2008 PA UFO spike media coverage review

The U.S. government seems to soak up most of the blame for why ufology is not yet mainstream serious - total secrecy and so many references to weather balloons, it's a joke. The media takes a quick second chair with reports that ufology is being ignored. Here is a look at how the media has covered Pennsylvania's recent UFO spike - you be the judge. From my take - it would seem some media is cautionary, where they report, but have to include the "little green men" remarks to hedge their bet; a few are actually taking the subject seriously; and one journalist below is typical of the type that only believes in taxes and death.

Special thanks to MUFON Pennsylvania Director John Ventre. Additional media pieces will be added as I receive them.

July 2, 2008
UFO investigators drawn to Bucks

Bucks County Courier-Times journalist James McGinnis penned this brief news piece explaining why MUFON was dispatching field investiagors into Bucks County - due to the original January 27 UFO sighting and then due to additional reports that followed. The writer - as a way of possibly legitimizing MUFON, mentioned how the group was featured in an episode of "The X-Files." Well done.

July 2, 2008
UFO sightings in Bucks County

ABC News Channel Six Philadelphia reporter John Rawlins presents this brief report which begins with a cliche - "The truth is out there" - and moves to reporting from a local diner with a mere two opinions, including "No, I think somebody is smoking something funny or imagining things; no, I don't believe in that," from Nancy Sdregas. Then a reference to the film, "Signs." It ends in a rather positive fashion by quoting MUFON field investigator Bob Gardner - but hey, where's the rest of the story, John?

July 3, 2008
Bucks Co. 'UFO' Sightings Under Investigation

Philadelphia's CBS Channel 3 produced this rather short, but fair, piece focusing on twin brothers from Morrisville who had a boomarang-shape sighting. Nice reference to MUFON, no jokes, and a quote from MUFON field investigator Bob Gardner to close out the piece.

"We can't be the only planet out there, there's got to be other life on other star systems," he said.

July 3, 2008
Bucks County UFO mystery solved?

ABC News Channel Six Philadelphia reporter Chad Pradelli seemingly was caught off guard with this piece that reeks of someone attempting to promote their business (hey, in these economic times, can you blame the guy?) Apparently Anthony Lobianco, who owns Intergalactic Fireworks off Route 1 in Langhorne, caught the news of UFO reports and matched that against his store's sales of sky laterns that were "flying off the shelves and then flying into the air."

While it seems odd that this story was even allowed air time, I do given Pradelli credit for reporting "There have reportedly been four sightings, with the first two in January, and another one in April when Lobianco's store wasn't even open then, but he still believes the lanterns are the floating objects people are reporting."

Suggestion to ABC News: Not a bad news angle, but next time - do just a little more homework and review the actual sightings reports against what effect a sky lantern might produce.

July 8, 2008
UFO from planet Blockbuster

Bucks County Courier-Times journalist J.D. Mullane has apparently never done any research whatsoever on ufology - but also apparently enjoys comedy. The Courier-Times editors would be justified in recognizing this and asking Mr. Mullane to cover simpler topics like board meetings and house fires - stories where someone can hand him a printed report on the facts. If you skip one story in this feature - avoid this one.

July 10, 2008
Eyewitness to a UFO

Bucks County Courier-Times journalist J.D. Mullane might be shot down by serious ufologists for his treatment of what appears to be an 80-year-old UFO witness who got up the nerve to inform the local media. I applaud Mullane for capturing the man's dialogue so well - interesting descriptions of strange craft - and am hopeful the audience saw through Mullane's mundane remarks. Here a journalist had the chance to embrace an eye witness and question him, but instead it's a flat and dry piece that perhaps Mullane thought would impress his editors. Or was Mullane really bucking the system - going around the editors - and getting the word out anyway by adding in the dry remarks? It seems from other Courier-Times reporting that its editors are not biased and not pressuring reporters to distance themselves from UFO reports, so we have to assume Mullane just isn't up on the subject.

But I cannot pass up two viewer comments to this story: By the way, "AH" in the first comment means "ass hole."

# Eileen - J.D. Mullane mocks and embarrasses human being for story.
(07/10/2008 )
It's not that you ran the story, it's that you ran it like it is. Anyone could ahve edit the darn thing for you. How dare you do that to an individual. You're an AH!

