Oregon L.O.W.F.I

Archive for the ‘UFO Sightings’ Category

My new Trickster’s Realm column is up at Binnall of America. Here’s an excerpt, for more, visit BoA!

Some eerie and strange things have been happening on the Oregon coast these past few weeks. While mostly mundane in nature,there’s an aura of weirdness about these events. Climate change, global warming, weather patterns, the aftermath of BP’s disaster in the Gulf, toxins in the ocean, and general earth rage-madness have come together, sending us signals that things are very wrong, and very different from what we’ve known. Things are wilder, more chaotic, sadder, and stranger. Warnings and omens that are wake-up calls to be sure.

Tillamook

A November 6th item in local news: Oregon crabbers in the Tillamook area are facing a dangerous season, more so than the usual: Dangerous crab season puts rescuers on alert Tillamook has a history of wildness; dangerous ocean, haunted waters, the deaths of men fighting the rough ocean while building the Tillamook Lighthouse in 1880. Native American legends of the area tell of spirits in the water and haunted underwater/underground tunnels. The lighthouse is now privately owned, but that hasn’t stopped the tragic and haunted history, for it became a columbarium. But, even that is not entirely true, according to Our Oregon Coast website:

After interring about 30 urns, the columbarium’s license was revoked in 1999 by the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board and was rejected upon reapplication in 2005. The board said the owners have not kept accurate records and, because urns sit on boards and concrete blocks and not in niches, the lighthouse does not even qualify as a columbarium.

As for the crabbers in the Tillamook area, fishermen know of the dangers and that’s not news, but the danger has been escalating:

We’ve lost a lot of boats,” said Mike Saindon, master chief petty officer in Garibaldi. “It is a very dangerous place and it has been for awhile. Conditions are bad and they have been getting worse over the years. No one knows why that’s happening.”The Tillamook Bay bar — the place at the tip of the jetties where the calm bay waters meet the sea — has been growing progressively worse for about 20 years.

“Traditionally when you get a lot of water flowing it clears the channels out,” said Saindon. “That isn’t happening here. The sand builds up on the bar and causes waves to break more frequently and in a larger area. That creates a larger surf zone and not a clear channel.”

I wish I could say I was the one in on this story, but credit goes to Aileen Garoutté who sent this out to her readers. Oregon MUFON has a presence in this story, as does Eric Byler of Oregon UFO Research.

UFOs and Aliens Reaching Out With “Signs,” Say Paranormal Experts

huliq – STONEFIELD BEACH, Oregon – When viewing the greenish tide pool at this remote spot along the central Oregon coast, local unidentifiable flying object (UFO) experts note it’s “a whole new color experience.” The tide pool in question fires the imagination because “rocks will float on it.” All this is not news, however, to a world that’s been hearing about UFO sightings almost daily. Thus, even this latest discovery seems to be “no big deal.”

A wealth of UFO evidence exists along Oregon coast

While more and more visitors to the central Oregon coast on a quest to see their own UFO sightings, it’s no wonder that some think it’s “getting old.”

In fact, UFO and aliens are considered to be a kin to “rock stars” here in this somewhat “strange” state that boasts numerous UFO organizations, clubs and followings that number in the tens of thousands.

This state is so “into” UFO’s and aliens that it’s no big deal when there’s a UFO sighting, “because that happens around here almost every day.”

“I mean, what’s up at Stonefield Beach is just sort of “ho-hum,” said one local.

“I’d say we’ve seen it all before. UFO sightings are interesting, but I’d say our attitude around — when it comes to these alien visitors – is you’re most welcome and please don’t zap us,” joked the resident who lives down Highway 101 from Stonefield Beach.

At the same time, more serious UFO experts are wondering about Stonefield’s green goodish water that’s attracting a lot of attention from experts, to include marine biologists at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in nearby Newport, Oregon.

