Flying Saucers & Aliens are a part of modern day Americana with film, books and music all getting involved in the subject. Throughout history mankind has been fascinated with looking up at the stars and wondering if we are truly alone. This question is what got Kristen Ann Winslet, a mild mannered financial & business analyst from rural northern New Jersey involved in a search for the truth. As early as the late 70’s with the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Kristen became fascinated with the thought that we are not alone in the universe.
Today, Kristen uses her analytical skills to investigate reports of unidentified flying objects and/or lights seen in the sky through a volunteer organization called the Mutual UFO Network, (MUFON). The organization was founded in 1969 by Walt Andrus and John Schuessler. MUFON has grown into the premier UFO investigative organization in the United States today. To become a member of MUFON and to become a Field Investigator, please refer to the web site for more information. There are roughly 3,000 members in the organization today and the organization is getting ready to celebrate it’s 40th Anniversary this summer at it’s annual symposium which will be held in Denver, Colorado.
The investigative process begins when a witness reports seeing an Unidentified Flying Object, (UFO) on MUFON’s web site. The MUFON Case Management System, (CMS) was developed to gather statistical and other important information about reported cases for analysis purposes. The focus of MUFON is based on the scientific study of the UFO Phenomenon through the collection of this statistical information pertaining to these reports. It is hoped that by methodically collecting all of this data, that the organization can pull out real business language results to help bring us closer to understanding the UFO Phenomenon.
Kristen joined the organization a few years ago after learning of the organization through the television series ‘The X Files’. Through the series, she became very intrigued in the investigative techniques used in the series She thought that with her skills as an analyst, and her long time interest in the great question, ‘Are We Alone’ that it might make sense for her to at least join the organization to learn more about what MUFON was all about.
After an experience she had in the summer of 2007, she decided to become a Field Investigator, Kristen says; ‘I still struggle today to try to understand what it was that my brother and I witnessed in the sky over Annandale, NJ. It was a dark brown saucer shaped object traversing across the sky with a raised dome in the center and it traveled without any sound in broad daylight ! The object was about 35 feet in diameter. As a pilot, it was something that I just could not explain scientifically based on my understanding of current aerodynamics and laws of physics. I was compelled to become a Field Investigator for MUFON”.
Kristen ordered the Filed Investigator’s Manual in order to pass the test to become a MUFON Field Investigator. She took the test in late 2007. She included her resume with the exam’s answer form in order to allow Chuck Reever who is MUFON’s Chief Investigator, to review her profile. She felt that she wanted to go beyond what a typical Field Investigator did because of her passion for the subject. A few days later Chuck called Kristen and said that she passed the test and he wanted to know if she was interested in becoming a member of MUFON’s Star Team. Because of her skill sets from her resume, Chuck told her that he was interested in having her join a new team specifically organized to investigate high profile cases.
The Star Team (Strike Team for Area Research) as it was named is tapped to be a rapid deployment strike team in a case where the Press is involved or there is possible evidence at the site where there may have been a UFO landing. Shortly after the team was developed, James Carrion who is the International Director of MUFON contacted Kristen and asked if she would design an emblem to represent the STAR Team. She had designed emblems before for a few shuttle astronaut crews years ago as well as for other non-profit organizations like the National Space Society. After a few minor changes made by the other members of the team, the emblem was approved. With just over a year of investigative experience, Kristen has completed fifty cases with a number of these cases being associated with a STAR Team deployment.
The Case of the UFO Balloons. Kristen received a call by Richard Lang who is the STAR Team Director on the afternoon of January 6, 2009 while she was on the road preparing for a job interview. Richard said that a case was developing in the northern New Jersey area near Morristown as a result of an incident the evening before. Richard asked if she could quickly deploy to investigate the case as there were a number of CMS case reports filed. Without hesitation, Kristen acknowledged and accepted the case. That night, the case hit the 6 O’clock news on CBS in New York City; “Strange Red Lights Over Morris County, N.J.” She prepared to get organized for her field investigation work that would commence in the morning.
