First Case in 2012

The first possible sighting case to be reported in 2012 was the case of an intriguing photograph, taken in the Carita area, West Java Province. A BETA UFO member reported that a friend of his took the photograph from inside a vehicle, while travelling in the area. The main focus of the photograph is obviously the sea/coastline. 

BETA UFO initial analysis suggested the possibility of the object being a simple smudge left by a sticker on the vehicle’s window, or an insect. However, witnesses supposedly stated that there were no stickers or insects observed on the window when the photograph was taken.

Back from ‘Hibernation’

Yes, I’m back (I don’t suppose anybody miss my ranting here anyway?). After another horrible ‘hiatus’, something that is supposed to be familiar with most blogger, this is the latest post for 2012. And I think there is no better way to make a comeback than with a good compiled bulk of information.

So let us start this over with a rather interesting announcement: the BETA UFO Compiled Sightings Review report for 2011 is finally finished and available for reading here. 

Belated Obituary - R.J. Salatun

This is a shamefully belated obituary to the pioneer of Indonesian Ufology, J. Salatun. I can’t believe I didn’t try harder to spare time making this post earlier. Anyway, here I am now and hopefully this late posting will still be able to provide useful information for those who might not know of the event yet.

News of R.J. Salatun’s death in KOMPAS national newspaper

The first information received by BETA UFO through its mailing list group was from a member who actually forwarded the news of J. Salatun’s death from another mailing list named after the national Air Force’s old abbreviation (AURI).

Raden Jacob Salatun

Vice Air-Marshall (Ret.) Raden Jacob Salatun (R.J. Salatun), reportedly passed away on Friday 3 February 2012 in Jakarta, at the age of 84 years old, after suffering from a complication of stroke and diabetes. The former founder and first chairman of the National Space and Aviation Agency (LAPAN) had been hospitalized since 17 December 2011 prior to the formal announcement of his passing away by his eldest son, Adi Sadewo Salatun.

“Ke Udara”, a pioneering book on aviation written by R.J. Salatun in 1950

Serving 38 years in the national air force, R.J. Salatun was given a formal military burial held on 4 February 2012 at the Kalibata National Heroes Cemetery, Jakarta, leaving behind his wife and a family of 5 children, 12 grand children and 2 great-grandchildren.

As revealed in Salatun’s tribute page here, the man is not only noted for his pioneering work in the national air force (TNI AU), particularly in the development of military aerospace (airplane design and rocketry) programs, but also for his active promotion of a localized and scientific approach to the UFO phenomena since the 1950s.

The cover of "Ke Udara", a pioneering book on aviation written by R.J. Salatun in 1950

Following the pioneer’s passing away, BETA UFO (through Bayu Amus, the current chairman) has published an open letter of condolences to the family, which I think best reflect the lost felt by many researchers of the UFO phenomenon in Indonesia:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Family members of the late Raden Jacob Salatun

As supporters of the study of UFO phenomena in Indonesia affiliated with the BETA-UFO Indonesia group, we would like to hereby extend our condolences for the passing away of Raden Jacob Salatun, which we have always hold in high esteem as the figurehead of Indonesian Ufology studies.

His contribution is immense in terms of developing the world of aviation in Indonesia and in pioneering the study of Ufology, which has in turn assisted those intrigued by the phenomena to research it more deeply. It was also in respect of his pioneering effort that we choose the name “BETA” for our own group, which Raden Jacob Salatun coined as the Indonesian language term for UFO.

We hope that God will grant Raden Jacob Salatun a place of comfort by His side for all the contributions that the man has made during the course of his life, and to grant the family left behind strength and perseverance in facing the ordeal.

We as supporters of UFO studies in Indonesia will always remember the late Raden Jacob Salatun for his contributions, and continue the study of UFO phenomena in Indonesia that he has pionereed.

His name will always be remembered dearly in our heart as the father of Indonesian Ufology.

Denpasar, 8 February 2012

Sincerely yours,

Bayu Amus

Director

BETA-UFO Indonesia

A 2011 flap in Indonesia?

I suppose anyone who has ever read enough materials on Ufology would know what the term ‘flap’ means. My own understanding of it is that it refers to a highly intensified number of UFO sightings within a certain period of time and geographical boundary. Bearing that in mind, I almost did believe that there was a flap in Indonesia last year.

Almost? Yes, almost. Simply for the sheer increase in submitted reports coming in through the BETA UFO website that registered over 100 sighting reports across the country.

