- Our planet's surface is nearly two-thirds
covered by water and it would seem unusual in the extreme if the appearance
of anomalous lights and objects were not associated with it. Indeed they
have been and eye-witness records spanning centuries have logged these
encounters, in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans around the globe.
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- For example, according to Dutch newspapers
in August 1954, whilst en-route from Amsterdam to New York, Capt Jan Bos,
of the SS Groot Beer, reported observing a strange moonlike object rising
out of the Atlantic ocean some 90 miles east of Cape Cod light. Its keel
shone with what appeared to be illuminated ports round the rim and the
object's speed was later described as having been fantastic.
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- What was it that two policemen saw emerge
from the water off Porthcawl on the evening of September 1 1957, which
at first resembled a ship on fire. It was located in the direction of Ilfracombe,
in the Bristol Channel and began as a bright red glow which soon grew larger
than a harvest moon. A black zig-zag streak could be seenacross its centre
and as it rose up the fiery globe took off at an alarming rate accompanied
by two smaller lights, heading for the Atlantic.
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- The sounds picked up on the hydrophone
of a research vessel operated by Woods Hole Oceonographic Institite were
flashed to the ship's oscilliscopes as it probed the deep waters off Puerto
Rico. Scientists on board were puzzled, as the noise continued intermittently
from an estimated depth of 30,000ft. This extreme limit almost certainly
ruled out the presence of a submarine or any other kind of known underwater
craft.
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- When later translating their recordings
onto IBM punch cards, the scientists discovered to their amazement that
the sounds registered were of a screw turning at a rate of 100 to 180rpm.
Several days evaluation of the data still left them baffled and the oceonographers
eventually began to wonder if in fact they had tracked some unknown type
of marine life - subsequently nicknaming it the "180rpm animal".
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- Nigel Lea-Jones. of London, recalls:
"In 1972, a friend and I were diving from a rowing boat in the Caribbean
close to the shore. Suddenly I turned and saw a silver and orange spherical
object about six-feet in diameter on a stalk-like limb, just above the
water. It was about 50 feet behind us and was closely following our zig-zag
course.
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- After about a minute the surface of the
object opened to reveal a dark circular window about two feet across. We
glanced nervously at each other and when we turned back the object had
disappeared without a sound. I never found any answer and the origin of
the sphere remains a mystery."
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- Trevor Tyler was a deep-sea diver of
more than 13 years experience when something happened, 270 feet below the
surface of the Atlantic, which resulted in his sudden and inexplicable
death.The 34 year-old Englishman was working underwater off the coast of
Guinea, West Africa, when without warning over his radio workmates heard
an inexplicable metallic noise, followed by a scream and then silence.
A fellow diver was immediately sent down and found Tyler's lifeless body
floating 180ft below the surface, his arms outstretched and the diving
suit he was wearing blown up like a balloon. At an inquest in 1968, a witness
told how Tyler had obviously thrown away his weight belt before he died
in a vain attempt to raise himself quickly. From what predicament no one
will ever know.
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- Returning to the Bristol Channel and
one February afternoon in 1965, a Minehead couple were driving home when,
while heading down a coastal hill from Exford, they both spotted what appeared
to be a grey fighter aircraft suddenly pass them at a distance of only
150ft. It was travelling in the same direction but they soon realized its
descent could only end in disaster. The driver of the car, a retired radio
officer, quickly stopped and grapped his binoculars, watching as the craft
continued on until it landed in the Channel with a puff of black smoke
and disappeared. An RAF Search and Rescue unit based in Plymouth checked
for any missing or overdue aircraft but found there were none. Every plane
had been accounted for and what's more, no wreckage was ever recovered
that could be linked to a missing fighter.
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