UFO Fuss: Seeing Is = Believing - Strange & Interesting News: The Post Chronicle

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Strange=20 & Interesting News =

Published: Jan 29, 2008

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UFO Fuss: Seeing Is Believing
by Alan Burkhart

Can't help but wonder about all the fuss in Stephenville, Texas. It = seems=20 that a number of residents witnessed a large, brightly lit floating = object in=20 the night sky back on January Eighth. A few people also claim to have = seen=20 military jets in pursuit. Witnesses claim the object was in excess of a = mile=20 long.

Predictably, the military concocted a fish story in an attempt to = quell=20 speculation on what people might have seen. Of all the many things our = military=20 does well, insulting the intelligence of Americans may be what it does = best:

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint = Reserve=20 Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, said no F-16s or other aircraft = from his=20 base were in the area the night of January 8, when most people reported = the=20 sighting.

Lewis said the object may have been an illusion caused by two = commercial=20 airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may = appear=20 orange from the setting sun.

"I'm 90 percent sure this was an airliner," Lewis said. "With the = sun's=20 angle, it can play tricks on you."

Officials at the region's two Air Force bases - Dyess in Abilene and = Sheppard=20 in Wichita Falls - also said none of their aircraft were in the area = last week.=20 -- CNN

I'm fifty years old and I've seen my share of aircraft and sunsets. = Don't=20 recall any of them "playing tricks" on me.

Witnesses of the mysterious floating object insisted that what they = saw was=20 not a pair of commercial aircraft, and the story began to draw = nationwide=20 attention. Just as predictably, the military changed its story to fit = the=20 situation:

"In the interest of public awareness, Air Force Reserve Command = Public=20 Affairs realized an error was made regarding the reported training = activity of=20 military aircraft. Ten F-16s from the 457th Fighter Squadron were = performing=20 training operations from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday January 8, 2008, in the = Brownwood=20 Military Operating Area (MOA), which includes the airspace above Erath = County."=20 -- Dallas Morning News

I have questions regarding this matter specifically and on the = subject of=20 UFOs in general.

First, given all of the similar sightings by credible people = (including law=20 enforcement and professional pilots) around the world, do we truly = believe all=20 of those incidents to be false alarms? How many stories of = malfunctioning=20 experimental weather balloons, errant flares or bouts of mass hysteria = are we to=20 believe?

How is it that so many different people in so many different parts of = the=20 world have seen these unexplained phenomena? Are we to believe that = they're all=20 hoaxers in some worldwide conspiracy to make fools of the rest of us? = Or, are=20 they all just a bunch of hayseeds, drunk in their front yards and being=20 "tricked" by a pair of passenger jets at sunset?

If we are not alone in the universe, and I do not believe we are, = where is=20 the benefit in keeping the populace ignorant of such knowledge?

And, if indeed these are extraterrestrial visitors then why are they = buzzing=20 around the planet? If they have the technology to fly across the void to = our=20 world, why do they not just land and have a chat (maybe they're afraid = of those=20 F-16's)? And why all the lights? Obviously, they don't care to travel = with any=20 degree of stealth. They wish to be seen. But why announce one's presence = so=20 dramatically and then just speed away?

So many questions.

Some time back, I wrote that there cannot be a massive government = conspiracy=20 to keep a lid on knowledge of UFOs because our government cannot keep a = secret.=20 I'll admit to having changed my mind. While the bulk of the supposed = sightings=20 across the globe are probably either false alarms or hoaxes, too many of = them=20 have the ring of believability to be false. Too many people with nothing = to gain=20 by fabricating a UFO story have reported sightings in good faith. Far = too many=20 of these stories describe one or more of the same types of objects - = either=20 cigar-shaped or spherical, and either glowing from within or illuminated = by=20 banks of colorful lights.

And, the lies produced by our government are getting sillier by the = day.=20 Steve Martin, a pilot who saw the object near Stephenville said, "A = bunch of=20 stuff is bubbling up. They may have to tell us the truth."

Don't count on it, Steve.

Texans report seeing = UFO=20

Alan Burkhart is an independent=20 columnist

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