UFO 1980-90
January, 1980 - Tucuman province, Argentina
Along the border of the Rio Sali, Province of the Tucuman, Argentina.
June 4, 1980 - Location unknown
Cylindrical UFO photographed on June 4, 1980, at 2 p.m. by Martin D.
1980 - Levittown, Puerto Rico
Hundreds of witnesses observed a disc, illuminated by bright lights, flying at a low altitude over a residential quarter of Levittown. When dozens of people called the local police station, a patrol car was sent. Police Officer Sgt. José Cordero arrived just in time to observe the large disc passing directly over him. He was able to take ten photos with his official Polaroid camera.
The case was investigated by Puerto Rican UFO researcher Jorge Martin. A computer analysis performed by members of German MUFON (MUFON-CES) confirmed that it must have been a large craft.
October 8, 1981, 11:00 AM - Kelsey Bay, Vancouver Island, (British Columbia) Canada
 Canada b.jpg)
 Canada c.jpg)
 Canada a.jpg)
 Canada.jpg)
UFOs at Close Sight (Patrick Gross):
The Hannah McRoberts photograph, Canada, 1981
On October 8, 1981 at abour 11:00 A.M., Hannah Mc Roberts is with her husband and their daughter on a service area close to Kelsey Bay, on the East coast of the Vancouver Island. During their pause they notice a cloud which passes on the top of a mountainous peak and makes the impression of an erupting volcano in eruption spitting a huge vaporblast. They find the scene rather amusing and worth a picture.
Several days afterwards, when the photographa are developed, they notice on one of the photograph that there is a discoidal object in the sky. Their surprise is big, as they do not remember noticing anything in the sky at the time when they shot the photograph.
They contact David Dodge, director of the of Vancouver planetarium. He examines the picture and remains disturbed by this singular photograph. He contacts a ufologist, David Powell, who analyzes the pictures and cannot find any evidence of tampering.
Richard F. Haines, a retired NASA scientist who became a famous ufologist, gets interested in the Vancouver case. He carries out a thorough analysis of the negative and cannot discover any tampering either. His analysis is inserted in the scientific report of the Sturrock Panel.
REFERENCES:
Science et Vie #976, January 1999.
Jacques Dumont, "Ovnis, un demi-siècle de recherches", Rebis editor, 2001
Analysis by Richard F. Haines on the web site of the Journal of Scientific Exploration.
-----------------------------------
Hannah McRoberts Photo
THE VANCOUVER ISLAND PHOTOGRAPH
by Gordon Creighton
Mrs. Hannah McRoberts (aged 25) of Campbell River, BC, was with her family at a rest-area some thirty miles to the north of Kelsey Bay on the east coast of Vancouver Island, from October 10 to 15, 1981. During this five-day period she says she took a number of pictures of her family and of the local scenery, using her 35 mm Mamiya camera with a 50-55 mm lens, 125 speed, and ASA 100 film. At one point during the holiday they observed that one of the mountain peaks was surmounted by a cloud somewhat suggestive, as they described it, of "a volcano issuing steam", so Mrs. McRoberts snapped that as well. None of the party noticed anything else in the air at the time, and the presence of the UFO was therefore only discovered by them when the prints and negatives came back to them after processing.
The resulting photograph shows an object to the right of and above the peak and the plume of cloud. This photo came to the attention of Mr. David A. C. Powell of Vancouver, who is on the staff of the McMilllan Planetarium in that city, who in turn contacted Bill Allan and provided him with an enlargement, and also got in contact the APRO of Tucson, Arizona, the respected American UFO investigation group who claim now to be the oldest in the world.
In the meantime, Mr. W. K. Allan was able to speak with Mrs. Hannah McRoberts and to interview her on CKOV Kelowna open line radio programme, in the course of which he formed the opinion that her story was entirely genuine and that what we have here is therefore a "legitimate classical type UFO photo."
(The place where Mrs. McRoberts says she took her photograph lies incidentally, some 450 kms or so to the north-west of Mount Rainier in the US State of Washington, where, as readers will recall, Kenneth Arnold claimed on June 24, 1947 to have seen his famous flight of nine saucers moving in formation at 1,200 mph and at an altitude of 10,000 ft over the Cascade Range.)
THE EXAMINATION OF THE PRINTS IN UK AND USA
Very wisely indeed, in view of past experience (what a story there is to be told, one day, about the interceptions of UFO photos and UFO reports from the public mails - and all over the world!) Mr. Allan had arranged that the negative of this photograph should remain very firmly in the hands of Mrs. McRoberts herself.
