3 articles from the GB Sentinal
The following brief articles appeared in the November 10, 1988issue of The Sentinel, Gulf Breeze, Florida. This issue discussessome of the highlights of the UFO sightings that haveoccurred in the area over the past year. The first article is by theprimary photographer "Ed". Others are written by: Donald Ware,Florida state MUFON director; and Duane Cook, editor of TheSentinel. The articles are reproduced here with the permissionof The Sentinel.------------------------------------------------------------------ED SHARES PAST YEAR'S EXPERIENCES ON UFO SIGHTING'SANNIVERSARY On Nov. 11, 1987, as I opened the front door and stared at theglowing object partly obscured by several pine trees, I steppedinto a phenomena that jolted me to the reality of UFOs. Aphenomena that is being witnessed all over the world and hereat home by dozens of our fellow residents. This reality may behard to accept for those who have not had a sighting, so I do nottry to convince or persuade. I have only reported my personalsightings and incidents as they happened. The resulting photographs and video tape I took of the UFOhave been validated by computer imaging (Dr. Maccabee, physicistwith the U.S. Navy). And, of course, there are otheres who feeldifferently and offer little other than opinions. When I was asked to use a 4 lens Nimslo 3-D sealed camera,I did. When I was asked to use the SRS (Self Referencing Stereo)camera, I did. The technical analysis of these photographs produced page after page of data with the end result detailing anobject 14 foot in diameter at the bottom ring and 475 feet distant. The accusation of hoax came fast from those unable to say"maybe", and I was asked to take a lie detector test. Again theridicule was hurled toward me and yet another lie detector test. As the controversy swirled, I began to hear preposterous talesbeing spread by the debunkers about devil parties and "ultimatepranks," etc. Those of you who know me will certainly laugh at such claims, but the object was to discredit me in the eyes of those who don't know me. There was a very serious attempt to destroymy reputation by twisting spooky party games into ritual seances.Having failed to discredit the photographic evidence, the out oftown critics have mounted a slander campaign hoping to brand me.Thank you Gulf Breeze for ignoring these outrageous rumors. Some of you may remember the front page headline "Expertsays Photos a Hoax." The next day the "expert" publicly retractedhis claim and apologized. A counterintelligence agency inMaryland was given an audio tape of me being interviewed. Theresulting examination of the tape on a PSE (Psychological StressEvaluator) vindicated my word once more when the examiner said the result "does not show any reaction to cause this examinerto doubt his (Ed's) answers." Soon I began to understand that no matter how many tests Iwas subjected to and how many times the photographs wereanalyzed, I was still open game for the out of town media and clearly a target to be ridiculed by the out of town debunkers. Many distant newspapers and TV crews played "hide and seek"with reporting the accurate details, and several times I havebeen blackmailed in their quest for a scoop to expose my name. The official MUFON investigation was even infiltrated earlyby a debunker who took a liquid sample suspected to have fallenfrom the UFO for analysis only to issue a false report. Later thesample was analyzed by an independant lab with startling results.The debunker was exposed and fired in discredit. Anotherdebunker from Central Florida has recently been exposed and isnow being ignored by serious researchers. From Nov. 11 to May 1, 1988 (my last sighting), I have been stedfast to the truth as the storm of controversy, both positiveand negative, continued to build in the media. The mosttroublesome question of the controversy is "Why have I had somany sightings?" I can not explain the "why" questions, the mostdisturbing one being, "Why Me?" In an effort to understand, I have undergone a battery of pshchological profile tests followed by six hours of regressivehypnosis. The details of the hypnosis indicate previous encountersas far back as 11 years of age. I was the first to shake my headin confusion but have come to the adjustment that life goes on--even life we may not understand. Thanks to all those who have stood up and reported what theysaw. Thank you, Gulf Breeze for being a good neighbor.------------------------------------------------------------------GULF BREEZE UFO FROM THE INVESTIGATIVE PERSPECTIVE BY DONALD M. WARE During the past year, many residents in and around Gulf Breeze,FL have been part of a unique experience in this country. Over a hundred people reported objects that we could not identify asplanes, planets, flares, etc.. Some reported seeing alien beings,and six reported blue beams coming from the UFO. One respectedGulf Breeze family had 22 encounters with UFOs, including 18 separate photographic sessions. These sessions produced 41 photographs of at least five different types of flying objects. Fivedifferent cameras were used providing sufficient data to determinethe size of some objects. For example, one object photographed on 1 May 1988 was 14.8 (misprint?) feet high and had a light onthe bottom that was 14.8 feet in diameter. I have seen over60 photos of UFOs from this area. Investigations by Newspapers, TV and the Mutual UFO Networkwere generally accomplished without ridicule. This encouraged12 people to tell of their UFO experiences that involved "missingtime" or extremely strange dreams. Some of these people arehaving trouble coping with their experiences. MUFON establisheda support group including abductees, investigators, and a clinicalpsychologist to help reduce fear of the unknown. I think thesupport efforts, including time-regression hypnosis, have helpedseveral who seem to have been inside a UFO understand theirstrange experiences. I suspect that the increasing national media coverage of theUFO phenomenon, spurred by the Gulf Breeze photos and sightingswill cause many more abductees to gain the courage to talk abouttheir experiences. Perhaps some will seek help in understandingwhat happened to them. I hope investigators and psychologistsacross the country will work together to provide this help. Some people have been unable to fully accept the reality ofalien visitors, including some "armchair investigators." Perhapsthe Gulf Breeze photos will help people across the country acceptthe reality described in the MJ-12 documents and other governmentdisclosures. --------------------------------------------------------------------TO CELEBRATE OR NOT TO CELEBRATE BY DUANE COOK How do you celebrate the anniversary of an event you arenot yet sure was good? Well, maybe celebrate is not the appropriate term. Perhaps reminisce is a better word to apply to our thoughtsand activities on this 1st anniversary of the now famous UFOsightings by "Ed" and others in and around Gulf Breeze. Initially we had no idea that printing Ed's photos would causesuch a worldwide interest in our fair community. First, there were the wire services that broke the newsworldwide with a brief account of the first sightings. Then came the National Enquirer with their offer to pay forthe right to print the photos if NASA Scientists found themgenuine. MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) got involved in the investigationearly and became the authority to which the explosion of localsightings were referred. Dr. Bruce Maccabee, an optical physicist under contract withthe Navy, did the most extensive research on the Gulf Breeze sightings and photographs and has pronounced them real forlack of any evidence to the contrary. And now we find ourselves contemplating why Gulf Breeze? Is it because they (the UFOs) knew Ed would share his photoswith the whole town via the Sentinel and subsequently the local TVstations? Or is it because Ed lives here and they (the UFOs) just followedhim here to continue their interaction with him as they have doneat eight year intervals since he was a child? And what about the many other sightings we've had? Is it justcoincidence that Charlie and Doris saw the same craft on the samenight that Ed photographed it, thus assuring the Sentinel'sunflinching support while maintaining its unquestioned credibility? Then there are the ministers, the teachers, the law enforcementofficers, the district medical examiner and his wife, and even a citycouncil member. Were these people just randomly in the right place at theright time, or is there an intelligent plan guiding the selection ofwho sees it and who doesn't? Whether we call it a celebration, a reminiscence, or a review,we all found it amazing that it's already been a whole year since it all started. And we wanted to share with you our thoughts and reflectionson this most interesting year. -----------------------------------------------------------------Reports by several others also appeared in this issue ofThe Sentinel but are not presented here.
Go back to UFO articles and commentary index page