CNI News - Volume 19.7
June 24, 1996
Published by the ISCNI News Center
Editor: Michael Lindemann
The stories in this edition of CNI News are:
* * * SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -- SUMMER SCHEDULE * * *
1) RUSSIAN UFOLOGISTS BECOME TARGETS OF HARRASSMENT
2) BRAZIL'S "CAPTURED ALIENS" CASE CONTINUES TO EXPAND
3) UFOs BUZZ AUSTRALIA'S THREE LARGEST CITIES
4) FOO FIGHTERS, OTHER BANDS WILL ROCK FOR UFOS
ISCNI encourages you to respond to stories in CNI News.
* Public responses can be posted on the Forum message board in "News
Center Feedback"
* Private responses can be emailed to ISCNI, subj: CNI News Editor
The subject matter of CNI News is inherently controversial, and the views and
opinions reported in the news are not necessarily those of ISCNI or its
staff.
The next edition of CNI News will appear on Friday, July 12.
========================================================
* * * SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -- SUMMER SCHEDULE * * *
Please note: CNI News will go on hiatus for the next two weeks while editor
Michael Lindemann is on a road trip. This Monday edition of the news is the
last edition of June.
Also, from July through September, CNI News will publish once each week, on
Fridays. The next edition of the news will appear on Friday, July 12.
Media Watch will appear as normally scheduled this Thursday, June 27, and
then will also go on hiatus while editor Rebecca Schatte is on a road trip.
Like CNI News, Media Watch will resume on Friday, July 12, and will appear on
Fridays through the month of September.
The ISCNI*Flash will be delivered as scheduled on July 1.
Additionally, starting on July 12, both CNI News and Media Watch will be
delivered by email directly to all ISCNI members, staff and campus guests and
will not be posted in the ISCNI News Center. This edition of the news, and
this Thursday's edition of Media Watch, will be the last to be posted in the
News Center until further notice. Media Watch will continue to be posted to
the ISCNI Web Site on Fridays.
========================================================
1) RUSSIAN UFOLOGISTS BECOME TARGETS OF HARRASSMENT
By Paul Stonehill (RuRc@aol.com)
Russian UFOlogy Research Center
[CNI News thanks James Sutton for forwarding this story.]
Russian media have reported gruesome details of unprecedented attacks on
Russian UFO researchers. The terror is being unleashed by religious fanatics
from several sects. In 1993-94, hoodlums who believe UFOs are "messengers of
God" attacked the Russian UFO Center and its employees on several occasions.
The Russian information agency "Novosti" has reported that UFOlogists have
been threatened by telephone, by huge numbers of defamatory leaflets, and by
offensive graffiti tagged on their homes and office buildings. Also reported
by "Novosti" were attempts on UFOlogists' lives, including setting fire to
their apartment doors.
Television reporters who cover UFO-related news are also fair game. A. V.
Myagchenkov, a well-known TV personality and producer of the popular Russian
TV program "Extro-NLO," has received many telephone threats. American
producers who visited the bright young Myagchenkov found he was not silenced,
but L. S. Makarova, who produced the ever-popular TV program "The
Unidentified Universe" was brutally silenced. She was struck in the face with
brass knuckles in Moscow, in broad daylight. She was so traumatized she took
her program off the air. The fanatics won that round.
Threats have greatly affected the work of such prominent researchers of
anomalous phenomena as cosmonaut Pavel Romanovich Popovich, academician V. P.
Kaznacheyev, and engineer A. S. Kuzovkin. Law enforcement in Moscow, after
appeals by the leaders of the city's UFO study groups, curtailed the
terrorists to some extent, and sent some of the perpetrators to prison.
Terrorists remained active in the provincial cities of Penza, Yekaterinburg,
and Tver. In October 1995, scientist and UFOlogist A. Zolotov was murdered in
Tver.
The latest report comes from Nalchik. Viktor Petrovich Kostrikin, a UFOlogist
well-known in Russia and abroad, was savagely beaten and his apartment on
Bogdan Khmelnitsky Avenue was ransacked. The 70-year old researcher was at
home on December 9, 1995 when two young men broke into his home at four o'
clock in the afternoon. They beat him up methodically, and when there was
nothing left to maim, the hoodlums tore apart his personal belongings.
The Russian UFOlogy Research Center has been trying to find the whereabouts
of a well-known researcher from Vladivostok, Alexander Rempel. He was a
fearless explorer, author, and publisher. Rempel and his colleagues have
studied "the Devil's Cemetery," the site of the Tunguska meteorite's fall in
Siberia. His findings have been published in prominent Russian science
magazines like "Tekhnika Molodezhi" of Moscow. Rempel had excellent contacts
among the Russian military in the Far East, and helped explore phenomena such
as the Height 611 "crash." He was one of the first to study the sinister
cults that have recently mushroomed in Russia. Perhaps he found out too much;
there has been no news of him since the end of 1994. His newspaper "Dzhentry"
is no longer being published.
