Are Stephenville, Texas, UFO witnesses being harassed and threatened?Reports are surfacing that indicate someone may be trying to intimidate witnesses who spoke to the news media.According to recent articles in the Stephenville, Texas, local newspaper, at least one witness to the recent UFO sighting who made public statements to the Associated Press(AP) and other news outlets is concerned about threats that are apparently connected to his statements to the media.One of the witnesses who stated he saw a huge solid object and has described it in detail is Ricky Sorrells.In addition to speaking with the AP and other news media such as CNN , Sorrels had been interviewed by Linda Moulton Howe, an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist who coordinates the Web site Earthfiles.com.Howe is also a regular contributor for the online radio show "Dreamland," hosted by well-known author Whitley Strieber on his Web site UnknownCountry.com. Howe has covered the Texas sightings on the Dreamland program.In articles published Sunday, Feb. 3 , and Monday, Feb. 4 , in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, reporter Angelia Joiner quotes Sorrells as saying that one day after he spoke with the AP, he received an unusual phone call.PHONE CALLS AND HELICOPTERSSorrells says a man identifying himself as an Air Force lieutenant colonel called him about the sighting and wanted to come out to Sorrells' property to speak with him.When Sorrells told the caller he would think about it, the man insisted and said he would be coming out to Sorrells' property to speak with him.The conversation grew "heated," according to the Empire-Tribune report, and Sorrells says the caller stated, "Son, we have the same caliber weapons as you do but a lot more of them."The Empire-Tribune story quoted Sorrells as stating, "So I said if he was who he said he was, why didn't he stop flying over my air space with all those helicopters. And he informed me that it was not my air space — it was his. He told me if I'd quit talking about what I saw he would stop the helicopters."According to Empire-Tribune reporter Joiner, Sorrells stated that before the mysterious man called him, several helicopters were flying frequently and at an unusually low altitude over his property at various hours."I get up at 2:30 a.m. to go to work and these helicopters kept flying over and I couldn't sleep. Because it was about time to get up and go to work, I just got up and went outside to see what I could," Joiner quoted Sorrells as saying."I went to my truck and turned on the spotlight and shined it up at them. It was so close, I could see the pilot's reaction. He threw up his arm to block the light. He was in one of the smaller helicopters. Then he turned toward me and I still have the light on.""I started to feel uncomfortable so I turned off the light and waved and went back inside. I was thinking I had pushed the envelope," Sorrells stated in the Empire-Tribune article.STRANGE INTRUDERSorrells also reports he saw an intruder on his property at about 1 a.m.He told reporter Joiner, "I was in bed asleep. I keep my bird dogs on the east side of my house and three others on the west side. The black lab doesn't bark until someone comes across the cattle guard and the Catahoula doesn't bark until she actually sees someone. They were all barking so I got up to see what was going on."Looking out his bedroom window at the top of his driveway, Sorrells spotted a man."I went around the bed and grabbed my rifle," Sorrells is quoted as saying.With Sorrells' family sleeping inside, he carefully looked out and saw the intruder again."He had positioned himself in between the car and the pickup 40 to 50 feet from my back door. He stood staring at me rocking back and forth. I didn't think his feet were moving but the next morning when looking at his tracks I could tell they were."Sorrells told the Empire-Tribune that he could clearly see the face of the man who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s. The man was wearing a "heavy parka-like coat," Sorrells stated.Sorrells could not determine if the man had a gun."I'm trying to decide whether or not to open the door," Sorrells is quoted as saying. "We're just standing there face to face looking at each other. I'm thinking he's dressed for the elements and the dogs are raising such a ruckus he must know he's in danger of being caught. That's when I realized he wanted me to see him."The man was in a position that could have been a threat to Sorrells if he had gone outside, he believed.So, considering the safety of his sleeping family, he stayed inside as the man turned and walked way into the nearby woods.Later, Sorrells checked out the area where the man went into the woods and found a bullet ... "a shiny new 25-06 Remington."Sorrells wondered if the bullet was a purposeful message to him.MEN IN BLACKSorrells' account of phone calls and intimidating visitors is not unusual in the lore of UFO sightings.Whether his mysterious phone call was actually from an Air Force officer might be difficult or impossible to determine. Whether the caller was a U.S. Government officer, agent or operative is also unclear.Over the decades of UFO sightings, witnesses have reported being interviewed by officials of various kinds or even sternly spoken with about what they saw.In his 2006 book ON THE TRAIL OF THE SAUCER SPIES, researcher and author Nick Redfern looked into the history of government interest in people involved with UFO encounters.Redfern used declassified government documents and other sources to report on government inquiries about individuals involved with UFOs back to the late 1940s. In the book, he takes a look at how civilian agencies and the Air Force responded to alleged UFO incidents, as well as groups and individuals of interest.He also examined similar efforts in United Kingdom where the Ministry of Defense (MoD), the Royal Air Force and Scotland Yard also investigated UFO-related cases.Redfern shows special interest about the mysterious "Men In Black," which some people claim could be a special unit of the U.S. Air Force.According to Redfern, government investigators were especially interested when witnesses were credible observers such as pilots, military personnel and peace officers.For more information in Redfern's book, see my article "History of government surveillance of UFO witnesses and investigators examined in new book" (AmericanChronicle.com, April 19, 2006).OPERATIONAL SECURITYThough we do not know who was involved with the phone calls to Sorrells and intrusions on his property, it is possible that they could be connected to some kind of sensitive official activities.In many defense, intelligence and national security situations, it is crucial that certain information remain secret. There are often very valid and important reasons for this.At the same time, especially in a democracy such as our own, Americans may feel as though they have a "need to know" about topics such as unusual objects in the skies.Are they highly-advanced U.S. aircraft or spacecraft? Are they possibly visiting beings from other planets and/or dimensions? These questions seem normal and natural, especially for those who have seen something very unusual and surprising.This is where operational security (OPSEC) comes into play.If we accept that there could be governmental and/or government-related special activity groups responsible for management of sensitive, complex situations, then we must understand their desire for OPSEC.That said, American citizens have rights ... although these seem to have been significantly disrespected in recent years.On a more practical basis, establishing rapport and cooperation with people can often be more successful than trying to threaten and intimidate them.Some Americans just don't respond well to attempts at intimidation.Maybe Texans are like this.NOTE TO READERS: Readers interested in this article may also want to read the Feb. 9 piece: "Local reporter on Texas UFO case leaves newspaper; integrity of local, national news media explored" . By clicking the link in the author background box at right, readers can see Hammons' many articles on unconventional and conventional areas. He is also the author of two novels about a San Diego-based joint-service team of ten women and men who investigate emerging special topics  MISSION INTO LIGHT and the sequel LIGHT'S HAND. Readers can browse the novels online at the publisher's Web site where the books appear online exactly as they do in print. Once at table of contents of each book, visitors can click on each chapter to go directly to that chapter. Please click the links below to browse the novels.
On January 8, 2008 in Stephenville, Texas, one of the larger UFO sightings in the United States occurred. A few days ago the UFO investigative organization Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) released a 77-page report on the sighting. MUFON is a UFO investigative organization in the United States. Founded in 1969, it now has 3,000 members and is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The MUFON report, entitled "Special Research Report Stephenville, Texas" was written by Glen Schulze and Ropert Powell. Shulze has radar experience from working at the White Sands Missile Range. Powell has a chemistry degree and has extensive experience with semiconductors from working for Advanced Micro Devices.