# Concerned Citizen - Poor Journalism
(07/16/2008 , Ratings: ••••• )
I went to school for journalism and was a journalist for a military newspaper. Your lack of objectivity and failure to provide any interesting insights based on facts is sad. Instead of using your work to provide a column that provides an interesting and thought provocative story, you simply waste your opportunity by pasting convienient transcript from the interview (which I have a hunch was probably taken out of context to suit your needs) and inserted a few of your own tasteless and quite tactless remarks.

It's a shame you wasted your opportunity to educate and create a dialogue with the public on an issue that could use more light rather than dark ignorance. It seems the man was an 80-year old veteran and rather than respect not only the wisdom of your elder, but also to honor someone who risked their lives for your very own freedom of speech, you were borderline slanderous in your depiction of his experience. I say if you can't put yourself in the shoes of your subject long enough to be able to tell the story aptly, then quit wasting this paper's time with your worthless remarks.

July 11, 2008
A time to cogitate on mysteries above

The Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Jeff Gammage wrote this decent piece focusing on MUFON field investigator Bob Gardner. Not much substance on the investigative side, but the nicely styled story does make the public aware of MUFON, a local field investigator, and a UFO Public Awareness Day.

"Some are bewildered now by the strange craft and blinking lights said to have appeared in the sky near the Oxford Valley Mall. Since the beginning of June, MUFON has taken 21 reports of UFOs in the Philadelphia area, and hopes to get more on Sunday."

August 18, 2008
Local Residents Snap Pictures Of Possible UFOs

Fox News 29 Philadelphia reporter Gerald Colpan filed this report with a bit of UFO humor in it - "So far, nobody has reported taking a ride in any unidentified flying objects," and one mention of "little green men," but overall a fair piece. Check out the photo slideshow: Caught on Camera: Local UFO Sightings? and the video piece from Colpan: Dozens report seeing UFOs. The video depicts Colpan "beaming up" at its end - humorous, but very nice touch.

November 18, 2008
UFO Sightings over Bucks County

Dateline Langhorne, PA, Walter Perez with ABC News Channel Six in Philadelphia offers a rather slim piece on strange lights seen in the sky - with a quote from one witness and a possible natural explanation (light pillars). The photography submitted by witnesses is extraordinary and worth taking a look at - even if you don't read the story.

"It was the most bizarre looking thing, we both said 'What is that?'" said Susan Prager of Yardley, Pa. "We couldn't figure it out. We kept looking at it and looking at it. It definitely was a UFO."

November 23, 2008
Discovery Channel’s UFO documentary
focuses on Bucks County sightings

Bucks County Courier-Times journalist Jerry Jonas wrote this November commentary with an open mind - allowing for the facts to come in and did not "talk down" to his readers. He does offer a brief UFO explanation for anyone living under a rock, but in the end sides with President Carter - who vowed not to ridicule anyone who has seen a UFO after personally seeing one himself. Most interesting is Jonas' reporting of the connection between a local sighting and an FAA spokeswoman at Philly airport who confirmed an unidentified object "circled Doylestown at the time of the reported sighting. The woman explained that she remembered that the object in question was moving at a high rate of speed - even for an aircraft - and stressed that while there are some aircraft that fly without transponders, it would be quite unusual for any of them to be flying without one at 3 or 4 a.m. This was especially true since the object in question was so close to a protected air space area which requires a transponder."

November 24, 2008
The Bucks County Flap

Discovery Channel's new series, UFOs Over Earth, produced this piece about the on-going UFO flap by taking us firsthand to some of the best reports with interesting evidence. MUFON's Pennsylvania Director John Ventre is featured. They take the stand that UFOs exist, but their origin is still a mystery. The link here is for show details only, although there is a show clip from a Mexican case. This is the youtube link for the same series trailer.

