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UFOs: Just Good Entertainment, or Subject Worth Further Study?As I was going up the stair,I met a man who wasn 't there I met him there again Uxiay,My, how I wish he’d go awayBy LARKY KOLB of The Gazette StaffWHITEWATER Everybody likes a diversion from their workaday world, something a little scary, like a good horror movie or science fiction flick i’eople seem to hold (In* same fascination for stories about unidentified flying objects (UFOs), a topic that never fails to spice a conversation or stimulate imaginations That was evidenced here Wednesday night when Allen Utke, Wisconsin’s rosi dent authority on UFOs, drew a crowd ut about 400 to the University Commons Center at UW Whitewater Utke, a IJW Oshkosh chemistry instructor, was once again pushing for a renewed interest in the study of UFOs Unlike many UFO “experts,” Utke takes the subject beyond an entertainment form, though he is not hesitant to use entertainment devices to arouse au dience interest In the true spirit of the little man against the establishment, he posed pointed questions about why the \merican government has stopped fOr ther investigations of unexplained aerial phenomenaIt’s time to put the mystery to rest one way or the other A complete scientific investigation has got to hit paydirt,” he said “Wouldn’t it be valuable to find out why that (the fact that so many sightings remain unexplained) is true?”The government has labelled UFOs a dead issue For 2( years, the U.S. Air Force undertook an investigation of UFOs, compiling 7(H) sightings of aerial phenomena in the famous Blue Book Project report before the program was terminated in 197:1 Utke said he was at a loss to determine whether the Air Force was really withholding information or whether they just botched the job Me was a member of the Condon study, an investi gat ion that ultimately recommended that the government stop further examination of UFOs But he severely criti cized the method of the study, used by Professor Edward Condon who headed the University of Colorado projectIn my opinion, it was not a well-founded study 1 think one of the majorindications to that effect is that, to my knowledge, he (Condon) never went out to interview people.”Of the 100 documented cases taken up in the Condon report, 20 were cited as unexplained; yet, the report uncategori-cally said there was no evidence of extra terrestrial beings and, on that basis, discouraged further investiga tion.Although Utke bemoaned the lack of investigation today, he also stated that a comprehensive study of UFOs would be hard to carry out“If we’re not pinned against the wail of reality, we’ll wiggle free everytime,” Utke said, referring to the all too human proclivity to push the unexplained from one’s consciousnessALLEN UTKE“Man’s a security seeker, probably because he’s so insecure,” he said Then, baiting listener interest, he cracked, You’re just here because you’re interested, not because you’re concerned ”He challenged those present to debate any of his contentions, including his statement that UFOs exist But he also said, being a scientist, he could only venture an opinion as to the nature of the phenomenon Utke called for a new study to be pursued by scientists like himself who are actively involved in UFO research “If it’s a natural phenomenon, then we'll know If there are extra-terrestrialbeings up there, that’s fine, then we’ll really have found something,” he said In the end, however, Utke admitted that no concrete evidence of the exis-tence of UFOs has ever been obtained for scientific research That’s the frus trating part, he said, the part that leaves all researchers open to question.But if the packed crowd at the Whitewater Commons had been drawn there more to hear the strange tales of UFO sightings than a call to arms for further investigation, they got their money’s worth Utke told a particularly alarm mg tale, one of 150 sightings which he personally researched, about a Milwau kee businessman and his wife on a camping trip The couple were awakened by unusu al activity outside their camper during the night, according to Utke Upon look ing out they saw a glowing round disc that extended a beam of light into a nearby barn. All that night, the couple said, they were disturbed by footsteps outside their camper and were terrified to go outside until after the disc disappeared about daybreak The UW Oshkosh professor said even alter intensive sessions with both the husband and wife, their statements re mained the same and Utke told listeners that he had obtained similar statements from people living in the area Utke has given hundreds of talks like his “A Scientiest Looks at UFOs” lecture for Whitewater’s Perspectives on America” series He has been a member of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization and the Midwest UFO Network, compiling case studies mainly in Wisconsin In his experience, he said, few of those who report sightings have vested inter ests in telling their story, lending credibility to w hat they say . “But people don’t tell you unless they think you are sympathetic.”That observation was particularly timely, because there were those in the crowd that, in small groups apart from the lecture, admitted their own sight mgsAl Winnery, a retired businessman from Chippewa Falls, said a big round disc hovered over a field near his lakeside home and scared his neighbor’s daughter “half to death ”Asked if he had reported the sighting, Winnery ventured, “No, they would have thought I was crazy .”
Newspaper Details
Janesville Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Feb 24, 1977
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Driftless T.
AL, USA 27 Aug 2024
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