Over the next several weeks, I’ll be conducting interviews with leading UFO researchers from countries around the world in an effort to paint a picture of global UFOlogy today.

UFO sightings over USA, Europe and Australia ! August 2017

This week, our global UFO trek takes us to Denmark, and to Pia Knudsen. Pia has had an interest in UFOs since a childhood sighting in British Columbia, Canada. In 2009 Pia co-founded Exopoltics Denmark, which now operates as UFO Denmark. Pia has been interviewed on national radio and for the National Geographic channel; she has written articles on the UFO topic and lectured in both the UK and Norway. In her current role as director of UFO Denmark, Pia says that she “strives to make the best research and documentation available for the Danish public.”

Pia Knudsen, director of UFO Denmark.

RG: Who have been the defining figures in Danish UFOlogy over the past 70 years (for better or for worse), and why?

PK: Major H. C. Petersen was a pioneer in Danish ufology, founding the first nationwide ufo group, Scandinavian UFO Information (SUFOI), in 1957.

As a captain lieutenant in 1952, Hans Christian Petersen was sent to Wright Patterson Airforce base in Ohio for training. During his stay, Petersen became astonished to learn that the Americans took the UFO topic seriously. Project Blue Book had headquarters at the base and the young officer became convinced that UFOs were real. In the mid 1950s, Petersen had his own UFO radar sighting at Skydstrup Airforce base, which fuelled a lifelong interest in UFOs. Due to disagreements regarding George Adamski, H. C. Peterson left the SUOFI group in 1965 and went on to create a second group, IGAP (International Get Acquainted Program) to promote Adamski’s tecahings. Both UFO groups still exist. While the SUOFOI group has become increasingly skeptical of the topic and refers to UFOs as a myth with earthly explanations for all sightings, the IGAP group is slowly diminishing and now has very few members. H. C. Petersen passed away in 2013.

Hans Christian Petersen, a pioneer of Danish Ufology who passed away in 2013.

Early Danish UFO groups include UFO-Fyn, DISC and Nordisk UFO Organisation. FUFOS (Frederiksberg UFO Studygroup) had quite a following in the 1970s, promoting not only UFOs but a mix of topics. The group eventually changed its name and focus; it seldom focusses on UFOs nowadays.

In 2009 I co-founded the Exopolitics Denmark group, focussing on political and environmental activism surrounding UFOs. Each year we invite leading researchers to Denmark. In 2014, you [Robbie Graham] joined George Knapp and Terje Toftenes in Copenhagen to speak about UFOs and the media. Other speakers have included Richard Dolan, Robert Hastings, Timothy Good, Suzy Hansen, Gary Heseltine, Jeremey Corbell, Mary Rodwell, Steven Bassett, A. J. Gevaerd and more. In May 2018, Grant Cameron visited both Copenhagen and Kolding.

In late-2017, Exopolitics Denmark voted to change its name to UFO Denmark. We now have a broader focus to create debate and provide information surrounding the UFO topic.

RG: What do you consider to be the most compelling Danish UFO incident on record, and why?

PK: Police officer Evald Maarup Hansen twice spotted a UFO above his police car on a romote country road in 1970, and again in 1973. Both the car and police radio shut down during the event, but Evald Maarup managed to take three pictures of object. He reluctenly spoke about the event after collegues had contacted the media. In 2010 I located a radar operator, Nis Krog, who had been on duty at the nearby Skydstrup Airforce Base and had seen an unidentified object on his radar at the time and in the area Maarup had his encounter. This case was included in a National Geographic documentary I worked on in 2013 and Nis Krog went public for the first time confirming his radar observations.

RG: What is the Danish government’s official stance on UFOs? When was the last time it issued a statement on the subject?

PK: The Danish airforce released their UFO files in january 2009. There was a big hype in the press. The airforce stated that they had collected 15,000 files since the mid fifties but in fact only released 228 cases on the day. They claimed all files from before 1978 had gone missing. On average, 250 cases were rapported each year, so I estimate that 7,500 cases should have been released in 2009. No members of the press or the SUFOI UFO group questioned why so few cases were released. The airforce’s offical website recommends all new incoming cases be reported to the SUFOI group. I have done much more research into the file release and have an article on the subject. The governement no longer comments on the topic.