December 15, 2008
Itemized Abductions: Local UFOlogists tell us why they believe

Freelance writer Steven Wells for Philadelphia Weekly knocked out this gritty trip down UFO lane in a piece that actually puts the reader behind the wheel - warts and all - the kind of reporting where the writer is using all five senses at the same time and assumes his readers will make their own decisions. Wells moves along at rapid-fire pace with a full palette of details - like reading bumper stickers on the cars of those he's interviewing or how they describe themselves on their myspace page - and gaining details on their family and religious beliefs. While most writers take a softer approach, Wells makes you feel like you were right there for the ride, and in doing so, imparts the kind of detail to actually make an informed decision. He moves through multiple locations, multiple interviews - and still manages to stay on track with the point of the piece - that the Philly area experienced a dramatic increase in reported UFO sightings. Well done.

Streetsmart Chicago

Check out my new weekly column at InCahoots.TV - a look at forgotten tragic events on Chicago streets - Streetsmart Chicago.

This project began a few years ago when a feature story ignited inside me after reading the same old boring ghost stories every Halloween. Since most haunted tales were traced back to a tragic event, I pondered the idea that in a city the size of Chicago - you could stand on probably any block in town, and looking back over time, witness some tragic event. And so I set out to prove I was right.

I originally chose one Chicago street - Lincoln Avenue - and waded through Lincoln Avenue reports from the Chicago Homicide database 1870 - 1930 - and then matched those cases with reports from the day in the Chicago Daily Tribune pages. The results were extraordinary - with detail and photography bringing the police reports alive. And suddenly, Chicago's streets came alive with story. It is now hard for me to drive along Lincoln Avenue without thinking of these poor souls at every intersection. That feature turned into a screen play - Tragic Lincoln - and then continued research for this new column - Streetsmart Chicago.

I have posted the first three cases for December.

December files include a woman's vehicular homicide, a teenager feared murdered - and a disturbing case involving two Rogers Park priests, an odd fellow from a wealthy northside family, and an innocent boy who only wanted to visit the ponies.

Bigfoot-UFO researcher George Lutz gets candid - an 8-part video interview

GREENSBURG, PA - The Uniontown UFO-Bigfoot account from October 25, 1973 is one of the most fascinating paranormal investigations of the 20th century. Multiple witnesses reported observing a UFO land on a farm - and soon after - two Bigfoot creatures were seen nearby. Additional witnesses recount the glowing piece of land where the craft came down and other paranormal phenomena. Investigator George Lutz reflects back on the 35th anniversary in this firsthand video account of what happened that night.

I first met George Lutz in 1973 when I was 16 years old. My father, Bill Marsh, and myself, had volunteered with ufologist Stan Gordon in Westmoreland County, PA, as part of the on-going investigations into regional UFO and Bigfoot reports. George is a former WWII military pilot who accompanied Gordon on hundreds of investigations beginning in 1972.

The eight-part series is here.

PHOTO: From left, George Lutz, Roger Marsh and Stan Gordon.

George Bush Library

The George W. Bush Presidential Library is in the planning stages, is
accepting donations, and will include:

The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
The Iraq War Room. After you complete your first visit, you will be
required to return for a second, third, fourth, and possibly a fifth
visit.
The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete
with shotgun gallery.
The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
The Supreme Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.

A highlight of the library will be the many famous quotations of
President Bush featured in the various galleries:

'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'
'Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.'
'No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription
drugs and medicine.'
'I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy - but that could change.'
'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor and
that one word is 'to be prepared'.
'Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.'
'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments
in the future.'
'The future will be better tomorrow'
'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world.'
'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some
fantastic pictures.' ... at an education photo-op
'Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.'
'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'
'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.' ... to Sam Donaldson

Please Give Generously

Mythical Maya Recording Device Reconstructed

The comedy works of Roger Marsh have returned to the Web with Fly On the Wall Web Theater. Now for the first time - current news events will be explored with this ancient device.

Roger uses a unique and all-natural listening device - the Universal Parlance Pick Up Osculater (UPPUO). Developed by the Maya civilization during the Preclassic period, the UPPUO was thought to be a myth until its rediscovery in the late 20th century from the bottom of an abandoned well on a rural farm in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Over more than 20 years, Roger worked to reconstruct the device and eventually returned it to perfect working order. The delicate tuning bar can be set to record dialogue at any point on the planet from any point in time for brief periods.

The device was set yesterday to listen in as Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich got the early morning news that two FBI agents were outside his Chicago home. This brief and historic - and all natural - recording can be read at InCahoots.TV.

Use this link to go right to the page. And look for more Fly On the Wall Web Theater recordings soon.

