Saturday, December 24, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Skylab 3 Photo
A space anomaly was photographed during Sky Lab III on day 263 of 1973 at 16:45 Zulu Time.
Four shots were taken (one is shown here).
The NASA Photo Evaluation Lab lists this object as either an unidentified object or a satellite.
(NASA Photo # SL3-118-2140)
On the 59th day of flight Skylab III's three-man crew saw and photographed a strange red object.
Not more than 30-50 nautical miles from them, Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousman reported the object was brighter than any of the planets.
This incident has never been explained.
Radio conversation with Houston four hours after the sighting...
LOUSMA: "Did you tell him about that satellite we saw?
BEAN: Yes, we saw a great satellite. We didn't know if we told you about it.
LOUSMA: The closest and brightest one we've seen.
BEAN: Huge one.
LOUSMA: We've seen several. It was a red one.
CAPCOM: No, you may have told somebody, but it wasn't this team. I don't remember hearing about it.
LOUSMA: I guess we didn't report it. It was reflecting in red light and oscillating at, oh, counting it's period of brightest to dimmest, about ten seconds. It led us into sunset. That was about three revs ago, I think. Something like that, wasn't it Owen?
(NOTE): Astronaut Owen does NOT respond to this question, and the topic of conversation abruptly changes.
“Skylab III Technical Crew Debriefing” (NASA doc JSC-08478)
GARRIOTT: Do you want to talk about that satellite?
LOUSMA: I saw a couple of satellites that appeared like a satellite would on earth. I saw one that was not like one you would see on earth, so why don't you mention it?
GARRIOTT: OK. About a week or 10 days before recovery and we were still waiting for information to be supplied to us about the identification. Jack first notices this rather large red star out the wardroom window.
Upon close examination, it was much brighter than Jupiter or any of the other planets. It had a reddish hue to it, even though it was well above the horizon. The light from the Sun was not passing close to the Earth's limb at the time.
We observed it for about 10 minutes prior to sunset. It was slowly rotating because it had a variation in brightness with a 10-seconds period.
As I was saying, we observed it for about 10 minutes, until we went into darkness, and it also followed us into darkness about 5-seconds later.
From the 5 to 10 second delay in it's disappearance we surmised that it was not more than 30 to 50 nautical miles [35 to 58 statute miles or 56 to 93 km] from our location. From its original position in the wardroom window, it did not move more than 10 or 20 degrees over the 10 minutes or so that we watched it. Its orbit was very close to that of our own.
We never saw it on any earlier or succeeding orbits and we'd be quite interested in having its identification established.”
Page 49 of the “SkyLab III Photographic Index and Scene Identification” document identifies this object as being a “Satellite - unmanned”.
Analysis of the Photos of an Unidentified Object Observed by the Astronauts of Skylab lll by Bruce Maccabee and Brad Sparks
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Official White House Response to formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race - Disclosure. and 1 other petition
Searching for ET, But No Evidence Yet
By Phil Larson
Thank you for signing the petition asking the Obama Administration to acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.
The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.
However, that doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored. In fact, there are a number of projects working toward the goal of understanding if life can or does exist off Earth. Here are a few examples:
- SETI—the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence—was originally stood up with help from NASA, but has since been moved to other sources of private funding. SETI's main purpose is to act as a giant ear on behalf of the human race, pointing an array of ground-based telescopes towards space to listen for any signal from another world.
- Kepler is a NASA spacecraft in Earth orbit that's main goal is to search for Earth-like planets. Such a planet would be located in the "Goldilocks" zone of a distant solar system—not too hot and not too cold—and could potentially be habitable by life as we know it. The Kepler mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover Earth-sized, rocky planets in or near the habitable zone of the star (sun) they orbit.
- The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, is an automobile-sized rover that NASA is launching soon. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and other geology in an effort to detect the chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past to see if it could have harbored life.
A last point: Many scientists and mathematicians have looked with a statistical mindset at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth and have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high that somewhere among the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe there is a planet other than ours that is home to life.
Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.
But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.
Phil Larson works on space policy and communications at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
Relevant Links:
The above response applies to the following 2 petitions
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Write up: Australia Westall (suburban school)
| http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=5481 |
  Over 200 students and teachers witnessed an unexplained flying object on Wednesday 6th April 1966 around 11.00 am. They reported it descended into a nearby open wild grass field adjacent to a grove of pine trees in an area known as The Grange. The object then ascended in a north-westerly direction over the suburb of Clayton South.Shane Ryan is a researcher looking for eyewitnesses. "It happened on the Wednesday before Easter, April 6, 1966, about 11 0’clock in the morning. Around about 200 people, most of them students at what was then called Westall High School, were out for morning recess", says Shane. "Many saw the strange object descend behind pine trees in The Grange Reserve, and then later ascend and fly away at great speed. The people who ran over to the reserve found a huge ring in the paddock where the object had been seen. Some people reported five light aircraft following or chasing the object. Academic throws light on 40-year-old UFO mystery Just what did flash out of the sky and into the lives of hundreds that April day? Stephen Cauchi reports. A CANBERRA academic is investigating one of Australia's most compelling UFO mysteries, a sighting by hundreds of people in the Melbourne suburb of Westall on April 6, 1966. More than 200 students and staff from two schools watched as the object landed in a nearby paddock, lifted off and vanished. Shane Ryan, an English lecturer at the University of Canberra, is interviewing dozens of witnesses for a book he hopes to publish on the 40th anniversary of the sighting. Mr Ryan, 38, was alerted to the events in the 1980s by a housemate who was there. Unlike most UFO sightings, the Westall object had a large number of credible witnesses. It was viewed in daylight and attracted a forceful response from police and the RAAF. "It had these rather interesting elements which indicated to me that, unlike some other so-called UFO stories, there was some substance to this," he told The Sunday Age. "I knew the 40th anniversary was coming up next year, so I thought it was timely to do some research on it." Mr Ryan has interviewed about 30 witnesses, mostly former staff and students from the Westall secondary and primary schools. He has tried obtaining police and RAAF reports, but so far with little luck. The story was covered then by Channel Nine, The Age and local newspapers. On the UFO, everyone seems to agree, Mr Ryan says. It was a low-flying, silver/grey shining object, either of classical flying saucer shape or close to it, "a cup turned upside down on a saucer". The students were familiar with light aircraft because the schools were close to Moorabbin Airport. Although the UFO was of similar size, "everyone said straight away that they knew it was not a plane", Mr Ryan said, nor a weather balloon. The object was in view for up to 20 minutes, and many saw it descend. Most agree it landed behind pine trees at the Grange Reserve. Dozens of students ran across what was then an open paddock to the reserve to investigate, but the object had lifted off and vanished. Other details are sketchier. The UFO appears to have left a circle of scorched grass; others say several circles were left in paddocks bordering Grange Reserve. Many witnesses, not all, report seeing aircraft, up to five, trailing the UFO. Some say it made no sound, others say it did. Many reported that police/air force/military personnel inspected the site; some (not all) say the authorities burnt the site. The Dandenong Journal, for which the story was front-page news two weeks in a row, reported that "students and staff have been instructed to 'talk to no-one' about the incident". Nevertheless, one teacher, Andrew Greenwood, gave the paper a detailed account. "It was silvery-grey and seemed to thicken at times," he said. "The thickening was similar to when a disc is turned a little to show the underside." One of the closest witnesses was a boy whose family leased land at Grange Reserve for horses. Shaun Matthews (not a student at Westall) was on holidays and spending time on the land. "I saw the thing come across the horizon and drop down behind the pine trees," he told The Sunday Age this week. "I couldn't tell you what it was. It certainly wasn't a light aircraft or anything of the like … "I saw the thing drop down behind the pine trees and saw it leave again. I couldn't tell you how long it was there for, it was such a long time ago." Mr Matthews, 51 and now living in Greenvale, said the object "went up and off very very rapidly". "I went over and there was a circle in the clearing. It looked like it had been cooked or boiled, not burnt as I remember," he said. "A heap of kids from Westall primary and high school came charging through to see what had happened — 'look at this, look at that, we saw it as well', that sort of thing. It was a bit of a talking point for a couple of days." Mr Matthews said the object, about the size of "two family cars", passed him at a distance of about "four football fields". "It was silvery, but it had a sort-of purple hue to it, very bright, but not bright enough that you couldn't look at it," he said. "I saw that it dropped down behind the trees, and I thought, 'hello, hang on'. A minute or so later, it went straight up, just gone." He said police and other officials interviewed his mother. But he cannot remember them burning the landing site, as others have alleged. And he did not see any light aircraft trailing the object, as others did. "The way this thing moved there is no way it could have been a weather balloon or a light aircraft," he said. "A helicopter? No way — no noise, wrong shape, and it didn't move like it. It came out of the distance, stopped, and then just dropped. "It didn't just sort of cruise and then slightly descend at an angle. It just stopped, dropped, and then went straight up." The Victorian UFO Research Society investigated the incident. VUFORS secretary Tony Cook said Westall remained one of Australia's major unexplained UFO cases. The top one was the case of Frederick Valentich, a 20-year-old Melbourne pilot whose light plane disappeared while flying over Bass Strait in 1978. In the last minutes of radio communication, Valentich reported seeing a UFO hovering above his plane. He and his craft were never recovered. "It's pretty well documented," Mr Cook said. "That's probably the most important one because it involves the disappearance of a person." Mr Cook said the society's stance on UFOs was that, "there are people out there seeing unusual things in the sky at times and they can't be explained. But it's a very big leap to go from unexplained things in the sky to extraterrestrials." Most witnesses, including Mr Matthews, say the UFO was not an aircraft or helicopter. But Westall is only six kilometres from Moorabbin Airport, and the object was roughly headed in that direction, travelling north to south. "It sounds to me like some sort of experimental craft, very much Earth-based," Steve Roberts, of Australian Skeptics, said. "It is an interesting event with lots of witnesses and what we now call a crop circle. "Accounts are confused. Some have the object landing and taking off again, others say 'a paddock over which the object seemed to hover'." As well, "if there was a whole swag of officials investigating it, there must be an official report in RAAF archives somewhere". But Mr Ryan said that no one at the RAAF knew of the incident. But given the history of the case — the way students and staff were told to keep quiet from the start — that was not surprising, he said. "As I got a little bit older, I got a little more interested in the social and historical aspects of the story, how something like this could have happened and how it reflected society at the time, and how authorities responded to it," he said. "There's been a layer of secrecy that was very, very prominent in this story from the beginning." This Yahoo Group is dedicated to those people who were involved in, or have an interest in, the April 6, 1966 UFO incident at Westall High School, in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton South, in Victoria, Australia. UPDATEOn Friday 4th June 2010 a TV documentary will screen on SciFi channel (Pay TV) titled Westall 1966: a Suburban UFO Mystery. A number of callers to Melbourne talkback radio stations have recounted stories of people there that day. Terry (woman) told Steve Vizard on MTR1377 that she was 11 at the time and had a clear memory of the day. She recounted her story of being one of the first on the scene but had not spoken of the incident in years because she didnt want people to think she was crazy. She also said that their headmaster had told all the students not to talk about the incident or they would get detention. 'Westall '66 - A suburban UFO mystery" Pt 1 / June 3, 2010 - Radio Interview ABC  |
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Art Bell interviews Bob Lazar
http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/41843/Art_Bell___Bob_Lazar___UFOs_2_hours/
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
1952 Washington DC
During the dawn of Ufology in the United States, unidentified flying objects made themselves known to the leaders of the free world in 1952, buzzing over the White House, the Capitol building, and the Pentagon. Seemingly the unknown objects were defying the very governmental agencies sworn to protect the United States from foreign powers.
Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base picked up a number of UFOs on their radar screens on July 19, 1952, beginning a wave of sightings still unexplained to this day.
These blips were objects traveling at about 100 m.p.h. but with the ability to accelerate to the unbelievable speed of 7,200 m.p.h. The Washington National sighting was confirmed by other local radar, and then Andrews Air Force Base was contacted.
Washington Tower:
Andrews Tower, do you read? Did you have an airplane in sight west-northwest or east of your airport moving east-bound?
Andrews: No, but we just got a call from the center. We're looking for it.
Washington: We've got a big target showing up on our scope. He's just coming in on the west edge of your airport-the northwest edge of it eastbound. He'll be passing right through the northern portion of your field on an east heading. He's about a quarter of a mile from the northwest runway-right over the edge of your northwest runway now.
Andrews: What happened to your target now?
Washington: He's still eastbound. He went directly over Andrews Fields and is now five miles east.
Andrews: Where did he come from?
Washington: We picked him up ourselves at about seven miles east, slightly southeast, and we have been tracking him ever since then. The Center has been tracking him farther than that.
Andrews: Was he waving his course?
Washington: Holding steady course, due east heading.
Andrews: This is Andrews. Our radar tracking says he's got a big fat target out here northeast of Andrews. He says he's got two more south of the field.
Washington: Yes, well the center has about four or five around the Andrews Range station. The Center is working a National Airlines - the center is working him and vectoring him around his target. He went around Andrews. He saw one of them - looks like a meteor. (Garbled)..Went by him..or something.
He said he's got one about three miles off his right wing right now. There are so many targets around here it is hard to tell as they are not moving very fast.
Andrews: What about his altitude?
Washington: Well, must be over 8,000 feet as we don't have him in radar any more.
Andrews Air Force Base notified the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Command. A couple of F-94 night fighters were ordered to the skies, but runway repairs held their mission up for several hours. By the time they were airborne, the mysterious objects were gone.
The fighters returned home, but soon the objects again showed up on the radar screens. For the next several hours, the fighters chased the illusive targets, but to no avail.
They were able to sight the UFOs, but lights of the unknown objects would darken as they were approached. Constant communication was kept with ground radar, and as the pilots lost sight of the UFOs, they also disappeared from ground radar. The UFOs were also separately witnessed by the crew of a B-29, and other commercial flights.
After a quiet week, the objects reappeared on July 26. After multiple radar operators confirmed the objects, the F-94s again began their search for the enigmatic lights over Washington. The results of their pursuit were identical to the week before. They could see the lights, but when they drew near, the lights would black out.
After their fruitless journey, the planes returned home, only to hear that the objects again were being tracked by radar. One of the pilots stated his fear and frustration by air to ground radio. "They've surrounded my plane, what should I do?" The phenomenal sights would bring about an Air Force press conference on July 29, with Major General John A. Samford in charge.
The official explanation was "temperature inversions," which supposedly caused ground lights to bounce off of clouds, giving the appearance of lighted craft in the skies. The naive and trusting press accepted this explanation at first, in lieu of any other "reasonable" one.
