Clovis Thanksgiving UFO sighting Update. Possible identification of object.

Two months ago I had posted how my sister and I had seen an orange, glowing light in Clovis at our family's Thanksgiving dinner. At the time I had no explanation for the object. But I think I solved the mystery. And unfortunately it doesn't have anything to do with little green men or secret government projects.

I was watching an episode of UFO Hunters on the History Channel. One of the sightings they were investigating was being debunked by the local authorities as nothing more than a Chinese Paper Lantern. The team team then launched a lattern for the witness to compare (the witness said what they saw was different). But what interested me is that the flight pattern of the lattern was almost exactly what I saw on Thanksgiving.

Basically what the lantern is, is a translucent paper bag (think minature hot air balloon) with a candle suspended inside. The candle heats the air up, ala a hot air balloon) and causes it to rise. Since the material is translucent, the light from the candle can be seen from the inside giving the object it's glow.

Below are two videos I found on YouTube of paper lanterns. You can see their construction before they are launched and as they fly, their flight charastics. Which is exactly the same thing I saw.






Even though I said before the object couldn't have been a balloon, I'm recanting my statement. I had no knowledge of a Chinese Paper Lantern. I though the only way it could have been a balloon was if someone had filled up a helieum balloon and hung a light from below. Given the fact that the night was Thanksgiving, and the lanterns are typically flown on holidays, most likely this was nothing more than someone launching a Chinese Paper Lantern. I'm not upset by this, as I am glad that I know what it was exactly and can now focus on other mysteries in the area.

Large black triangular shaped craft spotted in Fresno.

One of my favorite sites for getting UFO information is the National UFO Reporting Center. It's an on-line database of UFO sightings that people can contact and fill out a report. One of the great things about it is that the sightings are listed by locations, including states. Going through California the other day I came across a sighting that happened in Fresno on December 17, 2008. Here's what it said:

I saw a black triangle shaped object about 300 ft in length with a dim red light at each point traveling slowly past over me.

I saw a black triangle shaped object with 1 dim red flashing light at each point of the triangle. the size was 100 yards to 150 yards in length hovering above me about 250-350 yards above me.the object was completely silent and was traveling south very slowly when it passed over me it turned slightly to travel southeast and continued on that path until it was no longer in my sight. I got a very good look of what the object look like from under it it was all solid black with uneven surface almost half dome shaped around were the lights were.

Unfortunately no pictures or video were taken, but given the information I was able to create what I believe is an accurate reenactment of what happened. Note I don't know the location of the sighting, I was out in Fresno the other night with my camera and took these two shots. For the craft I modeled it based upon the description in a program called SketchUP.

My theory on the black triangles, is that it is some sort of military project, akin to to the stealth fighter and bomber projects from the 1980's. Some have speculated that given the large size of the craft and the slow speed they move, that they are some sort of blimp or airship that the military is creating. Conspiracy theorist on the other hand believe this is some sort of craft that the US government is using to spy on it's own citizens. And of course there is the extra terrestrial theory, that this was some sort of mother ship.

Here's the link to the National UFO Reporting Center, if anyone is interested. And here's the link to the actual report.

California's first mass UFO sighting - in Fresno

In 1896, California had it's first mass UFO sighting, and Fresno was part of it.  On the night of November 22, 1896 a massive "airship" was seen in San Francisco, San Jose, & Fresno. 

Hundreds of witnesses described the craft as some sort of airship, moving slowly through the night sky.  Some of the witnesses said they even saw figures through the windows of the craft.  Accounts became wilder as the month passed. A Colonel Shaw of Stockton claimed to have encountered inhuman beings with the airship on a country road. A man in Indio claimed to have gone aboard the craft for a flight.  

No one knows what the craft was.  Balloon flight was still in it's infancy and Germany wouldn't have the zeppelin until around 1899.  Could this have been some sort of secret government project, mirroring the ones of today?  Perhaps it was some sort of private aircraft, but this seems doubtful as if the government didn't have this sort of technology, then a private group or individual couldn't have been behind this.  Maybe, just maybe, this was some sort of E.T. encounter.  Fifty years before the Kenneth Arnold sighting up in Washington in 1947 that started the modern UFO craze.

