148 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
148 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
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SUBJECT: UFOs RETURN TO FYFFE FILE: UFO1270
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NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE
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DATE OF ARTICLE: March 2, 1989
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SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Weekly Post
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LOCATION: Rainsville, Alabama
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BYLINE: Susan Stockman
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========================================================
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THIS FILE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE
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AND PREPARED BY PARANET ALPHA -- PARANET INFORMATION
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SERVICE
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========================================================
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Martian or Military?
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UFOS RETURNED TO FYFFE FRIDAY NIGHT
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By Susan Stockman
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Residents of Fyffe don't know what it is, or where it's
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coming from, but they know they are seeing something.
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For the second time in as many weeks, numerous Fyffe
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residents reported seeing an unidentified flying object over
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their town Friday night.
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The reports of 'something in the air' started around 7:30
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p.m., the same time of early night sightings on February 10
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occurred.
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Most reports were of a round, bright object with red and
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green flashing lights.
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According to Rhonda Gibson and her sister, Jill Worley, the
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object appeared to be at tree-top level when they saw it near
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their home Friday night.
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The sisters were returning home from Fort Payne when they
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spotted the object hovering over the tree tops.
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Gibson said it was 'just sitting there,' and when they saw
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the object, they decided to follow it, and turned into a dirt
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road to get a closer look. Worley said she had 'never seen
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anything like it in her life,' and it 'scared her to death.'
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According to Gibson, after watching it outsider her car for
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several minutes 'it just disappeared, like turning off the lights
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at a football field.'
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After the object vanished, Gibson said she returned to her
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car and went to her parent's home.
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The sisters spotted the object again while at their parent's
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home, but said it appeared to be further away in the night sky.
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After checking with the Fyffe Police Department, they were
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told they were not the only ones to see the craft that night.
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The Fyffe Police Department received some 40 calls from residents
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who saw the object.
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Gibson said after the object vanished, several airplanes and
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a helicopter flew directly overhead, and there were reports from
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witnesses who say they saw an unusual amount of aircraft activity
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in the area during the sightings, and several identified some of
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the planes and helicopters as military.
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According to Kathy Green, a Fyffe resident who also saw the
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object, said she and friends had gathered to play cards and first
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observed the object from the window of the home around 7:30 p.m.
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She said the group shared binoculars and watched the object in
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the cold night air until it disappeared some two hours later.
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In an interview from his Arlington, Virginia home, Philip J.
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Klass, an editor for Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine
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for 35 years, told The Weekly Post that 99.999 percent of all UFO
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sightings can be traced to a bright celestial body, such as Venus
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and Mars.
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Klass said the eye can be deceiving, and given the weather
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conditions at the time of the sightings, the objects were
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possibly Venus or Mars. Klass stated that the shapes could be
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due to atmospheric distortion, and that all people have some
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slight stigmatism problems with their eyes.
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'The disappearance of the object could be attributed to the
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rotation of the earth, or a cloud passing over the planet,'
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according to Klass.
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Klass also stated that there was no way to accurately judge
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the distance or size of the object, making it appear larger or
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closer than it is.
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However, residents of Fyffe don't believe what they saw was
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a star or a planet.
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All military bases, such as Fort McClellan in Anniston,
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Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Fort Rucker in Fort
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Benning, Georgia, and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, told The
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Weekly Post that, to their knowledge, there were no military
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exercises in the north Alabama area during the time of the
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sightings.
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A spokesperson for the Lockheed Aircraft Plant in Marietta,
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Georgia said no aircraft experiments were being conducted by
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Lockheed, and the same answer was given by Marshall Space Flight
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Center in Huntsville.
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A check with the Federal Aeronautics Authority revealed that
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no experiments took place during the sighting times, to their
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knowledge.
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However, a check with the National Guard in Birmingham
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revealed that the airspace in north Alabama, including that above
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Fyffe, is a training route for aircraft, and is utilized by the
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entire Southeastern states.
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The National Guard spokesperson said night training
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exercises were common in the area, sometimes at an altitude of
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just several hundred feet off the ground.
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Although no agency would confirm the fact that military
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exercises or experiments were being conducted, many Fyffe
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residents believe that is what is taking place over their heads.
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Investigators from the Mutual Unidentified Flying Object
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Network, a national organization that tracks UFO sightings,
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reportedly will be in Fyffe Friday night to ride with the Fyffe
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Police in hopes of sighting the object again.
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=================================================================
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A Letter to the Editor
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-----------------------
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DEAR EDITOR:
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There has been a lot of fun made of the two police officers
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from Fyffe, Alabama, who saw the UFO the week of February 10th.
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Now, I have never seen one myself and I have never really
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paid too much attention to what I read in the papers about them.
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Anything is possible in the world. I have known Junior
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Garmany and his family for almost all his life, and Fred Works
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for several years. If they tell that a rooster chews tobacco you
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can raise up its left wing and look for its spit cup.
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Besides, Junior and Fred were not the only people to observe
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this UFO. Different citizens saw it.
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Also, there were other officers in the area to see it but
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for some reason they did not come forward with their verification
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of what they saw.
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I wonder why?
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All these people who are throwing fun at these officers for
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what they saw should be shaking their hand for making Fyffe the
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UFO capital of the nation.
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UFO defined does not mean they saw a flying saucer with
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little green men and bulging eyes.
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It means 'unidentified flying object.' To my knowledge, the
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object they saw has not been identified.
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At least it makes me more aware that we are under police
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protection in our area.
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Utmost respect to these two officers who were not too
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embarrassed or afraid to come forward with what they saw.
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Billie Sibert
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Fyffe, Alabama
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==================================================================
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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**********************************************
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