Posted on 01/24/2008 8:40:09 AM PST by mnehring
FORT WORTH — So much for aliens in Texas dairy country.
At least that's what the military said today, reporting that 10 F-16 fighter jets were training in the Stephenville area the night dozens of residents reported seeing a UFO.
Although Air Force Reserve officials at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth initially said none of their planes were in the area Jan. 8, they said today that they had made a mistake and wanted to set the record straight "in the interest of public awareness."
Some residents aren't buying it, though, saying the military's revelation actually bolsters their claims because several reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.
"This supports our story that there was UFO activity in that area," said Kenneth Cherry, the Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which took more than 50 reports from locals at a meeting last weekend. "I find it curious that it took them two weeks to 'fess up. I think they're feeling the heat from the publicity."
From well-respected business owners to a county constable, several dozen people swear that what they saw was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane.
"I guarantee that what we saw was not a civilian aircraft," Steve Allen, a pilot and freight company owner, said today.
Allen said that the planes' training area in the Brownwood Military Operating Area that includes Stephenville's Erath County does not include the airspace where he saw the object. Also, Jan. 8 was not the only day sightings were reported.
Anne Frazor, who owns a fabric store in Stephenville, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, said many in town have seen military aircraft zoom overhead from time to time as part of training operations. But she said that is different than what she saw Jan. 8.
"I couldn't begin to say what it was, but to me it wasn't planes," Frazor said.
Since the reported sightings two weeks ago, the 17,000-resident town has had some fun with the international publicity. Some high-schoolers made T-shirts that read "Stephenville: the new Roswell" on the front and "They're here for the milk!" on the back. A picture features flying saucer beaming up a cow.
This week Tarleton State University is even hosting a lecture by a UFO researcher on the U.S. government's secret response to UFOs, based on previously classified documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The U.S. Air Force says it has not investigated UFO sightings since 1969 when it ended Project Blue Book, which examined more than 12,600 reported UFO sightings — including 700 that were never explained. That program started a few months after the 1947 crash near Roswell, N.M., which the government said it was a top-secret weather balloon but others involved later said was an alien spacecraft.
"What we want is the government to admit there are UFOs and what they know about them," Cherry said.
Those people in Texas must be drinkin stuff I never heard about. Don’t they know the difference between a UFO and an F-16? Wait.....does an F-16 look like a UFO? What does the Air Force say a UFO is supposed to look like?
I *swear* this was an episode of “X-Files” years ago!!!
[continues watching the night skies]
“Some residents aren’t buying it, though, saying the military’s revelation actually bolsters their claims because several reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.”
Were the jets piloted by Harry Connick Jr and Will Smith?
It was probably Kucinich on a campaign stop.
If I recall, people reported a flat metal object without seams which was about 1/2 mile wide. I don’t think that would be a fighter jet.
I’ve become more of a UFO skeptic in my old age, but wouldn’t it be facinating if this really happened?
But then my “reliable source” says they are all secret military programs.
I remember looking up and saying...Holy cripes...It must be an eagle....Turned out to be a kite. Something called “imagination” they say.
Everyone knows about that ‘secret’ base. LM did a lot of jet engine testing there and I recall something about the Red River Army Depot using it to dismantle out of date weapons.
The problem is, when looking at something in the sky, it is hard to judge size without a reference point because you can't determine how high it is. It could have been a lot closer to the ground than the witnesses perceived so they assumed it was much larger than it was.
That certainly clears things up...
I just figured that this sighting was of the heavy lift vehicle, the big blimp the mil is testing that will ferry tanks and such.
“They’re here for the milk.”
LOL Fabulous!
How pathetic. As though people in the Ft. Hood area are not well acquainted with military aircraft. It would be a hoot if this thing showed up right over Ft. Hood...and see if they would try explaining that huge thing away.
My sister saw this “fighter”, she said there was no sound. I find that interesting.
I didn't see either of those two SR-71's that weren't at Kadena in the 60's.
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