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ZS2ABF > UFO 17.04.06 20:53l 468 Lines 22447 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 360079ZS2ABF
Read: GUEST
Subj: PROJECT BLUE BOOK No.1 OF 8
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<ON0BEL<ZS0MEE<ZS0ELD
Sent: 060410/0703Z @:ZS0ELD.ELD.ZAF.AF #:47293 [47294] FBB7.01.35 alpha
From: ZS2ABF@ZS0ELD.ELD.ZAF.AF
To : UFO@WW
SAHRUIG - SOUTH AFRICAN HAM RADIO UFO INTEREST GROUP
I thought you may like to read about the American Air Forces pathetic
attempt
to De-bunk the UFO scene. This was conducted many years ago and is still
talked and discussed even today. This is due to the fact that there are
too many loose ends
and no real scientific conclusions.
This information is presented for your perusal and is a continuation
of my policy of informing the public what is currently available. The
contents of this information does NOT necessarily reflect the personal
views of SAHRUIG, nor should the views, opinions, statements or claims
represented in the following be accepted by anyone reading these texts
at face value. I will post to the Packet WW system a series of Blue Book
reports covering 1948 to 1952.THEY ARE SPLIT INTO 8 PARTS.
Title: BLUE BOOK PROJECT
PART ONE - 1948 to 1950
The following files are from the work of Don Berliner, who compiled
a listing of the Project Bluebook "unknowns" .
THE BLUE BOOK UNKNOWNS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The unexplained [7mUFO[m reports from the files of the U.S. Air Force's
Project Blue Book [7mUFO[m investigations.
Compiled by Don Berliner, for the Fund for [7mUFO[m Research
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The conclusions or views expressed in this publication are the views of
the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Fund for
[7mUFO[mResearch, Inc.
THE UNEXPLAINED [7mUFO[m CASES FROM THE PROJECT BLUE BOOK FILES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In January, 1974, I visited the U.S. Air Force Archives at Maxwell AFB,
Montgomery, Ala., to review the files of Project Blue Book as the first
step
toward writing a book on the subject.
In a full week, I read all the "unexplained" cases in the original files
and
made extensive notes, including the names and other identifying
information
on
all witnesses where given. The cooperation of the staff of the Archives
was
excellent, and no restrictions were placed on my work.
A few months later, the files were withdrawn from public view so they
could
be
prepared for transfer to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This
process involved making a Xerox copy of almost 30 file drawers of
material,
blacking out the names and other identifiers of all witnesses, and then
microfilming the censored Xerox copy. The microfilm has been available to
the
public at the National Archives since 1976. The original Project Blue Book
files remain under lock and key at the Archives.
On almost every page of the 12,000+ case files, there are big black marks
where information that could be used to cross-check Project Blue Book's
controversial work has been censored.
This includes the names of witnesses to widely-publicized cases, and even
names in newspaper clippings!
As it was perfectly legal for me to copy witness' names when I visited the
Air
Force Archives, those names can be found in this report of 585 (less 13
missing) unexplained cases. And since the Privacy Act, which motivated
the
Air Force to censor the files in the first place, does not apply to
reporters
or anyone else outside the Government, they can be used as the reader
pleases.
Inasmuch as the book I planned to write has never progressed beyond the
manuscript stage, I see no reason to keep this information under wraps any
longer. Perhaps it will encourage others to re-investigate cases and make
the
results known.
"Unidentified" says a great deal...and it says almost nothing.
Probably the most controversial aspect of the entire Air Force
investigation
of [7mUFO[ms was its handling of individual cases.
The means by. which one case was determined to be "identified" and another
"unidentified" has no doubt fuelled more arguments about Project Blue Book
than
anything else it did.
For many years, Blue Book's most vocal opponents have insisted that the
standards by which cases were allegedly explained were grossly
unscientific.
Blue Book's goal, according to those who held it low esteem, was to attach
some explanation to every case, regardless of logic or common sense.
Examples
of Blue Book saying a violently manoeuvring disc was an aircraft, or of
blaming a puzzling radar tracking on a supposedly malfunctioning radar set
which it never bothered to check out, are numerous in the popular [7mUFO[m
literature.
