One of the strangest aspects to reports of UFO lights is treated in this 1969 event. "Bent light" has excited a number of ufologists, and this Manitoba variant case is not only multiple-witnessed but reported directly by the constable who was involved first-hand. UFO Talker host Michael Ryan and commentator Christine Scott tease out the most salient points of this 20-minute encounter, including its automotive and physiological effects. In Interview: The Clarenville Incident Michael interviews another first-hand constable witness, James Blackwood, about a 1978 multiple-witnessed event in Newfoundland that was about-two-hour-long and that led to a USAF visit a year later. The encounter featured an apparent identically colored response from the UFO to the Constable's own police car lights. After the Blackwood interview Michael and Christine highlight several "takeaways." The Beyond Creepy podcast has a story worthy of the website's title in Intercepting the Package: The Dobbs Encounter. This 1976 meetup involved an entity who was more interested in a package the witness was carrying; the apparent effects on the package's intriguing contents is nicely referenced at the close of the podcast. And John Keel website manager Doug Skinner has two more entries about the Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Silver Bridge disaster, starting with The Athens Messenger, Dec. 20, 1967, and concluding with The Athens Messenger, December 21, 1967. The processes of recovering and grieving for those temporarily interred in the Ohio River, and of discerning the exact causes for the bridge collapse and how to deter future bridge disasters, are starkly portrayed. (WM)

An old courthouse in Ohio was recently the location of some spooky goings on. The thermal camera/metal detector facing the front door recorded a thermal image, even though there was no one (living) at the door. Courthouses typically host more unhappy events than happy ones, so maybe there's a little residual energy spooking up the place.  Meanwhile, Ghost Panic Grips Indian Village Following Series of Mysterious Deaths. Strange lights and sounds have been reported, and while some villagers have taken it upon themselves to become ghost hunters, others are attempting to raise enough money for the village to hire a mystic to smooth things over with the spirits. In other ghostly news, was a Ghost Photographed Watching Over Scene of Deadly Car Accident in Honduras? While we'd be more concerned that onlookers were stopping to snap photos, the image in question is indeed disturbing. But we're inclined to think it's further evidence of morbid curiosity by onlookers. (What is wrong with people?) (CM)

Here are some reminders that UFOs are, and for a long have been, worldwide phenomena. Bill Chalker reviews his work on two major Australian cases seeing 60th-anniversary celebrations this year—the Westall school mass sighting and the Tully "saucer nest." Recorded before the January 20th James Fox National Press Club Varginha update event, the Martin Willis Erling Strand ~ Hessdalen Lights of Norway podcast takes us through the ongoing sightings of strange phenomena and Erling's association with the study since the early 1980s. Erling describes why the so-different four types of reported phenomena make the search for causes so difficult, what instrumentation has been used and is sought, and what's behind his and others' fascination with the Mystery. A good friend highly recommends we spend time with The Man Sitting on More UFO Evidence Than Anyone Alive. Jesse Michels sits down with Swedish researcher Clas Svahn to consider that icon's half-century labor to fashion the Archives for the Unexplained, and pursue his personal quest towards unravelling the UFO puzzle. The forays into AFU's vast collection of historically-significant anomalous material and sit-down conversations between Clas and Jesse produce insights simply too numerous to list. And Nick Pope’s Special Message to the Galactic Family Podcast: Why This Moment Matters about today being "a remarkable moment in human history" is a memorable assessment of What Has Changed since 2017. (WM)

A key factor stymying UFO study is the existence of numerous data collections, each with its own structure and peculiarities, hindering any really value-rich merging of decades of information to support collective study. Chrissy Newton covers a new report from an August 2025 private workshop "with experts from government, academia, and civilian research organizations convened in the Washington, D.C., area." This could form the basis for truly collaborative, instead of somewhat-combative, relationships between the Department of War and those outside communities. An example of academic/medical interest would be Neurological Effects of Encounters with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, an October 2025 internationally collaborative paper. Its cautious summary findings will not surprise many UFO-interested, but its creation at all is noteworthy. Popular Mechanic's Kyle Mizokami writes about a side benefit to UFO/UAP studies as A Secret Soviet Plan to Nuke America From the South Pole Was Working. Until UFO Hunters Looked Up. As the article's title implies, the late 1960s was a scary time to live through. And maybe we're very lucky we made it this far, for James Thompson has written that A One-off Alien Signal Would Tell More about Extinction Than Contact. In other words, something like the famous 1977 Wow! signal might in fact not be a "Hello, we're out here!" but "related to a terminal episode rather than normal everyday life." (WM)

