UFOs: A HISTORY LOREN E. GROSS California UFO'S: A IIISTORY Nineteen-fifty-one was more than a multi-month time period between the big UFO flap years that preceded and fol- lDived it. llere is just a few 1vords that can clue us to the extent of the UFO story during this "lull." There was: Colonel Watson's attack on "UFO nuts," the rise and fall of the Skyhook hypothesis, reports from Africa, reports from India, and reports from Europe. Also, there was the termination of project TWINKLE, the awakening of Life maga- zine, Lt. Cummings as ATIC's UFO chief, continued UFO acti- vity over New Mexico, the UFO review of July, the Lubbock Lights, the Peruvian photo, the appearance of Rockmore's Saucer Review, the formation of France's CIESCO, the Fort Monmouth uproar, the mysterious civilian group "authorized to ask questions; E. J. Ruppelt as head of ATIC's UFO inves- tigation, the "new project GRUDGE," the green meteors' return, the Marquand hoax, ATIC's "Status Reports," and Project STORK. ll'eird lights. One of the biggest UFO stories of 1951 concerned some mysterious lights in the night sky over Lubbock, Texas late in Augus~ but as early as January 8th some very spooky goings- on were happening in the heavens near another Texas city. Some motorists testified: "We were returning from Fort Worth, Texas, at approximately 10:45 p.m., 8 January 1951. After leaving the super highway coming out of Fort Worth and entering U.S. Highway 81, we drove over a slight hill approximately five to eight miles south of the intersection of the super highway and U.S. Highway 81. As we crossed the top of the hill, we saw a series of lights in the sky and at first it appeared to be a water tower or a radio tower. We then looked to the right and to the left and saw other bunches of lights identical to the ones over the highway. We pulled over to the side of the road and stop~ed. We noticed approximately 200 yards ahead of us two other automobiles which had pulled off to the side of the road, apparently to watch the same lights we were observing. We pulled our car up behind these other two cars, at which time one car drove off. "The driver of the second car came back to our car and stated that he had been watching these lights and had never seen anything like it IJPP/ltiX. MIIIUTI_i'S j/r ,J~/IIi's, hefore. These lights over the highway appcare~ to he 1,000 feet and on a vertical plane. T1vo of the lights were green and the third light was red, forming a triangle. There were three of these triangles in the group over the high~ay, making one large triangle. ~e looked to the east of llighway 81 and could see another triangle. We saw three lights approximately three to five hundred yards to the cast, and to the west we noticed three to four groups of lights arranged in the same manner. These lights appeared to be five to seven hundred yards to the west of the main group over the highway. We stood outside the car and observed these lights, which were stationary at first. After a short ~hile we noticed that the groups of lights over the highway began moving north in the direction of Fort Worth, Texas and we estimated the speed of these lights to be 100 miles or less. The two green lights appeared to be moving to the north f6llowed by the red light. We looked at the group of lights in the east. They had also started to move north toward Fort Worth. The group of lights on the west appeared to be moving toward Fort Worth, but traveling at a speed of approximately twice that of the group over the highway. We noticed that the group of lights to the east of the highway and to the west of the highway appeared to be on a horizontal plane. These ligh~s did not blink and resembled the lights on a water tower or radio antenna. As these lights moved away a sound resembling an outboard motor trolling in the dis- tance could be heard. We observed these lights for approximately five minutes and from our obser- vation, agreed that the distance between the lights in each of the smaller triangles was ten to fifteen If these lights were on helicopters the roar of the engines would have been deafening, but the only sound noted however was like an "outboard motor trolling." Another case took place January 12th at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. An Air Force officer noticed an odd "star" in the heavens about 10:00 p.m. which he described as: " ... unusually bright and a brilliant white: appeared to be three or four times as large as a star; as object ascended [if it was meteor it was falling upward] it appeared to change in color to a hazy yellow-green-red and left tail of light behind; no sound; appeared to have tremendous rate of speed, as well as a pattern of flight, although it would zig zag in an abrupt fashion. nbserver sUtted object did not appear to be con- ventional aircraft <tnd in his judgment di~played convincing traits of planned maneuverability, h'hich discounted theory of its being <t balloon."