UFO research in Israel started 1997 with a major setback.
During the last week of 1996 (as previously reported in CNI News), a small green "alien" corpse was reportedly found in the Galilee farming community of Achihod. The "alien" set off a media frenzy, and several hucksters tried to auction exclusive rights to the highest bidder, apparently with no success.
Meanwhile, a small sample of the "body" was sent to Technion laboratory, a respected biological facility, for analysis. On Monday, January 6, the long awaited result was announced to the press. According to Israeli journalist Barry Chamish, the Technion scientists said they weren't given enough material from the "alien" to conduct proper tests, but on the basis of the available sample, they identified cow dung.
In the aftermath, persons close to the Achihod investigation were chastised for their unwillingness to give up more of the body for testing, but the damage was done, and the "alien" was history.
January 6 also brought another disappointment for ufology. A week earlier, an alleged Israeli abductee named Carlos Bin Nun had organized a conference of psychics and UFO enthusiasts in the town of Eilat. There, famed psychic Helinor Harar predicted that a huge UFO would appear over Tel Aviv during the night of January 5-6, heralding the start of a new age.
According to the Associated Press, thousands jammed Tel Aviv's beaches in the early morning hours of January 6, hoping for a glimpse of the spacecraft. Theme music from the "X-Files" blared over loudspeakers, while Harar proclaimed Israel the new center of UFO activity. Television crews were posted around the countryside, just in case.
Nothing happened. Harar later announced a revised date for the big UFO landing: February 14.
In the aftermath of these twin fiascos, the newspaper Maariv devoted two full pages to denouncing all ufology as a hoax -- this despite the fact that Israel has been the scene of numerous highly credible UFO reports during the past year or more. Israeli UFO researchers are understandably dismayed by these developments.
Original file name: CNI - Israel UFO Disappointmnt
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