UFOs Over California: A True History of Extraterrestrial Encounters in the Golden State - Softcover

Dennett, Preston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0764321498 ISBN 13: 9780764321498

Publisher: Schiffer, 2004

Synopsis

Step aside Roswell: California leads the nation in UFO sightings and encounters, with over 5000 reported incidents from the late nineteenth through the early twenty-first centuries. Documented here are diverse early accounts, including native American UFO encounters, the 1896 California Airship Mystery, and the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles. Hundreds of verified sightings include luminaries, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Cliff Robertson, Jill Ireland, and Ronald Regan. Sightings and landings at California Air Force bases include Edwards, George, Norton, and Hamilton, as well as some over Los Angeles International Airport. Cases are described of healing and surgical implants along with UFO landings, on dry land and off the coast. Color photographs of UFOs in flight and illustrations by award-winning artist Kesara will leave every reader searching the skies, seeking the truth!

About this title

From the Author

Introduction


In 1542, Spain announced the discovery of a vast, fertile land that they mistakenly named the Island of California. For nearly three centuries the Spanish lived there with the Native Americans, building numerous missions and settlements. In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain, at the same time laying claim to California. This began a large Mexican emigration to California. At the same time, American pioneers also began to move westward.

During their terms, Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Polk both attempted unsuccessfully to purchase the state from the Mexican government. Then in 1846, California enjoyed a short-lived and dubious independence when a group of settlers announced themselves as the Republic of California. President Polk then decided to take the state by force. So began the U.S.-Mexican war. After two years of hostility, Mexico finally ceded the states of California, Texas and New Mexico for a price of 15 million, and California became a permanent member of the United States. At the same time, the California gold rush began, which led to the rapid growth of the population. In 1869, the west coast was linked to the east coast by the transcontinental railroad. California's rise to one of the most influential states in the union was assured.


The third largest state in the union, California is the most populous state at an estimated forty million, most of which is situated along coastal regions. It also boasts the nation's largest economy. It is a leader in aerospace and defense technology, computers, oil production, lumber, wine, agriculture, entertainment and tourism. The climate is varied, the population diverse. The geology includes mountains, deserts, and the vast fertile central valley. The highest point in the state is Mount Whitney at 14,500 feet. The lowest elevation is Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level, also the hottest and driest area in the United States.
 

Not surprisingly, the state is also the leading producer of UFO reports in the United States. In 1977, leading investigator Dr. J. Allen Hynek, (often called the Father of Modern Ufology) conducted a study of all the cases reported to the Air Force's Project Blue Book which remained unidentified. California headed the list with fifty-one cases, or 9.9% of the total number of United States reports.

 
In 1995, the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) in Washington State was established, and began to collect reports from every state in the union. According to the center, California dominates all other states in the sheer number of calls. By 2003, they had received more than 2800 reports from California, nearly twice the number of the second leading state of Washington, and nearly three times the third leading state of Texas.

 
California has a history of encounters stretching back to at least 1890s and continuing to the present day. Many of the world's influential UFO encounters have taken place in the golden state. The start of the airship mystery began in California then swept across the entire United States. In 1942 the now-famous Battle of Los Angeles took place during which a UFO was fired upon by the U.S. military. In 1947, Muroc/Edwards Air Force Base experienced a series of incredible encounters that would mark the beginning of an extensive and continuing involvement with the phenomenon. 

In the 1950s, the controversial contactee movement began in southern California, headed by George Adamski, George Van Tassel, Orpheo Angelucci and others. The Giant Rock contactee convention in 1954 attracted more than 5000 visitors and remains a record for the largest UFO gathering.

The 1950s was also the decade of the "flying saucer craze" during which a massive wave swept across California, producing such high profile cases as the Rio Vista wave, the Rex Heflin photos, the Red Bluff encounter, the San Fernando Valley "angel hair" case, the Tujunga Canyon abductions, and the continuing encounters at Muroc/Edwards Air Force Base and other military bases.

 
The 1960s brought an explosion of humanoid accounts, undersea UFOs, landings and abductions - all of which continued strong into the seventies and eighties. Also, numerous Hollywood celebrities joined the ranks of UFO witnesses including Sammy Davis Jr., Cliff Robertson, Jill Ireland, Chad Everett, not to mention former President Ronald Reagan.

The 1990s brought more stunning developments - an intense wave over Topanga Canyon, the extremely well-verified Camarillo sightings, the opening of David Greenewalde Jr.'s website Blackvault which has proven the UFO cover-up once and for all, and the groundbreaking research of Ventura investigator Dr. Roger Leir DPM, whose surgeries involving the removal of apparent "alien implants" have rocked the scientific community.

 
As can be seen, California has played a major a role in our understanding of the UFO phenomenon. I have been a southern California-based UFO investigator for nearly twenty years. In November 1988, a publicized sighting over Alaska sparked my interest in the phenomenon. I soon discovered that many of my friends, family and co-workers were having dramatic encounters with UFOs. Stunned with disbelief, I felt compelled to conduct an investigation to find the truth. I was amazed to find that the UFO phenomenon had been recognized for fifty years. It had already been extensively documented and studied by reputable scientists, astronomers, military and governmental personnel and other educated individuals. There were literally mountains of evidence, way too much for one person to study in a single lifetime.

 
 

From the Inside Flap

Contents
Acknowledgments......................................................4
Introduction................................................................5
1. The California Airship Mystery..............................8
2. Early Sightings........................................................11
3. The Golden Age of UFOs........................................18
4. The Golden Age Continues.......................................32
5. The Red Bluff UFO Wave.........................................39
6. The Rio Vista UFO Wave.........................................43
7. Sightings in the 1970s and 1980s................................49
8. The Topanga Canyon UFO Wave...............................63
9. The Contactee Movement...........................................74
10. Celebrity Sightings..................................................80
11. UFOs in the Ocean..................................................83
12. UFOs over Los Angeles International Airport..........87
13. The Invasion of Edwards AFB................................91
14.  California UFO Crash/Retrievals...........................137
15. Landings and Humanoids.......................................141
16. UFO Abductions in California................................154
17. UFO Investigator's Disease.....................................167
18. The California UFO Healing Cases.........................172
19. More Onboard Encounters.......................................180
20. The Implant Removal Surgeries................................205
21. California UFOs Today.............................................210
Epilogue........................................................................215
Appendix........................................................................216
Endnotes.........................................................................217
Sources...........................................................................221

About this edition

• Publisher: Schiffer
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0764321498
• ISBN 13: 9780764321498
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192