On July 8, 1947, a crash in Roswell, N.M. described by local papers as a “flying saucer” lit a fire in America: UFO fever. And today, just over 65 years later, some Central Californians believe the region remains a UFO hotspot, the bottom leg of a “UFO triangle” as mysterious as Bermuda’s.
Jeffrey Gonzalez is one of such, the founder of Sanger Paranormal Society and a UFO chaser for the past four years. He even runs a 24-hour UFO hotline: folks call and he investigates claims of UFO sightings.
“No, I’m not crazy. It’s an obsession, it’s a hobby,” Gonzalez said.
He functions as a telephone organization technician in the course of the day and solves mysteries of the unknown during his time off. He says his background in electronics helps him use the tools to investigate the paranormal.
“I go out to the location to where these events take place, I’ll speak to the witnesses I will take reference points and I will make sure it’s actual,” he stated.
Gonzalez drives a research vehicle or “Paranormal Ambulance” equipped with the requisite gear required to investigate UFOs: a Geiger counter, an EMF scanner, infrared cameras, and of course, a Sony HandyCam camcorder with night vision.
‘I have witnesses calling me — law enforcement, physicians, lawyers, and military personnel that have photographs that they have captured over Fresno.’- Jeffrey Gonzalez
“If a witness reports a sighting far more than one time or says some thing crashed then we’ll go out and stake out the area in situation the craft comes back. Simply because if it does come back then we’ll be prepared,” he said.
Gonzalez is located in Fresno which lies at the bottom of the “Nevada Triangle” a region that includes Area-51 and China Lake. Gonzalez says this area is similar to the Bermuda Triangle where many planes have disappeared without a trace over the last 50 years.
“There’s a lot of military presence and there could possible be a lot of top secret military craft flying over our skies,” Gonzalez said.
According to the non-profit National UFO Reporting Centerthere are roughly 5,000 UFO sightings reported each year. Gonzalez has people throughout the city of Fresno who serve as sky watchers. These people sit outside for hours watching the sky for anything out of the ordinary.