2025/MARCH/15 /(EN)
English language editing: Martin Shough
FOTOCAT DATABASE STATUS
At this date, FOTOCAT records amount to 13,168 cases.
NEW PUBLICATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
New Book (In Spanish)
Mi correspondencia con José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó (My Correspondence with José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó)
(ISBN: 9791281441088)
This 422-page book compiles in facsimile form the correspondence I held with UFO researcher and military officer Captain of Infantry José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó (1940-2020), between the years 1974 and 1991. Ramírez y Barberó was a pioneer in the scientific study of the UFO phenomenon in Spain, primarily applying statistical tools to data analysis. Although his dedication to this field lasted only from 1974 to 1979, his intellectual legacy was extraordinary. In fact, one of the contributions of this volume is the complete reproduction of his extensive bibliography. An important complement to this biographical-documentary work is the inclusion of extensive correspondence exchanged with three distinguished Spanish scholars: Miguel Guasp, Pedro Redón, and Alberto Adell. The book contains seven appendices, including detailed information and questionnaires related to five UFO sightings that occurred between 1970 and 1975, in which Ramírez y Barberó was involved.
Since March 2025, this book can be downloaded for free from the following Academia.edu link:
https://www.academia.edu/128173928/Mi_correspondencia_con_Jose_Tomas_Ramirez_y_Barbero
A print copy has been released by UPIAR publishing house (Turin, Italy), in A4 format, softcover, with illustrations and photographs in black & white and color. The book can be purchased from: https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=208
Bargain: UPIAR is offering a combined price with a 20% discount of the above book plus the recent large volume on my correspondence with Antonio Ribera. Check here: https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=204
(Note: the author does not get royalties by the sale of these books).
Ballester Olmos Research Bibliography 1965-2024
For interested readers, I am announcing that I have just issued my updated research bibliography here:
https://www.academia.edu/126446074/Bibliography_V_J_Ballester_Olmos_1965_2024
UFO RESEARCH AND UFO REPORTS
The Late 2024 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Scare
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a book written by Charles Mackay and published in 1841, delves into the psychological and sociological phenomena behind groupthink and mass hysteria. There, the author explored various examples throughout history where individuals have succumbed to irrational beliefs and behaviors en masse. Since then, multiple episodes of aberrant crowd psychology have befallen many countries. In a recently published paper, I have created a table displaying nine such balloon, airship, Zeppelin, or ghost rocket fears from 1789 to 1946.1 As a matter of fact, I miss an academic bibliography pertinent to this type of phenomenon. The latest event of this nature has just come about in the United States in the last months of the year 2024 with multiple sightings of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), simply called drones. The Pentagon, law enforcement, Aviation, and other authorities and agencies have been deeply involved and contributed their assessments on the problem. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) logged the receipt of more than 5,000 drone sighting reports in the climax period.
On December 12, 2024, a joint Department of Home Security (DHS) and FBI statement was released on reports of drones in New Jersey. “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” was the bottom line of this deposition.2
Just four days later, on December 16, an unprecedented joint action issued by the DHS, FBI, FAA, and the Department of Defense (DoD) was released as part of an ongoing response to reported drone sightings. “We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous.”3 Additionally, the DoD’s chief spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder declared that DoD is taking all reports of drones seriously and working with the White House, the DHS and the FAA to assess the situation, reported Jim Garamone of DoD News.4
So, it is not only me who assimilates this phenomenon to a social scare about drones. Researchers from several countries have coincided to assess the end 2024 drone flap in the United States as an example of mass panic, similar to other such episodes in the past. Next, I am publishing invited articles from three scholars. One is by Australian sociologist Dr. Robert Bartholomew, a worldwide-recognized leading figure in the study of mass psychogenic illness, social panics, urban legends, rumors, etc. His paper was published in the edition of December 14, 2024, of Skeptic. I am indebted to Michael Shermer for allowing me to reprint it here.5
A second article is authored by long-time Danish UFO student Benny Christen Grandahl, spokesperson and webmaster of the Scandinavian UFO Information organization in Denmark. His paper (Google-translated into English here) was released in SUFOI’s web site in December 2024.6 The last article has been written exclusively for the present blog by Josef Garcia, a German UFO investigator with 45 years of management experience in the Information Technology area of BURDA media company.
On the other hand, as the British astronomer Ian Ridpath has pointed out, the recent “drone” sightings in the United States have also coincided with the appearance of Venus, Jupiter and Mars at their brightest in the night sky, along with the usual winter stars such as Sirius. “In the past─Ridpath wrote to the EuroUFO forum list─ it would have been called a UFO flap. Now it is a drone flap. But the causes are the same.”
Spain is not free from this drone attack; the Seville airport had to divert several flights late February 2025 because of the apparition of an unidentified flying object. According to public company AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), it might be caused by a drone.7
In this context, a valuable study on the recent drone mystery has been prepared by French data scientist and GEIPAN consultant Michel Vaillant: “Shadows in the Sky: Unidentified Drones and the New Jersey Mystery”.8 Worth reading. Finally, still talking about drone scares, it is timely to recommend the reading of a 2021 post in his website by folklorist Dr. David Clarke, “The Attack of the Drones,” covering the Gatwick airport drone episode of December 2018 and subsequent UK sightings, including those reported to the Civil Aviation Authority as 'near misses' with aircraft, up to 2021.9
References
(1) V.J. Ballester Olmos and Luis Cayetano, “On the AAWSAP/AATIP Confusion,” https://www.academia.edu/121609473/On_the_AAWSAP_AATIP_Confusion
(2) https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/12/12/joint-dhsfbi-statement-reports-drones-new-jersey
(5) https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/the-great-drone-panic-of-2024and
(6) https://sufoi.dk/ufo-nyt/dronegate-2024/
(9) https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/2021/05/15/attack-of-the-drones/
The Great Drone Panic of 2024…and 1914
By Robert E. Bartholomew
Mysterious lights—seemingly under intelligent control—are spotted hovering in the skies over New Jersey and across the northeastern United States, sparking fear and anxiety. Sometimes they are reported above military installations, prompting concern that they may be the work of a hostile foreign government engaged in spying or worse.
The current drone scare?
No, this is a description of the great drone panic over eastern seaboard of the United States over a century ago. A series of similar scares back then coincided with the fear of Germans and the began shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914.1 Based on an analysis of the reported times and sky locations of the sightings, most corresponded with the appearance of celestial objects such as Venus.2 Others were later determined to have been prompted by tissue balloons which resembled modern-day Chinese lanterns.3 They were powered by candles attached to the base and made buoyant by the generation of heat.
One of the more far-fetched explanations for the current scare is that a Chinese or Iranian vessel is stationed off the east coast and is launching the drones to spy on our military bases or even launch a terrorist attack with explosives. A knowledge of history and psychology can help to illuminate this affair.
First, some witnesses report that the drones are the size of a small car or even an SUV. While this is theoretically possible, based on an analysis of online footage, Department of Homeland Security officials believe that some “drones” are actually small aircraft (some images show a cylindrical tube with two large wings up front and two small wings in the back and lights blinking in a pattern resembling that of planes).4 Other reports could be of small drones because as psychologists, police, and trial lawyers know all too well, eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. (Many people have been convicted of crimes and either executed or sent to prison for decades using visual evidence alone, only to be later exonerated by DNA.) Size estimates are also notorious for their unreliability, and likely account for modern day sightings of Thunderbirds with alleged 20-foot wing-spans across north America.
Social panics are triggered by fear and uncertainty. It is the job of the researcher to examine the background and identify the anxieties that are driving it. In this instance, current geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia, China, and Iran, appear to have contributed to a sense of distrust and vulnerability. Another factor may be a distrust of our own government, levels of which are at all-time highs. Humans also tend to project their beliefs and fears onto ambiguous stimuli. As a result, the sky becomes a Rorschach Ink Blot Test where people often see what they expect to see.
