Stephenville UFO Sightings: 2/1/08

2/29/08

Ufo Hunters from the History Channel in Stephenville Video

sorry about the noise, I was standing right next to a generator or compressor of some sort.

Ufo Hunters from the History Channel in Stephenville

Here are some still pictures of the entire weather balloon (my first one!! I finally saw one yeaaaah! lol) attempt. From what it looked like they were trying to demonstrate something, because they did a LOT of talking for a LOOONG time and then just blew up the balloon and had it up there for a few minutes.

And all this time, an airplane was circling the area:

[image]
Setting it up

[image]
Letting it fly (with a cord)

[image]
illuminating it.

Ufo Hunters from the History Channel in Stephenville

The UFO Hunters from the History Channel are located in downtown Stephenville, at the square, in plain view of the Moola, the Cow (see pictures below, Moola is in real trouble!!!).

They too have a camera pointed towards the sky, just like our own Sky Cam. Well theirs is probably a thousand times better than mine every will be, lol:

And here is a short video I taped at a local car dealership up at the corner from where I live. I posted photos of their lit sign before, but I couldn't resist to make a movie of it!!

And some silly artwork I did last night ;-):

2/27/08

WELCOME TO STEPHENVILLE, THE HISTORY CHANNEL'S "UFO HUNTERS!"

All this week, the History Channel will be filming an episode of "UFO Hunters" from Stephenville and the surrounding area. This episode, we believe, will be the final episode of this season's show. Thanks to Dr. Ted Acworth, Bill Birnes, Jeff Tomlinson and Patrick Uskert for joining us in studio this morning. Missed the interview? Listen to it here!

If you have a UFO story you'd like to share, publicly or anonymously, please feel free to visit their headquarters on the square in Stephenville, next door to Tat-2 Body Works or e-mail them at :evidence@theufohunters.com. You can also visit their website at : The History Channel-UFO Hunters.

Also, we welcome to the Mandatory FM family, Angelia Joiner, who will be heading up our news department and keeping us in touch with any UFO sightings in the area!If you would like to get in touch with Angelia, e-mail her at:ajoiner@mandatoryfm.com! Also, check out Stephenville Lights for the latest UFO sightings in and around the Stephenville area!

MUFON investigates more Erath County UFO sighting reports

Filed 2-24-2008
By ANGELIA JOINER - Stephenville Lights Reporter
ajoiner@stephenvillelights.com

Investigators with Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) collected seventeen new UFO sighting reports in Dublin, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Not knowing what to expect in the way of numbers of witnesses, eight field investigators attended from the organization from Austin, Waco, Dallas/ Fort Worth, and said they were pleased with results.

2/25/08

Stephenville Sky Cam

2/21/08

Angelia Joiner's Website, stephenvillelights.com

Erath County UFO reports streaming in

By ANGELIA JOINER - Stephenville Lights Reporter
ajoiner@stephenvillelights.comt’s clear.

Whatever is hovering over Erath County isn’t leaving. UFO reports are pouring in. Two are from original witnesses, and two new ones are coming aboard.

This time there are pictures and video -- READ MORE >>>>>>>

2/20/08

Angelia Joiner finds new Job

2/19/08

Angelia Joiner fired from the Empire Tribune

Exopolitics Alert: Reporter Sacked for Supporting Witness to Stephenville UFO Sighting

[Updated February 12, 2008 - Kona, Hawaii, Exopolitics Institute] News broke on February 9 concerning the sacking of a small town newspaper reporter who broke the Stephenville Texas UFO sightings case, and intimidation of a key witness who saw the UFO in daylight (click here for another article). The witness, Ricky Sorrells, was given threatening phone calls and visits by helicopters. The reporter, Angelia Joiner, publicized what was happening to the Sorrells in two stories on February 3 and 4 .

She claims that subsequent to her coverage of Sorrell's harassment: "A city councilman here talked to (Texas media) and said the whole thing was an embarrassment to the town (or something to that effect.)" Her employer subsequently notified her of official disapproval of her news coverage, and she was told to back off. She subsequently offered to resign. With regard to her forced resignation/sacking on Febuary 7, she is quoted as saying: "I gave two weeks notice but this morning they had confiscated my computer and I was told to pack up and get out. I'm devastated and still in shock."

