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- From: rkrouse@netcom.com (Robert K. Rouse)
- Subject: Air Force Cadet Manual (part 1)
- Message-ID: <rkrouseCKJBLI.IuC@netcom.com>
- Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 07:32:06 GMT
-
-
- AIR FORCE CADET MANUAL
-
- PHYSICS 370
-
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
-
-
-
- INTRODUCTORY
-
- SPACE SCIENCE
-
-
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
-
-
-
- Page
-
-
-
- BETWEEN EARTH AND THE STARS
-
-
-
- xxii. Radio Astronomy............ 281
-
- xxiii. Cosmochemistry............. 301
-
-
-
- xxiv. Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites......311
-
- xxv. Micrometeoroids..........................323
-
- xxvi. Luna.....................................333
-
- xxvii. Inferior Planets.........................365
-
- XXVIll. Superior Planets.......................377
-
- XXiX. Comets...................................397
-
- xxx. Cosmic Rays..............................405
-
-
-
- MAN'S EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND
-
-
-
- xxxi. Experimental Equipment...........425
-
- XXXII. Biological Detection.....................445
-
- XXXIII. Unidentified Flying Objects..............455
-
-
-
- Fig. 26- 1. USAF Lunar Reference Chart......... Last Page
-
-
-
- Major Donald G. Carpenter is the principal author of each
- chapter, with co-authors and exceptions as indicated below:
-
-
- Chapter Co-authors
-
- XXii......................................... *Captain John E. Wrobel, Jr.
-
- XXiii........................................ *Major Lowell A. King
-
- xxiv......................................... *Captain John E. Wrobel, Jr.
-
- xxv...........................................*Captain John E. Wrobel, Jr.
-
- XXVi......................................... *Dr. Paul D. Lowman
-
- xxvii......................................... Lt. Col. Edward R. Therkelsen
-
- xxviii....................................... Lt. Col. Edward R. Therkelsen
-
- xxix......................................... Lt. Col. John M. Kirk
-
- xxx.......................................... *Captain John E. Wrobel, Jr.
-
- xxxi........................................ *Captain Warren L. Simmons
-
- XXXii..................................... Major William J. Goodwin
-
- *Principal author
-
-
-
- CHAPTER XXXIII
-
-
-
- UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
-
-
-
- What is an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)? Well,
- according to United States Air Force Regulation 80-17 (dated 19
- September 1966), a UFO is "Any aerial Phenomenon or object which
- is unknown or appears to be out of the ordinary to the
- observer." This is a very broad definition which applies equally
- well to one individual seeing his first noctilucent cloud at
- twilight as it does to another individual seeing his first
- helicopter. However, at present most people consider the term
- UFO to mean an object which behaves in a strange or erratic
- manner while moving through Earth's atmosphere. That strange
- phenomenon has evoked strong emotions and great curiosity among
- a large segment of our world's population. The average person
- is interested because he loves a mystery, the professional
- military man is involved because of the possible threat to
- national security, and some scientists are interested because of
- the basic curiosity that led them into becoming researchers.
-
-
-
- The literature on UFO's is so vast, and the stories so many
- and varied, that we can only present a sketchy outline of the
- subject in this chapter. That outline includes description
- classifications, operational domains (temporal and spatial),
- some theories as to the nature of the UFO phenomenon, human
- reactions, attempts to attack the problem scientifically, and
- some tentative conclusions. If you wish to read further in
- this, area, the references provide an excellent starting point.
-
-
-
- 33.1 DESCRIPTORS
-
-
-
- One of the greatest problems you encounter when attempting
- to catalog UFO sightings, is selection of a system for
- cataloging. No effective system has yet been devised, although
- a number of different systems have been proposed. The net
- result is that almost all UFO data are either treated in the
- form of individual cases, or in the forms of inadequate
- classification systems. However, these systems do tend to have
- some common factors, and a collection of these factors is as
- follows:
-
-
-
- a. Size
-
- b. Shape (disc, ellipse, football, etc.)
-
- c. Luminosity
-
- d. Color
-
- e. Number of UFO's
-
-
-
- Behavior
-
- a. Location (altitude, direction, etc.)
-
- b. Patterns of paths (straight line, climbing, zig-zagging, etc.)
-
-
-
- page 455
-
- c. Flight characteristics (wobbling, fluttering, etc.)
-
- d. Periodicity of sightings
-
- e. Time duration
-
- f. Curiosity or inquisitiveness
-
- g. Avoidance
-
- h. Hostility
-
-
-
- Associated Effects
-
-
-
- a. Electro-magnetic (compass, radio, ignition systems, etc.)