This explanation was scoffed at, however, by Ufologists, knowing that it just did not explain what was seen by pilots and radar operators. Even Project Bluebook would also dismiss the "temperature inversion" explanation, as it later labeled the Washington sightings as "unknown."
The radar operators offered their own reason for the rejecting the Air Force explanation. Radar controller Barnes would state, "Inversion blips are always recognized by experts, we are familiar with what weather conditions, flying birds, and [other] such things can cause on radar.
Trsions on radar are typically weak returns and move at a slow ground speed. These blips were distinctly clear, reported as a very good return, solid and often traveled at unbelievable speeds."
The Washington D. C. sightings are a solid case of UFO activity. Literally hundreds of eyewitnesses saw the objects, and photographed them. Many of these were Air Force personnel, considered as reliable. Many of them made comment of the sightings, one was a Sergeant Harrison: "I saw the ... light moving from the Northeast toward the range station.
These lights did not have the characteristics of shooting stars. There was no trails and seemed to go out rather than disappear, and traveled faster than any shooting star I have ever seen." The sightings continued throughout the mB J Booth)
See transcipt of article below
July 28, 1952
"Saucer" outran jet, pilot reveals
Investigation on in secret after chase over capital
Radar spot blips like aircraft for nearly six hours - only 1.700 feet up
By Paul Sampson, Post Reporter
Military secrecy veils an investigation of the mysterious, glowing aerial objects that showed up on radar screens in the Washington area Saturday night for the second consecutive week.
A jet pilot sent up by the Air Defense Command to investigate the objects reported he was unable to overtake the glowing lights moving near Andrews Air Force Base.
The CAA reported reported the objects traveled at "predominantly lower levels"-about 1700 feet. July 19.
Air Force spokesmen said yesterday only that an investigation was being made into the sighting of the objects on the radar screen in the CAA Air Route Traffic Control Center at Washington National Airport, and on two other radar screens . Methods of the investigations were classified as secret, a spoken said.
"We have no evidence they are flying saucers; conversely we have no evidence they are not flying saucers. We don't know what they are," a spokesman added.
The same source reported an expert from the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio, was here last week investigating the objects sighted July 19.
The expert has been identified as Capt. E. J. Ruppelt. Reached by telephone at his home in Dayton yesterday, Ruppelt said he could make no comment on his activity in Washington.
Capt. Ruppelt confirmed he was in Washington last week but said he had not come here to investigate the mysterious objects. He recalled he did make an investigation after hearing of the objects, but could not say what he investigated.
Another Air Force spokesman said here yesterday the Air Force is taking all steps necessary to evaluate the sightings. "The intelligence people," this spokesman explained, "sent someone over to the control center at the time of the sightings and did whatever necessary to make the proper evaluation.
Asked whether the radar equipment might have been mis-functioning, the spokesman said, "radar, like the compass is not a perfect instrument and is subject to error." He thought, however, the investigation would be made by persons acquainted with the problems of radar.
Two other radar screens in the area picked up the objects.An employee of the National Airport control tower said the radar scope there picked up very weak "blips" of the objects. The tower radar's for "short range" and is not so powerful as that at the center. Radar at Andrews Air Force Base also registered the objects from about seven miles south of the base.
A traffic control center spokesman said the nature of the signals on the radar screen ruled out any possibility they were from clouds or any other "weather" disturbance.
"The returns we received from the unidentified objects were similar and analagous to targets representing aircraft in flight," he said.
The objects, "flying saucer or what have you, appeared on the radar scope at the airport center at 9:08 PM. Varying from 4 to 12 in number,the objects appeared on the screen until 3:00 AM., when they diappeared.
At 11:25 PM., two F-94 jet fighters fro Air Defense Command squadron, at New CAstle Delaware, capable of 600 hundred mph speeds, took off to investigate the objects.
Airline, civil and military pilots described the objects as looking like the lit end of a cigarette or a cluster of orange and red lights.
One jet pilot observed 4 lights in the vicinity of Andrews Air Force Base, but was not able to over-take them, and they disappeared in about two minutes.
The same pilot observed a steady white light in the vicinity of Mt Vernon at 11:49 PM. The light, about 5 miles from him, faded in a minute. The lights were also observed in the Beltsville, MD., vicinity. At 1:40 AM two-other F-94 jet fighters took off and scanned the area until 2:20 AM., but did not make any sightings.
Visible two days
Although "unidentified objects" have been picked up on radar before, the incidents of the last two saturdays are believed to be the first time the objects have been picked up on radar-while visible to the human eye.
Besides the pilots, who last saturday saw the lights, a woman living on Mississippi Ave., told the Post she saw a very "bright light streaking across the sky towards Andrews Air Force Base about 11:45 PM. Then a second object with a tail like a comet whizzed by, and a few seconds later, a third passed in a different direction toward Suntland, she said.
Radar operators plotted the speed of "saturday night's visitors" at from 38 to 90 mph, but one jet pilot reported faster speeds for the light he saw.
The jet pilot reported he had no apparent "closing speed" when he attempted to reach the lights he saw near Andrews Air Force Base. That means the lights were moving atleast as fast as his top speed-a maximum of 600 mph.
One person who saw the lights when they first appeared in this area did not see them last night. He is E.W. Chambers, an engineer at Radio Station WRC, who spotted the lights while working early the morning of July 20 at station's Hyattsville tower.
Chamber's said he was sorry he had seen the lights because he had been skeptical about "flying saucers" before. Now he said, he sort of "wonders" and worrys about the whole thing.
Leon Davidson, 804 South Irving St. Arlington, a chemical engineer who made an exhaustive study of "flying saucers" as a hobby, said yesterday reports of saucers in the East, have been relatively rare.
Davidson has studied the official report on the saucers, including some of the secret portions never made public, and analyzed all the data in the report.
Davidson, whose study of saucers is impressively detailed and scientific, said he believes the lights are American "aviation products"-probably "circular flying wings," using new type jet engines that permit rapid acceleration and relatively low speeds. He believes, they are either "new fighter," guided missiles, or piloted guided missiles.
He cited some of the recent jet fighters, including the Navy's new "F-4-D, which has a radical "bat-wing," as examples of what the objects might resemble.
Davidson thinks the fact that the lights have been seen in this area indicates the authorities may be ready to disclose the "new aircraft" in the near future. Previously, most of the "verified saucers" have been seen over sparsely inhabited areas, Davidson explained, and now, when they appear here, it may indicate that "secrecy" is not so important any more.
B J Booth
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
UFO Hunters S02E01 - Invasion Illinois (FULL) (Great Analysis at the End)
Louis Sheehan
Louis J. Sheehan
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Stanton Friedman is Real
http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/stanton-friedman-is-real/EzEUDnEscxCRmJkY-GCnVg
Air Force - Physics - http://www.cufon.org/cufon/afu.htm
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/afu.htm
INTRODUCTORY SPACE SCIENCE - VOLUME II
CHAPTER XXXIII
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS - USAF
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
It has been known for some time that during the late 1960's and early 1970's the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs had some material on UFOs in its curriculum. The chapter of the textbook "Introductory Space Science" for the class Physics 370 has been posted on CUFONSM for quite a while. This file contains expanded coverage, including a newspaper article from the "Lemoore Advance, A letter of reply from the A.F. Academy transmitting copies of the two versions of Chapter 33, Chapter 33 as it was in use from 1968 - 1970, and the revised Chapter 33 placed in use for the Fall Quarter, 1970. (Posted 14 MAY 1992) -- Jim Klotz, CUFONSM SYSOP
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from the Lemoore, CA Advance, October 8, 1970
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AIR ACADEMY TEXT BOOK URGES MORE STUDY OF UFO SIGHTINGS
by TED HUBBARD
Students at the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs are being taught to stop scoffing at the mention of UFO's or "flying saucers" and to keep an open mind on the subject.
This was made clear last Thursday in an interview given by Major Stewart Kilpatrick, deputy Director of Public Information of the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, to the Lemoore Advance in a lengthy and exclusive phone interview.
The "National Enquirer," a country-wide journal, which claims the "largest circulation of any weekly paper in America," headlined this following statement, "Air Force Academy Textbook Warns Cadets That UFO's May Be Spacecraft Operated by Aliens From Other Worlds," in its Oct. 11 issue. "Because so many of our readers are interested personally in aircraft, The Advance sought to verify what appeared to be exaggerated claims and somewhat on the unbelievable side. This despite the reported sightings of some strange craft over Lemoore by several witnesses a few weeks ago.
Major Kilpatrick, as second ranking officer in public affairs at the Air Academy, is in a position to speak authoritatively for the Air Force. He admitted at once that Plebes are taught from a text entitled "Introductory Space Science, Volume II" and an entire Chapter 33 deals entirely with UFO considerations. He quoted from page 455, that "50,000 virtually reliable people have reported sighting unidentified flying objects."
"This leads us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet," the 14-page chapter continues, "or at least alien controlled UFO's."
According to the Academy text book: "If such beings are visiting the earth, two questions arise: (1) Why haven't they attempted to contact us officially, and (2) Why haven't there been accidents which would have revealed their presence?
"Why no contact? That question is very easy to answer in any of several ways: (1) We may be the object of intensive sociological and psychological study. In such studies you usually avoid disturbing the test subjects' environment. (2) You do not contact a colony of ants - and humans may seem that way any aliens (variation: a zoo is fun to visit, but you don't `contact' the lizards). (3) Such contact may have already taken place secretly, and may have taken piece on a different plane of awareness - and we are not yet sensitive to communications on such a plane."
In releasing this interview in The Lemoore Advance we are well aware that many readers will certainly "raise an eyebrow or two." But Major Kilpatrick insisted the above chapter in the text is not a fairy story. At the end he seemed to go along with the recommendations of the physics text book which advises Air Force officers as follows: "The best thing to do is to keep an open and skeptical mind - and not take an extreme position on any side of the question."
"Introductory Space Science" closes the chapter with the wish expressed that renewed extensive investigation be given to the possibility of UFO's. This will require expenditure of a considerable sum of government funds, it explained, and in the present public attitude of scorn and ridicule whenever "UFO's" are mentioned, such possibility seems almost hopeless the chapter laments. As most people know, the Dr. Eugene U. Condon investigation was closed down by the Pentagon and no present official scientific investigation is now operating in this field. In 1966 we talked with six different Air Force pilots at Travis Air Force Base, who claimed to have seen UFO's but stated they did not dare report them for fear of extreme ridicule. At least in 1970 this Air Force attitude seems to have changed as indicated by Major Kilpatrick interview with The Advance. Lemoore's representative at the Colorado Springs Academy is Steve (Moon) Mullens, former basketball star on the Tiger team, and alumnus of Lemoore High. We are asking him his opinion of his science text's presentation of the so called UFO's.
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DEPARTMENT Of THE AIR FORCE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
USAF ACADEMY, COLORADO 80840
REPLY TO ATTN OF: OI 4 NOV 1970
In reference to your recent inquiry to the Air Force Academy concerning Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO's), the following facts are provided for your information.
The subject of UFO's is examined briefly at the end of an Academy elective course, Physics 370, which usually attracts approximately 20 students per semester. The UFO subject falls under the course objective of discussing all observable or reported physical phenomena occurring from the surface of the sun to the surface of the planets.
When the UFO subject was first included in the course, the subject served, from an academic point of view, to illustrate that when contradictory data are available, the best course is to keep an open mind and search for further data. The subject remains an excellent vehicle to discuss the implications and applications of many basic physical laws to "observed" phenomena.
The source of recent news media stories concerning the study of UFO's at the Air Force Academy was an out-of-date chapter in the course text entitled "Introductory Space Science", a two-volume, 470-page unpublished work printed in a spiral notebook by the Academy for classroom use. The last chapter in the second volume was a 14-page chapter entitled "Unidentified Flying Objects".
When this chapter was written and printed in 1968, the Air Force was still collecting reports of UFO sightings under Project Blue Book and sponsoring the investigation of UFO's by Dr. E. U. Condon of the University of Colorado.
The Condon report was completed in early 1969 with the general conclusion that nothing has come from the study of UFO's in the past two decades that has added to scientific knowledge and that further extensive study of UFO's probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced.
"MAN'S FLIGHT THROUGH LIFE IS SUSTAINED BY THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE"
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Based on the conclusions of the Condon report and its own twenty-year UFO experience, the Air Force terminated Project Blue Book in December 1969 with this final statement, "As a result of investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' are extraterrestrial vehicles."
In light of these developments, the in-class content of the course was changed to present orally the conclusions of the Condon report and the reasons why the Air Force cancelled Project Blue Book. It was considered uneconomical to reprint the entire second volume for such a limited number of students until the fall of 1970.
Beginning with the 1970 fall semester, a revised updated chapter entitled 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" has been substituted for the old chapter so that the text now follows the oral in-class presentation on this subject.
For your further information we are enclosing a copy of (1) the old Chapter 33, which is no longer being used and (2) a copy of the new, current Chapter 33 now being used by students of Physics 370 beginning with this fall 1970 semester,
I hope this letter clarifies your questions concerning the study and treatment of UFO's at the Air Force Academy,
Sincerely
/s/ James F Sunderman
James F Sunderman, Colonel, USAF 2 Atchs
Director of Information 1. Old Chapter 33
2. Updated Chapter 33
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(Chapter 33 of "Introductory Space Science" Physics 370 1968 - 1970
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INTRODUCTORY SPACE SCIENCE - VOLUME II
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS - USAF
Edited by: Major Donald G. Carpenter
Co-Editor: Lt. Colonel Edward R. Therkelson
CHAPTER XXXIII
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
What is an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)? Well, according to United States Air Force Regulation 80-17 (dated 19 September 1966), a UFO is "Any aerial Phenomenon or object which is unknown or appears to be out of the ordinary to the observer." This is a very broad definition which applies equally well to one individual seeing his first noctilucent cloud at twilight as it does to another individual seeing his first helicopter. However, at present most people consider the term UFO to mean an object which behaves in a strange or erratic manner while moving through the Earth's atmosphere. That strange phenomenon has evoked strong emotions and great curiosity among a large segment of our world's population. The average person is interested because he loves a mystery, the professional military man is involved because of the possible threat to national security, and some scientists are interested because of the basic curiosity that led them into becoming researchers.
The literature on UFO's is so vast, and the stories so many and varied, that we can only present a sketchy outline of the subject in this chapter. That outline includes description classifications, operational domains (temporal and spatial), some theories as to the nature of the UFO phenomenon, human reactions, attempts to attack the problem scientifically, and some tentative conclusions. If you wish to read further in this area, the references provide an excellent starting point.
