Readers will know that in CW16, CW17 and CW18 I re-published selected
cases from this well known catalogue of alleged physical ground
traces associated with unidentified flying objects. The purpose
of doing so was to draw attention to alleged historical accounts
of crop circles as well as to examine whether Meaden's
atmospheric vortex theory can be applied to explain some of the
more challenging UFO reports.
I think readers will agree with me when I state that many of
the early cases described in Phillips' catalogue are far from
satisfactory. Of course, this was not Phillips' fault, rather the
fault of his contributors, who frequently accepted what they were
told by witnesses without the slightest degree of critical
thinking or logic. Some cases - eg the Alencon landing from 18th
century France - have been dismissed by skeptical researchers as
outright frauds, whilst others - such as the car stop case at
Tuscon (case 790) - suggest that there may be valuable
data lying around waiting to be discovered and re-interpreted as
unusual natural phenomena by liberal-minded scientists. The real
problem is this - how do we sort out the wheat from the chaff ???
In this issue we move on to examine just a few cases from the
mid 1960s. Readers may note an increase in the number of circular
ground trace cases listed as well as a corresponding improvement
in detail. Whether this makes the cases any more valuable is, of
course, open to speculation.
Case 681, April 23rd, 1964. U.S.A., Rivesville, WV.
19.30 Hrs
Mrs Ivah Frederick observed a landed object for 15 minutes 600
ft. away. It was a disk with dome, revolving clock-wise and
humming. A central landing shaft was seen and a human-like figure
3 to 4 foot tall. Ascended vertically, 3 foot circular imprint
found (shaft), and footprints 6 to 8 inches long with four toes.
(NICAP).
Case 178, August 21st, 1964. U.S.A., Moses Lake, WA.
02.00 Hrs
Mrs W.D. Hawkes, awakened by a ringing noise, heard two horses
in a pasture making a commotion and the family dog barking. Next
morning concentric ring markings were found in the field. (FSR
11-70)
This case sounds promising. How many times have we heard
witnesses report a "ringing noise" or other unusual
acoustics when circular ground traces were forming ? See CW4 page
30-32 for one excellent case. The Rosedale case described on
pages 216-218 of Crop Circles, A Mystery Solved is
another. How do the skeptics explain these parallels ?
Case 179p., September 4th, 1964. U.S.A., Glassboro, NJ.
A glowing red ball was seen to descend in a wooded area. The
object was seen by two boys, who went to the landing area and
found a clearing in the woods. In the clearing they found the
ground to be scorched, all grass and vegetation was burnt in a
circular pattern. In the centre of the clearing was a hole 30
inches in diameter and 18 inches deep surrounded by a mound of
displaced earth and sand, all scorched black. Branches of
surrounding trees 30 to 40 foot tall were broken and hung
downward. There were three 6 inch holes in the ground at equal
distance from the centre hole. The circular area was about 30
feet in diameter. (Fate Magazine).
PF: Another excellent case highly suggestive of some
natural earthlight or plasma-vortex interpretation. For the super
skeptics amongst you, please explain how the two boys managed to
create such a large circular trace. How did they create all the
burning effects and damage tree branches 30 to 40 feet above the
ground ? Presumably Fate Magazine has a photograph of this
trace. Does anyone have a copy ?
Case 180, November 8th, 1964. CANADA, Saint-Alexis de
Montcalm, Quebec. 23.00 Hrs.
Mr. Lebel saw a lighted object at tree-top level, about 2,500
feet away [!!!]. At the site, a wide circle of crushed vegetation
was found, tree branches were broken, and a pole was calcined.
PF: An interesting case. It is a pity that the witness was
so far away from the light as this increases the possibility that
the light had a mundane explanation. If so, the interesting
traces might have some unrelated explanation. On the other hand,
if the witness saw what she claims to have seen what kind of
natural force can crush vegetation and calcify a pole? Was there
a steep hill slope nearby ? Or is this more related to ball
lightning than a plasma vortex ?
Case 183. 1965. CANADA, Frankford, Ontario.
Three perfect circles [ie rings, PF] 23 inches in
diameter were found. The grass [was] growing about 18 inches high
on either side of the rings, each [ring was] about 16 inches
wide. UFOs were reported on the area at the time. (Saucers,
Space and Science).