In yet another example of empirical evidence being shunted aside, the esteemed Royal Society Open Science journal has jumped on the pseudoscience bandwagon by publishing the claim of Alessandro Chiolerio et al, that the apparent reaction of "three living trees and five stumps" to electrical and gravitational changes preceding an eclipse proves they have a "deep memory" and were able to "warn" younger trees of what was to come. More rational heads point out that there is no evidence in any studies to validate this idea and that these claims "ignore simple answers in favor of more fantastical ones that are fundamentally difficult to support." Similarly, Tales of a Ghost Ship That Existed on Paper is doing the rounds, despite zero evidence that the SS Ourang Medan existed and that its crew perished in some terrible way. A search online reveals plenty about the likely origin of this "urban legend." (LP)

Ryan Whalen unearths a potential answer to a prehistoric riddle. A trans-European excursion to study marking on hundreds of artifacts has led a research team to propose a communication system not based on spoken language that indicates the Swabian Aurignacian culture used an approach most similar to proto-cuneiform script. An interesting approach and conclusions. The Debrief Editor-in-Chief Micah Hanks brings us closer in time and out of deep Mystery with The Fabled “Lost City Of Almanzor” Has Eluded Scholars For A Thousand Years—Now This Archaeologist Says He’s Found It. Micah explains Antonio Monterroso Checa's surmise that his lidar-based research has discovered the 10th-century stronghold's remains. A mainstay of romantic Roman history now has tangible backing as Archaeologists Unearthed a 2,200-Year-Old Bone. They Say It Could Be the First Direct Evidence of Hannibal’s Legendary War Elephants. That per Smithsonian Magazine Daily Correspondent Sonja Anderson, who however stresses "The researchers say that this bone didn’t come from 'one of the mythical specimens Hannibal took across the Alps.'” And perhaps we're nearer to fully understanding the moai of Rapa Nui, because Scientists Tested the Soil Under the Easter Island Statues—and May Have Finally Solved Their Meaning. Writing for Popular Mechanics, Jennifer Leman uncovers the results of a 30-year-plus study. (WM)

Just hours after Trump ordered the release of UFO-related documents, John Greenewald's The Black Vault FOIA server was cleared and "permissions, safeguards and file ownership logs changed without explanation." John used backups to fix things, and while the server-maintenance-gone-wrong was "very oddly timed," he's not calling foul play. British journalist/educator Dr. David Clarke regales The Telegraph's Science Editor Sarah Knapton with the two 2025 Wall Street Journal articles' contention that the US Uses Aliens and UFOs ‘To Cover Up Spycraft’. Clarke repeats the narrative claiming there was government and military misinformation/disinformation to divert attention from secret development programs; he and Knapton's article also demean witness reports and opinions. Inquisitr News Writer Srijony Das offers Trump’s Push To Unseal UFO Files Fuels Speculation Around Baba Vanga’s Chilling 2026 Alien Prophecies. We're not so sure the POTUS's directive will materially impact the late mystic's predictions; 2026 seems to be doing a good job of deteriorating on its own. And notwithstanding the elegant discussion from the great scientist-communicator Sir David Attenborough: Why It May Be Impossible for Aliens to Ever Visit Earth, we're still reminded of the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek's statements regarding the "temporal provincialism" of 20th-century science. (H/T Rich Reynolds.) (WM)