Reports of chupacabra in Calfornia farm town cancels high school prom.

I have no idea what year this was, but it made me chuckle.

From the Chupacabra Tracker.

On May 10, a rooster fell victim in Mendota, California, and the Fresno County Department of Agriculture subsequently logged ten complaints of goatsucker activity, prompting worried parents to cancel their childrens prom outings.


I'm going to have to look into this some more. I'm not sure of the truthfulness of the prom being canceled due to a few complaints of chupacabra activity. But if this is true, I'd love to see the reports that were filed.

Bigfoot sigtings in Fresno County

My friend Tom (whom I'm hoping will be doing an upcoming podcast with me) showed me a website, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, that had a listing of sightings by State, and then a sub listing by County. Under Fresno County there were several sightings up at Florence Lake, which is above Hunnington. What's interesting about the sightings is they occur only in the late summer and early fall. Tom has a theory that perhaps Bigfoot is a migratory animal and that is why sighting of them are rare. They are always on the move. We've been talking about taking an expedition up to Florence at the start of summer and set up some cameras that are set off by an IR sensor (these are the type that hunters use to photograph game on trails) and come back in six weeks to see if we captured anything. When we do I'll definitely post what we find, if anything, on here.

Here's the link to BFRO's lisings for Fresno County.

El Duende in Fresno??

I recieved a text message from my sister earlier asking me about the El Duende. For those who don't know what this is, it's the South American (and most likely Spanish) version of a gnome. Back in 2007 there was a wave of sightings in Argentina. She asked me where she could find the links on YouTube, which I'm posting here.




The Salta, Argentia sighting


I'll be honest, the side stepping thing scares the hell out of me.



This was another one, this time you can see the, well thing, move against the wall.


What does these vidoes have to do with the Fresno area? El Duende is from Spanish folklore, I'm curious if Hispanic folklore has something similar and maybe there has been sighting around the Fresno area?

Unidentified falling object turns out to be weather monitor

From the Fresno Bee

A woman who lives a few miles north of Los Banos called fire officials around 10 a.m. today to report that a box had fallen from the sky.

The woman thought it had fallen from a plane, but fire officials found that it was instead a weather device that measured humidity, temperature and weather changes at different altitudes — from Missouri.

Officials responded to the call and found the weather surveyor, said Jeremi Roesler, a captain with the Merced County Fire Department, which works in conjunction with Cal Fire. The device had a parachute and a balloon that had popped.

The shoebox-sized instrument had “National Weather Service” written on it and, if found, included directions on how to mail it back, Roesler said.

The Walnut Girl

This is an old story I came across years ago. I had posted it on another blog and had completely forgot about it until today. So I thought I'd repost it here for anyone who hasn't read it yet. More than likely it's another urban legend. But it's one of those strange stories that refuses to go away. Perhaps there is some truth to the legend after all.

In the small California town of Armona, there is a legend of a nine year old girl that met a tragic end and her restless ghost haunts the area to this day. Sometime in the nineteenth century the girl and a few of her friends were skinny dipping at a local waterhole outside of town. A group of boys showed up and threatened to come into the water after them. Most of the girls ran away before the boys could get them into a nearby walnut orchard. One little girl was too scared to follow the other girls. Instead she dove underwater to try and trick the boys into thinking she too had followed the other girls. Unfortunately the poor girl drowned.

Legend has it the restless spirit roamed the area for years. The townsfolk named her the Walnut Girl because she was always seen where walnuts were grown. No male has ever seen the ghost, but stories say that girls around the same age as she was have seen glimpses of her.

Why does her restless spirit only haunt walnut orchards? Perhaps she thinks she will be safe if she can get to an orchard she will be safe from the boys she thinks are still chasing her. This is obvious as she will only appear to girls near her age. It appears even in the afterlife she is still looking for safety.