An example of photographs sent to BETA UFO in 2011

To give you an idea of how many reports BETA UFO actually get in 2011, the aforementioned number has already been separated from dozens of other reports of past sightings going as far back as the 1980s.

Another example of photographs sent to BETA UFO in 2011

All in all, the increase in reported cases doesn’t denote a real flap, as many of the report are also hard to cross-check, but it does highlight an ever increasing sensitivity to the issue of UFOs in the country. An issue that has hitherto been treated as a matter of occult/magic rather than anything pertaining to any form of unknown technology.

As the annual report is still being processed, one thing that can be assured regarding any significant pattern emerging from it all, is the fact that more and more people across the country are paying attention to any uncanny phenomena in the skies.

Time To Relax?

The holidays are coming aren’t they? So maybe it’s time to relax the curious, ever intrigued mind and have a bit of fun. Let emotions runs free, like this silly cat does for example...

Enjoy the holidays. Let’s hope for tons of intriguing sightings around the globe this New Year’s Eve.

The Pyramid Story

Somewhere in 2011, there was information circulating in the local ‘UFO rumor mill’ of a group of people making interesting (well, in their perspectives, it is more like earth-shattering than just interesting) discoveries in West Java Province.

Contact was also initiated with BETA UFO by one of the group ‘alleged’ member (I cannot remember the exact date), calling for support and cooperation. It received mixed reaction among BETA UFO members, but I never recalled any formal agreement to positively respond to the call.

Turangga Seta

The main hypothesis presented by the group called Turangga Seta is that there are several mountains/hills in Indonesia that are actually man-made mounds. To be exact, that they are actually ancient pyramids rather than natural constructs. This is further hypothesized as ‘proof’ of an alleged highly-advanced ancient civilization that once flourished in the archipelago, and supposedly became the real source of the Atlantis myth.

Turangga Seta promotion of its pyramid hypothesis

The Atlantis Argument

Not long before the circulation of Turangga Seta’s hypothesis, somewhere in 2009, there was also the weird upsurge of an idea that Atlantis could actually be located in Indonesia. For some uncanny reasons, it also received quite a lot of attention from the local press.

Two books, written by foreign authors, became something of a cornerstone in the argument despite the lack of tangible facts/prove (as well as good translation) supporting the books. These are the writings of Arysio des Santos (Atlantis, The Lost Continent Finally Found, The Definitive Localization of Plato’s Los Civilization- 2005) and Stephen Oppenheimer (Eden in The East - 1999) which were translated to Indonesian language in 2010.

The Latest Hype

The hypothesis has recently re-surfaced with more intense local press coverage and hype, this time presented by a different group (reportedly named as the Ancient Catastrophic or Ancient Cataclysmic Catastrophe Team) that also -strangely enough- received support from Andi Arief, an official with the current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration, formally in charge as the President’s Special Staff on Natural Disasters. Coincidentally, the man is also renowned for a score of controversial statements in the national press.

Speaking to the local press in late November 2011, the man explained that his Ancient Catastrophic Team has found indications that there are at least four possible locations of pyramids in Java Island. One in Mt. Sadahurip, Garut Regency, West Java Province; one other in Mt. Putri, also in Garut; and two others at Mt. Kaledong and Mt. Haruman, all in West Java Province. According to Arif all of the mountains have shown indication of being man-made structures.

Widely publicized photograph of Mt. Sadahurip by Turangga Seta Group

So far, the only detailed information available publicly of whatever tests have been done on the alleged pyramids in West Java is given by the Turanga Seta group. Allegedly, geo-electrical testing at Mt. Sadahurip suggested that there are artificial structures beneath the mountain’s surface.

A graphic illustration of the alleged geo-electrical testing result at Mt. Sadahurip.

Where Will It Leads To?

Where will all this go is anyone's guess, but it is interesting to note that someone in the government is actually interested in the matter. Of course, it could all end up as nothing more than a politically-calculated window dressing scheme.

Rampant corruption and collusion have made it rather hard for the average Indonesian to feel proud about anything related to the country nowadays. An alleged finding of the country’s ‘glorious past’ surely wouldn't hurt any parties keen on garnering support from the cynical public.

Strange Skyscraper Photographs

It doesn’t happen often that reports of alleged UFO sightings in the country would come from witnesses inside or around skyscrapers. February 2011 saw one of these rare cases, in the Kelapa Gading Sub-District, North Jakarta region, where an unidentified silvery and seemingly spherical object was photographed by 2 different people in the sky near several buildings in the area.

