UFO ROUNDUP
 Volume 3, Number 8
 February 22, 1998
 Editor: Joseph Trainor
 
 UFOs SWEEP ACROSS MAINE
 
      UFOs visited several towns in Maine, the largest
 state in the USA's northeastern region, on Tuesday,
 January 27, 1998, in an astounding one-night flap.
      A UFO visited Deer Island in Penobscot Bay, on
 Maine's Atlantic Ocean coast, illuminating several
 homes.
      Janet Stanley of Stonington, Me. (population 700),
 a port town on the southern tip of the island, had just
 turned on her TV set to watch President Clinton's
 State of the Union speech.  As she entered the bathroom,
 she "was startled by an immensely bright blue light that
 came through the miniblinds on her west-facing window."
 Opening the blinds, "she saw the western sky filled with
 a deep bright blue (glow) with yellow vertical streaks
 resembling lightning strikes."
      Nine miles to the north, in Little Deer Isle, Me.,
 "Seth Harkness was watching the speech...at ten minutes
 after nine (9:10 p.m.) when a blinding white light came
 through the east-facing windows of his living room."
      In St. Agatha, Me., Pam Pelletier was taking her dog
 for a walk when she "began hearing a series of huge sky
 explosions, maybe 7 or 8 of them."  The incident took
 place at 7:30 p.m.
      At 9:10 p.m., Grace Ouellette was at her home near
 Long Lake in Madawaska, Me. (population 3,653), a town
 on the Canadian border approximately 215 miles
 (344 kilometers) north of Bangor when she spotted
 "a large orange ball with white flashing lights."  At first
 she thought it was a small plane about to crash at the
 airport in nearby Frenchville (population 475).
      Across the St. Johns River, in St. Francois de
 Madawaska, New Brunswick, Canada, Roger Bard
 "reported that he had seen a ball of fire go down on the
 American side of the river.  'It did not look like a falling
 star,' he said."
      St. Francois de Madawaska is 213 miles
 (341 kilometers) northwest of Fredericton, capital of
 New Brunswick province.
      In Millinocket, Me. (population 6,922), a small city
 69 miles (110 kilometers) north of Bangor, Ellen Cousins
 "said she saw a bright orange streak as she looked
 north at 7:30 p.m."
      Evelyn Robinson was driving on Interstate Highway 95
 from Houlton (population 5,627) to Island Falls
 (population 650) at 9:30 p.m. when she "spotted a huge
 blue-green light streaking from east to west and leaving
 sparks behind."
      "Robinson said, 'It was very fast, falling to the ground
 at a 45 degree angle.  It was very startling and unnerved
 me a bit.'"
      In Oakland, Me. (population 3,510), located on Maine
 Highway 11 about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of
 Bangor, local police Officer Rick Stubbert "received a
 report of something falling from the sky into McGrath
 Pond...and planned to send divers out on Friday."
      Elsewhere in Oakland, Kelly Sirois and her father,
 Ron Sirois, "heard loud explosions at 8:30 and at
 10:30 p.m. that caused both to think that something
 had impacted with their house."
      UFO phenomena were also reported in Deer Isle,
 six miles (10 kilometers) north of Stonington, and in
 Lincoln, Me. (population 3,399), a town on Highway 6
 approximately 49 miles (78 kilometers) north of Bangor.
 (See the Bangor Daily News for January 30, 1998,
 "Witnesses see fireball in sky near Madawaska" and
 "More witnesses report seeing bright-colored county
 fireball."  Many thanks to Gordon J. Gianninoto for
 these news stories.)
 (Editor's Comment: Well, I guess we know what
 Stephen King's next novel is going to be about.)
 