33.1 DESCRIPTORS
One of the greatest problems you encounter when attempting to catalog UFO sightings, is selection of a system for cataloging. No effective system has yet been devised, although a number of different systems have been proposed. The net result is that almost all UFO data are either treated in the form of individual cases, or in the forms of inadequate classification systems. However, these systems do tend to have some common factors, and a collection of these factors is as follows:
a. Size
b. Shape (disc, ellipse, football, etc.)
c. Luminosity
d. Color
e. Number of UFO's
Behavior:
a. Location (altitude, direction, etc.)
b. Patterns of paths (straight line, climbing, zig-zagging, etc.)
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c. Flight Characteristics (wobbling, fluttering, etc.)
d. Periodicity of sightings
e. Time duration
f. Curiosity or inquisitiveness
g. Avoidance
h. Hostility
Associated Effects:
a. Electro-Magnetic (compass, radio, ignition systems, etc.)
b. Radiation (burns, induced radioactivity, etc.)
c. Ground disturbance (dust stirred up, leaves moved, standing wave
d. Sound (none, hissing, humming, roaring, thunderclaps, etc.)
e. Vibration (weak, strong, slow, fast)
f. Smell (ozone or other odor)
g. Flame (how much, where, when, color)
h. Smoke or cloud (amount, color, persistence)
i. Debris (type, amount, color, persistence)
j. Inhibition of voluntary movement by observers
k. Sighting of "creatures" or "beings"
After Effects:
a. Burned areas or animals
b. Depressed or flattened areas
c. Dead or missing animals
d. Mentally disturbed people
e. Missing items
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We make no attempt here to present available data in terms of the foregoing descriptors.
33.2 OPERATIONAL DOMAINS - TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL
What we will do here is to present evidence that UFO's are a global phenomenon which may have persisted for many thousands of years. During this discussion, please remember that the more ancient the reports the less sophisticated the observer. Not only were the ancient observers lacking the terminology necessary to describe complex devices (such as present day helicopters) but they were also lacking the concepts necessary to understand the true nature of such things as television, spaceships, rockets, nuclear weapons and radiation effects. To some, the most advanced technological concept was a war chariot with knife blades attached to the wheels. By the same token, the very lack of accurate terminology and descriptions leaves the more ancient reports open to considerable misinterpretation, and it may well be that present evaluations of individual reports are completely wrong. Nevertheless, let us start with an intriguing story in one of the oldest chronicles of India...the Book of Dzyan.
The book is a group of "story-teller" legends which were finally gathered in manuscript form when man learned to write. One of the stories is of a small group of beings who supposedly came to Earth many thousands of years ago in a metal craft which orbited the Earth several times before landing. As told in the Book "These beings lived to themselves and were revered by the humans among whom they had settled. But eventually differences arose among them and they divided their numbers, several of the men and women and some children settled in another city, where they were promptly installed as rulers by the awe-stricken populace.
"Separation did not bring peace to these people and finally their anger reached a point where the ruler of the original city took with him a small number of his warriors and they rose into the air in a huge shining metal vessel. While they were many leagues from the city of their enemies, they launched a great shining lance that rode on a beam of light. It burst apart in the city of their enemies with a great ball of flame that shot up to the heavens, almost to the stars. All those who were in the city were horribly burned and even those who were not in the city - but nearby - were burned also. Those who looked upon the lance and the ball of fire were blinded forever afterward. Those who entered the city on foot became ill and died. Even the dust of the city was poisoned, as were the rivers that flowed through it. Men dared not go near it, and it gradually crumbled into dust and was forgotten by men."
"When the leader saw what he had done to his own people he retired to his palace and refused to see anyone. Then he gathered about him those warriors who remained, and their wives and children, and they entered their vessels and rose one by one into the sky and sailed away. Nor did they return."
Could this foregoing legend really be an account of an extraterrestrial colonization, complete with guided missile, nuclear warhead and radiation effects? It is difficult to assess the validity of that explanation... just as it is difficult to explain why
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Greek, Roman and Nordic Mythology all discuss wars and contacts among their "Gods." (Even the Bible records conflict between the legions of God and Satan.) Could it be that each group recorded their parochial view of what was actually a global conflict among alien colonists or visitors? Or is it that man has led such a violent existence that he tends to expect conflict and violence among even his gods?
Evidence of perhaps an even earlier possible contact was uncovered by Tschi Pen Lao of the University of Peking. He discovered astonishing carvings in granite on a mountain in Hunan Province and on an island in Lake Tungting. These carvings have been evaluated as 47,000 years old, and they show people with large trunks (breathing apparatus?...or "elephant" heads shown on human bodies? Remember, the Egyptians often represented their gods as animal heads on human bodies.)
Only 8,000 years ago, rocks were sculpted in the Tassili plateau of Sahara, depicting what appeared to be human beings but with strange round heads (helmets? or "sun" heads on human bodies?) And even more recently, in the Bible, Genesis (6:4) tells of angels from the sky mating with women of Earth, who bore them children. Genesis 19:3 tells of Lot meeting two angels in the desert and his later feeding them at his house. The Bible also tells a rather unusual story of Ezekiel who witnessed what has been interpreted by some to have been a spacecraft or aircraft landing near the Chebar River in Chaldea (593 B.C.).
Even the Irish have recorded strange visitations. In the Speculum Regali in Konungs Skuggsa (and other accounts of the era about 956 A.D.) are numerous stories of "demonships" in the skies. In one case a rope from one such ship became entangled with part of a church. A man from the ship climbed down the rope to free it, but was seized by the townspeople. The bishop made the people release the man, who climbed back to the ship, where the crew cut the rope and the ship rose and sailed out of sight. In all of his actions, the climbing man appeared as if he were swimming in water. Stories such as this makes one wonder if the legends of the "little people" of Ireland were based upon imagination alone.
About the same time, in Lyons (France) three men and a women supposedly descended from an airship or spaceship and were captured by a mob. These foreigners admitted to being wizards, and were killed. (No mention is made of the methods employed to extract the admissions.) Many documented UFO sightings occurred throughout the Middle Ages, including an especially startling one of a UFO over London on 16 December 1742. However, we do not have room to include any more of the Middle Ages sightings. Instead, two "more-recent" sightings are contained in this section to bring us up to modern times.
In a sworn statement dated 21 April 1897, a prosperous and prominent farmer named Alexander Hamilton (Le Roy, Kansas, U.S.A.) told of an attack upon his cattle at about 10:30 p.m. the previous Monday. He, his son, and his tenant grabbed axes and ran some 700 feet from the house to the cow lot where a great cigar-shaped ship about 300 feet long floated some 30 feet above the cattle. It had a carriage underneath which was brightly lighted within (dirigible and gondola?) and which had numerous windows. Inside were six strange looking beings jabbering in a foreign
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language. These beings suddenly became aware of Hamilton and the others. They immediately turned a searchlight on the farmer, and also turned on some power which sped up a turbine wheel (about 30 ft. diameter) located under the craft. The ship rose, taking with it a two-year old heifer which was roped about the neck by a cable of one-half inch thick, red material. The next day a neighbor, Link Thomas, found the animal's hide, legs and head in his field. He was mystified at how the remains got to where they were because of the lack of tracks in the soft soil. Alexander Hamilton's sworn statement was accompanied by an affidavit as to his veracity. The affidavit was signed by ten of the local leading citizens.
On the evening of 4 November 1957 at Fort Itaipu, Brazil, two sentries noted a "new star" in the sky. The "star" grew in size and within seconds stopped over the fort. It drifted slowly downward, was as large as a big aircraft, and was surround by a strong orange glow. A distinct humming sound was heard, and then the heat struck. One sentry collapsed almost immediately, the other managed to slide to shelter under the heavy cannons where his loud cries awoke the garrison. While the troops were scrambling towards their battle stations, complete electrical failure occurred. There was panic until the lights came back on but a number of men still managed to see an orange glow leaving the area at high speed. Both sentries were found badly burned...one unconscious and the other incoherent, suffering from deep shock.
Thus, UFO sightings not only appear to extend back to 47,000 years through time but also are global in nature. One has the feeling that this phenomenon deserves some sort of valid scientific investigation, even if it is a low level effort.
33.3 SOME THEORIES AS TO THE NATURE OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
There are very few cohesive theories as to the nature of UFO's. Those theories that have been advanced can be collected in five groups:
a. Mysticism
b. Hoaxes, and rantings due to unstable personalities
c. Secret Weapons
d. Natural Phenomena
e. Alien visitors
Mysticism
It is believed by some cults that the mission of UFO's and their crews is a spiritual one, and that all materialistic efforts to determine the UFO's nature are doomed to failure.
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Hoaxes and Rantings due to Unstable Personalities
Some have suggested that all UFO reports were the results of pranks and hoaxes, or were made by people with unstable personalities. This attitude was particularly prevalent during the time period when the Air Force investigation was being operated under the code name of Project Grudge. A few airlines even went as far as to ground every pilot who reported seeing a "flying saucer." The only way for the pilot to regain flight status was to undergo a psychiatric examination. There was a noticeable decline in pilot reports during this time interval, and a few interpreted this decline to prove that UFO's were either hoaxes or the result of unstable personalities. It is of interest that NICAP (The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena) even today still receives reports from commercial pilots who neglect to notify either the Air Force or their own airline.
There are a number of cases which indicate that not all reports fall in the hoax category. We will examine one such case now. It is the Socorro, New Mexico sighting made by police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora. Sergeant Zamora was patrolling the streets of Socorro on 24 April 1964 when he saw a shiny object drift down into an area of gullies on the edge of town. He also heard a loud roaring noise which sounded as if an old dynamite shed located out that way had exploded. He immediately radioed police headquarters, and drove out toward the shed. Zamora was forced to stop about 150 yards away from a deep gully in which there appeared to be an overturned car. He radioed that he was investigating a possible wreck, and then worked his car up onto the mesa and over toward the edge of the gully. He parked short, and when he walked the final few feet to the edge, he was amazed to see that it was not a car but instead was a weird eggshaped object about fifteen feet long, white in color and resting on short, metal legs. Beside it, unaware of his presence were two humanoids dressed in silvery coveralls. They seemed to be working on a portion of the underside of the object. Zamora was still standing there, surprised, when they suddenly noticed him and dove out of sight around the object. Zamora also headed the other way, back toward his car. He glanced back at the object just as a bright blue flame shot down from the underside. Within seconds the eggshaped thing rose out of the gully with "an ear-splitting roar." The object was out of sight over the nearby mountains almost immediately, and Sergeant Zamora was moving the opposite direction almost as fast when he met Sergeant Sam Chavez who was responding to Zamora's earlier radio calls. Together they investigated the gully and found the bushes charred and still smoking where the blue flame had jetted down on them. About the charred area were four deep marks where the metal legs had been. Each mark was three and one half inches deep, and was circular in shape. The sand in the gully was very hard packed so no sign of the humanoids' footprints could be found. An official investigation was launched that same day, and all data obtained supported the stories of Zamora and Chavez. It is rather difficult to label this episode a hoax, and it is also doubtful that both Zamora and Chavez shared portions of the same hallucination.
Secret Weapons
A few individuals have proposed that UFO's are actually advanced weapon systems, and that their natures must not be revealed. Very few people accept this as a credible suggestion.
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Natural Phenomena
It has also been suggested that at least some, and possibly all, of the UFO cases were just misinterpreted manifestations of natural phenomena. Undoubtedly this suggestion has some merit. People have reported, as UFO's, objects which were conclusively proven to be balloons (weather and skyhook), the planet Venus, man-made artificial satellites, normal aircraft, unusual cloud formations, and lights from ceilometers (equipment projecting light beams on cloud bases to determine the height of the aircraft visual ceiling). It is also suspected that people have reported mirages, optical illusions, swamp gas and ball lightning (a poorly-understood discharge of electrical energy in a spheroidal or ellipsoidal shape...some charges have lasted for up to fifteen minutes but the ball is usually no bigger than a large orange.) But it is difficult to tell a swamp dweller that the strange, fast-moving light he saw in the sky was swamp gas; and it is just as difficult to tell a farmer that a bright UFO in the sky is the same ball lightning that he has seen rolling along his fence wires in dry weather. Thus accidental misidentification of what might well be natural phenomena breeds mistrust and disbelief; it leads to the hasty conclusion that the truth is deliberately not being told. One last suggestion of interest has been made, that the UFO's were plasmoids from space...concentrated blobs of solar wind that succeeded in reaching the surface of the Earth. Somehow this last suggestion does not seem to be very plausible; perhaps because it ignores such things as penetration of Earth's magnetic field.
Alien Visitors
The most stimulating theory for us is that the UFO's are material objects which are either "Manned" or remote-controlled by beings who are alien to this planet. There is some evidence supporting this viewpoint. In addition to police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora's experience, let us consider the case of Barney and Betty Hill. On a trip through New England they lost two hours on the night of 19 September 1961 without even realizing it. However, after that night both Barney and Betty began developing psychological problems which eventually grew sufficiently severe that they submitted themselves to psychiatric examination and treatment. During the course of treatment hypnotherapy was used, and it yielded remarkably detailed and similar stories from both Barney and Betty. Essentially they had been hypnotically kidnapped, taken aboard a UFO, submitted to two-hour physicals, and released with posthypnotic suggestions to forget the entire incident. The evidence is rather strong that this is what the Hills, even in their subconscious, believe happened to them. And it is of particular importance that after the "posthypnotic block" was removed, both of the Hills ceased having their psychological problems.
The Hill's description of the aliens was similar to descriptions provided in other cases, but this particular type of alien appears to be in the minority. The most commonly described alien is about three and one-half feet tall, has a round head (helmet?), arms reaching to or below his knees, and is wearing a silvery space suit or coveralls. Other aliens appear to be essentially the same as Earthmen, while still others have particularly wide (wrap around) eyes and mouths with very thin lips. And there is a rare group reported as about four feet tall, weight of around
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35 pounds, and covered with thick hair or fur (clothing?). Members of this last group are described as being extremely strong. If such beings are visiting Earth, two questions arise: 1) why haven't there been any accidents which have revealed their presence, and 2) why haven't they attempted to contact us officially? The answer to the first question may exist partially in Sergeant Lonnie Zamora's experience, and may exist partially in the Tunguska meteor discussed in Chapter XXIX. In that chapter it was suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually a comet which exploded in the atmosphere, the ices melted and the dust spread out. Hence, no debris! However, it has also been suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually an alien spacecraft that entered the atmosphere to rapidly, suffered mechanical failure, and lost its power supply and/or weapons in a nuclear explosion. While that hypothesis may seem far fetched, sample of tree rings from around the world reveal that, immediately after the Tunguska meteor explosion, the level of radioactivity in the world rose sharply for a short period of time. It is difficult to find a natural explanation for that increase in radioactivity, although the suggestion has been advanced that enough of the meteor's great kinetic energy was converted into heat (by atmospheric friction) that a fusion reaction occurred. This still leaves us with no answer to the second question: why no contact? That question is very easy to answer in several ways: 1) we may be the object of intensive sociological and psychological study. In such studies you usually avoid disturbing the test subjects' environment; 2) you do not "contact" a colony of ants, and humans may seem that way to any aliens (variation: a zoo is fun to visit, but you don't "contact" the lizards); 3) such contact may have already taken place secretly; and 4) such contact may have already taken place on a different plane of awareness and we are not yet sensitive to communications on such a plane. These are just a few of the reasons. You may add to the list as you desire.