Although not all of the buildings in the February case are actual skyscrapers, it does fit the emerging pattern of sightings in the city’s bustling centers.

October 2010 saw at least 2 other cases in Jakarta. One of which was also supplemented with photographs. These earlier cases seemed to pose the same intriguing possibility that more and more UFOs are actually appearing in the city area, rather than just on the country side.

One could only speculate as to why these UFOs would ‘expose’ themselves in Jakarta’s crowded business center areas, with so much possibility of being sighted and photographed. Did they actually ‘want’ to be seen and photographed?

The main facts of the 2010 reports, as received by BETA UFO, are as follows:

22 October 2010

Location: Standard Chartered Tower building; 31st floor; Jln. Prof. Dr. Satrio; Karet Kuningan Sub-District; South Jakarta region; Jakarta.

Time: 5 PM

Description: A witness, taking photographs from his office window, saw several strange objects appearing in the sky. One of the object looked like a Hang Glider/Delta Plane while about 6 others looked like black dots. The ‘Hang Glider-like’ object was observed moving upward & disappeared into the gathering storm clouds while the ‘dots’ seemed to moved away from the witness’ view.

26 October 2010

Location: The 21st floor of an unknown office building in Kemayoran District; Central Jakarta region; Jakarta (exact location unknown).

Time: 1 PM

Description: A witness took some pictures from the 21st floor window of an office building. Some of the photographs supposedly showed at least 12 strange objects hovering in the sky. When the photographs were zoomed they allegedly showed objects shaped like a rocket, a sphere & a Saturn-like sphere, with legs protruding from underneath it.

The Central Java Circles

January 2011 saw the occurrence of one of the most widely reported phenomenon regarding UFOs in Indonesia in the last decade: Crop Circles in the Central Java region. Although not a typical UFO sighting/encounter type, the phenomena still stirred the biggest attention to date regarding the general theme of UFOs.

Local Ufology group, BETA UFO, first received the information of a crop circle pattern reportedly appearing somewhere in the Central Java region between 23 and 24 January 2011. It wasn’t until later in the day, after the buzz of confusing information on where exactly the pattern had emerged, did BETA UFO managed to get a fixed idea of the location.

There were three identified locations of the Crop Circles, that were investigated by BETA UFO as early as 24 January 2011, as follows:

Jogo Tirto Village, Berbah District, Sleman Regency; Yogyakarta Special Region (D.I.Y.) [See photograph below]

Srimartani Village, Piyungan District, Bantul Regency; D.I.Y. [See photograph below]

Banyusari Village, Tegalrejo District, Magelang Regency; Central Java Province (Jateng). [See photograph below]

While details of BETA UFO’s investigation will be published in a separate special report it can be said here that the phenomena in Central Java did show intriguing features commonly attributed to genuine Crop Circles. In a wider sense, it has also brought up interesting reaction from local scientists as well as putting the topic of ‘Ufology’ quite abruptly at the forefront of public attention.

Stay tuned for the special report to come.

Changes

I suppose anybody could clearly see, whether they have been checking up on this blog regularly or not, that not much new things have been posted all along 2011. The main issue has been the lack of time (and not lack of reports or interest). I guess every blogger in the world has that problem or at least has cited it often.

Nevertheless, I have updated the blog format and added the 'label index' somewhere down below to hopefully give anyone blog walking here a decently pleasant experience. I have also prepared new stuffs to live up to what I said in a 2010 post about getting new posts up.

Lastly, I don't know how informative or useful this blog has been so please do drop a few line in this post's comment box or the shoutbox somewhere at the bottom if you have something to say about that or the blog in general. I don't like e-mails so let's just stick to the commentary/shout boxes shall we?

So, some changes have been made. Hopefully for the better.

Strange Lights in Bandung

On June 22 strange light orbs-like objects were witnessed in the eastern sky of Bandung City, West Java Province, by a single witness. The objects were said to be stationary & was visible in the clear sky for 2 to 3 hours long, but no one else has so far reported sighting the same objects. The witness also took several photographs of the objects as can be seen below. BETA UFO has so far put this sighting into its unexplained file for 2010.

The Shanghai April Sighting – Part 2

The following are screen shots of the two unidentified objects spotted and video recorded in the skies above Shanghai, China on April 24 2010.

The Shanghai April Sighting – Part 1

This is one case that almost got drowned in the multitude of case reports coming into the BETA UFO network back in 2010. I suspect that the scant attention it received also has to do with the fact that it was a sighting case that took place in another country. In addition, the case was also reported through BETA UFO’s online testimonial channel that was pretty dull to ever attract much attention back then.

