1. DA-rE T ;""= G~OUP 3. SOllRCE 4. NUMBER C~ OBJECTS S. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 6 . TYPE OF OaSERVATION 8 . PHOTOS 19. PHYSICAL E V IDENCE p;~oJECT 10073 RECORD CONCLUSION ltOj'C t . O 11. B RI E F SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 'rt f; l >.jcct , or ljf.! i:'l, .'-;h;qH' d f :irs t , .ljl.-f p l;.dc, ~.C'C'Il <i i t'cct, l.y ovcrLcctd by prr fOn ri.uin.o i u C!ll opr-~n convcri i b l , 9,oj rl!.. u n rt...h . [ n t er ~. it<tpcd 1 i I. c : t cut of' pic , i .j . p ll f_.~hard, itllc' CnvelopPd ill l.Jt'-d. C.v~i.'l , .... rtcl \.dti "Lc. hi tlt {'d'~E'...:; r cnt il\.!erl off . I i , r,i r-.~ i d t o IJC' br i '.~ht f'n0 iJCC~tll'-(' ra ~ila!H', crrc-~t. i.r. n.o1 i_o n . 1"-j "'r;rc~l.;'~'!:;v j_ vi.=-, i b 1 e l 1' (;a st e r n h or i 7 on en L i r e l .v n no h c;, r u red . \.it nP.~ r-;r:. reject h~potl f"S j.s of ll iOr'n r;ven L~)O\l~..lh i_.,.t~, f ;:ilr tl to sec the ;oon. !c-je~tiou t=',.lJ.~h;Yt-lc;. FTD SE? 5 3 0-329 (TOE) Prev loua ~it~enao!thhf"rmmaybeuaad. its ::J.?_?earance? And ho\v? The color ccrtajnly sounds very n1nch Jike Then Mr cntifics it as the moon. Ancl as for the st:.:-~!~enl that "it's ng' they apparently used this n1.ot:i.on to prove t r.:::.: ~= \vas definjtcl y not the 1noon. Yet they do not ever explain how coul d definitely t ell it \.vas not the 1noon, though they keep repeating thai. assertion. Again, I think tba t autokinesis is involved here . Then, I feel that I-lynek makes a very serious error v;,1hen he n1a1-: .... s the assertion t:1at ''I would say that the first p art of your s ighting t possibly have been the moon. Why n ot? And even if he \.Vere con-..<nced of that, by n1aking 1his staternent h e further condjtions the \vib,-;.:;;~cs and b olste r s \Vhat I thi11k "vas their erroneou s conclusjons fror:--.. the obscrvaUons. She is the one who kept clain1.ing that what she and her p arents sa\v \vas definit ely not the nl.oon. Because "it \Vas a m o\-elncnt. " Refers to the"jerky rnovement, which is again characteristic J.tokincsis . I-Iync k should never have stepped in and backed their p, rion. l-Ie is suppos~d t o b e a neutra rty, trying to elicit the facts fro1n them, and now he has backed o that she vvill al\vays s a y that she sa\v something that vvas different ron1. the rnoon, and the .~1r .t orce 1nvest1gator bron.g 1 er up. Butt c ays loo c!. to n1.e like an ordinary moon in the beginning. en of h o\ered and then it gradually moved on to\vard the east. " Hynek co:!c'..:rs that this would be back\vard travel. .But he fails to note, and ::.~ ~=-3 significantly failed to take account of this phenomenon in previous c~sr:-::.) that it could hc.ve been autokine s i s . And -vvhcn l{ynek states tha t !1.::: ;,s.-5 surprise d tha t t.h e 1-;l.oon \Vasn't seen also, the ans\.ver to- nJ.e i s q1.:'.:.::: -:lea:::-. This vva:: the-object tha t they were seeing. l-Ie tries to infer tl:z.: :~1.-:: y did noi see the n!.oon because of lo\v clouds. -~ncl \Vhcn .. ,::~presses thern to suggest ~:;~ :---_ i::e thL mo.:.::, -r sort of r e d <iish orange. de~.::- _:-.;_; .:;\ ;lngi.ng. ~hey ask about sounds, w hich tion. _-.. ::.:.so docs th--~ funny odor. the object that would ys that'it would c e goes on to appear s to b e imagina- In reply t o Hynek s direct question about whether it .. :.; s k , "they-rcpljcd It really actually appC'ared t o move. " .