817 lines
42 KiB
Plaintext
817 lines
42 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: GEORGIA MUFON NEWSLETTER, 1990 FILE: UFO1597
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GEORGIA SKYWATCH
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GEORGIA MUFON October-December 1990 Newsletter 90-2
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THE UFO FORUM
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Atlanta, GA - Tricia McCannon, representing the New Age
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Information Network (NAIN) and Nedd Mockler, representing the
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Mutual UFO Network, have joined forces to start a new lecture
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series - The UFO Forum. "Both groups are intensely interested in
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UFOs and despite our differences we do have a lot in common." said
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Tricia McCannon. "There are a lot of people in and around Georgia
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that want to know more about UFO's. We think a lecture series like
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The UFO Forum can meet that need."
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"Both groups (MUFON and NAIN) offer knowledge, skills and
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experiences that can be helpful in acquiring a deeper understanding
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about this important subject. Our alliance to produce a UFO
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Awareness Lecture Series recognizes that both MUFON and NAIN are
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composed of people seriously interested in studying and researching
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all phenomena associated with unidentified flying objects. MUFON's
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role in this alliance will be to emphasize the need for
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objectivity, evidence gathering and appropriate scientific study in
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the search for answers to the UFO enigma," said Nedd Mockler,
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Assistant State Director for the MUFON organization in Georgia.
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The purpose of The UFO Forum is to present speakers and topics of
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public interest concerning UFOs and related phenomena. In
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addition, The UFO Forum will promote membership in the MUFON
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organization and to recruit interested individuals to the MUFON
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----------------------------------------------------------------
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"Georgia MUFON Membership Contest!"
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P R I Z E S
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See Inside For Details!
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----------------------------------------------------------------
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================================================================
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OUR NEXT MEETING IS DECEMBER 3, 1990 - INNER SPACE
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================================================================
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The Georgia Mutual UFO Network (GEORGIA MUFON) is a part of the
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Mutual UFO Network, Inc. (MUFON), an international scientific
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organization of volunteers interested in studying the phenomenon of
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unidentified flying objects (UFOs), with headquarters at 103
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Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155. The contents of this
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newsletter are determined by the editor and do not necessarilty
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reflect the official position of MUFON or GA MUFON. This
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newsletter is published as required by GA MUFON activities and is
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distributed to GA MUFON members, certain university and law
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enforcement officials, and non-GA MUFON members who have
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contributed a minimum of $10 per year to GEORGIA MUFON. N. D.
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Mockler, Editor. 243 Jeweler's Ridge, Lilburn, GA 30247.
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Field Investigations Unit in Georgia, known as "Georgia SkyWatch."
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Another purpose of the Forum will be to establish a UFO' Awareness
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Lending Library (U'ALL) -- comprised of video and text materials
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for use by individuals and organizations interested in the study of
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UFO phenomena. Attendees to The UFO Forum make a contribution to
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help pay for speakers, meeting facilities, audio/visual equipment
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and library materials.
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The UFO Forum is the brainchild of Tricia and Nedd; and they are
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responsible for planning, directing and managing all Forum program
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presentations. A group of advisors serve as consultants and
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support staff. The advisory group includes: Jim Edwards, Delores
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Haake, John Heck, Mark Jaeger, Jan Lamb, Dan Lapour, Mark Losner,
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Charlie Pilcher, Robin Quale, and Will Southerland.
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Tricia and Nedd met at the WATL Channel 36 live filming of "Earth
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Mysteries - Alien Life Forms" featuring Linda Moulton Howe.
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Ms. Howe, considered to be the world authority on animal
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mutilations, filmed the Earth Mysteries pilot in Atlanta on August
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22, 1990. The UFO Forum has already had two successful meetings.
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Video tapes of these meetings are available. $25.
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=================================================================
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UFO FORUM PROGRAM
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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10/15/90 UFOs: Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the
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Scientific Mind. For over 45 years rumors of UFOs have
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persisted all over the world. In the Soviet Union as
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well as other countries they are front page news. What
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is the real story? What are people saying about UFOs?
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Join us for the 1st MUFON and NAIN sponsored meeting
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about this electrifying subject. Featured speaker:
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Regression hypnotist, Robin Quail. Also, Brian O'Leary
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on tape. Location: Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive,
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Sandy Springs. October 15, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm. $5.
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Attended by 80 people.
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11/17/90 The UFO Forum Presents Cary Baker - Strange
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Lights in the Night Sky. Cary, Editor-In-Chief of two
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Alabama newspapers, will speak on the UFO sightings in
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Fyffe, Alabama. Strange lights have been occurring in
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the night sky for decades and repeat with frequency every
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13-14 years. The latest rash of sightings began in
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February 1989. Location: Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive,
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Sandy Springs. November 17, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm.
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Contribution: $8. Attended by 40 people.