-
- b. Radiation (burns, induced radioactivity, etc.)
-
- c. Ground disturbance (dust stirred-up, leaves moved, standing
- wave peaks on
-
- surface of water, etc.)
-
- d. Sound (none, hissing, humming, roaring, thunderclaps, etc.)
-
- e. Vibration (weak, strong, slow, fast)
-
- f. Smell (ozone or other odor)
-
- g. Flame (how much, where, when, color)
-
- h. Smoke or cloud (amount, color, persistence)
-
- i. Debris (type, amount, color, persistence)
-
- j. Inhibition of voluntary motion by observers
-
- k. Sighting of "creatures" or "beings"
-
-
-
- After Effects
-
-
-
- a. Burned areas or animals
-
- b. Depressed or flattened areas
-
- c. Dead or missing animals
-
- d. Mentally disturbed people
-
- e. Missing items
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 456
-
- We make no attempt here to present available data in terms
- of the foregoing descriptors.
-
-
-
- 33.2 OPERATIONAL DOMAINS-TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL
-
-
-
- What we will do here is to present evidence that UFO's are
- a global phenomenon which may have persisted for many thousands
- of years. During this discussion, please remember that the more
- ancient the reports the less sophisticated the observer. Not
- only were the ancient observers lacking the terminology
- necessary to describe complex devices (such as present day
- helicopters) but they were also lacking the concepts necessary
- to understand the true nature of such things as television,
- spaceships, rockets, nuclear weapons and radiation effects. To
- some, the most advanced technological concept was a war chariot
- with knife blades attached to the wheels. By the same token,
- the very lack of accurate terminology and descriptions leaves
- the more ancient reports open to considerable misinterpretation,
- and it may well be that present evaluations of individual
- reports are completely wrong. Nevertheless, let us start with
- an intriguing story in one of the oldest chronicles of India ...
- the Book of Dzyan.
-
-
-
- This book is a group of "story-teller" legends which were
- finally gathered in manuscript form when man learned to write.
- One of the stories is of a small group of beings who supposedly
- came to Earth many thousands of years ago in a metal craft which
- orbited Earth several times before landing. As told in the Book
- "These beings lived to themselves and were revered by the humans
- among whom they had settled. But eventually differences arose
- among them and they divided their numbers, several of the men
- and women and some children settling in another city, where they
- were promptly installed as rulers by the awe-stricken populace."
-
-
-
- "Separation did not bring peace to these people and finally
- their anger reached a point where the ruler of the original city
- took with him a small number of his warriors and they rose into
- the air in a huge shining metal vessel. While they were many
- leagues from the city of their enemies, they launched a great
- shining lance that rode on a beam of light. It burst apart in
- the city of their enemies with a great ball of flame that shot
- up to the heavens, almost to the stars. All those who were in
- the city were horribly burned and even those who were not in the
- city-but nearby-were burned also. Those who looked upon the
- lance and the ball of fire were blinded forever afterward.
- Those who entered the city on foot became ill and died. Even
- the dust of the city was poisoned, as were the rivers that
- flowed through it. Men dared not go near it, and it gradually
- crumbled into dust and was forgotten by men."
-
-
-
- "When the leader saw what he had done to his own people he
- retired to his palace and refused to see anyone. Then he
- gathered about him those of his warriors who remained, and their
- wives and children, and they entered into their vessels and rose
- one by one into the sky and sailed away. Nor did they return."
-
-
-
- Could this foregoing legend really be an account of an
- extraterrestrial colonization, complete with guided missile,
- nuclear warhead and radiation effects? It is difficult to assess
- the validity of that explanation ... just as it is difficult to
- explain why
-
-
-
- Page 457
-
-
-
- Greek, Roman and Nordic Mythology all discuss wars and conflicts
- among their "Gods." (Even the Bible records conflict between the
- legions of God and Satan.) Could it be that each group recorded
- their parochial view of what was actually a global conflict
- among alien colonists or visitors? Or is it that man has led
- such a violent existence that he tends to expect conflict and
- violence among even his gods?
-
- Evidence of perhaps an even earlier possible contact was
- uncovered by Tschi Pen Lao of the University of Peking. He
- discovered astonishing carvings in granite on a mountain in
- Hunan Province and on an island in Lake Tungting. These
- carvings have been evaluated as 47,000 years old, and they show
- people with large trunks (breathing apparatus? . . . or
- "elephant" heads shown on human bodies? Remember, the Egyptians
- often represented their gods as animal heads on human bodies.)
