Site Update
December 10, 2005
Julian J. A. Hennessey - The U.K. Government and UFOs
For many years Julian Hennessey worked as NICAP's representative in Great Britain where he investigated a large number of cases in the U.K. and Europe. He was chairman of European Investigative Subcommittee #1 of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and through persistent and meticulous efforts was able to create an impressive network of official and semi-official interest in UFO reports.
Some of this official interest was less than supportive, and many times Hennessey became a thorn in the side of British government officials who continued to insist that there was no real interest in UFO reports other than those with "possible defense implications".
Jan Aldrich presents an overview of Julian's work in this introduction to the previously unpublished essay, The U.K. Government and UFOs, in which Julian outlines some significant historical British UFO events and his own involvement with UFO research in the 60s and 70s.
July 23, 2005
Sign Oral History Project (SOHP)
The Sign Oral History Project began in 1999 to preserve the history of the UFO phenomenon by archiving the spoken memories and personal commentaries of witnesses, investigators, officials, scientists, and other individuals associated with UFO history.
A selection of interviews the SOHP has conducted can be accessed from the SOHP main page. A large collection of links associated with the SOHP interviews is available here.
July 17, 2005
Green Fireball and Ghost Rocket Chronologies
Joel Carpenter has produced two excellent Chronologies which examine in detail two of the most enduring aerial mysteries of modern times.
Green Fireballs Over Los Alamos introduces us to the "New Mexico Missile Crisis," a time when mysterious "green fireballs" were seen in the skies of the American Southwest overflying Top Secret military installations.
In a Green Fireball Chronology Joel Carpenter traces the history and people involved in trying to determine the origins of the elusive fireballs: Secret Russian weapons, a natural phenomenon, or something "not of this world"?
Before the 1947 wave of "flying saucer" sightings, there were mysterious objects being seen in the skies of Scandinavia. These "Ghost Rockets" were detected both visually and on radar, but their origin could not be determined. Had the Russians been able to exploit captured German rocket technology so quickly, or were these "ghosts" the precursors to the flying saucer and Green Fireball sightings? In a Ghost Rocket Chronology: Guided Missiles and UFOs, Joel explores the wide-ranging attempts to resolve and explain the "Ghost Rockets" during a time of rising political tensions and advances in rocket technology.
Paper Threat: Japanese Fu-Go balloons
Unknown aerial objects sighted in the skies over North America that were subject to strict media censorship and official secrecy... UFOs in the form of a new intercontinental weapon launched during the closing days of World War II that became known as Fu-Go.
The race to deal with the Fu-go weapon established the precedent for official secrecy when dealing with the recovery of suspected airborne artifacts. Several agencies and persons who had to deal with the Japanese balloon bombs later went on to play important roles in the investigation of Green Fireballs and UFOs.
Joel Carpenter's Paper Threat, the first intercontinental weapon system, documents the history of the Fu-go Balloon attacks and the many efforts by the government and military to deal with this new threat from the sky.
July 14, 2005
Keith Basterfield's New Catalogues
Australian researcher Keith Basterfield has completed work on seven recently updated catalogues which cover many aspects of UFO research.
These catalogues cover UFO sightings by aircraft passengers and crew, physical trace cases, UFO reports where photographs were taken, EM effects on vehicles, entity sightings and a comprehensive listing of UFO-related events in South Australia, the home of the Woomera Rocket Range.
Keith's catalogues can be read here
March 1, 2005
Minot AFB B-52 UFO Report
In 1968 numerous ground and air witnesses observed an unconventional aerial object as it maneuvered over the ICBM fields surrounding Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
Portions of this dramatic incident were recently dramatized in the ABC News Special television documentary Peter Jennings Reporting: UFOs: Seeing is Believing
Thomas Tulien, Chairman of the Sign Historical Group, and James Klotz, veteran CUFON researcher, have been investigating these dramatic events for over five years and are close to releasing their comprehensive report. Details of the Minot AFB B-52 UFO Incident report can be read here.
October 30, 2004
UAL Flight 105
Just days after the Kenneth Arnold sighting of "flying saucers", the crew of United Air Lines flight 105 had their own astonishing encounter over Emmett, Idaho, on July 4, 1947.
January 3, 2004
Inventory of Material From The Files of Dr. Olavos T. Fontes
Dr. Willy Smith recently donated his collection of files to the Sign Historical Group. Included in this material were many items from the files of the renowned Brazilian UFO researcher, Dr. Olavos T. Fontes. An inventory of this material, along with Fontes-related items provided by other researchers, can be read here. A selection of Internet links referring to Fontes-related cases is also included.
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