UFO-Aktuellt 3/02

A summary by Stefan Isaksson/UFO-Sweden

Page 2: A Work of Water

Short article which is accompanied by a curious photograph. The story tells of a strange black ball found in the river Göta Älv in northern Sweden about 80 years ago. The ball is approximately 10 centimeters in diameter, very smooth on its surface, and almost perfectly round in shape. It weighs 1,7 kilos. "When one lifts it up it feels so brittle that you don't wanna let go of it" says Elon Svensson, whose father was the one who found the strange stone while working to clear the land for the power plant which was under construction in the town of Trollhättan at the time of the find. Elof furthermore wonders if perhaps it's a piece of a meteorite. "No," says mineralogist Dan Holststam at the History of Natural History in Stockholm. "It probably contains common minerals, but the shape, however, is quite unusual."

Page 3: Editorial

Chairman Clas Svahn deals with the ever-so-important issue of knowledge. The UFO-phenomena is as adverse as the people observing it, and Svahn stresses how important the work of UFO Sweden is. People who see things they cannot explain need to be take seriously, not made fun of, and that's where UFO Sweden can contribute the most. We're here to set things right; try to explain what it is that people see, and give profane and down-to-earth feedback to the ones who need it. The course for field investigators held annually is unique in its kind, and the international UFO scene would benefit extensively if more and similar courses could be held internationally.

Pages 4-5: The Project in Värmland

Between the 30th of June and 7th of July 2002, thirteen of UFO Sweden's most dedicated investigators pursued an interview project of a grand scale. The idea had been in circulation for about a year, constructed from the conviction of its originators that a highly concentrated interview project within a strictly limited boundary in the county of Värmland would produce highly interesting data. And they were right. In fact, the result far exceeded any expectations. The project had two major parts. First, old and new observations in the area was to be examined by interviews with witnesses, and second, an attempt to unravel some of the mystery of two secret Swedish-Norwegian military operations, named Operation Argus and Operation Dacapo, was to done. The two operations, which are still classified to this day, involved several unknown crossings of the Swedish border and in over Värmland. Many interviews with people who had participated in the operations were made, and even the former head of the Swedish Secret Police, SÄPO, was made. One of the reasons behind the success of the project was the media. Due to thorough coverage of what was going on, several witnesses knew of UFO Sweden and our work before we even got to see them in person. Swedish radio, TV, and magazines run stories. The total area that was covered was about 50 kilometers in width and 150 kilometer in length. Early on a pattern emerged; the observations mostly were close to the Norwegian border. Cigarshaped objects, strange spheres of light, mysterious individuals and black diplomatic cars were reported. Unfortunately, with this came also the realization that a week's time was far too little to cover everything. The data is now under study, and a pamphlet about the findings are under construction.

Page 6: The Sirius Mystery Solved?

In 1976, Robert Temple stunned the world with his book The Sirius Mystery, in which he argues that the fact that the Dogon people in Africa had knowledge about Sirius accessible only by means of a strong telescope, and thus the only explanation must be that they sometime in ancient times were visited by travelers from distant stars who taught them about the solar system. However, a new book by cultural anthropologist Walter van Beek argues that so is not the case. Instead, he says that the original anthropologists who came to study the Dogon themselves created the myth by asking leading questions. The dogon never had a creation myth quite like the one described in The Sirius Mystery. It was all a major misunderstanding, which by unfortunate reasons became a widely known "fact". In other words, the investigator himself was able to create something that was never there. And that is very likely to still happen today. An example to learn from.

Page 7: Tunguska Again

It's time for another theory about the famous Tunguska explosion in Sibiria in 1908. A German astrophysicist named Wolfgang Kundt now argues that the explosion never came from above, but from under ground. His research indicates that exploding methane gas is what made millions of trees fall down and nights mysteriously remain bright all over Europe. However, no theory without its critics, and Benny Peiser, from John Moore University in Liverpool, argues that there are absolutely no real evidence for this theory. Furthermore it fails to explain the strange test samples of C-14 taken in the area which indicates that only an atomic bomb or an engine can affect the soil in that manner. And these two things weren't around in the early 20th century.

