Bob White’s Great UFO
Artifact Mystery—Solved!
(Sometimes All it Takes is Finding the Right Expert.)

by Pat Linse, with Ean Harrison

Apsychic was taking phone calls on a late night radio show. His next caller was clearly upset—you could hear the fear in his voice. “I think I might be possessed” he confessed. “When I drive at night the street lights often turn off as I approach. I’m afraid it might be a warning that something terrible is about to happen.” The psychic tried to reassure him, “You definitely have some kind of extraordinary power, but it’s not necessarily negative. The lights that go out could mean that one phase of your life is over and you are about to enter a new one…”

As the psychic droned on about focusing on the positive and seeking out new opportunities, the phone lines lit up at the radio station. Dozens of people were trying to get through to offer an explantation for the ominous behavior of the street lights. They were all from one specific profession, but they were not scientists or psychologists.

The psychic’s explanation to the frightened man was suddenly cut off and a new voice came on the air. “We would like to let our listeners know that our phone lines have been jammed by people who have a very straightforward explanation for the caller’s problem. They are auto mechanics and they are all suggesting that the caller have his headlights adjusted. If headlights are aimed too high they trigger the daylight sensor on streetlights and turn them off. It’s a common problem.”

Luckily for the caller, the right experts were listening to provide a solution. Those familiar with skeptical literature are aware of James Randi’s tireless effort to point out that many supposed paranormal mysteries that have stumped scientists can be solved by the expertise of magicians.

Now another mystery has been solved with information provided by the right expert. The solution calls to mind Michael Shermer’s frequent admonition, “Before you say something is out of this world, make sure it isn’t of this world.”

Bob White’s UFO Artifact

The late Bob White’s mysterious object (see photo above) is touted on the internet as hard evidence for the existence of UFOs: “This isn’t the smoking gun—this is the bullet!!!!” And it has been included on or near the top of UFO “best evidence” lists.^{1, 2} In 1985, according to White’s sworn deposition, he was napping as he and a companion drove west through the desolate country between Grand Junction, CO and the Utah border. After 2 or 3 in the morning White’s friend woke him for a second time—the odd light they’d noticed before in the sky seemed to be getting bigger. White recalled:

[The light] was about the size of a full harvest moon… As we got closer, it grew larger… When we were a few hundred yards from it, I turned off the ignition and we coasted up close to it… It was huge, the size of a very big barn. I got out of the car…for a better look. For some unknown reason, Jan turned on the headlights, and this light went up in the sky as fast as my eyes could follow it… Then I saw another small light, bright orange with a tinge of yellow, white, and blue falling from it… I climbed the incline and went over to where I thought it might have hit. I found a groove in the ground about 18 inches deep and 9 inches wide. I followed the groove and there it lay… it was still glowing.³

White stashed the object in his trunk, and fearing that the story would harm his entertainment career, said nothing about it until after he retired.

From 1996 to his death in 2009, the now retired Bob White devoted himself to promoting his artifact as a piece of hard evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial engineering. His quest was not without its frustrations—his artifact, if genuine, should have been one of the greatest discoveries of all time—but he did manage to attract some media attention. He gave interviews, spoke at UFO conventions, wrote a book titled UFO Hard Evidence (Galde Press 2004), set up a small museum to house his artifact (where he is said to have offered the object for sale for ten million dollars), and was featured on a number of TV shows.

Production budgets of shows like the History Channel’s UFO Hunters, Unsolved Mysteries, and Jane Goldman Investigates (a series produced in the UK) allowed him to present the object to scientists for testing, with mixed results. While it was easily established to be made of aluminum, it had no apparent working parts. UFO enthusiasts focused on proving its extraterrestrial origin by suggesting the composition of the metal matched nothing on earth. They compared isotope ratios in the object to those of meteors, tried to establish that it emitted unusual radioactivity, or focused on inclusions and trace elements in the metal. No one seemed to wonder why a supposedly sophisticated piece of alien technology looked like it had been unceremoniously hacked off at one end.

Ancient aliens is the idea that aliens visited earth in the past. The idea of ancient aliens is not a new one either. Imagination is one of the most powerful tools in humanity’s evolutionary struggle for survival. As a race, we are hardwired to consider important concepts, such as the creation of life on Earth and the history of people on this planet. At some point, we are all presented with various explanations and theories regarding the expansion of human life on Earth. In the long history of mankind, the majority of these concepts have followed religious teachings, and the power of a spiritual God or Gods. In modern times, many people have come to challenge these claims.

