UFO ROUNDUP Volume 2, Number 20 May 18, 1997 Editor: Joseph Trainor CHUPACABRAS SCARE SWEEPS BRAZIL Stories of a strange Chupacabras-style creature that attacks sheep have created panic among "chacareiros" (ranchers) in Brazil's southern states of Sao Paulo and Parana. Known as "O Bicho" (pronounced Beee-shoooo), meaning "The Beast," the creature has killed over 50 sheep since January 28, 1997. The attacks have been concentrated in rural districts surrounding the city of Campinas in Sao Paulo state and the small city of Campina Grande do Sul, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Curitiba in Parana state. A woman of rural Sao Paulo state, who saw Bicho two weeks ago, described the creature as "two meters tall (six feet, six inches), very thin, with small forearms and long claws, and of a dark gray color." On May 11, 1997, the newspaper Folha de Londrina in Parana state published a long feature story on Bicho. According to journalist Paulo San Martin, "The first attacks occurred at the end of January. But no one called attention to them until a month later when the massacre occurred at the ranch of Samuel Ramos Lago" near Campina Grande do Sul. On February 20, 1997, Ramos Lago and his wife, Rosimara, left their ranch on a business trip. Staying behind was housekeeper Jose Batista de Moraes. Batista de Moraes told the newspaper that "at 2 a.m. (February 21) he "awoke apprehensively having heard loud noises coming from outside." Because it was drizzling, he put on a raincoat before going into the barnyard. "When I approach the corral, I heard sheep bleating and a loud rumble, a type of growling that I'd never heard before," Batista de Moraes said. "I tried to enter through the gates, but they were tightly shut. By the time I got to the other gate, the strange animal had escaped." Inside the corral, Batista de Moraes "switched on the lights and found a scene of massacre. Twelve sheep lay dead, and another 11 were very much chewed up. All of the sheep were mutilated with surgical precision. Some of the living sheep had suffered an excruciating blow, a violent break of the maxillary bone." When the Ramos couple returned home, Samuel examined the dead sheep and "found claw scrapes and a curious cut on each sheep's ear. The cuts were perfect. They appeared to have been executed by a surgical instrument." Local veterinarian Dr. Luiz Cintra was the first to investigate the scene. He took samples of a "mucus-like substance" found on the wool of the dead sheep. Three days later, on February 24, the Policia Florestal and a team of veterinarians led by Dr. Ana Silvia Passarinho of Curitiba's municipal zoo examined the dead and wounded sheep. "Other predators of the region were immediately dismissed," Folha de Londrina reported. "Jaguars don't attack sheep. Also, their teeth marks are too small to fit the incisors shown on the remains." Dr. Passarinho said, "Cats do not attack their prey from behind. Nor do they go for the ears first, as this creature did." She added that the scale of butchery was out of character for felines, as well. Tracks left by Bicho also seemed puzzling. Ramos Lago said that at times the creature appeared to stand and move on two legs, and at other times, it appeared to be moving on four legs. (See Folha de Londrina for May 11, 1997. Also, many thanks to Eduardo Castor Borgovni for the reports from Sao Paulo state.) (Editor's Comment: This seems to be the week for monster stories! Keep reading...) MONSTER REPORTS CAUSE STIR IN SOUTH AFRICA TV viewers in South Africa were stunned Tuesday night, May 8, 1997 by a 15-minute news broadcast about a monster scare in the Eastern Cape region. The broadcast showed an interview with a Xhosa tribal chief and one of his princesses near the town of Umzimkulu. The couple claimed that seven Xhosa people have disappeared during the last month, all victims of a creature they call Mamlambo. The most recent alleged victim, a Xhosa man, washed ashore recently along the banks of the Umzimhlava River, about 176 kilometers (110 miles) southwest of Durban. The body was badly lacerated, and the victim's eyes had reportedly been gouged out. Mamlambo, the royal couple claim, has a head like a horse, a long neck, and a body with scales like a fish. It is said to be a giant amphibian or a reptile that came out of the river. However, the Umzimkulu police chief, also a Xhosa, laughed off the reports, said there were not six people missing, adding that the body found was that of "a drowning victim" who was "probably eaten by the crabs." The controversy reached South Africa's Parliament when Ezra Sigwella, agriculture minister for the Eastern Cape, asked the members to deal with