During my time as Director of Investigations for the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) I was fortunate to be able to liaise with UFO researchers around the world. And work with the national news media on many occasions. One such researcher was Zvi Bighetz from Israel.  It would seem that the only time we hear of anything from Israel it is to do with politics or armed conflicts but in the mid-1990’s Israel also saw its fair share of UFO sightings.  The following is reproduced with the kind permission of Zvi Bighetz.

UFO LANDING IN ISRAEL

It would seem that from the early 1990’s onwards Israel was in the midst of a UFO ‘flap’. This is a term used within UFO research to donate an intense period of UFO sightings. The flap probably began with the UFO sightings made by Eli Cohen. Mr. Cohen awoke early on the morning of September 29th, 1991 with his house filled with intense light. His whole house both inside and out seemed to be illuminated by something. Going outside he saw an object like a half moon that was hovering in the sky and projecting a light that illuminated the entire area. On a subsequent night the object appeared again and this time Eli Cohen was able to video film this silvery disc hovering over his house.  This seemed to set the scene for what was to follow.

Kadima is a small town not far from where Eli Cohen filmed the silvery disc. The events that were to transpire there left the Israeli UFO researchers completely baffled. It all began on the morning of the 20th of March 2003 at 6.00 am. Zsiporet Carmel was asleep but was awoken by a disturbance outside. She got up and went outside and was amazed to see a UFO resting on the ground some 50 meters away.  The UFO was described as looking like “an orange fruit container” and was silver in colour. Along its sides there were square ‘windows’ that seemed to be glowing. Five huge beams of light emanated from the object into the sky and as she was watching another UFO seemed to ‘materialise’. Both objects were estimated to be about 5 or 6 meters in diameter.

Next to the UFO Zsiporet observed and being approximately 2 and a half meters tall wearing a metallic overall the colour of aluminium foil. A kind of ‘bee-keepers hat’ covered the beings face.  The witness related a kind of ‘telepathic’ conversation with this being with her asking the being to take off the hat so she could see its face. Surprisingly the being replied in Hebrew saying “kakha zeh” which means that’s the way it is. For some reason the witness now felt compelled to return to her house which she did, but when she came out again the UFO had gone. The following day she took her dog for a walk in the field and discovered a large circular depression in the grass which she feels was left by the landed UFO.

When UFO researcher Zvi Bighetz arrived in Kadima on March 31st 1993 a second circular depression was found a few meters from the first one and a third one was located a few days later, all in the same field. Al of these circles seemed to leave trace material behind and samples were taken.

The first circle there was black gelatine like material discovered. In the second one a red liquid was found. In the third one deposits of silicon were found.

In the following weeks more circles were found using a small aircraft to survey the area. The silicon was tested at the Geological Survey of Israel but nothing conclusive was revealed.

These events left Zvi and other Israeli researchers completely baffled.

UFO PHOTOGRAPHED OVER WEST SUSSEX

One of the many national newspapers I worked with down the years was the Sunday Mirror in the UK. In July 1997 they had an alleged UFO photograph submitted to them and they asked me if I could look into it for them.

The following has never been published anywhere and I have withheld the photographers name and I will refer to him as RC.

RC wrote to the Sunday Mirror and his letter is dated 11th July 1997.  His letter is detailed here verbatim.

Dear Sir,

Please find enclosed a photograph I took the other afternoon (17.00 Sunday July 6th 1997).  It was taken with a Canon EOS 10 with a 300mm lens with Klix film 200 ASA. I am sure you must often get “spoof & crank mail” but trust this will not fall into that category before you check for authenticity.

Whilst getting ready to return home from a family outing, just as I was getting into my car I saw this strange sighting! I quickly opened my car boot, grabbed my camera and managed to get the enclosed shot.

The object was in the sky for a very short time and it did appear to change shape before it went out of sight, does this photograph show a UFO? or just something that can be easily explained by experts? I have the negatives in my possession and they can be inspected under full laboratory scrutiny if requested.

I have photographed military aircraft in the past, also hot air balloons but never have I see anything quite like this, in fact I must admit I have always been rather sceptical of the UFO reports, but this incident now has me perplexed.

If this interests you I look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours Sincerely,

RC.

Despite writing to RC I never did find out any more about this alleged UFO photograph. I have used the photograph in question here plus an enlargement that the Sunday Mirror made at the time. I will leave you to make up your own mind about it. Does the photograph show a UFO or an IFO ?

Although such alleged UFO photo cases can often leave your frustrated as this one from West Sussex did it was nonetheless very heartening to be able to build up a good working relationship with the national news media here in the UK.

Along with this of course I am grateful to have been able to work and liaise with colleagues around the world then much as I do now. So much has passed across my desk down the years all of which has been a privilege to see and assist me in my own research into the mystery that we call the UFO phenomenon.