It’s theorized by some crypto zoologists that it’s possible we may have lighter-than-air creatures living in earth’s upper atmosphere and they could have been there for millions of years without us knowing. They reportedly fly without the need for wings and their bodies are semi-solid, often partially invisible and resemble a jellyfish. Many alleged atmospheric jellyfish sightings were originally classified as UFOs.
For the crypto zoologists who believe they exist they postulate they must be very fragile and ultra-lightweight. Their origins are completely unknown and we know very little about them except for anecdotal reports.
The first incident of atmospheric jellyfish is highly suspect because I never found any supportive documentation. But, as the story goes” “This is a story I read about in Charles Berlitz’s book, World of Strange Phenomena (Ballantine books 1988). This story appears on page 210 and reads as follows.
“Something terrifying happened in the air one day in the late summer of 1939, and to this day the incident is shrouded in secrecy. All that is known is that a military transport plane left the Marine Naval Air Station in San Diego at 3:30 one afternoon. It and it’s thirteen man crew were making a routine flight to Honolulu. Three hours later, as the plane was over the Pacific Ocean, a frantic distress signal was sounded. Than the radio signal died. A little later the plane limped back to base and made an emergency landing. Ground crew members rushed to the craft and when they boarded, they were horrified to see twelve dead men. The only survivor was the copilot, who though badly injured had stayed alive long enough to bring the plane back. A few minutes later he was dead, too. All of the bodies had large, gaping wounds. Even weirder, the pilot and copilot had emptied their .45 Colt Automatic pistols at something. The empty shells were found lying on the floor of the cockpit. A foul, sulfuric odor pervaded the interior of the craft. The exterior of the airplane was badly damaged, looking as if it had been struck by missiles. The personnel who boarded the craft came down with an odd skin infection. Strict security measures were quickly put into effect and the emergency ground crew was ordered to leave the plane. The job of removing the bodies and investigating the incident was left to three medical officers. The incident was successfully hushed up and did not come to light for fifteen years, when investigator Robert Coe Gardner learned of it from someone who was there. The mystery of what the crew encountered in midair that afternoon in 1939 has never been solved.” Bogus? Probably, but it’s a good story for sci-fi fans.
Next, American researcher Charles Fort, who wrote The Book of the Damned, theorized we have floating jelly-like creatures in our atmosphere. The existence of such creatures seemed to be unbelievable for a very long time until American scientists developed a substance known as aerogel. The lighter-than-air is a substance gelatin like substance, the state of which represents both solid and gaseous conditions.
It gets more weird: The theory that high altitude jellyfish gets a little credence from an incident which occurred on December 28th, 1958, in Florida. Port Police Detective Faustin Galegos found a strange soccer ball sized object outside his house. The detective took the object in his hands, but could not feel any weight. It was a translucent purplish ball and virtually weightless. Galegos said melted away within several minutes and then it was gone without a trace, completely evaporated. Galegos later stated that he had an impression while holding it that it was dying creature.
In a third case, a British policeman described an encounter with one of these creatures that had supposedly happened while bicycling. The thing felt like a soft blanket and smelled like mildew. After it rubbed against him and silently floated away. These incidents are extremely rare, but even if there is there is a shred of truth to them then it’s quite possible that something lives in upper atmosphere and it could account for many other strange UFO type sightings.
In other various eyewitness accounts that have occurred since 1958, atmospheric jellyfish apparently can change their density, becoming smaller, harder masses that are usually metallic in color, or they can become larger and more cloud-like, even to the point of invisibility. In some reports, it’s reported they glow. Is this ball lightening or some other phenomena? We just don’t know.
Through the usual security channels I sent the “space jellies” story to my aging uncle Oscar Guevara (he is in his late 90’s). This is a transcript of his handwritten reply.
Dear Pie,
Regarding your “space jelly” creatures query let me put your mind at ease. This was all taken care of decades ago, back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s in a scientific/exploratory operation which has never been officially revealed to the public. After nearly a decade of numerous late summer and fall sightings in remote areas north of San Fransisco and as far south as Prunedale it had been discovered that these creatures appeared to congregate weekly at approximately [redacted] degrees latitude by [redacted] degrees longitude off the coast of California at around 10,000 to 12,000 feet before retreating into the upper atmosphere. This coalescence of “space jellies”, as we called them, was assumed to be part of a seasonal migration pattern in and about the western Pacific.
