UFO ?

UFO Museum
Roswell, New Mexico

Although differences of opinion exist on the specifics, there is a tentative consensus among researchers that an extraterrestrial space vehicle crashed on a ranch located about 60 miles north of Roswell, New Mexico, during the time period July 2–4, 1947.

This is one of the most controversial UFO stories of our time. If you don't believe it, try researching Roswell, NM. or Area 51.

The following is a true story and my personal “close encounter”:

It was during the early 70’s, but let me make this perfectly clear - none of us drank alcohol, smoked or did drugs of any kind.

I've only seen one UFO in my life, so far, and to my credit the 5 people I was with, saw it too. It was in the early 70's, after midnight and somewhere in Utah, I think Utah but could've been NV or CO. Wherever it was, the country was flat and deserted desert land. Six of us were driving back to Indiana from Las Vegas and we had no hotel reservations anywhere. We all had decided to drive until we tire, then find a roadside motel for the night. For hours we had been traveling on a lonely (and I mean real lonely) stretch of highway. About every hour or so we might see a car going the opposite direction, but not once all night had anything passed us. That's about it. No houses. Trees were few and far between. No sign of civilization for miles and miles at a time. We could vaguely make out the silhouette of mountains in the far, far distance.

The car we were in was a Chrysler station wagon (two seats facing front, one seat facing back) and the couple in the seat facing the rear saw it first. They alerted the rest of us, including Jack, the driver who apparently had fallen asleep while driving because he hadn't seen anything.

The couple in the back seat said, "hey man, something is coming up on us really fast, we’ve been watching it for awhile, but now it’s getting closer and going faster". At which point we all turned to look behind us. Sure enough one huge light was approaching at an unusually fast speed. Because of the flatness of the land and highway we were able to watch even though it was still quite a distance away. That light was approaching at such a fast rate that we knew it would overtake us in a matter of minutes. We were all talking at once trying to figure this out and the consensus was that it must be a semi with a headlight out and he was haulin’ A! Jack had been traveling around 90 mph most of the night and it was unrealistic to think that anything could catch up with us unless we had stopped, which we had not. How could this “semi” possibly catch up with us?

Then as fast as it approached, it begin to retreat back the way it had come. It was almost out of sight, when it suddenly started moving forward again at an amazing speed. It came closer and closer and all we could see was this one bright light. The six of us were no longer talking, only watching. There really were no words to describe how we felt at that moment, and at no time did Jack slow down, he kept up the same pace, 90 mph. The light followed us along the roadway, but as it got closer to us the second time we could tell that the light was too high above the ground to be a semi or any vehicle that traveled the roads, for that matter. Then it did the reverse, again. It began to retreat away from us, as if it was moving backwards and we were the only ones moving forward. Now, however, as the light retreated in the distance behind us, it stayed at this higher level then it had the first time. It did the approach/retreat thing about 3 more times, then followed us steadily at a not to far distance for another 10 minutes, then disappeared completely.

We were shocked, stunned, bewildered – scared!

We did not report this. We weren’t sure of what we saw. There was no way to back up our story. But six people DID witness this occurrence, and I was one of them.

The Plan

Robin Williams wearing a shirt that says "I love! New York" in Arabic.

I believe the following originated sometime in 2003 by someone other than Robin Williams. The internet says it's urban legend and somehow Robin's name got attached to it, but it didn't come from him.

As I read this, I could imagine Robin Williams saying it, the way only he can, and it does sound like something he would create.

Either way, it's funny, interesting, controversial, stimulating, divisive and thought provoking.

He says:

"I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan."

1) The US will apologize to the world for our interference in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein and the rest of those 'good ole boys', we will never interfere again.

2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world starting with Germany, South Korea, the middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one sneaking through holes in the fence.

3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.

4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days, unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

5) ) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.

6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.

9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH...learn it...or LEAVE...Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?

"The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying

'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.'

She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling,

'you want a piece of me?' "

More castles and mansions

The Alhambra Palace

I had the privilege of going through several castles in southern Spain, the most notable being the Alhambra Palace in Granada (built between the 9th and 13th century, depending on your resources, and restored and updated in the 14th century). This castle is quite elaborately built, but the architect is unknown. The detailing of the ornamental mosaic inside the main building is quite remarkable and beautiful. The ornamented walls, archways and columns are really something to see. Also, within the building structures are courtyards, reflecting pool, gardens and fountains.

In 1492 the Alhambra became the home of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, who as you may recall, gave Christopher Columbus money and permission to sail to the new world.

Biltmore Estate

Another mansion/castle that I toured was a little closer to home in Asheville, NC. called the Biltmore Mansion on the Biltmore Estate. This was fun to go through because it was all furnished and was actually about 6-7 different levels because there are 2 basement levels. There is even a full size olympic swimming pool under the house. We were not allowed to tour the entire house, but what we did see was pretty grand. Then we drove a couple miles around the estate to the Biltmore winery and had a very social and relaxing wine tasting. The wine was really good.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Bavaria, Germany

One of the most photographed castles in the world is in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, built in 1869 by Kind Ludwig ll. Neuschwanstein Castle served as the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. Neuschwanstein appears prominently in television and several films.

My sister and her husband visited Bavaria, Germany many years ago and was able to photograph this castle from afar.

I have never visited this castle, nor have I ever been to Germany, but maybe someday. . . . .

The Count's Castle

Bran Castle in Transylvania

This castle is for sale.

An heir of Romania's former royal family put "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania up for sale Monday, hoping to secure a buyer who will respect "the property and its history," a U.S.-based investment company said.

For all you horror movie buffs, here's your chance. This castle supposedly belonged to Prince Vlad the Impaler, better known as Count Dracula. However, several articles about it say that Vlad only slept here once.

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century on a cliff near Brasov in Romania.

Now, if only I had the money . . . . . . .