-
- Only 8,000 years ago, rocks were sculpted in the Tassili
- plateau of Sahara, depicting what appeared to be human beings
- but with strange round heads (helmets? or ii sun" heads on human
- bodies?) And even more recently, in the Bible, Genesis (6:4)
- tells of angels from the sky mating with women of Earth, who
- bore them children. Genesis 19:3 tells of Lot meeting two
- angels in the desert and his later feeding them at his house.
- The Bible also tells a rather unusual story of Ezekiel who
- witnessed what has been interpreted by some to have been a
- spacecraft or aircraft landing near the Chebar River in Chaldea
- (593 B.C.).
-
- Even the Irish have recorded strange visitations. In the
- Speculum Repali in Konungs Skuggsa (and other accounts of the
- era about 956 A.D.) are numerous stories of "demonships" in the
- skies. In one case a rope from one such ship became entangled
- with part of a church. A man from the ship climbed down the
- rope to free it, but was seized by the townspeople. The bishop
- made the people release the man, who climbed back to the ship,
- where the crew cut the rope and the ship rose and sailed out of
- sight. In all of his actions, the climbing man appeared as if
- he were swimming in water. Stories such as this makes one
- wonder if the legends of the "little people" of Ireland were
- based upon imagination alone.
-
-
-
- About the same time, in Lyons (France) three men and a
- woman supposedly descended from an airship or spaceship and were
- captured by a mob. These four foreigners admitted to being
- wizards, and were killed. (No mention is made of the methods
- employed m extract the admissions.) Many documented UFO
- sightings occurred throughout the Middle Ages, including an
- especially startling one of a UFO over London on 16 December
- 1742. However, we do not have room to include any more of the
- Middle Ages sightings. Instead, two "more-recent" sightings are
- contained in this section to bring us up to modern times.
-
-
-
- In a sworn statement dated 21 April 1897, a prosperous and
- prominent farmer named Alexander Hamilton (Le Roy, Kansas,
- U.S.A.) told of an attack upon his cattle at about 10:30 p.m.
- the previous Monday. He, his son, and his tenant grabbed axes
- and ran some 700 feet from the house to the cow lot where a
- great cigarshaped ship about 300 feet long floated some 30 feet
- above the cattle. It had a carriage underneath which was
- brightly lighted within (dirigible and gondola?) and which had
- numerous windows. Inside were six strange looking beings
- jabbering in a foreign
-
-
-
- Page 458
-
- language. These beings suddenly became aware of Hamilton and
- the others. They immediately turned a searchlight on the
- farmer, and also turned on some power which sped up a turbine
- wheel (about 30 ft diameter) located under the craft. The ship
- rose, taking with it a two-year old heifer which was roped about
- the neck by a cable of one-half inch thick, red material. The
- next day a neighbor, Link Thomas, found the animal's hide, legs
- and head in his field. He was mystified at how the remains got
- to where they were because of the lack of tracks in the soft
- soil. Alexander Hamilton's sworn statement was accompanied by
- an affidavit as to his veracity. The affidavit was signed by
- ten of the local leading citizens.
-
-
-
- On the evening of 4 November 1957 at Fort Itaipu, Brazil, two
- sentries noted a new star" in the sky. The "star" grew in size
- and within seconds stopped over the fort. It drifted slowly
- downward, was as large as a big aircraft, and was surrounded by
- a strong orange glow. A distinct humming sound was heard, and
- then the heat struck. One sentry collapsed almost immediately,
- the other managed to slide to shelter under the heavy cannons
- where his loud cries awoke the garrison. While the troops were
- scrambling towards their battle stations, complete electrical
- failure occurred. There was panic until the lights came back on
- but a number of men still managed to see an orange glow leaving
- the area at high speed. Both sentries were found badly burned
- ... one unconscious and the other incoherent, suffering from
- deep shock.
-
-
-
- Thus, UFO sightings not only appear to extend back 47,000
- years through time but also are global in nature. One has the
- feeling that this phenomenon deserves some sort of valid
- scientific investigation, even if it is a low level effort.
-
-
-
- 33.3 SOME THEORIES AS TO THE NATURE OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
-
-
-
- There are very few cohesive theories as to the nature of
- UFO'S. Those theories that have been advanced can be collected
- in five groups:
-
-
-
- a. Mysticism
-
- b. Hoaxes, and rantings due to unstable personalities
-
- c. Secret weapons
-
- d. Natural Phenomena
-
- e. Alien visitors
-
-
-
- Mysticism
-
-
-
- It is believed by some cults that the mission of UFO's and
- their crews is a spiritual one,, and that all materialistic
- efforts to determine the UFO's nature are doomed to failure.
