UFOs - THE CHALLENGE OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS -Charles A. Maney, Richard Hall (3)

Chapter   4

The Phenomena of Angel Hair

            One approach to the study of the UFOs which holds some promise of significant attainable knowledge of the character of these objects is the analysis of the nature of the so-called angel hair. In numerous instances the fall of large quantities of this fibrous material has been noted in connection with the observation of disc-shaped and cigar-shaped UFOs. There appears to be sufficient evidence to prove to a reasonable-minded person the reality of these falls from the sky and the close association of these falls with the observation of UFOs. To give a complete account of all the interesting details associated with the many different reports would require a good-sized source book. Such a compilation would indeed be a valuable reference work and should be prepared by some agency in the interests of scientific knowledge.

            From the standpoint of a preliminary study, however, it might be worth while to make an attempt to investigate those features of the character of angel hair which are most commonly noted. These are (1) the simultaneous sighting of UFOs in connection with the fall of angel hair from the sky and (2) the unstable character of the material as evidenced by its rapid disintegration soon after the fall.

            The accompanying table, with dates of sightings, localities, and notes, comprises such a study in brief. The material of the table with the notes included a record of sightings involving angel hair for the period from October 1952 to October 1955. The table is not to be considered a complete record of such happenings, but probably does include those which are at least the best known of such events. The reference notes in every case represent quotations from newspaper reports, magazine articles, books, and personal letters describing the events. In three cases, those of Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne, Australia; and Horseheads, New York, no UFOs were reported seen. However, in these three instances the fibrous materials  

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which fell from the sky appeared to have the peculiar property of angel hair most commonly noted, namely its tendency to rapid disintegration. Among the fourteen instances where angel hair was associated with UFOs there were six occasions where the rapidly-disintegrating character of angel hair was noted.

            It should be pointed out as a significant fact that the author has personal letters from two school teachers and six school children as witnesses in the Jerome case, two letters from school teachers in connection with the Whitsett case, and one letter from a lady observer of the Uhrichsville incident. The author regards all of these testimonies as absolutely true statements and correctly descriptive of the phenomena which took place. No doubt additional testimonies in large numbers could be secured for most of these events, were one to take the time and make the effort to go about such an undertaking.

  

TABLE OF ANGEL HAIR INCIDENTS

		Note References
		Associated	Rapid
Date of Sighting	Locality	with UFOs	Disintegration
17-Oct-52	Orolon, France	1	a
27-Oct-52	Gaillac, France	2	b
15-Apr-53	Auckland, N. Z.		c
30-May-53	Palmerston, N., N. Z.	3
9-Oct-53	Melbourne, Australia		d
13-Oct-53	Pleasant Hill, Calif.	4
16-Nov-53	San Fernando, Calif.	5	e
1-Feb-54	San Fernando, Calif.	6	f
1-Feb-54	Puente, Calif.	7	g
22-Oct-54	Jerome School (Marysville, Oh)	8	h
28-Oct-54	Rome, Italy	9
8-Nov-54	Florence, Italy	10
November _, 1954	Tuscon, Arizona	11
November _, 1954	Kankakee, Illinois	12
21-Feb-55	Horseheads, N. Y.		i
2-Oct-55	Urichsville, Ohio	13
27-Oct-55	Whitsett, N. C.	14

                  

NOTES ON THE TABLE  

Angel Hair Associated with UFOs.

1. "A cigar-shaped object--dropping a great quantity of fibres in its wake."

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2. “The spectacle lasted for about 20 minutes before the cigar and its saucers disappeared over the horizon. By this time masses of white threads were beginning to fall--just as at Oloron. They continued to fall for a long time after the disappearance of the objects. "
3. "Saw a small bright blue object--with an irregular motion quite unlike that of an aircraft. Later saw large number of filaments of a substance resembling spider webs, white in color and ashy in texture, floating down to earth."
4. "Four round objects glistening in the sun threw off some kind of whitish substance--a white silky strip about 12 feet long settled on a tree.”
5. "We saw a huge silvery ball--a long streamer of white stuff almost like a vapor trail--spewed out its back end--it drooped down all over the neighborhood like cobwebs."
6. "The ball was about three times the size of a full moon --suddenly a stream of white lacy substance flowed from the ball."
7. "After ten of fifteen seconds, the object turned reddish. Then it emitted some shining cobweb-like substance which began to drift to earth. "
8. "The cigar-shaped object was hanging motionless—then it turned off quite rapidly. In its wake was a trail of webs that later were strung from one side to the other of wires along the road all the way to the Columbus road. "
9. "These objects dropped white cottony stuff that hung from telephone wires."
10. "Fifteen thousand spectators at a football match watched a flight of saucers which dropped candy-floss type streamers."
11. "A bright object was sighted, then disappeared. Then we saw round objects drifting downward. One became entangled in a TV antenna and floated in the air as a streamer. Later hundreds of smaller streamers--catching on trees and branches. "
12. "After a flying saucer had passed over Kankakee, Illinois, angel hair was collected." (A photo of this angel hair was printed in the January 31, 1955 issue of the Chicago American.)
13. "Several disc-shaped objects bunched at high altitude... Almost immediately after the saucers disappeared, the air became filled with silver cobwebs."

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14. About ten saucers were sighted: "The angel hair started falling about the same time the saucers were sighted."

RAPID DISINTEGRATION OF ANGEL HAIR 

a.       "When rolled up into a ball, they rapidly became gelatinous, then sublimed in the air and disappeared."

b.      "Became gelatinous, then sublimed and disappeared."

c.       "Quickly disintegrated when handled."

d.      "On handling, rapidly disintegrated until no trace was left."

e.       "Held between the fingers, it dissolves into nothing."

f.       "When I picked it up in my hands, it disappeared."

g.       "It vanished when I tried to touch it with my hands."

h.      "The part we held between our fingers very quickly seemed to just go to nothing."

i.        After two days the "web was rapidly disintegrating and disappearing." 

SPECIAL PROPERTIES NOTED

            At Oloron, France: "These fibres resembled wool or nylon. When rolled into a ball, they rapidly became gelatinous, then sublimed in the air and disappeared. The fibres burned like cellophane when ignited. "

            At Jerome School: "We handled this material; it was very fine and soft to touch. It did not stick to our hands, but when we held two ends and pulled, it stretched without tearing. Where it stretched it had a shiny appearance. The part we held between our fingers very quickly seemed to just go to nothing. However, we could roll it between our fingers into a very, very tiny ball. In a short time our hands had a green stain on them. I soon washed my hands in warm water and the stain rinsed quickly off. Mr. Warrick said he was leaving his on his hands to see what would happen--he later said his hands became clammy and finally the color disappeared of its own accord. "

            In most of the incidents where there were falls of cobwebby substance from the sky, shiny disc- or cigar-shaped bodies were observed, and the substance appeared to be dropped from these bodies. In the case of the cobwebby substance that fell over a half-mile square area near Horseheads, New York, the material was first discovered in the early morning of February 21, 1955. Since this material strongly resembled that observed in connection with shiny aerial objects in the fact of its having fallen from the sky, being fibrous in character, and having the property of rapidly disintegrating, it might be assumed to have been produced under similar circumstances. 

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Granting this fairly reasonable assumption, it would seem that the results of a chemical analysis of the Horseheads fibre might throw some light on the nature of angel hair.