As the initial stories exposing her sacking/forced resignation suggest, she lost her job as a result of her support for Sorrells. The newspaper made record sales during her coverage of the UFO reports. The idea that the Town Council was embarassed and wanted to put a stop to the news coverage appears to be a cover for the real reason. It may be that covert national security teams are in damage control and have moved into high gear to cover this story up, by approaching town officials to help. If true, 'national security' was undoubtedly given as a justification to the publisher for why Ms Joiner should be sacked. Ms Joiner, however, contests this view in a public email: "I do not believe they were contacted by some higher up telling them to stop the stories. If that were the case they would have told me." If higher authorities did intervene in Ms Joiner's case due to national security concerns, it is very possible that this would not have been relayed to her.

I also recommend reading a recent story of Sorrell's harassment,
and an Earthfiles report by Linda Howe on Stephenville and Sorrell's testimony.

A sample letter protesting the forced resignation/sacking of Angelia Joiner is also available online. The publisher of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune is Rochelle Stidham whose email is: rochelle.stidham@empiretribune.com , and the name of the Managing Editor is Sara Vanden Berge whose email: sara.vandenberge@empiretribune.com . The fax number for the Empire-Tribune is: 254-965-4269. If you choose to write a letter to the Empire Tribute protesting Ms Joiner's treatment, please maintain a respectful and courteous tone.

I request you circulate this Exopolitics Alert to friends and interested parties so this kind of treatment of reporters covering UFO issues is exposed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

New UFO Sighting Reported In Stephenville Texas

Fired Reporter Angelia Joiner Sparks Conspiracy Theories

Are there UFOs in the skies above Texas?

The truth may be out there, but, when it comes to UFO stories, it is sure hard to find. Conjecture breeds conspiracy theories. Any official denial can be labeled a cover-up. In the end, it often boils down to a he-said-she-said scenario.

Such is the case in Stephenville, Texas, a small, rural community thrust into the spotlight after several unexplained disturbances in January. Though that spotlight has now faded, the town remains altered. Some members of the community want to move on; others cannot let go. And some, if you believe them, say that UFOs are still there.

According to Angelia Joiner, the reporter who wrote the original UFO stories, there was another UFO sighting on Saturday. "If the military is testing a secret military device, why do they keep doing it here?" she asked me. "If it's not a secret why do they keep scaring the bejesus out of people?"

Adding a further wrinkle to this story, Joiner was fired from The Empire-Tribune a week ago. She claims she had been told to back off the story and thinks the town's "upper crust" was "embarrassed" by all the attention. The Empire-Tribune has avoided comment, which of course only fans the flames of the conspiracy theories.

For its part, the military has done itself no favors, first denying that it had any aircraft in the area, then flip-flopping a few days later -- after more witnesses came forward. A spokesperson blamed internal miscommunication for the mix-up. Others, including CNN's Larry King, have asked whether it wasn't a cover-up.

But who can we believe? The truth remains unidentified.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2008/02/new_ufo_sighting_reported_in_s.html?nav=rss_blog

2/17/08

Jets chase UFOs -- what's new?

Billy Cox

Published Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 4:03 p.m.

After tendering initial denials, the Air Force admitted it dispatched F-16s — 10 of them — into the Texas skies near Stephenville on the early evening of Jan. 8. The exercise was described as a routine training mission that had nothing to do with the fact that a gigantic UFO was in the area, that dozens saw it, and that the thing appeared to be headed toward restricted airspace around President Bush’s Crawford ranch.

But military pilots do chase UFOs. It’s a secret, but it’s not. Like airborne missiles and unidentified submarines, UFOs are itemized suspects in flight manuals, and filing procedures are detailed under Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings.

As California researcher John Greenewald discovered years ago, those CIRVIS reports are forwarded to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, with this Catch-22 attached by Peterson Air Force Base, home to the U.S. Northern Command: “NORAD is a binational command established by Volume 33, United States Treaties (UST) page 1277 subject to control of both Canadian and U.S. Government agencies as defined in the Act and consequently is not subject to US FOIA.”

You get the picture.

But there was a time, half a century ago, before the curtain came down for good, when its official investigations were still marginally in the public domain, that the USAF acknowledged the seriousness of what it was up against.

The UFO wave that crested above the nation’s capitol in July 1952 is largely forgotten, but last year, a book called “Shoot Them Down” took another look at what may well have happened when the Pentagon directed its pilots to open fire.

