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It's an ultra-ambitious episode of BoA:Audio as we call nearly 8,000 miles away to Cape Town, South Africa for the first-ever American interview with Cristo Louw, head of South Africa's UFO Resource. Cristo shares a variety of fascinating UFO stories that have happened in South Africa over the last century or so, including key cases like the 1989 UFO shoot down over Botswana and the Bainbridge Incident. We find out about famous South African contactees like Elizabeth Klarer and Carl van Vlierden. We also discuss the history of UFO studies in South Africa and how it compares to its American counterpart. Looking at big picture influences on the field, we discuss the role of the government, the military, and the media in shaping the UFO culture in South Africa.
This tremendously educational edition of BoA:Audio features a ton of international UFO material from a continent often overlooked in the global UFO picture.
Full Preview: We start things out with a little bit of a thumbnail look at South Africa to familiarize the listeners to that part of the world. We then get the general bio / background on Cristo Louw and how he got interested in the UFO phenomenon. Cristo talks about the formation of SAUFOR, its evolution over the last 10 years, and some of the events that SAUFOR has held in South Africa.
Digging into the meat of the subject, we find out about the history of the UFO phenomenon in South Africa. Cristo walks us through some of the key cases in South African Ufological history, beginning with an airship sighting in 1914, when no human-made flying devices were in the air over the country. He also shares a fascinating story, from around that time, about a cricket match that was interrupted by a mass airship sighting.
Looking at the "Blue Book years", Cristo details an amazing close encounter from 1951 near Cape Town, which saw an engineer provide water to a UFO occupant who then invited him onboard the craft. He also tells us about a multiple witness UFO sighting from 1972 that saw the witnesses shoot at a UFO and the mysterious disappearance of soil samples from the UFO landing. He covers another UFO story from November of 1972, where a UFO apparently took a massive rock from a schoolyard. Moving on, Cristo details the amazing 1974 Bainbridge Incident, a strange encounter between a UFO and a couple driving from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
Cristo then goes in-depth on the incredible 1989 UFO shootdown that took place over South Africa and Botswana, which remains one of the country's most famous UFO cases. This case saw a South African fighter jet take out a UFO via a microwave beam, a dangerous electromagnetic field emanating from the downed UFO that was disabled with help from Wright Patterson AFB in the US, the recovery of the craft and its occupants, and a trade of the recovered materials in exchange for US cooperation in South African nuclear testing. Cristo tells of some of the witnesses who have testified to the veracity of this case and has some great information about the craft's occupants and a surprising twist in the trade between the US and South Africa.
We also talk about the Ariel School case of 1994, which actually took place in neighboring Zimbabwe and saw a large number of school children see a UFO. And we touch on the two big UFO crash reports that surfaced out of South Africa in the last two years. Cristo explains why one of those cases probably isn't a UFO and why it is difficult, at this stage, to get much information on either case.
Turning back towards Cristo's list of key cases, he tells us about a UFO landing in 1975 that produced notable trace evidence. He covers a 1978 UFO landing that produced multiple witnesses to both the craft and its occupants. Cristo tells a chilling tale of what became of the witnesses once they were questioned by people claiming to be from NASA. He also tells us about another UFO crash in 1995 in South Africa, a case from 1996 where hundreds of police witnessed a potential UFO (claimed to be Venus by the SA police) which Cristo thinks may actually be an IFO.
Moving on, Cristo tells us about some of the famous South African contactees, starting with perhaps the most famous, Elizabeth Klarer. Cristo shares some interesting information about what became of Elizabeth Klarer after the publication of her book, "Beyond the Light Barrier" and the strange turn of events where some of the information Klara had was withheld per the request of the South African Department of Defense. Cristo then discusses a fairly well known name in esoteric circles, Credo Mutwa. Cristo have some fascinating insight into the reaction in South Africa to Mutwa's esoteric work, a weird story about Mutwa eating alien flesh, and lots of interesting details about the enigmatic Mutwa, including Credo's thoughts on the source of crop circles. Following that, we learn about Carl van Vlierden and his famous book "The Twelve Planets Speak."
Next we discuss the history of Ufology in South Africa and how it might compare to the early years of UFO studies in America. He goes over some of the key groups in the country over the history of UFO studies and describes the "flavour" of Ufology for much of the UFO era. He also talks about some of the key people in South African Ufology over the years.
Looking at some big picture influences on the UFO field, we first discuss the role of the military on influencing the scene. He explains one major difference between the military in South Africa and the American military, as far as UFOs are concerned. He also talks of a troubling rumoured connection between the South African military and the US embassy in South Africa. And he tells a humorous story of his attempt to find out the official South African policy on UFOs.
After that, we talk about the role of the media in South Africa and Cristo explains the vast amount of media in SA. He shares his experiences doing media appearances in the country and how the feedback has fared. We talk about how extensive the "giggle factor" is in South African media concerning UFOs. We also talk about the attitude of the general public with regards to UFOs and whereabouts their opinion seems to fall. Jumping back to the media for a moment, we find out if there is much of a paranormal TV boom, like there is in America. We also discuss the feelings of the South African UFO field with regards to American influence on UFO studies.
We find out if Cristo has heard much UFO information coming from South Africa's neighboring countries. We also get Cristo's take on some of the ancient astronaut theories that see South Africa as integral to the seeding of the human race by ETs. We also take a question from BoA's Richelle Hawks, concerning racial issues and Ufology and what Cristo's perspective, as a South African, is on that.
Wrapping it up, we get Cristo's big picture perspective on what UFOs are and what they are doing here. We get Cristo's take on whether or not we'll see UFO disclosure in our lifetime. We find out what's next for Cristo Louw and SAUFOR.
His website is www.saufor.com.
Chris Balzano
Longtime friend of BoA and rising esoteric star Chris Balzano comes to the program to discuss his recently released debut book "Dark Woods: Cults, Crime, and the Paranormal in Freetown State Forest". We'll be discussing the unique setting that is the Freetown State Forest, which Balzano says lies at the heart of the infamous Bridgewater Triangle in Massachusetts. We'll talk about the colonial origins of Freetown and some of the modern day oddities, outside of the "normal" esoteric genres, that have been reported to emanate from the FSF, including zombies, witches, and the ultra strange Pukwudgies. We'll also cover the cult activity that plagued the area in the late 1980's and some of the most infamous cases in the area from that time.
It's a fascinating interview that goes "off the beaten path" of esoteric discussion to cover areas that are oftentimes marginalized by the bigger esoteric genres.
Chris's website is www.masscrossroads.com.