 MORE UFO SIGHTINGS NEAR
 PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
 
      A spherical silver UFO appeared repeatedly
 over the Florida panhandle and southern Alabama
 and was seen by dozens of eyewitnesses.
      In Gulf Breeze, Fla. (population 5,530), a resort
 town seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Pensacola,
 columnist Carole Baker of the Pensacola Beach
 Islander was driving on Shoreline Road at 6:35 p.m.
 on January 31, 1998 when she saw "not one but two
 bright red objects low on the horizon to the east."
      Ms. Baker kept the objects in view for 90 seconds,
 adding, "The two red objects had a distinctive shape.
 Each central, large, ruby red light had adjacent to it
 on either side one smaller red light...This was
 suggestive to me of a ring-shaped configuration
 which we have witnessed in this area many times
 before."
      On Thursday, February 5, 1998, Vicki Lyons of
 Pensacola, Fla. (population 58,165) experienced a
 strange compulsion at 2:30 p.m.  "I suddenly
 without any real reason began to think that I should
 leave earlier."
      Getting in her car, Ms. Lyons drove west on
 Interstate Highway 10 into Alabama.  As she neared
 Elsanore, Ala. 16 miles (26 kilometers) west of
 Pensacola, "All of a sudden, I watched streaking
 across my windshield to the southwest a perfectly
 round silver ball, so silver it looked like a sterling
 silver perfect 'marble' in the sky."
      Ms. Lyons told CNI News that the UFO "looked
 like an aspirin held at arm's length" and was about
 one mile away  "It contrasted sharply against the
 cloudless blue sky.  As I was looking at it and
 pondering pulling off the interstate (highway), it
 suddenly took off at tremendously fast speed and
 crossed in front of me, over the interstate and off
 to the north.  The speed of the object was
 indescribable!  It was so spectacular that I screamed
 in excitement when it flashed across in front of me."
      On Saturday, February 7, 1998, Christie Edwards
 of Robertsdale, Ala., a town on Highway 90 about
 27 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of Mobile,
 videotaped the silver sphere as it hovered above
 her house.
      Two days later, on Monday, February 9, 1998,
 the UFO returned to Robertsdale.  Ms. Edwards said,
 "It looks just like a bright light, but it's real big.  And
 it looks like nothing I've ever seen before...a small,
 circular-looking silver object against a blue sky."
      Fox Channel 10 TV aired the Edwards video
 during their evening broadcast on February 9.
      On Wednesday, February 11, 1998, Pat Crumbley
 and her husband Buddy were driving on Interstate
 Highway 10 in Milton, Fla. (population 7,216) about
 16 miles (26 kilometers) northeast of Pensacola when
 she spotted the silvery UFO.
      "About 15 degrees off the horizon I saw a silver
 ball-shaped object," Mrs. Crumbley reported.  "About
 one-half inch (one centimeter) in diameter at arm's
 length."  She was so startled that "it took a couple of
 seconds to say, 'Buddy, look!'  As he turned to look, it
 just disappeared."  (See CNI News, Volume 3, Number 24,
 Part 1.  Many thanks to Mike Lindemann of CNI News
 for letting UFO ROUNDUP quote from his news story. 
 See also Filer's Files #6 for 1998.  Many thanks to
 George A. Filer of MUFON for the information.)
 