            Since different attempts were made to analyze this material and the report of these attempts reached the press it seems worthwhile to include a record of them here. The results of analysis by several different professional people are strangely contradictory. It is a significant fact, however, that none of the scientists identified the material as the web of a ballooning spider.

            The following analyses are noted:

            Dr. Francis A. Richmond, professor emeritus at Elmira College, described the material as "short, weak fibres that looked and felt like cotton or wool."

            Dr. Charles B. Rutenber, professor of chemistry at Elmira College, declared that, based on chemical analysis, the material was ''cotton, either waste or fibres, that had been in explosion and were heavily damaged." Tests with a Geiger counter showed it to be radioactive. These findings were supported by Dr. Richmond and Mrs. Hans Bernt, assistant professor of art. Later, Dr. Rutenber suddenly reversed his decision; he said the material was a protein product created by the escape of a hot milk product at the local milk plant.

            Mr. Louis R. Hermann and Mr. Robert L. Mix, chemical technicians at the Westinghouse plant, said that the material consisted of cotton and wool fibres with, pieces of fine copper wire mixed in.

            Mr. John B. Diffenderfer, manager of the chemistry section of the local Westinghouse plant, held to the milk theory. The Westinghouse test showed 30 percent carbon with various metals present.

            Assumptions might also be made as to the origin of angel hair. Aime Michel, in his book The Truth About Flying Sau­cers, calls attention to the Plantier theory on this point in the following words: "...as Plantier thinks, the angel's hair results from the alteration of the chemical properties of atoms and molecules of the air affected by the ultra-heavy particles projected by the field [of the UFO]." Alongside this reference the following fact might be noted: It was definitely established by Dr. Willard F. Libby, of the University of Chicago, in 1947, that Carbon 14, known as radioactive carbon, is produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere from atoms of nitro­gen. The fibrous material, cotton, is nearly pure cellulose

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and contains atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Conceivably angel hair could be forms of what chemists call a chain polymer of cellulose, containing radioactive Carbon 14 combined with the hydrogen and oxygen from moisture in the air, and three elements combining under the action of the ultra-heavy particles referred to by Plantier.

            But this is probably too much speculation. At any rate it would be very desirable to have the benefit of detailed scientific tests of the real angel hair definitely observed to have been associated with UFOs. When this is once accomplished, a long step in the knowledge of UFOs will have been made. Angel hair will fall again no doubt in other areas. Let us hope that some success will be achieved before long in securing samples of this elusive material definitely associated with UFOs, and that chemical and physical tests can be made before it completely disintegrates.

            The purpose of this discussion is primarily the presentation of evidence for the purpose of establishing the reality of UFO phenomena and the existence of the material known as angel hair. As has been pointed out, the findings are based not only upon newspaper and other printed accounts, but also upon the testimonies of witnesses in the form of letters of school teachers and children, statements the truth of which no reasonable-minded person would doubt. Some analyses have been attempted of the fibrous material--apparently without much success. It is to be hoped that scientists will be challenged by the facts here presented and that scientific groups will sponsor the further investigation of these phenomena.

            It is also urged that the United States and other governments change their policies of withholding UFO facts from the general public, and that all news agencies, the radio and television broadcasting companies, newspapers, and current periodicals, and professional scientists also, desist from the very damaging current practice of ridicule of UFO reports and persons connected with the serious investigation of these phenomena.

            The author recognizes with great appreciation the cooperation of two fellow members of the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York in furnishing factual material for this study, Mr. Ted Bloecher, Director of Research, and Mr. Lex Mebane, Secretary/Treasurer. The author takes all responsibility for the speculative material of this article, and realizes full well that many will disagree with him. 

C. A. M. December 1956

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Chapter   5

UFO Fleets over Washington, D.C.

            Within the historical record of UFO sightings in the United States, the month of July 1952 * stands out prominently as representing the peak period for numbers of reported sightings.  The United States Air Force issued a statement on July 31, 1952, to the effect that the largest number of sightings of any month since the saucers were first reported in 1947 came in the month of June 1952, the total of 114 for the month being just three above the preceding June total.   Although no similar statement of monthly totals has, to the writer's knowledge, been made since by Air Force officials, it would appear from close informal attention to published reports since that date that the size of the monthly frequency has not yet even approximated that peak frequency of almost five years ago.

            For the period of 15 days from July 14 to July 29, 1952 the concentration of sightings seems to be significant in two respects:  (1) UFOs appearing in groups or fleets, frequently in echelon formation and (2) unusual concentration of these UFO fleets over Washington, D. C., and vicinity, in the area surrounding the nation's capitol.

            It does not appear that any attempted explanation of this concentration has been made so far, but to the conscientious student of aerial phenomena these facts can hardly be dismissed as being non-significant. There have been other concentrations at other times and over other parts of the world,

____________

*M. K. Jessup in the UFO Reporter, supplement to his book The Case for the UFO (Citadel) lists 18 separate reports of sightings in the State of Florida alone during the period from July 22 to July 30, 1952. He comments: "When the UFOs were plaguing Washington, D. C., in the summer of 1952, there was a veritable rash of UFO phenomena centered around Miami, Florida." Michigan newspapers reported sightings at seven different localities in Michigan and three places in Indiana on the night of July 27, 1952. 

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and it would be well for those students in foreign countries who would be in a position to gather more complete data with­in their own national boundaries to make known pertinent details of such occurrences. Through coordinated correlation of such worldwide happenings, progress could no doubt be made in the interpretation and understanding of UFO phenomena.

            Dr. C. Albert Perego* a specialist in aeronautics of Rome, has indicated that during the month of October, 1954, there were hundreds of observations of UFOs in his country. According to Doctor Perego, on November 5, 1954, something like 100 UFOs staged a spectacular performance over Rome in various echelon formations, including a Greek cross formed at an estimated altitude of from 8,000 to 9,000 meters high over the Vatican. Doctor Perego further indicates that during the month following he observed minor groups of UFOs on 31 different occasions.

            One of the highlights of the recent board meeting of NICAP in Washington, D. C. January 1957; was a program which included a review by Captain William B. Nash, of Pan American Airlines, of his famous sighting** of a fleet of UFO's about 130 miles south of the nation's capital, near Newport News, Virginia, on the night of July 14, 1952 at 8:12 p. m.

            The details of this well-recorded incident are well known. This is one of the classics in the history of UFOlogy. The two observers, Captains Nash and Fortenberry, are experienced airline pilots and thus are competent and intelligent observers of aerial phenomena. They witnessed a remarkable display of aerial navigation by UFOs under the most favorable conditions of sighting. It will be recalled that these two men flying at an altitude of about 8,000 feet practically encountered a fleet of six large discs travelling in an echelon formation a few thousand feet below the DC-4 which they were piloting. The six discs each about 100 feet in diameter, moving with a speed later calculated to be 8,000 miles an hour, performed a sudden reversal of direction, at the moment to be joined by two others coming from the direction opposite to which the six were originally travelling.

            The calculated acceleration of at least 1, 000 G would have, produced forces that in accordance with known physical laws would have been a hundred times greater than the human body could withstand. Shortly after, following this incident, several sightings of fleets of UFOs were reported in the United States,

____________

*Dr. C. Albert Perego, Via Ruggero Fauro 43, Rome: "I have seen over 100 Flying Saucers in the sky of Rome on November 6, 1954"--a report to the Italian people.

____________

* True Magazine.   October, 1952. 

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the most spectacular of which were observed both by radar and visually over the nation's capital.

