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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Former minister a true believer in UFOs

http://www.canada.com/technology/scienc ... story.html

Former minister a true believer in UFOs


By Dave Brown, The Ottawa Citizen

Fantastic things beyond the ordinary ken, from sailing ships to space ships

Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian defence minister, is an outspoken believer that aliens have in the past, and still are, visiting Earth. He believes the future of our planet could depend on them.

When we sat down together at the Delta Hotel Wednesday, it wasn't a usual interview. No questions. It opened with a statement from the newspaper guy. "I'm a skeptic. Convince me."

An hour later, I had drawn several conclusions. The first being that Hellyer is well north of the sanity line. At 85 he still talks like a politician, easily coming up with names, dates and places. He backs up what he says by throwing in verbal margin notes. He talks about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) without a trace of doubt. They exist. That's all there is to it.

When we parted an hour later, I was still a skeptic, but a more cautious one. It was a discussion of galactic distances that triggered the caution. When our nearest inhabitable planet-neighbour is light years away, it would seem impossible to cross that gap. Hellyer said he didn't have all the answers, but suggested if a body found a way to harness the power of gravity, that may break the speed of light.

Getting the head around that involved going back, and looking at a similar situation faced by another North American skeptical elder, probably in 1497. He must have existed, and he must have wondered if there was another world on the other side, if there was one, of the Atlantic Ocean.

His likely conclusion: It was a moot point. Even if there was another world, people from there could not cross that water. Aside from distance, there were violent storms. No paddlers were strong enough to go the distance, or survive the storms.

That native American had heard rumours of alien visits from people with white skins and flame-coloured hair, going back hundreds of years. (Lief Ericson in Newfoundland in 1003.) But he had only a verbal history to rely on, and being a wise old man he knew time distorted details and fuelled imaginations. But now there were rumours of huge craft appearing on the horizon, but he hadn't seen one. Nobody he knew had seen one close enough to describe it in detail.

Being asked to commit to an opinion, he probably decided to stay skeptical. Nothing could cross that ocean. It never occurred to him that people could build a canoe big enough to ride out ocean storms, and find a power source by harnessing the wind. Why would it? He lived in a world that had not yet seen a wheel or a horse.

So the wise old man relied on his instincts and the knowledge of his lifetime, and said "nuts," or the equivalent.

A few weeks later he was invited to the seaside to meet a man named Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot, 1450-1498). It would have taken some time to get his head around the size and power of the strange craft. The men on it looked like none he had seen before. Swords. Boots. Hats. Gunpowder.

The new arrivals could have anything they wanted, because they had the power of technology. To the south, the alien invaders would take advantage of the power gap and steal land and gold. To the north, in what would become Canada, they engaged in a layaway plan. Take it now and pay later. We're still paying.

The wise old man, by betting against the impossible, lost the trust of his people.

Five hundred years later, another old man sat at a computer keyboard and tried to make sense of an hour with Paul Hellyer. He had too many answers. His beliefs are almost biblical. Everything he says is backed up by something written, or by witnesses. "People who have seen UFOs now number in the thousands, tens of thousands. They can no longer be denied."

Hellyer is also a conspiracy theorist. He believes a global "cabal" has cornered the market on alien visits. Downed spacecraft have been found and dissected and parts given out to be reverse engineered. These have led to the development of fibre optics and the unleashing of the power of the electron.

He says none of his beliefs come from information available to him during his terms as a cabinet minister. "I wasn't in the loop."

He also says he has seen a UFO and, like those Indians of 500 years ago who saw something on the horizon, he knows it's a hard sell. But he's trying.

A spaceship powered by gravity was part of the Dick Tracy comic strip (1931-1977) and so was a villain named Big Boy Caprice, who had the line needed for visitors from space. "Whoever you are, I know we can make a deal."

UFO study reports something out there Small number of sightings can't be explained

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 28837.html

UFO study reports something out there
Small number of sightings can't be explained

By: Carolin Vesely

12/08/2009 1:00 AM

Flying saucers are so passé. Fireballs, now they're hot.

