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.
Showing posts with label BETA UFO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BETA UFO. Show all posts
November 18, 2012
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.
February 23, 2012
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
February 19, 2011
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.
October 27, 2010
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.
February 24, 2009
The BETA UFO Gathering, December 2008 (An Outsider's View)
First Impressions 
I had only made contact with BETA UFO's director - Nur Agustinus for about 2 or 3 months when I found out about the group's planned gathering in Jakarta. The venue was quite conviniently accessible for me so I asked Nur Agustinus if it would be OK for me to drop in on their meeting. To cut a long story short, he gave me the green light and granted me a very intriguing up close look at the group's members & activity.
To be fair & square I didn't exactly get to the venue (in ITC Senayan shopping mall, downtown Jakarta) on time & missed most of the scheduled events. I only learned more about it a few weeks la
ter from an article (journal?) written by Nur Agustinus (links on Reference, below). It was also quite surprising to know that he made a special note of my visit in that article. Nevertheless, disgression aside, I did manage to see some interesting aspects & details from the gathering which I don't think I would've otherwise paid attention to if I hadn't been late.
The first positive impression I got is from the venue itself. It was a relatively small food court place, somewhere on the mall's upper floors, highlighted by BETA UFO's banner & merchandises. All and all, it didn't tingle my suspicious nature for most money-making scams n' hoaxes. Despite the well prepared banners & merchandises I can immediately feel the informal atmosphere of an honest, grass-root kind of community effort that is more concerned about sharing a common interest on the subject of ufology rather than about cashing-in from people's gulibilities.
Almost everyone present was dressed casually with the BETA UFO 'managing' crew all clad in black T-shirts that quickly brought back fond memories of some late 90's underground headbanger gathering. There were no seating 'arrangements' and -as I later found out- no protocols whatsoever when it comes to approaching the director - Nur Agustinus, for a friendly chit-chat.
Meeting The Man
After signing up the guest book & getting some free brochures in return I asked the lady sitting over the guest book table to help point me to Nur's whereabouts. It turned pout to be a quite easy process. The man was obviously busy talking with some other people, including some journalist, and yet he immediately approached & welcomed me with open arms. Soon enough, we end up sitting down together with some other members of the BETA UFO community joining us later on.
As the discussion lingers on I quickly noted an interesting fact of the director's personality. He never tried to speculate beyond what he really knows nor tried to dominate a conversation even when he actually knows more about the subject. Even when sharing his personal experience of a possible sighting the first thing he stressed was the fact that it could simply be the ISS (International Space Station) passing on its orbit around the earth. As subjective as it is, experience has thought me that such down to earth humility hardly ever goes hand in hand with shallow motives for fame & money. Of course, people do change with time & circumstances but I still have high hopes that BETA UFO & Nur Agustinus in particular will not degenerate should they ever be in the limelight.
All photos are taken from Nur Agustinus' personal recount (in pdf file).
To be fair & square I didn't exactly get to the venue (in ITC Senayan shopping mall, downtown Jakarta) on time & missed most of the scheduled events. I only learned more about it a few weeks la
ter from an article (journal?) written by Nur Agustinus (links on Reference, below). It was also quite surprising to know that he made a special note of my visit in that article. Nevertheless, disgression aside, I did manage to see some interesting aspects & details from the gathering which I don't think I would've otherwise paid attention to if I hadn't been late.The first positive impression I got is from the venue itself. It was a relatively small food court place, somewhere on the mall's upper floors, highlighted by BETA UFO's banner & merchandises. All and all, it didn't tingle my suspicious nature for most money-making scams n' hoaxes. Despite the well prepared banners & merchandises I can immediately feel the informal atmosphere of an honest, grass-root kind of community effort that is more concerned about sharing a common interest on the subject of ufology rather than about cashing-in from people's gulibilities.
Almost everyone present was dressed casually with the BETA UFO 'managing' crew all clad in black T-shirts that quickly brought back fond memories of some late 90's underground headbanger gathering. There were no seating 'arrangements' and -as I later found out- no protocols whatsoever when it comes to approaching the director - Nur Agustinus, for a friendly chit-chat.
Meeting The Man
After signing up the guest book & getting some free brochures in return I asked the lady sitting over the guest book table to help point me to Nur's whereabouts. It turned pout to be a quite easy process. The man was obviously busy talking with some other people, including some journalist, and yet he immediately approached & welcomed me with open arms. Soon enough, we end up sitting down together with some other members of the BETA UFO community joining us later on.
