This collection of documents, primarily from 1998, contains draft and final correspondence from the White House and the offices of members of Congress r…
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1320 .4 Aeronautics:UFO
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Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L11998-00407
. (b) (6)
Title: WARD/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from who's interested in
U.F.O. and the recent Mars photo
Recipient: UHeffernan
Author: SNOWE
Organization: SENATE Date Written : 05/18/1998
Date Received: 05/26/1998
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed: 06/24/1998
Date Closed: 06/24/1998
Action Office: UWard:S >>Current Due Date: 06/18/1998<<
Original Due Date:
Status: Closed
Signature Office: UHeffernan
Info offices: UHeffernan, UHeninger, L/Kerwin
Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (b) (6) OF STOCKINGTON, MAINE, WHO'S
INTE:RESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED.
Comments:
Enclosures: NO
Related Records:
Keywords: (b) (5) MAINE U.F.O. MARS
File Plan: 1320.4 Analyst: BMoore
06/24/1998 Page 1 of 1
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Headquarters Action T racking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00729
Title: Rothman/UFO_Sightings by Astronauts
Recipient: UHeffernan
Author: Grassley
Organization: Senate Date Written: 08/03/1998
Date Received: 08/31/1998
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed: 09/04/1998
Date Closed: 09/10/1998
Action Office: LD/Rothman:P >> Current Due Date: 08/22/1998<<
Original Due Date: 08/22/1998
Status: Closed
Signature Office: UHeffernan
Info Offices: UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Abstract:
Senator Grassley forwards letter from (ts) (S) who is requesting information on UFO sightings by
Astronauts. --
Comments:
Enclosures: letter
Related Records:
Keywords: (6J (o) UFO,astronauts,sightings
File Plan: 1320.4 Analyst: JMassey
09/10/1998 Page 1 of 1
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yeA toGU
SEP - 4 1998
L:HR:mtg:L/1998-729f
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate
Washington, DC 2051 0
Dear Senator Grassley:
Thank you for your letter of August 3, 1998, on behalf of(b <5) who
is requesting informat ion about the possible sightings of Unidentified Flying
Objects (U FOs) by NASA astronauts.
Over the years there have been many objects sighted by the astronauts during
space missions. Most of these items were later identified by photographs or
NORAD records as material from launch vehicles or spacecraft or were such
items as water droplets. No unidentified materials were seen on missions to the
moon. The Air Force, in the interest of national security, received and
investigated all reports for many years but has discontinued this activity. NASA
has no program for investigating UFOs and has not withheld information on
sightings.
In 1976, James Oberg thoroughly researched the UFO/astronaut allegations and
published an article about it in SEARCH magazine. We are enclosing that
article for (b) (6 ) )nformation. In addition, enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet
which summarizes the current status of NASA's involvement in UFO
investigations.
We trust this information wi ll aid you in responding to(b) 6 ) inquiry.
---
Sincere ly,
Edward Heffernan
Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosures
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+
bee:
Z/Roger Launius (with incoming) ; provided info
Sent to Sherry Kuntz in the Hill office
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S,ncc tho ··auron.iut UFO" genre
is one of rhe m13in pillolrs o f VFO
ovidcr1ce. thi5 study c lafml n g ! hat
the enti re set of C .)Scs i1 inv.,..l id
W 1if 0U 1110U 5iy CC fCCl.?1"18<J t..Vlth
Story!
15eeptic. ism and cr i tic ism from
SGM{ q ~ f'\~9 ~\?-j ,1{
UFO buffs. Aation~I objections
and arguments wiH bo printed and
answered in a subseQuent is'5ue of
this magazina. Critics are urged to James E. Oberg WiN T~R 1<;46 ( 1H~~ ij,J?_'lJ
raise specific points not address°'d
in tho study. or to cite and Associate Editor P/\LM~ fvBL\CA'11ou s
docum.ant facts which might f\l''\1-\~ f\<;T.) l-Ji ~c... S~Y OG
modify or invalidate conclusions " Space World" magazine
in the study.
Su\1\e C.1.1f7 pr:c~ ._f 1,25'
Space flight has opened many mysteries. True, scie11tists prefer to list tlie
puzzles solved and u11knoums discovered, but as men venture beyond the
earth it is inevitable that new mysteries will be encountered.
Somewhere out there, many obsen:ers believe, are intelligent species with
technological civilizations · far more advanced tha,z that of Earth. Perhaps
they are sending us radio signals we have not recognized. Perhaps they have
left artifacts of past visits for us to find. Perhaps they are even_ now keeping
the earth under surveillance.
If they are out there, someday we will meet them. As illustrated in science
fiction, this meeting will probably occur in space.
Have such meetings already occurred? Have astronauts and cosmonauts
already seen alien spacecraft? The UFO lite!ature is full of tales of "space
UFOs". Are any ofthem valid? What can a careful study reveal?
H ardly a UFO book or movie is
complete without the standard
assertion that "astronauts have seen
tigations Committee
Phenomena (NICAP) selected the
on A erial Force operations, and space miss:ons
might give me new insights into this
"McDivitt UFO" photo as one of the most puzzling series of cases. I was not
UFOs too". While critics may attack four best photographs ever taken. disappointed, and my results were
the character or intelligence of many The "astronaut UFO" sightings startling.
UFO witnesses, they cannot use these must appeal to many seriou:i The basic truths behind these
tactics on American and Russian space researchers for a number of reasons. sightings seems lately to have gathered
pilots. Where UFO photographs can be The witnesses and the photographs are an accretion of exaggeration,
accused of distortion and forgery, unimpeachable as to honesty and confusion, and outright fiction. The
photographs taken by astronauts and authenticity. The conditions of the 1968 "Condon Report" on UFOs
processed by NASA must be of the space missions can be calculated and (conducted by the University of
highest trustworthiness. Hence, most recorded, and every object near the Colorado for the U.S. Air Force)
UFO scholars consider the family of spacecraft can be determined by con found itself unable to penetrate three
astronaut UFO sightings to be one of sulting the giant space radars of the specific cases, which the analyst felt
the strongest bodi~s of evidence in the North American Air Defense were •a "challenge" to any serious
past thirty years. Command (NORAD), headquartered investigator. Stories later began
The best of these cases include inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. circulating about sightings of lunar
astronaut James McOivitt's sighting of Extensive crew debriefings and surface lights and structures, and the
o( an "unidentified spacecraft" near on-board tape recorder transcripts may discovery of artifacts on the moon,
his Gemini-4 space capsule in 1965, a be available to obtain direct eye about near approaches of structured
curious photo of a pair of UFOs with witness testimony. objects, and about attempts at radio
glowing propulsion fields taken by the With all these facts and assumptions contact between Apollo capsules and
Gemini-7 astronauts. reports of nearby in mind, and mindful of the nume rous UFOs. Recent books on UFOs give
objects from X-15 and Mercury 'unsolved' cases which might tell much lists of astronaut sightings which are
spacecraft. tales of how ~he 1968-1969 about the lJFO phenomenon, I began out of numeric sequence, misdated,
Apollo moon shots were followed by a special research program into this mispeUed, and otherwise distorted.
U.FOs on their way to the moon, and particular body of evidence. As an My research has revealed a few
reports and pbutographs of objects aerospace writer. historian, and re examples of deliberate photo forgeries
seen by crewmen on the Skylab space searcher, I felt that my experience by UFO buffs or opportunistic authors.
station. Last year, the National Inves- with astronautics, computers, Air My investigations in the NASA
38
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arch,n•s has fl'\"l•aled ca..~es whcrl' UFO ~ - -+s _ _ ,., - ,e-- ....... ,., ,+- ............ ,., _,., • .., .... ...... -«•
rt•~c:i rchrr; withheld Cl•rtain informa
tion frl'cly gi,·1•n them by N:\SA Dc:sµitc the pt!r.~istl'11t rumo rs of '.,;ccrct space p ict'"rcs •. all
officials. infori:tation which would pho /nJ!rupl1s tahl'll by .V,\S.-\ i11 space arc i11 tlie public domui11. That is.
have clearly explained m;my cases any p ict ure tuhc:,: by 1.111 astro11a111 or 011 earth resource, satellite is
which the authors wantt•d to appear ai:ailablr. to anyo11c who wants to pay fur i t.
There are foi: r tiers of plwto,;:-:iph Ji·cilcbility. but two a:-e rescri:ed
mysterious. So the time has come to for 11ewsme11 only The ~/ructurc is us f olluws:
take a ne\\' look at this whote A . The most p o pular space photographs /alien arc lithographed for
phenomenon. What is the truth about general free di.,;tributiCJ11 to anyone who asr.s for them. Seueral dozen
"astronaut li rOs "? new pho tographs are added to this list eucry year. Cost to .VAS,\ is a
The first step in any research might few ce11ts per print.
8 . The N.-lS.-l Public Information Offices at uarious centers and at
be with the Condon report. t:-iought headquarters prints gfossy photographs of t imely news stories for
by many to have been commissioned distribution tu the news media. Hundreds of these photographs are
as a "whitewash" of the UFO released euery year. but only crrtified newsmen can receiue them for
phenomenon. UFO enthusiasts are ~~ .
C. .\!any thousands of other photographs and drawi11gs may be of
accustomed to hearing harsh criticism interest to the news media and arc therefore fifad at public i11formatio11
of almost all aspects of this study. but offices. but stock copies are not kept. Each request must be filled by
my own objections to the "astronaut actual photo lab orders. which co:;ts NASA abo ut one dollar per
UFO" section is from a novel angle. photograph.
My own research suggests that the D. A,1y citizen who wants copies of any photograph listed in 'B' or
'C' aboue con get it, but it is entirely reasonable for NASA to expect
Condon investigator, far from being him t o pay for it. News bureau photographs. along with all other (light
the best man for the job, was clearly photography-stills and mouies-can be ordered from Bara Studios, P.O.
unqualified to evaluate the difficult Box 486, Bladensburg, MD 20710. The cost of any photograph ordered
cases. He was not familiar with the by st ock number is seueral dollars apiece. A ny cross-referencing or
researching will also cost money. . •
terminology of space flight or the Some ground photographs of astronaut accidents, au topsies, and
basics of orbital flight trajectories, as I medical examinations are not releasable for publication. On seueral
am. As a result , he ignored possible Gemini {lights, special photographic experiments were undertaken for
explanations while incorrecUy the DoD, but these inuolued special cameras and exclusiuely ear th
surface targe{s. In neither case would it be possible to withhold any
eliminating other possible answers.
hypothetical UFO photographs from the public.
