Highly Dubious USAF UFO Explanations.

karl 12

Noble
Blue Book Cooks Its Books

What was Blue Book in 1955?

It was an organization that..



(1) claimed to be the sole repository of military UFO reports, but was not;


(2) was under orders to use any means necessary to identify UFOs as conventional objects, regardless of how strained the explanation became;


(3) intentionally misled the public with meaningless and even fictitious statistics; and


(4) had a barely breathing investigative capability.


The conclusion is self-evident: Blue Book was the mask worn by the Air Force for public viewing. Its UFO reports and evaluations – intellectually dishonest in the extreme – can therefore have no scientific value whatsoever. The fact that the U.S. military and other official sources continue to use them tells us more about the organizations than it does about UFOs. . . .



Thread dealing with spurious, contrived or just plain ridiculous 'official' government UFO explanations.

Am sure there are many folks out there not really into UFO research who just unquestioningly accept these USAF explanations without a second look but if a person examines the case histories then many of the 'debunks' simply fail to stand up.

Heres a relevant statement made by Dr James E Mcdonald, an atmospherical physicist from the University of Arizona:


"As a result of several trips to project Bluebook,I´ve had an opportunity to examine quite carefully and in detail the types of reports that are made by Bluebook personnel.In most cases, I have found that theres almost no correlation between so-called "evaluations and explanations" that are made by Bluebook and the facts of the case...
There are hundreds of good cases in the Air Force files that should have led to top-level scientific scrutiny of this problem,years ago,yet these cases have been swept under the rug in a most disturbing way by Project Bluebook investigators and their consultants."

Dr James McDonald -Senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Arizona

UFO Symposium Casefiles



Bluebook's chief scientific consultant Dr J Allen Hynek also stated in a 1968 letter that the project had conducted 'virtually no dialogue' with the outside scientific world and employed statistical methods that were 'nothing less than a travesty' - he also shares his thoughts below on Bluebook's debunking agenda and describes how they 'jumped handsprings' to keep the hot reports away from the public:





"When Major Quintanilla came in, the flag of the utter nonsense school was flying at its highest on the mast. Now he had a certain Sgt. Moody assisting him...Moody epitomized the conviction-before-trial method. Anything that he didn't understand or didn't like was immediately put into the psychological category, which meant "crackpot." He would not ever say that the person who reported a case was a fairly respectable person, maybe we should look into it, or maybe we should find out. He was also the master of the possible: possible balloon, possible aircraft, possible birds, which then became, by his own hand (and I argued with him violently at times), the probable; he said, well, we have no category "possible" aircraft. It is therefore either unidentified or aircraft. Well, it is more likely aircraft; therefore it is aircraft.... An "unidentified" to Moody was not a challenge for further research. To have it remain unidentified was a blot... and he did everything to remove it. He went back to cases from Captain Gregory's days and way back in Ruppelt's days and redid the files. A lot that were unidentified in those days he "identified" years and years later".

Dr J Allen Hynek, chief scientific consultant for Air Force investigations of UFOs from 1948 until 1969 (Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book).

UFO Statements



Dr Jacques Vallee also doesn't sound too impressed in this clip and calls some Bluebook explanations 'completely ridiculous'.


See 1:05





Not to be outdone Richard Dolan also brings up some really interesting government documents in this vid including one from 1955 which discusses the need for 'reducing the number of Bluebook unknowns to a bare minimum'.


See 6:00





Thread might be quite a big one but thought it would be worthwhile (and prudent) to compile a list of specific case examples involving highly dubious USAF debunkery so if anyone knows of any others then please feel free to post.




• Redmond, Oregon, Sept 24th, 1959.

Incident:

Shortly before dawn on September 24th,1959,Police Officer Robert Dickerson was driving through the streets of Redmond,Oregon when he saw a large,bright object descend over the city,stop abruptly,and hover at two hundred feet.
The object was low enough that nearby treetops glowed.
Minutes later,Dickerson drove to the Federal Aviation Administration Office at the Redmond Airport.
Meanwhile,the object rapidly moved to an area northeast of the airport and once again hovered. Its colour changed from bright white to reddish orange.
Through binoculars,Dickerson and others perceived it as flat and round;tongues of "flame" occasionaly extended from its edge.

At 5:10,the F.A.A. reported the object to Seattle Air Route Control Centre,which relayed the message to Hamilton Air Force Base in California.
At 5 :18 A.M.,six F-102 jet fighters were scrambled from Portland to intercept.
Witnesses were still watching the hovering object when the jets roared over Redmond. As the aircraft approached,the object squelched its "tongues of flame",emitted a fiery exhaust,shot up into the air at an incredible speed,and disappeared into the clouds at fourteen thousand feet.
It was so close to the path of the jets that one of the pilots swerved to avoid hitting it. Another jet,caught in the turbulence of the tremendous exhaust,nearly lost control.One pilot,using gunsight radar,continued the chase,but the object abruptly changed course-an event that was tracked on radar at Klamath Falls Ground Control Intercept -and the pilot gave up.
For two hours afterward,the unknown object continued to register on radar,performing high-speed maneuvers at altitudes between six thousand and fifty-four thousand feet.

USAF "Force fit" debunk:

Venus

The pilots immediatley received an intelligence debriefing and were ordered not to discuss the matter,even among themselves.But hundreds of Redmond citizens had heard the jets,some had seen the interceptors,and a few had made reports about the unknown object.
Forced into an explanation,the air force said the flight was a routine investigation caused by false radar returns.Excitable witnesses probably imagined the glow.
Word soon leaked out,however,that the F.A.A. was checking for abnormal radioactivity where witnesses saw the object hover and "blast off".
This made it difficult for people to swallow the air force explanation.
Why would the F.A.A. check for abnormal radiation if the whole event was illusionary?
As a result the air force changed its solution: the object everyone had seen was probably a weather balloon.It did not bother to explain how weather balloon could outdistance jets flying 600 mph.
When offering this explanation,the air force did not know that the nation´s leading civilian UFO group -the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena -had obtained certified copies of F.A.A. logs.
This was an unexpected coup,as the F.A.A. logs described the UFO and its maneuvers in great detail,including its evasion from the interceptors.The logs also included air force confirmations of radar tracking,scrambling of Portland jets,and a report from Klamth Falls.
When this information became public,the air force promptly denounced the F.A.A. for issuing false information and maintained its balloon answer.