RG: Has the Danish government shown more or less transparency on the UFO subject than the US and British governments?

PK: Early on, in the late 1950s the airforce were quite open and even defended Major H. C. Petersen’s right to have a hobby studying UFOs when questioned about his abilty to work as an airforce officer. Since the 1970s the airforce has become much less open regarding UFOs and, since 2009, no longer comments on the subject.

The Danish Ministry of Defence building. The Danish Air Force released some of its UFO files in 2009.

RG: What is the role of your organisation, UFO Denmark (previously Exopolitics Denmark)?

PK: UFO Denmark does not collect UFO reports or do field work. Our role is to create a platform for information and debate. Some indiviuals in our group do independent research and we provide an email address so people can share their sightings.

RG: How many smaller Danish UFO groups or organisations are you aware of?

PK: There is one small UFO group and others who organize CE-5 events. Nowadays social media plays a key role in connecting peole who seek information. UFO Denmark is the only group organizing events and inviting reseachers to speak.

Copenhagen, Denmark on the Nyhavn Canal.

RG: What are the most active regions of Denmark for UFO sighting reports (hotspots)?

PK: I am not aware of any hotspots at the moment. Sightings seem to be spread equally across the country. Very rarely do people see disc-shaped UFOs; it is mainly orbs being reported. There seems to be an increase in contact cases.

RG: Have you personally had any UFO sightings?

PK: Yes, I have had three sightings. I had my first in 1971, together with four other people. It was a daytime sighting of a silver disc (approx. 30 meters away and 40-50 metres in the air). This happened in Surrey, B.C., Canada.

In 2012, together with Gary Heseltine and my Norweigan friend Ann, I had a sighting of a large white glowing orb close to Bergen in Norway.

My last sighting happened in Denmark in 2016 at my summer cottage on the outskirts of Copenhagen. My husband and I saw five white orbs, the size of a frisbee, flying silently opposite the wind pass by our house. I managed to take six pictures (the camera elongated the orb, but it was completly round. You can see the flagpole in the picture).

Photo taken by Pia Knudsen of one of five luminous orbs sighted in the presence of her husband in 2016 near Copenhagen, Denmark.

RG: How long have you been involved in the UFO subject; roughly how many cases have you personally investigated; and what conclusions, if any, have you drawn about the underlying nature of UFO phenomena?

PK: Since my first sighting at the age of 10, and also hearing about my mother’s sightings, I’ve been intrigued by the subject. I have seriously studyed the topic for the past 15 years, and since 2009 together with UFO Denmark members. I have investigated very few cases in a nuts and bolts fashion, but many have shared their experiences with me. The brightest minds in this field have not been able to conclude much about the nature of the phenomena and nor can I, but I do agree that it is much much more than just lights in the sky.

RG: How can Danish UFOlogy better itself?

PK: Judge less and listen more.

For further information, visit UFO Denmark.

BEST UFO Sightings 2017

Best UFO Documentary Film Part 2 || UFO Sightings From Around The World

As you may have seen, last week I wrote three articles here at Mysterious Universe on the involvement in the UFO subject of the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). It’s the U.K.’s equivalent of the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA). You can find the three articles at these links: one, two and three. It’s worth noting, though, that there are more than a few agencies of government in the United Kingdom that have been involved in the investigation of (a) UFOs and (b) those involved in the subject, whether researchers or eyewitnesses.

Nick Pope is someone who is well known to many people in Ufology. Between 1991 and 1994 he handled UFO reports for a body within the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense (MoD). When Pope’s first book was published (Open Skies, Closes Minds – in 1996) his publicist billed him as “the Real Fox Mulder.” Well, no, he wasn’t. Pope – when he was working in a branch of the MoD called Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a – told me that: “There is no specific ‘UFO budget,’ except the staff costs, i.e. around 20 % of my salary, together with a tiny percentage of some other salaries, reflecting my line management’s supervisory role.”