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12/3/90 The UFO Forum Presents Etel DeLoach - Sky People.
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Join us for a look at Etel DeLoach's "Sky People." An
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alternative healing therapist Etel has had close and
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compelling encounters with UFO's and extra-terrestrial
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intelligences. Her friendships with people whose first-
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hand knowledge have contributed to the lore of UFOlogy
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make a unique and interesting story. Don't miss this
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third in a series of MUFON/NAIN presentations. Location:
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Inner Space, 310 Hammond Drive, Sandy Springs. December
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3, 1990. 7:30 - 10:30 pm. Contribution: $8. Come
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early. Seating is limited to 80 people.
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1/12/91 The UFO Forum Presents Ed and Francis Walters -
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The Gulf Breeze Sightings. Fact or fiction? Was this a
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hoax? Were some of the widely publicized photographs
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faked? If so, how do you explain the UFOs witnessed by
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dozens of other Gulf Breeze residents? The official
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MUFON position on the Gulf Breeze Sightings: "Its real
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and the photographs are authentic." Ed and Francis have
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agreed to give us a firsthand account of their story.
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Location and contribution to be announced. January 12,
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1991. [Ed Note: See "The Florida Scene" elsewhere in
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this newsletter for an update on the Gulf Breeze
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situation.]
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2/18/91 The UFO Forum Presents Don Ware - Eastern Region
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MUFON Director. What is happening in MUFON today? Is
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MUFON contributing to man's understanding of UFOs? Are
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we being visited by people from outer space? If so why
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are they here? What does their presence mean for us here
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on earth? Location and contribution to be announced.
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February 18, 1991.
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=================================================================
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RUMORS - EARTHQUAKE? DECEMBER 3RD?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Did you watch "LA - The Big One" on national TV? A lot of reports
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are now circulating about a major earthquake expected along the
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line of the Madrid fault which runs through Kentucky and Tennessee.
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The prediction is that The South will experience a major earthquake
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on or about December 3rd.
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Nedd and Barbara Mockler experienced "The Great Alaskan Earthquake"
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while living in Anchorage, Alaska, in March of 1964. That quake
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measured 8.6 on the Richter Scale. The ground moved in an arc of
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eight inches, several vibrations a second and lasted for five and
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a half minutes. One hundred and twenty five people lost their
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lives and property damage ran in the millions. We don't believe in
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sensationalism. On the other hand our experience in Alaska has
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taught us that it never hurt to be prepared.
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What can you do to prepare for a major earthquake? Do you have a
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plan? Does your family know what to do in the event they are
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separated from you when an earthquake occurs? In a major
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earthquake roads and major lifelines may be unusable for several
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days...even weeks. Call the local chapter of the American Red
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Cross and ask for a copy of their suggestions for earthquake
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planning. An ounce of prevention....
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=================================================================
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THE GEORGIA SCENE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Atlanta - Our sources continue to tell us to be alert to strange
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lights in the night sky along the Atlanta to Macon corridor. Alert
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your contacts. Watch and listen. Contact Georgia SkyWatch, if you
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hear or see anything unusual. Day or night: 1-1-404-923-0739. If
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we don't respond within four hours, call the National UFO Reporting
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Center: 1-206-722-3000.
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=================================================================
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THE FLORIDA SCENE
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Gulf Breeze - Rex and Carol Salisberry, the original MUFON
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investigators of the Gulf Breeze sightings recently provided
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information to the news media that at least one of the Ed Walters
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photographs (#19) had been faked. MUFON has been involved in a
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continuing effort to study the Gulf Breeze material and had asked
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the Salisberrys to undertake some additional investigative work.
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In a totally unprecedented action and before their work and
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conclusions could be evaluated by senior MUFON investigators and
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scientists the Salisberrys shotgunned their findings to the news
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media. Coincidentally, this rush to the media occurred one week
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prior to the elections. Ed Walters, who had been running for a
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council seat, lost.
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According to Don Ware, Eastern Director for MUFON, "It is MUFON's
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view that the photograph in question and others are authentic. A
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major assumption upon which the Salisberrys' conclusion was based
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is in error. This error would have been identified had the
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investigators followed proper procedure before releasing any
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information to the media."
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"Furthermore," Ware noted, "...the mission of MUFON is to learn the
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truth. Our purpose is NOT to punish or to discourage people from
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coming forward with reports of their UFO experiences. If we
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discover a hoax, we simply close the case...we don't take it to the
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media. I believe Ed and Francis Walters are basically honorable
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people, who have attempted to tell of their experiences as perceive
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them to the best of their ability."
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Few of us are in a position to judge the Ed and Francis Walters
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story. There is more to their story than any of us know and a lot
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yet to be reported.