~ i\r~other "mystery star" appeared in the daytime (11 :00 a.m.) over Fort Benning, Georgia the same date, January 12th: "It remained stationary for approximately 20 minutes, then clearly moved directly ~outh at a very high rate of speed leaving a very thin visible wake and then disappearing. Its wake short and fan shaped. lie ''as not certain as to the shape of the object, but said it appeared round and could have been spherical or circular shaped. The size seemed to be that of an ordinary kitchen match when holidng the match about at arm's A more conventional sighting on the 14th took place in the air in the vicinity of Big Bear Lake, California. The weather was clear with visibility about fifty miles at 1238 hours that day. A private aircraft with four people aboard was en route from Santa 1-lonica to Palm Springs when a UFO passed by. All four of those in the aircraft sighted the object which they described as 40 to SO in diameter and round in shape. It was estimated that the object was at 30,000 feet as it sped in a western direction toward Los Angeles. Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control was immediately notified by radio, which in turn contacted March Flight Service Center at 1250 hours. The alert reached the 27th Air Division Headquarters at Norton AFB and the military experts there determined that the: "wind at 30,000 feet was forecast to be 360 degrees at 60 knots, which would discount an object without a source of power."4 "Mystery star" over Oak Ridge. A car load of civilian employees of the NEPA Division, Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, spotted a "bril- liant, stationary, object" hovering above Oak Ridge in air- space restricted to aircraft, but a check by authorities responsible for area security revealed that no aircraft or balloons were airborne at the time of the sighting.S The next case reminds one of the big fuss back in the summer of 1949 when it was proposed that the UFO's were curious about the goings-on in the New Mexico area. In 1949 it was reported that UFO's had flown around rockets during test launches. On January 16, 1951, a giant Skyhook balloon launched by the General Mills people operating out of Artesia, New Mexico, triggered a rash of flying saucer reports as the balloon drifted over west Texas, but the real story of the Jay occurred Juring the actual launch. Shortly afteJ-the launch the team of General Nills technicians watched the Skyhook as it gained altitude. Sudden!" the technicians detected t1v0 objects in the sky approaching fast. A brief summary in official files stated that the objects 1\erc in vie w for ~0 seconds: "On 16 .January 1952, two members of a balloon project from the General Mills Aeronautical Research Laboratory and four other civilians observed two unidentifiable aerial objects in the vicinity of the balloon they were observing. The balloon was at an altitude of 11,000 feet and was 110 feet in diameter at the time of the observation. "The objects were observed tl\ice, one from Artesia, New Mexico, and once from the Artesia Airport. In the first instance, one round object appeared to remain motionless in the vicinity, but apparently higher than the balloon. The balloon appeared to be 11 inches in diameter and the object 21 inches in diameter (ratio 3:5) and the color was a dull white. This observation was made by the two General Mills observers. "A short time later the same t\\'O observers and four civilian pilots were observing the balloon from the Artesia Airport. Two objects at apparently extremely high altitude were noticed coming toward the balloon from the northwest. They circled the balloon, or apparently so, and flew off to the northeast. The time of observation was about 40 seconds. The two objects were the same color and size as the first object. They were flying side-by- side. When the objects appeared to circle the balloon, they disappeared and the observers assumed they were disc-shaped and had turned on <r.1ge to bank. "Unfortunately this report was not made until 5 April and did not reach ATIC until 16 April. Du~ to this time lag, no further inves- tigation is contemplated. The observers are known to be very reliable and experienced."6 Under "conclusions" it simply said: "None. " Hawaii's strange tourist. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin asked on January 18th: "Is someone casing the Garden Island?" The Star-Bulletin was puzzled over the fact that Kauai island had had its third flying saucer report since Christmas Eve and expressed wonderment at the qualifications of the latest witnesses. Five of Kauai's county officials viewed a silvery disc ~n a clear blue sky a~ 6:30 p.m. from the window of the county chairman's office. One of the men dashed home to get a telescope but before he returned the object moved ~w~y and entered a cloud formation.? On the other side of the world, Europe's first taste of flying saucer "hysteria" in 1950 left behind curiosity a nd the beginnings of much public speculation. pioneer of aeronautical science, M. Charles de Rouge, wrote for the French newspaper Le Parisien Libere on January 18th that in his view: "In the condition of barbarism into which we have sunk through the lack of general scien- tific progress, the arrival on earth of flying saucers would perhaps be the salvation of a world condemned to destruction by its own errors."B Edward Ruppelt. An extraordinary personality in the history of UFO's was Ruppelt, a key man in the Air Forc e story in the early years although he never held a rank higher than Captain. Even today (1982) researchers are still unearthing new information about his role in the sky mystery. According to his own account, his involvement in the a erial riddle was gradual. Ruppelt had been called to active duty during the Korean conflict and was assigned to ATIC, Wright-Pattersn AFB, where his work consisted of evaluations of the latest Communist aircraft; however, his desk job a cquired some unexpected fascination whe n he discovered that a n officer in the same room processed UFO reports, the hottest topic of conversation in the nation. Right after beginning work at ATIC, Ruppelt overheard a discussion taking place at the desk of the UFO officer. Office personnel.had gathered around the desk to scoff at a story that had come in, something about what the news- papers were calling an "impossible plane. " It seems a vpry strange "aircraft" had been witness ed in the air over Sioux City, Iowa , on January 20th. Offutt Field's Colonel Matthew Thompson, an officer that served a s the Air Base liFO investigator, had been a passenger on Mid-Continental Flight 9 but had been sleeping at the time. His aide, S/A Sparks, noted some strange lights he believed were aircraft running lights to the left rear of Flight 9, hut that's all. The chief Air Controller at Sioux City tower was amazed as he watched the UFO's passage. In spite of who the witnesses were, the "impossible plane" report met with what appeared to be a poor reception. Ruppelt marvelled. 9 Sioux City Airport Traffic Controllers signed the following document: "i\t approximately 21120C a bright I ight IJas ohservld rrom the control t01~er. When first noticed the 1 ight appeared to be approximately 2,00-0 feet above the surface on a bearing of approximately 285 degrees from the tower and about 21 to 3 miles away. This light appeared to be stationary and of extreme brilliance for a period of one to two minutes, then gradually began to fade. At this time Mid-Continent Airlines Flight Nine was given taxi instruc- tions for takeoff and was then advised of the light the tower had in sight. The pilot was unable to locate the light which had faded to a dull glow and was climbing rapidly in a southerly direction. At approximately eight or nine thousand feet and a distance of about four miles the light appeared to become stationary again southwest of the airport. Mid-Continent Airlines Flight Nine took off northwest at 2027C and made a left "turn. The tower then advised as to the light's position. Within a few seconds the Mid-Continent pilot sighted the object. The pilot then turned to a southerl~ heading and advised the tower the object appeared to be a ver.y large military aircraft. The pilot asked if there were any jet aircraft in the vicinity of the airport. At this time Nl810V, a Cessna Model 140 called the tower and advised he was low on fuel and was making an emergency landing at Sioux City. The Cessna was immediately given landing instructions and landed at 2032C. Also, at approximately the same time, N3137V, a Beechcraft Bonanza called for landing instructions, and landed at 2036C. At approximately 2030C Mid-Continent Airlines Flight Nine advised the object was flying a loose forma- tion with him. Mid-Continent was at an approxi- mate altitude of 2,500 feet on a north-east heading about one mile southeast of the airport. The pilot asked if the tower had the object in sight. The object could not be observed from the tower. Mid- Continent