In other words, far from being a Astronaut photographs are indexed by a code which specifies year
coverup, this chapter of the Condon taken and frame number. S66- 12387, for example, would be a NASA
report is superficial. It is entirely photo (not necessarily a space photo) taken in 1966. Beginning w i th
worthless as an endorsement of the Apollo, space photos were also indexed w ith a mission code, r oll
number and frame num ber (neither of which were repeated on later
unexplained and unexplainable nature {lights). For example, ASJ 6·108-13005 u•as taken on the Apollo-16
of several astronaut sightings which I {light, with the 108th roll of the Apollo project (liglit film. Mouie film
will discuss. I can prove this remark is indexed per magazine with similar numbers.
able assertion to any investigator Euery photograph euer taken by American astronauts for N ASA is
on file w ith Bara Studios and can be obtained by anyone wifling to pay
serious enough to consider all the for them. Writers who produce 'secret NASA UFO photographs' which
evidence, much of which has never they claim are being hidden from the American public are doing a gross
before been published. disseruice to one of the most open and cooperatiue public informat ion
The Condon report does give some offices of any federal agency.
details about the environment of
astronaut sightings, but even here does
not go far enough. More stress needs
to be put on the visual and photo an o bserver on Earth can see a number NASA to know about as it might be a
graphic limitations of space flight: the of orbiting objects with only half an true UFO: Careful investigations are
windows are far smaller than popularly effort. Out or this "backg?ound noise", called for.
realized (about half the size of this can we separate the "signal" which What are some of the most famous
open magazine at arm's length), and will indicate the existence of UFOs? cases, and what are the facts? Interpre
for many years were subject to These problems all are of interest to tations may differ, but productive
obscuration and smudging by seepage space officials, and numerous studies thinking can only be done when all the
o( sealant and by contamination by have been made. Fragments might information is at hand. Some o( It is
rocket fuel. At various p_oints in the imply a structural failure (a rescue ship hard to find or understand; other
fligh t, the spacecraft was surrounded was almost sent to Skylab-3 because of information, available to some
by cl ouds of d~bris (leaking fuel, the crew's observation of leaking fuel researchers, may have been deliberate
dum ped water, chipping paint, fraying droplets). Debris inside t!1e cabin can ly withheld. ·some classical cases may
insulation, ejected equipment. and irritate eyes and damage the electronic consist of made-up fantasies. You can
more). while the inside of the weight• gear behind the instrument panels. soon judge for yourself.
less cabin was usually plagued with Other satellites might be dangerous Has there been any attempt to
fl oating particles of dust and debris due to the potential of coll ision o r "cover up" space sightings (a common
which often passed in front of camt!ras they might be of intelligence interest if plea when no t!Vidence is available,
pointing out windows. Other satellites they are frcm somt! other nation. even in this age of sieve-like
sho uld have been visible, since few Therefore, any mysterious space government secrecy)? Are astronauts
people realize that on any clear night sighting might as easily be vital for "muzzled" about UFOs? Has fifteen
39
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, , ..~ 1.~~-· ••·---.'",....:"-r-•':·""'" t 1 - ~ f ' . ~ ~ .....: · ~'{~,;t't( ✓"~•'·-:..,........,:-.,:-,::,"?\~-."':,~~""t".:~..- ~~,.-,r-•r·,r• . . , - ~ ~ •· ,~-•l"""'-..,.,,
,. • •
'
f
I
i
!
.: ;,_<..-:::~~ -'
. ~~
The "McOivitt UFO", pr ize-winning astronaut photograph taken on Gemini-4. Actually, McOivitt_axplained later after tho flight that
the sun was coming across the window as the_spacecraft rolled, the sun rays struck a metal bolt, causing the'Ci lares in the camera lens''.
NASA photo 65-H-1013.
years of manned spaceflight uncovered NASA announced that the object had And if the pictures did not turn out,
any evidence at all which even been identified. where did NICAP get its "top four"
remotely suggests that Earth is being But Pegasus had been more than a photograph (which shows, not a
visited and observed by advanced thousand miles away, and McDivitt winged cylinder, but a smeared blob)?
spacesliips from another world? Let's clearly saw an object much closer, We can answer these questions at last.
look at the evidence. much more detailed, and in an orbit The first hint as to the true identity
On June 3, 1965, rookie astronauts very close to his own ("Collision of this space UFO can be found in
Jim McDivitt and Ed White blasted course" to a pilot means that the McDivitt's own words, given at a press
of( from Cape Kennedy (now again relative angle of sight is unchanging, conference a week after the flight
Cape Canaveral), squeezed into their which would not be the case for any when his memory was fresh: "It
Gemini-4 capsule. The two youngest• satellite crossing McDivitt's orbit). The looked a lot like an upper staie of a
ever . American spacemen were to object became a UFO when nobody booster". Gemini does have a booster
spend four days in orbit, tripling the could identify it. It has remained a just like it, and McDivitt had been
previous US record. They would be UFO up until today, but not any carrying out maneuvers near it early in
the first American space crewmen to longer. the flight. Why didn't the -list from
have time to sightsee in space, once McDivitt's hasty attempt to take a NORAD include the Gemini-4 boost er
major experiments like a booster photograph of the object thrqugh his rocket?
rendezvous and a walk in space were smeared window was apparently fruit• NORAD had been tracking the
completed. less, since the object's motion objects, but NASA had not asked
Approximately thirty hours into combined with the slow stabilization about Gemini-4 and its own associated
the flight ( while White was asleep) , spin of the spaceship carried it into the debris- it had asked about Gemini--!
McDivitt reported that he had seen an glare of the sun after about 30 seconds. and any other earlier satellites.
object in space near his space capsule. The astronaut later recounted how he Anyone familiar with computerized
It appeared to be cylindrical with ·'an went through all the films of the flight information systems (one of my
arm sticking out", possibly on a (every roll of film is accounted for on professional specialities) can guess
collision course. Interested NAS.-\ a flight manifest, so they do not what happened : the computer was
officials in Ho uston asked NORAD disappear) and found many over given a "query" which told it to
which other space satellites were near exposed or blank. This mission had compare Gemini--t with the other
Cemini--1 at the time of the sigh ting, been the first night in which space satellites. The computer never knew
and NORAD came up with a list of photography was a major experiment, where the Gemini booster was relati\•e
about a dozen objects. All of them and the glaring sunlight of space had to the spacecraft, since it had not been
were pieces of tiny debris or small invalidated many pre-flight exposure asked. :\lcDivitt had been visually
scicntit"ic satellites except one: the settings. :\lcDivitt did not find any- tracking the thirty foot long cylind1r
giant, " winged" meteor satC'llitc, • thing which looked like ""his UFO". at a range of only 75 miles a few hours
Pegasus-2. It seemed to iit the descrip What was it he ,aw? Why has it earlier, but this large satellite never
tion radioed down by McDivitt, so become such a prominl•nt UFO case? made the "NORAD list" because
40
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Arti1t', ronrliti on o t thu ,ntron,,u1s· t> --.,.-~r..-~•r ·~ ~ .-:---•' ...
l • •• •"t'"':•~ ·.r.- n .-· '"-]
.
vlow o f 1ho ro n do.r 0
0 u <J ovatv a: ion
( . ' ' .
pod after it hai boon jotti1oncd from
the Gemi ni adaptor ioc t iun. Gorn,ni
r;,dar locked o n to evaluation pod. i • • .. -·
. . ,
.. .., . . c J . • : .,
.....- - . . : - _,..Js...:'11, . :.l• • ' ...- "...
t·
--., - ..
. ', '
·,·...
Scott Carpenter took th is photo of a ., . -
s ubsatellit e balloon jettisoned by h is £' . .
ance and even make i t l ook like two
objects. The potato-shaped grey b lob
is the pod's in sulation blanket.
T h i • sequence of p ictures illustrate• the problem o f
Identi fying photographs of objects in tho glare o f space.
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~ --' ·-·. -•-,,-- • C ~ - ~=- ,.....,--.,•·-•~----. ··.•-c-,,.--~··o,•:·,1
.... .. .. .- J
--.1
. -~1
I
• ' ;.·
. !;
~1•
'+ '
.. 1
.,- ·1
•.. ..,., ~
. . .;, ......-
~:· 1•;) .i. .
.,....'-I -. .
·... .. ,.
r
t ~
t··
nobody thought to ask about it! The were red and teary due to a reaction note (nobody known by whom)
list was incomplete! with the cabin atmosphere and an stating that McDivitt {nobody• knows
What we do know from the accidental massive urine spill. "I didn't when) had communicated .{nobody
complete Gemini-4 transcripts think I was going to be able t~ hack knows how) the fact that the picture
(including the on-board tape recorder it", McDivitt later had radioed to showed "his UFO". (This was made
as well as space-to-ground links), is Earth. clear by a telephone conversation
that the UFO appeared at the same This famous UFO case now between the author and Jack Acuff of
point in the Gemini orbit where the becomes that of a pilot with watering NICAP on March 5, 1976).
booster had been rept-3tedly spotted eves catching sight of an object in Why has this case achie\'ed such
earlier in the flight. '.\fcDi\•itt had once p~rallel orbft, an object which he had notoriety'? It probably resulted from
described seeing his booster with already misidentified a few hours the enthusiasm of UFO believers. the
straps h~nglng from it. Furthermore, earlier. As to the photograph, an inves• naive openness of NASA public
on at least one occasion on the first tigator must go through all the film of relations officials, and the publicity
day, McDivitt had at first been unable the night to realize how common such seeking opportunism of some of the
to recognize the booster when he ·saw . blobs- of light (o\·ere.'<posures, principals.
il because it was close to the glare of· r~tlcct i0m. glare. etc. ) ll'erc. Both \lcDivitt himself did little to clear
the sun! Thi5 had been :it a range of NAS.-l. and ;\lc:Di\·itt han• agrel.'d that the case up. instead using it as a ticket
less than ten miles. tl-ie sc,qucnCI.' ot' mo\·ie irames are a onto natil•nal TV talk shows and news
Yet another iniport:int factor ,iew out t!u: winc.uw. showit\~ sunlii::ht interviews (especially after his
unknown to t!1e Cr1nciL•11 report w:i, r~tl ~·cti11~ off a br\t. a~ain:;~ the dirty rr.tirement in 19~. To add to the
that '.\leDivin •.•::t.; C\J1:1p!:iini:1i;: ro thl-'· window ~la~s. '.~ !C..\F' thinks mystPry. th~ former spaceman assl'rts.
ni ~ht surgt:on abou 1. his t'Yl'$ight dii'forently b,:c:tu~e <)t t!ll' b:!tk of its "I have never bcrn ablt- to it.:entify it,
duri1\g this pho~c of th:) tli~ht. Hi:; eyes cop,· of th<! ph,Ho is a handwritten and I don't think anyone ever will."