The idea of evolution has been used to describe the gradual change of traits that living organisms undergo over time, which is related to the environment, but it doesn’t explain how the biological cells of human’s first ancestor were spawned. Because of the fact that everyone is interested in the creation of life on Earth, and concurrently we have been taught to believe in the power of religion and the impossibility of alien life, the idea that this article will be examining is controversial. It will be based around some concepts that have been labeled absurd by the scientific community, but let your imagination go, and have some fun with the list.

The idea surrounding ancient aliens is a basic one. It states that the human population was influenced by a group of extraterrestrials that visited Earth in the past. The ancient aliens were directly involved in the evolution of primates, including humans. It has been suggested that this was accomplished by way of genetic engineering, cross-breeding, or a combination of both, ultimately helping in the development of human cultures, technologies and religion. The idea first gained widespread exposure with the 1968 publication of Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken, but the concept has been around since the middle of the 19th century. A common variant of the idea includes proposals that deities from most, if not all, religions, including angels and demons, are actually extraterrestrials whose advanced technologies were taken by people as evidence of a divine status.

This concept is related to the religious practice of a cargo cult, which can be seen in modern day pre-industrial tribal societies. Especially during World War II, when indigenous people were contacted by soldiers with advanced equipment, such as guns and tanks. The cults subsequently attempted to obtain wealth through magic and religious rituals and practices. The ancient alien theory states that extraterrestrials purposely tricked the human population into believing they were Gods, creating religion to help people evolve more efficiently. The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations.

It has been proposed that, with the current age of the universe and its vast number of stars, if the Earth was typical, extraterrestrial life should be common. In response to this paradox, the zoo hypothesis has been suggested. It states that aliens generally avoid making their presence known to humanity, or avoid exerting an influence on development, somewhat akin to zookeepers observing animals in a zoo, or experimental scientists observing a study of life. Adherents of the hypothesis feel that the Earth and humans are being secretly surveyed using equipment located on Earth, or elsewhere in the Solar System. Charles Fort’s unpublished 1915 manuscript, novel X, describes how Martian beings or Martian events control life on Earth. Fort ultimately burnt the manuscript, but one surviving quote from it is “The Earth is a farm. We are someone else’s property.”

The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the theory that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets. The idea sounds simple to modern day humans, but it a relatively new concept that originated out of the saucer sightings and close encounters of the 1940s-1960s. Thousands of UFO sightings have been reported in the last 50 years, and one of the emerging themes in these events is the Men in Black. The Men in Black are men, or aliens, dressed in black suits who have been reported to harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. In most cases, the men claim to be government agents, but it is often suggested that they may be ancient aliens themselves.

People who have reported an encounter with the Men in Black often describe them as men of short stature with a deeply tanned and dark complexion. According to the accounts, Men in Black always seem to have detailed information on the person they contact, as if the individual had been under surveillance for a long period of time. They have been described as seeming confused by the nature of everyday items such as pens, eating utensils or food, as well as using outdated slang. Those who have encountered them say they produce identification, but when verification is later sought, the people described do not exist or have been dead for some time. Another defining characteristic of the Men in Black is wide grins and disconcerting giggles.

The phenomenon has been frequently reported since the 1950s and 1960s, but some researchers, including John Keel and others, have suggested similarities between the Men in Black reports and earlier demonic accounts. Keel suggests that the beings are a modern-day manifestation of the same phenomena that was earlier interpreted as the devil, or encounters with fairies. The term “the black man” has been used for centuries in reference to the Devil. In history, the Black Man was often reported as meeting with the accused and having sexual intercourse with them. Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is another folk name for The Devil that is used in the local legends of New England and pre-Civil War America.

During the Middle Ages, the black man was not a person with African features, but rather a man colored black and dressed in black. In modern times, another phenomenon known as the Grinning Man has become associated with the Men in Black, and various reports of paranormal activity. These creatures are larger and characterized by a wide grinning face. In most cases, people describe a strange sensation of not being able to focus in on the Grinning Man. It has been suggested that the smile is an attempt by the aliens to conform to society and keep humans feeling safe, but in all reports the figure is described as extremely creepy. In the Half-Life series of first-person shooter video games, there is a mysterious character named G-Man that parallels some of the Men in Black descriptions.

During WWII, the term foo fighter was used by Allied aircraft pilots to describe the various UFOs and mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific Theater of Operations. In the wake of the war, the world entered an era of substantial achievement and technical advancement. One such example is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which is a United States aircraft that was developed in the early 1960s. The SR-71 Blackbird is a strategic reconnaissance aircraft that currently holds the air speed record. In 1903, Wilbur Wright set the aircraft speed record going 6.82 mph (10.98 km/h). In 1976, the SR-71 Blackbird went 2,193.2 mph (3,529.6 km/h). The craft was manned by Eldon W. Joersz during the record flight, but is highly capable of taking off and landing unassisted.

