The Gulf Breeze Sightings

From TinWiki.org

Photo taken by Ed Walters

The Gulf Breeze Sightings were deemed one of the most controversial UFO sightings. There were many photos taken and a video of the incident. But one person’s tale stood out amongst all the others.

Gulf Breeze was considered a small city with approximately 6000 people residing there at the time of the sightings, which began in the winter of 1987. News of photos being circulated by witnesses spread fast. This resulted in a great deal of media attention from newspapers, magazine articles, television talk shows, and feature programs.

1 Evidence
2 Mufon backtracks
3 Other reports from Gulf Breeze
4 External links

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Evidence

Walters went to the local Gulf Breeze Sentinel editor six days later and presented the photos he had taken and gave his description of events. Walters had originally tried to hide his identity by telling the editor that the photos were not his but were given to him by a Mr. X. He also handed over a letter said to be from Mr. X. Walters later claimed more abductions. He also produced many more photos to go along with his accounts. His entire family backed up his claims.

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Photos

The following are the photos taken by Walters.

Source

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Mufon

MUFON is a Texas based organization that is devoted to the study of UFO reports. They approached Ed Walters and examined the evidence that he provided. They were thoroughly convinced that Ed Walters was not lying and that the photos were genuine. Mufon provided Walters with special photography equipment and asked him to take more pictures if he had more encounters. He was provided with a special four-lens sealed camera (sealed with wax to prevent tampering) and a video camera. To their complete delight, Walters produced yet more stunning imagery. After they examined the new evidence, they were even more convinced that no trickery was involved.

Walter Andrus, state director for the Mutual UFO Network, studied the case for three years. His conclusions were: "The overwhelming evidence is in. Gulf Breeze is indeed one of the most incredible cases in modern UFO history."

J. Allen Hynek, of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), was convinced that Walters was guilty of trickery and the case was a hoax.

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Skeptics

Even after all the evidence that was presented and investigated, skeptics remained. On February 18, 1988 and February 23, 1988, Ed Walters was given two polygraph tests by Harvey W. McLaughlin JR and Florida clinical psychologist, Dan Overlade. He was also asked to take various psychological tests. Walters went on to pass the polygraph tests and his psychological tests revealed no personality abnormalities.

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Damaging evidence turns up

Many skeptics still doubted Walters' claims even though many other Gulf Breeze residents reported similar UFO sightings (over 200 reports have been filed since 1987). They put forward a theory that the pictures were taken using double-exposure techniques with the aid of some sort of model. Zan Overall, a California UFOlogist who established that Walters did in fact possess knowledge of double-exposure photographic techniques, produced damaging evidence.

Despite being called a hoax by skeptics, Walters became a mini-celebrity and appeared on the popular TV shows Unsolved Mysteries and Hard Copy.

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Infamous model

On June 10, 1990, the Pensacola News Journal broke the big story:

A model spaceship resembling the UFOs reportedly seen above Gulf Breeze has been found in a house once occupied by the man whose photographs started a UFO craze that has focused worldwide attention on this community.

A man named Robert Menzer made a discovery at Walters' former residence and decided to take the evidence to the Pensacola News. Menzer stated:

I was going to install an icemaker, and I needed to turn off the water. I was fooling around in the attic, and I was moving insulation aside when I saw it. I never would have found it if I hadn't been looking for the pipe.

The model was 9 inches long across the top and 5 inches deep. Made of "two nine-inch foam plates attached to two six-inch foam plates; a six inch square blue-color gel (plastic film) and on six-inch round orange paper ring, a 3.5-inch long tube, and a 2-inch wide paper ring between the two nine-inch plates." Windows were drawn on the model, which was covered with drafting paper."

When Menzer removed the drafting paper, he discovered the draft of a home complete with building measurements. The handwriting was said to match that of Ed Walters. The newspaper published the measurements and a man came forward and claimed that the measurements resembled that of a home Walters had been contracted to build for him.

When Walters was contacted he claimed: "only a fool would leave behind such a piece of evidence." He also made the claim that someone who wished to discredit him planted the model. He suggested that it might have been Menzar himself who was responsible (Menzar did not come forward with his story until three months after he found the model). Walters also claimed that the model in no way resembled any of the craft he photographed. As for the draft paper, Walters conceded that the handwriting was his but that it was from a failed contract in 1989, two years after the first sightings. He stated that on several occasions he had caught people digging through his trash and theorized that the drawing had been obtained from his garbage can. This was later verified by researchers who discovered that the measurements on the draft did not match the measurements of the house as claimed by the first man, but rather matched plans for a house Walters was to build in September 1989. The case for a diabolical "plant" was strengthened by these discoveries.

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Tommy Smith

On June 17, 1990 a young lad named Tommy Smith came forward to Mayor Ed Gray and Police Chief Jerry Brown (both skeptics of Walters' claims) and claimed that he had inside knowledge about the photographs Walters had taken. He claimed that he had helped Walters rig up a model to fake the photographs. Smith claimed:

Walters had taken pictures of the illuminated model and then shot pictures of the sky using the same frame of the film. He further stated that Walters had asked Smith to take the pictures to the Gulf Breeze Sentinel in order to add further credence to his story.