The report is an analysis of radar records from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Weather Service, obtained through several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and comparing them to witness accounts.

Shulze/Powell concluded that the radar data confirms the witness observations of an object, as well as the Air Force's statement that said ten aircraft were operating in the area. They say that it is too difficult to say what the witnesses saw, but that there was something there. Twice, they say, radar picked up an object travelling at nearly 2,000 mph, and at other times it showed a slow moving object.
George W. Bush and Germany's Angela Merkel in front of Prairie Chapel Ranch in November 2007.
Much media attention has been focused on the report's observation that radar records show one of two objects moving directly toward the Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford. This is the home of United States President George W. Bush, which has been nicknamed the Western White House. They did not draw any conclusion as to why such movement was observed.

The authors also concluded that military air activity was heavy at the time, but that the radar records show no overt action toward the unknown object. They express concern about the possibilty that this could have been a terrorist aircraft with no transponder.

Shulze/Powell stated that they felt that they had been stonewalled in some of their FOIA requests by some government agencies. They encouraged the government to more readily provide more information about the incident.

Location of Stephenville within Texas.
The Stephenville incident on January 8, saw dozens of witnesses reporting a large object in the evening sky that hovered above the community before it took off at high speed. Steve Allen, a pilot, observed the object from the ground and described it as being a half-mile with flashing strobe lights. He also said that it was pursued by two fighter jets, when it disappeared at a speed he estimated to be 3,000 mph.

"I don't know if it was a biblical experience or somebody from a different universe or whatever but it was definitely not from around these parts," Allen said. 

Another witness was local law enforcement officer Leroy Gateman  who reported it as a red glowing object suspended 3,000 feet in the air. "It was so fast I couldn't track it with my binoculars," said Gateman.

Rick Sorrells says he saw the object while deer hunting in the woods. "You look at the trees, and it was right here," he told ABC News. He estimated it to be the length of "three or four football fields," though he could not be entirely sure due to his vantage point.

Sorrells has later claimed that military helicopters have since overflown his property at low altitude and that he has been getting strange phone calls. He also claims that an unknown man came to his door, even once told him that,"Son we have the ''same'' caliber weapons you have, but we have more of them.", after Sorrells grabbed his rifle, and, "You need to shut your mouth about ''what'' you saw."

"I'm trying to decide whether or not to open the door," Sorrells said to the ''Empire-Tribune''. "We're just standing there face to face looking at each other. I'm thinking he's dressed for the elements and the dogs are raising such a ruckus he must know he's in danger of being caught. That's when I realized he wanted me to see him." The man then turned away and walked into the woods.

The United States Air Force initially said witnesses must have seen reflections coming from commercial airliners. However, they later clarified that ten F-16 Fighting Falcons had been on a night-time training mission in the area on January 8.

"In the interest of public awareness, Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs realized an error was made regarding the reported training activity of military aircraft," said the statement.

According to Air Force spokesperson Karl Lewis, the aircraft were from the 457th Fighter Squadron and the error in the initial report was due to an internal communications problem between offices at the base.