South Lincs UFO Study Group Newsletter - No 13 - 1969

Magazine Overview

This document is the February 1969 issue, number 13, of the "SOUTH LINCS UFO STUDY GROUP NEWSLETTER." The cover features a hand-drawn illustration of two flying saucers amidst clouds, with the group's name and newsletter title prominently displayed. The newsletter's address is listed as Windon, 43 Gladstone St., Bourne, Lincs.

World's End Postponed

The first article, sourced from the Daily Sketch on February 21, 1969, reports that "Popess" Maria Staffler, leader of a religious cult in Bozzano, Italy, has changed her prediction for the end of the world from the previous day to March 17. She stated this change would allow "more people to take flying saucers to Heaven."

Mystery 'Glow' Solved

According to the Daily Express on February 17, 1969, a mysterious orange glow that had baffled early risers in Redditch, Worcs., was found to be a "road safety device" used by local factory worker Mr. Douglas Sly. The glow came from a fluorescent painted cap and bicycle mudguards he used while cycling to work.

Mist-Ifying

Another report from the Daily Express on February 4, 1969, details an incident in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, where Police Chief James Alford ordered a chase of a cloud. Captain Harold Bryan pursued it to the Atlantic, where it dispersed. Hundreds of witnesses reported a strange sound emanating from the cloud, likened to someone rattling plastic wrapping.

For The Record

The Sun reported on February 15, 1969, that fruit vendor Tiago Machado from Pirasununga, Brazil, had been misquoted regarding a flying saucer sighting. He clarified that he saw "little red men," not "little green men," emerge from the landed craft.

Sighting Reports

Ashby Man Tells Of 'UFO'

Mr. Ted Jarman, a driver from Ashby, reported a significant sighting on January 28, 1969, as reported by The Leicester Mercury. While getting washing from his garden on a clear night, he observed what he believed to be an unidentified flying object. He described it as having a light in the middle with revolving lights around it. The object hovered at a lower altitude than a plane for two to three minutes before shooting off at "fantastic speed" with smaller lights following. He noted it made no sound and appeared to be about the size of half-a-crown. Mr. Jarman stated he was not an imaginative man and was keen to know what he had seen.

Wigston, Leicester

On December 25th, 1968, at approximately 2230 hours, two witnesses in Wigston, Leicester, observed two very bright objects overhead. Using binoculars, one object was unrecognizable, but the second was described as "Looked like the flying saucers you see in children's comics," being disc-shaped with a raised dome and a revolving outer disc. An orange-red glow appeared around the outer periphery, "as if an engine had been started up."

Unidentified Object in North Sea

On January 10th, 1969, mysterious distress signals were detected, coinciding with an unidentified blip on radar screens approximately 22 miles off Flamborough Head. Radio messages indicated the aircraft was at 30,000 feet. No known civil or military aircraft were reported in the area. Radar observers at Lindholme saw objects crossing the North Sea, appearing to land in North Lincolnshire. Police on the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coastlines ordered road patrols, and ships were asked to look for wreckage, but nothing was found. A spokesman at Preston Air Traffic Control suggested such sightings could be due to instrument sensitivity, while a Defence Ministry spokesman mentioned freak radar contacts possibly caused by falling wreckage, but confirmed no British aircraft were unaccounted for.

Are There Spacemen On Earth?

This section, referencing an article in "Weekend" magazine (February 5-11, 1969), highlights five mysteries, focusing on the work of biologist Ivan Sanderson and the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. The primary mystery discussed is "'Cavemen' From Another World."

It details the discovery of stone discs in caves bordering China and Tibet, engraved with spirals in an unknown language. Russian scientists reportedly deciphered these records, which described two groups of visitors from outer space landing in Eurasia about 12,000 years ago. The article claims scientists also found tiny people, four-feet tall, called the Ham and the Dropa, living in these caves. The Ham people explained that after their spaceship crashed, other ships arrived with the Dropa, and they eventually coexisted. The caves are said to contain skeletons of these small people with enormous skulls, and star maps engraved on the walls. A peculiar fact is that the stone records contain metal and vibrate as if electrically charged.

The section also briefly mentions other mysteries: "A Civilisation Under The Sea?", poltergeists, monsters (like Loch Ness), and the geological riddle of the Ringing Rocks and Frozen Mammoths.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The newsletter consistently focuses on unexplained aerial phenomena and related mysteries. It presents a variety of reports, from seemingly mundane explanations for 'glows' to more enigmatic sightings and ancient mysteries. The inclusion of reports from various newspapers and investigation societies suggests an effort to gather and disseminate information from diverse sources. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry into UFO phenomena and unexplained events, presenting both eyewitness accounts and speculative theories, such as the ancient astronaut hypothesis concerning the Ham and Dropa people.