Wytheville UFO's 25 Years Later

1987 UFO photo by Danny Gordon

It's been a long time since I thought about the UFO sightings in Wytheville.  They happened over a six month period starting back in 1987.  At the time I had been the news anchor at WSLS for just a few months, but I also enjoyed reporting from the field.

So when the call came in to the newsroom that people were seeing something in the sky over Wytheville -- and that some of the witnesses were credible lawmen -- off I went.

Danny Gordon in early 1990's

The story had, as we say in the news business, "legs."  Which means it continued from day to day with new developments and angles.  It died down after a while, and then came back to life a few years later when NBC's Unsolved Mysteries ran a lengthy segment in the early 90's.

Another of Gordon's images

That was the last I thought of it, until a documentary producer named Sean Kotz e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago asking if I would agree to be interviewed.  His company is Horsearcher Productions, and he wanted my media perspective on the sightings.  What was it like to cover a UFO sighting?  How did we approach the story?  Were we looking for answers as to what people were seeing, or were the people themselves the story?

I agreed to the interview and then asked Sean if he would allow me to do a segment on him and his project.  I wanted to know why he was revisiting the story.  What if anything had been learned in 25 years?  Did people still believe they had seen something?  What impact did the sightings have on people's lives?  What did he plan to talk about for the entire length of a documentary?

 So, in a rare piece of media history, Sean interviewed me on camera, and then I turned around and interviewed him.

Sean and I interviewing in my study.

He agree to be interviewed for John Carlin's Virginia. So, in a rare piece of media history, Sean interviewed me on camera, and then I turned around and interviewed him.  It's certainly a first in my career.

Sean then sent me this clip he is using to raise money for his documentary.  It shows Wytheville radio newsman Danny Gordon -- the epicenter of the original story talking about what he remembers and how it impacted his life from people breaking into his home, to a nervous breakdown.

Here is a link to his fundraising page:  http://www.indiegogo.com/strangecountry  And if you are wondering what he's uncovered so far, you might want to check this out.
http://www.horsearcherproductions.com/wythevilleufo.html

Sean hopes to have the documentary ready by the actual anniversary date in early October.  He will make it available on DVDs, and he's hoping to get some notice at the fall's film festivals.

As to what he's found about the UFO's and the impact some 25 years later...  Some of that will be shown on my segment on the FOX 21/27 10 p.m. News.  The rest he's holding close to the vest. to be revealed in his documentary.

Then and now, the Wytheville UFO's are a fascinating story.

Paint Bank Trout Hatchery

Downtown Paint Bank

Here is a link to the story that aired on FOX 21/27:  http://www.fox2127.com/category/220112/john-carlins-virginia
 

This is the time of year I always think of fishing for trout.  And I often think of how my buddies always gloat when they catch a brown trout, as if it’s a bigger prize than a brook trout or a rainbow.

Let’s face it,  for the most part trout fishing in Virginia is 95-percent “put and take.”  For non-anglers that means, the state stocks the fish in the creeks and rivers, and dozens of people come in not far behind them and catch the fish.

Nobody is using any different technique to catch a brown trout.  They are fishing for trout.  Period.

Brown Trout

So imagine my surprise as we toured the Paint Bank Trout Hatchery for the latest edition of John Carlin’s Virginia and Supervisor Brian Beers essentially conformed what my buddies have said about browns.  And then he proved it.

We walked beside the raceways where thousands of trout swarmed to the food pellets he threw in the water.

Beers with a net full of trout.

As we approached the rainbows they came swimming toward us in anticipation of dinner.  The brookies did the same.  But not the browns.

As we approached the pool full of brown trout, they swam in the opposite direction!

“It’s a lot harder to domesticate browns,” mused Beers.

So there you go.  If you catch a brown, go ahead and brag.

By the way, the hatchery is open to the public.  Tours are available during hours the hatchery is open.  And while you are there, you owe it to yourself to stop at the Swinging BridgeRestaurant.  It’s a great way to spend a day not too far from Roanoke.  Just take route 311 until you get there.

Happy John

Beers with a Rainbow

Browns from above

Twisted Sticks

Al Stewart and one of his creations.

