The Miami Herald over the weekend made its endorsements in a local congressional race, an otherwise routine development that is making headlines for an odd reason: The candidate endorsed by the newspaper in the Republican primary not only believes in aliens, she claims to have been abducted by them, reports Newsweek.
 
The Herald does not try to dodge the issue in backing Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera for the 27th District. "We realize that Rodriguez Aguilera is an unusual candidate," the editors write.
 
"Last year, she told the Miami Herald-and several Spanish-language media outlets-that she believes in extra-terrestrials. She says when she was 7, she was taken aboard a spaceship and, throughout her life, she has communicated telepathically with the beings, which remind her of the concrete Christ in Brazil. There you have it."
However, the newspaper agrees with Rodriguez Aguilera that this is a "non­ issue" and irrelevant to the race.
 
The Herald instead praises her political and business background, along with her "Working Class Agenda." Rodriguez Aguilera tells the Washington Post that "what people care about is a candidate that can bring jobs," not anything she might have to say about extra-terrestrials.
 
One footnote on the latter issue: Rodriguez Aguilera says·she learned from the aliens that Coral Castle, a limestone tourist attraction in South Miami­ Dade, is, in fact, an ancient pyramid. (A Mississippi man is speaking out about his own supposed alien abduction decades ago.)
 
This article originally appeared on Newser: House Candidate: I Was Abducted by Aliens

by Roger Marsh

An Australian witness at Bibra Lake reported a barbell-shaped object hovering overhead, according to testimony in Case 84571 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness was awoken by a brilliant light in the bedroom about 2:25 a.m. on June 21, 2017.

“I first thought it was next door rear lights, but too bright,” the witness stated. “The light went out but was replaced by a bright orange glow coming from the southeast of the house. I went in that direction and observed a dumbbell-shaped light and item in the sky at around 45-degrees. I looked at it for some minutes but was driven back inside by the heavy rain.”

The witness mentioned the sighting to a next-door neighbor, but they experienced nothing.

“There has been no press or TV mention. The object did not move while I was looking toward it. About an hour later the light went out. It was raining heavily throughout the sighting.

Australian MUFON Provincial Director Mike Robinson closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

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by Roger Marsh

An Arizona witness at Fountain Hills reported watching a very large, oval-shaped object move overhead, according to testimony in Case 84326 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The neighbor came to visit the witness and they sat outside on a deck at 10 p.m. on June 9, 2017.
“She rose to go home and we both stood,” the witness stated. “I suddenly noticed this huge object defined by blinking lights overhead and moving very slowly. I would describe the lights as normal with earth-like reflections. It hovered silently as I gasped, ‘What the hell is that?’”

The witness first thought the object might be a drone.

“It went from the backyard, around my house, and over her house across the street. The object appeared to hug the hillside as the lights went out except for one soft white light. By now we were both positioned to observe. It fired up colored lights again, moved slowly and silently over the hill and was gone.”

Arizona MUFON Field Investigator Deborah Ann Crossland closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

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by Roger Marsh

A Pennsylvania witness at Plymouth reported watching a triangle-shaped object that was hovering over power lines, according to testimony in Case 86738 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness went to his business at 3:30 a.m. on September 17, 2017, because an alarm had gone off.

“Upon arrival, I saw a craft hovering above the power substation,” the witness stated. “Maybe 20 feet above the station. It was hard to tell as it is pretty dark at about 3:30 a.m. It was something I had never seen before in my 50 years living and working in the area. Basically, had three lights on edges. It shot straight up out of sight at a tremendous speed after a short while.”

Pennsylvania MUFON State Section Director Frances Iannitto closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

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by Roger Marsh

​A West Virginia witness at Benwood reported watching a “triangle-lighted aircraft” moving overhead, according to testimony in Case 88519 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness was driving home from work at 11:50 p.m. on November 26, 2017.

“I noticed on top the hill to my left that the woods were illuminated,” the witness stated. “It was a large area that I could see between the trees illuminating to the ground that I continued to look through my windshield while I was driving.”

Then lights began to appear over the trees.