In modern times, organizations have been developed, such as the Disclosure Project, which have alleged the existence of a world government cover-up of information relating to unidentified flying objects and alien encounters. People argue that the technical advancements humans have experienced since WWII have been achieved with the help of extraterrestrial life and equipment. Proponents of the ancient aliens theory have suggested that the development of nuclear weapons sparked an increased interest in humanity’s evolutionary path, ultimately leading to an era of mass abductions and close encounters. Some others point to the current global climate disruption and apocalypse predictions, identifying them as a precursor for the secret extraterrestrial involvement and intervention on Earth, ensuring the survival of life.

Greys are a proposed alien species that is most widely associated with the alien abduction phenomenon. It has been alleged that Greys are intelligent extraterrestrials who visit Earth and secretly perform medical experiments on humans. Paranormal claims surrounding the Greys are different in many ways, including their nature, moral dispositions, intentions and physical appearances, some having a different skin color. A composite description derived from overlap claims would have Greys as small bodied, sexless beings with smooth grey skin, an enlarged head and large eyes. They are described as humanoid beings that possess reduced forms of, or a completely lack of, external human organs such as noses, ears or sex organs.

Their bodies are usually depicted as being elongated, having a small chest, and lacking in muscular definition. According to a 1995 study among reports of alien encounters, Greys make up approximately 50% in Australia, 43% in the United States, 90% in Canada, 67% in Brazil, 20% in Continental Europe, and around 12% in Great Britain. It has been proposed that the home planet of these beings is located in the Zeta Reticuli star system. Greys are therefore sometimes known as Zeta Reticulans. People have reported two distinct groups of Greys, with one being much taller. This had led to the suggestion that the smaller Greys are not biologically alive, but instead an artificially constructed robot or cyborg servant.

People have described the Greys as staring into their eyes when conducting mental procedures. This staring, which is performed directly in your face, is claimed to induce hallucinogenic states or directly provoke different emotions. According to English reproductive biologist Jack Cohen, the typical image of a Grey, given that it would have evolved on a world with different environmental and ecological conditions from Earth, is too physiologically similar to a human to be credible as an alien species. This brings us to the theory that these extraterrestrial beings had some influence on the evolution of life on Earth in the distant past, or that they are an ancient race of humans that was forced to abandon Earth, but still watches over the planet.

Val Camonica, Italy, is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy. It is the location of a set of ancient paintings that are believed to depict forgotten deities. The pictures resemble modern day astronauts, despite being painted around 10,000 BC. I can see the resemblance to a space suit, but I am more impressed with the modern day photographic evidence that was captured by the Solway Firth Spaceman photograph. On May 23, 1964, Jim Templeton, a firefighter from Carlisle, Cumberland, took three pictures of his five-year-old daughter while on a day trip to Burgh Marsh, situated near Burgh by Sands and overlooking the Solway Firth in Cumbria, England.

The only other people reported on the marshes that day were a couple of old ladies, and although cows and sheep would have normally been plentiful, they were huddled together at the far end of the marsh. In the second image captured by Templeton, a white figure can be seen in what looks like a space suit. Templeton insists that he did not see the figure until after his photographs were developed, and analysts at Kodak confirmed that the photograph was genuine. To this day, the picture remains unexplained and a source of international fascination. When the picture was taken, in 1964, human space suits were in their extreme infancy. It has been suggested by some people that the figure is merely someone with their back to the camera, perhaps wearing a hat or helmet.

Upon the national release of the photograph, Jim Templeton claimed that he was visited by two men who, he says, came from Her Majesty’s Government. The men tried to make Templeton admit that he had photographed a person, but he refused. In the same time frame that the picture was taken, a Blue Streak missile launch at the Woomera Test Range, using Cumbrian-built weaponry, was aborted because of two large men who were witnessed on the firing range. The technicians reported that the figures resembled the Solway Firth Spaceman. Ufologists have used the photograph as evidence that extraterrestrial life has influenced the modern day space program, including space suits.

Cattle mutilation is a term that has been adopted to describe the apparent killing, and then mutilation, of cattle under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horses have also been mutilated, and the phenomenon is not specific to cattle. A hallmark of these incidents is the surgical nature of the mutilation. The creatures are often found completely drained of blood, with missing internal organs. There is no obvious point of entry, and the surgically precise removal of the animal’s reproductive organs and anal coring is consistent. Another strange occurrence surrounding the mutilations is that the animal’s bodies are found dumped in an area where there are no marks or tracks leading to or from the carcass, even when the body is found in soft ground or mud. The surgical-type wounds observed appear to be made by intense heat and a very sharp/precise instrument.