The Freedom of Information Act has shown that when Pope received letters or calls from people who may have seen UFOs, it was the job of Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a to forward the reports onto the Defense Intelligence Staff (DIS) and it was the DIS that did the work to determine if the witnesses had seen satellites, aircraft, etc. Their evaluation would then be shared with Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a, who would reply to the caller/letter-writer who wanted answers regarding what they had seen. Notably, too, there was no budget for Pope to travel around the country to investigate cases. It was all done from within the MoD Main Building. So, we have an office that investigated UFOs in the MoD, but which had a budget of only 20 percent of Pope’s salary, plus a “tiny percentage” of funding from “some other salaries.” On top of that, the work was actually done by the far more secret DIS, and Pope never had the ability or the funding to hit the road to investigate even a single case in that 1991-1994 period.

As my earlier articles showed, this is very much at odds with what GCHQ was doing in regards to UFOs. They were intercepting military messages concerning UFOs, investigating cases, keeping Robin Cole under surveillance, and working with the U.K. Police’s Special Branch. On the matter of Special Branch, they opened files on George King and his Aetherius Society in the late 1950s, specifically because of the society’s stance on atomic weapons. Now-declassified files on the Aetherius Society show that Special Branch sat in on lectures given by the society and hung around in the crowds when George King and his followers were expressing their views on atomic weapons at various locations in London. Here, then, is an example of how Special Branch personnel were given funding to investigate UFO-connected issues, and to hang out at Aetherius Society meetings and prepare reports. There is also a Special Branch file on Matthew Williams, the first man in the U.K. to be arrested, charged and fined for making a Crop Circle (the actual charge was criminal damage).

Moving on, there is the matter of what used to be the U.K.’s Provost and Security Services, an arm of the British Royal Air Force that got involved in matters relative to national security and counter-intelligence. When we once again turn our attentions to the U.K.’s Freedom of Information Act, we find that in the 1960s, the P&SS were very active in visiting UFO witnesses to UFO activity. The 1960s equivalent of the office that Nick Pope worked in played no role in any of those visits. In February 1962, the P&SS was involved in the investigation of a “UFO/vehicle interference” case in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England. It was in the early hours of February 16 when Ronald Wildman encountered a Flying Saucer-type craft that affected the lights and engine of his vehicle. A P&SS team was soon on the scene – and a file was quickly created.

P&SS personnel were also quickly on the scene when Anne Leamon saw a strange light (strange in the sense that it seemed to hover, reverse and move in ways that a regular aircraft could not) over the hills near her Taunton, Somerset, England home. Anne contacted the Air Ministry and was amazed when a Sergeant J.S. Scott of the P&SS turned up on the doorstep one night – and returned on several, subsequent nights. He suggested to Anne that she not discuss the encounter outside of her family. The P&SS were also involved when, in November 1966, a woman named Diane Foulkes encountered a low-flying UFO at Great Ness, England. The object had adverse effects on the engine and the lights of her vehicle. And, she felt “very ill” and traumatized. Once again, the P&SS opened a detailed file.

What all of this tells us is that various agencies, offices and bodies in the U.K. have had deep involvement in the UFO subject: GCHQ, Special Branch, the P&SS, and the Defense Intelligence Staff. All of them seemed to have had significant funding – and the ability to travel around the country – to carry out research into notable cases. Ironically, the publicly visible office that Nick Pope worked in had no budget to allow for travel, no budget to interview witnesses, and no budget to keep a watch on controversial figures in Ufology.

If you’re a fan of Spielberg-flavored sci-fi entertainment (kids chasing aliens around their neighbourhood while being pursued by spoilsport authorities and all that jazz), you may want to seek out a new movie written and directed by Alexander Murillo.

The movie, Watch the Sky, is based on the graphic novel of the same name and was released on August 21 of this year through iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, Fandango, and On Demand through local cable/satellite providers.

