Potpourri News No 201

Magazine Overview

Title: POTPOURRI NEWS
Issue Date: October 12, 1979
Issue Number: 201
Publisher: Houston Chronicle (as indicated by section header)
Country of Publication: USA
Language: English

This issue of Potpourri News, dated October 12, 1979, features a cover story highlighting public discourse on UFOs under the headline "People Are Saying...". It includes reports on a significant international UFO conference, an unexplained seismic event, and detailed accounts of UFO sightings.

International UFO Conference in London

The lead article, under the "Cross Country News" dateline of September 13, 1979, reports on a gathering of experts from 14 countries in London. The conference, organized by the British UFO Research Association, focused on the increasing evidence of "close humanoid encounters" and alleged CIA cover-ups related to unidentified flying objects. Approximately 300 delegates attended the two-day event. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a prominent American UFO investigator and director of the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois, was a scheduled speaker. Hynek, formerly a scientific consultant on UFOs to the USAF, was set to present a paper titled "Towards a Working Classification of UFO Phenomena." Delegates hailed from various countries including Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, West Germany, and Yugoslavia. The organizers stated that the congress aimed to "improve the study of UFOs and reexamined the mounting worldwide evidence for close human encounters."

Unexplained Tremor in Texas City

Under the headline "Tremor felt but not found," a Chronicle Staff report from Thursday, October 11, 1979, details a mysterious jolt experienced by residents across a wide area, from Galveston to La Porte. Despite numerous reports of feeling the tremor, local police departments in Texas City, Galveston, and League City, as well as the FAA, were unable to identify its cause. Texas City Police Department Sgt. F.C. Dawson described the event, noting that it shook his house but that "As long as there wasn't a second one everything is OK." No explosions or fires were reported in Texas City, and a Coast Guard spokesman confirmed no offshore tanker incidents. Refineries along the Houston Ship Channel and at the Bayport industrial complex also reported no unusual activity. FAA officials stated that no unusual sounding or high-speed aircraft were observed. The disturbance was not attributed to an earthquake; Jim Dorman, a professor at the Marine Science Institute in Galveston, found no seismic anomalies, and Dr. Jean-Claude de Bremaecker of Rice University commented that earthquakes in the area are rare.

Close Encounters in South Milwaukee

An article by Barbara Mueller, titled "Close Encounters?", recounts a sighting by two South Milwaukee men, Bruce Szewczuga and Randall Froschheuser. On Friday night, near Drexel Boulevard, they observed a "pointed mushroom-shaped UFO" hovering over trees. Szewczuga described the object as "Very bright orange in color, glowing with different shade of orange." The object appeared to fade in and out and seemed partially obscured by tree branches. As their truck approached, the UFO appeared to shrink and then disappeared about a block away. Froschheuser, despite not wearing his glasses, corroborated Szewczuga's description. Szewczuga provided police with a sketch of the object, but officers were unable to locate it. South Milwaukee police have reportedly received at least three other anonymous reports of UFO sightings on the outskirts of the city.

Other UFO Sightings

The article also mentions a sighting on September 6, where five men claimed to have seen a "large football-shaped object with a brilliant metallic sheen" hovering about 40 feet off the ground near Dresser, Wisconsin. This experience was classified by the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois, as a "Close encounter of the first kind" because the witnesses were within 200 meters of the object.

Information, Data, Commentary and Speculation

The issue concludes with a section for "INFORMATION, DATA, COMMENTARY AND SPECULATION" attributed to John F. Schuessler, with a P.O. Box address in Houston, Texas.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are UFO phenomena, unexplained aerial objects, potential government secrecy, and the scientific study of these events. The editorial stance appears to be one of reporting on these phenomena and the ongoing investigations and public interest surrounding them, as evidenced by the coverage of the London conference and the detailed accounts of sightings. The inclusion of Dr. Hynek's work and the classification of encounters by the Center for UFO Studies suggest an effort to approach the subject with a degree of seriousness, while the "Tremor felt but not found" article highlights the reporting of unexplained events.