FT389 29of the floor,providing easyaccess for wide
angle cameras as required if filming wildlife
immediatelybelow ,for instance.
It will be interesting to see whatASSAP
conclude, but Inotethat some of the
witnesses and footage that did emerge
on socialmedia supports my conclusion
that the ‘jets’‘chasing’something were
the unusual lookingand sounding Ravenair
planes. They werevery low and would have
sounded loud, as witnesses described,
when they passed over Mixenden, halfamile
from where the couplewereparked. One
aircraft-savvy witness stated categorically
that from the sound heardthey were not
jets.YouTube has footage from the ground
and cockpit of such planes:you can judge
the audio foryourself.
Ithink this case showsanumber of things
about the UFOmysteryand how we might
use moderntechnology in investigating it.
It’s not only that we have the opportunity
to find out quickly what is in the sky at any
given time and place (likehavingyour own
radar station on call)butwecan see how
socialmedia allows us to searchfor de tails
and follow up on hunches in an investigation
that in time,costand practicality would
simply not have been feasible before.
In this case,ita llowed the collation of
other witness reports andamultiplicity
of film evidence–made possiblebyt he
ubiquity of mobilephones. Meanwhile,a
Google searchwould reveal that this case
happened on the 40th anniversary of one of
the mostfamous British close encounters,
when RobertTaylor, aforestry worker in
DechmontLaw, Scotland, encountered
ahovering UFOand wasrendered
unconsciousby ‘spikeymines’that emerged
from it (see(FT30:31, 56:48-49,385:31).
This case is best knownfor being officially
investigated as an‘assault’ by local police,
with forensic study being made of traces
found at the site.The BBC reported on the 9
November anniversary, so it ’s possible UFOs
were in the minds of witnesses more than
they mightnormally be on that day.
Another useful and now far easierthing
to do is plotonlinehow th esky lookedat
the time and place ofasighting, revealing
astronomical bodies that mightresemble
UFOs .Doing so hereis ill uminating: Jupiter
wasabout an hour from setting, low and
very bright. Indeed,Iwas observing it myself
around that date as it madeafine si ght
through goodbinoculars,with some of the
moons visible.Itw as in the south western
sky –the heading of these aircraft–so
did it create an illusionof‘ military jets’
coincidentally‘chasing’aUFO that wasin
truth abright planet lowin the darkening
sky?
Findingeviden ce and solving casesusing
thepower of moderntech and social media
is just one area to consider. We might
also think about several other areas.For
example,the number of high-powered night
vision cameras now trained on us for other
reasons.Railcam, for instance,has several
besiderailway lines that anyone can monitor
on line 24/7. Are camerasofs imilar power
around the world able to detect UFOs and be
trainedtoautorecordsuchanomalies if they
appear?
Anotherarea is preservation. In Sweden,
the marvellous Archives for the Unexplained
(AFU) preservesmemorabilia, books and
magazines(seeFT330:46-49). When AFU
chairman Clas Svahn visitedmeonhis latest
trip to the UKIwas able to fill in somegaps
and will continue to supportthis project
to createatreasure troveofbooks,press
cuttings,rarephotographs and artefacts
connected to famous cases.Just think what
might be inyour attic:rather than being left
there forgotten, it could be preserved.
Other projectsby re searchers on the net
include scanning and preserving copies
of UF Ogroup magazines from the past 60
years and makingthem accessibletoall
for research.Even archiving oldphotos
of conferences fromyearsago –perhaps
on social media orawebsite –could help
preserve the historyofo ur subject.Iposted
aseries of such images–likethe onereproduced here–onmyFacebookpage.
Many ofyoumust have others piecesofour
legacy at home.Preservethem before they
get lost!
What about holding virtual case
conferences online,thrashing out notable
UFOeventsontheir anniversaries? Anyone
who wished to participatecould be invited,
including specialistexperts from outside
the fieldwho couldbring fresh insights
and ideas to help us dig deeper into these
classic incidents.
The Internet makes possible,for
free,whatwould have in the past been
impossible to coordinate globallygiven the
costs involved:all it needsist he willand the
time.
There mustsurel ybeother goodideas out
there.So, if youhaveany thoughts on how
we can put the advantages of the modern
worldtouse in furthering UFOresearch, let
us know,either via theFTletterspage sorby
[email protected].TOP:Archiving old conferencephotosis one wayofpreserving ufologicalhistory: here’s the author at
one of the firstNorthern UFONetwork conferences run by theNottinghamUFO Investigation Society on
10 September 1977.ABOVE:The AFUinSwede nprovi desahomefor allsorts of papers andarte facts.AF
UJENNY RANDLES