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UFO Crashes

Cosmic Conspiracies

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Summary: The subject of crash retrievals is an important one in Ufology. The potential for obtaining hard evidence of UFOs and occupants is a Holy Grail for researchers, but it has proven as elusive as the chalice itself. Below are a few of the best known cases of "downed" UFOs and encounters with their alleged occupants. All of these cases have been thoroughly investigated, and the evidence is in the public domain for all to see and consider.



The subject of crash retrievals is an important one in Ufology. The potential for obtaining hard evidence of UFOs and occupants is a Holy Grail for researchers, but it has proven as elusive as the chalice itself. What is clear is the large amount of circumstantial data pointing to the reality of several UFO crashes, and the subsequent mopping-up operations of government forces. This is a problem of pseudoscientific proportions; one can explain the lack of public evidence in terms of government conspiracy, and therefore remain covered both ways. However, the various eye-witness testimonies, some from death-beds, gives credibility to some of the crashes claimed.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that this aspect of Ufology is prone to much speculation. This list, that we obtained from one “Titanium Knight”, should suffice to illustrate the rumour mill out there. We're not even going to attempt to corroborate this information. If just one of these is true, then the world is indeed a different one from the one we're constantly having rammed down our throats. But without supporting evidence, the data is seen to be awash with speculation:


22/7/47 Roswell, NM 4 bodies13/2/48 Aztec, NM 12 bodies7/2/48 Mexico, South of Laredo TX 1 body1952 Spitzbergen, Norway 2 bodies14/8/52 Ely, Nevada 16 bodies10/9/50 Albuquerque, NM 3 bodies20/5/53 Kingman, Arizona 1 body19/6/53 Laredo, Texas 4 bodies10/7/53 Johannesburg, S. Africa 5 bodies13/10/53 Dutton, Montana 4 bodies5/5/55 Brighton, England 4 bodies18/7/57 Carlsbad, NM 4 bodies12/6/62 Holloman AFB, NM 2 bodies10/11/64 Ft Riley, Kansas 9 bodies27/1066 N.W. Arizona 1 body18/7/72 Morroco 3 bodies10/11/73 N.W. Arizona 5 bodies12/5/76 Australian Outback 4 bodies22/7/77 N.W. Arizona 5 bodies5/4/77 S.W. Ohio 11 bodies17/8/77 Tobasco, Mexico 2 bodies11/88 Afghanistan 7 bodies5/89 South Africa 2 alive7/89 Siberia 9 alive
Again, this information is for illustration of a point only. The Roswell date is incorrect, for starters. 1953 was obviously a bad year for travellers to Earth: Perhaps a new Anti-Flying Saucer Missile came into service. Also note the propensity for disaster in the S.W. USA. Finally, we at Cosmic Conspiracies are at a loss to explain the apparent galactic interest in Brighton, England. It is of course possible that the UFO occupants were simply visiting relatives!

Below are a few of the best known cases of "downed" UFOs and encounters with their alleged occupants. All of these cases have been thoroughly investigated, and the evidence is in the public domain for all to see and consider:


F16 Shoots Down UFO!
[The following story was forwarded by a friend in Saudi Arabia who says that this story appeared recently a local newspaper.]

A high level source has revealed that an American Air Force F16 gunned down a UFO over Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm and five nations are trying to cover up the encounter. 'I don't know all the details but I'm sure that when this story comes out it will shake the world,' says Colonel Gregor Petrokov, a senior Russian official.

'It is a cover-up waiting to explode'. Colonel Petrokov says he was one of the first experts at the crash site in a barren desert region 250 miles northeast of Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital. 'The Americans won't admit it was a UFO their plane shot down, but the debris was not from any known aircraft,' he says. 'The Saudi's with me were so frightened that they asked American, British and French investigators to come to the crash site immediately'. The Colonel says he was visiting in Riyadh at the time and that he and a small Russian team were able to inspect the wreckage before American forces from Desert Storm arrived.

'The craft was circular and made of a material I've never seen before,' he says. 'About a third of it seemed to be missing, possibly blown away by the American missiles.' The Saudi's wouldn't let us touch anything, but we saw instruments, machinery and other things that completely baffled us.' He says the markings on the instrument panels and dials were not in any language he was familiar with. 'It seemed to be a relatively small craft, maybe 15 feet across,' he says. 'There were three chairs, probably for crew members, but they were so small they seemed to have been made for children. Evidently space aliens are only about three feet tall. Most amasing, though, is the fact that there were no bodies at the crash site, nor did there appear to be an engine in the craft.'

