Classic Mysteries—Alternate Perceptions Magazine, September 2017
1970 – A UFO “Window” Area
by: Rick Hilberg
When news of these window areas was made public in several in popular magazines in 1966-67, many researchers (our staff included) thought that by going to these areas one would find real, solid UFO “bases” - complete with hangers, equipment, and Ufonauts. However, much to the chagrin of the ETH fans, no such physical equipment could be found. All that was ever found were more UFO reports. Period. This led many to scoff at claims of window areas outright.
After much time has passed, and we were able to keep close watch on UFO reports in claimed high activity areas, we had to admit a striking correlation. This coincided with a diminishing belief in the ETH on our part in the last few years.
The past twenty-three years of futility experienced by the outer space saucer hunters is significant to the efficacy of the ETH itself. No UFOs have been tracked actually entering or leaving the atmosphere. It is true that astronauts have spotted unknown objects in the vicinity of the Earth, but these unknowns could well be optical and/or natural space phenomena. Again, no astronaut has ever seen a giant mother ship from Venus roaring toward the Earth from deep space. One can only assume that the elusive disks are “native” to the environs of our Earth!
The ETH people are stuck with solid, material saucers. The ET saucers are piloted by living creatures they say; living creatures that need solid, physical UFOs to transport them. But, not all UFOs are material objects. Hundreds of cases describe objects that have the ability to appear and disappear at will. Scores of cases end with words such as: “It just disappeared like one would turn off a light bulb.”
Just like a light bulb! “Well,” say the outer space fans, “the UFOs appear and disappear by turning their EM force fields on and off.” Here physical effects are invented to fit the phenomena observed. We cannot prove ET UFOs, let alone fantastic equipment able to make the craft invisible! There have also been a number of cases where seemingly solid UFOs have passed through terrestrial objects. This would explain why terrestrial weapons have never “shot down” a ship from outer space.
Added with other incidents, and other sub-phenomena such as the “men in black” and the confusing contactee phenomena, we find events which do not conform to our physical laws. These events are discussed at great length in such books as Passport to Magonia (Vallee) and Operation Trojan Horse (Keel).
So if the UFOs and their related phenomena are not physical, we must explore other areas in order to find a workable answer. The theory that UFOs are non-physical (in our sense) manifestatiions from some other “place” or reality seems to fit the data. This would explain the “window” areas, where UFOs seemingly appear year after year. They do not have bases there, the area is just where they “appear” from someplace else.
Looking back in this light I can see parts of the puzzle fall into place. Over the years, I have participated in many attempts to spot the UFOs. These “sky watches” were often held in rural areas or in the city, at the home of one of the participants.
A curious fact emerged during the period from 1964 to 1966. Phenomena were seen in a particular area of Cleveland on an almost constant basis. The fact was discussed at length informally at the 1967 Congress in New York with Allen Greenfield, Eugene Steinberg, Robert Easley and others.
It is difficult for a UFO writer to tell of his own UFO reports, for many readers assume immediately that he is making up the reports – or worse yet, he is a little on the strange side! But the fact remains that I, along with others, have sighted unknown phenomena on occasions from various locations. The important part being that one particular location in Cleveland was an almost constant source of activity – a window area, if you will. To give the reader some idea of the kinds of phenomena sighted in this small window I will briefly cite some of the more interesting reports.
In July of 1965, three objects, like satellites, were sighted at fifteen minute intervals coming from, respectively, the north, south and east. One of these “lights” was photographed by this writer using a two minute exposure on Tri-X film. The object appeared as a faint line on the negative, too weak to reproduce in print, but in my files for anyone who is interested. On this particular night the objects were spotted with both the naked eye and binoculars. They did not correspond to flyovers of any scheduled satellites. There were many other sightings of similar objects from 1964-1966.
Another particularly interesting report came from the same general location on October 9, 1965 when a round object with flashing lights completely around its edge, was sighted by hundreds of persons on Cleveland's West Side. There was a 2,200 foot cloud cover with light drizzle that evening, so the object had to be flying below that altitude.
On the evening of May 6, 1966 this writer along with others, including UFO MAGAZINE Managing Editor, Edward Biebel, sighted a large oval of ghostly white light swiftly moving from west to east. The object seemed to have bands of a duller color running along the bottom. It was soundless, and seemed to be at a low altitude.
A particularly interesting series of sightings took place in October-November 1966 when V-formations of bluish-white lights were seen flying over, and sometimes maneuvering in turns. These objects were also spotted with both binoculars and the naked eye.
Why the concentration of sightings in one particular area? Is it indeed a small window where who knows what appears from goodness knows where? Why weren't sightings made other times at locations only blocks away?
There have been no further watches at this location since November of 1966. Currently, plans are being formed to revisit the spot and do further investigation, possibly with instrumentation. While this West Cleveland “window” may be small in scope, it may yield some interesting results.
Published in The Best of the Original UFO Magazine, R. Hilberg, 2010.
Used with permission of the author.
