Project Hessdalen; Norway's UFO Investigation;
Here is some information based on the Hessdalen Norway UFO investigation run and helped by and is a project at Østfold University College in Norway;This investigation i feel is quite often over looked considering they have been recording unknown lights ect and is a credible investigation run and investigated by credible sources;
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quote;
"The Barn to hessdaling Peder Skogaas hangs a placard with pictures of untidy light, as if it were a bug on the camera lens when they were taken. It was not. The pictures show the mysterious lights that have made the village famous at home and abroad. At the bottom of the pictures is the rainbow patterns, and if you look really good for, we see that they follow the light intensity. Rain bows shows the last track lysforskerne is built on. The hope is to reveal the secret of the phenomenon and possibly trigger an energy revolution. Hessdalingene are about to laugh last.
They have endured much. In a letter to the editor of the Labour magazine from the 1980s claimed that they suffer from hallucinations as a result of inbreeding and too much hjemmebrent.For the early 80th century is the large newspaper from the small village of Trøndelag. Mysterious light pops up frequently. People flock to see the light, many of them are UFO enthusiasts of American tales of close encounters with aliens and the film A fresh in the memory. And hessdalingene telling about their lighting experience, is widely put into the same category as the visitors. -
They mocked the citizens' experiences with, "says Peder Skogaas. And the bullying did hessdalingene reticent about their stories. Skogaas moved from the village as a young, but came back the page to run the farm, and to contribute to research. For when the light began to appear less frequently in the middle of the 1980s, and hysteria ceased, there were still some who wanted to find out more about the mysterious phenomenon.
Positive.
Erling Strand from Østfold University College then worked to establish a research station here, and together with colleague Bjørn Hauge Gitle he now spends several weeks each autumn in the valley for. Research presence has given people new courage. Shortly before his brother Peder Skogaas died mid-1990s, he asked to speak with Bjorn Gitle Hauge. To østfold scientist told him that he too had seen the phenomenon.
This he had never trusted anyone andre.I day comes more new stories to the surface. Two weeks ago hessdalsforskerne invited to open house at the research station. The municipal doctor was among the visitors and said that he recently experienced the phenomenon itself. He was out driving a car when a pulsed light hung on and followed him, it did not seem to be more than ten feet from the car .- But still it pops up eccentrics, "said Bjorn Gitle Hauge. During a conference on the lights suddenly in Røros last year, he sat next to a middle-aged American lady.
When he asked how the hell she had taken to travel to Norway to participate at the event, she told that she had been visited by an alien in his bedroom, and had asked her to travel to Hessdalen. His research colleague Erling Strand has even collaborated with the organization UFO Norway. Beach explains that he tries to be open to all possibilities.
He will collect as much data as possible before he concludes. But even if the light is actually a kind of Unidentified Flying Object, researchers are working deliberately to get away from the alien concept. People associate it too quickly for flying saucers and little green men. The light is instead baptized Hessdals-phenomenon.
Lysjakten.
The phenomenon still has great appeal. And now there is a middle school class from Østfold hope to see the light. Antennae shivering. The sharp wind balls bearing low thunderous sounds as they hit the blue container. Currently, the only light coming from the equipment in here. No abnormal movements. Only regular grate and beeps. Looks scans the sky.
This phenomenon may occur as a bus tore fireballs or flash glimpses, it is to follow. The heavy black clouds are pulled out at the edges and glide looming over the dark landscape. Can you really see the mysterious Hessdalen light under such conditions? Base Manager Andrew Large Myrbakken calms: Only it's not too bright, it should be possible. Clouds burst into the lower edge to reveal night sky. And a few seconds later - a light! A light! A dozen pairs of eyes bråvendes, but it only takes a moment to recognize the red white flashing from an airplane.
The hunt continues.
Two of the students follow the meters in the container and sends reports to the command center (KO). Geiger counter beeps steadily in the background and documents the negligible radioactivity, the crackling from the VLF receiver that detects signals down to one oscillation per. second, the sound we can hear. Micro Meteorites that hit the atmosphere. Pupils are on class trip to Hessdalen Science Camp.
21.30 The time now is the time for weather report, and Caroline Backlund from Hauge Hill School in Østfold eagerly picks up walkietalkien. - KO, this is Øyungen over. - This is KO, above. - Can you receive the weather report? Over.Under us in the valley is Øyungen-water as a lone, bright gash in all black. This is one of three observation stations for research camp. Students are invited to learn, but also to contribute. Each eye is extra help. And Hessdalen has not disappointed. Tuesday set up the natural valley cinema, a flashing light that danced across the sky. But there are two days ago, and the light gives me a taste. It's also why østfold scientists have come back again and again.
Lo status.
Erling Strand shows the way to an elevation in the terrain. One of the tents has six blown down. Field Research in the Norwegian bare mountain can be demanding for both people and equipment. He talks about the previous day with 20 meters per second on the tops. And fog. One camp had to be evacuated. Beach came here for the first time with a bunch of guys at the beginning of the 1980s.
They had read newspaper reports about events in the valley for and wanted to see with my own eyes. One night they stood on a hill, when a ball of light with strength as landing lights of an aircraft suddenly appeared in the sky. It moved around above and below the horizon until it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. The sight aroused Strands curiosity, and since he has tried to reveal the phenomenon natur.Den first time it was mostly engineers who involved themselves, experts on the measurement and electronic equipment, but not in physics or geology.
One would think maybe professionals stood in line to help find an explanation for the mysterious lights, but this time. Some experts took part in periods, some communities contributed money and equipment, but the larger communities did not materialize. Strand says that several researchers hesitant to participate in the project, including the fear of his own career. Fortunately, more serious researchers became interested Hessdalen with time.
The Italian Institute for Radio Astronomy has its own research station here, and today the department chairman Stelios Montebugnoli brought Gaffa tape and cable ties to fix a broken magnetic antenna. Italians' advanced equipment has been an important contribution to drive the research forward, and somehow they have managed to get out of it. But when some newspapers last year claimed that the mystery was solved, they overdid a bit.
New Energy?
On the windswept mountain crag is a tripod with a camera aimed at the sky. Now and then gives it away a click, a sign of another picture. And occasionally captures the images of light. Once researchers began to photograph the phenomenon and analyze the composition of that, they found that it occurs in a combustion process. But for a combustion process to begin, something has to ignite the fuel.
Is it a matter of burning gas, the light should expand and rise. It does not. Researchers are still in disarray in many points. How to light up the light? And why it pops up in the valley for? Could it have to do with the bedrock, which is particularly rich in minerals and metals? Lights suddenly found elsewhere on earth, in Mexico, it interfering with air traffic and occurs near the volcanoes. In Australia, the light is called Min-Min lights, named after a hotel where it frequently has been observed.
In Hessdalen sometimes ball of light falling to the ground. Many have tried to find traces of them. They do not seem to make burn marks, but in the snow whirled up phenomenon marks. Trials have shown that most bacteria have only the toughest, there in the snow where the light seems to have hit. Five feet away is far more vibrant life. If the light has killed insects without the snow has melted, it could mean that it contains ultraviolet radiation.
But even if the images finally reveal the UV light in the phenomena, still remains the question of how it arises. During last year's research camp was something special. Some gave a sudden sharp impact on the Italians' radar equipment. First half an hour after it came out visible phenomenon, it held on for a quarter, but the radar continued to capture signals for several hours. The light we see represent only a very small part of the wave spectrum. Therefore, may this and similar phenomena occur frequently, both in Hessdalen and elsewhere, without our being aware of it.
Russian prisoners.
- I saw it, I saw it, I saw it, I saw it. Caroline Backlund comes running from the dark periphery of the container. - I saw the light! - Bring binoculars! Shouts one of her classmates. Carolyn points to the light, and the others follow her finger. - Is not it just a car? Wonder is one of the andre.En of the boys pick up the binoculars and looks. Yes, it is a car. It is as if all light has become stronger during the night.
All House shines as strong, yellow stars, Øyungen-water is like a glittering strip of silver. Unfortunately pours binoculars explanations for every flash of light so far. But inside the container is something about to happen. The radio does not stand still. From the other two stations flows notices of new observations, always new. - KO, this is Roe Mountains, we will report on an observation! Over. - KO, this is the mountain roe. We have an observation to, at 183 degrees. Over.
The light is active in the evening. And according to the other moving it toward Øyungen, against us. The phenomenon of activity at this water has been known since the war, "says Peder Skogaas. He swings by on his way home to the farm where the famous KO housed in the barn. During the war Mon sparkle explained that the Germans, and after the war were the Russian prisoners on the run in the mountains.
A lot of energy.
Now more and more new results from research that emphasizes that it is neither the Germans or Russians who lit up Hessdalen. It is a physical phenomenon. And we find the solution to Hessdalsgåten, it may have serious consequences, "says Bjorn Gitle Hauge. The light may show us a completely new way to save energy.
Rain bows showing light chemical content says that Hessdals-phenomenon consists of a pair of exotic fabrics, next to the most common oxygen and nitrogen.Mineralet Thortveitit, who in the 1960s was used to extract the other material: Scandium, a rare and expensive metal reacts violently with acid and air. Maybe this represents the fabric ignition mechanism Hessdals-phenomenon, wonders Hauge.
He thinks it may be talking about a kind of powerful whirlwind of energy that is invisible to us until the antennas. But do you manage to find out how Hessdals-phenomenon is about as much energy, it can pave the way for new battery technology. This week Hauge in Paris to tell scientists from around the world about Hessdals-phenomenon. The conference is organized in cooperation with the SETI Institute - a U.S. research center involved in the quest for Ekstraterrestriell Intelligence. Specifically, Earth-like planets that could accommodate other life forms.
Perhaps surprising then, that Hessdalen be involved, as they struggle to remove themselves from alien stamp? No, according to Hauge. To sharpen his quest is also interested in SETI to debunk myths. If you find the physics behind the lights suddenly, they can be deleted from the list of the inexplicable. Phenomenon is also reminiscent of phenomena that occur in space, therefore, mingling with astrophysicists be very useful for lysforskerne.Ved Øyungen base is approaching at 23.00.
Clouds have lifted, and over the mountains is a stripe of blue. His gaze stopped at a bright spot that appears just above one of the top. Is it a star? No, where it disappeared. It was certainly a light! Could it have been a car? - No, there is no road there, make base Large director Myrbakken. We stare in the same direction in the autumn cold air. There! Over the top is light to reappear. It resembles a star, but moves. In a second or two it goes in a straight line upwards, leaving a bright streak behind him, then disappears. We are left. Nothing.That's it. But it was enough. - KO, this is Øyungen. We have an observation!
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The below is recent reports and conclusions last year;
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Observation done by people in the year 2010;
All time is local time in Hessdalen, if no other info is given
Date: 27.10.2010 Time: (approx) 10:00 P.M. Place: Hessdalen
Observer: Maren Osøien;
Maren and a neighbor woman, stood on the steps on the "oldfarm", in the souther part of Hessdalen. They became aware of a light in the north, standing still, below the horizon. That direction is toward mount Finnsåhøgda, from where they where standing. In the beginning they wondered if it could be a car or something, standing in the Båttjønn area. After a short time they saw the light moving straight up in the sky. It turned and moved in a south-east direction. They did then believed it could be a helicopter, but no sound was heard.
Ref. Jan Moen.
Date: 14.09.2010 Time: 8:45 P.M Place: Slettælet, Øyungen, south in Hessdalen
Observer: Anynomous;
Please read the complete report, written by the observer. here; http://www.hessdalen.org/observations/2010/
Ref. the observer.
Date: 13.09.2010 Time: 2:50 P.M Place: Hessdalslia
Observs: Bjørn and Daniel Lillevold;
The observers are driving a car up Hessdalslia, towards Hessdalen, when they see a phenomenon moving towards east, from mount Rongefjell. It has the direction towards the village Ålen. The phenomenon is seen in the daylight. It is cigar shaped, with a black area in the middle. It is seen just some seconds, due to the driving.
Ref. Bjarne og Bjørn Lillevold.
Date: 07.09.2010 Time: 08:55 P.M. Place: Hessdalen
Observers: Jan Moen, Lars Borren and Bjørn Tamlag
The observers where located in the hillside above the common house, when a strong rectangular shaped light light was seen in the north. It has different colours, most yellow and red. The light is a little big strionger at the right side. It is standing still. After about 7 to 8 minutes, it suddenly disappear up to the right (towards east).
Ref. Jan Moen.
Date: 12.01.2010 Time: in the night Place: Hessdalen
Observer: Kjetil Folde and Jannika Grimbe
During the night between the 11. and 12. of January did Jannika and Kjetil see a big light outside their bedroom. In binoculars it looked like a big Christmas tree in different colours, most blue and green. The phenomenon moved extremely slowly toward the north west. It burned out after 1 to 2 hours.
Ref. Kjetil Folde.
Date: 05.01.2010 Time: 07:00 P.M. Place: Hessdalen
Observer: Marit Hov Folde and Kjetil Folde
A big yellow orange light was seen between mount Berghøgda and Morkavollhøgda. The light stood still at first and then moved away slowly in 30-40 seconds. Then the big light suddenly disappeared in just a second. There were no clouds at the time, and the stars were very bright.
Ref. Kjetil Folde.
"The following case was investigated by Martin Jasek who lived in Edmonton, Alberta. Jasek attended the University of Alberta where he obtained his Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering in 1986 and his Masters degree in Water Resources Engineering in 1992. In 1993 he moved to Whitehorse, Yukon Territories to work for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Water Resources Division. In 1995 he started to develop an interest in Ufology. In 1996 he started collaboration with his neighbor Lorraine Bretlyn who had a lifelong interest in the subject. In the Spring of 1997 he teamed up with UFO*BC and become their Yukon Representative".
The Abduction on the North Canol Road;
By Martin Jasek, M.Sc., P. Eng.
quote;
"I first met Kevin on July 8, 2000 while attending a UFO conference in St. Paul, Alberta. I had just finished a presentation on Yukon UFO sightings when he approached me. He was very quiet and reserved and basically told me that he used to live in Ross River, Yukon and had heard and seen strange things up there. He proceeded to write down his contact information for me as the hustle and bustle of the conference prevented a personal conversation.
The next day, as the conference was drawing to a close, Kevin approached me again. He said he was leaving now as he had a fairly lengthy drive home. But before he left, he wanted to show me something so that I would know what he was talking about when we later talked on the phone".
He then showed me the palms of his hands. Wow, what he showed me certainly peaked my interest and he briefly stated some of the background. I'll leave it to the reader to read through "Kevin's Account" as not to take away from the incredible experience.
After the conference I returned to my home in Whitehorse and Kevin returned to his life in a small Alberta town. It was fortunate that with my work I was able to travel to many parts of the Yukon and at my earliest opportunity (Sept 12, 2000), I traveled up the North Canol Road. Prior to the trip, Kevin provided a detailed description of the location where his experience took place and narrowed it down to a 6 km stretch of road, west of a vacant RCMP trailer. I took photographs of five locations along this stretch that would potentially match Kevin's description.
There was one location in particular that matched every detail very well. I mailed all sets of five location photos to him and he quickly replied that one location, the same one that I favoured, was the correct one. There "is no doubt in his mind" he replied. He added information to the photos such as the trajectory of the UFO, the location where the aliens stood, etc. The graphics depicting what Kevin witnessed are of the actual locations. We hope that these along with the artwork add to the realism of Kevin's account.
This article has been a long time in the making and I have got to know Kevin over the years. He is a very honest, sincere and reserved individual. Not at all the type looking for attention. I have no reason not to believe his entire story. I would like to thank him for his patience and understanding for the time it took me to put this presentation together.
In August or September 1987 (later determined to be Wednesday September 2, 1987), I left Ross River (where I lived) and headed up the North Canol Road by myself on my motor bike for moose (hunting).
I was planning on spending 3 days in the area between Sheldon Lake and Macpass. A guy I worked with and a friend of his were to leave a day later and I was to meet them for some fishing. We were all to stay at a trailer at Dewhurst Creek.
I left Ross River early in the morning and the temperature started to drop. Then it started to rain very hard and very cold. When I got to Gravel Creek, I stopped at Art John's Cabin and put on extra clothes while standing under the edge of his roof. I knew the rain would not stop, so I got back on my bike and headed off. I arrived at the trailer ½ hour before dark, very cold and very tired. I lit up a fire, cooked supper and went straight to bed looking forward to the morning hunt. Over night the rain had stopped.
At daybreak (September 3, 1987) I put my gear and my gun on my bike and headed towards Macpass. A couple of miles down the road, I was putting along at about 10 mph looking into the trees and watching the hillsides. I decided to stop for a restroom break.
I stopped where I could see some mountainsides and some valleys. I parked on the right side of the road. The sun was shining; the air was perfectly still and a bit cool. I was standing just in front of my bike watching the mountains to the south, when I noticed to the left out of the corner of my eye, what I first thought was an airplane. It was 400 to 500 yards away and about the size of a DC-3 plane or a full-size school bus.
It was travelling north to south, at about 40 yards above ground and moving maybe 30 km/h. Right away I thought "boy is he low". I blinked my eyes because I couldn't make out any tail fin or wings.
It had what looked like portholes all along the side of it. It was cigar shaped with a grey strip down the middle and a dark green on top and bottom.
I thought to myself, "something's wrong with this picture", then I realised there was no sound! If it was an airplane, the roar would have filled the valley.
As I watched, it seemed to partially dematerialize and then return to solid form, it did this as it was moving, a couple of times. Then it dawned on me, oh, oh, I don't think I should be seeing this; it's a UFO and probably doesn't want to be seen!
I crouched down on the road, hiding behind the roadside grass.
I then watched it go behind a cone-shaped hill and not come out. I stood up looking for it and feeling very excited and happy about what I saw and thinking they didn't even know they were being watched.
I was standing beside my bike when I heard a loud metallic clunk behind me around the corner.