Often flesh will be removed to the bone in an exact manner and location, such as around the jaw exposing the mandible. The first largely reported case of mutilation occurred near Alamosa, Colorado, in 1967. The event involved a horse named Lady, who was discovered with her head and neck skinned. The cuts on the horse were very precise and no blood was found. According to Lady’s owner, there was a strong medicinal odor in the air that surrounded the corpse. At the scene, fifteen tapering, circular exhaust marks were punched into the ground. This evidence was discovered over an area of some 5000 square yards. Similar to other cases of animal mutilation, the area surrounding Lady showed an increase in radiation levels. By the mid 1970s, mutilated cattle were reported in 15 US states and in many other areas all over the world.

Many of the accounts include unexplained lights, sounds and UFOs. It has been noted that mutilated cattle are avoided by large scavengers, such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, dogs, skunks, badgers and bobcats for several days after death. Similarly, domestic animals are reported to be visibly agitated and fearful of the carcass. According to Dr. Howard Burgess, nearly 90% of mutilated cattle are between four and five years old. Laboratory reports carried out on some of these animals have shown unusually high or low levels of vitamins or minerals in tissue samples, and the presence of chemicals not normally found in animals.

In one case involving a 1978 mutilated cow in New Mexico, samples from the animal’s liver were found to be completely devoid of copper and to contain four times the normal level of zinc, potassium and phosphorus. As you would suspect, a government cover-up has been offered as an explanation for the deaths. This is often fueled by the reported presence of black helicopters near mutilation sites. Various hypotheses have been written, suggesting that cattle mutilations have been committed by aliens who are gathering genetic material for unknown purposes. Proponents of the ancient alien theory suggest that, as cows make up a significant part of the global human diet, a study is being carried out on this element of the human food chain.

Over the years, it has been scientifically observed that the Earth’s Moon holds some strange characteristics. The Moon is the 5th largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is believed to have been created by a giant impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. After examination, it has been noted that the Moon is apparently in the wrong orbit for its size, according to its current assumed density. Astronomy data indicates that the internal regions of the Moon are less dense than the outer, giving rise to the inevitable speculation that it could be hollow. Some of these claims come from the fact that when meteors strike the Moon, it rings like a bell. More specifically, when the Apollo crew, on November 20, 1969, released the lunar module, after returning to the orbiter, the module impact with the Moon caused their seismic equipment to register a continuous reverberation like a bell for more than an hour.

In July of 1970, members of the then Soviet Academy of Sciences, Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, proposed the Spaceship Moon Theory. The pseudoscientific theory claims that the Earth’s moon may actually be an alien spacecraft. Vasin and Shcherbakov’s thesis was that the Moon is a hollowed-out planetoid created by unknown beings with technology far superior to any on Earth. Huge machines would have been used to melt rock and form large cavities within the Moon. The Moon would, therefore, consist of a hull-like inner shell and an outer shell made from metallic rocky slag. The “Spaceship Moon” was then placed into orbit around the Earth. Proponents of this theory point to the increased reports and pictures of UFOs taken by NASA on their missions to the moon. It has been found that asteroids and meteors not only create shallow craters on the Moon’s surface, but produce a convex floor to the crater instead of concave as expected, supporting the idea of a rigid shell.

The moon is far older than previously expected, maybe even older than the Earth or the Sun. The oldest age for the Earth is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old, while Moon rocks were dated at 5.3 billion years. The chemical composition of the dust upon which the rocks sit is remarkably different from the rocks themselves. This indicates that the lunar surface may have been moved from somewhere else and placed on the Moon. Some of the Moon’s craters originated internally, yet there is no indication that the Moon was ever hot enough to produce volcanic eruptions. Hundreds of moonquakes are recorded each year that cannot be attributed to meteor strikes. Some of the quakes seem to follow a specific schedule.

The moon’s crust is much harder than originally presumed. When NASA was recorded drilling down a few inches into the Moon’s surface, it appeared that metal shavings were visible. Earth’s moon is the only natural satellite in the Solar System that has a stationary, near-perfect circular orbit. How does one explain the coincidence that the moon is just the right distance, coupled with just the right diameter, to completely cover the sun during an eclipse? Professional astronomers have been gradually discouraged from investigating a phenomenon that has been reported on the Moon for 1,000 years. It is short-lived light, color, or other changes in the appearance of the lunar surface, referred to as Transient Lunar Phenomena.

