As this week I will atttend the EGU (European Geosciences Union annual conference) in Vienna and meet the Hessdalen Norwegian researchers, I thought that it was the perfect time to post this interview of Erling Strand. (all articles’ photos are courtesy of Project Hessdalen, Erling Strand and Bjorn Gitle Hauge)
The Hessdalen Phenomena (HP) are transient luminous phenomena which is observed in the low atmosphere over the Hessdalen valley in Norway. The phenomenon, still unexplained, appears like a glowing light ball with dimensions ranging from decimeters up to 30 meters. Since the mid of 1980’s, camera observations and data measurements have given qualitative and quantitative observations which complement the observations reported by Hessdalen valley inhabitants. Ass. Professor Erling Strand works at the Østfold University College (Norway) as a teacher in the Department of Information Technology. He has a master degree in electrical engineer from the University of Trondheim and studied physical electronics and telecommunications. He is one of the founders of what is called “Project Hessdalen” (HP) (Website:http://www.hessdalen.org/), a project that has been dedicated to studying this unexplained phenomena. In addition, Erling is also the European representative of the Society for Scientific Exploration. Having had the pleasure to meet him recently (and I will see him this week at the 2012 European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, I took the opportunity to ask him the latest HP news: 
1/ Some scientists remain skeptical about the existence and significance of the HP phenomena. What do you reply to them? There are very few of such scientists left. There have been so much documentation of the phenomena during the years, so I tell them to be more updated.
2/ You participated for the first time last April to an European Geosciences Union General Assembly. Could you tell if this proved to be beneficial and what kind of feedback you received? I haven’t seen any directly beneficial so far, but in general it is important to inform people at the Geosciences Union about the phenomena. Journalists do contact me often. I don’t ask the journalists where they got the info from. Lately it could have been due to my participation on the EGU, – but that is just speculations.
3/ 27 years after the first field investigation in Hessdalen (http://www.hessdalen.org/reports/hpreport84.shtml), what has been learnt on the Hessdalen Phenomena? It is difficult to say this in a short term. We know that there are many different types of the phenomena, and they are capture on radar. – An answer on your question could be part in a book.
4/ Do you have any information on the possible frequency of apparition of the UP phenomena; i.e. what were the declared sightings records of the last five years? And is the Hessdalen Valley the only location in Norway where this kind of phenomena is reported? The data of observations the last 5 year is no good. The only good data source is the amount of observations done during the Science Camp’s, which takes place during one week, each year. There have been observations on all these Science Camp. 
5/ Beside the three main types of HP (i.e. white or blue flashed; big yellow lights, several lights together); could you tell us more about the others kinds of sightings that are reported? Could provide a recent testimony for illustrating this? These three different types consists each of many different types of lights. For instance “big yellow light”, can have many different shapes, lifetime, moving behavior etc. There are also some types which does not fit into any of these “big” boxes. There are daylight observations, which are not a light. But there are very few of such sightings. It can be different solutions to all of these types of phenomena.
6/ Last year collaboration was initiated with the GEIPAN and some French research institutes, could you update us on the current status of this partnership and if some results, data have been obtained from the new equipments installed (electric field and infrasound)? The French institutes have installed instruments in Hessdalen, which continuous record data. They measure electrical and magnetic fields. Whenever observations are done in Hessdalen, it is possible to find out if there have been any unusual magnetic or electrical recordings. The data from these instruments need to be collected manually. They are not on the internet.
7/ In order to acquire more data on the HP and come up with a final theory and explanation, what do you think would need to be done? What instruments would be needed and what kind of logistic would be ideal? If founding had been present, we could find a solution. There are no people working full time on this now. I would build logistics on the data, with a main database. There should be better mapping of different physical properties in the Hessdalen valley. There should have been camera recordings in the IR, UV and the visual. A good radar system. Better reporting system. More cameras, so 3D mapping of the phenomena could have been done.
8/ In 2009 Billionaire Robert Bigelow made a significant donation to the American Ufological association MUFON for supporting a rapid response team that would quickly reach the destination of a high-level UFO event. In the case of the Hessdalen Phenomena, how can you persuade some potential investors to provide some funding or others relevant resources? Why is it important to study the HP? Finding the solution of the HP will give new info about our world. It could be groundbreaking knowledge, because so far the HP does not seems to fit into a known part of our world. Such possible groundbreaking news about our world is important. How important is difficult to say before we know it. Could there be a new energy source? Could this energy source be used so that there will be no need for any fossil fuels? Or maybe even more important info could be achieved.
9/ In a recent interview, you have stated that “…you have had several daytime observations, where you have seen flying discs, etc…”Even if not related to the HP, could you please provide more details on such sightings? I have had only three daytime observations, so the word “several” is wrong. I have however seen several unexplainable “things”, – such which goes into another category than HP or ufo. Two of those three observations was a flying disc. The third was a “black hole”. I did not get the impression that I was looking onto a black object, it was more like a hole into something completely black. This “black hole” changed size all the time.
Thanks Erling for this interview and you success with your Project Hessdalen
Based in Chicago, the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS – www.cufos.org) is an international group of scientists, academics, investigators, and volunteers dedicated to the continuing examination and analysis of the UFO phenomenon. The organisation publishes since 1976 the International UFO Reporter (IUR), a publication that most observers consider as the leading English-language UFO journal. The CUFOS purpose is to promote serious scientific interest in UFOs and to serve as an archive for reports, documents, and publications about the UFO phenomenon.