Mamlambo. (See Earthweek for May 9, 1997. Many thanks to Loren Coleman for posting the original item. And thanks to Roger Day and Leon Bouwer of South Africa for the additional information.) (Editor's Comment: According to Star for May 27, 1997, Marla Maples is looking for movie work. I think she'd be perfect in Mamlambo, the Creature that Ate Johannesburg.) THREE UFOs SIGHTED OVER LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK On Sunday, May 4, 1997, MUFON investigator Andrew Casaveno and his girlfriend observed three UFOs flying over Nassau County, Long Island, New York. The UFOs "were moving southeast slowly at 30,000 to 35,000 feet (9,090 to 10,606 meters) and changing shape as observed through binoculars." "The UFOs appeared to be metallic with an orange glow," Casaveno reported. He then saw "two F-16 fighters intercept from the southwest. The UFOs disappeared when the F-16s got near." "Fifteen minutes later," he added, "two black helicopters flew into the same general area and released a large quantity of balloons. This operation appeared very unusual and could cause a flight hazard to aircraft operation. Has anyone heard of a similar balloon release?" (Many thanks to George A. Filer, MUFON Eastern Director for this news story.) LIGHTSHIP UFOs SEEN IN THE SKIES OVER BROOKLYN On April 26, 1997, Alex Cavallari, New York state director of Skywatch International and two friends were out in the backyard of Alex's home in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, New York, not far from Neptune Avenue. The trio was having a barbecure and "doing some low-level UFO/paranormal hunting at this location." "On this day there were three high-altitude lightship type UFOs spotted," Cavallari reported. "The lightships were seen with the naked eye and were also observed through 6-by-30 and 8-by-50 power binoculars. There were 35mm film pictures and video tape recording equipment in use at the time. The videorecorder was set and filmed at a 12X lens zoon setting on manual." Cavallari estimated that the "lightships" were two to five miles (3 to 8 kilometers) away from commercial air traffic flying in and out of Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. "The lightships were hovering and doing low/high speed sharp 90-degree angle turns," he reported. "They would stop dead and then just reverse direction, all in an instant. Some even did loop-de-loops with abrupt stops and starts. At one point, they even just vanished and reappeared in a different area of the sky...They were seen in the southeastern skies. The weather that day was excellent--it was very clear with a few clouds in the sky. The temperature was about 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The time was between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m." The group viewed the UFOs "for about fifteen minutes... Alex thinks they were at 60,000 feet (18,182 meters) or so. They appeared to be disc to oval in shape...but they appeared to shimmer and glow whitish in color and this made it very difficult to determine exactly what shape they were." (Copyright 1997 by Alex Cavallri. Thank you, Alex, for allowing UFO ROUNDUP to quote from your report.) UFO SIGHTINGS CONTINUE IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA On Friday, May 9, 1997, at 9:50 p.m., Norm Miller and his family spotted "six to eight round lights in the southern skies of Phoenix." "The lights stayed in one area of the sky," Miller told Skywatch International, "moving from a small cluster, into a V formation to a straight line, inverted V and back to a small cluster. This went on for approximately one minute after which they went west at a very high rate of speed at approx. 10,000 feet (3,030 meters)." "They continued the various formations until they were out of sight," Miller added, "The night was clear, approx. 85 degrees (Fahrenheit), no weather balloons, no swamp gas, and maneuvering the way they did, no planes. Anyone else see this?" On Wednesday night, May 14, 1997, at 9:30 p.m. several residents of Phoenix, living near Sunnyslope and Squaw Peak, reported seeing "a large boomerang object" with five or six white lights. (Many thanks to Skywatch International.) SAUCER RAMS ELECTRICAL TOWER IN CHILE On Friday, May 9, 1997, the TV news program MegaNoticias on Channel 9 in Santiago de Chile stated that a massive blackout eight days earlier had been caused by a UFO. On the night of Thursday, May 1, 1997, residents of Jahuel, a town in the Andes of central Chile, told MegaNoticias that "a big glowing disc rammed one of the high-voltage (electrical transmission) towers, and all the lights went out. Then it flew straight up into the sky until