            There is given below a chronological listing of sightings of fleets of UFOs which, of course, does not include the numerous reports of sightings of single objects. The list is not considered complete but does represent a compilation from the various sources available to the writer.

            July 16, 1952 at 9:35 a. m.  In Salem, Massachusetts, Coastguard Photographer Snell Alpert glanced out of the window and saw four bright lights shimmering in the morning sunshine. Startled by what he observed, he watched them wavering for a few seconds and then dim down by the time he was able to focus a camera. Calling his companion, Thomas Flaherty, to verify what he was seeing, he noted that the lights were again burning brightly and he snapped what later turned out to be one of the important photos of UFOs, four unknown objects flying in "V" formation. An instant later there was a momentary flash and the flights disappeared.

            July 17, 1952 at 3:00 a. m. Captain Paul L. Carpenter, an American Air Lines Captain for 24 years, flying a DC-6 on a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, when near the city of Denver sighted four round lighted objects about 100 miles from his plane. He estimated that these objects were speeding at about 3, 000 miles per hour. First Officer George Fell and Flight Engineer Lee Quilici also saw the objects.

            July 17, 1952. Within hours of the Denver sighting, hundreds of residents of Veronica, Argentina, watched six discs maneuvering and circling in the sky.

            July 18, 1952. Radio broadcaster Frank Edwards reported that on the morning of July 18, seven orange-colored flying saucers flashed over Arlington, Virginia, in the vicinity of the nation's capital, in single file. Mr. Edwards observed, referring to the Nash and Fortenberry incident, that this was the second time in one week that a group of UFOs was observed in this area.

            July 18, 1952. On the night of July 18 a "V" formation of five flying saucers was observed over the New York City area. The 'witnesses were Mrs. Josephine Hetzel, a housewife, and Frank Gondar. Gondar's small son saw them, too. Mrs. Hetzel reported: "I almost fainted when I looked up at the sky and saw what looked to me like five large dinner plates flying through  

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the sky. They came from the direction of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and appeared to be headed for Manhattan. They were up high and had a silver glow and were silent. They were in formation. The red glow from the rims was outstanding. They were flying as fast as jet planes. "

            July 18, 1952. On the night of July 18, airmen at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida observed four strange discs circling near the field. Shortly after they turned away a fifth saucer came out of the west. Angling in over the base, it made a 180-degree turn, like a plane in a traffic pattern. Then, accelerating at terrific speed, it raced back to the west and vanished.

            July 20, 1952 at 12:40 a. m. Shortly after midnight, Saturday July 19, in the radar room of the Air Traffic Control at Washington National Airport, eight traffic experts headed by Senior Controller Harry G. Barnes observed seven sharp blips of UFOs appear suddenly on the radar screen. When first observed, the scope indicated that the objects were in an area nine miles in diameter about 15 miles south of Washington. Unknown objects were observed visually and by radar over the Washington area until dawn. During the first hour the objects were observed over all sectors of the radar screen which covers an area around Washington some 70 miles in diameter. This meant that they had been over the restricted areas of Washington, including the White House and the Capitol.

            The speed of the objects appeared to be 100 to 130 miles an hour. Their movements seemed to be at random. At one time towards daybreak 10 objects were counted over Andrews Field just outside Washington. Most of the time eight were visible. Radar operator Barnes reported: "I can safely deduce that they performed gyrations which no known aircraft could perform. By this I mean that our scope showed that they made right-angle turns and complete reversals in flight. Nor in my opinion could any natural phenomena such as shooting stars, electrical disturbances, or clouds, account for these spots on our radar. "

            July 26 and 27, 1952. The Civil Aeronautics Administration Control Center, located across the Potomac River from Washington, first picked up mysterious objects on its radar screens at 8:08 p.m. Saturday, July 26. In the next four hours before the objects disappeared the CAA reported as many as 12 of the unidentified blips appearing on the radarscope at the same time. Glowing white lights were spotted visually by Air Force and  

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commercial pilots, and by radar. Radar continued to show unidentified objects through the night until 6 a. m. the next morning (Sunday, July 27).

            July 27, 1952, at 10:30 a. m.  A. E. Gutteridge, of Coconut Grove, in the southern part of Miami, saw five "steam" colored objects flying in formation over South Miami.

            July 27, 1952, at 6:35 p. m. Eight men including an ex-Navy pilot observed what appeared to be a large silvery ship flying at terrific speed over Manhattan Beach in California. Directly over Manhattan Beach the ship turned south. Then to the group's amazement, it separated into seven round objects. Swiftly three of the discs took up a "V" formation, the others following in pairs, flying abreast. "It appeared as if a stack of coins had smoothly separated," the pilot told an intelligence officer. "The entire operation was very gracefully executed. The turns, too, were very smooth. "After circling for a few minutes, the formation took up a north-northeast heading and rapidly went out of sight.

            July 27, 1952, at 10:15 p.m.  Mrs. R. D.  Davis, Battle Creek, Michigan, housewife, said she saw 14 very bright objects, blurred at the edges, at 10:15 p.m. Harrison Howes, an accountant living across the street from her, came out of the house in time to see one of the objects. He said it looked like a giant bulb.

            July 27, 1952.  Radio broadcast by Frank Edwards over CKLW on July 28: "Last night, Air Force jets chased a flight of flying saucers near Mount Vernon, Virginia, over the home of Major Keyhoe."

            July 29, 1952.  Radiobroadcast of Frank Edwards over CKLW on July 29: "A few minutes past 1 a. m. this morning, unidentified objects were picked up on the radar screens in Washington, D. C. Eight and sometimes 12 UFOs were in view on the radar screens at the same time and were in view for almost three hours. They operated in a 10-mile arc between the National Airport and the Military Base at Andrews Field. "

            August 5, 1952.  Radio broadcast of Frank Edwards over CKLW on August 6: "Scores of flying saucers were over the city of Washington, D. C. last night, going back and forth. They were picked up on radar." Fleets of from 2 to 10 were observed late at night on August 5 and in the early morning of August 6. 

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            In summing up on the data of the above list of chronological events it is noted that between the dates of July 14 and July 20 several fleets of UFOs were observed in the United States. On three different dates within this interval they were observed over the area of the nation's capital, on July 14, July 18, and July 20, being especially conspicuous on July 20.

            Then again, a few days later, the sightings of fleets of these objects seemed to concentrate about the nation's capitol, appearing for the fourth time over this area. On the night of July 26 and the early morning of July 27, exactly one week from the prolonged performance of July 20, UFOs put on a 10-hour dis­play of gyrations over Washington.

            Appearing for the fifth time over the area, according to the report of Frank Edwards, radio broadcaster, Air Force jets chased the fleet. As has ever been the case in such pursuits, the jets could not begin to get near the objects, so completely are jet planes out-maneuvered by them.

Again on the night of July 28, for the sixth time, UFOs appeared over the Capitol. On the morning of July 29 they were in view for almost three hours.

            Ten days later scores of UFOs again were observed over the Washington area, making the seventh appearance in the space of 22 days. On three of these seven occasions, the fleets of UFOs performed gyrations for hours at a time.

            Nothing like this aeries of occurrences has .happened before or since in the skies over the United States of America. More­over, these remarkable happenings were especially concentrated over the Nation's Capitol. The question yet to be answered is "What does it all mean?" 