The Ghosts of Panics Past
The current drone scare reflects two moral panics that are currently rife in America—the exaggerated fear over the danger posed by undocumented migrants, and concerns about new technologies. The drone panic is an example of history repeating itself. In early 1915, amid rumors that German Americans sympathetic to Berlin were about to launch an aeroplane raid on Ottawa from a secret base in northern New York State, residents living on the American side of the border near Brockville, began to scan the skies, and on the night of February 14th thought they saw hostile planes on their way to bomb the capital in Ottawa.
The Canadian Government immediately declared a state of emergency and posted sentries and aeroplane spotters on buildings in and around Parliament. Like today, the media stoked the scare as evidenced by the following banner headline in the Toronto Globe the morning after the scare: “Ottawa in Darkness Awaits Aeroplane Raid. Several Aeroplanes Make a Raid into the Dominion of Canada. Entire City of Ottawa in Darkness, Fearing Bomb-Droppers.” The scare quickly died down when it became evident that there were no planes and no attack had taken place.
In Parliament, Prime Minister Robert Borden, when questioned about the “attack,” referred further questions to his Chief of Police. The Toronto Globe, embarrassed by their rash headline, blamed the affair on “hysterical” residents in Brockville, where by now the charred remains of two large toy balloons had been found. Brockville residents, in turn, pinned the blame on young boys from a nearby town for lighting tissue balloons that had been mistaken for aeroplanes.5
History Repeating
Just as mysterious lights over New Jersey and surrounding states were once attributed to German spies in aeroplanes, today's sightings are shaped by similar fears of espionage and new technologies. These panics may have occurred over one hundred years apart, but they are rooted in the same anxieties and driven by mass communications. Once the news media and social media sound the alarm as to the presence of mysterious, menacing lights in the night sky, people are motivated to scan the heavens for confirming evidence. Drones have been a part of American life for many years now. Ordinarily, people don’t pay much attention to their presence, but with more people staring at the sky for longer periods, they are more likely to notice objects they previously hadn’t noticed or paid attention to.
Historically, waves of UFOs tend to spread over weeks or months before they eventually subside. Given the immense publicity that surrounds the current panic, it would not be surprising to see reports appear on a wider geographical scale in a sporadic fashion for several more months.
There is one aspect of the drone scare that is refreshing: for once we are dealing with a UFO wave that is being attributed to a foreign power instead of aliens. This is reminiscent of the “flying saucer” wave over the U.S. during the summer of 1947 that was triggered by Kenneth Arnold’s sighting on June 24th. Within two months, a Gallup Poll about the “flying discs” revealed that less than one percent considered the likelihood that they were extraterrestrial in origin, which wasn’t even one of the choices given, but was instead listed under “Other.” In contrast, 16 percent attributed them to an American or Russian secret weapon.6 History repeats itself once again.
References
(1) Bartholomew, Robert E., and Weatherhead, Paul (2024). Social Panics and Phantom Attackers: A study of Imaginary Assailants. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2) Bartholomew, Robert E., and Howard, George S. (1998). UFOs & Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. Pp. 138-162.
(3) Bartholomew, Robert E. (1998). “Phantom German Air Raids on Canada: War Hysteria in Quebec and Ontario during World War I.” Canadian Military History 7(4):29-36 (Autumn 1998)
(4) Duffy, Clare (2024). “Mysterious aircraft are flying over New Jersey. Here’s what big drones are made for.” CNN News, December 13.
(5) "Were toy balloons and not aeroplanes! Brockville's latest on Sunday night's scare,” Toronto Globe, February 16, 1915, p. 1; and "Air raid from the states improbable,” Toronto Globe, February 16, 1915, p. 7.
(6) Gallup, George (1947). “Nine out of Ten Heard of Flying Saucers.” Public Opinion News Service, Princeton, N.J., August 15, 1947.
Drone sightings over New Jersey have developed into a veritable mass hysteria
By Benny Christen Grandahl
It all started with reports of a dozen unidentified drones over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, USA back in December 2023. Here they flew around the base all day long for a period of almost 2 weeks at speeds up to 160 km/h. And disappeared without a trace every evening after sunset. This naturally caused a lot of concern among the American defense forces. Because it was not immediately possible to find out who was behind it, let alone what the origin of the drones was. This made the case yet another example of the Americans not being able to control what is flying around in their own airspace. Or not being able to find out. Officially, at least, many believe.
A treat for American UFO journalists
The episode quickly became a real treat for the American UFO journalists, who played the UFO card and dished out all sorts of speculation about what the drones were doing, where they came from – and what it meant for the disclosure (revealing the truth about the UFOs) that many are hoping for. Therefore, the case appeared again and again in various American podcasts, articles and news media. And during November this year, it was joined by new observations of mysterious, unknown drone overflights of American military bases. Not only domestically in the US, but also in several other places around the world. Both recently and in recent years. The overflight of three US military bases in the UK in 2020 and 2022 received particular attention. Just as a 2023 overflight of Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany made headlines in the German tabloid media. And there were countless reports of mysterious drone overflights in several countries in Eastern Europe – which most people considered to be of Russian origin. Yes, even here at home and in Norway we had mysterious drones flying around over the oil and gas fields in the North Sea a few years ago.
But then it broke out over New Jersey
I can't say whether this is due to the extra media attention surrounding the mysterious drone overflights, especially over American military bases. But suddenly in mid-November, drone reports started pouring in from the state of New Jersey in the USA. According to reports, the drones were large, unidentified, ranging in size from a small SUV to drones the size of houses. They were often seen in groups and sometimes accompanied by a humming sound. According to several reports, large drones were also seen launching several smaller drones. The first reports came from Morris and Somerset counties in New Jersey, where residents noticed drones hovering over residential areas and critical infrastructure like power plants and transmission lines. The sightings quickly spread to other states, including New York, parts of Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Soon, half the population of the United States was standing with their heads tilted back, watching for drones.
Lots of speculation and very few answers
The lack of clear answers about what the drones are and where they come from has led to numerous speculations. Some believe that the drones may be part of secret military projects, while others fear foreign surveillance with spy drones. And still others – as already mentioned – see them as signs of imminent disclosure. A member of Congress has even stated that the drones could have been launched by an Iranian “mothership” off the American coast. However, he could not provide evidence for this claim. And most recently, there have been rumors that the many drones are due to the authorities searching for a missing nuclear warhead. Yes, the conspiracy stories are in the queue. President-elect Donald Trump has also been out to blow down the house of cards. In a statement, he called for more transparency from the military regarding drone sightings and suggested that the government knows what it is about but will not share it with the public.
The authorities' reaction poured more fuel on the fire
Federal agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have also been investigating many reports. They believe that many of the sightings are likely caused by ordinary manned aircraft mistakenly identified as drones, but they do not find any evidence of foreign involvement. This was announced by John Kirby –White House spokesman– in a video that quickly went viral on social media among those who believe that the drone case is just another example of the US government and the Pentagon keeping their knowledge about UFOs and non-human intelligence secret.1 A few days later – on December 16 – the various security and intelligence agencies issued a joint press release.2 It revealed that the FBI alone has received over 5,000 drone reports in recent weeks and is still investigating about 100 of the most interesting cases. That press release also received a lot of backlash on social media because no one clearly believes the authorities' statements. So even though the authorities have announced that they have investigated the matter and that there is no cause for concern, the hysteria continues – and seems unwilling to let up until the average American and the American UFO journalists get the answers they want.
Some more likely explanations
The bottom line is that private recordings of all sorts of lights in the sky are flooding social media. And the panic seems to be spreading by the hour. Not just in the US but also in the rest of the world – even in little Denmark. At SUFOI's photo department, we strongly agree with the American authorities that much of the drone footage is actually just ordinary commercial and hobby drones flying around. And that there is also a lot of footage of airplanes, stars, planets, satellites and all the other natural and man-made phenomena that are known to give UFO experiences when seen under unusual conditions.
