M is for mantis and missile
NIGEL WATSON surveys the latest sightings and ufological news from around the world
EVIL PRAYING MANTIS
Paul Froggatt saw a strange light in the sky at 5am on 16 July 2020 as he was returning home after a 12-hour shift at a dog food warehouse. The glowing orange sphere seemed to follow him as he cycled through the Oakwood and Blacklow Spinney woods in Warwickshire, and the usual early morning bird song went silent. Turning a bend, he encountered a 7ft- (2m) tall, green-coloured creature that stood on two legs and looked just like a praying mantis. It had a triangular head and its large black eyes stared directly at him. In this moment Paul felt the alien transmitting thoughts of pure evil into his mind. When it seemed as if it was about to pounce at him, he was able to break the hypnotic spell and escape its clutches. His fellow workers were not impressed by his story and cruelly dubbed him the ‘Mantis Man of Warwick’.
The Daily Star revealed this story as an ‘exclusive’, so this is far from being an impeccable source. If true, it might be that the 26-year-old man had a momentary hallucination caused by sleep deprivation.
If it was a ‘real’ alien entity, perhaps it was trying to punish him for working in a dog food warehouse.
Whatever the reality, this does highlight the potent image of the praying mantis in popular UFO culture. The iconography of the mantis was of central interest to the Surrealist movement, as the courting ritual of the insect – the female eats the male during or after intercourse – represented the concept of repressed erotic violence. The French sculptor Germaine Richier (1902-1959), for example, created allegorical figures of hybrid insect/human beings (1946) to represent creatures of the night and the restrictions put upon women by society. Certainly, the praying mantis is the stuff of nightmares and something you would expect to emerge from a flying saucer or orange sphere. Daily Star, 30 Jan 2021; www.dailystar.co.uk/ news/latest-news/horrified-dog-food-factoryworker-23404598.
FIREBALLS GALORE
Just a couple of hours before the end of February, a huge fireball meteor descended over the UK. It was witnessed by hundreds of people as far afield as Scotland, Cardiff, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Rochdale, Birmingham, Bath, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, and several video cameras captured the event. As it broke into fragments it presented an incredible display; as one person stated, it “was like a firework”, and some witnesses reported a rumbling or sizzling sound and, in some instances, a sonic boom. The UK Meteor Network was quick to note that this was “simply a bright meteor streaking across the sky” and they record a half a dozen such events a year. Experts concluded it probably originated from an asteroid and fragments might have landed in an area northeast of Cheltenham.
Numerous sightings and videos were also made of a meteor breaking up over the Punjab area of Ludhiana, India, at about 9pm on Thursday 25 February, and around 9.45pm on 27 February a similarly spectacular meteor was seen to the south of Paris and, an hour later over Ankara and Trabzon in Turkey.
Such concentrations of sightings have naturally inspired talk of UFOs; the notable difference here is in the number of witness reports along with good doorbell, security and dash cam footage – something that does not happen even when UFO witnesses say they have spotted a vast flying saucer moving over populated areas. International Meteor Organisation: https://www.imo.net/
UNIDENTIFIED CRUISING MISSILE
American Airlines flight 2292 was over New Mexico en route to Phoenix, Arizona, at 1pm on Sunday 21 February when the pilot reported seeing a “cruise missile type of thing” pass over them. The pilot of the
Airbus A320 was overheard speaking to the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Centre by Steve Douglass, an amateur radio interceptor. As this occurred in the vicinity of White Sands Missile Range, this was initially regarded as the source of the object, but no test notifications were made and they do not normally operate on a Sunday. Another theory was that it was a Learjet flying at a higher altitude, eight miles away, but this does not fit with the timing of the pilot’s radio message. Otherwise, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controllers did not see any other objects in the area on their radar screens. It is hoped the FAA will release more information about this incident in the future. https://globalnews.ca/news/7659655/ american-airlines-ufo-flight-audio/; www. thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39441/faareleases-statement-on-airliners-encounter-withunidentified-object-over-new-mexico
ENTERTAINING ALIENS
Tom DeLonge’s ‘To The Stars Academy’ (TTSA) in its latest report filed on 17 February 2021 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, notes: “To achieve its goals, TTSA has decided to restructure its operations to scale back its initiatives in science and tech commercialization and to place a greater emphasis on the operations of its entertainment business.”
This is given as the justification for dropping advisors Luis Elizondo, Stephen Justice and Christopher Mellon, and to focus more on films, books, TV and merchandise. They are obviously following the money rather than the evidence; not a surprise to anyone who has followed the TTSA story ( FT361:28 and passim) and its naive aim to find ET evidence and force disclosure from the US government.
UFO WEEK
The UK Blaze TV channel launches a ‘UFO Week’ starting on 22 March. This includes a mind-boggling selection of one-offs and series that include Alien Autopsy: The Search for Answers, Aliens at the Pentagon, Hunt for the Skinwalker, Ancient Aliens, The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear, Alaska Mysteries Unsolved, Alien Chronicles, UFO Hunters and many more. As might be expected, plenty of the usual suspects, but some, like Alien Autopsy, look to be worth a watch. If you miss them during UFO Week they are available on catch-up for 30 days; and on 21 April look out for The Curse of Skinwalker Ranch.