uRO\.JP 2. l. SGUi<C.: 10. CONCLU510N 4. NUMGEt<"' OBJECTS s. L.ENGTH OF OBSERVATION ;.ev er a: r.n nu ~.-cs TYPE OF OoSERVATION Ground Visual e. PIIOTOS 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENC E 11. BRIEF SUWMRY A ';:)AN/h.. '/SIS cont.: nih . lor~i ci1: 14 December 1966 Seminole, Florida 33540 Majo:-cpj ntanilla bas forwarded the con espondence concerning your sighting to the Dearborn Observatory, asking us to see what ideas we ma7 be able to cane up \dth. I cannot g:1. "'e any positive identification of \'that you ~, but there are some possibilities that you ma.y wish to consider. Si.."'lCe this ..,a_, not a solid object seen at close range frau. severa l different angles b:; many ~ritr.esses, a s is the c ase in our t10st puzzling sighti.ngs, we would not be able to say with any certainty that f'fhat ~u sa1 was an un!mown object (that is, something de tely diffarent !!'".:D a hun:a.'l or natural phenomenon): t~e closest we might come to t..iat .-rould. be tv s a y thAt you saw sanething very otri...ld.ng, but vhich bears snough resemblance to lclown phen~e:-..3. that \te canno t call it a rgra.cie A UFo n. IAst 3ur.mer er.d fall, I had occasion to inv9sti~ate a l a rse nurr.ber o f Jizhting3 :.:1 t he i.Ud~-.'9st. The observers ro?orted a rapidly ';)xp<'\!1din.g b.~ll of l:..ght ("!.bout a thrld Jf tr.e \.ri tnesses :.ntcr'!)reted the e.xpe.nsion as a.n approa-ch ,hich gre1rr in size until it w .:\3 some four times lar3sr than t :1e apparent :li~e of t !te full I:'loon. Its edge~ were sharp nearly all t h e way around except for one :sector where t~e light faded at~y g!"&Ciually. At one point in the event, swirling blue and green lights were seen wi.th!.."l the object. After :m initi:ll expansion lasting :perhape fi.!'teen 3econds, t r.e ob~ect tcrned silrery and persisted for another hal r h:JU!"' during which it ..faded and became progressively more i:-.dist.inct.. I t alao moved :slowly to the west. Finally it be- came very dim a.nd :J.ssumed tr.e shape o! a columr. or strea..l<, like the beam of a searc!'llight, and stan could be seen through it. Beto~ the !1r~ fading a~y, a bright spark was s een at t~e approx- imate center of t he object, which moved rapidly to the east tor perhaps ten degrees of arc, and then blossaned into a n exa.cta.y similar displ.:l.J. All tod.d, sa!lething was visible !or two hours. Five of the people who interpret-ad the rapid expa...'l:5ion as an approach were coun;ereial or mi 11 'tarJ pilots, in the air at the tizre. 'rhej felt t~.at the object rushed at them, and t hen turned 3.~ followe d cha i r airpln.nes, pacing them for between five and twenty .:ninu tes, a:1d tht3n veered off, a:s the change of s hape beg3Jl. One of thes e pilots contacted an e.pproa.ch-<:ontrol racbr station, without telling '<ih:f he -was asking for information, and was told that t here was indeed traffic movi.."lg t.Oif&rd him SOOle 12 miles away , and l<thich h&d. tumed t o a t>a.re.JJ el course All of the pilots were mista~en~ without any possibility of doubt. The ssme phenomenon was seen at precisely t he sa:ne th;,e (withi.!"t a few minutes) by observers scattered between Rockford, Dlinois, and northern North Dakota. I have lot ters and interviews fran over 60 peo:lle lfho watched the display, and al 1 of their descriptions match these of the pilota in every respect (size, e.xpa.nsion, color, f'onn) e:xx:.ept far the interpretation of' approach. Lines of sight drawn on a map bua the posi t.ion of' each observer converge to an s.rea in north central canada, sane 500 to 1000 miles away frcm the variou:s observe~. We have nov found out that at exacUy the median time given by the witnesses, the first ot two cons:ecuti ve releases of clouds of barium took plaee, 250 miles above Ft. Churchill on Hudson's bay. Two re- leases took p).'