At the same time, we think that extensive media coverage has made even more people look up to see drones and other luminous objects in the sky that they are not used to seeing. Furthermore, it hardly makes things any better that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) changed the rules for drone flying as late as 20233 , so that it is now also permitted to fly drones at night. So, drone lights are still a relatively new sight for many Americans. Finally, it is probably also a factor that New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US with 458 inhabitants per square kilometer. Because typically, many UFOs – and now drones – are seen where many people live. This is shown by several maps of UFO sightings.
Not surprisingly, the most UFOs — and now drones — are seen over the parts of the United States where the population density is highest.
The US authorities are left with a real problem of explanation, which concerns the drone sightings over US military bases that set off the whole drone hysteria. For how is it possible to get away with flying over and disrupting air traffic for up to several weeks without the Americans being able to do anything about it? Also, there are a few recordings of drones over civilian areas that are noteworthy — without us believing that they are due to anything more extraordinary.
But it's almost time for what it's really about to be forgotten because of the many civilian recordings of everything between heaven and earth that are making noise on social media and the more sensationalist news media. At the same time, the whole story is a frightening example of how low the public's trust is in the American authorities. And how well-connected American UFO journalists are – not only with the average American, but also with politicians and civil servants. Last year we promised it would only get wilder (when Congress voted down the Schumer additions to last year's defense spending bill). And wilder it has indeed become. What's next?
References
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oznJ16TkMw&t=2s
Drones over New Jersey, A mass hysteria!
By Josef Garcia
What happened?
In 2024, a series of mysterious drone sightings occurred on the US East Coast, particularly in New Jersey. These unidentified flying objects caused considerable excitement and triggered speculation about possible causes and authors. The first reports of drone sightings in New Jersey emerged in November 2024. Sightings became more frequent in the weeks and months that followed, with drones spotted over various locations, including military installations, nuclear power plants, airfields and civilian areas. The drone activity caused disruption to air traffic, heightened safety concerns and prompted a full investigation by the authorities.
But unfortunately, it also caused mass hysteria among the population!
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.
Quote from the well-known duck test1 or modified for drone sightings: ‘They look like drones, move like drones, sound like drones, so they must be drones.’ At least that's what common sense should provide as a ‘result’. Not so with the mass hysteria we are currently experiencing in New Jersey (USA). 2 Conventional manned aircraft or helicopters are misinterpreted by various sections of the population (politicians, doctors, teachers, reporters, ordinary citizens...) as ‘unusual/unknown’ drones or UAPs.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the US government is contributing to the uncertainty of the population. What is the message that is getting through to people?
- Don't worry, the drones are peaceful, there is no danger from them, they are not attacking us.
- They are not foreign spies or intruders
- Please report sightings to the FBI and security personnel
- We don't know who the owners of the drones are.
- We do not know where they come from or where they are launched from
All material for conspiracy theories!
However, the U.S. Government has since learnt its lesson and changed its reporting somewhat: According to a senior White House spokesperson, federal, state and local authorities have been unable to confirm any alleged sightings of mysterious drones over New Jersey. Furthermore, authorities have concluded that many of the unmanned aerial systems allegedly spotted in the sky are actually harmless manned aircraft or helicopters.
But the baby has already fallen into the well! The hysteria is perfect and is being fuelled even further by false reports in the social media and much of the mainstream media. However, the peak of panic and hysteria has been reached. Concerned citizens are shooting at the flying objects or blinding them with powerful laser beams. One pilot even had to seek medical treatment.3
The drone sightings in New Jersey represent an interesting phenomenon that has both similarities and differences to classic cases of mass hysteria.
Similarities of a mass hysteria
Everyone sees drones: Similar to other cases of mass hysteria, numerous people reported a phenomenon that could not always be confirmed by others. New news every day and it doesn't stop: People are ‘infecting’ each other. Reports of drone sightings spread quickly on social media and traditional media, leading to an amplification of the phenomenon. Where is the evidence? Despite numerous reports, there was often no clear evidence of the existence of the drones or their activities.
Differences to classic cases of mass hysteria
They do exist - they are drones: Unlike some cases of mass hysteria, which are often triggered by vague fears or stress, the drone sightings had a concrete trigger: the actual existence of drones. Drones are part of everyday life: The drone sightings took place at a time when drones have become increasingly present in our everyday lives. This could have increased people's willingness to see such objects in the sky. Possible external influences: There is a possibility that the drone sightings were influenced by targeted disinformation or other external factors.
Why are these differences relevant?
The distinction between drone sightings and classic cases of mass hysteria is important in order to better understand the underlying causes. While traditional cases of mass hysteria often centre on psychological factors, technological, social and possibly even political aspects may have played a role in the drone sightings. The drone sightings in New Jersey represent a complex phenomenon at the intersection of psychology, sociology and technology. While some aspects of the phenomenon are reminiscent of classic cases of mass hysteria, there are also clear differences. A comprehensive analysis requires consideration of a variety of factors, including psychological, social, technological and possibly political aspects.
Conclusion
For us UAP/UFO researchers, this is a unique opportunity to experience live how hysteria arises and spreads during mass sightings and how people can be infected by it. In 1938, during the radio play ‘War of the Worlds’, similar hysterical behavior occurred among the listeners because they believed the radio play to be true. Witnesses reacted in a similar way to the mass sightings of phoenix lights or the wave of triangle UFOs in Belgium. We have to be careful not to fall for our ‘wishful thinking’ and believe in things because we want them to be true. Nothing is easier than fooling ourselves and believing everything to be true.
References
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp5mr7BzWNA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYl2Hjshg9M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIpU3QcD6kA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U7erFeeo_I
Conventional airplanes or helicopters are reported as drones or UAPs in the mass hysteria. (Image borrowed from
The author, Josef Garcia.
UAP in America Today
There has been some news from AARO in the first quarter of 2025. In January, the DoD UAP office released on its web site an Information Paper entitled “Correlations of Starlink Satellite Flaring with UAP Observations.” It also included a related animation:
https://www.aaro.mil/Portals/136/PDFs/Information%20Papers/AARO_Satellite_Flaring_Paper.pdf
In February, AARO published “Go Fast. Case Resolution and Methodology,” a 26-page analysis of one of the infamous U.S. Navy UAP videos, assessing that the performance of the object is not anomalous at all and that its apparent high speed is attributable to motion parallax, as the object was moving at wind speed and in the direction of the wind. It confirms the findings of other researchers.
On February 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order at declassifying government documents on the assassinations of President John F. K Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. According to Fox News Digital, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) will lead a task force on declassification of “Federal secrets,” including Epstein client list, and UFOs:
How it will interfere with AARO’s own investigation for the second volume on UFO historical records, is not known, but duplication of efforts is not generally efficient.
Finally, also in February, Liberation Times disclosed information newly obtained from the USAF exposing drone breaches at Plant 42 (home of the B-21 Raider) and Palmdale Regional Airport, California, sparking espionage concerns:
Quotable Quotes1
“Some literature suggests individual accounts can be unreliable as they are subject to a person’s interpretation of sensory data through the filter of their experiences, beliefs, or state of mind during the event. A person who reports a case might be credible, in that they believe the elements of their account to be accurate. However, their reliability, which is their ability to accurately interpret events—as well as to recall and convey those events due to a range of factors—is altogether different from their inherent sincerity.2 Similarly, confirmation bias is a recognized subconscious cognitive process whereby a person tends to seek and believe information that supports their hypothesis and to discount information that undermines their hypothesis.”3
(1) These quotes have been taken from the “Report on “Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Volume 1,” All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), U.S. Department of Defense, February 2024,
https://www.aaro.mil/Portals/136/PDFs/AARO_Historical_Record_Report_Volume_1_2024.pdf
(2) Anjali Nandan, “Eyewitness Testimony: A Psychological and Legal Perspective,” Journal of Positive School of Psychology, 2022; Biswa Prakesh Nayak & H. Khajuria, “Eyewitness Testimony: Probative Value in the Criminal Justice System,” Egyptian Journal of Forensic Science, 2019; Stephen L. Chew, “Myth: Eyewitness Testimony is the Best Kind of Evidence,” Association for Psychological Science, 2018; Fangting Liu, “The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony,” from the Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences, Atlantis Press, 2021.