APRO had meanwhile passed their prints of the picture to one of their most eminent specialist consultants, Dr. James Harder, who is the Professor of Engineering in the University of California at Berkeley, and he and APRO agreed too that the negative should remain where it was.
Here in Britain we passed our copies of the prints to FSR's photographic consultant Mr. Percy Hennell, who is generally regarded as the leading expert in this country in all matters where colour photography is concerned.
THE VERDICT ON THE PRINTS
After careful scrutiny, Mr. Hennell informs us that he would naturally have preferred to have the actual negative in hand for, as he warns, all kinds of hoaxes are possible, and do occur. Nevertheless, he says that he finds nothing dubious or suspicious about the picture, though he does warn us that, if the picture is indeed genuine, then the disc must have been of enormous size - several hundreds of feet wide - to have shown up so large at such a distance! (There have indeed been frequent reports, over the years, of discs estimated to be of such sizes- indeed in some cases of discs believed to be as much as 1000 ft in diameter, as for example in the confidential report which APRO published a good many years ago, and which they had received direct from the pilot and co-pilot of an American troop-carrying plane which, while en route from Tokyo to South Vietnam with a party of American soldiers, encountered two enormous metallic discs that flew on a parallel course with them for half an hour.)
THE VERDICT OF DR. JAMES HARDER
We now see, from APRO Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 12, that Dr. James Harder submitted his report on the photo on November 4, 1982, and they give their own conclusion, which is as follows:- "All this considered, the photo presented here appears to be an excellent and probably genuine photo of a classical disc photographed in daylight. Although unlikely, if further information and clarification is available, it will be presented in a future issue of the Bulletin."
In view of the obviously very great interest which this photo will evoke, I take the liberty of quoting in full Dr. Harder's opinion as given in APRO Bulletin Vol. 30, No. 12 -
"Generally I feel that the best test of authenticity is in the good reputation of the photographer, insofar as it is impossible to prove a negative - in this case that there is no possibility of a fraud. However, some of the indicators of an authentic photograph can help establish likelihood of an authentic photo. These are -
1. That the negative involved is one of a sequence of outdoor pictures and that the frame in question is not an isolated one. One way of producing a hoax is to re-photograph a positive print onto which has pasted an addition. To do a good job of hoaxing then one would have to re-photograph an entire roll of negative film.
2. That there are no inconsistencies in the lighting of the strange object and the rest of he scene. In the subject photo, I note that the shadows in the lower left of the scene indicate a Sun position nearly behind the camera. There is a reflection on the forward face of the UFO that is consistent with this Sun position. There also seems to be a bright spot under the UFO not connected with external lighting - maybe a light on the UFO.
3. With the right equipment, it is possible to make certain measurements of negative density of the UFO image and of other images of objects at estimated distances from the lens. Here the object is to show that the unknown is not nearby - and thus not a hubcap or other such object thrown into the air. The idea is to measure, from the image of the object at a known distance, the atmospheric 'extinction coefficient'. On a clear day, with a low value, contrasts between dark shadowed areas and brightly lit areas retain their distinction over greater distances. On hazy days, the light and dark areas blend towards a mid-range shade, giving the appearance that distant mountains have of being one shade of grey. Nearby shadows can show their true darkness, as opposed to the lighter shade of distant shadows. But in this picture there are no nearby shadows to serve as a standard, only shadows of trees in the lower left bottom.
It has been alleged that edges become fuzzy at greater distances and that this can help distinguish nearby objects from those far away. I know of no theoretical reason for this based on the optical properties of the atmosphere, but will ask Jim Lorenzen if we have a consultant who could be more sure of this. After all, we do take remarkably clear pictures from space with no trouble from edge-blurring of objects on the ground, and that is through 14.7 lbs per square inch of air in the path.
So proving authenticity is likely to be elusive, insofar as there is only the evidence of internal consistency to go on. I wish I could be more positive, but then there is so much evidence of other sorts for the reality of UFOs that we shouldn't have to add to it excepting for those who are beyond believing anyway."
POSTSCRIPT
In a further letter from Mr. W. K. Allan, he comments on Dr. Harder's reference to the fact that Mrs. McRoberts photo is one of a sequence of outdoor pictures, and says: "It is unfortunate that the importance of keeping the individual exposures on the roll unseparated was not fully realized, but when I saw the negative it was still unseparated from one of the family snaps."