42
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·--:a:.::-.; •• • • ••• •• g ,Cla:: t ,an ,.. ,,, h /V◄ i ,
On a recen t "U FO rncorcli:ig'' own minds. I havl' ''" d ,iub~ th;,t round in 1'1)1111: •ction l'.'isli Lill! t, ;~mi!! i·
rrll-asrd by Columbia, calt.:d "UFOs: ~lcl)i\"itl w:i~ ~<!l'i:1g his ow11 Til.::n I GFO ca~t'. It is not th~ clc::1w ra•.i1a ~
The Credibility Facto r", :VlcDi\·itt tJCJostrr stage. 0f gtn·criun•_
•nl oflici, I:; t~y i11!{ to c:ur••r
clrarly shows h ow h is mcmorirs have Or. Roach wa~ also fasd n:•l •~cl wi t!t up t.he truth ahoul GfU:;. R;,hrr, it :s
ch:u1ged o r bc,m cl1a11g(•d to enhance another :,.1coi, itt si~foiti'.11}, that uf a thr dl'spernlion of some outsider
the mystery ot' hi3 C'Xpcricnce: "They point of light ::rc:,i:::·::; the ; k·: . The tryi:1~ t rJ m:t~:;f:-,.-:- tu:c1 co u ni .~rf,.i,
(NAS.-\) chcck,'d :'iOR..\D... to sec object soundr.,j j•.1.,l Iii-:<> th•! "astrnnaut L:FO" <?videnc~. Jn acli·. ;r. \·
what they had up on radar ancf there appearance of an artifici.!l earth which should not be nc>ce:s;a,y if th~
w:isn 't anything within very close satellite, and that is e~:actly wh:it " rt'al" L: FO evidence w~rC' as
range of us." Readers can measure the \kDivitt thought it \•:.:s. There is no persuasive as many thint.
credibility of this statcm~nt against . information to suggest it w.:_s anything It involves :i photograph showing
the facts. else. two very strange glowing ocjects. Each
If McOivitt was fooled by his own Another Condon favorite is a is he:,agonal in shape, ~·:ew!c'd at an
booster ten years ago, is it too much Gemini -7 case. The report of sightings angle, ~nd supported by ;;. dazzling
to expect him to admit it now? What of a cloud of debris right at the "force field" below it. A cloud
would that do to all of his public moment of boostt•r separation (these covered earth is se.?n in the
assertions of mystery? There is an particles included frozen fuel droplets, background. s~~ p\cd~ ~1 ~ :l.8
easier way out, and i'vlcOivitt took it the booster itself. assorted insulation
when I sent him an advance copy of and structural fragments from where This photograph h as appeared in
my manuscript. After keeping it two the explosive bolts were fired, and books, magazines, newspapers, and
months, he wrote back, "[ was not other smaller objects never identified pamphlets. It is part of the travellina
able to read it very thoroughly and I and never cared about) is not very slide show of UFO lectur~rs from th;
cannot offer any ext~nsive comments. impressive. The crew, on their first Mutual UFO Network (i\!VFON) and
I do not foresee the opportunity for space mission, saw a few pieces they elsewhere. I have heard it described
me to provide any further re~w." had nol expected (the pilot guessed as •\showing a typical UFO force field
There weren't any errors in my wrongly-that they "were in polar propulsion system", and "similar to
analysis, he implied, but it woulc! be orbit"). Only a partisan digging for other UFO photograph taken on
better kept quiet. evidence, and desperate to find such Earth the same year".
NASA never had any real doubts. evidence, would make much of this The photograph is a forgery. It is a
"We believe it to be a rocket tank or common event. hoax. What the anonymous counter
spent second stage of a rocket," wrote But a sign of desperation is indeed feiter did (I have reason to suspect a
a high space official on July 1, 1965.
NORAD officials, confronted with my
scenario, endorsed it: "Your
comments on the NORAD role related
to the case appear to pe logical,"
wrote NORAD Public Information
Officer D.W. Kindschi on Feo. 23,
1976.
So the "~lcDivitt case" is closed.
The best space UFO case has now been
identified. Do not expect to see any
change in the UFO press, however.
. ....·.
Such results are simply ignored. .·.;~~.: ~~
Photographs made in space show .\1":,:;:
negative effects, such as the "McDivitt
UFO" aura, often. Spacecraft ·and
astronauts may be engulfed in a
strange aura caused by overexposure
to sunlight brighter than ever seen on
Earth. Blowups of photographs of
known space objects show them
appearing as "blobs" due to the
enlargement process and to the·
courseness of the grain. Ordinary space
pictures are full o f clouds o f debris,
constellations of man-made starlike
points fluttering through space.
The Condon report was fascinated
with the ~lcOi\·itt cas<', and fe\\· UFO
enthusiasts have not heard of it. But
n,:itlwr the Condon r£>st)archers nor the
average reader had ever had all the
facts. Now people can m:ike up thei r
'f~~v·~•.~~-...,:..
-
~·. - · • ·• ,) : :.:
····-. . ... ... ... . - ...... . ... .
43
--- PAGE 12 ---
·--·:®
l
J The outhor .>nd NASA photo an.:ilvn R ichard
Undorwood show "•p~ce UFO" photos to Or.
J. Allun Hynok, dirolctor o f the center for UFO
n udios. July . 1976. t l vn4k -subsuquPn';'fy ,.,.,_
dorscd Ob0rLJ'S conclusions.
Saturn booner S-IV-b and f our open "SL.A"
panels. On moon flights tho four "petals.'.'
fly free and, together with the empty boo:<t
•r. tum.ble through spaca a faw miles from
the Apollo capsule. They were often seon as
·bright flashing lighn as they reflected th o
powerful sunligh t . On Apollo-1 2 , astronau t
desc r iptions of theH fra;imonts wore m i s
Interpreted by UFO buffs and metamorph-
ized Into alien spacecraft.
®
"Mysterious" bulls aye object
wen and photographed by Gam
lnl-6 astronauts I n December, 1965.
Unfortunately for flyi ng 1aucer
buff~, It Is not• UFO; it Is an out of
focus photo of the approaching
Gemlnl-7 spacesh ip, noH on.
NASA photo S 65-65296.
0
. . ·,·-··· ....
~
....- :~
,,,_.
''--:·
..
44
--- PAGE 13 ---
~ : ~......1 n ~ , ~r..c.• ~1:-~-~t~ t-.\~ :-·.-..:-~~l::;...~~"-·•·...
:.
. ... : . : .. ' . ·. . . .... .. ~ .. ~: . ..•. . '• ·. ' ..
_ .; . . .'· •~ .•..;.Jl'ti.,
: .·.
....,.. ~., ';.••t••.;. •,'\:·~
··•.-·........•-.,'.:.+'
.
. , -:• • . ••'
.. •1
r
.~
l
·•(,
.. , ..
}il
Photo of Gemlnl-7 from G..,mini-6, December 1965. The brlghtnus aura is a common space photo effect and often makes
point 1ourcH appear to be surrounded by a "force field" or an " e xhaust i:rail". NASA photo S-65-65304.
Japanese UFO organization) was take examined) was then retouched by the American spacemen are not the
an ordinary photograph oC Earth made unscrupulous hoaxter to eliminate the only ones reporting UFOs, according
Crom the Gemini-7 spaceship on edge of the nose from view. so the to the popular press. Stories tha t
December 4, 1965. The nose of the dark surface of the sp!lct-ship merged allegedly come from Moscow tell
spacecraft fills the lower part of the into the dark Earth beneath. This left about UFOs followin g Soviet man ned
frame, and on the nose, catching the the two now mysterious lights spacecraft in the Vostok and Voskhod
glare of the sun, is a pair of roll seemingly suspendt:d in space, as it series ten years ago. But such secrecy
·c ontrol rocket thrusters used to acijus t were. A no rmal space touri., t photo surrounds the entire Soviet space
the attitude and spin rate of the was turned into conrincing UFO effort that these stories cannot be
Gemini. The original photo (NASA evidence, and thousands of people checked out.
S65-63722, which I have personally were fool ed. That very secrecy. ho wever, is itself
45
--- PAGE 14 ---
!l pn\·:•· , ( .. I t11·;.:~1n1. 1i l ;i_! :~iu ,i ,;,.; :.-..:nt.v i ~ p;, ..,•,·r.lfl Ccnl,·r) 1i.-ar o flicc , ho wever. Wht!n a li FO
vahdit:1 of th·! ru,:i u. •. Sn r,1.,n'.) li,,,i, t,,r,. U 11cl,•f\\' 111h 1 1s an cXfl'Jl'i• researcher named Al;i 11 Sa ndler was
o r<!ir:JI'_' th:,:,:-; J l,v11L l hc So·.ic~ s p:.;;,J er.-: ,•u pilotu in trrp, c ter v: hu h;,s w•irkin!l on a book and a m o\'ic
pro1rJ1n a:.: Sl' Cr cl (and 1011g pri~o n c:,:iminl•d ,J\'cry si11;:lc pho lo1;r.1 ph ("lffOs: Past. l~csenl and F'ularc". lo
terms a,·. ;.it :i11yo11c who even bYuu;;ht b.:cl; from o rbit :ind beyond, he ad·,ert1sed as ;i "documentarv •') he
:icc:idc 11l:ll!y cin,l;:es .-.uclr ,fatal thal it a111.l h1;; in credible memory can \"isited Underwood 's of[ir.c and looked
i,; inc:·l•cii t:1,· lh :tt ; o .,cn, tdr:: :i,1d .;i~ iJL·1, ,: 1y a d:?rad,J old p:1otc.i:n1µh, through do7.ens of rolls of lilm. wriling
nit:ca•ll:, fa.:L as a (.;fl) , i,:htin;: rould dl·~cribe tr.l! si .:.uatio n. and fi nd th~ down ordt!rs for prints of :inything
erer lea k ou~. evcn if su.:h a thing had citJLi o;1 in :i,<' o ld record books within that looked interesting. This is a
really har,p~ned. minutes. 'rile o flicc o i this pho togra standard service provided by NASA to
The rule,; of ~\·id,rncc hari? been mc-lric engir;c,el' is full o f slacked iilm journalists.