(. id, the only reason for believing that it 1~:..: n~oon :is lltat \vcll, the rnoon neve r acted like that. 11;: .~ ;c t hC'n described it as sjn1ilar t o a "pale full1noo n on a very rnisty, f c .. -c; :1ight. " :Hynek put the words into his n1outh, like a "co rona l dis - In brief, I an1. quite convinced that the objcct was p1obably t:1,_ :.:oon. That str or~g autol .. incsis \vas invoJved. Thn.t rnany o{ the n~ :vns reported \\'ere ilnaginecl. A s for inte;r\ie\v , I think it \vas faulty procedure to intcrvie~v all c i the \vitnesscs at the same tin1e. Hynek seern::; t o n1ake so1nething of the fact that M technical ability . And y e t , \Vhel1 you read vvh a t h e says, it rne::.ns absolutely nothing. Ilc qnotcs \vhat the olh(-'r pcop] c sa.i<l. l-Ie al> s a bout "a light started to con1c bacl , and then describes \vhat \VOt:ld certainly b e very much like tl1e rn.oon co111ing through the clouds. H e giv es you his comparison that i t clid so appeftr. I-I ' even rncntions the "oval " character \vhich \voul d fit in \Vith the.: phase of the n1oon a t the As y o u read through, you get the in1prcs~;ion tha t people are ans\:cring for each ot~1er. I am ccrtair~ly not in1pressed a bout either the noise o r the eard the noise whe n it was ove r her a~c close to her,' \'t/:~y didn't Hynek as Hynel' as~.:: .-r definite:;.-.-~: excitable she is? And of course she cool.,. Tner e i s a definite p oh1t lha t secrns 5'"' .. -::.e--::~:. belie; eci ~:! ~;:. although unti eally sec it the r e j s alvvays s c::: =::-.: -. : -:;:: a c:o\.::::-. ~: s only ] ogical that there are suc h things. n~-: : _-; ~:ear r~:~-a y s that she is b e]ieving in flying saucers. T l-_:: . ~ -:->-2 s a 1 '-\a y -u ~ 1 i c ve d in f 1 yin g sauce r s . And t hi s s o rt of a b e H e f c o-.1::: !.-.::...r,:; rcaclil\ c onditioned her when she sa\v and n1jsldcntifiecl the Hynek gc.:ls briefly out of the time discr'-~pancy, buL I don' t tl: :-:! :-t '-1arifics it a t 1 We get only the 1c;pJy fro nd nothing fro--:-: .:..:.ybody e lse. asscsln(!nt of the tin1c , hO\\'ev<'r, S(:;Cl11S rE--2.5 )a:tbly consistent vvith the evaluation tha t it \vas the moon. I c annot follow :Hynek was not the moon. reasoning that, as f a r as h e could Hynek'says "Unless vvc discount the tcstitnony o all f our." t see the testilnony of all four. There is the tcstilnony o f Arde n e , \vho, despite her decl a r ation to the contrary, was pro b ably v ery ex- cited and hysterical. Unde r suc h conditions, autoldncs j s i s common. I h?:.-.e observe d it n1.yself. Mo reover the pheno1nenon can be transmitted t o :other p erson. In brief, I have heard so much, over the years1 a bout "s t a r s cavorting over the sky , and the irnpossibility of explaining them, and the lack of imagination and appreciation of auto-kinetic effect s , tha t I t h i n k the time has come to review s uch cases. Or, i n the case of ne\v cases involving'jerky motions," to recognize the auto-kineti c see no 5tretching of the evide nce \vh a t eve r t o identify this object as the moon. And if, by the qualificati o n "give~' Hynek n"leans to distinguish beb .. veen the actual testilnony a n d possible con- elusio n s from tha