Hey, You Think It’s Easy Being Chosen to Spread the UFO Gospel?

So little time, so many disbelievers.

Michael Orrell, 34, a dry waller, amateur photographer and bit actor from Pacific Beach, is a man with a mission.

Nearly a year ago--July 1, 1990 to be exact--Orrell was snapping pictures with two friends in the deep woods not far from Santa Ysabel.

When his pictures were developed, Orrell noticed some dots in the far distance of a canyon. He had the dots enlarged, again and again.

The dots, 10 in all, appear triangular. Several seemed to Orrell to be flying in formation, some appeared to have shiny undersides, metallic maybe.

It’s a long story, so let’s cut to the quick: Orrell is convinced that the dots are spaceships with intelligent beings aboard.

He’s convinced that, if only Earthlings weren’t so skeptical, the space beings would land and disgorge information that could explain the Nazca Lines of Peru, the Bermuda Triangle, various rock formations in Southwest Arizona and more.

He wants the world to know this before the July 1 anniversary. So far, no luck.

Orrell has turndowns from Steven Spielberg, National Geographic magazine, Paramount Pictures, Time magazine, UFO magazine, the National Enquirer, the Discovery Channel and the television shows “Hard Copy” and “Unsolved Mysteries.”

An editor at National Geographic wrote Orrell that his theory is “interesting speculation” but:

“We, however, stick to more mundane matters based on scientific findings. They are often difficult enough to understand.”

Don Ecker, researcher for Los Angeles-based UFO magazine, which bills itself as the utmost authority on “aerial anomalies,” says he talked with Orrell.

He said that, without a computer analysis, he could not judge the authenticity of the dots. But he noted that they’re similar to “a wave of recent sightings” in Europe.

Orrell vows to press on:

“I believe they manifested themselves to me for a reason. It’s something I’m obligated to pass down. I have the burden of knowledge.”

That’s Our Point

It says here.

* Who else?

Along with trying to get his old job back, ex-Planning Director Robert Spaulding says he has talked to a head-hunting firm about getting work in the development industry.

He says the firm told him he’s “damaged goods” and will be difficult to place. He’s confident though:

“I tell you, I’m still me.”

* San Diego animal lovers are having trouble finding (ferreting out?) a sponsor in the Legislature for a bill legalizing ferrets as pets.

* Errant faxes are a modern nuisance. The wrong phone number and inside information is delivered to the wrong hands.

Now a San Diego law firm puts a warning on every fax:

” . . . If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited . . . “

* Not what it seems.

Reporters all over San Diego got letters stamped “personal & confidential” and, in big red letters, “High Level Bribery Is Alive & Well In San Diego.”

No, it’s not a blast from a civic do-good group.

Only a not-so-serious announcement for a new restaurant opening in the Gaslamp Quarter: Dick’s Last Resort, a chicken and ribs joint.

* Concerned Catholics for Life, an anti-abortion group, is sending out a 6,000-plus mailer analyzing Bishop Robert Brom’s position regarding a health clinic planned for Hoover High School.

* Oceanside bumper sticker: “If I Were Driving an F-16, I’d Be Home Now.”

Light and Lively

Losing weight the hard way.

Capt. Ernest E. Christensen Jr., skipper of the aircraft carrier Ranger, which returned to San Diego on Saturday from its Operation Desert Storm duty, lost 20 pounds during the deployment.

A Navy insider quips: “He was on the Ranger diet: intense war and no sex.”