Tedious, meandering, weighted with superfluous details, and enthusiastically speculative, Frank Feschino’s self-published “Shoot Them Down” hasn’t made it out of the UFO subculture. But maybe it should. After 17 years of combing through accident reports and newspaper archives and traveling countless miles to interview eyewitnesses, Feschino has assembled a portrait of a response system in disarray during the early days of the phenomenon.

“Just look at the numbers,” says the professional artist from his home in Port Orange. “We lost a hell of a lot of planes and pilots on ‘routine missions.’ ”

Next time: The numbers.

2/11/08

A month later, Stephenville starts to settle down

By MATT FRAZIER

Star-Telegram staff writer

S-T/MATT FRAZIER

A tattoo shop identifies with the town's newfound fame.

A month later, town starts to settle down

STEPHENVILLE -- It has been one month since people reported seeing strange unidentified flying objects over Stephenville, causing a worldwide stir among curious journalists and UFO enthusiasts.

Since then, investigators have interviewed more than 100 witnesses and dug their way through grainy pictures and shaky video of supposed UFOs. Now they say they may finally have found one video of a flying craft that they can't explain -- but the photo's ownership is in question.

The military initially denied, then confirmed that it had fighter jets in the area during the sightings, leading to conspiracy theories and speculation -- including that the jets were chasing UFOs from a restricted-flight zone.

A speaker captivated an audience of hundreds at Stephenville's Tarleton State University with UFO tales that seemed strikingly similar to the accounts given by witnesses of the recent sightings. One of the university's astronomy professors is considering beginning his own investigation.

And the town of Stephenville, a farming community about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, was shocked by the descending media hordes before deciding that it was all great fun. Now many think it may be profitable as well.

"It seems like the feeding frenzy is over," said Kathie Whiteman, manager of a bookstore at the edge of Tarleton State University. "Now the fad has begun."

Investigators

About 50 people say they saw impossibly bright lights in the skies above the Stephenville area Jan. 8. Not long after, they gathered in nearby Dublin to talk about what they saw with interviewers from the Mutual UFO Network.

Despite about 400 pushing and shoving onlookers, seven MUFON investigators gathered information from respectable sources, said Kenneth Cherry of Keller, director of the organization's Texas chapter.

Cherry said investigators are still talking to witnesses who did not want to be a part of that public event, often visiting them at home. He expects that more than 200 people will eventually be interviewed. So far, the network has interviewed about 75 percent of them, he said.

But it hasn't been easy, Cherry said.

"Some reporters are absolutely demanding information or are following us around when we interview witnesses," Cherry said. "And these are people who want to avoid publicity."

Besides collating data, the organization has filed a number of Freedom of Information requests with the military, checked with the Federal Aviation Administration and looked at meteorological patterns.

The network hopes to eventually determine exactly where and when the objects were spotted, along with their flight paths.

"There is a compelling piece of video," he said. "But there is a dispute over ownership. Everything else has been eliminated."

The organization hopes to announce its findings in its magazine's April edition.

Military conspiracies

Dozens of people in the area reported seeing UFOs -- and fighter jets -- around dusk on that date.

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, initially said that no F-16s or other aircraft from the base were in the area the night of Jan. 8.

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

But later, the military changed its tune, saying that 10 F-16s from the 457th Fighter Squadron were training between 6 and 8 p.m. Jan. 8 in the Brownwood military operating area, which includes Stephenville and Erath County.

The Mutual UFO Network says the admission adds credibility to their witnesses, who reported seeing military jets chasing the flying objects. That's leading conspiracy Web sites to the conclusion that UFOs invaded restricted military airspace.

Tarleton State

Overheard in a TSU parking lot before guest speaker Robert Hastings' UFO lecture:

"Did you find your keys?"

"No."

"I bet the aliens took them."

"Are you going to the alien speaker thing?"

"Oh yeah, it's going to be awesome!"

Since 1981, Hastings has spoken at more than 500 colleges and universities nationwide, including Stanford University and the University of Texas at Austin. Last month, he spoke to an audience of hundreds in the student center on the topic "UFOs: The Secret Story." After presenting documents and a slide show, he said the Stephenville UFO fit into a pattern of sightings, including:

Bright lights flying in ways no modern airplane could duplicate.

Military jets trying and failing to keep up with the objects.

A nearby nuclear weapons or energy production facility.

"A number of the documents refer to UFOs repeatedly violating highly sensitive airspace over nuclear weapons sites, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons are designed," he told the crowd.