And they are even more numerous in the files of Project Blue Book. The
urgency
with which Blue Book officials tagged answers onto cases without having
done
the proper investigation is obvious, though not proven. But if the Air
Force
was so eager to label cases "identified", despite the lack of supporting
evidence, then those few cases which it labelled "unidentified" presumably
withstood every attempt to apply every other kind of label. And so it may
be
that those cases are truly unidentifiable in familiar terms.
Indeed, the Air Force defines "unidentifiable" cases as those which
"apparently contain all pertinent data necessary to suggest a valid
hypothesis
concerning the lack of explanation of the report, but the description of
the
object or its motion cannot be correlated with any known object or
phenomenon."
To meet such criteria, a report must obviously come from a reputable
source,
and it must not bear any resemblance to airplanes, balloons, helicopters,
spacecraft, birds, clouds, stars, planets, meteors, comets, electrical
phenomena, or anything else known to frequent the air, the sky, or nearby
space.
Unfortunately, the Air Force failed to stick to its own rules. Some of
the
"unidentifiable" cases most certainly can be correlated with known objects
or
phenomena. But most of them cannot. Moreover, many of the so-called
"identified" cases cannot honestly be so correlated. But we are primarily
concerned here with those cases which Project Blue Book openly admits it
tried to explain and failed.
The amount of detail in these cases varies enormously. Some cases -
frequently those which were well publicized at the time of the event -
contain
considerable information, while others are vague and seriously incomplete.
Project Blue Book generally placed the blame for such incompleteness on
the
witnesses, but it should take its own share of the responsibility. 'In
thousands of cases, there is no completed questionnaire in the Project
files,
nor even any indication that one was sent to the witness. And in most of
the
instances where a questionnaire was filled out, it was never followed up
to
get more complete answers to questions which the witnesses failed to deal
with
properly. For much of the life of Project Blue Book and its predecessors,
there was no satisfactory
lengthy period was so badly organized that a witness should not be held to
blame for giving incomplete answers.
Yet, despite all the roadblocks, many reports are sufficiently complete to
tell a pretty clear story of a puzzling experience. With this data now
available, anyone can look at Project Blue Book's "unidentified" [7mUFO[m
reports and make up his own mind.
Title: BLUE BOOK / YEAR 1948
April 5, 1948; Holloman AFB, New Mexico. Afternoon. Witnesses:
Geophysics Lab balloon observers Alsen, Johnson, Chance. Two
irregular, round, white or golden objects. One made three loops
then rose and disappeared rapidly; the other flew in a fast arc
to the west during the 3O^second sighting.
July 29, 1948: Indianapolis, Indiana. 9:88 a.m. witness*:
James Toney, Robert Huggins, both employees of a rug cleaning
firm. One shiny aluminium object, shaped something like an
airplane's propeller, with 10-12 small cups protruding from
either blade. Estimated size 6-8' long, 1.5-2' wide. The object
glided across the road a few hundred feet in front of their
vehicle and apparently went down in a wooded area. Sighting
lasted a few seconds.
July 31, 1948; Indianapolis, Indiana. 8:25 a.m. Witnesses: Mr.
and Mrs. Vernon Swigert; he was an electrician. Object was
shaped like a cymbal, or domed disc; about 20' across and 6-8'
thick, and was white without any shine. It flew straight and
level from horizon to horizon in about 10 seconds, shimmering in
the sun as if spinning.
July or August, 1948; vicinity of Marion, Virginia. Shortly
after sunset. Witness: Max Abbott, flying a Bellanca Cruisair
four-passenger private airplane. A single bright white light
accelerated and turned up a valley.
Sept. 23, 1948; San Pablo, California. 12 noon. Witnesses:
Sylvester Bentham and retired U.S. Army Col. Horace Eakins. Two
objects: one, a buff or grey rectangle with vertical lines; the
other a translucent "amoeba" with a dark spot near the centre.
The arms of the "amoeba" undulated. Both objects travelled very
fast.
Oct. 15, 1948; Fusuoka, Japan. 11:05 p.m. Witnesses: pilot
Halter and radar operator Hemphill of a P-61 "Black Widow" night
fighter. Up to six objects tracked on radar, only one seen
visually. Dull or dark object shaped like a dirigible with a
flat bottom and clipped tail end. Six seen on radar separately
Pilot attempted to close on visual object, but it dove away fast.
