109 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
109 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: A NEST OF INFO ON GULFBREEZE UFOs FILE: UFO1619
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PART 5
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Message number 868 in "MUFONET"
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Date: 10-30-90 09:11
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From: John Hicks
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To: all
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Subj: ED WALTERS NEWS ARTICLE
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PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1990
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..............................
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INVESTIGATORS DOUBT UFO AUTHOR
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BY CRAIG MYERS
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NEWS JOURNAL
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..............................
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Two investigators for the MUTUAL UFO Network said Friday they believe Gulf
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Breeze author Ed. Walters faked some of the photos of UFOs that appear in his
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book.
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" We believe that UFOs exist," said Rex and Carol Salisberry of Navarre of
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their study of several of Walter's photos. " We entered this investigation
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with a natural and favorable bias toward the Walter's case, " but " our
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investigation and analysis lend to the conclusion that several, if not all of
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the photos are probable hoaxes."
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Walters, who co-wrote " The Gulf Breeze Sightings" with his wife Frances,
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maintains the photos are real and that they were taken during numerous
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encounters between November 1987 and March 1988.
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Walters has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including "
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Unsolved Mysteries " and the Oprah Winfrey Show, to recount his experiences
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with UFOs.
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He was reported to be out of town Friday and could not be reached for
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comment.
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In July the couple was named " Investigators of the Year " at a MUFON
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Symposium in Pensacola.
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Walt Andrus, MUFON's international director, said Friday that his
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organization is not yet ready to give its stamp of approval to the
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Salisberry's four month investigation of the photos.
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" I don't know how they arrived at that decision." Andrus said from his
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office in Sequin, Texas. " It is certainly premature. He has no business
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talking to reporters. It has never been cleared through here. He can't make
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representations for the organizations."
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Andrus, who has for two years endorsed the Walters case, appointed Salisberry
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in July to take a second look at the case after questions surfaced about the
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credibility of Walter's photos.
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The first question arose after a model was found in the Walter's former
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residence in Gulf Breeze in March. The Styrofoam and drafting paper model was
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found in the attic of the home and strongly resembled a drawing Walter's made
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of one of his UFO sightings.
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The second question arose when Tommy Smith, formerly of Gulf Breeze, said in
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July that he witnessed Walter's fake UFO photos. Smith said Walters asked him
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to take some faked UFO photos to the Gulf Breeze newspaper and claim they
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were real.
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But Andrus on Friday said Smith is lying and the UFO model was hidden in the
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attic by someone who wants to discredit Walters.
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"Tommy Smith can't prove any of his statements- they are outlandish lies,"
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Andrus said.
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The Salisberrys said Smith's testimony and the model contributed to their
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conclusion, but more convincing was an analysis of Walter's so-called " road
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shot " that shows a UFO hovering over a road.
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Salisberry said the reflection of the spacecraft, which should be flat,
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actually is at an angle that does not match the road's surface. The
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triangular shape of the reflection also does not match the round light source
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on the bottom of the craft, he said.
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The Salisberrys said the photo and a second photo probably was created by a
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double-exposure-- a process by which a model is photographed and the image is
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exposed again onto the same frame of film.
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" With these photos reassessed as probable hoaxes, the other photos... should
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be considered as highly suspect, " Salisberry wrote in the preliminary
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report.
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Seven MUFON members investigated the sightings in 1988 and concluded Walter's
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story was true. The Salisberrys were not among the original investigators,
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but joined MUFON in November 1988.
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Andrus said that while the Salisberrys are good investigators, they cannot
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yet speak for MUFON.
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" They ( the Salisberrys ) do not have grounds to arrive at that conclusion
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until it is submitted to us. We will have to look at their facts," Andrus
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said.
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The Salisberrys have not yet submitted their report to MUFON.
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Phil Klass, a contributing editor to Aviation Week & Space Technology
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magazine and a longtime Walters critic, said Andrus is too " proud and
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stubborn " to accept the report.
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" I think the Salisberrys should be commended for being willing to change
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their earlier opinion," said Klass.
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But Dr. Bruce Maccabee, a photographic analyst who has defended Walter's
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photos. said the road reflection does not discredit the photo.
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Maccabee said his analysis of the photo shows light from beneath the object
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was projected at an angle-like car headlights shinning ahead of a car on a
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wet road.
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Maccabee said Friday he still is open-minded about the Walter's sightings,
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but said it would take more convincing evidence than Salisberry's report to
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convince him of a hoax.
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" Nothing I have seen has changed my mind," Maccabee said.
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Salisberry said his conclusion on Walters' photo does not shake his own
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belief in UFOs. And he said his report won't end the Walters' debate.
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" The problem with Walters' story isn't a UFO problem, it is a human
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problem". Salisberry said. " If the Walters' case is typical of most UFO
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cases, the debate will probably go on for years in spite of any evidence pro
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or con."
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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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********************************************** |