As the discussion lingers on I quickly noted an interesting fact of the director's personality. He never tried to speculate beyond what he really knows nor tried to dominate a conversation even when he actually knows more about the subject. Even when sharing his personal experience of a possible sighting the first thing he stressed was the fact that it could simply be the ISS (International Space Station) passing on its orbit around the earth. As subjective as it is, experience has thought me that such down to earth humility hardly ever goes hand in hand with shallow motives for fame & money. Of course, people do change with time & circumstances but I still have high hopes that BETA UFO & Nur Agustinus in particular will not degenerate should they ever be in the limelight.All photos are taken from Nur Agustinus' personal recount (in pdf file).
February 14, 2009
Indonesian Ufology Timeline - Part 1 (1959 - 1967)
Back in November 2007, the BETA UFO community (by far one of the most reliable ufology group in Indonesia) published a book titled "A Decade of BETA UFO Community Indonesia - Tracking The UFO Phenomena". The book was written and compiled/edited by the group's Director - Nur Agustinus and BETA UFO's chief archivist - Gatot Tri R.
The 200 something pages book, written in Indonesian, is quite an interesting read. Other than just revealing the 'colorful' history of how BETA UFO first got formed, the book also highlighted some less known facets of the Indonesian ufology history. One of which, which is also my personal favorite, is the Indonesian ufology timeline featured on page 67 until 72, under the heading of '"Garis Waktu UFO Indonesia" .
Being a detail-minded freak I had honestly hoped that the timeline would've shown more detailed information than it was. Regardless, it is still an intriguing & commendable effort to track the development of ufology in Indonesia. Because of that I have decided to try translating it into English & added -whenever I could find it- more 'details' here n' there to make sure I don't just copy-paste other people's hard work (which is also why it ended up being a 2 part article). I have also tried to point out any possible details that might merit further researching should anyone care to do so. The result of this effort is as follows.
April 1959
Indonesian engineer - Kusudiarso Hadinoto visited the USAF Project Blue Book office at the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton OH. The seemingly semi-official visit was made with the company of Let. Col. Soedjono, of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) [at the time, Soedjono was TNI-AU's official liaison officer at teh Indonesian embassy in wash. DC]. Both men were met by Project Blue Book's C.O. at the time - Maj. Robert B. Friend Jr. who gave the
m the opportunity to look at more than 5,000 UFO-related case files from the Project's archive. The Major also debriefed them about several evidence that supposedly came from UFO's and has since been proven as hoaxes.
The visit itself was made following the suggestion of TNI-AU's Let. Col. J. Salatun - the pioneer of Indonesian ufology. A foreword by Mr. Hadinoto on Salatun's seminal book about ufology, published about a year later, also revealed that the visit was made in connection to the writing of that particular book.
July 1959
A strange series of close encounters and sighting occured in the region of Alor & Pantar islands, In Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) pro
vince. The phenomena included an abduction of a local child by the name of Pangu, plus several amazing encounters between local islanders and a group of odd looking, reddish-skinned, silver-haired, blue-uniformed men as well as sighting of an oval shaped UFO prior to the disappearance of the "Men in Blue".
The story itself didn't get revealed until 17 years later when former Alor-Pantar regional police chief - Alwi Alnadad told the whole account to Indonesia's pioneering ufologist - J. Salatun.
It is interesting to note that the islanders, despite being quite traditional & reclusive, are actually not unaware of both foreigners as well as modern military uniform. {The confession given by the supposedly abducted child- Pangu, that his abductors were slightly taller than the German doctor who visited their village, and the fact that there has always been a Military territorial Command post (Kodam) in the vicinity of both islands are the facts I'm noting here.}
1960
TNI AU's Let.Col. - J. Salatun published his seminal book on ufology titled "Menjingkap Rahasia Piring Terbang" (Unveiling the secret of Flying Saucer). The book was published in Jakarta by local publisher - Pustaka Rakyat, and set the milestone for being the first ever locally written ufology book, in Indonesia. The book featured a quite detailed recount of major UFO sightings/EBE encounters from USA & Europe, as well as local cases from all over Indonesia. In total, there are 23 local cases filed in the 350 pages book. Something else worth notifying about this book is the fact that it was formerly endorsed by Indonesia's Prime Minister at the time - Djuanda & TNI AU's Chief of Staff - Air Marshall S. Suryadarma. The book also received a special mention in the NICAP's "The UFO Evidence" report/book.