Dec. 3, 1948; Fairfield-Suisan AFB, California. 8:15 p.m.
Witness: USAF Sgt., control tower operator. One round, white
light flew for 25 seconds with varying speed, bouncing motion,
and finally a rapid erratic climb.
Title: BLUE BOOK / YEAR 1949
Jan. 4, 1949; Hickam Field, Hawaii. 2 p.m. Witness: USAF pilot
Capt. Paul Storey, on ground. one flat white, elliptical object
with a matte top circled while oscillating to the right and left,
and then sped away.
Jan. 27, 1949; Cortez-Bradenton, Florida. 10:20 p.m. Witnesses:
Capt. Sames, acting chief of the Aircraft Branch, Eglin AFB, and
Mrs. Sames. They watched for 25 minutes while a cigar-shaped
object as long as two Pullman cars and having seven lighted
square windows and throwing sparks, descended and then climbed
with a bouncing motion at an estimated 400 m.p.h.
March 17, 1949; Camp Hood, Texas. 7:52 p.m. Witnesses: guards
of the 2nd Armoured Division. While awaiting the start of a
flare firing, they watched, for an hour, while eight large,
green, red and white flare-like objects flew in generally
straight lines.
April 3, 1949; Dillon, Montana. 11:55 a.m. Witnesses:
construction company owner Gosta Miller and three other unnamed
persons. One object shaped like two plates attached
face-to-face; matte bottom, bright aluminium top; 20' diameter,
4-5' thickness. It rocked or rotated in six cycles, descended,
rocked, flew, rocked; all this was very fast.
April 4, 1949; Merced, California. 10:20 p.m. witness: William
Parrott, former Air Force pilot and major. One generally round
object with a curved bottom and dull colouring. The object gave
off a clicking sound until overhead. Parrott's dog reacted. 35
seconds.
April 24, 1949; Arrey, New Mexico. l0:30 a.m. Witnesses:
General Mills meteorologist and balloon expert C.B. Moore and
others on a balloon launch crew. One white, round ellipsoid,
about 2.5 times as long as wide.
April 28, 1949; Tucson, Arizona. 5:45 p.m. Witnesses: Howard
Hann, Mr. Hubert, Tex Keahey. One bright, sausage-shaped object
was observed for 40 minutes while it rolled and flew fast.
May 5, 1949; Ft. Bliss, Texas. 11:40 a.m. Witnesses: Army
officers Maj. Day, Maj. Olhausen, Capt. Vaughn. Two oblong white
discs, flying at an estimated 200-250 m.p.h., made a shallow turn
during the 30-50 second observation.
May 6, 1949; Livermore, California. 9:35 a.m. Witness: C. G.
Green. Two shiny, disc-like objects rotated around each other
and banked. Then one shot upwards with a grey trail and rejoined
the other. The sighting lasted 5 minutes.
May 9, 1949; Tucson, Arizona. 2:30 p.m. Witness: M/Sgt. Troy
Putnam. Two round, flat silvery objects, estimated to be 25' in
diameter, flew 750-1,000 m.p.h. in a banked but steady manner.
May 27, 1949; South-central Oregon. 2:25 p.m. Witness: Joseph
Shell, ferrying SNJ trainer for North American Aviation, from Red
Bluff, California, to Burns, Oregon. Five to eight oval objects,
twice as long as wide, and 1/5 as thick. They flew in trail
formation, with an interval equal to 3-4 times their length,
except that the second and third were closer together.
July 24, 1949; Mountain Home, Idaho. 12 noon. Witness: Henry
Clark, manager of a flying service, flying a Piper Clipper.
Seven delta-shaped objects, 35-55' in span, 20-30' long, 2-5'
thick; light coloured except for a 12' diameter dark circle at the
rear of each. They flew in a tight formation of twos with one
behind, and made a perfect, but unbanked, turn. During the
10 minute sighting, they displayed decreasing smooth
oscillations. Clark's engine ran rough during the sighting, and
upon landing was found to have all its spark plugs burned out.
July 30, 1949; Mt. Hood, Oregon. 9 p.m. Witnesses: Northwest
Airlines Capt. Thrush, two Portland control tower operators, and
one flying instructor. One object with one white light and two
red lights, manoeuvred and hovered.
