http://news.aol.com/story/_a/militar...00010000000001
incase the link dies, I'd click the link though to see pictures
Military Blames UFO Reports on Jet Drills
By ANGELA K. BROWN,AP
Posted: 2008-01-24 07:00:32
Filed Under: Nation News
FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 23) - So much for aliens in Texas dairy country. At least that was the message Wednesday when the military said 10 F-16 fighter jets were training in the Stephenville area the night dozens of residents reported seeing a UFO.
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Or Just Swamp Gas?1 of 10 More than 50 residents of Stephenville, Texas, reported seeing a large, silent, fast-moving object hovering over their rural town in early January. Initially, the military said it didn't have any planes in the area, but later officials claimed that F-16 fighters were training around that time.
Although Air Force Reserve officials in Fort Worth initially said they had no planes in the area Jan. 8, they said Wednesday that they were mistaken and wanted to set the record straight "in the interest of public awareness."
But some residents remain convinced that it was no human-made aircraft, saying the military's revelation actually bolsters their claims. Some insist they saw at least two fighter jets chasing a large object with bright lights.
"This supports our story that there was UFO activity in that area," said Kenneth Cherry, the Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which took more than 50 reports from locals at a meeting last weekend. "I find it curious that it took them two weeks to 'fess up. I think they're feeling the heat from the publicity."
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Well-respected business owners and a county constable were among dozens who swear that what they saw was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane.
"I guarantee that what we saw was not a civilian aircraft," Steve Allen, a pilot and freight company owner, said Wednesday.
Allen said that the planes' training area in the Brownwood Military Operating Area that includes Stephenville's Erath County does not include the airspace where he saw the object. Also, Jan. 8 was not the only day sightings were reported.
Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, declined to comment on the nature of the military training or say if it took place on other days.
He initially said folks may have seen an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes and reflections from the setting sun. On Wednesday, he said he should not have speculated about the reported sightings.
Anne Frazor, who owns a fabric store in Stephenville, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, said many in town have seen military aircraft zoom overhead from time to time as part of training operations. But she said that is different than what she saw Jan. 8.
"I couldn't begin to say what it was, but to me it wasn't planes," Frazor said.
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