C.A.M. June 1957

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Chapter 6

A New Dimension in UFO Phenomena

            As if to dramatize a relatively unprecedented feature of UFO sightings, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, former Air Force officer in charge of Project Blue Book, has recently characterized as "a whole new dimension to the UFO investigation" the reports of spectacular electromagnetic disturbances associated with the appearances of aerial phenomena in November [1957]. *

            Looking backward over the past 14 years, one cannot help but be impressed by the apparent succession of different features of UFO appearances, which, each in its turn, strangely enough, seems to emphasize a new aspect of outer space contrivances. It is as though almost unsurmountable difficulties of communication by outer space intelligences with human intelligence seem to exist. One could speculate that one artifice after another is exploited by those from afar in order to penetrate the terrestrial iron curtain set up by short-sighted terrestrial intelligence. 

1.                  In the years 1944-45 the curious gyrations of foo-fighters (were time and time again observed about the combat planes of both Nazi and Allied airmen in the war theaters.

2.                  In the spring and summer of 1947 the disc-shaped flying saucers began to haunt the skies, and in July, 1952, by their many appearances literally took over by storm the news head­lines of the American Press.

3.                  The disc-shaped objects were shortly followed by the much larger cigar-shaped craft, which from all appearances seemed to be the carriers of the smaller vehicles. Both disc-shaped and cigar-shaped objects were being identified by experienced radar men as solid objects on the radar screen.

4.                  In his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Captain Ruppelt devotes an entire chapter to accounts of several projects carried out by unnamed American scientists wherein great increases in background radiation were measured by Geiger counters in connection with observed sightings of UFOs. These measures of nuclear radiation covered a period extending from the fall of 1949 to the summer of 1951.

____________

* Since this article was written in 1958, NICAP has published a booklet "Electro-Magnetic Effects Associated with Unidentified Flying Objects," a study of 90 cases of this type. See App.E. 

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5.                  In the fall of 1951 nine noiseless green fireballs streamed across the skies of New Mexico in paths that ignored the influence of gravity, and Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico is still wondering what they were.

6.                  Between the years of 1952 and 1955 there were numerous reported falls of the magic fibrous material known as Angel Hair. This material, in several cases seen to fall from UFOs, has not yet been identified by the chemist.

7.                  Now in November, 1957, are encountered such spectacular electromagnetic phenomena with the appearance of luminous egg-shaped objects as stopped automobile engines, dimmed automobile headlights, and caused failure of radio receiving sets.           

Yet, in spite of this dramatic succession of unexplained aerial manifestations, the scientific world as a whole, like the traditional ostrich, keeps its orthodox-minded head buried in the sand.

            Before going into detail about the November, 1957 happenings involving UFOs, it would be well to note the few scattered incidents previous to this date wherein electromagnetic influences were associated with them.

            On June 24, 1947, in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, a Portland prospector spotted five or six discs in the sky for some fifty seconds. The compass hand on his watch weaved wildly from side topside while the aerial objects were in view.

            On August 19, 1952, a Scoutmaster and three Boy Scouts encountered a UFO in Florida woods. Soil and grass samples were taken from the place over which the UFO had hovered. The roots of clumps of sod were charred, but the blades of grass above were not damaged. The only possible explanation is electromagnetic heating by induction.

            On August 19, 1953, at West Haven, Connecticut, a fiery ball came out from the sky, crashed through a steel sign board making a hole about one foot in diameter, hovered over the road, and then passed upward over the trees. This occurrence was accompanied by a terrific explosion which dimmed house lights and jarred the whole area. 

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            On May 31, 1957, a British airliner was flying over Kent on its way to Holland. An oval-shaped UFO was sighted. There­upon the plane experienced complete radio failure and was unable to contact London. The radio circuit-breaker had broken circuit. The equipment was fully serviceable after the UFO had gone.

            On September 1, 1957, a man and his wife from Sioux City, Iowa, were driving in a car about one mile from Le Mars, Iowa, when they observed a flash of light in the sky which stopped their motor and cut off the car lights.

            Between November 2 and November 14, 1957, in several different localities in the United States, as well as one each in Canada and Alaska, the sighting of UFOs was attended by the stopping of car engines, the dimming of headlights, and the interference of car radios, only during the times UFOs were visually in evidence. Among these localities are the following 13 different places: 

Nov. 2 & 3 Levelland, Texas                                        Nov. 5   San Antonio, Tex.

Nov. 3     Springfield, Illinois                                         Nov. 5   Houston, Texas

Nov. 3     Calgary, Alberta, Canada                              Nov. 6   Plattsburg, N. Y.

Nov. 4     Elmwood Park, Chicago                                Nov. 6   Danville, Ill.              

Nov. 4     Alamogordo, New Mexico                             Nov. 7   Moutville, Ohio         

Nov. 4     Kodiak, Alaska                                             Nov. 10   Hammond, Ind.                   

Nov. 14   Jamara, Ill.

            In most instances reports of these occurrences were made by officers of the law, such as sheriffs, policemen, and highway patrolmen. Officers of the law are not given to tall tales of fantastic happenings. Moreover, they are trained to observe, record, and report accurately on all happenings in the districts in their charge, where such happenings pertain to the public safety, or are related to the protection of the general public.

            On the Saturday night of November 2, 1957, several persons at scattered localities in the vicinity of Levelland, Texas, encountered close up, above the highways, a large luminous egg-shaped object some two hundred or more feet in length. Among the observers and reporters listed were the following officers of the law:  

Police Patrolman A. J. Fowler

Sheriff Weir Clem

Deputy Sheriff Pat McCulloch

Constable Lloyd Bollen

Highway Patrolman Lee Hargrove

Highway Patrolman Floyd Cavin 

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            Three of the reports from separate areas read very much alike in the description of the object and its apparent effect on car engines and lights. At least a score of motorists had similar experiences.

            Police Patrolman A. J. Fowler told of at least 15 persons getting a good look at an object estimated as 200 feet in length, shaped like an egg and lit up as though it were on fire. When it got close, car engines would stall and lights would go off.

            Sheriff Weir Clem and Deputy Sheriff Pat McCulloch also saw the object. The Sheriff said it streaked noiselessly across the road 200 yards in front of him, but did not affect his car. "It lit up the whole pavement in front of us for about two seconds," said Clem. He called it oval-shaped and said it looked like a brilliant sunset.

            Two men, Pedro Saucedo and Joe Salaz, driving a truck, reported their experience. Said Saucedo, a Korean War veteran, "When it got near, the lights of my truck went out and the motor died. I jumped out of the truck and hit the dirt because I was afraid. I called to Joe, but he didn't get out. The thing passed directly over my truck with a great sound and a rush of wind. It sounded like thunder and my truck rocked from the blast. I felt a lot of heat. Then I got up and watched it go out of sight toward Levelland."

            Each of several observers was interviewed separately by Sheriff Clem, and fortunately these interviews were witnessed by NICAP member James Lee, who had rushed to the scene to investigate for the Committee. In Lee's telephoned report to NICAP he stressed the witnesses' sincerity. Both he and the Sheriff were convinced that the reports were true.

            Within the next few days scores of sensational reports of sightings were received. Just to mention another which occurred close to the Air Force Missile Development Center, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, a little more than two hundred miles west of Levelland, Texas. This incident took place on Monday night, November 6.

            James Stokes, a research engineer of the Center, reported a dramatic encounter with a UFO. A huge elliptically-shaped object, Stokes said, had appeared between the Center and White Sands. As it passed near Highway 24 it had cutout his radio and then stopped his engine and those of other cars. Stokes estimated the UFO's length at 500 feet. At its closest point, he said, he could feel a wave of heat. The object had no visible portholes or any exhaust trail. 