33.4 HUMAN FEAR AND HOSTILITY
Besides the foregoing reasons, contacting humans is downright dangerous. Think about that for a moment! On the microscopic level our bodies reject and fight (through production antibodies) any alien material; this process helps us fight off disease but it also sometimes results in allergic reactions to innocuous materials. On the macroscopic (psychological and sociological) level we are antagonistic to beings that are "different". For proof of that, just watch how an odd child is treated by other children, or how a minority group is socially deprived, or how the Arabs feel about the Israelis (Chinese vs. Japanese, Turks vs. Greeks, etc.) In case you are hesitant to extend that concept to the treatment of aliens let me point out that in very ancient times, possible extraterrestrials may have been treated as Gods but in the last two thousand years, the evidence is that any possible aliens have been ripped apart by mobs, shot and shot at, physically assaulted, and in general treated with fear and aggression. In Ireland about 1,000 A.D., supposed airships were treated as "demon-ships." In Lyons, France, "admitted" space travelers were killed. More recently, on 24 July 1957 Russian anti-aircraft batteries on the Kouril Islands opened fire on UFO's. Although all Soviet anti-aircraft batteries on the Islands were in action, no hits were made. The UFO's were luminous and moved very fast. We too have fired on UFO's. About ten o'clock one morning, a radar site near a fighter base
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picked up a UFO doing 700 mph. The UFO then slowed to 100 mph, and two F-86's were scrambled to intercept. Eventually one F-86 closed on the UFO at about 3,000 feet altitude. The UFO began to accelerate away but the pilot still managed to get within 500 yards of the target for a short period of time. It was definitely saucer-shaped. As the pilot pushed the F-86 at top speed, the UFO began to pull away. When the range reached 1,000 yards, the pilot armed his guns and fired in an attempt to down the saucer. He failed, and the UFO pulled away rapidly, vanishing in the distance. This same basic situation may have happened on a more personal level. On Sunday evening 21 August 1955, eight adults and three children were on the Sutton Farm (one-half mile from Kelly, Kentucky) when, according to them, one of the children saw a brightly glowing UFO settle behind the barn, out of sight from where he stood. Other witnesses on nearby farms also saw the object. However, the Suttons dismissed it as a "shooting star," and did not investigate. Approximately thirty minutes later (at 8 p.m.), the family dogs began barking so two of the men went to the back door and looked out. Approximately 50 feet away and coming toward them was a creature wearing a glowing silvery suit. It was about three and one-half feet tall with a large round head and very long arms. It had large webbed hands which were equipped with claws. The two Suttons grabbed a twelve gauge shotgun and a 22 caliber pistol, and fired at close range. They could hear the pellets and bullet ricochet as if off of metal. The creature was knocked down, but jumped up and scrambled away. The Suttons retreated into the house, turned off all inside lights, and turned on the porch-light. At that moment, one of the women who was peeking out of the dining room window discovered that a creature with some sort of helmet and wide slit eyes was peeking back at her. She screamed, the men rushed in and started shooting. The creature was knocked backwards but again scrambled away without apparent harm. More shooting occurred (a total of about 50 rounds) over the next 20 minutes and the creatures finally left (perhaps feeling unwelcome?) After about a two hour wait (for safety), the Suttons left too. By the time the police got there, the aliens were gone but the Suttons would not move back to the farm. They sold it and departed. This reported incident does bear out the contention though that humans are dangerous. At no time in the story did the supposed aliens shoot back, although one is left with the impression that the described creatures were having fun scaring humans.
33.5 ATTEMPTS AT SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES
In any scientific endeavor, the first step is to acquire data, the second step to classify the data, and the third step to form hypothesis. The hypothesis are tested by repeating the entire process, with each cycle resulting in an increase in understanding (we hope). The UFO phenomenon does not yield readily to this approach because the data taken so far exhibits both excessive variety and vagueness. The vagueness is caused in part by the lack of preparation of the observer...very few people leave their house knowing that they are going to see a UFO that evening. Photographs are overexposed or underexposed, and rarely in color. Hardly anyone carries around a radiation counter or magnetometer. And, in addition to this, there is a very high level of "noise" in the data. The noise consists of mistaken reports of known natural phenomena, hoaxes, reports by unstable individuals and mistaken removal of data regarding possible unnatural or unknown natural phenomena (by
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<< Figure 33-1 appears here in original text >>
Figure 33-1. UFO: Distance of observer versus estimated diameter, for UFO's which are lower than tree height.
overzealous individuals who are trying to eliminate all data due to known natural phenomena). In addition, those data, which do appear to be valid, exhibit an excessive amount of variety relative to the statistical samples which are available. This has led to very clumsy classification systems, which in turn provide quite unfertile ground for formulation of hypothesis.
One hypothesis which looked promising for a time was that of ORTHOTENY (i.e., UFO sightings fall on "great circle" routes). At first, plots of sightings seemed to verify the concept of orthoteny but recent use of computers has revealed that even random numbers yield "great circle" plots as neatly as do UFO sightings.
There is one solid advance that has been made though. Jacques and Janine Vallee have taken a particular type of UFO - namely those that are lower than tree-top level when sighted - and plotted the UFO's estimated diameter versus the estimated distance from the observer. The result yields an average diameter of 5 meters with a very characteristic drop for short viewing distances, and rise for long viewing distances. This behavior at the extremes of the curve is well known to astronomers and psychologists as the "moon illusion." The illusion only occurs when the object being viewed is a real, physical object. Because this implies that the observers have viewed a real object, it permits us to accept also their statement that these particular UFO's had a rotational axis of symmetry.
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Another, less solid, advance made by the Vallee's was their plotting of the total number of sightings per week versus the date. They did this for the time span from 1947 to 1962, and then attempted to match the peaks of the curve (every 2 years 2 months) to the times of Earth-Mars conjunction (every 2 years 1.4 months). The match was very good between 1950 and 1956 but was poor outside those limits. Also, the peaks were not only at the times of Earth-Mars conjunction but also roughly at the first harmonic (very loosely, every 13 months). This raises the question why should UFO's only visit Earth when Mars is in conjunction and when it is on the opposite side of the sun. Obviously, the conjunction periodicity of Mars is not the final answer. As it happens, there is an interesting possibility to consider. Suppose Jupiter's conjunctions were used; they are every 13.1 months. That would satisfy the observed periods nicely, except for every even data peak being of different magnitude from every odd data peak. Perhaps a combination of Martian, Jovian, and Saturnian (and even other planetary) conjunctions will be necessary to match the frequency plot... if it can be matched (Figure 33-2).
<< Figure 33-2 appears here in original text >>
Figure 33-2. Cycles of activity, mathematically corrected for long term "Strong Trends". which are lower than tree height.
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Further data correlation is quite difficult. There are a large number of different saucer shapes but this may mean little. For example, look at the number of different types of aircraft which are in use in the U.S. Air Force alone.
It is obvious that intensive scientific study is needed in this area; no such study has yet been undertaken at the necessary levels of intensity and support. One thing that must be guarded against in any such study is the trap of implicitly assuming that our knowledge of Physics (or any other branch of science) is complete. An example of one such trap is selecting a group of physical laws which we now accept as valid, and assume that they will never be superseded. Five such laws might be:
1) Every action must have an opposite and equal reaction.
2) Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of the masses and inversely as the square of the distance.
3) Energy, mass and momentum are conserved.
4) No material body can have a speed as great as c, the speed of light in free space.
5) The maximum energy, E, which can be obtained from a body at rest is E=mc2, where m is the rest mass of the body.
Laws numbered 1 and 3 seem fairly safe, but let us hesitate and take another look. Actually, law number 3 is only valid (now) from a relativistic viewpoint; and for that matter so are laws 4 and 5. But relativity completely revised these physical concepts after 1915, before then Newtonian mechanics were supreme. We should also note that general relativity has not yet been verified. Thus we have the peculiar situation of five laws which appear to deny the possibility of intelligent alien control of UFO's, yet three of the laws are recent in concept and may not even be valid. Also, law number 2 has not yet been tested under conditions of large relative speeds or accelerations. We should not deny the possibility of alien control of UFO's on the basis of preconceived notions not established as related or relevant to the UFO's.
33.6 CONCLUSION
From available information, the UFO phenomenon appears to have been global in nature for almost 50,000 years. The majority of known witnesses have been reliable people who have seen easily-explained natural phenomena, and there appears to be no overall positive correlation with population density. The entire phenomenon could be psychological in nature but that is quite doubtful. However, psychological factors probably do enter the data picture as "noise." The phenomenon could also be entirely due to known and unknown phenomena (with some psychological "noise" added in) but that too is questionable in view of some of the available data.
This leaves us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet, or at least of alien controlled UFO's. However, the data are not well correlated, and
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what questionable data there are suggest the existence of at least three and maybe four different groups of aliens (possibly at different stages of development). This too is difficult to accept. It implies the existence of intelligent life on a majority of the planets in our solar system, or a surprisingly strong interest in Earth by members of other solar systems.
A solution to the UFO problem may be obtained by the long and diligent effort of a large group of well financed and competent scientists, unfortunately there is no evidence suggesting that such an effort is going to be made. However, even if such an effort were made, there is no guarantee of success because of the isolated and sporadic nature of the sightings. Also, there may be nothing to find, and that would mean a long search with no proof at the end. The best thing to do is to keep an open and skeptical mind, and not take an extreme position on any side of the question.
REFERENCES
33-1. Davison, L. Flying saucers: AN Analysis of the Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14. (Third Edition) Ramsey, New Jersey: Ramsey-Wallace Corp., July 1966
33-2. Edwards, F. Flying Saucers - Serious Business. New York: Bantam Press, 1966
33-3. Fuller, J. "Flying Saucer Fiasco" Look. 14 May 1968, 58.
33-4. ______. The Interrupted Journey, New York: Dial Press, 1966.
33-5. Hall, R. (editor). The UFO Evidence. Washington, D.C.: National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, May, 1964.
33-6. Jung, C. Flying Saucers; A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. Translated by R.F. Hull. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1959.
33-7. Kehoe, D. The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1955.
33-8. ____. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1960.
33-9. Lorenzen, C. The Great Flying Saucer Hoax. New York: William Frederick Press, 1962.
33-10. Markowitz, W. "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Objects," Science. 15 September 1967, 1274.
33-11. Menzel, D. and L. Boyd. The World of Flying Saucers: A Scientific Examination of a Major Myth of the Space Age. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963.
33-12. Michel, A. Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery. New York: Criterion Books, 1958.
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33-13. Ruppelt, E. The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1956.
33-14. Tacker, L. Flying Saucers and the U.S. Air Force. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand, 1960.
33-15. Terry, D. "No Swamp Gas for Him, Thank You," St. Louis Dispatch, 2 June 1966, 4F.
33-16. Vallee, J. Anatomy of a Phenomenon: Unidentified Objects in Space - A Scientific Appraisal. Chicago: Henry Regenry, 1965.
33-17. Vallee, J. and J. Vallee. Flying Saucers a Challenge to Science. New York: Henry Regenry, 1966.
33-18. Whitney, D. Flying Saucers. New York: Cowles Communications, 1967.
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(Chapter 33 of "Introductory Space Science" Physics 370
Fall Quarter 1970)
33.1 Introduction
In this text, an attempt has been made to discuss all observable phenomena from the surface of the sun to the surface of the planets, particularly the planet Earth. It must be admitted, however, that some phenomena have been overlooked and that others are not presently explainable. In this latter category we find "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."
This is a very broad, all-inclusive subject since the "unidentified" depends on the experience and education of the observer--to an aborigine, an airplane may be "unidentified" while to the meteorologist even such rare phenomena as noctilucent clouds and ball lightning may be "identifiable." Thus sightings of "unidentified aerial phenomena" must be reported completely and investigated carefully to determine if they are indeed "unidentifiable." There have been thousands of reports of "unidentified aerial phenomena" in the past quarter century and a number of these reports are still listed as "unidentifiable." This may be due to poor reporting, incomplete investigation, or to deficiencies in our understanding of the atmosphere and the universe at large. The possibility that our scientific knowledge could be increased by study of these phenomena has led several organizations to explore the subject further.
The popular literature uses the more restrictive term "Unidentified Flying Objects" instead of the general "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." Although there is insufficient evidence that the phenomena are real physical "objects" or indeed that they are "flying", we will adopt the popular terminology to avoid confusion. Consequently we will define an "Unidentified Flying Object" (UFO) as any reported aerial phenomenon or object which is unknown or appears out of the ordinary to the observer.
While there are purported UFO reports dating from ancient times, the subject of UFOs really was thrust upon the American public shortly after World War II when Kenneth Arnold on 24 June 1947 reported seeing nine "saucer like" objects near Mount Rainier. This was the first in a series of UFO reports which has continued to the present. The newly organized U.S. Air Force was assigned the mission of determining if the UFOs represented a threat to the national security. The investigation was conducted under Project Sign, later Project Grudge, and finally Project Blue Book which ended on 17 December 1969.
Because of a rash of UFO reports in 1952 and fears that military communications channels could be clogged by enemy instigated UFO reports, a special scientific panel chaired by the late Dr. H, P. Robertson was established under government sponsorship in January 1953 to study the UFO problem. The panel concluded that there was no evidence in the available data that UFOs were a threat to national security. These scientists recommended that a campaign be conducted to produce better public understanding of the situation and also to remove the aura of mystery surrounding the subject. This latter goal has not yet been completely achieved.