'The American Missiles may have scored a direct hit on the engine, causing it to disintegrate,' he says 'But I checked with the Saudi radar technicians and they claim their instruments didn't show anyone ejecting or bailing out from the craft. Search helicopters were all over the area, which is a desert, and they did not spot any survivors in the vicinity of the crash.' During interviews with the radar technicians, Petrokov was told that the blip identified as the UFO appeared out of nowhere as four F16s were streaking towards Baghdad. 'One of the American planes broke from formation and headed for the UFO' he says. The alien craft started moving southwest, away from the F16 and the American pilot gave chase. When the F16 was within three miles, the alien craft seemed to fire something at the plane but missed. The American then fired two missiles. Both hit the saucer. There was a terrific explosion, and then the crash. When American investigators arrived, Petrokov says he and his team were immediately ordered out of the area and flown back to Riyadh. 'There were things they didn't want us to see more, I think, than the fact that the craft was circular, that there were no survivors and that it was made of a foreign substance' he says. Petrokov says members of his team were able to sneak pictures without the knowledge of the Saudi's or Americans, but he was ordered to turn them over to Russian authorities the next day. Petrokov says American army engineers gathered up all debris and carted it away for shipment to the U.S.


ROSWELL

The definitive UFO crash retrieval. Much solid research has gone into proving the validity of this case in the last couple of decades, particularly by Kevin Randle, Don Schmitt and Stanton T. Friedman. Essentially, the U.S.A.F. released information to the media about the unexpected discovery of a crashed flying disc near Roswell A.F.B. in the first week of July, 1947. This claim was quickly retracted by a higher military authority as the startling news went global. An effective debunking of their own news story then took place, publicly humiliating the officer who initially broke the story, Jesse Marcel.

Roswell highlights how the post-war U.S. government was able to cover-up an incident that had profound implications for our planet with ruthless efficiency. The general population in those days took the military's word that what they did was above board and always in the best interests of the country. Authority meant authority, and if someone was told to keep quiet about something then they did. Nowadays, it is difficult for us to comprehend how the authorities got away with Roswell, especially when they are now publicly laughed at when they produce the sort of drivel recently used to debunk the case.

1947 saw the introduction of the National Security state in the U.S., two years after the War and first use of the atom bomb. The Manhattan Project had been kept quiet successfully during the war, so why was it deemed necessary to create further levels of secret government in 1947? The answer, of course, is Roswell, with the subsequent investiture of the committee overseeing dealings with UFOs and the necessary secrecy surrounding them (Majestic 12), and the establishment of various ultra-secret intelligence agencies. For a long time it worked, and Roswell wasn't even on the Ufological map until the Seventies. If the same happened today, would the cover-up be as complete?


VARGINHA

An extraordinary event occurred in the Brazilian city of Varginha on 20 January 1996. Multiple witnesses were shocked by the appearance in their midst of small, orange-red beings which behaved as if "on the run". They were captured by members of the local Fire Service and taken to a local teaching hospital where they were again seen by many credible witnesses. Upon the speedy intervention of U.S. military personnel, the entities disappeared. Stories of pregnant dwarves (!) were then circulated to the media to put them off the chase. But it was too late. Ufology is more popular in Brazil than perhaps anywhere on the planet, and researchers were on the scene, investigating the claims and distributing their preliminary findings almost immediately. A.J. Gavaerd has done much work to highlight this important case world-wide. Perhaps the incident in Varginha shows the speed with which the Authorities now have to fire-fight an emerging situation to prevent complete loss of control of the UFO subject. This may have been one of their nearest misses.


RENDLESHAM FOREST

Aliens may not have been captured in this case, but it does involve a significant interaction between them and the military. American servicemen stationed at Bentwaters in East Anglia, England were witness to a remarkable close encounter outside the perimeter of their base in December 1980. Although later debriefed about the security implications of going public with their story, some indeed risked everything to let the truth be known. Larry Warren has engaged in a personal crusade to bring this case to the attention of the world, encountering hostility from many quarters. Much of his story has been corroborated by other testimony and circumstantial evidence. Some of his wilder claims, as to the exact nature of the incident, remain highly controversial.

