Rupert Matthews at his desk. (Credit: www.rupertmatthews,org)

According to the rules of the EP, he was to be replaced by Rupert Matthews, a prolific writer and politician who has published many books on the paranormal and UFOs. “Mr. Matthews was behind Mr. Helmer on the Tory party list in the region at the 2009 European elections, a position that would normally guarantee his succession in the event of a vacancy,” reported Your Local Guardian. However, his interest in the paranormal and ufology quickly began to work against Matthews’ once promising political future. “Golly! Ghostbuster UK MEP may not be coming to Brussels” was the December 29 headline in NEWEUROPE online, dubbed “The European Political Newspaper.” The article was decidedly against the appointment of Matthews to the EP, who was described as “a sceptic over the EU, but on precious little else. He has several fascinating interests. Chief among these is ghost hunting. Of course, there is much more to him. He’s also an expert on UFOs and alien abduction.” After listing the titles of several of the paranormal and UFO books published by Matthews, NEWEUROPE added facetiously that “this led to him being nicknamed ‘The MEP for Roswell and Bigfoot’.”

On top of the bad PR brought by his paranormal interests, Matthews was also criticized because Bretwalda Books, a publishing house of which he is a director, published a book on Political Correctness featuring golliwog dolls on the cover. The golliwog is a racially demeaning black rag doll from a 19th century character in children’s books once popular in Britain, the U.S. and Commonwealth countries. Although the cover was not for one of Matthews’ books, it led the ruling Conservative Party to announce an inquiry into the matter. According to a BBC News story on December 31, MEP Roger Helmer finally announced he was delaying his resignation until his successor was chosen. “There do seem to have been one or two administrative queries arising with central office over the succession to the seat,” said Helmer. “Naturally, I want to get those sorted out before I formalize my resignation.”

Rupert Mathews (right) shaking hands with British Prime Minister David Cameron. (Credit: Bretwalda Books)

Who is Rupert Matthews

According to his own official website, which describes him as “a historian and political activist”:

Rupert has written over 180 books, mostly on history or military subjects.
Rupert was born 1961 and was educated at the village Church of England junior school, then at his local grammar school. He later took up a career in publishing – which brought him face to face with militant trades unionism, especially in the print unions. That experience caused Rupert to turn against socialism, state control and restrictive laws. He began campaigning for Mrs Thatcher’s Conservatives and Norman Tebbit’s trades union reforms. Rupert has never looked back. Rupert stood for Parliament in 1997 and for the European Parliament in 2009. He has served 8 years on his local council.

Rupert Matthews with a Roman helmet. (Credit: www.rupertmatthews.com)

The second largest category of books published by Rupert Matthews after history is undoubtedly the paranormal. Some of the many titles are Haunted Hampshire, The Ghosthunter’s Guide to England: On the Trail of the Paranormal, Paranormal Surrey, Haunted Sunderland, Haunted Places of Dorset, Mysterious Cornwall, Mysterious Yorkshire, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Poltergeists, Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, etc. And then there are the ufological titles which include UFOs – A History of Alien Activity from
Sightings to Abductions to Global Threat, Alien Encounters – True-Life Stories of Aliens, UFOs, and Other Extra-Terrestrial Phenomena, and Roswell – Uncovering the secrets of Area 51 and the fatal UFO crash. There are also his contributions to British editions of Readers Digest’s books on the Paranormal. As you can see, Rupert Matthews is not just a casual writer on these topics but one who has made quite a professional career out of it.

In an interview with Richard Thomas’ Room 101, Rupert Matthews describes how he became interested in the paranormal. “My grandma was very interested in ghosts and the supernatural,” he said. “When I was younger she used to tell me all about boggarts (we would call them poltergeists these days), white ladies, black hounds and ghosts of all kinds. I guess that is what started me off originally.” He then went on to work for a small publishing company and began writing history books; as he traveled around the country,

I started using the time to visit any haunted hotels, pubs or open spaces in the area. Over the years I built up a large amount of photos of haunted places, interviews with witnesses and so forth. It then occurred to me that I ought to try to get it published, and one of my publishing contacts was kind enough to take the book on. It sold rather well and since then I have been doing almost as much on the paranormal and unexplained as on history. Great fun.

Some of Matthews' books (credit: Book Sales, Inc., Heinemann, Arcturus Publishing Ltd., David Brown Book Co.)

