Chris A. Rutkowski - A World of UFOs

A W ORLD OF UFOs

C HRIS A. R UTKOWSKI

Copyright Chris A. Rutkowski, 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Editor: Tony Hawke

Copy-editor: Kaylee Baker

Design: Erin Mallory and Courtney Horner

Printer: Webcom

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Rutkowski, Chris

A world of UFOs / by Chris A. Rutkowski.

ISBN 978-1-55002-833-1

1. Unidentified flying objects. 2. Unidentified flying objectsSightings and encounters. I. Title.

TL789.R78 2008 001.942 C20089039432

1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

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For Donna, my muse and amused

First, I would like to thank my family for their patience and understanding when I disappeared into the study to write for long hours during the evenings and on weekends. Apparently, I now have a lot of chores and other household duties to perform.

I would also like to thank ufologists and researchers with whom I have discussed this material over the past years, and who have offered encouragement, suggestions, and ideas for incorporation into the book. These include Errol Bruce-Knapp, Grant Cameron, Barb Campbell, Jerome Clark, Peter Davenport, Geoff Dittman, Stanton Friedman, A. E. Gevaerd, Martin Jasek, Gord Kijek, Don Ledger, Jim Moroney, and Vladimir Simosko.

I would like to acknowledge members of my writers group, including Susan Rocan, Kevin Russell, and Evelyn Woodward, and other writers with whom I have been acquainted and who have inspired me: Rae Bridgman, Samantha Day, K. C. Oliver, Duncan Thornton, and Nathan Town.

I thank my publishers at Dundurn, particularly Beth Bruder, Tammy Cabral, Michael Carroll, Tony Hawke, Barry Jowett, and Kirk Howard.

I thank Jennifer Wang and Susan Birdwise for assistance with illustrations for the book, and B.J. Booth for the cover.

Finally, special thanks to those individuals who have meant much to me throughout my writing: Alan and Cindy Anderson, John Robert Columbo, Geoff Currier, Chester Cuthbert, John Danakas, Rob Dyck, Gerry Goertzen, and Chester and Joan Lobchuk.

Ufos exist. This is a statement of fact that even a true skeptic cannot deny. Around the world, thousands, and perhaps even millions, of people have seen objects in the sky that they cannot identify. These objects are, by definition, UFOs.

This is not to say that these objects cannot ever be identified. Indeed, with some effort, many if not most are likely to be explained by UFO investigators as misperceptions of conventional or natural objects such as stars, aircraft, meteors, balloons, and the like. But to the witnesses who report them, they are mysterious and seem to have no immediate explanation.

For example, in March 2007, I received a call from an RCMP officer in a small northern Canadian community. Several people in and around the town had reported seeing a bright, star-like light changing colours as it danced in the southwestern sky, not far above the small mountains that surrounded the area. It was visible for several hours, from about eleven to three, almost every night. From the descriptions provided by the officer, I knew the object was likely Saturn, which was very bright and noticeable in that exact part of the night sky. I advised the officer to try to make further observations during the next two or three nights, just to confirm my theory. Sure enough, by the end of the week he had called back to say he had watched the object with one of the original witnesses, and it was definitely Saturn.

Star-like lights are one thing, but what about sightings that involve detailed observations of objects with more discernible shapes, like the archetypal flying saucer? Unfortunately, there are often similarly practical explanations for such sightings, as witnesses watching aircraft fuselages glinting in the sunlight are unable to see the wings from a great distance.

But what about the real UFOs? you ask. Surely there are some good sightings of objects that dont have explanations even after UFO investigators have a go at them.

Indeed, there are. This book presents a variety of cases, many of which have explanations, but others that do not. I include both kinds because it is painfully difficult to sort fact from fiction where UFO reports are concerned, and the general public, when confronted with a story in a book, in a magazine, on a television program, or on a website, has no easy way to discern good information from bad, and to recognize less than perfect sources.

Some of the most famous UFO stories have explanations, or at least are strongly disputed. Some stories are downright bizarre, as if the possibility of alien spaceships flitting about our skies wasnt strange enough.

It should also be pointed out that every UFO story and case in this book is true. That is, someone actually reported the sighting and the case has been documented to some extent. References are given when possible, with citations, article sources, and web page URLs provided for further reading.

One of the problems with a book designed to give a global perspective or an overview of UFO sightings and ufology is that there is simply too much material to cover. It would be impossible to list all the UFO reports from every country in the world, or even to give details on a handful of cases from every district. I decided to present a selection of UFO cases from around the world, some well known and others documented here for the first time. I have tried to offer a representative sample from all continents so that the truly global nature of the phenomenon can be appreciated. I have also provided references where possible, so that more information can be found for specific cases and issues.

Avid readers may be disappointed that cases they personally view as the best from a particular country or continent are absent from this review. If so, I apologize; any effort to include everything that might be relevant to all readers and researchers will fall short in some way. I do think, though, that the cases noted in this collection are some of the most fascinating, interesting, unusual, and confounding that have been reported.