t testimony, then h e i s not properly '\vei ghing " t h e evidence as h e clain1s. You do h a v e to take into account the un- re~:.ability of humans -writnessing such a phenomen on. I see n o ~cason t o assume tha t the ' 'eastern horizo n \vas obscured," simply b ecause "no~ one of the f our saw the rising quarte r moon." That is a comple t e n1.i=:i".atement. Eve r yone, including Ardene, testified tha t the object l0oked like the moon. '' I t was Ardene who insiste d tha t it could not b-? :!"-.e moo:a because of its appa r e n t motion. A nd. Hynek concludes by t~-:e ~:~tement, \Vhich s~enl.s to me c ompletely un\varrante d bf the e-,:-_:;:.-:2., that "it see::-1s unlikely that all four, p articularly the ::-!::;:::--~-==-:ng student, .;;oul'J not have recognized the 1noon o v e r a :J-?T: .-_ ~.-at least five ::1.-inu t es." The transcript speaks f o r itself. The engineer i n g student d e 5 c :-: . -j \ vh a t h e thought he moon. The only reason h e c!o.1o"t:::: ~ : , \vas becaus c 1ns i s tence. And mu c h the same res~:,:-::;:-: .-:ame f rom othe r s . Moreover, I see n o reason \vhy, f rom the :~ . .-~::-:-:1:::c itsc]f, a t least thlee of the m reporte d tha t the y were rea~ly S:!eing son1etbing that looked like the moon. Finally, as for her .::r::ll, I refer t o Lucy' t : ~3 t h e impre~sion I g e t ta.temc n t about "keeping em~nt thn t "when ~he cc:unt! she \las scarccl to cJeath." i\nd from her act1ons. summariz~ my imp~cssion, there i s absolutely in this entire statcmc!nt that leads m~ to sus~)cc; t t son\cthing other than tbc moon \'la s invo lved. Certainly no ~ :asma p11en owenon \~a.s 11cccssnry. In my honest opinion, rea s :):1 to keep t h i s s ighti ng on there i s absolutely no the list of u r1knowns. In de Eense o f Hynek' s pos i tion, ho~.vevcr, I concur th2.. t. t h e moon d oes n o t g o j umpi ound by ten o r t~.:Tenty (eg::-::es. rcverth2less, ~.vhat aid , that "it sGemcc"l to :-.!.JVe, just v e r y slightl y , sloHly to one s i d e , and ~1ac ugain to its general position." HyncJ~ certainly rcc- OCJl.-. es thn.t thc~rc'\:.0ccn "othe r cases like it . . ' ' \/hen Arde11e 23.iG that it was "dir ectly overhead,'' Hynek clee1rly accepts !-~e r s tatci.nent for its fuc.:c VLl1 u c . He think~-3 thcJ.t it Has, as :;~:e clairued, at a n a 1 t i t ude o f 900. On the o t her hund, even i f it \11cre relatively lo~-J on the hori:;;on, i f she thought it '.v~s .-: i thin a fe\J hur:dred feet, folloHing hc~r, she \von lc1 h e1ve clea:-ly still thouqi1t that it T.vas "dir ectly overhead." So I do not think t hn.l: Hynek':.> q uestion to her husband , concc~r n ing Ar~s~e's r eliabilit}, \las respon sive . I r e a l too, tnat tl1e moon nnd star~ c!on ' t ju~r> ar.:._::~ the Hay a i d t1is moon dill. 7\nC: the r:1oon doe~-;n't s?.:.r~ .. either. I've seen too many c cJ.ses of both rr1oving fog a:-.c:. 2~...itokincsi s, t o re.;l.lize that h u man b12ings con make terrible ::r::. s -:.:.:-::e. I sim::->.:..2 C:o;-t' t shar e Eynek' s fni t h in t h e reliac>.ility o f ~-: .:.-:-::!:1 b eings . :: f ::.8'.1 \vish, I hu.v no ohj ect ion t o your sho\Ji r:q :1 i:--:- .:::-2 :1cti o;1 t~ ::':-: i s case. I p~cdi ct in adva nee that h e \7 ill t~1 :~33 as a si ~e oxa~tplc, co letely separate f rom other t o .:..;--: :--.. _ . .:;e anv c~;i(: ;!ne e f rOii1 other cases into tr.is one, llcsol tt.: men:.:._::-: :.!