Rupert Matthews’ views on UFOs

Rupert Matthews’ UFO books are basic introductions to the subject geared for a younger and general audience. In the interview with Richard Thomas he discussed some of his views on the subject. When asked about the closing of the UFO desk at the Ministry of Defence a year or so ago, Matthews said:

I spoke to a fairly senior RAF officer about this. His view was that UFOs were not the business of the RAF. He said that the RAF was there to fly missions over Afghanistan, keep an eye on Russian spy planes and such like. He was prepared to accept that there MIGHT be an objective reality to the UFO phenomenon, but seemed to think it was a job for the intelligence services. Until we know what UFOs are and why they are here, he did not think the RAF should be involved. The RAF has more than enough to keep itself busy. Whether that is the real reason I have no idea, but that was his view.

Thomas then asked him about “rumours of an ultra covert British UFO group and recovered alien technology,” to which Matthews responded:

I know that the US and UK intelligence services share a lot of information, but not everything. I would expect them to share the broad outlines about what they know about UFOs, but would maybe keep juicy details to themselves. As for alien technology, that presupposes that UFOs are alien spacecraft and that one or more has crashed and been recovered. I’m not entirely convinced by either of these suggestions. I know the alien spacecraft theory is the most popular among UFO researchers, but while it may well turn out to be the case, I think it is a case of “not proven” for now.

We also found and read a number of interesting UFO articles by Matthews posted on Richard Thomas’ blog. In one of them, “The truth behind Roswell,” he described the research he did for his book on Roswell, concluding that “in the final analysis something fell out of the sky in early July 1947. The United States Air Force did move quickly to collect the wreckage, then quickly launched a determined effort to kill the story and keep the find secret. Can I tell you what it was that fell from the sky? No. There are several possibilities that would fit the evidence – and an alien spacecraft is but one of those.”

Another article, “UFO Crashes in Britain,” described the evidence, such as it is, for these types of incidents in the UK. He noted that there isn’t anything remotely close to Roswell in terms of evidence and fame (the 1980 Rendlesham Forest case is sometimes compared to Roswell, but it clearly didn’t involve a UFO crash). Probably the most interesting case reviewed by Matthews is the Berwyn Mountain incident of January 23, 1974 in northern Wales, when many witnesses reported “spherical or saucer shaped” lights “moving erratically in odd patterns and formations. Then, at 8.38pm,” continued Matthews, “residents around the Berwyn Mountain in Wales heard a deafening rumbling explosion and the ground shook. People came out into the streets. One man said he had seen lights over the mountain just before the crash and speculated that an aircraft had crashed.” The local police went to the mountain with a nurse to check if there were casualties. The plot thickened shortly thereafter as explained by Matthews:

Not long afterwards a convoy of army trucks arrived, the men cordoned off the mountain and refused admittance to anyone. The policeman and nurse came back down under army escort. They said that they had seen lights and debris as if from a crash, but had been instructed to leave. The nurse would later say that she had got close to the crash and seen bodies that did not seem to be human.

The official explanation for the events at Berwyn are that an unusually large meteor hurtled across the sky at the same time that an earthquake struck Berwyn. Some geologists have speculated that the lights were the rare, and largely unexplained phenomenon, of earthquake lights which are sometimes reported in the air just before earthquakes strike. Others remain convinced that it was a UFO that crashed at Berwyn, though very little of the craft seems to have survived the impact.

The gate to Rudloe Manor in Bath. (Credit: Derek Hawkins/Wikimeda Commons)

The mystery of RAF Rudloe Manor

Another fascinating article posted by Rupert Matthews in 2010 is “RAF Rudloe Manor and the UFO Files,” which describes the history of this top secret RAF installation in Bath. Its link as a UFO reporting center was first outed by Timothy Good in his 1987 bestseller Above Top Secret. Matthews tells the history of the base since it was first set up by the RAF during World War II; how he used to poke around the area in the 1970s when visiting relatives in Bath; and how “I began to hear rumours that the well guarded base at Rudloe Manor might have some UFO link.” Although the details are obviously classified, Matthews mentions underground facilities housing “the Central Computer Complex” and how “Rudloe Manor has long been the HQ of the RAF Provost & Security Services (PSS), which is responsible for all aspects of security affecting the RAF. It includes personnel from MI5 and MI6 who liaise with the PSS and – at least from time to time if nor permanently – CIA personnel as well. We know from declassified government documents that the PSS collated and sifted UFO reports for several decades.” Then comes the punch line:

In the early 1990s UFO investigators in Britain began to notice that there was a cluster of high quality sightings over the Box-Rudloe-Corsham area of Wiltshire. This reminded some of a similar cluster of sightings over Warminster, a few miles to the south, in the 1960s. Intrigued, investigators began paying more attention. The sightings were found to centre over Rudloe and to consist largely of UFOs without wings that pulsated with colours of blue, red or green. Often they were said to be diamond or conical in shape.