“No, it’s not some sort of algae or something from the Pacific. It’s strange, and I can’t explain it,” says Hugh Miller who’s a member of The Trails End Paranormal Society of Oregon.

“They’ve taken a lot of it,” adds Miller. “But what’s left is amazing.”

Still, even this green tide pool doesn’t get much of a rise from coastal residents who don’t want so much attention paid to this remote area where they live off the grid for whatever reasons.

“I guess it’s because there’s so much in the way of UFO sightings here in Oregon,” adds Miller whose Trails End Paranormal Society recently held something dubbed the “Rose City Paranormal Conference” in Portland, Oct. 14-16.

Due to the rash of recent UFO sightings in Oregon, China and other parts of the world, the conference was well attended, says Miller who’s been researching Oregon UFO’s for the past 45 years.

“We had a very interesting Eric Byler of Oregon UFO Research as our guest speaker. He more or less said ‘they’re with us, and don’t worry since all will be revealed soon.’ I’m not sure when or where since I’ve been at this for so long. But, being here today at Stonefield and testing this green water, makes me think he’s right.

We may know something soon about the alien’s intentions,” he added during an interview near the green tide pool at Stonefield beach.

When describing Stonefield Beach, locals want visitors to stay away

The Oregon coast has long been associated with UFO encounters due to such things as the geologic oddity of rock formations along the coast that some say are makers for UFO visits.

In fact, Stonefield is perhaps the most secluded and exclusive of the central Oregon coast parks.

There are formally declassified documents at a nearby Newport historic museum points to a period during World War II and then in the late 1950’s when “the U.S. government installed numerous secret look out facilities in the area around Cape Perpetua.”

What’s interesting to local UFO hunters is that one of these “stone” lookout bunkers still sits near the top of Cape Perpetua that looks right down on Stonefield Beach.

“It’s sort of prehistoric. There’s remains of whales, sea lions and the only place that I know of along the coast where you see dozens of wild rabbits that are huge in size,” says Kinney. “And, there’s these people who camp out and burn fires amongst the Stonefield rock formations that’s creepy.”

What’s also creepy, adds Kinney, “is the locals want you out of here, big time. They know this is a free beach and part of Oregon’s national recreation area, but don’t hang at Stonefield after hours.”

At Stonefield, there’s no such thing as popular beach spots, or shops or restaurants. “There’s just death on the beach and the place reeks to high heaven. It’s as if someone or something doesn’t want the locals or tourists to visit there,” says coastal resident Mackenzie Ryan.

Moreover, Ryan notes “these strange lights and an eerie glow that seems to light up everything around. You see the light on the drift wood that litters the Stonefield beach, and you see it in the sky over the mountains that sit right behind this beach spot. There’s no place like it.”

Along a grassy hill there sits — in the sea of rocks – what can only be described as mounds of formed and hardened sand. “We can’t explain it. It’s these small mounds and the crazy glow on everything at Stonefield that spooks us at this time of the year.”

Oregon UFO groups are many with participation increasing

The joke around UFO circles in Oregon is there’s “more UFO hunters than aliens.” Or, “UFO’s are an equal opportunity phenomenon.”

One leading group is known as “MUFON,” for “Mutual UFO Network, Inc.” MUFON’s charter states that it will seek to “investigate the UFO phenomenon in a scientific manner as funds and expertise allow. To this end, MUFON strives to establish a presence in every state of the United States and even in every country of the world since the UFO phenomenon knows no boundaries.

MUFON members advise those who are frightened of having “first contact,” that “it’s perfectly safe.”

At the same time, MUFON guidance for “civilians” is a UFO sighting is not so much something “you see,” but “more of a feeling” along the lines of a “deeper psychic intuition.”

One Oregon MUFON expert notes that when he takes say “a couple hundred photos an hour” of UFO’s over Oregon communities that, perhaps, only about “two or three show a UFO clearly enough to say it’s alien.”

Lights in the Sky blog has drawings and report of a recent triangle sighting in Bend.

