Author: Micah Hanks

Micah Hanks is a writer, researcher, and podcaster. His interests include areas of history, science, archaeology, philosophy, and the study of anomalous phenomena in nature. He can be reached at info@micahhanks.com.

5 Replies to “Catching for Keeps: Are UFOs Swallowing Aircraft?”

  1. Hey Micah,

    Don’t forget the notorious case of Felix Moncla. The USAF has made several contradictory statements regarding his disappearance. His remains and jet have not been found to this day.

    Reply

  2. Really interesting, yet in need of some substantiation, no?

    Micah, for someone who does not know, what is (or was) the reputation of the integrity of Fate magazine?

    Respectfully, this is the kind of story that points toward the unknown (which is tantalizing), but does not offer much beside tantalization.

    Have you had a chance or do you have any plans to follow up on Edgar Smith and O.D. Hill? Any thoughts on whether this (if corroborated) would lend more credence to an extraterrestrial, other-dimensional or some other explanation for whatever it is we are hoping for or trying to figure out?

    Thank you. I enjoy your site.

    Reply

  4. Hi folks,

    I want to address each of these comments in the order that they appear…

    Chris: Thanks for your mention of the disappearance of Felix Moncla. I have some additional info about this case, however, which contradicts the traditional interpretation that the incident involved a UFO being “swallowed” by a UFO. There were two men on board the craft, an F-89C I believe; Lt. Felix Moncla, Jr. was the pilot, and a radar observer, Lt. R. R. Wilson, was also on board. According to this article by Dirk Vander Ploeg at UFO Digest, the missing F-89C was eventually discovered at the bottom of Lake Superior. This does not rule out the notion that an interaction with a UFO could have downed the plane, but according to this data, the jet’s whereabouts were later determined.

    Here’s where that one gets interesting, however. In addition to the missing F-89C’s discovery by the Great Lakes Dive Company in 2005, there was reportedly a second object that could be observed on the lake bed using sonar imaging. This craft, whatever it was, is presumably what collided with Moncla’s jet (!!!). So we know the whereabouts of the missing jet… but what was this second craft? I admit to being so intrigued by this that I’ll plan to offer more info about the strange case here at the site in the future. Stay tuned…

    Niggle: Thanks for your comment… the questions you raise are reasonable ones. With regard to the reputation and integrity of FATE Magazine (for which I am a consulting editor, and thus, I feel qualified to comment on their behalf), this magazine has long been considered a valuable source of information on the UFO subject, albeit one that caters mostly to a popular audience. Then again, I would ask, what reputable UFO “sources” today don’t present the material in a more “popular” way? Arguably, this is part of the problem.

    For an objective perspective on FATE Magazine in relation to UFO research, I recommend the following link to an article at the UFO Iconoclast(s) website:

    http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2012/11/fate-magazine-once-premier-ufo-source.html

    This will lend some information on the piece I reference, written by Tom Comella (and keep in mind, I didn’t merely reference this article second hand, via the scant few other websites that have referenced it. Instead, I actually have a voluminous archive of FATE issues dating all the way back to 1959).

    With regard to the nature of the article being tantalizing (again, a fair assessment), but fundamentally lacking substance, I would first point to Captain Gregory (who I reference in the article). He was actually the man who began overseeing the Air Force’s Project Blue Book in 1956:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book#The_Captain_Gregory_era

    Captain Gregory was well known for taking a dismissive attitude toward UFOs (publicly, at least). Thus, I find Comella’s commentary on this matter to be very interesting.

    And yet, it would certainly be intriguing to look into FOIA requests or other investigative research that would probe a bit further into such things as 1) the disappearing bomber piloted by “Reynard” over the China India Burma Theatre, 2) the object accompanying Moncla’s F-89C at the bottom of Lake Superior, 3) the identity (or full name, at least) of O.M. Hill, subordinate to Captain George Gregory at the time Comella’s article went to print, and 4) related incidents which supposedly involve the disappearance of planes in conjunction with UFO sightings. I find the matter very interesting, but this sort of research, as one might guess, can take years and years… thus, for now, I’m happy to take a cursory “swipe” at a few of the related cases in a blog post like this.

    RPJ: Amaury Rivera’s photos are indeed quite intriguing… I have a hard time believing they are completely legitimate, but again, they are unique, and his story, of course, parallels so many others which have to do with strange abductions, etc. One can only guess if there’s a grain of truth to them.

    Reply

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