UFO-Aktuellt issue 1, 2002

A short summary in English, by Stefan Isaksson, of the contents in UFO-Sweden's quarterly magazine.

Page 3: Editorial. Chairman Clas Svahn's editorial contribution this time concerns the Archives for UFO Research in Norrkoping, As with all other UFO Sweden related work, this archive, unique for its wide range of material, is funded by private sponsors and contributions. Its importance for contemporary, and future, research cannot be emphasized enough, and Svahn encourages everyone to sponsor it if possible.

Pages 4-7: Interview with British writer and ufologist Hilary Evans. Svahn has met Mr. Evans in his home in Lewisham outside of London. Owner of the Mary Evans Picture Library and author of numerous UFO related books, Evans has been one of the most prominent researchers for years. The article chronicles his history in the field, and gives a thorough picture of his approach to the subject. He focuses on the human, subjective, factor rather than the objective "truth" which many ufologists look for. He encourages people to be critical towards researchers as well, not only the sighting in itself. The paranormal field is closely related to cultural beliefs, but one person's version of the truth might differ from another person's version. The answer must be looked for deep within the human psyche. Something is happening, but not necessarily flying saucers from outer space. But something is indeed happening, and it's very well worth investigating, according to Mr Evans.

Page 8: The strange hole in the ground. Sometime around the 16th of February 2002, a 50 centimeter deep and 80 centimeter wide hole was found in the ground in the forests north of the small town of Sveg in central Sweden. Sightings of balls of light (probably meteors) in the area were quickly associated with the strange hole, and Swedish television and radio has picked up on the news. Some think the hole might be caused by a meteorite, but experts claim differently. Digging the hole to look for a possible stone from space is further complicated by the fact that the ground is still frozen. UFO-Sweden thinks that the hole may have been caused by explosives.

Pages 9-11: The famous Ghost Rocket picture. Svahn met with Erik Reuterswärd in 1986, the man behind the famous picture of a Ghost Rocket; (the wave of strange lights in the sky and daylight cigars that haunted Sweden in 1946). Mr. Reuterswärd passed away in February 2002. This is the first time the interview is published, and Erik and his wife åsa relates the story behind the picture. It was published in magazines all over Sweden, and has since also been included in UFO books all over the world. Many experts consider it to be a picture of a meteor, and so does Svahn. The fact that the interview took place some forty years after the event obviously means that the memories of the ones involved are fuzzy, and it ís uncertain that the riddle will ever get a satisfying solution.

Pages 12-13: Book reviews. Svahn reviews six books (don't ask when he finds the time to do all work), and, as always, both New Age and more scientific books are reviewed. Most emphasis is put on the updated version of Ronald Story's "The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters", a book which Svahn finds interesting but a little too subjective. He urges the readers to invest in Clarke's The UFO Encyclopedia instead. More expensive, "but worth every dollar".

Page 14: Letters from the readers. Two letters are published; the first from a man who has had several sightings of strange aerial phenomena, the second from a reader who praises the investigation UFO-Sweden has done into the Tunguska incident in the former Soviet Union. On the bottom of the same page is an ad for the upcoming class for UFO-Sweden field investigators; beginners as well as more experienced ones.

Pages 15-18: Interview with American ufologist Kevin Randle. This article is a translation from Project Red Book 5/01, and it's translated by Stefan Roslund. The interview was done by Dave Baker from the Yorkshire UFO Society. Like many other ufologists, Randle initially got in contact with the phenomena through science fiction. A former captain in the U.S. Air Force, Randle is skeptical of a UFO conspiracy within the American government or military. He is certain that some UFO sightings have extraterrestrial origins, but not, by far, all. The bigger part of the article concerns Roswell, and Randle refutes Project Mogul entirely. Good testimonies, Randle argues, are the best evidence available to support the ET explanation for the Roswell Incident. He is indeed a skeptic, despite being positive to the ETH, but MJ-12, Gulf Breeze, abductions, the Santilli movie, cattle mutilations, are all either fake or not related to UFO phenomena (i.e. has no extraterrestrial origin).

