Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird: Web site focuses on 'sky ships' in WNC

Since the time of the Cherokees, the ancient mountains of North Carolina have been home to many mysteries. Over the years, this column has taken a look at some of these but there are still others out there waiting to be explored.

One Web site in particular takes a close look at unexplained happenings in western North Carolina and delves into some strange things that don’t get much attention. It is found at www.skyshipsovercashiers.com.

The site focuses mostly on UFOs, or sky ships, in western North Carolina but it also looks at mysterious and secret underground facilities that are said to exist within those mountains. It also contains eyewitness accounts of other weird lights and sounds in the sky, including orbs and the famous Brown Mountain Lights.

Mary Joyce and Evelyn Gordon of Cashiers were inspired to start the site when both a little girl and her mother reported their experiences with the weird objects.

Glynis Heenan and her daughter Devon had never seen a UFO before until the summer of 2008. On the night of June 28, 2008, Glynis Heenan saw a bright light in her backyard. At first, she thought it was the moon and stepped outside to get a closer look. But instead of the moon, she saw a circular sky ship with rainbow-colored lights.

Heenan kept looking at the colorful UFO and saw two more. The three sky ships were in a triangular formation and all had various colorful lights.

On another night, her daughter Devon was standing in a parking lot in Cashiers. Using her cell phone’s camera, the girl and a friend were taking pictures of the summer sun. They were trying to see if they could capture an image of a sky ship. Sure enough, they did.

Since those sightings in 2008, Glynis Heenan has reportedly seen them many times in the mountains at her Cashiers home.

“Lots of people in the mountains of North Carolina have seen Sky Ships, but most are extremely reluctant to talk publicly about their sightings,” she said in an article by Joyce. “I, however, feel the phenomena is too important to ignore so I decided to talk openly about what I’ve seen. By doing that, I hope to encourage others to speak up, too.”

That led Joyce and Gordon to create an online forum where western North Carolina people could share their stories about seeing UFOs, extraterrestrials and other unexplained phenomena.

Since it was launched, skyshipsovercashiers.com has gained much attention from UFO researchers and other eyewitnesses. In February, Joyce and Gordon gave a presentation about UFOs in western North Carolina at the International UFO Congress (IUFOC) in Laughlin, Nev. It is the largest conference of its kind in the world, according to their site.

“I think a lot of people would be surprised by the size of it,” said Joyce to The McDowell News, adding more than 900 attended. “We tried to give a good overview. We touched on different aspects of the Web site.”

Joyce has worked as an artist, writer and feature editor with two large metropolitan area newspapers. “The rest of her career includes promotional positions with the world’s largest private printing company, an air pollution control agency, political campaigns and a community college,” reads her Web site.

When she worked as a reporter in Florida, Joyce lived close to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. She once spoke to an unnamed NASA official who confirmed to her that all the astronauts who’ve traveled into space have seen UFOs.

Gordon was a top-ranked mezzo-soprano singer in Florida, Mobile, Ala. and New Orleans performing on concert stages, television and radio. She also directed a wide variety of choral groups and choirs and cut her own record album. She’s also worked in public relations.

Both women have lived in North Carolina for 12 years. They recently gave a talk in Sylva.

“All sorts of Sky Ships are being seen over the mountains of Western North Carolina,” reads their site. “There are blue, white, and gold ones with some pulsing rainbow colors. The shapes vary, too, but more intriguing things are happening. A spaceman in a maroon body suit abruptly materialized; a Sky Ship projected a 30 or 35-foot hologram that remained visible for 20 to 30 minutes; and messages from the ships have been dictated word-for-word.”

Folks are reporting all kinds of hums and sounds coming from under the mountains.

What could be attracting all of these extraterrestrials to the mountains? One reason could be the existence of a secret underground facility at Balsam Mountain in Jackson County. This facility is six stories deep into the earth and reportedly has electromagnetic equipment that can wipe out memories, according to the Web site.

Joyce and Gordon have also confirmed the existence of another secret underground facility in the Hendersonville area. And a secret underground base might be located quite close to McDowell County, according to Joyce.

“We’re getting information from several different directions that there is a secret facility in the Brown Mountain/Linville Gorge area,” she said to The McDowell News.

She added it has not been placed on the site because it has not yet been confirmed.

The Web site also contains eyewitness accounts of UFOs seen over Western Carolina University, crop circles, strange sounds in the sky and mysterious military craft hovering around the mountains. It also talks about the mystical lights that were known by the Cherokees for many years.

So if you have seen a UFO or sky ship, then you can submit your story as well by visiting www.skyshipsovercashiers.com.

Contact Mike Conley at 652-3313, ext. 3422 or e-mail nconley@mcdowellnews.com.