Pages 8-11: The Hesitant Photographer

This article is the second of two parts by British ufologists David Clarke and Andy Roberts. In the last issue of UFO Update; the two offered a thorough investigation into the picture taken by young Stephen Darbishire in 1954 and the things that happened afterwards. And this they do in their second article as well, but now another youngster is in focus (though unfortunately not the objects he snapped a picture of?), Alex Birch, who in 1962 claimed to have taken a picture of five strange objects that came flying over Sheffield a Sunday morning in March 1962. As with Darbishire, Birch claimed that everything he said was true, and the media storm that followed brought him international fame. He got to speak in front of 200 members of the Bufora, give numerous interviews, and visit Whitehall. His father supported him all the way, and young Birch continued to hold his stand. The fact that the authorities gave the whole story a very natural explanation - claiming it to be "ice particles in the atmosphere" - was only seen as further proof of a cover-up. In 1972, however, Birch suddenly changed his mind and said that it was all a fake; indeed a picture taken of a window with fake saucers on it. His two friends who had been there and observed it too, agreed with him. But, to make a strange story even stranger, Birch again in 1998 changed his mind, and resolved to his original stand: that the saucers were real. Obviously the original negative is long gone, and to this day Birch argues that he's telling the truth. The question is likely to never be resolved.

Pages 12-13: UFO Contacts - Modern Day Religious Experiences?

The UFO phenomena can, and are, studied by several different disciplines. Not only by using hard science, such as in for example Hessdalen in Norway, can or should the investigations continue. Several religious scholars have also tackled the enigma, and interesting results have been shown. Mikael G. Petersson of UFO Sweden is one of them, and does a good job in showing how the question whether or not Earth is visited by extraterrestrial being can be studied using religious methodology and perspectives. There is not enough space (no pun intended) here to give a complete review of his article, but worth mentioning is that he uses both the late Carl Gustav Jung and James R. Lewis in his research. The latter is editor of the perhaps most famous book on the subject; The Gods Have Landed.

Page 14: Letters from the Readers

Only one letter in this issue; from a seventeen year-old girl. She asks, or rather talks about, the possibilities that we are indeed alone in the universe. Svahn answers short and to the point. A recent poll in the U.S. showed that 49 percent of the American population believe that their government is covering up the real truth behind the UFO enigma. "So," Svahn assures her, "you're not alone in your suspicions."

Page 15: The Circle-Summer

Svahn writes about the past summer and its crop circles. Sweden "only" had three circles to offer this summer; all hoaxes. The blockbuster movie Signs, starring Mel Gibson, has undoubtedly contributed to the common belief that it's extraterrestrial beings who create the circles. The most beautiful circles this summer came from England, but also other European countries and the USA had circles to show. Maybe the strangest one was American in origin. Two artists in Madison, Maine worked three full weeks to complete their massive image of? Not a strange pattern revealing cosmic secrets and the meaning of life, but TV-star Larry King!

Pages 16-18: Dragons Past and Present

Svahn presents contemporary and older observations of the infamous dragon, and makes it clear that the image of the dragon is quite different all over the world. Even though the common image of the dragon derives from China; all cultures, more or less, have had drake-like images throughout their mythology. Ebbe Schön, one of Sweden's top folklorists, has contributed much data to the article with his book Drakar och Trollormar (Dragons and Magic serpents). Interesting to note is that not all observations took place far back in history, but also happened in the late and middle 19th century. Also included is a lengthy eyewitness account from 1884 of a dragon observation.