After more pressure from NICAP and several legislators, however, the airforce finally announced the "true" explanation: the witnessess had seen planet Venus.

Link








• Dayton, Ohio, March 8th,1950.

Incident:

An extraordinary encounter took place on March 8th,1950, once again right over ATIC in Dayton. In mid morning,TWA pilot Capt.W .H. Kerr reported to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) that he and two other TWA pilots saw a UFO hovering at a high altitude.
The pilots were unaware that CAA had received over twenty other reports describing a UFO in the area.
ATIC contol tower operators saw the object,and the radar had an unidentified target in the same position.Something was up there.

Wright Patterson AFB sent four F-51 fighters to intercept.Two of the pilots saw the object,which appeared round and,in the words of one of them, "huge and metallic".
It appeared to be hiding in a cloud formation,which prevented the pilots from closing on it. They eventualy turned back.The Master Sergeant who tracked the object on radar stated
"The target was a good,solid return....caused by a good,solid target", Witnesses reported that the UFO climbed verticaly out of sight at high speed.

A report was sent to the Civil Aeronautics Authority in Washington,then turned over to Air Force Intelligence.

USAF explanation.

Venus.

ATIC's official answer was that the UFO had been the planet Venus.

The pilots and radar men vehemently disagreed.

link








• Chorwon, Korea, 30th May 1952.

Incident:

Several U.S. soldiers saw a bright UFO that looked like a falling star,except that it stopped falling and began to climb again.
It then moved northeast at about 150mph, reversed course twice,then climbed at a forty five degree angle and faded from sight.
One guard reported a pulsating sound from the object.

An Air Intelligence Information Report stated that an F-94 attempted to intercept this object. The pilot described it as round,of unknown size, "brilliant white" and leaving no exhaust.

It undertook clearly evasive maneuvers and pulled away from the F-94 at thirty thousand feet.

According to this intelligence report,"the object possessed a superior speed,superior climbing ability,and was able to turn equally as well as the F-94"

Link

Blue Book's evaluation:

Balloon with flare.
 

karl 12

Noble
• Minot AFB UFO, October 24th, 1968.

Very intriguing witness testimony from pilots and security guards involved in the Minot AFB B-52 incident of 1968 - the UFO was confirmed on radar and witnessed by several (separately located) military personnel including the crew of a B-52 as they passed overhead.

See 36:10



What we have, then, was a group of sightings made by men on the ground, at the missile sites scattered around the base. There was radar sightings from ground and weather's radar. There were visual sightings from the crew of the B-52, and an airborne radar sighting where the target traveled at 3,000 miles per hour. Scope photographs were taken. There were sightings made by S.Sgt. Bond the FSC at Nov. Flight, S.Sgt. Smith at Oscar-1, Julelt, and Mike Flight Team and a number of men in widely scattered locations. The object landed at location AA-43 and the entire observation lasted for 45 minutes. Fourteen other people in separate locations also reported the UFO.

Bluebook Explanation:

Twinkling stars

The sighting was officially explained by on November 13, by Lt. Col. Hector Quintanilla who wrote, "The following conclusions have been reached after a thorough study of the data submitted to Foreign Technology Division. The ground visual sightings appear to be of the star Sirius and the B-52, which was flying in the area.

link

Main link:

The Minot AFB UFO Case | 24 OCTOBER 1968 | Documents | Interviews | Analysis









• Kirtland AFB UFO, Nov 4th, 1957.

Another very intriguing radar / visual UFO incident from Kirtland Air Force Base in which two air tower control officers witnessed a very strange egg-shaped object 'with no wings, tail, or fuselage' hover and then fly across the runway on November 4th, 1957 (lots of very similar reports around same time).



A lighted object came down steeply at the east end of runway 26, left the flight line, crossed runways, taxiways, and unpaved areas at about a 30 degree angle, and proceeded southwest towards the control tower at an altitude of less than 100 feet. Observed through through 7x binoculars, the object appeared to be eggshaped, having no wings, tail, or fuselage, and was elongated vertically.

Casefile:

The Kirtland 1957 UFO Incident Directory

PDF File:

The Kirtland Airfield UFO by Dr James E. McDonald

USAF explanation:

Aircraft.









• White Sands Missile Range, Nov 3rd, 1957.

The day before (Nov 3rd, 1957) - another egg shaped object over White Sands Missile Range - apparently the planet Venus can give you sunburn.

The White Sands Jeep Patrol UFO Incident:

White Sands Military Police Patrols.

At 3:00 a.m. (MST) - 4:00 a.m. Levelland time - November 3, two military policemen on routine patrol at the White Sands missile range, reported an egg-shaped UFO which descended over the base.

Cpl. Glenn H. Toy and Pfc. James Wilbanks, patrolling in a jeep, noticed a "very bright object" high in the sky. The object descended to a point about 50 yards above a bunker which was used during the first atomic bomb explosion. Then its light blinked out. A few minutes later the light flared up again, becoming bright "like the sun," dropped toward the ground on a slant about 3 miles away and disappeared. According to Lt. Penney, the M.P.'s described the UFO as egg-shaped, and about 75-100 yards in diameter. Cpl. Toy stated: "It looked like a completely controlled landing."

That evening, about 8:00 p.m., Sp. 3/C Forest R. Oakes and Sp. 3/C Barlow, on another two-man jeep patrol, reported seeing an unidentified light hanging above the old A-bomb bunker. Oakes described it as "200 or 300 feet long. . . very bright." The patrol was about 2-3 miles west of the bunker. As the M.P.'s watched, the UFO took off climbing at a 45 degree angle, its light pulsating on and off. Moving slowly, sometimes stopping, the UFO gradually diminished to a point of light "like a big star," and finally disappeared.

link

White Sands Engineer:

About 17 hours after the second jeep patrol sighting at White Sands, James Stokes, a high altitude research engineer at the base, watched an elliptical UFO maneuver over the area. Stokes also looked up and saw a large, whitish egg-shaped object moving in and out of clouds to the northeast, in the direction of the Sacramento Mountains, The UFO made a shallow dive, turned and crossed the highway a few miles ahead. As the UFO flashed by, Stokes felt a wave of heat. (His face later appeared "sunburned.")