 BLACK HELICOPTER STALKS
 UFO OVER AN IOWA FARM
 
      On Monday, February 2, 1998, at 10 p.m., Susan
 Landers, 50, her daughter Melissa Edgewick, 27, and
 son Michael Landers, 20 were at the family farm near
 Sioux City, Iowa (population 80,505) about 200 miles
 (320 kilometers) east of Des Moines when Melissa
 "heard the sound of jets but did not see them."  She
 "then heard a high-pitched hum but did not locate
 the source of the noise."
      "Next a dark-colored helicopter came over their
 house at less than 50 feet altitude.  No markings were
 observed.  Very large motor," reported Beverly Trout
 of Iowa MUFON, who interviewed the family.
      "About 15 minutes later, the mother heard the
 copter and stepped out onto her bedroom's second-
 floor deck (balcony).  The copter was overhead, and
 she could see its bottom and could feel vibration in
 the house."
      Michael Landers, standing outdoors on the south
 side of the house, "could feel the disturbance 'wind'
 from the rotors.  At first, the copter was right over
 their house."
      Susan Landers "described two white lights--one at
 each end and a red light in the middle.  Since she was
 aware of the green light requirement on aircraft, she
 specifically looked for a green light.  There was none on
 the copter."
      "After the copter left, all three watched through
 binoculars a bright orange ball move from the east to
 the southwest and then to the northwest of their
 residence.  At one point, the ball stopped, then moved
 back to the southwest."
      A week later, on Monday, February 9, 1998, at
 11:45 a.m., Mrs. Landers and another son, Todd, 33,
 were driving to Sioux City when they saw a strange
 object hovering about a half-mile away.
      The UFO was "200 feet above a nearby hill" and
 "perhaps at 500 feet altitude."  Both witnesses
 described it as "a rectangular 'refrigerator' shaped 
 object, perhaps a little smaller than a mid-sized car."
      At first they thought they were "looking at the back
 end of a helicopter, but they saw that it had no wings.
 It was moving very fast and was a dull metallic gray
 in color."
      Todd Landers described the UFO "as a refrigerator
 laying horizontal," while his mother described "some
 sort of energy bands coming from the top and bottom
 of the object, each had extended outward for about
 one-third the size of the object."
      The glow created a shimmering effect, which
 Todd Landers described as "like looking through a fire."
      Five days later, on Saturday, February 14, 1998,
 Michael Landers and Melissa Edgewick were returning
 home at 9:30 p.m. when they spied a UFO they
 described as "a 40-foot triangle" hovering above the road.
      The UFO "was at about a one-and-one-half telephone
 pole in height" (33 feet or 10 meters--J.T.) above the road
 with "three bright white flashing lights at each corner of
 the triangle and a red light in the middle.  The object
 moved from the east side of the road to the west side,
 and at one point the bright light from the object
 reflected on the nearby trees."  (Many thanks to
 Beverly Trout of Iowa MUFON for these reports.)
 
 TRUCKER VIDEOTAPES UFO
 IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
 
      On Saturday, February 14, 1998, truck driver
 Bill Sauter of San Diego, California was driving his
 rig on Interstate Highway 10 near Deming, New
 Mexico (population 10,970) about 100 miles
 (160 kilometers) west of El Paso, Texas.
      As he was listening to his CB radio, "he heard
 talk about a strange object in the sky."
      Since he always carries a video camcorder with
 him, Sauter pulled off the highway and stepped down
 from the cab.  Spying the UFO over the desert, he
 lifted his camcorder and began shooting footage.
      "It just picked up speed and--woosh--it was gone,"
 Sauter told Channel 10 TV news in San Diego."  He
 reportedly described it as "something out there that
 was not a missile and wasn't a blimp.  It looked like
 a (Boeing) 747 but without wings."
      Pictures of the UFO may be found at the San
 Diego UFO Information homepage at this URL:
 http://www.arroweb.com/n6rpf/sauter.html.  (Many
 thanks to Paul Cook for this news story.)
 
 BLACK TRIANGULAR UFO
 SPOTTED IN MICHIGAN
 
      On Thursday, February 5, 1998, at 7:45 p.m.,
 high school senior Greg Parkins, 18, was driving
 through Howell, Michigan (population 8,184),
 located 57 miles (91 kilometers) west of Detroit,
 when he spotted a strange object in the sky.
      He described the UFO as "a black triangular
 object...heading west and paralleling Mason Road
 and at an elevation of 55 to 60 degrees.  Noted
 that the object had three real white blinking lights
 at the three points (corners) of the triangle."
      Greg "pulled over to the side of the road to get
 a better look" and estimated that "the object was the
 size of a quarter held at arm's length...Although he
 made a point of looking for them, no navigational
 strobes--red, green or white--were seen at any time.
 He estimated the speed of the object to be 60 miles
 per hour."  (See Filer's Files #6 for 1998.  Many thanks
 to George A. Filer of MUFON and Dave Parrish,
 Michigan director of Skywatch International, for
 this report.)
 
