MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
LOCAL
EPIPHANY
COUNTY
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
ers to clear their minds of stress and
anything bothering them while moving
toward the center. Once at the center,
Hudson and Nelson explained, par-
ticipants should rest, reflect on their
thoughts and focus on receiving new
thoughts, feelings and blessings.
Participants returned from the center
of the labyrinth on the same path.
They also were encouraged to reflect on
any changes in feelings and their new
inspirations during their return walk
and to consider what these mean to
their lives and how they can be taken
into the world.
“If nothing happened (while at the
center of the labyrinth), we asked them
to consider what that meant,” Hudson
said.
Jo Dickson of La Grande said she
was impressed with the retreat.
“It was done in a very thoughtful way.
We had the opportunity to experience
(the labyrinth) at our own pace,” she
said.
Dickson and the other participants at
the retreat had the opportunity to meet
Hudson and Nelson before and after
their labyrinth walks to discuss their
journey from a spiritual perspective.
While the labyrinth appears at first
glance to be a maze, Nelson said, it is
far from it.
“A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is
intended to get people lost,” she said. “A
applications and $500 per
application for projects by
utilities. Money from the
fees is used to maintain
Union County’s right-of-
ways.
Steve Vincent, Oregon
regional business manager
for Avista Utilities, spoke at
Wednesday’s meeting about
the company’s concerns
with the higher rates. He
said Friday he supports the
board’s decision to re-eval-
uate the fee portion of the
new ordinance.
“This is something we
can work together on,” he
said.
Vincent last week told
the board the county’s new
ordinance, 2019-2, appears
to conflict with Oregon
Revised Statute 785.010,
which authorizes utilities to
construct, maintain and op-
erate utility facilities along
pubic roads free of charge.
Vincent said Avista Utili-
ties is asking the county
commissioners either to
suspend enforcement of its
new ordinance until it com-
plies with the state law or
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Versions of the labyrinth date back at least 3,000 years. La Grande locals
Saturday walked this labyrinth canvas during a retreat. The pattern resem-
bles the labyrinth on the floor at Chartres Cathedral in France.
labyrinth is intended to help you find
your way, not lose your way.”
Nelson said the labyrinth dates back
3,000 years to the Isle of Crete in the
Mediterranean Sea. The pattern’s link
to spirituality was solidified in the
Middle Ages when numerous cathe-
drals in Europe installed labyrinth
patterns on their floors. Today, most of
those cathedrals are gone, though sev-
eral with the pattern remain, includ-
ing the cathedral in Chartres, France.
The labyrinth at the retreat duplicated
the Chartres design, with a six-petaled
flower in the center, which, according
to one interpretation, Nelson said,
represents the six days of creation in
Genesis.
“A labyrinth is filled with sacred
symbols,” she said.
Historic labyrinths are hard to find,
but the world today is filled with newer
labyrinths, such as the rock labyrinth
spanning 18 feet on a bluff at Land’s
End, in San Francisco, California, the
creation of artist Eduardo Aguilera.
People also walk that labyrinth’s pat-
tern.
Saturday’s labyrinth retreat was the
third Hudson and Nelson conducted
and likely will not be their last.
“We were very pleased with the
response,” Nelson said, “and we hope to
make it an annual event.”
CHALLENGE
Other sightings in Eastern Oregon
2019
Umatilla National Forest
On May 24, at 1 a.m., two people
reported seeing “a long, straight,
segmented craft.” The National UFO
Reporting Center noted this could have
been the Space Link satellites, which
have been responsible for multiple
UFO reports.
Heppner
On June 19, around 10 a.m., a white
or grayer cigar-shaped object without
wings moved fast at high altitude and
lacked any vapor trail.
North Powder
On July 11, at 9:50 p.m., bright orange
object morphed from orb to oblong
shape, made erratic movements,
disappeared and reappeared for
upwards of three hours.
Milton-Freewater
On Sept. 11, at 10:13 p.m., a couple
reported seeing a huge triangular
flying object with a smaller object
following. They watched the objects
for 9 minutes fly a low altitude and
without sound. They also reported
taking video.
