UFO hunters claim alien incidents are 'US airmen covering up blunders'
telegraph - There has been widespread and continuing belief that the mysterious lights and flying saucer seen in a remote forest next to a US Air Force base on Boxing Day 1980 were alien ships.
But now as the 30th anniversary of the bizarre incident approaches, locals have suggested the real explanation lies with an American helicopter crew who bungled the transfer of an Apollo space capsule and tried to cover it up with the UFO claim.
They believe the "alien spacecraft" was actually the crew pod from a space rocket which was accidentally dropped in Rendlesham Forest, Woodbridge, Suffolk by the helicopter from the nearby Bentwaters air base.
Witnesses reported seeing bright fast moving lights in the sky leading to speculation that it was a UFO.
Several badly-shaken American airmen gave detailed descriptions of the craft after it landed and security teams, guarding NATO nuclear weapons on the base, raced to investigate.
Even the base commander Lt Col Charles Halt was called in but the incident was allegedly hushed up and the MoD still refuses to believe it was a UFO.
Other explanations include the beam from a nearby lighthouse at Orford, a meteor shower or a Russian rocket breaking up on re-entry.
But now local museum curator Graham Haynes,who went back to the scene on the anniversary, believes it was probably a case of cock-up rather than conspiracy.
He said:"Lots of people saw lights in the sky and one couple said they saw a helicopter with a large cone-shaped object slung underneath it.
"It was flying low, probably hit the runway lights and dropped the capsule into the forest. They came back the next day to collect it.
"At the time the USAF was home to the team that were assigned to recover Apollo moon rocket capsules if they landed anywhere but the United States.
"I would love to believe that a UFO did land in the forest but there is no proof."
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Thailand's Colorful Sky-Writing UFO
DBKP - ‘Dancing Lights’ UFO image from video footage filmed in Thailand December 13, 2010
An update to our original post Spectacular Dancing Light UFO in Thailand (Video). In our original post we noted the Thailand ‘UFO’ video seemed similar to ‘UFO’ videos posted on Youtube in November, videos filmed in Ghana, Ireland, Buenos Aires, an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and Bangalore, India. The UFO videos similar to the ‘UFO’ filmed in Hallsville, TX, on November 9, 2009, reported by news media.
The update, an analysis of the Thailand UFO video by Donald Arthur (A.) Johnson, PhD., UFO investigator and author with more than 40 years field investigating experience. Johnson’s analysis, a highly informative and interesting read as it provided the details of when the video was filmed, who filmed the video, what type of video equipment was used, and, Johnson’s observations about the ‘UFO’.
Donald A. Johnson, PhD, bio at UFOlogie.net:
Dr. Donald Johnson is an industrial/organizational psychologist and test developer. Dr. Johnson has had a long-term interest in the UFO phenomenon dating back to Michigan “swamp gas” UFO wave of 1966, and maintains a computer database of over 170,000 UFO reports for the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, called UFOCAT (www.ufocat.com). He is the author of “The UFO Phenomenon: A Guide for the Perplexed.” He is also an avid student of cultural and biological anthropology, behavioral genetics, and the evolutionary history of human beings.
First up, the original video posted on Youtube titled ‘UFO News-Thailand-Multicolored-Wormhole-Skywriting-Dancing Lights’.
Analysis of the Thailand UFO video by Donald Arthur Johnson, PhD:
This UFO was videoed by my colleague at work, and witnessed by his wife and him. The witnesses are both in their 30s and college educated professionals. The sighting occurred on Monday night, December 13, 2010 at around 10 p.m. Bangkok time. Location: Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand from his 6th floor apartment.
He was smoking a cigarette on their 6th floor balcony when he first noticed a bright light in the sky, which turned into a bright line. He first thought it was a star, then a satellite, and then an airplane, because it was multicolored and was more than just a point source. However, it hung in one place in the sky, so he called to his wife to come out and bring his video camera, because he wanted to use the telephoto zoom on the Camera to enhance the image and try to explain the mystery of what they were witnessing. He mounted the camera on a tripod and used the camera’s telephoto lens to zoom in on it to get a higher magnification. That was when they both noticed it was dancing very rapidly in snake-like or worm-like movements, but in the same place in the sky. They were looking toward the southern sky. They actually saw 3 of these dancing lights but filmed only one of them. The light you first see in the video is a light on the side of their apartment building, which provides some reference to the angle of elevation. He estimated it was perhaps 10,000 feet above the aircraft passing underneath on approach to Bangkok (BKK) Suvarnabhumi Airport, so the altitude might have been around 15,000 feet. The choppiness you see in the video is definitely part of the phenomenon, because the speed of the video is normal, not sped up or slowed down. This can be verified by the audio comments they both made, which are quite interesting to listen to. To the naked eye the UFO appeared like a bright light or line in the sky; only under telephoto magnification, with the camera mounted firmly on a tripod, were the strange worm-like maneuverings observable on the camcorder’s digital display.
