Senior Board Member, CUFOS colleague, and mentor, Dr. Michael Swords ponders one of the highest-strangeness puzzles in UFO studies—Why don't UFOs cause sonic booms? Why no apparent air displacement? Mike reviews a medley of examples, some well-known, others not, providing different examples of the phenomenon. His addition of Jenny Randles' "Oz Effect" into the discussion is done well and understandably—especially laudable for such a mind-bending matter. Mike links to his article on The Holland, Michigan, Radar-Visual Case, 1994, which after all these years is still the best (and perhaps only) serious work on that "flap." And the late Jennie Zeidman's A Helicopter-UFO Encounter Over Ohio remains the best work on the 1973 Coyne/Mansfield, Ohio, puzzler. One example comes from almost 1,200 taped interviews with the public by the late John Timmerman at his UFO traveling exhibit. Mike, assisted by other dedicated folks, published many of these in Grassroots UFOs: Case Reports from the Center for UFO Studies reprinted by Anomalist Books. While perusing the Center's files, read Charles-Maxence Layet's March 20, 2025: European UAP Day. Reflecting the times, Layet argues that "To reinforce genuine strategic autonomy, the EU must engage seriously, transparently, and proactively on the UAP issue." He effectively lists the potential threats UAP possess, notes the still-fragmented European governmental UAP posture and current status, and states "Inaction is no longer an option." Layet outlines clear, commonsense initiatives that demand implementation. He also acknowledges a host of civilian organizations with remarkable histories of scientific work and collaboration by leading researchers in the world, addressing this common passion—and problem. (WM)

If you missed out on the excitement last year (and the year before), fear not because you have yet another chance to participate in The Quest (to find the Loch Ness Monster). The Loch Ness Centre has announced there will be upgraded technology allowing submersible cameras to go much deeper and into tighter spaces, which increases the chances of finding a camera shy Nessie. The event runs May 22 - 25. Contact The Loch Ness Centre for more details. Meanwhile, the Royal Mail Launches Mythical Creatures Stamp Collection and it reads like something out of a Hogwart's magical creatures class. Of course the Loch Ness Monster is included, as well as Cornish piskies, selkies, and a grindylow, to name only a very few. The stamps are being released as different sets and go on sale March 27. We're thinking philately sounds like a marvelous hobby for those of us who can't make it to Inverness in May. (CM)

For weekend pondering, let's start with "actor, comedian, and writer" Michael Ian Black's very "grounded" set of arguments for taking UFOs seriously. He's not kidding when he notes that many powerful people are "making decisions based on that belief." One particular sidelight to the many-faceted UFO problem is the treatment of the 2017 "ur-whistleblower," for which John Greenewald has The DoD Inspector General Complaint of Luis Elizondo: A Document Archive. John offers almost 350 pages of FOIA material on this aspect of the UFO-human relationship as Elizondo's actions rattled "many powerful people." As to Lue's (and others') claims about puzzling out technologies from "captured" UFOs, Popular Mechanics releases John Scott Lewinski's Copying Alien Tech Would Be a Mind-Boggling Reverse Engineering Project. 'The Physics Get Weird,' Experts Say. Lewinski asks different experts on how a team would go about such an effort, finding commonalities in procedures and fundamental difficulties. (WM)

More surprises challenge our perceptions of the human past. A partial jawbone nicknamed "Pink, "found in a Spanish cave in 2022, is now announced to be from the "oldest human ancestor ever found in Western Europe." And "Pink's" posited facial features suggest that "another group likely beat Homo antecessor to Western Europe," and "that at least two subspecies lived in the region," Andrew Paul explains. Much closer to the present, another paper recently published in Nature claims an Ancient DNA Study Shows Hunter-Gatherers in North Africa 'Resisted' Neolithic Revolution. Ariel David shows how genetic and archaeological data support each other in this surprising finding, and lists speculated reasons for the cultural choices, as well as the remarkable inferences that can be made about human travel and intermingling during this time period. And there's more on one of the most popular historical subjects for speculation, as The True Purpose of Stonehenge May Have Just Been Revealed. Vishwam Sankaran says the study recently published in Archaeology International concludes that "Stonehenge was likely built as a project to unify ancient people from across the whole of the country." This rather surprising primary purpose conclusion may be read in the paper itself at Stonehenge and Its Altar Stone: The Significance of Distant Stone Sources. (WM)