Sounds like a classic crop circle case doesn't it. We'll
chase this one up for a future issue.
Case 184. 1965. U.S.A., Caner, MA.
A 15 foot burned circle was found in a field. (Hynek)
We have to be careful with burned circles as they may be
created by different forces to swirled circles. Strange isn't it
how the modern crop circle literature has only one case of a
burned crop circle hoax, from 1987, see CW3 page 25 (case
5). Why is this ?
Case 185. 1965. U.S.A., Jaffrey, NH.
A ring was discovered and was assumed to have been left by a
flying saucer. The ring, apparently, had been made at or close to
the time when several Jaffrey residents reported [that] they had
seen a saucer close to the ground at the ring's location.
(Monadnock Lodge, Canada).
PF: Again we must be cautious. This could be a fairy ring
not a swirled ring. It could also be a hoax by the witnesses to
support their "sighting". What did the
"saucer" look like ? Was it really shaped like a
"saucer" ? Or was it simply a very bright light that
the witness misperceived as a structured object due to the
prevailing cultural myth that any unidentified light must be a
spaceship ? This is another case the skeptics must explain.
Case 186, 1965. U.S.A., Chippewa Falls, WI.
Three witnesses, man, wife and son, observed green light mass
landing and ascending. 6 foot circle found dried at the site.
Site remained barren for eight months, water would run off of
ground during that time. Site seven miles south of city. (Brent
Raynes).
Its a pity that there is no mention of a control sample so
that we can compare soil porosity in the circle with its
surroundings. This might just be a fungal growth of some kind.
Case 187, 1965. NEW ZEALAND, Waihoke.
Ross Liverton reported a circle [ie a ring, PF] of bare earth, 8
foot wide with a ring width of 12 inches. It was visible for four
years. (FSR)
PF: Another unexplained ground marking, rather than a crop
circle.
Case 188s. January 12th, 1965. U.S.A., Custer, WA.
20.20 Hrs.
Four witnesses, Mrs Jubert and her three teenage daughters,
observed an extremely bright light coming towards their house.
Thinking it was about to hit the house, they ran outside. The
light descended below a tree line and could not be seen. The
object was tracked by Blaine Air Force Base radar. The driver of
a border patrol vehicle saw a slightly domed object, 30 foot in
diameter, pass over his car. The object finally ascended
vertically at high speed and disappeared to the northeast. Where
the object had landed in the 14 to 18 inches of snow, there was a
large circular imprint, 12 foot in diameter. In addition to the
snow being melted, the ground showed evidence of scorching.
Tracks were found leading from the site, oval and about 8 inches
long and 8 inches apart in single file. The tracks led into a
wooded area and ended. (Vallee and UFO-INFO).
PF: I have mixed feelings about this case. The presence of
"tracks" could indicate the involvement of hoaxers, yet
the account of the light sounds very intriguing. Did the UFO
really appear on radar ? I find that difficult to believe. This
is a difficult case to evaluate without a proper case summary to
examine.
Case 190. February 1965. CANADA, Alberta.
Farmer noted three rings which were much greener and about 30
to 40 feet in diameter. The outer circles [rings, PF] were
not more than 2 foot in width. They were not fairy rings or
fungus growth. The grass was dark green and 4 inches taller than
the rest. (Saucers, Space and Science).
Actually this does sound like a fungal growth or even a
crop mark, rather than a crop circle.
Case 191, 1965. AUSTRALIA, Tully.
Unusual hoof-like marks were found in the Tully area. The
marks were about 2 inches by 2 inches. (Claire Noble, Australia).
Is this date correct ? Could these traces be vortex suction
marks ? Readers will recall that Claire Nobel is the local
researcher mentioned in Andy Collins' article in CW14 pages 20-25
Case 192, February 3rd, 1965. NEW ZEALAND, South
Brighton. 20.45 Hours.
Man saw a light on the beach near Penguin Street, got out of
his car to observe it. He heard a whistling sound and saw an
object, 25 foot wide, rise from the beach to an altitude of about
600 feet. He returned to the site with other persons and a dog
that became restless at a spot where grass was flattened. Another
witness, driving near Humphrey Avenue, saw the object as it rose
over South Brighton. (Vallee III).
PF: Sounds like a superb case doesn't it ! Does anyone know
anything else about it ?
