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     “Nobody should have to suffer like that,” says John Schuessler of the mystery that has haunted him for 30 years. “I do connect (their deaths) to that event. Their lives were never the same. They were ill from that day forward.”

But the former project manager for shuttle flight operations at Johnson Space Center did his best to figure out what happened along a remote stretch of highway outside Houston on Dec. 29, 1980. In fact, during a medical briefing Schuessler prepared for Laurance Rockefeller a dozen years later as the billionaire philanthropist attempted to nudge the Clinton administration toward UFO transparency, two radiation experts felt compelled to add their voices to the record. “They said we needed a national warning system to let people know just how serious this is.”

Thirty years ago, 51-year-old motorist Betty Cash and two passengers — 57-year-old Vickie Landrum and her grandson Colby, 7 — were startled around 9 p.m. by an enormous, glowing, diamond-shaped object straddling rural Highway 1485. Blocking her path, the spectacle brought the Oldsmobile Cutlass to a halt and compelled an awestruck Cash to get out for a better look. Vickie partially exited the passenger side but had to contend with her terrified grandson, who tried wrestling her back in.

As the UFO ascended and cleared the treeline, the three counted 23 helicopters, some with military markings, some of which they later identified as twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks. To varying degrees, all three would report symptoms consistent with radiation exposure — blisters, hair loss, burns, nausea. Cash would require hospitalization. Other witnesses to the choppers and/or the UFO would come forward, and the U.S. Army was forced to defend itself from a $20 million lawsuit alleging the military was responsible for the victims’ injuries.

Driving the investigation was Schuessler, MUFON’s former International Director who navigated a tricky path between his work for NASA and his curiosity over The Great Taboo. He was evidently successful, because he was rewarded with a NASA Public Service Medal for his contributions to spaceflight prior to retirement.

Schuessler organized a multidisciplinary team that was able to discover additional eyewitnesses, scorch marks on nearby trees, and the fact that the stretch of highway in question was quickly repaved without leaving a paper trail of work orders from the county or the state. Not even Army Inspector General Lt. Col. George Sarran could challenge the veracity of the victims.

“Ms. Landrum and Ms. Cash were credible,” Sarran wrote in his summary. “The policeman and his wife were also credible witnesses. There was no perception that anyone was trying to exaggerate the truth.”

But a federal judge tossed the lawsuit in 1986 after Sarran’s report convinced him that Army assets were not involved.

“Poor ol’ Sarran,” Schuessler says from his home in Littleton, Colorado. “It wasn’t his fault; he did the best he could do. He didn’t have a top secret clearance so he wasn’t able to check into classified operations that may have been going on. And my understanding is, he was new to the job and this was the first field investigation he’d conducted.”

Schuessler’s real empathy is reserved for the victims. Throughout her painful ordeal, Betty — a restaurant owner with a sweet disposition whom De Void interviewed on numerous occasions — remained devoutly shocked that Uncle Sam would lie to her. She died in 1998. Vickie died in 2007. “The last time I saw her, it was upsetting to see, to look at what the burns had done to her arms,” Schuessler recalls. “She was having a horrible time of it.

“Vickie would get taunted about how bad she looked. Somebody even told her she shouldn’t come to church looking like that. It broke her heart.”

Colby Landrum still lives in the vicinity of that life-altering event, but De Void was unable to reach him for comment.

Schuessler doubts he’ll ever learn what happened, but “I concluded it wasn’t one of ours. We still don’t have the technology to hoist the kind of vehicle the witnesses described, which we estimated was at least 90 feet tall. If it had been a military project, the helicopters would’ve probably been there from the beginning. But everyone who saw them said it looked like they were trying to catch up to it.”

The only thing you can take to the bank is the obvious: They got away with it.

Labels: Betty Cash, By Billy Cox, John Schuessler, MUFON, Vickie Landrum

WHEN I worked as an MoD investigator looking into UFOs it was our most mysterious real-life X File. Nothing has changed.

     I travelled to Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk yesterday to reopen the investigation into Britain's most famous UFO sighting - with the men who saw it 30 years ago.

In the early hours of Boxing Day, 1980, the pair were on guard when they spotted strange lights in the forest, between US air bases Bentwaters and Woodbridge.

Thinking an aircraft might have crashed, they went to investigate. In a small clearing they encountered a triangular-shaped UFO.

Jim, who got close enough to touch it, described weird symbols like Egyptian hieroglyphs on the craft's side.