Moving at fantastic speed, the featureless object turned sharply and disappeared over the Organ Pass west of the base. In a taped interview broadcast on station KALG, Stokes estimated the speed at 2500 mph.It was "definitely a solid object," he said.
link

USAF explanation:

Venus

The Army jeep patrols sightings were evaluated as "astronomical." The release said:
"Astro plots indicate Venus is at magnitude at the time, place and direction of the first patrol's observation, and the Moon, with scattered clouds, was in general direction of the second patrol's observation."

link
 

karl 12

Noble
• Levelland UFO wave - 2nd / 3rd November, 1957.

Following on from all the egg shaped UFO reports around the beginning of Nov, 1957 - there were also quite a few extremely strange oval / ellipsoid shaped objects being witnessed in separate locations around Levelland - EM effects also reported.


CBS Newscast of November 3, 1957.



The most striking feature of this sighting wave was the concentration of "electromagnetic effect" cases around the west Texas town of Levelland. There were at least eight such reports in the space of 2.5 hours in an area to the west, north and east of Levelland:

At 10:30 p.m. came the report from truck driver Pedro Saucedo, who described seeing a blue torpedo-shaped object with yellow flame and white smoke coming out of its rear. He estimated it was 200 feet (60 meters) long and 6 feet (2 meters) wide. His truck lights and engine failed while the UFO was in view; after it disappeared, his lights worked perfectly, and he was able to re-start the engine.

At Pettit, Texas, 10 miles (16 km) to the northwest, two grain combines failed as a UFO flew past: "shortly before midnight, Jim Wheeler reported seeing a large 200 feet (60 meters) elliptical object on the road; as he drove toward it, his car lights and engine failed. The UFO rose and flew off, and when it blinked off, his lights came back on and he was able to re-start his engine."

At the same time, Jose Alvarez's car lights and engine died when he saw a glowing, 200 feet (60 meters) UFO nearby. After the object flew away, his lights came back on and he was able to re-start his engine.

At about 12:05am, college student Newell Wright's car lights and engine failed. He got out to fix them, looked up and saw a glowing, bluish-green, flat-bottomed, oval object on the highway. The object was in sight for four or five minutes. During that time, Wright tried to start his engine, and while the starter made contact, the motor was unaffected. The object disappeared, straight up, and immediately the car lights came back on, the engine started, and then operated perfectly...

By 01:30am, Hockley County Sheriff Weir Clem had heard so many reports that he decided to see for himself. He drove out with a deputy sheriff, and saw a large oval red light, though he did not experience electrical system problems. Years later he said:"The object was shaped like a huge football and had bright white lights. The blinding lights flashed on, it went right over the car and was gone. No living human being could believe how fast it traveled. The whole thing was as bright as day; it lit up the whole area."


USAF Explanation:

Electrical storm

Project Blue Book sent a single investigator to Levelland to check the reports. His explanation, accepted as the official Air Force conclusion, was that:

"... the major cause for the Levelland case was a severe electrical storm. The storm stimulated the populace into a high level of excitement.


Rebuttal:

Atmospheric physicist Dr. James McDonald completed a study and determined that there had been no storm in the area, and thus no source of excessive moisture to interfere with the automobiles' electrical systems:

"In a two-hour period near midnight, November 2-3, 1957, nine different vehicles all exhibited ignition failures, and many suffered headlight failures as objects described as about 100-200 ft long, glowing with a general reddish or bluish glow, were encountered on roads in the vicinity of the small community of Levelland, Tex.
This series of incidents became national headline news until officially explained in terms of ball lightning and wet ignitions. However, on checking weather data, I found that there were no thunderstorms anywhere close to Levelland that night, and there was no rain capable of wetting ignitions. Although I have not located any of the drivers involved, I have interviewed Sheriff Weir Clem of Levelland and a Levelland newspaperman, both of whom investigated the incidents that night. They confirmed the complete absence of rain or lightning activity. The incidents cannot be regarded as explained."


With no "severe electrical storm" to "stimulate the populace into a high level of excitement," the official explanation falls apart.

Links:

section_9

ufo - UFOs at close sight: Levelland, Texas, USA, 1957

The Levelland Sightings (Texas) - Levelland, Texas, United States - November 2, 1957 - UFO Evidence









• Edwards AFB, October 7th, 1965.

Another quite remarkable radar / visual case from Edwards Air force base in 1965 involving several UFOs over a secure military runway - the objects were witnessed by several Air Force personnel, confirmed by multiple radar and the US military even scrambled fighter to go after them.

Some very interesting testimony from the air traffic controller Chuck Sorrels.. and a highly dubious USAF UFO explanation.

Edwards Air Force Base.

Edward J. Ruppelt, former chief of an Air Technical Intelligence Center, reported several incidents of unidentified aerial vehicles with advanced flight characteristics, seen over this secured test facility in the 1950s. A similar event happened on the night of October 7, 1965. And here is the voice of the man who first reported it.

Chuck Sorrels:

My name is Chuck Sorrels, a retired Air Force air traffic controller. I'm recording this on May 16, 1995. In 1965, 30 years ago, I was a tech sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, attached to the19 25th Communication Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base in California. I was the air traffic controller on duty in Edwards tower on the night of October 7, 1965. I was working a midnight shift in the tower when at approximately 1:30 a.m., I spotted a group of luminous objects in the air above and around Edwards Air Force Base. They had a flashing red light on the bottom, with a green, glowing light above the red.

They also sometimes flashed or glowed a white light above the green light. The sightings lasted until about daylight, 5:30 or six a.m. At first I sighted one object, which was larger and brighter than the rest. At one point there were seven objects visible at the same time. The objects would be stationary for a period of time and then move very fast to another location and appeared to be able to climb straight up in short order. Good eyesight and my experience as an air traffic controller made it plain to me that these luminous objects were not planes, helicopters, stars, satellites, weather balloons or any other known aerial object. Your job as an air traffic controller calls for you to be watchful.Training told me these were not normal objects. The objects weren't supposed to be there. These were objects out of the normal, from their appearance and flight characteristics. I reported these sightings to base operations and the Los Angeles Air Defense Sector. The objects were also seen by at least five other people on Edwards Air Force Base. They were also seen by George Air Force Base tower and were showing up on radar in at least four different radar sight locations.