The Investigation in the Field: The next morning, Kristen set out to investigate the case. She first read each of the cases filed and printed out a copy to have with her so that she had all the necessary information with her while she was in the field. She traveled to Cedar Knolls, Morristown, Madison and then the Morristown Municipal Airport near Florham Park, N.J. She took pictures of her travels as she entered each municipality identifying the locations where she performed her investigation. While in Madison, although she was not able to gain access to an area where debris had supposedly landed, she drove around the perimeter of that secured location looking up in trees for anything suspicious. Kristen had analyzed the video from the news the night before and suspected that the objects were incendiary devices attached to balloons. The news clip reminded her of the strange lights over Phoenix from a few years back.
While driving in the area, she took a photograph of something in a tree that looked suspicious and then completed the rest of her field work before driving home. Once home, she looked at the photos and began to write her report. The suspicious object in a tree was included in her report. In the mean time, Marc Dantonio who performs photo analysis for MUFON had identified the objects in the video as being Chinese Lanterns. While preparing the case, Kristen remembered investigating a case in September that was very similar to this case so she pulled out the case file from her cabinet of ‘X – Files’ and included that case report in her analysis. She then decided that she should begin to prepare a Case Study Report on these two cases in the form of a PowerPoint presentation in the event that other incidents occurred.
Weeks later, more cases did occur and Kristen continued her analysis of each of these cases pulling out similarities and documenting the evidence. As time progressed Kristen began to prepare a suspect list behind these events. In early March she completed her Case Study Report after seeing the Wikipedia Web Page called ‘Morristown UFO’. It was here on this web page that all the evidence came together. Kristen noticed the damning evidence in two places on that web site. First, she noticed that the only video linked on that page was provided by Joe Rudy. The second and last piece of evidence was a remark that Joe Rudy and Chris Russo were traveling on Hanover Avenue and had taken Video and Still images of the incident. That was the clincher . . . they were prepared to document the event with Video AND still photo’s !!!
Case Disposition “Hoax – Event”: On March 15, 2009, Kristen completed her report and mailed a paper copy to her New Jersey State Director, Retired USAF Maj. George Filer III. She also mailed a copy of the report to Matt Wilson, a Field Investigator from southern New Jersey who had assisted her on the February 7th cases pertaining to these events. Kristen was in the process of training Matt who is one of MUFON’s newest Field Investigators.
On April 1st, 2009 an article in Newsweek identified Joe Rudy & Chris Russo as being the two individuals who pulled off the UFO Balloon Hoax. What Newsweek did not know was that MUFON, who was never contacted by anyone had not only immediately identified the case as a hoax, but later through analysis, had identified these two men as having been the individuals who pulled off the hoax.
Comments may be left on the blog.
Kristen is also available for commentary about the case and/or follow-up via e-mail: kristenwinslet@aol.com
May 16, 2009 at 4:0 1
Great article and investigation. Kristen and I, along with about 8+ MUFON Field Investigators joined this special rapid response unit: STAR Team. Hopefully we’ll team up on a future case. Good luck!
May 16, 2009 at 4:0 1
Norm,
Hello, thanks so much for your most kind remarks on my story posted on Fahrusha’s web site.
By the way, I am not sure if you have a Linked-In profile or not, if so I would love to have you connect, (kristenwinslet@aol.com).
I am always available to you 24/7 so please feel free to reach out at your convenience.
If you would like a printed copy of my ‘UFO Balloons – STAR Team Case Study’ report, please let me know your mailing address and I’ll get a copy sent out to you Monday morning via USPS first thing.
Always a pleasure . . .
Best Regards,
Kristen Winslet “Scully”
MUFON Field Investigator – NJ
(STAR Team/SIP Project)
(908) 852-7201 (H)
(908) 914-6508 (C)
May 25, 2009 at 4:0 1
Scot UFO – UFO sightings, news & events from around Scotland…
But your mind is not open. You are ignoring several aspects of the situation. First, the fallability of humans at identifying unfamiliar objects (the planet Venus is commonly reported as a UFO, and it’ s the third brightest natural object in our skies!…
July 20, 2009 at 4:0 1
I’m still waiting for the written documentation that proves Kristen had it all figured out prior to April 1, when the hoaxers publicly outed themselves.
July 20, 2009 at 4:0 1
I’ll let Kristen speak for herself on that.
Thanks for the comment.
Fahrusha
July 20, 2009 at 4:0 1
Scot UFO,
Thank you for replying to this posting as it pertains to my MUFON Field Investigator volunteer work.
