August 2008 No. 484 $4.00 Photos from Symposium, page 12 UFO Journal In this issue Stephenville lights: a radar & witness study 3 Locating UFOs on the celestial sphere 10 Symposium photos 12 Identified Obect Website 15 Regular Features Director’s Message 2 MUFON Volunteer: Bill McNeff 14 The redacted logbook from Carswell Air Force base on January 8, 2008, the night of Calendar 13 many of the Stephenville, Texas sightings. Page 3. Stan Friedman: Strange attacks 16 Filer’s Files 18 CMS Rankings 21 What did radar data indicate Night Sky 24 for the night of January 8 in Erath County, Texas? August 2008 Number 484 Director’s Message By James Carrion MUFON I just returned from the MUFON conference speakers as well as the new UFO Journal 2008 annual symposium in San Jose, manual will be available for sale on California, and am happy to report that MUFON’s online store at http:// it was a great success. Sponsored by store.mufon.com. (USPS 002970) Northern California MUFON under the I want to (ISSN 02706822) leadership of Lester Velez and Ruben personally thank Uriarte, the Symposium drew over 500 all of the hard Mutual UFO Network attendees who were treated to a stellar working Sympo- 155 E. Boardwalk Drive lineup of speakers. In addition to the sium volunteers Suite 300 excellent presentations, there were whose enthusi- Fort Collins, CO 80525 many opportunities for catching up asm and dedica- Tel: 970-232-3110 with old friends and networking with tion made the Fax: 866-466-9173 like-minded individuals. Symposium one [email protected] The MUFON Field Investigator of the best I have training workshops were especially a attended. Next International Director big hit and the conference room was year’s Sympo- James Carrion James Carrion, M.A. filled to capacity with people who sium will be in 155 E. Boardwalk Drive, Suite 300 learned how MUFON’s ten step Chicago where we will celebrate the Fort Collins, CO 80525 investigative process works, how to 40th anniversary of MUFON—you will Tel: 888-817-2220 conduct a radiological survey, how to not want to miss this historical event. Fax: 866-466-9173 deal effectively with the media, and MUFON presented three awards at [email protected] how easy it is for digital photos to be the Symposium: Mary Margaret faked. Each attendee received a copy of Zimmer of Florida received the Editor the revised MUFON Field MUFON Field Investigator of the Year Sally Petersen, M.A. Investigator’s Manual version 5. The award, Ken Cherry of Texas received DVDs of the workshops and the Tel: 888-817-2220 Continued on page 22 [email protected] Columnists MUFON’S MISSION IS THE .SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF George Filer, M.B.A. UFOS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY THROUGH Stanton Friedman, M.S. Gavin A. J. McLeod INVESTIGATION, RESEARCH, & EDUCATION. Staff artists Copyright 2008 by the Mutual UFO Network. All Rights Reserved. John Egerton No part of this document may be reproduced in any is a Texas nonprofit corporation. Wes Crum form without the written permission of the Copyright The MUFON UFO Journal is published monthly by Mark Marren Owners. Permission is hereby granted to quote up to 200 the Mutual UFO Network, Inc., Fort Collins, CO. Periodi- words of any one article, provided the author is credited, cal postage paid at Versailles, MO. and the statement, “Copyright 2007 by the Mutual UFO Individual Membership: $45/year U.S., $55 outside MUFON staff photographer Network, 155 E. Boardwalk Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525” the U.S. is included. Family members: $10 per person additional Nick Roesler The contents of the MUFON UFO Journal are deter- Student (18 years and under): $35 U.S. and $45 mined by the editor, and do not necessarily reflect the outside the U.S. official position of the Mutual UFO Network. 