NICAP Link

PDF File:

Bluebook Documents (pdf)


NICAP's Francis Ridge on this case:




USAF 'Explanation':

Stars and Atmospheric anomalies
 

karl 12

Noble
• Portage County Police Chase UFO, April 17th, 1966.

Probably one of the most notorious (and lazy) UFO debunks in Project Bluebook history.




1966 Portage County UFO chase by policemen

nk4e8085ce.png


Testimony:

"I always look behind me so no one can come up behind me. And when I looked in this wooded area behind us, I saw this thing.... As it came over the trees, I looked at Barney and he was still watching the car.. and he didn't say nothing and the thing kept getting brighter and the area started to get light..."

The object was about fifty feet in diameter, with a bright, well-defined light beam shining down from the bottom.

"When Barney Neff saw the object he just stood there with his mouth open for a minute as bright as it was, and he looked down. And I started looking down and I looked at my hands and my clothes weren't burning or anything, when it stopped right over on top of us. The only thing, the only sound in the whole area was a hum... like a transformer being loaded or an overloaded transformer when it changes..."

They broke for their patrol car. Once safely inside, Spaur radioed a quick report. A Sergeant Schoenfelt told them to follow the object. They chased the object at speeds of up to 100 mph as it headed east, constantly reporting their position on the radio to allow other officers to follow the chase.

As the object moved to the east, Officer H. Wayne Huston of East Palestine, Ohio joined in the chase. He had been listening to the radio reports, and when he saw the object pass overhead with Spaur and Neff close behind, he took off in pursuit.

The chase continued across the state line into Pennsylvania, and as Spaur's vehicle got low on gas, he pulled over to enlist the aid of a Conway, Pennsylvania officer. When Spaur stopped, so did the object. They phoned the Air Force from Conway, and minutes later over the radio they heard that jet fighters were being scrambled to intercept the object. The object had other plans, however, and it suddenly shot straight up and vanished.

Frank Panzenella, a Conway, PA police officer said:

"The object was the shape of half a football, was very bright and about 25 to 35 feet in diameter.... The object continued to go upward until it got as small as a ballpoint pen. Relative to the moon, the object was quite distant and to the left of the moon. We all four watched the object shoot straight up and disappear."

Police Chief Gerald Buchert of Mantua photographed the object from in front of his home. The Air Force told him not to release the photo, but The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the photo showed an object that was like two saucers put together, with a light upper saucer upside down over a dark lower saucer. The picture was only seen by a reporter and Mr. Weitzel, NICAP investigator, who was not convinced, but it was never available for analysis.

You need to read Mr. Weitzel's investigation details in his letter to Prof. Powers to realize just how stunning the events were.

Spaur stated:

"Somebody had control over it. It wasn't just an object floating around. It can manoeuver."


USAF Debunkery:

Venus

The official Air Force evaluation has concluded that the case is explained "by an astronomical phenomenon." When asked for details, they explained that the officers had seen a satellite at first, and then had chased the planet Venus for forty-odd miles.

Absolutely none of the witness and investigators could agree with this perfectly ridiculous explanation. But at that time, after the Robertson Panel organized by the CIA, Project Blue Book did not have anything left of a possibly sincere research project but had clearly become an anti-UFO propaganda machine.

The investigation by Major Quintanilla actually consisted in a two minutes and a half phone call to the sole Dale Spaur, starting with this question: "tell me about this mirage you saw."

link

Thread:

Ravenna Revisited - The Portage County UFO Chase.









• Michigan, March, 1966.

The Michigan UFO sighting wave of March, 1966 where multiple town residents and police officers witnessed objects 'covered with red, green and blue lights zooming about at tree-top level' - one object even buzzed a police patrol car and the local sheriff stated that 'reports of UFOs have become so numerous recently that I haven't slept in 24 hours'.




vf4ecb8d3c.jpg


Washtenaw County sheriffs and police in neighboring jurisdictions reported disc-shaped objects moving at fantastic speeds and making sharp turns, diving and climbing, and hovering. At one point, four UFOs in straight-line formation were observed. Selfridge AFB confirmed tracking UFOs over Lake Erie at 4:56 a.m. Their stories were backed up by more than 100 witnesses.

Newspaper archives:

1966 UFO Sightings | Ann Arbor District Library

ufo - UFOs at close sight: Hillsdale, Michigan, 1966, the Swamp Gas affair.


Official explanation:

"Swamp Gas"


Possible origin of Dr Hynek´s "Swamp Gas" explanation:

In interviewing Washtenaw County Sheriff Doug Harvey for the article, the former Sheriff explained how he had taken Hynek to the Frank Mannor farm near Dexter for some on site investigation. The sheriff described how Hynek interviewed witnesses and sloshed around in the swamp for a time in an attempt to determine what the many witnesses had seen a few nights earlier. The Sheriff then brought Hynek back to the Sheriff's headquarters located in Ann Arbor.

According to Harvey, they talked for a time about the sighting and Hynek admitted he didn't know what the witnesses had seen on the Mannor farm.

"That's when the phone call came in," Harvey told me.

"What phone call I asked?"

Harvey said, "it was a call for Hynek and it was from Washington."

"How did you know it was from Washington," I replied.

"Because the dispatcher stepped into the office and said, 'Dr. Hynek, you've got a call from Washington.'"

Harvey told me that Hynek stepped out of the office to take the call and then returned in a few minutes looking a bit perplexed. And then, according to the sheriff, Hynek said, "it's swamp gas they saw, swamp gas."

It was a short time later that Hynek held the infamous press conference at the Detroit Press Club and suggested that a possible explanation for the recent sightings might have been marsh or swamp gas. The explanation became a front page story the next day in papers across the country and Hynek became the butt of jokes and cartoons. He was ridiculed to such an extent that Michigan Congressman Gerald Ford (later President Ford) asked for a Congressional investigation. It was one of Hynek's worst moments.
 

karl 12

Noble
Griffiss AFB, April 8th, 1956.