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As MUFON investigators the Salisberrys' job was to complete their
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investigation and forward their report through well-defined
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channels. That review process is how MUFON checks the work of
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their investigators and maintains quality control throughout the
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investigative process. For MUFON investigators to act otherwise is
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neither professional nor ethical.
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=================================================================
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UFO'S - ILLUSION OR REALITY ?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Scientists find ready explanations for most UFO incidents in terms
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of known physical phenomena, such as celestial bodies, electrical
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occurrences in the atmosphere, the warping of light rays, and
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weather balloons. But in the meantime the complexity of the UFO
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phenomena has provoked a relatively new approach to the whole
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question of their reality.
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Could it be that accounts of UFO's are related to the many psychic
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and paranormal experiences recounted by human beings throughout
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history? Certainly the reports of these strange objects, and their
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odd occupants who sometimes convey social messages to humans, have
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a mythical and often visionary quality.
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In his book Passport to Magonia, Jacque Vallee, a computer
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scientist and student of UFOlogy, traces the many parallels between
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the ancient myths of all cultures and today's stories of UFO's. He
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goes on to propose that UFO experiences are paranormal in nature
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and are the space-age equivalent of a phenomenon that assumes
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different guises in different historical contexts. Vallee suggests
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that human life is controlled by imagination and myth and that
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paranormal experiences are the means by which man's ideas about
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himself and his universe are constantly shaped. Such experiences,
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he adds, become especially important in times of social stress. In
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his view the UFO phenomenon is the present-day "tool" in this
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control system. The great mystery is whether this control is part
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of man's genetic makeup or whether it is imposed upon him from
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without -- through alien intervention.
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Psychiatrist Carl G. Jung, who is widely known for his theories
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concerning the human psyche, also proposed a "supernormal"
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explanation for UFO's. In a book published in 1958, Flying
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Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, Jung suggested
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that the UFO phenomenon is a manifestation of man's "collective
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unconscious," a repository of archetypal images and impressions
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that surface in symbols, dreams, and myths and predispose man to
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produce very similar ideas, regardless of time or place. He
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pointed out the parallels between the ancient religious symbol he
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called the mandala -- a circular pattern representing "the idea of
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the universal" -- and the round shape of most UFO's. Jung regarded
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UFO's as a psychological projection of man's hopes and fears in an
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uncertain world. Thus he deprived them of physical reality.
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Vallee's ideas are similar to Jung's in many respects; but he
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differs by accepting the reality of UFO's, in the sense that UFO
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witnesses have been exposed to a real event. In the February 1978
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issue of Fate, he suggests that what they experienced is some sort
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of change in electromagnetic energy in their immediate vicinity.
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This change in energy may be produced by the witness himself,
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internally and spontaneously, or by some external agency. In any
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case, says Vallee: "What they [the witnesses] tell us is that
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they've seen a flying saucer [or had an encounter with aliens].
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Now they may have seen that or ... the image of a flying saucer or
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they may have hallucinated it under the influence of microwave
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radiation, or any of a number of things may have happened. The
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fact is that the witnesses were exposed to an event and as a result
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they experienced a highly complex alteration of perception which
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caused them to describe the object or objects that figure in their
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testimony."
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Jung's and Vallee's theories seem supported by an analysis of the
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stories told by UFO "abductees." (Under hypnosis, those who
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experienced "time loss" are able to "remember" all the details of
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their sojourn aboard an alien vessel.) Although their accounts
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vary greatly in detail, they describe a similar chain of events:
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the person sees a shining light, is guided to the vessel, often in
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a semiconscious, almost "out-of-body" state, is physically
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examined, enters into telepathic communication with the "alien,"
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and finally returns home.
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What is truly fascinating is that the same sequence of events is
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described by hypnotized subjects who have never had the experience
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of a UFO encounter but have simply been told to imagine one. This
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in no way denies the validity of the testimony of the "real"
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witnesses -- rather it suggests that the human mind is "programmed"
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to think in a certain way in response to certain stimuli.
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Apparently any number of stimuli can produce the particular state
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of consciousness susceptible to UFO-like experiences. Such stimuli
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might be mind-altering drugs, a brush with death, perhaps the
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physical charge of ball lightning, or -- an actual physical
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encounter with a flying saucer.
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The events described by people who have returned to a normal state
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of consciousness -- whether from death's door or from a
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hallucinatory or hypnotic state or a religious trance -- are
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amazingly similar, incorporating the light, the "guide" or
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"abductor," the examination, the messages, and so forth.
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All this suggests the likelihood of some common matrix in the mind
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that can be triggered to allow paranormal experiences of the kind
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involving UFO's. To what degree such experiences can be called
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real becomes a questions of semantics. However, the "paranormal"
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theory offers a new look at what remains an inexplicable
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phenomenon.
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We encourage the submission of copy ready articles from members and
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friends of Georgia SkyWatch and Georgia MUFON.