!.ee a few minutes apart.. The results were photographed, and t he photographs match perfectly the pictures drawn by severo-1 witnesses, including one of the pilot8. ~/e contacted the rada r stat i on ir.volved in the one sighting, and f ound th9.t nothing unusual ~ta.3 s e e n ra.d.ar that night -the operator who had been on dut3t didn' t even recall the specific pilo t t s request. There i s s o much 'lir tra !fic L"'l tha t area ( ne a r ?tilfdauked, riseons:.n ) that ."'e cannot doubt that t he supposed rada r 0bservation ~ta..s a coincidence. iJr:e-. would ~ave to reach very f:tr to say that one pilot happened to see a spect.acula: UF:) ~;~..icil just h~ppened to match the descripti0n of the bariur~ cloud ralea~ed by the rockets, at the same mo~ont~ and in the sar~ direction. presume t.hat :.-ou have "Na tched l al!IlcM!lgs f rom Cape i(.enned y > on tel evision or 1 :. ye: have yor; eYer :1oticed what happens t o the exhaust i'ran the roe!<et ~then the booster gets well out of the denser 3.bnosphere? L"lstead o f producing a long tail, the e.:dlaust gas~s spread into a rdder a:ld ... 'ider cone , and when a near-vacuum is reached, t h e cone i'lattens to a disc whlch t hen actua.11y curls f on'lard and fo:>rms a ball around the whole bod:r of the rocket, moving, of course, tdth :t. This b.ll.l. is lurrinous, and expands ~ith altitude. The r oc ket mot or, still !ir1-1; is seen a s a bril1ijnt light at the center of the b~ll, ~nen the ooint ot visv is behind the direction of acceleration. The area or the P3.ci.fic o here your sighting took place i s known t o be used l or rocket e.xperments, both frcm this country and fro~( -,thers. ~ere ~.-as, as ;rou nota, a rocket launched near t he right ti.I!te , only 110 de grees of l ongitude from your :?OSition, but I don't l<...n<n~ a.nythin~ abou:. ita trajectory. You '.I.-ore ~ll .d.thin ran o ! launchine !acil:.. :.ies all over the Paci!i::, including Vandenburg .l.FB in California I can"t account for the fl<J.~.h:ing \ofhite light i n the cer.ter of the objac"t., althoU6h I can guess what it might ha,re been (a ra.arker .t-:>r -:>ptical .:!Cqu.isi tion of the center of t he explosion ) . Departure 01.~ the 1trhi ta object suggests a ~oat intaresti~g tJ~ o f e~e~ent, and al3o 51~ests tr.at 0r-e ':~ou1d have a ver;; bad ti k.e getti.."'lg any information abut it fran the mil i tary! I tl'..i..~ that there is convi!'lcing, ii' indirect, evide!lCe that 'r'lhat you saw was an explosion, or at least a shock-wave-limited e sion, of ga.s, in outer space. The SJ'Illlletry rules out motion through the at:nos- phere, a.3 does the long duration of the gas cloud. Sjnce the object was moving {rela.ti ve to the ship's 20 mph speed, at a:n.y rate) it must have baen moving in a va.c\nlm.' in order to retain its ahape. As I said, lftl can't positively identity what you saw, bu.t I think you will a.g1ee that what you saw could be reproduced by several known phenOClena, and so -we would be unjustL.""'ied i."l concluding that a sp-3.Ce ship :::ran sanewhere else wa s invol ,red (or a pol targeist a.t high altitude ) Conce!":'ling :,rour -:>ther reuarks, I don t t know ~:There you get your inf'onna tion about gravitic research , but it i:mtt c oMect. Inertial mss exists rega..""C!l.ess o~ sravi taticnal fields -th-1 nk hat '.Hould hap~n to orbital. calculation5 i f it didn't! ~nd how could we so accurately predict the paths -,r canet3, t<~hich t~o.vel at ::.p!lelion in regions ,.;~here t.he sun's ~r:l.ri~...atio~l field is down to a billionth o f its value '!.t par:.helion , ii' tha equati~s using inertial mass a s constant v~re Hron~? ~Jobr>d:; has e .. rer succeeded in producing even ths slightest a rt-ificia l sz-ay- it .. 'lt:..;.r.a.l. af:~ct., the sli~htast shieldi!'g ei'foct, >r in tact any ~"'l!lue.-..ce ret.5cover on 1=-~iiution: neu3p3.per, ::.:l_:;a::;ine, and UFO jour:! "lrti::_es 1hich h:r:e ~1inted :-_t this !1.:.ri:1g been done :..n sane "soc ret la.bora~or;r" are .f..l:Jt waking noises -t.hey don' t .mow \Jhat the;r a..re t.:1~-"1& about. T"~e Gallup ?oil revealed that .f:h~ :nilH on people have seen sanething i n t.