~is point, bee a use I <J ather from SOJ:le of Hynek' s com- ::-tor::.::. :. -~t he sees s o:tie pattern in th0. cas<-~s t h r1t attract~; ll ir.1. F:::-:.:-:.-.::._ .. :: don' t . 'l'!"lerc a r c too many-far too many-di.f ferent }:i::~: .:.~ vtimuli that give. rise to such phcnoii!.~:~na. On u. <J.i.vc n niq~:.. ~.:n from the snme loca lity, rc~orts of UPO'~; ~,j_ll arisu fro1:; ~ .=.::Jzen entir ely unrel~tc(~l prH:!nomc n.:l. .'\nd that i~; sonQt.h.i.n r that, a::lpu.rcntly , no one other than myself has q c n crully rcal::.:::cc.l or emphasized . I think this cuse i s about closed . It might be rel~ 7 t to get significnnt weatl1er data from tl1e loca l we ~r bureatl or from, preferably, from any n~nrby air}Jort. Ar . ..:! : would certainly li }:c to have a chance to intervie\.' J...;:(-._:-.2. concerning !H?.r c~fCS. She Has clearly a believer in S::!l:.:;: .. \Jas si1c, by any chance, a m0.mbcr of any saucer or-: :;-.izc:ttion? \-.Jhat had she rend about UFO' s ? These a r e r e l s-:<:ln t conditioning t.hinqs. Very truly yours, Donald II. ~1.cnzc Reb.::-ned map of the area as requested. : r DonftlU rl ~n~el .::1rrard Co1lc~o Obee.rvatcry ::.v ~ar~tcn .,;treet , amoridas, ~'l!lsaacbu~etts 0 2 1-.>->3 Please e~<CU3e the delay in .: . .re b.avll! r-eveoduced !!. co py or' the 25 Febr.Jnt-y 1967 ni.;.~tin;?: from :t~ ~loventbt!r 1907, i:o'~-ev~t, ~.ta ~t~ched r;aa~ :l.l s o i:Jcl!J.~es :.n. -:eri.:\1 ~oc~i~ffld since t h d 2 4th. -~. !:lclosed is a ~opy of our ~v::tl~a tion c ard f o r ,l s.i.g!lti n g .t'rorn '.!:ielson :\?3, Aln3k.a. T!ire e o l i,ha ..::Qur observe.r:~ ..,,. r';.~ ai.r~rart ~on-c.rol '!.e .r-3, ::1ru1 t hey all -es"t.i:na GP.d. tb!lt !:he 'u b :ect ' ,:J ~ ~ i[.~'t. to -:.en 'lti ..~:'rot7l -:.heu' i.al ~.!.s.lly. . ...{e also hare a ,r~ry 1:-..ter~st.i:l~ C3S e for t-'1~ L-:t t e ~v::.!ning oi' l~ AU?;'..l3't. 1)'68 o r e arly ~ornin hours or t h e 15~h. ~1e o bserFer3 (a:;>perentl:f 'three v er-.J capab~ and relia'b~ peop.!.e ) ~!i t<~c:. a L'lr.ge crsn~isn o b ~ec ~ t .hat :nov~d. a b011t i n the sE..y, hrtd :3:. ce t:!.n i 'te 0(10r, a.nci made a ~fl!l~"'l.~ noise. There "13 a s trong inv~rsion that n icnt ~d the observt!rs did not see t h(! moon. b u t did 3ee atar3 . Eo~.;ever, t11e :-&OOu ..1hould M'fe 'been. visible and in roughly tb.a .5B..t12 posi "tion o.s t:-:e UFO. .. :e have r.ot ~valuated thi3 caae yet bt!!C~WJe ,,~e or~ st.i 1 1 t r ; i r.o+; f..o convinct~t Dt-llyneit t..~t the lJlOon rray have been t h e culprit . 1~:e "~M &J)preciate your cormneut 3 on t his case. ~-~identally, \lie eo not. know a n:ything about the dt~cay o f a ny ?J.lSS1an -:-ocitet boO.y o r L'"ldian--:l in la1:e June or ~arly ,Tuly 196.~. A 1so i.:mlo3ed is a ccpy w a l~tr.,er t.hat ,,.:e rec0ntly re 11eC. l'rom ?ol=a~ ~ti3ek. Si.nce i't a't;)!)fl:ently in~rolYes ':)t ~].:?X)S r'ir~, we -:;h_Of'Jg.~ a~ ;tol migh~ be inter~ ~ted. ~"'rQR .;o:i.~f'.i'.A!ITTJ..\, Jr, Lt Colonel, u'SA? 4 Atch :.:!J..ial, ~rial ~ettOL na .3r:c).ncb 1 :.aro,yace ;l'ecr..nolo iea Di vin ion 2 . .:vAlw~tiou Card, 2 1.?-l.:.;o n ,){ll';_; .? !'odu~ ion Directors te ~:. '!ellov .