SUBJECT: UFO SIGHTINGS GENERATE ZANY REPORTS FILE: UFO1274
NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE
DATE OF ARTICLE: March 8, 1989
SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Times Journal
LOCATION: Fort Payne, Alabama
BYLINE: Dennis Benefield
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TABLOID REPORTS LIBERACE SEEN IN FYFFE UFO
UFO SIGHTINGS GENERATE ZANY REPORTS
By Dennis Benefield
The Times Journal Managing Editor
A British tabloid reported Tuesday that residents of Fyffe,
Alabama, saw entertainer Liberace descend from an unidentified
flying object and perform Hollywood showtunes on a floating
piano.
A physician in Kansas claims that extraterrestrials say UFO
sightings will in Alabama.
And a New York resident believes that UFO sightings are
actually alien spacecraft.
Those are among the more bizarre reports sparked by a series
of UFO sightings near Fyffe that began on February 10th.
Fyffe policeman Fred Works was interviewed by the BBC -- the
British Broadcasting Company -- on Tuesday. Such interviews are
routine since he reported seeing a UFO.
"It does get wild sometimes," Works said. In between phone
calls, he scheduled two television interviews Tuesday.
"I stay on the phone all the time when I come into the
office," he said. "I try to talk to anybody if they are serious.
I hate to refuse to talk to people."
What Works and fellow Fyffe police officer Junior Garmany
saw Feb. 10 remains unexplained. Both watched a large object fly
over them. It had lights on it and did not make any sound.
"It was huge and it was moving on," Works said. "It passed
over our heads and we watched it go out of sight. But there was
no noise. That is what surprised me."
Others in the area reported similar unexplained sightings
that night and on subsequent nights.
Since then the town has become a popular place on Friday
nights, as sightseers come to watch the skies.
Newspaper, radio, television and magazine reporters are also
interested in Fyffe, seeking out anyone who might have seen
something. Some reports exaggerate the sightings and many are
unflattering to the rural south.
Works was particularly disappointed with a TV report on the
nationally syndicated show "Inside Edition," which aired last
week.
The crew had Works and Garmany re-enact a reported sighting.
But the video was fastforwarded during the report, which showed
the officers racing off with blue lights flashing in pursuit of a
UFO.
But other reports are even more zany.
A British tabloid, The Daily Star, had a half page article
on the Fyffe UFOs in its March 7 edition.
The paper reported that thousands were flocking to the "tiny
town of Fyffe, Alabama" in hopes of seeing the late entertainer
Liberace.
The tabloid reported that residents of Fyffe had seen
Liberace, dressed in a "sparkling gold lame suit," descend from a
movable staircase and perform "Singing in the Rain," and "Laura's
Theme" on a floating piano.
"He had a lovely, serene smile," the paper reported, and
"flexed his long, bony" fingers at Fyffe residents. A BBC
spokesman said the report was not taken seriously by British
readers.
Works doesn't take such reports seriously either.
But the calls do disrupt the routine at Fyffe City Hall.
"When we`re not here the ladies in the office have to take
messages," Works said, adding that the callers "will talk to
anybody," whether they have seen a UFO or not.
The result, according to Vicki Cooper, of UFO Magazine, is
that rumors and hype get confused with fact. She said her
magazine attempts to take a serious look at sightings. She said
sighting reports were accelerating nationwide. "This is not just
an isolated case," she said.
She said it may be coincidence, but sightings increase when
the economy worsens or in times of national crisis. She said
that most sightings remain unexplained.
Works would like an explanation of what he saw. But he
knows it was not Liberace. "It was really Elvis," he said.
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