Documents / FOIA release
This Foreign Broadcast Information Service transcript, dated 25 January 1996 and held in CIA records, reproduces a BBC World Service "Focus on Africa" interview with Somaliland leader Mohamed Egal about mysterious explosions in the region's remote east in December. Egal said a four-man commission found that animals were still stampeding and residents had skin rashes, boils and stomach problems. He rejected UFO explanations and suggested an unidentified missile had exploded. He asked the American, British and French governments to say what happened.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
MATTER. ON THE LINE TO HARGESA, TIMOTHY ECOTT ASKED HIM WHAT HE THOUGHT HAD BEEN GOING ON. BEGIN RECORDING EGAL WE HAVE THESE MYSTERIOUS REPORTS FROM OUR NOMADIC POPULATION THERE, AND THEN, I SENT A FOUR-MAN COMMISSION, TWO DOCTORS, A VETERAN DOCTOR, AND ONE MINISTER, AND THEY HAVE SUBMITTED TO US A REPORT, WHICH IS VERY, VERY ALARMING. THEY SAID THAT THEY WENT THERE ALMOST A FORTNIGHT AFTER THIS THING HAS TAKEN PLACE AND THEY FOUND MOST OF THE ANIMALS IN THE AREA ARE STILL IN A SORT OF A DEMENTED STAGE. THEY WERE NOT GRAZING, THEY WERE JUST STAMPEDING ALL OVER THE PLACE. ECOTT YOU SAID THE ANIMALS WERE DEMENTED. WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE? EGAL SOME OF THEM, WHO WERE VERY CLOSE TO THE AREA, HAVE GOT SKIN RASHES, AND SOME OF THEM ARE HAVING VERY, VERY BIG PROBLEM. THEY ARE ALMOST (?SHEDDING THEIR OUTER SKIN), THERE ARE WORDS INDISTINCT BOILS ALL OVER THE PLACE, AND SOME OF THEM ARE HAVING STOMACH ACHES, YOU KNOW, AND VERY UNUSUAL MOTIONS -- STOMACH MOTION -- AND A LOT OF SYMPTOMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED. WE ARE SENDING BACK SOME DOCTORS TO ACTUALLY EVALUATE THE HUMAN DAMAGE AND THE ANIMAL DAMAGE THAT HAS BEEN DONE. ECOTT DID ANYONE GET AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF WHAT THIS EXPLOSION MIGHT HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY? EGAL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE, YOU KNOW, THE STORIES THEY TELL IS THAT THEY HEARD NO NOISE. APPARENTLY WHATEVER EXPLODED WAS MOVING AT A SUPERSONIC SPEED, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PRIOR NOISE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. YOU KNOW, THEY JUST HEARD A VERY, VERY, VERY LOUD EXPLOSION WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE AND THE LIGHT, YOU KNOW, THE LIGHT OF THE EXPLOSION IN THE AIR. THE AREA IS SO BIG THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE CAPABILITY OR THE TIME TO INVESTIGATE THE WHOLE GROUND AND TRY AND PICK UP ANY DEBRIS THAT MIGHT HAVE FALLEN. THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT. ECOTT WHATEVER YOUR AUTHORITY IS CLAIMING THAT THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN, SOME OF THE NEWS AGENCIES ARE TALKING ABOUT UFO'S. EGAL NO, NO, NO, NO, WE ARE NOT MAKING ANY CLAIMS OF THAT OR ANY FANTASTIC CLAIMS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW. WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED IS THAT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A MISSILE FIRED FROM SOMEWHERE, WHICH HAS EXPLODED EITHER DELIBERATELY OVER OUR COUNTRY OR WHETHER IT HAS EXPLODED INADVERTENTLY, WE CAN'T TELL. SO, WHAT WE ARE ASKING NOW, PEOPLE LIKE THE ENGLISH, AND FRENCH, AND ESPECIALLY THE AMERICANS WHO MONITOR THE WORLD, THEY MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, YOU KNOW. THEY DEFINITELY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, THEY ARE MONITORING THE WHOLE WORLD, RECONNAISSANCE 24 HOURS A DAY, YOU KNOW. AND THEY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. IF IT WAS SADDAM HUSAYN WHO FIRED THE MISSILE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE HEADLINES ALL OVER THE WORLD. BUT APPARENTLY WHOEVER FIRED THE MISSILE IS STILL IN THE GOOD BOOKS OF THOSE WHO KNOW, AND THEY DON'T WANT TO PUBLICIZE IT. BUT WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO US SO THAT AT LEAST WE WILL KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH IT. ECOTT IS ANYBODY OFFERING YOU HELP TO INVESTIGATE AND TO LOOK AFTER THE PEOPLE YOU SAY HAVE BEEN INJURED? EGAL WELL, WE HAVE SENT IT -- YES -- TO THE AMERICAN EMBASSY, YOU KNOW. WE HAVE SENT IT TO THE BRITISH EMBASSY, WE HAVE SENT IT
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 3 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.