Tarleton's Michael Hibbs, an associate professor of math and physics, and Ron DiIulio, director of astronomy lab programs at the University of North Texas in Denton, said a few weeks ago that they would gather data and interview witnesses in connection with the sightings.

They have not started yet, Hibbs said, and they aren't 100 percent sure they ever will.

"We wanted to try to explain this with science and logic, but we haven't gone out there and done the work," Hibbs said. "We were really concerned with all the hype. We want to wait until that dies down."

Stephenville

Reporters swarmed the town of Stephenville soon after the UFO sightings were made public. At first residents seemed shocked; then they started having fun.

The town square in Stephenville is still dominated by a large white and red courthouse and a cow statue showing that area dairy farmers sell $223 million annually.

But alien heads, spaceships and UFO parking signs have crept into the area.

In one corner of the town square, a travel shop displays a poster featuring a UFO and offers trips that are "out of this world." Next to it is a tattoo shop featuring extraterrestrial tattoos. In another corner, a bookstore offers UFO parking on the roof.

"Of course the people who have actually seen it are not satisfied and want more answers," said Treva Thompson of the Stephenville Chamber of Commerce. "But it has died down. Some businesses are still using it as a marketing opportunity, but I feel like this is something that's going to pass over eventually."

According to Stephenville High School teacher Kimberlea Adams, the science club pre-sold 1,200 UFO shirts at $10 each. The club expects to award a $1,000 scholarship to a deserving senior for at least the next four years.

"We turned over the sales to Coyote [Designs] and they are going to donate the proceeds back to us," Adams said. "So far they have sold about 250 more shirts. We haven't quite decided what to do with the extra money."

The College Store near Tarleton recently ordered glow-in-the-dark UFO shirts, manager Whiteman said.

"I wish I had jumped onto this earlier," she said. "I'm hoping the fad will last at least through May."

This report includes material from the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, The Associated Press and the Star-Telegram archives.

mfrazier@star-telegram.com
MATT FRAZIER, 817-390-7957

2/5/08

THE TV COLUMN : It’s not double vision — 2 UFO Hunters in 2 places

MICHAEL STOREY

Posted on Tuesday, February 5, 2008

There’s no denying it. UFOs are hot and getting hotter.

The current interest has been fueled by last month’s spate of reported sightings in Texas.

It seems silent, mysterious lights were up in the sky. Dozens of credible witnesses saw them.

There was no explanation until the Air Force finally ’fessed up to having a gaggle of F-16 jets on “night maneuvers.” Right.

Those Texans around Stephenville know their noisy F-16 s. The lights were not F-16 s.

So what were they ? Sounds like a case for the UFO hunters !

Well, we’ve got your UFO hunters right here. In fact, we have two new shows titled UFO Hunters. One is on the History Channel and the other is on Sci Fi.

Confused ? Not only do they share the same name, they share the same time slot. Two different shows; two different channels; same name; same time. Both air at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

What’s a viewer concerned that aliens are among us to do ? I suggest watching one UFO Hunters and taping the other one for viewing at a later time. Can’t lose with that plan.

Here’s the poop on both shows. UFO Hunters, History Channel version: The series features a crack team of investigators from UFO Magazine as they check out reports of unexplained sightings around the world.

The show features hunters Bill Birnes, Pat Uskert, Dr. Ted Acworth and Jeff Tomlinson as they attempt to separate fact from fiction.

They’ll subject some of history’s most fascinating UFO accounts to scrutiny. Each member brings his own expertise.

Birnes is the magazine’s publisher and Uskert is also with the publication. Tomlinson is the scientific intern with the team. Acworth is a mechanical engineer and researcher who previously worked for NASA. He’s the resident skeptic.

The gang will travel each week to the site of a well-known UFO incident, examine videotapes, audiotapes, witness interviews and formerly secret files opened under the Freedom of Information Act.

Among the incidents to be investigated are the alleged alien abduction of a New Hampshire couple in 1961; the 1980 report by the pilot of a small plane that something froze his controls near Catalina Island; the 2007 report of mysterious debris falling on two villages in Mexico; and the 7, 000-plus reports of strange objects in the Hudson Valley of New York. UFO Hunters, Sci Fi Channel version: This series comes from the folks who bring us Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International.

Seems like a natural progression.

Our crack team of ufologists use their razzle-dazzle bag of high-tech gizmos to investigate claims of UFO sightings and otherworldly experiences.

“What was that ?!” Co-founders Oliver Kemenczky and Ted Davis of New York Strange Phenomena Investigators, along with sidekick Dennis Anderson, investigate, study and reveal their findings after each analysis.

