UFO RESEARCHERS I HAVE KNOWN AND INTERACTED WITH

By Aileen Garoutté

Robert J. Gribble (Bob)

Bob Gribble is the founder of the UFO Reporting Center in Seattle. When I first saw him he was speaking at the Seattle Center's Science Museum. For the last 10 years, since I had a UFO over my car, I had been looking for answers. I had never heard of a UFO at the time. When I heard Bob speaking about UFO sightings I knew I had found what I was looking for.

At the time I was active in politics. I belonged to a woman's committee where we shared information and lunch once a month. It was my turn to invite the entertainment for the meeting. I immediately thought of Bob. I asked him if he would come and talk to the women and he said yes. That was the last time I was a member of the woman's committee. I became Bob's publicity director on his board. I remained there until I started the UFO Contact Center International specifically for contactees or experiencers. Bob and I still are best of friends.

Kalani HanoHano - Cattle mutiliation researcher

Kalani moved to Seattle from Hawaii. He didn't know anyone at the time in the paranormal or UFO field. He heard Lan Roberts talking about UFOs on KJR in Seattle. He was sending out coordinates to the UFOs if they were listening, to do a fly over. Kalani thought he might know someone to enable him to get in touch with UFO researchers. Lan thought of me because his wife was my best friend. One day he knocked on my door and that was the beginning of a life long friendship. I introduced him to Bob Gribble and they too became life long friends.

By the way, we went to the place Lan had been sending out coordinates for. Wayne Aho was there too with a group of his people. I will never forget it. They were raising their hands to the sky - and sure enough a UFO flew right over us. We all saw it so they must have been listening to Lan on the radio asking them to come.

Kalani lives in the Canary Islands now but he is still researching and we are still communicating. It is almost like he never left the US.

George Van Tassel - CONTACTEE

Bob Gribble brought George to Seattle to lecture. At the time anything to do with UFOs was a hot subject. The night before he was to lecture we had a party for him. We had a physicist as a member of the board. He started arguing with Van Tassel about his statements. Mrs. Van Tassel lit into our physicist with both barrels! She said you will not argue with my husband, he knows what he is talking about. I will never forget that party and I imagine they didn't either!

Dr. J. Allen Hynek - UFO Consultant to the Air Force

While still living in Seattle Dr. Hynek was coming to speak. We wrote to him and Mimi and asked if they would like to stay at our house. They said yes. They were very nice people and we learned a lot from Allen that he had never talked about to the public before. He said he was always interested in spiritualism because his mother was a medium. That was a big surprise. I found him very open minded. He said he had been made to come up with the "swamp gas" theory by the Air Force to shut persons up.

We had a big party for Allen and Mimi and the next day we drove them to the Tuwassen Ferry in British Columbia. They were on the way to visit Dr. P.M.S. Edwards on Vancouver Island. Dr. Edwards eventually came and stayed at our house too. He was a linguist and spoke 26 languages.

Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle - Hypnotist and Professor, U. of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming

Dr. Sprinkle was instrumental in coordinating a conference every year for experiencers at the University of Wyoming. We spoke there and met many persons who had UFO experiences. Dr. Sprinkle was so kind and understanding that we instantly became friends. Eventually we moved to Arlington, Wyoming and attended their UFO meetings in Laramie. There were several well known contacts that came to prominence from that group, like Ida Kannenberg and Pat McGuire. Pat and ourselves became good friends. He spent many a night on our couch out at Arlington.

Wendelle Stevens - Author and Researcher

After living in Wyoming we moved to Arizona. While we were there we attended the National UFO Conference in Tucson, Arizona. It was coordinated by Jim Mosely. At this particular conference he wasn't there but Tim Beckley was. At this conference we met Wendelle Stevens. We also met several experiencers at that conference and became friends with them. One was Helene Charbonneau of Safford, Arizona. She arranged to have a "Jorpah" in Stafford. Jorpah is a name we were told meant space wanderer by an experiencer. So after that time we sponsored several Jorpahs in Seattle and also the one in Safford, two in Cottonwood, Arizona sponsored by our Associate Director there, Claudia Sanderson O'Hara.

Another well known experiencer, Paris Colorado and his wife Betty, went with us to visit Wendelle Stevens in Tucson. After that time Wendelle and ourselves became good friends. We had met Paris and Betty in Madras, Oregon after he had been abducted near Mitchell, Oregon.

Tim Beckley - Mr. "UFO" - Publisher and Researcher, New York, NY.

Tim asked if he could include our organization in one of his books. Of course we said yes. After that we became friends. He flew out and attended the Jorpah in Safford, Arizona. Later he sponsored a conference in Phoenix where I spoke. We still are in touch and he has remained a friend all these years.

Ted Loman - TV Host of a paranormal program in Tucson, Arizona, now living in Idaho.

I met Ted at the first International UFO Conference in Tucson, Arizona sponsored by Wendelle Stevens and Bob Brown. He was video taping the conference. We spent some time with him. Later he was taping Tim Beckley's conference in Phoenix, which meant we spent more time with him. We have also remained friends since that time.

At the Conference in Tucson many famous persons attended. We met Marina Popvich, Victor Kostrikan, A. J. Geveard from Brazil, Bob Dean and his wife at the time, Linda Mouton Howe and many more. The most important person we met there was....

Dr. Valery Uvarov - St. Petersburg, Russia - researcher and author

Valery became an instant friend. Along with Wendelle Stevens, we brought them to Seattle to lecture. Valery lived or stayed with us for a month or so. We also traveled to Colorado to explore whether my property at San Luis was a place to build one of the pyramids like Valery has built in Russia. Unfortunately my property didn't have the right vibrations. On that trip we met Dr. Tom Donnely, Tom Courtney, and Susanne. We had quite an adventure driving over Wolf Creek Pass while it was snowing. We turned around and went back after almost going over a cliff! Dr. Tom kept going and made it back to Durango ok. There are many more events with Valery. He became like one of our family and still is.

Lee and Britt Elders - Publishers, researchers and movie makers

Through Wendelle Stevens we met Lee and Britt. The three of them were responsible for bringing to light and publishing the books on Billy Meier in Switzerland. He is a contactee since the age of 5 or 6 until the present day. He is in his 70's now. We visited Lee and Britt in Sedona, Arizona and then went to their home in Munds Park, near Flagstaff. Lee and Britt, through their company called Genesis II, produced videos of Billy Meier and his contact. They also work with Jaime Musson in Mexico and have made videos of the UFO sightings down there.

Sgt.Clifford Stone

At this time we were setting up more UFOCCI centers around the world. The head of each center was an Associate Director. Cliff consented to be one in Roswell, New Mexico. He published a book with the documentation about crashed UFOs, alien bodies, etc. from Freedom of Information papers he had garnered. Cliff has become a well known speaker at conferences, on the radio, tv, and You Tube telling about his experiences while in the service.

Tom Dongo - Author and researcher, Sedona, Arizona

We were speaking in Sedona and while there met Tom Dongo. Tom has authored books on sightings and happenings around the Sedona area. He has lectured at Jorpah, appeared on television as a special guest on several programs. He also has the most extensive collection of unusual photographs he has taken of anyone in the world. Tom also became an Associate Director in our organization.

Budd Hopkins - Hypnotist, author and artist.

On a trip to New York to visit my daughter who was living there at the time we made an appointment and visited Budd Hopkins at his home. We took him several copies of "The Missing Link", a magazine we published every month that was dedicated to experiencers. He served us wine and showed us his studio. I had my picture taken with him in front of one of his paintings called "The Guardian".

Tom Courtney had read Missing Time by Budd Hopkins and found he had the symptoms of a contact by a scoop mark on his knee. He contacted Budd and Budd referred him to a hypnotist in California. He definitely was a contactee. Tom spoke at our Jorpah in Cottonwood. It was very emotional for him to relate what had happened to himself. He is a sensitive and wonderful person.

Bill Cooper - author and researcher

Bill Cooper and I connected over the telephone. I found him an interesting person that knew a lot. At the time I was going to California to speak at a conference put on by Phyllis Duran in 29 Palms. I said to Bill that he should come and share what he knew. He said they won't let me speak. I couldn't figure out why (at the time!) so I said I will get you in. I contacted Phyllis and she added him to the agenda. From then on he spoke at many conferences. Later I met his wife and saw his baby girl in Sedona and later at a MUFON conference in Las Vegas. He just knew too much and was too verbal about it and that is what did him in. He was shot by a Sheriff's Deputy defending his home. You can find his book "Behold a Pale Horse" in book stores.

Stanton Freidman - Nuclear Physicist, UFO researcher, lecturer and author

I met Stanton Freidman in 1966 at Green River college near Auburn, WA. Bob Gribble and I attended. That was the first I heard of Stanton. The next day he spoke again at the U. of Washington. We attended that lecture too. I saw him at Roswell Days in 2008. We attended the Aztec Conference in 2009. Stanton was speaking there too and staying at the same motel we were so we had a lot of time to talk to him there. He is very personable and full of knowledge. For his age he has a fantastic memory!

Jim Greenen - UFO Museum, St. Cloud, Florida

In the late 80's I flew to Florida to visit a friend I had worked with at Boeing in Seattle. While I was there I met Jim Greenen who had a UFO MUSEUM there. He closed that one and moved to another town but I have lost touch with him.

Peter Gersten - Lawyer and researcher

While still in Seattle Peter called me and said he was coming through and would I like to have dinner with him. Of course I said yes. He had originally lived in New York City and had contacted me about starting a experiencer group there. We had communicated several times about that possibility but nothing came of it. I found him very intelligent about the subject of UFOs.

Matthew Tuney - Previously Associate Director UFOCCI - Bellingham, Washington

Before Matthew became an associate director we were asked to put on a conference in Bellingham. It was well attended and Matthew expressed a wish to become involved. He asked me how and I told him about the possiblity of him becoming an Associate Director, which he did. He has done a wonderful job in Bellingham. The group he had with the UFOCCI soon had a new name when we dissolved the organization. Matt and I have remained in contact. He has meetings every month presenting all types of paranormal subjects. Bill Puckett spoke at his meeting in October 2010. Bill has UFONW on the web.

Bill Puckett - Director of UFONW

Bill originally was a meteorologist for the government. He decided he would start a web site to gather sightings and contacts. He has little meetings on Saturday night at his home in Redmond, WA. I used to attend them when I lived in Seattle. Bill has a huge library of UFO books and videos. It takes up one whole room! After he retired he decided he would work at home on his original job plus gather information for his web site. It has grown and is world wide now. He has done a good job.

Dr. Chris Bader - Professor and sociologist, Baylor U.

Many years ago when Chris was attending Evergreen University in Olympia, Washington he invited some of our group down to Evergreen to put on a conference. He was writing his thesis on Bigfoot and UFOs. Later he came to our meeting and filmed our group in Federal Way, Washington. He also interviewed three experiencers for the film. Last year he came to Seattle and attended a special party that was given for me when I went back home. At that time he filmed one of the experiencers, Laura Cyr, where she had been abducted and took her picture and the story of her experience for his new book that has just come out titled "Paranormal America."It was written with a co-author, F. Carson Mencken. Chris was a guest on Coast to Coast am several days ago.

Philip Mantle - Author, speaker and researcher, United Kingdom

I met Philip at the UFO International Conference in Laughlin, Nevada. Later I met him again in Roswell. He was speaking on the alien autopsies and one of the crashed UFOs. Since then he has been active in publishing the new UFO magazine in the UK. Philip is very knowledgeable and a dear person. We keep in touch by e-mail.

Whitley Streiber - UFO Experiencer, author and lecturer

Whitley is well known for his books he has written but even more than that for his UFO Contact. The first time I saw him was at the Rocky Mountain UFO Conference in Laramie, Wyoming. Later he was on television speaking about the book he had written. I felt really ashamed that UFO researchers put down his case as a hoax. I think at the time they weren't ready for contact cases, however since that time they have changed and now accept Whitley and others cases.

A contactee from North Carolina had been put in a mental hospital by his military father after he had been abducted. His mother and father saw the light from the UFO but when asked if they too had seen it by the psychologist they denied it. To make a long story short, "Mark" was put on drugs because they thought he was hallucinating. It really did him in. He has tardive disconetia (sp?) because of the drugs. We wanted to help him and bring him to Seattle. Whitley send us a check to do just that. We brought him but he had been on the drugs too long. Eventually he went back home and we have lost touch with him.

Brent Raynes - Waynesboro, Tennessee, Researcher and friend

Brent sponsored a lecture of myself and Dr. Greg Little in Waynesboro, Tennessee. I drove from Memphis to Waynesboro. Brent has been involved in many UFO cases over the years. He became a good friend. We brought him to Seattle to do a workshop several years ago. He met several of our members that had experiences. It was a very interesting workshop.

Dr. Nick Begich - Professor and researcher of HAARP

I met Nick at the UFO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE in Laughlin, Nevada. The reason I met him was because Valery Uvarov and Nick became friends there. We usually were with Valery so we were included. By "we" I mean my daughter Lozanna and myself. Later on the plane back to Seattle he was several rows in front of me. Nick wrote the book initially on HAARP called "Angels don't play this Harp". He has written several since. His father was a Senator from Alaska and was killed in a plane crash up there. Now his brother is a Senator in Alaska.

Ike Bishop - Coordinator of the Alamo, Nevada UFO Conference - Boise, Idaho

In October of 2010 we asked Ike to speak at our meeting, Aerial Phenomena Research Group, here in Cortez, Colorado. He spoke on Area 51 in Nevada. Since our group is just getting started and do not know much about past history they didn't know anything about Area 51. Only 2 people raised their hands that they had heard of it and one of them thought it was in California. Ike showed pictures of the area, Rachel, Little Alien Inn and his conference in Alamo held on Memorial Day weekend. It was very interesting. He is now planning for the next conference in 2011 on Memorial Day weekend.

Brian Vike - UFO researcher - Houston, BC, Canada

Brian and I exchanged many cases, even though I have not met him in person. He lives 700 miles (approx.) above Vancouver, BC so it is too far for me! Anyway he is collecting information for a web site Jeff Rense set up. He originally had his own web site but the new one isn't so tiring for him and all he has to do is collect the sitings and let someone else put it on the internet. He also is on Jeff Rense's program on the internet several times a month on Fridays.

Angela Joiner - Reporter

Angela was the reporter in Stevenville, TX when so many UFOs were being seen. She started writing articles for the local paper about it and eventually the editor wanted her to stop. People were calling her at work until she was over loaded. The only way to repair it was to quit so she did. I met her at the Aztec, Conference in 2009. She is a very nice person. Now she is a reporter for an Abilene paper. She doesn't write about UFOs anymore. She does have a radio program on the web. You can find all about it on Face Book.

Jacque Valle - French researcher, author and lecturer


You could say I had a close encounter of the 4th kind with Jacque Valle! (Unbeknownst to him) We were at the MUFON Conference in Las Vegas. The theater was dark. Jacque was one of the speakers. When he came back to his seat, which was next to mine he sat in my lap! So that is how it became known as a Close Encounter of the 4th kind.

I think that just about covers all the researchers I have known, with the exception of Ed Biebel and Corey Wolfe. Corey is a wonderful artist. He gave his permission to use one of his paintings on the cover of the Missing Link, our magazine we published for 14 years. Ed Biebel I met at Tim Beckley's conference in Phoenix, Arizona. We are still in touch.

Keep in mind these are just UFO researchers and not the experiencers themselves. It would take pages and pages to cover all those persons!