Airlines Flight Nine then took up a north- west heading circling directly over the tower, advising at the same time the object was directly on their tail. At approximately 2031C the object was observed apparently following Mid-Continent Airlines Flight Nine just before Flight Nine p~ssed over the tower. The pilot then took up a northeast heading and asked for-the position of the object. The to1ver advised the object was in sight about a mile and a half due east of the tower at an estimated altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the ground apparently in a stationary position. The objectthen began to move at a high rate of speed in a northwesterly direction. The pilot of Flight Nine again asked the position -1-fotfatlT C. ',. TlltC.SoV~. . B~IN~i:l> &."tGI4T'.S F\PPA.o"' ~ 'TiMaH of the object which was approximately half way between Mid-Continent Airline Flight Nine's altitude and the ground and was moving very rapidly in a northwesterly direction. Mid- Continen: Flight Nine then proceeded on course to Omaha, Nebraska at approximately 2034C. The object was last sighted from the tower at 2034C headed in a northwesterly direction. "10, 11 What is especially odd was the description of the UFO. The pilot of the Mid-Continent Airliner reported the thing could be clearly seen in the moonlight as it momentarily paced the airliner only an estimated ZOO yards away. It " ... equal to one and one-half times the size of a B-29 airplane. Fuselage appeared cigar-shaped and wing was long and slender, well forward and straight across, looking like a flattened cigar. Wing was from middle to high fuselage. No engines nacelles visible and wing appeared as a glider wing. No lights were noted on object at this time and no rudders or stabilizers."l2 What Ruppelt never mentions when he tells the story is that a number of wingless cigar-shaped UFOs had b~en reported over the years but in this case we have a freak, flying spindle 1~ith "wings." Could it be the UFO was a conventional air- craft in spite of the testimony of witnesses? Was the image and moves of the object just an illusion, some kind of mirror- like reflection of the Mid-Continent airliner? Perhaps the head shaking at ATIC was justified? One of the hard-to- convince fellows at ATIC muttered within earshot of Ruppelt: "Is everyone crazy!" Ruppelt questioned one of the old hands at ATIC and learned that officially the UFO problem was being taken lightly, yet privately there were some Intelligence officers that felt strongly the subject merited serious consideration although they were hampered in their efforts to influence policy.13 Ruppelt at this point became aware of a significant and disturbing fact about official attitude toward the sky mystery. A shocking split between believers and nonbelievers existed, one that would continue and become the story behind the story of the UFO riddle. When the final word on the UFO mystery is written, many of the dramatic scenes will deal with the clashes between persons in authority. Some very distinguished scientists and news commentators over the years have launched vehement attacks on the UFO mystery using as evidence "official announcements," but they would be shocked if they kneN of the politics and prejudice that controlled the content in "official announcements," statements that distorted official documentation. lJNCCAsSiF;~Q The pub! ic may, or may not, have been of a pro-UFO pe r suasion at this time but one thing seemed clear a s hy a Nc1~ England organization. The "Aero Club of Ne~> England" sent a letter of protest to 1\ir force Sccn:- t <iry Thomas K. Finletter denouncing the abandonment of the Pentagon's UFO investigative project and charging that explanations offered were 'inadequate, unconvincing, or totally lacking." Furthermore, the club stated that the testimony of credible witnesses readily conveys the distinct impression there were grounds for belief a novel aircraft existed unknown to aeronautical science. Many others shared the Aero Club's view. The complaint found an echo at ATIC coming from one of those officers Ruppelt says was not so rigid in his thinking. A Lt. Colonel Kent Parrot, USAF, Chief, Aircraft and Pro- pulsion Section, Technical Analysis Division, was annoyed with the data given him for the interpretation of the Mid- Continent Airliner case. lie stated that more information was needed and although it might be assumed that a conventional aircraft might explain the UFO, the: " ... expected final conclusions are difficult to state at this time."l4 And: "The responsibilities of the Air Defense Command in connection with visitations of this kind sho