, and (looked)
  a little like sterling silver."  (Muito obrigado a Pedro
  Cunha por eso caso.)
  
  LUMINOUS DISC SIGHTED IN
  FREMANTLE, AUSTRALIA
  
       On Sunday, March 1, 1998, at 8:30 a.m., Maya S.
  'was sitting in the backyard, having a cigarette and
  looking up into the vastness of the hot, clear, night
  sky" and "saw what seemed like a meteorite streak
  across the whole sky from north to south."
       Maya's home is in Fremantle, Western Australia
  (W.A.), about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Perth,
  the state capital.
       The object flew "without losing its velocity or its
  brightness," Maya reported.  "As it neared the southern
  horizon, my eye caught the attention of another distant
  meteorite more directly above me.  As it was going, it
  did a 300-degree circle and shot off after" the other
  object.  "What struck me the most was its 'irregular'
  motion...I've never witnessed anything unnatural like
  this in the sky before."  (Email Interview)
  
  from the UFO Files...
  
  1981: UFO SIGHTED NEAR
            LUFKIN, TEXAS
  
       "Mrs. Carroll Hartzog Thursday night reported an
  encounter with a UFO on her recent trip to Atlanta."
       "She said she and her daughter, Paula Materanek,
  were leaving Lufkin en route for Atlanta last Friday
  night about 9:30 p.m. when they saw 'a very large
  brightly lighted object approaching.'"
       "'As it passed over us, I leaned against the glass
  and had a very good look at it,' Mrs. Hartzog said,
  ' It was below the tops of the pines and passed over
  the car, and continued to follow the highway, passing
  from our view in making the curve.'"
       "'It had bright red lights, alternating with white
  light, coming out of the openings.  The bottom surface
  visible toward us was round and a larger object than
  the length of the car.  There were no wings or extensions,
  just the round object, with sort of a loud humming noise,
  unlike anything we had ever seen.'"  (See the Victoria,
  Texas Advocate for March 13, 1981, page 1."
  
  FUN UFO WEBSITES:
       UFO ROUNDUP and its parent site, UFO INFO,
  have new addresses on the Web.  Once again, we
  got away just one step ahead of the cyber-sheriff,
  and now we're operating from a new doman.
       All those great UFO photos and features John
  Hayes has collected at UFO INFO can now by had
  by going to http://ufoinfo.com.
       And you'll find the UFO ROUNDUP website at
  this URL: http://ufoinfo.com/roundup/
       Readers who want to check out Alex Cavallari's
  new UFO photos should drop in at his website at
  http://www.members.aol.com/xelaufo/index.htm
       I hear the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
  has a webpage devoted to "Unusual Phenomena,"
  including Project Blue Book and the controversial
  Majestic-12 documents.  Check it out at this URL:
  http://www.fbi.gov/foipa/ufo.htm
  
       Today's an anniversary for astronomers.  On this
  date, March 15, 1960, the world's largest solar
  telescope opened at Kitt Peak, Arizona.
  
       We'll be back next week with more saucer news
  from all over the planet, brought to you by "the paper
  that goes home--UFO ROUNDUP."  See you then.
  
  UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 by Masinaigan
  Productions, all rights reserved.  Readers may post
  news items from UFO ROUNDUP on their websites
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