JOURNAL

of the
FORTEAN RESEARCH CENTER
VOLUME 1 NO . 1 APRIL, 1986 $3.50

EXPLORING
UNEXPLAINED
PHENOMENA
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Journal of the Fortean Re-
~ search Center is published quar- LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
. . . . . . . . . . ..... . . 2
terly by the Fortean Research
Ce~ter , a non-profit corpor-
WINGED - WONDER OVER FALLS CITY, NE?
atJ.on.
. .................. 3
_____________________
DIA DOCUMENTS RELEASED
FORTEAN RESEARCH CENTER . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 4
P.O. Box 94627
LINCOLN , NE 68509 WHAT'S A MILO MAN?
......... .. . . . . . . . . . 5
DIRECTOR: Ray W. Boeche
ASSOC. DIRECTOR: Scott Colborn WHERE~S STEVE MCQUEEN WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
SECRETARY: Bonnie Summerlin .. .... . . ~ . .. 5
TREASURER: Nancy Boeche
ASSOC. DIRECTOR, BUSINESS : FORTEAN NEWS FLASHES
David White ........ .. ... " ..... . 6
ASSOC . DIRECTOR, ANCILLARY ACT.:
Clyde Adams HELP OUR FRIENDS, TOO
.................... 7
______________________

The purpose of the Fortean Re-

search Center is to investigate A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
all aspects of unexplained phen-
omena, including UFOs, crypto- This, the first issue of the Journal
zoological mysteries , out-of- of the Fortean Researc h Center was put
place animal sightings, geolog- together in considerable haste . It
ical and archaeological an- was our intention to make the first
omalies, psychic phenomena, and issue twice this size, or sixteen pages
all other areas of study which in length. Due to time co nsiderations,
may provide data useful to the this was simply impossible.
resolution of these perplexing
mysteries. Our other prime We will remain a quarterly for a while,
purpose is to serve as a source in order to ease the constraints on
of accurate, reliable inform- time placed on our staff. However,we
ation for the public at large. do hope to publish no less than 64
pages per year, a nd our goal is twice
that amount. We hope you appreciate
our efforts, and help us to grow
bigger, and bett~r . Thank you .
- I

.. .. . ..'
Membership in the Fortean Research
Center is $15.00 per year . Member-
ship fees include a subscriptio n to
this Journal, discounts on special
publications of the Cen t er, and re-
duced fees to conferences sponsored
by the Fortean Research Center. Please
contact us at the address listed on
the masthead. And remember, in order
to carry on investigations and research
into the unexplained. we need your
help. Thank you.
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL

WELCOME TO THE FORTEAN RESEARCH CENTER

On February 12, 1986, the Fortean Research Center was incorporated in Lincoln,
Nebraska, as a non-profit entity for the purpose of exploring all aspects of
unexplained phenomena. We are currently seeking our tax-exempt status from
the Internal Revenue Service, and hope to achieve this by late summer.

ln forming a non-profit entity to conduct research into phenomena, one of our

primary purposes is public education regarding these mysteries. Many of our
readers will be aware that since October, 1984 , Scott Colborn and myself have
produced an hour-long weekly radio show on Lincoln's KZUM-FM. This, I feel ,
has been invaluable in educating the listening audience in various aspects
of the unexplained. With our non-pr ofit status, we hope to be able to syn-
dicate our progr am nationally. To do this, it is imperative that money for
production costs be available . We are now in a position to begin seeking
grants from various foundations for t his purpose .

In addition to the work on our radio programming, our quarterly Journal, which
you now have, and our basic research efforts, we hope to resume the series
of conferences on the unexplained which were sponsored by the University of Ne-
braska-Lincoln, in 1982 and 1983. In order to maintain the high quality of
speakers which we were able to present previously , again, an important con-
sideration is financing. We will be exploring many avenues to raise the nec-
essary funds, and we will keep you posted on our progress.

For those of you un familiar with my work, a brief introduction is in order.

