UFOs:beyond reason?

Will the world ever know the truth about UFOs? A West Linn ufologist, Keith Rowell, hopes so – he’d also like to know

By Nicole DeCosta

The West Linn Tidings, Jan 24, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Vern Uyetake / West Linn Tidings / Lake Oswego Review

Keith Rowell, left, chooses from a vast library of UFO-related literature at his West Linn home.

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It was a sunny day in 2006.

No clouds.

A light wind peaked at 10 mph.

West Linn resident Keith Rowell stepped outside his house to find a strange luminescent blue, white and red spherical object drifting through the sky. Sensing that this cluster wasn’t just an escapee batch of party balloons, he ran inside to grab his video camera, zoomed in and hit “record.” Six seconds later, the battery died.

Ten years prior, Rowell witnessed golden yellow and cobalt blue spheres in the sky above him while visiting a friend in Lake Oswego.

UFOs?

Rowell is an investigator of sorts – a ufologist, boots on the ground, visiting people’s houses, asking questions and taking measurements.

“I’ve always had an interest in mysteries of the real world – not so much interested in the fictional mysteries,” Rowell said.

But that was before discovering books on unidentified flying objects while working for Portland Public Schools in 1974.

“I was an open minded skeptic,” Rowell said.

So, he started reading.

Three decades later, Rowell’s basement is out of this world – in size and subject matter.

Hundreds of books about UFOs, sorted by author, line the perimeter of the room, with overflow space and alien memorabilia in the adjoining den, where he updates his Web site for MUFON – Mutual UFO Network, Inc. Rowell serves as the assistant state director for Oregon MUFON. He retired from technical writing about three years ago.

“I wrote computer manuals that everybody hates to read,” he said.

Now, he updates the Oregon MUFON Web site, “to give people a reasoned voice of how to look into and study UFOs. It’s a jungle out there,” he said.

When asked about the recent UFO sightings in Texas which the Texas chapter of MUFON is investigating, Rowell just shrugged his shoulders.

MUFON is a national organization with an emphasis on scientific investigation and analysis of UFO events, while promoting knowledge for the public about what is currently known about UFOs, according Rowell. Rowell is certified to investigate these phenomena that both mesmerize and scare the public.

Rowell said that the subjects of UFOs is controversial and emotional. When investigating paranormal activity – crop circles, cattle mutilations, UFO claims and other bizarre happenings – he said many people don’t understand what happened but want an answer. And many feel relieved to hear it may be a meteor that caught their eye in the sky.

Hoaxes happen every so often with the increase of Internet use and ability to quickly report things, he said.

“The ‘keystroke hoax’ is common now in Oregon because we have one person who is doing this from downstate Oregon,” he said, meaning someone is repeatedly reporting false UFO sightings.

But debunkers, Rowell said, are destructive.

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