I saw a triangle years ago in Dexter, Oregon. It didn’t have lights that I saw, but it was huge, silent, and low. It seemed to take on the surrounding color of the sky; just the slighty darker shade. It seemed to have just appeared, soundlessly, from nowhere — I looked up for some reason, and realized something was off and then figured it out — it was the triangle shape right above our heads. It just stayed there, motionless, while we stood there, making jokes about missing time and saying to each other: “We should tell people about this,” but not being able to really move away. We called out feebly but no one heard us. Then, it suddenly just shot up, and off — kind of slid away very fast. I mean, blink! It was gone.

This happened in a rural area; on about three acres of land. Houses all around but on wood lined roads, with lots of wooded areas all over and in between houses. There were, I’d guess, easily a hundred people there – -this was at a large family reunion/party in August. Yet no one saw the thing except for us few. Interesting comment by the owners of the place when we told them of the sighting, they believed us, for, as they said, [paraphrasing] “Oh, yeah, we see stuff like that up there all the time.”

I just saw Mike Clelland’s lovely post at hidden experience (Ida Kanneberg: Lovely Contactee) on Ida Kanneberg’s passing in May of this year.  She was 95.

Ida wrote several books about her experiences with channeled ETs and entities, UFO sightings, and most recently,  her contributions to My Brother is a  Hairy Man, with co-author Lee  Trippet about UFO/paranormal Bigfoot encouters.

Ida lived here in Oregon. I never did get the opportunity to meet her, though I did receive a nice eamil from her a few years ago. I have loved her books and in fact, had just finsihed reading her Project Earth a couple of weeks ago.

I always felt that Ida was a brave woman for being so open about her experiences and her philosophies.

Here’s something about Ida from UFO Experiences blog:

In 1940 Ida May Kannenberg met a UFO while traveling through the desert outside Los Angeles. She was tricked into thinking her help was needed and as she thought she was giving blood they were putting implants into her body. She met some of the people she’d later be taking psychic dictation from but forgot all about them when the voices began in 1968.

Ida’s communicators are time travelers from the time of Atlantis and a being from the beginning of time on Earth (Thoth). Her closest collaborator, or “live-in companion”, was Hweig, now deceased, who was the child of a time traveler and a Russian of royal birth.

Since then, Ida has gone from nearly being driven mad by them to becoming the most organized and systematic thinker and writer on UFO and psychic events. Although Ida never takes what they tell her at face value, her experiences with them during the last 37 years have made her extremely interesting and knowledgeable. At 90 she is the Sybil and Jung of this era of UFOs and abductions by aliens.

I referenced Ida in an article on another Oregon contactee I wrote about for my Trickster’s Realm column on BoA. (Psychic Communications with Aliens and UFOs: More Oregon Tales.) In writing about “Jane,” a woman I met many years ago and who had her own UFO and abduction experiences in, among other places, the Gold Hill area, “Jane” refers to Ida Kanneberg:

Jane quotes Oregon UFO author Ida Kannenberg’s UFOs and the Psychic Factor to help explain her ideas about her interactions with aliens. For example, Jane refers to page 187 of Kanneberg’s book, where Kannenberg points out some of the ways extraterrestrials interact with us:

Hallucinatory craft and occupants due to hypnosis of the contactees … craft/personalities are unseen, but their presence detected. These are psychic manifestations … remote contact by telepathy …Ida Kannenberg

Ida Kannenberg has been in contact with alien entities since the nineteen seventies, These communications involve both aliens, as in ET, and Bigfoot. In the book My Brother is a Hairy Man, which she co-authored with Bigfoot researcher Lee Trippet, she writes that, during a conversation with Lee in the beginning stages of the book, and Ida’s potential involvement, (for she was unsure due to her unfamiliarity with the topic of Bigfoot) a psychic communication came through:

Just about there a telepathic voice broke into our discussion to give us some specific directions. I have been steadily interacting with such voices since 1977. This was a new one. He introduced himself as Maez, the head of the Council that monitors Bigfoot. From the planet Arcturus yet! That would explain the UFOs that have been seen in the vicinity of our subject.