 NEW UFO FLAP RATTLES
 FOUR STATES IN AUSTRALIA
 
      February was an active month for UFOs in the
 southern hemisphere, as well, with a new flap in
 Australia.
      On Monday, February 9, 1998, at 9:50 p.m.,
 "a dark triangular-shaped object with three
 orange illuminations" appeared in the sky over
 Geelong, Victoria (Vic.), a city 40 miles
 (64 kilometers) west of Melbourne.  Witnesses
 reported that "it traveled very slowly, slower than
 an aircraft would fly" toward the Yan Yang Mountains
 northwest of Geelong.
      Also, at 9:50 p.m. that night, in Blackwood,
 South Australia (S.A.), witnesses reported seeing
 "a very bright ball of white light. It appeared to pass
 across the sky at about 20 to 25 degrees above the
 northern horizon, heading west or northwest of
 Adelaide.  Illumination flew straight and level."
      On Wednesday, February 11, 1998, at 10:05 p.m.,
 people in Toodyay, Western Australia (W.A.) near
 Perth saw "an object or illumination" come from the
 east and move to a stationary position near the
 moon.  "It came to a holding (hovering) position just
 under the moon and changed colours.  It then
 moved southward and changed direction.  It crossed
 right overhead to the southwest of Perth in only
 seconds."
      Minutes later, the UFO returned from the southwest,
 again flew over Toodyay and headed east.  "It also
 traveled extremely fast.  As the object traveled overhead
 the first time, it appeared to stop at one point--rise
 sharply up, then drop."
      Smaller lights appeared to revolve around the UFO.
 A rumbling sound was heard following it.  One witness
 reported, "Animals in the area--cockatoos, gallah sheep
 and dogs--were going crazy."
      On Friday, February 13, 1998, at 9:22 p.m., witnesses
 at Stones Corner in Brisbane, Queensland (Qnld.) "spotted
 a bright point of light in the northern sky."  As they watched,
 the UFO "exploded" into a bright circle of light that remained
 for several seconds.  "The exploded illumination appeared
 to be the size of an orange at arm's length.  It also did
 appear to have an orange-red glow" that "was very bright
 in the center."
      The same Friday night, at 9:35 p.m., witnesses in
 Elstenwick, Vic., a suburb of Melbourne "sighted a
 navy blue or black disc-shaped object hovering to the
 northwest...The object looked like a Second World War
 British battle helmet and it moved from side to side"
 as it flew.  Witnesses had the UFO in view for five or
 six minutes.
      On Saturday, February 14, 1998, the black disc
 appeared again, this time over Queensland's Gold Coast.
 The UFO, which "appeared to be a solid functioning
 object, flew over at about 1,000 to 1,500 feet (altitude.)
 This disc-shaped object heading due north and flew
 on a straight and level course, its speed was slower than
 a commercial airliner and was only sighted for one to
 two minutes before disappearing."
      On Sunday, February 15, 1998, at 9:45 p.m., 
 witnesses in the St. Mary's section of Sydney, New
 South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia's largest city,
 "saw two very bight orange fireball illuminations
 crossing the sky underneath cloud" at about 3,600
 feet altitude.  The UFOs came from the direction
 of the RAAF Richmond air base "and they were
 heading towards Liverpool or the (Australian) Army's
 Hollsworthy base."  (Many thanks to Ross Dowe of
 the Australia-New Zealand National UFO Hotline
 for these reports.)
 