I have been actively involved in researching UFOs , animal mutilations , out-
of-place animal sightings, ' monster ' reports. and many other unexplained
events for the last 20 years . I currently serve as Nebraska State Director
for the Mutual UFO Network, and work with many other organizations world-
wide. I al so serve on the Board of Advisors for an organization known as
Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS) which has been at the forefront of efforts
to force the release of government-held documents on OFOs.
I hold a B.A. degree in Art and Education from Peru St ate College, and am
currently employed as a graphic artist by one of the 20 largest printing
companies in the United States. I have invested 30 to 40 hours of my time
per week t o investigation of unexplained phenomena for the last six years,
and invested thousands of dollars of my own money into these investigations.
I mention this only to indicate my dedication to these efforts, and hopefully
to inspire others to the same type of dedication.
Whatever the answers to the many mysteries that confront us , they are sure to
prove Vital to humanity's view of iLself and the universe which :surrounds ~t: .
People just like you and I are confronted 'otith the unexplained every day-I
feel it is important to determine what these individuals are experiencing,
and through this, I believe we will be able to expand mankind's knowledge of
his world immeasura bly. I ho pe you s ha.r e this c urios i t y . and 1 hope you share
a desire to help us accomplish t hi s.

. 5;1;~rd read$
Ray W. Boeche.
Director
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL 1

WINGED WONDER OVER FALLS CITY?

A fascinating account of a "winged weirdie11 was given to me several months ago

by t he witness to the event . The name of the witness is on file, and avail-
able to serious researchers . We will refer to the gentleman as Mr. Hanks,
because of his request for anonymity .

On a beautiful autumn afternoon in 1956, Hanks and his family were returning home
from an outing. The family had unloaded their car, and gone into t he house,
while Hanks readied some equipment he needed at work, in his pickup truck .
As he was going about this, he noticed what he at first thought was a kite , about
3 blocks away from his home. As he watched, the kite drew closer, and Hanks
assumed that it had gotten away from whoever was flying it.

As this object fluttered to within about a block of his position, Hanks realized
that it was not a kite, but a human-like form, with wings. As the thing came
closer , Hanks was able to see the creature's face, which he described as "very
frightening, almost demonic.''

"It's eyes were very large, blue in color, and watery. They were shaped and
placed on his face almost like horse's eyes . The skin on his face was like
tan leather. It was very wrinkled, and seemed to overlap in folds. I had
a good look at his face-he was only about 25 fee t away, and hovering maybe
15 feet above the ground . He was between &gh~aildnine feet tall.''

As Hanks watched, the creature wobbled, and almost fell to the street below.
After recovering, the creature flew toward Hanks, and passed directly overhead.
Interestingly , as Hanks watched the creature approaching closer, he tried to
move, and found he couldn't. He was experiencing some sort of paralysis.

As the creature passed overhead, Hanks was able to observe the wings of the
thing. He described them as like polished aluminum , with a grid-like appearance
on the top side. The under side of the wings each had 4 or 5 col ored lights
about four inches in diameter-the lights closest to his body on either side
glowed blue, then a yellow, then an orange, and finally a red l ight out toward
WINGED WONDER, . coot.,

each wi ng tip. The wing was at least fifteen feet long, from tip to tip,
according to Hanks. He indicated that the wings appeared to be about two
feet wide next to t he creature's body, and three feet wide at the tip.

When asked how the wing was attached, Hanks said that, "It was fastened to
him by a shoulder harness, which seemed to have a breast plate of some sort wi t h
dials on it. He seemed to touch and move these dials, but his hands, if
that's what they were, looked more like white dove's wings, all opened up."

Hanks went on to say that as the creature passed overhead, he heard a sound
like air hissing from what he thought was the rear of the wing. As he
watched, the creature moved off into the distance , and disappeared behind a
group of trees about 2 blocks away. After the creature was out of sight,
Hanks was able to move again. He said that the entire event lasted somewhere
between eight and ten minutes.
According to Hanks, for the next 23 years, he was continually bothered by
nightmares in which this creature would reappear. He became, in his own
words, "a workaholic-! wouldn't sleep any more than I absolutely had to, and
worked constantly so I wouldn't have time to think about it." Finally, over
a period of three years, Hanks was able to overcome this obsession by forcing
himself to write out the story, and then destroy it.

Evidently t his served as a suitable catharsis, because Hanks concluded by

saying , "I still don't understand it, but i t doesn't matter any more."

DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DOCUMENTS RELEASED

On December 18, 1985, the Fortean Research Center received 139 pages of pre-
viously unreleased documents from the Defense Intelligence Agency, c~ncerning
their interests in UFOs. This release of documents was in response to a Free-
dom of Information Act request which had been sent some nine months ea~lier.

Although many of t he documents are virtually unreadable, there are dozens of

truly fascinating reports, including one which deals with the Peruvian Air
Force's sc~ambling of fighters to pursue UFOs on two different occasions.
Also mentioned in four of the documents is PROJECT MOON DUST, a project which
the reports imply is UFO related. FOIA requests to some 18 various agencies
have been submitted to try and obtain all possible information on this project.
Hopefully, we will be able to report more fully on PROJECT MOON DUST in the
next issue of the Journal .
For those interested in copies of these documents, they are available as the
entire set, for our cost of photocopying, and postage. All 139 pages (8t x 14")
are available for a total cost of $23.50. If you would like a set of these
important documents, please let us know as soon as possible.

The Defense Intelligence Agency has been very reluctant in the past to release
their UFO-related information , and we feel very fortunate to have received
this body of documents. As mentioned earlier, we are continuing our efforts to
try and discover exactly what PROJECT MOON DUST is, and what relationship it
has to the government 's interest in UFO incidents.
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL 5

WHAT'S A MILO,MAN?

We are currently trying to track down further verification of sightings of

a bipedal humanoid creature which has been dubbed 'Milo. Man'. Reports
of this rather strangely named creature have been surfacing infrequently for
about six months. The alleged creature has gained its name from the locale
where the witnesses believe it lives, namely, a milo field.

The most coherent and credible account to date involves a young mao who had
driven to his brother's rural Lincoln, Nebraska home to spend the night, only
to find his brother was away, and the house locked. Having no other choice,
he decided to sleep in the back seat of his car. Sometime during the night
he was awakened by the car being violently shaken around . Thinking at first
it was his brother, who had returned, he sat up and looked out the back window.

He observed a much-larger-than-human form, which was standing near the rear of

the car, and shaking it back and forth. Not knowing what else to do, he hid on
the floor of the car until this large hair-covered figure tired of its car
shaking, and wandered off.

The next morning, on the brother's return, he related his experience, and was
told that several farmers in the area had also seen this creature, and had
dubbed i t Milo Man. The above outlined event occurred in late September, 1985,
and we are currently following further leads to try a nd establish additional
sightings, and further corroboration. We'll have more on this as we uncover it.

WHERE'S STEVE MCQUEEN WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

Here's another previously unpublished reportwhich is long overdue for entrance

into Fortean literature. As the more astute among you may have guessedby the
title , it concerns the sighting of (what else?) a "blob''.

In September of 1969, a young Nebraska City, Nebraska man, Maurice Colbert, and
his girlfriend were parked along a 'lover's lane' area north of Nebraska City,
near the banks of t he Missouri River. The young lady began to complain that she
was hearing strange noises outside of the car. After a good deal of proddingt
Maurice was finally persuaded that she was serious, and after listening,realized
that there were some strange 'slurping' noises coming from outside .

Maurice left the car, and seeing nothing initially, moved towards the rear of
the vehicle, where the sounds became louder. Describing the night as a very
bright, moonlit evening, Maurice was able to see what l1e described l:lS "an
amoeba-shaped blob, about six fe.e t across, and about 18 inches thick, moving along
the ground." He i ndicated the 'blolt 1 would move much as an amoeba, by ex-
tending a gelatinous pseudopod, and then pulling itself along in that direction ,
or rather flowing into itself .

After watching the 'blob' for about 2 minutes. it had moved six to eight feet
closer to the car. Maurice indicated that the purplish-pink 'thing' had no
discernible odor, and seemed to have no awareness of his presence. Later exam-
ination of the site showed a sort of trail which had apparently been pushed
clear of small sticks. pebbles, and other debris as the creature flowed along
the ground.

Due to the highly unusual nature of this event, I am unable even to speculate
as to a normal explanation for the event. I would be very interested in hearing
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL 6

STEVE MCQUEEN, coot.,

from any other researcherswho may be aware of similar incidents. The only
possibility I am aware of would be the appearance of a giant slime mold. But
six feet across? All comments on this one are welcome.