I am grateful for Ida’s willingness to share her many experiences with the rest of us; and thankfully,  her gifts continue to intrigue us, as well as inspire us, in her writings.

The coastal town of Florence in Oregon has its Elvis brush with fame:
Elvis enjoyed the small town atmosphere of Florence back in the day’

All fans here in Oregon would be remiss if we did not acknowledge this 75th anniversary of Elvis’s birth this year and, sadly, his passing on Aug. 16, 1977,” said Dave Masko, coordinator for the special Elvis tribute at the Florence Events Center on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on Jan. 8, 1935 and was the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name ELVIS. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King.”
“Another reason why I and other fans want to produce this special Elvis tribute event here in Florence is Elvis often visited Oregon and even said he liked ‘Florence very much,’ “explained Masko of the last time the King visited Florence after a Nov. 26, 1976, Portland concert.

“There are a lot of stories we’ve heard about Elvis’s last Oregon concert tour that took place just a year before his death. One story has him walking the Florence beaches after his Portland concert to ‘clear his head,’ after a long tour,” Masko explained.
In addition, Elvis’s close friend Red West said in a TV interview at the time “how Elvis enjoyed the small town atmosphere of Florence back in the day.”

And I had my own brush with Elvis, as I recently wrote about for UFO Mystic: My Claim to UFO-Hollywood Fame.

Full disclosure: I haven’t read the book.This is not a book review; it’s about the idea of the book’s premise, from what I’ve been gleaning so far. From what I’ve been reading about Pilkington’s book Mirage Men, the thesis is that UFOs are creations of our government. There are no “real” UFOs; just machines and stories about encounters made by man to confuse its citizenry and mask secret operations.

This is old news. But beyond this simplistic “revelation” about UFOs is the fact the government has been getting away with murder, both figuratively and literally, using UFOs as a convenient smoke screen. Isn’t anyone curious about what’s been hidden from us? Put aside “beliefs” about UFOs, they exist, they don’t exist, aliens are real, aliens are fantasy — just forget all that for now. Ask yourselves what is it the government is doing behind those flying saucers are here! scenarios.

A danger with books like this is that the mainstream culture will think it’s been offered an explanation for all those crazy UFO stories, and move on. Even some within the fringes who study UFOs will accept this. Including those “new thugs” that pose as UFO investigators or researchers but are part debunker-skeptic, part dilettante. Meanwhile, the government continues to perform often illegal maneuvers around us, and no one’s questioning that. In fact, stepping beyond the line of questioning will get you quickly slapped with a Tin Foil Hat sticker and you’re shoved over to the kook side. Mention chemtrails and it’s all over.

Okay, Pilkington and fans, UFOs don’t exist. Forgetting obviously that UFO means unidentified object and not alien from mars in a flying saucer … oh never mind. Sigh. Yet we still have, say, spheres showing up in our skies — these have been photographed dozens of times over — what are they? Whose are they? What are they doing? What about the video of a sphere I saw years ago, taken by a local witness, that seemed to disappear but upon close examination was till there, merely cloaked to near invisibility? What was the thing spraying onto the residences — and people! — below; for spraying some kind of mist like substance it was. Doesn’t anyone want to know about those kinds of things?

Let’s take my own missing time experiences, that occurred within a UFO context. And let’s say, for argument, that this “UFO context” was government created. If so — missing time, UFO — then that means our government was doing something obviously immoral, unethical, and illegal. Which is frightening. For that means, if it’s not UFOs, not mental abberation (shared by two people, two and possibly three, different times), then what was it? Why the persistence of a UFO based setting? WHERE WERE WE FOR ALL THOSE MISSING HOURS??!!

