ALIENS WERE HERE!

Friday, August 22, 1996
Source: The Advertiser & Messenger newspaper
IT was a clear night when the motorist was dazzled by an enormous, shining object hovering not too high above his car.

He was gripped by, excitement as further glimpses of the craft through the windscreen revealed it to have a classic flying saucer shape.

A luminous blue dome rested on a bright red disc and shimmering lights flicked around its base.

Wow! The aliens were here. History was being made and he was there to see it.

Struggling for breath, the young man pulled over, jumped out of his car, put on his glasses and thank goodness he was alone.

The craft he had hoped so much was proof of beings from another planet was nothing more than an airship taking pictures above a football ground

Hugely disappointed, and not a little embarrassed, he got back in his car and went to see the match.

The motorist in question was Advertiser and Messenger journalist ADRIAN CAFFERY,

Intrigued, but not convinced by reports of UFOs, he recently went to interview John Hanson, who has investigated dozens of sightings.

The Alvechurch man is the county agent for Quest International, a group set up to monitor, log and publish accounts of such phenomena.

On his visit, Adrian became one of the first people to see John's very own, amazing UFO footage.

And this time, his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

A revealing look at John's very own X-Files

THE popularity of TV show The X-Files is testament to the incredible, world-wide interest in all things extra-terrestrial.

Sightings of and belief in UFOs and little green men from outer space have increased many fold since Fox Mulder and Dana Scully hit our screens.

The programme's mix - perhaps dangerous of fact and fiction has converted many and its widespread acclaim has made people less reluctant to go public with accounts of their weird and wonderful experiences.

One man no longer afraid to tell his story is John Hanson.

Ridicule

On June 15 1995, he witnessed something so astonishing from his bedroom window that, for fear of ridicule, he could not bring himself to talk about it for months.

"It took me a long time to accept I'd seen any thing." said John. "I felt stupid, even though I had filmed the object and investigated dozens of sightings by other people."

The incident happened over a year ago, but I was the first journalist and one of the first people invited to view the film. It was an exciting prospect and I wasn't disappointed.

The film showed a bright ball of light, not much bigger than a football, which hovered about 3Oft away from the camcorder in front of houses on the other side the road.

"I saw the object outside my window and just started filming." he recalled. "I was completely mesmerised."

The silver-grey ball was about 25ft off the ground. Its shape distorted, sometimes turning into a Pac-Man-type image.

It then appeared to jump in front of another light about 25ft to the right. The movement was so fast it could not be captured on a video with a 1/28th of a second freeze frame capacity.

And then, within a split second, the ball developed a rippled, caterpillar-type tail about 3Oft long and shot out of sight.

My eyes were definitely not deceiving me this time, but perhaps the video was. John is sending a copy away to experts to be analysed.

This year, the retired policeman has carried out many physical checks on the area and taken hours of film trying to find a logical explanation for what he saw.

He is now convinced there isn't one.

"I have looked from the bedroom window every night since - and always been disappointed," said John.

There have been reports world-wide of balls of light which change shape and seem to act in an intelligent manner, including one seen by two policemen in Mansfield, which John has investigated.

Indeed, such an object has been filmed from the Space Shuttle.

But, unusually, John's own experience and his knowledge of the vast number of similar sightings has in no way created a belief in him of extra terrestrials.

He has come to the conclusion that the objects start as an intelligent, Earthly energy which can take a hard form for a limited length of time and develop a psychic link with witnesses.

Traumatised

"UFOs are a fact and people are often traumatised by what they see. But too many people believe everything we don't understand is from another planet."

"I think they've been with us for thousands of years and are responsible for many crop circles," he said.

Neither does he go along with the conspiracy theory the view Governments throughout the world have made a pact to cover up all evidence of UFOs because the public is not ready to know the truth.

He said: "I don't think Governments know whats going on in the sky, but they could never admit that."

Claims by former Area 51 scientists that experiments are being carried out on alien craft at the top secret American base have not swayed John.

And the 50-year-old is suspicious of ex-Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope, who revealed his belief in alien visitors earlier this year.

"I think the Americans have the technology to develop some fantastic aeroplanes - possibly saucer-shaped - in Area 51," he said.

"I sometimes upset other UFO investigators with these views, but I agree it would be arrogant to suggest Earth is the only planet in the universe which contains lifeforms."

John has been the local contact for anyone who sees anything strange in the skies since January 1995.

He has investigated and made reports of about 100 sightings in that time - some going back 30 years. The most exciting was in Southend-on-Sea in August last year.

A slow-moving, multi-coloured, cone-shaped object was clearly seen through binoculars for one-and-a-half hours. A police helicopter was scrambled, but not in time.

The most recent and most local sighting he has looked into was in Worcester in June. Again, it was a ball of light which changed shape, turning triangular and then into a disc.

It was 2OOft up and watched by a family for one and-a-half hours - until they got bored and went to bed.

John has also looked into three separate, yet spookily similar, abduction stories. In each case, women claimed they were sucked into a space-craft and experimented on.

All three were left emotionally scared and with strange, scallop-shaped marks on their feet.

Unfortunately, it appears Bromsgrove and Droitwich hardly get a mention in the intergalactic good beer guide and a sighting in the area is a rare occurrence.

John has twice given a five-week-long course of evening classes on UFOs at the Redditch campus of NEW College. A third begins this month.

And he is presently compiling and evaluating reports of sightings from throughout history for a book.

If you've something to add, call John on 0121 447 7091.

And as for me, do I believe? Well, even the most sceptical, when confronted with the wealth of UFO evidence, could be convinced.

But the fact UFOs, like ghosts, reincarnation and extra-sensory perception phenomenon which can never be disproved - have yet to be proved, after all these years, must lead to doubt.

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