 SAUCERS CONVERGE ON
 NORTHERN BRAZIL
 
      Disc-shaped UFOs overflew Fortaleza, the largest
 city in Brazil's Ceara state, and its suburbs three
 times on Monday, February 16, 1998.
      Fortaleza is 1,760 kilometers (1,100 miles) north
 of Rio de Janeiro.
      At 7:30 a.m., Neil Oliveiras Chagas spotted "a
 white object in the form of two inverted trapezoids
 with rounded edges and two blue lights."  Oliveiras
 Chagas, an electrician by trade, grabbed his video
 camcorder and shot footage of the UFO.
      At 5:20 p.m., Reginaldo Athayde, director-general
 of Centro de Pesquisas Ufologicas do Ceara (CPU-CE),
 a Brazilian UFO study group, while investigating the
 morning's sighting, witnessed another UFO overflight
 in Centro, Fortaleza's downtown district.
      According to Sr. Athayde, he "saw another object
 in the sky of Centro, crossing the Rua Barrio de Rio
 Branco and the Rua Pedro Pereira.  The object was
 very big, with a spherical form," moving first to the
 south and then heading east.  It was last seen
 flying east over the South Atlantic.
     A disc-shaped OVNI (Portuguese acronym for UFO)
 also appeared over the suburb of Cambeba, where it
 was videotaped by a TV crew from Verdes Mares.
     At 6:30 p.m., "a luminous white point" was seen
 overhead in Varjota, another suburb of Fortaleza.
      Saucers were also reported in Papicu, Messejana,
 Parangaba and Barru de Ceara, all districts of
 Fortaleza.
      Later in the evening, "an object of discoidal form"
 was seen flying towards the South Atlantic from the
 beach at Praia do Futuro.
      Sr. Athayde said, "We are going to analyze all
 of the material collected."  (See the Brazilian newspaper
 Jornal do Povo for February 17, 1998, "Objeto Nao
 Identificado Sao Vistos Sobrevando Fortaleza."
 Muito obrigado a Pedro Cunha por eso caso.)
 
 CHILE TV NETWORK AIRS
 VILLARICA UFO VIDEO
 
      On Saturday, February 14, 1998, Television
 Nacional de Chile (TVN) aired an amateur video
 of a UFO encounter that took place last
 November.
      On November 24, 1997, Vicente Constant, 26,
 and his family were driving to the Andes on 
 vacation.  They planned to visit Villarica volcano,
 a tourist attraction 688 kilometers (430 miles)
 south of Santiago de Chile, the national capital.
      As they neared the volcano, Vicente took out
 his camcorder and began shooting footage of the
 Chilean countryside.  Although they were in the
 Andes at a relatively high altitude--1,600 meters
 (5,280 feet, same as Denver, Colorado--J.T.), he
 reported, "Suddenly we began feeling a heavy
 pressure in the air."
      "While moving the camera around (from the
 windshield to the right front window), just above
 the volcano appeared a cigar-shaped object that
 went from the upper right of the (view) screen to
 the left part.  Then the object suddenly made a
 turn and took off, heading toward the upper left
 part of the screen.  The scene seemed like a UFO
 entering Earth's atmosphere and then flying off.
 This object left no trail."
      The videotape is being examined by Dr.
 Rafael Vera Mege of the University of Concepcion.
 A request to view and examine the tape has been
 made by Agrupacion de Investigaciones Ovniologicas
 (AION), Chile's famous UFO study group.  (Muchas
 gracias a Luis Sanchez Perry para esas noticias.)
 
 from the UFO Files...
 