(3) Daniel Khaneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2013; Helen Lee, “Don’t Let Anchoring Bias Weigh Down Your Judgment,” Harvard Business Review, August 30, 2022; Richard J, Heuer, Jr., Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Novinka Books, 1999; Drake Baer, “Kahneman: Your Confirmation Bias Acts Like an Optical Illusion,” The Cut, January 13, 2017; Ben Yagoda, “The Cognitive Bias Tricking Your Brain,” The Atlantic, September 2018.
Flying Saucer Ruled Out, 1954
1954 is a year that has always attracted my attention in ufology. It was an emblematic period. Matter-of-factly, the single solution to this enigma can be found in the hundreds of episodes and events claimed to have been experienced during those intense media months. There is no need to go beyond, as all classes of phenomenology occurred then. We have the huge French wave, full of humanoid reports, for example.1 And a late one in Spain as well.2 And also lots of purported flying saucer pictures.3 I collect everything related to flying saucer photography, and I report it here, after due cataloging.4-9 Thanks to the faithful collaboration of Kay Coggin, who is successfully locating materially tons of vintage UFO clippings, a curious story has been unearthed, though it is only distantly connected with flying saucers. It was published in the edition of September 20, 1954, of the Goldsboro News-Argus, North Carolina. It goes as follows. Under the heading “Strange Objects Seen In Sky”, the newspaper wrote:
Edmond McCool, 1213 Edgerton St., is a former Air Force man. Saturday afternoon [September 18] when his daughter came into the house and announced breathlessly that something was falling from the sky, McCool went to investigate. Sure enough, high in the air were dark specks that drifted about gracefully. “Birds,” McCool announced and returned to his reading.
But a few minutes later he was attracted by the commotion outside. His “birds” were definitely falling and they had taken on the shapes of elongated streamers, spiralling from the heavens. A second look and McCool decided that possibly an airplane had exploded. And since only two weeks ago one Edgerton Street resident had reported seeing a “flying saucer”, the possibility that some interplanetary vehicle had blown up was not ruled out by some residents.
At any rate, McCool figures the newspaper would want to know about it. He called a reporter who arrived just in time to catch one of the descending missiles. Strangely, it was a strip of fodder, the leaf of a corn stalk. High in the air more of the same could be seen. Leaves, bits of paper and one paper bag could also be distinguished.
The big question remained: how in the dickens did it get up there? As the self-styled “investigators” pondered the problem, an over-sized whirlwind whipped up sand and bits of paper over in the vicinity of the armory, a third of a mile away. Almost instantly the paper was elevated several hundred feet in the air. It drifted across the heavens and, as it passed over the Edgerton Street neighborhood, it began drifting gracefully toward the earth.
The journalist in charge of the event was quick in avoiding any hint of sensationalism when he preceded the article with this visible warning to his readers: “Flying Saucer Ruled Out”.
This vegetal piece was caught by a reporter summoned to the scene. © Goldsboro News-Argus.
References
(1) Michel Figuet and Jean-Louis Ruchon, OVNI : Le premier dossier complet des rencontres rapprochées en France, Alain Lefeuvre (Nice), 1979.
(2) V.J. Ballester Olmos and J.C. Victorio Uranga, “Los ovnis de diciembre de 1954,”
https://www.academia.edu/16786792/LOS_OVNIS_DE_DICIEMBRE_DE_1954
(3) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “The Year 1954 in Photos (Expanded),” April 2008, https://www.academia.edu/43961635/THE_YEAR_1954_IN_PHOTOS_Expanded_
(4) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “First Shot, First Saucer. Buffalo, NY, 1954” and “Another New 1954 Photo,” http://fotocat.blogspot.com/2023_09_15_archive.html
(5) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “More Swedish Cases,” https://fotocat.blogspot.com/2013_06_12_archive.html
(6) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “New UFO Photographs for 1954 Found,” https://fotocat.blogspot.com/2006_04_19_archive.html
(7) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “The Inexhaustible Wave of 1954,” https://fotocat.blogspot.com/2018_12_14_archive.html
(8) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “Curious 1954 Pictures from Down Under,” https://fotocat.blogspot.com/2012_05_29_archive.html
(9) V.J. Ballester Olmos, “Still More Stills from 1954,” https://fotocat.blogspot.com/2012_12_27_archive.html
Miscellaneous
(1) Ukranian UFO researcher Igor Kalytiuk writes:
In the information environment, one way or another connected with ufology, there are about a hundred resources, and most of them are full of "yellow" headlines, obvious and implicit forgeries, errors in identification and other "nonsense" in the same vein, all that is conditionally possible, from a scientific point of view, they can be called subcultures and even neo sects. And due to the fact that there was no news resource for scientific and semi-scientific, as well as revealing publications on this topic in the Cyrillic environment, this resource was created. The "News of Ufology" project as an alternative mass media was launched in July 2011. The purpose of the project is to provide adequate information and communication opportunities for people interested in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Anomalous Aerospace Phenomena (AAP). Our definitions:
UFO - is an unidentified flying object, any object in the atmosphere or in outer space, not identified by a specific observer.
AAP - is an anomalous aerospace phenomenon, any phenomenon in the atmosphere or in outer space that could not be explained by manifestations of known nature.
The Ufology News Annual Bulletin for 2024 can be downloaded from this link:
http://ufology-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ufology-News_Annual_Bulletin_2024.pdf
(2) Philippe Ailleris, “European UAP Sightings in 2019-2023: Raw Data by Country and Year,” https://www.euroufo.net/2024/06/30/european-uap-sightings-in-2019-2023-raw-data-by-country-and-year/
(3) German GEP’s UFO/UAP Case Investigations Annual Report 2024 released:
(4) Andreas Gruenschloss, “UFO faith and ufological discourses in Germany,”
https://www.academia.edu/109974193/UFO_faith_and_ufological_discourses_in_Germany
(5) Preston C. Copeland, Utah State University 2012 MS Thesis, “Saucers and the Sacred: The Folklore of UFO Narratives,”
https://www.academia.edu/60312699/Saucers_and_the_Sacred_The_Folklore_of_UFO_Narratives
Abstract: This work explores the folklore surrounding UFO narratives, focusing on abduction stories such as the Pascagoula incident. It categorizes different types of UFO encounters and analyzes the common thematic elements of abduction experiences, drawing parallels between these modern narratives and traditional folklore, particularly the Old Hag experience. The study highlights how these accounts reflect complex psychological and cultural phenomena, reinforcing themes of fear, helplessness, and the unknown.
(6) Andreas Müller (GEP, Germany, February 24, 2025), “World’s First: Passive Radar Signal Confirms visual UFO-Sighting,” https://www.grenzwissenschaft-aktuell.de/worlds-first-passive-radar-signal-confirms-visual-ufo-sighting/
(7) Latest issues of Tim Printy’s SUNlite (January-February, and March-April 2025):
http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/SUNlite17_1.pdf
http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/SUNlite17_2.pdf
(8) Italian UFO researcher Renzo Cabassi died March 1, 2025. Founding member of CISU, he will be missed in the field of scientific-oriented ufology. An obituary: https://www.euroufo.net/2025/03/02/renzo-cabassi-1945-2025/
(9) Kevin H. Knuth et al, “The New Science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP),” https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.06794
My own, subjective opinion: pretentious and misleading. But it is also a good synthesis of UFO documentation.