“Over there ! Look ! What was that ?!” I’d be stunned if they proved anything to be true.

TV TIDBITS Bochco’s back. Steven Bochco, 64, is the producer who brought us Hill Street Blues, L. A. Law and NYPD Blue. Bochco has been signed by TNT to turn out 10 episodes of a new legal drama titled Raising the Bar. The series, set for later this year, stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek, Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller as lawyers who went to school together but now find themselves on opposite sides of the courtroom.

Abrams pilot in works. J. J. Abrams (Lost, What About Brian, Alias, Felicity ) is creating a twohour pilot for Fox. Fringe deals with a young female FBI agent who gets into unexplained paranormal phenomena (Mulder ? Scully ?). Weird stuff happens. Strike fallout. The writers are on strike. The networks have holes to fill. Starting Feb. 22, host Drew Carey will kill the CBS’ 7 p.m. Friday hour with The Price Is Right specials.

Ghost Whisperer will slide back to 8 p.m. and Moonlight will go on hiatus. Kenny will be killed. For those who keep asking, South Park’s new season won’t arrive until March 12 on Comedy Central. The series airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday, then encores five more times during the week.

Vile, vile TV. Unfortunately, Comedy Central plans to bring back Lil’ Bush at 9: 30 p.m. March 13. The animated series, featuring folks in the Bush administration as children, is the poster child for insipid TV.

Politics aside, this is bad stuff. You may believe that George W. Bush is the poorest excuse for a president ever to befoul the White House, but that doesn’t make this swill funny. Name change. Don’t go looking for the Discovery Times channel anymore. The thing has morphed into Investigation Discovery. The same thing is true for Court TV. It’s changed to truTV with the new slogan, “Not reality. Actuality.” Hungry for police chases involving reckless booze hounds ? Here’s your actuality. Are you free ? Don’t forget, Are You Being Served, one of the most beloved British sitcoms ever, now airs at 9: 30 p.m. Saturdays on AETN. What goes on in the men’s and ladies’ departments of Grace Brothers Department Store is still as funny as ever. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail mstorey@arkansasonline. com

Jet story doesn’t fly with Texas UFO eyewitnesses

By AP
Updated Feb 5, 2008, 08:11 am

Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO (FCN, 01-29-2008)

The Disclosure Project (Military, Gov't Officials Research Project)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - U.S. military officials say fighter jets were training in a rural area the night of Jan. 8 when dozens of people reported seeing a UFO.

Although officials at the Naval Air Station Reserve Base in Fort Worth initially said none of their planes were in the area of the UFO reports, they changed their story Jan 23, saying that 10 F-16 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. were training near Stephenville, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, about the time of the sightings.

But, some residents say the military’s revelation actually bolsters their claims because several reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.

“This supports our story that there was UFO activity in that area,” said Kenneth Cherry, the Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which took more than 50 reports from locals at a weekend meeting. “I find it curious that it took them two weeks to ‘fess up. I think they’re feeling the heat from the publicity.”

Several dozen people swear that what they saw was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object’s lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane.

“I guarantee that what we saw was not a civilian aircraft,” Steve Allen, a pilot and freight company owner, said.

Mr. Allen said the fighter jets’ training area in the Brownwood Military Operating Area, which includes Stephenville’s Erath County, is not in the airspace where he saw the object. Also, Jan. 8 was not the only day sightings were reported.

Anne Frazor, who owns a fabric store in Stephenville said many in town have seen military aircraft zoom overhead from time to time as part of training operations. But she said that is different than what she saw Jan. 8.

“I couldn’t begin to say what it was, but to me it wasn’t planes,” Ms. Frazor said.

Since the reported sightings, the 17,000-resident town has had some fun with the international publicity. Some high-schoolers made T-shirts that read “Stephenville: the new Roswell” on the front and “They’re here for the milk!” on the back. A picture features flying saucer beaming up a cow.

The U.S. Air Force says it has not investigated UFO sightings since 1969 when it ended Project Blue Book, which examined more than 12,600 reported UFO sightings—including 700 that were never explained. That program started a few months after a 1947 crash near Roswell, N.M., which the government said involved a top-secret weather balloon but others involved later said was an alien spacecraft.

“What we want is the government to admit there are UFOs and what they know about them,” Mr. Cherry said.