-
-
-
- Page 459Hoaxes and Rantings due to Unstable Personalities
-
-
-
- Some have suggested that all UFO reports were the results
- of pranks and hoaxes, or were made by people with unstable
- personalities. This attitude was particularly prevalent during
- the time period when the Air Force investigation was being
- operated under the code name of Project Grudge. A few airlines
- even went as far as to ground every pilot who reported seeing a
- "flying saucer." The only way for the pilot to regain flight
- status was to undergo a psychiatric examination. There was a
- noticeable decline in pilot reports during this time interval,
- and a few people interpreted this decline to prove that UFO's
- were either hoaxes or the result of unstable personalities. It
- is of interest that NICAP (The National Investigations Committee
- on Aerial Phenomena) even today still receives reports from
- commercial pilots who neglect to notify either the Air Force or
- their own airline.
-
-
-
- There are a number of cases which indicate that not all
- reports fall in the hoax category. We will examine one such
- case now. It is the Socorro, New Mexico sighting made by police
- Sergeant Lonnie Zamora. Sergeant Zamora was patrolling the
- streets of Socorro on 24 April 1964 when he saw a shiny object
- drift down into an area of gullies on the edge of town. He also
- heard a loud roaring noise which sounded as if an old dynamite
- shed located out that way had exploded. He immediately radioed
- police headquarters, and drove out toward the shed. Zamora was
- forced to stop about 150 yards away from a deep gully in which
- there appeared to be an overturned car. He radioed that he was
- investigating a possible wreck, and then worked his car up onto
- the mesa and over toward the edge of the gully. He parked
- short, and when he walked the final few feet to the edge, he was
- amazed to see that it was not a car but instead was a weird
- eggshaped object about fifteen feet long, white in color and
- resting on short, metal legs. Beside it, unaware of his
- presence were two humanoids dressed in silvery coveralls. They
- seemed to be working on a portion of the underside of the
- object. Zamora was still standing there, surprised, when they
- suddenly noticed him and dove out of sight around the object.
- Zamora also headed the other way, back toward his car. He
- glanced back at the object just as a bright blue flame shot down
- from the underside. Within seconds the eggshaped thing rose out
- of the gully with "an earsplitting roar." The object was out of
- sight over the nearby mountains almost immediately, and Sergeant
- Zamora was moving the opposite direction almost as fast when he
- met Sergeant Sam Chavez who was responding to Zamora's earlier
- radio calls. Together they investigated the gully and found the
- bushes charred and still smoking where the blue flame had jetted
- down on them. About the charred area were four deep marks where
- the metal legs had been. Each mark was three and one-half
- inches deep, and was circular in shape. The sand in the gully
- was very hard-packed so no sign of the humanoids' footprints
- could be found. An official investigation was launched that
- same day, and all data obtained supported the stories of Zamora
- and Chavez. It is rather difficult to label this episode a
- hoax, and it is also doubtful that both Zamora and Chavez shared
- portions of the same hallucination.
-
-
- Secret Weapons
-
-
- A few individuals have proposed that UFO's are actually
- advanced weapon systems, and that their natures must not be
- revealed. Very few people accept this as a credible suggestion.
-
-
- Secret Weapons
-
-
-
- A few individuals have proposed that UFO's are actually
- advanced weapon systems, and that their natures must not be
- revealed. Very few people accept this as a credible suggestion.
-
- Natural Phenomena
-
-
-
- It has also been suggested that at least some, and possibly
- all, of the UFO cases were just mis-interpreted manifestations
- of natural phenomena. Undoubtedly this suggestion has some
- merit. People have reported, as UFO's, objects which were
- conclusively proven to be balloons (weather and skyhook), the
- planet Venus, manmade artificial satellites, normal aircraft,
- unusual cloud formations and lights from ceilometers (equipment
- projecting light beams on cloud bases to determine the height of
- the aircraft visual ceiling). It is also suspected that people
- have reported mirages, optical illusions, swamp gas and ball
- lightning (a poorly-understood discharge of electrical energy in
- a spheroidal or ellipsoidal shape ... some discharges have
- lasted for up to fifteen minutes but the ball is usually no
- bigger than a large orange). But it is difficult to tell a
- swam? dweller that the strange, fastmoving light he saw in the
- sky was swamp gas; and it is just as difficult to tell a farmer
- that a bright UFO in the sky is the same ball lightning that he
- has seen rolling along his fence wires in dry weather. Thus
- accidental mis-identification of what might - well be natural
- phenomena breeds mistrust and disbelief; it leads to the hasty
- conclusion that the truth is deliberately not being told. One
- last suggestion of interest has been made, that the UFO's were
- plasmoids from space ... concentrated blobs of solar wind that
- succeeded in reaching the surface of Earth. Somehow this last
- suggestion does not seem to be very plausible; perhaps because
- it ignores such things as penetration of Earth's magnetic field.