(10) Graham Holton, “UFOs and Religious Cults,”
https://www.academia.edu/33603591/UFOs_and_Religious_Cults
(11) The latest by Curt Collins & Yvan Defoy:
https://thesaucersthattimeforgot.blogspot.com/2025/02/injured-on-job-by-ufo.html
(12) Heriberto Janosch (Ph.D. in Criminology, longtime UFO investigator and author), “The Socorro UFO, about to explode: Preliminary report,” and “Socorro: End of the Mistery?”). Hosted in Factor 302.4, the website of Argentine journalist and writer Alejandro Agostinelli:
https://factorelblog.com/2025/03/07/the-socorro-ufo-about-to-explode-preliminary-report/
https://factorelblog.com/2025/03/09/the-socorro-ufo-case-one-step-away-from-the-final-explanation/
This work can be compared with another theory developed on this UFO landing, proposed by the American ufologist Anthony Bragalia in 2009 and published here:
LITERATURE
Érase una vez en Ovnilandia. Tomo VI: De la guerra de los mundos a la guerra de los sueños (In Spanish: Once Upon a Time in UFOland. Volume VI: From the War of the Worlds to the War of Dreams) (By Sergio Sánchez).
Ignacio Cabria writes:
Chilean researcher Sergio Sánchez Rodríguez has published the sixth and final volume of his work Érase una vez en Ovnilandia [Once Upon a Time in UFOland], in which he analyzes the intellectual history of French ufology and, by extension, the Francophone field. He has divided the work into the following themes: the first generation of ufologists and the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH); paraufology and the Magonia Hypothesis; the psychosocial hypothesis; the UFO phenomenon from a folklore perspective and other approaches; the return of the ETH under the influence of the "Roswellization" of ufology and the new conspiracy theories; and the sociological critique of ufology from the HPS perspective. The result is a monumental work of scholarship, with a fundamentally methodological approach, grounded in Sergio Sánchez's deep knowledge of the history of ufology and his vast expertise in the social sciences. This is a work that should encourage ufologists and their critics to explore new ideas and approaches.
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Ovnilandia-guerra-mundos-sue%C3%B1os-Spanish/dp/B0DP2VBRBV
PERSONAL LOG
One day before the end of last year, on December 31, 2024, our team in Valencia had the pleasure of meeting again with Diego Zúñiga, the guru of the Coliseo Sentosa publishing house, who came from Germany with his family to spend a few days in Valencia. The following photograph shows, from left to right, V.J. Ballester Olmos, Jaime Servera, Juan Antonio Fernández, Diego Zúñiga, Javier Cavanilles, and Carlos González. Juan Pablo González later joined the dinner that followed this pleasant gathering.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the following colleagues who have sourced material or analysis to the current edition of this blog: Michael Shermer and Skeptic (USA), Benny Christen Grandahl and Ole Henningsen (Denmark), Jaime Servera (Spain), Curt Collins (USA), Josef Garcia (Germany), Ian Ridpath (UK), Edoardo Russo (Italy), and Ignacio Cabria (Spain).
BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
A Catalogue of 200 Type-I UFO Events in Spain and Portugal, 1976
http://www.cufos.org/books/Catalogue_of_200_Type_I_UFO_Events_in_Spain_and_Portugal.pdf
OVNIS: El fenómeno aterrizaje (UFOs: The Landing Phenomenon), 1978, 1979, 1984
Los OVNIS y la Ciencia (with M. Guasp) (UFOs and Science),1981, 1989
Investigación OVNI (UFO Investigation), 1984
Enciclopedia de los encuentros cercanos con OVNIS (with J.A. Fernández Peris) (Encyclopedia of Close Encounters with UFOs), 1987
https://www.academia.edu/41625252/ENCICLOPEDIA_DE_LOS_ENCUENTROS_CERCANOS_CON_OVNIS
Expedientes insólitos (The Unusual Files), 1995
Check the online second-hand market for the above books. For example:
IBERLIBRO:
https://www.iberlibro.com/servlet/SearchResults?ds=20&kn=vicente-juan%20ballester%20olmos&sts=t
UNILIBER: https://www.uniliber.com/buscar/libros_y_coleccionismo?autor=Vicente-Juan%20Ballester%20Olmos
AMAZON: https://tinyurl.com/5fpy2en5
TODO COLECCIÓN:
https://www.todocoleccion.net/buscador?from=top&bu=VICENTE-JUAN+BALLESTER+OLMOS
Norway in UFO Photographs: The First Catalogue (with O.J. Braenne), 2008
http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=174&st=1
UFOs and Government (with M. Swords & R. Powell, and C. Svahn, B. Chalker, B. Greenwood, R. Thieme, J. Aldrich, and S. Purcell), 2012
http://www.anomalistbooks.com/book.cfm?id=64
Avistamientos OVNI en la Antártida en 1965 (with M. Borraz, H. Janosch & J.C. Victorio), (UFO Sightings in Antarctica in 1965), 2013
http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=182&st=1
Belgium in UFO Photographs. Volume 1 (1950-1988) (with Wim van Utrecht), 2017
http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=191&st=1
The Marfa Lights. Examining the Photographic Evidence (2003-2007) (with M. Borraz), 2020, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=196&st=1
The Reliability of UFO Witness Testimony (eds.) (with R.W. Heiden), 2023, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=201
Mi correspondencia con Antonio Ribera (My Correspondence with Antonio Ribera), 2024, https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=204
Mi correspondencia con José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó (My Correspondence with José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó), 2025, https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=208
HOW YOU CAN COLLABORATE WITH FOTOCAT PROJECT
There are several options you can follow:
Volunteer work, onsite or remote
Deliver sighting reports, photographs, archives, bibliography, etc.
Donations to help defray research expenses
You can reach Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos directly by e-mailing to: ballesterolmos@yahoo.es
2025/MARZO/15 (ES)
Editor de la sección en castellano: Juan Pablo González
BASE DE DATOS FOTOCAT
A fecha de hoy, el catálogo FOTOCAT reúne 13.168 casos.
NUEVAS PUBLICACIONES DEL AUTOR
Anuncio de un nuevo libro
Mi correspondencia con José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó
(ISBN: 9791281441088)
Este libro, de 422 páginas, recopila la correspondencia que sostuve con el investigador y militar, capitán de Infantería José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó (1940-2020) entre los años 1974 y 1991. Ramírez y Barberó fue un pionero en el estudio científico del fenómeno ovni en España, aplicando primordialmente las herramientas estadísticas al análisis de los datos. Si bien su dedicación a esta materia solo duró de 1974 a 1979, su legado fue intelectualmente extraordinario. De hecho, otra de las aportaciones de este volumen es la de reproducir su extensa bibliografía al completo. Un importante complemento de esta obra biográfico-documental es la inclusión de la profusa correspondencia cruzada con tres insignes estudiosos españoles, Miguel Guasp, Pedro Redón y Alberto Adell. El libro contiene siete apéndices entre los que se incluye detallada información y formularios de encuesta relativos a cinco avistamientos ovni ocurridos entre 1970 y 1975, en cuya investigación intervino Ramírez y Barberó.
Esta publicación ha sido posible gracias a la inestimable colaboración de Moisés Garrido y Claudia Moctezuma, gestores del proyecto “Paradig+XXI”, así como de Anders Liljegren, de Archives for the Unknown (AFU, Suecia).