If you were hoping to grab that job at the Loch Ness Centre that includes fresh air, adventure, interaction with others, and cruising the Loch looking for Nessie, you're too late. That position went to Steve Glew, who had a personal brush with the monster as he was piloting a speedboat in the south side of the loch years ago. Glew will be the new skipper of the Centre's research vessel "Deepscan." In other Loch news, Roland Watson provides an interesting synopsis of Captain Alastair Mackintosh's 1961 autobiography No Alibi in Earthquakes, Monsters and Hugh Gray. Mackintosh was a Nessie fan, but only managed a near miss sighting, happening upon Hugh Gray after the beast crossed the road in front of his vehicle. Mackintosh's life story provides an interesting and timely backdrop to the Nessie history we typically read about, at times providing corroborating information and at others, leaving more questions than we started with. (CM)

Stan Gordon reviews the year 2025 and his sixty years of UFO and other anomalies investigations, summarizing his findings to-date—including how many of the cases possess "a physical and non-physical aspect to their appearances and disappearances," and what might be termed an "interdimensional" source. Stan then lists some of the most peculiar, well-researched reports of that year, most actually involving strange orbs and animals in close proximity to the witnesses. Absorbing reading. Tim Binnall and Coast to Coast have a medley of 2026 events south of the U.S., beginning with a Mysterious Trio of Fireballs Filmed in Mexico, complete with scary wails. Next: A Webcam Films Odd UFO Over Mexico City, at an appropriate time to be "an errant Valentine's Day balloon set aloft by someone in the city." The Strange Sphere Filmed Zipping Through Sky at Incredible Speed in Costa Rica produces a fairly elaborate explanation as a class of objects functioning "as monitoring probes," according to a Costa Rican research group. And Tim's Baffling Beam of Light Photographed in Argentina has a named witness, specific locale, and that still-puzzled photographer. (WM)

News outlets are reporting on the Trump directive for locating and opening the government's files on UFO/ET. Assisted by Newsweek's AI assistant Martyn, Joe Edwards reports the Secretary of War quipped that when confirmed “I did not have that on my bingo at all.” Though he couldn't commit to a timeline, Hegseth said more would be coming on the process. In Europe, Baptiste Friscourt of Sentinel News seized upon Hegseth's most memorable statement in "We've Got Our People Working on It Right Now", providing statements from significant US Government personnel and others. Two CBS reporters offer We Asked Scientists What They Think We'll Learn From The Government's UFO files. Here's What They Said., getting low expectations and predominantly negative speculations on "ET UFOs." Contributing to Forbes, Dr. Adam Frank, ponders What We Could Learn From Trump’s UFO Disclosure, but sits firmly in the "no intelligent aliens" camp despite professing an open, but rigorously skeptical, mindset. And The Wall Street Journal's Joel Schectman disappoints with What Trump’s UFO Deep Dive Might Reveal to Americans. Schectman's sketchy piece credits AARO for discovering the AAWSAP/AWSAP program, which was "outed" five years before AARO was officially hatched, and rather incompletely reports Kevin Randle's Roswell conclusions. Schectman does quote current AARO head Jon Kosloski accurately. (H/T Rob Swiatek.) (WM)

It appears that "reality TV" is consistently exploitative and shameful regardless of its country of origin. Korea's newest offering to the genre, "Battle of Fates," features 49 mediums who claim to be able to connect with those who have passed and determine how they came to meet their maker. Most recently a participant allegedly connected with the spirit of a deceased firefighter who perished in 2001 in a fire in Seoul.  Unsurprisingly, surviving members of the firefighter's family took issue with the gruesome retelling of how their loves one died. Also in Korea, Korean Bishops Reiterate Call To Avoid Marian Shrine as it is not "Church approved." However, since the shrine inspires faith and brings positive regard to the Church, perhaps the Korean Bishops are more put out that their people made a decision for themselves rather than inviting the bishops for their "infallible discernment." In any case, Catholics are not "allowed" to visit the shrine. (CM)