~e sk; 'rlhic h they would ca.ll a UFO (!:.he ~..,ording of th~ question) . I take that :nore ~s an indication of the appa1ling level o f ignora.'1Ce t :1at ;"Jre-ra"'1 s i.1 t."rls country, which I have seen first ha.1d on many occ~sions. :;: ~;.ve had dozens of witnesse3 go outdoors with r.e and point. out their lJ?O, .t~hl.ch was a twinld . .ill8 star, or a pla.'l.9t, or even a l ousy air:Ua.ne. I ttean ordi.nar:r, solid citizens, too, not imbeciles or !JSychotica. Judging .i'rcm experience and knowledge of UFO reports in t he .\ir Force til.es 3.nd in other hands (such as Jacque~ Val J ee' s tar :nora .impressi~ .files) , I would guess that perhaps lOO,~CO people in ~:~a ..mole ..rorld have 3een somethi:lg which would ~:take a."l. educated man evan look twice; ot these, there are certai."lly no more than 20CO to 30C0 which merit a.ey serious attention. I 110Uld pl:1ce yours, incident.,lly, in this last category, since it was definitely a striking and unusual phenanenon, not scmething ord..i.nar'J ndsinterprsted out o! i7.!loran.ce. Fl'D (TDEI'R) iJ Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 24 August 1966 I appreciated learning of your most exciting experience. It must have been a truly fantastic observation. I depict disbelief on your behalf concerning the validity of in!'ormauon released on UFO investigations by the Air Force. Speaking as Chief of Project Blue Book, I know of no reluctance on my part to share what knowledge I possess vi th t;be general public . NICAP i s in no wy associated ,li th the USAF or anJ a genc:, of tile U. S . Government. NICAP is a privatel,, owned. WO i~ves~igating group and has no relationsh i p witr1 Project Blue Book. Again, I want t-o t hank .,ou f'o1 reportine to the .1\ir F01:ce your mos t unusual ob servation. The information .1-=>U furn- ished has been forvarded t o me teorological experts for t~ei:-eialuatio!1. If thes e gentlemen cannot determine the cause of your observation, then we will submit your case file to some upper a i r research physicist for their e val- Sincerely , Q.UlNTANll.IJ\ Jr, Major, USAF Project Bl ue Book we a.""C dea)j~ with. and that :sene day ;re 'Will svlre it. I don't care h01K :.:. cct:1es ~t, jU3t as long aa we dontt ;:-..nka f'ools of each other by r.Jal~ :l lot of Ni.ld gueDSeS before ~nJbody l<:lO".-JS arvthing -....orth ta.J.ki..~ about. Yours tl"UlJ, I happen to agree with you that the Air Force could have do~e a bette r job in the past; I have disagreed even IIi th the present Blue Booi< people (.-tho are doing a better job t han n:ost or their predecessors) and I expect to disagree in the fUture, since the y don't. tell me what to ;say or not to say a.11d since I wouldn't drea:n of working ror them as a very occasional c onsultant if they did. The 3lue Book peopla and I are just ordinary people, working on a pul~ling pnblem, and trying not to be subjected to :mow j ob8 by the many people toJho ..rouJd li!<e to try doing ~t that. ~.ajor Q.ri.ntanilJa. doesn' t happen t o thir..k that there is any mystery be hi~ the UFO phenomenon, :rhile I thi.nk that there ia probably sauething of scientific interest, even, Just posaibly, spaceships. That doesn't mean that he's wrong and Itt:~ ~ -it just means that. u in mst o! the a.f.fain o f life peopla dcm't agree on evar;y aspect o! every problem. I have no in- ter:t.ion oL try t ng to bnJ J 7 Quinta.nilla into taking my point of 'riew, ard he wwld never make an attanpt to do the same to me. v.lhat !le 4oea e:x;:oct of me ia that whatever I have to say on the pr.;)b)em be constructiTe and rational, and that i! I r.ave a.n:y critici:cs, I cane up with recaurnendationa that are reaaonable possible, and well- bbere on earth did you get the idea tr~t 50 mill; on d ol J ar<.l was ever spent to il:r1estignto UFO' s2 Blue Book consists of !our (count ' em, !our) peopla: t ile l-rajor, Lt. ;.farley , a secretary, and an airman Hayb! like ma.v others 7ou have an ixraginar"J picture of sanet hi!'lg llke NOF.AD headquarters, with ro~ o! teletypes and computers, <ll1d a big plotting board down at one end, a nd di.m blue ligi.ts. It ain't so, and r.e7er haa been . Blue 3ook is a very tiny )pcrr.tion , as ~pers.tio!'ls in the Air Force go. Once you ur.dorstand t.hat,. you wi_l1 see t he i.tlpo?ta.nce of the .ra.ct ~'w.t the Pentagon h:-...a ?. ran ~'!