He wanted me as another witness. I had about a day to think about it, and I talked it over with Ed, and I just said it was a fraud, it wasn't real smart. I do understand a practical joke, but when I realized that he was going to go all the way through with it, I just didn't want to hurt my father's reputation, and I didn't want to get in the middle of a court case.

Tommy’s parents quickly came forward to back up his claims, stating that they had known for some time about the trickery and had urged their son to come forward.

Smith went on to declare that Walters had faked the UFO landing by turning a trampoline upside down and jumping on it.

Believers of Walters' pictures countered Smith's explanations with claims that he himself had been misleading the public. They put forward various statements suggesting evidence manufactured with an upside down trampoline would not have produced dead grass that resisted growth for nearly 18 months.

Smith went on to claim that Walters had produced the "beams of blue light" that came from the craft by slowly peeling back the back of the film.

The experts countered by saying that it was impossible to produce such a "line" using the method Smith described.

They further went on to dare Smith to explain how Walters could produce double-exposure photographs using a rudimentary Sun 600 Polaroid camera, something that not even expert photographers could reproduce.

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Tommy’s photos and analysis of the Walter photos

Tommy Smith produced photos that he claimed were taken with his camera by Walters. He claimed that Walters had told him to take them to the Sentinel, but Smith had changed his mind and declined to do so. In an odd twist, researchers examined Smith's photographs and could find no proof of any double-exposure method, a finding that seemed to indicate that Smith's photographs were also authentic.

Despite all the damaging incidents and the arguments between the believers and non-believers, the most damning evidence came from studies done of the photographs themselves. Many had been obtained from a book that Walters had published. In one particular photo, the illuminated object casts a brightly-lit reflection on the road below. Photo analysis of the picture seemed to indicate some discrepancies. The reflections on the road were analyzed by physicists who claimed that the reflections were 9 times taller than they should have been. This indicated that the reflections were suspended in the air and not off of the road. The physicists further pointed out the unusual shape of the reflection. They also noted that the road should have absorbed much more of the light than the picture seemed to indicate.

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Mufon backtracks

Mufon, who were one of the supporters of this case, later reversed their position. Investigators Rex and Carol Salisberry proclaimed:

We believe that UFOs exist. We entered this investigation with a natural and favorable bias toward the Walters case, but our investigation and analysis lend to the conclusion that several if not all of the photos are probable hoaxes.

People continue to debate this case. Salisberry himself summarized the situation best when he stated,

The problem with Walters' story isn't a UFO problem, it is a human problem. If the Walters case is typical of most UFO cases, the debate will probably go on for years in spite of any evidence pro or con.

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Other reports from Gulf Breeze

As well as the Walters sighting, many other people reported seeing strange things in the sky. In a letter from a man named Arthur Hufford, the following was said:

UFOs are real! I can state that because I personally witnessed a UFO hovering above some trees along the Bayou Boulevard in Pensacola in November 1987. The UFO my wife and I saw around 4:30 PM that day looked exactly like the one photographed by Ed Walters on Nov. 11, 1987. Several weeks after our sighting we first learned that someone had taken photographs of what we had seen. Since that time I have talked to over 30 witnesses; many of these people also saw a craft which looked exactly like Walters' photos.

All through the UFO epidemic, the Gulf Breeze media continued to look for an explanation to the reports that were coming in. Jackie Brooks, Associate Editor for News Journal, wrote:

The accounts of what people say they have seen in the skies...have some of us jeering, some cheering and some peering - hoping to catch a glimpse of an unidentified flying object. But for those who have seen the objects, the question isn't one of belief in UFOs or whether the sightings are real. They saw UFOs. The question is: what did they see?

She further strengthened the case by offering points attributing the reliability of some of the witnesses. Referring to Arthur Hufford (see letter above), she stated:

He is a long time employee with Monsanto. Quiet, sober, involved, intelligent, not given to improbable visions, Hufford is a man you would trust to tell the truth. He certainly isn't anyone you would expect to make up a story simply to impress someone or to get on the 'bandwagon' of UFO sighters. And his wife shared his sighting - in Pensacola, not Gulf Breeze.

She also validated a well-publicized sighting by Dr. Fenner McConnell by offering a ringing endorsement of his character:

He is a well-known pathologist, a mature, well-respected man in the community, a physical fitness advocate and frequent runner, a devoted family man and a quiet-spoken scientist not known for extreme views or exotic notions...in other words not a person to immediately doubt when he says he saw something unexplainable in the sky. His wife also saw it.

Editor Ms. Brooks believed that these and other reports offered more than enough evidence to convince her that something strange was going on in her hometown of Gulf Breeze. She stated:

For me the conclusion is that there is something out there. We can speculate on what it is, but beliefs and hypotheticals and maybes have little to do with the reality of the phenomenon. The reality is that something observed, but so far unexplained, is going on in our skies...In the midst of all the speculations and investigation, debunking and debate, we have reputable reports of UFO sightings in our area.

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