Title: BLUE BOOK / YEAR 1950
Feb 5, 1950; Teaticket, Massachusetts. 5:10 p.m. Witnesses:
Marvin Odom, former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, USAF Lt. Philip
Foushee, pilot from Otis AFB, and two others. Two thin,
illuminated cylinders, one of which dropped a fireball,
manoeuvred together and then disappeared high and fast after 5
minutes.
Feb. 24, 1950; Albuquerque, New Mexico. 1:55 p.m. Witnesses:
Municipal Airport Weather Observers Luther McDonald, Harrison
Manson. One white, slightly elongated oval was watched for 1.5
minutes through a theodolite while it flew straight and level.
Feb. 25, 1950; Los Alamos, New Mexico. 3:55 p.m. Witnesses:
Twelve Atomic Energy Commission security inspectors. One
cylinder with tapered ends, silver and flashing, flew slow and
hen fast, fluttered and oscillated, and changed course.
observations by individuals varied from 3 seconds to 2 minutes.
March 3, 1950; Selfridge AFB, Michigan. 11:05 p.m. Witness:
Lt Frank Mattson. One intense, dull yellowish light
descended vertically, then flew straight and level very fast for
4 minutes.
March 20, 1950; Stuggart, Arkansas. 9:26 p.m. Witnesses:
Chicago & Southern Airlines Capt. Jack Adams, First Officer G. W.
Anderson, Jr. One 100' circular disc with 9-12 portholes along
the lower side emitting a soft purple light, and a light at the
top which flashed 3 times in 9 seconds, flew at not less than
1,000 m.p.h. It was seen for 25-35 seconds.
March 27, 1950; Motobo, Okinawa. 10:30 a.m. Witness: USAF
radar operator Cpl. Bolfango. Tracked on radar for 2 minutes
while it was stationary and then moved at 500 m.p.h.. Visual
observation not detailed, only mentioned in summary.
March 28, 1950; Santiago, Chile. 3:15 p.m. Witness: M/Sgt.
Patterson, of the office of the U.S. Air Attaché. One white
object observed for 5-10 seconds through binoculars while it flew
high and fast, crossing 30^ of sky.
March 29, 1950; Marrowbore Lake, Tennessee. 7 a.m. Witnesses:
real estate salesmen Whiteside and Williams. Six-twelve dark
objects shaped like 300-lb. bombs, estimated 5 feet long. Flew
500 m.p.h. and descended, making a noise like wind blowing
through the trees.
April 8, 1950; Kokomo, Indiana. 2 a.m. Witness: Earl Baker.
One grey metallic disc, 50' in diameter, 15' thick; top-shaped
with a "conning tower" at the top and three ports on the rim
giving off a blue light. It hovered for 2 minutes, then flew
away. Baker aroused from sleep by his dog.
April 14, 1950; Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. 2:30 p.m. Witness:
Army M/Sgt. James. Four rectangular, amber objects, about 3' by
4'. changed speed and direction rapidly; the group of objects
rose and fell during the 3-4 minute sighting.
May 7, 1950; Nine miles sough of Ely, Nevada. 6:45 p.m.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. George Smith and their grandson. One
silvery white object hovered at 100' altitude, moved back and
forth for 10 minutes and then flew up and away. Note in case
file: "No investigation."
June 27, 1950; Texarkana, Texas. 7:50 a.m. Witnesses: Terrell
and Yates, employees of Red River Arsenal. One object, bright,
shaped like two dishpans face-to-face, flew straight and level,
fast for 4-5 seconds.
July 13, 1950; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. 5 p.m. Witnesses:
two skilled Arsenal employees including Mr. Washburn. one
object, shaped like a bowtie, and like polished aluminium. Flew
straight and level, then one triangle rotated 1/4 turn in the
opposite direction and returned to its original position. The
object then made a right-angle turn and accelerated away after at
least 30 seconds.
Aug. 4, 1950; approx. 100 mi. SE of New York City (39' 35' N.,
72' 24.5' W.). 10 a.m. EDT. Witnesses: Master Nils Lewring,
Chief Mate Jacob Koelwyn, Third Mate, of M/V Marcala. One 10'
cylindrical object at 50-100' altitude, flying with a churning or
rotary motion, accelerated at end of 15 second sighting.