The truth is out there, people. Whether or not it includes spaceships and aliens is still up for debate, but according to a 20-year longitudinal study of Canadian UFO reports released Tuesday, nearly 15,000 of us have had reason to suspect we are not alone.

The reasons ranged from thousands of sightings of star-like lights manoeuvring oddly in the night sky, to hundreds of sightings of "fireballs" in the sky, to one where dozens of people saw a huge, lantern-shaped object flying slowly over a lake in the Yukon.

Most of the 8,601 UFO sightings reviewed by Winnipeg-based Ufology Research had two witnesses, involved a white object -- even triangles were much more common than your stereotypical saucer or cigar shape -- and lasted an average of 17 minutes.

And we're not just talking about folks who just stumbled out of a bar or those who like to wear tin foil hats here: Reports were filed by witnesses with government and military agencies, police, civilian UFO groups and online UFO websites, says the study's co-author. And report they did. The number of UFO sightings has increased from 141 (in 1989) to more than 1,000 per year.

"It's a persistent phenomena," says Winnipeg ufologist Chris Rutkowski, who co-authored the study with Geoff Dittman. "People are witnessing something in the sky. Whether it's aliens or not is a matter for further study, but there's a small but significant percentage (of sightings) every year that we simply can't explain."

Out of those 8,500-plus UFO cases, only about 14 per cent were labelled as unexplained after review by investigators. And less than four per cent were classified as "close encounters" -- meaning someone claimed to have seen something (or some being) up close.

But Rutkowski, who has degrees in astronomy and education and describes himself as an "open-minded skeptic," says even if one report proves to be valid, it'll be a very important scientific discovery. After the United States Air Force ended its Project Blue Book study of 12,000 UFO cases in 1969 and concluded that UFOs were not a threat to national security, many people assumed the "fad" had passed, he said.

"Here we are 40 years later and not only is the phenomenon not going away, the numbers are increasing. This is hard scientific data and there isn't a comparable study anywhere," said Rutkowski, who presented the 20-year study to UFO researchers, many of whom are scientists, across North America during the recent Mutual UFO Network in Dallas, Texas. "But we're no closer to the truth, in some ways."

Rutkowski currently receives around six UFO reports each week. The most recent and noteworthy, he says, came last Friday from six people who reported seeing a large orange light moving along the shoreline of Dauphin Lake, 15 kilometres east of Dauphin.

"It stopped and then moved away from them. They said it 'moved at a speed we've never seen a plane move at,' and there was no sound at all," Rutkowski recalled.

To view the study, check the web at www.tinyurl.com/canadaUFO.

carolin.vesely@freepress.mb.ca

2008 bumper year in Canada for UFO reports

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology ... story.html

2008 bumper year in Canada for UFO reports


By Teresa Smith, Canwest News ServiceAugust 11, 2009


An artist's rendering of an object seen in 1967 near Falcon Lake, Manitoba, by a man who alleges he was burned by it when he approached. He claims he received second-degree burns and was treated eventually at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Canadians saw a record number of unidentified flying objects last year, according to a 20-year study of saucer sightings from coast to coast.
Photograph by: Handout, Canwest News Service

If UFO sightings statistics are anything to go by, the skies over Canada in 2008 must have looked like an extraterrestrial parking lot.

Canadians saw a record number of unidentified flying objects last year, according to a 20-year study of saucer sightings from coast to coast.

Chris Rutkowski, a 'Ufologist' and science writer in Manitoba, said Tuesday that in the past two decades, 15,000 Canadians have reported seeing 8,600 UFOs. These include sightings of lights in the sky and disc-shaped objects, reported to authorities ranging from the Department of National Defence to airports, police and the RCMP.

He said the number of sightings has skyrocketed since 1989 when 141 were reported. Last year, there were 1,004.

Rutkowski said the hike is probably due to a couple of things. First, it has become easier to report sightings as UFO-dedicated websites provide forms online, he said. As well, there are more satellites and aircraft in the sky — more objects to misinterpret.

And finally, Rutkowski added, there may be more genuine UFOs — airborne objects which can't be identified or explained.

About 14 per cent of the sightings are "unexplained," he said, which means they don't seem to be aircraft or stars or fireballs.