With regard to the lady who took the photograph of this UFO, Mr. Allan goes on to say: "What is of great importance to me is the fact that Hannah McRoberts is the niece of one of Canada's leading nuclear engineers, a man in charge of a multi-billion dollar electrical generating complex, whom I have known continuously since his attendance in my class at Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alberta."
Nota Bene:
For further information and analysis of this photograph, see the paper "A Scientifically Based Analysis of an Alleged UFO Photograph" by Richard F. Haines, Ph.D., in the MUFON 1986 UFO Symposium Proceedings, pp. 111-129.
1982 or 1983 - East Germany
UFO over East Germany:
An official NVA photo!
In early 1995, I was on a lecture tour through several cities of the eastern part of Germany, the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR - German: DDR). After one of my lectures, in Gera/Thuringia, a former officer of the National People's Army (NVA), the armed forces of the GDR, entrusted me enclosed picture. It was taken in 1982 or 83 during a nightly exercise of a NVA unit. All he could tell me is that a comrade, present during that close encounter, shot it and gave it to him and that another copy is in the official files of the East German Military, together with his report.
It is definitely an interesting picture - and the only evidence we have for military UFO encounters in East Germany.
9 May 1984, 8.15 p.m. - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
9 May 1984, 8.15 p.m.,
Hoboken/New Jersey:
After I heard of the interesting UFO encounters over New Jersey in July 2001, I remembered this interesting photo. It was taken by Felippe Orego from Hoboken, New Jersey, showing a triangular UFO (or three UFOs in a V-formation) over the skyline of Manhattan. Orego sent it to my late friend and teacher Col. Colman VonKeviczky (ICUFON), who passed away three years ago and will always be remembered as one of the great pioneers of the international UFO research. He investigated the case and classified the picture as genuine.
1985 - Tepoztlan, Mexico
UFO over Tepoztlan, photo by Carlos Diaz, ca. 1985
In-depth case investigation by Michael Hesemann:
Ships of Light: The Carlos Diaz Experience
https://hesemann.watchers.ca/shipsoflight.html
According to experts it is the best documented UFO contact case in the history of the phenomenon. With certainty it is the most carefully investigated extraterrestrial encounter.
THE CASE
In the early hours of March 23, 1981 Carlos Diaz, a young photographer from Mexico City, drove into the Ajusco National Forest in the "zona vulcanica" south of the capital. A magazine had commissioned him to take pictures of a sunrise in the mountains, and for this he has chosen a well-known vantage point. He parked his car, waited for the sun to dawn. Suddenly he saw an orange light shining up from the slope in front of him. First he thought it was a fire, but then he recognized a yellow-orange dome. It was a UFO! Immediately he grabbed his camera, shot a first photo, when the disc was just facing him. In this moment, the engine of his car went off. Diaz shot his second picture before he jumped out of the car, just to see and photograph how the disc was shooting off with high speed.
When he got the photos back from the lab the same afternoon, Diaz knew that he did not dream. This experience never let him off. As often as possible he returned to the Ajusco National Park. But only two and a half month later, on a rainy day, he saw the orange glow again, this time coming from the top of a hill. He parked his car, climbed up the muddy volcanic rocks, when he eventually saw the object hovering in front of him. Deeply moved by what he saw, he suddenly felt someone touching his shoulder. In the same moment he fainted. When he recovered, the rain had stopped and the object had disappeared. Completely bewildered, he climbed down the hill, back to his car…
In the following month, Diaz started to remember step by step what had happened to him during that "missing time". More than that, a friendly contact developed between him and the pilots of these mysterious "Ships of Light". Carlos decided to move into the valley of Tepoztlan, 40 miles south of Mexico City, where these objects were seen since man can remember. He was able to take several more spectacular photos. And he had further encounters which taught him why these beings come to this planet and how worried they are about all life, all living beings on Earth.
Ten years later, the sun was darkened over Mexico. During the eclipse of July 11, 1991 thousands of witnesses saw strange craft in the skies. The prominent TV anchorman Jaime Maussan investigated the sightings, commissioned a scientific analysis of UFO footage. Carlos felt that the moment has come to go public with his experience. He contacted Maussan who was deeply impressed by the quality of his photos. More than that, he tried an experiment. He gave Carlos, who could not afford one, a video camera. He was not disappointed. Only three days later, Carlos presented him the first film. Three more followed within the next five month. They all show the same "Ship of Light" which was also on his photos, in breathtaking maneuvers over the valley of Tepoztlan. One time it came so low that it filled the whole frame of the camera.
