UFO Sightings?

I heard about this the other day and of course my mind starts to imagine the possibilities…

Jan. 15, 2008, 12:57AM
Small Texas town abuzz over reported UFO sightings
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press

STEPHENVILLE — In this Texas farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.

Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.

“People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it’s the end of times,” said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. “It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts.”

While federal officials insist there’s a logical explanation, locals swear that it 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. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.

Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.

“You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal,” Sorrells said. “It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I’m not crazy.”

Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle’s telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, said no F-16s or other aircraft from his base were in the area the night of Jan. 8, when most people reported the sighting.

Lewis said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.

“I’m 90 percent sure this was an airliner,” Lewis said. “With the sun’s angle, it can play tricks on you.”

Officials at the region’s two Air Force bases — Dyess in Abilene and Sheppard in Wichita Falls — also said none of their aircraft were in the area last week. The Air Force no longer investigates UFOs.

One man has offered a reward for a photograph or videotape of the mysterious object.

About 200 UFO sightings are reported each month, mostly in California, Colorado and Texas, according to the Mutual UFO Network, which plans to go to the 17,000-resident town of Stephenville to investigate.

Fourteen percent of Americans polled last year by The Associated Press and Ipsos say they have seen a UFO.

Erath County Constable Lee Roy Gaitan said that he first saw red glowing lights and then white flashing lights moving fast, but that even with binoculars could not see the object to which the lights were attached.

“I didn’t see a flying saucer and I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t an airplane, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gaitan said. “I think it must be some kind of military craft — at least I hope it was.”

There’s a video news report on the Houston Chronicle site that’s worth watching too. Some of it is probably meant to make the folks who saw the UFO look silly - and it does - but I guess it all depends on your point of view. Personally, I always bought the Carl Sagan theory of the billions and billions of stars with possibly billions and billions of planets orbiting them. It would be hubris to assume we’re the only intelligent life in the universe, right?

The other alternative is that this this is something man-made and top secret. That’s always a possibility. Or maybe a bunch of folks in Texas are just all halucinating. What do you think?

Fantasm Finalists!

First a little unfinished business… The winner of the PDF download of Forever Valentine is: Chelsea H. Congratulations!

And now for some amazing news… The Fantasm Finalists were announced today and a couple of my books Finaled! Here’s the breakdown:

Best Shapeshifter (non-wolf) Romance - Prince of Spies

Best Overall Paranormal Romance - Sweeter Than Wine

Best Epic Fantasy Romance - Wings of Change

Best Post-Apocalyptic Romance - Hara’s Legacy

Best Space Opera Romance - Sons of Amber: Michael

Best Overall Sci Fi Romance - Hara’s Legacy

A big thank you to those of you who took time to nominate my books! Voting starts in February, according to the site. I’ll try to post when I know more. The competition is fierce this year and I’m really honored to have Finaled. What a great start to the New Year!

Contest Time!

As promised to folks who visited Jacki Frank’s party today, I’m posting a little contest. The contest will run until Monday, to give everybody a chance to enter. To enter, send an email to biancadarc AT gmail.com with the subject line “Contest - Jacki” and answer the following question: What is the werecougar’s name (first and last) in Sweeter Than Wine? (Hint: You can find the answer pretty easily on my website!)

All correct entries will be thrown into a hat and one name will be drawn at random to win a PDF download of Forever Valentine. (Remember, Forver Valentine is part of my ongoing paranormal series. Sweeter Than Wine actually preceeds Forever Valentine in the timeline of the stories, though it came out after.)

P&E Vote Reminder

I hate asking, but I’d love to have your vote if you haven’t voted yet in the Preditors & Editors poll this year. You only have until next Tuesday, so please take a moment to seek me out in the following categories:

Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel - Hara’s Legacy

Erotica Novel - Hara’s Legacy

Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Story - Wings of Change

I wouldn’t ask, but I actually have a chance of making the Top 10 in two of those categories this year and I’d really love for that to happen. There are lots of other categories to vote in too, so you might enjoy the site if you’re a voting kind of person.

Thanks for your help. Everybody keep your fingers crossed!

WW: Dragon Trees

Bath Salts - More Than Just a Plot Device

Sweeter Than Wine is on the ARe Best Seller List! Yay! I’ve been working on creative promo items for upcoming signings and for RT in April. Luckily for me, there’s a scene towards the end of Sweeter Than Wine where the hero prepares a relaxing bath for his lady. I admit, I really liked the idea of him pampering her with something so luxurious and yet simple. A nice soak in soothing, salty, scented water has a dreamlike quality that’s appealing.

One of the small promotional items I’ve come up with for this book is a pretty little organza bag filled with Solar Pacific Sea Bath Salts scented with Lavender Essential Oil (as in the book). I got these yummy light puple salts from the San Francisco Bath Salt Company. They have a great website that explains the way Solar Salts differ from most other kinds of salts. Simply put, because they are made the old fashioned way - by naturally evaporating sea water over a long period of time - they retain most of the beneficial minerals you really want in a bath salt.

They also have some great recipes on their site, for things you can do yourself, at home, to make life luxurious. Well, at least bath time. (BTW, I don’t get anything for plugging this company… I just really like their product!)

So if you see me at a conference, look for these little goodies with a Sweeter Than Wine card attached and take one! Enjoy a little pampering… on me.

January Newsletter

I forgot to mention that my January Newsletter is now out. You can read the online version by clicking here. Here’s the official announcement:

The January Newsletter from Bianca D’Arc is now available. Inside, find a sneak peek of Davin’s Quest, the winner of last month’s contest and a new contest for January. Also find reviews, links to polls, some great online jigsaw puzzles and other links to all sorts of D’Arc Side features and mentions.

New Contest for January This month’s prize is a package of D’Arc Side goodies including the new promotional bath salts for my upcoming Sweeter Than Wine promotion. Plus a magnetic 2008 calendar, Czech glass earrings, and as much Bianca SWAG as we can fit in the package! How to enter: Sign up for my NEWSLETTER by midnight on the last day of January. Anyone who is a member of the Newsletter Group on midnight of that day is automatically entered! One winner will be chosen at random and announced in my next newsletter, so stay tuned…

Come over to the D’Arc side… WWW.BIANCADARC.COM

Davin’s Quest Puzzles

Sweeter Than Wine is “What’s Hot” over at AllRomanceeBooks.com. Thanks to the ladies over there who’ve also selected the book as their Book Club pick for January. (More news about that as it comes in.)

And there’s a new movie trailer for the book. If You want to take a look at it, it’s on YouTube and myspace. Here’s the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETzm_cPR5aw  (Sorry, I can’t seem to get it to embed here.)