Coming onto the case, the report was filed by an Indonesian guy that was on holiday in China, back in April 2010. The sighting took place on April 24, at around 8:55 PM, as the witness and several other tourists were queuing for a bus taking them to a hotel in Shanghai. It was at this moment that he then noticed 2 strange objects high up in the clear, cloudless sky and start filming them with his hand held video recorder (see the video below).

According to the witness, he decided not to publish the video recording due to fear of censorship (or worst) by the Chinese government. He also considered the fact that the Shanghai Expo was just about to be opened in 5 days and that therefore the 2 objects he saw might just be promotional blimps for the event. When news of UFO sighting in Hangzhou appeared in July he then decided to publish the video and inform BETA UFO of his strange experience.

Things To Come in 2011

A lot of things were left un-posted, as the saying doesn’t go, in late 2010. Some of these things have to do with the general increase of reported UFO sightings across Indonesia. Some others have to do with the finishing of the BETA UFO’s Case Review for 2010 and the fact that a link for the 2009 report hasn’t been provided yet in this blog. These are the things that are going to be corrected now, in 2011. It’s always better late than never, isn’t it? To start off, the BETA UFO Case Review Reports for 2009 and 2010 can now be downloaded here and here.

Posts of sighting reports that basically stopped in October will be continued after this posting. Along with that, I will also be posting BETA UFO’s analysis of the much publicized Crop Circle phenomena in Central Java that occurred in January 2011.

Updates on The October 24th Sighting

The October 24th sighting in Tangerang Regency, Banten Province (practically a suburb of the Greater Jakarta area) intrigued me so much that I decided to contact the photographer/witness. His explanation seemed to shed some lights on what the objects might have been.

Firstly, he admitted of shaking his hands quite a lot while making the photographs. The fuzziness of the lights in the photographs was therefore not due to of any kind of maneuvers from the objects themselves. They just flew by in the sky.

Secondly, he also admitted that the objects look more like light spots. In fact, the man pointed to one of the photos in my older posts (Photographic evidence cases from 2008) as something that resembled what he saw that night. Strange thing is, he hasn’t yet confirmed exactly which photo he is referring to. My assumption is it’s this photo below (Taken in Jakarta, showing -according to the photographer- four blinking lights that basically 'hung motionless' in the sky).

Now that photo above is definitely no Chinese lantern. However, I have also found a Youtube video (watch below) -courtesy of a friend's sharp eye- that showed orange lights passing through the sky (I think it was in Lincoln, U.K.) almost the same as the objects photographed in Tangerang on October 24th. They looked quite similar, especially with the shaky hands of the video grapher. More importantly are the comments that people give for the video – that the objects are nothing more than Chinese lanterns.

Case closed? Probably so…, don't you think?

UFO(?) Over Serangan Island, Bali – August 2010

On August 26th, BETA UFO chairman, Bayu Amus took an intriguing picture while trying to photograph some storks near his office complex in Bali. One of the photo turned out to have a strange object, up in the ‘background’ sky (see photo and zoomed object below).

The photo was taken with a shutter speed of 1/500 seconds and showed –according to the photographer- a tinge of purple and green that is not present in other shots taken at the same spot. The object is suspected to be 'hovering/flying' somewhere above Serangan island, to the southeast of Bali Island.

October 24th – More Sightings in Jakarta’s Suburb

Just as I thought there won’t be any other ‘sighting’ to file for a while, the BETA UFO mailing list went buzzing with another possible case. This time, reported by nationwide TV channel SCTV (‘’Liputan 6’ news program), the case is said to be a sighting of dozens of strange aerial objects in Tangerang Regency, Banten Province (in the suburbs of Jakarta) on October 24th. The news coverage (with no actual video or photos) revealed that there were allegedly 25 objects seen flying slowly pass the sky at around 7:30 PM. The event lasted for about 30 minutes watched by dozens of residents from their homes as well as those driving by on nearby streets. The report also suggested that most of the witnesses agreed that those objects could not be airplanes and that some also concluded them as possible UFOs.

Well, that wasn’t very interesting for me until someone in the mailing list updated the news with a link to a witness’ website – complete with photos of the objects (some of the photos can be seen at the end of this text). The witness said, the sighting lasted for about 45 to 50 minutes. He also said that the objects were glowing with a yellowish red and orange color, and were moving in particular formations through the sky, wave after wave of it. Interestingly enough, he also suggested the possibility of the objects being Chinese lanterns. Nevertheless, he also went on questioning how could Chinese lanterns make such strange formations in the first place?

