SUBJECT: ED'S ENCOUNTERS HAVE MADE HIS LIFE HELL FILE: UFO1260
NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE
DATE OF ARTICLE: January 30, 1989
SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Tribune
LOCATION: Tampa, Florida
BYLINE: Jennifer Tucker
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'STATE OF SIEGE'
ED'S UFO ENCOUNTERS HAVE MADE HIS LIFE HELL
By Jennifer Tucker
Tribune Staff Writer
GULF BREEZE--Ed isn't the "UFO type."
He's a WASPish baby boomer with a kid in college and a two
car garage. As a custom home builder in a community full of
custom homes, he depends on personal referrals for his
livelihood.
He doesn't seem to need the money he could earn from a best
seller based on his experiences. Yet local sources indicate he
has recently signed a book contract.
Nevertheless, Ed is the guy who has taken all the
photographs, made all the noise, caused all the fury. Just over
a year ago, Ed says a UFO appeared in front of his house in Gulf
Breeze and he immediately took several photographs of the craft.
Ed walked into the street to get a closer look and a "blue
beam" shot down from the ship, temporarily paralyzing him, he
says. At the same time, Ed says he heard a loud "hum" and was
instructed by an authoritative voice to "be still."
Within seconds, he says, he was raised off the ground, then
thrown to the concrete as the craft disappeared. From that
moment on, Ed says, a resonant "hum" always preceded the
appearance of the UFO.
Seven months later, after 21 encounters resulting in more
than 30 photographs and one videotape, Ed says he was abducted
again. This time, the aliens removed the hum and he has not seen
or photographed a UFO since, he says.
To Ed, 42, this was no phantom object, no trick of nature or
imagination. It was real. It made his life a living hell.
And it forced him to defend himself, he says, not against
the aliens, but against the people who call him crazy.
WORDS POUND
"Look," Ed says in one of a series of telephone interviews,
his words pounding with the passion of a clenched fist. "Before
Nov. 10, 1987, I wouldn't have believed in UFOs either unless one
landed in my front yard.
"Uh, no pun intended."
Ed guffaws like Gulliver in a land of Lilliputians.
If Ed has been enlightened with truths no scientist knows,
then it is wisdom learned reluctantly. He can barely get through
a sentence without revealing his fears or defending his position.
He describes the experience as "a state of siege."
Yet, he doesn't plead for understanding. And he doesn't
expect it, really. Besides the photographs themselves, Ed's take
it or leave it attitude is his most convincing argument.
And it's an argument he can't win, critics say, not with a
pocket full of Polaroids.
Ed, meanwhile, has remained anonymous because he fears his
fate. "I would always be known as the UFO guy."
He'd rather be known as a good businessman, a good father
and a good buddy to the kids he says he's kept off the streets by
welcoming them into his home.
"No, no, no. It was an awful experience. If you ever take
a photograph (of a UFO), do not show it to anybody. Put it in a
drawer and show it to your grandkids," he says wearily.
Ed's story is lengthy and strange, and he knows it. He says
his first encounter, in November 1987, resulted in five blurry
color photographs he made with a 17 year old Polaroid camera.
TAKE A PICTURE
"Put yourself in the mood of peacefully sitting in your
office and looking out your front window and you see something
that...looks like it just escaped a Steven Speilberg movie," he
says. "You figure you better take a picture of it."
Ed's humor about his experience is as revealing as it is
disarming. Like a schoolboy trying to explain a pock marked
report card, Ed uses humor to cushion the blow. His laughter
bounces and rolls like a runaway basketball, but his words slam
into listeners' ears with the power of a Michael Jordan slam
dunk.
For months, Ed snapped dozens of pictures. Many were taken
near his home, situated in the sleepy center of town next to a
large, overgrown field.
Others were taken at Shoreline Park, a spot facing the
skinny barrier island called Pensacola Beach. Stray kittens
crowd the wooded park, whose main features are a whitewashed
gazebo and a good stretch of concrete.
Still others were taken along deserted county roads, whose
curves are familiar to Ed, the builder.
Skeptics and believers agree--the photographs are remarkably
unidentifiable. The craft (or crafts) captured on film are
mostly spherical in shape, with dark, recessed points that Ed
surmises are windows. Lights encircle the bottom of the craft
and a round bulb is perched on top.
In many instances, Ed snapped the pictures in what he
describes as frenzied fear, at dusk or near dawn. Moreover, the
craft maneuvered so rapidly that Ed says his opportunities for
precise pictures were limited.
ALIEN ENCOUNTERS
He also was having alien encounters Ed says he couldn't
capture on film. On several occasions, Ed says, he was pursued
by a "blue beam" of light that shot from the craft.
He says a bowl full of bubbling residue was found in his
back yard after one late night visit. The Mutual UFO Network,
which initiated investigation of Ed's claims, had the substance
analyzed at independent chemical laboratories in Florida and
Texas. These revealed a strange liquid high in magnesium and
trace elements, Ed says.
More frightening were face to face meetings with the aliens
themselves--what scientists call an encounter of the third kind.
