POP CULTURE CHRONICLES
LOOK… UP IN THE SKY
Is it Just Me, or are We Missing Something?
By Mike Olszewski
Certain things stick with you from your childhood, and my time delivering the morning newspaper is burned into my memory.
Up at 5 a.m., sloshing through un-shoveled sidewalks in the winter, it was miserable. But occasionally, a bright spot emerged; for example, I did get to see the Northern Lights. And I saw something that has me wondering to this day what it was.
Sky Mystery
It was December 1965, and as I set out for my route, I heard a hissing sound. It came from a fiery object flying slowly across the sky. I ran inside to call the Bedford Heights police, thinking it might be a plane or something, and then went on to my appointed rounds.
Many years later, I heard a lecture about the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania UFO incident that happened around that time, and it occurred to me I could have seen it. Citizens there say it started with a hissing sound. In my case, it could have also been stuff dumped off a plane or a meteor. I called the Bedford Heights police to check the dates, but their records don’t go back that far. Which poses the question: Why aren’t we hearing more about the Congressional UFO hearings? The testimony was shocking, and then… crickets.
Stan Gordon is one of the best-known UFO/UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) experts in the country.
“There seems to have been concerns extending back many years ago, that if the public learned the truth that these objects were visitors from another planet that this could cause fear of the unknown in some individuals,” Gordon says.
“The public would want to be assured that our government had the capabilities to protect them from these unknown intelligences. There were concerns that this revelation could possibly affect religious beliefs, the stock market, and other segments of everyday life.
“The public today, however, is much more aware of the history of UFO/UAP activity, and people are much more open-minded on this subject. Many individuals accept the possibility that these objects are not man-made. It is apparent from the numerous television and podcast programs focusing on the UFO/UAP mystery that there is a great public interest in these subjects and the public wants to learn more.”
Gordon also brings up a good point, and that is, “What we are dealing with seems to be beyond our current scientific understanding.
“It is likely that the government has been monitoring UFO activity for years, both in this country and abroad. They are aware that these mysterious sightings continue to take place, however, I am of the opinion that they don’t have the answers concerning these objects or understand what is taking place.
“I have been saying for years that there is more than one origin to the unknown category of the UFO phenomenon. It is possible that some of these objects could be of an extraterrestrial origin. There are, however, other UFO encounters that suggest that some of these other objects have a physical and non-physical component associated with their appearances. For lack of a better term, I will call this interdimensional for now,” Gordon adds.
Even so, he says we could still be in for a long wait for any major announcement.
As Gordon sees it. “Over the years, numerous UFO documents have been released to the public via FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) requests. The Air Force Project Blue Book UFO files were declassified and are available to the public. There are, however, apparently other UFO case files and documents that have not been released to the public. Now that some members of Congress are attempting to release UFO files that are in government possession, we will have to see what may or may not be released in the future. I am not expecting any major release of important, never-before-seen historical UFO/UAP documents to start showing up anytime soon.”
If you’d like to know more, Gordon can be reached at stangordon.info/wp.
I’ll probably never know if what I saw nearly 60 years ago was the Kecksburg UFO. Then again, at that time of year, I was likely more concerned about reindeer flying through the air than aliens.
Thrive Trivia: Last issue, I asked what the films “The Abominable Dr. Phibes,” “Snakes on a Plane” and “The Wizard of Oz” have in common. They each have “Over the Rainbow” in their soundtracks.
Next time, what 1950s TV star may have forecasted modern rap with his version of “Twas The Night Before Christmas?”