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UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
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Feature Article
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Millions of people have seen objects in the sky that they could not
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identify, and many thousands have taken the time and trouble to
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submit written reports about them. The vast majority of these
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sightings could well be of such things as meteors, planets, stars,
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weather balloons, swamp gas, and atmospheric disturbances. There
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remains however, a significant body of experiences that are truly
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inexplicable.
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There is no doubt that disk-shaped objects have been seen by a
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great many honest, sober, and mystified men and women. The objects
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have been tracked by ground-based and airborne radar and have been
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photographed by still and movie cameras in black and white and
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color. The craft have been observed to hover, move straight up or
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down, and accelerate and maneuver at speeds far beyond the
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capability of any known airplane.
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The following is a three part report about phenomena that
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challenge the preconceptions we have about the
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universe and the laws of physics we accept as the basis by which it
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exists. The first part is a chronological review of UFO reports
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recorded before 1800.
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===============================================================
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UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
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---------------------------------------------------------------
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PART I
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UFO REPORTS BEFORE 1800
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The sighting of strange objects in the sky may actually predate the
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emergence of modern man. Perhaps the earliest depiction of
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cylindrical objects resembling spacecraft, with what might be their
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extraterrestrial occupants, are those carved on a granite mountain
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and on rocks on an island in Hunan province, China. They have been
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assigned a tentative age of 47,000 years, which puts them within
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the time-span of Neanderthal man, predating modern Homo sapiens.
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(Jacque Vallee, UFO' s in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon. p.1.)
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One of the first written accounts of a UFO sighting -- a fleet of
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flying saucers, perhaps -- is the following excerpt from an
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Egyptian papyrus -- part of the annals of Thutmose III, who reigned
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around 1504-1450 B.C.:
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In the year 22 of the 3rd month of winter, sixth hour of the
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day...the scribes of the House of Life found it was a circle of
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fire that was coming in the sky... It had no head, the breath of
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its mouth had a foul odor. Its body one rod long and one rod wide.
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It had no voice. Their hearts became confused through it; then
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they laid themselves on their bellies... They went to the
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Pharaoh... to report it. His Majesty ordered... [an examination of]
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all which is written in the papyrus rolls of the House of Life.
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His Majesty was meditating upon what happened. Now after some days
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had passed, these things became more numerous in the skies than
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ever. They shone more in the sky than the brightness of the sun,
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and extended to the limits of the four supports of the heavens...
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Powerful was the position of the fire circles. The army of the
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Pharaoh looked on with him in their midst. It was after supper.
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Thereupon, these fire circles ascended higher in the sky towards
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the south... The Pharaoh caused incense to be brought to make peace
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on the hearth... And what happened was ordered by the Pharaoh to be
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written in the annals of the House of Life... so that it be
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remembered for ever." [Brinsley Le Poer Trench, The Flying Saucer
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Story, pp.81-82.]
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The prophet Ezekiel's "vision," recorded in the Bible, is thought
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by some to be a UFO sighting. His description is of a strange
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"vehicle" coming from the sky and landing near the Chebar River (or
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Canal) in Chaldea (now Iraq) in the fifth year of the Judean
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captivity (592 B.C.) under Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon:
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What kind of "machine" was this? Ezekiel continues:
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And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living
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creatures.
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And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each
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had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were
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straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a
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calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their
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wings on their four sides they had human hands... each had the face
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of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right
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side... the face of an ox on the left side, and... the face of an
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eagle at the back... And their wings were spread out above; each
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creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another,
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while two covered their bodies. And each [creature] went straight
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forward... without turning as they went... And the living creatures
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darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.
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Who were these humanoid "occupants"? Space-helmeted, space-suited
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astronauts with a strapped-on flying device? Or, perhaps,
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extraterrestrial flying robots? The account continues:
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Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the
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earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of
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them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction:
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their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite... being as
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it were a wheel within a wheel... The four wheels had rims and they
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had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when
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the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when
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the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.
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Were these humanoids going back and forth into a green-glowing
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spacecraft surrounded by a ring of portholes? But there is more:
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...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;
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and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were
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of a human form. And upward from... his loins I saw as it were
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gleaming bronze... and there was brightness... Like the appearance
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of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the
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appearance of the brightness round about... And when I saw it... I
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heard the voice of one speaking.
