UFO POTPOURRI

Magazine Overview

Title: UFO POTPOURRI
Issue: No. 337
Date: December 1989
Publisher: The Houston Post (reprinting articles)
Country: USA
Language: English

This issue of UFO POTPOURRI, primarily featuring reprinted articles from The Houston Post and Reuters News Service, delves into the phenomenon of UFO sightings and alien encounters, with a particular focus on recent reports emerging from the Soviet Union.

Rare Thrill for Tass: Joshing Over U.F.O. Report (By Eleanor Blau)

This article discusses the international reaction to a report by the Soviet press agency Tass concerning alleged alien sightings in a Soviet park. Tass reported that major American television networks and newspapers, which typically avoid UFO stories, "played up the space adventure, frequently poking fun and suggesting that the beings from outer space might be a result of overzealous glasnost."

The Tass report itself, written by an American working for the agency, quoted media critic Edwin Diamond, who criticized the story's shallowness, and Yervant Turzian of Cornell University's Astronomy Department, who regarded the story as a joke. Turzian stated that while the possibility of life on other planets is high, most UFO reports can be explained by logical phenomena like unconventional aircraft or satellites.

Despite skepticism, Tass noted that "A Current Affair" was taking the report seriously enough to plan a film crew visit to Voronezh. The report originated from Voronezh, where three children claimed to have seen aliens emerge from a ball wearing silvery overalls.

Soviet television's nightly news program "Vremya" showed a scribbled drawing by one of the children, depicting a smiling stick figure inside a glowing, two-legged sphere. "Vremya" sounded more skeptical than the original Tass report but interviewed Vasya Surin, one of the witnesses. Vasya described a tall person (about three meters) with no head or shoulders, only a hump, and three eyes. He also mentioned the alien had two holes for a nose and had to swivel its middle eye to look around.

"Vremya" cast doubt on the reports by noting the absence of adult witnesses, despite an apartment building overlooking the site. The article also touches on the historical descriptions of spaceships, noting the shift from "saucers" to "boomerangs" in the 1980s, and quotes Jim Speiser, founder of a national UFO computer network, who believes Tass is exploring its new freedom but suggests the US has better stories. Tim Beckley of U.F.O. Universe magazine also expressed surprise, noting that media often ignores UFO reports and calling the entities' actions a "cosmic game."

Scribbled spacemen debut on Soviet evening news (Associated Press)

This article from The Houston Post details the Soviet TV broadcast of the Voronezh alien sighting. The nightly news program "Vremya" showed a child's drawing of the aliens, described as a "glowing two-legged sphere with a smiling stick figure inside." Tass had assigned three reporters to the story, which had gained worldwide attention for its "straight-faced report on towering, pin-headed aliens."

However, scientists had begun to discount the report, attributing it to rising sensationalism under glasnost. "Vremya" presented a more skeptical tone than Tass but included an interview with schoolboy Vasya Surin, who described the alien as about three meters tall, with no head or shoulders, a hump, and three eyes. He also noted the alien's difficulty in turning its head.

An aviation engineer reported measuring an intense magnetic field at the landing area. The "Vremya" report concluded by listing factors detracting from the sighting's credibility: no adult witnesses, the story emerging a week after the event, and supposed alien minerals being of earthly origin.

Soviet 'close encounter' offers more questions than answers to reporter (By David Ljunggren, Reuter News Service)

This report follows a Reuter reporter's visit to Voronezh, Soviet Union, to investigate the UFO sightings. The reporter expresses a personal skepticism ("I am a skeptic. But I don't believe that so many people can be wrong.") but acknowledges the widespread excitement and belief in the city.

The site of the alleged landing is described as a typical, blighted urban patch. Reports mention three-eyed aliens with a "magic pistol" and a 16-year-old who was allegedly shot at. Despite the lack of convincing clues for the reporter, engineer Yuri Belyanov stated that while he is a skeptic, he cannot dismiss the possibility that so many people are mistaken.

Rumors are common in Voronezh, and while some are clearly hedging their bets, others are not. The article mentions reports of "humanoids" in rural areas and a specific account of a man speaking with glowing aliens in the Ural Mountains city of Perm.

At the Voronezh site, citizens huddled around a waste ground with birch trees where eight-inch deep holes were said to mark the landing area. No one directly claimed to have seen the landing, but "almost everyone knew someone who had." Genrikh Silanov, head of the Voronezh Geophysical Laboratory, stated that his investigation recorded "unbelievably high levels of magnetism" at the landing site, concluding, "It's obvious something did happen."

Soviet alien report latest official tall tale (Reuter News Service)

This article from The Houston Post discusses a report by reporter Pavel Mukhortov in Komsomolskaya Pravda about an encounter with aliens in the Ural Mountains. Mukhortov claimed the aliens, who were six to 13 feet tall and glowed, communicated via illuminated letters. They identified themselves as being from "Red Star" (constellation Libra) and stated that a return trip would be dangerous due to "thought bacteria."

The article notes that this is one of several "fantastic accounts" appearing in Soviet media, which are providing a form of relief from economic hardship and unrest. People in the Soviet Union, with a traditional fascination for the bizarre, are largely believing these tales.

Komsomolskaya Pravda also reported other UFO sightings near Perm, including "huge black headless people, moving as if on a motorbike" seen by workers at a collective farm on July 16.

EARTH'S MESSAGE (The Houston Post)

This brief section, seemingly unrelated to the main UFO articles, mentions that the Voyager 2 probe carries a recording of Earth's sounds, including Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," as it travels toward the stars. It notes a celebration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the increasing openness of the Soviet media under glasnost, leading to the publication of sensationalist and unusual stories, including UFO and alien encounters. There's a clear contrast between the initial straight-faced reporting by Soviet agencies like Tass and the more skeptical, questioning tone adopted by Western media and some Soviet commentators. The articles highlight the public's fascination with the unknown, especially in times of economic difficulty, and the scientific community's efforts to provide rational explanations while acknowledging unexplained phenomena like magnetic anomalies. The editorial stance, as reflected in the Western press coverage, is largely one of cautious skepticism, humor, and a desire for verifiable evidence, while acknowledging the cultural and political context of these reports emerging from the Soviet Union.