Griffiss Air Force Base advises commercial airliner to abandon landing and follow UFO:

AF "Requests" Plane Loaded With Passengers To Chase UFO - April 8, 1956, New York State

e5eecd5075ab.jpg


10:15 p.m. (EST) Capt. Raymond E. Ryan, First Officer William Neff, flight attendant Phyllis Reynolds, and passengers, took off in an airliner from Albany heading N then nearly due W (about 280° True) at 260 mph and 6,000 ft N of Schenectady when a brilliant white light about 2-3 miles away was spotted about 90° to the left appearing like an airliner heading in to land at Albany.

The white light moved about 90° to dead ahead position about 8-10 miles away at high speed estimated at about 800-1,000 mph where it changed color to orange and seemed to block the airliner’s path or risk collision, disappeared briefly, reappeared as an orange light again but standing still ahead of the airliner to the W.
Airliner contacted Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY, where controllers asked pilot to turn lights off and on to help identify aircraft and was told airliner was seen and the orange UFO to the S.
Airliner was ordered to maintain course to follow the UFO to the W, skipping its scheduled landing at Syracuse after nearly 30 mins of following the object. Promised fighter jet interception was not seen. Object disappeared at high speed to the NW (or N) towards Oswego, NY

Newsclipping 1 / 2


Television Interview with pilots:

Commercial Plane Follows UFO.

April 8, 1956: A very brilliant light was followed across New York State by an American Airlines plane. The pilots were Capt. Raymond Ryan and First Officer William Neff. The chase was described by radio to Air Force and civilian control tower operators. The following account of the sighting is taken from a tape-recorded interview program, "Meet the Millers," On WBEN TV, Buffalo, New York, April 16, 1956

Transcript


Air Force Explanation:

Venus

Re: April 8, 1956 sighting by Capt. Raymond Ryan, American Airlines pilot:

"The Air Force concluded that the object viewed during this sighting was the planet Venus."

Air Force "fact sheet", 1963.

link









• The Red Bluff UFO incident - August 13th, 1960.

Pretty amazing case and police officers described the object performing aerial feats that were 'actually unbelievable'.

Summary:

17f6ff3f20f9.png


California Highway Patrol Officers Charles A. Carson and Stanley Scott were on patrol when they sighted what they thought was an airliner about to crash. When the UFO had descended to about 100 or 200 feet altitude it suddenly reversed direction and climbed to 500 ft. Description: round or oblong surrounded by a glow (color not mentioned) and having definite red lights at each end. They continued to watch the UFO as it performed "unbelievable" aerial feats.


Police Testimony:

Officers Charles A. Carson and Stanley Scott of the California Highway Patrol were on patrol near Red Bluff, California, at about 11:50 p.m., when they saw a large illuminated object apparently falling from the sky. Thinking it was an airliner crashing, they quickly stopped and leaped out of the patrol car to get a position fix.

"The first thing we noticed was an absolute silence,"

Carson stated in his official report.

"We continued to watch until the object was probably within 100 feet to 200 feet off the ground, when it suddenly reversed completely, at high speed, and gained approximately 500 feet altitude. There the object stopped."

It was an oblong or elliptical object with a definite red light at each extremity. In between the red lights, about five white lights could be seen occasionally.

"As we watched the object moved again and performed aerial feats that were actually unbelievable... The object was capable of moving in any direction. Up and down. Back and forth... It moved at high (extremely) speeds and several times we watched it change directions or reverse itself while moving at unbelievable speeds."

Twice the object came directly toward them; each time it turned and "swept the area with a huge red light.

"Officer Scott turned the red light on the patrol vehicle towards the object, and it immediately went away from us. We observed the object use the red beam approximately 6 or 7 times, sweeping the sky and ground areas."

When the object was closest to them, they experienced radio interference.

As the object began moving off to the east, they attempted to follow it. At a point near the Vina Plains Fire Station they saw a second similar object approach the first. "Both stopped, remaining in that position for some time, occasionally emitting the red beam." Both then disappeared to the east.

Carson and Scott talked with several deputies at the Tehama County Sheriff's office who had also seen the UFO and observed the same maneuvers. The sighting lasted a little over two hours. The UFO was estimated to be about 150 feet in its longest dimension.

NICAP Case Directory

UFOs: Greatest Scientific Problem of Our Times? - Dr James Edward McDonald


USAF Explanation:

Mars

"The findings are that the individuals concerned witnessed a refraction of the planet Mars and the bright stars Aldebaran and Betelgeux. . . Temperature inversions contributed to the phenomena as the planet Mars was quite low in the skies and the inversion caused it to be projected upward."
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
Those are the same (kind of) UFOs that I saw --you can see them throughout the history of the phenomenon --those in my avatar.
A1iCJ9pobcL.jpg


In one of the last episodes of "Unidentified" a witness described how three of them caused a military helicopter test to go out of control in the US south. I love the description you posted mentioning the UFO appearing as a shooting star initially --so many of them are described that way --but then they just stop dead and start maneuvering around. Great stuff as usual!
The Venus explanation again...
 

karl 12

Noble
Those are the same (kind of) UFOs that I saw --you can see them throughout the history of the phenomenon --those in my avatar.

Thanks for the post mate, great pic and lots of very interesting historical reports out there - it really makes one wonder if whatever is responsible for UFO origin is sharing the earth with us rather than just visiting it.

Suppose it could be somehow related to ball lightning but your picture did remind me of this pretty crazy report from Wallachia on August 15th, 1663.

Apparently a huge flaming sphere about 130 feet in diameter was witnessed by townsfolk coming out of the sky and hovering over the surface of a nearby lake whilst projecting two beams which penetrated the water.

Two townsfolk in a boat could not approach it due to the heat but they said the beams reached the bottom of the lake.

See 08:15



Wonder what the USAF would make of that one. :)



The Venus explanation again...

Mate these debunks do get quite funny after a while - here's a good one about 9000mph seagulls.



