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   SUBJECT: UFOs RETURN TO FYFFE                                FILE: UFO1270   
      
      
   NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE   
      
   DATE OF ARTICLE:  March 2, 1989   
   SOURCE OF ARTICLE:  Weekly Post   
   LOCATION:  Rainsville, Alabama   
   BYLINE:  Susan Stockman   
   ========================================================   
   THIS FILE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE   
   AND PREPARED BY PARANET ALPHA -- PARANET INFORMATION   
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   ========================================================   
      
   Martian or Military?   
   UFOS RETURNED TO FYFFE FRIDAY NIGHT   
      
   By Susan Stockman   
      
        Residents  of  Fyffe don't know what it is,  or  where  it's   
   coming from, but they know they are seeing something.   
        For  the  second  time  in as  many  weeks,  numerous  Fyffe   
   residents  reported  seeing an unidentified  flying  object  over   
   their town Friday night.   
        The  reports  of 'something in the air' started around  7:30   
   p.m.,  the  same  time of early night sightings  on  February  10   
   occurred.   
        Most  reports  were of a round,  bright object with red  and   
   green flashing lights.   
        According to Rhonda Gibson and her sister,  Jill Worley, the   
   object  appeared  to be at tree-top level when they saw  it  near   
   their home Friday night.   
        The  sisters were returning home from Fort Payne  when  they   
   spotted the object hovering over the tree tops.   
        Gibson  said it was 'just sitting there,' and when they  saw   
   the  object,  they decided to follow it,  and turned into a  dirt   
   road  to  get  a closer look.   Worley said she had  'never  seen   
   anything like it in her life,' and it 'scared her to death.'   
        According to Gibson,  after watching it outsider her car for   
   several minutes 'it just disappeared, like turning off the lights   
   at a football field.'   
        After the object vanished,  Gibson said she returned to  her   
   car and went to her parent's home.   
        The sisters spotted the object again while at their parent's   
   home, but said it appeared to be further away in the night sky.   
        After  checking with the Fyffe Police Department,  they were   
   told  they  were not the only ones to see the craft  that  night.   
   The Fyffe Police Department received some 40 calls from residents   
   who saw the object.   
        Gibson said after the object vanished, several airplanes and   
   a helicopter flew directly overhead,  and there were reports from   
   witnesses who say they saw an unusual amount of aircraft activity   
   in the area during the sightings,  and several identified some of   
   the planes and helicopters as military.   
        According to Kathy Green,  a Fyffe resident who also saw the   
   object, said she and friends had gathered to play cards and first   
   observed  the object from the window of the home around 7:30 p.m.   
   She  said the group shared binoculars and watched the  object  in   
   the cold night air until it disappeared some two hours later.   
        In an interview from his Arlington, Virginia home, Philip J.   
   Klass,  an editor for Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine   
   for 35 years, told The Weekly Post that 99.999 percent of all UFO   
   sightings can be traced to a bright celestial body, such as Venus   
   and Mars.   
        Klass  said the eye can be deceiving,  and given the weather   
   conditions  at  the  time of  the  sightings,  the  objects  were   
   possibly  Venus or Mars.   Klass stated that the shapes could  be   
   due  to  atmospheric distortion,  and that all people  have  some   
   slight stigmatism problems with their eyes.   
        'The  disappearance of the object could be attributed to the   
   rotation  of  the earth,  or a cloud passing  over  the  planet,'   
   according to Klass.   
        Klass  also stated that there was no way to accurately judge   
   the  distance or size of the object,  making it appear larger  or   
   closer than it is.   
        However,  residents of Fyffe don't believe what they saw was   
   a star or a planet.   
        All  military  bases,  such as Fort McClellan  in  Anniston,   
   Maxwell  Air  Force  Base in  Montgomery,  Fort  Rucker  in  Fort   
   Benning,  Georgia,  and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,  told The   
   Weekly  Post  that,  to their knowledge,  there were no  military   
   exercises  in  the  north Alabama area during  the  time  of  the   
   sightings.   
        A  spokesperson for the Lockheed Aircraft Plant in Marietta,   
   Georgia  said  no aircraft experiments were  being  conducted  by   
   Lockheed,  and the same answer was given by Marshall Space Flight   
   Center in Huntsville.   
        A check with the Federal Aeronautics Authority revealed that   
   no  experiments  took place during the sighting times,  to  their   
   knowledge.   
        However,  a  check  with the National  Guard  in  Birmingham   
   revealed that the airspace in north Alabama, including that above   
   Fyffe,  is a training route for aircraft,  and is utilized by the   
   entire Southeastern states.   
        The   National   Guard  spokesperson  said  night   training   
   exercises  were common in the area,  sometimes at an altitude  of   
   just several hundred feet off the ground.   
        Although  no  agency would confirm the  fact  that  military   
   exercises  or  experiments  were  being  conducted,   many  Fyffe   
   residents believe that is what is taking place over their heads.   
        Investigators  from  the Mutual Unidentified  Flying  Object   
   Network,  a  national  organization  that tracks  UFO  sightings,   
   reportedly  will be in Fyffe Friday night to ride with the  Fyffe   
   Police in hopes of sighting the object again.   
      
   =================================================================   
      
   A Letter to the Editor   
   -----------------------   
      
   DEAR EDITOR:   
      
        There has been a lot of fun made of the two police  officers   
   from Fyffe, Alabama, who saw the UFO the week of February 10th.   
        Now,  I  have never seen one myself and I have never  really   
   paid too much attention to what I read in the papers about them.   
        Anything  is  possible in the world.   I have  known  Junior   
   Garmany  and his family for almost all his life,  and Fred  Works   
   for several years.  If they tell that a rooster chews tobacco you   
   can raise up its left wing and look for its spit cup.   
        Besides, Junior and Fred were not the only people to observe   
   this UFO.  Different citizens saw it.   
        Also,  there  were other officers in the area to see it  but   
   for some reason they did not come forward with their verification   
   of what they saw.   
        I wonder why?   
        All  these people who are throwing fun at these officers for   
   what  they saw should be shaking their hand for making Fyffe  the   
   UFO capital of the nation.   
        UFO  defined  does not mean they saw a  flying  saucer  with   
   little green men and bulging eyes.   
        It means 'unidentified flying object.'  To my knowledge, the   
   object they saw has not been identified.   
        At  least  it makes me more aware that we are  under  police   
   protection in our area.   
        Utmost  respect  to  these  two officers who  were  not  too   
   embarrassed or afraid to come forward with what they saw.   
      
   Billie Sibert   
   Fyffe, Alabama   
      
   ==================================================================   
      
                    
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