FALL SEMESTER 1970
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After this, Project Blue Book continued to receive and evaluate UFO reports, but the conclusions reached were not always accepted by "UFO-logists" and the general public. The Air Force was often accused of trying to cover up the UFO problem and of withholding information allegedly indicating that UFOs are extraterrestrial. Consequently, a panel headed by Dr. Brian O'Brien was empowered to review Project Blue Book in 1966. While this commission reaffirmed that there was no apparent security threat posed by the existence of unexplained UFO reports, it suggested that a detailed study of some of the reports might produce something of scientific value. The commission recommended that a few selected universities be engaged to provide scientific teams for prompt investigation of selected UFO sightings. Consequently, in 1966, the U.S. Air Force sponsored a $500,000 investigation led by Dr. Edward U. Condon of the University of Colorado to make a scientific investigation of UFOs, not necessarily to identify UFOs but only to determine if there is scientific merit in the study of them.
33.2 Hypotheses to Explain UFOs
In any scientific investigation, we establish an hypothesis or hypotheses, collect data, analyze the data in light of our hypotheses and then refute or confirm our hypotheses or conclude that we have insufficient data to do either.
Approximately 6% of the UFO reports collected by Project Blue Book are officially listed as "unexplained." If we propose to "explain" these remaining cases we must first set up a list of possible explanations. There is always the danger in this procedure that the true explanation for a particular event is not contained in the given set of a priori hypo-theses. With this note of caution before us, we adopt a set of hypotheses proposed by Dr. James McDonald of the University of Arizona:
1. Hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds.
2. Hallucinations, mass hysteria, rumor phenomena.
3. Advanced terrestrial technologies.
4. Lay misinterpretations of well understood physical phenomena.
5. Poorly understood physical phenomena.
6. Poorly understood psychological phenomena.
7. Extraterrestrial visitation.
8. Messengers of salvation and occult truth.
Let us examine each of these in light of the data collected over the past twenty-plus years.
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1. Hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds. There is no question that some UFO reports are hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds perpetrated by persons playing pranks with candles in plastic cleaning bags, persons faking photographs, persons seeking notoriety or recognition, and practical jokers. The UFO literature is replete with examples of all types. However, confirmed hoaxes are only a small percentage of the total number of UFO reports. Most reports are by reliable witnesses and show no evidence of fabrication or fraud.
2. Hallucinations, mass hysteria, rumor phenomena. There is evidence that UFO reports occur in waves and that a rash of sightings in a localized area may be due to increased public sensitivity to an initial report. Some reports received at these times may indeed be inspired by the increased attention to UFOs and not true sightings at all. However, the large number of multi-observer reports from independent observers, and reports from military personnel, airline pilots, policemen, scientists and other qualified witnesses makes it unlikely that many UFO reports are the results of hallucinations, mass hysteria, and rumor phenomena. Psychologists and sociologists are unable to estimate what portion of UFO reports may be due to such causes but analysis of the credentials of witnesses in most reports would indicate that the number must be small.
3. Advanced terrestrial technologies (e.g. test vehicles, satellites, reentry phenomena, secret weapons). The noted space scientist Arthur C. Clarke has observed that any sufficiently advanced technology will appear indistinguishable from magic. Thus advanced terrestrial technologies are certainly the cause of some reports. The reported characteristics of UFOs do not appear to have changed markedly over the years while man has made great technological progress. Thus while some current UFO reports may be attributable to space vehicle reentries or satellite launches, the reports in the forties and early fifties cannot be attributed to these causes. Similarly, advanced weapon systems in the development and test stages (secret weapons) now would give rise to a different type of UFO report from those of earlier eras. The variety and world-wide distribution of UFO reports make it unlikely that the reports are due to sightings of products of an advanced terrestrial technology.
4. Lay misinterpretations of well-understood physical phenomena (e.g. meteorological, astronomical, optical). From our definition of UFOs it is obvious that a large number of reports will fall in this category. Misidentification of aircraft landing lights, blinking and flashing lights during aerial refueling operations, weather balloons, meteors, movements of the planets Venus and Jupiter, searchlight reflections on low cloud ceilings and lens flares in photographs are a few possibilities. The reader can undoubtedly suggest others and find still more in the UFO literature. In his
article, "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Object Dr. William Markowitz discusses the UFO problem in light of the currently accepted physical laws. In particular, he considers the following five basic laws:
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a. Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction.
b, Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them.
c. Momentum and mass-energy are conserved.
d. No material body can travel at c, the speed of light in free space.
e. The maximum energy which can be obtained from a body at rest is governed by Einstein's famous equation, E = mc2
To date these laws have enabled physicists to predict and control many phenomena for practical purposes. They can also be valuable in analyzing UFO reports. The details in most UFO reports do not cause any conflict with these laws and lead us to conclude that UFOs may well just be misidentified ordinary phenomena. However, some reports seem at variance with one or more of these laws, leading us to question either the reliability of the UFO reports or the reliability of our physical laws. Since our physical laws are more firmly established both in theory and by experiment, the validity of the physical law is usually a more acceptable alternative to the scientist. We must realize, however, that any physical law may be subject to change with the discovery of new evidence.
5. Poorly understood physical phenomena (e.g. rare atmospheric electrical effects, cloud phenomena, plasmas of natural or technological origin). Attempting to explain UFO reports by some poorly understood phenomenon is risky at best, and probably is impossible until the phenomenon is better understood. Lenticular clouds as explanations for certain UFO reports may be on firm grounds, but attempts to explain UFOs in terms of mirages, ball lightning (a sphere-shaped plasma blob usually associated with electrical storms) , atmospheric inversion layers, or anomalous propagation of radar signals are much less tenable. Some UFO reports may be explainable by these phenomena, but it is impossible to make positive identifications based on our present limited understanding of the phenomena. Consequently, all such explanations should be considered only tentative. There may be still other atmospheric phenomena which are observed so rarely that they remain uninvestigated and unnamed.
6. Poorly understood psychological phenomena. Psychologists are the first to admit that there are many aspects of psychic phenomena that have not been adequately explored. Few data are available to determine how these phenomena may relate to the UFO problem, but we must at least allow for the possibility that there may be some effects.
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7. Extraterrestrial visitation. Dr. Condon states in the summary of Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects that convincing and unequivocal evidence of extraterrestrial visitation would be the greatest single scientific discovery in the history of mankind. While this may be a slight exaggeration, it at least points out why this hypothesis adds so much excitement and controversy to the UFO problem. Despite numerous UFO reports concerning purported space vehicles and alien visitors, there remains doubt as to the veracity of these reports. Such reports do, however, contain a number of strange elements that are verifiable. One would prefer hard evidence in the form of a tail fin, a jettisoned propulsion unit, a crashed UFO, several good photographs, etc. Such physical evidence does not seem to exist, despite stories to the contrary. Several scientists have concluded that the priori probability of extraterrestrial visitation appears to be exceedingly low in terms of present scientific knowledge. Although no conclusive proof as to the validity of this hypothesis can be drawn from the evidence at hand, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that on the basis of present knowledge, the least Likely explanation of UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings.
8. Messengers of salvation and occult truth. Certain cults have adopted the belief that the mission of UFOs is spiritual and that all Physical efforts to determine the nature of UFOs must necessarily fail. While such may be the case, evidence to support it is clearly lacking. Further discussion of this hypothesis is beyond the scope of this text.
33.3 Conclusion
Having presented the arguments for each of the hypotheses, possible conclusions are now considered. It is apparent that no single hypothesis can account for all UFO reports. Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, and 4 are obviously valid and, as a group, account for a large number of UFO reports. However, the evidence is insufficient to conclude that all UFO reports can be attributed to these causes. Hypothesis 8 is unlikely to yield to any form of scientific analysis, so we eliminate it from further consideration. If hypotheses 5, 6, and 7 are scientifically the most interesting since they offer the possibility of new knowledge about ourselves and our environment. As indicated above, hypotheses 5 and 6 require additional research on poorly understood phenomena before conclusions can be reached as to their bearing on the UFO problem. At this time, there appears to be insufficient evidence available to either confirm or refute hypothesis 7.
One additional note of caution must be included at this point. In most of this chapter, we have discussed primarily the scientific implications of the UFO question. However, the Lorenzens contend that UFOs are primarily an emotional problem, secondly a political problem, and only incidentally, a scientific problem. They feel that when the emotional and political problems have been resolved, the entire UFO problem will yield to scientific investigation.
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Is such scientific investigation likely to be conducted? At least one major scientific study has been made. Dr. Condon and his University of Colorado Project ended their Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects in late 1968 with the general conclusion that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past two decades that has added to scientific know-ledge and that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced. This conclusion and the entire report were endorsed by a select panel from the National Academy of Sciences.
Based on the conclusions of the Condon report and its own twenty-year UFO experience, the Air Force terminated Project Blue Book in December 1969 with this final statement, "As a result of investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' are extraterrestrial vehicles."
Consequently there is presently no official government agency investigating UFO reports. Dr. McDonald and several private UFO investigative agencies have decried alleged inadequacies of the Condon report and Project Blue Book and urge that the entire subject be re-investigated. Specifically, Project Blue Book, during its existence, was criticized for superficial investigation of UFO reports, low level of scientific competence among its personnel, and unreasonable explanations concerning specific UFO reports. Criticisms of the Condor report include the contention that the conclusions reached are not supported by the bulk of the evidence in the report itself and that the firing of two staff members for "incompetence" before the completion of the final report raises questions concerning the objectivity and completeness of the study. While some of the criticism may possibly be justified, it is unlikely that any new official scientific studies will be forthcoming, primarily because the conclusions of the Condon report have been so widely accepted.
The UFO problem must now compete on its scientific merit with all the other pressing scientific problems facing mankind. To receive attention from scientists and the requisite economic support, the potential rewards from UFO research must be shown to be commensurate with the resources expended. Although the Condon committee cautioned that nothing worthwhile was likely to result from such research, it suggested that all of the agencies of the federal government and private foundations should be willing to consider UFO research proposals along with the others submitted to them on an open minded, unprejudiced basis.
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REFERENCES
1. Air Force Regulation 80-17, Unidentified Flying Objects, 19 Sept 66, (Rescinded 25 March 1970),
2. Binder, Otto , What We Really Know About Flying Saucers, Greenwich, Conn: Fawcett Publications, 1967,
3, Condon, Edward U., Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, New York: Bantam Rooks, 1967.
4. Lorenzen, Carol and Jim, UFO's-The W@ole Story. New York: Signet Books, 1969.
5. Markowitz, William, "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Objects," Science, Vol. 157 pp. 1274-1279, 15 Sept 67.
6. McDonald, James E., Unidentified Flying Objects-Greatest Scientific Problem of Our Times., Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Subcommittee, NICAP, 1967.
7. McDonald, James E., "UFO's--An International Scientific Problem," speech presented 12 Mar 68 at the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Astronautics Symposium, Montreal, Canada.
8. OASD(PA) News Release No. 1077-69, Project "Blue Book" Terminated.
9. Saunders, D.R. and R.R. Harkins, UFO's? Yes, Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong, New York: Signet Books, 1968.
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INTRODUCTORY SPACE SCIENCE - VOLUME II
CHAPTER XXXIII
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS - USAF
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
It has been known for some time that during the late 1960's and early 1970's the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs had some material on UFOs in its curriculum. The chapter of the textbook "Introductory Space Science" for the class Physics 370 has been posted on CUFONSM for quite a while. This file contains expanded coverage, including a newspaper article from the "Lemoore Advance, A letter of reply from the A.F. Academy transmitting copies of the two versions of Chapter 33, Chapter 33 as it was in use from 1968 - 1970, and the revised Chapter 33 placed in use for the Fall Quarter, 1970. (Posted 14 MAY 1992) -- Jim Klotz, CUFONSM SYSOP
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from the Lemoore, CA Advance, October 8, 1970
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AIR ACADEMY TEXT BOOK URGES MORE STUDY OF UFO SIGHTINGS
by TED HUBBARD
Students at the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs are being taught to stop scoffing at the mention of UFO's or "flying saucers" and to keep an open mind on the subject.
This was made clear last Thursday in an interview given by Major Stewart Kilpatrick, deputy Director of Public Information of the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, to the Lemoore Advance in a lengthy and exclusive phone interview.
The "National Enquirer," a country-wide journal, which claims the "largest circulation of any weekly paper in America," headlined this following statement, "Air Force Academy Textbook Warns Cadets That UFO's May Be Spacecraft Operated by Aliens From Other Worlds," in its Oct. 11 issue. "Because so many of our readers are interested personally in aircraft, The Advance sought to verify what appeared to be exaggerated claims and somewhat on the unbelievable side. This despite the reported sightings of some strange craft over Lemoore by several witnesses a few weeks ago.
Major Kilpatrick, as second ranking officer in public affairs at the Air Academy, is in a position to speak authoritatively for the Air Force. He admitted at once that Plebes are taught from a text entitled "Introductory Space Science, Volume II" and an entire Chapter 33 deals entirely with UFO considerations. He quoted from page 455, that "50,000 virtually reliable people have reported sighting unidentified flying objects."
"This leads us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet," the 14-page chapter continues, "or at least alien controlled UFO's."
According to the Academy text book: "If such beings are visiting the earth, two questions arise: (1) Why haven't they attempted to contact us officially, and (2) Why haven't there been accidents which would have revealed their presence?
"Why no contact? That question is very easy to answer in any of several ways: (1) We may be the object of intensive sociological and psychological study. In such studies you usually avoid disturbing the test subjects' environment. (2) You do not contact a colony of ants - and humans may seem that way any aliens (variation: a zoo is fun to visit, but you don't `contact' the lizards). (3) Such contact may have already taken place secretly, and may have taken piece on a different plane of awareness - and we are not yet sensitive to communications on such a plane."
In releasing this interview in The Lemoore Advance we are well aware that many readers will certainly "raise an eyebrow or two." But Major Kilpatrick insisted the above chapter in the text is not a fairy story. At the end he seemed to go along with the recommendations of the physics text book which advises Air Force officers as follows: "The best thing to do is to keep an open and skeptical mind - and not take an extreme position on any side of the question."
"Introductory Space Science" closes the chapter with the wish expressed that renewed extensive investigation be given to the possibility of UFO's. This will require expenditure of a considerable sum of government funds, it explained, and in the present public attitude of scorn and ridicule whenever "UFO's" are mentioned, such possibility seems almost hopeless the chapter laments. As most people know, the Dr. Eugene U. Condon investigation was closed down by the Pentagon and no present official scientific investigation is now operating in this field. In 1966 we talked with six different Air Force pilots at Travis Air Force Base, who claimed to have seen UFO's but stated they did not dare report them for fear of extreme ridicule. At least in 1970 this Air Force attitude seems to have changed as indicated by Major Kilpatrick interview with The Advance. Lemoore's representative at the Colorado Springs Academy is Steve (Moon) Mullens, former basketball star on the Tiger team, and alumnus of Lemoore High. We are asking him his opinion of his science text's presentation of the so called UFO's.
