Volume 8, Issue 5, page 11
FIERr DRAGON-WAS I T H-BOMB FLASH?
it was a hot evening, Octobe~r 13, 1958 - a few minutes past six.
Darkness bad descended - in California,
especially the southern part where we live, it can be extremely
torrid this time of year.
I had been doing some garden and yard work that evening, but dusk
put a finis to the tasks and I sank gratefully
into a rustic lawn chair out on the grass and prepared to enjoy a
cooling breeze that was beginning toblow uD. Taia,
my black, mixed Spitz, c am e up and put her paws on the seat
beside me and rubbed her muzzle under my hand,
wanting to be petted.
Suddenly there was a terrific flash of brilliant greenisb-orange
light. The entire yard w~s clearly visible, startling
in the b~illiance. I jumped to my feet, looking for the cause of
the light. Taia pressed against my leg, shivering.
Ordinarily, whe would have barked at any earthly disturbance.
I looked up into the sky, and saw a dragonlike orange and green
display resembling a Fourth of July fireworks
exhibit-only much larger. A small object detached itself from the
brilliant"snake"and zoomed off in a northerly
direction, but I was so fascinated with the colorful fire-dragon
that I paid little attention to it atthe time. The sky-
flash lasted 17 or 18 seconds, and rapidly faded to a whitish
smoke which quickly disintegrated.
I ran to the front yard where my daughter and her friend, a boy
about 19, were talking. "Did you see that terrific
flash of light a moment ago?" I asked. They hadn't noticed it.
"No fiery snakes or dragons?" They laughed at me, and
said I'd been imagining things.
The next morning, the entire family started kidding me about
my"big sky dragon", but when we ovened the
morning paver, they were DO longer laughing."Fiery
Contrails-Fiery EelFlashed in theNight Sky over Riverside
County I Los Angeles Residents Report Fiery Flash. Thousands
Swamp Switchboards Across the Country!" All told
a similar story-some even :seeing"a U.F.O." whizz off after the
flash.
officers at March Air Force Base near River-
side had no explanation. They denied the dis-
play had any connection with bombing practice
at the base. A March Air Force pilot reported
sighting the flash near the base. He said the
flash occurred at exactly 1822V2 hours (6:22V2
P.M.1, and reminded him of a flash of lightning.
"That's what pulled my eyes skyward," he said.
"I followed it and timed it. It was a distinct
flash overhead, followed hy ' a distinct contrail
The contrail was thick, but rapidly dissipat: ed, and the object
that flashed continued down to the horizon. It(the
flash) was visible approximately 18 seconds until it disappeared
in the haze. " The pilot said the object looked like a
meteor - but meteors ordinarily do not leave contrails.
The Riverside County sheriff's office and the Riverside city
police could give no expla
;Ia4 &11&X11a1Z1_t*~
nation for the flash. officials at the Los Angeles International
Airport thought it might have been a meteor, but this
was disputed by other" expert observers".
At t be time, I thought a U. F. 0. had been over the area, but
now I'm not so sure. I have friends living in
various states. and they
'SEPTEMBER, 1961 T h e A B
This feature is open to readers who can do and do do things that
are not readily explained by arthodox behavior
patterns. Here you'll find no skeptics when you relate incidents
of telekinesis, thought reading, teleportation, use of
the pendulum dowsing, automatic writing ' prescience, ~se of the
Ouija board, etc. ~Ow did you do it? When did you
start? or discover You were "different"? Can you help others
duplicate your feats? Maybe your *facts' will prove
nothing -except that so-called "science-fiction' writers are
kidding somebody~,maybe only the .editors of so-called
wscience-fict ion" books...
made no mention of this event being published in their local
papers. Was it hushed up by authorities? Why? Was it
"something out of this world" ? or could it have been a flash
caused by an explosion of H-bomb magnitude at some
distant Point? I have heard ' of such a flash, especially if let
off in the sky, being visible for hundreds of miles. It
might have been seen half-way around the world. But, is an atomic
flash colored orange and green.
Another mystery-the object that plummeted to the horizon
disappeared in seconds (I would say two or three at
most). Could any man- made device travel at such speed? And how
would such an object be connected with an H-
bomb,
--Rosalind John, Norco, Calif.
DID SHE TAKE HER VACATION ANrwAr?
On the evening of June 13, a dear friend of a woman we will call
Lulu died in a Pasadena hospital. Lulu's friend,
Kode, was very fond of the valley inwbich the narticipants in
this story live, and every summer
she looked forward to the time when she could come down for a
week's vacation. This year the
vacation had to be postponed on account of Kode's illness and
commitment to the hospital. The
illness was not presumed serious.
On the night of Kode's passing, a series of events took place
that were really amazing.
Sometime before midnight on the 13th, a Mrs. K - , living one
door north of Lulu, was
awakened by a bright I ight illuminating her neighbor's home ,
both indoors and outside. She
wakened her husband and suggested he go next door and ftnd out if
anything was wrong and if
help were needed. Lulu and her husband are both elderly and not
at all well. However, before
Mr. K. could get started, the lights went out and it was de6ided
no help was needed. Mr. and
Mrs. K. went back to bed and to sleep.
Shortly after this happened, neighbors to the-south were wakened
by a knocking on the
door. Also atapping on the window. The husband started out with
his dog, which was making a
tremendous fuss by this time, but found no one and no cause for
commotion.
The writer and his wife live one street to the east and directly
to the rear of their
neighbor. At 4:00 in the morning of June 14th, we were awakened
by the loud barking of our
dog. As I got out of bed to quiet the dog, I heard the clock
striking. At the same time, I
thought I heard footsteps outside the north door. My suspicions
were confirmed when my
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