These are just some samples of the type of research conducted by Rupert Matthews, a prolific author, paranormal expert, ufologist and, yes, politician with the ruling Tory Conservative Party. Whether he can navigate successfully around the series of obstacles preventing him to become a member of the European Parliament remains to be seen. According to the British rules, the EP seat for East Midland should be his upon the resignation of the current member Roger Helmer, but politics as we know can be a dirty game and the Tory machinery may block him. If he does make it, however, there is no doubt that he will instantly become the best informed MEP on all matters relating to UFOs and the paranormal.

In early November, the White House officially responded to two UFO petitions on their “We The People” section of the White House website. The White House stated that “The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race.” Authors of the petitions, as well as some supporters of these petitions, were hoping for a different response.

Stephen Bassett (credit: PRG)

Bassett’s petition goes live on December 1, and will need to get 25,000 signatures by December 31 in order to receive a response from the White House.

But Bassett’s petitions have received criticism for their combative wording and conspiracy-oriented nature. A new petition that went live today takes a different approach.

Bryce Zabel

Richard Dolan

Searching for microbes on Mars and radio signals from space is not enough. We must explain Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAP, right here on Earth.

For six decades worldwide, credible witnesses (including Presidents Carter and Reagan) have consistently described objects with flight capabilities beyond our technology. UAP are often verified by radar and even seen at nuclear sites by military officers.

Given the national security implications, the United States should conduct an independent investigation. This inquiry must transparently review the key unsolved UAP reports with access to classified documents. It must have the power to call witnesses and grant immunity.

The findings should be publicly presented.

The petition can be read and signed here – https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/investigate-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-reported-citizens-police-astronauts-pilots-and-military/xjcNxcZj?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

ET disclosure petition on the White House website (credit: WhiteHouse.gov)

“We The People” was launched by the White House to provide “a new way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country.” The site enables anyone to create a petition about any topic.

One of the UFO/extraterrestrial petitions called on the White House to “Immediately disclose the government’s knowledge of and communications with extraterrestrial beings.” The other petition sought formal acknowledgement of “an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race.” Both petitions were created on September 22, 2011, but of the two, the latter petition received nearly 6,700 more signatures–12,078.

Phil Larson, who works on space policy and communications at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, responded to these two petitions with the following statement:

The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public’s eye.

But as Alejandro Rojas pointed out when he wrote a story about the UFO/ET petitions, there may be evidence to the contrary. Rojas mentioned a Bill Clinton interview from Hong Kong in which the former President stated:

I did attempt to find out if there were any secret government documents that revealed things and if there were, they were concealed from me too. I wouldn’t be the first president that underlings have lied to or that career bureaucrats have waited out. But there may be some career person somewhere hiding these dark secrets, even from elected Presidents. But if so, they successfully eluded me, and I am almost embarrassed to tell you that I did try to find out.

In his response to the petitions, Larson added, “However, that doesn’t mean the subject of life outside our planet isn’t being discussed or explored. In fact, there are a number of projects working toward the goal of understanding if life can or does exist off Earth.” The examples he provided were SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), NASA’s Kepler mission, and the Mars Science Laboratory.

Stephen Bassett

When “We The People” launched, a petition needed to receive at least 5,000 signatures within 30 days to be eligible for a response from the White House. Both of the previously mentioned petitions achieved this goal. But due to greater-than-expected activity on “We The People,” the White House has amended the terms of participation, requiring new petitions to reach 25,000 signatures within 30 days.

Mayan pyramid Chichen Itza (credit: Daniel Schwen/Wikimedia Commons)

Raul Julia-Levy, the film’s producer stated, “Mexico will release codices, artifacts and significant documents with evidence of Mayan and extraterrestrial contact, and all of their information will be corroborated by archaeologists.” Additionally, Luis Augusto Garcia Rosado, the minister of tourism for the Mexican state of Campeche, told TheWrap that new evidence has emerged showing “contact between the Mayans and extraterrestrials, supported by translations of certain codices, which the government has kept secure in underground vaults for some time.”

Mayan settlement El Mirador in Guatemala (credit: ggallice/Wikimedia Commons)

Revelations of the Mayans 2012 and Beyond begins filming in November of this year, and is scheduled to be released in theaters in late 2012, but before December 21, 2012–the end of the Mayan calendar.

John Alexander

Alexander is vocal about his belief in UFOs. As he stated to Knapp, “UFOs are real and I’m talking about physical reality. There are craft that are seen, balls of light flitting around, to craft — some of them a mile and a half across. They show up on radar and are really here.”

In his new book UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, Alexander’s skeptical nature is apparent. He doesn’t believe the government has covered up knowledge about UFOs — a view that has garnered scorn from some UFO believers. Alexander told Knapp, “The true believers are even more hostile than the skeptics. If you don’t believe their particular brand, whatever that is, you become the enemy. You’ve got to buy every bit of it otherwise you are part of the cover up, and blah, blah, blah.”