CONCLUSION
Thousands of eyewitnesses, radar observations, photos and films which stunned the experts and a contactee with a high degree of personal integrity – the Carlos Diaz experience can indeed be called one of the most important UFO contact cases in the history of the phenomenon. For this reason, the researchers investigated it as careful as possible – and waited seven years, until every aspect was put under scrutiny, before they published it. Never before so many international experts were consulted in the investigation of a UFO contact case. All researchers who met him were impressed by the honesty and sincerity of Carlos Diaz, an impression shared by his neighbours, his family, the mayor of Tepoztlan. Nobody in Tepoztlan ever questioned his experience since every second of the "Tepoztecos" has seen these objects, too.
The case will be one of the most important for the UFO research of the 21st century, because it goes far beyond sightings, contact and evidence. The Carlos Diaz experience indicates a direct connection to the ancient civilization of the Maya, one of the oldest and most mysterious cultures on the American continent. It gives us explanations about the propulsion and navigation of extraterrestrial craft. But in its center stands a message, which concerns all of us, an urgent call to save and protect life on Earth, which is endangered by us, to inherit our children a living planet. When we eventually learn to love and respect life, Diaz is convinced, a contact "with them" will be inevitable.
May 26, 1987 - Waterbury, CT, USA
Report Summary:
"... Randy Etting, a resident of Newtown, was taking a walk outside his home. A commercial airline pilot with over 30 years experience, he always looked at the sky... he saw a number of orange and red lights... approaching from the west... He... got his binoculars and called his neighbors to come outside. The object by this time was a great deal closer and seemed to be over I-84, just east of Etting's home... the lights were shimmering like distortion from engine heat, but he could hear no sound...
"As the UFO passed over I-84, cars in both the east and west bound lanes began pulling over and stopping. The UFO displayed a semi-circular pattern of very bright multicolored lights. Five motorists reported that, as the object became visible, a number of cars lost power and had to pull off the highway. A State Police officer [who wishes to remain anonymous] sent to investigate photographed the object.
"... Dr. Bruce Maccabee... [analysed the photo]. His findings indicate the object was huge, perhaps over a thousand feet across, and that the lights showed a definite pattern. He also indicated the lights seemed to have been flashing very quickly in some sort of sequence, giving the impression that some were out of focus while others were sharp."[footnote 1]
Footnote: 1. Night Siege (2nd edition), Hynek, Imbrogno with Pratt, ISBN 1-56718-362-X
1988 - Ondrejov Observatory, Czechoslovakia
UFO over the Ondrejov Observatory, Czechoslovakia, August 15, 1988
Information by Michael Hesemann:
"STATEMENT OF (ON) UFO VIDEOS:
My grandfather dies (died) on ..., 2001. It was in Armenia in Yerevan. I was born in Yerevan. My grandfather work(ed) for the government and I always ask(ed) him all the time about his work because I admire(d) him and he would smile and tell me in Armenian, that it was not my business. He was not being mean, he would smile.
Every Sunday he have (had) friends over and he was very busy. I met some of his colleagues in the government, I never pay (paid) much attention to their names, I always remember first names, but my grandfather had many friends in the government. He did some secret work for them and the military.
My grandfather was (a) very good friend of Anastas Mikoyan (Politburo member under Josef Stalin, MH). They met when they were young boys. Mikoyan went to Politburo and my grandfather stay(ed) in Yerevan. Mikoyan would call when he need(ed) something from my grandfather.
When my grandfather die(d), I went (back) to Armenia after he died and I finish school for last year. Up in the top floor was (were) boxes of his stuff. There were many papers and files and some video tapes. I did not take time to read many of the papers but I make sure they were put in boxes for me to look at later.
I was interested in (the) videos because I could use the tapes for something else if they were not important. My grandfather record movies on TV and no one like(d) them but him.
I get (got) some of these tapes. They have movies on them, and then I find (found) one tape that have (has) military info on it in Armenian and I see these UFOs. This is military film of UFOs. There is a piece of paper that list(s) information about them, place and date, but I do not know which film is which. When you view them you can see which ones are which. I then go (went) into (a) store later (back in the Czech Republic) to buy food at (the city of) Dejvicka and I see your magazine 2000 and I see (read) about the UFOs.