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            Stokes related his experience to Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzen, of Alamogordo. * Mrs. Coral Lorenzen is Director of Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) and through her bulletin is internationally known in UFO research. Holloman Air Force Base officials had Stokes scheduled for a physical examination due to the fact that he had a rather pronounced sunburn after the incident. While he was sitting in the Lorenzen living room that Monday evening, he continually scratched or rubbed his neck and face, complaining of itching sensations. However, the discolorations and irritation were completely gone the next morning. On Tuesday evening Stokes was invited to the Lorenzens' where local members of APRO met to talk over current events. He looked quite normal then.

            James Stokes, an electrical engineer engaged in high altitude research at the Government Development Center, surely deserves to be thought of as a reliable scientific witness.

            An Air Force statement released on November 15 read: "The Levelland incident was caused by ball lightning or St. Elmo's fire. The cause of the stalled cars--wet electrical circuits."

            J. C. Ballard, meteorologist-in-charge of the U. S. Weather Bureau in Atlanta, Georgia, said that ball lightning has never been reported more than a few feet or a few yards from observers. He also said that the balls are the size of a man's fist. A good many scientists even deny that ball lightning exists.

            The Encyclopedia Britannica states that St. Elmo's fire is a brush-like discharge of atmospheric electricity, which is seen around masts of ships and church steeples. It has also been seen around tips of aircraft propellers and wings. It is invariably attached to some solid object.  The Air Force statement does not identify any solid object.

            Explaining the Levelland and Alamogordo cases, Dr. Donald Menzel, Harvard Observatory, said the objects were nothing but mirages. He said it was not surprising that a "nervous foot" could stall a car in such cases, but did not mention the radio fading and reported effect on car headlights.

            Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, head of the Air Force Project Blue Book between 1951 and 1953, immediately threw cold water on Menzel's claim. He unequivocably denied that UFOs could be explained as optical tricks. "There has been a lot of talk about mirages," said Ruppelt, "this is one thing we proved saucers are not."

____________

* APRO has since moved to Arizona; 4407 East Linden, Tucson. 

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            On November 6, the Levelland Daily Sun News reported: "Air Force 'Mystery Man' leaves City; Actions, Identity Cloaked in Secrecy."

            The anonymous visitor drove an Air Force vehicle, wore civilian clothes and said "he could not give his name or any identification.”

            Around noon on the 6th he spent 30 minutes in Sheriff Clem's office. He returned about 2:30 p.m. for another half hour. About 3 p.m. he headed for Lubbock, some 30 miles away. He came back about 6:30 p. m., said to the Sheriff "Well, I'm done,” and drove off into the dark night. Adds the paper, "There was never any hint as to what he found out, or whether he was really a civilian or an Air Force officer.”

            On three instances among the sightings of UFOs in November 1957, persons in close proximity to the objects felt heat. Engineer James Stokes in the Alamogordo incident and Pedro Saucedo in the Levelland sighting both had very distinct sensations of heat. At Merom, Indiana, on November 6, it was reported that a man was put in a hospital after his face had been scorched by a 40-foot object that hovered 1,000 feet above him.

            In the case of the Scoutmaster incident in the Florida woods on the night of August 19, 1952, the subject reportedly was under a UFO only 30 feet above him. It is said that the heat seemed to him "unbearable." In this case the subject was examined by an Air Force official, a flight surgeon. Minor burns were on the arms and the backs of the hands of the Scoutmaster, according to Captain Ruppelt. There were indications that the inside of his nostrils might be burned. The degree of burn could be compared to light sunburn. The hair had also been singed, indicating a flash heat.

            And so another chapter is added to the steadily accumulating evidence for the reality of the UFOs. The mystery of these strange phenomena of the skies grows more puzzling as the evidence gains in weight. A paradox indeed!

C. A. M. June 1958

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Chapter   7

Scientific Aspects of UFO Research

                (June 14, 1958 speech on the occasion of the opening of the Planetary Center, Detroit, Michigan.)

            Mr. Henry Maday, Chairman, Mrs. Laura Mundo Marxer, Official Hostess of the Open House Program and Co-Director with Mrs. Connie Gryzch of the Planetary Center, The Visitors' Plan Committee, ladies and gentlemen:

            I assure you with the utmost sincerity that it is a pleasure to appear before you this afternoon on the occasion of the opening of the Planetary Center, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Marxer. Mrs. Marxer advises me that this planetary center is the culmination of a dream long held in mind, and I personally congratulate Mrs. Marxer in this fine enterprise dedicated to the advancement of truth with reference to these strange aerial phenomena which have in large numbers been haunting our skies for the past 11 years.

            I am aware of the fact that many well-known figures in this field of unidentified flying objects have, during the past four years, spoken to your Detroit groups. These include Major Donald E. Keyhoe (USMC, Ret.), Director of NICAP, of which organization I am pleased to be a board member, Mr. Frank Edwards, celebrated news analyst and fellow board member of NICAP, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (A. F. Ret.), former Chief Investigator for the Air Force Project Blue Book, Mr. George Adamski, well-known author and others. You people in Detroit and Michigan are to be congratulated in making possible to the general public the presentation of the many diverse points of view on this highly controversial subject by these several mentioned personalities who are recognized leaders in their respective channels of thought.

            I come before you with a plea for open-mindedness and of  

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unity of effort in the search for truth in this field, I see no reason why the different groups seeking information cannot join in a single united enterprise, open-mindedly willing to accept truth from whatever source it might come. At the same time there must be that willingness on the part of all to permit the subjection of all material which purports to be factual, to the acid test of consistency. By this I mean that material which can be accepted from either objective or subjective sources must not be contradictory in character, and much needs to be tested and evaluated in the light of established scientific principles commonly recognized.

            Surely no person in his right mind can derive satisfaction in trying to believe that which is not so. On the other hand, those things that can be proven valid can command whole-hearted support from honest thinkers. Also, and this is directed to my friends of exact science persuasion, there needs to be an attitude of respectful indecision, to say at least, manifested toward information not secured through the techniques of orthodox science, where such information can neither be proven correct nor incorrect.

            I do not wish to indulge in criticism of personalities in the field of UFO investigation, and I refrain from mentioning the names of probably sincere and well-meaning persons with whom I disagree. I do not consider that there is any place for ridicule in the true scientific attitude. I wish to point out, however, that a most illuminating exposure of inconsistencies in the claims of certain well-known figures in this field has been made by a brilliant lady investigator, Miss Isabel L. Davis, Treasurer of the very excellent UFO non-profit research organization, Civilian Saucer Intelligence (CSI) of New York City. The article referred to has the title, "Meet the Extraterrestrial" and it is published in a recent issue of a science-fiction magazine.

            My own approach to this subject is in the role of the scientific method. This I shall presently comment upon. However, in my thinking, I do not rule out the possibility of acquiring knowledge by other than recognized scientific methodology. Nevertheless, I demand that such information be subjected to the acid test of consistency.

            For example, if through some alleged source of information one is advised that the other side of the moon enjoys climate comparable to that of the earth, knowledge of the principles of 

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everyday science is completely adequate to disprove such advice.  For uninformed on principles on elementary science this error might not be obvious.  However, any common-sense mind, though previously uninformed on such matters, could easily absorb a little instruction in elementary science adequate to comprehend this error.