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Ezekiel is told that the Israelites have transgressed and are to be
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punished unless they obey the Lord's commandments. Ezekiel is
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selected as the messenger to his people and is taken on board ("the
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Spirit lifted me up"). The spacecraft takes off ("I heard... the
|
||
sound of the wheels... that sounded like a great earthquake"), and
|
||
Ezekiel is carried to Tel-abib where his fellow exiles are and
|
||
where he sits "overwhelmed among them seven days," traumatized by
|
||
his experience. (Ezekiel 1-3) (As we can see from contemporary UFO
|
||
encounters, this could be interpreted as an almost classic report
|
||
of the abduction and return of humans.)
|
||
|
||
The Roman author Julius Obsequens, believed to have lived in the
|
||
fourth century A.D., drew on Livy as well as other sources of his
|
||
time to compile his book Prodigorium liber, which describes many
|
||
peculiar phenomena, some of which could be interpreted as UFO
|
||
sightings. Here are just a few examples:
|
||
|
||
[216 B.C.] Things like ships were seen in the sky over Italy... At
|
||
Arpi (180 Roman miles, east of Rome, in Apulia) a round shield was
|
||
seen in the sky... At Capua, the sky was all on fire, and one saw
|
||
figures like ships... [99 B.C.] When C. Murius and L. Valerius were
|
||
consuls, in Tarquinia, there fell in different places... a thing
|
||
like a flaming torch, and it came suddenly from the sky. Towards
|
||
sunset, a round object like a globe, or round or circular shield
|
||
took its path in the sky, from west to east. [90 B.C.] In the
|
||
territory of Spoletium (65 Roman miles north of Rome, in Umbria) a
|
||
globe of fire, of golden colour, fell to the earth, gyrating. It
|
||
then seemed to increase in size, rose from the earth, and ascended
|
||
into the sky, where it obscured the disc of the sun, with its
|
||
brilliance. It revolved towards the eastern quadrant of the sky.
|
||
[Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, pp.164-69]
|
||
|
||
A later chronicler of inexplicable phenomena, one Conrad Wolffhart
|
||
(a professor of grammar and dialectics who under the pen name of
|
||
Lycosthenes wrote the compendium Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum
|
||
Chronicon, published in 1567), mentions the following events:
|
||
|
||
[A.D. 393] Strange lights were seen in the sky in the days of the
|
||
Emperor Theodosius. On a sudden, a bright globe appeared at
|
||
midnight. It shone brilliantly near the day star (planet, Venus),
|
||
about the circle of the zodiac. This globe shone little less
|
||
brilliantly than the planet, and little by little, a great number
|
||
of other glowing orbs drew near the first globe. The spectacle was
|
||
like a swarm of bees flying round the bee-keeper, and the light of
|
||
these orbs was as if they were dashing violently against each
|
||
other. Soon, they blended together into one awful flame, and
|
||
bodied forth to the eye as a horrible two- edged sword. The
|
||
strange globe which was first seen now appeared like the pommel to
|
||
a handle, and all the little orbs, fused with the first, shone as
|
||
brilliantly as the first globe. [This report is similar to modern
|
||
accounts of UFO formations.] [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on
|
||
the Attack, pp.174, 177]
|
||
|
||
A rare typeset book from 1493, now preserved in a museum at Verdun,
|
||
France, contains what may be the earliest pictorial representation
|
||
of a UFO in Europe. Hartmann Schedel, author of the book Liber
|
||
Chronicarum, describes a strange firey sphere -- seen in 1034 --
|
||
soaring through the sky in a straight course from south to east and
|
||
then veering toward the setting sun. The illustration accompanying
|
||
the account shows a cigar-shaped form haloed by flames, sailing
|
||
through a blue sky over a green, rolling countryside. (Jacque
|
||
Vallee, UFO's in Space: Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p.9)
|
||
|
||
A term equivalent to our "flying saucer" was actually used by the
|
||
Japanese approximately 700 years before it came into use in the
|
||
West. Ancient documents describe an unusual shining object seen
|
||
the night of October 27, 1180, as a flying "earthenware vessel."
|
||
After a while the object, which had been heading northeast from a
|
||
mountain in Kii province, changed its direction and vanished below
|
||
the horizon, leaving a luminous trail. (Jacques Valley, Passport
|
||
to Magonia, pp.4-5)
|
||
|
||
Here is a classical description from William of Newburgh's
|
||
Chronicle of a flying saucer seen in England toward the end of the
|
||
12th century:
|
||
|
||
At Byland, or Begeland Abbey (the largest Cistercian abbey in
|
||
England), in the North Yorkshire Riding, while the abbot and monks
|
||
were in the refectorium, a flat, round, shining, silvery object
|
||
["discus" is the word used in the Latin account] flew over the
|
||
abbey and caused the utmost terror. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying
|
||
Saucers on the Attack, p.185]
|
||
|
||
The first official investigation of a UFO sighting occurred in
|
||
Japan in 1235. During the night of September 24, while General
|
||
Yoritsume and his army were encamped, they observed mysterious
|
||
lights in the heavens. The lights were seen in the southwest for
|
||
many hours, swinging, circling, and moving in loops. The general
|
||
ordered a "full-scale scientific investigation" of these strange
|
||
events. The report finally submitted to him as the "soothing" ring
|
||
of many contemporary explanations offered for UFO phenomena. In
|
||
essence it read: "the whole thing is completely natural, General.