Secret Air Force tests could explain Texas UFO sightings

By Trish Choate

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.30.2008

WASHINGTON — Put the alien theories on hold and get the men in black a cup of coffee. You know how they like it.

Some experts say it's possible that instead of little green men at the helm of Unidentified Flying Objects sighted in Texas skies the past two months, Air Force pilots could be secretly working out the kinks in the next U-2 spy plane or B-2 stealth bomber.

Secret technology could be giving house-size spheres the power to zoom around in incredible maneuvers or allowing mother ships a mile long and a half mile wide to hover over central and west Texas.

After all, the military has experimental technologies the public might not know about until decades after development.

"For national security reasons, of course, they're disinclined to tell us about it," said Michael Shermer, executive director of the Skeptics Society and editor of Skeptic magazine.

In addition to Shermer, an author of more than 20 books on secret and stealth technology, other think-tank experts and a former "Skunk Works" chief are among those weighing in.

Some of the possibilities:

● The government is conducting a campaign of disinformation, spreading UFO stories to cover up the truth, which could involve something like the F-117.

● Eyewitnesses surprised by fast-moving spheres and gigantic space ships saw jets from the 301st Fighter Wing at the nearby Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.

The UFO sighting in the news was at 6:15 p.m. Jan. 8 around Stephenville, Texas, in Erath County, was on the same day military officials say the 301st had F-16s on a training mission in the area.

But residents in Brown, Erath and Comanche counties have spoken of UFO incidents going back 30 years, said Ken Cherry, owner of a small financial services company who volunteers as Texas state director for the nonprofit Mutual UFO Network.

During the last two months, a cluster of UFOs cropped up in the area about a 77-mile drive from Fort Worth, Cherry said. Commercial and ex-military pilots, oilfield workers, ranchers, farmers and others reported sightings to the organization devoted to seriously researching UFOs.

"Out of the small number of cases that we have been unable to solve, we've determined that UFOs do exist," he said. "The two leading theories are that these UFOs are either our secret technology or they're extraterrestrial technology."

Defense analysts are frank about the certainty the military is working on something secret but aren't ready to believe central Texas is where.

John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert, said the government has thrown up smokescreens before, like with Area 51 in Nevada, to discredit witnesses.

"If they get people seeing lights all the time, and they don't know what it is, one way of making the whole thing seem silly is to have people recall flying saucers," Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said. "And that way the whole story just kind of goes away."

Area 51 has played a role in modern American mythology about everything from secret military technologies to alien spacecraft. Beliefs vary as to the truth about the southern Nevada location although it's widely thought the military has black — classified — programs there.

The U-2, for instance, was tested at a secret base in Nevada, said Bill Sweetman, who's written extensively on stealth and black technology.

In the 1950s, the Air Force exploited the UFO scenario to divert attention from the U-2, said Sweetman, editor of Defense Technology International magazine.

"Airline pilots who didn't know that a secret airplane was out there would see this object way up above them, and they would report it as a UFO," he said.

Those sightings led to "Project Blue Book," Sweetman said.

The Air Force research project on UFOs was actually designed to throw people off the track, making them think they'd seen a natural phenomenon or something unexplainable — not a secret airplane, he said.

Sweetman didn't want to hazard a guess about whether Texans have spotted secret aircraft in development, but he was doubtful.

"Why would you fly it near a populated area at all?" he said.

Sweetman also didn't think the sightings had anything to do with the debut of the first F-35B Lightning II in Fort Worth.

Lockheed Martin touts the fighter as the first one to combine stealth, short takeoff/vertical landing capability and supersonic speed.

And it's impossible to speculate whether the UFOs in central Texas were signs of a secret program, said retired Air Force Col. Tom Ehrhardt, a former Pentagon chief of the "Skunk Works" or the Strategy, Concepts and Doctrine Division.

In an about face, the military said 10 F-16s based at the Fort Worth reserve base were on a training mission from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 8 in airspace including that over Erath County.

Maj. Karl Lewis, a fighter wing spokesman, said it was just a mistake when he first told reporters the base had no planes in the sky that day.

"I did my best to correct it as soon as possible," Lewis said.

More twists in the Sorrells' saga

By ANGELIA JOINER Staff Writer
Monday, February 4, 2008 11:19 AM CST

angelia.joiner@empiretribune.com

Answers.

Ricky Sorrells just wants answers. And, in light of what he's been through, it doesn't seem to be a lot to ask.