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DEPARTMENT Of THE AIR FORCE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
USAF ACADEMY, COLORADO 80840
REPLY TO ATTN OF: OI 4 NOV 1970
In reference to your recent inquiry to the Air Force Academy concerning Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO's), the following facts are provided for your information.
The subject of UFO's is examined briefly at the end of an Academy elective course, Physics 370, which usually attracts approximately 20 students per semester. The UFO subject falls under the course objective of discussing all observable or reported physical phenomena occurring from the surface of the sun to the surface of the planets.
When the UFO subject was first included in the course, the subject served, from an academic point of view, to illustrate that when contradictory data are available, the best course is to keep an open mind and search for further data. The subject remains an excellent vehicle to discuss the implications and applications of many basic physical laws to "observed" phenomena.
The source of recent news media stories concerning the study of UFO's at the Air Force Academy was an out-of-date chapter in the course text entitled "Introductory Space Science", a two-volume, 470-page unpublished work printed in a spiral notebook by the Academy for classroom use. The last chapter in the second volume was a 14-page chapter entitled "Unidentified Flying Objects".
When this chapter was written and printed in 1968, the Air Force was still collecting reports of UFO sightings under Project Blue Book and sponsoring the investigation of UFO's by Dr. E. U. Condon of the University of Colorado.
The Condon report was completed in early 1969 with the general conclusion that nothing has come from the study of UFO's in the past two decades that has added to scientific knowledge and that further extensive study of UFO's probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced.
"MAN'S FLIGHT THROUGH LIFE IS SUSTAINED BY THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE"
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Based on the conclusions of the Condon report and its own twenty-year UFO experience, the Air Force terminated Project Blue Book in December 1969 with this final statement, "As a result of investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' are extraterrestrial vehicles."
In light of these developments, the in-class content of the course was changed to present orally the conclusions of the Condon report and the reasons why the Air Force cancelled Project Blue Book. It was considered uneconomical to reprint the entire second volume for such a limited number of students until the fall of 1970.
Beginning with the 1970 fall semester, a revised updated chapter entitled 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" has been substituted for the old chapter so that the text now follows the oral in-class presentation on this subject.
For your further information we are enclosing a copy of (1) the old Chapter 33, which is no longer being used and (2) a copy of the new, current Chapter 33 now being used by students of Physics 370 beginning with this fall 1970 semester,
I hope this letter clarifies your questions concerning the study and treatment of UFO's at the Air Force Academy,
Sincerely
/s/ James F Sunderman
James F Sunderman, Colonel, USAF 2 Atchs
Director of Information 1. Old Chapter 33
2. Updated Chapter 33
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(Chapter 33 of "Introductory Space Science" Physics 370 1968 - 1970
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INTRODUCTORY SPACE SCIENCE - VOLUME II
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS - USAF
Edited by: Major Donald G. Carpenter
Co-Editor: Lt. Colonel Edward R. Therkelson
CHAPTER XXXIII
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
What is an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)? Well, according to United States Air Force Regulation 80-17 (dated 19 September 1966), a UFO is "Any aerial Phenomenon or object which is unknown or appears to be out of the ordinary to the observer." This is a very broad definition which applies equally well to one individual seeing his first noctilucent cloud at twilight as it does to another individual seeing his first helicopter. However, at present most people consider the term UFO to mean an object which behaves in a strange or erratic manner while moving through the Earth's atmosphere. That strange phenomenon has evoked strong emotions and great curiosity among a large segment of our world's population. The average person is interested because he loves a mystery, the professional military man is involved because of the possible threat to national security, and some scientists are interested because of the basic curiosity that led them into becoming researchers.
The literature on UFO's is so vast, and the stories so many and varied, that we can only present a sketchy outline of the subject in this chapter. That outline includes description classifications, operational domains (temporal and spatial), some theories as to the nature of the UFO phenomenon, human reactions, attempts to attack the problem scientifically, and some tentative conclusions. If you wish to read further in this area, the references provide an excellent starting point.
33.1 DESCRIPTORS
One of the greatest problems you encounter when attempting to catalog UFO sightings, is selection of a system for cataloging. No effective system has yet been devised, although a number of different systems have been proposed. The net result is that almost all UFO data are either treated in the form of individual cases, or in the forms of inadequate classification systems. However, these systems do tend to have some common factors, and a collection of these factors is as follows:
a. Size
b. Shape (disc, ellipse, football, etc.)
c. Luminosity
d. Color
e. Number of UFO's
Behavior:
a. Location (altitude, direction, etc.)
b. Patterns of paths (straight line, climbing, zig-zagging, etc.)
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c. Flight Characteristics (wobbling, fluttering, etc.)
d. Periodicity of sightings
e. Time duration
f. Curiosity or inquisitiveness
g. Avoidance
h. Hostility
Associated Effects:
a. Electro-Magnetic (compass, radio, ignition systems, etc.)
b. Radiation (burns, induced radioactivity, etc.)
c. Ground disturbance (dust stirred up, leaves moved, standing wave
d. Sound (none, hissing, humming, roaring, thunderclaps, etc.)
e. Vibration (weak, strong, slow, fast)
f. Smell (ozone or other odor)
g. Flame (how much, where, when, color)
h. Smoke or cloud (amount, color, persistence)
i. Debris (type, amount, color, persistence)
j. Inhibition of voluntary movement by observers
k. Sighting of "creatures" or "beings"
After Effects:
a. Burned areas or animals
b. Depressed or flattened areas
c. Dead or missing animals
d. Mentally disturbed people
e. Missing items
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We make no attempt here to present available data in terms of the foregoing descriptors.
33.2 OPERATIONAL DOMAINS - TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL
What we will do here is to present evidence that UFO's are a global phenomenon which may have persisted for many thousands of years. During this discussion, please remember that the more ancient the reports the less sophisticated the observer. Not only were the ancient observers lacking the terminology necessary to describe complex devices (such as present day helicopters) but they were also lacking the concepts necessary to understand the true nature of such things as television, spaceships, rockets, nuclear weapons and radiation effects. To some, the most advanced technological concept was a war chariot with knife blades attached to the wheels. By the same token, the very lack of accurate terminology and descriptions leaves the more ancient reports open to considerable misinterpretation, and it may well be that present evaluations of individual reports are completely wrong. Nevertheless, let us start with an intriguing story in one of the oldest chronicles of India...the Book of Dzyan.
The book is a group of "story-teller" legends which were finally gathered in manuscript form when man learned to write. One of the stories is of a small group of beings who supposedly came to Earth many thousands of years ago in a metal craft which orbited the Earth several times before landing. As told in the Book "These beings lived to themselves and were revered by the humans among whom they had settled. But eventually differences arose among them and they divided their numbers, several of the men and women and some children settled in another city, where they were promptly installed as rulers by the awe-stricken populace.
"Separation did not bring peace to these people and finally their anger reached a point where the ruler of the original city took with him a small number of his warriors and they rose into the air in a huge shining metal vessel. While they were many leagues from the city of their enemies, they launched a great shining lance that rode on a beam of light. It burst apart in the city of their enemies with a great ball of flame that shot up to the heavens, almost to the stars. All those who were in the city were horribly burned and even those who were not in the city - but nearby - were burned also. Those who looked upon the lance and the ball of fire were blinded forever afterward. Those who entered the city on foot became ill and died. Even the dust of the city was poisoned, as were the rivers that flowed through it. Men dared not go near it, and it gradually crumbled into dust and was forgotten by men."
"When the leader saw what he had done to his own people he retired to his palace and refused to see anyone. Then he gathered about him those warriors who remained, and their wives and children, and they entered their vessels and rose one by one into the sky and sailed away. Nor did they return."
Could this foregoing legend really be an account of an extraterrestrial colonization, complete with guided missile, nuclear warhead and radiation effects? It is difficult to assess the validity of that explanation... just as it is difficult to explain why
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Greek, Roman and Nordic Mythology all discuss wars and contacts among their "Gods." (Even the Bible records conflict between the legions of God and Satan.) Could it be that each group recorded their parochial view of what was actually a global conflict among alien colonists or visitors? Or is it that man has led such a violent existence that he tends to expect conflict and violence among even his gods?
Evidence of perhaps an even earlier possible contact was uncovered by Tschi Pen Lao of the University of Peking. He discovered astonishing carvings in granite on a mountain in Hunan Province and on an island in Lake Tungting. These carvings have been evaluated as 47,000 years old, and they show people with large trunks (breathing apparatus?...or "elephant" heads shown on human bodies? Remember, the Egyptians often represented their gods as animal heads on human bodies.)
Only 8,000 years ago, rocks were sculpted in the Tassili plateau of Sahara, depicting what appeared to be human beings but with strange round heads (helmets? or "sun" heads on human bodies?) And even more recently, in the Bible, Genesis (6:4) tells of angels from the sky mating with women of Earth, who bore them children. Genesis 19:3 tells of Lot meeting two angels in the desert and his later feeding them at his house. The Bible also tells a rather unusual story of Ezekiel who witnessed what has been interpreted by some to have been a spacecraft or aircraft landing near the Chebar River in Chaldea (593 B.C.).
Even the Irish have recorded strange visitations. In the Speculum Regali in Konungs Skuggsa (and other accounts of the era about 956 A.D.) are numerous stories of "demonships" in the skies. In one case a rope from one such ship became entangled with part of a church. A man from the ship climbed down the rope to free it, but was seized by the townspeople. The bishop made the people release the man, who climbed back to the ship, where the crew cut the rope and the ship rose and sailed out of sight. In all of his actions, the climbing man appeared as if he were swimming in water. Stories such as this makes one wonder if the legends of the "little people" of Ireland were based upon imagination alone.
About the same time, in Lyons (France) three men and a women supposedly descended from an airship or spaceship and were captured by a mob. These foreigners admitted to being wizards, and were killed. (No mention is made of the methods employed to extract the admissions.) Many documented UFO sightings occurred throughout the Middle Ages, including an especially startling one of a UFO over London on 16 December 1742. However, we do not have room to include any more of the Middle Ages sightings. Instead, two "more-recent" sightings are contained in this section to bring us up to modern times.
In a sworn statement dated 21 April 1897, a prosperous and prominent farmer named Alexander Hamilton (Le Roy, Kansas, U.S.A.) told of an attack upon his cattle at about 10:30 p.m. the previous Monday. He, his son, and his tenant grabbed axes and ran some 700 feet from the house to the cow lot where a great cigar-shaped ship about 300 feet long floated some 30 feet above the cattle. It had a carriage underneath which was brightly lighted within (dirigible and gondola?) and which had numerous windows. Inside were six strange looking beings jabbering in a foreign
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language. These beings suddenly became aware of Hamilton and the others. They immediately turned a searchlight on the farmer, and also turned on some power which sped up a turbine wheel (about 30 ft. diameter) located under the craft. The ship rose, taking with it a two-year old heifer which was roped about the neck by a cable of one-half inch thick, red material. The next day a neighbor, Link Thomas, found the animal's hide, legs and head in his field. He was mystified at how the remains got to where they were because of the lack of tracks in the soft soil. Alexander Hamilton's sworn statement was accompanied by an affidavit as to his veracity. The affidavit was signed by ten of the local leading citizens.
On the evening of 4 November 1957 at Fort Itaipu, Brazil, two sentries noted a "new star" in the sky. The "star" grew in size and within seconds stopped over the fort. It drifted slowly downward, was as large as a big aircraft, and was surround by a strong orange glow. A distinct humming sound was heard, and then the heat struck. One sentry collapsed almost immediately, the other managed to slide to shelter under the heavy cannons where his loud cries awoke the garrison. While the troops were scrambling towards their battle stations, complete electrical failure occurred. There was panic until the lights came back on but a number of men still managed to see an orange glow leaving the area at high speed. Both sentries were found badly burned...one unconscious and the other incoherent, suffering from deep shock.
Thus, UFO sightings not only appear to extend back to 47,000 years through time but also are global in nature. One has the feeling that this phenomenon deserves some sort of valid scientific investigation, even if it is a low level effort.
33.3 SOME THEORIES AS TO THE NATURE OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
There are very few cohesive theories as to the nature of UFO's. Those theories that have been advanced can be collected in five groups:
a. Mysticism
b. Hoaxes, and rantings due to unstable personalities
c. Secret Weapons
d. Natural Phenomena
e. Alien visitors
Mysticism
It is believed by some cults that the mission of UFO's and their crews is a spiritual one, and that all materialistic efforts to determine the UFO's nature are doomed to failure.
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Hoaxes and Rantings due to Unstable Personalities
Some have suggested that all UFO reports were the results of pranks and hoaxes, or were made by people with unstable personalities. This attitude was particularly prevalent during the time period when the Air Force investigation was being operated under the code name of Project Grudge. A few airlines even went as far as to ground every pilot who reported seeing a "flying saucer." The only way for the pilot to regain flight status was to undergo a psychiatric examination. There was a noticeable decline in pilot reports during this time interval, and a few interpreted this decline to prove that UFO's were either hoaxes or the result of unstable personalities. It is of interest that NICAP (The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena) even today still receives reports from commercial pilots who neglect to notify either the Air Force or their own airline.
There are a number of cases which indicate that not all reports fall in the hoax category. We will examine one such case now. It is the Socorro, New Mexico sighting made by police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora. Sergeant Zamora was patrolling the streets of Socorro on 24 April 1964 when he saw a shiny object drift down into an area of gullies on the edge of town. He also heard a loud roaring noise which sounded as if an old dynamite shed located out that way had exploded. He immediately radioed police headquarters, and drove out toward the shed. Zamora was forced to stop about 150 yards away from a deep gully in which there appeared to be an overturned car. He radioed that he was investigating a possible wreck, and then worked his car up onto the mesa and over toward the edge of the gully. He parked short, and when he walked the final few feet to the edge, he was amazed to see that it was not a car but instead was a weird eggshaped object about fifteen feet long, white in color and resting on short, metal legs. Beside it, unaware of his presence were two humanoids dressed in silvery coveralls. They seemed to be working on a portion of the underside of the object. Zamora was still standing there, surprised, when they suddenly noticed him and dove out of sight around the object. Zamora also headed the other way, back toward his car. He glanced back at the object just as a bright blue flame shot down from the underside. Within seconds the eggshaped thing rose out of the gully with "an ear-splitting roar." The object was out of sight over the nearby mountains almost immediately, and Sergeant Zamora was moving the opposite direction almost as fast when he met Sergeant Sam Chavez who was responding to Zamora's earlier radio calls. Together they investigated the gully and found the bushes charred and still smoking where the blue flame had jetted down on them. About the charred area were four deep marks where the metal legs had been. Each mark was three and one half inches deep, and was circular in shape. The sand in the gully was very hard packed so no sign of the humanoids' footprints could be found. An official investigation was launched that same day, and all data obtained supported the stories of Zamora and Chavez. It is rather difficult to label this episode a hoax, and it is also doubtful that both Zamora and Chavez shared portions of the same hallucination.