-
-
-
- Alien Visitors
-
-
-
- The most stimulating theory for us is that the UFO's are
- material objects which are either "Manned" or remote-controlled
- by beings who are alien to this planet. There is some evidence
- supporting this viewpoint. In addition to police Sergeant
- Lonnie Zamora's experience, let us consider the case of Barney
- and Betty Hill. On a trip through New England they lost two
- hours on the night of 19 September 1961 without even realizing
- it. However, after that night both Barney and Betty began
- developing psychological problems which eventually grew
- sufficiently severe that they submitted themselves to
- psychiatric examination and treatment. During the course of
- treatment hypnotherapy was used, and it yielded remarkably
- detailed and similar stories from both Barney and Betty.
- Essentially they had been hypnotically kidnapped, taken aboard a
- UFO, submitted to two-hour physicals, and released with
- posthypnotic suggestions to forget the entire incident. The
- evidence is rather strong that this is what the Hills, even in
- their subconscious, believe happened to them. And it is of
- particular importance that after the "posthypnotic block" was
- removed, both of the Hills ceased having their psychological
- problems.
-
-
-
- The Hills' description of the aliens was similar to
- descriptions provided in other cases, but this particular type
- of alien appears to be in the minority. The most commonly
- described alien is about three and one-half feet tall, has a
- round head (helmet?), arms reaching to or below his knees, and
- is wearing a silvery space suit or coveralls. Other aliens
- appear to be essentially the same as Earthmen, while still
- others have particularly wide (wrap-around) eyes and mouths with
- very thin lips. And there Is a rare group reported as about
- four feet tall, weight of around
-
-
-
- Page 461
-
- 35 pounds, and covered with thick hair or fur (clothing?).
- Members of this last group are described as being extremely
- strong. If such beings are visiting Earth, two questions arise:
- 1) why haven't there been accidents which have revealed their
- presence, and 2) why haven't they attempted to contact us
- officially? The answer to the first question may exist partially
- in Sergeant Lonnie Zamora's experience, and may exist partially
- in the Tunguska meteor discussed in Chapter XXIX. In that
- chapter it was suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually a
- comet which exploded in the atmosphere, the ices melted and the
- dust spread out. Hence, no debris! However, it has also been
- suggested that the Tunguska meteor was actually an alien
- spacecraft that entered the atmosphere too rapidly, suffered
- mechanical failure, and lost its power supply and/or weapons in
- a nuclear explosion. While that hypothesis may seem far
- fetched, samples of tree rings from around the world reveal
- that, immediately after the Tunguska meteor explosion, the level
- of radioactivity in the world rose sharply for a short period of
- time. It is difficult to find a natural explanation for that
- increase in radioactivity, although the suggestion has been
- advanced that enough of the meteors great kinetic energy was
- converted into heat (by atmospheric friction) that a fusion
- reaction occurred. This still leaves us with no answer to the
- second question: why no contact? That question is very easy to
- answer in any of several ways: 1) we may be the object of
- intensive sociological and psychological study. In such studies
- you usually avoid disturbing the test subjects' environment; 2)
- you do not "contact" a colony of ants, and humans may seem that
- way to any aliens (variation: a zoo is fun to visit, but you
- don't "contact" the lizards); 3) such contact may have already
- taken place secretly; and 4) such contact may have already
- taken place on a different plane of awareness and we are not ye
- sensitive to communications on such a plane. These are just a
- few of the reasons You may add to the list as you desire.