The first time he saw one of the "creatures," Ed says he was
awakened at 3 a.m. by the now familiar hum that preceded their
visits. When he peered out the glass doors of his bedroom, Ed
says, he was face to face with a childlike creature clad in gray.
He says he saw more of these creatures at a later date, an
experience that produced one of the most dramatic photographs in
Ed's portfolio.
In it, the craft is pictured hovering just above the road,
lights reflecting on the wet pavement. Moments after he took
this picture, Ed says he realized the craft was moving toward him
so he slid from the truck and crawled underneath it.
From his prone position, Ed says he could see a blue beam
flash from the craft several times, each time depositing a
creature on the road.
He assumed the creatures were "after him" and, riddled with
terror, he jumped back in the truck and sped away. He didn't
even think about taking a picture, he says.
OFFICIAL VISIT
After Ed's photographs began to appear in the Gulf Breeze
Sentinel newspaper--with his approval but without his name--Ed
says he was visited by two men who identified themselves as U.S.
Air Force personnel. Wielding badges printed with "Air Force
Special Security Services," the visitors behaved "very
aggressively" and demanded Ed turn over his photographs, he says.
Ed refused, explaining they were in the hands of
professional photographic analysts. (Many were; others were
still in Ed's possession.)
By spring, two major UFO organizations--the Mutual UFO
Network and the Center for UFO Studies--had been in touch with
Ed. So had dozens of media representatives, including the
National Enquirer, which Ed says turned down the story because
one analysis tentatively labeled the photographs a hoax.
With that, the seed of suspicion was planted. And Ed, who
states vehemently, "My word is my bond," was forced into a corner
full of accusations.
After taking 24 photographs with his old Polaroid, Ed began
using cameras and film provided by UFO researchers--unbroken
packages and factory perfect equipment. He produced 11
photographs with the new equipment supplied by UFO investigators.
Ed also built a so called stereo camera that allowed him to
take two pictures simultaneously, creating a 3-D effect. With
this camera, he took about eight photographs.
"If I hadn't taken any pictures with these cameras, I would
have been branded guilty by non photography," he says,
sarcastically.
By using mathematical equations, analysts studying the
photographs could determine its distance from the camera and its
size. Most often, these conclusions placed the craft 65 to 180
feet from the camera, at an approximate size of 12 feet in
diameter and 9 feet high.
UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE
These estimates correspond quite precisely to an unusual
occurrence in Gulf Breeze during the spring. A circular patch of
dead grass was discovered on the high school grounds, and lab
analysis by UFO investigators revealed the grass wasn't killed by
disease or suffocated by petroleum derivatives.
The patch had a 12 foot diameter.
In addition to providing his photographs for publication, Ed
agreed to numerous psychological exams, a lie detector test that
included a five hour interview, and an electronic voice analysis.
In each case, investigators concluded Ed was sane and
honest.
"There was never any question that what happened, happened,"
Ed says. "But I don't know why me--why I was privy to these
things.
"I didn't feel 'chosen,' I felt abused," he says. "I was
tormented, a prisoner in my own house. I surrounded myself with
people at work and family at home.
"My kids never knew if Daddy was going to go away and not
come back."
Ed says he took the photographs to the local newspaper
because he felt a kind of civic duty to warn nearby residents.
Yet his reward from skeptics was name calling tirades that
labeled him "everything from an agitated fool to a
schizophrenic," Ed says.
People trying to discredit him, he says, have played "hide
and seek with the truth" while distorting the facts to fit their
opinion.
CLASSIC CAMPAIGN
"What this is is a classic disinformation campaign by the
debunkers in order to brand me as loony tunes," Ed says, his
voice rising in defense. "They ran out of legitimate scientific
criticisms of the photographic evidence. You have to keep in
mind that none of these debunkers have ever talked to any of the
other witnesses."
Dozens of independent eyewitnesses in Gulf Breeze and
Pensacola have reported seeing UFOs in the last year, and many of
these reports coincide with the appearance of Ed's photographs.
Yet Ed has been criticized for being alone in his torment--
the only one able to take photographs of the craft.
"Look, where are you at 3 a.m.? It would have been pretty
bizarre to have a mass of people around me at 3 a.m.," he says.
Moreover, Ed says his closest neighbors have seen the UFO.
But they are afraid of ridicule.
Currently, Ed says he has no plans to make his identity
public or to sell the detailed, chronological log that he's
written about the ordeal. (Sources in Gulf Breeze, however,
report Ed has signed a lucrative book contract.)
"I have no monetary motive here," he says. "Sometimes, I
think a book might be the right thing to do for public education,
but it might not be the right thing for my family.
"What might be a lot of money to some people is not enough
for me to sell my soul," Ed says.
After long conversations, Ed's words are punctuated by sighs
instead of laughter. He sounds less enthusiastic about the
subject and more excited by the solitude he's enjoyed for several
months.
"Not to be frivolous, but I'm still the same old Ed. I've
still got my feet on the ground.
"But it has affected me almost daily," he says, chuckling
softly. "I'll be doing mundane chores, like pumping gas or
buying bolts at the hardware store. And I'll look around and
wonder.