Secret Weapons
A few individuals have proposed that UFO's are actually advanced weapon systems, and that their natures must not be revealed. Very few people accept this as a credible suggestion.
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Natural Phenomena
It has also been suggested that at least some, and possibly all, of the UFO cases were just misinterpreted manifestations of natural phenomena. Undoubtedly this suggestion has some merit. People have reported, as UFO's, objects which were conclusively proven to be balloons (weather and skyhook), the planet Venus, man-made artificial satellites, normal aircraft, unusual cloud formations, and lights from ceilometers (equipment projecting light beams on cloud bases to determine the height of the aircraft visual ceiling). It is also suspected that people have reported mirages, optical illusions, swamp gas and ball lightning (a poorly-understood discharge of electrical energy in a spheroidal or ellipsoidal shape...some charges have lasted for up to fifteen minutes but the ball is usually no bigger than a large orange.) But it is difficult to tell a swamp dweller that the strange, fast-moving light he saw in the sky was swamp gas; and it is just as difficult to tell a farmer that a bright UFO in the sky is the same ball lightning that he has seen rolling along his fence wires in dry weather. Thus accidental misidentification of what might well be natural phenomena breeds mistrust and disbelief; it leads to the hasty conclusion that the truth is deliberately not being told. One last suggestion of interest has been made, that the UFO's were plasmoids from space...concentrated blobs of solar wind that succeeded in reaching the surface of the Earth. Somehow this last suggestion does not seem to be very plausible; perhaps because it ignores such things as penetration of Earth's magnetic field.
Alien Visitors
The most stimulating theory for us is that the UFO's are material objects which are either "Manned" or remote-controlled by beings who are alien to this planet. There is some evidence supporting this viewpoint. In addition to police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora's experience, let us consider the case of Barney and Betty Hill. On a trip through New England they lost two hours on the night of 19 September 1961 without even realizing it. However, after that night both Barney and Betty began developing psychological problems which eventually grew sufficiently severe that they submitted themselves to psychiatric examination and treatment. During the course of treatment hypnotherapy was used, and it yielded remarkably detailed and similar stories from both Barney and Betty. Essentially they had been hypnotically kidnapped, taken aboard a UFO, submitted to two-hour physicals, and released with posthypnotic suggestions to forget the entire incident. The evidence is rather strong that this is what the Hills, even in their subconscious, believe happened to them. And it is of particular importance that after the "posthypnotic block" was removed, both of the Hills ceased having their psychological problems.
The Hill's description of the aliens was similar to descriptions provided in other cases, but this particular type of alien appears to be in the minority. The most commonly described alien is about three and one-half feet tall, has a round head (helmet?), arms reaching to or below his knees, and is wearing a silvery space suit or coveralls. Other aliens appear to be essentially the same as Earthmen, while still others have particularly wide (wrap around) eyes and mouths with very thin lips. And there is a rare group reported as about four feet tall, weight of around
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35 pounds, and covered with thick hair or fur (clothing?). Members of this last group are described as being extremely strong. If such beings are visiting Earth, two questions arise: 1) why haven't there been any accidents which have revealed their presence, and 2) why haven't they attempted to contact us officially? The answer to the first question may exist partially in Sergeant Lonnie Zamora's experience, and may exist partially in the Tunguska meteor discussed in Chapter XXIX. In that chapter it was suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually a comet which exploded in the atmosphere, the ices melted and the dust spread out. Hence, no debris! However, it has also been suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually an alien spacecraft that entered the atmosphere to rapidly, suffered mechanical failure, and lost its power supply and/or weapons in a nuclear explosion. While that hypothesis may seem far fetched, sample of tree rings from around the world reveal that, immediately after the Tunguska meteor explosion, the level of radioactivity in the world rose sharply for a short period of time. It is difficult to find a natural explanation for that increase in radioactivity, although the suggestion has been advanced that enough of the meteor's great kinetic energy was converted into heat (by atmospheric friction) that a fusion reaction occurred. This still leaves us with no answer to the second question: why no contact? That question is very easy to answer in several ways: 1) we may be the object of intensive sociological and psychological study. In such studies you usually avoid disturbing the test subjects' environment; 2) you do not "contact" a colony of ants, and humans may seem that way to any aliens (variation: a zoo is fun to visit, but you don't "contact" the lizards); 3) such contact may have already taken place secretly; and 4) such contact may have already taken place on a different plane of awareness and we are not yet sensitive to communications on such a plane. These are just a few of the reasons. You may add to the list as you desire.
33.4 HUMAN FEAR AND HOSTILITY
Besides the foregoing reasons, contacting humans is downright dangerous. Think about that for a moment! On the microscopic level our bodies reject and fight (through production antibodies) any alien material; this process helps us fight off disease but it also sometimes results in allergic reactions to innocuous materials. On the macroscopic (psychological and sociological) level we are antagonistic to beings that are "different". For proof of that, just watch how an odd child is treated by other children, or how a minority group is socially deprived, or how the Arabs feel about the Israelis (Chinese vs. Japanese, Turks vs. Greeks, etc.) In case you are hesitant to extend that concept to the treatment of aliens let me point out that in very ancient times, possible extraterrestrials may have been treated as Gods but in the last two thousand years, the evidence is that any possible aliens have been ripped apart by mobs, shot and shot at, physically assaulted, and in general treated with fear and aggression. In Ireland about 1,000 A.D., supposed airships were treated as "demon-ships." In Lyons, France, "admitted" space travelers were killed. More recently, on 24 July 1957 Russian anti-aircraft batteries on the Kouril Islands opened fire on UFO's. Although all Soviet anti-aircraft batteries on the Islands were in action, no hits were made. The UFO's were luminous and moved very fast. We too have fired on UFO's. About ten o'clock one morning, a radar site near a fighter base
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picked up a UFO doing 700 mph. The UFO then slowed to 100 mph, and two F-86's were scrambled to intercept. Eventually one F-86 closed on the UFO at about 3,000 feet altitude. The UFO began to accelerate away but the pilot still managed to get within 500 yards of the target for a short period of time. It was definitely saucer-shaped. As the pilot pushed the F-86 at top speed, the UFO began to pull away. When the range reached 1,000 yards, the pilot armed his guns and fired in an attempt to down the saucer. He failed, and the UFO pulled away rapidly, vanishing in the distance. This same basic situation may have happened on a more personal level. On Sunday evening 21 August 1955, eight adults and three children were on the Sutton Farm (one-half mile from Kelly, Kentucky) when, according to them, one of the children saw a brightly glowing UFO settle behind the barn, out of sight from where he stood. Other witnesses on nearby farms also saw the object. However, the Suttons dismissed it as a "shooting star," and did not investigate. Approximately thirty minutes later (at 8 p.m.), the family dogs began barking so two of the men went to the back door and looked out. Approximately 50 feet away and coming toward them was a creature wearing a glowing silvery suit. It was about three and one-half feet tall with a large round head and very long arms. It had large webbed hands which were equipped with claws. The two Suttons grabbed a twelve gauge shotgun and a 22 caliber pistol, and fired at close range. They could hear the pellets and bullet ricochet as if off of metal. The creature was knocked down, but jumped up and scrambled away. The Suttons retreated into the house, turned off all inside lights, and turned on the porch-light. At that moment, one of the women who was peeking out of the dining room window discovered that a creature with some sort of helmet and wide slit eyes was peeking back at her. She screamed, the men rushed in and started shooting. The creature was knocked backwards but again scrambled away without apparent harm. More shooting occurred (a total of about 50 rounds) over the next 20 minutes and the creatures finally left (perhaps feeling unwelcome?) After about a two hour wait (for safety), the Suttons left too. By the time the police got there, the aliens were gone but the Suttons would not move back to the farm. They sold it and departed. This reported incident does bear out the contention though that humans are dangerous. At no time in the story did the supposed aliens shoot back, although one is left with the impression that the described creatures were having fun scaring humans.
33.5 ATTEMPTS AT SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES
In any scientific endeavor, the first step is to acquire data, the second step to classify the data, and the third step to form hypothesis. The hypothesis are tested by repeating the entire process, with each cycle resulting in an increase in understanding (we hope). The UFO phenomenon does not yield readily to this approach because the data taken so far exhibits both excessive variety and vagueness. The vagueness is caused in part by the lack of preparation of the observer...very few people leave their house knowing that they are going to see a UFO that evening. Photographs are overexposed or underexposed, and rarely in color. Hardly anyone carries around a radiation counter or magnetometer. And, in addition to this, there is a very high level of "noise" in the data. The noise consists of mistaken reports of known natural phenomena, hoaxes, reports by unstable individuals and mistaken removal of data regarding possible unnatural or unknown natural phenomena (by
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<< Figure 33-1 appears here in original text >>
Figure 33-1. UFO: Distance of observer versus estimated diameter, for UFO's which are lower than tree height.
overzealous individuals who are trying to eliminate all data due to known natural phenomena). In addition, those data, which do appear to be valid, exhibit an excessive amount of variety relative to the statistical samples which are available. This has led to very clumsy classification systems, which in turn provide quite unfertile ground for formulation of hypothesis.
One hypothesis which looked promising for a time was that of ORTHOTENY (i.e., UFO sightings fall on "great circle" routes). At first, plots of sightings seemed to verify the concept of orthoteny but recent use of computers has revealed that even random numbers yield "great circle" plots as neatly as do UFO sightings.
There is one solid advance that has been made though. Jacques and Janine Vallee have taken a particular type of UFO - namely those that are lower than tree-top level when sighted - and plotted the UFO's estimated diameter versus the estimated distance from the observer. The result yields an average diameter of 5 meters with a very characteristic drop for short viewing distances, and rise for long viewing distances. This behavior at the extremes of the curve is well known to astronomers and psychologists as the "moon illusion." The illusion only occurs when the object being viewed is a real, physical object. Because this implies that the observers have viewed a real object, it permits us to accept also their statement that these particular UFO's had a rotational axis of symmetry.
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Another, less solid, advance made by the Vallee's was their plotting of the total number of sightings per week versus the date. They did this for the time span from 1947 to 1962, and then attempted to match the peaks of the curve (every 2 years 2 months) to the times of Earth-Mars conjunction (every 2 years 1.4 months). The match was very good between 1950 and 1956 but was poor outside those limits. Also, the peaks were not only at the times of Earth-Mars conjunction but also roughly at the first harmonic (very loosely, every 13 months). This raises the question why should UFO's only visit Earth when Mars is in conjunction and when it is on the opposite side of the sun. Obviously, the conjunction periodicity of Mars is not the final answer. As it happens, there is an interesting possibility to consider. Suppose Jupiter's conjunctions were used; they are every 13.1 months. That would satisfy the observed periods nicely, except for every even data peak being of different magnitude from every odd data peak. Perhaps a combination of Martian, Jovian, and Saturnian (and even other planetary) conjunctions will be necessary to match the frequency plot... if it can be matched (Figure 33-2).
<< Figure 33-2 appears here in original text >>
Figure 33-2. Cycles of activity, mathematically corrected for long term "Strong Trends". which are lower than tree height.
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Further data correlation is quite difficult. There are a large number of different saucer shapes but this may mean little. For example, look at the number of different types of aircraft which are in use in the U.S. Air Force alone.
It is obvious that intensive scientific study is needed in this area; no such study has yet been undertaken at the necessary levels of intensity and support. One thing that must be guarded against in any such study is the trap of implicitly assuming that our knowledge of Physics (or any other branch of science) is complete. An example of one such trap is selecting a group of physical laws which we now accept as valid, and assume that they will never be superseded. Five such laws might be:
1) Every action must have an opposite and equal reaction.
2) Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of the masses and inversely as the square of the distance.
3) Energy, mass and momentum are conserved.
4) No material body can have a speed as great as c, the speed of light in free space.
5) The maximum energy, E, which can be obtained from a body at rest is E=mc2, where m is the rest mass of the body.
Laws numbered 1 and 3 seem fairly safe, but let us hesitate and take another look. Actually, law number 3 is only valid (now) from a relativistic viewpoint; and for that matter so are laws 4 and 5. But relativity completely revised these physical concepts after 1915, before then Newtonian mechanics were supreme. We should also note that general relativity has not yet been verified. Thus we have the peculiar situation of five laws which appear to deny the possibility of intelligent alien control of UFO's, yet three of the laws are recent in concept and may not even be valid. Also, law number 2 has not yet been tested under conditions of large relative speeds or accelerations. We should not deny the possibility of alien control of UFO's on the basis of preconceived notions not established as related or relevant to the UFO's.
33.6 CONCLUSION
From available information, the UFO phenomenon appears to have been global in nature for almost 50,000 years. The majority of known witnesses have been reliable people who have seen easily-explained natural phenomena, and there appears to be no overall positive correlation with population density. The entire phenomenon could be psychological in nature but that is quite doubtful. However, psychological factors probably do enter the data picture as "noise." The phenomenon could also be entirely due to known and unknown phenomena (with some psychological "noise" added in) but that too is questionable in view of some of the available data.
This leaves us with the unpleasant possibility of alien visitors to our planet, or at least of alien controlled UFO's. However, the data are not well correlated, and
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what questionable data there are suggest the existence of at least three and maybe four different groups of aliens (possibly at different stages of development). This too is difficult to accept. It implies the existence of intelligent life on a majority of the planets in our solar system, or a surprisingly strong interest in Earth by members of other solar systems.
A solution to the UFO problem may be obtained by the long and diligent effort of a large group of well financed and competent scientists, unfortunately there is no evidence suggesting that such an effort is going to be made. However, even if such an effort were made, there is no guarantee of success because of the isolated and sporadic nature of the sightings. Also, there may be nothing to find, and that would mean a long search with no proof at the end. The best thing to do is to keep an open and skeptical mind, and not take an extreme position on any side of the question.
REFERENCES
33-1. Davison, L. Flying saucers: AN Analysis of the Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14. (Third Edition) Ramsey, New Jersey: Ramsey-Wallace Corp., July 1966
33-2. Edwards, F. Flying Saucers - Serious Business. New York: Bantam Press, 1966
33-3. Fuller, J. "Flying Saucer Fiasco" Look. 14 May 1968, 58.
33-4. ______. The Interrupted Journey, New York: Dial Press, 1966.
33-5. Hall, R. (editor). The UFO Evidence. Washington, D.C.: National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, May, 1964.
