September 1984

In This Issue

“On the U.F.O. Trail” (Paul Norman)
Pages 2-3

Paul Norman reports on his April 1984 international research trip. After ten days investigating UFO cases in Zimbabwe with Cynthia Hind (MUFON’s Africa coordinator), he flew to London, then to the outer islands of northern and north-western Scotland (where only 20% of the time is favourable for viewing, explaining the low report rate), and on to the United States.

“Uncovering a Cover-Up” (Timothy Good / BBC Television)
Pages 3-5

Excerpts from a BBC Television interview (“Out of Court” programme, 10 March 1982) with Admiral of the Fleet the Lord Hill-Norton, Former First Sea Lord and Former Chief of the British Defence Staff.

Book Review: “Clear Intent” (John Auchettl)
Pages 5-8

Auchettl’s extended review of Clear Intent by Lawrence Fawcett and Barry J. Greenwood (1984, 254 pages, foreword by Dr J.

Cosmonaut to Lead UFO Investigation
Pages 8

Former Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich appointed to head an official Kremlin UFO investigation, the Commission for the Investigation of Abnormal Atmospheric Phenomena, prompted by sightings of a cigar-shaped craft over Gorky near Moscow, witnessed by air control personnel, which circled an airfield and vanished off radar screens.

“UFO Hunters” (Roger Hahn, St. Louis Globe Democrat)
Pages 8-9

Profile of the UFO Study Group of Greater St. Louis (60 members, 500+ mailing list) and their upcoming presentation by Mark Rodeghier (Center for UFO Studies, Evanston, Illinois) on vehicle interference events.

“Aliens Get Invitation for Airtime”
Pages 9

Radio station KFMH in Muscatine, Iowa broadcasts a 10-to-15 minute message to aliens every Wednesday at midnight, giving their location in latitude and longitude in English, Samoan, French, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, and other languages. Over 300 calls received; a separate phone line installed.

“Monrovian Studies Space Mystery” (Lee Graham / Roswell)
Pages 10-11

“Mystery Siberian Cataclysm Solved” (Tunguska)
Pages 11-12

Soviet scientist N. Vassiliev (University of Tomsk) reported that the angle and speed of impact of the 1908 Tunguska explosion did not support the comet or meteorite theory.

Two UFO Reports from the French Press: The Cergy-Pontoise Hoax Exposed
Pages 12-14

Supplied by Renaud Marhic, President of GEPSI (Groupe d’Etude des Phenomenes Spatiaux Inexpliques), Brest.

“Scratch, Another U.F.O.” (Photo Hoax)
Pages 14-15

After the 1983 Australian flap, a Victorian photographer attempted to sell UFO photos to a newspaper. VUFORS submitted the photos to GSW for computer analysis.

VISIT (Vehicle Internal Systems Investigate Team) Warning
Pages 15

Warning from John Schuessler (VISIT, Houston, Texas) that individuals in Texas and Australia were fraudulently collecting money in the name of the Cash-Landrum case victims (Betty Cash, Vickie and Colby Landrum). No one had authorised or agreed to such activities.

Press Clippings: Ballarat “Flying H” Sighting
Pages 17-18 (from “News”, Ballarat, 24 May 1984)

A Wendouree family observed an H-shaped object above Ballarat Airport for approximately four minutes on a Thursday evening. Through binoculars: two fuselage-like sections joined at the top by a thin membrane.

Press Clipping: Mt Isa Police Sighting

Two police officers (Constables Darryl Reay, 30, and Frank Bebemitz, 33) and a Mt Isa couple (Alan Davies, 47, and wife Pat) watched a spherical white object surrounded by flashing red, blue, and green lights hovering south-west of the town for more than 30 minutes on a Sunday night from 10 p.m.

The May '83 Flap and Bendigo Photographs Part 2 (John Auchettl)
Pages 19-21 (continued from March 1984)

Editorial (Judy Magee)
Pages 1-2, 16

An extended retrospective surveying four decades of UFO literature, from Keyhoe, Ruppelt, Michel, Heard, Gibbons, Girvan, Cramp, and Barry Downing through Sanderson’s Invisible Residents (1970), Von Daniken, Vallee, Cathie (grid lines), the Lorenzens (APRO), Charles Bowen, Brinsley le Poer Trench (Earl of Clancarty), Velikovsky, and Hynek. Notes the rise of hypnotic regression and abduction cases (Betty and Barney Hill, the Andreasson Affair, Bud Hopkins’ Missing Time).

Notable Quotes

“[Information] was not available to him while he was in office. [Had it been available,] he would not have been allowed to say so.” Lord Hill-Norton (Former Chief of the British Defence Staff)

“This leaves us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet… the data suggests the existence of at least 3, and maybe 4, different groups of aliens.” USAF Academy textbook (Physics 370)

“[The object] demonstrated a clear intent in the weapons storage area.” Loring AFB teletype (1975)

“There were 7 or 8 more behind me and at that stage I got the wind up a bit because I realised I was all alone out there.” Paul Mulqueen (Bendigo, May '83 Flap)

“We concocted this plot to make some money.” Jean-Pierre Prevost (Cergy-Pontoise confession)

“The object changed its height and azimuth in the atmosphere, and made a sharp turn to the west.” N. Vassiliev (Tunguska)