You don't typically wake up in the morning thinking you want or even need a carved walking stick.  At least most people don't.  Then you see Al Stewart's work, and you wonder how you can live without one.

Al seems to be about as unlikely an artist as you might meet.  At least on the surface.  Remember I've worked in ad agencies and in television where creative people have that certain look.  Call it agency chic.

Not Al.

Al is a retired maintenance manager.  He lives on in a regular house in a regular, semi-rural neighborhood and he and his wife attend craft shows.

But then he takes out a knife or a dremel or some other tool and starts carving and you start thinking about lessons learned from book covers and judging.

This stick has a rare, crossing vine mark

Al looks at a piece of root at the end of a stick and sees an elephant, or a fish, or a giraffe.

He pointed out all the options to me as we shot footage for the TV story on Fox.  All I saw was a root on the end of the stick.

It's not all about money

I have to mention that I'm amazed at the pattern that's developing in my John Carlin's Virginia interviewees.  They are not motivated by money.  They just want to keep doing what they are doing.

Raw sticks with vine marks.

Al is afraid to sell his works on Ebay, where he cold get more money, because he's concerned he won't be able to find enough sticks.  What would he do with his time, should he run out?

Like others I've interviewed of late, it's more important to be able to keep doing what they are doing, than to have more money.  Whether it's Wayne Henderson who sells a guitar for $5,000 that he could sell for $40,000,  Nancy Weekly, who works 12 hours on a bracelet and could get $200 for it, but sells it for $80 -- about minimum wage, or Al who gets less than $100 (typically though some go for much more) for his rare creations -- it's the same story every time.

Videographer Curt Schruth shoots video in Al's garage.

In each case, it's clear that the product he or she is producing is a part of them.  They couldn't live as happily without making guitars, jewelry or walking sticks.

That's probably true for many people.  And I'm betting there are many more who spend their entire lives searching for that single passion that, like the vines on Al's saplings, can entwine itself around one's life, needs, personality -- whatever.

So here's to people with a talent, a passion, and the sense to recognize its true value.

If you would like to contact Al, e-mail me at Carlinagency@gmail.com.

Mission: Jewelry

Fox Photographer Curt Schruth takes some video of Nancy.

Jewelry is not exactly my thing.  I don't wear a fancy watch, and aside from cuff links and a very basic wedding band, there is nary a bit of bling in my being.  But a couple of weeks ago when my wife Mary and I went to lunch at 2nd Helpings, I met Nancy Weekly, whose creations are well beyond bling.

Nancy was demonstrating how she makes the jewelry that's for sale in the cases.  A significant percentage of each sale goes to help the Rescue Mission.

It was intriguing to see how she took pieces of wire and created elaborate chains, or  transformed pieces of rock into shimmering mini-sculptures, which she then wrapped in gold or silver to create original, wearable pieces of art.

The daily report of good from the Mission's website.

And then there's the part of her that is called to ministry.  She makes jewelry not only to generate  a small amount of money to augment her retirement income, but because she believes in the value of the Roanoke Rescue Mission.

There wasn't a lot of time in the TV story to get into how Nancy learned about how to make the jewelry and how she became involved in the Mission, so I'll take a moment here.

Nancy was working with a local women's group looking for activities and tours.  She took a group to the Rescue Mission and she was hooked.  Now, she not only sells her jewelry exclusively for the Mission, but she also teaches jewelry making to people at shelter who need a distraction, a vocation or both.

18" Genuine Stone sets -- Normally $45, now $25.

She asked me to pass along the fact that during the months of March and April, the mission has a special offer on the necklace and earring sets in the photo.  They are half price, and a value even at full price.

You owe it to yourself to take a trip to 2nd Helpings, have lunch, check out the art on the walls -- and in the jewelry case.

Like I said I don't know much about jewelry, but I do know talent when I see it.

Unbridled Change: Horses Helping People

Bonding with Coco

This is one of those times when it's frustrating to be a television reporter, where all stories are measured in time.   To be clear, my segments on the Fox Ten o'clock News are longer than most, but this story, of how horses help people with emotional problems, required even more time to tell properly.

Thankfully, there is the internet with what we call a, "bottomless news hole."  That means I can write as much as I want and never run out of space.  You may run out of interest, but I will never reach the bottom of the page.