Illinois Governor arrested in 'political corruption crime spree'

Sad day in Illinois

Unless you were sleeping under a rock Tuesday - you heard the news. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested - among the charges - for attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder.

The governor lives not far from my home (his Ravenswood Manor home above) and he is often seen. My daughter and I waved to him recently as our drive crossed paths with his jogging route.

With three former Illinois governors sent to prison - one would think this kind of behavior could not be tolerated in a state that is so much under the spotlight. Wouldn't it be easier to be corrupt in Montana or Wyoming? Apparently not.

InCahoots.TV and its PH Factor columnist Philip Haddad took a long look at this sad piece of political history today - including shooting video coverage of the governor's home this afternoon - a media frenzy; and some still photography from Laine Marsh.

Check out our coverage.

InCahoots.TV UFO Report: December 2008

UFOs have been a fascination of mine since I was a small boy listening to my parents describe their own sighting. Mom and Dad witnessed something in the mid 1950s from their apartment window late one night in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. I was fortunate enough to have my own sighting in 1973 at the age of 16 - with dozens of others around me. A low-flying UFO drifted silently at the tree top level of my neighborhood one night just after dark - cruising along the length of Seminary Drive in Greensburg - as we all stood watching in awe.

In the early 90s, I was the acquisitions editor on a pictorial coffee table book that covered ufology and I got to know many prominent ufo researchers around the country. For many years, I had known Pennsylvania ufologist Stan Gordon, and am proud to be co-producing Stan's new book - Strange Intrusions - about the incredible 1973-74 spike in both UFO and Bigfoot sightings in Pennsylvania. Look for the book in 2009; as well as a book I am working on now with the Mutual UFO Network's Pennsylvania Director John Ventre - about the increased UFO sighting in Pennsylvania summer 2008.

Please check out a feature I edited recently. With the increased UFO sightings in this country in 2008 and several known hot spots, I decided to see what was happening nationally in the first seven days of December with the help of the Mutual UFO Network's online database. You can click through here. And you might want to read about a very recent UFO report from Pennsylvania here from an interesting eyewitness account.

I hope to have more UFO reports in the coming months at InCahoots.TV.

Four new features at Incahoots.TV

Tremont Avenue Productions is proud to announce four new regular features at InCahoots.TV.

The PH Factor with Philip Haddad will cover the political scene. Philip is a longtime supporter of returning our country to its constitutional roots. His work will follow the current political climate with observations and interviews from the front. Columns and radio interviews.

The Effortless Gourmet with Chef David Wayne will include favorite recipes from our favorite chef. Look for a more expanded review of all things "kitchen" from this incredible chef coming soon. (And his first book in 2009.)



The Front Porch talk radio with Rich Sanner. Join host Rich Sanner - The Stoogeboomer - for a riotous half-hour of half-baked humor - Thursday nights at 8 p.m. EST. Featured departments include The Anomolies Corner, Whacky Headlines, Comedy Snippets, and more. This is the light talk show with "One Third the calories of a regular BlogTalkRadio program." Look for special guests.



UFO Anomalies Zone with Stan Gordon. Internationally known UFO and Bigfoot investigator Stan Gordon reports from his southwestern Pennsylvania headquarters on the paranormal throughout the Keystone state. Keep up with current reports.

American Ghost Hunters: Best Evidence 2008

Below is the story I posted recently at InCahoots.TV . Last week we appealed to about 80 ghost hunting groups in 23 states and have materials for our feature story and EBook coming in now from about 15 groups. Our research continues this week. Thanks to everyone who has agreed to send us a case - or has already contributed. We hope to hear from more groups soon.


CHICAGO - Roger Marsh has launched a national ghost hunter's "best evidence" search for 2008. The project is appealing to ghost hunting groups in all 50 states to contribute their best case from this year. Tremont Avenue Productions (TAP) is planning a round-up feature story and an EBook that will include video, EVP audio files and digital photos.

Each group is asked for the following basic information:

Official name of group, town/state, years in operation, number of members, investigation area, contact name/title, email address, phone number, Web address, mailing address, mission statement and equipment list.

Groups may choose to send in up to three cases from 2008. For each case, TAP asks for: Case name, case date, team members, case background, investigation details and investigation findings.