Right away I thought, somebody must be here and I've got to tell them what I saw. The noise I heard sounded like a heavy trunk lid on a car slamming shut.
I quickly walked along the edge of the road to the corner to see who was there.
I came face to face (about 20 yards) with 2 grey creatures in blue jump suits, about 5 ft. tall with big insect looking heads, pointy faces, big eyes, thin arms, body and legs. I immediately thought "they're not little green men*, they're grasshopper people".
At that same instant, the one on the left raised his left hand to his waist, which held some type of flashlight device and I saw a bright flash of light come from it.
I instantly felt paralyzed and was convinced time had stopped, everything was black, no sound. I tried to yell "No!" but all that came out was a distorted grunt.
Next thing I knew I was standing on the side of the road scared, shaking and confused.
Within seconds I remembered all of this that had just taken place and I thought, "I'm getting out of here before they get me again." I turned around to get my bike and for some reason it was not there, then I noticed it was on the other side of the road. I said to myself, "what the hell is this? I didn't put it there". Still panicking I rushed over and got on it and realized the keys were gone.
I always left the keys in it, that way I could not lose them while sneaking around in the bush. I immediately started looking down the road and suddenly saw them in my hand. I started my bike and raced back to the trailer.
I was feeling scared and amazed at the same time and then noticed that all the shadows of the trees were pointing in a different direction than that of the morning sun. About 15 minutes later I was at the trailer. Half an hour later it was dark. I thought "no way, I only left here an hour ago, what's going on?"
I was really confused then, I said to myself, "I'm not telling anybody about this, I'll just forget the whole thing".
I put on a pot of coffee and could then hear a soft humming sound above the trailer. I could also feel a soft vibration in everything (trailer, air, etc.). After about 10 minutes it had all stopped. I had a very strong feeling that they were outside. I did not look out the windows.
Later that night I still couldn't sleep and while having my coffee I began to have flashbacks of the past events. I remember being in a dream-like state watching scenery flash by underneath as if I was flying. I watched mountains and rivers and forests go by at a very high rate of speed.
I then became aware of other sounds and seemed to wake up. I opened my eyes and could see nothing but black, very deep and inky black. As I was looking at this, the blackness pulled back, revealing a face, I had been looking into the eyes of a grey type creature. I could hear in my mind a voice saying "there is nothing to worry about". I could hear him talking in my mind.
There were 3 or 4 of these types walking around, but only one talked to me. The two I saw earlier on the road, I never saw again. (Note: the aliens that he saw at this point were of the typical "grey type" while the ones at the edge of the road were more insectoid.)
I then sat up and had an idea of what might be going on and I asked, "Are you going to do experiments on me?" and the one said, "They've already been done." I felt really good then because, except for a strange sensation in my hands everything felt normal. I kept rubbing my hands together but did not look at them, as there was a totally strange environment to look at instead. I experienced no discomfort.
Kevin's drawing of the place where he regained consciousness and where the being showed him the image
The being nearest me asked if I would like to see my home planet and I said sure. I then walked over to the window, where there was a machine that looked like a big copy machine. He asked me not to touch it, I replied "Don't worry, I'm not touching anything in here".
He then said, that bright white star is your home. I didn't know anything about astronomy at the time, but I always thought earth was blue, so right away I thought he's lying. He also explained to me about space and stars etc. but I can't remember any of it now.
I was also asked if I would like to go on a trip. I replied "Not yet", I felt very honoured to be asked and I did want to go, but felt that the time was not right.
Then I was told I would have to forget all of this. I was disappointed at hearing this. The first part of the experience was very scary, but once I was with them, I found them to be friendly, helpful and their looks didn't bother me. They actually seemed like old friends.
They gave me a clear glass, ¾ full with a yellow liquid and said to drink it up, it would make me forget everything. I told them, I did not want to forget an experience like this. It should be remembered! I was told it was for my own good that I forget. So I took 3 little sips and put the glass down.
Next thing I know, I'm on the road by my bike, scared to death and wanting to get out of there.
The next day I met up with the other two guys and never said anything to them. - Martin Jasek, M.Sc., P.Eng.
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Witness Credibility;
I already mentioned something about Kevin's character in the introduction. About how he is reserved and not at all the type out for attention. It has taken him many years to come forward. Since the incident, Kevin has married and has started a family.
Furthering his credibility is the type of employment he had in Ross River at the time of the incident. He worked for the RCMP as a jail guard in Ross River. This indicates that he was employed in a position of responsibility and trust. It also shows one reason why he did not tell anybody about the incident at the time.
Some time after the incident, Kevin took some training to become a RCMP officer but discontinued the training when he realized that he would likely be posted in a remote location where he feared another possible encounter.
After a few more years in Ross River, Kevin moved to New Zealand for a while. Upon his return to Canada he continued his career as a guard in correctional institutes.
In February 2004, I located Kevin's friend Doug who was one of the two fellows that joined Kevin on the North Canol Road trip after the incident. Kevin had not spoken with Doug for many years and I was curious about Doug's perspective of that trip as well as what he could tell me about Kevin. Doug was a RCMP officer in Ross River at the time. The following is a summary of his statements:
- Doug knew Kevin for about 3 years in Ross River. He saw him just about every day.
- He really liked Kevin and never ever doubted him about anything. Kevin was a "straight shooter".
- Doug mentioned that Kevin had an amazing mind. He was impressed how Kevin could recall past events and incidents in such detail. The RCMP officers in Ross River would often ask Kevin about previous incidents as the amount of details he could recall was very useful. (This attests to the level of detail provided in Kevin's account).
- When Doug joined Kevin on the North Canol Road the day after the incident, he didn't notice that Kevin was acting strangely. Doug doesn't recall any strange occurrences on the entire trip.
- In 1997, when Kevin was overseas, he confided to Doug about the incident. He wrote him a letter describing what happened. A copy of the letter has been obtained, and this early version of the incident is nearly identical to the one presented on this web site. A consistent story is a hallmark of an honest one.
Also in February 2004 I located Brad, the other fellow that joined Kevin on the trip. Brad was a friend of Doug who had come up from Vancouver Island and met Kevin for the first time on that trip. Kevin appeared like a "normal" person to him. Brad does not recall any unusual occurrences during his time on the North Canol Road with Kevin and Doug.
The aliens shot a beam of light at Kevin that had paralyzing effects.
Artwork by Patty D. & Jim G
The Witness Answers Questions;
Let us first go through some obvious questions the reader may have. Does it make sense to go moose hunting on a motorbike? Was it a moose hunting trip? a fishing trip? or a duck hunting trip? Kevin's intent was to only shoot a moose if he spotted the right animal. He would have waited for his friends to show up who could go back to Ross River for a truck. Kevin remarked that it is the Yukon way to go out into the wilderness and be prepared for whatever opportunities come by. Kevin therefore had both hunting and fishing gear with him.
For the next part of the discussion, let us assume that the incident actually occurred the way Kevin recalled it ( i.e. that the experience was the result of an interaction between Kevin and some other intelligence and it was not a product of his own mind). I have no reason not to believe Kevin, since he is credible, sincere and appears mentally healthy.
Further to his credibility is the fact that Kevin had little exposure to, or interest in, the UFO phenomenon prior to the event. The fact that he didn't expect the aliens to be gray but green attests to this.
Let us also assume further that the beings were able to read Kevin's mind at all times as this was the way that Kevin said he communicated with them.
Here are some questions that come to my mind.
How much missing time did Kevin have?
Kevin mentioned that for hunting he liked to get up before the sun rose. Official sunrise on Sept 3 was at about 6:40 am, probably about a half hour later to clear the mountain tops. So Kevin was probably on the road some time between 6:00 and 6:30 am. The location of the incident was about 10 minutes away since he was travelling at a fairly slow speed to keep an eye out for game. Therefore, the incident probably occurred some time between 6:00 and 7:00 am. Say 6:30 am for argument's sake.
After the incident, it was just before sunset since it became dark about one half to one hour later. Official sunset was at about 8:40pm. For the sake of argument, the incident would have probably concluded at about 8:30pm. Therefore the entire incident probably lasted about 14 hours.
I asked Kevin how long did it appear that he spent with the beings. Something in the order of a "couple of hours" was his reply. He further mentioned that things "went at my speed". There was no rush.
We are still left with a question. What happened during the other 12 or so hours? Was Kevin unconscious for that time or are his memories of that time obscured?
Why was the motorcycle found facing the opposite direction and on a different part of the road after Kevin was released?
It is possible that once the aliens took Kevin they realized they could not leave the motorcycle abandoned on the road. This would risk somebody coming across it and collaborating his abduction. It is possible that the motorcycle was taken as well. When it was time to release Kevin, the motorcycle was placed back on the road. They may have obtained information from Kevin's mind that he intended to travel back to the trailer (which was in the opposite direction) to spend the night, so they placed the motorcycle facing west.
Why were the keys not in the ignition after the incident?
Kevin normally leaves the keys in the ignition while out in remote areas like this. That way he is not apt to lose them and there is no reason to believe that someone would steal his bike. Presumably, he left the keys in the ignition when he stopped to take a leak that morning. The keys would have therefore been in the ignition while he was observing the UFO. After the UFO disappeared and he heard a clunk Kevin walked up the road and around the corner where he would have lost sight of the bike.
Perhaps, as a precaution, and subconsciously, Kevin removed the keys from his bike at this point as he was not sure that the UFO may reappear and spot his bike on the road. Not that he thought aliens would start it up and go for a joy ride, but subconsciously he may had thought of it as a precaution. He may have behaved similarly if he had spotted a vehicle with strangers near by.
If this was the case, then he would have had the keys on his person (in his hand or in a pocket) when he saw the aliens on the side of the road and when he was hit by the beam of light. However, he does not recall holding his keys in his hand while with the aliens later. Perhaps they were removed from his hand while he was unconscious. Later when the aliens returned him to the road they realized their mistake that they did not return the keys to him. Perhaps they are able to interject somehow and place the keys in his hands.
The other possibility is that the keys were in the bike when it was taken but were removed at some point by Kevin or the aliens although Kevin has no memory of this.
Scoop marks left on Kevin's hands after the incident. Photo taken in July 9, 2000, almost 13 years later
What are the marks on Kevin's hands?
The marks on Kevin's hands do appear like a mild form of Dupuytren's Contracture although this has not been confirmed by a doctor. There are three possibilities:
1. Kevin developed the mild form of Dupuytren's Contracture coincidentally with the incident.
2. Something the aliens did or something during the encounter inadvertently triggered a mild form of Dupuytren's Contracture.
- One possibility is that when Kevin was hit by the beam of light he clenched his fists so forcefully that he damaged the connective tissues in the palm of his hands. Although the medical profession does not state this is a possible way of obtaining the Dupuytren's Contracture, they do not know how it is caused. It is interesting to note that when one clenches their fists, it is the ring and pinky fingers that places the most force on the palm. It is precisely these locations that Dupuytren's Contracture most often appears.
- Another possibility is that the marks were caused inadvertently by the "tests" that the aliens performed on Kevin (which he has no conscious recall of but which the aliens told him that they had performed). Perhaps Kevin clenched his fists on the examination table.
3. The marks are not Dupuytren's Contracture but are a direct result of some procedure that the aliens performed on Kevin's hands. The obvious speculation would be that the aliens placed some sort of implants in the palm of his hands. Kevin has never had his hands X-rayed so we cannot determine this. The other possibility is that they were caused by tissue sampling or injections.
We encourage the medical community to provide UFO*BC and Kevin comments by clicking here
After the abduction, why would the aliens come around the trailer that Kevin was spending the night in? (As indicated by the noise that Kevin heard and the feelings he had).
Where they possibly monitoring what Kevin recalled consciously? Where they concerned that he was remembering too much? Did they take him again at this point and erase some memories of the incident?
Why did Kevin remain behind to do some duck hunting after his friends went back to Ross River? Was he not afraid that the aliens would come back for him?
As a day or two passed, Kevin reasoned that the beings had already done what they needed to do and that they would not come back. This is in contrast however to how he felt in the trailer. Did another incident occur in the trailer that made Kevin feel that it was finally over? On the other hand, perhaps the simple passage of time made Kevin feel more at ease.
An interesting aspect of Kevin's memories is the fact that they were recalled consciously. Not that I think the process of clinical hypnosis is invalid but conscious memories are generally accepted as more reliable. Kevin did not recall everything right away however. The following lists indicate what he recalled immediately after the incident and what Kevin recalled later:
Intitial recall:
- seeing UFO across valley.
- hearing "clunk" sound and walking towards it.
- seeing beings on the side of the road.
- being hit by the beam of the light.
- flashbacks of incidents on the ship.
Subsequent recall:
- details of events on ship.
- details of conversions with aliens on ship.
Subsequent recalled occurred about 10 years later when Kevin was living in New Zealand. He had a job making fishing rod handles. The work involved turning a piece of cork on a lathe. A certain "hum" was associated with this process. Kevin, mentioned that the hum would put his mind in a certain state and suddenly the memories flooded back to him and were as vivid and real as other parts of the hunting trip.
This is very interesting. Was the sound similar to a sound he heard during the event? or, Does this sound have hypnotic qualities that allows memories to come forward? It may be worthwhile to record this sound and play it to others who may have possibly been abducted to see if their memory is recalled.
In closing, I would like to say that this case is not closed. We will update this site as more input is provided by readers or if new developments occur.
The following are more details that Kevin provided about the marks:
- The marks never existed prior to the Sept 4, 1987 event.
- Kevin mentioned "I recall rubbing my hands together" (due to a strange feeling in his hands) while talking with the aliens.
- Kevin finally examined his hands a few days later. "I was totally shocked to see a mark on my hand. Then I looked at my other hand and couldn't believe I had one there too." They got worse or became more prominent over the next 10 days to two weeks. It only took them that long for them to have the same appearance that they still have today.
Over the years, Kevin has asked various doctors and nurses about what they thought they were without giving them the background on how he thought he obtained them. Most did not have any idea. However, One doctor asked, "oh, have you had that for a couple of weeks or something like that?" Kevin replied, "no, its been 8 years". The doctor's eyes got wide and he was quite surprised by Kevin's answer.
The doctor asked Kevin if he had any problems with his hands "seizing up". Kevin replied, "No, I can play the guitar no problem." The doctor told Kevin that if he ever develops such a problem, that they can make a few cuts to get rid of the tension and that the treatment is not a really big deal. The doctor told Kevin the name of this disorder but Kevin couldn't recall it when he was interviewed by the author about 5 years later. The doctor also told Kevin that the medical profession does not know what causes it.
The author performed an internet search on "problems with hands" and a condition came up that closely matched what the doctor told Kevin. It is called Dupuytren's (pronounced du-pwe-trahns') Contracture.
Dupuytren's Contracture is a disease whose cause is unknown but most often affects men of a northern European decent indicating that it may be hereditary. It occurs when the connective tissue under the skin begins to thicken and shorten. It initially starts as a painless nodule resembling a callous, most commonly at the base of the ring finger. One or both hands can be affected. If the condition progresses, the tissue tightens and it may pull the fingers towards the palm of the hand.
In some individuals, the condition may progress until the fingers can no longer perform day to day functions. If the condition progresses this far, surgery is the only way to correct the problem. In other individuals, it only produces the initial symptoms of a callous type formation.
Kevin has never been diagnosed with this condition although this is still a possibility. Other than the marks on the hands he has not developed any disability. Kevin can place his hands flat on the table with no problem (This is a test to see if a case of Dupuytren's Contracture is severe enough to require surgery). He can also play a guitar with no problem.
There are a range of possibilities that could explain the marks on Kevin's hands:
1. Kevin developed the mild form of Dupuytren's Contracture coincidentally with the incident.
2. Something the aliens did or something during the encounter inadvertently triggered a mild form of Dupuytren's Contracture.
3. The marks are not Dupuytren's Contracture but are the result of some procedure that the aliens performed on Kevin. The obvious speculation would be that the aliens placed some sort of implants in the palm of his hands.
source; http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/201...anol-road.html
Leslie Keen a very underestimated and tireless UFO researcher who has spent years investigating reports from top military brass;She has in short investigated government documents released under the freedom of information act and done countless interviews with military personnel , she deserves a mention here;
================================================== ========
Veritas Radio Interviews Leslie Keen;
source: veritasshow;
S y n o p s i s:
quote;
"You are about to learn some shocking new truths behind one of the most intriguing mysteries of our time. The reality of UFOs—a subject of intense interest to the general public—has now been verified at the highest levels. UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record (Harmony Books; August 10, 2010) pulls back the curtain on the incredible occurrences of unexplained behavior by unknown objects over many decades, and the results are astonishing".
"We know that of all UFO sightings reported, 95 percent can be explained as ordinary phenomena. However, within that remaining 5 percent, spectacular well-documented UFO events have been officially investigated, and no conventional explanations were found. Genuine unidentified flying objects are documented by government agencies, witnessed by pilots, and confirmed by Air Force generals. As stated by these authorities, they are solid, physical objects that appear to be metallic, luminous, and able to maneuver in ways that defy the known laws of physics. The evidence is insurmountable and undeniable".
"For ten years, investigative journalist LESLIE KEAN conducted a study of this still unexplained 5 percent. She reviewed hundreds of U.S. government documents, aviation reports and radar data. She carefully examined official case studies with corroborating physical evidence and scientifically analyzed photographs".
A document by “Col. Steve Wilson” describing the chain of command of the secret government (MAJI and Jason Society) dealing with the aliens
Here is the whole ball of wax…….Its on the skywatch web site also. This is the Chain of command I worked under with MAJI…………Col.
MJ-12 is a ULTRA TOP SECRET Research and Development, Intelligence Operation established by President Truman on September 24, 1947. MJ-12 was a “Committee” set up inside the NSC. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed the Secret Executive Order, “Order Number 54-12″. (NSC=National Security Counsel)
The NSC called this group the “54-12″ committee which gave the President responsibility of approving all “Black” covert projects. This committee has undergone several changes over the years, and since then, has been called the “Special Committee”; the “303 Committee” and currently the “40 Committee”. It is described as the “Directorate” of the NSC. The “40 Committee” (PI-40) has access to advanced technology and teams to cover-up, “the cover-ups”. In the past, this committee was headed by Dr. Henry Kissenger (Code name: “The Overseer”)
*Operation Majority* is the name of the operation responsible for every aspect, project and all consequences of Alien presence on earth.