[Paul Stonehill runs the Russian UFOlogy Research Center, 5700 Etiwanda
Avenue, Suite 215,
Tarzana, CA 91356.]
========================================================
2) BRAZIL'S "CAPTURED ALIENS" CASE CONTINUES TO EXPAND
[As reports continue to come in from Brazilian sources regarding a possible
UFO crash recovery and capture of alleged aliens, both dead and alive, CNI
News notes that the proliferation of details and the expansion of key numbers
-- for example, the original claim of "one or possibly two odd creatures" in
early reports became "five or more" last week and has reached "up to seven"
in this latest report -- is typical of how folklore and legends begin. This
is not to say that we consider the Brazil case to be without merit. On the
contrary, highly trustworthy American researchers of our acquaintance,
including John Mack, Stanton Friedman and John Carpenter, have traveled to
Brazil and found the case to be impressive. Nonetheless, with the "facts"
apparently in an expansion phase, it remains to be seen how many claims will
stand up to hard scrutiny. CNI News thanks Masinaigan, editor of the UFO
Roundup, for this story from the June 23 editon of the Roundup.]
The reported capture of aliens at Varginha, in the state of Minas Gerais, on
Saturday, January 20, 1996 continues to make headlines in Brazil.
The July 1996 issue of UFO Magazine, published in the capital city of
Brasilia, contains more detailed information on the [alleged] saucer crash
and subsequent capture of its alien occupants.
According to ufologist Pedro Cunha, witnesses in Varginha now claim that up
to seven occupants were captured. The group included one dead alien, two
badly injured and five more flushed out of hiding in the neighborhood of the
Jardim Andere, a park on the north side of the city. The dead alien was
first taken to the Regional Hospital in Varginha on January 20 before being
shipped on to the Hospital Humanitas in Campinas in Sao Paulo state for an
autopsy.
The magazine article published more detailed descriptions of the UFO
occupants by the three girls who encountered an injured one in the Jardim
Andere at 3:30 p.m. on January 20. The girls were Liliane Fatima Silva, 16,
her younger sister, Valquiria Fatima Silva, 14, and their friend, Katia
Andrade Xavier, 22, all of Varginha. The girls were walking home from their
jobs as housemaids when Liliane spotted an alien crouched about 25 feet away.
In this week's article, the girls described the alien as "being dark brown,
with a small body of 4 to 5 feet in height, no hair at all, big brown head,
small neck. It also seemed to have some greasy dark oil on its skin. The
head of the creature had two big red eyes, no pupils, very small mouth and
nose and three protuberances on the head. The girls described such
protuberances as horns."
On Sunday, June 16, the show "Programma de Domingo" aired a Varginha story on
Brazilian TV. According to this story, many witnesses saw Brazilian Army
trucks heading for the Jardim Andere at around 10:30 a.m. on January 20. The
show also revealed that the Varginha Fire Department received its first call
just after 9:30 a.m. Someone complained of "a wild animal" loose in the park.
Figuring that they were after a jaguar or a peccary, the firefighters
arrived with nets and cages. When they encountered their first injured
alien, the crew chief immediately put a call through to the nearest Army
base, the Escola Sargentos de Armas in Tres Coracoes. He reportedly spoke to
the school's commandant, Gen. Sergio Coelho Lima, who ordered troops into
Varginha to seal off the park.
"Programma de Domingo" also identified the men involved in the three-truck
convoy that transferred the aliens to Campinas on January 22. According to
the broadcast, Lt. Col. Olimpio Wanderly Santos commanded the convoy,
accompanied by two officers, Captain Ramirez and Lieutenant Tide, plus a
Sergeant Pedrosa from S-2, Brazilian military intelligence. Corporal Cirilo
and Sergeant Pedrosa drove the middle truck with the aliens inside. The
other trucks were driven by Private Vassalo and Private de Mello.
Gen. Coelho Lima is reportedly cracking down on leaks in his command.
Soldiers have been warned not to talk to ufologists like A.J. Gevaerd, Pedro
Cunha and Vitorio Pacaccini. Personnel returning to Tres Coracoes from leave
have been confined to barracks and, at last report, at least one talkative
sergeant is in the guardhouse.
========================================================
3) UFOs BUZZ AUSTRALIA'S THREE LARGEST CITIES
[CNI News again thanks Masinaigan and UFO Roundup for this latest information
on the UFO flap underway in Australia.]
Australia just finished the third week of a UFO flap that shows no signs of
dying down. On Wednesday, June 19, the Australian national television
network, TEN TV, aired video footage of the bright orange UFO that cavorted
over the city of Adelaide four days earlier.