• Goose Bay, Labrador, 1948.

Summer 1948; Goose Bay, Labrador

Major Edwin A. Jerome, USAF (Ret.) reported the following information to NICAP in 1961. Major Jerome was a Command Pilot, Air Provost Marshal for about 8 years, and also served as an Intelligence Officer and CID Investigator.

"My only real contact with the UFO problem was way back in the summer of 1948 while stationed at Goose Bay, Labrador. There an incident happened which is worthy of note. It seems that a high-ranking inspection team was visiting the radar facilities of this base whose mission at the time was to serve as a prime refueling and servicing air base for all military and civilian aircraft plying the north Atlantic air routes. GCA [Ground Control Approach radar] was a critical part of this picture, thus these high-ranking officers RCAF & USAF up to the rank of General as I recall.

"While inspecting the USAF radar shack, the operator noted a high-speed target on his scope going from NE to SW. Upon computation of the speed it was found to be about 9000 mph. This incident caused much consternation in the shack since obviously this was no time for levity or miscalculations in the presence of an inspecting party. The poor airman technician was brought to task for his apparent miscalculation. Again the target appeared and this time the inspectors were actually shown the apparition on the radar screen. The only reaction to this was that obviously the American equipment was way off calibration.

"The party then proceeded to the Canadian side to inspect the RCA"' GCA facility Upon their arrival the OIC related his most unbelievable target they had just seen. The inspecting officers were appalled that such a coincidence should happen. I was part of the meager intelligence reporting machinery at the base and I was called in to make an immediate urgent intelligence report on the incident. The prevailing theory at the time was that it was a meteor. I personally discounted this since upon interviewing the radar observers on both sides of the base they stated that it maintained an altitude of 60,000 feet and a speed of approximately 9000 mph.

To make this story more incredible the very next day both radars again reported an object hovering over the base at about 10 mph, at 45,000 feet.


Official debunk:

The "official" story on this was that they were probably some type of "high-flying sea gulls."

link

Cheers.
 

karl 12

Noble
Two maritime reports:


• MV Coolsingel - October19th, 1958.

The Dutch Merchant vessel Coolsingel was on its way from Norfolk, VA, to Bremen, Germany when 23:20 local time they had a UFO sighting. The two witnesses who were on the bridge and saw the object were Second Officer J. Van Tiel and the Lookout J. Del Rio Fiera. The witnesses saw two two bright white spheres connected by a rod of white light that looked like a row of connected portholes. One sphere was in front and the other was in the rear of the object.

Fig 22 shows a drawing made by one of the witnesses:

0b489f4978c6.jpg


Blue Book UFO Reports by Ships at Sea (pdf)


Bluebook Explanation: Meteor.






• SS Danfjord -January 21st,1956.

This UFO report was obtained from the logbook of the civilian Danish ship SS Danfjord by ONI Officers.
It was sent to the Director of the Office of Naval intelligence per ONI instruction 3820.19B and 3820.17C.

The report indicates that the Second Mate had a night sighting of a UFO when about 210 miles SE of Bermuda.
The object baffled the second mate because at first it looked like a falling star but then it stopped falling,changed direction and changed its appearance.

Second Mates full report at link.

Blue Book UFO Reports by Ships at Sea (pdf)


Bluebook Explanation: Meteor
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Two maritime reports:


• MV Coolsingel - October19th, 1958.




Bluebook Explanation: Meteor.






• SS Danfjord -January 21st,1956.




Bluebook Explanation: Meteor

From your quote:

a falling star but then it stopped falling,changed direction and changed its appearance.

So it changes direction and appearance but it's called a Meteor, wow!...

...
 

karl 12

Noble
So it changes direction and appearance but it's called a Meteor, wow!...

Yes indeed mate - really was reminded of this chap's comments from that Aussie water case. :)



"At first I thought it was some sort of meteorite but it was too large, it was travelling too slow and it turned a right angle..which I know meteorites are not inclined to do"



There really doesn't seem to be any shortage of BS debunkery in the USAF UFO files either - here are two more examples from the Chop Clearance list.


Gray Oval Sighted By 3 Fighter Aircraft - Jan. 29, 1953

Presque Isle, Maine

A nice example of an utterly ludicrous BB explanation. A "dark grey oval", 3/4 the apparent size of a dime at arm's length, which explicitly did not shine or emit or reflect light of any kind, pursued for 4 mins, in bright daylight, on a continuous heading of 70deg.

Conclusion "Venus, at 100deg".

Stunning.

link


And:


The Laredo / "Earl Fogle" Case

Dec. 4, 1952

Laredo, Texas

This case is a Gorman-like aerial duel UFO case from Laredo, Texas, Dec 4, 1952, from the BB files (via Jan Aldrich and BB Archive).

This is a classic example of Ruppelt falsifying case details he was personally familiar with to force a UFO Unknown into a phony IFO category, one he knew for a fact was utterly false. Ruppelt personally sent the TWX on Dec 10 that resulted in the Dec 15 Air Intelligence Information Report on Dec 15 with the full pilot report and the investigator data that revealed that the Weather Bureau balloon had been released at 2053 CST. Ruppelt's handwriting is on one BB typed summary correcting a word.

link

Cheers.
 

karl 12

Noble
• Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, May 1st, 1952.


Case Briefing

Early in the 1952 UFO sighting wave two discs approached and paced a B-36 bomber in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona. On May 1, 1952, Major Rudy Pestalozzi, a base intelligence officer, along with an airmajn, looked up as a B-36 flew overhead and saw two shiny discs overtake the bomber, slow to its speed and position themselves alongside.

The bomber crew, startled by the experience, made an unscheduled landing at the base and were interrogated at length by Major Pestalozzi, who happened to be the base UFO officer. Members of the flight crew had crowded into the starboard blister aft of the wing and looked down at a slight angle to see the closest disc, which was lens- or double-disc-shaped and about 20-25 feet in diameter. After about 20 seconds, the objects peeled off at an angle of 70-80 degrees from the flight path of the B-36 and sped away.

