High StrangenessS

Question

If not from space, where?

Cryptoterrestrial lore is replete with allusions to underground habitats, subterranean labyrinths navigable only to an enlightened few, and even modern-day below-ground facilities staffed, in part, by government operatives. From Richard Shaver's fancifully paranoid tales of the "Deros" to Bob Lazar's depiction of S-4 (allegedly a supersecret base a stone's throw away from Area 51), the "alien" meme challenges us with the prospect that our world is separated from the other by the merest of partitions . . . and that the CTs are almost as comfortable in our bedrooms and on our roadsides as they are in their own realm.

The image of a "Hollow Earth" populated by beings remarkably like ourselves is by no means new, yet the modern UFO phenomenon has infused it with a newly conspiratorial vigor. Stories of alien bases below the unassumingly bleak surface of the American Southwest surfaced in the wake of the MJ-12 controversy, carving the mythos into irresistible new shapes. In "Revelations," Jacques Vallee recounts a memorable exchange with the late Bill Cooper and fringe journalist Linda Moulton Howe. Told matter-of-factly about the existence of a sprawling subterranean base near Dulce, New Mexico, Vallee asked his hosts where the presumed aliens disposed of their garbage -- a sensible question if one assumes that the "Grays" in question are physical beings burdened with corresponding physical requirements.

Bizarro Earth

Unexplained force shakes New South Wales, Australia mid-north coast

Residents in towns along the NSW mid-north coast inundated police with calls of a tremor that shook homes on Monday evening.

Taree police said they took "a lot" of calls from people in the area reporting an earth tremor about 9.30pm (AEDT).

But in Canberra, Geoscience Australia, the agency that measures seismic activity, said it had not recorded any tremor in the area.

"We have registered absolutely nothing at all on our seismograph," a spokeswoman said.

Police said they received calls from concerned residents.

UFO

Poland: Alleged UFO reported in Wroclaw Area

A couple from Mirkow reported a sighting of a probable UFO on 5th December 2006.

"Yesterday, on 5th December, just about 11 pm. I noticed a strange light over Dlugoleka [Wroclaw area]. I observe the sky on regular basis hoping that someday I manage to perceive some unknown object. The night was exceptionally bright because it was full Moon shining very brightly. It was located over Dlugoleka, i.e. about 3 km away from my house." - says Mrs. Ewa from Mirkow.

"At first I thought that it is a lamp located on a top of some tower [seen at nigh on tall buildings]. I was looking at that light trying to remind if there is any tower or high chimney there. There is indeed a tower in the vicinity with two red lights always visible. In went to the balcony to check it better but the light was still in the same place. Then I realized that there is no towers in the area and it must be something 'hovering' in the air."

UFO

Australia: Mystery lights reported for second night in Western Victoria

For the second night in a row residents in western Victoria have reported seeing a bright light in the sky.

Residents at Ballarat, west of Melbourne, said they saw something that looked like a UFO after spotting an orange-coloured light in the sky about 10pm yesterday.

Did you see the bright lights in the sky? MMS your photos and video to 0406 The Age (0406 843 243) or email scoop@theage.com.au

For the second night in a row residents in western Victoria have reported seeing a bright light in the sky.

Residents at Ballarat, west of Melbourne, said they saw something that looked like a UFO after spotting an orange-coloured light in the sky about 10pm yesterday.

Evil Rays

Nevada, US: Strange shaking felt in northwest part of valley

It's a story that's generated a lot of calls to the police, fire department and to News 3. Residents in the northwest part of the valley say they felt shaking of some sort Monday afternoon.

However, what caused the ground to shake has yet to be determined. Many calls we received were from the Summerlin area and further north.

UFO 2

Flying object spooks Naval intell crypto-tech

Industry - Former naval intelligence crypto-tech Brad Luker is a down-to-earth kind of guy. At 40, he's a father and a husband, works as a power plant operator, and walks the straight and narrow. He doesn't believe in Bigfoot, aliens or the Loch Ness monster.

So when he saw strange bright lights in the sky above him Tuesday night, he assumed it was a helicopter, or maybe a small plane. Only when he opened the door to his truck, expecting to hear the whir of chopper blades above him, did he start to wonder what the craft could be.

"It was really bizarre," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I do a lot of camping, and I've seen all the basic stuff (in the sky)," he said. Most strange things in the sky are high up in the air, he said. "This was way, way down here."

It was so low to the ground, and so brightly lit, at first he thought there must be something going on at the Industry town hall. "I thought 'wow, that's kinda neat,'" Luker said.

Bomb

Is 'Bigfoot' roaming around Holy Hill? - A mysterious sighting in Washington County has area officials and residents bewildered, bemused and amused

A man contracted by the Department of Natural Resources to pick up road kill came to the Washington County Sheriff's Department to report a 7-foot-tall "animal" had taken a deer out of the back of his pickup truck at about 1 a.m. Thursday, Sheriff Brian Rahn said.

According to the report, the man loaded a deer carcass into the back of his truck on Highway 167 near Station Way, got into the cab and prepared to drive away when a large black animal, very wide and larger than a bear, jumped into the back of his pickup and dragged out the carcass he had just loaded.

"He was horrified and took off out of there," said Rahn.

During his retreat, the man also lost an all-terrain-vehicle ramp that he used to ease carcasses into the truck.

Deputies went to the location near Holy Hill after the man reported the incident - at about 4 a.m. Thursday - and could find nothing, including the ATV ramp, Rahn said.

Question

Florida, US: Air Force radios jamming garage-door openers in Panhandle

A new military two-way radio system is keeping garage doors shut in communities near this Florida Panhandle base and residents may have to change the frequencies on their remote-controlled opening devices tomake them work.

Homeowners in Niceville, Valparaiso and the Crestview area reported jammed garage door openers during recent testing of the new $5.5 million system at Eglin.

Air Force officials Tuesday said the contractor, Motorola Inc., will try to minimize the problem but they offered no guarantees.

Question

Airwave glitch hits Colorado Springs, US area: Garage-door openers jammed, hundreds say

Next time NATO officials say they're doing a lockdown, the folks in the luxury Broadmoor neighborhood will take them seriously.

Very seriously.

Last week, NATO workers erected security and communications towers in the area in advance of this week's defense ministers' conference.

By 9 a.m. Friday morning, all 10 lines at Overhead Door Company of Colorado Springs were lit up with calls from the Broadmoor and the nearby town of Security complaining that their garage- door openers had jammed.

Question

Ottawa, Canada: Garage doors work after mystery signal vanishes

As oddly as it started, the widespread problem with some garage doors in the Ottawa region had disappeared by Friday.

The powerful radio signal causing the problem stopped transmitting on Thursday afternoon, around the time CBC News contacted the U.S. Embassy to ask if it knew anything about it.

* FROM NOV. 4, 2005: Mysterious signals jamming garage door openers

The embassy categorically denies that it had anything to do with it.

The signal was being transmitted at 390 megahertz, a U.S. military frequency used by the Pentagon's new Land Mobile Radio System. The same frequency is used by garage doors openers, which started to malfunction around the city about almost two weeks ago. A similar problem has popped up around military bases in the States.

Comment: If the source of the problem is really the Land Mobile Radio System, why is it that the signal stops exactly when engineers are sent to investigate the source of the transmissions?