Then I find (found) your web site and I see (saw) your photo with (the) Pope and I know (knew) you are the right person to sell this to. I only want (the) money to help my mother, which is my family. My father I do not know, he left us years ago when I was a small boy. I was close to my grandfather and he give (left) me everything according to the attorney in his will. I will go back (to Armenia) and (will) go through his documents and learn more about this. I want to be careful so I do not get found out (caught).
I know my grandfather would not talk about the UFOs seen in Armenia in the early 1980s. I was young and do not remember much, but I remember police coming to talk to grandfather about them so this is why I think he was involved. Why would the police come to him if this was not true. I could hear them talk about it, about (a) large object seen near our mountain, Ararat.
I later ask(ed) grandfather and he said he could not talk about it.
Now I have this video I want to learn more and will when I go back to Armenia and also in (the) army I can (will) ask quiet(ly) and try to find out things.
T."
-----------------------
According to T. the footage was taken in the following years:
North Korea 1952
Krakov, Poland, July 7, 1986
Helsinki, Finland, September 12, 1996
Ondrey´s Observatory, CSSR, August 15, 199
Vilnius, Lithuania July 18, 1976
He also mentioned footage from
Romania
a Soviet Airbase
German WW 2 Footage
To quote from his e-mail, the footage shows "a UFO flying over a MIG in Korea. The plane adjust(s) position to get better see (sight) at (of the) UFO. (The) film was taken from (an)other MIG. Another film show(s) a UFO flying over (an) American plane at a base in the USA. It is a clear disk. Another one show(s) a UFO over (a) Romanian plane. Another show(s) (a) UFO over (a) MIG on the air base and another show(s) a UFO over a MIG sitting on (the) runway only a few years ago. Another shows a UFO taken at Ondrejov Observatory in Czech Republic (sic!). This is footage of (a) famous UFO story. There is another UFO (, a) big disk in Lithuania and also at night with night camera that show(s a) big disk and also (a film) from World War II that show(s a) disk over (an) airplane from (a) German base. It is clear(ly) a disk. These were (the) best movie(s) from KGB agents who collect(ed) information and even steal (stole) camera(s) if they need to."
IF T.´s story is true, we can suspect the existence of a kind of Soviet MJ12 which ordered the collection of this exciting material. In one of his e-mails, dated February 22, 2002, he mentioned the fact that Mikoyan´s brother "create(d) the MIG and it was under this program that they design or try to make aircraft that was (were) copy (copies) of UFO(s) that was (were) reported. They also study reports and yes, as you know (,) there was a secret group."
Do we indeed face a major breakthrough by this unexpected release of unique, formerly Top Secret UFO footage from the archives of the KGB? Indeed, if T´s grandfather was indeed a member of the Soviet intelligence community or nomenclatura, we have to assume that he asked his former comrades for a video collection of some of the best UFO footage from their archives because he was personally interested in the subject. During the breakdown of the Soviet Union, followed by the independence of Armenia (and with it the end of the control by Moscow), this is very well possible. In these times, personal friendships and connections were more important than old orders and classifications.
Therefore it is very well possible that T´s story is true just the way he told it. In the investigation of this case we have to consider that the footage was most probably originally shot on 16 or 35 mm and later -during the 1990ies- copied on Video. On most of the seven films I received, the camera is stable, seems to be fixed, indeed indicating surveillance- or guncameras. On the other hand, a suspicious element in the lack of camera movement is that it would make it easier to copy "artificial" (computer-generated) UFOs into pre-existing footage. But then remains the question how a hoaxer would obtain raw footage from airborne and landed MIGs on Soviet Air Force Bases which, without the UFOs, make no sense at all.
May 9, 1988 - Puerto Rico
1989 - Moscow, Russia
In the neighborhood of Moscow, 1989.
1989 - Dalnegorsk, Russia
UFO above Dalnegorsk, 1989.
March 10, 1989 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1989 - Vidnoye, Russia
Vidnoye, Russia, May 4, 1989. Photograph: A. Pavlov.
April, 1998 - Lake Powell, Utah, USA
Lake Powell, Utah
Joe Clower. April 1998
"Photo taken near Lake Powell, Utah, using a 35mm disposable camera. No unusual circumstances at the time of the shooting." Joe Clower.
[this photo recently won 1st prize in UFO Magazine's first annual photo contest, Spring, 1999]