SUBJECT: REPORTED UFO SIGHTINGS IN FLORIDA FILE: UFO1654
NEWS CLIPPING SERVICE
DATE OF ARTICLE: January 29, 1989
SOURCE OF ARTICLE: Tribune
LOCATION: Tampa, Florida
BYLINE: None
========================================================
(C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service
All Rights Reserved.
THIS FILE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE
AND PREPARED BY PARANET ALPHA -- PARANET INFORMATION
SERVICE
PARANET INFORMATION SERVICE BBS
PARANET ALPHA
DENVER, COLORADO
========================================================
REPORTED UFO SIGHTINGS IN FLORIDA
August 1952--A Boy Scoutmaster in West Palm Beach encounters
"ball lightning" and surmises that it is a UFO. Ball lightning
consists of balls of fire that fall swiftly from clouds and then
explode on the ground.
August 1954--Five sightings of UFOs take place near
Gainesville.
November 1955--At least 15 reports of UFOs in Marion County.
November 1957--Sightings in Florida escalate. Headline in
Tribune reads, "Will Sputnik Collide With a Flying Saucer?"
July 1964--Thirty eight reports of UFOs in Clearwater during
Fourth of July fireworks display. These are entered in Air
Force's Project Blue Book but later are revealed to be part of a
prank.
April 1, 1965--A flying saucer hoax, complete with
photographs, appears in Tribune's "In Our Town" column by Patrick
Kelly. Pictures attributed to a WFLA-TV newsman actually were
taken by Tribune photographer.
April 1965--First of UFO sightings reported by Brooksville
resident John Reeves. Reeves says a spaceship, about 20 to 30
feet in diameter, landed near his home and humanoids got out. He
says the craft then retreated at an estimated speed of 5,000 mph
and was visible in the sky for only 10 seconds. Reeves says he
retrieved a piece of paper inscribed with strange symbols.
Investigators from MacDill Air Force Base and the Pentagon later
decide Reeves' experience is an elaborate hoax. The piece of
paper is found to be of common material, and the message is a
simple code for the words, "Planet Mars, are you coming home
soon? We miss you very much. Why did you stay away so long?"
April 1966--Sighting of UFO by passengers and pilots of
airplane flying over Ocala toward Tallahassee. Florida Governor
Hayden Burns was on the airplane.
May 1966--Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce erects and
dedicates UFO landing strip at Fisher Park, next to Cape Kennedy.
A welcoming committee is formed and signs indicate that it is a
UFO hospitality station.
December 1966--Brooksville resident John Reeves reports
another encounter with a UFO. This time, he says, visitors left
footprints and impression of landing gear in the soil.
August 1968--Brooksville resident John Reeves reports taking
trip with UFO creatures and walking on the moon. He says he has
acquired additional evidence from the aliens, including a piece
of metal rarely found in nature and moon dust that resembles the
substance brought back by American probes.
September 1973--On four consecutive nights, UFO sightings
are reported throughout Florida.
May 1974--UFO reported in south Tampa, near intersection of
Gandy Boulevard and Manhattan Avenue. Eyewitness Carolene Heart
says the UFO came and went several times between the hours of 7
p.m. and 2 a.m. one evening. She says witnesses include
personnel from MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa Fire Department and
local television stations. Those organizations have no history
of the sighting, however, nor was there news coverage of the
event.
September 1977--Numerous individuals, including Bay County
sheriff's deputies and security personnel from Tyndall Air Force
Base, report seeing a UFO in Calloway near Panama City. One of
the deputies, Bobby Nowell, says the UFO was visible for more
than three hours in the southeastern sky. An amateur astronomer
and former pilot, Nowell says, "There was no logical explanation
for what I saw."
January 1979--UFO sighting reported in Winter Haven by
police officer Ron Perdue.
January through July 1980--More than six UFO sightings
reported in Pasco County.
June 1986--Many reports of UFOs sighted in Hillsborough,
Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties. Meteor shower
suspected.
June 1987--On several consecutive nights, residents of
Silver Spring Shores, Goosky Prairie, Citra and Ocala report
seeing a UFO. The witnesses include Marion County sheriff's
deputy Jay Manifold, who says the craft had "a total of four
lights, red and green," and was hovering at treetop level for
about 10 seconds.
=================================================================
was hovering at treetop level for
about 10 seconds.
===============================
**********************************************
* THE U.F.O. BBS -
http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
**********************************************