33-6. Jung, C. Flying Saucers; A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. Translated by R.F. Hull. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1959.
33-7. Kehoe, D. The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1955.
33-8. ____. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1960.
33-9. Lorenzen, C. The Great Flying Saucer Hoax. New York: William Frederick Press, 1962.
33-10. Markowitz, W. "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Objects," Science. 15 September 1967, 1274.
33-11. Menzel, D. and L. Boyd. The World of Flying Saucers: A Scientific Examination of a Major Myth of the Space Age. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963.
33-12. Michel, A. Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery. New York: Criterion Books, 1958.
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33-13. Ruppelt, E. The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1956.
33-14. Tacker, L. Flying Saucers and the U.S. Air Force. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand, 1960.
33-15. Terry, D. "No Swamp Gas for Him, Thank You," St. Louis Dispatch, 2 June 1966, 4F.
33-16. Vallee, J. Anatomy of a Phenomenon: Unidentified Objects in Space - A Scientific Appraisal. Chicago: Henry Regenry, 1965.
33-17. Vallee, J. and J. Vallee. Flying Saucers a Challenge to Science. New York: Henry Regenry, 1966.
33-18. Whitney, D. Flying Saucers. New York: Cowles Communications, 1967.
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(Chapter 33 of "Introductory Space Science" Physics 370
Fall Quarter 1970)
33.1 Introduction
In this text, an attempt has been made to discuss all observable phenomena from the surface of the sun to the surface of the planets, particularly the planet Earth. It must be admitted, however, that some phenomena have been overlooked and that others are not presently explainable. In this latter category we find "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."
This is a very broad, all-inclusive subject since the "unidentified" depends on the experience and education of the observer--to an aborigine, an airplane may be "unidentified" while to the meteorologist even such rare phenomena as noctilucent clouds and ball lightning may be "identifiable." Thus sightings of "unidentified aerial phenomena" must be reported completely and investigated carefully to determine if they are indeed "unidentifiable." There have been thousands of reports of "unidentified aerial phenomena" in the past quarter century and a number of these reports are still listed as "unidentifiable." This may be due to poor reporting, incomplete investigation, or to deficiencies in our understanding of the atmosphere and the universe at large. The possibility that our scientific knowledge could be increased by study of these phenomena has led several organizations to explore the subject further.
The popular literature uses the more restrictive term "Unidentified Flying Objects" instead of the general "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." Although there is insufficient evidence that the phenomena are real physical "objects" or indeed that they are "flying", we will adopt the popular terminology to avoid confusion. Consequently we will define an "Unidentified Flying Object" (UFO) as any reported aerial phenomenon or object which is unknown or appears out of the ordinary to the observer.
While there are purported UFO reports dating from ancient times, the subject of UFOs really was thrust upon the American public shortly after World War II when Kenneth Arnold on 24 June 1947 reported seeing nine "saucer like" objects near Mount Rainier. This was the first in a series of UFO reports which has continued to the present. The newly organized U.S. Air Force was assigned the mission of determining if the UFOs represented a threat to the national security. The investigation was conducted under Project Sign, later Project Grudge, and finally Project Blue Book which ended on 17 December 1969.
Because of a rash of UFO reports in 1952 and fears that military communications channels could be clogged by enemy instigated UFO reports, a special scientific panel chaired by the late Dr. H, P. Robertson was established under government sponsorship in January 1953 to study the UFO problem. The panel concluded that there was no evidence in the available data that UFOs were a threat to national security. These scientists recommended that a campaign be conducted to produce better public understanding of the situation and also to remove the aura of mystery surrounding the subject. This latter goal has not yet been completely achieved.
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After this, Project Blue Book continued to receive and evaluate UFO reports, but the conclusions reached were not always accepted by "UFO-logists" and the general public. The Air Force was often accused of trying to cover up the UFO problem and of withholding information allegedly indicating that UFOs are extraterrestrial. Consequently, a panel headed by Dr. Brian O'Brien was empowered to review Project Blue Book in 1966. While this commission reaffirmed that there was no apparent security threat posed by the existence of unexplained UFO reports, it suggested that a detailed study of some of the reports might produce something of scientific value. The commission recommended that a few selected universities be engaged to provide scientific teams for prompt investigation of selected UFO sightings. Consequently, in 1966, the U.S. Air Force sponsored a $500,000 investigation led by Dr. Edward U. Condon of the University of Colorado to make a scientific investigation of UFOs, not necessarily to identify UFOs but only to determine if there is scientific merit in the study of them.
33.2 Hypotheses to Explain UFOs
In any scientific investigation, we establish an hypothesis or hypotheses, collect data, analyze the data in light of our hypotheses and then refute or confirm our hypotheses or conclude that we have insufficient data to do either.
Approximately 6% of the UFO reports collected by Project Blue Book are officially listed as "unexplained." If we propose to "explain" these remaining cases we must first set up a list of possible explanations. There is always the danger in this procedure that the true explanation for a particular event is not contained in the given set of a priori hypo-theses. With this note of caution before us, we adopt a set of hypotheses proposed by Dr. James McDonald of the University of Arizona:
1. Hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds.
2. Hallucinations, mass hysteria, rumor phenomena.
3. Advanced terrestrial technologies.
4. Lay misinterpretations of well understood physical phenomena.
5. Poorly understood physical phenomena.
6. Poorly understood psychological phenomena.
7. Extraterrestrial visitation.
8. Messengers of salvation and occult truth.
Let us examine each of these in light of the data collected over the past twenty-plus years.
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1. Hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds. There is no question that some UFO reports are hoaxes, fabrications, and frauds perpetrated by persons playing pranks with candles in plastic cleaning bags, persons faking photographs, persons seeking notoriety or recognition, and practical jokers. The UFO literature is replete with examples of all types. However, confirmed hoaxes are only a small percentage of the total number of UFO reports. Most reports are by reliable witnesses and show no evidence of fabrication or fraud.
2. Hallucinations, mass hysteria, rumor phenomena. There is evidence that UFO reports occur in waves and that a rash of sightings in a localized area may be due to increased public sensitivity to an initial report. Some reports received at these times may indeed be inspired by the increased attention to UFOs and not true sightings at all. However, the large number of multi-observer reports from independent observers, and reports from military personnel, airline pilots, policemen, scientists and other qualified witnesses makes it unlikely that many UFO reports are the results of hallucinations, mass hysteria, and rumor phenomena. Psychologists and sociologists are unable to estimate what portion of UFO reports may be due to such causes but analysis of the credentials of witnesses in most reports would indicate that the number must be small.
3. Advanced terrestrial technologies (e.g. test vehicles, satellites, reentry phenomena, secret weapons). The noted space scientist Arthur C. Clarke has observed that any sufficiently advanced technology will appear indistinguishable from magic. Thus advanced terrestrial technologies are certainly the cause of some reports. The reported characteristics of UFOs do not appear to have changed markedly over the years while man has made great technological progress. Thus while some current UFO reports may be attributable to space vehicle reentries or satellite launches, the reports in the forties and early fifties cannot be attributed to these causes. Similarly, advanced weapon systems in the development and test stages (secret weapons) now would give rise to a different type of UFO report from those of earlier eras. The variety and world-wide distribution of UFO reports make it unlikely that the reports are due to sightings of products of an advanced terrestrial technology.
4. Lay misinterpretations of well-understood physical phenomena (e.g. meteorological, astronomical, optical). From our definition of UFOs it is obvious that a large number of reports will fall in this category. Misidentification of aircraft landing lights, blinking and flashing lights during aerial refueling operations, weather balloons, meteors, movements of the planets Venus and Jupiter, searchlight reflections on low cloud ceilings and lens flares in photographs are a few possibilities. The reader can undoubtedly suggest others and find still more in the UFO literature. In his
article, "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Object Dr. William Markowitz discusses the UFO problem in light of the currently accepted physical laws. In particular, he considers the following five basic laws:
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a. Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction.
b, Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them.
c. Momentum and mass-energy are conserved.
d. No material body can travel at c, the speed of light in free space.
e. The maximum energy which can be obtained from a body at rest is governed by Einstein's famous equation, E = mc2
To date these laws have enabled physicists to predict and control many phenomena for practical purposes. They can also be valuable in analyzing UFO reports. The details in most UFO reports do not cause any conflict with these laws and lead us to conclude that UFOs may well just be misidentified ordinary phenomena. However, some reports seem at variance with one or more of these laws, leading us to question either the reliability of the UFO reports or the reliability of our physical laws. Since our physical laws are more firmly established both in theory and by experiment, the validity of the physical law is usually a more acceptable alternative to the scientist. We must realize, however, that any physical law may be subject to change with the discovery of new evidence.
5. Poorly understood physical phenomena (e.g. rare atmospheric electrical effects, cloud phenomena, plasmas of natural or technological origin). Attempting to explain UFO reports by some poorly understood phenomenon is risky at best, and probably is impossible until the phenomenon is better understood. Lenticular clouds as explanations for certain UFO reports may be on firm grounds, but attempts to explain UFOs in terms of mirages, ball lightning (a sphere-shaped plasma blob usually associated with electrical storms) , atmospheric inversion layers, or anomalous propagation of radar signals are much less tenable. Some UFO reports may be explainable by these phenomena, but it is impossible to make positive identifications based on our present limited understanding of the phenomena. Consequently, all such explanations should be considered only tentative. There may be still other atmospheric phenomena which are observed so rarely that they remain uninvestigated and unnamed.
6. Poorly understood psychological phenomena. Psychologists are the first to admit that there are many aspects of psychic phenomena that have not been adequately explored. Few data are available to determine how these phenomena may relate to the UFO problem, but we must at least allow for the possibility that there may be some effects.
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7. Extraterrestrial visitation. Dr. Condon states in the summary of Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects that convincing and unequivocal evidence of extraterrestrial visitation would be the greatest single scientific discovery in the history of mankind. While this may be a slight exaggeration, it at least points out why this hypothesis adds so much excitement and controversy to the UFO problem. Despite numerous UFO reports concerning purported space vehicles and alien visitors, there remains doubt as to the veracity of these reports. Such reports do, however, contain a number of strange elements that are verifiable. One would prefer hard evidence in the form of a tail fin, a jettisoned propulsion unit, a crashed UFO, several good photographs, etc. Such physical evidence does not seem to exist, despite stories to the contrary. Several scientists have concluded that the priori probability of extraterrestrial visitation appears to be exceedingly low in terms of present scientific knowledge. Although no conclusive proof as to the validity of this hypothesis can be drawn from the evidence at hand, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that on the basis of present knowledge, the least Likely explanation of UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings.
8. Messengers of salvation and occult truth. Certain cults have adopted the belief that the mission of UFOs is spiritual and that all Physical efforts to determine the nature of UFOs must necessarily fail. While such may be the case, evidence to support it is clearly lacking. Further discussion of this hypothesis is beyond the scope of this text.
33.3 Conclusion
Having presented the arguments for each of the hypotheses, possible conclusions are now considered. It is apparent that no single hypothesis can account for all UFO reports. Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, and 4 are obviously valid and, as a group, account for a large number of UFO reports. However, the evidence is insufficient to conclude that all UFO reports can be attributed to these causes. Hypothesis 8 is unlikely to yield to any form of scientific analysis, so we eliminate it from further consideration. If hypotheses 5, 6, and 7 are scientifically the most interesting since they offer the possibility of new knowledge about ourselves and our environment. As indicated above, hypotheses 5 and 6 require additional research on poorly understood phenomena before conclusions can be reached as to their bearing on the UFO problem. At this time, there appears to be insufficient evidence available to either confirm or refute hypothesis 7.
One additional note of caution must be included at this point. In most of this chapter, we have discussed primarily the scientific implications of the UFO question. However, the Lorenzens contend that UFOs are primarily an emotional problem, secondly a political problem, and only incidentally, a scientific problem. They feel that when the emotional and political problems have been resolved, the entire UFO problem will yield to scientific investigation.
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Is such scientific investigation likely to be conducted? At least one major scientific study has been made. Dr. Condon and his University of Colorado Project ended their Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects in late 1968 with the general conclusion that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past two decades that has added to scientific know-ledge and that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced. This conclusion and the entire report were endorsed by a select panel from the National Academy of Sciences.
Based on the conclusions of the Condon report and its own twenty-year UFO experience, the Air Force terminated Project Blue Book in December 1969 with this final statement, "As a result of investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' are extraterrestrial vehicles."
Consequently there is presently no official government agency investigating UFO reports. Dr. McDonald and several private UFO investigative agencies have decried alleged inadequacies of the Condon report and Project Blue Book and urge that the entire subject be re-investigated. Specifically, Project Blue Book, during its existence, was criticized for superficial investigation of UFO reports, low level of scientific competence among its personnel, and unreasonable explanations concerning specific UFO reports. Criticisms of the Condor report include the contention that the conclusions reached are not supported by the bulk of the evidence in the report itself and that the firing of two staff members for "incompetence" before the completion of the final report raises questions concerning the objectivity and completeness of the study. While some of the criticism may possibly be justified, it is unlikely that any new official scientific studies will be forthcoming, primarily because the conclusions of the Condon report have been so widely accepted.
The UFO problem must now compete on its scientific merit with all the other pressing scientific problems facing mankind. To receive attention from scientists and the requisite economic support, the potential rewards from UFO research must be shown to be commensurate with the resources expended. Although the Condon committee cautioned that nothing worthwhile was likely to result from such research, it suggested that all of the agencies of the federal government and private foundations should be willing to consider UFO research proposals along with the others submitted to them on an open minded, unprejudiced basis.
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REFERENCES
1. Air Force Regulation 80-17, Unidentified Flying Objects, 19 Sept 66, (Rescinded 25 March 1970),
2. Binder, Otto , What We Really Know About Flying Saucers, Greenwich, Conn: Fawcett Publications, 1967,
3, Condon, Edward U., Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, New York: Bantam Rooks, 1967.
4. Lorenzen, Carol and Jim, UFO's-The W@ole Story. New York: Signet Books, 1969.
5. Markowitz, William, "The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Objects," Science, Vol. 157 pp. 1274-1279, 15 Sept 67.
6. McDonald, James E., Unidentified Flying Objects-Greatest Scientific Problem of Our Times., Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Subcommittee, NICAP, 1967.
7. McDonald, James E., "UFO's--An International Scientific Problem," speech presented 12 Mar 68 at the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Astronautics Symposium, Montreal, Canada.
8. OASD(PA) News Release No. 1077-69, Project "Blue Book" Terminated.
9. Saunders, D.R. and R.R. Harkins, UFO's? Yes, Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong, New York: Signet Books, 1968.
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