Desde marzo de 2025, el libro se puede descargar de forma gratuita en formato PDF del siguiente enlace de Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/128173928/Mi_correspondencia_con_Jose_Tomas_Ramirez_y_Barbero
La editorial UPIAR de Turín ha publicado una edición en papel de tapa blanda en formato A4, con ilustraciones y fotografías en blanco y negro y color. El libro se puede adquirir a través del enlace: https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=208
Algunas opiniones elogiosas procedentes de investigadores y autores:
La recopilación de Ballester Olmos sobre Ramírez y Barberó aporta clara información sobre la perspectiva y actividad ufológica del militar y permite ir más allá en los estudios sobre la historia cultural de lo considerado inefable o inexplicado. (Jordi Ardanuy)
Esta interesante correspondencia nos permite ahora conocer un poco mejor la personalidad que había detrás de la fría estadística. (Ignacio Cabria)
Sus artículos, profundizando en estudios estadísticos del fenómeno ovni, me descubrieron numerosas novedades y abrieron los ojos a cuantos ignoraban el valor de esta ciencia como principal método de estudio. (David G. López)
Lo más importante en el quehacer científico es afrontarlo con el mayor rigor y metodología posible, sin ningún otro interés personal que no sea perseguir el conocimiento de la verdad sobre el asunto que se estudia. Con este libro, Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos pone en valor la figura de José Tomás Ramírez y Barberó, cumpliendo además con el deber de dejar constancia escrita de los aspectos históricos y bibliográficos de la historia de la ufología en España. (Miguel Guasp).
Oferta: UPIAR está ofreciendo un precio combinado con un 20% de descuento por el libro mencionado anteriormente más el reciente volumen de mi correspondencia con Antonio Ribera. Consulte aquí las condiciones: https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=204
(Nota: El autor no recibe regalías por la venta de estos libros).
Mi bibliografía al día
Para los lectores más interesados en mi obra de sesenta años, he actualizado mi bibliografía de investigación de 1965 a 2024 en el siguiente enlace:
https://www.academia.edu/126446074/Bibliography_V_J_Ballester_Olmos_1965_2024
INVESTIGACIÓN Y CASUÍSTICA
El pánico de los vehículos aéreos no tripulados de finales de 2024
En Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, un libro escrito por Charles Mackay y publicado en 1841, se analizó los fenómenos psicológicos y sociológicos escondidos tras el pensamiento grupal y la histeria colectiva. Allí, el preclaro autor exploró varios ejemplos a lo largo de la historia en los que individuos han sucumbido a creencias y comportamientos irracionales de manera masiva. Desde entonces, múltiples episodios de psicología colectiva aberrante han ocurrido en muchos países. En un artículo recientemente publicado, he creado una tabla que muestra nueve de estos temores relacionados con globos, dirigibles o cohetes fantasma, desde 1789 hasta 1946.¹ En realidad, echo de menos una bibliografía académica pertinente a este tipo de fenómeno.
El último evento de esta naturaleza se ha desarrollado en los Estados Unidos en los últimos meses del año 2024, con múltiples avistamientos de vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAV), comúnmente llamados drones. El Pentágono, las fuerzas del orden, la aviación y otras autoridades y agencias se han involucrado profundamente y han aportado sus evaluaciones sobre el problema. Según se informó, la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) recibió más de 5.000 informes de avistamientos de drones en el período de mayor actividad.
El 12 de diciembre de 2024, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) y el FBI emitieron un comunicado conjunto sobre los informes de drones en Nueva Jersey. "No tenemos pruebas en este momento de que los avistamientos reportados representen una amenaza para la seguridad nacional o la seguridad pública, ni que tengan una conexión extranjera", fue la conclusión de esta declaración.²
Solo cuatro días después, el 16 de diciembre, se publicó un memorando conjunto sin precedentes por parte del DHS, el FBI, la Administración Federal de Aviación (FAA) y el Departamento de Defensa (DoD) como parte de una respuesta en curso a los avistamientos de drones que se estaban denunciando. "Evaluamos que los avistamientos hasta la fecha incluyen una combinación de drones comerciales legales, drones de aficionados y drones de las fuerzas del orden, así como aviones tripulados de ala fija, helicópteros y estrellas que han sido reportadas erróneamente como drones. No hemos identificado nada anómalo".³
Además, el principal portavoz del DoD, el mayor general de la Fuerza Aérea Pat Ryder, declaró que el Departamento de Defensa estaba tomando en serio todos los informes de drones y trabajaba con la Casa Blanca, el DHS y la FAA para evaluar la situación, según informó Jim Garamone de DoD News.⁴
No soy el único que percibe este fenómeno como un pánico social relacionado con drones. Investigadores de varios países coinciden en considerar el episodio de finales de 2024 en Estados Unidos como un ejemplo de pánico masivo, similar a otros ocurridos en el pasado.
A continuación, reproduzco artículos de tres académicos. Uno es del sociólogo australiano Dr. Robert Bartholomew, una figura reconocida a nivel mundial en el estudio de enfermedades psicogénicas masivas, pánicos sociales, leyendas urbanas, rumores, etc. Su artículo fue publicado en la edición del 14 de diciembre de 2024 de Skeptic. Agradezco a Michael Shermer por permitirme reproducirlo aquí.⁵
El segundo artículo es del veterano estudioso danés del fenómeno OVNI Benny Christen Grandahl, portavoz y administrador del sitio web de la organización Scandinavian UFO Information en Dinamarca. Su artículo (traducido al inglés con Google para este blog) fue publicado en el sitio web de SUFOI en diciembre de 2024.⁶ El último artículo ha sido escrito expresamente para este blog por Josef Garcia, un investigador de ovnis alemán con 45 años de experiencia en gestión en el área de Tecnología de la Información de la empresa de medios BURDA.
De otro lado, como ha señalado el astrónomo británico Ian Ridpath, los recientes avistamientos de "drones" en Estados Unidos han coincidido con la aparición de Venus, Júpiter y Marte en su punto de máximo brillo en el cielo nocturno, junto con las estrellas invernales habituales, como Sirio. "En el pasado -escribió Ridpath en la lista del foro EuroUFO- se la habría llamado una oleada de ovnis. Ahora es una oleada de drones. Pero las causas son las mismas".
España no está exenta de este "ataque" de drones; el aeropuerto de Sevilla tuvo que desviar varios vuelos a finales de febrero de 2025 debido a la aparición de un objeto volador no identificado. Según la empresa pública AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), podría haber sido causado por un dron.7
En este contexto cabe señalar un valioso estudio sobre el reciente misterio de los drones que ha sido elaborado por el científico de datos francés y consultor del GEIPAN, Michel Vaillant: “Sombras en el cielo: Drones no identificados y el misterio de Nueva Jersey”.8
Y para terminar, parece adecuado recomendar la lectura de un artículo escrito en 2021 en su web por el folclorista Dr. David Clarke titulado “El ataque de los drones”, que dedicó al asedio de estos vehículos no tripulados al aeropuerto de Gatwick en diciembre de 2018, y a los subsiguientes avistamientos en Gran Bretaña denunciados a Aviación Civil como “accidentes potenciales” (near misses) con aviones hasta 2021.9
Referencias
(1) V.J. Ballester Olmos and Luis Cayetano, “On the AAWSAP/AATIP Confusion,” https://www.academia.edu/121609473/On_the_AAWSAP_AATIP_Confusion
(2) https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/12/12/joint-dhsfbi-statement-reports-drones-new-jersey
(5) https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/the-great-drone-panic-of-2024and
(6) https://sufoi.dk/ufo-nyt/dronegate-2024/
(8) Michel Vaillant, “Shadows in the Sky: Unidentified Drones and the New Jersey Mystery,”
(9) David Clarke, “The Attack of the Drones,” https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/2021/05/15/attack-of-the-drones/
La anterior nota sirve de presentación a los siguientes tres artículos que se hallan en la sección en inglés de este blog:
“The Great Drone Panic of 2024…and 1914”, por Robert E. Bartholomew
“Drone sightings over New Jersey have developed into a veritable mass hysteria”, por Benny Christen Grandahl
“Drones over New Jersey, A mass hysteria!”, por Josef Garcia
Los UAP en América hoy
Ha habido algunas prometedoras noticias de la AARO en el primer trimestre de 2025. En enero, la oficina de UAP del Departamento de Defensa americano publicó en su sitio web un documento informativo titulado “Correlaciones del resplandor de satélites Starlink con observaciones de UAP”, incluyendo una breve animación: https://www.aaro.mil/Portals/136/PDFs/Information%20Papers/AARO_Satellite_Flaring_Paper.pdf
En febrero, AARO publicó “Go Fast. Resolución del caso y metodología”, un análisis de 26 páginas sobre uno de los infames videos de UAP de la Marina de EE.UU. La evaluación concluye que el comportamiento del objeto no es anómalo, y que su aparente alta velocidad se debe a un efecto de paralaje de movimiento, ya que el objeto se desplazaba a la velocidad y en la dirección del viento. Este informe confirma los hallazgos de otros investigadores:
El 6 de febrero, el presidente Donald Trump firmó una orden ejecutiva para desclasificar documentos gubernamentales sobre los asesinatos del presidente John F. Kennedy, su hermano Robert F. Kennedy y el icono de los derechos civiles Martin Luther King Jr. Según Fox News Digital, la congresista Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) liderará un grupo de trabajo para la desclasificación de “secretos federales”, incluyendo la lista de clientes de Epstein y documentos relacionados con los ovnis: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-anna-paulina-luna-lead-congressional-task-force-declassification-jfk-assassination-records-more
No se sabe cómo esto afectará a la investigación de la AARO sobre el segundo volumen previsto de registros históricos de ovnis, pero la duplicación de esfuerzos generalmente no es eficiente.
