Researchers say photos show UFO

1238 01-30-89 12:11 aes

GULF BREEZE, Fla. (UPI) _ UFO experts are debating the authenticity

of photographs of an eerie cylindrical object glowing in the night sky

over the Florida Panhandle town of Gulf Breeze.

More than 135 residents in the past 18 months have reported seeing

a strange craft hovering in skies over Gulf Breeze, the Tampa Tribune

reported Sunday.

One resident, asked to be identified only as "Ed," has produced

photographs showing a cylindrical craft ringed with lights and what may

be windows.

The pictures have sparked a battle between two UFO investigating

groups.

The Mutual UFO Network, a 20-year-old group of scientists and

layman researchers, believes Ed's pictures are real. The Center for UFO

Studies, a non-profit group founded by the late astronomer J. Allen

Hynek, does not.

The network cites a 90-page study by Navy physicist Bruce Maccabee,

who says Ed could not have fabricated such convincing photographs.

"A professional magician would have a difficult time doing this,"

he said.

The center relies on its researchers and on Robert Nathan, of

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He said the photos show glaring

inconsistencies typical of double exposures.

Mark Rodeghier of the Center for UFO Studies said the case has

"deteriorated into a shouting match" between the two groups, and that

the network's endorsement of the pictures biased Maccabee's study.

"Except those intimately connected with the network, 90 percent of

serious UFO researchers think (the) Gulf Breeze (case) is a hoax,"

Rodeghier said.

But residents of the town of 6,000 think they know what they saw.

"I was exhilarated," said Brenda Pollak, a City Council member

who claimed to see a large, lighted craft twice in one night last spring

over Pensacola Bay. "I can tell you now _ for every one person who has

reported seeing the craft, there are 10 who talk about it but don't want

anyone to know."

Strange Texts