But see, now we’re entering MILAB territory, which is paranoid kook fringe fantasy, so no one is going to listen to that, because UFOs don’t exist, the government just uses that to . . . you see how this all becomes a circling back of absolutely no answers at all, while maintaining cover-ups? In typical cosmic joker trickster fashion, the idea of the government using UFOs as a cover for their shadow projects is a cover for the government’s covering up . . . because not many are questioning beyond the initial cover.

(This is my latest Trickster’s Realm column for Tim Binnall’s BoA site.)

An intriguing aspect of alien encounter stories is the shared experience element. There have been many times when I’ve heard a story that, no matter how unusual, how weird, and unbelievable someone’s account may seem, it often turns out that others have had similar, if not the same, kind of experience.

I’ve had UFO experiences going back to childhood, but my sighting of an orange orb in Oregon in the 1980s is, for some reason yet to be discovered, the catalyst for my journey into the world of esoterica, I couldn’t find any references to similar sightings. No books on UFOs or aviation mentioned basket ball sized, glowing from within, seemingly sentient and telepathic orange orbs. Yet I saw one. Furthermore, I experienced missing time the day/night of the sighting. (Other weird events occurred around this sighting as well.)

I’ve seen several UFOs since that sighting, but never anything like that orange orb. Although something odd did happen last year, as I wrote on UFO Magazine’s site:

An Orange Orb Blip

Something slightly odd and startling happened the other day. It was around 5:30 in the afternoon. I was relaxing on the sofa, not asleep but just in that semi-drowsy, pleasant light trance state. I had a short little dream — a dreamlet, you could call it — but I was awake on some level at the same time.

I “dreamt” I had a strong urge to go outside and look at the sky full of stars. (this is something I do almost every evening) and I walk out onto the path to the sidewalk, and scan the dark sky. I hear a voice inside my head, or more like a telepathic nudge, to turn around and look towards the south. I do, and see, very high up, a bright orange light, which is rotating. As far away as it is, and as small as it is — like a large, bright star — I can tell it’s revolving. When I see this orange “star” I’m very scared, and I can feel my stomach drop with cold dread.

I wake up abruptly, feeling very uneasy. With the sighting of the orange object I again am aware of a telepathic message; this one tells me that I know exactly what it is I saw years ago, and to stop playing games. I assume it meant stop playing games with myself, but I had a sense it might have meant with it as well, whatever “it” is.

I’m not sure why I feel it’s important to keep track of episodes like this, but I’m sure one of the many purposes doing this serves is that is simply makes me feel better. No closer to any mystery but I don’t think that’s the point any more. Acknowledging these weird little moments and adding them to the collection of pieces gives the illusion of work, of study. It’s calming somehow. It’s also empowering; once you call it, reclaim the name of something, it’s power diminishes.

And maybe, as has been said by Forteans and esoteric explorers, the Trickster or whatever you want to call it is alerted to our interest and responds. When we start noticing “it,” “it” starts to notice us back.

Every time I come across an account of an orange UFO I get excited and am curious to discover if the sighting was anything like mine so many years ago.

A few years ago, we began to see reports of orange orb or spheres; they’re still coming in. Most of these seem to be the lanterns used in celebrations that have become popular but as many researches have pointed out, this doesn’t explain much. The orange lantern explanation just doesn’t fit a lot of these sightings.

There have been a lot of reports of orange colored lights in the sky; not the floating type lanterns, not the basket ball sized orb I saw, but star like, or like the lights of a plane.

Interesting and sometimes they share some similarities to what I saw but, not the same thing.

