Page 94 of 161
"An intense dosage of ultraviolet light could produce these symptoms and plasmas often radiate in this part of the spectrum as well as the visible (part) ... "Others have reported minor facial bums, a 'prickling sensation like electric shock’ and intense heat, or combinations of these. These would be expected only for certain forms of high-energy plasmas. The same effects are sometimes reported for ball lightning encounters." Plasmas and ball lightning also radiate visible light in the red, yellow, green, white and blue portions of the spectrum, I might add. Altogether, the foregoing descriptions of ball lightning and other atmospheric plasmas almost uniquely describe the terrifying UFO seen by Sergeant Ben Thompson of the Wanaque Reservoir Police Force. They also could describe the mysterious UFOs observed by Officer Bill Pastor and young John de Giacomo. The only thing missing in the case of Sergeant Thompson's UFO was its strange ability to suck together treetops and cause a rise in the reservoir's water level. On two occasions I interviewed Philip J. Klass regarding the strange UFO sightings over the Wanaque Reservoir. The first thing I asked him to explain - if he could - was this weird ability of Thompson's UFO to disturb trees and water. He answered: "Trees have a ground charge, which is electrically negative. The UFO could have been a plasma with a strong positive charge, thereby drawing the trees toward its electrical potential. The situation can also be likened to the static electricity caused by friction from the motion of air. It would be like that classical experiment in which you take a piece of flannel and vigorously rub a rubber rod or comb until they become polarized with an electrostatic potential. The rod will then cause pieces of paper to jump toward it and the comb will cause your hair to rise as you pass it over your head." "Well, how would you explain the rising level of water then?" I asked. "The surface of water wouldn't have a ground potential would it?”. "Tt might,” he answered. "But that business of the water rising is actually unexplainable. It would require a mechanical kind of suction rather than an electrostatic potential. All I can say is, that maybe under the glare of the light Sergeant Thompson's eyes were affected to the point where his vision played tricks on him. This often happens. Maybe the water wasn't rising at all. Maybe it just seemed to be rising in the bright glare." Talso asked Klass about the right-angle turns and high speed of the UFO. "That's perfectly natural with ball lightnings or plasmas," he answered. "As the energy in a plasma is dissipated its mass is reduced - even though it may appear still quite large in volume - and so its resistance to other forces in the atmosphere is reduced. It can be drawn willy-nilly, appearing to defy Newton's fundamental laws of inertia. The best example of how charged particles can stop and reverse direction is the picture tube of an ordinary television-receiver. The electron beam in the tube stops and reverses direction over 30,000 times a second." I next asked: "How about the fact that the nearest high-tension wires to the reservoir are at least four