d interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would conc

Many UFO researchers—including nearly all the well-known ones—have never seen a UFO. Perhaps this fact makes them more impartial than those of us who have seen UFOs. Personally, I don't think your experiences or lack thereof determine the quality of your research. Some people who've seen UFOs themselves want to label every light in the sky an alien spacecraft. Some people who've never seen a UFO brush off every witness who claims to have seen something extraordinary as a liar or fruitcake.

I understand why some people want to see UFOs everywhere. The reasons why researchers ignore sightings baffles me. In my book Backyard Bigfoot, I chose to share my personal experiences with both Bigfoot and UFOs, for the simple reason that I believe personal experiences can tell us more about both phenomena than dry recitation of the mechanics of the Bigfoot in the Patterson film or the crash at Roswell.

As both a witness and an investigator, I have experienced these attitudes. In January of 2004, in Texas, I saw a set of six enormous lights hovering 100 feet off the ground, aligned in two diagonal rows with three lights per row. Each light burned ten times brighter and larger than any football stadium's lights. I had the impression the lights hung from an enormous object, though I can't quantify the reason for that impression. Since then, I have wondered whether the two rows of lights signified two objects; or, perhaps, each light represented an individual object.

The lights hovered above and just behind a horse ranch with a barn and small caretaker's house. Lights burned inside the barn, yet the ranch seemed eerily still, almost lifeless. We drove a little further down the road, pulling into the driveway for a gas well enclosure. We sat there in a daze for a minute or two. At least, it seemed like a minute or two.

The truth would prove disturbing.

I conducted my own investigation during and after the sighting. Originally, my mother and I spotted the lights from my backyard. We got into my car, drove down the winding country roads, and found the lights. While driving, we could see the glow from the lights from miles away, over the tops of the hills. A week later, we drove back to the area in daylight but found nothing that could have created the lights. We drove around all sides of the pasture where the lights had hovered. Nothing.

The night of the sighting, we returned to my house thinking the trip had taken 20 minutes. Instead, we discovered the voyage had eaten up 45 minutes—25 minutes longer than it should have. I had driven on those country roads countless times, and knew how long the trip should've taken. We had lost 25 minutes somewhere along the way.

At the time, I reported the sighting to a UFO organization. No response. Since that time, I've recounted to the story to other researchers and members of UFO groups. No one expresses the slightest interest. With all the talk about abductions and missing time, you'd expect someone to evince a mild interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would conce

ersonal experiences can tell us more about both phenomena than dry recitation of the mechanics of the Bigfoot in the Patterson film or the crash at Roswell.

As both a witness and an investigator, I have experienced these attitudes. In January of 2004, in Texas, I saw a set of six enormous lights hovering 100 feet off the ground, aligned in two diagonal rows with three lights per row. Each light burned ten times brighter and larger than any football stadium's lights. I had the impression the lights hung from an enormous object, though I can't quantify the reason for that impression. Since then, I have wondered whether the two rows of lights signified two objects; or, perhaps, each light represented an individual object.

The lights hovered above and just behind a horse ranch with a barn and small caretaker's house. Lights burned inside the barn, yet the ranch seemed eerily still, almost lifeless. We drove a little further down the road, pulling into the driveway for a gas well enclosure. We sat there in a daze for a minute or two. At least, it seemed like a minute or two.

The truth would prove disturbing.

I conducted my own investigation during and after the sighting. Originally, my mother and I spotted the lights from my backyard. We got into my car, drove down the winding country roads, and found the lights. While driving, we could see the glow from the lights from miles away, over the tops of the hills. A week later, we drove back to the area in daylight but found nothing that could have created the lights. We drove around all sides of the pasture where the lights had hovered. Nothing.

The night of the sighting, we returned to my house thinking the trip had taken 20 minutes. Instead, we discovered the voyage had eaten up 45 minutes—25 minutes longer than it should have. I had driven on those country roads countless times, and knew how long the trip should've taken. We had lost 25 minutes somewhere along the way.

At the time, I reported the sighting to a UFO organization. No response. Since that time, I've recounted to the story to other researchers and members of UFO groups. No one expresses the slightest interest. With all the talk about abductions and missing time, you'd expect someone to evince a mild interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would conc

above and just behind a horse ranch with a barn and small caretaker's house. Lights burned inside the barn, yet the ranch seemed eerily still, almost lifeless. We drove a little further down the road, pulling into the driveway for a gas well enclosure. We sat there in a daze for a minute or two. At least, it seemed like a minute or two.

The truth would prove disturbing.

I conducted my own investigation during and after the sighting. Originally, my mother and I spotted the lights from my backyard. We got into my car, drove down the winding country roads, and found the lights. While driving, we could see the glow from the lights from miles away, over the tops of the hills. A week later, we drove back to the area in daylight but found nothing that could have created the lights. We drove around all sides of the pasture where the lights had hovered. Nothing.

The night of the sighting, we returned to my house thinking the trip had taken 20 minutes. Instead, we discovered the voyage had eaten up 45 minutes—25 minutes longer than it should have. I had driven on those country roads countless times, and knew how long the trip should've taken. We had lost 25 minutes somewhere along the way.

At the time, I reported the sighting to a UFO organization. No response. Since that time, I've recounted to the story to other researchers and members of UFO groups. No one expresses the slightest interest. With all the talk about abductions and missing time, you'd expect someone to evince a mild interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would conc

ng that could have created the lights. We drove around all sides of the pasture where the lights had hovered. Nothing.

The night of the sighting, we returned to my house thinking the trip had taken 20 minutes. Instead, we discovered the voyage had eaten up 45 minutes—25 minutes longer than it should have. I had driven on those country roads countless times, and knew how long the trip should've taken. We had lost 25 minutes somewhere along the way.

At the time, I reported the sighting to a UFO organization. No response. Since that time, I've recounted to the story to other researchers and members of UFO groups. No one expresses the slightest interest. With all the talk about abductions and missing time, you'd expect someone to evince a mild interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would conc

d interest. I don't think my mother and I were abducted. We did, however, have missing time and a close-up sighting.

I've talked to witnesses who reported their sightings to me because they'd received a dismissive response, or no response at all, from other UFO researchers. Some of these witnesses have had extraordinary sightings. I have never figured out why researchers will zero in on one particular case, which seems ordinary to me, and ignore myriad others. When they do investigate a case, many researchers perform a haphazard inquiry, as if the case only marginally interests them.

As witness myself, I understand what people go through after seeing something they can't explain. Perhaps if more researchers had sightings, they would concentrate less on moldy old cases like Roswell and spend more time on new investigations.

©2007 Lisa A. Shiel