There are strange goings on in Argentina as of late. This first story takes place in a secluded area where a pair of women were making their way to their parents' place when an orb appeared and seemed to trail them everywhere they went. It seems other travelers have been menaced by this orb, which Argentinian lore says is a bad spirit manifesting as a ball of light. Then there's this case of Eerie Humanoid Creature Terrorizes Argentine Town. The accompanying video shows a strange creature indeed, one that looks like a gangly human on all fours. Stories abound about what it could be, including a demon or a werewolf-like creature. Whatever it is, it's not human (anymore). (CM)

In Australian ufologist Bill Chalker first reflections on Jacques Vallée's latest "Forbidden Science" journal, Bill notes Vallée's remarks upon the usefulness of the journals, how the "Scattered Castles" code name "resonates with the diverse locations in which he records his activities," and Bill himself summarizes the unique contribution they make to the history of ufology. Bill also details some of the materials analyses passages in "FS6" and offers some Australian parallels and a cautionary tale regarding accepting "'alien' associations" without "detailed data, contexts and analyses." Tanner F. Boyle offers a Forbidden Science Dispatches #5-8 Read-through. Though the full episode is "only available to paid subscribers of Getting Spooked," this short segment is enough to convey how the journals shed some light on the often-complex non-UFO activities Vallée references. And Christine Scott's Book Review of Jacques Vallée's New Book Forbidden Science 6 (part of a 42-word UFO Talker podcast title) begins around 22 1/2 minutes into the podcast. Christine's review notes the many different occupations and daily life mentions in the journals. Emphasizing the numerous "nuggets" of interesting, often-tantalizing information in these unique diaries of this "titan" of ufology, Christine awards Forbidden Science 6: Scattered Castles, the Journals of Jacques Vallée 2010-2019 a full 5 out of 5 "discs." (And while you're there, stay for the UFO Talker's important "deep dive" into a major Canadian UFO case that's especially informed by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police report!) (WM)

Matyáš Moraveci reviews the interest in parapsychology amongst influential philosophers at Cambridge University in the UK. He kicks off with Alan Turing, one of the university’s most famous alumni, who considered the evidence for telepathy to be overwhelming, such that he regarded it as important to control for in the ‘Turning test’ for machine consciousness. Many Cambridge philosophers, including C. D. Broad, Casimir Lewy, and H.H. Price, were also deeply interested in the paranormal. To anyone with a knowledge of the Society for Psychical Research, this may not come as a surprise, as the society itself was formed by a group of scholars from Trinity College Cambridge in 1882. The paranormal seems to have had fallen out of favor as a topic of serious philosophical interest by the latter decades of the 20th century, but it is good to be reminded that parapsychology is something that serious thinkers have taken seriously. Talking of philosophers, Nick Kampouris in Greek Reporter retells the first reported ghost story in history:The Haunting of Athenodorus, the First Ghost Story of Ancient Greece. The story appeared in one of Pliny the Younger’s letters dating from the 1st century BCE. It tells of the experience of stoic philosopher Athenodorus and features a mysteriously deserted house, the rattling of chains, and a restless ghost. The story boasts all the features of a modern shlock horror movie, sans the stoic reaction to the ghost of the main protagonist—which is probably the moral of the tale. (JS)