Until the “Dark Presence” episode of UFO Hunters. That episode had to do with orange UFOs. Not small, airplane type lights, stars, or lanterns, but like the orb I saw. Some of the orbs witnesses described were green or other colors, but orange seemed to be the main color. I responded to that episode, again on the UFO Magazine blog:

There are many parallels to my orange orb sighting . . . and the ones discussed in the UFO Hunters episode. Many witnesses reported feelings of dread, of fear, though some had experienced feelings of elation, upon seeing these orbs. I had both: feelings of a happy intrigue when I first saw the orb, and a real goofy, almost psychedelic response right after seeing it. . . I also had the most terrifying dreams of my life right after seeing the orb. These dreams were always the same: I’m paralyzed inside a brilliant white beam of light that is so bright I can almost see through things. There is something huge above me, some kind of object. My husband is nearby but has been taken from me and I’m screaming for him, for “them” to return us to. . . or get us out of, wherever the hell we are.

Finally, I had found others who described the same kind of object and events that I experienced, as I wrote:

These orbs were described by witnesses as being basket ball sized, or even larger, like a beach ball. That’s exactly how I’ve been describing the size of the orb I saw for all these years. Witnesses also said they felt a premonition, or some kind of telepathic communication between the orb and themselves; I also had that experience when I first saw the orb. I had glanced up having noticed the orb, which I estimated to be about a mile away. I had the distinct feeling it was waiting for me, and as soon as I thought “What the hell is that thing?” it zoomed right to me, following us along the road. (Witnesses also reported they were followed by the orbs.) As we turned the corner to go home (our house was right around the corner) the orb stopped for a moment above a house across the road from us, then just sank down, “landing” in the backyard. Similar behavior was reported by witnesses on the UFO Hunters episode.

Witnesses also described the orb as being lit from within, or at least giving that appearance. The orb I saw had the same effect; no lights around it, or on it, but it seemed to glow from inside. Witnesses also reported missing time.

Strange to come across so many witnesses with such similar descriptions and so many years apart!

Comments that followed to my piece on UFO Magazine’s blog were interesting. Like this one from “Susan” who saw a large orange orb in 1975, and Raechel from MRIPA (a paranormal investigative group that was featured in the UFO Hunters episode.) Raechel wrote:

Jason and I did do an investigation with Indiana – MUFON back in July of this year. It was a woman and her family who live up in northern Indiana who witnessed one large red orb (basketball size) and a multitude of smaller white orbs (softball size) in the woods that surrounded her house. She too explained a feeling of “awe” at first and than fear. . . . she stated that the orb actually entered through her front door and left a sticky residue on her door. Her dog no longer likes to go out side at night, and when Jason and I were asking her questions, we both noticed that there was missing information that didn’t fit in sequence. When I say this, I do not mean that she was telling us false information, what she was telling us was the truth. Her story to this day still has not altered any. What I’m saying is the way she was talking and her actions fit into that of people that have experienced “missing time.” She couldn’t recall several hours of the 2 nights that she experienced seeing these orbs.

The part about “missing information that didn’t fit…” parallels my own experience. To this day, my husband and I find we disagree, get confused, argue, and misremember parts of that experience. It’s like we have to retrace the same thing every time, and sometimes, new information seems to reveal itself as we try to work through what happened.

This past year I’ve been trying to recall the missing parts of this experience through dreams, meditation, and intent. I don’t know if I’ll ever use hypnosis as a tool but I doubt it very much.

I still don’t know what that orb was, why it was, or what really happened. It is — I don’t know if comforting is quite the word to use — but it is confirming to know that others have also experienced these orbs.
Notes:
UFO Hunters Dark Presence Episode post on UFO Magainze Blog

From UFO Stalker, this interesting report of several UFOs responding to the witness:

Case Number: 24270
Log Number: US-07062010-0021
Submitted Date: 2010-07-06 11:05 GMT
Event Date: 2010-07-05 00:00 GMT
Status: Submitted
City: N/A
Region: Oregon
Country: US
Longitude: -119.535
Latitude: 45.8323
Shape: Sphere
Description:

I’m afraid to go public or provide more then a general description of events. I have been in contact with a cluster of metalic luminescent spheres that respond to my laser. So far in the last 2 weeks they have returned at least 4 different days. They move in unison with six spheres in total. They approach as close as 500 feet. Some of them will flash brilliant in my direction with a series of flashes. The brighter of the spheres which are of different size seems to direct the other spheres. I’m not sure if I will make more then this written report as I don’t want create a public spectacle and I’m concerned that if I make it public they will not return. I’m going to borrow a camcorder and provide video evidence to this site in the near future. Im absolutely sure they will return again. They stay in my vision until my laser pointer batteries start fading. Last night was the closest they came to my position on the ground. I work for the Feds and don’t want to receive any attention in this matter but I also want to ask your viewing audience what they would do in my situation. If I talk to my friends I wonder if they will tell others. If I mention any more I wonder if the government will get involved. I have heard that a radar detector can pick up tones so I want to try and record the tones. I believe the government already knows and tries to debunk or intimidate. I’m sorry I dont want to mention any more at this time. Im an avid star gazer and had an amazing sighting in 1973 that changed my life. Now that Im in my 50’s I have finally got the confirmation I needed and maybe that’s all that matters. Best wishes and don’t stop looking up.
Attached Media: None

Enoch, 2010, by Autumn Williams

The comments on Williams new book Enoch have come flying in since the OSS last weekend, where the book made its debut. Autumn Williams has been accused of outright lying, trying to make a buck, slopppy — or no — research, being gullible, and (in, sigh, I’ll say it, sexist attacks) being too emotional about her own Bigfoot sighting. Another reaction by critics of Williams work is the proudly stated comment they aren’t going to read the book (!) yet they offer opinions on the book anyway.

Others, myself included, think the book is fantastic, and highly recommend it.

I don’t know Autumn Williams very well; we’ve known each other on-line for years, and I was very glad to meet her and talk with her a couple of times at the OSS. I don’t have the impression she’s a liar. As to her making money from her book, I hope she does. Why is it that, when it comes to the field of the strange, be it Bigfoot, UFOs, etc. it’s considered an immoral act to make money from your research?

I’m also alarmed, but not surprised (sadly) at the vitriolic nature of some of the criticisms. Williams has been in the Bigfoot field for twenty something years; doesn’t that count for something? Whether you end up agreeing with her or not, it seems a researcher with the kind of history Williams has, who offers something different in terms of research and the nature of Bigfoot, deserves to be carefully considered.

It’s possible Williams was duped by the witness referred to as “Mike” but, all any of us have when dealing with others is, ultimately, our intuition. I trust that Williams knows what she’s doing in that regard. She’s a researcher and a witness — and as we’ll see, this combination is key — and so, I choose to believe that both “Mike” as well as Williams, are telling the truth.

If I’m wrong, if Williams is wrong, so what? Yes, I said “so what?” Williams message in Enoch is about the nature of research; it’s relationship to the witness and the hugely important question of goals in searching for Bigfoot.

This message cannot be stressed enough. Regardless of any potenial gullibility on Williams part, the point isn’t whether the book is fiction or not, it’s what Williams has to say about the nature of research, including protections of Bigfoot.

Throughout the book, Williams asks the reader to consider the witness in relation to researcher as well as motivations in searching for Bigfoot. Consider your personal agenda in looking for Bigfoot. Why do you want to find Bigfoot? Vindication? Confirmation? Proof? Williams points out (as I have regarding UFO research) if you’ve seen a Bigfoot, you know they exist. You know they are, what they are, is a different issue. In continuing to search for Bigfoot, the question becomes: why? Do you want another sighting for personal reasons? Or to prove it to science? If the latter, that agenda needs to be very carefully thought through. If the story of Mike turns out to be a “lie” (and I’m not saying it is) those points still stand.

There were several times while reading the book I said to myself “Wow, you can replace the words ‘bigfoot research’ with ‘UFO research.” Not that Autumn addressed UFOs in her book; I don’t want to imply that she did or put words in her mouth. She has enough trouble right now; she doesn’t some Bigfoot researcher going around saying that “Williams believes Bigfoot researchers need to study UFOs” or some other misinterpreted nonsense. The parallels I see in her work to UFO research are mine, and I think fellow saucer heads would see those parallels if they read the book.