October 1960
Indonesia's National News Agency (ANTARA) reported a UFO sighting around the city of Makassar, South Sulawesi. The sightings reportedly happened about 3 times a day, from the end of September until early October. ANTARA also tried to interview officials from the city's Hassanuddin (called 'Mandai' back then) airport regarding the sightings but it is not known whether it yielded any plausible "explanation" or not. All in all, this is basically the 1st ever news coverage of a UFO case by Indonesia's national mainstream media.
November 1963
Indonesia's National Aerospace Agency (LAPAN) was officially formed under Presidential Decree No. 236. J. Salatun, the nation's ufology pioneer, was then appointed as the agency's first director. Under his leadership, LAPAN (at least for a while, as it seemed to be) was also designated as a place for gathering/reporting data about UFO sightings in Indonesia.
September 1964
UFO sightings, visible both to the naked eye as well as in radar visuals, are reported from the 18th to the 24th of September. The phenomena occured around the skies of 3 cities in the east Jawa province - Surabaya, Malang & Bangkalan. The sighting also provoked the Indonesian military to open fire at the UFOs, since the country was -at the time- in anticipation of an all out armed confrontation with Malaysia (which was backed-up by its main allies - U.
K. & Australia). The situation actually became so serious that, by October, Second Deputy-Prime Minister J. Leimena had to issue an official statement urging people to stay calm and not to stir up any kind of gossips or speculations regarding the sightings. The whole account itself was first disclosed by J. Salatun in his 1982 book - "UFO, One of the World's Current Problem".
Furthermore, J. Salatun also made a comment about this incident which has now been circulating in various UFO sites "Quotable Quotes" as can bee seen (among others) in bibliotecapleyades.net as well as in U.K's Prufos - police UFO database and The Ufo Evidence. The statement itself stressed that the incident was "...one of the most spectacular UFO incident in Indonesia..." as "...UFOs penetrated a well-defended area...for two weeks at a strecth, and each time were welcomed with perhaps the heaviest anti-aircraft barrage in history".
As an additional note, no known newspaper archive pertaining to this case has ever been found, although it is plausible that there must be some since it seemed to have stirred up such 'unrest' among the population that necessitated a formal statement from Mr. Leimena.
May 1967
TNI AU's ad interim Chief of Staff - Air Marshall Roesmin Nurjadin wrote a letter (dated 5/5/67) to one Yusake J. Matsumura, disclosing the Indonesian UFO phenomena. His official statement is that "UFOs sighted in Indonesia are identical with those sighted in other countries." He also added (seemingly in relation to the above mentioned incident) that "Sometimes they (the UFOs) pose a problem for our air defence and once we were obliged to fire on them." This statement can also be seen in the links to UFO sites above, although what I find very intriguing about the statement (that there are scarcely any mention about who Yusake J. Matsumura actually is) is not further corroborated on those links.
Being a detail-minded freak I had honestly hoped that the timeline would've shown more detailed information than it was. Regardless, it is still an intriguing & commendable effort to track the development of ufology in Indonesia. Because of that I have decided to try translating it into English & added -whenever I could find it- more 'details' here n' there to make sure I don't just copy-paste other people's hard work (which is also why it ended up being a 2 part article). I have also tried to point out any possible details that might merit further researching should anyone care to do so. The result of this effort is as follows.
April 1959
Indonesian engineer - Kusudiarso Hadinoto visited the USAF Project Blue Book office at the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton OH. The seemingly semi-official visit was made with the company of Let. Col. Soedjono, of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) [at the time, Soedjono was TNI-AU's official liaison officer at teh Indonesian embassy in wash. DC]. Both men were met by Project Blue Book's C.O. at the time - Maj. Robert B. Friend Jr. who gave the
m the opportunity to look at more than 5,000 UFO-related case files from the Project's archive. The Major also debriefed them about several evidence that supposedly came from UFO's and has since been proven as hoaxes.The visit itself was made following the suggestion of TNI-AU's Let. Col. J. Salatun - the pioneer of Indonesian ufology. A foreword by Mr. Hadinoto on Salatun's seminal book about ufology, published about a year later, also revealed that the visit was made in connection to the writing of that particular book.