One of the requirements as field investigator for MUFON is to approach each case objectively. While it is easy to form an opinion early on in an investigation based upon the initial information and fact finding, a case disposition can not be concluded until there is sufficient and substantial evidence pointing to a resolution. Even when a case has been closed, I close out all of my case reports with the following statement; “baring the introduction of any further substantiating evidence”.
Most cases do not have complete information and witnesses do not always follow-up with my request for additional information. In fact, some witnesses do not identify themselves and/or provide the location to where the sighting occurred. As a result, I am not able to complete a thorough and complete investigation.
If a witness is not satisfied with the results provided through scientific analysis and fact finding, I make every attempt to approach the witness for additional information. If this information is not available, the case must be closed as is until such a time that additional information becomes available. Case dispositions are based on providing the best explanation. As a field investigator, if I can not explain the sighting based on the evidence at hand where there is significant doubt as to an explanation to a case, then the case will be considered closed as ‘Insufficient Information’ or ‘Unknown’ until such time that additional information is made available. Often times, you are correct, the human being can misinterpret what they are witnessing. This is why we investigate these cases to try to explain in a scientific and logical way what the witness saw. We use tools like star charts and the world wide web as part of our investigating. We also travel to the site when it is appropriate to do so.
With all of that said, I would suggest that in order for me to respond more specifically to your comment, I would need to know what case you are referring to and would ask you for additional information in order for me to provide you with a more detailed analysis of your case. If you are pointing to the UFO Balloon case, this case was confirmed as a hoax through my investigation in partnership with a fellow MUFON photo analyst Marc D’Antonio and then in April by the hoaxers confirming my analysis of March 15th identifying them selves as being the hoaxers, (Joe Rudy & Chris Russo) – CASE CLOSED.
You may reach out to me via e-mail or by telephone. I would be most interested in re-examining a case provided the new evidence and/or information is significant enough to warrant further investigation.
I wish you well in your endeavors and thank you for your comments.
Sincerely,
Kristen Winslet
(908) 852-7201
kristenwinslet@aol.com
July 20, 2009 at 4:0 1
Dear mrj256,
Thank you for responding to my note to a fellow MUFON Field Investigator, (Norm Gagnon) for a copy of my UFO Balloons Case Study Report.
This case report was put together in MS PowerPoint over time and was actually completed on March 14th when I made my discovery from Wikipedia; “Morristown UFO” page that it was indeed Joe Rudy & Chris Russo who were the hoaxers. It was then that I was introduced to the name of Chris Russo, who before that was not in my list of witnesses from my investigation. I tried to comment on the page and was sent a reply that I was not permitted to add comment to the page. I took a print screen of the note from the Wikipedia page and have it in a file if you would like a copy with a date of March 14, 2009 @ 16:36pm. This print screen reveils the time of discovery to indeed be 16:36 pm on March 14, 2009.
I mailed the final printed copy of my Powerpoint presentation to my New Jersey State Director, George Filer III through the US Postal Service on Monday, March 16th.
If you are looking for a date identifyer within the PowerPoint file to ‘PROVE’ the report was completed on March 15th, then you will be disappointed as I have made some format changes to the report since then to correct some minor format errors. That report was not saved on the 15th and set aside for the intent purposes of what you seek as historical evidence, but I just happen to have the print screen page from Wikipedia page which puts you right there where the revelation was made, much better than the powerpoint file.
Just so you know, I did not reveal my analysis to anyone outside MUFON as it pertained to my identifcation of the two hoaxers in mid-March because that was not my goal. My state director knows the truth behind the report because it was mailed to him on Monday, March 16th, I believe he received it a few days later around the 19th.
Like I said, if you would like the Wikipedia Screen print from the Morristown UFO page where it states that Joe Rudy & Chris Russo were prepared to take Video & Stills of the event, please feel free to check out the site for your self. Only Joe Rudy’s video was detailed at the bottom of the page.
Please provide me with your e-mail address so that I can e-mail you the PowerPoint metafile Screen print from Wikipedia of the revalation date of March 14, 2009.
Sinserely,
Kristen Winslet
(908) 852-7201
kristenwinslet@aol.com