 1942: ARMY GUNNERS FIRE AT
           UFOs OVER LOS ANGELES
 
      On Wednesday, February 25, 1942, at precisely 2 a.m.,
 diners at the trendy Trocadero club in Hollywood were
 startled when the lights winked out and air raid sirens
 began to sound throughout greater Los Angeles.
      "Searchlights scanned the skies and anti-aircraft
 guns protecting the vital aircraft and ship-building
 factories went into action.  In the next few hours they
 would fire over 1,400 shells at an unidentified, slow-
 moving object in the sky over Los Angeles that looked
 like a blimp, or a balloon."
      Author Ralph Blum, who was a nine-year-old boy
 at the time, wrote that he thought "the Japanese were
 bombing Beverly Hills."
      "There were sirens, searchlights, even antiaircraft
 guns blamming away into the skies over Los Angeles.
 My father had been a balloon observation man (in the
 AEF) in World War One, and he knew big guns when
 he heard them.  He ordered my mother to take my
 baby sisters to the underground projection room--our
 house was heavily supplied with Hollywood
 paraphernalia--while he and I went out onto the
 upstairs balcony."
      "What a scene!  It was after three in the morning.
 Searchlights probed the western sky. Tracers
 streamed upward.  The racket was terrific."
      Shooting at the aerial intruders were gunners
 of the 65th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment
 in Inglewood and the 205th Anti-Aircraft Regiment
 based in Santa Monica.  The "white cigar-shaped
 object" took several direct hits but continued on its
 eastward flight.
      Up to 25 silvery UFOs were also seen by
 observers on the ground.
      Editor Peter Jenkins of the Los Angeles
 Herald Examiner reported, "I could clearly see the
 V formation of about 25 silvery planes overhead
 moving slowly across the sky toward Long Beach."
      Long Beach Police Chief J.H. McClelland
 said, "I watched what was described as the second
 wave of planes from atop the seven-story Long
 Beach City Hall.  I did not see any planes but the
 younger men with me said they could.  An
 experienced Navy observer with powerful Carl
 Zeiss binoculars said he counted nine planes in
 the cone of the searchlight.  He said they were
 silver in color.  The (UFO) group passed along from
 one battery of searchlights to another, and under
 fire from the anti-aircraft guns, flew from the
 direction of Redondo Beach and Inglewood on the
 land side of Fort MacArthur, and continued toward
 Santa Ana and Huntington Beach.  Anti-aircraft
 fire was so heavy we could not hear the motors
 of the planes."
      Reporter Bill Henry of the Los Angeles Times
 wrote, "I was far enough away to see an object
 without being able to identify it...I would be willing
 to bet what shekels I have that there were a
 number of direct hits scored on the object."
      At 2:21 a.m., Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt issued
 the cease-fire order, and the twenty-minute
 "battle of Los Angeles" was over.
 (See BEYOND EARTH: MAN'S CONTACT WITH
 UFOs by Ralph Blum, Bantam Books, New York,
 April 1974, page 68.  See also the Los Angeles
 Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and the
 Long Beach Press-Telegram for February 25, 1942.
 All newspaper quotes taken from "The Battle of
 Los Angeles, 1942" by Terrenz Sword, which
 appeared in Unsolved UFO Sightings, Spring 1996
 issue, pages 57 through 62.)
 (Editor's Comment:  Maybe the gang at the Black
 Vault could use the Freedom of Information Act to
 get the Army's Situation Reports for February 25,
 1942 for the 65th and 205th A.A. Regiments.
 Wouldn't that be interesting reading!)
 
 FUN UFO WEBSITES
       A 1988 UFO photo is available at this site,
 http://www.debshome.com/PilotsIncredible
 Sighting.html
      Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands
 reportedly shot a photo of a UFO over the
 Olympic Games at Nagano, Japan last
 week.  Check it out at this URL:
 http://www.members.xoom.com/
 marianne_timmer
      Don't miss the San Diego UFO Information
 homepage at http://www.arroweb.com/
 n6rpf/sauter.html
      As always, there are plenty of things to
 see at our parent homepage, UFO INFO.
 Drop in at http://www.digiserve.com/ufoinfo/
      Back issues of UFO ROUNDUP can
 be accessed at our website.  Feel free to
 browse around at http://www.digiserve.com/
 ufoinfo/roundup/
 
      Today is the birthday (February 22, 1857)
 of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, who can rightly be
 called the grandfather of radio, television and
 the Internet.  To say nothing of the way he
 revolutionized the science of astronomy.
 Happy birthday, Heinrich!
 
      We'll be back next Sunday with more saucer
 news from "the paper that goes home--UFO
 ROUNDUP."  See you then.
 
 UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 by Masinaigan
 Productions, all rights reserved.  Readers may post
 news items from UFO ROUNDUP on their websites
 or in newsgroups provided that they credit the
 newsletter and its editor by name and list the date
 of issue in which the item first appeared.