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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2020)
OFF PAGE ONE Tuesday, January 14, 2020 East Oregonian A7 UFO: National UFO reporting center fields up to 50 calls per day Continued from Page A1 oblong shape, still showing the same orange light.” For the next 15 minutes, the object morphed “back and forth between the orb and the oblong shape.” Clouds appeared and covered 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 blink- ing behind the clouds like a strobe light. After 3-5 min- utes, the light disappeared and the clouds dissipated. “I continued to glance at the sky for the next few minutes and the object sud- denly appeared again after about 5 minutes just as it had the first time,” accord- ing to the report. “The object continued to morph back and forth between 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 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 viv- idly 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 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., a bright orange object morphed from orb to oblong shape, made erratic movements, disappeared and reappeared for upward 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 with- out 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.) 2018 Summerville On Feb. 18, at 3:25 a.m., a low hum became loud enough to make ears rings. 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 re- ported 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. 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 decommis- sioned nuclear missile base about 50 miles west of Spo- kane, Washington. He said while the North Powder Pendleton On July 11, at 10:45 a.m., white, semi-translucent objects over Pendleton and surrounding area (The East Oregonian covered the sighting and photographed an object). Pilot Rock On July 14, at 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 smaller blue orb trailing behind traversed the sky at a high speed. Pilot Rock On July 19, at 10:20 p.m., two separate red glowing orbs traversing the sky in 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 jetliner 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 north- east 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 Ore- gon 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.” Source: National UFO Reporting CenterSource: National UFO Reporting Center 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 ques- tion mankind has ever con- fronted: Are we alone or not?” The Sept. 11 night time sighting over Milton-Free- water may be more con- crete. A couple outside at night reported a silent, dark triangular craft perhaps three times the length of a 747 airliner creeped low over the ground then hov- ered as as another triangular craft, only maybe twice as long as a jumbo jet, joined the first, and the pair moved east and out of sight. The episode lasted 9 minutes, 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 accountable. The govern- ment 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 as many as 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 clearing- house for UFO information and provides summaries of reports for free on its web- site. Making people pay for that, Davenport said, would be contrary to the center’s mission. “The information belongs to the American people,” he stated. Census: ‘It’s important now more than ever to get a complete count’ Continued from Page A1 over 24,000 could remain in the shadows. Murdock said through county-run programs, like post-prison supervision and public health services, about 2,500 of people who considered hard-to-count will likely be identified and given more access to the census form. He added the county will also send information about the census to post office boxes across the county. Nationwide, he said mailers only go to home addresses. “In terms of local flavor, there are whole commu- nities who utilize the post office in Umatilla County,” Murdock said. “We’re try- ing to put a local face on the census.” That also means hiring local people from a variety of backgrounds as census takers, he added. Community Action Pro- gram of East Central Ore- gon, known commonly as CAPECO, is joining that complete count effort, and they’re bringing thousands of dollars to the table. Paula Hall, chief exec- utive officer of the orga- nization, said CAPECO was recently approved for a $65,000 grant from Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock speaks during an October meeting of the Umatilla County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee at the Pendleton Convention Center. the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. CAPECO estimates with the help of that fund- ing, the organization could reach up to 7,000 people who otherwise may remain uncounted across Uma- tilla, Morrow, Gilliam and Wheeler counties. “I’ve been with the orga- nization almost 30 years and we’ve always under- stood the importance of it, we weren’t necessarily put- ting ourselves on the fore- front,” Hall said. But this year’s different. “We plan on being quite mobile, we’re not going to be sitting in our office look- ing for folks,” Hall said. “It’s important now more than ever to get a complete count.” CAPECO has identi- fied three core groups that make up the hard-to-count population across its ser- vice area: people who don’t speak English, homeless people, and those who are home-bound. “We already have ded- icated staff tied to these communities,” Hall said. She said people in these categories often rely on the services that CAPECO can provide, including energy and food assistance. Staff already in contact with these communities will be utilized to get the word out through home vis- its, pop-up census stations across the four counties and drop-in locations in Uma- tilla and Morrow counties. Hall said that CAPECO is well aware that some people may be weary of fill- ing out their census forms. There will be no ques- tion about citizenship on the census form, but in late December, the Depart- ment of Homeland Secu- rity stated that immigra- tion agencies will share data with the U.S. Census Bureau, which will be used to create a statistical model to make estimates of how many U.S. citizens and non- citizens live in the U.S per President Donald Trump’s executive order. The gumption to get a complete count isn’t so forthcoming in some areas. Just east of Umatilla County lines, Union County has yet to create a census commit- tee. Union County Admin- istrative Officer Shelley Burgess told the La Grande Observer recently that the county had no obligation to help the U.S. government conduct the census, and that staffing levels wouldn’t allow it anyway. But head west, and it’s a different story. According to PSU’s pop- ulation estimates, the larg- est proportional jump in population between 2018 and 2019 statewide hap- pened in Morrow County, which reportedly added 795 more people to its ranks. It’s a level of increase that Morrow County Commissioner and Chair Melissa Lindsay said the county’s been waiting to see represented for a long time. “Our cities and the coun- ties spent a lot of time dis- puting Portland State’s esti- mates the last few years,” Lindsay said. “We’re glad they’ve finally put more pencil to paper to recognize our growth.” The county hopes to see the climb continue during 2020 census efforts. Lind- say said the county did form a census committee and is working with the Port of Morrow, utility companies and other industry partners to get the word out. “We got a late start and are getting going,” she said. “I think our city and county leadership is passionate about getting an accurate count.” Hatchery: Confederated tribes break ground on Walla Walla River hatchery Continued from Page A1 salmon, a traditional food source for tribes in the area. “People were not think- ing multiple-purpose,” he said. “Streams were de-wa- tered, severe degradation of habitat took place.” During the ground-break- ing ceremony, Crystal Ball, executive manager for fish and wildlife at the BPA, said it was the administra- tion’s duty to mitigate the effects that hydropower has on local rivers. “Building a hatchery is one of the things we can do,” she said. But before what James describes as the “devel- opment era” of the Mil- ton-Freewater area, spring Chinook salmon in the Walla Walla Basin — Walla Walla translates to “many waters” or “little water,” James said — were plenti- ful. It was the first food to appear each spring, in every creek and river connected to the Columbia River, accord- ing to information on the tribes’ website. Since then, the tribes have worked to secure fund- ing for restoration proj- ects around the area to help encourage the salmon back. “It took us a long time, and we didn’t give up. This is part of our treaty rights,” said CTUIR Board of Trust- ees Chair Kat Brigham. Spring Chinook hatched onsite will return to the South Fork Walla Walla River, Mill Creek and Touchet rivers in Washington. The tribes issued a mas- ter plan for the hatchery project in 2013, and the BPA got behind the project a few years later. James said that oxygen depletion in Oregon streams and rivers stalled the issu- ance of an Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality permit that was needed to move forward with the hatchery. ‘We couldn’t do anything that would jeopardize oxy- gen in the water,” he said. “We provided information, and we monitored the basin area for a year.” The permit was issued at the tail end of 2019. According to the BPA, the new hatchery will fea- ture egg incubation and full juvenile salmon rearing facilities, using Walla Walla River water. Nearly 100 years after their disappearance from the Walla Walla Basin, will the salmon still know how to find their way back to the area to spawn after life in the ocean? “Fish are so smart,” James said. “That’s why I got into this. They have so much know-how genetically.” Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Fish and Wildlife Commission Chair Jeremy Wolf speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Walla Walla Spring Chi- nook Hatchery on Friday afternoon.