Por último, y también en febrero, Liberation Times reveló nueva información obtenida de la Fuerza Aérea de EE.UU. sobre incursiones de drones en la Planta 42 (sede del B-21 Raider) y el aeropuerto regional de Palmdale, en California, lo que ha generado preocupaciones sobre espionaje:
Citas citables1
"Algunas fuentes literarias sugieren que los relatos individuales pueden ser poco fiables, ya que están sujetos a la interpretación de los datos sensoriales a través del filtro de las experiencias, creencias o estado mental de la persona en el momento del evento. Una persona que informa sobre un caso puede ser creíble en el sentido de que cree que los elementos de su relato son precisos. Sin embargo, su fiabilidad -es decir, su capacidad para interpretar con precisión los sucesos, así como recordarlos y transmitirlos correctamente, lo cual puede verse afectado por diversos factores- es algo completamente distinto de su sinceridad inherente.2 De manera similar, el sesgo de confirmación es un conocido proceso cognitivo subconsciente, en el cual una persona tiende a buscar y creer información que respalde su hipótesis, al mismo tiempo que descarta aquella que la contradiga”.3
(1) Citas extraídas del trabajo “Report on “Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Volume 1,” All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), Departamento de Defensa de los Estados Unidos, febrero de 2024,
https://www.aaro.mil/Portals/136/PDFs/AARO_Historical_Record_Report_Volume_1_2024.pdf
(2) Anjali Nandan, “Eyewitness Testimony: A Psychological and Legal Perspective,” Journal of Positive School of Psychology, 2022; Biswa Prakesh Nayak & H. Khajuria, “Eyewitness Testimony: Probative Value in the Criminal Justice System,” Egyptian Journal of Forensic Science, 2019; Stephen L. Chew, “Myth: Eyewitness Testimony is the Best Kind of Evidence,” Association for Psychological Science, 2018; Fangting Liu, “The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony,” en Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences, Atlantis Press, 2021.
(3) Daniel Khaneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, Farrar, Strauss y Giroux, 2013; Helen Lee, “Don’t Let Anchoring Bias Weigh Down Your Judgment,” Harvard Business Review, 30 de agosto de 2022; Richard J, Heuer, Jr., Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Novinka Books, 1999; Drake Baer, “Kahneman: Your Confirmation Bias Acts Like an Optical Illusion,” The Cut, 13 de enero de 2017; Ben Yagoda, “The Cognitive Bias Tricking Your Brain,” The Atlantic, septiembre de 2018.
Flying Saucer Ruled Out: curioso suceso de 1954. Véase la sección en inglés del blog.
Miscelánea
(1) Revista de Ufología: https://revistadeufologia.blogspot.com/2024/12/blog-post.html
(2) Selección de artículos de la web de Alejandro Agostinelli durante 2024:
Fraude maussanita recargado: el show de las “momias tridáctilas” pasó de México a Perú
A 45 años de The UFO Handbook, opus de Allan Hendry
https://factorelblog.com/2024/09/09/a-45-anos-de-the-ufo-handbook-opus-de-allan-hendry/
Buscando a E.T.: los marcianos no pueden esperar
https://factorelblog.com/2024/09/16/buscando-a-e-t-los-marcianos-no-pueden-esperar/
Inminente, entre la autobiografía exhibicionista y el libro sobre ovnis, sin revelaciones
¿El alienígena del Dique La Florida llegó en un cohete japonés?
https://factorelblog.com/2024/01/26/el-alienigena-de-dique-la-florida-llego-en-un-cohete-japones/
Por qué el principal caza ovnis del Pentágono se fue dando un portazo
(3) Último número de Papers d’OVNIS, diciembre de 2024 (en catalán):
https://www.mediafire.com/file/3vre8dfjwgw9d5q/Nous_Papers_11.pdf/file
(4) SUNlite, 2025 (publicación de Tim Printy):
http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/SUNlite17_1.pdf
http://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/SUNlite17_2.pdf
(5) Sprites observados desde Valencia:
https://www.lasprovincias.es/comarcas/rayo-argelia-vio-ayora-20250107190447-nt.html
(6) Ufology News Annual Bulletin (Ucrania), 2024:
http://ufology-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ufology-News_Annual_Bulletin_2024.pdf
(7) Philippe Ailleris, “European UAP Sightings in 2019-2023: Raw Data by Country and Year”: https://www.euroufo.net/2024/06/30/european-uap-sightings-in-2019-2023-raw-data-by-country-and-year/
(8) UFO/UAP Case Investigations Annual Report 2024 (GEP, Alemania):
(9) Andreas Gruenschloss, “UFO faith and ufological discourses in Germany”:
https://www.academia.edu/109974193/UFO_faith_and_ufological_discourses_in_Germany
(10) Preston C. Copeland, tesis de master de la Utah State University, 2012, “Saucers and the Sacred: The Folklore of UFO Narratives”:
https://www.academia.edu/60312699/Saucers_and_the_Sacred_The_Folklore_of_UFO_Narratives
(11) Andreas Müller (GEP, 24 de febrero de 2025), “World’s First: Passive Radar Signal Confirms visual UFO-Sighting”: https://www.grenzwissenschaft-aktuell.de/worlds-first-passive-radar-signal-confirms-visual-ufo-sighting/
(12) Fallecimiento del investigador italiano Renzo Cabassi el 1 de marzo de 2025. Miembro fundador del CISU, será recordado en el ámbito de la ufología con orientación científica. Obituario: https://www.euroufo.net/2025/03/02/renzo-cabassi-1945-2025/
(13) Kevin H. Knuth et al, “The New Science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP)”: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.06794
En mi opinión, pretencioso y engañoso, pero al tiempo una útil síntesis de documentación.
