Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what else is out there? Are we really alone, or is something up there looking back at us? After all, it’s a great big universe we live in, and our little planet in our little galaxy can’t be it, right? Years ago, thoughts such as these expressed out loud would have landed you in the looney bin or at least would have gotten you labeled as a kook or conspiracy theorist. Not today, my naturally curious and open-minded friends—not today!
If you want to see what's really happening up there, put your camera on a tripod and do timed exposures. You'll see way more than the human eye can process.
In today’s world, UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) gazing is becoming nearly as common as bird watching. With technology constantly improving our range and clarity with a camera and telescopic equipment that is much more readily available to the average person, and more and more information being released from the past eyewitness accounts of scientists, aviary specialists, and members of government, it’s easier now more than ever to see that there’s so much more out there than we really understand.
This 573Magazine Story is sponsored in part by Hoods Discount Home Center in Farmington, Missouri
Many of you might even be surprised to know that the eyewitness accounts of UFOs in the 573 is so overwhelmingly abundant that Missouri State Rep. Chris Dinkins has written a bill (HB 1261) in the Missouri state legislature to designate one of our communities right here in the 573 as the UFO Capital of Missouri. This year Piedmont, Missouri, celebrated the 50th anniversary of a UFO sighting event that was witnessed by nearly a whole town in 1973. This past weekend was their town festival (Close Encounters of the Piedmont Kind) in honor of that event.
Recently 573 Magazine met a very interesting man named Bill Jud, who has done a lot of research into the various forms of UFOs after his first encounter last October. We met up with him and his neighbors in the perfect place to watch a UFO light show in the clear night sky…just southwest of Cherokee Pass, away from any and all light pollution, out at the home of Tim & Lora Tinnin. They gave us a warm welcome and told us a little about themselves and their experience as we gazed at the stars.
Tim and Lora and UFO buddy Bill out on the porch looking for signs...
I’m Tim Tinnin, and this is my wife, Lora. We have lived in Madison County all our lives. I enjoy fishing, hunting, and watching Cardinal ball games. Lora enjoys her flowers, feeding hummingbirds, and our grandkids. We have 3 children (1 daughter, 2 sons) and 7 grandchildren. We’ve been friends with Bill for over 24 years.
My name is William (Bill) Jud. I’m an 84-year-old Missouri native. I grew up in St. Louis. I’m a geologist with a BS in Geology from Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (Rolla) in 1960 (Now Missouri University of Science and Technology) and an MS in Geology, Washington University, (St. Louis) 1968. I was a geology laboratory instructor at Washington University. I’m a MENSA member St. Louis group. I have two daughters, several grandkids, and great-grandkids. They are all living here in Madison and Bollinger Counties. I was married to a wonderful lady for nearly 50 years and separated only by her death.
My professional experience includes exploration for petroleum and minerals…mainly Lead, Zinc, Copper, Gold, and Uranium, but also includes what developed into a Bonanza Gold Deposit at a mine in the San Juan (volcanic) Mountains near Silverton, Colorado. I returned to Missouri to supervise the reopening of the Cobalt Mine at Fredericktown, which is where I met Tim many years ago. Tim was employed by the core drilling contractor as a Driller Helper.
I’m still active in minerals exploration now, including 'Battery Metals,’ Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Gold, Rare-Earths, and Uranium/Thorium nuclear fuel. I’m working on the discovery of a new Mining District and derivative high-tech manufacturing. Thorium Fueled, Molten Salt Nuclear Reactors are the next big item in Nuclear Energy. Missouri has substantial, and hopefully recoverable, Thorium mineral deposits.
My first UFO sighting happened on October 22, 2022. I had to evacuate my house because of a rapidly approaching forest fire, and so I went to Tim’s house about a mile away. We sat on the porch and watched the smoke glowing red from the reflected firelight. I looked up at the stars from time to time. Some of the stars were moving erratically and changing colors. Stars don't do that. Satellites and airplanes don't do that. What does? Those strange lights high in the sky could only be UFOs. By 2:00 a.m., when we went inside the house, we had seen 12 UFOs. Pretty good score for a First Encounter!
UFO sightings have been increasing in frequency and number of UFOs per sighting during recent months, appearing regularly when nighttime sky conditions are dark, clear, Moonless, and favorable for seeing stars. "Favorable" also means out in a rural area away from city lights. As viewed from central Madison County south of Fredericktown, UFOs appear to be traveling a UFO Highway. They seem to be going somewhere but have not been reported to land or even fly close to the ground. Madison County appears to be a flyway, not a destination.
You should be able to see UFOs under favorable conditions. Look for small dots of light in the sky that are not stars. Currently, the big, bright object in the early nighttime western sky is the planet Venus, not a UFO. UFOs commonly are white or have colors changing about once a minute that include red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. White UFOs may acquire and shed small surrounding satellite UFOs and may split into a group of UFOs that assemble in patterns such as a line, circle, square, or triangle, and then all merge back into a single UFO after a few minutes. If the suspected UFO does those things and MOVES, that's positive identification.
30 second timed exposure catches an amazing amount of unexplained activity.
Magnification helps a lot. Bring binoculars, a telescope, and a camera with a sturdy tripod and a telephoto lens. Your local Astronomy Club probably has those optical instruments for members to use.
UFOs are REAL! Next question: "Real WHAT?" Lots of very smart people are working right now on that question. UFOs have been around for a very long time. What are they doing? What is their End Game? Do they interact with humans? I still have so many questions. There is still so much left to learn.
We were astonished at how many UFOs we ended up seeing while out on the Tinnin’s porch. There had to have been at least seven just in the short time we were out there, and no, they were not planes, helicopters, or satellites...although we did see a few of those as well. We would spot what looked like a slow-moving star that we had to watch carefully to see the slow, subtle movement, and then keep our eyes on them for several minutes so as not to miss the erratic moves they made as the “moving stars” changed speed or direction very suddenly.
It was exciting! Especially when we caught them darting off on camera. In several of our still images, you will notice what looks like a streak or a white line across the sky. That is a moving UFO! The truth is out there. And if you want proof, maybe you should be too.
GET OUT THERE!
words by aj koehler
pics by t smugala
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