Michelle Holling-Brooks and crew.

I hope the meaning in this story comes through on the air, but here's my attempt to explain the thing about horses as opposed to say, a human therapist or other problem solving approaches to therapy.

Michelle Holling-Brooks was very patient with me as I asked her how horses help people.  Since I didn't feel I needed any help in particular, but was about to carry out the exercise that her clients go through, I wanted to know why the horse made a difference.

She had made a triangle in the middle of the indoor riding ring.  My job was to get a pony named Coco to go stand in the middle of the triangle.  I could use anything nearby to get Coco to do this.

Coco poses for Fox Photographer Curt Schruth

In order to do what Michelle wanted, I  needed to form a relationship with the horse -- to try different approaches until something worked.  And here is the key, horses are not like dogs.  You want a dog to come, you say "come." You clap your hands, act excited, get on your hands and knees and the dog will come to you.  A horse will think you are nuts.

Horses live in the moment.  If you do the right thing, at the right moment, you can persuade a horse to do what you want.  But here's something else about horses, if you don't REALLY want it -- if you are not REALLY paying attention to that horse, it will not acknowledge your request.  It will put its head down and pretend to be eating.  Trust me.  Horses know what you're thinking.  I learned this.

Here's the human part.  Many of Michelle's clients have a hard time forming relationships with people.  They might be an abused woman, a victim of child abuse, or a vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.  They need to learn to form relationships.  Unlike humans, the horse will not judge their character -- only their sincerity.  And if Coco is any proof, horses know when a person is being sincere.

I asked Michelle on camera to give me the best example of how a horse helped someone.  The answer was too long for the TV story -- but not the bottomless news hole.

"We had a client who was a girl in a residential treatment home.  She didn’t believe anyone wanted her.  She didn’t think she deserved love. At times people had to restrain her.  A family wanted to adopt her, but she was sabotaging adoption," Michelle told me.

 "And she at that moment collapsed into the horse, put her arms around it and just started sobbing and crying....

Frustration set in as the girl tried and failed to get the horse to do what she wanted.  She ranted and circled the horse at a distance, yelling at it.  The horse seemed to understand that she was angry at the world not with him.  The horse moved closer until he was chest to chest with the girl.

Michelle picks the story up from there: "And she at that moment collapsed into the horse, put her arms around it and just started sobbing and crying.  And they stood that way for a while until eventually her legs buckled and he just lowered her to the ground, and they stood there at the ground for what seemed like forever, and the (other) therapist was like, 'oh I’m going in…' and I said, 'no, just wait the horse is doing his job.'  After a few minutes, the horse picked his head back up, her arms were still linked over the horses head, so it picked her up.  And she was talking to the horse…. Her arms fell gently to her side and she looked over at us and said, 'He didn’t leave.  No matter what I did he didn’t leave me.'   

The girl was adopted and went on to college.  There were certainly other forces guiding her success, but horse therapy was one of them.

Red was another pony. 

Back to Coco and me.  I finally figured out how to get Coco to go to the triangle.  (see the news story for details)  But one time, Coco suddenly walked away.  Michelle asked me, "Did you just have a change of thought?  Maybe wondering what to do next for your story?  In fact, I had.  "Coco knew," she said.  "You stopped thinking about Coco, so she left."

I challenged her.  I said it was a pure coincidence.  "No," Michelle patiently explained.  "We do this all day every day.  I see it all the time.  That is the magic of horses."

An exterior shot of the heated indoor ring outside Boones Mill.

If you want to learn more about Unbridled Change, I encourage you to look at their website.  Michelle, as the founder and executive director is still a volunteer.  There are some paid counselors and several other volunteers, but like most not-for-profits, they need donations to survive.  Please give them a look and consideration when you are writing check to charity.

 

Mokuchi Woodworking with Yann Giguere

Yann uses his foot to steady his work.

When you first see Yann Giguere, you notice his long beard.  Then he speaks and you notice his French Canadian accent.  You think, "Ok, this is not the typical guy you see at a Salem ball game."  And he's not.

Then, when you see what he can do with piece of wood, you realize he's not like other handymen either.