Dayville
On Dec. 19, at 5:30 a.m., a family of
three saw a string of lights in a straight
light. (Space Link satellites also could
explain this one.)
SIGHTINGS
Continued from Page 1A
For the next 15 minutes,
the object morphed “back
and forth between the orb
and the oblong shape.”
Clouds appeared and cov-
ered the sky where the object
and moon were. Still, the
object was bright enough to
shine through and changed
color from orange to white,
according to the report, and
began blinking behind the
clouds like a strobe light.
After 3-5 minutes, the light
disappeared and the clouds
dissipated.
“I continued to glance at
the sky for the next few min-
utes and the object suddenly
appeared again after about
5 minutes just as it had the
first time,” according to the
report. “The object continued
to morph back and forth be-
tween the orb and the oblong
shape, shifting from side to
side, while hovering.”
The light stayed near
the moon, and the witness
reported watching it for
about 45 minutes before
more clouds moved in. The
Continued from Page 1A
2018
Summerville
On Feb. 18, at 3:25 a.m., a low hum
became loud enough to make ears ring.
The sound lasted at least 10 minutes
before getting quieter. The witness
looked out a window, saw the foggy
weather and “a flash of white light.”
The person also reported suffering a
migraine minutes later, finding a rash on
the right side of their stomach and stated
there were “odd lights in the area” for
two months before.
Pilot Rock
On April 30, at 10 p.m., a green sphere
about 10% the size of the moon raced
across the sky west to east over Pilot Rock.
Pendleton
On July 11, at 10:45 a.m., white, semi-
translucent objects flew over Pendleton
and surrounding area (The East
Oregonian covered the sighting and
photographed an object).
Pilot Rock
On July 14, 1:15 p.m., a driver heading
north on Highway 395 claimed a white,
egg-shaped object “buzzed” their vehicle.
On July 14, at 11:30 p.m. a glowing
red orb with a smaller blue orb trailing
behind crossed sky at a high speed.
Pilot Rock
On July 19, at 10:20 p.m., two separate
red glowing orbs traversed the sky in
object repeated the change
in color, the flashing and
disappeared. Moments later,
it was back.
Before drifting off to
sleep around 12:30 a.m.,
the passenger reported, “I
could still see the object very
vividly during the event as
I passed through towns and
cities with their bright lights
against the night sky.”
The witness also reported
having “technical issues with
my phone” after the sighting,
including the touch screen
not working, apps opening
themselves and the battery
draining faster.
“I am thoroughly con-
vinced I saw an extrater-
restrial craft in the sky
that night,” the reported
concluded.
But Peter Davenport is
not as convinced about what
the witness claimed to see.
Davenport is the director of
the National UFO Reporting
Center, which began in 1994
in Seattle but since 2006
has operated at a decom-
missioned nuclear missile
base about 50 miles west of
Spokane, Washington. He
a north-northeast direction 11 minutes
apart. This was the same witness as the
July 14 sighting in Pilot Rock and stated
the objects appeared to fly twice as fast
as a jet liner and at an altitude of about
30,000-40,000 feet.
Pendleton
On Sept. 30, at 6:05 a.m., a light moved
at high speed northeast to southwest
and then made “right angle turns”
and headed again southwest before
entering cloud cover and disappeared.
Ontario
On Nov. 2, at 12:30 a.m., two
prospectors in the desert of Oregon
and Idaho “noticed two bright lights
pinwheeling across the night.” They
also saw beings, according to the
report, lights that followed their
vehicle and “a structure that was built
outta twigs and woven together that
resembled a hound dog with a tail.”
The bizarre sights lasted 5-6 hours each
night for four nights. The reporter also
stated they “lost 2 days somewhere.”
Pendleton
On Dec. 19, at 5:30 a.m., a driver
traveling from Hermiston to Pendleton
reported a “bright light that appeared at
first to be a very bright star.” After getting
closer, the light was no star but “a bright
light with a hazy aura surrounding it.”
The project is in the
“wildland-urban interface,”
so it’s needed to protect
local residents, tourists and
emergency responders in
the region, Lobdell said.
The county also argued
that thinning will support
the economic stability of
the area’s forest products
industry, such as a 23-em-
ployee firewood processor
that depends on the project
for wood.
“Economic development
is always important for ru-
ral counties,” Lobdell said.
The American Forest
Resource Council, a timber
industry group that tracked
the case, said the 9th
Circuit ruling is a win for
reducing fuels and improv-
ing forest health.
“This is really a high
risk area for wildfire. The
focus of the project is really
community protection,” said
Lawson Fite, an attorney
with AFRC.
It’s also heartening that
another court hands down
a ruling.
Mike Pommarane, direc-
tor of operations for Oregon
Trail Electric Co-Op, did not
speak at Friday’s meeting,
but on Thursday he told
The Observer the new ordi-
nance’s financial elements
need clarification.
Union County Public
Works Director Doug
Wright said at Friday’s
meeting OTEC applied
for seven permits for work
projects in Union County’s
right-of-ways in 2019 and
that Avista Utilities ap-
plied for 11. Wright said on
Thursday the ordinance
helps the country protect
its roads and right-of-ways
because it requires the
submission of plans when
applying for permits and
this allows the county to co-
ordinate projects for safety
and ensure they are done in
a proper manner.
The county board plans
to discuss the fees at its
Feb. 12 work session. Board
chair Anderes said commis-
sioners later will vote on
whether to change the fees,
which remain suspended,
following a work session.
the 9th Circuit found the
project didn’t adversely
affect sensitive resources
and wasn’t subject to the
narrow definition of “col-
laborative process” favored
by environmental groups,
he said.
“This project is a great
example of listening to the
community,” Fite said.
Though the 9th Circuit’s
ruling doesn’t set a bind-
ing legal precedent, it does
show that federal courts
are starting to understand
the need for management
to control fire, disease and
pest risk, as called for under
the Healthy Forest Restora-
tion Act, he said.
Mon-Fri Blue Plate $12:
Chicken Fried Steak
with Mashed Potatoes, Sausage Gravy,
Vegetable and a Homemade Roll.
The Matt Cooper Trio
with Luke McKern and Mark Emerson
Modern Jazz with La Grande’s Wrecking Crew
Thursday, January 16th
8pm-10pm
541-963-8766
tendepotstreet.com
Source: National UFO Reporting Center, www.nuforc.org
said while the North Powder
account is detailed, a light
hanging out in the sky for
two or three hours could well
be a celestial body and not
an alien spacecraft.
But he took that report
because the center aims
to gather as much data on
UFOs in one place, he said
Saturday, to help answer “the
biggest scientific question
mankind has ever confronted:
Are we alone or not?”
The Sept. 11 night time
sighting over Milton-Free-
water may be more concrete.
A couple outside at night re-
ported a silent, dark triangu-
lar craft perhaps three times
the length of a 747 airliner
creeped low over the ground
then hovered as aw another
triangular craft, only maybe
twice as along as a jumbo jet,
joined the first, and the pair
moved east and out of sight.
The episode lasted 9 min-
utes, according to the report,
and the couple was shocked
and amazed at the scene
and even claimed to have
captured short videos of the
objects on a phone camera.
Davenport also said the
center serves to help hold the
U.S. government account-
able. The government and
military have claimed UFOs
are no threat. If that’s the
case, he said, then why not
spill the beans on UFOs to
the American public?
The center gets 10-50
reports a day, he said, and
some are nothing more
than a light in the sky. More
substantial reports, however,
could warrant looking into.
The center doesn’t handle
investigations, Davenport
said, but when an intriguing
case comes across his radar,
he reaches out to the Mutual
UFO Network, or MUFON,
which has branches in many
states and conducts field
investigations.
The center, in effect, serves
as an open clearinghouse
for UFO information and
provides summaries of re-
ports for free on its website.
Making people pay for that,
Davenport said, would be
contrary to the center’s mis-
sion.
“The information belongs
to the American people,” he
stated.
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