As if the appearance of UFOs over sensitive military establishments wasn't enough, the entities involved appear to have been trying to defuse an international situation by tampering with nuclear weapons secretly stored in an underground facility below Woodbridge/Bentwaters. Amazing as this may sound, it's exactly the sort of activity predicted by the contention that we are being visited by aliens. Whether this conclusion is acceptable to many is a moot point, but something very strange did happen near the air-bases in 1980, as corroborated by documents made available through the American Freedom of Information Act. We would highly recommend the book "Left at East Gate" to those interested in reading up on the case.

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Swedish Military Search For Fallen UFO In Lake

By Clas Svahn/UFO-Sweden
Translation from Swedish by Eileen Fletcher

What was it that crashed down into the 13-metre-deep Lake Backsjön north of Arvika in Värmland? An object with small wings, say the witnesses. Nothing at all, say the military who searched for many weeks. It was well after midday on the 27th of July 1999, at least four people around Lake Backsjön outside Gunnarskog saw how an oblong object plunged down from the sky. Some of the witnesses said they'd also seen small wings sticking out from the 5 metre long and 1,5 metre wide body. The object crashed down with a splash and water was thrown into the air. One of the witnesses contacted the rescue station in Arvika which in turn contacted the police, who sent a report to FO 52 - area defence in Kristinehamn - it finally reached operations command at milostaben in Strängnäs.

- We interviewed the witnesses who had all seen the object come down, said chief of staff Stellan Jansson, who was responsible for the search.

During late August many test dives were made in the lake, and the military worked with the security police and the rescue station, evaluating the reliability of the witnesses. The conclusion was that the witnesses were reliable and that a greater and more costly effort was needed. On the 13th of September they renewed the investigation around the 2 kilometre long and 800 metre wide lake under the code name "Operation Sea Find". There were 14 men, eight of whom were divers, along with Sweden's most sophisticated sonar equipment and an under-water camera. Personnel from operations command in Strängäs were also present. When the military began showing interest in the lake at the beginning of August, the public were presented with a completely different story. Arvika Nyheter's newsreporter Kjell Emanuelsson received the reply that it was a home defence practice, whilst Anne-Marie Gundahl who lives at Lake Backsjön heard that the divers were training to make bridges!

- We got to know that it could be something which was dangerous if it ended up in foreign hands, says Birgitta Jakobsson from the nearby community of Gunnarskog.

Confusion as to what the military were up to at the lake was great. According to Stellan Jansson, it was all due to a break-in at a mobilisation supply depot in the area some weeks earlier. Home guardsmen were responsible for guarding the area whilst repairs were carried out, at the same time as checks were made to see if anything had been stolen.

- Then we drove down and interviewed the witnesses who had all seen the same thing. At the same time there were also home guardsmen in the area. Then at the end of August, we began a three-man diving operation in the lake.
- With this very strong coalition we were able to make a thorough search from September 13th to September 16th. We gave it all we'd got.

How much time did you set aside for the search?
- Including the preparation time and reconnaissance, it was ten days. In the end we had searched through 75 per cent of the lake. We were methodical, so that we were sure that the object that had come down into the lake had not glided further away. We really tried to cover the whole area.

From the shore, the locals around Lake Backsjön could follow the activities of the military. From seven in the morning to seven in the evening, they could see divers working in the 13-metre-deep lake. Visibility was ten centimetres. But with the help of an underwater craft equipped with ultrasound and a camera capable of seeing an object only a couple of centimetres in size on the bottom of the lake, nothing was left to chance.
If the same area had been so thoroughly searched by divers, it would have taken a year with the poor visibility, according to Stellan Jansson.

- No matter how small the object had been, we would have found it, said Stellan. Were you surprised that nothing was found?
- I must admit that I was. With the powerful equipment and effort made this week, I really thought we'd find something. The search in Lake Backsjön gave the military food for thought. Here were good witnesses who related a plausible story. But after investigations, their claims could not be verified.
- We have to treat the reports as reliable, but the search has not found anything and we do not know exactly what we're looking for, says Colonel Yngve Johansson at FO 52.

The result after many weeks of searching was only a metal barrel and a plastic bag.
- It has been a bit difficult. The people are very reliable and have really put themselves forward to help us in any way imaginable, said Stellan Jansson.
- They were interested themselves to see us bring something up from the lake. But one knows how the sun can reflect when at a certain angle - perhaps a fish leaped or a bird dived down..... Certainly seven people could experience an optical illusion, it does happen. One cannot dismiss the possibility altogether.