*MAJESTY* was listed as the code name for the President of the United States for communications concerning this information.
*GRUDGE* contains 16 volumes of documented information collected from the beginning of the United States investigation of the Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO’s) and Identified Alien Crafts (IACs). The project was funded by the CIA, (confidential funds, non-appropriated) and money from the illicit drug trade. (It was rumored in the higher echelon’s of the Air Force that participation in the illegal drug trade was justified in that it would identify and eliminate the weak elements of our society.)
The purpose of GRUDGE was to collect all scientific, technological, medical and intelligence information from UFO & IAC sightings as well as contacts with Alien Life Forms. This orderly file of collected information has been used to advance the United States Air Force Space Program, (ULTRA TOP SECRET).
JASON SOCIETY (Jason Scholars) Former President Eisenhower commissioned a secret society known as the Jason Society (or Jason Scholars) under the leadership of the following; Director of Central Intelligence, Allen Welsh Dulles, Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski, President of the Trilateral Commission from 1973 until 1976, and Dr. Henry Kissenger, leader of the scientific effort, to sift through all the facts, evidence, technology, lies and deceptions and find the truth of the Alien question. The society was made up of thirty two (32) of the most prominent men in the USA.
MJ-12 is the name of the secret control group inside the Jason Society. The top 12 members of the 32 members of the Jason Society were designated as MJ-12. MJ-12 has control of everything.
They are designated by the code J-1, J-2, J-3, etc. all the way through the members of the Jason Society. The director of Central Intelligence was appointed J-1 and is the Director of the MJ-12 group. MJ-12 use to only be responsible to the President of the United States (not true anymore).
The actual cost of funding the Alien connected projects is higher than anything you could imagine! Believe it or not, MJ-12 runs most of the worlds illegal drug trade. This was done to hide funding and thus keep the secret from congress and the people of the United States. It was justified in that it would identify and eliminate the weak and undesired elements of our society.
A secret meeting place was constructed for the MJ-12 group in Maryland and is only accessible by air. It contains full living, recreational, and other facilities for the MJ-12 group and the Jason Society. It is code named “The Country Club”. The land for The Country Club was donated by the Rockerfeller family. Only those with ULTRA TOP SECRET – MAJI clearances are allowed to go there.
*MAJI* – Majority Agency for Joint Intelligence. All information, disinformation, and intelligence is gathered and evaluated by this agency. This agency is responsible for all disinformation and operates in conjunction with the CIA, NSA, DIA, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. This is a very powerful organization and all Alien projects are under its control. MAJI is responsible only to MJ-12. MAJIC is the security classification and clearance of all Alien connected material, projects, and information.
*MAJIC* – means MAJI controlled (MAJI plus controlled = MAJIC)
NOTE: MJ-1 is the classification for the director of MAJI, who is the director of the CIA and reports only to the President. Other members of MAJI are designnated MJ-2, MJ-3, etc. This is why there is some confusion about references of MJ-12, the group or MJ-12 the person.
* Designation for MJ-12, the group are MAJI or MAJIC
* Designation in official documents about MJ-12 means the person only.
In 1947, *PROJECT SIGN* was created to acquire as much information as possible about UFO’s, their performance characteristics and their purposes. In order to preserve security, liason between Project Sign and MJ-12 was limited to two individuals within the intelligence division of the Air Material Command whose roll was to pass along certain types of information through channels. Project Sign evolved Project Grudge in December of 1948. Project Grudge had an overt civilian counterpart named PROJECT BLUE BOOK, with which we are all familiar. Only “Safe” reports were passed to Project Blue Book.
*MJ-12* was originally organized by General George C. Marshall in July 1947 to study the Roswell-Magdalena UFO crash recovery and debris. Admiral Hillenkoetter, director of the CIA from May 1, 1947 until September 1950, decided to activate the “Robertson Panel,” which was designed to monitor civilian UFO study groups that were appearing all over the country. He also joined NICAP in 1956 and was chosen as a member of its board of directors. It was from this position that he was able to act as the MJ-12 “Mole”, along with his team of other covert experts.
They were able to steer NICAP in any direction they wanted to go. With the “Flying Saucer Program” under complete control of MJ-12 and with the physical evidence hidden away, General Marshall felt more at ease with this very bizarre situation. These men and their successors have most successfully kept most of the public fooled up to the present, including much of the western world, by setting up false experts and throwing their influence behind them to make their plan work, with considerable success until now.
Within 6 months of the Roswell crash on July 2, 1947 and the finding of another crashed UFO at San Augustine Flats near Magdelena, New Mexico on July 3, 1947, a great deal of reorganization of agencies and shuffling of people took place. The main thrust behind the original “Security Lid”, and the very reason for its construction, was the analysis and attempted duplication of the technologies of the discs. The activity was headed up by the following groups.
* The Research and Development Board (R&DB)
* Air Force Research and Development (AFRD)
* The Office of Naval Research (ONR)
* CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence (CIA-OSI)
* NSA Office of Scientific Intelligence (NSA-OSI)
No single one of these groups knew the whole story. Each group was to know only the parts that MJ-12 allowed them to know. MJ-12 also operates through the various civilian intelligence and investigative groups. The CIA and FBI are manipulated by MJ-12 to carry out theirpurposes. The NSA was created in the first place to protect the secret of the recovered flying discs, and eventually got complete control over all communication intelligence. This control allows the NSA to monitor any individual through mail, telephone, telexes, telegrams, and now through on-line computers, monitoring private and personal communications as they may desire.
THE “MAJIC PROJECTS”
*SIGMA* is the project which first established communications with the Aliens and is responsible for communications.
*PLATO* is the project responsible for Diplomatic Relations with the Aliens. This project secured a formal treaty with the aliens.
*AQUARIUS* is the project which compiled the history of the Alien presence and interaction on Earth and the HOMO SAPIENS.
*GARNET* is the project responsible for control of all information and documents regarding the Alien subjects and accountability of their information and documents.
*PLUTO* is a project responsible for evaluating all UFO and IAC information pertaining to space technology.
*POUNCE* project was formed to recover all downed and/or crashed craft and Aliens. This project provided cover stories and operations to mask the true endeavor, whenever necessary. Covers which have been used were crashed experimental aircraft, construction, Mining, etc. This project has been successful and is ongoing today.
*NRO* is the National Recon Organization based at Fort Carson, Colorado. It’s responsible for security on all Alien or Alien Spacecraft connected to the projects.
*DELTA *is the designation for the specific arm of NRO which is especially trained and tasked with security of all MAJI projects. It’s a security team and task force from NRO especially trained to provide Alien tasked projects and LUNA security (Also has the CODE NAME: “Men In Black” [MIB]). This project is ongoing.
*BLUE TEAM* is the first project responsible for reaction and/or recovery of downed and/or crashed Alien craft and/or Aliens. This was a U.S. Air Force Material Command project.
*SIGN* is the second project responsible for collection of intelligence and determining whether Alien presence constitutes a treat to the U.S. National Security. SIGN absorbed the BLUE TEAM project. This was a U.S. Air Force and CIA project.
*REDLIGHT* was the project to test fly recovered Alien craft. This project was postponed after every attempt resulted in the destruction of the craft and death of the pilots. This project was carried out at AREA 51, Groom Lake, (Dreamland) in Nevada. Project REDLIGHT was resumed in 1972. This project has been partially successful. UFO sightings of craft accompanied by Black Helicopters are Project REDLIGHT assets. This project is now ongoing at AREA 51 in Nevada. (Believed to have moved to Mexico at this time for testing).
*SNOWBIRD* was established as a cover for Project Redlight. A “Flying Saucer” type aircraft was built using conventional technology. It was unveiled to the press and flown in public on several occasions. The purpose was to explain accidental sightings or disclosures of Redlight as having been Snowbird crafts. This was a very successful disinformation operation. This project is only activated when needed. This deception has not been used for many years. This project is currently in mothballs, until it is needed again.
*BLUE BOOK* was a U.S. Air Force, UFO, and Alien Intelligence collection and disinformation project. This project was terminated and its collected information and duties were absorbed by project Aquarius. A classified report named “Grudge/Blue Book, Report Number 13″ is the only significant information derived from the project and is unavailable to the public.
Related:
Project Grudge An early Air Force project investigating UFOs. Declassified on July...
Project Sign The first Air Force Project to research the nature of...
Project Aquarius Executive Briefing Text of an alleged MJ-12 briefing provided to then President...
Majestic 12 aka MJ-12, MAJI, MAJIC, Majority, Majesty Majestic 12 is the...
Project Rainbow Project RAINBOW is the name of two separate alleged United...
02-24-2011, 12:29 PM
Fatal Guillotine
UK 35 air / ground radar UFOs;
(1971/04/21) Sopley, UK 35 air / ground radar UFOs;
More often than not the UFO community focuses on cases that are sadly lacking in objective data. While many radar cases don't have the raw radar print-outs attached in digital format it's nice to know that at some point (assuming they're not deleted / erased due to retention policies) they'll be available for public consumption.
One such case is the April 21, 1971 incident reported by Wing Commander Alan Turner, MBE, over southern England. This report is particularly fascinating because, as it was put in the 'Alderney Lights' documentary,
“ Narrator: Turner examined the blips on his screen and determined the only thing that could be moving at that speed was the most advanced fighter of the day -- the Lightning. But the sheer number of aircraft indicated was simply unbelievable.
Turner: It was so unusual. People just looked at it and said, "What is going on?" We're talking 30, 35 aircraft. No Air Defense Commander in his right mind would get the entire Lightning force in one location. He'd have absolutely nothing left with which to defend the United Kingdom Air Defense region. You could cut the air with a knife. It became electric rapidly. People were -- more than surprised. [1] (emphasis added)
In response to this Turner rerouted a RAF Canberra jet returning from West Germany to intercept.
“ Turner: I kept asking the pilot, "Are you visual?" And then he said, the voice sounded quite jittery, "I don't know what that was, it was a quarter of a mile away, climbing like the clappers and we saw it on radar. We did not see it visually.
There were seven technically different radars all seeing exactly the same thing. Two radars at Southern radar, two radars at Heathrow, two at the fighter control establishment, and the airborne one with the Canberra bomber. [2] (emphasis added)
”
All of the data and physical evidence from these observations (video tape of radar; air/ground, land-line, and tape recordings between controllers) were collected and sent to the MoD.
It has yet to be released.
Turner sums up the entire experience in a way that one can't help but think that there was something of a highly extraordinary nature in the air that's still being ignored by the scientific community,
“ Turner: I'm absolutely certain that it was some very strange phenomenon on radar. Which no one has yet come up with any sort of rational explanation for.[3] ”
Turner, who was awarded the MBE in 1984 and retired from the force in 1995, has been assured that there were no training operations, classified or otherwise, going on at the time and there were no weather balloons or probes in the area.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Scotland on Sunday - RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar
[edit] Scotland on Sunday - RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery
Wing Commander Alan Turner MBE was sworn to secrecy after he tracked a series of unidentified objects soaring over southern England at incredible speeds.
But now the airman, who was honoured by the Queen for his years of distinguished service, has broken his silence and spoken publicly for the first time about his extraordinary experience.
Turner, 64, a former head of air traffic control at RAF Lossiemouth, insists it is "stupid and arrogant" to rule out the existence of extra-terrestrials and is open to the suggestion that he witnessed craft from another world.
But the Ministry of Defence stressed last night there were "realistic explanations" for such reports.
The incident, which has baffled and haunted Turner for decades, took place at RAF Sopley on the south-west coast of England in the summer of 1971.
At the time he was Duty Military Supervisor and had the responsibility of monitoring the skies on radar screens for potential Soviet incursions.
On the day in question, Turner and his 13 colleagues were alarmed by a sudden and unexpected development.
He said: "I can clearly remember people shouting: 'What the hell is that?' I got to a console and people were loudly telling me to look to the east of Salisbury Plain.
"Twenty miles east of the eastern extremity was a series of returns, or radar blips, which were appearing in that position. There were five of them initially. Then six and then seven all following the same track.
"They were tracking south-east, each exactly six to seven miles apart and moving at exactly the same speed. At about 40 miles from the point they appeared on radar, they disappeared, to be followed almost immediately by a replacement at the point of origin.
"The objects were about 3,000ft above ground level when they first appeared and climbed so rapidly that, by the time they disappeared from radar they were in excess of 60,000ft.
"To climb to such a height in only 40 miles was beyond the ability of almost any fighter aircraft at that time."
In a bid to solve the mystery Turner diverted an RAF Canberra jet, which was returning from West Germany, to intercept the intruders.
"When the pilot got within a mile or so of one particular blip, he reported, in a very agitated voice, that his radar had picked up something on his port side that was 'climbing like the clappers'. Neither the pilot nor his navigator made any visual contact with whatever it was."
Within days, Turner was summoned into the Squadron Leader's office and questioned by two men[who?], who wore civilian clothes and were not identified, about the incident.
"I, along with all the others who were in the room on that day, were told in no uncertain terms not to relate what we had seen until cleared to do so."
Turner, who was awarded the MBE in 1984 and retired from the force in 1995, has been assured that there were no training operations, classified or otherwise, going on at the time and there were no weather balloons or probes in the area.
"I have no idea what they were, but I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility that they were UFOs. There is certainly a chance that we have been visited by extra-terrestrials," he said. "It is terribly arrogant and silly to think that we are alone in the universe."
He feels the time is right to end his silence and has accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at an international UFO conference in Pontefract, Yorkshire, next month.
"I have spoken to three ex-Air Force mates, who held senior positions, and they have seen similar things, but did not report them as they felt their personal integrity would be questioned. That is why I kept quiet for so long, but I know what I saw."[4]
UFO Alderney Lights - Wing Commander Alan Turner discusess a MoD ATC Radar UFO incident in Sopley;
Originally from Britain's Closest Encounters - Alderney Lights[5] (@35:00)
↑ Youtube 2009: @0:55
↑ Youtube 2009: @1:40
↑ Youtube 2009: @2:49
↑ 4.0 4.1 Horne, Marc (9-14-2008). "RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery" (in English). Scotland on Sunday.
↑ Alan Turner, Dr. David Clarke. (July 30, 2008) (in English) (avi). Britain's Closest Encounter - Alderney Lights. [TV production]. England: Five. Event occurs at 35:00.
[edit] References
Wheeler, Virginia (9-13-2008). "RAF radar chief: I saw UFO fleet" (in English). The Sun. Retrieved on 27 July 2009.
Alan Turner, Dr. David Clarke. (July 27, 2009) (in English) (flv). UFO Alderney Lights - Wing Commander Alan Turner discusess a MoD ATC Radar UFO incident in Sopley. [TV production]. England: Five / Youtube. Archived from the original on 1-22-2009. Retrieved on 7-27-2009.
[edit] Further Reading
[edit] External Links
Scotland on Sunday - RAF officer breaks 37-year silence on UFO radar mystery
The Sun - RAF radar chief: I saw UFO fleet
Facts about (1971/04/21) Sopley, UK 35 air / ground radar UFOsRDF feed
Actor Alan Turner +, and David Clarke +
Date 21 April 1971 +, 1971 +, 1984 +, and 1995 +
Equipment RAF Canberra jet +
Event (1971/04/21) Sopley, UK 35 air / ground radar UFOs +
West Germany +, Pontefract,Yorkshire +, and Yorkshire +
Organization Ministry of Defence +
02-24-2011, 12:32 PM
Fatal Guillotine
Bernard Haisch, Ph. D./A Thesis On UFOs;
An information site on the UFO phenomenon by and for professional scientists.
Skeptic - One who practices the method of suspended judgment, engages in rational and dispassionate reasoning as exemplified by the scientific method, shows willingness to consider alternative explanations without prejudice based on prior beliefs, and who seeks out evidence and carefully scrutinizes its validity.
Dear Colleagues,
We are in the curious situation today that our best modern physics and astrophysics theories arguably predict that we should be experiencing extraterrestrial visitation, yet any possible evidence of such lurking in the UFO phenomenon is scoffed at within our scientific community (see the JBIS article linked below for details).
To give some background, I have been an active professional astronomer since earning my doctorate in 1975. I have published a respectable number of scientific papers in most of the right journals (including our favorites, Science and Nature), have been Principal Investigator on several NASA studies, have served as referee and proposal reviewer for NASA and NSF, belong to half a dozen professional societies, have chaired international conferences, i.e. I've engaged by and large successfully in all the usual activities of a busy professional scientist. For those of you who want the full details, click here for my CV.http://www.calphysics.org/haisch/index.html
During my career I have had the responsibility and privilege as an editor of accepting or rejecting somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand articles in a prestigious astrophysics journal. This does not conclusively prove, but certainly indicates, that I recognize good science when I see it. I have also had the responsibility of accepting or rejecting papers on the UFO phenomenon in a quite different refereed journal, the Journal of Scientific Exploration (JSE).
For 12 years I served as editor of JSE (as an unpaid public service) because I believe that examining evidence that may challenge prevailing scientific dogma is good for science and a necessary part of searching for the truth. The road of discovery may have 99 deadends in the thicket for every new path winding its way up the peak, but that is just how it is. Curiosity and tenacity are equal prerequisites for a scientist... as is an open mind.
I have learned quite a bit about the UFO phenomenon over the years (certainly more than I had bargained for) and have met many of the leading figures, some credible, some deluded. When Prof. Peter Sturrock, a prominent Stanford University plasma physicist, conducted a survey of the membership of the American Astronomical Society in the 1970s, he made an interesting finding: astronomers who spent time reading up on the UFO phenomenon developed more interest in it.