A BETA UFO researcher commented that the way the objects move slowly, wave after wave, is indicative of Chinese lanterns. No explanation has been offered for their particular formations though.

Could it be nothing more than Chinese lanterns?

Public Sighting in Downtown Jakarta, September 2010

Just a few days prior to the UFO sighting in NYC, on October 13, a somewhat similar event occur in downtown Jakarta. On September 28, two freelance journalist hanging out at Plaza Semanggi Shopping Mall on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta spotted (along with several dozens other people) several strange, colorful lights in the sky. The video that they -fortunately- made of the phenomena was then sent and aired by a local TV channel (RCTI) as can be seen in the video below.

The National Space and Aviation Agency (LAPAN) has since been contacted by the TV channel and -as can be seen in the video- stated their conclusion that this phenomenon could be nothing more than balloons or kites or simple reflections of airplane lights..BETA UFO has so far rejected such simplistic explanation. Especially since witnesses all agreed that the strange objects were moving and forming formations in the sky.

Lens Flare and the Media Hype

June 2010 also saw a rather interesting 'thread' in the BETA UFO mailing list. This time it was taken from another thread on one of the country's 'biggest' online forum, Kaskus. A member of the said forum uploaded two photographs allegedly taken on June 12 at the newly built Suramadu bridge, that connect the city of Surabaya with the island of Madura. In the photos, are seen several 'UFO-like' shapes in the sky near the bridge which -according to the photographer- were not seen before the photographs were taken. The original photos themselves were not very clear until another forum member helped to 'emphasize' the objects in question as can be seen below.

The photos has since attracted quite a lot of attention, particularly on the grounds of the photographer's belief that he those objects are indeed UFO, and sparked a lot of discussion both on the original Kaskus forum as well as in BETA UFO's mailing-list. One of the primary conclusion reached in the BETA UFO discussions is that the photo is nothing more than a lens flare effect.

Strangely enough, the photo then sparked the media's ongoing interest and hype over anything 'mysterious' or 'uncanny'. BETA UFO was contacted to state its conclusion on the said photos in August, for a Jakarta-based TV station's afternoon program. Guess what? Not long after that, someone finally came to the Kaskus forum to show, with two very clear photos seen below, that it is INDEED a simple lens flare effect.

I guess the interest on UFO's has indeed grown by leaps and bounds in the country, but the media's 'warped' approach to it all (most interest in the UFO-related phenomena are currently shown by celebrity gossip programs, for crying out loud) hardly promised a better understanding of the phenomena.

The Oldest UFO Photograph in Indonesia?

BETA UFO researcher and former chairman, Nur Agustinus contacted me about this intriguing photograph that he seemed to have found October last year. I have since been unable to verify the possibility of it being a genuine UFO photograph as those I have contacted –with presumably better understanding of photographic analysis- has never replied to my query. The object in question is the small, oval-shaped speck somewhat halfway to the center of the photograph.

If it is indeed so, then this photograph, which was shot in 1935 during the emplacement of the Dutch colonial administration’s state railway to Padang city, West Sumatra and found as part of a collection of old Indonesian photographs owned by KITLV, is definitely the oldest UFO photograph to date in the country.

The KITLV data showed that the photo was part of a collection of photographs which are featured in a book titled “Stations and Bridges in Sumatra: 1876-1941” by Michiel de Jong Ballegoijen that was published in Amsterdam in 2001. The photo itself was originally part of an album presented to C.L. de Voogt at his departure as head of the Dutch East Indies’ State Railways Operation in Sumatra's west coast, from April 1933 to August 1935. More data could be seen in the KITLV document entry of the said photograph presented below (google translated from Dutch to English).

Dutch to English translation

Collection: KITLV

Description / Description: Emplacement of the State Railways to Padang in

Sumatra's West Coast

Signature / Image Code: 52711

Album Number / Album Number: 610

Detailed Description / Detailed description: Left behind the station

Keyword / Keyword: Padang, railway stations, railways

Format / Size: 12x17cm

Physical form / Property type: Photo

Date / Date: 1935

Specialties / Additional: stations and bridges in Sumatra: 1876-1941 / by Michiel

de Jong Ballegoijen. - Amsterdam, 2001 Album presented to ir C.L. de Voogt at his

departure as head of the State Railways in Operation Sumatra's west coast from

April 1933 to August 1935

Collection / Collection: Ball, F.H.J.

Origin / Provenance: Ball, F.H.J.