With a small joint grant fund from several philanthropic scientific organizations (which shall remain unnamed), I developed a small, high altitude, long distance ultralight aircraft (the first of its kind) assisted by an in-flight deployable and detachable ovoid helium balloon. This platform was developed as it had become evident through observation and experimentation that the behavior of these creatures was disturbed by the approach of larger aircraft. It was not by coincidence that the craft bore a distinct resemblance to the large, presumably mature form, of “space jelly” creatures themselves. Working within a shoe-string budget, I deployed a modified aqualung attached to a motorcycle helmet and a small forge bellows that was fashioned into a crude but effective and light weight re-breathing system for high altitudes. For warmth I wore a gorilla suit (procured from a costumer’s auction in Emeryville) and had it fitted with a lining of goose down. From below the aircraft was lowered a fair sized grappling hook with several large mackerels tied to it with bailing wire. Inside of six weeks in the fall of 1973 I had snagged most of these diaphanous jelly fish like buggers. None of the captured survived the experience and within minutes dissolved into an odd steamy smoke. On my final expedition, as per standard operating procedure, I reached the specified location at an altitude of 9500 feet, deployed the balloon, and floated up into the remaining few of these creatures which, apparently, died of fright on the spot, dissolving into threadlike wisps before me.
Besides the regrettable loss of the subjects under study there was one more unfortunate circumstance. On the last mission, after jettisoning the balloon, I was flying in from the Pacific over the Farallons at about 5000 feet towards my hidden base of operations in a remote area of [redacted]. I was spotted by a US Navy crew on a practice and shakedown cruise flying a restored antique Consolidated Vultee PB2Y Coronado that was to be displayed in a few days at a Fleet Week exposition near Fisherman’s wharf. They veered off course, followed me, and executed a close and slow pass-by over San Francisco Bay. So close I could see the faces of the pilot and crew. The flying boat then abruptly dropped altitude and beached near the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be an emergency landing.
Weeks later I learned, through some Navy sources in Vallejo who hung out Fridays at the [redacted] Bar and Grill, that the pilot and crew recovered from the plane had babbled incoherently and for days all they could get out of them was, “Flying fish bear … flying fish bear …”
Needless to say this story has never been declassified and likely never will be. The only reason I relate it now is lay to rest any fears that may still exist about these creatures and confident in the knowledge that no one in their right mind would ever actually believe it.
Sincerely,
Uncle Oscar
Henceforth never let it be said that Pie Guevara is not a talented, nay gifted, writer!
Pie, without a doubt this story will be copied and sent around the net until it morphs into an eternal factual account, to be used by UFOlogists to the delight and amazement of their audiences everywhere. Thank you for letting us be part of history in the making! (I think)
Thank you Post Scripts. 😉
At the very least I amused myself. If I hone my writ perhaps I could get a paid gig with The Weekly World News or The Onion.
“At the very least I amused myself.”
That’s how the Harry Potter books came into being…take yourself seriously, Pie, you have talent that’s screaming for a place to play.
Really?
LOL
I would prefer to deal with the sea life in the gulf that has been harmed and the fact the dismemberment’s BP put in the water to drive the oil down to the bottom to skip costs,….
The fact the oil is coming back up and taxpayers are stuck with the bill…
I say we just put the oil companies up in the presidential election….
at least we know who is behind our end
Dewey why all the hate?
Oil bubbles up from the ocean floor all by itself. Oil is a naturally occurring substance. Don’t panic…the benefits far outweigh the temporary damage done by occasional (rare) spills.
Gulf coast sport fishing is back in business and doing fine!
Beach resorts are looking good and doing fine!
The oil spill was years ago, BP spent at least $40 billion on clean up and compensation…can we please change the channel…I mean really!
Dewey hates. No need to understand why. He thinks oil companies are evil. He just isn’t very bright or very well informed, like most progressives, liberals, anti-capitalists and such.