All materials will be used as a one-time use for this project. Each group retains all rights to their submitted materials. All editorial matter may be edited for style. Each group may see their final report prior to publication in the EBook.

Reports and digital materials should be emailed to TremontAvenue@gmail.com. If you have a large video file, please contact us to arrange an AIM session where we can move the video between us; or you may mail video content on DVD format to: Tremont Avenue Productions, 5739 N. Francisco, Chicago, IL 60659.

Roger will be the lead editor and project producer from Chicago. Acquisitions Director Philip Haddad, in Scottdale, PA, will follow-up with groups by telephone. Philip can be reached at 724-689-7116. Roger can be reached at TremontAvenue@gmail.com or at 773-715-5575.

Roger and Philip produced Ron Paul Speaks (Lyons Press) this year - a mass market paperback of quotes about Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul - who contributed the books' introduction. TAP launched the full-length independent film - Mars Attacks Mt. Pleasant - in June 2008 - starring Philip as lead actor Sam Steele and Roger was writer and director. The docudrama, Haunted R&R Station, was released on DVD March 2007.

Sacred Dialogue

After more than 40 years of experiencing the paranormal - the book is finally ready for release - Sacred Dialogue: Tuning Into Mother Nature's Universal Broadcast Band. This is a pre-release of the print version and is now available as a PDF download at www.InCahoots.TV. The print version will be available from Amazon sometime in late November or early December.

The book covers a wide spectrum of experiences - a child's perspective of the paranormal, dreams, a daily occurance I call Info Bursts, and visions of Sight and Sound. At some point in my life, I decided to begin experimenting with these experiences and I talk about this in Meditations and Interactions where I am somehow able to either program the events or directly receive feedback on specific requests. I also devote two chapters to Death and Dying - the first is a more innocent observation and the second is how I believe that death somehow announces itself if you're listening. Two chapters were written - Cemeteries, and a second called Haunted Houses - because I had extraordinary encounters in these two types of places where one would expect the paranormal might be revealed. I suggest extra caution when reading these sections for that reason - but still the events played out.

I had to also include two chapters - Beyond Physics and another called One-Hit Wonders - because some of my experiences just did not fit neatly into any of the above categories. These are generally stories that I would not believe myself if I had not be there to take it all in.

I open the book with Camelot Fades - relating some very odd early stories that I fought with through my childhood and teen years - but that came back to haunt me years later when the media jumped in on the paranormal bandwagon and I discovered that I was not alone.

Finally, I close the book with a piece on Listening to the Universe where I discuss exactly how I approach the paranormal - basically how it's done - and hope that my readers might follow along and listen in as well.

Most of the names and many of the locations were changed to protect those around me during many of the events. I had a habit very early on in my life of writing the events down as soon as they happened. And soon I accumulated a very large stack of papers that were eventually typed out during my college years, and later transferred to the computer. During these past three years, I have been sifting through the stories, pulling out a series of them for this book.

While a few of the stories have a national connection to them, most of the stories are more personal and involved only events in my own life or those around me. I hope my readers will be inspired to listen themselves. I am assuming I am not unique, and that the listening is something anyone can achieve.

The download is available for a small fee - and the paperback will be available at a higher price soon. I also hope to hear some feedback from readers too.

The chapter on Haunted Houses and some other pieces are available to read on the book's main page here http://incahoots.tv/products/sacreddialogue.htm.

The Smoking Lottery

It finally occured to me that I may never quit smoking, and that in fact, I may already have done myself in, already poisoned my lungs beyond repair. When I decided that I had about as much chance of quitting as winning the lottery - I decided it was time to turn the table.

I took today's cigarette money - well, part of it anyway - and spent two dollars on the Illinois State Lottery. One dollar straight and one dollar boxed for the number 014 for the evening pick- three game for October 26, 2008.

With cigarettes running about $7.75 a pack in my Chicago neighborhood, I am up $5.75 already by plunking down the two dollars on the lottery - and I still have a chance to improve my financial standing before the end of the day.

They choose lottery numbers here at 9:22 p.m. CST. I have invited several other people here in Illinois and in Pennsylvania to play along with me. Just two dollars a day. Today's number is 014, but it doesn't really matter if we win.

I feel better already.