Hretched and brokt?n by I.JFO i.:ans, light t.ibles, world and le.cal maps, SanrllP.r rhose a set of photographs
partisans. It i.; not up to me to " prn,;e" and piles of lette rs from ex-astronauts for his movie, pnotographs which
that these sightings ne\·er took place. and ordinary citizens alite. Underwood advised him probably o nly
Nobody has a.; y~ t s£:en any P.\'idcnce Has he ser: n any UFO,;? Underwood showt?d dust particles in fron t of the
apart from a simp:c slat .?ment of fact answered lhat with a smile : "I've nt?n!r camera, de bris outside the spacecrail,
that th.: .sightings did ta!,e place. I will fou n d anything in these pictures that or glare on the windows (this was easy
be happy lo consider evidence when it puzzled me for lo ng, and I'm kind of enough to prove by looking at pictures
becomes a\'ailahl<!. disappointed. It would be terribly ahead of and behind the shots in
Let's examine more of cnese exciting to find evidence for someone question). Two photographs were
"cosmonaut UFO;;". Ir, UFOs From else's spaceship!'' When UFO writers particularly upsetting.
Behina The Iron Curtain, the UFO hint broadly about a "NASA coverup" They both showed a black back•
magazine 'Clypeus' is ouoted about an or "space censorship», they are ground with a string of lights in the
object seen by b o th Vostok-5 and essentially calling Dick Underwood middle o( the photograph. In the book
Vostok-6 , a fleet of disks seen by and his colleagues a pack of liars. (with the same name as the mo\·ie. •
Voskhod-1, and "strailge cylinders in Distortion and withholding of the although written by another author,
space which were perfectly formed truth is no t a strange r to Underwood's Robert Emeneggar) the two shots are
and had no apertures " seen by
Voskhod-1, Voskhod-2, and Gemini-4
(sic!). UFOs have even been blamed
for the malfunction of the Voskhod-2
autopilot. As I have said, these
"reports" are hardly evidence, and can
be far more easily manufactured than
refuted.
SurE:ly one of the most specious
and gh ouli~h "sp ace UFO" 3tories
deals with the Soyuz-11 flight, on
which th~ crewmen perished during
their retur., to Eal'th. UFO literature
has recently been circulating a
"transcript" between the cosmonauts
and grc,und control. The crewmen
describe several glowing re·d objects
and discuss them with flight
controlle:-s.
To anyone familiar with typical
space-to-ground communicatio ns, this
"transcript" is patently co unterfeit.
Someone's vivict imagination,
embold,med by th·e knowledge that
the men were dead and could not
argue, must have creat£:d the entire
incide11c.
Without further evidenct), the entire
cla.53 of "cosmo naut UFOs" must be
rejected . D~libera te attc•mpts to
" mudd y tht? waters'' Jnd to
manuf..ct'..lr!:.' iancasies are common in .,
this LiFO gen re, :,.; in o then;.
In in\'e~tigatiu~ pll1Ho~rat-1hic
.®
;>r,o ~~ ,:,r Ag,, t>.:• 12 f ro m Go-nlr,;. 12 . T h ;, ,, pan of a seQuenc:e o f photos w h ,ch ta~ ~• trio
evid,Jn,:<' o f t; FQ ~i;;h tirt,;~ br A-;en t1 fr~m l 1tJ nt 11 .tu d .lrk . After o ..1rk , o n ly t h e runn i ng lighu are v•i•b le. One r e,oarchet
Am~rican :i.;trnn.iu ts, I 11'.>ri,~d clu:icly h:,s w,aorv pubh • hcd t h •S IJ 1tcr p ho to gr a p h as a " UF O" . .,, a ,d by N AS A te> be Agena trac:k •
with Hich:ird Cndrrw,h)d at thL• NAS A ing 1;9hts" . NASA p t,o to S 6 6 -63 101.
Jo hnson Sp:ice c~•11t~r (forrn,•rly rnc
. · - - ·-- -- ---- · ·- -- .~ -·
--- PAGE 15 ---
:1 ;~;,._b;i:Ll t;4..., 111i,; r:t;, ::::),)i":lil•i':-· c•.:;;._.,J
. ... . . ...
,;. • I' .'<.>tull . :;_ LO .\ i I° r\,, l"'::
:\ci;()r:] ti,;_;
• ,, -~,; c:0111 pulet,. it ·soul :I ha,,~ .::; ,~-;,;.:(J
Gemini's orhil s~v,.-ral l111 i1d;-_,J r,1;ks
. . t,,-ilind Lh,• $p,,,:<;crart. Yet t it is c,bj..-.:!
' wa~ in .i diftc'<cnt di:c·<.:tinn ;i ,1 d 1•. a.,
I
nt\l (' h l ;)O do•;C. It ','/a_; :I lir O'.
Dt)spilc these, objc.::tio.1.,. NOR ..\D
wJ,; right i;:ir the wro11g re:1.,cns. T ;:l'
object w,:s indeed P1:otor.-3, Hen
tJ1ot, 6h tlt •J Aeri:tl Phe,:om,mo:':
Research Organizatiur, (A PRO) and it~
research directo,·, Dr. James Harder, has
made much of the cfocrepa,:cy and
consid1m this the h\?st Gemini l =FO
ever seen. c~(:_ plttf-5 11~1g~1q >1. '3,~\f')
Few researchers hJ\ "P. noticed. a;1d
none had recogniz,,d the significacce
of the fact, that the Proton-3 sateIii te
was only hours away from burning up
in the atmosphere. As its orbit
.... . ;- . decayed toward a fiery doom, it
circled Earth fastPr and faster, run-r.ing
ahead of the schedule pre dicted by
NORAD.
The simple truth, oft2n ig11ored or
distorte d by many writers, is that
NORAD does not "track e\'erything in
space" like the rada:.- screens of sor.1e
........
. ' air traffic control center. Inste:!d,
objects which pass through tha beatt15
of a handful of worldwide radar sit<'s
(at a range of a thousand miles or Jess)
.
·•
are observed and catalogued, a:id their
orbits are calculated . These calcyl a
tions are then projec ted for'.'.'ard in
·- time (the mathematical term is ··extra
..• . ·=·. ~' . ' ·~·:. ;;:.,.... /~--.--:~~.-...~ ..:.:,·."~.;,./•-~ . ... ·:. .~ polated") to plot where the spacecr:11t
should be if its orbit hasn't been
;f
changed.
"Said to be ranging lights" on Gemini-12, according to Sandler. Compare with
Gemini's orbit had been changed by
earlier ph.:ito showing Agena in the sunlight. Deliberate slanting of e•1idence.
a rendezvous rocket firing. Proton's
reproduced with the caption: "Shot He continued to explain: " I took orbit was changed by its decay. I
during Gemini XII o n Novamber 13, the whole sequence with me to ordered microfilm copies of the la.;t
1966, and said to be Agena Ranging Hollywood along with other films few NORAD predictions from the
Lights prior to docking". The which NASA was providing. I showed Tracking Reports Section at the NASA
erroneous implication of these twisted the sequence to Sandler. He wasn't Goc!dard Space Center in Greenbelt,
words is that this is another NASA interested. Unfortunately he went M;u-yland, and as soon as I read them l
excuse for some remarkable UFO ahead and used the phot_ographs knew the answer.
photographs. Said to be ranging lights, anyway". Thousands more people The predictions were off by Se\·eral
indeed, sneers the book! v.-ere deceived. hundred miles per da~: ! Each new
"'that's exactly what tney were!" The flight of Gemini-11 h:5an a projection made a correction to the
Underwood told me plaintively. "They long battle between astronattt Ch:irles previous one. Using a combination of
are p art of the complete sequence of "Pete" Conrad and UFO belieVPI". The these figures, a new dtitude difference
twenty photographs showi11g the astronauts had taken three even more between Gemini and Proton could
• Agena as it moves from the sunlit remarkable photogr::iphs. "Pete" easily be compul.:?d. It 11·:is entirdy
side of Earth inLo the shadow". Conrad had spotted a mor ir.g ubj..-ct close e nough to coincide with th.
As Underwood anJ l stood in the outside his ·sindow and had s.1apped astron:.iuts' sighting.
photo laboratory inside buildini,: No. 8 off a few frames of film, varying the Furthermore, th.i astronaut~ r.ad
at the historic Hou$ton sµac.:e center. .:xpo:;ure on t•ach sh,H in an :.ittempt made a visual :.is ·,1·1.'ll ;i~ a i:;hoto5rJ,1hic
the 1;equence was rii:ht thcrt) in fro11t to get at least 011t) ~oud ,ic·v which record. T heir t• y c11 i1,·,.:-.;s lestin:,>ny
of our eyes 011 the gluwin~ viewing w<rnld show ;omclhin~. dcscrib.:s a sat,)lliw that looks [;;.e
board. How did the '·UFO rcscarc.:hcr" Pt-r a rcque,;t from NASA, NORAD Proton-3 look.-d. a.-; shown by exhibit.;
react to this expl:rnalion, [ asked°! soon reported th:it the object ha d b~en in Rus.,iail muse11111:;: a stubbv cyli.itkr
47
--- PAGE 16 ---
----- -
with four lar::e triantlular canted solar
p.,nrb. (Conract compared lhc sight to Oul>ris from open
t...
the strap-on lwosters of a Titau•3 hatch on G omini• t 2.
rocket.) F:vcu the photographs show ............
this when ~ludicd with real Proton-3
photographs close at hand.