Case 818, February 14th, 1965. BRAZIL, Guarani.
Footprints and circles found. Five residents see unusually
large object land, three occupants 8 foot tall, thin, wearing
tight-fitting dark one-piece suits. (Beckley, Timothy Green.
"Have Invaders From Space Divided the Earth ?" in Saga
UFO Special No 3, page 23).
PF: Oh dear ! So someone was fabricating UFO stories
involving circles as long ago as 1965 ! I will have to chase this
story up. If photographs exist of these "circles" we
will have to assume that Doug and Dave were not the first people
to make circles to support the UFO mythology. Of course these
circles may not be crop circles, but that is a secondary issue.
Case 195p, March 15th, 1965. U.S.A., Fort Myers, FL.
01.00 Hrs.
Jim Flynn, 45, saw a lighted object while hunting. 88 feet in
diameter, windows 21 inch wide. A humming sound was heard. Flynn
got to within 8 feet of the object, a beam of light was projected
towards him, he was unconscious for 24 hours. He had lost vision
in the right eye, saw poorly with the left. In the hospital five
days. Sawgrass was burned in a circle 72 feet in diameter. The
ground was turned up. Trees were burned. (NICAP and VALLEE
III).
PF: This case bears distinct similarities to the Falcon
Lake incident, which took place two years later in Canada, as
well as the Travis Walton case. The Crop Watcher has recently
received some interesting material concerning the latter case - a
"Fact File" from Philip Klass and a newspaper story by
a reporter who was a member of the team sent by the Houston
Post to investigate Walton's claim. If readers want copies of
this material please send me a large A4 sae with a 35p stamp
Case 196, May 1965. CANADA, Willowdale.
A witness observed a light on the back portion of his lot in
the woods. The light finally moved to the tree-tops and
disappeared in a westerly direction. A few days later, while
walking through the area he found a circle [ie a ring, PF] 35
feet in diameter with an outer ring 3 foot wide. (Saucers,
Space and Science).
PF: Now did the light create the ring or did the witness
create the ring to support his UFO sighting?
Case 197, May 24th, 1965. AUSTRALIA, MacKay. 00.05 Hrs.
J.W. Tilse, a senior commercial pilot, and two other men saw
in front of Mr Tilse's hotel, a large (30 foot by 1 foot)
dark-grey metallic disc-shaped machine [!!!] hovering
about 15 feet from the ground. There were two lights near the
ends of the object and "banks of floodlights" in rows
seemed suspended from it. Three legs could be seen below the
flood-lights with another light on each. The undersides of trees
were illuminated by the lights, as the object hovered about 300
feet away for about 45 minutes [!!!]. "On departure,
rose slowly to approx. 300 feet, then accelerated more than
extremely rapidly in a NE to E direction. Would have been flying
horizontally. (?)"
"A circular impression was found on the ground two days
later by the local policeman. The centre of the circle was
untouched, the outside impression was 20 feet from inside to
inside, and extended 3 foot 2 inches outwards. It was a perfect
circle. Diameter did not vary. It was practically under a
telephone line. No evidence of damage can be seen. (To the phone
line or poles)". (CUFOS)
I find this case difficult to believe don't you ? Surely a
case as impressive as this should be supported by hundreds of
witnesses and photographic evidence ?
Case 672. May or June 1965. AUSTRALIA, Tully.
Large holes in triangular pattern found underwater in 30 foot
swamp "nest" of floating reeds in counter-clockwise
direction. No object seen. (Harvey, Michael: UFOs Over the
Southern Hemisphere, Horwitz Pub. Inc. Pty. Ltd., North
Sidney, Australia, 1969, page 111 via Fred Merritt).
It seems strange that Phillips chose Harvey's book as his
primary source of information rather than the account that
appeared in Australian FSR (see CW10).
All these cases highlight the issues that face UFOlogists as
we grapple with accounts of the unexplained. How much weight can
we place on such accounts ? Are all these cases hoaxes - as the
"dry" super skeptics claim - or do some of these cases
represent encounters with objectively real but poorly understood
natural phenomena ?
In our next issue we will be
publishing a statistical study of several hundred ground trace
cases that have been gleaned from the literature (including
Phillips' catalogue) by the UFO Research Manitoba team.