As I detailed in the TV story, where you can actually see what Yann does, as he does it, Yann uses uber sharp blades to slice through the fibers, creating a smoothness that cannot be had any other way.

When a friend first told me about Yann, I asked what made him so different.  The best my friend could offer was to say, "He doesn't use any sandpaper."

Well, sure enough, he doesn't.   But that's just the tip of the iceberg.  Yann has nothing against sandpaper.  It's just that he doesn't need it.  Why would you sand something that is already so smooth it glistens?

 Yann is to other woodworkers, what Yoga is to basketball.

And there's much more.  Yann is to other woodworkers, what Yoga is to basketball.  Both Yoga and hoops are exercise, but they work the body very differently.  He works with an inner calm.  The Chi in his word, Mokuchi comes through in a big way.

Fox photographer Curt Schruth shoots video of Yann

He sits on his work instead of using clamps.  Or he might put a stocking foot on the wood to hold it in place.  The sharpening of his tools is a ritual in itself.  He squats like a baseball catcher, rubbing hardened Japanese steel on stones with fine grit.  It takes hours and hours -- and dedication beyond any suburban existence to accomplish this literal oneness with the project.

It's funny.  Because Yann understands how it looked to me and to others who have seen him do his thing.  But he's very upfront about things like deadlines, and the need to make money and make the customer happy. 

Shavings from Yann's plane

"It’s always an exercise in balance.  How much time do I have.  How much time to I need to spend for this tool vs. that tool? What is the deadline on this project?" 

Sounds more like the business people I deal with every day.   Hurried.  Rushed.  Yann is none of those.  You get the impression that he would never sacrifice anything just to meet someone else's deadlines.

He became philosophical during our on-camera interview.  (Or maybe he always is, and I just looked past it for while.)

Simple wooden blocks hold  the sharp blades

"For some reason people often think this work is meditation and yess, it can be, but a meditation doesn’t mean, you know slooow... looking off into the clouds," he said.  Then he paused and his eyes showed he had arrived at  an aha moment.  He looked at me and said, "It's focus. Yes, focus."

 I doubt I'll ever feel the inner peace that seems to dominate Yann's existence.  Too much hurry in my life.  I'm betting that's true for most of us.

But it sure is something to watch him use those blades to create his masterpieces.  I think it's a heck of a story. 

Labeling Tomatoes

Label Collector Charles Woods

I told a few people that my next story would be about a local man who collects labels from tomato cans.  Most of those people looked perplexed.  Their eyes had that sort of, "Slow news day?" look.

Not at all.

I love this story.  It's colorful both in terms of the personality of the collector and the items he collects.  It's rare, if not unique, and it gives us a look at a time and place that we might never have thought about, if not for Charlie Woods and his 10,000 labels.

That's what I've always wanted John Carlin's Virginia to be.  We hear enough about high tech entrepreneurs.  We hear too much about Hollywood's latest darlings and scandals.  There's too much about the latest car accidents and this week -- the terrible sinking of a cruise ship.  Why not take a few minutes to see what one man has turned into a passion?
 

The artwork is beautiful.

There are a couple of story lines here.  Charlie Woods collects canning labels from canneries that were once located, "up every valley and holler around here..."  That's unusual.  Who does that?  Not many people that's for sure.  In my mind, that's plenty of reason to shine a light on this.

In addition, Charlie knows the personal stories behind many of these labels.  Like the one about a soldier who wrote home that the tomatoes he ate overseas came from the local cannery and made him think of home.

A Boones Mill area cannery

When Charlie talks about this cannery or that cannery in Bedford, Franklin or Botetourt Counties, he takes you along for a ride in history.  He knows where the canneries were, he knows how they worked, how many people they employed, and how the government slowly shut them down -- mostly because they didn't meet standards of cleanliness.  He can tell you the date of another label because there is or isn't an "s" on the Boone in Boones Mill.  The "s" wasn't added, according to Woods, until 1931. 

Note spelling of Cahays vs."Cahas" and no "s" on Boones Mill.

A cannery near Goode, Va.

So on the surface we have a story about labels.  But really, it's an interesting tour of the history of our rural counties -- which we would not have -- if people like Charlie didn't have such interesting collections.