“It was a large object that had lights in the shape of a triangle with a light in the center that was flying slow. It was distinctive that the lights were different colors. I immediately slowed down my vehicle very quickly and watched it fly away from the hillside towards the road I was on. I looked in my rearview mirror to check for other vehicles so I don’t get rear ended and I saw headlights far behind me. I sped up and got off at the first exit. The object crossed over me and was out of my line of sight as I approached the ramp. At the stop sign I put my vehicle in park, got outside, and stood on the exit ramp. I could not hear anything pertaining to the object and it was quiet outside. I saw it at a lower altitude flying northwest until it was out of sight. The only lights I saw on it was shining down towards the ground. I got in my vehicle and finished driving home.”

West Virginia MUFON Assistant State Director Delmer Kelley closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

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Follow the UFO Cases of Interest feature series based on the new book from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). 

The book includes 241 reports for further study - a case overview with field investigator notes. There is also a 2017 statistics section - and a four-part index: Location, Object, Site and Witness. The feature series pulls from cases in the book. Click on the links below. The book is available at Amazon.com: UFO Cases of Interest include:
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• Best time to see a UFO? Get your flashlights out
• Statistically speaking: Iowa is a UFO hot spot
• Indiana UFO witnesses observe low-flying crafts
• Scary UFO stories: Objects chasing witnesses
• UFO watch list: Objects ejecting smaller objects​
• Under 500 Feet: UFOs as big as football fields​
• Tennessee a 'Top Six' UFO sighting state
  
  

​The index allows readers to hunt for specific UFO details of interest - like looking up your hometown, county, state or country. But you can also look up the type of witness that interests you: pilots, police or military? Or read about cases where the object chased the witness. Or cases where the witness was afraid. Or cases where the object was under 500 feet and the witness got a very, up-close look at it. There are hundreds of other ways to review cases. The book is also a MUFON fundraiser - please check it out. 

by Roger Marsh

A Missouri witness at Kansas City reported watching 25 orbs crossing the sky with “focused intent,” according to testimony in Case 88140.
The witness and a friend were outside in daylight with clear skies at 3:30 p.m. on November 19, 2017.

“We were observing a small hawk on the hunt for squirrels and small prey,” the witness stated. “As we watched him dodge and dart about, I looked up from the hawk and plain as day and clear as a bell we saw 25 orbs in a frenzy and all working the same area.”

The witness said the objects were kind of clear to blue in color.

“They initially looked to be big bubbles and then my friend and I both noticed that these orbs had small wedge-like wings on them. Kind of like a bubble with sharp V-shaped wings attached to the center of the orbs. Each orb had two wings. One on each side of the round orb or object. The wings were pointed and sharply joined in the front and then flaring out and progressively became wider at the back of the object. They were 100 percent not just floating in the wind and being tossed about by the wind currents. While my friend tried to take a picture with his cell phone, I counted each and every one of them within my sight. There were 25 of them. All orbs were totally busily working in a fixed area straight out in front of us and absolutely nothing to block our view. They looked to be focused on working in a small, contained area in the sky. Some orbs moved up, some down, some sideways and all at the same time staying close to one another. Constant movement in all directions. But never straying from their original area that we sighted them in.”

The witness said it looked like fish feeding on fish food.

“We watched for about two minutes and then this group started to move off to the north of us. We walked about 90 feet as to look again and they seemed to just fade out as they sped on quickly out of our sight. My friend was constantly trying to take pictures with his cell phone and it is a good one. It would not take pictures of the orbs. My friend’s cell phone totally went down and out with no power for about five minutes. And within about five minutes after the orbs were gone, his phone powered right up and was working fine. I have never seen a UFO of any type in my life, and I have looked many times to see one and not with one result until today. And in my own back yard. I am an older man now and too old to waste my time telling big lies on the Internet for attention. My friend saw it all as well. Clear as a bell. No chance in the world for it to be anything other than 25 orbs with easy to see wings on them. Good day.”

Missouri MUFON Field Investigator Lawrence Tyree closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

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by Roger Marsh

An Arizona witness at Coconino County reported watching two lights hovering at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, according to testimony in Case 88338 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness and his wife were walking south on the trail at the bottom of the Grand Canyon from the Phantom Ranch Lodge to the Bright angel Campground at 9:20 p.m. on November 23, 2017.
“I saw a very bright light hovering in the southern sky above the rim of the inner canyon that attracted my attention,” the witness stated. “I don't know why, but something about the light seemed odd, and after a few seconds I asked my wife if she saw it. She said she had been watching it and thought it was a plane. Suddenly it dropped straight down below the rim of the canyon and we could see it in front of the canyon walls. When it dropped, it descended very quickly, and the light ended up about as far below the rim as it had been above the rim when I first saw it. I asked my wife if she saw what I had just seen, and she said yes.”