If there were nothing to it, you would expect the opposite: lack of credible evidence would cause interest to wane. But the fact of the matter is, there does exist a vast amount of high quality, albeit enigmatic, data. UFO sightings are not limited to farmers in backward rural areas. There are astronomers and pilots and NASA engineers -- and others who have been around the block a few times when it comes to observing natural phenomena -- who have witnessed events for which there is no plausible conventional explanation.
Recently astrophysicist Ken Olum at Tufts University argued (gr-qc/0303070) http://www.arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0303070that anthropic reasoning applied to inflation theory predicts that we should find ourselves part of a large, galaxy-sized civilization, implying that the "We are alone" solution to Fermi's paradoxhttp://www.ufoskeptic.org/contact.html is inconsistent with our best current theory of cosmology. Beatriz Gato-Rivera, a physicist at the Instituto de Matematicas y Fisica in Madrid, followed up on this
(physics/0308078)http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0308078 with the hypothesis that Olum is correct, but that by design we would be kept unaware of a greatly advanced surrounding civilization. She also argues that modern superstring and M-brane theory further aggravate Fermi's "missing alien" problem. It is quite strange that while our best modern physics and astrophysics theories thus predict that we should be experiencing extraterrestrial visitation, any possible evidence of such in the form of a subset of UFO reports is ignored or ridiculed.
There is another aspect to the UFO phenomenon that involves politics and secrecy rather than observational evidence. I do not currently have a ticket to any SCI program, but over the years I have gotten to know individuals who for one reason or another would be aware of the existence of relevant black programs. From such sources, certain possibilities have made it through my credibility filter and now reside -- like Schroedinger's cat -- in kind of an unresolved mental superposition of quantum states having both the eigenvalues "true" and "false" and no operator around to collapse the wave function.
My credibility filter is a function of several parameters such as my own knowledge of physical laws, state of technology and history of its origin, some personal experience with government agencies and security classification systems, but mostly the filter is tuned to the questions: Which people have I learned over the years to be trustworthy, sensible and knowledgeable? How would they be in a position to know the things they do? Why and to what extent would they tell me anything, even based on long-time friendship? Do they have anything to gain by telling stories or making claims? What consistency and convergence is there among various people's claimed information?
I see myself a bit like the kid standing next to the kid looking through the hole in the big tall fence at the baseball game. This means that the closest I am getting to inside information will be a recounting of what is going on in there. I myself am definitely not an insider, but contacts I have acquired and/or befriended over a long period of time seem to be on the periphery of some kind of inside which appears to contain at least remarkable information, and apparently more than that. Let me be (somewhat) more specific. I now have three completely independent examples of individuals whom I trust reporting to me that individuals they trust have admitted to handling alien materials in "our" possession in the course of secret official duties.
And in yet two more cases, I am similarly one (trustworthy) step removed from a former head of a federal government agency who was involved with a special access program reporting decades-long extraterrestrial reverse engineering efforts and a head of state of a G8 country who also said he had been officially briefed on that program. Now the Air Force Project Blue Book of the 1950s and 1960s did have both a public and a classified side. I suspect that after the public half of Blue Book closed up shop following the Condon Report, its classified half may have continued, existing today as a black special access program (see below).http://www.ufoskeptic.org/black.html
Could such things possibly be true? While I am intrigued by what I have learned over the years, I can't be absolutely certain. It is interesting that from the clandestine intelligence world-perspective the scientific community, for all of its technical and theoretical sophistication, is viewed as remarkably naive in certain respects. We scientists tend to think that we know better than anyone else what is possible and what is impossible, and that we of all people could surely not be kept in the dark for very long.
Over the course of time I have learned how it would indeed be possible to maintain decades-long secrecy on this topic and why this might be justified, concepts I myself once dismissed. (See Black Special Access Programs, also Some Thoughts on Keeping It Secret.http://www.ufoskeptic.org/secret.html And for some insight on the origin of this situation see the book UFOs and the National Security State: An Unclassified History. Vol. 1: 1947-1973 by Richard Dolan;http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS.../ufoskepticorg
also The Missing Times by Terry Hansen http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...kepticorgwhich documents the history of ties between the national media and the intelligence community. I am aware that these two books have been criticised for over-reliance on secondary sources. More scholarly work is available, such as that of Jan Aldrich, but I think that Dolan and Hansen present a useful and eye-opening introduction to the situation in general, especially for someone first approaching this topic.)
The above is, of course, short of any kind of proof, but all-in-all I have now gotten to the point in my exposure to the subject at which I think it somewhat more likely than not that something not merely delusional, but real and important may be going on with regard to the UFO phenomenon. If so, I would like to discover what it is, or what the ensemble of phenomena are if it is a multiplicity of things.
My estimation of the probable reality of the subject puts me somewhere between the majority rejectionist view of the mainstream scientific community and the majority accepting view of the general public (depending on how the issue is presented in opinion polls).
I propose that true skepticism is called for today: neither the gullible acceptance of true belief nor the closed-minded rejection of the scoffer masquerading as the skeptic. One should be skeptical of both the believers and the scoffers. The negative claims of pseudo-skeptics who offer facile explanations must themselves be subject to criticism. If a competent witness reports having seen something tens of degrees of arc in size (as happens) and the scoffer -- who of course was not there -- offers Venus or a high altitude weather balloon as an explanation, the requirement of extraordinary proof for an extraordinary claim falls on the proffered negative claim as well.
That kind of approach is also pseudo-science. Moreover just being a scientist confers neither necessary expertise nor sufficient knowledge. (I wish it did, sigh.) Any scientist who has not read a few serious books and articles presenting actual UFO evidence should out of intellectual honesty refrain from making scientific pronouncements. To look at the evidence and go away unconvinced is one thing. To not look at the evidence and be convinced against it nonetheless is another. That is not science. Do your homework!
This website is a work in progress. It is certainly no statement of any "truth" but in that regard it is worth keeping in mind something Winston Churchill once said on that topic: "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."
Bernard Haisch
Palo Alto, California
SOVEREIGNTY AND THE UFO
Alexander Wendt, The Ohio State University and Raymond Duvall, University of Minnesota
Political Theory, vol. 36, no. 4, 2008
download pdf filehttp://www.ufoskeptic.org/wendt_preprint.pdf
THE GOD THEORY
This is not on the topic of UFOs. For years I have wrestled with the science vs. religion problem. Could there really be a benevolent deity given the evident injustice on this planet? And what to make of the abominations committed in the name of a God? Or must we accept the reductionist conclusion that ultimately we are merely a transient biological anomaly on a tiny speck within a vast but purposeless universe?
I have now spent several years formulating my best thoughts -- let's stop short of calling them beliefs -- on what our existence is all about and putting them into a book. That book is out now, and I invite you to find out more about it at
The God Theory.http://www.thegodtheory.com/
INFLATION-THEORY IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITATION
J. Deardorff, B. Haisch, B. Maccabee and H.E. Puthoff
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 58, pp. 43-50, 2005.
download pdf filehttp://www.ufoskeptic.org/JBIS.pdf
(This appears to be the first article on the UFO topic published in a mainstream scientific journal since the 1979-1980 articles in Applied Optics by Maccabee on the New Zealand sightings.)
REVIEW OF "SEEING IS BELIEVING: THE TRUTH ABOUT UFOs"
by Peter Jennings, ABC-TV, February 24, 2005
B. Haisch
Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 19, pp. 317-323, 2005.
download pdf filehttp://www.ufoskeptic.org/JSE_Review.pdf
"Advances are made by answering questions. Discoveries are made by questioning answers."
Bernard Haisch
links at the end of this letter to the following http://www.ufoskeptic.org/home.html#links
Sovereignty and the UFO — NEW
My book "The God Theory"
JBIS article
Review of Jennings ABC Special
Kevin Randle talks about UFO debunker's;
A clip from an interview with researcher / author Kevin Randle back in September, 2001, in Kevin's hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
02-24-2011, 12:37 PM
Fatal Guillotine
Recent ufo activity and highlights/2011;
NEW YORK STATE (IN-FLIGHT SIGHTING), @ 18:45 HRS. (EST), TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2011;
FIRST REPORT;
National UFO Reporting Center;
Sighting Report;
Occurred : 1/11/2011 18:30 (Entered as : 01/11/11 18:30)
Reported: 1/13/2011 9:15:46 AM 09:15
Posted: 1/31/2011
Location: Buffalo area (In-flight observation), NY
Shape: Unknown
Duration:5 mins;
QUOTE;
"A well lit craft was viewed for 5 mins at a relatively low speed and with no apparent radar contact.
While flying a corporate jet at 20,000 ft from New Haven Conn to Buffalo, NY, I noticed a bright light ahead of us. At first I thought it was a planet but as it got closer, I realized that was not the case. It passed by us at a relatively slower speed than we are used to. It was between 2 and 4 thousand feet above us. It had a blinking light in front and between 3 and 4 other lights on it, all white except for an exstremely faint and small green light toward the rear.
When it reached our ten o'clock position, I asked air traffic control if they observed any traffic at that position? They said they had traffic at that position going westbound. This craft was eastbound and not in contact with any controllers.
The controller then asked other planes if they had seen this craft, receiving replies that no one else had. Both my co-pilot and myself watched it disappear behind us.
While it is common to see other traffic in the sky while flying, the fact that it was so lit up (planes are not usually that highly lit at those altitudes) with lights that were not consistent with aircraft lights and it relatively slow closing speed with us makes me believe that it wasn't a aircraft as we know an aircraft to be".
Occurred : 1/11/2011 18:45 (Entered as : 01/11/11 18:45)
Reported: 1/12/2011 10:51:38 AM 10:51
Posted: 1/31/2011
Location: Buffalo area (In-flight observation), NY
Shape: Unknown
Duration:5 min.
Bright lghts apppeared at our 12 o'clock and moved to our 9 o'clock position slowly.
January 11, 2011
To whom it concerns:
At approximately 6:45 pm, Tuesday evening, while enroute to KBUF from KHVN, half way between ULW VOR and BENEE intersection at flight level 200 the captain called to my attention a bright light directly in front of our aircraft. The Captain remarked that it might be a planet considering that it was so bright.
As I made visual contact I remarked that the flickering/flashing light seemed to be a consistent flash and was getting closer hinting to the fact that it was not a planet.
As our flight continued in the next few minutes the light did indeed get closer. Our aircraft was flying west bound at approximately 380 knots true airspeed and the flashing lights were heading east bound at a fairly slow speed, slow enough that we were able to view the lights for approximately 5 minutes. I found this to be peculiar considering that in my 5 years of professional flying typically aircraft passing at this altitude pass each other very quickly because they are operating at their cruise air speeds. The relative motion of the flashing lights just did not make sense, just to slow.
It was at this time that the captain called New York center and inquired with them about traffic at our 9 o’clock position and above our flight level. New York center informed us that there was traffic at that position however it was west bound, same direction, as our flight path. The lights that we were observing however were east bound and moving at significantly slower speed than a jet or turbo prop aircraft typically does. In fact, I remarked, "Is that a helicopter?"
The observed lights did not make any evasive maneuvers nor did we need to maneuver to avoid a perceived collision. The captain continued a dialogue with ATC as they inquired with other aircraft in the area if they had observed what we had reported, the other flight crews however did not see anything.
The lights observed consisted of a large bright white strobe like light at the lowest point as well as three to four smaller white lights that surrounded the main light. The brilliance of the light lacked the whiteness of modern strobe instead it had a pearlescent quality and flickered rather than flashed however with intensity.
At times then main light seemed to be casting a fluttering shadow much like a flashlight would yield if cast through a rotating fan blade. In fact that prompted me to question if the craft was a helicopter as previously stated. I looked intently for the red and green navigation lights that all aircraft have conversely none were observed.
The flight conditions were good; visibility was excellent as the stars made a magnificent backdrop as they typically do on night flights during the winter months. An overcast layer existed well below our flight level that I estimate to be at 10 to 12 thousand feet. The flight did experience intermittent light turbulence, as we got closer to KBUF most likely because of the approaching low-pressure system. Weather conditions deteriorated in the decent to KBUF, which required an instrument approach for landing on runway 5.
In summary, what I had witnessed was completely unique and somewhat confusing. Hopefully I was able to convey my experience with some coherency. If I can provide any other help or you need further explanation please do not hesitate to contact me.
A very experienced aviation (A & P) mechanic, who works as a supervisor in the maintenance of advanced turbine engines, hears what he thought was a turbine-powered aircraft fly low overhead. He looks up to identify the aircraft, but is shocked to see nothing, until three amber/orange lights appear in that area of the sky where the sound seemed to emanate from.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS, @ 15:50 HRS. (CST), MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011 - A passenger in an aircraft approaching Houston, Texas, witnesses a very peculiar object apparently projecting out of the tops of high-altitude clouds. Full Report; http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/079/S79836.html
A passenger witnesses a white, shiny, disc streak by the commercial aircraft he was on, passing the airliner in approximately three seconds. Its apparent size was approximately equal to the apparent size of a dime, held at arm’s length. Full Report; http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/079/S79852.html
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LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA, @ 19:30 HRS and 21:40 HRS. (PST), THURSDAY, JANUARY 06, 2011 -
Many witnesses, located generally in the area of Lake Elsinore, witness a very bright light, or cluster of lights, descending rapidly, and apparently vertically. The lights separate, slow, and continue to remain illuminated as they continue to descend more slowly. Multiple reports of this incident can be accessed in our reports for January 2011. ((NUFORC NOTE:
This incident was reported by local news media to have been a nighttime parachute jump by the U. S. Army’s demonstration parachute team, the Golden Knights. However, that report appears to be inaccurate.
Senior personnel at the headquarters of the Blue Knights at Fort Bragg report that they had no members of either of their two teams in California, on the date in question. Both teams were at their training location in Florida. If anyone can identify the individuals, or the parachute club, that made the jumps, we would very much like to hear from those people. This incident remains a mystery to us. Thank you!! PD))
Since approximately 2003, our Center has received many dozens of sightings of unidentified lights, seen hovering over the ocean, to the east and south of Myrtle Beach, SC. We have no specific reason to suspect that the sightings are UFO-related, but we would like to know what phenomenon is causing the frequent reports. If anyone knows what is causing the reports, we would be most grateful for a telephone call or e-mail, providing us with a lead to the cause. The many reports our Center has received can be read amongst the cases for South Carolina ; http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/ndxlSC.html
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RECENT REPORTS OF RED, ORANGE, OR YELLOW “FIREBALLS”
We would like to call to the attention of visitors to our site the many reports our Center has received recently of red, orange, or yellow lights, or “fireballs.” A quick overview of these reports can be achieved by simply scrolling down the reports for November and December 2010, as well as of the reports NUFORC has received since January 1st.
Of particular interest, in our opinion, are those reports we received on New Year’s Eve from the following states: Florida, Alaska, California, Utah, Washington, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Texas. Many of the people who called our Center about those sightings seemed to us to be unusually credible witnesses, so we suspect that the material in those reports is quite accurate and reliable.
We first called the phenomenon of peculiar “fireballs” to the attention of the public, and to the UFO community, last summer. At that time, our Center was inundated with reports of unidentified “fireballs,” which allegedly appeared individually, in pairs, triplets, and up to many dozens of similarly appearing objects. We do not know what those objects were, and, as well, we do not know what the objects were that have been reported to us within the last week.
However, we do not believe that they are pyrotechnic devices of terrestrial origin, e.g. either flares, or so-called “Chinese lanterns,” given the peculiar, and often sudden, manners in which the “fireballs” are frequently seen to move.
If you witness in the future, or you have been witness in the past, to objects similar to those reported here, we would like to invite you to submit a written report, using the Online Report Form found on this website. Please include all of the details surrounding your sighting, to include
1) your location at the time of the sighting;
2) the time and date;
3) the direction and angle of elevation at which you were looking;
4) the number of objects, and what they did;
and 5) the number of witnesses who may have been present with you, at the time of the event, and 6) any other information that seems pertinent to such a report. We would be happy to post your report(s).
LINK; http://www.nuforc.org/
02-24-2011, 12:38 PM
Fatal Guillotine
Most Noteworthy Cases;
National UFO Reporting Center;
Most Noteworthy Cases;
NUFORC frequently receives queries regarding what we believe are some of the most interesting, potentially UFO-related, cases and sighting reports that our Center has received in recent years. Here is a short list of what we consider to be some of the more dramatic, and/or more well documented, cases that have been reported to us over the last decade. We emphasize that there is nothing special about the cases shown in this document. They are simply a product of subjective assessment regarding those cases which we believe deserve special consideration by the reader.
This list was first prepared to serve as a handout to supplement the information discussed during public presentations by Peter Davenport, current Director of NUFORC. It was updated most recently for the 41st Annual National UFO Conference, held in Hollywood, CA, on October 30-31, 2004. We believe the list will help visitors to our website in searching for the most interesting cases among the approximately 32,000 cases now posted in our database of sighting reports. In some instances, the cases cited in this document are supplemented by additional reports submitted by other witnesses to the same event.
Eklutna, AK* - October 1936 - Evening;
Two men hitchhiking to Anchorage witness a very bright light approaching their location at high speed. The object hovers above them, causing them to dive into a snow bank to escape.
Fontana, CA* - Late 1930’s - Night
Three young boys, returning from the local movie theatre, are suddenly illuminated from above by a very bright shaft of light. They run to a nearby orange grove to take cover.
Exeter/Kensington, NH*- September 03, 1965 - Morning
Many people in south-eastern New Hampshire witness a peculiar disc-shaped object. Later, a young man and two police officers witness the disc up quite close, and it moves very quickly.
Northern California** - September 09, 1994 - Early morning
Multiple dramatic reports of objects streaking across the morning sky. A young school girl reports to school nurse being approached at a bus stop by a strange looking grey creature.
A woman decides to take a short-cut home through a wheat field. Three wedge-shaped objects, with lights on their leading edge, pass in front of her car. Event frightened her badly.