            Dr. Marcus Bach, professor of religion at the State University of Iowa and a Board member of NICAP, has a point of view toward information secured from subjective sources which appeals to me. Dr. Bach spent 15 years in world travel, studying and living with more than 40 different religious groups. In the course of this very wide experience and study he has encountered phenomena which to him seemed very real but which are unexplainable in terms of orthodox science. In his book, The Will to Believe, he quotes Carrington, an investigator in the field of spiritualistic phenomena for more than 50 years, as follows:

            "There is scarcely a medium who has not at one time or another been exposed in the grossest kind of fraud. I do not wish it to be understood that I hereby relegate the whole evidence of the supernormal to the wastebasket. This is precisely what I do not wish to do. It is because I believe that there do exist certain phenomena that explanations for which have not yet been found, that I think it necessary to distinguish these from the fraudulent marvels so commonly produced. "

            Says Dr. Bach, "That is my conclusion."

            I feel confident that every serious and logical-minded researcher in the field of UFOs would agree with me that the intelligences which guide UFOs in their maneuvering in the skies are superior personalities and possessors of knowledge on the laws of physical science immeasurably beyond our own stage of development. One must expect of them thinking ability at least equal to our own. Therefore, in the case of claims of individuals of actual physical or material contact and association with these outer space personalities, the most obvious basis for the establishment of such claims would be in the form of material evidence, some artifact, invention, picture, or book bearing non-terrestrial earmarks. It would seem that such evidence would be a necessary requirement to give validation to such claims.

            In the case of claims of psychic communication material evidences are of course not possible. The minimal basis for the establishment of the validity of psychic communication of

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repetition of the same or very similar messages through controlled agencies of reception located probably in widely separated different places. This requirement, to say the least, would not be too much to expect were the difficulties attending the transmission of psychic messages overcome.

            Now we come to the simple basis by which we objectively evaluate information. This basis is the repetition of events. In the fields of physics and chemistry, events may be repeated at will, at any time and at any place when the specific circumstance or experimental conditions are set up in accordance with the particular requirements.

            In the fields of astronomy and meteorology the scientist must ordinarily wait for the periodic natural occasions to produce the set of conditions required for the repetition of a given performance. For example, one must wait for a total solar eclipse in order to test the bending of light rays near the sun as predicted by Einstein's relativity.

            But in the field of UFOlogy, so far at least, there is little basis, if any, for determining ahead of time when repetitions might occur. However, it is the consistency of performance in repeated occurrences of UFO phenomena that makes scientific study in this field possible. The recognition of authenticated, well-defined patterns of appearance and performance of UFO phenomena in time and in place constitutes accumulation of knowledge in this field.

            In the case of phenomenon of "angel hair" associated with UFOs, we have repetitions in time and place of strikingly similar performances associated with this material. We observe in repeated instances in widely separated places and in greatly different times that (1) angel hair is associated with sudden acceleration of hovering UFOs, (2) that it is fibrous and shiny in appearance, and (3) that it generally evaporates with the warmth of the human hand.

            In the case of the occasional concentrations of sightings of UFOs, a definite locality of terrestrial significance is sometimes the center of attention. Here we have a repetition again, as in the case of the concentration of fleets of UFO in the vicinity of the nation's capital, Washington, D. C., in July 1952.

            In the case of electromagnetic phenomena associated with the appearance of UFOs, we have the spectacular stopping of automobile engines, the dimming of auto headlights, and the failure of radios, repeated over and over again in widely scattered areas in the Western Hemisphere in November 1957 and following months. 

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            Just as in traditional science the basis for actuality is the repetition of similar events under similar specific conditions, the basis for reality in the case of UFO phenomena as measured objectively is the repetition of similar happenings associated with the appearances of these objects.

            I shall now go into such detail as I have presently available in regard to one of the most dramatic and significant of UFO sightings. For the greater part of the information concerning this incident I am indebted to my estimable friend and co-investigator, Mr. Escobar Faria, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, government attorney, poet, and editor-publisher of the UFO Critical Bulletin. I refer to the photographing of a UFO over the Brazilian Isle of Trindade from a vessel of the Brazilian Navy on January 16, 1958. (Ed. Note: See frontispiece.) This isle, not to be confused with the island of the British West Indies off northeast Venezuela, is about six square miles in area and mountainous. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean about 740 miles east of the city of Vitoria on the Brazilian coast. Photos were taken of a UFO in the sky above this island from a ship of the Brazilian Navy. An official report of these photos, labeled genuine by the Brazilian Navy Ministry, has been promised to NICAP by the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D. C.

            As a part of its participation in the work of the IGY, the Bra­zilian Government established on this isle a scientific station for meteorological and oceanographic research. The Brazilian Navy ship, Saldanha de Gama, an armed motor-sailing vessel originally designed for cadet instruction, was remodeled to serve as a scientific laboratory to carry out oceanographic research as a part of the IGY program. The ship carries military and civilian scientists and technicians. Included in the personnel is a master craftsman by the name of Almiro Barauna, a skilled submarine photographer, the man who secured the pictures.

            Captain Jose Teobaldo Viegas (Brazilian Air Force, Ret.) was the first to see the UFO and gave the alarm. The photographer, Barauna, who was at the moment taking pictures of the ship itself, heard the alarm, and saw the UFO. He immediately succeeded in taking six snapshots of the object, four of which proved to be satisfactory. In response to the alarm sounded by Captain Viegas, several members of the ship's crew hurried on deck and witnessed the UFO. Among these were Commander Carlos

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Bacelar, Captain of the ship, Lieutenant Homero Riberio, a sergeant, and several sailors. Later official investigation showed that the object photographed was observed also by residents of the Trindade Isle. Furthermore, according to Captain Viegas, UFOs had been seen in the vicinity of the isle on two different previous occasions in 1957.

            Captain Viegas described the object, which was observed at midday, as a disk shining with a phosphorescent light, more intense than that of the moon and about the apparent diameter of the full moon. The UFO was in view for several seconds and displayed a clear-cut form against the sky background. It described a trajectory toward the horizon line, where it disappeared, only to return again, and a second time vanish in the distance. Its speed was estimated at 700 miles per hour.

            A description of the object from a person aboard the ship likened it to two superimposed saucers joined in the middle by means of a large ring. The form of the object was clearly seen when it stopped for a short interval and its luminescence became less intense. When it began to speed up it became much brighter. Since the object went away and then shortly returned in its flight, this clearly indicates that it was maneuvered. On its second movement away from the observers, reaching the sky over Desejado mountain on the isle, it then disappeared at a fantastic speed.

            The head of the Brazilian Air Force bureau charged officially with UFO investigation, Colonel Adil de Oliveira, declared in a newspaper interview, "Now it is impossible to have any doubt as to the existence of flying saucers.”

            Later, by order of Brazilian President Dr. Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, the four photos of the UFO were delivered to the press for publication. Thus, it has finally come about that an official national recognition of the reality of UFOs has become an accomplished fact. No little credit for this epoch-making event is due the President of Brazil himself. Before entering national politics he was a surgeon of good reputation in the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of the State of Minas Gerais.