it disappeared." The May 1 outage killed all electrical power in the metropolitan Santiago area all the way north to Arica, leaving 60 percent of the country in darkness. The blackout lasted for about one hour. The Fuerzas Aereas de Chile (FACh), the Chilean Air Force, denied the Channel 9 story and refused to comment on the May 1 blackout. (Muchas gracias a Luis Sanchez Perry para esas noticias.) STUDENTS VIDEOTAPE UFO OVER URUGUAY On April 5, 1997, a group of university students were hiking in the farm country east of Cerro de las Animas. The region is just north of Maldonado, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Uruguay's capital city of Montevideo. As they walked along some railroad tracks, the students saw a gleaming white UFO hovering in the northern sky about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away. The UFO was about 30 degrees above the horizon in a blue sky marked by scattered clouds. The UFO's shape was discoidal or oval. Grabbing a videocamera, one of the students obtained a couple of minutes of coverage. The UFO then flew away at incredible speed. (Muchas gracias a Ricardo Darca para ese. To obtain a photo, email Ricardo at this address-- rdarca@adinet.com.uy) FOUR-DAY UFO FLAP ROCKS CENTRAL BRAZIL Between Saturday, May 10, and Tuesday, May 13, 1997, multicolored UFOs were seen again and again over Vila Cortes, a barrio in the town of Santo Antonio de Descoberto. The town is in Brazil's Goias state, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Plano Piloto. On May 10, Sra. Maria de Fatima da Silva was washing clothes when she saw the first of the "bolinhas" or OVNIs (Portuguese acronym for UFO), which she described as "rotating and brilliant, of the colors blue, yellow, red and green" and flying "in groups of three. They were moving very rapidly and appeared to be communicating with each other." On May 11, Ilza Araujo, a local teacher acquainted with the family, went to Vila Cortes to observe the phenomenon. "The objects were brilliant," Srta. Araujo told the newspaper Corrieo Braziliense. She watched the OVNIs with her Pentax binoculars. "One flew very low--it looked like a 500-liter jar of water. I wish they would come down and converse with me." Claudiane Veras, age 8, saw a UFO on May 13 and said, "It was a brilliant ball, but seemed more like an oval." Not everyone in Santo Antonio de Descoberto believes the objects are UFOs. Raimundo Nonato Fontenelle said, "For myself, I believe these objects are plastic bags flying in the wind." (See the newspapers O Imparcial of Plano Piloto and Correio Braziliense of Brasilia, D.F. for May 13, 1997. Muito obrigado a Pedro Cunha para esas historias) (Editor's Note: Santo Antonio de Descoberto was the site of many UFO sightings during Brazil's big flap back in 1986.) NEW MYSTERY EXPLOSION HEARD IN CINCINNATI, OHIO On Thursday, May 15, 1997, at 1:15 p.m., an explosive sound rolled across a wide area of southern Ohio into northern Kentucky, mystifying thousands of residents. Reports flooded in from a 104-mile area ranging from Aurora, Indiana (population 3,816) to West Union, Ohio (population 1,639). Charles Stuart, an investigator for Tri-States Advocates for Scientific Knowledge (T.A.S.K.), heard the explosion while in West Chester, Ohio and he "described the blasts as six separate jolts happening over a 10-minute duration." A woman in Adams County contacted T.A.S.K. to report "a sonic boom heard around 2:00 p.m. The boom greatly startled her, she said, and shook her teeth." Kenneth Young, T.A.S.K. public relations director, said the Clermont County Sheriff's Department received "calls originated at 3:45 p.m. from Tate township, 3:52 p.m. from Monroe township, 3:55 p.m. from Washington township, 4 p.m. from Miami township police departments." Young reported that Terry Donald of the WKRC-TV Channel 12 news department "received calls from Aurora, Indiana, Delhi (Ohio)...and Boone County, Kentucky. WKRC Ch. 12 also confirmed that multiple booms were reported, and added that a Delhi resident called the news station to complain that 'her little glass knick-knacks shattered,' and also received a call from Butler, Kentucky (population 663), whose front door had exploded from the blast." This is the third explosive event in the Cincinnati region since April 19. The T.A.S.K. investigation is continuing. (Many thanks to Kenneth Young of T.A.S.K. for this news story.) From: Matt Newsgroups: alt.ufo.reports,alt.ufc,alt.alien.research,alt.alien.visitors,alt.alien.wanderers,alt.aliens.imprisoned Subject: January 1997 Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 18:18:02 +0100 I don't know if I am just opening myself up to ridicule