Multiple witnesses on the ground report a “fleet” of peculiar looking objects allegedly seen descending slowly and vertically. One of objects appears to blow up. TEMA activated.
Eastern United States** - March 15, 1995 - Evening DETAILShttp://www.nuforc.org/CB950315.html
Multiple sightings reported from the eastern United States of a bizarre blue-green, egg-shaped object that streaked across the night sky, hovered, and then streaked across the horizon.
Cordova, AK** - March 28, 1995 - Midnight DETAILShttp://www.nuforc.org/CB950328.html
Woman sees object fly in front of her car several times in heavy fog. Suddenly, it stops and hovers just above her right fender. Several miles further along highway, she witnesses two discs on ground.
Western Pennsylvania/Canada** - August 25, 1995 - 00:40 hrs. (Eastern)
An extremely bright, perfectly round blue spherical object streaked south across Ontario, Canada, and then western Pennsylvania. Bizarre interaction with driver on Pennsylvania Turnpike.
New England/Eastern Seaboard - November 17, 1995 - 21:00 hrs. (Eastern) DETAILShttp://www.nuforc.org/CB951117.html
An extremely bright, yellow and blue disc streaks down the coast of Maine, over New England; rendezvous with six brightly lighted objects over New Jersey. Multiple reports to FAA.
Doylestown, PA* - February 25, 1996 - 02:30 hrs. (Eastern)
A young man was driving his van along Rte. 313, when he witnesses three peculiar “meteors” in the sky. His van stops suddenly, and he experiences several anomalous sensations.
Multiple objects, estimated to be 1-2 miles in width, pass over the states of Nevada and Arizona. The objects hovered motionless in several locations. Very dramatic sighting by thousands.
Eastern seaboard March 17 - 1997 - 19:00 hrs. (Eastern)
An FAA Air Traffic Controller telephones NUFORC to report multiple sighting reports by airline pilots of “metallic cigar tubes” tracking their aircraft for several seconds.
A bizarre cluster of lights moves across the night-time sky, generating thousands of reports. Some reports suggest significant magnetic anomaly occurred. Other reports in OR, CA, Mex.
A former Canadian fighter pilot in Whistler, B.C., is stunned to see a green ball of light streaking to the south; many witnesses. Object stops north of Seattle, flies over Bangor Sub Base.
Fourteen forestry workers witness a horseshoe shaped object lift an adult elk out of the forest and fly off with the apparently dead, or unconscious, animal.
Southwest U. S.* - August 15, 1999 - 2318 hrs. (Mountain) IMAGES AND VIDEOhttp://www.cs.sandia.gov/SEL/apps/energy/meteor.htm
Observers throughout NM and CO are witness to an immense flash of intensely bright light, which illuminated up to 12,000 square miles like daylight. Occurs 2nd time in NV 22 min. later.
Two airline pilots, both former military pilots, are shocked to see three gigantic lights approach their a/c at cruise altitude. Object turns executes sudden turn to east, streaks off. FAA report.
St. Clair County, IL - January 05, 2000 - 0410 hrs. (Central)
Officers from eight police departments witness, pursue, and photograph a huge, triangular object. Object “jumps” an estimate 20 miles in seconds. Scott AFB claims they did not see object. DETAILS http://www.nuforc.org/CB000105.html
Rockford, IL; Prescott, AZ - February 2000 - Evenings
Multiple sightings of clusters of yellow lights appear over Prescott, AZ, and Rockford, IL. No explanation for the events. (See similar event over Carteret, NJ, for July 15, 2001.)
Washington & B.C. - April 28, 2000 - 2200 hrs. (Pacific) DETAILShttp://www.nuforc.org/CB000428.html
Multiple witnesses to a very bright, extremely bright object streaking over Puget Sound from south to north. Looks like a disc. Stops over Aldergrove, B.C., descends, and streaks off.
Rhode Island - June 22, 2000 - 2115 hrs. (Eastern)
A commercial pilot, flying from Nantucket Island, MA, sees a charcoal-black, egg-shaped object streaking toward his airliner. The object is seen on radar to reverse its course and track the a/c!
Oklahoma** - August 11, 2000 - 0200 hrs. (Central)
Law enforcement officer becomes lost at night on a rural road in Oklahoma. Is approached by strange creatures, and he fires his service revolver. Witness found by police in roadway.
Victoria, B.C. - August 12, 2000 - 0001 hrs. (Pacific)
A group of people at a wedding celebration witness a cluster of lights in the night sky, which form a symmetrical pattern, and hover for 5-10 minutes. The lights then streak off to the east.
North Texas * - September 01, 2000 - 0230 hrs. (Central)
A young woman is driving alone through northern Texas, when a very large and strange light approaches her vehicle. She experiences missing time, and later returns to the site.
Houston, TX - September 08, 2000 - 0800 hrs. (Central)
A man driving to work on the outer ring road witnesses a very bizarre object moving slowly to the south over heavy traffic. He appears to be the only witness.
Northern Idaho* - September 27, 2000 - 2130 hrs. (Mountain)
Four deer hunters, all experienced outdoorsmen, witness a gigantic, unlighted triangular craft pass over their campsite. Two men drive to town. USAF jets fly over camp. FAA report.
Cygnet, OH* - October 31, 2000 - 1915 hrs. (Eastern)
Two young men, driving from Florida to Detroit, witness a “fireball” streaking in front of their car, from east to west. The object stops, and they see that it is a black, egg-shaped object. Hovers.
Multiple sightings of yellow lights streaking in night sky over Oregon. Three yellow lights seen by many witnesses streaking from south to north over Puget Sound in formation.
Mahnomen, MN - March 28, 2001 - 0130 hrs. (Central)
A Canadian truck driver witnesses a disc-shaped object hovering low over the local airport. The disc suddenly accelerates and shoots across the airport, where it hovers above trees.
Bellevue, ID - April 24, 2001 - 1235 hrs. (Mountain)
A local businessman sees some movement in the western sky, and sees a disc-shaped object hovering against the mountains. Other discs streak up to the first, and then the cluster departs.
Carteret, NJ - July 15, 2001 - 00:30 hrs. (Easter)
Two clusters of yellow spheres move across New Jersey very rapidly, then slow and hover in the vicinity of Newark Airport. Multiple witnesses stop on New Jersey Turnpike to view.
Rock River, WY - August 17, 2001 - 2220 hrs. (Mountain)
Multiple reports from Wyoming of a fireball streaking across the sky very rapidly. Railroad conductor witnesses a large, flaming ball of light hovering over an empty field.
Roswell, NM - January 07, 2002 - 2107 hrs. (Mountain)
A man and his son see a dramatically bright fireball overhead, moving from south to north very rapidly. They could hear (!!) the meteor as they watched it pass overhead.
Cape Girardeau, MO - January 26, 2002 - 2145 hrs. (Central) Officer's Written Reporthttp://www.nuforc.org/webreports/021/S21594.html
A radar patrol officer witnesses an unlighted, disc-shaped object, move across the highway. He points his radar gun at the object, but gets no return. He pursues it, but it disappears.
California Desert - January 31, 2002 - 0530 hrs. (Pacific)
A senior INS Border Patrol officer and his dog witness a disc pass over their patrol vehicle very rapidly. Peculiar sound emanates from it. Seconds later, another dozen are witnessed.
Salem, OR - March 29, 2002 - 1920 hrs. (Pacific)
Three teenagers witness several extremely bright lights in the evening sky above an empty field. The object is a triangular, solid craft. It suddenly changes color, turns, and streaks off.
Bakersfield, CA - March 29, 2002 - 2130 hrs. (Pacific)
A young couple, driving south on Interstate 5 approximately 100 miles north of Bakersfield, witness a triangular shaped craft moving slowly above nearby houses, illuminating them.
Yuma, AZ - March 30, 2002 - 1430 hrs. (Pacific)
A group of boaters on the Colorado River, approximately 30 miles north of Yuma, witness three, bright, disc-shaped objects in the sky. Two more suddenly appear. All streak north.
Many people awakened by multiple launches of F-16 fighters, on afterburner, out of Andrews AFB. Many witnesses see two F-16’s in high-speed, low-altitude pursuit of “red ball of light.”
Three adults are driving in a rural area of Georgia, when all three become aware of flashing lights behind their vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle is filled with small spheres of red light.
Mexico - March 5, 2004 - Afternoon
A Mexican military surveillance aircraft captures multiple objects with its infra-red sensors. Objects not visible to the flight crew. Extensive publicity about event in May 2004.
Kingfisher, OK - March 21, 2004 - 19:26 hrs. (Central)
Two young women, both college students witness two very bright lights in the night sky, which suddenly descend. The object appeared to land. Other cars parked along the highway.
Rochester, IN - April 8, 2004 - 22:00 hrs. (Central)
Multiple witnesses in northern Indiana witness a very large, disc-shaped object near their respective residences. Analysis suggests that the object was approximately 200 feet in width.
Omaha, NE - March 25, 2004 - 19:00 hrs. (Central) DETAILShttp://www.nuforc.org/webreports/035/S35822.html
The crew of an airliner report seeing four disc-shaped objects, which remain visible ahead of the aircraft for 10-15 minutes. Objects did not appear on FAA radar during the entire sighting.
Orlando, FL - April 15, 2004 - 06:00 hrs. (Eastern)
A woman awakens and walks to her screened bedroom window. She sees a self-luminous spherical object hovering above the ground. A cat notices objects, which suddenly streaks away.
Port Clements, B.C. - April 21, 2004 - 06:05 hrs. (Pacific)
A young woman walks out of her place of work and sees a contrail in the sky. Upon further observation, she sees a tiny object maneuvering near the aircraft. Object suddenly disappears.
McFall, MO - May 04, 2004 - 03:45 hrs. (Central)
A young woman on a newspaper delivery route witnesses a perfectly spherical, self-luminous “fireball” streak through the sky on the near side of nearby trees. Very fast object.
Seattle, WA - June 20, 2004 - 23:15 hrs. (Pacific)
An adult male was standing outside in the University District, looking to the west, when he observed a bizarre, triangular craft streak from north to south in the clear, cloudless sky.
A very large, unidentified white object hovered over the Twin Cities area for approximately ten hours. No one, including the FAA or NWS, could identify the object.
Tinley Park, IL - August 21, 2004 - 22:30 hrs. (Central)
Multiple witnesses report seeing three, or more, distinctly red lights hovering in the night sky. The lights moved, relative to one another, and moved off to the south.
UFO Events Over Arizona March 13, l997 ;
Considered as the most dramatic UFO sighting ever reported to the National UFO Reporting Center,(NUFORC), i think this one lives up to that description;
================================================== ========
National UFO Reporting Center News Release;
UFO Events Over Arizona;
March 13, l997;
NUFORC Index;
The following is a preliminary summary of perhaps the most dramatic UFO sighting that has been reported to the National UFO Reporting Center over the last 2-3 years…
Please note that this report is the result of some of the first data received by NUFORC, and is subject to revision depending on subsequent reports and data that may be received in the future. Also, this summary has been composed before receipt of any written reports from the witnesses to the events. From experience, the staff of NUFORC knows that written reports almost invariably will cause preliminary findings to be amended or discarded. However, every attempt has been made here to make this summary as accurate a rendition as possible of those facts which seem to be the most reliable, and which were reported by more than one observer.
NOTE: This summary of events concludes with an account of allegations that the object(s) over Arizona that night were "intercepted" by two U. S. Air Force F-15c fighter aircraft from Luke AFB. However, despite the fact that there is some mild corroboration for this claim of military activities, other elements of this report are not able to be documented by the NUFORC staff at the time of this report.
The first call received over the UFO Hotline (206-722-3000) was from a former police officer, who called to report that he and his family had just witnessed a bizarre cluster of red lights moving very rapidly across the night sky in the vicinity of Paulden, Arizona, (approximately 30 miles north of Prescott, AZ) at about 8:16 p.m. (local time) on Thursday night, March 13, 1997.
The man who called, a rational, sober-minded and eloquent sounding person, described having witnessed with his family a very strange cluster of distinctly red-orange lights, which consisted of 4-5 red lights "in the lead," followed by a single light which appeared to be "standing back from the others." The lights in the lead gave the impression of being in a "V" formation, somewhat like a wedge or boomerang in shape.
That was the first of many dozen calls that were received over the subsequent two days.
Subsequent calls then started pouring in to the Hotline from locations to the south of Paulden, AZ. The next calls received were from the vicinities of Prescott and Prescott Valley, approximately 50 miles north of Phoenix. Several individuals called from that vicinity to recount that approximately 8:17 p.m., they witnessed 4 or 5 very bright white lights pass overhead. Several of the observers reported that the object appeared to be triangular in shape, with a somewhat complex grouping of lights along its sides.
One of the observers in Prescott reported that the orientation of the distinctly white lights appeared to change while she and her family were observing the object. However, the lights formed a distinctly triangular pattern in the sky.
Another observer was standing outside with his wife and sons in Prescott Valley, when they noticed a cluster of lights to in the west-northwest of their position. The lights formed a triangular pattern, but all of them appeared to be red, with the exception of the light at the nose of the object, which was distinctly white. The object, or objects, which had been observed for approximately 2-3 minutes with binoculars, then passed directly overhead the observers, they were seen to "bank to the right," and they then disappeared in the night sky to the southeast of Prescott Valley…
Even though the night was very quiet, none of the observers described above heard any sound emanate from the object. All of them emphasized that the object "glided" through the sky, and made absolutely no noise whatsoever… All of the observers volunteered during their telephoned reports that they had strained their ears, trying to hear some sound from the object, but none was heard, which contributed to the eerie nature of the sighting.
The next sighting was reported from Dewey, AZ, located approximately 10 miles to the south of Prescott. Five adults and youth were driving north on Highway 69 to an appointment in Prescott, when they witnessed a very large cluster of lights, which formed a "V" shape in the sky. The driver pulled off the road into a grocery store parking lot, and all the occupants got out of their car in order to get a better look at the object. By this time, the object was directly above them, where it appeared to hover for several minutes.
The member of this group who called the Hotline reported that the object was so large that, if he clenched his fist and held it at arm’s length, he could not cover the size of the object with his fist!
In addition, he reported that based on his flying experience, he estimated that the object was not over 1,000 feet above the ground. He emphasized that there was absolutely no sound emanating from the object—it was absolutely silent, and it was moving at a very slow pace, considerably slower for example than a light aircraft would have been seen to move at that (assumed) altitude.
He added that he could see a small, private aircraft in the vicinity of the object overhead, and that the aircraft appeared to be heading in the direction of the Prescott airport. More about this aircraft is described below in the description of the alleged interception of the strange object by F-15’s farther to the south
One particularly noteworthy aspect of this observer’s report is that he had called both Prescott Airport, and Luke AFB to report the sighting. The female operator at Luke AFB volunteered to him that their switchboard had been deluged with reports about the strange object. Later statements from Luke AFB alleged that they had received no calls about the object.
The next calls to arrive were from Chino Valley, Tempe, Glendale, Phoenix, Kingman, and Tucson…
Many people called from those areas, far too many to describe in detail. One of the most interesting reports, however, was from a young man, who identified himself as an "amateur astronomer," who resides in west Phoenix. His description of the object, which he saw to the west of his home, appeared to be a cluster of solid, unblinking lights, which moved in an unwavering procession from the north to south.
He could discern, he thought, that each of the individual lights in fact was two smaller lights. Also, he reported that he observed two aircraft in the vicinity of the object, one of which appeared to turn away from the object to the west, and the other which turned to the east.
Another interesting report was submitted by a young mother, who stood outside her home, located in Phoenix approximately 1 mile south of Camel Back Mountain, and watched the object with her children for 5 minutes. She reported that the object was directly overhead her house, and that it was larger than her clenched fist when held at arm’s length! The object appeared to have lights along its sides, such that the lights gave the viewers on the ground the impression of a "boomerang" or "arrowhead" shape.
After approximately 5 minutes, the object began to move slowly to the south. However, before the object disappeared from sight to the south, it appeared to "fire" out to the front of it a red beam of "laser light" for an instant. Then, as it moved slowly to the south, the lights of the front and sides of the object seemed to dim and fade from sight. There were no lights visible on the aft end of the craft as it moved away from the observers. The object just disappeared from sight in the southern sky…
The object was next seen in Tucson, where a man watched the formation of lights for what he estimates to be 15 minutes…from 8:45 to after 9:00 p.m., he estimates. He reported to us that the lights had come from the northwestern sky, maneuvered overhead for 5-10 minutes, and then moved off to the south in "nose to tail" formation, disappearing from sight as they moved over the mountains.
The last location to report was Kingman, AZ, where a young man, enroute to Los Angeles, called from a phone booth to report having seen a large and bizarre cluster of lights moving slowly in the northern sky.
Summary;
What the object was is still unexplained, but there are some things that can be ruled out, based on the reports that have been submitted to us so far :
Aircraft - The object could not have been any type of conventional aircraft, since 1) it was witnessed by many people to hover silently, and 2) because it apparently covered the distance between Paulden and Prescott, AZ - not less than 30 miles - in approximately 1-2 minutes. Also, the lights seen on it were not consistent with any type of strobe lights, or navigation lights on any type of known aircraft, either private or commercial.
Balloon - The object moved too fast to be a balloon.
Hale-Bopp Comet - The object moved over large portions of the sky in very short periods of time. This is not consistent with a comet, which is virtually stationary, relative to other heavenly bodies
Hence, the object remains unexplained—and extremely bizarre-- at the time of this writing
Now, with regard to the alleged intercept of the object by USAF F-15c fighters, allegedly launched out of Luke AFB on the night of the sighting…
Hours after the bulk of the reports had been received at the Hotline headquarters, we received a lengthy telephone call from one or more parties, who claimed to have been personal witness to a "scramble" of F-15c fighters, which allegedly had intercepted the object over downtown Phoenix, photographed the object with gun cameras, and returned to Luke AFB.