|
||
It is... only the wind making the stars sway." (Jacques Vallee,
|
||
Passport to Magonia, p.5)
|
||
|
||
Many unusual celestial events were recorded in Japanese chronicles
|
||
during the Middle Ages. As in Western society, such occurrences
|
||
were usually considered "portents," often resulting in panics and
|
||
other social disturbances. Here are some examples:
|
||
|
||
...on September 12, 1271, the famous priest Nichiren was about to
|
||
be beheaded at Tatsunokuchi, Kamakura, when there appeared in the
|
||
sky an object like a full moon, shiny and bright. Needless to say,
|
||
the officials panicked and the execution was not carried out.
|
||
|
||
In 1361, a flying object described as being "shaped like a drum,
|
||
about twenty feet in diameter" emerged from the inland sea off
|
||
western Japan....
|
||
|
||
...on March 8, 1468, a dark object, which made a "sound like a
|
||
wheel," flew from Mt. Kasuga toward the west at midnight. {Jacques
|
||
Vallee, Passport to Magonia, pp.5-6]
|
||
|
||
The European record of possible UFO sightings continued through the
|
||
14th and 15th centuries:
|
||
|
||
[A.D. 1322] In the first hour of the night of Novr. 4... there was
|
||
seen in the sky over Uxbridge, England, a pile (pillar) of fire the
|
||
size of a small boat, pallid and livid in colour. It rose from the
|
||
south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion and went north.
|
||
|
||
Out of the front of the pile, a fervent red flame burst forth with
|
||
great beams of light. Its speed increased, and it flew thro' the
|
||
air....
|
||
|
||
[A.D. 1387] In Novr. and Decr. of this year, a fire in the sky,
|
||
like a burning and revolving wheel, or round barrel of flame,
|
||
emitting fire from above, and others in the shape of a long fiery
|
||
beam, were seen through a great deal of the winter, in the county
|
||
of Leicester, Eng., and in Northamptonshire.
|
||
|
||
[A.D. 1461] On November 1, a fiery thing like an iron rod of good
|
||
length and as large as one half of the moon was seen in the sky,
|
||
over... Arras, France for less than a quarter of an hour. This
|
||
object was also described as being "shaped like a ship, from which
|
||
fire was seen flowing." [Jacques Vallee, UFO's in Space: Anatomy of
|
||
a Phenomenon, p.9; Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack,
|
||
pp.187, 188]
|
||
|
||
From 1733 another classic account of one of those gleaming, silvery
|
||
bodies today referred to as flying saucers:
|
||
|
||
Something in the sky which appeared in the north, but vanished from
|
||
my sight, as it was intercepted by trees, from my vision. I was
|
||
standing in a valley. The weather was warm, the sun shone
|
||
brightly. On a sudden it re-appeared, darting in and out of my
|
||
sight with an amazing coruscation. The colour of this phenomenon
|
||
was like burnished, or new washed silver. It shot with speed like
|
||
a star falling in the night. But it has a body much larger and a
|
||
train longer than any shooting star
|
||
I have seen.... Next day, Mr. Edgecombe informed me that he and
|
||
another gentleman had seen this strange phenomenon at the same time
|
||
as I had. It was about 15 miles from where I saw it, and steering
|
||
a course from E. to N.
|
||
|
||
The witness of this event was a Mr. Cracker of Fleet, a small
|
||
township in Dorset, England. Mr. Cracker said that he saw his
|
||
"flying saucer" in broad daylight on December 8, 1733. (Fate, April
|
||
1951, p.24)
|
||
|
||
A fellow of the Royal Society in London was about to cross St.
|
||
James's Park on his way home from a meeting on December 16, 1742,
|
||
when he was startled by the appearance of a remarkable celestial
|
||
object:
|
||
|
||
...a light arose from behind the trees and houses, to the south and
|
||
west, which at first I thought was a rocket, of large size. But
|
||
when it rose 20 degrees, it moved parallel to the horizon, and
|
||
waved like this -- he draws an undulating line -- and went on in
|
||
the direction of north by east. It seemed very near, Its motion
|
||
was very slow.I had it for about half a mile in view. A light
|
||
flame was turned backward by the resistance the air made to it.
|
||
From, one end, it emitted a bright glare and fire like that of a
|
||
burning charcoal. That end was a frame like bars of iron, and
|
||
quite opaque to my sight. At one point, on the longitudinal frame,
|
||
or cylinder, issued a train in the shape of a tail of light more
|
||
bright at one point on the rod or cylinder, and growing
|
||
gradually fainter at the end of the rod or cylinder; so that it was
|
||
transparent for more than half of its length. The head of this
|
||
strange object seemed about half a degree in diameter, and the tail
|
||
near three degrees in length.