July 1959
A strange series of close encounters and sighting occured in the region of Alor & Pantar islands, In Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) pro
vince. The phenomena included an abduction of a local child by the name of Pangu, plus several amazing encounters between local islanders and a group of odd looking, reddish-skinned, silver-haired, blue-uniformed men as well as sighting of an oval shaped UFO prior to the disappearance of the "Men in Blue".The story itself didn't get revealed until 17 years later when former Alor-Pantar regional police chief - Alwi Alnadad told the whole account to Indonesia's pioneering ufologist - J. Salatun.
It is interesting to note that the islanders, despite being quite traditional & reclusive, are actually not unaware of both foreigners as well as modern military uniform. {The confession given by the supposedly abducted child- Pangu, that his abductors were slightly taller than the German doctor who visited their village, and the fact that there has always been a Military territorial Command post (Kodam) in the vicinity of both islands are the facts I'm noting here.}
1960
TNI AU's Let.Col. - J. Salatun published his seminal book on ufology titled "Menjingkap Rahasia Piring Terbang" (Unveiling the secret of Flying Saucer). The book was published in Jakarta by local publisher - Pustaka Rakyat, and set the milestone for being the first ever locally written ufology book, in Indonesia. The book featured a quite detailed recount of major UFO sightings/EBE encounters from USA & Europe, as well as local cases from all over Indonesia. In total, there are 23 local cases filed in the 350 pages book. Something else worth notifying about this book is the fact that it was formerly endorsed by Indonesia's Prime Minister at the time - Djuanda & TNI AU's Chief of Staff - Air Marshall S. Suryadarma. The book also received a special mention in the NICAP's "The UFO Evidence" report/book.
October 1960
Indonesia's National News Agency (ANTARA) reported a UFO sighting around the city of Makassar, South Sulawesi. The sightings reportedly happened about 3 times a day, from the end of September until early October. ANTARA also tried to interview officials from the city's Hassanuddin (called 'Mandai' back then) airport regarding the sightings but it is not known whether it yielded any plausible "explanation" or not. All in all, this is basically the 1st ever news coverage of a UFO case by Indonesia's national mainstream media.
November 1963
Indonesia's National Aerospace Agency (LAPAN) was officially formed under Presidential Decree No. 236. J. Salatun, the nation's ufology pioneer, was then appointed as the agency's first director. Under his leadership, LAPAN (at least for a while, as it seemed to be) was also designated as a place for gathering/reporting data about UFO sightings in Indonesia.
September 1964
UFO sightings, visible both to the naked eye as well as in radar visuals, are reported from the 18th to the 24th of September. The phenomena occured around the skies of 3 cities in the east Jawa province - Surabaya, Malang & Bangkalan. The sighting also provoked the Indonesian military to open fire at the UFOs, since the country was -at the time- in anticipation of an all out armed confrontation with Malaysia (which was backed-up by its main allies - U.
K. & Australia). The situation actually became so serious that, by October, Second Deputy-Prime Minister J. Leimena had to issue an official statement urging people to stay calm and not to stir up any kind of gossips or speculations regarding the sightings. The whole account itself was first disclosed by J. Salatun in his 1982 book - "UFO, One of the World's Current Problem".Furthermore, J. Salatun also made a comment about this incident which has now been circulating in various UFO sites "Quotable Quotes" as can bee seen (among others) in bibliotecapleyades.net as well as in U.K's Prufos - police UFO database and The Ufo Evidence. The statement itself stressed that the incident was "...one of the most spectacular UFO incident in Indonesia..." as "...UFOs penetrated a well-defended area...for two weeks at a strecth, and each time were welcomed with perhaps the heaviest anti-aircraft barrage in history".
As an additional note, no known newspaper archive pertaining to this case has ever been found, although it is plausible that there must be some since it seemed to have stirred up such 'unrest' among the population that necessitated a formal statement from Mr. Leimena.
May 1967
TNI AU's ad interim Chief of Staff - Air Marshall Roesmin Nurjadin wrote a letter (dated 5/5/67) to one Yusake J. Matsumura, disclosing the Indonesian UFO phenomena. His official statement is that "UFOs sighted in Indonesia are identical with those sighted in other countries." He also added (seemingly in relation to the above mentioned incident) that "Sometimes they (the UFOs) pose a problem for our air defence and once we were obliged to fire on them." This statement can also be seen in the links to UFO sites above, although what I find very intriguing about the statement (that there are scarcely any mention about who Yusake J. Matsumura actually is) is not further corroborated on those links.
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