The sources went on to describe how the base had been "closed down," how the pilots of the fighters had succeeded in approaching to within 1 mile of the object, how their targeting radar had been "neutralized" by the objects, etc. Moreover, they provided copious details about the incident, citing precise times, the names and ranks of pilots, contents of radio conversations with the pilots while they were in the air, and many other aspects of the events of that night.
Unfortunately, our staff is unable to corroborate any of the claims, despite the fact that the sources of the information sounded very convincing and very sincere
Conclusion: Perhaps the report of an intercept is accurate, but NUFORC cannot even document the fact that F-15’s are stationed at Luke AFB, and no one can be found who can confirm that any military aircraft took off from Luke on the night of March 13.
This leaves us with the following question. Why did multiple parties telephone the UFO Hotline during the wee hours of Friday morning to provide us with volumes of technical information, none of which seems to bear up to scrutiny?
Information regarding these events will be updated as quickly as we receive more data.
1. Professor Stephen Hawking;
Last year, the revered physicist and cosmologist suggested that extraterrestrials almost certainly exist but that humans should be taking steps to avoid them rather than seek them out.
He said: “To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like.”
“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.
“I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”
2. Lord Rees;
The astronomer royal last year said he believed aliens could well exist and warned that they might prove to be beyond human understanding.
“I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive,” he said. “Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains,” he said.
3. Lachezar Filipov;
Bulgarian government scientists from the country's Space Research Institute claimed two years ago that they were already in contact with extraterrestrial life.
They claimed that experts were trying to decipher a complex set of symbols sent to them, after posing aliens a list of 30 questions.
Mr Filipov deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, revealed that the centre's researchers were analysing 150 crop circles from around the world, which they believe answer the questions.
"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov said.
"They are not hostile towards us, rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them."
4. Edgar Mitchell;
The former NASA astronaut claimed in 2009 that alien life exists but that the US government was covering up the evidence.
Mr Mitchell, who was part of the 1971 Apollo 14 moon mission, made the claims in a talk to the fifth annual X-Conference – a meeting of those who believe in UFOs and other life forms.
He also said he had attempted to investigate the 1947 'Roswell Incident', which some believe was the crash-landing of a UFO, but had been thwarted by military authorities.
He said: "We're not alone. Our destiny, in my opinion, and we might as well get started with it, is [to] become a part of the planetary community. ... We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there.
"I urge those who are doubtful: Read the books, read the lore, start to understand what has really been going on. Because there really is no doubt we are being visited.
"The universe that we live in is much more wondrous, exciting, complex and far-reaching than we were ever able to know up to this point in time."
5. Jimmy Carter;
The US President from 1976 to 1980, promised while on the campaign trail that he would make public all documents on UFOs if elected. He said: "I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs. I've seen one myself."
6. General Douglas MacArthur;
The Korean and Second World War soldier, said in 1955 that "the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets. The politics of the future will be cosmic, or interplanetary".
7. Monsignor Corrado Balducci;
The Vatican theologian, said: "Extraterrestrial contact is a real phenomenon. The Vatican is receiving much information about extraterrestrials and their contacts with humans from its embassies in various countries, such as Mexico, Chile and Venezuela."
8. Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding;
The Second World War RAF Fighter commander during the Battle of Britain once said of UFOs: "I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nations on earth."
9. Ronald Reagan;
The US President from 1980 to 1988, claimed he had seen a UFO himself. He said: "I looked out the window and saw this white light. It was zigzagging around. I went up to the pilot and said, 'Have you ever seen anything like that?' He was shocked and he said, 'nope.' And I said to him: 'Let's follow it!' We followed it for several minutes. It was a bright white light. We followed it to Bakersfield, and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens. When I got off the plane I told Nancy all about it."
10. Mikhail Gorbachev;
The USSR's last head of state: "The phenomenon of UFOs does exist, and it must be treated seriously
Sign Historical Group;
SYMPOSIUM ON UNIDENTIFIED
FLYING OBJECTS
HEARINGS
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Introduction by Jan L. Aldrich;
On two previous occasions the Congress of the United States has conducted open hearings on the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects. On April 5, 1966 the House Armed Services Committee held public hearings, and on July 29th, 1968, the U. S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Astronautics convened a one-day Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, chaired by then-Indiana Congressman J. Edward Roush.
However, these two occasions were not the only time that the subject was discussed by legislators. Project Blue Book documents, newspaper stories and letters in the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) files show that on a number of occasions UFOs had been privately discussed in executive session of various committees and subcommittees.
However, the July 29, 1968 Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects was unique in the respect that it provided Congressmen and Committee staff with the opportunity to ask questions of the participants, and the results were made accessible to the public through the government printing office.
Since the late fifties, NICAP had struggled to get Congressional attention focused on the UFO phenomenon and the official handling of UFO investigations. During this period the Project Blue Book files had only been available to a few select individuals.
While the Blue Book files contained an extensive collection of UFO reports, they were hardly definitive. In fact, NICAP probably had just as many well-investigated cases in its own files. However, the denial of public access to the Project's files seemed like a cover up, and something on which to focus the request for Congressional action. NICAP developed a number of proposals they hoped Congress would help implement:
(a) the public release of official UFO files from the USAF Project Blue Book and other agencies,
(b) a review and reform of the USAF UFO investigation methods,
(c) an end to the mistreatment of some UFO witnesses, who NICAP felt were unfairly categorized in press statements or ordered into keeping silent about their experiences, and
(d) a review of possible threats to US national security, which NICAP thought were being ignored.
Congressman L. C. Wyman requested the type of hearings that NICAP proposed and entered a resolution into the House to authorize the Committee on Science and Astronautics to conduct a wide-ranging hearing, complete with witnesses and subpoena powers. Indiana Congressman J. Edward Roush, an advocate of serious attention for the UFO problem, thought the action premature, and wanted to wait until the Condon Committee, then underway at the University of Colorado, had delivered its final report.
In the meantime he proposed a Symposium and became the driving force behind it.
The Symposium that resulted was not what NICAP had hoped for. Rather than examining the USAF's handling of UFO investigations, or the details of the then in-progress University of Colorado study, the discussion was confined to an exchange of views and evidence presented by the participants.
The Symposium consisted of six scientists presenting their views on UFOs to the committee:
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Chairman, Department of Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and at the time a scientific consultant to the USAF on UFOs for almost two decades;
Prof. James E. McDonald, Department of Meteorology, and Senior Physicist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, who had conducted a multi-year full time investigation of the UFO problem;
Dr. Carl Sagan, Associate professor of astronomy, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York;
Dr. Robert L. Hall, Head, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois;
Dr. James A. Harder, Associate professor of civil engineering, University of California; and
Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr. Senior scientist, System Sciences Corp., North Sepulveda Boulevard, El Segundo, California who had also done extensive analysis of UFO films.
These scientists also participated in discussions with the Congressmen and their staff after the initial presentations and some had written statements read into the record.
A number of other scientists who did not appear before the committee but submitted written statements were:
Dr. Donald H. Menzel, Director of the Harvard University Observatory, author of a number of books and articles on UFOs;
Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle, Division of Counseling and Testing, University of Wyoming;
Dr. Garry C. Henderson, Senior Research Scientist, Space Sciences, General Dynamics;
Stanton T. Friedman, Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory;
Dr. Roger N. Shepard, Department of Psychology, Stanford University;
and
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Head, Plant Science Department, Utah State University, NASA consultant and author of UFO articles.
The Symposium represented a variety of opinions on UFOs, from the advocacy of Dr. James McDonald to the skepticism of Dr. Donald H. Menzel, who felt that any consideration of the problem was a complete waste of time.
Representative Roush's defeat in the next Congressional elections was the end of UFO hearings "On the Hill." With the nation's interest consumed by the war in Viet Nam there could be no further action into public hearings without the support of at least one dedicated Congressman from the committee.
J. Edward Roush maintained his interest in UFOs and later accepted a position on NICAP's Board of Governors.
In his introduction to the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, Dr. Condon pointed out that the Symposium might be viewed as a counterbalance of opposing views to the University of Colorado study. While to a certain extent this may be true, most of the scientists' presentations were introductory in nature and did not go into detailed analyses. Regardless, the Symposium represents diverse opinions on UFOs that were held among a number of scientists who had taken more than a cursory glance at the phenomenon.
The Sign Historical Group wishes to express its thanks to the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS) for their assistance in placing this record of the Symposium online.–August, 2002.
************************************************** ********
90th CONGRESS;
1st SESSION;
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES;
October 17, 1967;
Mr.WYMAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules;
1 Resolved, That the Committee on Science and Astro-
2 nautics, acting as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized
3 and directed to conduct a full and complete investigation and
4 study of unidentified flying objects.
5 For the purpose of carrying out this resolution the com-
6 mittee or subcommittee is authorized to sit and act during the
7 present Congress at such times and pierces within the United
8 States, including any Commonwealth or possession thereof,
9 whether the House is in session, has recessed, or has ad-
10 journed, to hold such hearings, and to require, by subpoena or
11 otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses
12 and the production of such books, records, correspondence,
- 2 -
1 memorandums, papers, and documents, as it deems necessary;
2 except that neither the committee nor any subcommittee
3 thereof may sit while the House is meeting unless special
4 leave to sit shall have been obtained from the House. Sub-
5 penas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of
6 the committee or any member of the committee designated by
7 him, and may be served by any person designated by such
8 chairman or member.
9 The committee shall report to the House as soon as
10 practicable during the present Congress the results of its
11 investigation and study, together with such recommendations
12 as it deems advisable. Any such report which is made when
13 the House is not in session shall be filed with the Clerk of
14 the House.
Symposium on ufos/u.s. House of representatives 11
Sign Historical Group; PART 2;
...most scientific problems are far better understood
by studying their history than their logic.–Ernst Mayr;
The Sign Historical Group (SHG) is pleased to present three primary documents with relevant supplementary materials from an era of augmented scientific and governmental interest in the study of unidentified flying objects. This era (1966-1969) marked one of the longest sustained waves of sightings, which resulted in a critical period of scientific and political decision-making concerning the UFO issue.
SHG appreciates the opportunity to mirror two documents that were originally presented on the National Capitol Area Skeptics (NCAS) website; and additionally to present, for the first time, Paul McCarthy's notable treatise:
FINAL REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS: Conducted by the University of Colorado Under Contract to the United States Air Force (1968), by Dr. Edward U. Condon, Scientific Director. http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/index.html
SYMPOSIUM ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS: Hearings Before The Committee On Science and Astronautics, U. S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session, July 29, 1968. http://www.project1947.com/shg/symposium/index.html
On February 3, 1966, the Air Force convened an "Ad Hoc Committee to Review Project Blue Book." The O'Brien Committee's recommendation was for the Air Force to negotiate contracts "with a few selected universities to provide selected teams to investigate promptly and in depth certain selected sightings of UFOs."
Coincident with the release arrived one of the biggest UFO flaps in history. The flap energized the UFO community, but more importantly, it pushed the decision on a university study over the threshold. Blue Book's consultant, J. Allen Hynek's characterization of the Dexter-Hillsdale, Michigan sightings as "swamp gas" unleashed a howl of anger and ridicule by the press.
Congressmen became so put-off by the apparent USAF irresponsibility that they put heat on the Pentagon to explain how this could be happening. Michigan Congressman Gerald Ford essentially demanded an apology to his constituents, and within a week the House Armed Services Committee held hearings. In May, the Air Force announced that it would begin looking for the recommended universities, which led subsequently to the Air Force contract with the University of Colorado in October 1966.
The project director was Professor Edward U. Condon, a distinguished physicist. Work on this contract was carried out over a two-year period, resulting in the publication of the "Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects" (Condon & Gillmor 1969; often referred to as the "Condon Report"). It remains the most influential public document concerning the current scientific status of the UFO issue.
Of interest to historians is Section V of the Condon report, titled, "Historical Aspects of UFO Phenomena." This section includes Chapter 1, "UFOs in History" by Samuel Rosenberg;http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/s5chap02.html Chapter 2, "UFOs: 1947-1968,"; written by E. U. Condon; and Chapter 3, "Official UFO Study Programs in Foreign Countries" by Harriet Hunter. Condon's chapter provides a fairly detailed chronicle of events beginning in 1947 leading to the Colorado Study.
Of particular significance was the publication of the letter dated 23 September 1947 from Lt. General Nathan F. Twining to the Commanding General of the AAF (Appendix R)http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/appndx-r.html recommending an officially sanctioned investigation; and the 30 December 1947 General L. C. Craigie letter to the Commanding General of AMC (Appendix S)http://www.project1947.com/shg/condon/appndx-s.html authorizing Project Sign. Both of these letters had been referred to previously (Ruppelt, 1956; Tacker, 1960), however, the full text of the letters were not released until publication in the Condon Report, over a decade later.
During the course of the Colorado Project, internal dissension brought about the terminations of several of the project personnel and resulted in a critical expose being published in Look Magazine in early 1968. Brought to the attention of legislators, Indiana Congressman Edward Roush took to the floor of the House to criticize the Air Force handling of the problem and also cited the Look article entitled the "Half Million Dollar Trick,"http://www.project1947.com/shg/articles/fiasco.html which referred to the $500,000 budget of the Condon Study. Roush argued that the article raised questions of scientific profundity and objectivity;
further explaining, that if the Look article was correct it raised questions about the University of Colorado's approach to the federal contract process. He said that as a result of his talks to and correspondence with most serious UFO researchers, he would propose Hearings conducted by the House Committee on Science and Astronautics.
The Symposium (which it was called rather than a hearing) On Unidentified Flying Objects took place on July 29, under the auspices of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. However, the participants were not to discuss the past Air Force handling of UFO investigations or the current situation with the Colorado Project. In the words of Roush, "Our emphasis is to understand the technical and scientific facts surrounding these phenomena as the facts are understood by competent researchers in the field."
POLITICKING AND PARADIGM SHIFTING: James E. McDonald and the UFO Case Study (1975), Ph.D. Dissertation by Dr. Paul McCarthy.
Politicking and Paradigm Shifting chronicles the activities of atmospheric physicist, Dr. James E. McDonald (University of Arizona), in a series of UFO-related controversies between 1966 and 1970. This was the period when the Colorado UFO project was underway, in which the final report to the Air Force recommended that further scientific study of UFOs should not be supported. Also, on July 29, 1968, the Committee on Science and Astronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives organized a one-day Symposium on the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects.
From the historical perspective, Dr. McCarthy's dissertation provides significant background to these documents by revealing the story of McDonald's efforts to influence the outcome of events and convince scientists that the pursuit of satisfactory explanations for UFO reports represented an important scientific problem, which was not getting adequate attention.
For example, in Chapter III http://www.project1947.com/shg/mccarthy/chap03.htmlwe find McDonald working to influence the Air Force-sponsored Colorado Project and in Chapter IV engineering the 1968 Symposium by the Committee on Science and Astronautics of the United States House of Representatives. Dr. McCarthy extends his inquiry to another significant event in Chapter VI,http://www.project1947.com/shg/mccarthy/chap04.html the AAAS UFO Symposium held in Boston on December 26-27, 1969. Dr. McDonald found few allies in this scientific quest, and many of the relevant questions remain unanswered to this day.http://www.project1947.com/shg/mccarthy/chap06.html
Paul McCarthy in the Preface and Introduction to Politicking and Paradigm Shifting has provided a comprehensive introduction to his rationale and modus operandi in choosing this particular subject as a dissertation topic. The reader is encouraged to review these sections to better understand his motivations behind the study.http://www.project1947.com/shg/mccarthy/contents.html
In a recent interview Paul McCarthy explained that back in 1970, he was inspired by Thomas Kuhn's renowned book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which, at the time, produced a drastic change in our view of science and scientific progress. A fine summary of Kuhn's work can be found here.http://cgi.student.nada.kth.se/cgi-b...et/CSS/kuhneng Kuhn argued that science advances not from proof, but from conviction, and he questioned the possibility for science ever to find a truth.
Accordingly, the problem McCarthy resolved to address was "how does one convert the scientific community to a belief without real evidence?" It needs to be noted that in the early seventies, the concept of Political Science did not effectively incorporate interpersonal (political) issues as playing a significant role in the advancement of science. Rather, the concept was almost exclusively associated within government-funded sciences. In this sense, Kuhn's book succeeded in establishing a paradigm itself.
Dr. McCarthy was fortunate (or unfortunate, as the case may be) in his timing, since James McDonald died in June 1971. Following his death his widow requested the help of Richard Greenwell (then with APRO) in organizing her husband's sizable research materials. This corresponded with Dr. McCarthy's trip to Tucson where Greenwell assisted him in accessing the files. McDonald had spent a considerable amount of time reinvestigating old cases, made detailed analyses of possible explanations and maintained regular correspondence with most of the leading researchers of the time.
He was by all accounts prolific and wholly determined in his effort to convince the scientific community that unidentified flying objects represent "the greatest scientific problem of our times." In this respect, McCarthy could not have asked for a better study to explore what he calls the "personal politics of science. This consists primarily of how scientists interact with one another, and an explication of the personal strategies they adopt in the pursuance of their science-related goals."
Preparations of these on-line versions are a collaboration between (SHG)http://www.project1947.com/shg/index.html and National Capital Area (NCAS).http://www.ncas.org/ Both SHG and NCAS share an interest in making accessible primary source documents relevant to the history of the UFO issue.
There are many people to thank for the work involved in bringing these materials online. Especially, we wish to express our gratitude to Jim Giglio for his resolute work and perseverance on the project, as well as, the staff at NCAS including, Lynn Francis; Mary Pastel; Neil Inglis; Tim Scanlon; Barry Blyveis; and Zoe Ann Lapinski. In addition, SHG would like to extend its gratitude to Richard Greenwell, John Schuessler, Philip Klass, Peter Sturrock and Michael Swords for permission to include various works presented on these pages.