-
-
-
- 33.4 HUMAN FEAR AND HOSTILITY
-
-
-
- Besides the foregoing reasons, contacting humans is
- downright dangerous. Think about that for a moment! On the
- microscopic level our bodies reject and fight (through
- production antibodies) any alien material; this process helps us
- fight off disease but it also sometimes results in allergenic
- reactions to innocuous materials. On the macroscopic
- (psychological and sociological) level we are antagonistic to
- beings that are "different"'. For proof of that, just watch how
- an odd child is treated by other children, or how a minority
- group is socially deprived, or how the Arabs feel about the
- Israelis (Chinese vs Japanese, Turks vs Greeks, etc.) In case
- you are hesitant to extend that concept to the treatment of
- aliens let me point out that in very ancient times, possible
- extraterrestrials may have been treated as Gods but in the last
- two thousand years, the evidence is that any possible aliens
- have been ripped apart by mobs, shot and shot at, physically
- assaulted (in South America there is a well-documented case),
- and in general treated with fear and aggression. In Ireland
- about 1,000 A.D., supposed airships were treated as
- "demon-ships." In Lyons, France, "admitted" space travellers
- were killed. More recently, on 24 July 1957 Russian
- anti-aircraft batteries on the Kouril Islands opened fire on
- UFO's. Although all Soviet anti-aircraft batteries on the
- Islands were in action. no hits were made. The UFO's were
- luminous and moved very fast. We too have fired on UFO'S.
- About ten o'clock one morning, a radar site near a fighter base
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 462
-
-
-
- picked up a UFO doing 700 mph. The UFO then slowed to 100 mph,
- and two F-86's were scrambled to intercept. Eventually one F-86
- closed on the UFO at about 3,000 feet altitude. The UFO began
- to accelerate away but the pilot still managed to get to within
- 500 yards of the target for a short period of time. It was
- definitely saucershaped. As the pilot pushed the F-86 at top
- speed, the UFO began to pull away. When the range reached 1,000
- yards, the pilot armed his guns and fired in an attempt to down
- the saucer. He failed, and the UFO pulled away rapidly,
- vanishing in the distance. This same basic situation may have
- happened on a more personal level. On Sunday evening 21 August
- 1955, eight adults and three children were on the Sutton Farm
- (one-half mile from Kelly, Kentucky) when, according to them,
- one of the children saw a brightly glowing UFO settle behind the
- barn, out of sight from where he stood. Other witnesses on
- nearby farms also saw the object. However, the Suttons
- dismissed it as a "shooting stars," and did not investigate.
- Approximately thirty minutes later (at 8 p.m.), the family dogs
- began barking so two of the men went to the back door and looked
- out. Approximately 50 feet-away and coming toward them was a
- creature wearing a glowing silvery suit. It was about three and
- one-half feet tall with a large round head and very long arms.
- It had large webbed hands which were equipped with claws. The
- two Suttons grabbed a twelve gauge shotgun and a 22 caliber
- pistol, and fired at close range. They could hear the pellets
- and bullet ricochet as if off of metal. The creature was
- knocked down, but jumped up and scrambled away. The Suttons
- retreated into the house, turned off all inside lights, and
- turned on the porch-light. At that moment, one of the women who
- was peeking out of the dining room window discovered that a
- creature with some sort of helmet and wide slit eyes was peeking
- back at her. She screamed, the men rushed in and started
- shooting. The creature was knocked backwards but again
- scrambled away without apparent harm. More shooting occurred (a
- total of about 50 rounds) over the next 20 minutes and the
- creatures finally left (perhaps feeling unwelcome?) After a two
- hour wait (for safety), the Suttons left too. By the time the
- police got there, the aliens were gone but the Suttons would not
- move back to the farm. They sold it and departed. This
- reported incident does bear out the contention though that
- humans are dangerous. At no time in the story did the supposed
- aliens shoot back, although one is left with the impression that
- the described creatures were having fun scaring humans.
-
-
-
- 33.5 ATTEMPTS AT SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES
-
-
-
- In any scientific endeavor, the first step is to acquire
- data, the second step to classify the data, and the third step
- to form hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested by repeating the
- entire process, with each cycle resulting in an increase in
- understanding (we hope). The UFO phenomenon does not yield
- readily to this approach because the data taken so far exhibits
- both excessive variety and vagueness. The vagueness is caused
- in part by the lack of preparation of the observer ... very few
- people leave their house knowing that they are going to see a
- UFO that evening. Photographs are overexposed or underexposed,
- and rarely in color. Hardly anyone carries around a radiation
- counter or a magnetometer. And, in addition to this, there is a
- very high level of "noise" in the data. The noise consists of
- mistaken reports of known natural phenomena, hoaxes, reports by
- unstable individuals and mistaken removal of data regarding
- possible unnatural or unknown natural phenomena (by
-
-
-
- Page 463
-
-
-
- Figure 33-1. UFO: Distance of observer versus estimated
- diameter, for UFO's which are lower than tree height. (omitted)
-
-
-
- overzealous individuals who are trying to eliminate all data due
- to known natural phenomena). In addition, those data, which do
- appear to be valid, exhibit an excessive amount of variety
- relative to the statistical samples available. This has led to
- very clumsy classification systems, which in turn provide quite
- unfertile ground for formulation of hypotheses.