The synopsis reads as follows:

“It all began with a simple question: it’s just one balloon in the entire sky, what’s the worst that can happen? In an effort to capture amateur video of outer space, two young brothers unexpectedly find themselves in harm’s way when an innocent Science experiment becomes a day filled with unearthly events threatening their sleepy coastal town.”

Co-President of distributor Breaking Glass Pictures, Richard Ross told BroadwayWorld.com:

“Murillo does a wonderful job capturing the ‘awe and wonder’ innocence of two brothers in a small coastal town, when they find themselves in the middle of an alien sighting. This is an engaging family-friendly film, with a tip of the hat to Spielberg.”

A number of movies in recent years have sought –with varying degrees of success– to recapture and pay homage to the magic of Spielberg’s sci-fi productions of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 (2011), Dave Green’s Earth to Echo (2014), and Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special (2016).

Watch the Sky (title surely inspired by dialogue from Spielberg’s Close Encounters: “… Okay, watch the skies please…”, or by the working title for Spielberg’s abandoned movie based on the Kelly-Hopkinsville UFO case from 1955) is produced by Renée O’Connor (of Xena: Warrior Princess fame) and Jed Sura. It stars J. Nicole Brooks (Chicago Med), Luke Albright (Devil’s Pass), Christopher Corbin (Jane the Virgin), Amie Farrell (American Sniper), Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse), and Carol Mansell (Desperate Housewives).

Could this be the year that the Loch Ness monster is found? Is something stirring up the loch and forcing it to surface more frequently? Could that DNA testing experiment have spooked it … or was the experiment a cover for placing something in the loch to bring Nessie out of its lair? These rumors and more are flying after monster sightings were reported at the same location within 12 hours of each other … sightings that include one of the “best photos ever” (according to a local expert) and bring the 2018 total to seven, with another still under study.

The magic Nessie day was August 17th. According to The Scottish Sun, Lynn Locke of Ontario, Canada, was at the loch for a vacation with her husband and daughter. Standing 50 yards from the water at about 9:40 am near Urquhart Castle, a popular spot for spotting the monster, Lynn was ready to see something after seeing nothing on a Ness cruise. Noticing a strange abject 50 yards off shore, Locke locked onto the loch with her smartphone for a minute and recorded … something. (See the photos here.)

Lynn’s pic has now been officially logged

Lynn spotted the object

A young girl took this picture of what could be the Loch Ness Monster on the first day of her holiday

“While we were visiting the castle I noticed something moving in the water, with trails of bubbles leading up to it. It went under the water a couple of times and reappeared.”

Before you say it, Lynn already knows what you’re thinking.

“I do think I saw Nessie – maybe the tail. I’ve seen a stick floating in the water before and that didn’t look like one to me.”

It doesn’t look like a boat.

Well, that plus the photos was enough for Gary Campbell, keeper of the official Nessie sightings register, to enter Lynn’s account into the official log. Little did he know that this would turn out to be one of the biggest days in that log’s history. At around 7 pm, Charlotte Robinson saw something just 12 miles away and only 15 yards from the shore and snapped her “best ever” photo which was also logged in the log. Still waiting for approval is what Campbell described as a similar sighting the day before – perhaps the owners of the photo, if one was taken, are holding out for the highest bidder, rather than taking their chances on the Inverness Courier’s Loch Ness Monster monster photo contest with its $2000 prize.

Gary Campbell, keeper of the official Nessie sightings register, hasn’t seen this much activity since … well, since last year, which had a record number of sightings – 11. This year’s are different because they’re so close together in times and locations. Meanwhile, the DNA collectors have collected their DNA, but don’t plan to release their findings until January 2019. Would they release them sooner if someone gets a conclusive photo? WILL someone get a conclusive photo? Anyone? Bueller?

Whatever they are, sightings in Loch Ness are up — two years in a row. The local tourism bureau and Inverness businesses are certainly reaping the benefits. Are they also floating the logs?

Logs that look like monsters? Preposterous!

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