Charles Lear takes us back to the early days of ufology with this article about The Flying Saucer Mystery, whose two release dates coincided with key events in 1949 and 1952. And Major Donald E. Keyhoe was a key figure in both events, as well as the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), as chronicled in Linda Powell's highly acclaimed Against the Odds: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and His Battle to End UFO Secrecy. We wonder what Donald Keyhoe would think of a bit more recent (1968) case outside a small Brazilian pottery shop, where Henrique Schneider Jr. spent Ten Minutes Face-to-Face With Something That Wasn't Human. It's flat-out one of the weirdest close encounter events we have come upon. The "Stories Lost" interpretation of what happened is also quite interesting. Just a year prior to this puzzler, a film taken of strange "glowing orbs" became even more mysterious when it was slowed down, leading to the question Who Were the Men in the Orb Stella Lansing Filmed? Stella, it turns out, had many additional photographic adventures, perhaps partly of her own unconscious creation. And it might not surprise that John Keel's publisher received in 1968 A Letter from VOK, a member of an ET group complaining of "various mis-construances and false impressions" in Keel's articles for Saga. Come to think of it, 1967 and 1968 were pretty weird years... (WM)

More commentary on the POTUS "disclosure" directive on freeing UFO documentation. Tim McMillan makes the critical point that the "statement, as written, does not clearly order the declassification of any such records (if they exist)." Tim explains other hindrances and just plain curbs on releasing all UFO-related government information. An excellent and real-world discussion of an out-of-this-world situation. Ross Coulthart chimes in with two items: Trump Should Issue UFO Executive Order to Force Files Release is the fresher post. Here Ross notes the same issue Tim voiced, though Ross' "reading between the lines" that there are alien files might be a reach. Ross also notes Trump's pre-election "UFOpeness" pledge with Joe Rogan, but he's not sure the President didn't speak "out of turn" on Air Force One. Ross' earlier Trump’s UFO Directive: Disclosure Shift or Political Strategy? goes deeper on Trump's political position and the historical realities. The Epstein files seem a running subtext in some discussions, and Ross detects a possible "cancer" in how different Presidents have been let into the UFO Secret. Dr. Jennice Vilhauer deals with the serious "psychological events" that a bona fide transparency activity could have in Trump Orders UFO Disclosure: What Does It Mean for Us? A warning note, indeed. But Brian Dunning takes us Inside Trump's Order to Release the UFO files. Skeptic Dunning is not worried about what will come from what he thinks appears the result of "ad-libbed verbal diarrhea." Billy Cox has no qualms about dealing with the current President's purposes, as he offers "A speak peek at the UFO reality address," perhaps for tonight's State of the Union, in The King's Speech. (WM)

Vampires. We seem to be obsessed with the bloodsuckers. Machiel Reyneke proposes there's more to it than we realize. He suggests that "the modern longevity movement is a vampire disclosure program." Then he gets into the science, describing experiments where old mice injected with the blood of younger mice actually became younger. Reyneke even has a list of suspected vampires, names you may be familiar with. This entire article is a wild ride. While we're on the subject, let's look at The Unnatural History of the Bloodsucking Vampire Vine, dating back to 1890s Nicaragua. The vine purportedly entangled its victims and drained their blood. The many accounts of its unwary victims (who survived) describe tendrils that wound tightly and painfully, restricting movement entirely and leaving terrible, lasting scars. What made these claims so perplexing is that many were made by credible witnesses, not crackpots, who essentially described a man-eating plant. (CM)

Martin Willis converses with an AI Assistant about several significant UFO topics. The Chatbot possesses a Douglas Adams sense of humor and seems to learn during its exchange with Martin. Over at Popular Mechanics Elizabeth Rayne tackles one of the "Big Questions" with The Universe May Be Teeming With Alien Minds, Controversial New Research Suggests. Rayne asserts, referencing the "hard steps" model of intelligence evolving on par with humans, "The case against cosmic loneliness is growing." So Avi Loeb thinks the next step is a Presidential Priority: Where Are the Aliens? Loeb advances the worth of searching for interstellar "partners." In "Studying UFOs Changes You!" - Diana Pasulka and Jesse Michels discuss how UFO researchers should become more sensitive to the whole of Reality from their study, and by a "forcing function" move their behavior towards what one might call the "straight and narrow path." Interestingly, Jeremy Corbell voices somewhat similar thoughts in Spooks, Spies & Cosmic Lies: The Luminal Promise of Pioneertown. A rather poetic apologia pro vita sua for Jeremy's life path and particularly UFO work, and one must acknowledge his accomplishments and agree with many of his positions. And we return to Avi's appreciation for the latest near-interstellar visitor in History Awaits on 3I/ATLAS. Loeb revels in the recognition he's gotten in the form of art and literature created by those who've followed his journey of discovery. (WM)