-
-
-
- One hypothesis which looked promising for a time was that
- of ORTHOTENY (i.e., UFO sightings fall on "great circle"
- routes). At first, plots of sightings seemed to verify the
- concept of orthoteny but recent use of computers has revealed
- that even random numbers yield "great circle" plots as neatly as
- do UFO sightings.
-
-
-
- There is one solid advance that has been made though.
- Jacques and Janine Vallee have taken a particular type of
- UFO-namely those that are lower than tree-top level when
- sighted-and plotted the UFO's estimated diameter versus the
- estimated distance from the observer. The result is shown in
- Figure 33-1, and it yields an average diameter of 5 meters with
- a very characteristic drop for short viewing distances, and rise
- for long viewing distances. This behavior at the extremes of
- the curve is well-known to astronomers and psychologists as the
- "moon illusion." The illusion only occurs when the object being
- viewed is a real, physical object. Because this implies that
- the observers have viewed a real object, it permits us to accept
- also their statement that these particular UFO's had a
- rotational axis of symmetry.
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 464
-
- Another, less solid, advance made by the Vallee's was their
- plotting of the total number of sightings per week versus the
- date. They did this for the time span from 1947 to 1962, and
- then attempted to match the peaks of the curve (every 2 years 2
- months) to the times of Earth-Mars conjunction (every 2 years
- 1.4 months). The match was very good between 1950 and 1956 but
- was poor outside of those limits. Also, the peaks were not only
- at the times of Earth-Mars conjunction but also roughly at the
- first harmonic (very loosely, every 13 months). This raises the
- question why should UFO's only visit Earth when Mars is in
- conjunction and when it is on the opposite side of the sun.
- Obviously, the conjunction periodicity of Mars is not the final
- answer. As it happens, there is an interesting possibility to
- consider. Suppose Jupiter's conjunctions were used; they are
- every 13.1 months. That would satisfy the observed periods
- nicely, except for every even data peak being of different
- magnitude from every odd data peak. Perhaps a combination of
- Martian, Jovian and Saturnian (and even other planetary)
- conjunctions win be necessary to match the frequency plot ... if
- it can be matched (Figure 33-2).
-
-
-
-
-
- Figure 33-2. Cycles of activity, mathematically corrected for
- long term "Strong
-
- Trends". (omitted)
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 465
-
- Further data correlation is quite difficult. There are a
- large number of different saucer shapes but this may mean
- little. For example, look at the number of different types of
- aircraft which are in use in the U.S. Air Force alone.
-
- It is obvious that intensive scientific study is needed in
- this area; no such study
-
- has yet been undertaken at the necessary levels Of intense and
- support. One thing
-
- that must be guarded against in any such study is the trap of
- implicity assuming that out knowledge of Physics (or any other
- branch of science) is complete. An example of one such trap is
- selecting a group of physical laws which we now accept as valid,
- and assume that they will never be superceded. Five such laws
- might be:
-
-
-
- 1) Every action must have an opposite and equal reaction.
-
- 2) Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle
- with a force
-
- proportional to the product of the masses and inversely as the
- square of the distance.
-
- 3) Energy, mass and momentum are conserved.
-
- 4) No material body can have a speed as great as c, the speed of
- light in free
-
- space.
-
- 5) The maximum energy, E, which can be obtained from a body at
- rest is E=mc2, where m is the rest mass of the body.
-
-
-
- Laws numbered 1 and 3 seem fairly safe, but let us hesitate
- and take another look. Actually, law number 3 is only valid
- (now) from a relativistic viewpoint; and for that matter so are
- laws 4 and 5. But relativity completely revised these physical
- concepts after 1915, before then Newtonian mechanics was
- supreme! We should also note that general relativity has not yet
- been fully verified. Thus we have the peculiar situation of
- five laws which appear to deny the possibility of intelligent
- alien control of UFO'S, yet three of the laws are recent in
- concept and may not even be valid Also, law number 2 has not
- been tested under conditions large relative speeds or
- accelerations. We should not deny the possibility of alien
- control of UFO's on the basis of Preconceived notions not
- established as related or relevant to the UFO's.