"I wonder if they (the aliens) need gas. Or on a rainy,
miserable day, I wonder if they are getting wet.
"It's just...I know they are out there."
=================================================================
JOURNAL EXCERPTS REVEAL ED'S FEAR
The Gulf Breeze Sentinel published many of Ed's photographs
as he presented them, even creating a special edition to showcase
these images. The following are excerpts from Ed's commentary
that accompanied the photographs appearing in the special
section.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"After taking those original five photos in my front yard,
what was unreported was the UFO shot a blue beam that froze and
lifted me from the ground. The blue beam keeps you from moving
even your eyelids, and your chest cannot expand, so you have to
pant to breath. While in the blue beam, the UFO can talk to you
using telepathy."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"A strange hum began in my head...I really thought I was
going crazy but when I went outside, I again saw the UFO appear
in the same spot in the sky...Finally, there was a telepathic
voice command that I 'step forward.' I thought to myself, 'No
way' and took another picture. The voice said in another
language, 'Photographs are prohibited.'"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The UFO was hovering at the back of the house as I went out
with gun and camera in hand. I pointed the camera and the gun.
I wasn't really going to shoot. I was just scared. The UFO
winked out."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"At 3:30 a.m., we were in bed when I heard the dog bark. I
jumped up and pulled up quickly the blind on the French door.
There standing only 12 inches from my face was a shielded
creature looking straight back into my eyes. I fell back and it
turned to leave. When I recovered and ran out, the UFO was
overhead...The UFO stopped me from following the creature so that
the UFO could shoot over and beam the creature up in the blue
beam."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"At 2 a.m., the hum returned and when we checked in the
front I saw and photographed a totally different UFO, which
seemed to have an energy veil shooting from the bottom."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The sightings have changed me and my family and, if given
the chance, I would simply not have taken the first picture
which led to the next and next, until my contact with the UFO has
become overwhelming."
=================================================================
PHOTOGRAPHS IN QUESTION
By Jennifer Tucker
Tribune Staff Writer
GULF BREEZE--The controversy in Gulf Breeze is not limited
to a pocketful of Polaroids.
It is made more puzzling by new explanations and startling
accusations that threaten the credibility of Ed, the principal
photographer of UFOs in Gulf Breeze.
At the center of the debate is a teenager and his mother.
And an old photograph that turned up several weeks ago.
Seventeen year old Bill, who refuses to reveal his real
name, was one of a group of kids who spent a lot of time at Ed's
house during the last three years. He says they participated in
games and activities designed to help forget the smallness of the
city.
Gulf Breeze has no movie theater, bowling alley or skating
rink, and is situated in dry Santa Rosa county.
Nevertheless, he and his friends used to have a lot of fun
at Ed's house, Bill says. Among the activities were so called
"spooky" games--seances, ghost stories and the like.
Often, Bill says, Ed would take Polaroid photographs of the
players and some of the pictures would reveal a "phantom...foggy
thing" next to the image of the person.
"It was all in fun," Bill says. "It got everybody spooked
and stuff."
"One time," Bill says, "Ed asked his house guests something
like, 'Wouldn't it be great if we did an ultimate joke?'"
Although Ed never revealed his plans, Bill believes the answer
appeared in the form of a UFO.
"Because I saw the pictures he took of the ghost thing, I
figured this has got to be it...the prank," Bill says. "Ed never
told anyone how he did the photographs. We all thought it was
trick photography."
Ed bristles at the notion that he has pulled a sophisticated
prank.
"First, I categorically deny that I ever used those exact
words," Ed says. "There is nothing that I have ever done that
can be construed as a prank."
And that includes the 'ghost' photograph revealed only weeks
ago, he adds.
This photograph, of a young girl and a fuzzy white blur,
were the combined result of a 17 year old camera, a film defect,
and a game room full of mirrors and glass, Ed explains. He
attributes the blur to reflections off glass.
He did, however, take out of focus pictures when the kids'
talk turned to ghost stories.
"I did not recreate that photo repeatedly and intentionally
at parties. No," Ed says. His rage also swells at the
suggestion these gatherings were 'ritual seances.'
"Kids like to tell ghost stories...and if that sounds like a
ritual seance, I'll kiss your butt," he says, angrily.
Bill's mother, Linda Chepult, says her son has been unfairly
criticized for his honesty, and his reputation has been sullied
by those who believe the UFO pictures are real.
"The whole thing has gone to such an extreme that for an
average person with reasonable intelligence, it's hard to
believe," she says. "But I don't think Ed will ever come out and
tell the truth because too many prominent people have supported
him.
"And besides," Linda adds, "I didn't like the seances and
the blobs appearing over the kids' heads."
Bill explains he has no reason to lie about what he saw or
heard at Ed's house. "I believe in life on other planets," Bill
says, "but I don't believe they are coming to Gulf Breeze."
Ed, meanwhile, says he won't be labeled a liar so easily.
"I'm standing up for my honesty," Ed says. "I'm not going
to let somebody call me a liar without standing up and saying
they are wrong.
"Listen, the most important thing to me is my family. It is
my first responsibility," Ed says. "Why would I want to make
this up?"
=================================================================
5/89
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