Major Pestalozzi sent a comprehensive report of the incident to Project Blue Book.

link

PDF File:

Comprehensive Catalogue of 1,700 Project Bluebook Unknowns


Pilot illustration:



Excerpt from Richard Dolan's book 'UFOs and the National Security State':

The first day of the month set the tone,involving a classic case near Davis-Montham Air Force base, later investigated by Dr James Mcdonald, in which an Air intelligence officer,a B-36 crew,and an airman witnessed two shiny,round objects overtake their plane. The objects slowed down to match the plane's speed and remained in formation with them for about twenty seconds. At that point they made a very sharp no radius turn away from the B-36, flew away a bit, then one of the objects stopped and hovered. Both objects were silent. The bluebook team dismissed the case as 'aircraft'

link


USAF Debunk:

Objects were 'aircraft'.









• The Selfridge AFB UFO incident, Michigan, March 3, 1950.

A strong case of multiple radar detection of a UFO took place on March 3, 1950 near the US Air Force base of Selfridge in Michigan

Original report by Lieutenant Francis E. Parker, USAF:

Excerpt:

On the night of March 9, [3] 1950, our radar station was in operation monitoring night flying by units of the 56th Fighter Interceptor Group, Selfridge AFB, Mich. I came on duty approximately at sundown, relieved 1st Lt. Mattson at the PPI scope (of the AM/CPS-5 Radar Sight), and established contact with the F-80s already airborne. Lt. Mattson, Sgt. McCarthy, and Cpl. Melton, who made up the rest of our crew for this night, mentioned to me at this time that an aircraft had been picked up intermittently on the HRI scope of the ANC/CPS-4 height finder radar at 45,000 feet; and over.

I know the highest assigned altitude of the F-80s was 24,000 feet; the target was not at that time visible on either radar scope, so I attributed the report of the high-flying aircraft to interference, crew inexperience, or both. Over the next fifteen minutes the rest of the crew, mentioned above, repeatedly reported this high-flying target at apparently rapidly changing altitudes without my being able to turn around rapidly enough from my monitoring of the F-80s in the area to observe for myself. Finally, however, I saw this target which was a very narrow and clear-cut presentation on the NRI scope. It was at approximately 47,000 feet about seventy (70) miles out, and the indication was definitely not that of a cloud or atmospheric phenomenon.

• The Air Force was really impressed by this observation, which led the Air Adjunct General, Headquarters Continental Air Command, Mitchell Air Force Base, New York, to send the following letter, classified "secret," to the Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, USAF, Washington, D.C.:

Excerpt:

Attached for your information are two narrative reports concerning radar sightings of an unidentified flying object.

2. The fact that the object was sighted on the scopes of two radars is considered worthy of special note.

3. Comment of technical experts, this headquarters, was solicited and is quoted in part for your consideration.

a. ..Further, the magnitude of velocity and accelerations of the three dimensional movements of the "objects" reported are beyond the capability of known behavior of lighter than air vehicles in controlled flight.

b. Also substantiating this unlikelihood is the fact that the "object" was reported as remaining stationary in free space for a mean period of two minutes.

c. Further validity is lent to the contention of the reports by statements that first indications, which were at high altitudes, were observed on the CPS-4 height-finder before being observed on the CPS-5 surveillance radar set..

In summary, no known electronic phenomena, nor combinations of several electronic phenomena could conceivably produce all of the observations covered by the attached reports.

4. The frequency of reports of this nature has recently increased; instructions have therefore been directed to all radar installations within this command to report scope sightings of unusual objects.

S/ Neal J. O' Brien,
Col., USAF, Air Adjutant General,
for the Commanding General

Selfridge AFB, Michigan, March 3, 1950

Documents


USAF/Project Bluebook Conclusion:

"Probable balloon."









• The Fort Monmouth UFO Case - September 10th, 1951.

Incident:

.Twenty-five minutes later the pilot of a T-33 jet trainer, carrying an Air Force major as passenger and flying at 20,000 feet over Point Pleasant, New Jersey, spotted a dull silver, disk-like object far below him. He described it as 30 to 50 feet in diameter and as descending toward Sandy Hook from an altitude from a mile or so. He banked the T-33 over started down after it. As he shot down, he reported, the object stopped its descent, hovered, then sped south, making a 120-degree turn, and vanished out to sea.
The Fort Monmouth Incident then switched back to the radar group. At 3:15 PM, they got an excited, almost frantic call from headquarters, to pick up a target high and to the north - which was where the first "faster-than-a-jet" object had vanished - and to pick it up in a hurry. They got a fix on it and reported that it was traveling slowly at 93,000 feet. They also could see it visually as a silver speck.
What flies 18 miles above the Earth?
The next morning two radar sets picked up another target that couldn't be tracked automatically. It would climb, level off, climb again, go into a dive. When it climbed it went almost straight up.
The two-day session ended that afternoon when the radar tracked another unidentified slow-moving object and tracked it for several minutes.

NICAP Link


USAF explanation:

Weather balloon.
 

karl 12

Noble
Flatwoods, West Virginia - September 12, 1952.

Don't really know what to make of this one but Stanton makes some very interesting comments in the vid below and there were specific metal and liquid samples sent to the U.S. Government never to be seen again - there's also a restricted government document below which states the Pentagon was also asking for a soil analysis (and instructing the Directorate of Special Investigations to give 'utmost priority' to the lab analysis of the subject samples).




Document /links:

xx50fca179.jpg


..but the Pentagon was very interested in it nevertheless. We know this because of the above released document [actually in the Project Blue Book OSI microfilm all along.] As you can see it is a Routing and Record Sheet which is classified "Restricted" and is asking for a soil analysis.

Peeking at Ivan's SITU files: the Flatwoods Monster

Newspaper Article


USAF Explanation:

Meteor









• Redlands UFO, Feb 4th, 1968.

Dr Hynek's comment pretty much sums things up on this one.




On February 4, 1968, about two hundred residents of Redlands, California, either saw or heard what was apparently the same huge, low-flying, disk-shaped object as it passed overhead. A minister conducting services in a church in Redlands was recording his sermon at the time and obtained a recording of the sound, which many people present described as a high-pitched, modulated whining sound.