When we watched it for the first time in the office, Wednesday December 15th, one of our colleagues commented that it looked like the UFO was spelling out writing in the sky. It is strange and inexplicable that there appears to be a quarter-second pause between each “dance”, which does make it look like a form of signaling.
Camera information: HDD JVC model GZ-MG750 800k pixel with 1.8x magnification high definition 43mm telephoto lens. Camera was on a tripod, so the motion is NOT due to hand movement of the camera (except at one short point when he moves the camera). It was videoed at normal camera speed. I can vouch that this is an authentic, untouched video with absolutely NO added special effects. What you are seeing in the video is not a star, planet, satellite, airplane, balloon, or any other prosaic explanation. It’s a definite unknown!
This info compiled submitted by Donald A. Johnson, Ph.D., UFO investigator and author with more than 40 years field investigating experience.
Click for video
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KFC's Colonel Sanders Signals Christmas in Japan
abc - Forget Santa Claus. When it comes to Christmas marketing in Japan, Colonel Sanders may take the top prize.
While Christmas isn't a national holiday in the country, Kentucky Fried Chicken has managed to make eating its packaged chicken meals a holiday tradition.
The colonel's recipe is so popular here, the fast-food chain recommends customers place their Christmas orders two months in advance.
"Our holiday sales are five to ten times higher than other months," said spokesman Sumeo Yokokawa. "In Japan, Christmas equals KFC."
KFC's popularity can be traced back to a highly successful marketing campaign that began nearly 40 years ago.
At the time, the Christmas holiday wasn't as widely celebrated in Japan.
Yokokawa says many foreigners came to eat at KFC because they couldn't find a whole turkey or chicken anywhere else.
A KFC employee saw an opportunity to cash in, and the company launched its first Christmas meal in 1974: chicken and wine for $10, a pricey meal at the time.
"The Japanese are keen to celebrate Christmas in a non-religious way," said Roy Larke, a Rikkyo University Business Professor. "There's a certain amount of nostalgia attached to the KFC Christmas meal. People try to pass the tradition onto their children."
The traditional Christmas party barrels sell for about $40 these days – a family pack that includes fried chicken, a salad, and chocolate cake. But the holiday menu isn't limited to fried chicken.
KFC offers roast chicken, smoked chicken, even barbecue chicken for a limited time.
Yokokawa says each store is limited in the amount of chicken it can fry, so the company expanded the menu to make sure customers don't go home empty-handed.
KFC's Japanese stores posted its highest holiday sales in 14 years last year, and Yokokawa says they are on track to break that record this year.
At the KFC store in Tokyo's trendy Ebisu neighborhood, a "sold out" sign greeted customers looking to order the Christmas party barrel. Yokokawa says the company estimates it will sell more than 240,000 of those barrels, alone.
"You can't go through Christmas without KFC," said customer Akane Yoshida. "The KFC ads are everywhere during the holidays. You can't help but think about it."
Those ads feature young children wearing Santa hats, dancing around with KFC barrels in hand. There's even a special KFC Christmas jingle that plays in the back, while the children remind viewers to get their holiday orders in early.
They're not the only ones getting in the spirit. The colonel himself dresses up in a Santa suit – the statue greets customers at most stores.
"KFC has managed to hold their own during the Christmas holiday," said Larke. "They've got a long history of very aggressive, very intelligent marketing. I don't think anybody can match that."
Competitors are trying.
Department stores and convenience stores now offer their own version of fried or roast chicken. This year, McDonalds entered the Christmas market with its "iCon' Box:" a packaged meal that includes chicken strips, chicken nuggets, French fries, and Christmas-themed cell phone strap.
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Koran Written In Saddam Hussein's Blood Poses Problem For Iraqi Leaders
HP - The Guardian reports that Iraqi leaders are struggling to come up with a solution to dealing with a Koran that Saddam Hussein commissioned...written in his own blood.
Iraqi leaders have worked to erase lingering memories and artifacts of Saddam's brutal rule, but they are mystified with what to do with with valuable relic.
The unique Koran's creation took over two years:
It was etched in the blood of a dictator in a ghoulish bid for piety. Over the course of two painstaking years in the late 1990s, Saddam Hussein had sat regularly with a nurse and an Islamic calligrapher; the former drawing 27 litres of his blood and the latter using it as a macabre ink to transcribe a Qur'an. But since the fall of Baghdad, almost eight years ago, it has stayed largely out of sight - locked away behind three vaulted doors. It is the one part of the ousted tyrant's legacy that Iraq has simply not known what to do with.
Slate notes that Saddam was never one for subtlety, and that this undertaking would serve propaganda purposes for when the dictator need to be seen as pious; he "decided to show the world that he was willing to literally sacrifice his blood for the sake of his religion."
Saddam himself dedicated the book to God:
"My life has been full of dangers in which I should have lost a lot of blood...but since I have bled only a little, I asked somebody to write God's words with my blood in gratitude," President Saddam Hussein said in a letter published in the official media.
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UFOs and implants...amazing interview, held secret by the interviewee until after his death
Click for video