            The description and photographs of this Trindade UFO bear a striking resemblance to other UFOs seen and photographed elsewhere. It thus may be said to represent a particular type of these objects. The expression used by the Brazilian observer, "two superimposed saucers joined in the middle by means of a large ring,” compares nicely with the description given by the 

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U. S. Navy Chief Photographer, Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, of the objects of the fleet of UFOs he photographed on July 2, 1952. This is the celebrated Tremonton, Utah, movie of UFOs. Before Newhouse was able to get the camera set for that movie he and his family were able to see the UFOs when they were much closer to the car in which they had been riding. Newhouse, who now, by the way, is Special Advisor for NICAP, described the objects as like "two pie pans, one inverted on top of the other."

            Then there is the well-known photograph taken by the U. S. Coast Guard photographer, Shell R. Alpert, at Salem, Massachusetts Air Station, on July 16, 1952, showing four discs. The better reproductions of this photo clearly display shapes like two saucers, one superimposed on the other, producing an effect as though joined by a ring in the middle.

            In the previous chapter I listed 13 recent separate instances in localities of North America, of electromagnetic interference by UFOs. These were manifested by stopping of automobile motors, dimming of car headlights, and the like. Since these happenings, additional instances have been reported where other automobiles were interfered with in the same type of happening. For example, car engines of three vehicles in Peru died, and headlights dimmed and went out on January 30, 1958 when a UFO hovered 150 feet above the Pan American Highway between Arequipa and Lima.

            I am also reliably informed that when the UFO was sighted over the Brazilian Isle of Trindade, all the ships engines abruptly stopped without any apparent reason.

            It remains to be seen how great is the lethargy of the world's news agencies before the people of the world become fully advised of the amazing events now taking place in the skies adjacent to this planet earth.

                                                                                    C. A. M. October 1958

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Chapter 8

NICAP and the UFO Challenge

            The organization known as NICAP, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., was incorporated August 29, 1956, with T. Townsend Brown in charge. The first meeting of its Board of Governors was held on January 14 and 15, 1957. I was privileged to attend this meeting and to participate as a Board member. At this meeting we elected Rear Admiral Delmer S. Fahrney, USN (Ret.), Chairman of the Board of Governors. Admiral Fahrney is known as the "Father of Guided Missiles" and he has been awarded the highest commendation by the United States Government for his work in this field. At a press conference held on January 16, 1957, he issued a statement which received nationwide publicity. This statement in part read as follows:

            "Reliable reports indicate that there are objects coming into our atmosphere at very high speeds.... No agency in this country or Russia is able to duplicate at this time the speeds and accelerations which radars and observers indicate these flying objects are able to achieve.... There are signs that an intelligence directs these objects because of the way they fly. "

            At the first meeting of the Board of Governors, Major Donald E. Keyhoe, U. S. M. S. (Ret.) was elected Active Director, a position he still holds, and in which he is rendering meritorious service in the advancement of information in this field. The "flying objects" referred to by Admiral Fahrney are popularly referred to as "flying saucers" but among serious investigators of the subject are called UFOs, or unidentified flying objects.

            Major Keyhoe is the author of three standard popularly written books on "flying saucers.” *He has a background of 30 years'

____________

* Since this broadcast Major Keyhoe has written a fourth book Flying Saucers: Top Secret, (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1960). 

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experience in observing aeronautical developments, is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, flew in active service with the Marine Corps, managed the tour of the historic plane in which Bennett and Byrd made their North Pole flight, was aide to Charles Lindbergh after the famous Paris flight, and was for some years Chief of Information for the Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce.

            Major Keyhoe has listed the goals of NICAP as follows: 

1. To prove the need for a serious, nationwide investigation.
2. To end the withholding of information.
3. If the evidence definitely proves the UFOs realities, then to determine and prove what they are; where they come from; why they are operating in our skies, if they prove to be interplanetary; whether they have communicated with or contacted anyone on earth and what steps have been taken or will be taken to insure peaceful communication and contact with world governments.

            Major Keyhoe conceives of the first chief goal of NICAP as "acceptance by the American people that the UFO problem is real.”

            Some members of the NICAP Board of Governors, who by public addresses, scientific research, and financial contribution and by other means have aided the problem of this nonprofit, truth seeking organization, include the following:

            Dr. Marcus Bach, educator, author, and professor of religion at the State University of Iowa.

            The Reverend Albert Bailer, author, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, Robbins Memorial Church.

            Dr. Earl Douglass, author and Presbyterian clergyman, of Princeton, New Jersey.

            Frank Edwards, radio and TV commentator, Indianapolis, Indiana.

            Colonel Robert B. Emerson, USAR, research chemist and nuclear physicist, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

            Major Dewey Fournet, Jr., USAFR, former liaison intelligence officer in the Air Force, Director of the Air Force UFO Project Blue Book, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

            J. B. Hartranft, Jr., president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, having a nationwide membership of 65,000, former Lieutenant-Colonel in the Air Force Reserve, of Washington, D. C.

            Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, USN (Ret.) formerly Director of the highly secret U. S. Central Intelligence Agency, May 1, 1947 to November 1950, of New York, New York. 

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            Rear Admiral Herbert B. Knowles, USN (Ret.) submarine expert and World War II veteran, of Eliot, Maine.

            The Reverend Leon LeVan, New Jerusalem Christian Church, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. *

            Along with this Board of Governors, NICAP has a Panel of Special Advisors of the same intellectual and moral fibre as possessed by the members of the Board of Governors. These include men of high standing, captains of airliners and others who have been witnesses to some of the most spectacular sightings on record. ** In this group are also a former U. S. Air Force Public Information Officer on UFOs, the former chief of the Canadian Governments UFO project, and several astronomers.

            In the week of January 12 to 19, 1953, a panel of six top-ranking American scientists met in Washington, D. C., at the request of the Air Force to review the then accumulated evidence material on flying saucers. Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, in charge of the Air Force investigation, discussed in detail with this group of scientists all of the significant information gathered under his direction. This panel of scientists devoted the entire week to thought and study of the evidences and drew up a set of recommendations as follows: 

1. The investigative force of the project (Blue Book) should be quadrupled in size.
2. It should be staffed by specially trained experts in the field of electronics, meteorology, photography, physics, and other fields of science pertinent to UFO investigations.
3. Every effort should be made to set up instruments in locations where UFO sightings are frequent, so that data could be measured and recorded during a sighting.
4. In other locations around the country military and civilian scientists should be alerted and instructed to use every piece of available equipment that could be used to track UFOs.
5. The American public should be told every detail of every phase of the UFO investigation--the details of the sightings, the official conclusions, and why the conclusions were made.

            In spite of the recommendations of this panel of illustrious scientists who gave one week of their valuable time to seriously consider the UFO problem the Air Force by subsequent policy rejected these recommendations and pursued an opposite course,

____________

* The Reverend Mr. LeVan has since resigned from the Board for personal reasons.   

** See Appendix F. 

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namely a drastic reduction of emphasis in the study of this phenomenon. To all appearance this has been the policy of the Air Force ever since.

            Two or three weeks later, early in 1953, Captain Ruppelt received word from those in authority that Project Blue Book would follow the recommendations that the panel of eminent scientists had made. He then proceeded to the implementation of the approved recommendations. One of his first moves was to release for public information the so-called Tremonton Movie. This motion picture had been taken by a Navy Chief Photographer, Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, on July 2, 1952, of some UFOs which were observed to be maneuvering over the town of Tremonton, Utah, on that date. Although the photographs taken did not show all the details observed visually by Newhouse and his family, they did constitute a striking bit of evidence.

            "When the Pentagon got a draft of the release they screamed, 'No!! No movie for the press and no press release!'" Then, says Captain Ruppelt, "we had a new publicity policy--don't say anything." And, in July 1955, he wrote: "This policy is still in effect." 