Witnessing an unidentified flying object four times since the beginning of the new year, then having military aircraft whizzing over his land and disrupting his sleep and livestock, followed by a string of mysterious phone calls and in person encounters from individuals demanding he “shut up” about what he saw, and landing unexpectedly in the international spotlight, has taken a toll on the 37-year-old man accustomed to the simple life.

“If you told me a while back that I would be sitting here talking to you about UFOs I would have said, ‘No way, not in a million years,” Sorrells said. “ Now, I know for the rest of my life I'll keep looking to find out what it was.”

Sorrells said he is receiving a lot of support from family and friends helping him to keep an eye on things. He said that support has been a great help to him.

“I'm not going to freak out or anything,” Sorrells said. “I just think the government should come forward and help us to figure out this thing. I think people should write to their congressman or something.”

Sorrells said soon after his Associated Press interview went around the world in mid-January - not only was he allegedly contacted by a Lt. Colonel telling him to keep quiet about what he saw, he was also contacted by a woman named Linda Moulton Howe.

Howe's Web site touts: “Earthfiles is a crossroads where experts, eyewitnesses and viewers meet to share the latest updates in earth and astronomical mysteries, in-depth reports that go beyond the 6 o'clock news. Earthfiles reporter and editor, Linda Moulton Howe, is an Emmy Award-winning TV producer, investigative reporter and author who goes directly to the men and women at the forefront of science and environmental challenges and to firsthand eyewitnesses of high strangeness. Earthfiles.com received the 2006 W3 Silver Award for excellence in news category. Earthfiles.com also received the 2003 WebAward for Standard of Excellence and the 2000 Encyclopedia Britannica Award honoring Internet excellence.”

Sorrells said he vaguely remembered listening to her on a radio program years ago while on a road trip and her name clicked with him. It was the only familiar name he knew and she promised to do an investigation so he agreed not to talk to anyone else until she could make the trip from New Mexico. Howe arrived in Dublin last week and stayed with Sorrells and his family to conduct the investigation and left late last week.

“I told her everything I knew and showed her my property,” Sorrels said. “After she left, I felt I had honored my commitment with her. Things have settled down a little and I feel free to talk about the experiences I have had. I just didn't want to do anything that would interfere with her investigation because I want the truth.”

He said the last time he saw the object he was able to get a video on his camera phone and said he has seen some other “pretty good footage” taken by others.

One night Sorrells said he had four helicopters flying at such low altitude that when a spotlight was shined up at them from Sorrells' pickup he could see the pilot throw his arm up in front of his eyes to block the light. But there has been another strange occurrence recently on his property that leads him to believe the military is involved. It was an unexpected visitor about 1 a.m. who may have left something behind.

“I was in bed asleep,” Sorrells said. “I keep my bird dogs on the east side of my house and three others on the west side. The black lab doesn't bark until someone comes across the cattle guard and the Catahoula doesn't bark until she actually sees someone. They were all barking so I got up to see what was going on.”

Sorrells said he walked to his bedroom window and looked out to the top of his driveway - he saw someone.

“I went around the bed and grabbed my rifle,” Sorrells said.

His family was still sleeping, so with one hand on his gun and one hand on his backdoor knob, he peered through the window of the door to see if he could spot the intruder again.

“He had positioned himself in between the car and the pickup 40 to 50 feet from my back door,” Sorrells said. “He stood staring at me rocking back and forth. I didn't think his feet were moving but the next morning when looking at his tracks I could tell they were.”

Sorrels said it was cold and misting rain and it was obvious the guy was “dressed for the elements with a heavy parka-like coat.”

He said he strained to see if the man carried a gun but could not see one but could clearly see the face of someone he thought to be in his late 20s or early 30s judging from the way he “walked and acted.”

“I'm trying to decide whether or not to open the door,” Sorrells said. “We're just standing there face to face looking at each other. I'm thinking he's dressed for the elements and the dogs are raising such a ruckus he must know he's in danger of being caught. That's when I realized he wanted me to see him.”

Sorrells said the trespasser had positioned himself in such a way he decided he could be vulnerable if opened his door. He thought of his family and then the man slowly turned and walked into the woods.

“He walked through an area where I'd cleared the brush so apparently he'd been there before because he knew where to go,” Sorrells said.

Sorrells said shortly after the unwelcome caller disappeared the dogs calmed down and he stayed up the rest of the night to keep watch.

Later, when walking through the woods on his property with Howe, he decided to return to a bare spot where his property line ends at a fence.

