by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”

1984 was a serious year in UFOlogy. Researchers were taking advantage of a more efficient and accessible process for putting in FOIA requests and finding documents showing that agencies such as the FBI and CIA did have some involvement with UFOs despite statements to the contrary. The Hudson Valley wave was in full swing, and the British UFO Research Association got ahold of the tape recording made by Col. Charles Halt on one of the nights when UFOs were seen in Rendlesham Forest. With so much evidence that there was something to the mystery and official interest in it coming to light, the reporting on the UFO subject took a turn away from ridicule, and the press started being serious about UFOs as well. In the midst of this, there was a case that many researchers might find worthy of ridicule, and it’s probable that researchers of the day did as well because it came and went and remains obscure, but the reporting on it was straight forward and restrained. Read more →