A~trn:::?:.:~ Co::~::d ~:-:d th:! l.iFO
people clashed again ov~r his. next ;. .
space mission. Apollo•12. According
lO the Research Director of A.PRO, Dr.
t
ltn
~-··.
Harder, Conrad reported that he was • f
bei11g followed by a UFO on the way .
to the moon. Conrad claims that it was
just a joke about the large panels which
enclose the lunar module during
launch but are jettisoned later in the
flight and which tumble through space
a few miles from the Apollo all the
way to the -moon. Harder says that
Conrad, under pressure from a secret
government agency, is lying.
These are Conrad's words:
"They've been after me for years
because we were followed by a UFO
on · the way to the moon. That, of
course, was untrue. The guy who came
up with it was going by our transcript
where we saw debris from our own
rocket and we were joking with the
ground crew about it. He took this out
of context. . .I called the ground and
said, 'hey, gang, we're being followed,
there's· some flashing object out there'.
Some scandal sheet took that a.,d
Fragment i n focus at range
of 3 to 5 feet-Sandler calls
0
it unidentiflabJe'', and
Malian and Barry also use It. ra?'\
e11lo.~zx..,1..t-0, 16) ~
Blowups of Gemini-11 photos of
Proton-3. Sun glare and el<treme
magnification contribute to
bizarre appearance,
made a helluva story out of it. But it
was nothing like anything I was
connected with". Conrad has left
NASA and lives in Denver, presumably
beyond the reach of any NASA
censors. He describes a phenomenon
common to all Apollo moon flights;
the claim that he saw a UFO is also
common, but hardly as valid.
Conrad confirmed these quotations
in a letter to me dated April 12, 1976.
"I hope your paper is widely printed.·•
he added. Ref,ming to Harder's claim
of coverup, Conrad could only say: "I
t.:: think you have more than your share
' .' "'.. ·:--- ... .....
...
. .. ..,,,..y;..,·,._.,_,."',,..•..__._"..,.e..••...,
. . . . .•,...,,.,,.,,
•• • •wcc:r::a-.
• •....:..J
.•.r"-·- ·..,.....,..___:;,,•·. ..__ _~_ _.___ _ _ _ ___...
of Kooks."
48
···-- ... - ..
--- PAGE 17 ---
,
<
l
;
f
1
I
. ,.
• . ..· :; :·..
'
· .•
t,
r .....
'
,
~
. ~· ~--.·-, .·. ~ . ~. :.\..®
Geminl-11 photo of Proton-3 (arrow) i nd extreme enlargement of image. UFO magaz ines often pront funv blobs without indicating
that object w a s h ighly magnified. f; llrn ertlf,icts cause "blobblneu". NASA photo S-66-54661 .
Let's take a moment to look at the had also nown into space on On the outbound leg, Conrad had
Apollo--12 flight more ca·re(ully. It Gemini-5.) Taking off during a radioed to Earth that the Apollo was
probably rates as one of the most thunderstorm, t he craft was twice hit "being followed". This message, trans
"UFO-ridden" space flights ever made, by lightning which threatened to mitted over the open radio link, was
and ·p robably did more than any abort the mission.· heard by hundreds of newsmen and by
Apollo mission to encourage the Instead, the night proceeded millions of Americans. It im:nediately
stories o( astronaut sightings of UFOs. successfully to t he first pinpoint moon gave rise to new UFO stories.
. What lies behind all these stories? Who landing fou r days later. Astronauts According to the account best
started them? What is the "official" Conrad and Bean flew their Luna.r known to UFO believers (publishe d in
NASA position? Module in to a precision to uchdown Saga magazine, May 1970, entit led
Apollo-12 was launched on near the Surveyor-3 automatic moon " Apollo l 2's ~Jysterious Encounter
November 1-l, 1969, on the second probe. During a scheduled moon walk, with Flying Sauct'rs", written by T.G.
m oon landing m1ss1on. The crew the men retrieved samples from the Beckley and H. Salkinl. the astro nau~,;
co;'ISisted o( Gcmini-11 veterans robot crnft. The return on Eanh was watched Lwo nashing lights near ch~ir
"Pete" Conrad and Richard Gordon, "routine", if f?ights to the moon can Command Module about 150,000
and space rookie Alan Dean (Conrad ever be considered routine. miles out from Earth. At first, the
49
--- PAGE 18 ---
A pollo -I 1 U F O, 19G9. Obro ct
hun bh.'\J p .1s t wind o w im,n r.d i\Jt•j ly
altar A1Joll o p ull~<1 aw ay f rom
Sa turn bo osto r. Metamo rpho-si s
of obvi ous sp ac:ec:r aft i n sul atlon
l r ~qrno n t i nto "odcl •sha o od UF O "
is c ourtesy of Bob Barry o f tho
fri n g e " 20th Century UFO Bureau " .
Hon> Hotze,·, " Ulonoua" ( 1976)
assig r,s o bj ect to Joh n Gle n n 's
flight. i nvents f ictitious c:o m ment ory
a nd con tin ues weavi ng my th• un
lotterod by I ecu.
ground thought it was their S-IV-8 astronauts decided to ignore the ··astrcnuut UFO sightings". Besides
booster rocket but quickly calculated apparently harmless escort and carry the three astronauts, millions of
that it would have been in a different on with their mission Americans saw the TV images and
direction. Next, they suggested that ln lunar orbit. new (or perhaps the heard the voices of the crewmen
the lights could have been pieces of same) UFOs dogged the spacemen. wondering what the objects could be.
the Lunar Module "garage'', called During the descent to the lunar They were obviously unidentified,
"SLA Panels", which are quite lar ge surface, millions of television watchers they were flying in space, and they
and highly reflect ive. Conrad, so the on Earth saw bright objects crossing were objects of some sort. Hence, they
UFO story goes, remarke d that this the field o f view of the Apollo TV were UFOs.
was unlikely since one of them had cameras. Simila.r objects were seen The "Fawcett List" of space UFOs
suddenly taken off at a high velocity, during the launch from the moon and says that the astronauts "said a UFO
.
something that a piece of space debris
simply could not do. Finally, the .
' A •' '
:-'_.:~--\~ ~
n during the final approach to Earth.
Here, then, is a major case for
\ I(' • •
l
f'~ .,,.,.,"~ Ft.>.•:J
6
~ ~ 4 " : C - , ! S'Jr,~1Jffe»%ffifl ~ ¾4'""~
• • • • r . ";'" •••.:-.:•i ••,,;
accompanied ~hem all the way to
within 132,000_ miles of the moon.
}4:t¢.:7f~ -,
~•·----~ •C\:--.••::-;•:~•·--•:t ~; ~ ',?~•,~•~•'.:'• •·~~ :::\;•••'~
• ·: ,· •. -·. •. ·- . • • :- ,... -·,
•
•. . • .:· -_.,.
., . t:o(';.
•• -~·-~
-- :f
!
. ·,
- ·: ...
- • · ·, : ".*# ,- - · - · ·
I • •
. -·. • .. ~-: .. .~. . . ... :.
M e rc ury,~. " (.',:,n -e..i ~•F O " on Sco u C·a,o e n : ..,,, flig ht i n 19 6:3. S meors a nd gl aro , c hanQo fr om
on-9 1r:ime l O ~he no"t r v1ti1h, a~tro n n :ct ""tl~ ~nappi ng p ic tures o f linip blll oo n sub•,atell ite .
@)
::,tq, plirt,,. ?.. )'3./ + , S
50
____.._.,.. __ - . -
--- PAGE 19 ---
:,,.;.
... . ' . .
~-.,., . •·/I 7 .. • J JI◄
._!' ~. "'1
,..,·.· .., ~
~
,,;r.1_( J~; .•..,.- . . :.; . _ - .. . . • _•• / ••~
(?-2)
T wo obiecu drifting out of open hatch (lowe, r ight) of Geminl-12. Both spe_cks are out of focus and hence are within sevoral feet of camera.
-which h ad• very large depth of field. Object on right, in f ocus, i • a scrap of paper. NASA photo S-66-62871.
preceding them all the way." The revohing light approached the Apollo California at Santa Cruz on November
origin of that mileage figure is obscure, 12 spacecraft." Fawcett, not to be 8, 1975, Harder claimed that one CFO
but it lends unwarranted authenticity outdone, also claims that the "followed Apollo l'.! on three orbits
to the report. astronauts photographed the UFO (or around the moon". Further, "N,\SA
Observatories in Europe also UFOs). suppressed the UFO incident~ for fonr
watc:ied the two UFOs. ether sources One of the loudest proponents of of p,1 nic", but Harder was ahle to
re\'eal. Embellishing the story. another the Apollo-12 UFO is APRO research discover the si~hting~ b"cau$e it " was
UFO source claims that "Next day, director Or. James Harder. At a UFO disclosed by a member of the space
the 15th, at 21.15 hours, one bright symposium at the University of team" who he refused to id1:ntif:: .
51
--- PAGE 20 ---
!.iinc:l' all thf" m:ill.'riill ll;m.lcr used to the key r\pnll 11-l 2 LlFU c111:ountcr and its position at a " high rate of sµccd ...