As they watched, the UFO started to rise before shooting off at an incredible rate. Jim wrote in his notebook: "Speed: Impossible."

Labels: Article, By Nick Pope, Nuke, Nukes, Rendlesham, UFOs

Labels: 1947, Chronicle, Flying Saucer, Foo Fighters, July

Labels: Merry Christmas

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     Doing UFO research is at times extremely frustrating for me due to the continued denial of truth by the government and military, the “woo-woo” types that have infiltrated serious research, and the small town politics and egos surrounding Roswell and the UFO Museum.

Fortunately, young people continue to come to my rescue by writing to me and asking for assistance in doing school project reports on the subject of Ufology. This has been of such importance to me over the years, that I have devoted a section of my web site to “Kids Speaking Out About UFOs”, where I post their reports when complete. These young students and their teachers give me encouragement that the future, with their desire for knowledge, is more important than the debunkers, skeptics and critics we’ve had to deal with for many years.

Below is a list of questions and my answers I received from a middle school back east that I want to share with you:

Mr. Balthaser,
Here are the questions. Thanks again for doing this interview.

1. What connections are there between the Mogul project and the Roswell crash, besides the government's claim that they are the same object?

There is no connection. The Mogul balloon project excuse for the Roswell Incident has been disproven. The material in the photo taken in General Ramey's office on the floor is part of a weather balloon and contains no material from a Mogul balloon. Additionally, the particular launch of a Mogul balloon referenced by the government and skeptics was cancelled due to weather conditions.

2. Reports from the government seem vague, is there anything they seem to be leaving out?

Yes, what they are leaving out is the truth about what actually crashed on the Foster ranch. We've been given 4 excuses over the past 64 years by the Air Force and government. July 8, 1947 newspaper article in most afternoon papers west of Chicago stated we had captured and had in our possession a flying saucer. The next day July 9th, newspaper articles in the morning papers east of Chicago said it was a weather balloon. In 1994 the Air Force report stated it was a Mogul balloon, and finally in 1997 the Air Force said the bodies were anthroporphic crash test dummies. Don't be surprised if we are given another excuse.

3. In your words, what effects does this secrecy have on the public?

The cover-up of UFOs (flying saucers) is only one of many things the government has lied to the public about during the past 30-40 years. In 1947 people trusted and respected the government---today that trust has diminished as shown in current surveys about the mistrust of our government.

4. What is your explanation of the supplies found at the site? (Indestructible foil, engravings in wood, etc.)

Those type materials were described by numerous first hand witnesses as being materials no one had ever seen or were familiar with. Today we have fiber optics, metal that has memory, etc, which didn't exist in 1947.

5. Is there any solid evidence of ET's captured from the crash?

Yes, from 1st hand witnesses that claim to have actually seen bodies, described as child size, with larger than normal heads, large eyes and approximately 3 ½ - 4’ tall.

6. Through our research, we learned that the vehicle recovered from the site was unable to be started. Why? What does this prove?

There was no craft recovered, but rather pieces of debris scattered over a field several hundred yards wide by 3/4 mile long.

7. What type of information would prevent the disclosure of this event?

Our government will not admit to anything existing that they cannot control, and if these craft have been visiting us as long as many believe and continue to do so, our government cannot do anything to stop it. Who in our government would, or will admit that they have been lieing to us for the past 64 years about the Roswell Incident and other things? More importantly, it is my theory that whatever was recovered will not be disclosed or admitted to until the military has the complete advantage of such technology, which I don't believe they have yet. (Propulsion and guidance systems, where they are from, and what their motive is.)

8. Why is the government trying so hard to keep this a secret?

For the military advantage of having such technology and knowledge. You can't tell your friends your secrets without telling your enemies.

9. Is there any connection between the atomic bomb test and the Roswell crash?

Many believe there is a connection, since the atomic bomb was tested less than 100 miles south of Roswell in 1945, and they could have been sitting out there wondering what these clowns on earth were up to. The atomic bomb consisted of 50,000 people and the secret was kept for 10 years. Area 51, the secret base in Nevada was opened by the CIA in 1955 to test the U-2 aircraft and we found out about it in the 1980's through a Russian satellite photo. The F-117 stealth airplane was on the drawing boards in 1973 and we learned of it during the Gulf war in 1991, so the government is very capable of keeping secrets.

10. If there are ET's, why would the government keep them a secret?

Same answer as question 7 above---CONTROL....