Witness Report Similar Sounds

Link 1 / 2


Dr Hynek on the Redlands UFO case:

"The discrepancy between what was reported and the Blue Book evaluation is so great as to be laughable"


USAF explanation:

Aircraft.
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
Of course these UFOs are not ball lightning, or sprites or earthlights. They are intelligently controlled objects that glow brightly, able to vent energy from travel in one particular direction --the same way they cloak themselves. They are quite large and operate in groups. in 2016 the MoD released files and drawings of UFOs from "Section 40". I noticed the UFOs I and others saw there, described as "row of manouevering lights" (see below).
When I first saw them they were in a row at a slight angle and were like bright glowing balls of silver, all confronting me in a row.
More here: The Brit government 'knows more about UFOs than it's letting on and has own Area 51'
row lights.jpg
 
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karl 12

Noble
Of course these UFOs are not ball lightning, or sprites or earthlights.


No worries mate and do realise it's a bit of a stretch for the 1663 case in the Russian ball lightning video - when it comes to intelligently controlled, highly maneuverable, self luminous globes which change colour, cause EM effects and emit light beams which affect the environment (and people) then I don't think ball lightning, sprites or earthlights are the culprit either.

Don't know if you've looked into Ted Phillip's research into Marley Woods shortly before he passed away but thought there were some pretty intriguing (and relevant) reports.





I noticed the UFOs I and others saw there, described as "row of manouevering lights" (see below).

When I first saw them they were in a row at a slight angle and were like bright glowing balls of silver, all confronting me in a row.


Sounds like a mighty impressive sighting and wish I could have been there - also hadn't seen that MOD section 40 image before so many thanks for sharing it, below is a similar(ish) one from Dewey Fournet in 1953.


dewey_ufo_formations.jpg


Intelligent Motions - Professor Michael Swords

Cheers.
 

karl 12

Noble
• Sharman, Texas, 1965.

Bright blue UFO confirmed and tracked on radar from Oklahoma witnessed (and photographed) hovering at about 45 degrees elevation over Highway 82 in Sherman, Texas - unknown object also seen by Police officer 30 miles to the North and Civil Servant 7 miles to the South.

Link:

History of the United States Air Force UFO Programs


Bluebook Debunkery:

Planets / stars

The objects observed may have been the planet Jupiter or the stars Rigel, Capella, Betelguese or Aldebaran which were visible at the time of the reported sightings.








• Wayne City, Illinois, 1963.

Two motorists witness a big, white object 'about the size of a washtub' moving along at treetop level (about 20-degrees above the horizon to the southwest) near Wayne City, Illinois - the UFO then paces their vehicle for several miles zig-zagging over the road before hovering over the car and causing electromagnetic interference effects on the radio and engine.

Link:

1963, The Wayne City, Illinois Car Chase


Bluebook Debunkery:

Refuelling Aircraft or Venus

The AF, and especially Quintanilla, were ridiculing many witnesses who claimed sightings of UFOs. The "explanation" issued after the investigation was "a refueling operation" or the "planet Venus". The AF must have considered this case important. They had flown in the special team of physicists from Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. Normally, when investigating a case, they would send the local "UFO officer" from the nearest airbase
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
If I can dig it up, I found an old meteorological handbook in Google Books that described different kinds of meteors, with illustrations; one of the types was a disc-shaped meteor that would fly around and emit showers of colored light! Many folks who saw them long ago just lumped them in with other meteors --kind of like The Book of Miracles did..
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
From your quote:



So it changes direction and appearance but it's called a Meteor, wow!...

...

No worries mate and do realise it's a bit of a stretch for the 1663 case in the Russian ball lightning video - when it comes to intelligently controlled, highly maneuverable, self luminous globes which change colour, cause EM effects and emit light beams which affect the environment (and people) then I don't think ball lightning, sprites or earthlights are the culprit either.

Don't know if you've looked into Ted Phillip's research into Marley Woods shortly before he passed away but thought there were some pretty intriguing (and relevant) reports.








Sounds like a mighty impressive sighting and wish I could have been there - also hadn't seen that MOD section 40 image before so many thanks for sharing it, below is a similar(ish) one from Dewey Fournet in 1953.


dewey_ufo_formations.jpg


Intelligent Motions - Professor Michael Swords

Cheers.

Damn! Thanks for posting that image, Karl.. I hadn't seen that before. Some of those remind me of the 10 silvery discs my astronomer friend saw flying in a triangular formation over Portland, OR in the '50s, too.
 

Todd Feinman

Show us the satellite pics...
I think the same silvery programmable matter spheres can also morph to simple discs as is useful or even oscillate in flight and sometimes emit the radiation you describe --and then glow.
 

karl 12

Noble
Damn! Thanks for posting that image, Karl.. I hadn't seen that before.

Yes a truly interesting one mate, especially considering it was compiled all those many years ago - it was presented at the CIA sponsored Robertson panel and there's some great info about the meeting in this vid (one of the best I've seen on the subject).





Another relevant one below where Dr James McDonald describes USAF UFO investigations as 'superficial and incompetent' and apparently "about 30 or 40 per cent of Bluebook cases may have been miscategorized by the USAF as 'identified' and the true number of credible cases grossly underestimated."




Brad Sparks:

"Much more disturbing are the indications from my limited review of BB cases that there may be as many as possibly 4,000 Unexplained UFO cases miscategorized as IFO's in the BB files. McDonald similarly stated in 1968 at his CASI lecture that from his review of BB cases he estimated that 30-40% of 12,000 cases were Unexplained, or about 3,600 to 4,800. These are mostly military cases and many involve radar".


BBSR14:


Am sure you know this already but Stanton Friedman's archival work also exposed how the Secretary of the Air Force lied to the American public about BBSR14 which found that 'the better the quality of the sighting report, the more likely it was unexplainable'; that 'UNKNOWNS were observed for longer than KNOWNS' and that less than 2% of reports fell in the hoax category.




Cheers.
 
Yes the intresting thing is every time a longer study has been done it shows a residue of unknown anomalies, which remain so even after efforts of trying to understand them. Blue Book, Sturrock Panel, Cometa, GEIPAN studies, same things.

And still we get the same old from the mainstream "theres nothing to it".
 
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