Preston Dennett - Not from Here: Selected UFO Articles

Itall began one November evening in 1986. I was watching the news on TV and heardabout one of those ridiculous UFO sightings. The pilot of a Japanese commercialairline claimed to have seen a UFO while flying over Alaska. The newscasters laughednervously, joked about the incident and moved on to the next news item.

Butin that instant my life changed forever. I thought to myself, this pilot islying. Maybe he was suffering from highway hypnosis and hallucinated theobject. Perhaps it was just a reflection off the ice-cap. I later learned thatthe object was larger than his plane and paced it for several miles. It appearedon the jets onboard radar, and on ground radar, and was in view for nearly anhour.

Noneof these details were revealed on the news report about the incident, whichinterested me enough to mention it at the office where I worked. I soon got anincredible shock. The people that I had worked with for years began to tell meof their own UFO stories. One lady told me that she and her family saw adarting star-like object while camping in the San Bernardino Mountains ofsouthern California. Another lady told me that she, her best friend and hermother were followed by a metallic disk with colored lights around theperimeter which hovered over their car as they drove home. It was strange, shesaid, because the drive which normally lasted five minutes took over an hour. Somehowthey had lost time.

Ithen made the mistake of asking my friends and family. I learned that mybrother and his two friends had seen a metallic object with colored lights anda dome shape on top in Reseda, California. My sister-in-law and her two friendsobserved three glowing objects over Van Nuys Air Force Reserve Base, inCalifornia. A close friend (and her friend) saw an egg-shaped object whichemitted a low buzzing noise move overhead in Topanga, California. Anotherfriend was with his girlfriend in Topanga Canyon when they saw a triangularformation of lights hovering in place low in the sky. The objects swooped atthem, at which point they became disoriented and frightened and fled the area.

Icontinued to ask everyone I knew if they had ever encountered a UFO, and beforelong, I had an impressive collection of accounts. I was shocked. Could UFOs bereal?

Determinedto discover the truth, I went to the library to see if they had any books onthe subject. I found a surprisingly wide variety. I quickly devoured themall--looking for the proof I hoped I would find--that UFOs can be explained ashoaxes, hallucinations or misperceptions.

Insteadthe books told of stunning encounters involving multiple witnesses, supportedby radar returns and landing traces, medical effects (both injuries andhealings) animal reactions, electromagnetic effects and more. I learned thatthe phenomenon had been studied for decades and that there was an apparentcover-up by the US government which considered the subject Top Secret and ofextremely high importance.

Findingout that UFOs were real was not good news. It hit me like a ton of bricks andcaused me to reevaluate my entire worldview. Earth was being invaded by aliensand yet mainstream society seemed to be entirely ignorant of the fact.

Ibegan to formally interview witnesses and decided to write an article for thelocal paper. I was surprised when the editor put the story on the front page ofthe Topanga Messenger, making it the lead story. This brought in more reports.I began to subscribe to UFO magazines and journals and join any UFO groups Icould find. I attended local meetings and conventions. Before long, I foundmyself actively investigating UFO incidents.