SHG also gratefully recognizes the assistance and materials provided by Jerry Cohen, Jean van Gemaert, Richard Moss and Joseph Dundovic in the links section, and extends its sincere appreciation to Brad Sparks and Candy Peterson of SHG who helped with important suggestions and editorial assistance; and specially to John Stepkowski, Project 1947 and SHG webmaster, for his patience and untiring work on this project.
We think you will find that Jim and John have done an exceptional job maintaining the look-and-feel of the original documents, while providing an extremely efficient means of navigating these web documents.
Additionally, we would like to thank Dr. McCarthy for ensuring this valuable resource will remain available to students of UFO history.
Tom Tulien
Sign Historical Group – September 7, 2002;
Symposium on ufos/u.s. House of representatives 3;
The list below of the history of early concerns will be covered in each successive post;
HISTORY OF EVENTS;
III. THE CONDON STUDY;
Early Concerns;
Reaction to Condon Statements;
The Low Memorandum: Confrontation;
The Low Memorandum: Aftermath;
Activity in Other Venues;
Rebuttal Attempt: Working with NICAP;
Rebuttal Attempt: Working Through NAS;
Release of the Colorado Report;
Continuing Rebuttal Activity;
The CU Data Controversy;
CONTEXT;
1;Early Concerns;
Each of the four chapters which follow overlap one another chronologically. To some extent the partitioning of McDonald's life during this period reduces the intensity of the impact which the simultaneous recounting of these events would otherwise have. However, for purposes of clarity and analysis this approach seems better than endeavoring to relate the events concurrently. During this time McDonald did many of the same kinds of things which he did in the previous chapter, but the central issue became the Condon Study. The study should be viewed in the context which was developed in chapters one and two.
For a decade, and in some instances longer, the UFO groups desired a full-scale scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon. Then in early 1966 as a result of numerous reported sightings, public outcry, the quiet behind the scenes work of J. Allen Hynek, the NICAP lobby effort, the recommendations of the Ad Hoc UFO Committee of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and possibly other pressures the Air Force agreed to fund such a study by independent university contractors.
However, the project proved a mixed blessing because while it provided the long-awaited scientific analysis, on the other hand the funding came from the Air Force. No one knew what the implications of such funding were, if any, or what strings might be attached, but they (meaning those seriously concerned with the UFO problem) were circumspect regarding the Air Force involvement. Although impossible to demonstrate that a conspiracy existed to hide the facts about UFOs, even those who would argue no such plot existed were hesitant about Air Force backing
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of the proposed research. For most UFO watchers saw the Condon Study as an opportunity either to legitimate UFO studies in the halls of academe if the Condon team reported that the phenomenon warranted further study or, to the contrary, set the field of Ufology back ten years if the final report concluded the phenomenon were nonsense.
The make-up of the research project staff and the duration of the Air Force contract for the study added to this concern. The Air Force feared that anyone already involved with the UFO problem whether pro or con would bring these predispositions to the project and make any resulting conclusions suspect. Consequently, unlike the motivation for doing most other research -- namely, interest on the part of the investigators -- the staff of the Condon Study, by Air Force stipulation, was chosen for its lack of prior interest.
This, combined with the year-and-one-half contract, tended to frighten those UFO researchers familiar with the problem because they considered the contract period too short a time to become apprised of the complexity of the UFO situation and also conduct meaningful analysis.
With these sorts of considerations in mind we can better understand McDonald's actions in 1967, 1968 and 1969. We have already seen his distress begin to develop in 1966. First he thought he might be the principal investigator. When that possibility waned he volunteered his services to "sell" the none too popular project to any lukewarm scientists who might be candidates for the job of principal investigator.
When the Air Force failed to take advantage of his offer this not only annoyed him, but also made him wonder about Air Force intentions. Once Edward Condon's name appeared as principal investigator and the University of Colorado received designation as the research site
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McDonald again offered his services in an advisory capacity. When Condon was slow to invite him to Boulder he chafed at the bit and, as we saw, eventually obtained an invitation by sheer perseverance. What he found at CU did not please him and he concluded that the project had to be closely monitored. It should be remembered that by the end of 1966 he had lived with the conclusion that UFOs were a form of extraterrestrial visitation for some five or six months and consequently believed the issue to be the most important problem facing twentieth century science.
He felt action had to be taken immediately and believed himself more qualified than any other academic to pursue the problem. It is at this point that we begin the story in 1967.
In mid-September Condon gave another of his UFO talks. This one was for an Atomic Spectroscopy Symposium of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A friend of McDonald's, William Bickel, attended and he wrote a memo to McDonald expressing his disgust with Condon's funny, entertaining stories about contactees, hoaxes, and research problems confronted because of ridicule, when Condon had an opportunity to stimulate the interest of the best atomic physicists and spectroscopists in the country.
[18]
In a letter to Low discussing UFO cases McDonald raised the issue of the NBS talk and mentioned his concern over the matter. Low did not respond. [19] Donald Keyhoe at NICAP received a copy of the Bickel memo from McDonald and felt it had to be followed up. McDonald suggested to Keyhoe that he indicate that he had the memo to strengthen his bargaining position with Low. McDonald said he would wait until October 4 to see if Keyhoe obtained an answer. If he did not then McDonald would write Condon himself. [20]
[[138]]
However, before this could be settled McDonald received word of another Condon slap at the UFO phenomenon. This time while speaking with the press on September 27 he indicated disillusionment with the UFO business, almost wished he could drop it, and had praise for a Science article on UFOs by William Markowitz, a physicist at Marquette University, who attempted to demonstrate the impossibility of interplanetary travel given the physical laws as we know them. Lastly, Condon said he agreed with Markowitz that twenty-first century physics would laugh at us for investigating UFOs. [21]
As a result of the above statements made by Condon a concerned William Hartmann, a UA astronomer doing UFO photo analysis for the CU project, called McDonald. He tried to explain that Condon's isolation from the project permitted him to concentrate on crackpot cases while the remainder of the staff pursued better data. He said he (Hartmann) talked the staff out of a September 28 press release refuting Condon's September 27 remarks and as far as Hartmann could tell a blow-up would probably be avoided, as would a minority report. It was likely that a compromise would be reached and even if a dissenting report were written only Condon's voice would be heard.
Hartmann believed that Condon's statements subtly sealed the lips of the project staff who could not contradict him and found this reinforced by Bob Low's comments that the staff would now be forced to go along with Condon. At this time McDonald was about to write Condon, a strategy Hartmann seconded, and in fact urged McDonald to emphasize in his letter the need for Condon to keep in close touch with his staff. [22]
This increased McDonald's concern for the future of UFO studies. His worst fears were apparently being realized. To determine if this
[[139]]
were true he augmented his efforts to gather information about the inside workings of the UFO project and the authenticity of various public statements attributable to Condon.
Considered a fighter by all who knew him, Condon responded to the commotion over his public utterances not by conciliation, but by further inflammatory remarks. On October 16 the New York Times quoted him as saying he was inclined to think UFO studies should be discontinued unless someone came up with a new idea on how to approach the problem. [23]
Meanwhile, McDonald got together with Norman Levine and David Saunders who were on the project.
They discussed Condon's NBS speech, the untenability of the Air Force conspiracy hypothesis and the possibility of Air Force interference in the project if the research appeared to be coming to a positive conclusion. [24]
Levine reacted to some of McDonald's questions in a note in which he said that: [25]
He couldn't find a copy of Condon's letter to the editor.
Condon is 50% on the project.
Wadsworth's statement on the third university man is not available.
Low's statement on Alamosa (a case) is enclosed.
Low spent one day at Loch Ness.
He had not checked on the Rocky Mountain News Condon quote.
Point five was important to McDonald because Low spent project money to attend an astronomical conference in Europe, but did not contact any European UFO researchers. Low's stop at Loch Ness annoyed him further because it seemed to put UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster in
[[140]]
the same category of phenomena. This was something McDonald did not accept.
By this time the disquietude at NICAP had reached a new high. Keyhoe wrote two letters, one each to Low and Condon, demanding answers to numerous questions related to the credibility of Condon and the research project. He outlined the various ups and downs which NICAP had had with Condon, including the severing of relations two months earlier a; a result of Condon's public statements. Throughout Keyhoe showed concern that Condon would coopt NICAP into appearing to endorse by association a negative, perniciously concocted final report. [26]
The end of November found McDonald thinking beyond the CU study. Based upon a letter to Saunders we can conclude that they, along with Norm Levine, had already begun discussing the future of UFO studies. McDonald asserted that all federal research agencies were waiting for the outcome at Boulder before committing themselves. He felt a NASA size effort was in order, but if CU were negative then a different strategy would be needed.
He believed a professional organization that focused on the study of UFOs was necessary to raise money in the form of dues to support a journal and research. Such an organization would be made up of academics and be research-oriented. He wanted to discuss this with Saunders and Levine the next time they met. [27]
Condon replied to Keyhoe, as did Low, assuring Keyhoe of the integrity and independence of the project. Condon would not respond to most of the questions because he said the answers would give NICAP advance information about project conclusions. He asserted that all of his public statements were unbiased. He also provided assurances that if
[[141]]
dissenting opinions existed when the research concluded that they would appear in the report. [28]
However, McDonald remained unconvinced of Condon's good intentions. On December 11 he wrote Aime Michel, considered the foremost European UFO researcher, to inform him that Condon's staff did not share Condon's attitudes and "our hope lies with them." [29]
However, by the 28th in another letter to Michel, McDonald indicated that he was "disappointed and disillusioned with Condon." Evidently more so than previously for he said, "some confrontation is going to have to be effected. This is difficult to engineer. A number of us are working on that problem and thinking about it as carefully as we can." [30]
02-24-2011, 06:10 PM
Fatal Guillotine
Symposium on ufos/u.s. House of representatives 3;
The list below of the history of early concerns will be covered in each successive post;
HISTORY OF EVENTS;
III. THE CONDON STUDY;
Early Concerns;
Reaction to Condon Statements;
The Low Memorandum: Confrontation;
The Low Memorandum: Aftermath;
Activity in Other Venues;
Rebuttal Attempt: Working with NICAP;
Rebuttal Attempt: Working Through NAS;
Release of the Colorado Report;
Continuing Rebuttal Activity;
The CU Data Controversy;
CONTEXT;
1;Early Concerns;
Each of the four chapters which follow overlap one another chronologically. To some extent the partitioning of McDonald's life during this period reduces the intensity of the impact which the simultaneous recounting of these events would otherwise have. However, for purposes of clarity and analysis this approach seems better than endeavoring to relate the events concurrently. During this time McDonald did many of the same kinds of things which he did in the previous chapter, but the central issue became the Condon Study. The study should be viewed in the context which was developed in chapters one and two.
For a decade, and in some instances longer, the UFO groups desired a full-scale scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon. Then in early 1966 as a result of numerous reported sightings, public outcry, the quiet behind the scenes work of J. Allen Hynek, the NICAP lobby effort, the recommendations of the Ad Hoc UFO Committee of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and possibly other pressures the Air Force agreed to fund such a study by independent university contractors.
However, the project proved a mixed blessing because while it provided the long-awaited scientific analysis, on the other hand the funding came from the Air Force. No one knew what the implications of such funding were, if any, or what strings might be attached, but they (meaning those seriously concerned with the UFO problem) were circumspect regarding the Air Force involvement. Although impossible to demonstrate that a conspiracy existed to hide the facts about UFOs, even those who would argue no such plot existed were hesitant about Air Force backing
[[131]]
of the proposed research. For most UFO watchers saw the Condon Study as an opportunity either to legitimate UFO studies in the halls of academe if the Condon team reported that the phenomenon warranted further study or, to the contrary, set the field of Ufology back ten years if the final report concluded the phenomenon were nonsense.
The make-up of the research project staff and the duration of the Air Force contract for the study added to this concern. The Air Force feared that anyone already involved with the UFO problem whether pro or con would bring these predispositions to the project and make any resulting conclusions suspect. Consequently, unlike the motivation for doing most other research -- namely, interest on the part of the investigators -- the staff of the Condon Study, by Air Force stipulation, was chosen for its lack of prior interest.
This, combined with the year-and-one-half contract, tended to frighten those UFO researchers familiar with the problem because they considered the contract period too short a time to become apprised of the complexity of the UFO situation and also conduct meaningful analysis.
With these sorts of considerations in mind we can better understand McDonald's actions in 1967, 1968 and 1969. We have already seen his distress begin to develop in 1966. First he thought he might be the principal investigator. When that possibility waned he volunteered his services to "sell" the none too popular project to any lukewarm scientists who might be candidates for the job of principal investigator.
When the Air Force failed to take advantage of his offer this not only annoyed him, but also made him wonder about Air Force intentions. Once Edward Condon's name appeared as principal investigator and the University of Colorado received designation as the research site
[[132]]
McDonald again offered his services in an advisory capacity. When Condon was slow to invite him to Boulder he chafed at the bit and, as we saw, eventually obtained an invitation by sheer perseverance. What he found at CU did not please him and he concluded that the project had to be closely monitored. It should be remembered that by the end of 1966 he had lived with the conclusion that UFOs were a form of extraterrestrial visitation for some five or six months and consequently believed the issue to be the most important problem facing twentieth century science.
He felt action had to be taken immediately and believed himself more qualified than any other academic to pursue the problem. It is at this point that we begin the story in 1967.
In mid-September Condon gave another of his UFO talks. This one was for an Atomic Spectroscopy Symposium of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A friend of McDonald's, William Bickel, attended and he wrote a memo to McDonald expressing his disgust with Condon's funny, entertaining stories about contactees, hoaxes, and research problems confronted because of ridicule, when Condon had an opportunity to stimulate the interest of the best atomic physicists and spectroscopists in the country.
[18]
In a letter to Low discussing UFO cases McDonald raised the issue of the NBS talk and mentioned his concern over the matter. Low did not respond. [19] Donald Keyhoe at NICAP received a copy of the Bickel memo from McDonald and felt it had to be followed up. McDonald suggested to Keyhoe that he indicate that he had the memo to strengthen his bargaining position with Low. McDonald said he would wait until October 4 to see if Keyhoe obtained an answer. If he did not then McDonald would write Condon himself. [20]
[[138]]
However, before this could be settled McDonald received word of another Condon slap at the UFO phenomenon. This time while speaking with the press on September 27 he indicated disillusionment with the UFO business, almost wished he could drop it, and had praise for a Science article on UFOs by William Markowitz, a physicist at Marquette University, who attempted to demonstrate the impossibility of interplanetary travel given the physical laws as we know them. Lastly, Condon said he agreed with Markowitz that twenty-first century physics would laugh at us for investigating UFOs. [21]
As a result of the above statements made by Condon a concerned William Hartmann, a UA astronomer doing UFO photo analysis for the CU project, called McDonald. He tried to explain that Condon's isolation from the project permitted him to concentrate on crackpot cases while the remainder of the staff pursued better data. He said he (Hartmann) talked the staff out of a September 28 press release refuting Condon's September 27 remarks and as far as Hartmann could tell a blow-up would probably be avoided, as would a minority report. It was likely that a compromise would be reached and even if a dissenting report were written only Condon's voice would be heard.
Hartmann believed that Condon's statements subtly sealed the lips of the project staff who could not contradict him and found this reinforced by Bob Low's comments that the staff would now be forced to go along with Condon. At this time McDonald was about to write Condon, a strategy Hartmann seconded, and in fact urged McDonald to emphasize in his letter the need for Condon to keep in close touch with his staff. [22]
This increased McDonald's concern for the future of UFO studies. His worst fears were apparently being realized. To determine if this
[[139]]
were true he augmented his efforts to gather information about the inside workings of the UFO project and the authenticity of various public statements attributable to Condon.
Considered a fighter by all who knew him, Condon responded to the commotion over his public utterances not by conciliation, but by further inflammatory remarks. On October 16 the New York Times quoted him as saying he was inclined to think UFO studies should be discontinued unless someone came up with a new idea on how to approach the problem. [23]
Meanwhile, McDonald got together with Norman Levine and David Saunders who were on the project.
They discussed Condon's NBS speech, the untenability of the Air Force conspiracy hypothesis and the possibility of Air Force interference in the project if the research appeared to be coming to a positive conclusion. [24]
Levine reacted to some of McDonald's questions in a note in which he said that: [25]
He couldn't find a copy of Condon's letter to the editor.
Condon is 50% on the project.
Wadsworth's statement on the third university man is not available.
Low's statement on Alamosa (a case) is enclosed.
Low spent one day at Loch Ness.
He had not checked on the Rocky Mountain News Condon quote.
Point five was important to McDonald because Low spent project money to attend an astronomical conference in Europe, but did not contact any European UFO researchers. Low's stop at Loch Ness annoyed him further because it seemed to put UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster in
[[140]]
the same category of phenomena. This was something McDonald did not accept.
By this time the disquietude at NICAP had reached a new high. Keyhoe wrote two letters, one each to Low and Condon, demanding answers to numerous questions related to the credibility of Condon and the research project. He outlined the various ups and downs which NICAP had had with Condon, including the severing of relations two months earlier a; a result of Condon's public statements. Throughout Keyhoe showed concern that Condon would coopt NICAP into appearing to endorse by association a negative, perniciously concocted final report. [26]
The end of November found McDonald thinking beyond the CU study. Based upon a letter to Saunders we can conclude that they, along with Norm Levine, had already begun discussing the future of UFO studies. McDonald asserted that all federal research agencies were waiting for the outcome at Boulder before committing themselves. He felt a NASA size effort was in order, but if CU were negative then a different strategy would be needed.