Reactions, first interpretations, and questions about President Trump's late Thursday "Truth Social" statement, which Chris Cuomo reprises at the beginning of a short conversation with Luis Elizondo. Lue rather reworks Cuomo's direct "Why now?" question but is helpfully careful to delineate what steps would build confidence that something really meaningful will be done. Elizabeth Vargas and "cautiously optimistic" defense analyst Marik von Rennenkampff add more to the discussion, with a suggestion to watch for the topic in Trump's Tuesday "State of the Union" address. And Avi Loeb seizes that last theme to make his consistent case for sharing information so more minds can deal with it. At The Week, Ancila D. wonders Are the Alien Files a Distraction From Epstein Files? Trump Orders Release of Documents on UFOs, as Seth Meyers Predicted. Comedian Meyers may have been prophetic six months ago. Richard Dolan ponders about Obama, Trump, & Aliens - What Does This REALLY Mean? Here's the text of former POTUS Barack Obama's "walk-back" of his supposedly incendiary quips. Richard dwells more on the presidential personalities involved, while doubting the federal "code of secrecy" will crack and reveal much, especially given Government/private industry relationships. And writing in The New York Times, Ross Douthat has 4 Big U.F.O. Questions for the White House. Douthat doubts that much will come of Trump's pledge. Douthat asks whether military imagery really evidences "technologies that we don't have and frankly that we are not capable of defending against"; are the "whistleblowers" trilling nonsense and/or is there actual fire behind the smoke masked by a Government conspiracy; what's behind Senators Schumer and Rounds repeatedly trying to promote "disclosure"; and are government agencies really still pursuing paranormal subjects? (WM)

While controversy roils over why Donald Trump announced intent to release government UFO files, some are taking a larger focus on the State of Ufology. Herb Scribner shares "what the government has previously shared" about UAP, limiting that term to "airborne objects" and dwelling only upon the "latest chapter" of the last few years. He covers the "usual suspects" familiar to us, noting no confirmation of UFOs with extraterrestrial (or "extratempestrial," etc.) license plates. Scribner produces a handy U.S. map of UFO report density via the National UFO Reporting Center, and concludes that "Trump's order could provide new evidence for believers and skeptics to seize on." Writing in Skeptic, Nick Pope asks Ufology: From Fringe to Mainstream to Fringe? Nick explains the "AATIP/AAWSAP" confusion per Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough, then courses through the recent history, worrying that "a mixture of information overload, infighting, and quasi-religious narratives may conspire to undo this progress"—which progress is the "mainstreamification" of the topic. While writing this piece before the latest developments, Nick thinks that if Donald Trump isn't the "Disclosure President," ufology may move "back into the fringe." (H/T Mark Rodeghier for the reference.) Richard Dolan argues for a remedy in "a clearer framework," including a much wider area of investigation than just sightings and investigation methods. See Why Ufology Needs a New Map. Richard here emphasizes that the overall study must include the human factor as well as the origins, capabilities, and possible purpose of the phenomenon. (WM)

Lyle Blackburn takes us (and two close friends) into the woods of Fouke, Arkansas, to see where the stories of the Fouke Monster began. Lyle's smooth narration and genuine fascination with the hairy history are contagious. After watching this video, you may feel an urge to watch (or rewatch) The Legend of Boggy Creek and read Lyle's book The Beast Of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster. Meanwhile, an Immersive Cryptids Exhibit [is] Unveiled at Ripley's Museum in Florida. The newest exhibition at Ripley's Believe It or Not in St. Augustine just opened. The Bigfoot exhibit includes the Sierra sounds, and an animatronic Sasquatch named Bigfoot Bob that can chat with visitors. The cryptid gallery is filled with talking portraits, and an entire room is dedicated to "hoaxes and cons." This showcase is intended to be a stable feature at the Odditorium. (CM)