FORTEAN NEWS FLASHES

TheMissouri Court of Appeals didn't buy the story of a man who said his wife's
lover was shot in the stomach by his shotgun-wielding poodle. Lawrence Freukes,
37, of north St . Louis county, was accused of shooting John Schlereth March 16,
1982 at Freukes' home. The suspect had testified in St. Louis County Circuit
Court that the gun discharged when his large poodle caught its paw in the trig~
ger and knocked the gun to the floor. Freukes' wife, Bernice, testified that
her husband had told Schlereth: "I'm in a lot of trouble. You've got to tell
them the dog did it." (Omaha World-Herald, February 7, 1986)

An item of interest for all of you who follow phantom helicopter sightings,
from the January, 1986 issue of Research and Development magazine. A joint
effort between NASA and most major helicopter manufacturers (including Mc-
Donnell Douglas, Boeing Vertol, Sikorsky, and Bell Helicopters) is under way
to drastically reduce noise produced by rotary-wing aircraft. Most of t he work
thus far has been analytical and ground test R & D. but flight tests are planned
for the near future. The program is a five-year, $10 million dollar effort
headed by NASA-Langley, and is called the National Rotorcraft Noise Reduction
program (NRNR).
The hood of a woman's car was damaged when a 30-pound crash beacon from an Air
Force C-5 Galaxy cargo plane fell on it, on February 4, 1986. The beacon
fell while the plane was landing at Jacksonville (Fla.) Naval Air Station. The
military has agreed to pay for repairs to the car. (Lincoln, N'E Journal, Feb-
ruary 6, l986.)
A blue fireball as bright as the moon streaked across the nighttime sky and
exploded above southwestern British Columbia and northern Washington state,
a Vancouver, B. C. astronomer said. (Lincoln, NE Star, February 20, 1986)
Scientists have made the largest fossil find in North America, uncovering more
than 100,000 bone pieces of animals 200 million years old at a site in Nova
Scotia~ The fossils represent life in the boundary between the Triassic
period, wnich began 240 million years ago, and the Jurassic, which began 200
miliion years ago. The scientists said the new findings point to a catastrophic
extinction r ight at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary - such as an asteroid im-
pacting the Earth - that wiped out more than 40 percent of the land and lake
animals of that time. (Lincoln, NE Journal, January 29, 1986.)
A new island is being born in the Pacific Ocean near lwo Jima, the first volcanic
addition to the region i n 78 years. Crowned by a still-erupting lava cone, the
new island is already 2,310 feet long, 990 feet wide, and about 50 feet high.
New islands had been seen near I~o Jima in 1905, and agai n in 1908, but sub-
merged after 1908. (Lincoln, NE Star, January 22, 1986.)
And finally, for all of you who have always wanted a flying saucer, but didn't
know where to go to buy one, a company called Starcraft Indusry has just what
you need. Called the Sta.rcraft 1, the aircraft is 12 feet in diameter, has a
12 , 000 foot ceiling, and a top speed of 140 mph. Call Starcraft at (801) 363-6612.
FORTEAN RESEARCH JOURNAL

HELP OUR FRIENDS

There are many other organizations dealing with the unexplained. They
are all doing the best they can with the resources available to them, and
your help in joining these organizations , and helping support them both
financially and in spirit, would be greatly appreciated.
MliTUAL UFO NETWORK UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE
103 Oldtowne Road Route 1, Box 220
Seguin , Texas , 78155 Plumerville, Arkansas 72127
FORTEAN TIMES PROJECT STIGMA
96 Mansfield Road P.0. Box 1094
London NW3 2HX, UK Paris, Texas 75460
ARCTURUS BOOK SER VICE NORTHERN UFO NEWS
P . O. Box 2213 8 Whitethroat Walk
Scotia , NY 12302 Birch wood , Warrington
Cheshire, UK WA3 6PQ
THE GATE CITIZENS AGAINST UFO SECRECY
P.O. Box 43518 P.O. Box 218
Richmond Heights Coventry, Connectic u t 06238
Ohio 44143

The Fortean Researc h Center is happy to carry listings of other

related publications and orga nizatio ns i n exc hang e for simi lar
listings or in exchang e for co pies of said publications.

FORTEAN RESEARCH CENTER

P.O. BOX 94627
LINCOLN , NEBRASKA 68509

A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION FOR THE STUDY OF

UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA