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From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

Thumbnail for January 23, 2002: Investigating the Romanek UFO Sighting - George Zeiler

January 23, 2002: Investigating the Romanek UFO Sighting - George Zeiler

Jan 23, 2002
2h 41m
0:00 / 0:00
Art Bell speaks with George Zeiler, Deputy International Director and Field Investigator for MUFON, about his investigation of the Stan Romanek UFO sighting in Lakewood, Colorado. On September 30, 2001, Romanek captured approximately 15 minutes of video showing a luminous craft following his car roughly 30 feet above telephone poles. Zeiler rates the case a 13 on a scale of one to ten, citing about 50 witnesses and multiple videos.

Zeiler describes testimony from a corporate CEO who watched a beam of light from the object scan through Romanek's vehicle, leaving the executive so shaken he locked himself inside his home for hours. Young girls at a nearby park picnic spotted the object first, shouting about aliens as it glided along the treetops. The craft executed sharp 90-degree turns, entered clouds producing lightning without thunder, and appeared to display itself deliberately before vanishing.

The investigation also reveals unusual physiological effects on Romanek, including fluorescent lesions on his feet and wrists that glowed under black light. Dozens of birds struck his car windows during that same month. Zeiler discusses his broader conviction, drawn from field investigations and declassified military documents, that the government possesses far more knowledge about the UFO phenomenon than it publicly acknowledges.

Key Moments

  1. The Romanek sighting: a craft over Estes Street: MUFON's George Zeiler recaps the Sep 30 Lakewood sighting where a craft hovered 30 feet above telephone poles, followed Stan Romanek's car, and was videotaped for 15 minutes.

  2. CEO witness: a beam scanned through the car: Zeiler describes a Fortune-level CEO at a stoplight who saw a hollow concave craft fire a beam that 'sliced right through' a car, then went home and crumbled for two hours.

  3. Lesions that fluoresce, and dazed birds hitting Stan's car: Zeiler reveals Romanek developed yellow-green and orange lesions on his feet and wrists that fluoresced under black light, and that 30-50 birds struck his car windows during the same period.

  4. If they didn't want to be seen, we wouldn't see them: Art and Zeiler argue the craft's open displays - 90-degree turns, hovering when filmed, lightning bolts without thunder - mean it intended to be seen, raising the question of why no contact.

  5. Goldwater, Carter, and a government within the government: Zeiler cites his audio of Goldwater being turned away at Wright-Patterson; Bell shares the Jimmy Carter book-signing story where Carter teared up when asked about UFOs.