            Thus the recommendations of the scientists then, since then, and now, are being ignored.

            The statement of the former Secretary of the Air Force Donald A. Quarles on October 25, 1955, on the question of the reality of unidentified flying objects was given widespread publicity with two-inch letter front-page headlines in most of the lead­ing newspapers in the country. This statement was as follows: "On the basis of this study," said Quarles, referring to the 316-page report of the Air Force, "we believe that no objects such as those popularly described as flying saucers have over flown the United States." The former Air Force Secretary refers to a study completed by Captain Ruppelt in September 1953, two years and one month prior to the highly publicized statement.

            Captain Ruppelt, long since retired from the Air Force at the time of the 1955 announcement, was somewhat taken back by this statement of the high government official. The so-called study, the basis of the public pronouncement, was largely a compilation of opinions analyzed by statistical methods. Captain Ruppelt's comment was as follows:

            "After spending a considerable amount of money, statistical methods were no good for a study like this. They didn't prove a thing. The results were such that by interpreting them in  

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different ways you could prove anything you wanted to. This is not a good study. I was out of the Air Force by the time that the report [Project Blue Book Special Report 14] was published in its final printed form, but I saw the unpublished draft and had it written off as worthless...

            "Another interesting point is that the report was finished in September 1953, and it wasn't released as the 'latest hot dope' until October, 1955."

            A number of other competent specialists have carefully examined this study upon which Donald Quarles based his widely publicized pronouncement of October 25, 1955, and have come to the same conclusion as Captain Ruppelt, the Air Force Officer in charge of the study, who labeled it as worthless. Among these persons is Major Donald E. Keyhoe, Director of NICAP. Major Keyhoe's statement reads as follows:

            "On the basis of these facts, and considering Ruppelt's estimate of Special Report 14, it seems probable that the release of this document (already considered worthless at ATIC in 1953) was a deliberate attempt to convince the Press and public that UFOs did not exist. At the same time, and since, the Air Force has been actively investigating and secretly muzzling pilots and other official witnesses, keeping reports classified by the ’official use only’ device--and sometimes by 'Confidential' and 'Secret' labels. The hasty release of this last brush-off, after November 3-10, 1957 excitement, seems to clinch this. It appears the aim is to keep the truth hidden as long as possible--or such facts as are known--until they are forced to reveal everything.

            "When you add the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) 1947 letter stating the UFOs are real, and the 1948 Estimate of the Situation saying they are interplanetary--both cited by Ruppelt, and admitted to me by others on the Project, the answer seems inevitable: The Air Force has known this for nine years, but does not think the American people should be given the facts. I personally do not believe the military has a right to decide what is safe for Americans to know."

            Notwithstanding official suppression of government-held information on UFOs, notwithstanding failure of Air Force policy to pursue an unbiased vigorous policy of scientific investigation of these phenomena, and notwithstanding official pronouncements of the Air Force as to the nonexistence of UFOs, a considerable amount of progress in the study of these mysterious phenomena has been made by individuals and private organizations dedicated to the search for truth in this sphere. Time on this broadcast  

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does not permit the detailed discussion of the various contributions to knowledge made by these agencies. It is to be hoped, however, that scientific organizations and various intellectual groups interested in the advancement of knowledge be sufficiently open-minded to be willing to entertain presentation of material in this field by its competent representatives.

            Unfortunately the present practice followed by certain prominent purveyors of programs of popular interest to the general public has been to exploit indiscriminately the crackpots and charlatans in this field with their wild tales and illogical claims. The public is thus exposed to a grossly distorted picture of the real situation, and the cause of truth suffers thereby.

            Brief mention can be made of certain findings of characteristics of these UFO bodies which have been found as a result of study. These are well documented and established by testimonies of literally countless reliable and reputable witnesses. Among these evidences are the following: 

1. Remarkable patterns of appearance and maneuver.
2. Patterns of extraordinary concentrations in time and place.
3. Circumstances of the production by these objects of the evanescent material popularly referred to as "angel hair."
4. Mysterious phenomena of green fireballs.
5. Excessive background radiation associated with appearances of these objects.
6. Electro-magnetic effects such as stopping of automobile motors and dimming of headlights.
7. Straight-line patterns of sightings, giving evidence of intellectual design.

            What is the real meaning back of this whole subject? It is indeed a most fantastic field for investigation and the knowledge gained year by year is not merely cumulative: It gains insignificance, serving mainly to emphasize the reality of these strange occurrences.

            No worldwide setup by investigational agencies is yet available to check on the frequency of sightings and other significant data for the reason that established scientific groups have not yet responded to the challenge of research in this field. In a few places in the world, as in the United States and France, there are serious, private nonprofit investigating agencies who do compile and analyze data.

            From the limited sources of information which are presently available it does appear that the frequency of sightings is on the increase.  

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The spring and summer of 1947 produced an unprecedented number of sightings in the United States. The month of July 1952 registered the largest number of United States sightings for a single month, a total of 108, according to the records of the Air Force, up to that time. Although no definite comparative figures have yet been published, it is believed that the number of sightings in the United States in November 1957 exceed all previous totals. * The fall of 1954 in France greatly exceeded all previous totals for a corresponding period in that country. There have been recent peaks in other countries, notably in South America. All things considered, it appears that sightings are on the increase.

            But it must be pointed out that long lulls do exist between the peaks of sightings. Just when the next concentration will occur, or where it will occur, cannot be predicted upon the basis of previous records, for the reason that no basis for prediction has yet been discerned. But one can predict with some assurance that his judgment will be correct on the basis of the records of the past 11 years, that at some time and someplace in the not too distant future there will be another concentration of sightings of dramatic significance. All of this, of course, points up the reality of the phenomena. This is definitely the one most surely established aspect of the whole study.

            Along with the establishment of the reality of the phenomena we have significant evidence of the superior non-terrestrial scientific knowledge reflected in the various types of performance of these objects. It is a scientific attainment that surely makes our present world knowledge seems meager by comparison. The only logical conclusion to be drawn from this is that intelligences far more advanced in scientific development than we are visiting this planet from afar.

            What would such a realization mean to all of earthly beings? Would it mean that were we to establish contact with such intel­ligences and receive from them greatly advanced knowledge, the possession of such information would greatly change the com­plexion of life on this planet? Would this be something to dread, or would it mean benefit to the people of the earth?

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*  An Air Force "fact sheet" on UFOs (January 29, 1960) has since confirmed that 701 of the of the total of 1178 officially reported UFO sightings in 1957 occurred in the last three months of that year. Due to the great number of reports in this period, 1957 ranks second only to 1952 in total number of official reports for one year. There were 1501 official cases in 1952. 

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            Probably an out-of-this-world source of scientific enlightenment and wisdom would aid in the promotion of better understanding between terrestrial groups now bitterly separated by their divergent ideas and ideals. Truly the philosophical implications of establishing intellectual contact with more intellectually advanced personalities are tremendous. Such an intellectual contact would well be the greatest adventure in the history of this planet.

            But to leave the realm of speculation for one last word: Would it not be the part of wisdom to undertake right now to solve this mysterious problem by employing the best scientific resources available on this planet, to go about this challenging task with cooperative effort on the part of all agencies interested in the pursuit of truth?

            This is the challenge to world intelligence, of the UFO mystery!

                                                                                       C. A. M. February 1959 

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