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Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts are copies inquiries should be sent to MUFON, 155 E. also deductible for estate and gift purposes, provided Boardwalk Drive, Suite 300, Fort Collins, CO 80525. they meet the applicable provisions of Sections 2055, Postmaster: Send form 3579 to advise change of 2106, and 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. MUFON address to: MUFON UFO Journal, 155 E. Boardwalk Summary Report Stephenville Lights: A Radar and Witness Study of the Events of January 8, 2008 By Glen Schulze and Robert Powell Data to support this report was obtained from ten 1 INTRODUCTION different Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests to the FAA, the National Weather Service (NWS), all nearby military This report presents the results of a lengthy and detailed bases, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Services, and analysis made into the sightings of an unidentified flying the 21st and 30th Air Force Space Wing Commands. The NWS object on the evening and night of January 8, 2008, in the and the FAA were very responsive in their FOIA replies. The Dublin-Stephenville area of north Texas. Radar data from five FAA provided 2.8 million radar returns that covered 4pm to different radar sites as well as witness testimony was 8pm and that were extracted from five different radar sites. reviewed in an attempt to understand what did and did not Additionally, Carswell AFB (CAFB) provided the logbook occur on the night of January 8. of the 457th Fighter Squadron. Most of the logbook was This is an abridged version of the full 76-page report, manually blacked out. (This group flies the F-16C/D, also which can be found on the MUFON home page known as the Fighting Falcon.) The remainder of the FOIA (www.mufon.com). requests were returned with almost identical statements, as follows: “We have found no records responsive to your EXECUTIVE SUMMARY request.” This is the reply given to the straightforward This report deals specifically with radar as well as questions: “Did you have aircraft flying within 50 miles of witness sightings of an unidentified object seen on January 8, Stephenville on January 8, 2008?” and “Can you provide 2008, between the times of 6pm to 9:30pm. This unidentified copies of radar images from any military aircraft operating object was seen by multiple individuals in the skies near the within 50 miles of Stephenville on Jan 8, 2008?” Appar- Texas cities of Dublin and Stephenville. What makes this ently, it is difficult to answer “yes” or “no” to those ques- sighting unusual is that radar data has been obtained that tions. provides precise information on the location of all military and commercial aircraft in the airspace of interest (AOI) at This object was traveling to the all times during 4pm to 8pm on January 8, 2008. Additionally, data was obtained that indicates unidentified southeast on a direct course towards flying aircraft—without transponder beacons and that were the Crawford Ranch, also known as not military jets—were found in the same compass direction President Bush’s western White and time frame as cited by the witnesses. These sightings House. The last time the object was occurred on a cloudless day with 10+ miles visibility, no seen on radar at 8:00 pm, it was only wind, and temperatures in the upper 40s. This report concen- 10 miles away. trates on the events of January 8th and contains much more substantiated information than has been reported in the media during the five months following these sightings. Witness testimony was obtained from MUFON’s investi- gations into these sightings. This investigation began in Dublin on January 19, 2008. Seventeen different reports Abbreviations used in Summary Report were obtained regarding sightings on January 8th. This is a very large number of sightings to occur during only one day AOI – Airspace of Interest and within a four-hour period of time. Eight of these reports AWACS – Airborne Warning and Command System provided sufficient detail to identify a time and direction of CAFB – Carswell Air Force Base the sighting of the object. Witnesses in these reports included FAA – Federal Aviation Administration a constable, a chief of police, a private pilot and a former air FOIA – Freedom of Information Act traffic control operator. Those reports also provided enough FTW – primary and secondary radar unit in Fort Worth, information to calculate a gross approximation of the object’s Texas size and altitude. MARSA – Military Assumes Responsibility for SeparAtion Continued on page 4 MOA – Military Operating Area MTR – Military Training Area 1. Copies of the FOIA request letters and the response NWS – National Weather Service letters are included in the appendix of the full report which can be read at www.mufon.com. August 2008 MUFON UFO Journal 3 Logbook for January 8, 2008, from Carswell Air Force Base, with redactions. Authors’ notations on left read, from top: Logbook covers one day; ?Earlier than 4pm; 10 jets found on radar; and ?After 8pm.