(14) Graham Holton, “UFOs and Religious Cults”:
https://www.academia.edu/33603591/UFOs_and_Religious_Cults
(15) Lo último de Curt Collins y Yvan Defoy:
https://thesaucersthattimeforgot.blogspot.com/2025/02/injured-on-job-by-ufo.html
(16) Heriberto Janosch (doctor en Criminología, avezado investigador ovni y autor) acaba de publicar los artículos “El ovni de Socorro, a punto de explotar: informe preliminar” y “Socorro: ¿Fin del misterio?” en Factor 302.4, el sitio web del periodista y escritor argentino Alejandro Agostinelli:
https://factorelblog.com/2025/03/07/el-ovni-de-socorro-a-punto-de-explotar-informe-preliminar/
https://factorelblog.com/2025/03/09/el-caso-ovni-de-socorro-a-un-paso-de-la-explicacion-final/
Estos trabajos pueden contrastarse con una teoría previa sobre el mismo aterrizaje ovni, escrita por el americano Anthony Bragalia en 2009:
https://marcianitosverdes.haaan.com/2009/09/el-ovni-de-socorro-fue-una-broma-estudiantil/
https://marcianitosverdes.haaan.com/2009/10/el-ovni-de-socorro-fue-una-broma-estudiantil-y-2/
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
Adiós OVNIs. Bienvenidos FAANIs
Con este particular título, el veterano investigador asturiano Luis Balboa aporta el resultado de toda una vida dedicada al estudio de avistamientos de ovnis en su región natal, creando un catálogo de 189 casos conocidos ocurridos en Asturias desde 1900 a 1996. Son 457 páginas dedicadas a glosar 59 incidentes en los que existe información suficiente para su evaluación. De ellos, 35 son “ovnis” (inexplicados) y 23 “ovis” (explicados). Hay un apartado final -a todo color- con estadísticas básicas de los casos recopilados. El autor, en sus conclusiones, defiende la hipótesis de que los ovnis son fenómenos naturales de tipo atmosférico, de ahí que los denomine Fenómenos Atmosféricos Anómalos No Identificados (FAANIs). Es una notable colección de casuística, buena prueba del prolongado trabajo de encuesta de Balboa y sus colaboradores, además de una historia de la ufología en Asturias. A continuación doy el email del autor para quienes deseen adquirir esta obra: lbalboa51@hotmail.com
Érase una vez en Ovnilandia. Tomo VI: De la guerra de los mundos a la guerra de los sueños (por Sergio Sánchez).
Escribe Ignacio Cabria:
El investigador chileno Sergio Sánchez Rodríguez ha publicado el sexto y último volumen de su obra Érase una vez en Ovnilandia, en la que ha hecho un análisis de la historia intelectual de la ufología francesa, y por extensión del ámbito francófono. Ha dividido la obra en los siguientes temas: la primera generación de ufólogos y la hipótesis extraterrestre (HET); la paraufología y la hipótesis Magonia; la hipótesis psicosociológica; el fenómeno ovni desde el folklore y otros enfoques; el retorno de la HET bajo el signo de la roswellización de la ufología y del nuevo “complotismo”; y la crítica sociológica de la ufología de la HPS. El conjunto es una obra monumental de erudición, con un enfoque fundamentalmente metodológico, que se apoya sobre el profundo conocimiento de Sergio Sánchez de la historia de la ufología y sobre su vasta cultura en materia de ciencias sociales. Una obra que debería servir para que los ufólogos y sus críticos se planteen nuevas ideas y abordajes.
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Ovnilandia-guerra-mundos-sue%C3%B1os-Spanish/dp/B0DP2VBRBV
Casi ovnis. Historias de objetos voladores identificados
Recomendable traducción al castellano del magnífico libro de Robert Sheaffer Bad UFOs:
https://coliseosentosa.blogspot.com/2025/03/casi-ovnis.html
AGENDA PERSONAL
(1) Un día antes de finalizar el año pasado, el 30 de diciembre de 2024, nuestro equipo valenciano tuvo el placer de volver a reunirse con Diego Zúñiga, gurú de la editorial Coliseo Sentosa, que vino desde Alemania con su familia a pasar unos días a Valencia. La fotografía siguiente muestra, de izquierda a derecha, a V.J. Ballester Olmos, Jaime Servera, Juan Antonio Fernández, Diego Zúñiga, Javier Cavanilles y Carlos González. Juan Pablo González se unió más tarde a la cena que siguió a este agradable encuentro.
(2) No pueden faltar las fotos de mis nietos: Lucas y Fernando juegan con sus dispositivos, mientras Matías piensa qué dulce comerse primero. Lucas, disfrazado para la actuación navideña del colegio, con su hermano Matías. Laura y su sobrino Matías.
Agradecimientos
Mi gratitud a los siguientes colegas que han aportado alguna información a la presente edición del blog: Michael Shermer y Skeptic (EE.UU.), Benny Christen Grandahl y Ole Henningsen (Dinamarca), Jaime Servera (España), Curt Collins (EE. UU.), Josef Garcia (Alemania), Ian Ridpath (Inglaterra), Edoardo Russo (Italia) e Ignacio Cabria (España).
LIBROS DEL AUTOR
A Catalogue of 200 Type-I UFO Events in Spain and Portugal, Center for UFO Studies, 1976
http://www.cufos.org/books/Catalogue_of_200_Type_I_UFO_Events_in_Spain_and_Portugal.pdf
OVNIS: El fenómeno aterrizaje, Plaza & Janés, 1978, 1979, 1984
Los OVNIS y la Ciencia (con Miguel Guasp), Plaza & Janés, 1981,1989
Investigación OVNI, Plaza & Janés, 1984
Enciclopedia de los encuentros cercanos con OVNIS (con J.A. Fernández Peris), Plaza & Janés, 1987
https://www.academia.edu/41625252/ENCICLOPEDIA_DE_LOS_ENCUENTROS_CERCANOS_CON_OVNIS
Expedientes insólitos, Temas de Hoy, 1995
De estas obras agotadas se encuentran ejemplares en el mercado de segunda mano. Por ejemplo:
IBERLIBRO:
https://www.iberlibro.com/servlet/SearchResults?ds=20&kn=vicente-juan%20ballester%20olmos&sts=t
UNILIBER: https://www.uniliber.com/buscar/libros_y_coleccionismo?autor=Vicente-Juan%20Ballester%20Olmos
AMAZON: https://tinyurl.com/5fpy2en5
TODO COLECCIÓN:
https://www.todocoleccion.net/buscador?from=top&bu=VICENTE-JUAN+BALLESTER+OLMOS
Norway in UFO Photographs: The First Catalogue (con O.J. Braenne), UPIAR, 2008
http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=174&st=1
UFOs and Government (con M. Swords & R. Powell y C. Svahn, B. Chalker, B. Greenwood, R. Thieme, J. Aldrich y S. Purcell), Anomalist Books, 2012
http://www.anomalistbooks.com/book.cfm?id=64
Avistamientos OVNI en la Antártida en 1965 (con M. Borraz, H. Janosch y J.C. Victorio), UPIAR, 2013, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=182&st=1
Belgium in UFO Photographs. Volume 1 (1950-1988) (con Wim van Utrecht), UPIAR, 2017, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=191&st=1
The Marfa Lights. Examining the Photographic Evidence (2003-2007) (con M. Borraz), UPIAR, 2020, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?language=en&artID=196&st=1
The Reliability of UFO Witness Testimony (eds.) (con R.W. Heiden), UPIAR, 2023, http://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=201
Mi correspondencia con Antonio Ribera, UPIAR, 2024, https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=204
Mi correspondencia con José-Tomás Ramírez y Barberó, UPIAR, 2025, https://www.upiar.com/index.cfm?artID=208
CÓMO PUEDE COLABORAR CON EL PROYECTO FOTOCAT
Hay varias opciones de colaboración a su disposición, a saber:
Trabajo voluntario, presencial o a distancia
Entrega de información sobre casuística, fotografías, archivos, bibliografía, etc.
Donaciones para ayudar a sufragar gastos de investigación
Puede dirigirse directamente a Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos al siguiente correo electrónico: ballesterolmos@yahoo.es
© Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos Link