by posting this article, but I really feel I would like to share my experience with people who may be able to understand and empathise with what I have been through. It all occured back in January. I don't recall the exact date off the top of my head, but I could work it out if anyone is interested. I was driving over to one of my homes to check out the building alterations that had been done over the last few days when I notices a flash that seemed to briefly light up the sky. Initially I thought it was maybe sheet lightening, but after looking up to the sky it didn't seem to be at all stormy. It was a cloudless night and the conditions were just not right for a storm. After what must have been 2 or 3 minutes I noticed a brightish red/white light coming from a wooded area over on my left. Knowing full well that there were no houses in that particular area I began to take notice. The actual area has a holds a historical interest in the area as it was the sight of some old iron age settlement or something or other. Me and several friend actually looked around the area about 3 years previously so the location was not completely foreign to me. As I was in no particular hurry and growing increasingly curious I thought I would go and find out the source of the light. The area was two fields away from the road I was driving down, but to actually get there by road I had to drive about a mile through a neighbouring village to get there. As I approached the wooded area from my new direction I noticed a low frequency humming noise and sulphur like odour. The light was eminating from behind the trees and now that I had got a lot closer I noticed that there were three separate lights that were visible to me. I stopped my car about 100 meters from the wooded area and continued on foot. As got steadily near I noticed that the lights were coming from a craft or vehicle of some sort. It was a dark, smooth, metallic structure with no visible seams or joins. It seemed to be made out of just one piece of metal, moulded into shape. By this stage I was just 30 meters from the craft and my mind was now all but made up: yes, this was a spaceship. With that, a door seemed to be opening in the side of the craft. I had noticed no seam or join in the structure previously, but a door, hinged at the bottom was slowly opening. Now fully opened the door became a ramp down onto the ground below. A silhouette appeared in the doorway. It was vaguely humanoid in shape but various characteristics were different. The head was bulbous, the limbs long and thin. As this character made his way down the ramp and towards me I could make out more details. He had large eyes and and a tiny nose and mouth. He (I instantly assumed he was male. I don't know why) was wearing a tight silvery grey outfit and black boots. There was no helmet or breathable gas upply, so I assume he was able to breathe the air in our atmosphere without any problem. He walked directly towards me until we were about 15 meters apart. I made no effort to run and had no feelings of fear. I then experienced a very strange incident. He began communicting with me inaudibly. His speech seemed to fll my entire head. It is difficult to describe. It was as though I could hear him, but he never made a sound. He said I should not be here and it was dangerous for me due to the high levels of radiation that their craft was giving off. With that he turned and headed back into the craft. I started to follow him - not because I willfully wanted to, but he seemed to be able to control my actions and I seemed unable to argue. As I stepped into the craft the door lifted up and closed behind me. I was lead into what seemd to be the central room of the craft. Inside there was another alien dressed the same as the other, but with a slightly larger head. He seemed startled at my presence but the other alien seemd to put him at ease. The room was very bright with a cylindrical column stretching from the floor to the ceiling and made of a shiny silver metal. The other alien was sat at what seemed to be a control panal. He had his hand placed inside a palm shaped indentation on the panal and he seemed to be working on someting. The first alien that I had encountered explained to me that they were experiencing technical difficulties with their power source. I was told the reason I had been brought inside was to monitor the levels of radiation I had been succepted to. Up to this point I had remained silent. I had, quite understandable been quite taken aback by everything that had happed to me. I now realised I was having a unique experience and I didn't want to was the opportunity to ask questions. I spoke to the first