UFOS: what happened this July 4th weekend?

July 8, 10:52 PMUFO ExaminerRoger Marsh

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Kenneth Arnold and crescent-shaped object he saw in 1947.

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Were more UFOs suddenly making appearances over the July 4th weekend - or were more people just outside ready to report them?

There was a common theme running through many of the reports. We heard about many Orange Lights moving across the sky - a high number of cases also reported multiple Orange Lights. Also common was exactly how these objects moved - moving in a straight line across the sky, stopping to hover, and then changing direction - many maneuvers that you would not attribute to Chinese Lanterns and other fireworks-style displays.

We asked a selected group of 14 MUFON state directors what they thought. Four responded. In addition, we have reports from Margie Kay - Kansas City section director.

From Pennsylvania Director John Ventre

Almost to the day, last year a UFO wave started across Pennsylvania that resulted in 225 cases submitted to Pennsylvania MUFON compared to 45 the year before. This demomstrates that the sightings are intelligently controlled and trying to send a message. They are either our military or non human. It is no coincidence that the sightings took place on independence day and two years in a row. Are we missing the message?

From New England Director Steve Firmani

We at NEMUFON are well aware of the "obvious" Holiday-related" situations.

However, we are always prepared for these situations and are well aware of our surroundings and such.

At this time I can tell you that there are no reports eminating from those areas that we can attribute to an unidentified status..
 

From New Jersey Director George Filer

UFOs exist and when more people are looking at the sky during the July 4th weekend they are more likely to see them.

Our government does not like to talk about them but great Americans such as General Twining and General MacArthur told us they are real.

On October 8, 1955, former U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, head of US forces in the Pacific who had been considered for the Republican nomination for Vice President in 1952, is reported to have stated, "The nations of the world will have to unite, for the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets." Timothy Good writes, "The destruction or disappearance of military aircraft during interceptions of UFOs continued apace."

As General Benjamin Chidlaw, former commanding general of the Air Defense Command told Robert C. Gardener (ex USAF) in 1953: "We have stack of reports of flying saucers. We take them seriously, when you consider we have lost many men and planes trying to intercept them." Leonard Stringfield, the former Air Force intelligence officer was told by a reliable source in the 1950s that the "Air Force was losing about a plane a day to the UFOs. According to US Defense Department figures, from 1952 until the end of October 1956, there were 18,662 major accidents of military aircraft.

While I was flying for the US Air Force, London Control asked us to intercept a UFO over England. Later we had dinner with
Prince Phillip who assured us that his uncle Lord Mountbatten had seen UFOs up close while in the Navy.

From Minnesota Director Lorna Hunter

We had two reports around the 4th in MN. One I believe to be airplanes, the other is the orange light situation. That witness left very little in the way of contact info. I have an investigator on the case. I don't know if he's been able to contact the witness yet.

We also had reports of the orange balls in April. These were in the vicinity of an Army training facility. I saw some orange balls there myself, but the explanation I have from one of our investigators is: Got a reply from a Lt. xxxx from air guard who thinks you've been seeing a "chaff" dispersal system at work off of helo's and perhaps some C-130's. After he mentioned this it sounded familiar. ... Oh...chaff is sort of like tin foil that they shoot out of small pods of an aircraft. There suppose to confuse enemy missile radar and at night, under certain conditions, the launching system can light them up pretty good. I've seen this before and it looks like glittery orange puffs in the night that last a good two or three minutes. How big you see these puffs depends on how far away they were dispersed. (Where you are in relation to the aircraft) Of course he also suggested the flares...duh!

The above explanation makes sense for the orange balls I saw but, this doesn't account for the size (full moon) or ability to change direction rapidly that has been reported with the MUFON reports of orange balls! At this point we have no explanation for the reports we've received.

From Margie Kay, Kansas City Section Director

Orange Orbs and Multiple Sightings Perplex Kansas City MUFON

July 6, 2009 Kansas City, Missouri

The increase in UFO sightings in the greater Kansas City area has State Section Director for Kansas City Margie Kay and other field investigators perplexed. ?We are receiving one or two reports per day now instead of the usual one a month,? says Kay. Since January 1 sightings have increased steadily, with reports coming in faster than the field investigators can handle them. In the past two weeks Kansas City MUFON has recorded three reports of silver cigar-shaped objects over Independence from separate witnesses, multiple bright orange or white orbs or spheres, orange tear-drop shapes, several silver saucer shapes, rectangular objects, many white lights and star-like objects, and chevron shaped craft. Some of the objects have appeared multiple times to the same witnesses over several weeks, and in several cases, witnesses report seeing a separate small orange or red sphere ejected from a larger craft.

Margie said the strange thing is that we can usually attribute most of the UFO reports we get to planets or man-made craft, but the sheer number of sightings and strangeness of the recent cases is highly unusual? Kay thinks that it's time to call this a UFO Flap.

Following are the latest sighting reports

07/03/09: A man said that he and a friend saw a large orange glowing sphere in the Northern sky traveling from West to East towards Sedalia on Highway 50 just outside Lee's Summit, The object was at tree-top height and appeared to be approximately 200 yards from his vehicle. It seemed to follow along at the same speed as his car for about 20 minutes, then took off at a high rate of speed towards the Northeast and disappeared.

07/04/09: While watching fireworks Saturday evening in Independence, Missouri 32 witnesses saw two orange glowing spheres traveling from North to South. One sphere was following another and the one behind was slightly larger and brighter. The objects move smoothly in a slight wave motion at approximately 30 MPH estimated at 60 feet off the ground at treetop height. The entire group of witnesses were awestruck.

07/05/09: A couple was driving north on 435 about four miles southeast of Kansas City International Airport. ?We saw several planes around the area then we noticed an orange orb flying low basically following interstate 435 toward the southeast in the opposite direction of us. There were 4 of us in the car that all witnessed and watched this. We watched it for about 2 minutes until it was too far south to see it. There was a plane that flew about 1,000 feet right above the orb so you could distinctly tell the difference between a blinking plane and this orange orb. The orb was flying slow, I would guess around 30 mph and about 100' to 200' above the ground. It was flying in a very straight line not erratic at all.?

MUFON encourages people to report sightings, no matter how trivial they may seem. This is the only way that we can gain more understanding of the UFO phenomena, says Kay. Sighting reports take about 15 minutes to complete depending on details, and can be made a www.mufon.com. Meetings and events in Missouri are listed at www.missourimufon.org. Contact Margie Kay at 816-833-1602.