Aug. 20, 1950; Nicosia, Cyprus. 1:30 p.m. Witnesses: USAF MATS
liaison officer Lt. William Ghormley, Col. W. V. Brown, Lt.
col. L.W. Brauer. One small, round, bright object flew fast,
straight and level for 15-20 seconds.
Aug. 25, 1950; approx. 250 mi. SW of Bermuda (29' 40' N., 67*
28' W.). 8 p.m. Witness: B-29 radar man S/Sgt. William Shaffer.
Radar observation, plus possible blue streak 3 minutes later.
B-29 followed unidentified target, then passed it at l/4-mile
distance, target followed for 5 minutes, then passed B-29 and
sped away. Total time of tracking: 20 minutes.
Aug. 30, 1950; Sandy Point, Newfoundland, Canada. 1:30 p.m.
Witnesses: three local employees, including Kaeel and Alexander,
of the Air Force Base. A dark, barrel-shaped object with a pole
down from it into the water, flew at 3-5 m.p.h. and 15-20'
altitude for 5 minutes.
Sept. 3, 1950; Spokane, Washington. 2 p.m. Witnesses: Maj.
R.J.
Gardiner, Mrs. Gardiner and neighbour (former saw three objects,
others saw one). Metallic bronze discs, 20-30' long, 2-6' thick.
Moved independently and erratically for 5 minutes.
Sept. 20, 1950; Kit Carson, Colorado. 10:49 a.m. Witness
identified only as a "reliable source". Two large, round,
glowing objects and three smaller, internally lit objects. Two
hovered for 1 minute, moved, and three smaller ones came from
behind or within the two larger objects, and all sped upward and
away.
Sept. 21, 1950; Provincetown, Massachusetts. 9:52 a.m. Witness:
M.I.T. research associate and Air National Guard Maj. M.H. Ligda.
Radar tracking of one object during M.I.T tracking of USAF flight
of F-84 or F-86 jet fighters. Object speed was 22 miles/minute
(l,200 m.p.h.), made turn of 11-12 gees acceleration during 1
minute observation.
Oct. 15, 1950; Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 3:20 p.m. Atomic Energy
Commission Trooper Rymer, J. Moneymaker, Capt. Zarzecki. Two
shiny silver objects shaped like bullet or bladder. They dove
with a smoke trail and one vanished. The other hovered at 5-6,
altitude, 50' away, left and returned several times somewhat
further away.
Oct. 15, 1950; Pope AFB, North Carolina. Witness: Daniel.
Listed as "unidentified" in folder index, but no supporting data
could be found.
Oct 15, 1950; Pope AFB, North Carolina. Witness: Woodward.
Same as previous observation.
Oct. 23, 1950; Bonlee, North Carolina. 12:42 p.m. Witness:
ex-USAF pilot Frank Risher. One aluminium object shaped like a
dirigible or Convair C-99 cargo plane, with 3 portholes, arrived
from southeast, hovered 3-5 seconds and flew away to the south-
south-east at end of 40 second sighting.
Nov. 5, 1950, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 11:55 a.m. Witness:
Fairchild Aircraft illustrator Don Patrick. One translucent
object, light grey with dark core, shaped like a pear or bean.
Flew for 5-10 minutes with rapid, darting movements.
Dec. 2, 1950; Nanyika, Kenya. 10:50 a.m. Mr. and Mrs. L. Scott.
One pearly, iridescent object with a flattened top, spun while
hovering and made a sound like bees buzzing. Only data in files
was from East African "Standard" newspaper.
Dec. 6, 1950; Ft. Myers, Florida. 5 p.m. Witnesses: former
aircraft purchasing agent Harry Lamp and four boys, using
10-power binoculars. One 75' object, 3-4' thick, bubble on top,
silver with a red rim having two white and two orange jets along
it. The centre revolved when the object hovered; then it flew
away very fast.
Dec. 11, 1950; l0 mi. NW of Gulcana, Alaska. 10:13 p.m.
Witnesses: crew of Northwest Air Lines flight 802. Two white
flashes, followed by a dark cloud which rose and split in two.
Bye and enjoy de Peter ZS2ABF.
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