Pages 19-21: Fangs on Our Necks

Richard Svensson present another interesting article about fortean phenomena. This time the turn has come to the vampire, the sinister creature brought into the mainstream by all film versions of Bram Stokers famous book about the nocturnal creature who drinks human blood. However, the idea of a monster drinking blood or by other means molest humans is not new by any account. Svensson gives several examples of old and more recent descriptions of blood-sucking creatures, and as with many other universal mythological phenomena; the exterior is different, but the meaning within is quite similar. And in modern times there have been vampires, too, though rather self-proclaimed ones instead of "real" ones.

Page 21: A New Moon

"The first officially confirmed UFO". That's what some ufologists called the strange object, believed to be an asteroid, which the Chinese-Canadian amateur astronomer Bill Yeung reported to the organization Minor Planet Center, an organization collecting information about asteroids. However, after researchers from MIT had finished a spectrum analysis of it, it turned out to be a piece of the Apollo 12 mission to moon dating back to 1969.

Pages 22-23: Media Watch

C Göran Norlén is back at it again, as always with news clippings from Swedish media. Nothing extraordinary, Norlén mentions a few incidents where the UFO subject has been used in Swedish magazines, or when other articles related to the world of UFOs have emerged.

Pages 24-26: International ufology

This time Stefan Roslund has fifteen short news about the international UFO, and forteana, scene. One of the more interesting ones - from a Swedish point of view - is that Nick Pope is still doing research about alien abductions, and that he now claims to be working on six new cases, with one being from Sweden. And believe it or not, yet another theory about Roswell has been brought up to the surface. This time it's ufologist Jim Keith, who puts forward the theory that the object that crashed to the ground was not an extraterrestrial spaceship, but rather the outer casing to a nuclear bomb. A story about cattle mutilation, among other news, from Argentina is included as well.

Page 26: U.S. Aircraft on UFO Hunt

Svahn tells about the incident from the 26th of July this year, when a witness in Waldorf, Maryland observed a F-16 aircraft that chased a light-blue UFO over the night sky. The Air Force confirmed the observation and states that they sent up two aircraft to pursue unidentified radar tracings. The incident received heavy attention, due to the fact that it occurred 50 years to the day after the great UFO hunt over Washington D.C. on the 26th of July 1952.

Page 27: Book Reviews

Two books this time, one UFO related and one written by Olav Hammer, noted Swedish historian of religion whose books have been reviewed in earlier issues of UFO Update. This time Svahn reviews Osunt Förnuft (Un-Common Sense), a book that deals with the issue of human memory; how bad we sometimes are to remember things, and how easily we all can be led astray. A very interesting book, according to Svahn. The other book, Out of the Shadows by David Clarke and Andy Roberts, came into being after these two noted British ufologists had gone through the Public Records Office in Kew. This is the place where British authorities have sent their once secret documents to be de-classified, and the book, which mostly deals with British governmental work on UFO matters in the 1950s and 60s is, according to Svahn, "a fine example for anyone wanting to write about this tricky subject).

Page 28: News in Short

Seven short paragraphs about miscellaneous UFO related news from Sweden and elsewhere.

Page 29: The Attack of the Ape Man

Svahn, again, offers a short and interesting article about the notorious Ape Man, the strange ape-like creature which horrifies the inhabitants of the Delhi and Bihar areas of India. Several persons have given testimony to how they have been attacked by a ape-like creature with claws and glowing eyes which attack them when the overwhelming heat forces the people to sleep on the roofs of their houses. Some celestial phenomena have also been reported alongside reports of the creature. Doctors say it's a case of mass hysteria, while the police force in Uttar Pradesh speculates in extraterrestrials or mutated giant insects.

Page 30: Lights in the 30s

Short interview by Tage Bång, experienced field investigator. This particular interview is taken from the first case he ever investigated, in 1977, and the observation tells of a glowing light shaped like a disc somewhere late summer 1935 in Sjötorp, Sweden.

Page 31: Field Investigation Class of -02

A picture of all the field investigators who participated in the course held by UFO Sweden in September 2002.

Back page:

Short article by Svahn about Sharc, a remotely controlled airplane constructed by Swedish Saab.