11. Is there anything of extreme value that would come from having alien bodies and alien materials on earth?

Yes, medical information, technological information, time travel, etc., etc. To get here from wherever they are from would mean they are 100s, thousands, perhaps 10s of thousands of years ahead of us, since we can't go there yet.

12. Does the crash test dummy story provide a good explanation of the bodies recovered?

None...the Air Force shot themselves in the foot with that excuse, since the dummies weren't used until 1953, (6 years after the Roswell Incident).

13. Was the balloon in the picture with Maj. Jesse Marcel the same wreckage found in the crash?

No, and until Major Marcel’s death he insisted the material he was forced to pose with for the pictures in General Ramey’s office was not the material he brought from Roswell to General Ramey’s office. The brown paper the material is laying on is off a new roll of paper not from a wrapped package brought from Roswell, and an unopened package is seen against the wall in several of the photos.

14. Why has the government been so hostile towards witnesses?

Threatening people appears to be a good way to silence witnesses, through their retirement, their safety and the safety of their family members.

15. Why are there so many alleged crash sites?

Various rumors and stories have developed over the years. My thinking is that the craft crashed (debris found on the Foster ranch), and the bodies were discovered within a mile of that site, possibly being ejected in a capsule, knowing they were crashing. I put no confidence in any other sites mentioned due to not having any reliable witness testimony about them.

16. How much was the president involved?

The President of the United States is not cleared for this type information. The President is a temporary employee ( 8 years max.), and cannot be trusted with this information. Each President is probably made aware of ET existence, but not details. Many Presidents have tried to go public with UFO information but were silenced such as Carter, Ford, Reagan, Kennedy and Clinton. Bush Sr. might have known the most having been head of the CIA before becoming President. Reagan had meetings with Russia's Gorbachov about UFO and was told to be quiet after addressing the United Nations on the subject of UFOs.

17. We read that at the president's signature was forged. Is this true? How much evidence of this is there?

It appears that Truman's signature might have been lifted from another document for the MJ-12 papers. That is still debatable, although it appears to be true.

Thanks,
xxxxxxx Middle School

With these type questions from young students, perhaps the truth will someday be made public.

Labels: Article, By Dennis Balthaser, Research, School, Student, Ufology

Labels: Aliens, Dulce, Greg Bishop, Paul Bennewitz, Video

     New Zealand's military has released hundreds of documents detailing claims of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

The files, dating from 1954 to 2009, include drawings of flying saucers and alleged samples of alien writing.

The files include details of New Zealand's most famous UFO sighting when strange lights were filmed off the South Island town of Kaikoura in 1978.

An official report from the time said natural phenomenon could explain it.

Labels: Disclosure, Documents, Files, Flying Saucer, New Zealand, UFO

      . . . Every year since 1997, we've reviewed the top space stories of the previous 12 months and looked ahead to the trends to watch in the 12 months to come. It's up to you to choose which story from 2010 and which trend for 2011 should lead the list. To refresh your memory, last year's top story was the LCROSS moon-crashing mission — which, by the way, continued to make news this year. You projected that the top trend would be the impact of newly developed rockets such as SpaceX's Falcon 9 on future spaceflight.

Here's this year's roundup. Please vote for your top story and top trend using the polls included on this page, or cast a write-in vote with your comments below. For a visual recap of the year, including some jaw-dropping imagery from Hubble's 20th year, check out our "Year in Space" slideshow — and please vote for your favorite space picture of 2010 at the end of the slideshow. On Dec. 30, we'll recap the winning choices for top story of 2010, top picture of 2010 and top trend of 2011. . . .

UFOs take the spotlight: Investigative journalist Leslie Kean makes a splash with her book "UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record." . . .


MSNBC.com is asking people to vote for the "top space story of 2010," and my book is featured in one of the categories: "UFOs take the spotlight." The link is below - it's very easy to scroll down and vote for "UFOs in the spotlight."

I'm very excited about this. It's important for establishing the importance of UFOs in the context of space, NASA, studies on exoplanets, etc. How great to be listed right along side these other mainstream issues as a top space story of 2010! This is a good message for SETI. That's why it's so important - it's about the subject, not the book, and this elevates it into equal status with scientific space exploration. We have to win this because of the message it sends to scientists!!–Leslie Kean

Labels: Book, Books, Leslie Kean, MSNBC, Poll, UFOs: Generals