|
||
|
||
The observer signed himself "C.M.," probably preferring to remain
|
||
anonymous to avoid the expected skepticism and scoffing of his
|
||
fellow members. (Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack,
|
||
p.206)
|
||
|
||
First UFO photograph and a most unusual sighting was reported by
|
||
Monsieur de Rostan, an amateur astronomer and member of the
|
||
Medicophysical Society of Basel, Switzerland. On August 9, 1762,
|
||
at Lausanne, Switzerland, he observed through a telescope a
|
||
spindle-shaped object crossing and eclipsing the sun. Monsieur de
|
||
Rostan was able to observe this object almost daily for close to a
|
||
month. He also managed to trace its outline with a camera obscura
|
||
and sent the picture to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris.
|
||
Unfortunately, this image -- probably the first one ever obtained
|
||
of a UFO -- no longer exists.
|
||
|
||
A friend of Monsieur de Rostan, living at Sole near Basel, also
|
||
observed the spindle-shaped object against the sun, but it seemed
|
||
to present more of an edge and was not quite as broad. Oddly
|
||
enough, the UFO was not visible to a third astronomer, a Monsieur
|
||
Messier who studied the sun, during the same time, from Paris -- an
|
||
indication that the object was not a sunspot, since it was visible
|
||
only from certain angles. (Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the
|
||
Attack, pp.211-212)
|
||
|
||
The last year of the 18th century had its share of celestial
|
||
phenomena. An issue of Gentleman's Magazine contained the
|
||
following story:
|
||
|
||
On Sep. 19 [1799], all England saw, at 8:30 p.m., a beautiful ball
|
||
blazing with white light, and which passed from N.W. to S.E. It
|
||
moved rapidly with a gentle tremulous motion, and noiselessly. The
|
||
light cast by it was very vivid, and few red sparks detached
|
||
themselves from it.... On Nov. 12, something like a large red
|
||
pillar of fire passed north to south over Hereford, and alarmed
|
||
people in the Forest of Dean, some miles away. Flashes of
|
||
extremely vivid electrical sort preceded its appearance, and at
|
||
intervals of half an hour, several hours before. This was at 5:45
|
||
a.m.... On this night the moon shone with uncommon vividness, when
|
||
between 5 and 6 a.m., bright lights in the sky became stationary.
|
||
They then burst with no perceptible report, and passed north
|
||
leaving behind them beautiful trains of floating fire. Some were
|
||
pointed, some radiated. Some sparkled and some had large
|
||
columns.... Nov. 19, at 6.a.m., folk of Huncoates, Lincolnshire,
|
||
were alarmed by vivid flashes lasting 30 seconds, from a ball of
|
||
fire passing in the sky. [Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the
|
||
Attack, p.211]
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
The purpose of the Georgia SkyWatch Newsletter is to stimulate the
|
||
public's interest in and awareness of the UFO phenomena.
|
||
================================================================= ================================================================
|
||
INVESTIGATING UFO's
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The history of the official documentation of UFO's began in 1948
|
||
when the U.S. Air Force created Project Sign. The following year
|
||
this was reorganized in to Project Grudge, and then into Project
|
||
Blue Book.
|
||
|
||
The purpose of Project Blue Book was to investigate and evaluate
|
||
UFO reports within the United States and at its stations and
|
||
properties in other countries with regard to any potential threat
|
||
to national security, whether from foreign powers or from outer
|
||
space. Critics claimed that the project lacked a scientifically
|
||
qualified staff and that it was simply a "cover-up" operation meant
|
||
to reassure an alarmed public.
|
||
|
||
Project Blue Book proved to be quite effective, however. During
|
||
its 18 years of activity it accumulated more than 12,600 reported
|
||
cases in its files, almost all of which were eventually explained
|
||
as mistaken natural phenomena or as known aircraft. But 701
|
||
sightings remained classified as "unidentified."
|
||
|
||
In 1966 the U.S. Air Force sponsored an independent, stepped-up
|
||
investigation of UFO's by a team of scientists from the University
|
||
of Colorado under the direction of Dr. Edward U. Condon, a
|
||
prominent physicist and former head of the American Association for
|
||
the Advancement of Science. Of the 59 cases they selected for
|
||
serious investigation during the next two years, 23 eluded
|
||
explanation. In his final report, in 1969, Condon nevertheless
|
||
concluded that a total of 21 years of UFO study had added nothing
|
||
to scientific knowledge and that "further extensive study" probably
|
||
was not warranted. He also stated that "it is safe to assume that
|
||
no ILE [intelligent life elsewhere] outside of our solar system has
|
||
any possibility of visiting Earth in the next 10,000 years." To
|
||
date, no one has determined the basis for Condon's estimate.