Some of this hostility was displayed in February at the International UFO Congress, at which Alexander was a speaker.

Nick Pope (image credit: www.nickpope.net)

Pope divulged an insiders look at the government’s game of misleading people. He revealed one tactic used to downplay UFO reports was to refer to witnesses as “UFO buffs” or “UFO spotters” to make them sound less credible. They additionally used terms like “little green men” in reports to make the sightings seem silly, which would hopefully reduce the chance of the media picking up the story.

When Pope was with the MoD, he too was required to go along with the policy of deception. He told the Huffington Post, “I believe in open government and freedom of information. I believe that the UFO phenomenon does raise important defense, national security and air safety issues, and if I helped kill any initiative on that, I’m deeply sorry.”

Poster for Montauk Chronicles (credit: Fortune Teller Films)

The town of Montauk is located on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. It was once home to the now-decommissioned Camp Hero, a former station of the U.S. Air Force. This base is haunted by tales of secret experiments that supposedly took place beneath its surface in the 1970s. These tales are explored in Montauk Chronicles, a new film by Christopher P. Garetano.

The general plot is explained on the film’s website:

Alfred Bielek, Stewart Swerdlow, And Preston Nichols all tell tales of experiments that were conducted on nearly one hundred thousand people over the course of about ten years. Kidnappings, murder, torture, time travel, mind control, and extra terrestrial contact are all said to have occurred at Camp Hero.

Lee Speigel from AOL and Huffington Post recently interviewed the film’s director. Watch the interview here – http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/06/21/montauk-project_n_873959.html#s293831

Montauk Chronicles is scheduled to be released on July 7th, 2011.

Read more about UFO films and celebrity encounters.

Image of the supposed structure (credit: Google)

David Martines, a self-described “armchair astronaut,” stumbled on what he believes to be a physical structure on the surface of the red planet while browsing Google Mars, a free web-based map program that contains a compilation of satellite images.

Martines named the supposed structure Bio Station Alpha, and provided the location coordinates of 49’19.73″N 29 33’06.53″W in a video he posted on the Internet. He describes it as being more than 700 feet long and 150 feet wide, and appearing to be “a cylinder or made up of cylinders.”

Here is the video of Martines showing what he discovered:

This isn’t the first time that someone has claimed to have discovered some type of structure on Mars. But in previous instances, the objects or “structures” in question have had more rocky, or natural, appearances. But Martines’s Bio Station Alpha appears to be a more artificial, rectangular structure.

While the image of the Martian planet’s surface that Martines highlights in his video is interesting, some scientists have offered an explanation for this anomaly. Alfred McEwen told Space.com, “It looks like a linear streak artifact produced by a cosmic ray.” McEwen is a planetary geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona, director of the Planetary Imaging Research Laboratory, and the principal investigator of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), a powerful telescope currently orbiting Mars. Space.com further explains:

As a cosmic ray passes through a camera’s image sensor, it deposits a large amount of its electric charge in the pixels that it penetrates. If the particle passes through at a shallow angle to the plane of the camera, it affects several pixels along its path. The result is a bright streak on the image.

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku also came to the conclusion that cosmic rays are likely the cause of the anomaly. He offered this explanation on the Fox News show America’s Newsroom:

At the present time, there isn’t really any way to know with 100% certainty the true nature of the object in the image in question. Mars surface exploration missions are currently in the works, and those could eventually provide additional answers. But for now, the opinions of scientific experts are the only “official” answers to the mystery.

Search the surface of Mars at http://www.google.com/mars/

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Department of Defence has ”lost” its X-Files. The Herald reportedly sought to obtain files from the Department of Defence relating to UFOs via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. But after two months of searching, the department was unable to locate the files. The Herald reports that the department’s FOI assistant director informed them that only one file could be located, and “the others had been destroyed.” Another UFO file showed up in the system, but again, the FOI assistant director informed the Herald that “the files could not be located and Headquarters Air Command formally advised that this file is deemed lost.”

Like in several other countries, Defence officials in Australia investigated and kept records on UFO sightings for decades. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was charged with investigating UFO, or UAS (unusual aerial sighting), reports. According to a department memo, “This function ceased in 1996 after consideration of the scientific record suggested that there was no compelling reason for the RAAF to continue to devote resources to the recording and investigation of UAS.” Department of Defence heads decided to stop taking UFO sighting reports in November of 2000, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Individuals who contact the Australian Department of Defence with UFO sighting reports are now referred to local police authorities. Similarly, officials from the New Zealand Defence Force announced in March of 2011 that they would no longer be taking UFO sighting reports, and that people with UFO sightings to report would be directed to local police.