Bigfoot or UFOs, whichever world you find yourself in — and some of us find ourselves in both — the reasons why we haven’t found “The Really Big Answer” has to do with a mindset, a world view, a philosophy of research that, ironically, so many researchers don’t get. Until that changes, nothing else will.

Except for the witnesses. If you’re a Bigfoot witness, you don’t need proof; you’ve seen a Sasquatch. Who are you going to prove it to, and why? Williams asks this question many times. We have to know ourselves before we go out there in the field. The same, in many ways, is true in UFO Land. I’m a witness, many times over. Since childhood. I know they exist. I know weird things happen related to them. I don’t know what they are. But they are. I don’t have proof of any UFO encounter I’ve had. None. No photos, no scrap of metal from a flying saucer, no artifact, no dead body of an alien. Nothing. “Just” my story. If that’s not good enough for some, that’s tough. I’m not going to go away or shut up. I’m going to continue to explore. Reasons for my writing and researching UFOs and related topics vary and are no doubt complicated at times, but I’m not out to prove anything. Part of my journey is to share, and have others feel safe and respected in sharing their stories with myself and others.

Of course, with UFOs we’re talking about machines and I don’t mean to compare the vitally important need to protect Bigfoot at all costs with a nuts and bolts flying saucer. As to aliens; whatever, whoever, those are… here we start to veer off into another area. The point is, witnesses are valuable and need to be treated not only with respect, but the power shift between researcher and witness needs to change.

These are the points both UFO and Bigfoot researchers need to understand if we’re to “get anywhere” or rather, to get somewhere different. Researchers need to understand their own agendas and intent. Witnesses need to be respected and listened to. Some researchers are also witnesses; how does that affect “research?”

As far as the relationship between witness and researcher and their roles, what Autumn is saying isn’t new or even radical. It is, apparently, for a lot Bigfoot researchers out there but in other fields, say Folklore, (my subject in college, including grad school,) this dynamic between the “informant” (witness) and the interviewer/researcher was an important part of our training; the issue couldn’t be discussed enough. Responsibility of researcher, responses to witnesses, response of the researcher to the witnesses responses to her, … it’s an ever deepening and growing relationship. Growing, morphing, shifting. “Research” doesn’t always have to start and stop with a plaster cast, or a UFO sighting report on paper.

(A few years ago, Lisa Shiel’s Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs and the Sasquatch came out. Shiel, also a researcher as well as a witness, has similar things to say, though in very different ways, as Williams. I’m not suggesting Williams and Shiel’s books are interchangeable, just that both books were written by researchers/authors, and both offer new perspectives on Bigfoot research.)

Enoch, aside from fascinating looks into the “Skunk ape” culture from Mike’s interactions with them, is also about the nature of research and the witness; a new paradigm in the search.

Autumn Williams has really put herself out there by publishing this book. Why would she do such a thing unless she had the courage of her convictions? Publishing Enoch was a brave thing for her to do, and I thank her for choosing to do so.

From UFO Casebook, a sighting on June 15th of this year, in Salem, Oregon. Object was a black sphere shaped object, moving against the wind, and changing shape. In some ways, sounds similar to some of the things I’ve seen. Most definitely I’ve seen all kinds of orb shaped objects in the Eugene area; moving slowly, stopping, rotating, then moving on. A couple of times I’ve seen a white sphere change back and forth from a round object to a more dumbell kind of object. I’ve seen extremely bright lit from within (or so it appears) orb shaped craft just zoom across the sky, traveling .. .to who knows where. Or for what purpose. The witness in this account suggests the possibility the black object could have been a monitoring device, for weather, who knows. Which is what I suspect with some of the things I’ve seen.

For more on this black orb sighting, visit UFO Casebook.