..prove" the r xistcncc Qf the inddcnts try lo determine just wh:1 is confused. an i:11;,ossib1lity, unless it really was a
werl.' public information ( Harder could Lale on No,.·embcr 15th. 1969, m.lal!uvcrable spacec raft of some ::-ort.
have read it in Saga, which is hardlr a about 150,000 statute mi!es from nut where docs one find a
top scc;rrt )!O\'crnmcnt r:!port), his Earlh. the Apollo crew was talking to maneuverable spacecrait nearly
rdcrcnce to a co\·eruµ and to sr.cret cilDSllle communicator astronaut 150,000 miles from the earth? The
inside informatiu,1 were clearly only Ger~rJ C:m about SQmc lights they :inswer: (excepting ,\ pollo 12 itself) in
gimmicks t\1 impre~r; the news, media were watching out their wir.do w. November of 19C9 th~re weren't any.
with the value of his •'information". Apollo: The object is very bright The conclusion is inescapable: One
NASA, meanwhile, says that no and it is obviously something that is (possibly two) maneuverable
such UFO event took place. The lights, tumbling. It is tumbling (at) one and spacecraft not of man-made origin
according to Dale Myers (Associate one half rev(olution)s per second, or at. were following our Apollo 12 on
Administrator for Manned Space least it is flashing at us (at) about that November 14 and 15, 1969."
flight: quoted in a letter dated Feb. 5, (rate)... To anyone familiar with the flight
1973 to Mr. Donald Ratsch of APROj, CAPCOM: Roger. We are standing plan of an Apollo moon flight,
were spacecraft fragments: "During all by. Conrad's words imply nothing of the
of our Apollo lunar missions. objects CAPCOM: (Apollo) 12, (this is) sort. Two facts must be brought to
have been sighted by the various Houston. mind. First, Apollo and the Capcom
crews. Subsequent to the crew Apollo: Go ahead. were discussing the present position of
sightings, the flight controllers CAPCOM: As best we can tell, the SLA panels based upon their initial
determined the observations were looking at things down here, on those separation velocities from the spent
probably either the S-IVB booster, the SLA panels, we assume they weren't S-IVB rocket stage. Second,. the SLA
spacecraft lunar adapter (SLA) panels, imparted with any great amount of panels break free after the Apollo pulls
or smaller objects such as mylar foil delta-V (velocity change)-like off from the booster; the astronauts
particles. Because of their large size anything more than one or so feet per then perform a maneuver called the
and highly reflective surfaces, the second when they separated "turnaround" the Command Module
S-IVB and SLA panels should be (thirty-three hours ago). Your SLA returns to the booster to dock with
visible at great distances in the space panels would probably be only about the now-exposed Lunar Module,
emironment..." 300 (nautical) miles (345 statute before pulling the LM free from its
Astronaut Conrad, as quoted miles) away fro m you right now. "garage".
earlier, claimed that the flash ing lights **** The following reply by Striking the UFOlogist's punctua
were obviously SLA panels but that he Conrad has been claimed by UFO tion and clarifying words from the
was 'joking with the ground. He believers to indicate that the lights communication, and putting it in
denounced the Saga story explicitly (the so-called "SLA panels") have proper perspective, what Conrad was
and gave his opinion that Harder was a suddenly pulled away from the saying was:
"kook". Astronaut Gordon has Apollo, something that a tumbling Apollo: That could be true (that
publicly stated that he has never seen a piece of debris could not do. To the SLA panels were flying off at one
UFO on any .;pace flight. Alan Bean, clarify the meaning, punctuation and a or so feet per second), but gee whiz,
the only one of the three still on active few extra parenthetical words have when I turned around (right after they
NASA duty, issued a statement soon been added by the UFOiogists: flew free, thirty-three hours ago) I saw
after Harder's latest charges went out Apollo: That could be true, but gee one of those SLA panels leaving the
over the news media late in 1975. In a whiz, when I (just) turned around I area (of the LM "garage") at a high
UPI dispatch: saw one of those "SLA panels" leaving rate of speed, and it looked to me that
"Astronaut Alan Bean...said that the area at a high rate of speed, and it it was leaving us pretty...at a pretty
at no time during his mission did he loo ked to me like it was leaving us rapid clip, like it got a lot more than a
ever see an unidentified objecL Bean pretty (fast)-at a pretty rapid clip, foot per second or so.
said that there were some metallic like it got a lot more than a foot per The UFO believers' reasoning-and
parts which floated behind their sp:>r.e second or so. the entire basis for Harder 's and for
craft after the Apollo-12 !Uf'l.?r module CAPCOM: Well, since we don't the Saga article's Apollo-12 UFO
lifled off from t~•• r:~oon. He said really have any idea how they left, or sighting-is phony. The most generous
these small p:.-<'::.; were visible until what their t rajectory could be, it's description of it would be a mistake, a
they (tht> ...•!:onauts) made an engine kind of tough really to say just what misreading of the transcript's meaning
burn 'f':c: metallic objects wer~ par ts the heck that could be. in an attempt to "prove" a UFO
er <!",e insulation which came off the Apollo: Okay. We'll assume it's incident that never really happened
lunar module during the launch phase friendl y anyway, OK? outside of the fertile imaginations of
and lunar orbital phase. ' At no time The UFO reasoning, as worded by certain UFO believers. Conrad's
•did we see anything which was not of APRO member Srad Sparks. goes as statement, Gordon's statement. Bean ·s
our spacecraft, either during lunar follows: ''After the SLA panels statement. and the NASA letter must
orbit or during the voyage to and from separated and the S-IVB's tanks were stand validated on this case: Apollo-12
the moon,' Bean stated." emptied (on No \·. U) they could not was not followed by a t;FO on its
To Harder and his "N,\SA change their ·,t>locity simply because to the moon.
cuv~rup", these statements are just they had no form of propulsion to do But how about on the way back?
mo re lies designed to confuse the so. But Conrad saw one of the "SLA "A light of indistinct shape" was
American public. So let's go back lo panels" (on Nov. 15th ) suddenly leave spotted just prior to re-en try,
52
--- PAGE 21 ---
-
_·-····-··~ ~
~ - - - )·~ ·_:--·· __
--•-..._,'
,.
,. -:·.
1
.... .._____
--- PAGE 22 ---
··-.. . :- . ... l'o11f.r:1rl t.'lll!i111•1•r:; wen• F. D. Ul•att~
• ... !"'... • ••••
.: and ,I.G. !l:nrm.
"Unidenli rkd \'bua! plwnon:C':1.1
as~oci:ilcd with space flight were
rather common opc,,:tionally." rcn,aJ
lhe authors." but. ''. .little or no
clo~u111clllJli1111 ll1 p,1,~ cvc11t.; has i,e..-11
. . ·• macie." Rcfore UF'O bclle,·crs jump uµ
l·. and d1Jw11 with confim~a,ion of a
'. ... whole new family of ''astronaut
sightings of UFO3'', the authors
announce? their intention of
: >:,;;,_;; ~.~::.. >ct-'. : '.:,·.'. _: \ . . demonstrating that 1'such evenl~ were
spacecraft debris associated with an
l .w~.:.~~:,.~ -.....,-; ;; ;~·,!<~-~--~ ~
- :·,::: :~J::.s:,:, .£.,.:·,,·~~i«~-;c :+,21~-==.:
.., ;- earlier pyrotechnical operation, or ice,
Publisn ed n~wsp!per story on UFSs captions this p11oto:"Theso two UFOs wo , u
"" or window reflections. Cases for each
photographed on July 19, 1969-the day before Apo:lo's historic: moon landing of these theories have been presented
during Buzz A ldri n'• scheduled lunar photo session. Noto the s imilarity to the and exhibits of similar occurenccs are
•hot snapped throo years oarlier during Gcminl-12." included. Positive identifi~ation was
not possible. . . The quality of tile
according to UFO sources. Saga photos taken during the? 1960s. imagery precludes a precise definition
reports that " ...at 11:47 a.m. on Whatever it was, this "halo" appE'ared of the object under question. . . In
November 24th, the spokesman for only in the photo, and was n«?ither general, it takes much more
Apollo 12 reported in a startled voice seen nor remarked on by the information to identify an object that
that they were all' watching a bright astronauts. if does to detect it."
red object flashing brilliantly against Houston radio commentator and Sixteen millim~ter color magazine
the earth." This incident was carefully UFO enthusiast Frank Haley has his 11651\1, exposed on Apollo-12. shows
analyzed by Brad Sparks of APRO (I own theory about why the Apollo-12 three objects, called "A", "B", and
am indebt£:ci to his letler to Saga of TV camera did not work on the moon "C". The objects appeared during the
August 28, 19i0, a letter Saga editor (NASA says Bean accidentally pointed Ll\·l jettison man«?uver in lunar orbit.
ne\'er bothered to answer), who it toward the sun). Says Haley, "The "A" is believed to be a small segment
objects that "the astronauts did not i::amera was intentionally shut off to o f the docking channel; "B" was
report that the object. they were seeing avoid showing something on the moon identified by engineers as a portion oi
was red, and they stated specifically that disturbed the astronauts" the docking ring, possibly the
that 'it's a steady light', not flashing." ("Haley's Comment" newsletter, Mar. fiberglass seal; "C" was probably part
It was seen between th"'m and the dark 22, 1976). It is only a matter of time of the electrical harness. All were near
earth , somewhere off the coast of before this nonsense is absorbed into the spacecraft and were tumbling.
India by a guess of the cr"'wmen. the lore of the "Apollo-12 UFOs''. From this and other examinations,
Perhaps it was a ship's searchlight, But Apollo 12 did see some Beatty and Baron concluded that
perhaps a fire, perhaps a violent unidentified flying objects, and NASA "most 'moon pigeons' have as their
lightning storm...there is no reason to engineers were justifiably concerned source a programmed pyrotechnic
suspect that it was a craft in space. that they could have been debris from event and are the normal debris
The astronauts lost sight of the light as important spacecraft systems which associated with such an incident. They
they turned the Apollo to take a series m ight indicate unexpected failures, or are often spectacular. . . The main
of photographs of the sunrise. which might interfere with other thing to be learn«?d from this study is
The wild fantasies printed in Saga spacecraft equipment. Hence, the that the event (in question) was, in all
dn no t end here. Beckley and Salkin Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston probability, a normal result of routine
claim that the astronauts had been (now the Johnson Space Center) gave spacecraft operations. . . These data
"startled by unaccountable seismic a contract to Lockhe£:d to study the will undoubtably be of use to the
disturbances o n th.:- lunar surface." objects seen on the TV pictures and on engineering, scientific, and public
This event never occurred; there were some movie film. relations communities." The closing
no such earthquakes during their visit. The Lockhc-ed report was quietly reference clearly indicates that Beatty
Beckley and Salkin refer to "a issued on March 18, 19i0, about the and Baron were aware of the "Apollo•
mysterious blue halo encircling one of same time that the sensationalized and 12 UFOs" controversy and felt that
our spacemen." Sparks of APRO fictionalized Saga story was being their study would be useful in
consicfors thi:; lo ha,·c bE't?ll lun3r dust printed. Titled "linidcntifhid Visual demolishini: any UFO buffs' wild
•kicked up •.,·h1le thu crcwmt',l were Phenomena Associated with Space n1mor;.
walkii;g around. Photo analyst Dick Flight" (:-.iA$A Contract '.'i . \S 9-5191. unfortunately. tht? ·'moon pigeons"
lind,,r·.rood sutgestect that it is a LEC; HASO No. 071-80-013), the rrport seems to ha\·e been tiled a\\ ay
defect in the denilopmeut of the report documents tlw "moon pigc:Qns" in the :--i..\S.-\ archi,·C's. Baron. who still
photo cuusE>d h,· thl' , l\'id solar i:larc (a term "coi11E:d by :'\.\S.-\ enl:{inc:t.'r.; lo wurks at the Joh11,;011 Space Cerlll' r,
oil' oi' a lii~hly ,Hl~cti,·e s11 fi·ace: dcscribu UIH!Xpcctcci 1Jbjccls seen in told me early in H)i6 that ht! ne\ l!r
Undt•rwood quil'kly located half a operational photo1:r:iphy that ddy got any feedback on his report, e,·t'n
do1.e11 ~imilar "ltalou5" on other space positive identification") of .-\polio• 12. thoui:h it was fun doini,: it and it had
5.i
--- PAGE 23 ---
...