The two stopped walking and watched.

“The light hovered a few seconds, then it moved slowly, horizontally to the west, and then it began slowly going up and down and in loops. Then another bright light appeared in the sky above the inner canyon, more to the southeast. I saw it blink four times and go out. A few seconds later, it blinked two more times and went out. It appeared to be moving toward the first light. After the second light went out for the last time, the first light drifted slowly up and then disappeared into the sky above the rim of the inner canyon. My wife said she had seen the blinking light earlier, right before I asked her if she saw the one I was looking at. I have been in this area more than a dozen times in the past, and I have seen lights from hikers on the Kaibab Trail and the Rim trail at night, but I knew that could not explain what we saw because both lights were in the sky above the rim at times, and they were moving much too far and fast for a hiker.”

Arizona MUFON Field Investigator Shane Hurd closed this case as an Unknown Aerial Vehicle.

Please check out MUFON's new book - UFO Cases of Interest: 2018 Edition - that includes 241 best cases for further study from 2017. Includes a four-part research index covering: Location, Object, Site and Witness. Hundreds of ways to search best UFO reports. 

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by Roger Marsh

A Michigan witness at Ypsilanti reported watching a bright, stationary light, according to testimony in Case 86579 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness was driving home the evening of September 7, 2017.

“I first noticed a bright light up ahead, off the far side of the freeway, maybe half a mile ahead, if that,” the witness stated. “Initially I thought it must've been another one of those low, bright planes I'd been seeing lately, but as I got closer it quickly became apparent that it was not moving at all.”
The witness then assumed it must be a big light fixed on a pole or other thin structure.

“As I got close, I became certain that nothing was holding it up. It was dark out, but there was still plenty of backlight from the sky so that the silhouettes of objects could be made out clearly and obviously. I tried to discern any type of support as I drove past, but there was nothing. Just this completely stationary light, sort of round. I was driving on the freeway, so I could only spare so much of my attention, but as I exited the freeway, I got a decent look, and there appeared to be tiny accessory lights around it, implying a triangular shape, though the bright, round light on the center bottom made it impossible to make out a solid shape.”

The witness then reported that the light just shut off, as if someone had flicked a switch.

“This was just before I had to look away, as it was now behind me and I needed to look at the road, especially since I then saw a police car stopped at the light on Huron Street up ahead. As soon as I brought my car to a complete stop, I turned around in my seat to try and get another look at what I had just seen. I couldn't believe any of this was happening, and I needed to see more. But it was just gone. It's a fairly long stoplight, and I looked as best I could from inside my car. I wanted so badly to throw it in park and get out and look, but I was afraid of getting hassled by the nearby cops.”

The witness said the object was just gone.

“It never moved, as far as I saw. I was only a couple of minutes from home, so I was deeply relieved to be able to immediately relay every detail to my husband, who is familiar with MUFON and knew the right questions to ask to document all this. After he typed out everything I could remember about it, we drove out together to see if we could see anything there. We figured it was gone, but part of me was really hoping to debunk it. I hoped maybe there was some sort of support structure there that I hadn't seen somehow. But there was nothing.”
Michigan MUFON Field Investigator John Budrys and Chief Investigator Daniel Snow closed this case as an Unknown – Other. 

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by Roger Marsh

An Australian witness at Melbourne reported watching multiple objects in random groups, according to testimony in Case 89142 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The event occurred on December 26, 2017.

“Some dark gray to black-colored objects were observed appearing, congregating in random-shaped groups, becoming more visible (darker) and than either moving away or fading away from sight,” the witness stated. “They were observed by three people for around half-an-hour and I took a few snaps on my iPhone. I took a couple using HDR (with normal on) as well. I found the objects had moved slightly in those consecutive frames. A jet had passed over as well and my husband took photos of the vapor trail that revealed a couple more, which weren’t noticed when the photos were taken, only after when I reviewed the images. It was as if they were using the cloud cover to hide in. Prior to taking the photos, larger groups had been seen, some as low in the view as between and just above the tree line. However, I believe they were some distance away and definitely would have been over the sea. As dawn became brighter I could no longer see any ‘dots.’”
​
Australian MUFON National Director Roger Stankovic closed this case as an Unknown – Other.

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