Tight Lid On Train Story

File: UFO65

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE KEEPING A TIGHT LID ON THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF A HIGH SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN WHICH ENTERED A TUNNEL IN 1950, BUT DIDN'T COME OUT UNTIL EARLY THIS YEAR.

AMAZINGLY, THE 121 PASSENGERS AND THREE MAN CREW HAVE NOT AGED A DAY SINCE THEY VANISHED IN THE TUNNEL 42 YEARS AGO, WITNESSES SAY, AND STILL THINK IT'S THE YEAR 1950. ITALIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAVE NOT ONLY REFUSED TO DISCUSS THE MYSTERY OF EXPRESS PASSENGER TRAIN F626, THEY DENY THE TRAIN EVEN EXISTS.

BOTH PASSENGERS AND CREW ARE FORBIDDEN TO DISCUSS ANYTHING ABOUT THE INCIDENT.

POLICE KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON ALL BUT TWO OF THE PASSENGERS, AND ARE BELIEVED TO BE HOLDING THE TRAIN'S THREE MAN CREW PRISONER AT A SECRET DETENTION SITE IN THE SOUTH OF ITALY. GOVERNMENT DENIALS FLY IN THE FACE OF WELL DOCUMENTED FACTS. WHEN F626 VANISHED IN 1950, THE STORY APPEARED IN ALMOST EVERY ITALIAN NEWSPAPER.

EYEWITNESSES RECALLED SEEING THE 13 COACH TRAIN ENTER THE QUARTER MILE LONG TUNNEL BUT NEVER EMERGE.

THE STATE RUN RAILROAD CLOSED DOWN THE TUNNEL FOR SIX MONTHS WHILE POLICE AND SCIENTISTS PROBED EVERY INCH OF THE TUNNEL. THE TACKS WERE TON UP AND REPLACED.

WHEN NO TRACE OF F626 COULD BE FOUND, MANY BELIEVED THE TRAIN HAD BEEN NABBED BY UFO'S, AS A NEWS PAPER IN NAPLES CLAIMED. THE TUNNEL WAS FINALLY REOPENED IN THE SPRING OF 1951, AND SINCE THEN THOUSANDS OF TRAINS HAVE ROARED THROUGH THE TUNNEL WITH OUT INCIDENT.

EXPERTS, INCLUDING A PHYSICIST AND PSYCHOLOGIST, BELIEVE THE TRAIN WAS CAUGHT IN A TIME WORP AND TRANSPORTED TO THE FUTURE OR INTO AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.

BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT HAS LEAKED OUT, THERE IS NO OTHER CONCLUSION, SAYS PHYSICIST DR. VITTORIO INSERRA. SUCH THINGS HAPPEN MORE OFTEN THAN PEOPLE THINK, AND THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE ONLY GOVERNMENT TRYING TO COVER UP MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES.

ACCORDING TO INSERRA, A U.S. NAVY DESTROYER ESCORT, THE ELDRIDGE, MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED FROM THE PHILADELPHIA SHIP- YARD DURING WORLD WAR II, THEN REAPPEARED AT THE NORFOLK NAVAL BASE.

A BOOK, THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT BY CHARLES BERLITZ AND WILLIAM L. MOORE, AND A MOVIE WITH THE SAME NAME RECOUNT THE AMAZING INCIDENT.

THE AMERICAN NAVY HAS DENIED IT EVER HAPPENED, BUT HUNDREDS OF WITNESSES, INCLUDING THE CREW INSIST OTHERWISE, INSERRA SAYS.

DESPITE THE BLANKET OF SECRECY DRAPED OVER THE F626 MYSTERY, A TAPE RECORDED STATEMENT MADE TO INTERROGATORS BY THE TRAIN'S ENGINEER, MARIO FRANCHINI, WAS PRINTED RECENTLY BY A POPULAR ROME DAILY. FRANCHINI TOLD INVESTIGATORS:

WE WERE ENVELOPED BY A THICK, WHITE FOG AS SOON AS WE ENTERED THE TUNNEL. THEN OUR HEADS STARTED SPINNING AND WE LOST CON- SCIOUSNESS. OUR HEADS CLEARED AS SOON AS WE LEFT THE TUNNEL. WE THOUGHT LESS THAN A MINUTE HAD PASSED, BUT WHEN WE ARRIVED IN BOLOGNA, WE WERE TOLD THAT 42 YEARS HAD GONE BY. THAT'S ALL I KNOW.

THE PASSENGERS ALSO REPORTED THE STRANGE FOG, DIZZINESS AND LOSS OF MEMORY.

PSYCHOLOGIST BRUNO BARONE BELIEVES THE TRAIN SPENT THE 42 YEARS IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.

THE EXPERIENCE MAY HAVE BEEN SO SHOCKING THEY FORGOT IT, HE EXPLAINS.

THE ONLY TWO TO ESCAPE THE GOVERNMENT CLAMP DOWN ARE ADOLPH REINER, A GERMAN, AND MARTIN BARTLETT, A SOUTH AFRICAN. THE TWO SLIPPED PAST INVESTIGATORS TO RETURN TO THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT KNOWS SOMETHING, BUT IS KEEPING IT TO THEMSELVES, SAYS ADOLPH REINER.

HE SAYS ITALIAN FRIENDS WHO WERE PASSENGERS WITH HIM PRETEND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE PHONES THEM. THEY TRY TO PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED, EVEN THOUGH THEIR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF THEIR FAMILIES HAVE COMPLETELY CHANGED.

REINER SAYS HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD, WITH A 10 YEAR OLD SON, AT THE TIME HE VANISHED ABOARD F626.

MY SON IS NOW 52, ADDS REINER. HE IS FAT AND HAS HEART TROUBLE. I ALSO HAVE A GRANDSON WHO LOOKS ABOUT MY AGE. MY WIFE IS 70 YEARS OLD AND SUFFERS FROM ARTHRITIS.

BUT I AM STILL THE SAME ROBUST 30 YEAR OLD I WAS IN 1950. THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO IGNORE.