Airport Delays And Computer Glitches: What The Government Will Not Tell You

The Beatles released a song called Fool on the Hill inthe new wave of Phoenix UFO sightings during 2006.
the late 1960s. Music journalists at that time said thatIII. Maybe They Came To See The Sears Tower?
the British rock group wrote the song after beingOn November 7, 2006, a disc shaped UFO hovered
disillusioned by the shaman of a religious sect. Theabove O'Hare International Airport near Chicago. It
Fab Four traveled all the way to India to meet a manwas seen by a number of people and photographed.
they were told was very spiritual, hoping he had theDespite the fact that some of the witnesses were
answers to what they were religiously seeking.pilots and others were airport personnel that would
Instead, they found a cult leader that isolated himselftend to know the difference between a UFO and
from the world while enjoying the fruits of his femaleincoming or outgoing conventional aircrafts, the event
followers. It was alleged that he tried to propositionwas barely mentioned by the local media. Even some
one or more of the female members of theirin the UFO research community took weeks to
entourage which included wives and girl friends.report the information they received about to
The Fool on the Hill seems to envision a person withanyone outside of a disinterested press.
access to everything that sees nothing. What heOver the past seven months since the O'Hare
does see, he doesn't bother to try and understand.incident, a series of alleged 'computer malfunctions'
Have we become the fools on the hill when it comeshave occurred at airports all over the USA. These
to what is happening around us? I think many of ustechnical problems were sometimes accompanied by
have and that's what the government counts on tovery odd weather conditions. During May and June of
keep information from us that they deem as too2007, things really picked up with computer outages
sensitive for public consumption. That may be theaffecting major airports in Chicago, Atlanta, New
real explanation for a series of bizarre events thatYork City, Newark, Boston, Pittsburgh, Denver, Los
have occurred over the decade. These events mayAngeles and other places.
involve Alien life forms.On June 8, 2007, the FAA reported that the huge
I. It All Began With the 1997 Phoenix Sightingsnumber of flight delays, cancellations and other
Things started to get strange in 1997 whenproblems that occurred on that particular date were
unexplained lights and a huge triangle craft appeareddue to a software malfunction in their computers
over Phoenix, Arizona. Despite photos, video andlocated near Atlanta, Georgia. However, if that were
competent witnesses, the amazing events weretrue, why has the situation continued and gotten
explained away as military flares and everyoneworse long after those problems were fixed? The
bought that lackluster explanation. Local politiciansweird weather continues and now Airlines report that
seemed unconcerned about the lights and tended totheir computers all seem to be malfunctioning as well.
ignore or censure others that were. Despite puttingIV. When in Doubt, Blame the Terrorists and the
out the SPACE PEOPLE GO HOME sign, the PhoenixWeather
area received a whole new set of visits during theAlthough they are still ignoring the weird weather and
summer of 2006.any UFO reports that come their way, even the
Once again strange lights began to dance in the skiesmajor news gathering organizations are tiring of the
over the Phoenix area. Just like before, the media all'computer glitch' explanation for what's been
but ignored any explanations except those offeredhappening at most of the airports. While they
by the military. Politicians again balked at the idea ofconsider themselves too credible to blame or even
alien spacecrafts flying over their heads, with oneconsider Aliens or a government cover-up of UFO
important exception. Fife Symington, the man whoactivity for all this, I guess they are
was Arizona Governor when the original Phoenixconspiratorial-minded enough to consider holding
Lights event occurred in 1997, admitted that he tookterrorists responsible. However, the experts disagree.
the entire thing too lightly and had seen a hugeNon-government terrorism experts that help protect
triangular UFO himself at that time.large corporations from cyber attacks say that the
II. Couldn't They Just Have Left a Message onTerrorist explanation doesn't wash. They point out
Clinton's Voice Mail?that it's always been easy to spot the signs of a
Sometimes I wonder if Aliens watch the TV signalscyber attack, but harder to track down those
we end up beaming into space or patch into thecarrying it out. None of the usual cyber attack
internet and for a quick read of the latest news fromwarning signs exist in the case of the airport or airline
Earth? If so, they would have to come to thecomputers. In the words of one cyber attack expert
conclusion that there is no intelligent life here,appearing on Fox News, "The terrorists want to kill
especially when politicians make self-servingus, not make our flights arrive an hour late. And then
statements about them. I imagine that at least somethere is that strange weather.
Aliens might not have been amused if they saw himI recently received several emails from a UFO
speak on TV or were able to read the commentsResearcher named Steve Tobias. He provided me
made by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1995with some very interesting information after reading
(according to an article written by Carlton Stowermy article about the unusual coincidences of June 8,
that appeared on the Dallas Morning News website):2007. In that article for the International UFO Society
"It was a snow-covered December in 1995 whenNewsletter, I pointed out that it seemed bizarre how
President Bill Clinton, visiting Northern Ireland inthe primary news gathering organizations managed to
support of the country's new and fragile peacespend an entire day following Paris Hilton around with
process, spoke to a large gathering that had arrivedcameras and helicopters when almost all the east
for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The presidentcoast airports had been brought to a stand still by
opted to dismiss politics and keep the mood of hiscomputer problems and bizarre weather conditions.
speech light. At one point, he drew laughter as heTobias sent me some Weather Channel Maps which
referred to a letter he'd recently received from a 13-appear to show unusual objects being tracked a few
year-old boy in Belfast. "Ryan," the president said, "inhundred miles off the coast of New England. The
case you're out there, here is your answer: No. Asobjects appeared in conjunction with some very
far as I know, no spaceship crashed at Roswell, Newunusual weather conditions and the alleged computer
Mexico, in 1947. And if the Air Force recovered anyproblems that virtually shut down airports. Other
extraterrestrial bodies, they did not tell me."maps show the same thing happening in other parts
Perhaps the Aliens had the last laugh and theirof the USA.
answer to such dribble came in the form of theWhen it comes to looking at all this, I have tried to
Phoenix Lights and subsequent sightings thatexist in a mental No Man's Land between the
occurred nationwide for years afterward. If so, theyGalactically Stupid and the Completely Conspiratorial.
wasted a lot of gas to get here and should have justThis allows me to retain some journalistic credibility,
called President Clinton or left a voice mail messageinvestigative objectivity and attempt to explain the
for him. Because just as the 1997 Phoenix sightingsunexplained in the most reasonable way possible. But
were dismissed out of hand, the ensuing UFO eventslike the old saying goes, "If it looks like a duck and
were largely ignored with claims of computerquacks like a duck, it's a duck." If it looks like a Dodo
enhanced photographic trickery and video fakerybird and sounds like a bad impression of Rush
becoming the newest and most popular tools in theLimbaugh, it's a local News Reporter or television
Skeptics Toolbox. It stayed that way until just afterStation Manager.