~l)rin;;s Ohio, 15 ;\u~ 63 HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY 60 GARDEN STREET CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02138 CABl~ ADOUsc; "OS~UVATORY" .i~t. ~ol. Hector Quintanilla , Jr. , USAF C-- , Aerial Phenomena Branch D e:. ~.rtmcnt of the Air Force He-:rlquartcrs Foreign Techno logy Division (AFSC) v,: ::ht-Patterson Air Force Base Thank you f o r all of the interesting data you sent. I had s ee!:l the Sullivan article. I simply c annot understand I-Iynck. I could support the idea of an intc rnational U F O project only on the idea tha t it might take our n1incl off of the n1.ore serious \Vorrjes o f the \vorld. Scie!1tifically, the idea is o f course n onsense. I have n ot seen the notice in the Electronic Nc,vs for Septemb e r 30. I agree \vith y o u . I, too, am co1npletcly disgusted! Off the record, I would say that if I vvere in your shoes, I \vould terminate the consulting agreement forth\vith. Other\vis~, it \vill appear that the Air Force is n ow, through a special panel, endeavoring to pass judgment on the Condon Re?ort. This \vould be con1pl etely untenable and emb arrassing. One k:1ovs in advance from the p e rsonnel involve d \Vhat the a nswer \vill be. Inc: ntally, I \vas in Ne\V York while the America n A stronautical S o ':!t y \vas holdin g its n1.eetings, and was surprised to hear o f the uF:J Panel b eing conducted there. I have n o information, though, as t 0 -.---::at transpired, because I was busy otherwise. I think your censure o: ~: October is certai!1ly deserved, but far too restrained . I apologize f o:r n~-t having replied earlier to your letter of l(J ':'.:-:::)~rand its i:-.t.~:-esting enclosures . But I \vas bus y rnyself on ~!. ::-.:.::-.:.: o: rhe Intc::-r:-.::'):-::tl Astronomical Union, naming craters on the fc..:-::.:.:: : : t~1e rnoo:-1. E\.1llo\ving that, I spent the week in CoJorado. I \~:as very n1uch interested i n the Czechoslovakia n report. It is aL:-J'>.:: :~ ~tainly St. Ehno' s fire, as you surmised Lt. Col. :Hector Quinta n illa -2- \Vith reference to the 25 February 1967 s ighting at Fargo, N . D., I -~-~: v \vhat that \vas that the boy's s avv. But the "obj "ct" seen ~-the..: n o r th\vcst was a lmost certainly the Pl(lnc.:t Venus . :: -::_-. .te fron1 "Sky and Telescope' ' for ~..farch, 1967. "Venus, at 1~-1::. ::1itude - 3 . 4 , i s striking i11 th~.; evening sky, for it set s \Ve]l a fter t"'":_light ends." The changes of color and the rays a r c all consistent \ \ i:.!. the identi fication. I'd b e inc H ned to think that probably the b o y s s2 .~ the same thing, but made an error in thci r detern1.ination of di:,~ction. That is very easy to do, especially if the road is \Vindjng. I am not very rrn.tch itnpressed \Vith H ynek' s invcstiga.tion of the phc;:;.otnenon. He n1akcs the tacit assumption, which I be]ievc i s a sc-::ious defect of many suc h investigations, tha l the t\vo separate gro ups sa\v the s<une "object. Well, if it \Vas the same object, then it \Yas the Planet Venus , beyond question. The boys rnight have seen s orne thing different. 1 here arc lots o questions that I could ask, \vhich apparently \Vere not touched on. I'd like to kno\v \vha t the nJ.ode] of the Pol<J.roid \va=-. How did the y determine the exposure tirne? Polaroid's have automatic controls f o;: equali~ing the exposure. But \Vhcn one is taking the _i?ictur