-JGCO, CCG to ths Uni venit: of Colorado to corrluct an independent 3t\:.dy of the w!lole p_-oblcm, with no strings attac.'l-Joo. That much I<lono;r Hould run Blue Book f':)r five years. L"l other word3, the .lir Force r.:1s been cor.~ii.."lced, thro~ the efforts o.~ many people ir.cludj r.g t heir own scientists, tb.at i t is tiiJIIl to look at the whols phencmenon and 3ee "'hat U ~ needs to be done. It couJdntt ha~ been done oef cre now - give or take a couple ot ;-~a..~. };e just haven't kn~n enou~h about tr.e pl'l..enanenon even to guess how to approach it, until a few people oct of the t h owsands of cla~oring enthl!aiaats actual] y did some hard wrk , "md made some statistical stt:dies or reports .fran all over t he 'l-.~rld, and showed how one might g o about studying this phencmenon in a mean; ng.tul way. ?eople are al1:.ra.ys eager t o demand to knovr why "s:cnebody" doesn't do sonething: i t rarely occurs to them to do it themselves, aince a lot or e!ort and t.;n:-e is invol\"'ed. . !:..:..:; !::33 been a long letter - I hope that somewhere in it you find ~at you were l ooking !or. I have no solutions to t.ne UFO problem, bet I am quite confident t hat inside of a fsw years ve will know what FW (TDETR) Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 1 August 1966 Seminole, Florida 3 Thank you ~or the information which you have submitted to Project Blue Book on your observation. Indeed your observation is interesting and unique. I would appreciate it if you would fill out the attached F'l'D Form 164 and return to me for further evaluation. I intend to turn your j nfor.nation over to the meteorological experts for their &Uldy. Sincere 1.y, ""' HE!CTOR .lJINTA!ITLLA Jr, Me.jor, USAF Chief, Project Bl ue Book Froject Blue Boo\t U S AIR FORCE Washlnr:ton U.S. AIR FORCE TE01NICAl IHFORMATIOH This qu.tstionnoire has be4m prepar.d so that yoo can gi~ the U.S. Asr Force os "--ch informotion os pouible concerntn~ the unidentified oefiol phe110menon that yoo h<Ne oOMN~ PittON try to answer os many ~stions as yoo pouibly con. The information that ytN giv. will be ua.d for res.orch purposes. '(o..K nome will not be us.d in conMcticn wltft Ofly at~,_,.,., cOftCiusions, or publicationa withtNt yow permiuion. We ,.~est this ~sonol infouMttlon 10 that if it is ciee,.d Meusary, we rnoy contact ytN fCf further details. 2. Time of doy: ----- (Circle One): Tl ... ZOM: (Cirde One): (Circle One): Ogy livht Scr.,i"9 ... C.ntrol b Stanodord Just West o f i.ntl ~. When .. r ytN ~n you sow the object? Aboard S / S ~ount V&roon V1ctorv ( V S Re~ 28 4178), great circle Gvam-~awaii, r ghlr l9N 172E. a. F.Wty certoin Hn wu u .. In t l,ht demmi~? c. Not -..ry sure d. J u at o gueu Exsct time may be obtained from BaY1gat1on orrlcer, ar Rom!ng~r. s.2 W.. aict In aUJtt cantiautNsty? Yu H No .. Yea, either "objee a.. Cloucty fCW.Cie 0.): o.. In fr~t of yov ~ 1ft Mel& of 'I fal c. To )'IJr ri~t lt. Cloucty Scattered clouda, but atara beaut1tully clear d. To yovr left Proposed reply to letter y.,...., Reference your recent letter regarding your Z7 June 1966 observation. As you most certainly implied in your letter . it vaa a most extraordinary sighting. ~o date, we have been nnable to reach a definite explanation. Dr. Hynek, Air Force coosultant to Project Blue Book, bas studied the case and can ofter no conclusive explanation It vas a quite interesting observation and the case is being carried aa unidentified since no definite explanation is apparent. . 8.1 STARS (C ircla One): 8.2 MOON (C,rcl. OM): o. Bri~tIIIOOftllght X b. CNII ""*11ight c. No MOOf'lli.,t -pitch -.~c 9. Wl:zt .. re tt. weorl"lr conclition1 ot the tiJM you ..., the oltj.ct? CLOUOS (Cin:~ One): X c. Scouancl cloudt L Thick hacrry clouda WEATHER (Cirda 0,.): a. Dry PrJ, recent rain ha"Ying b. Fot. mist, ~ li~t rain c. Modarot. 01 hacwy rain 10. TM l~jact opps 1~: (Circle 0.): Btli'tw .. d. At o lltht **With exception noted. c. A~ rho so~ ~. O't lu-sw {Circle Otte): 11.1 Cs tsza "'~cJthu to MM con .-;ac~ tt t1rst thought to be Venua ( due to arr1T about then), ~bD"gb brilliance thought t o be unuau ... l aa a carbon ~tre