An exhibition exploring myths and folklore is taking place at the Museum in Beverly, UK, until the end of May. "Boggles, Ghosts and Ragwells" examines superstitions from the Wold Newton Triangle, an area "thought to be the third most important area of ritual monuments in Britain, after Salisbury Plain and Orkney." Admission is free and the exhibition runs until the end of May. Turning to books, No Passport Needed is a review by John Rimmer of Jeremy Harte's Fairy Encounters in Medieval England. The book defines fairies as “the beings who broke into human life [who] were never very forward in identifying themselves.” Packed with information but with a "lively style," the author keeps the reader engaged, describing an entire other world that we've known is there but have never visited. Concludes Rimmer: "This book perhaps describes the world of Magonia before you needed a Passport to cross the border." (CM)

The "technique" is Remote Viewing, once used by the CIA and supposedly discarded in 1995. The comment by the UK's Nick Pope on this "psychic spying," possibly once attempted by the Ministry of Defence, is his usual, "it could be, but we don't know." If it worked reliably however, none of us would ever again lose our car keys. And also lacking in proof is the claim that a 'New Nostradamus’ Made Eerie Prediction About an Oil Tanker Explosion Days Before It Happened. Craig Hamilton, who foretold that "a ship or something" would cause pollution, is said to have "an uncanny ability to predict the future." Not sure if predicting that Trump, a man in his 70s, would have a health scare and would win the US election (we all knew that) and that Queen Elizabeth, a woman nearly a century old, would die, counts as prognostication. (LP)

In another consequential "60 Minutes" presentation, Bill Whitaker confronts the continuing "drone dilemma." The segments include "heavy hitters" past and present involved in a drama going back even before the Langley AFB overflights. The depth of the problem, the factors in its too-delayed governmental response, and the strategies to resolve the conundrum are well-represented. Christopher Sharp reports about a governmental initiative that seems to be in limbo with The UFO Disclosure Hopes That Fizzled: How Momentum Under Trump Has Stalled For Now. Sharp's point is that "the stagnation stems from a lack of leadership and direction on UAP from both the White House and congressional leadership." Some local action comes from Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news (Oregon), with Government, Legal, Military Experts Among Those Sharing Information About What Are Also Known as UFOs at Southern Oregon University. Keynote speaker Danny Sheehan addresses potential reasons behind "Disclosure delayed," argues their "misguidedness," and urges "the time has in fact arrived for us as citizens to begin this conversation among ourselves." Also at this "UAP Summit," Richard Dolan took attendants to the depth of the world's oceans, and former 2004 "Nimitz" UFO activity experiencer Sean Cahill supported Sheehan's argument for more research and transparency. (WM)

Some current commentary about the UFO/UAP subject with Keith Basterfield noting the broadening of "UFO research" discussion to politicians, defense and intelligence communities, academics, and beyond to "private corporations and learned professional associations." Keith highlights two such March examples of the last in the U.S. National Defense Industry Association and Paris Defence and Strategy Forum. One speaker at the latter conference was Baptiste Friscort, whose UAP Check teammate (and Founder) Michael Vaillant authors In Search of Answers: From Extraordinary Testimonies to Dream Sellers - The Role of Collective Consciousness. Vaillant focuses upon the fundamental problem behind any "inexplicable phenomenon" witness reporting—that in such anomalous instances the witness' "interpretation will be shaped far more by what the event awakens within the observer than by the objective nature of the phenomenon itself," and "the perception of the phenomenon becomes inseparable from the witness' emotional state." A hard-hitting essay, worth future reference. And Bryan Sentes goes Drilling Down into Brenda Denzler's "The Discovery of O.I.L. (Other Intelligent Life)". Bryan critiques a perspective Dr. Denzler presented in her talk at the Society For UAP Studies' summer conference. While questioning Denzler's approach as fraught with problems, primarily for not beginning with an historical-critical perspective on ancient religious texts, Bryan also links to the conference's YouTube site with five other recorded presentations. (WM)