“It is washed out there and I like to go there to look for deer and turkey tracks.” Sorrells said. He said he's an avid hunter and keeps abreast of the wildlife on his place. He said he had not been to this particular spot in about a month.

“The first thing I saw was a man's footprint,” Sorrells said. “Ms. Howe videotaped me putting my foot beside it. The sun was going down and I saw something shiny.”

Sorrells said he walked over and picked up a bullet - a shiny new 25-06 Remington - with some dotted tarnished smudges.

“I think the man that I saw that night dropped this bullet and the tarnished spots are from the misting rain that night,” Sorrells said. “ I just think it was the military showing me they could get to me if they wanted to.”

Sorrells said he just doesn't think a hunter poaching on his property would've dropped the bullet. He said he doesn't have trouble with poachers. While he knows there is no way to prove it could have been from the same man it's something he keeps mulling over. Sorrells returned home with the bullet in hand and took it apart to look at the powder to see if he could glean any information at all. A local gun and ammunition authority said there was no way to identify if such a bullet was from a military source.

“Talking about military powder is like talking about military gasoline,” he said. “There is no difference.”

Meanwhile, Sorrells said he and other witnesses are considering setting up a Web site to encourage people to do what they can to influence government participation in finding out about the curious, sometimes frightening, sightings.

“I've heard that other countries are releasing information on what they know,” Sorrells said. “We're thinking of calling it (the site) ‘Stephenville Lights.' Too many people have seen something not to try and continue finding out about it. We want to know what it was.”

Kent Biffle: Stephenville area's had its share of UFO sightings

11:20 AM CST on Monday, February 4, 2008

kbiffle@sbcglobal.net STEPHENVILLE, Texas – "I have found it," boasted C. L. McIlhany to a newspaperman.
"Found what?" asked the reporter from Dallas, expecting a new bit of info to add to the heavenly hot topic of local conversationalists.
"Found the airship The Dallas Morning News has been talking about. It's no joke ..."
Mr. McIlhany, a prominent farmer, lived three miles down the Bosque River from this Erath County courthouse town. His words carried credible weight amid the dozens of giddy reports concerning mysterious things flying over the plains.

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The farmer said, "I discovered the ship on the ground early this morning ..."
By now, a reader is perhaps recalling the published and televised accounts of odd objects that promenaded across wide Erath skies last month – some of them faster than Bugattis and bigger than Wal-Marts. But that's getting way ahead of this story.
See, Mr. McIlhany made his "discovery" more than 110 years ago, on April 17, 1897.
Dallas lawyer-historian Jeffrey Dunn sent me the 1897 clipping with the Stephenville dateline, saying: "You're not going to believe this." It all suggested that extraterrestrials are fond of Erath County. What's more, an examination of newspapers dated April 1897 showed a whole slew of reports about aerial strangers roving in the Midwest and Southwest.
The farmer said the ship, crewed by a pilot and an engineer, alit in need of a minor repair. He got an eyeful and hurried off to recruit witnesses.
"The airship is very much as reported by The News ... It consists of a cigar-shaped body about 60 feet in length ... The motive power is an immense wheel at each end, in appearance much like a metallic windmill. It is driven by an immense electric engine, which derives its power from storage batteries."
The crewmen – earthlings, as it sadly turned out – gave their names as S.E. Tilman and A.E. Dolbear. They explained that they were on a test cruise in compliance with a contract they held with certain New York capitalists.
"They are confident that they have achieved a great success and that within a short time navigation of the air will be an assured fact," said the farmer.
Mr. Dunn and I had researched incredible reports of a spaceship's crash into a windmill in Wise County and the burial in the Aurora cemetery of the space alien killed in the smash-up. Historians have concluded that it was a hoax thought up by a contributor who was trying to revive Aurora's flagging fortunes. It didn't work.
The events in Stephenville and the Aurora crash were covered in the same April 19, 1897, edition of The News. There were dozens of other extraordinary aerial incidents and accidents reported in that period.
Bob Callanan is a former Air Force officer assigned to Operation Blue Book, code name for the UFO investigation project. (The Air Force no longer investigates UFOs.)
Mr. Callanan spoke candidly, saying that he believes that UFOs are "possible."
"We were able to explain approximately 90 percent of what we investigated," he said. "The rest, we reported out as 'unexplainable' or needing additional information before a final report could be issued."

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11:20 AM CST on Monday, February 4, 2008

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