alien that I had met. He seemed to be the more approachable of the two. I asked him why they had come to earth. He explained to me that his colony (that is the word he used) were monitoring the levels of pollution and man made destruction of the earth. He said that mankind is destroying the planet. He said it was important for us to utilise alternative energy sources and that the burning of fossil fuels must be stopped as it was destroying the atmosphere. He stressed that it was important to switch to other, non polluting, power sources. Another thing that he stressed was that the whole planet must work together towards a common goal. He said different areas of the earth had differering views on the conservation of the planet and that he hoped his own project would be successful. I took this to mean that the aliens were on a crusade to change world thinking as regards to ecological issues. He said that his colony has talked to many important people on earth and stressed the importance of their project to the well being of not just the earth, but the many surrounding planets. The other alien who had been working at the control panal turned and 'spoke' to me for the first time. He said I must go now. They had remedied the technical problem and they must now continue with their project. I then left the craft and made the 100 meter or so walk back to my car. I sat in my car and watched the lights in the wooded area brighten. The craft raised about 20 meters from the ground and then there was another bright flash just like the one that I originally heard and the craft was gone. I sat in my car motionless for about an hour remembering my experience before driving home. I have spoke very little about the incident up to now. I haven't told any of my close friend or my girlfriend. I do not want them to think that I am wierd or anything like that. There is no way that they will ever try to listen to my story. I don't want to waste my time telling them. This is the reason why I feel that maybe this newsgroup is the best medium of explaining what happened to me. If anyone has any questions or just wants to talk to me further about this then please email me. I would be glad to speak to anyone who has had a similar experience. From: "Donna Morask" Newsgroups: alt.ufo.reports Subject: do you see what i see? Date: 21 May 1997 12:53:27 GMT ufo, nw sky 5:20 a.m. right now, binocular view two bright gaseous kinda lights with "aura", three point device suspended underneath, what is it? do you see it? reply to ng or durtro@aol.com, not my machine invalid header. Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 01:15:28 -0500 From: Hans Rosenthal Subject: Huge UFO Over Ireland Message-ID: <33829300.2A07@areatech.org> Yesterday I got a phone call from my mother who lives in Ireland telling me about a number of triangle shaped craft of huge size flying over the northwest coast of Ireland. Three gigantic craft were see approching Sligo Bay in the middle of the afternoon by dozens of hill climbers near the summet of Mount Ben Bulben. The came in across the bay and alongside the mountain. The hitchikers, and people who live on the side of the mountain were able to look down on the craft from above. Everybody said the triangle craft had no featers or markings on the top on them. Cows and sheep on the slope of the mountain were seen running in all directions and in great panic. The craft made no sound and moved very slowly. At one point they passed directly over the grave of the poet W. B. Yeats in Drumcliff churchyard. Cars were stopping by the side of the road as drivers got out to look at the three craft. My mother said that all at once the craft dissapered. Within an hour Irish Police and Army helicopters were all over the place. The major Irish newsmedia did not report ths story only the small local papers. From: thx113viii@aol.com (THX113VIII) Newsgroups: alt.ufo.reports Subject: UFO Reported over Palm Beach Florida 05/26/97 02:00 - 03:00 am Date: 26 May 1997 08:25:26 GMT I am listening to the Art Bell radio show and the head of Mufon called and asked people who are seeing this ufo to call some 800 number to report this. I am no where near Florida, so I was wondering if anyone in that area can confirm or deny this. It was around 02:00 - 03:00 am on 05/26/97 over Palm Beach Florida. From: afsafsafs@aol.com (Afsafsafs) Newsgroups: alt.sci.natural.phenomena.unusual Subject: Monday 5_26_97 Meteor Date: 27 May 1997 03:56:11 GMT Mansfield, Massachusetts. At approximately 8:45PM EST I witnessed an intense ligtht (brighter than a full Venus) moving at a high rate of speed. Although initially my view was partially obscured by some trees, the