By Christine Dickey

          I have been a UFO researcher since 1980. In fact, Ann Ulrich Miller and I shared a spectacular sighting in 1984 at the ranch of Pat McGuire near Laramie, Wyo. There was a thunderstorm and UFOs were zipping in and out of the clouds and many, many ball lightning phenomena accompanied them.
          I also had a UFO land on Highway 80 eastbound from Rawlins, Wyo., on the way to Laramie on July 2, 1980 at around 11:30 pm. The whole event lasted only several minutes, but there were two-and-one-half hours of missing time involved.
          Recently this year I became MUFON State Section Director for Pinal County, Ariz. One of my assignments took me to the home of a lady in the Needles district in Mohave Valley, Ariz. She had photographed several UFOs. I interviewed this lady by telephone and I really enjoyed our talk together.
I was on my way to California for an appointment and told her I would see her on the way back into Arizona. I went by way of Highway 40 out of California and when we got close to the Needles district, I decided I wanted to go to Laughlin instead and play slots. So I turned off the highway and was about four miles past Hwy 40 when I got the overwhelming sense that I needed to stop and call her.
          I couldn’t fight it. I told my husband, who was with me, that I needed to call her. So I pulled off the highway and made the call. I turned around and headed for her residence. She then told me that she could sense when UFOs were around and that she would pick up her camera and just start taking photos in the direction she felt them.
          I was stunned to see that she had captured several UFOs on camera, both in the day as well as at night. We had such a good time talking that she invited my husband and I to stay the evening, which we did, and we have been good friends ever since. I told her that I, too, get the sense when they are around, but I never thought to just start snapping photos.
          I got home about the 6th of September this year and on the 10th of September a thunderstorm was building all day. I could sense that they were around again, and so at 11:34 am I photographed a thunderhead and, sure enough, got a UFO above the cloud.
          Later that evening, around 8:30 pm, I got the feeling again and went out to take photos, even though it was flashing lightning and thundering heavily. I took several photographs and got the feeling to try and capture the lightning as it struck. Finally I did get a good shot.
          I went in and downloaded the photos on my computer. I was stunned to see several UFOs in the thundercloud and one which was especially close — even had visible windows in it. We eventually enlarged the windows and got a face looking out and almost smiling. He is talking into a microphone, which is part of a communications port. He has a small beard, mustache and blond hair. He is quite handsome, in fact.
          Now I have been told that it is impossible to get this kind of detail from a digital camera, but I am here to tell you that you can. Recently my friend from Mohave Valley took photos of Jupiter and Venus. When we enlarged Jupiter, we got the red spot and red markings on Jupiter! Now Jupiter is over 500 million miles from Earth, and no telescope was used in getting this photo!
          To get the kind of photos I am talking about, you need a digital camera that will take night photos. You also will need the program Photofiltre, which is a free download from the Internet.
          When you have your photos in Windows, lighten your photo so you can make out any detail that may be highlighted. Next, drag your photo to Photofiltre and copy and crop the item you want enlarged. Then exit and do not save yet. Go back to the photo and drag it back to Photofiltre. Paste your item for enlargement next to the original object. Then take your cursor arrow and start expanding the lines around the pasted object until you have a much larger image.
          Now you can play with brighten and contrast to bring out the detail of your subject. Keep playing with this until you get more familiar with the program. It took me almost two months to figure out the different techniques, but this should help you at least become familiar with the program.
          If any of you have specific questions about this program or if you need help with a particular project, send your questions to Ann and I will try and answer them as they come up. I am not an expert, but I am getting sensational photos. Also, there is a book by Robert Stanley, Close Encounters on Capitol Hill. This book talks about the same kind of photos of UFOs that I am getting. His Web site is http://unicusmagazine.com. His books can be ordered from that site. Happy UFO Hunting!

          Christine Dickey and her husband Paul reside in southern Arizona. Read Ann’s recollection of the sighting she shared with Christine in July 1984 on this page.