-
-
-
- 33.6 CONCLUSION
-
-
-
- From available information, the UFO phenomenon appears to
- have been global in nature for almost 50,000 years. The
- majority of known witnesses have been reliable people who have
- seen easily-explained natural phenomena, and there appears to be
- no overall positive correlation with population density. The
- entire phenomenon could be psychological in nature but that is
- quite doubtful, However, psychological factors probably do enter
- the dam picture as "noise." The phenomenon could also be
- entirely due to known and unknown natural phenomena (with some
- psychological noise" added in) but that too is questionable in
- view of some of the available data.
-
-
-
- This leaves us with the unpleasant possibility of alien
- visitors to our planer, or
-
- t least of alien controlled UFO's. However, the data are
- not well correlated, and
-
-
-
- Page 466
-
-
-
- what questionable data there are suggest the existence of at
- least three and maybe four different groups of aliens (possibly
- at different stages of development). This too is difficult to
- accept. It implies the existence of intelligent life on a
- majority of the planets in our solar system, or a surprisingly
- strong interest in Earth by members of other solar svstems.
-
-
-
- A solution to the UFO problem may be obtained by the long
- and diligent effort of a large group of well-financed and
- competent scientists, unfortunately there is no evidence
- suggesting that such an effort is going to be made. However,
- even if such an effort were made, there is no guarantee of
- success because of the isolated and sporatic nature of the
- sightings. Also, there may be nothing to find, and that would
- mean a long search with no proof at the end. The best thing to
- do is to keep an open and skeptical mind, and not take an
- extreme position on any side of the question.
-
-
-
- REFERENCES
-
-
-
- 33-1. Davidson, L. Flying Saucers: An Analysis of the Air Porce
- Project Blue Book Special Report No. 24. (Third Edition) Ramsey,
- New Jersey: Ramsey-Wallace Corp., July 1966.
-
-
-
- 33-2. Edwards, F. Flying Saucers-Serious Business. New York:
- Bantam Press, 1966.
-
-
-
- 33-3. Fuller, J. "Flying Saucer Fiasco," Look. 14 May 1968, 58.
-
-
-
- 33-4. The Interrted Journey. New York. Dial Press, 1966.
-
-
-
- 33-5. Hall, R. (editor). The UFO Evidence. Washington, D.C.:
- National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, May 1964.
-
-
-
- 33-6. Jung, C. Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in
- the Skies. Translated by R.F. Hull. New York: Harcourt, Brace
- and Company, 1959.
-
-
-
- 33-7. Keyhoe, D. The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. New York: Henry
- Holt, 1955.
-
-
-
- 33-8. Flying Saucers: Top Secret. New York: G.P. Pumam's Sons,
- 1960.
-
-
-
- 33-9. Lorenzen, C. The Great Flying Saucer Hoax. New York:
- William-Frederick Press, 1962.
-
-
-
- 33-10. Markowitz, W. "The Physics and Metaphysics of
- Unidentified Flying Objects," Science. 15 September 1967, 1274.
-
-
-
- 33-11. Menzel, D. and L. Boyd. The World of Flying Saucers: A
- Scientific Examination of a Major Myth of the Space Age. Garden
- City, New York: Doubleday, 1963.
-
-
-
- 33-12. Michel, A. Plying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery.
- New York: Criterion Books, 1958.
-
-
-
- Page 467
-
-
-
- 33-13. Ruppelt, E. The Report on Unidentified FlybW Objects,
- Garden City, New York:
-
- Doubleday, 1956.
-
-
-
- 33-14. Tacker, L. Flying Saucers and the U.S. Air Force.
- Princeton, New Jersey:
-
- D. Van Nostrand, 1960.
-
-
-
- 33-15. Terry, D. "No Swamp Gas for Him, Thank You," St.
- Louis Post-Dispatch.
-
- 2 June 1966, 4F.
-
-
-
- 33-16. VaRee, J. Anatomy of a Phenomenon: Unidentified Objects
- in Space-A Scientific Appraisal. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1965.
-
-
-
- 33-17. Vallee, J. and J. VaUee. flying Saucers a Challenge to
- Science. New York: Henry Regnery, 1966.
-
-
-
- 33-18. Whitney, D. Flying Saucers. New York: Cowles
- Communications, 1967.
-
-
-
- Page 468
-
-
-
- For more information contact:
-
-
-
- The Extra-Terrestrial Communication Network
-
- 23715 West Malibu Road, Suite #330, Malibu, California 90265
-
- phone (310) 456-0654
-
-
-
-
-
- --
- ========
-
-
-
-