He believed a professional organization that focused on the study of UFOs was necessary to raise money in the form of dues to support a journal and research. Such an organization would be made up of academics and be research-oriented. He wanted to discuss this with Saunders and Levine the next time they met. [27]
Condon replied to Keyhoe, as did Low, assuring Keyhoe of the integrity and independence of the project. Condon would not respond to most of the questions because he said the answers would give NICAP advance information about project conclusions. He asserted that all of his public statements were unbiased. He also provided assurances that if
[[141]]
dissenting opinions existed when the research concluded that they would appear in the report. [28]
However, McDonald remained unconvinced of Condon's good intentions. On December 11 he wrote Aime Michel, considered the foremost European UFO researcher, to inform him that Condon's staff did not share Condon's attitudes and "our hope lies with them." [29]
However, by the 28th in another letter to Michel, McDonald indicated that he was "disappointed and disillusioned with Condon." Evidently more so than previously for he said, "some confrontation is going to have to be effected. This is difficult to engineer. A number of us are working on that problem and thinking about it as carefully as we can." [30]
02-24-2011, 06:12 PM
Fatal Guillotine
Symposium on ufos/u.s. House of representatives 4;
The Low Memorandum: Confrontation;
1968 brought with it the confrontation which McDonald desired. He played the major role in this episode which turned on the infamous "Low memo" mentioned in the previous chapter. Although intended as one facet of a multi-pronged offense launched by McDonald against Condon in an attempt to change the direction of the project, it turned out that the "Trick Memo," as it came to be called, became the central topic of discussion for several months. This began with a letter from McDonald to Low in late January in which he detailed his criticisms.
> He wrote to Low because of a phone conversation they had engaged in a few days earlier in which Low became upset when McDonald directed some harsh comments toward the administration of the project. He began the letter by saying he wanted to outline his main concerns about the project and that he saw no reason for Low to become upset. He argued that criticism at that time was important because it could influence the outcome of the research, and even though an unusual step to take prior
to the completion of a study he nonetheless felt justified in doing so because the future of UFO research hung in the balance.
McDonald's major points revolved around Condon's negative press statements, his preoccupation with crackpots, his refusal to examine witnesses in good cases, the limited amount of communication between Condon and his staff and the lack of investigation of obfuscation cases (cases in which McDonald felt the Air Force had prohibited or inhibited investigation).
In addition, he discussed the Low memo in straightforward terms suggesting that its presence in the "open files" meant it no doubt could easily be explained. He also brought up what he called project communication problems, the waste he considered the $50,000 Stanford Research Institute radar study contract, the inappropriateness of Aldora Lee's opinion poll 15 months after the project began, and the scientific unproductiveness of bringing Air Force intelligence officers up to Boulder for a briefing when the project staff were about to begin writing the final report. [31]
A letter from McDonald to Hall indicates that they viewed the Low memo as very important, and quite possibly their major weapon, from the beginning. As early as January 31 McDonald told Hall that after a talk with Gordon Lore, NICAP Assistant Director (Hall had left NICAP), and Donald Keyhoe that they resolved to get the memo on the record at the NAS and at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Saunders apparently concurred in this tactic and McDonald commented that an NAS staff member agreed that this was the best way in which to accomplish his objectives at NAS. [32]
[[143]]
By February 9 McDonald had not heard from Condon regarding the critical letter of January 31 to Low and, concerned that Condon might not rise to the bait, penned him a note. McDonald indicated that via CU administrative channels he knew that Condon had been apprised of the letter to Low. He told Condon that he intended to send copies to the NAS as a first step in making his case; a more detailed statement would follow. [33]
The same day McDonald sent off a statement to the NAS.
He submitted the 1/31/68 letter to Low along with the Low memo, and his United Aircraft Research Labs paper presented January 26, 1968. He considered these a preamble to the more detailed criticisms of the "lack of scientific open-mindedness and lack of scientific vigor in project administration" which would follow and stated that they were in keeping with the concerns which he expressed to NAS staffers Coleman and Sievers on 4/20/67, Coleman on 9/29/67 and Coleman again on 1/30/68. [34]
The repercussions of McDonald's 1/31/68 letter to Low were much greater than anticipated. On February 8 Condon called Saunders and Levine to his office, accused them of stealing the memo from private files and fired them from the project for "incompetence." McDonald wrote Saunders and Levine expressing his distress that Condon had such small regard for the scientific matters at stake. He also regretted that Saunders and Levine had "to pay so high a price for getting on with a proper scientific investigation." [35]
It seems that McDonald had second thoughts about the interpretation which the NAS staffers might put on his forwarding of the Low memo and so he wrote a note to qualify his actions. He explained that only
project members and those with a scientific concern for the project had copies. He said the NAS received one because of its responsibility in the area.
[36]
He also evinced a concern that Keyhoe of NICAP, known for his publicity exploits, might over-react to the situation. He explained to Keyhoe that Saunders and Levine would not go to the press and intended to respond solely at the NAS level until it was certain what the NAS would do. Consequently there was no need for NICAP to get involved in the behind-the-scenes activities.
In the same letter McDonald conveyed a bit of the thinking underlying his own involvement. He felt that Condon used the incompetence excuse for the firings to insure that reporters would not look for the memo. He indicated that Condon called Dr. Harvill, president of the UA, to tell Richard Kassander, McDonald's superior, that he (Condon) would soon contact Kassander demanding the return of the memo. However, McDonald had briefed Kassander on the situation and so Kassander told Condon to call McDonald if he wanted the memo. [37]
In troubled times McDonald usually got off a note to Jim Hughes his project monitor to keep him informed; this was no exception. He told Hughes of the events which occurred and passed along copies of the memo and NAS correspondence which he wanted Hughes to keep confidential. He said he forwarded the material to keep Hughes apprised in light of the day when he would apply to the ONR for funding to do UFO work. He told Hughes that any discussion of these matters should go to his home address because he didn't want such explosive material channeled through his department. [38]
[[145]]
A cordial letter which must have infuriated McDonald arrived from Seitz. He contended that Condon was a distinguished scientist who took his work seriously; press and grapevine accounts no doubt were superficial. Seitz indicated that the project had to run its course, but he would discuss McDonald's suggestions with Condon at the next opportunity. [39]
Condon answered McDonald's letters with questions and accusations of his own. He asserted that the Low memo was stolen from private files because it bore a date prior to the commencement of the project. Referring to his talk with Kassander he said he had done so because he thought the memo had been misrepresented to McDonald and once McDonald understood that he would return it. Now that he realized that McDonald would not return it he considered such conduct gravely unethical.
Furthermore, Condon said the review request of the project which McDonald made to Coleman at the NAS puzzled him. He wanted to know if McDonald desired a review prior to the completion of the report, or a review of the situation as a whole. Even though McDonald had adopted an adversary position with respect to the project in Condon's eyes, he closed by asking McDonald's cooperation on several procedural matters concerned with UFO Investigation. [40]
In a newsy note to Hughes, McDonald forwarded the Seitz and Condon retorts with the comment that the "NAS will not pick up the hot potato." He asked Hughes to keep the letters confidential and hoped they would bear on getting him some support in the future. Regardless of the cold shoulder given him by the NAS he indicated to Hughes that he intended to write up and forward the statement of concern already begun. [41]
By this time Saunders and Levine had started legal action against Condon for the use of "incompetence" as the reason for their firings.
[[146]]
Mrs. Saunders wrote McDonald thanking him for the support he gave the fired pair in a press release which appeared in the Denver Post. She was worried because Condon allegedly told Saunders, "for this (releasing the memo) you should be professionally destroyed." [42]
link; http://www.project1947.com/shg/mccar....html#reaction
************************************************** ********
The Low Memorandum: Aftermath;
McDonald again wrote Aime Michel to ask him to keep European ufologists abreast of the CU situation. He told Michel that "behind the scenes" efforts to force changes in the project were in progress. He said that although Hynek's participation had been hoped for, he nevertheless dropped out. The loss of Saunders and Levine, according to McDonald, seemed a high short-term loss but would be worth it in the long run. Incompetence not conspiracy was the villain, along with Condon's prestige, which proved a formidable weapon, as attested to by the lack of NAS action. [43]
It is difficult to assess what McDonald thought would be gained from publicly attacking Condon in UFO circles, but this is what he did and advocated. In a note to Charles Bowen, editor of the British Flying Saucer Review, he asked that Bowen speak out against Condon's project management if he felt this were possible in good conscience. [44]
Through his inside channels McDonald learned more about happenings at CU and passed this along to Hughes. Apparently a staff meeting took place at which Condon received considerable criticism. It appeared that he saw for the first time that the project had gotten into Low's hands and that Low was incapable of running it. [45]
McDonald was more informative in writing Hall the same day. He said that Roy Craig would be the primary investigator with the departure of Saunders and Levine and Craig might leave according to rumor if Low were not fired. Moreover, while Condon told Craig he could not go as
far as the ETH, he did say that Craig could write report conclusions in which UFOs were considered a serious problem warranting further attention. McDonald suggested caution, however, since people on the project claimed that Condon could not be trusted.
On the legal front McDonald planned to get a lawyer to force Condon to retract various charges, in particular, that McDonald had coerced Saunders and Levine into stealing the memo. Saunders and Levine were also proceeding with legal steps as mentioned previously. [46]
About the same time Mary Lou Armstrong, Condon's administrative secretary and full participant in the project, proffered her resignation. In a ten-page letter she argued that Low was the cause of the project's problems. She enumerated nine points which portrayed Low in a negative light and suggested that if Condon had directed the project the conflictual situation would have been avoided.
[47] This letter was cause for rejoicing on the part of McDonald and others of his persuasion because it seemed that this placed more pressure on Condon to take a further look at the conclusions his project would endorse. For at this time a set developed by Low already circulated among the staff.
The gravity of Armstrong's actions are best revealed by the letter through which Condon replied. He apparently spoke with her on the phone and then wanted to reaffirm the confidentiality of the resignation. He said he would consider it both unethical and a grave offense to reveal its contents which he suspected people would tempt her to do. [48]
On February 28 William Messing, McDonald's attorney, wrote to Condon. He informed Condon that unless he retracted the accusations made to Kassander, Harvill and the NAS in ten days Messing would have to take all necessary steps to protect McDonald's legal remedies. [49]
[[148]]
On still another front McDonald, Saunders, Levine and Armstrong took action of their own. They met with John Fuller, who previously wrote two UFO books, and now planned to pen an expose of the CU project focusing on the Low memo. He spoke with Condon, Low and Manning (the latter being the recipient of the memo) but received "no comments." McDonald told Hall he expected the article to appear in Look in four to six weeks.
He also argued that although the NAS had taken no action, that once the article came out it would have to, if only behind the scenes. [50] In writing the article McDonald assured Fuller that he could count on the cooperation of William Bickel who wrote the note to McDonald describing Condon's NBS talk.
[51]
Condon said in his February 15 note to McDonald that he had not studied McDonald's January 31 letter to Low, so in his response McDonald asked Condon to do so. In addition, he spoke to Condon's other points, the most important being, in McDonald's eyes, the use of "stolen" and "coerced" in his 2/15 letter and the intimation that McDonald had not attempted to cooperate with CU.
With regard to the former McDonald said he did not participate in any coercion or theft. He demanded a retraction which would go to himself, Kassander and Seitz. He said he wanted to hear from Condon on those charges. Concerning the charge of non-cooperation McDonald detailed his distress with the project going back to an 8/1/67 conversation with Condon. Moreover, he argued that this statement on the part of Condon revealed how little he knew about his own project, whereupon McDonald proceeded to list his efforts to cooperate with Low and Condon from as early as 10/16/66. [52]
[[149]]
After his response to Condon, McDonald sent an enraged note in answer to Low's missive of 2/2/68 in which Low asked for case material in a way which McDonald interpreted as feigning naivete concerning McDonald's past offers of aid. Probably McDonald suspected this to be an effort on Low's part to develop "files protection" regarding the relationship of the project to McDonald just in case an investigation of the project were ever made.
McDonald asserted that the letter had a hollow ring to it; that it was written in a style suggesting Low had just heard about his (McDonald's) interest in UFOs. He said he found the events at Boulder shocking and was still waiting for a retort to his critical letter of 1/31/68. [53]
In his fifth letter of the day McDonald sent off a dissatisfied reply to Seitz at the NAS. He was sorry the concern shown by Seitz was so slight and paraphrasing Seitz said, "I think it will be scientifically undesirable to let the Condon study run its course." He was upset that the material he had sent Seitz (the 1/31/68 letter to Low and the Low memo) had not convinced people at the NAS that Condon and Low had a preset bias which the Air Force overlooked. In the selection of the NAS Review Panel he hoped this would be considered. [54]
Condon wrote McDonald to the effect that he rejected McDonald's notion that the memo was taken from "open files." That it was done surreptitiously was proof enough for Condon that the perpetrators were engaged in wrong-doing. He believed McDonald's conduct was unethical and explained that, because the issue had become a legal matter, he had been advised to terminate correspondence by his attorney. [55]
McDonald, after mentioning that he wanted to be included in the indemnification insurance he understood the Look lawyers were considering
for contributors to the Low memo article, told John Fuller he was glad the Look editors cleared the manuscript. He said, "I feel sure that its impact on scientific attitudes (as well as public attitudes) concerning the handling of the UFO problem will have a most salutary effect." [56]
However, he believed the article needed several sentences indicating Harriet Hunter (a project staff member) confronted Low with the memo in October 1967. This would thwart, he thought, Condon's claim that it was done behind his and Low's backs. [57]
Meanwhile McDonald decided to postpone any legal action against Condon for maligning his good name. He told Hall he felt it would be a tactical error to pursue legal instead of scientific channels in a dispute which was essentially scientific. [58]
When the Look article finally came out McDonald found it a bit short at 5,000 words, but he believed the salient points were put into the open record. He sent fifteen copies off to various foreign UFO groups. [59]
On April 30, a day prior to publication, Keyhoe managed to complicate the already confused situation by calling a NICAP press conference "to blow it all open." What annoyed Keyhoe was the fact that Look did not intend to give NICAP a box comment in the article, and that Fuller and the Look editors refused to see him in order to avoid a confrontation on the issue.
At the press conference Keyhoe broke relations with the Condon Study, accused Condon of a conspiracy (according to the press) and released copies of the memo to the press, which angered Saunders, Saunders' lawyer and Fuller. [60] Saunders' concern was primarily with his court case against Condon. He feared that what Keyhoe said might get back to Boulder and hurt his chances;
particularly since Philip Klass had taped the press conference and reportedly took it to the AFOSR.
************************************************** ********
Activity in Other Venues;
At this point it would appear that the NAS did not react as McDonald expected and so he took his case to other quarters. It is unclear whether he approached Science or vice-versa. In fact, the situation is further confused by a letter to Science from one of its editors, Daniel Greenberg. [62] In it Greenberg responded to Lewis Branscomb's criticisms [63] of the article which finally did appear by saying that initially Condon approached Science, which already planned an article on CU, when he (Condon) thought he would have to counter the negative publicity from the Look article.
When the negative publicity failed to materialize he refused to cooperate with Science and said he did not want a story done. At any rate in early June, McDonald wrote Philip Boffey, an editorial writer for Science, enclosing papers, background material, and his 3/5/68 letter to Condon. He urged Boffey to carry the matter as far as possible in the hope that Science might be able to rectify some of the neglect accorded the subject.
Referring to his 3/5/68 letter he said, "This whole thing is an unprecedented situation and only my strong conviction that we're dealing in the UFO problem with a matter of high scientific importance which Condon was going to casually reinter has led to my pursuing some of these courses." [64] Boffey eventually wrote an article critical of the Condon Project for Science. [65]
During this same period Congressman Roush of Indiana, who with McDonald engineered the House Science and Astronautics Committee
hearings on UFOs in July of 1968, wrote Seitz at the NAS, probably at McDonald's request, making a few suggestions. He wanted the NAS to:
Examine the Look allegations and McDonald's objections to the Condon Study.
Examine other significant cases as recommended by Hynek.
Look into the dismissal of Saunders and Levine.
Roush said he would suspend a Government Accounting Office review of the project which he had initiated until the NAS finished its review. [66]
Another attempt at obtaining publicity, this time with Industrial Review Magazine, did not work out as well as the Science gambit. When the magazine first took an interest in CU -- with or without McDonald's prodding is unclear -- Condon who was on the editorial board of the magazine, tried to dissuade the board from the story. When he failed he resigned from the board.
[67] However, the writer assigned to the story, an A. J. Cote, could not come around to seeing the Condon Study as McDonald did. In fact, he reached the point where he felt he had laid the groundwork to indict either the project or its critics, but he couldn't come down off the fence until he saw the final report. So, after writing an introductory article, he decided not to write the final piece. For Cote it was a question of whose accusations to believe and only the report could settle the matter. [68]
It would appear that he did not write the final article even after the release of the report. This was a blow to McDonald after his expenditure of considerable time and energy in trying to convince Cote of the efficacy of his position.
Activity on the part of McDonald with respect to the CU study slackened during the summer months. This was due to his intense involvement in the July House Hearings mentioned above and their aftermath. Nevertheless, in October his concern for the outcome of
the Boulder study remained high, as evidenced by a note from Phyllis O'Callaghan, Legislative Assistant to Representative Roush.
Apparently McDonald wrote to her asking that she use the good offices of Roush to ferret out any information she could obtain about the secret NAS Panel which was to review the Condon Report. This was important to McDonald because he wanted to contact the panel members to give them the inside story on both the UFO project and the UFO phenomenon in general.
O'Callaghan reported that Coleman at the NAS told her the panel members were chosen by the President and members of the NAS Council and would remain secret. The review would not immediately be made public, but would be forwarded to the Air Force and released at the discretion of the Air Force.
[69]
Intent upon informing the panel of what had taken place at CU McDonald pursued another tactic. He contacted Saunders, who by that time had written a book on his CU experience with Roger Harkins, a Boulder reporter. He persuaded Saunders and his publisher to send the galleys to the NAS. McDonald felt the book contained information not in the Look article which would have a salutary effect on the Academy scientists. [70]
He undoubtedly took this action because of the above-mentioned letter to Science by Branscomb. Both he and Saunders felt that since Branscomb was a colleague of Condon at CU that the letter, which defended Condon and indicted McDonald, presaged a negative final report.