~ ..
-· '·
>}{
This photo was snapped only moments af ter Aldrin's other Apollo 11 sho t . Here the two UFOs
~
have begun their separation and a halo -li ke force field between the two is c/ea,/y shown .
p retty o bvious implications for UFO When presented with the Saga story
repor ts. NASA apparently decided to "E x clusive NASA Photos" and NASA and with APRO's (and MUFON's)
le t the UFO writers spread their cJ nsorship is another part of myth . Theso account of the "maneuverin g alien
;-umors, hoping tha t the stories would Apollo-11 spots are highly magnified spacecraft at 150,00u m iles from
fade away if ignored. window reflection, in Lunar Module dee ~ Earth", the a\·erage· citizen could only
Wh at had ha ppened. though. was a in ,pace (Aldrin turned the .:amer.> on by assume that iL might indt"'d be true. If
riew shot in the arm for ·'astronaut ac c ident w hile c hec k ing equ ipment) . N.-\SA was denying it, '.l'e!l then, the
UFO cases". The explanations could government has bcl'n kno\'/,1 to lie to
never catch up with the mi~inlerpreta• us in the pa~t.
tions and w1ong impressions It is a vai:i hop<! to im :.gine that the
engendered by the onirlteard truth will ever .:.1tc:h up co the Apollo-
conversations and l'iewt'd i111a).(r~ (mm 12 a11<l oth,•r C [· Os..-\ s clL-c:iilc<l h ere,
Apollo-12. :\lillions of ,\meric..ins were th.:: Apollo•I:! C FD 1H•rcr e:-..istt!d.
practically eyewitnesses to a "space Somc,how, milliuns or pl•oplc beli£:Vc
UFO", and were suitably impressed. that il did . There is s,1ffi<:icnt blame
55
--- PAGE 24 ---
for this delusi on lo be :.ien( rousl y
dislributed to UFO buffs, ~AS.-\
public affairs officers, sc1ii:ation
sceking news media, and lal.y readers.
And the "astronaut UFO" ge11r•: is not
yet complrtc. Let's return to some
more examples.
Another example of selective
omission of facts occurs in the
Gemtnl-7 photo of sunl ight glinting oft
roll thruster rockots on nose. Photo
forgers airbrushed the nose/Earth bound•
ary out, making tt,e two lights appear t o
( .
be float ing in sp:ice. NASAphoto SGS-63722 .
f H-1 iO ALSO ~!:V2~ ~ E'b QR)
~.. t
·" -~ - i p .,~ P :&,~4!•_:-.~~ ' : '.~
-♦ •
.'
~~
.....~ ··:
• . z._...,.,,
: . . .
... ,..
-r---· ,?
.,,, .
;.-,., -t,.~i '-·
~ -~. ~·
( .
\ t
~
t ~ LP, , r•
··•(?;
~ _ . _ _ , i , I , _~~ ~
Forgl!ry c.>n oo "'ttn r ,nt1t•J ,n 1r.•tt..t or c:oov
roghl ,09ula11ons oecauso ,,.,,. ,s a N~SA
photo, Evon ro\ouch ed, i t cannot bv l'' - . .. . . .
~ ••• ' vn tu, ,#,.£+,.·· . , Mi ·+ r+::b·
COPV"9hl8d.
56
. - -· .. .... - . - ·--· - - - - - -
--- PAGE 25 ---
. ..
1 f 7.. ~ ~ T -. ... I ··"'""11':",~'t.jv" · . - -·.'" t S(t'if. J .
~ , , . . . ~, - 7
,_,..
!
'I
'l
1 ~
j
\
! -~
I
I
.;'(
-; .. , '~~
.<~';;~:~=~::.::~~~=~:.
and below) as published with erroneous captions.
"Fawc:dt list" of astronaut sightings. tracking practice. The balloon did not
Geori;e t·awcett is a respected and inflate but spun in a limp oblong sack.
level-headed UFO researcher in The flight schedule and the voice
Maiden, North Carolina. But an transmissions confirm this unexciting
example of his work gives a different explanation-and confirm Fawcett's
impression: fantasizing.
"Gemini-XII: Jim Lovell and Edwin An example of the difficulty of
Aldrin saw four UFOs linked in a row. " disproving" an "astronaut UFO
Both spacemen said the objects were sighting" is the Mercury-9 case in
not stars" (quoted from The Edge of 1963. Well established in the UFO
Reality, Hynek & Vallee, 1975, page lore, the story claims that on the 15th
64). orbit, over Muchea, Australia, the
From the GT-12 Astronaut astronaut (Gordon Cooper) saw a
Debriefing, page K/3.4, Lovell relates: green object. More than one hundred
"During the last EVA we discarded, in people at the trac king station saw the
addition to the ELSE (life support bogie on a radar screen (this wasn't
system), three bags. About 2, maybe
3 or possibly 4, orbits later at sunrise
Shot during Sky Lab Ill second manned Sky Lab
condition, we looked out again and Flighl 263 day of 1973-1645 Zulu Time.
saw 4 objects lined up in a ro,v and NASA Photo =sLJ- 118-2 140 (4 shots taken)
they weren't stars I know. They must Listed as unrden1,r.ed ob1ec t or satellite by NASA
have been these same things we tossed Pho to E,·aluat,on Lab
overboard."
The original distortion of this
entirely ordinary event, according to
the Condon Report, is the
rt,,
;(f.!C,;ii!P.l!'f!';H!¥,"""i!\":i;-':.~
, - • •• <
~-, . :.-. ,..
• • : · ·
. ·.
~
:. , .
r '-'· -, " ,.
• • •
responsibility of UFO wnter, John
Keel, Fawcett took it and embellished
it. .
Another of Fawcett's favorites is
M~rcury-7: "Scott Carpenter reported
th<1t he had what looked like a good
shot of a saucer." E!sPwhere he t .
claimed that Carp,rnter "look a
photograph of a classical saucer-shaped
UFO with dome tha t foll owed his
capsule." ~(._ pla.t,;:, J,l
I
t
liio.t.'.1io-t.~ .....:..- ~ .;...~-:::....~0 .:s.::·, : :...ii
lI
-~ L .,....,._...~ ~ ~....~ .
- .·•• · •-
In fact, the photographs s!iow an
entirr.ly ordinary object: a space @ 3A
balloon ejected from the capsule for
57
--- PAGE 26 ---
scn~:itinnal rn•.•'ll(h' for rir:tional •'far.t"
r.j,•('fNI frnm hi, spaf'(•cr;1rt in an Lall' in 197:J, ;i strange ob!c••:t did
·,l"ril n Fr•111 ;.; Ed ·: ar-1;: hi) had two :lll!.' lllpl Lo gl't. \"isual lrackilll'. pr:tctic,: appNtr in Skylab sp,,Cl' photograph,.
hundrf'rl peopll• ar.luatl)i me Lhc (11:is photo is often referred to :is the Takrn on Conrad's S kylab fl igh t i11
ohjt·ct.). "cl:issical domed UFO" shnt). UfO June, Lhe objcct was not 11oticE'rl bl·
The source of the story secll!S to re$c:Jrchers anrl mai;azine edi tors had UFO researchers but bv govE>rnmcn·t
have bren an NBC newsm:t!l in dearly not made Hen a minia1u111 of photo analysts. pl..t~ '33 •
Australia. But the prob:crn ~ecms tll b.: effort to verify thes•? t ransparent Rather than ·•swP.ep thc t;FO under
th:it Cooper has nc,.·er heard of it. He errors and mistakes. but instr:ad p.!ssed the rug", the officials look the other
has b-:cn out of tile spat'e program for 011 the false data to the public. tack : it might be a mysterious So,·itit
SP.Ven years. and talks freely about ThOU$ands more were dcceivr.d. SatP.llite and could be of great value to
urus lo reporters, to the Columbia
"UFO recording·•.. to Mike Douglas,
to friends and associates. Somehow he
k:iows nothing abou t. "his" space
UFO-and he has no reason to be
silent. His space UFO never existed.
Confronted by this evidence,
Fawcett (letter of May 10, 1976)
insists that "I sincer<?ly believe some of
the ashonaut sigh tings are bonafide,
based on some of my sources of
information." John Keel, too, recalls ,. .:. :. •.
0etter of .March 26, 19i6) that "ex• . .';'-,·
-·
NASA engineers have told me all kinds
of fascinating UFO tales.. ." Always
these write~s fall back on "secret
reports" and "private information'' . ,, . ..
when their published reports and open
articles disintegrate in the face of the
truth. . . : ..
On October 18, 1973, the famous
Mansfield, Ohio UFO sighting
occurred, for which Captain Lawrence ...... .
