A UFO interview I did 34 years ago

My grandma and aunt claimed to have witnessed a UFO back in the 70's. I interviewed grandma years later, on Oct 24, 1983. The questions that I asked were pretty much taken from a UFO magazine in the 80's. That's all I had to go by. The answers are grandma's. First, I interviewed over the phone. Then I typed it up to make it look better on an old type writer. Both copies are included. I have kept them in a folder all these years and wanted to share. I blacked out last names.
















Included is a map for reference of locations with approximate distances. 50 miles from Aurora to Newark. Morris is approximately 10 miles from Newark.



Take this for what it is worth. Certainly not professionally done. I was just a kid who loved UFOs.

I love this. Thank you so much for posting it. You did a great job as "just a kid!"

I appreciate you adding in the map too.

Threads like this one is one of the many reasons why I enjoy ATS.

This is great. Thanks for sharing.

a reply to: Blueracer

I love things like this, it makes the world, feel.. alive..

Appreciated that you posted it..

The subject of UFO's fascinated me even as a kid myself. Thanks for sharing this with us!

a reply to: Blueracer

It's awesome when a quintessential ATS real news thread emerges - like this one. There's something innocent and sincere about the contents of your OP which, coupled with the esoteric, gives me room for pause that your grandma may have witnessed something marvellous and here we are now, all this time later, admiring it.

Thanks, this is very cool.

a reply to: Blueracer

Repeating someone else's words is called hearsay....

a reply to: Blueracer
Thanks for sharing. Too bad there's no date, time, or direction, though "above the car" implies not quite straight up though slightly off to the side so you can see it. That's not your fault by the way, you did a good job on the report, the witness just didn't remember because it was too long ago.

If there was a date, time and direction, the first thing I'd check would be Stellarium because Mars, Venus and Jupiter are well known for following cars around like that. Of course they don't really follow the car but people think they do, it's a well known illusion, and since this one was red that rules out Venus and Jupiter but Mars is red and can "follow" cars like this.

Possible explanations for UFO sightings

That the unaided eye plays tricks is well known. A bright light, such as the planet Venus, often appears to move. Astronomical objects can also be disconcerting to drivers, as they seem to “follow” the car.

So anytime someone says the UFO "followed" their car I am wondering if they might have observed an astronomical object, and I look for anything else in the report that might rule that out. In this case I'm not really seeing anything that would rule out Mars.

It's not very intuitive because most people wouldn't usually consider that the object "following" their car was millions of miles away, but serious UFO researchers know this illusion happens.

Thanks for sharing

a reply to: DeathSlayer

In a court of law, it would be called "testimony". Of which, (depending on the source) is good enough to end someones life.
I never understood how 2 or 3 credible people say they saw a UFO, no one believes them or thinks theyre crazy. On the contrary, if 2-3 credible people say they saw person A kill person B, its goood enogh to have that person put to death.
And yes, I know there is way information required to impose a death sentence. This is just as an example.

Excellent post!!! Very nostalgic!!!

Nice post OP...I also was fascinated by UFO's etc as a kid, good job.

a reply to: Blueracer

This was great. Thank you

a reply to: Blueracer

This is the best thread I've seen all year.

originally posted by: Brian4real
a reply to: DeathSlayer

In a court of law, it would be called "testimony". Of which, (depending on the source) is good enough to end someones life.
I never understood how 2 or 3 credible people say they saw a UFO, no one believes them or thinks theyre crazy.

Maybe it used to be but so many innocent people have been exonerated from death row that were put there by eyewitness testimony that it's no longer possible to put someone on death row with eyewitness testimony alone, if it ever was possible. People who think a planet is following their car around aren't crazy, they are just unfamiliar with astronomical objects and subject to the same types of human illusions as the rest of us, which we can all see when we look at books or museums with optical illusions in them.

www.innocenceproject.org...

Eyewitness misidentification is the greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions proven by DNA testing, playing a role in more than 70% of convictions overturned through DNA testing nationwide.

When Witnesses Get It Wrong

In case after case, DNA has proven that eyewitness identification is frequently inaccurate. ..

Decades of Solid Scientific Evidence Supports Reform

In October of 2014, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the nation’s premier scientific entity, issued a groundbreaking report settling many long-debated areas of police practice. The report identified a set of reform procedures, which have been promoted by the Innocence Project since the inception of its work in this area of police practice.

In 1907, Hugo Munsterberg published On the Witness Stand, in which he questioned the reliability of eyewitness identification. When Yale Law professor Edwin Borchard studied 65 wrongful convictions for his pioneering 1932 book, Convicting the Innocent, he found that eyewitness misidentification was the leading contributing factor of wrongful convictions.

Research illustrates that the human mind is not like a tape recorder; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. In eyewitness identifications, witness memory is impacted by a variety of factors that occur from the time of the crime onwards, and their memories can be easily contaminated.

The witness stated it appeared "3 feet in diameter" So it is doubtful it was a planet. An object following a car and appearing 3 feet wide could have been a 20 foot object 100 feet away.

Great thread Blue

a reply to: NoCorruptionAllowed
Witnesses to this Linn Murphy UFO said it was the size of a football field so I don't see why Mars can't be three feet in diameter. This thing actually is about three feet in diameter.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
a reply to: Blueracer
Thanks for sharing. Too bad there's no date, time, or direction, though "above the car" implies not quite straight up though slightly off to the side so you can see it. That's not your fault by the way, you did a good job on the report, the witness just didn't remember because it was too long ago.

If there was a date, time and direction, the first thing I'd check would be Stellarium because Mars, Venus and Jupiter are well known for following cars around like that. Of course they don't really follow the car but people think they do, it's a well known illusion, and since this one was red that rules out Venus and Jupiter but Mars is red and can "follow" cars like this.

Possible explanations for UFO sightings

That the unaided eye plays tricks is well known. A bright light, such as the planet Venus, often appears to move. Astronomical objects can also be disconcerting to drivers, as they seem to “follow” the car.

So anytime someone says the UFO "followed" their car I am wondering if they might have observed an astronomical object, and I look for anything else in the report that might rule that out. In this case I'm not really seeing anything that would rule out Mars.

It's not very intuitive because most people wouldn't usually consider that the object "following" their car was millions of miles away, but serious UFO researchers know this illusion happens.

Well then, that's probably the first and last time someone reported Mars as being 3 feet across...

Thank you for sharing this. I, too, have been fascinated with UFOs since I was young.

For sure Fantastic Work !
I love that you saved it all these years.
My grandfather was a bomber pilot
with the 509th in Roswell NM .
I began asking him from about 1982 on
whether there was anything to UFO's.
Like a good retired Lt Col he always said ,
"Nope It's complete Hooey".
Finally in 2013 on our last visit and with health failing I asked one more time.

This time he looked at me and my skeptic Doctorate in chemistry brother
and said do you really want to know?
We both looked incredulous and said YES !!
All he did was nod a very serious yes. He was not being silly
or pulling a fast one he was telling us there were indeed visitors w a nod.
If anyone wants to know his name and look him up, I'd be glad to share.

a reply to: Blueracer

Interesting, thanks for posting this