Pages 19-21: Lizardmen and miscellaneous frog creatures. UFO-Sweden's fortean expert Richard Svensson's regular section about crypto-zoology/bizarre creature sightings, deals with strange creatures that seems to be taken straight from horror movies like Creature from the Black Lagoon. As always, the article is illustrated by brilliant drawings done by Svensson himself. It talks about various sightings of ASS (Abominable Swamp Slobs) who seem to have a thing for emerging from sinister swamps and rivers only to hunt and wreck peoples' cars. The sightings might very well not get an answer, Svensson finishes his article by saying, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them. Words to live by for sure.

Pages 22-23 Media watch. C Göran Norlén examines the presence of UFO related articles in Swedish media from the end of November 2001 to the end of January 2002. The article is shorter than normal, simply because there has been a lack of UFO articles, something Norlén rather bluntly blames on low quality TV entertainment such as reality shows and violent action flicks. Science and rationality, he says, doesn't sell as much as chocking low-class entertainment, and he predicts that there will be less and less UFO material in Swedish TV and radio, unless something "sensational happens, i.e. the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. ET".

Page 23: Importance of paranormal beliefs overrated. Short article by Svahn, dealing with the finds of religious scholar Ulf Sjödin, who says that the paranormal has a minor influence on most people’s lives, contrary to what many seem to think. Even though the interest for UFOs, ghosts, and astrology is present in many, not many let their lives be shaped by it. Interesting to note is that 59 percent of the Swedes, according to Sjödin, believe the UFO phenomenon to be the parascientific phenomenon which science will be able to solve, eventually.

Pages 24-26: International ufology. In his regular column Stefan Roslund relates thirteen different news notes about international ufology and other news for the paranormal reader. Some of the news concerns the passing of famous ufologists, strange sea monsters from Norway, Japanese UFO publications, Polish UFO crashes, Roswell, and USO sightings from the Mediterranean.

Page 26: Strange wind phenomenon. Short article by Svahn about Alf Brage and his spouse Verna Andersson who in 1980 experienced a strong and narrow breeze of hot air as they were walking home one cold summer night in Ljungstorp between Skövde and Skara. "It felt like standing in front of a hairdryer", Alf says. Ten years later, on the same location, Alf heard a howling sound, and felt vibrations in the air, as well as in his body. It was painful, and lasted for about one minute. It was foggy at the time, and thus nothing could be seen.

Page 27: Swede soon in space. On the 30th of May next year, Christer Fuglesang will be the first Swede in space as he, and six other astronauts, will be launched to the International Space Station on an American Space Shuttle. Christer hopes to be able to examine strange flashes of light astronauts since the Apollo 11 mission have been reporting of. It is known that the lightning is particle radiation from space, but exactly what kind of particles is still unknown.

Page 27: Lake Upprämen update. The latest news from lake Upprämen, the place where in April 1968 a big (500 square meter) hole in the ice was found. The reason for why the hole was created is still unknown, and interested parties claim the Swedish military is not telling everything they know. Some of the theories include the dropping of a bomb in the lake by a military aircraft, or some sort of secret experiment in the lake done by the military. New dives and experiments will cost about 50,000 SEK. The only find, so far, is a hardening of the sea floor under the location of the hole.

Page 28: News in short. Seven short paragraphs about miscellaneous UFO related news from Sweden and elsewhere.

Page 29: Rendlesham down the drain? Article by Conny Ljung, who writes about British ufologist James Easton, who claims that the Rendlesham Incident in December 1980 is about to get solved. According to Easton, what the witnesses in the forest saw that night was, in fact, the lighthouse at Orford Ness. To back up his skepticism, Ljung, who has visited the area himself, mentions, among other things, the fact that animals got frightened and the seizure of radar tapes.

Pages 30-31 Material for sale. Ads for UFO material by members of UFO-Sweden. Some of the books and pamphlets available are the often updated Dictionary of UFOs (ed. Clas Svahn), a thorough investigation of UFO religions by Stefan Isaksson, and much more.

Back page. On the back page there is an ad for the UFO conference in Sundsvall, Sweden on the 11th and 12th of May, 2002. UFO-Sweden's own exhibition will be put on display, and the general public will be able to attend several lectures about the UFO phenomenon.