|
||
|
||
Following publication of the Condon report, the U.S. Air Force
|
||
agreed that UFO's posed no threat to national security and that
|
||
there was no evidence the sighted objects were of extraterrestrial
|
||
origin. Project Blue Book was then terminated, and all of its
|
||
files were declassified. But the fact that some other documents on
|
||
UFO's remained classified prompted a few private UFO investigative
|
||
groups to press for their release on the ground that the public is
|
||
entitled to know all.
|
||
|
||
Even today many UFO buffs believe that the real investigation of
|
||
UFO's was -- and is -- being secretly conducted by high-level
|
||
government personnel. But at this time only private organizations
|
||
are involved in serious UFO research. Among the membership groups
|
||
the best known are the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), founded in 1969;
|
||
the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP),
|
||
founded in 1956 in Washington, D.C.; and the Aerial Phenomena
|
||
Research Organization (APRO), founded in 1952 by Jim and Coral
|
||
Lorenzen. A highly regarded nonmembership organization is the
|
||
Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), founded in 1973 by astronomer Dr.
|
||
J. Allen Hynek, who for years was scientific consultant to Project
|
||
Blue Book. By 1982 CUFOS had amassed a computerized list of 70,000
|
||
reported sightings from all over the world. It was found that
|
||
about 80 percent of these were easily explained and dismissed; the
|
||
other 20 percent remain subject to further investigation.
|
||
|
||
Other countries, notably France, Britain, and Australia, also have
|
||
civilian organizations that collect and seriously investigate UFO
|
||
reports. although awareness of the phenomenon is kept alive solely
|
||
by private enterprise, reports of unidentified flying objects from
|
||
all over the world continue to accumulate and further compound the
|
||
most elusive mystery of our time.
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FROM THE FIELD INVESTIGATOR'S NOTEBOOK
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
The next time you have one of those UFO sightings...in addition to
|
||
looking at the UFO...note the time...direction...and stick your arm
|
||
out straight toward the object with hand up fingers apart palm
|
||
outward. Those aliens will think you are waving to them. In
|
||
reality you will be comparing the size of the craft to the size of
|
||
your finger nails and determining the azimuth of the craft by
|
||
seeing how many outstretched hands you can put between the horizon
|
||
and the craft.
|
||
|
||
Your little finger nail is about the size of an aspirin...and when
|
||
aimed at the moon will just about cover it. The size of your thumb
|
||
nail is twice that size. By knowing the distance from your eyes to
|
||
your outstretched hand (take a yard stick and measure it)...and
|
||
estimating the distance between you and the object...and using a
|
||
little trigonometry, it is possible for you to determine the size
|
||
of the object. Knowing the size of the object can be very helpful
|
||
in the field investigation to follow.
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIELD INVESTIGATOR TRAINING
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Future issues of Georgia SkyWatch will include Field Investigator
|
||
Training information. Individuals interested in receiving formal
|
||
Field Investigator training should contact Nedd Mockler, 923-0739.
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
RUMORS - BY 1992 ???
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
This report is given without evaluation..."Various people involved
|
||
with channeling are reporting that... by 1992 certain events will
|
||
take place that will make it very hard for anyone to deny the
|
||
existence of alien visitation."
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
GEORGIA MUFON MEMBERSHIP CONTEST
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
MUFON of Georgia is actively seeking new MUFON members. Georgia
|
||
SKYWATCH is offering a prize to the two MUFON of Georgia members
|
||
who recruit the most new members by December 31, 1990. If you are
|
||
one of the two to qualify, you will win a brand new $120 NSA
|
||
counter-top water system.
|
||
|
||
Contest Rules
|
||
|
||
To be eligible to participate you must:
|
||
|
||
1. Be a registered member of MUFON, Inc. New members
|
||
are eligible to participate. Join now and compete.
|
||
|
||
2. Recruit no less than ten new MUFON members between
|
||
now and December 25, 1990. The two members who recruit
|
||
the most new members over ten will win!
|
||
|
||
3. Each new member must complete an Application for
|
||
Membership to the Mutual UFO Network, Inc.
|
||
|
||
4. The completed application and a check for $25 made
|
||
out to MUFON, Inc., must be sent to the Mutual UFO
|
||
Network, Inc., 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155.
|
||
|
||
5. The words, "RECRUITED BY: (Name of Recruiter)," must
|
||
be printed in the upper, right hand corner of the MUFON
|
||
application.
|
||
|
||
6. A copy of the application should be sent to Georgia
|
||
SKYWATCH, 243 Jeweler's Ridge, Lilburn, Georgia 30247.
|
||
|
||
The price of MUFON membership is $25.00 per year and includes a
|
||
subscription to the MUFON JOURNAL. An Application for Membership
|
||
form is attached to this Newsletter. You may reproduce it and any
|
||
other materials included herein to assist you with your recruitment
|
||
campaign.
|
||
|
||
**********************************************
|
||
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
||
********************************************** |