light was observed at roughly 20° above the east-northeast horizon, travelling north in a straight line. As the light progressed, my view improved due to a clearing between trees. I witnessed a second and third light separate from the main light. These smaller lights appeared to break away in a east-northeast direction. I have spent hundreds of hours observing the night sky since I was a kid, and I have seen many shooting stars. Even though my view was partially obstructed, this was one of the best displays I've ever seen. This was very similar to a meteorite that was captured on video tape by someone at a kids ball game a few years back (you may have seen this video - it was on national news at that time, and I've seen it since on UFO and/or meteor television broadcasts). This one that I observed was very similar to the one on tape. Interestingly, the previous one impacted in New Jersey I think. If the one I observed impacted, my best guess for an impact site would be along the Canadian seaboard northeast of Maine. If anyone observed this or has any additional information, please e-mail me. Thanks. Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 09:48:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Jim Deardorff To: UFO UpDates - Toronto Subject: Art Bell's UFO Sighting 5/26/97 Those of you who listen in on Art Bell's night time radio talk show will have heard of the daytime sighting he and his wife had yesterday. It was of a bright cylindrical object trailing behind, or near the contrail of, a high-flying AF jet over Nevada. He then received a few calls from others who also had seen it. An interesting aspect is that one caller noted that the UFO executed oscillatory motions, as if suspended from a string, and Art confirmed that he had seen that too, as if it had been on a pendulum. It made me wonder, if he had been able to take a zoom video-camera recording of it doing this, if some later debunker wouldn't just say it was a model UFO dangling from a string! Fortunately for Art, in this case it had to be a high flying object to have been viewed by others at different locations. But it points up how easily a UFO pilot can make his/her craft undergo deceptive motions so as to provide a way out for negative skeptics. From: nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous) Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,alt.ufo.reports,alt.conspiracy.area51 Subject: Fwd: Palm Beach UFO investigation update (fwd) Date: 2 Jun 1997 03:40:31 +0200 From:bhamilto@pcshs.com SearchNet's IUFO Mailing List In the way of analysis, let me say this: we analyzed the video we took of the lights. I saw the lights through a Celestron telescope. We have had them analyzed by flare experts. We have called the army and the National Guard. These lights: a) were not suspended on parachutes b) did not smoke like flares c) did not spark like flares d) were off-color for flares e) were not in horizontal or vertical motion for a period of time f) according to our NG sources, no flares were set off in vicinity g) these lights did not illuminate the terrain which flares do h) these "type" of lights have been seen in other areas - they have been seen to ascend or ascend and join a large light or object Our conclusion at this time: None of the lights seen on the night of March 13th over Phoenix can be classed as flares. In addition, also seen were: 1) One large V or boomerang 2) One huge Black triangle 3) 3 to 5 huge hovering lighted globes All in all, a major sighting event. Still your remarks on flares and the government generating confusion are possibilities that must be considered. Local governments wish it would all go away. Sincerely, Bill Hamilton Executive Director SKYWATCH INTERNATIONAL Home e-mail: billh46088@aol.com, starmanbh@aol.com Work e-mail: bhamilto@pcshs.com SKYWATCH website: http://www.wic.net/colonel/ufopage.htm ALIEN MAGIC website: http://members.aol.com/billh46088/newhome.htm From: UFO Joe Daniels Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,alt.ufo.reports,alt.paranet.ufo Subject: yikes (fwd) Date: Mon, 2 Jun 1997 11:18:24 -0400 I am forwarding this report I received recently in the hopes that someone can help this fellow make a report, as it is outside my area (Ontario) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- ~Date: Mon, 26 May 97 21:08:53 -0700 ~From: Your Name To: ufojoe@cron-2.mco.net ~Subject: yikes 5/22/97 Northern Vermont sighting of something at 8:59 in the SE sky just above the horizon. ..White lights thought to be a reflection or a plane in the dusk sky. The light spreads and turns red,yellow and green and then "liquifies" into light that totally dispersed. Who do I tell?