The flap hit high gear last weekend when orange UFOs appeared suddenly over
Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. (See "UFOs Trouble Hotline" in the Melbourne
Sunday Sun-Herald for June 16, 1996).
According to Ross Dowe of Australia's National UFO Hotline, his staff
received "about a dozen calls" on Friday night, June 14, with excited callers
describing "strange bright orange lights" over their neighborhoods.
On Saturday night, June 15, the lights were seen again in downtown Adelaide,
in the Sydney suburbs of Sutherland and Parramatta, and at Kew near
Melbourne. In Kew, residents saw "five orange illuminations going straight
up into the sky."
On Sunday, June 16, more lights were seen in Melbourne, and a single glowing
UFO was videotaped in Adelaide.
Outlying regions of Australia were not spared, either. Orange UFOs were
reported at Mudgeeraba in Queensland, at Campbelltown in South Australia and
over the nation's capital, Canberra.
"We normally receive calls just in one area," Ross Dowe told the Sun-Herald.
"But if this is a hoax, it's a hoax that's been done on the national scale
over the past six weeks."
On Monday, June 17, radio listeners in Melbourne heard the Royal Australian
Air Force (RAAF) announce the formation of a commission to study "mysterious
lights in the sky." However, other correspondents in Australia dispute this
report.
On Tuesday, June 18, Melbourne saw yet another overflight of orange lights.
This was described as a group of 10 orange UFOs arrayed in triangular
formation, flying northeast of the city. Several people watched the aerial
procession fly over Preston on its way to Eltham.
========================================================
4) FOO FIGHTERS, OTHER BANDS WILL ROCK FOR UFOS
[CNI News thanks Errol Bruce-Knapp for sending this article, which appeared
in a recent edition of the Toronto Star, written by Peter Howell, Toronto
Star Pop Critic. CNI News points out that Howell is a bit fuzzy on his UFO
facts -- but since music is his expertise, we'll forgive him. Nonetheless, it
would be nice if, some day, a general education included some basic literacy
in the UFO subject -- for example, understanding what a "Foo Fighter" is.
Howell says this is "a slang term for UFOs." Well, not exactly. It's the name
given to mysterious glowing objects that flew in formation with pilots during
World War II. And Howell's reference to "weather balloon" is outdated -- the
current "official" line on Roswell has abandoned the weather balloon baloney
and substituted "top secret reconnaissance balloon code-named Project Mogul."
But perhaps we digress... ]
We are not alone -- but we probably have louder amplifiers.
Word has it the Foo Fighters are planning to headline a July, 1997, rock
festival in Roswell, New Mexico, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the
supposed crash-landing there of an alien spacecraft.
Bandleader Dave Grohl named the group after a slang term for UFOs, and his
record label is Roswell Records, so his interest in the gig is high. He wants
to perform smack-dab in the farmer's field where, legend has it, a flying
saucer crashed on July 4, 1947, carrying four aliens.
The aliens were DOA when discovered by earthlings, and conspiracy theorists
claim the U.S. military whisked the bodies away for a secret autopsy. The
crash was officially acknowledged, but the Pentagon insists it was just a
stray weather balloon, not a saucer.
Grohl won't have trouble finding other bands to perform with in Roswell. A
recent Rolling Stone story revealed that many rockers are fascinated by talk
of extraterrestrial life.
Bands aren't waiting until 1997 to rock Roswell. In two weeks, from July 4-6,
the 49th anniversary of the UFO crash will be celebrated by the town, with an
event called Roswell UFO Encounter '96.
The many festivities include a rock concert, and organizers say they're
hoping to soon announce two well-known acts to perform in Roswell. One group
rumored is Blue Oyster Cult, which is said to be mad about UFOs. Deep Purple
is also deep into the paranormal.
A natural for the show would be The Roswell Incident, an unsigned band in
Cincinnati that covers the universe with its music. The band describes
itself in its Web site as "a combination of funk, jazz, rock, metal, fusion,
punk reggae, ska and blues." The site has samples of songs, including
"Hanger 18," a reference to the secret U.S. military hangar where the dead
Roswell aliens were reportedly taken.
Roswell festival organizers should also beam up George Clinton. The
funkmaster has just reunited with bassist Bootsy Collins and other
Parliament-Funkadelic originals for a new UFO-themed album titled "The
Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership."
In the June issue of New York's Paper magazine, which you can read online,
Clinton [no relation to the President] tells how he became a believer in UFOs
after he and Collins saw one in the sky above Toronto, of all places.
Clinton also believes the rise of the Internet is linked with an alien visit
to Earth that will happen in the year 2000. His logic is that since the U.S.
military invented the Internet, and the military is covering up the Roswell
incident, then there's got to be a connection.
# # #