After midday on the 16th of September, the search was discontinued. On October 1st, a report was finished for further distribution to the commanding officer, and the military intelligence and security at headquarters in Stockholm. Two pages were not classified but transcripts from the security police's interviews and a detailed description of the technics used during the search were classified. UFO-Sweden has filed a request to de-classify parts of the report. In all the search costed 150.000 Swedish crowns. When I asked the colonel of the first grade Yngve Johansson at FO 52, what people who see unidentified objects in the sky should do, he replied:

'I think that the public should report all the information and possibilities to us. We can then build up a picture of what happened. One incident does not give us the answer, but many could'.


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WAS A UFO SHOT DOWN IN OKLAHOMA?

On Friday, October 13, 2000, ufologist Jim Hickman "was monitoring local law enforcement (radio channels) and at 7:31 p.m. local time, a radio call came in that four or five fighter planes were sighted by local police officers, and they were traveling to the northwest."

"At the same time, an unidentified flying object (UFO) encountered the fighters and reportedly crashed into the ground north of Elk City, Oklahoma." The fighters were presumably from Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City.

The descending UFO, Hickman reported, "was seen by multiple witnesses as far west as Shamrock, Texas and as far east as Clinton, Okla., north to Cheyenne, Okla. and south to Granite, Okla." According to a radio transmission reportedly made by Hammond, Okla. police cruiser, the UFO "was headed north" and crashed on a farm just north of Hammond.

"At about this time, I made a personal observation out my back door," Jim reported, "and I noticed a bright luminous vapor trail that went from the southwest to the northeast. There were several other trails in the area to the north (of Elk City--J.T.) but they seemed normal in color. I saw no other lights or aircraft in the area."

Another eyewitness also reported seeing a strange luminous vapor trail in the lower atmosphere. Richard P. of Jenks, Okla. (population 1,100), a town 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Tulsa, reported, "There was cloud cover everywhere but to the southwest." At 7:20 p.m., "I had just stepped outside when I saw a light in the southwest sky, moving to the north. It was about 'a fist at arm's length' above the horizon. It was more like two or three lights on the front of an object that was leaving a definite trail. The trail, which had sort of a shine to it, made me question if the object was an airplane. It seemed more like a fireball that was starting to break apart. As the object moved north, it would pass behind scattered cloud cover, but I saw it for at least thirty seconds before it disappeared for good." "The trail stayed in the sky for another 10 to 15 minutes. Also, as the sky got darker, the trail got brighter! Finally, it was a beam of light, as bright as the full moon, across the southwestern sky."

The Rogers Mills County Sheriff's Department also reported, "Sparks in the sky," according to Jim Hickman.

On Saturday, October 14, 2000, KFOR TV in Oklahoma City reported, "It happened last night at 7:30 p.m. when a strange sight surface in the sky. Reports came into our newsroom from across the state, and many callers saw the same thing. They had seen a mysterious fireball in the sky." KFOR TV reported sightings of the UFO and its luminous trail in the cities of Elk City, Erick, Enid, Alva, Clinton, Leedy, Oakwood, Choctaw, Mangum, Ringwood and Sayre." The TV station telephoned Tinker Air Force Base, the National Weather Service and NORAD., "and we quickly learned that the object had been seen by folks from Texas to Nebraska." However, eyewitnesses in Kansas saw more than one object in the sky. "'There's one big light and around it just five little balls, just lights, just following them. And then through the sky there was just
like vapors, and vapors like different colors--blues and oranges--that were just cool,' said eyewitness Arthur Davis of Valley Center, Kansas."

There were also reports of "fire in the sky" from McCook, Nebraska. In Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, hundreds saw the aerial display. "Gary Bishop of South Wichita said, 'Just looked over my shoulder and right across the sky, from the southwest to the northwest, down a little bit. This was a meteor that left a trail of blue light. It was beautiful!'" "911 supervisors said they had more telephones ringing than dispatchers to handle them. They say they had around 150 calls from witnesses saying they saw everything from space aliens to a plane crash."

"At NORAD, M/Sgt. Larry Lincoln said, 'It seems to be a very heavy meteor shower. Our weather people told us to expect something like this between October 10th and the 19th of October, with the heaviest coming down around the 15th. It seems to be probably coming down a little early.'"

(Editor's Comment: Right, Sarge. And that's why, despite advance warning, NASA launched the space shuttle Discovery right into the teeth of this meteor storm.)
At 7:43 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) office in Oklahoma City reported that it was a meteor shower. (See the Wichita, Kansas Eagle for October 14, 2000. Many thanks to Jim Hickman, Louise A. Lowry and Todd Lemire for these reports.)


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UFO Crashes & Retrievals