Kansas ufologists delve into the unknown

This time of the year belongs to another type of light in the sky besides fireworks: UFOs.

Sightings of unidentified flying objects tend to increase around the Fourth of July. In 1947, the first modern “flying saucer” sighting and the famous alleged crash in Roswell, N.M., occurred in late June and early July, respectively. The heroics of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum forever tied UFOs to Independence Day.

But a small group of Kansans works to study and investigate the UFO phenomenon year-round.

The Kansas state chapter of the Mutual UFO Network holds meetings, investigates alleged sightings and tries to encourage public discussion about UFOs.

“It’s kind of a quest for answers,” said Nancy DeSousa, a chapter member who lives in the Kansas City area. “It keeps gnawing your mind because it’s such an unusual thing when you see something out of the ordinary.”

DeSousa said she was with several family members near a lake in Wyandotte County in 2012 when she saw a UFO.

“We saw a series of three orange lights in the shape of a triangle and then another set of orange lights came up in the form of a triangle,” she said. “Then they kind of danced around and created a different formation, which was a straight line, and the whole thing pivoted counter clockwise and went back behind the hill.”

Stan Seba, the director of the state chapter, said he’s had a lifelong interest in asking questions about UFOs.

“We’re not out to change anyone’s opinion or force them to believe in UFOs,” said Seba, 50, of Leavenworth. “We leave the debate open, as long as it’s a friendly debate.”

‘We do have to be skeptics’

The chapter receives an average of five to ten reports of unidentified flying objects a month, Seba said. The number of reported sightings varies year to year.

“Some years we have 50 reports, but there was one year where we had almost 200,” he said.

The group has received 38 reports this year so far, Seba said. Twelve came from Wichita and the surrounding area.

The group gets reports from people in all walks of life, including high schoolers, police officers and commercial pilots, Seba said. Some are reluctant to talk to anyone else about their experience.

“They just want to know what they saw,” he said. “It was something outside the scope of their knowledge of things that fly.”

Seba said the state chapter does its best to protect the identities of witnesses.

“Due to the nature of the subject, there are some professionals who do not want their names disclosed and want as little contact as possible for fear that the information will get out,” he said.

Kansas’ state chapter has five volunteer field investigators who interview witnesses, scope out the area of the alleged sighting and make reports on the nature of the sighting.

DeSousa is on her third case as an investigator in training. Investigators must pass a test administered by the UFO network.

“(Questions) range from how to talk with people and represent the organization to learning and understanding different devices for measuring how to judge speed and triangulation,” DeSousa said.

Larry Jordan, the group’s assistant state director, said investigators have to be well versed in astronomy and technology.

“You have to know just enough to keep yourself afloat with some of these things,” said Jordan, 66, from Mission. “Someone might be identifying something in the sky that you’re pretty sure is a planet . . . or the International Space Station.”

Of the 38 reports filed with the chapter this year, five were found to be identifiable objects. Twelve were labeled as unidentified after the investigation.

Seba said investigators try to eliminate all other possibilities, such as aircraft, birds, satellites and heavenly bodies, before labeling something as unidentified.

“To a certain extent, we do have to be skeptics,” he said.

UFOs and the Sunflower State

Organization members say the first strange sightings in the Kansas sky predate the post-World War II popular fascination with “flying saucers.”

The Magonia Database, a massive database of UFO sightings compiled by French astronomer Jacques Vallee, lists sightings in Kansas as early as 1897. One entry from that year described an object that swept over the town of Everest, northwest of Kansas City.

“It was seen to rise up at fantastic speed until barely discernible, then to come down again and sweep low over the witnesses,” according to the entry in the database.

A 1971 UFO sighting in Delphos, north of Salina, is popular in UFO lore. A mushroom-shaped object left a glowing ring on the ground, according to retellings of the incident.

One Kansan was involved in the aftermath of one of the most famous UFO incidents ever. Lincoln La Paz, a Wichitan and astronomer, was called in by the U.S. military to help investigate the alleged UFO sightings in Roswell, N.M., in 1947.

He eventually became an expert in “ufology,” the study of unidentified flying objects.

Today’s Kansas ufologists say they are trying to learn more about UFOs from the reported incidents.

Seba said about 40 percent of reported sightings happen during the day, while the remainder occur at night. He said a little over half of the state’s sightings come from populated areas.

“A majority of (rural sightings) come from people who are commuting on interstate highways,” he said. “We often wonder if there’s a connection with UFO sightings over interstates.”

Investigators do reach out to experts to help evaluate photographic evidence, Seba said.

‘Tin foil hats’

The Kansas state chapter of the Mutual UFO Network meets monthly at the Lawrence Public Library. Seba says the organization is trying to open a substate chapter in Wichita.

“We’re kind of a small group, but we’re growing in size very quickly,” Seba said.

The meetings, which typically have 20 to 30 attendees, include discussions and guest speakers from other states in person or on Skype.

“We used to have to rely on participation of speakers within the group,” Jordan said. “It’s really pretty impressive to see the size of your group attendance grow.”

Jordan said studying UFOs does open oneself up to ridicule. But he said people tend to be open-minded to the unknown.

“I think that the public acceptance of this phenomenon is greater than most people think,” he said.

Seba said his group accepts and respects the wide range of opinions on the true nature of unidentified flying objects.

“Hopefully, we don’t come off as people wearing tin foil hats,” Seba said.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Kansas ufologists delve into the unknown."