Last month the world lost an esteemed zoologist, François de Sarre. His particular passions were evolutionary sciences and bipedalism, and he founded CERBI, the Center for Studies and Research on Initial Bipedalism in 1988. One of his most controversial theories was of the "marine homunculus," a marine mammal already in an upright position which could emerge onto land in a fully erect position. De Sarre was also a prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring approximately one hundred articles in the specialist press or popular science journals. After his retirement, de Sarre remained active on social media, conversing with interested, young minds. On February 5, 2025, at the age of 78 he passed away, leaving the world less curious, and less knowledgeable. (CM)

Tom Nicholson takes a look at the growing number of Bigfoot sightings and the community that has developed around them in the UK. That a shy and elusive hairy bipedal mammal may stalk the vast forest tracts of the Pacific Northwest seems at least possible. But to suggest that Bigfoot may also inhabit the densely populated, nature denuded, suburban landscape of England is quite a stretch. Nicholson’s interest in the phenomenon in the UK is therefore solidly anthropological: why would people believe such things? With the analysis pointing towards the emergence of Bigfoot in popular culture in the 2010s, Nicholson seeks to emphasize the outlandishness of Bigfoot beliefs by frequently contrasting them with descriptions of the otherwise mundane and dreary context which the Squatchers inhabit. In contrast, Tom Midlane’s report in the Daily Mail takes a more sympathetic view of the matter:  I Saw British Bigfoot: Hunters Who Believe the Beast Walks Among Us - From a Teen Who's Quit School To Pursue His Search To a Close Encounter in a Park in Salford. Midlane focuses on the wide variety of Bigfoot sightings in the UK and the people involved, citing experiences throughout England and Wales and covering such luminaries in the field of cryptozoology as Jon Downes. If Bigfoot creatures are seen in the UK, in the absence of suitable habitat, what does this say about their status as an actual flesh-and-blood creature, rather than something altogether less tangible?  (JS)

Two iconic scientists "grounded" in very different worlds give their ufological past and present in our highlighted podcasts. First up, host Micah Hanks voices concerns about cuts in government funding for sciences in general. Then Hanks is joined by astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who criticizes "the traditional scientific establishment" for its close-mindedness. Loeb updates us on his current and projected future projects, and reference is made to Loeb's own The Dark Age of Science, in which Loeb passionately asks "Why is common sense so controversial in academia?" In Jacques Vallée Joe Rogan Experience computer-science and venture capitalist whiz Vallée recounts his early experiences with SRI International's budding "remote viewing" program, and a wide variety of topics ensues with host Joe Rogan. Jacques has very interesting comments on elements in the UFO discussion since December of 2017, and concludes with the explanation of his title Forbidden Science 6: Scattered Castles, The Journals of Jacques Vallée 2010-2019, the last in his journals series, all published by Anomalist Books. Vallée perhaps reaches a new fanbase through Rogan in Caleb Gebrewold's Sportskeeda article UFO-Enthusiast Joe Rogan Intrigued by Ufologist Guest's Research on Egg-shaped Objects: "They Had Two Eyes". Gebrewold focuses on Vallée's comparison of the purported 1945 "Trinity" object with the 1964 Socorro, also New Mexico, and the 1965 Valensole, France encounters. (WM)

The general mainstream press is belatedly picking up on Dan Farah's The Age of Disclosure, which screened recently at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Referencing the Hollywood Reporter article 'The Age of Disclosure' Review article by Daniel Fienberg we covered previously, Jada Yuan notes the argument "that the film puts a legitimizing gloss on unfounded theories simply by saying them with conviction." But Yuan also observes "The list of people who spoke with Farah is long and formidable," and the problem of possibly withholding information fundamental to our understanding our position in the Universe. Another late-blooming mainstream newspaper article seems mostly derivative, but notes the substantive earlier '80 Years of Lies and Deception': Is This Film Proof of Alien Life on Earth? in The Guardian. That Adrian Horton piece from Austin terms the film "the most serious and sourced documentary on the government's handing of UAP information to date." However, while predictably attacking its new membership drive as the Sol Foundation Launches $25,000 Annual Memberships, Jason Colavito devotes half a sentence to The Age of Disclosure, saying "most critics found it unconvincing and boring." (WM)