About a tenth of those are called "High Quality Unknowns" based on the wealth of knowledge about the sighting, the number of people who saw the same object, or the high credibility of such witnesses as pilots or police officers.

He said people in Ontario and B.C. report the most sightings, which makes sense based on population. But Albertans and British Columbians see the most UFOs per capita.

Rutkowski said those provinces both have very active data collection websites.

Rutkowski has never seen a UFO himself, but he wants to know why the reports keep coming in.

"People persist in reporting objects that shouldn't be there, so either there's a real phenomenon that needs further study or there's something in the nature of humanity to make them believe they're seeing something," he said. "Either way, it's worth studying."

Rutkowski has no proof that these sightings are aliens buzzing the locals — but he believes the possibility exists.

"It would be nice to think that we're not alone in the universe," he said. "And, if there's a civilization out there that is more advanced than ours, it's certainly possible that they're keeping an eye on us."

Metropolitan Sightings over 20 years:

Vancouver — 977

Toronto — 614

Winnipeg — 338

Ottawa — 276

Montreal — 223
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Secret Canadian Government Documents show US/CA UFO Coverup

http://www.inquisitr.com/31512/exclusive-secret-canadian-government-documents-show-usca-ufo-coverup/
Category: News Author : Paul Short Posted: July 31, 2009
Tags : canadian ufo recommendations, declassified ufo government documents, government downplays ufo sightings, ufo, ufo coverup

Exclusive: Secret Canadian Government Documents show US/CA UFO Coverup

Read more: http://www.inquisitr.com/31512/exclusive-secret-canadian-government-documents-show-usca-ufo-coverup/#ixzz0NEm8dIGc

After the Inquisitr covered an incident earlier this week where an Unidentified Flying Object crashed into the Ottawa River near Ottawa, Ontario Canada, we received a mysterious email from someone in possession of thousands of previously classified Canadian government documents revealing how the government would deal with the UFO phenomenon should one land on Canadian soil.

The sender of this email attached several samples of said documents and if you’ve wondered why the governments of the United States and Canada never publicly acknowledge the existence of UFOs, it’s because Canada has followed in the footsteps of the US and opted to cover up or downplay such incidents.

Below is a screenshot of one of the documents. Note the second picture where section 5 is highlighted.

Read more: http://www.inquisitr.com/31512/exclusive-secret-canadian-government-documents-show-usca-ufo-coverup/#ixzz0NEmH9xUm










On April 19, 1950, recommendations were drawn up by Canada’s Director of Scientific Intelligence at the time, A. J. G. Langly, for debriefing questionaires to be handed out by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in the event someone reported a UFO sighting to them.

Section 5. of that document above states:

“5. You might also consider it advisable to add that should the Flying Saucer actually make a landing on Canadian territory, the nearest RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Command should be advised immediately by telegram or something of the sort.”

The reply to that first letter is below. Read it carefully and also the notes following.

Read more: http://www.inquisitr.com/31512/exclusive-secret-canadian-government-documents-show-usca-ufo-coverup/#ixzz0NEmQiWUV







“The present USAF policy is to play down the subject, investigating only when considered necessary by the area commander without any special arrangements for reporting or investigation.

2. It seems that a similar policy on our part would be wise and that it would be undesirable to produce a special questionnaire or make any arrangements for investigation since this would give publicity to the matter. It is suggested therefore that sighting reports should not be solicited and such as pro-volunteered should be passed to DSI for retention and further notion only if further notion seems necessary.

3. It may perhaps be advisable to have this matter brought up in committee so that an official decision can be taken.”

The recommendations state that USAF (United States Air Force) policy at the time was to play down UFO sightings, and that the Canadian RCMP should not have a questionaire for people who report such sightings because collecting information would draw publicity to the matter. However, if someone submitted their own written statement of a sighting to police, it should be accepted but passed on to another organization to decide whether or not to investigate.

This is just the first sample of these declassified documents. The Inquisitr will have more in this series as we obtain more information from our source. Stay tuned and remember to look up now and then. You never know what you’ll see.

Read more: http://www.inquisitr.com/31512/exclusive-secret-canadian-government-documents-show-usca-ufo-coverup/#ixzz0NEmWAHZd