Maybe Ancient Aliens Are Out There After All

The concept of alien life visiting Earth, particularly in ancient times to plant the seeds of knowledge amidst early human minds, has gone through a renaissance over the last few years. Every few decades, trends (including this one) will appear to go through short little bursts of revitalization, almost like mystery signals leaping from the otherwise desolate void of space, and calling to us with promises of things greater and more distant than ourselves or the knowledge we have attained.

While the concept of “ancient aliens” has been entertained by some of the brightest minds, the concept is generally attributed to–of all people–Carl Sagan, who posited as early as 1966 that what he called paleo-contact might account for knowledge brought to Earth by extraterrestrials, in a book he coauthored with astrophysicist I.S. Shklovski called Intelligent Life in the Universe. Earlier roots predating Sagan and Shklovski’s writing have been linked to H. P. Lovecraft and his mythos of “Elder Gods” who could fling themselves about the stars, and occasionally land here on Earth to wreak havoc.

More recently, the theme of “ancient aliens” may have arisen again in the realm of science literature, but in a far more literal sense: that having to do with alien civilizations so old that they are, quite literally, ancient.

The recent discovery of a planetary system dubbed Kepler-444 had spurred discussion about what astronomers refer to loosely as a “period of planetary formation.” Kepler-444 is around 117 lightyears away, and is only about 3/4 the size of our own Sun. Its planets, though smaller than Earth, are surprisingly bright, becoming visible on a clear night using only slight magnification that a good pair of binoculars might provide.

Following a statement released by Kepler scientists on the discovery, io9 reported:

“Kepler-444 is the oldest known system of terrestrial-size planets,” write the authors in the study. “We thus show that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the Universe’s 13.8-billion-year history, providing scope for the existence of ancient life in the Galaxy.”

Estimated to have been in existence for as much as 13.8 billion years–roughly the same length of time the Universe is believed to have been around itself–planets capable of accommodating the conditions of a “planetary oasis” the likes of Earth might have existed a long time ago. Which, of course, is another concept that isn’t really new for science fiction fans:

The more literalist interpretation of “ancient aliens” would have such ancient, highly-advanced races visiting Earth to share principles of science, agriculture, architecture, and other concepts with ancient people; some believe that legends prevalent among some modern cultures, including the Dogon of Africa, indicate that these very sorts of interactions did occur. Critics of the idea argue that utilizing myths and cultural traditions to explain actual events on par with today’s science fiction is entirely speculative, and unlikely at best.

But while we’re mentioning the practice of speculation, let’s assume for a moment that an advanced alien civilization did exist in ancient times. Presuming that they were indeed advanced enough, such a civilization might have harnessed the power of the atom, and perhaps even more than just atomic power. If advanced enough, our hypothetical alien race might have even harnessed technology that would bend the nature of time and space to their will, hence overcoming our most far-out ideas like warp speed, and even time travel. In the event that the latter were the case, what if purported alien visitations in the present day were, in fact, time travelers from the ancient past, skipping around to different points in history, and perhaps also to different planets in history, just as well?

It’s entirely speculative, of course. But such possibilities, remote though they are, still provide us with minute quantities of intellectual fodder, and maybe somewhat more broadly than popular representations of “ancient astronauts” in various media today.

One big question about life in our ancient universe entails whether the building blocks for life existed there too, rather than merely the possibility of planets capable of housing life. Based on our self knowledge, we know life can exist today, which strangely, might also be a bit theoretical when we consider the remote chance that our own existence might be a fluke, resulting in a singular one-off we call humanity, as suggested last year by physicist Brian Greene (which is novel, considering that Greene has in the past also given consideration to a multiverse; this begs the question whether dimensions parallel to our own might be any more capable of bearing the fruit of life than this one is).

If we’re the only ones, perhaps the bigger question we should be asking today is whether we’ve always been the only ones, or perhaps whether at different times throughout the history of our Universe, different alien civilizations were the sole inhabitants of the cosmos for extended periods themselves, coping with frustration similar to our own so far as attempting to reconcile with whether or not others may exist.

Perhaps the only chance of finding evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth is the hope that, one day, rather than life that coexists with us in the Universe now, we may find evidence of life that once existed. Even if that were all we found, would it really require a living planetary civilization elsewhere to confirm our hopes and expectations about alien life? If anything, it might supply us with all the answers we need, and without the worry espoused by the likes of Stephen Hawking, who has warned of the dangers present in relations we may eventually have with alien civilizations.