Coyne and his helicopter crew later ,,
were to receive the 'Best UFO Case of
the Year" award (and check) from a
weekly tabloid's 'blue-ribbon panel' of
UFO experts. A few months later,
Coyne said he was told by the panel
chairman, J. Allen Hynek, (the
respected head of the Center for UFO .._'( ' ,.
Studies) that Skylab astronauts had .-·~··
photographed the same UFO from
space. (Hynek ultimately denied this.)
A reputable ma~azine, "Army
ReserYe" published the story with an
intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;iting
that this was the astronau t photograph
which had buzzed Coyne.
It would ha\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo·
graphed anything on October 18th.
since they weren·t even on board the
,._
space s tation. The prc\'ious crew had
returned to E:irth a 111011th before and
thei r relie f ere ·.\· was not sr.lwduled to
blast off for anothl·r thrPe weeks. The
pho tograph prin!rd in the rn:il(a7.ine
. . .. j • • .; :·· • '• • / - " ' : " : :.
.. ... . .. .
-.,"1-·/ ,-:;;..".. -':,.... ,(;-':.,.::,~,!~--~~i'-:i...-.., ... ~
. .
~Joi~~~---..:.6'~,(;A»~~~-®
.:..~ -
.- ..--:,
6.::>
was clearly labt•lt·rl rm its backsidl' as
"UFO.. -seen fro,n Skyl oh-2. Tho e1O,1901tcd ou ,~c t i, actually an air1:lrip
ta krn hy S.:,>tl C:irp,.•u(,•r Oil .\ll'rcury- in the Bra :d,an 1un 9 ,.,~. Enlargomont of NASA pho t o SL2- 16-1 09,
7 morn than t1•n years before. II c-fl,t~ .
show,•d a limp ball non C:i rp<'nter had ")..\ c..a-..."" !
58
--- PAGE 27 ---
sen~Jlinnal l'll••'l~h' for fii:t illnal "far.t" r.ji•rlt•d fC'.lrn hi, spac·1·cr:ifl in a11 La te i11 197'.l, a str;in~e objr,;t did
writ,•r Fi ·1n;_ !~d·: ;wl;: hr. had two .1ttc111pt to g1·1 \·isual tr.ic:kin~! pr:1c:tic1? aµpt'a r in Skrlab sµ,11:t' photograph~.
hundrrri p<?oplt• ar.tually ree the (!Lis photo is o ften referred to ;is the Takl'n on Conrad's Skylab flight i11
ohjt-ct.). "cl.issical domed UFO" sht>lJ. UFO June, lhe object was not 11oliced b\·
The sou rec c,f the ~tory seems to researchers anri ma::azine edilors had UFO researchr1s but by go\'ernm.:n·t
have bren an NBC newsman in dearly not made e\·en a minimum of photo :111alysts. pl,t._ '33
J\t15tralia. But th,:, problem ,;eems to b.: effort to verify thew transparrn t Rather than ·•swi?ep the lJFO unde r
that Cooper h:is nc•:er hc-ard of it. Hr. errors and mistakes. but instead 1nssed the rug", the officials look the other
has b<:>cn out of ti1e spat•e program for 011 the false data to the public. t.ick: it m ight be a mysterious So,·iet
SP.Ven yrars. and t;ilks freely about Thou~ands more were decei\·rd. Satellite and could lie of great value to
Ur us lo reporters, to the Columbia
"UFO recording''., to ~.·Jike Douglas,
to friends and associates. Somehow he
knows nothing abou t, "his" space
UFO-and he has no reason to be
silent. His space UFO never existed.
Confronted by this evidence,
Fawcett (letter of May 10, 1976)
insists that " I sincerP.ly believe some of
the ashonaut sightings are bonafide,
based on some of my sources of
information." John Keel, too, recalls ...
' •: ... : ' . .... : . .,•. •
(letter of .M arch 26, 1976) that "ex
NASA engineers have told me all kinds
of fascinating UFO tales.. . " Always
these writers fall back on "secret
reports" and "private information" ... •·.
when their published reports and open
articles disintegrate in the face of the
truth.
On October 18, 1973, the famous
Mansfie!d, Ohio UFO sighting
occurred, for which Captain Lawrence -.- ..•·
Coyne and his h elicopter crew later
were to receive the 'Best UFO Case of
the Year" award (and check) from a l
r
.,.
weekly tabloid's 'blue-ribbon panel' of
UFO experts. A few months later,
t
i.
Coyne said he was told by the pa11el
chairman, J . Allen Hynek, (the
respected head of the Center for UFO
Studies) that Skylab astronauts had
photographed the same UFO from
space. (Hynek ultimately denied this.)
A reputable ma~azine, " Army
ReserYe" published the story with an ·.,.
intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;1ting
that this was the as tronaut photograph
which had b1Jzzed Coy ne.
It would h a\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo•
graphed anything on OC'tobcr 18th,
since they weren't even on board the
space station. The prerious crew h ad ,.,
re turned to E:irth a 111011th bl'fore and
their relie f crP.w was not schl'ouled to
blast o ff for ano!hl•r thrre weeks. The .. ! .. ··., ·:--. · .•..;'-..:. ~:.....-_,;_,,: _,;.._'•.,•.,,.,, :::.,~.., ; ~;.,_,,_/ ~ ~...;i~._~;,,..;.r,..+.,_;.~~@-
..:·-~-
photogr:iph prin!t·d in the magazine 33
w<1s clt>arly labl'll·rl 1m its backsidl• as
..UFO .. 1ee,n fro,n Skvlot,.:?. The '!tongatcd ou,"c t i1 actually an a ,rstrio
t<1hn hy S-:<itt <:.::iq.>ent<•r on ~lt>rcury- .
'" the 8r~:il,a" 1ur,91.i,. ElllMgomo"t of NASA photo SL2-16-109.
7 morl' than tPn years before. It t-pl,{q_
show,•d a limp balloon Ca rp<'nter had ')..\ "'a'';" !
58
--- PAGE 28 ---
.... ........:.. . ...... .
rn;lit:1ry i11t1·lli~cncc. /\ prompt and ... _.. - .· .
,;-..
<?ncrg1•Lic investigation was launched.
The object looked like a long
cylinder with l\\'O square p:tddlcs
rr.srmbliug sol:i r panels at each end.
ily 11ac,,:-.u1i11~ its ,-tiigu:at 5i;:c on ~~o
negative, analysts were able. to
deter'.nine that it wa!> about 20 feet
long a mile away or 2000 feet long a
j
hundred milrs away. r.
A careful investigation revealed the
surprising answer. the UFO was
actually thousands of feet in length,
but its altitude was zero! lt was an
airstrip in the Brazilian jungles!
Further checking showed that the
objected appeared at the same spot in
Skylab photos taken months later; the
airfield was also found on an inter .. .
national aviation chart. ' :·. - . ·. .." -,/
Recent UFO books and articles .. .. . .... : .
h:ive resurrected the X-15 rocket plane
,
. '
sightings of fifteen years ago. This has
.. , prompted the NASA Headquarters . ... ·•.
Public Affairs Office to reissue a
photograph taken by a belly camera of
the spacecraft at an altitude of about
60 miles (photo 76-H-139). v\o:\-'!. 34
Published reports speak of "fleets
of UFOs" at a range of 30 feet from
the X:15. But even a casual reader
with any familiarity with spacecraft
systems will recognize the effect for
what it was: "fireflies". This is a
phenomenon seen by many Mercury,
Vostok, and later spacemen, as flecks
of paint chipped off the spacecraft. On
the X-15, it was flecks of ice clinging
to the liquid oxygen tanks. The pilot
clearly describes the pieces as being
close-in, small, tumbling, and drifting
along with his vehicle through the
vacuum.
Considering these cases as I have
described them (and there arc other
lesser ones which [ have also investi
gated to a successful conclusion),
what can we now say about authors
who present such evidence of
"astronaut UFOs"? While speaking
:,
f ominously about a NASA coverup and
of secret agencies which muzzle space•
men, these same researchers list such
quotations as:
J ohn Young: '.' Odds are UFOs
exist" .
Edgar '.\-litchell: "\Ve all k'now UFOs
are real".
Eugene Ceman: "I believe UFOs
belong to someone else and that they
arc fro m some other civilization". F lake of ice floating off of the X-15 rocket plane. Somo i nvcsti g:,1or~
Cordo n Cooper: " [ brlieve that call thi• a " large UFO". NASA photo 76 -H-139.
UFOs, under i11telligcnt con trol , have
59
--- PAGE 29 ---
..-V--~~..,,......,,, . , , , , , , ~ ~ ~.....
.,,,--:-__,_...___ ~ _ ••· .. - -, . ~ ~to,~J,._<.,.Q.""'
. •""'"W.~ ..,....._~ ,...,,, . .. f ► OJ, 11:'C ♦ l♦IJ ."!" "-~--:"1\i
,,
f
l•
I
J
,;
,.
Clouds of debris su rrou nd the Saturn booster rocket following Apollo ,opera t ion. Blow-up photos ot individual
pieces ot debris inside and outside the cabin have been called "UFOs". NASA photo AS17- 148-22687.
visited our planet for tho usands of Young quotation. Young, in Seattle in John Yo ung says, " Odds are UFOs
years". 1973, said that the chances were good exist".
None of these me n claim to ha\·e that there were in tell igen t civilizatio ns It seems clear that astronauts as a
seen UFOs in space. By now it should on other planets (AP, Nov. 27, 1973). class or the population do n ot possess
be obvious to open-minded im·estiga The newsman started the article with any special knowledge about CFO:;
tors that no other aHronaut claims to the lead, "John Young says that the which they may have gained from
ha\·e seen any either. Suggestions that odds are that unidentiiied Flying their own experiences. They are about
they have rt>ally done so are either Objects do exi$t'', even though none as well informed (or more truthfully.
misconceptions. mi; repn•s1•ntalions. o r of Young's quoted words indicated as badl y misinformed) as the anirage
frauds on the part of L: FO writers. that at all. Beforr. you could say citizen. To quote them as above with
Yt>t another cast: in poi!lt has just "UFO tlap·•. th~ l.iFO writers had a the sugiiestion that they are special
bt>en given, and it deals with the J ohn new authority : authoritit>s on UFOs is a misleading
60
. • • w . - - •--· - · ... - -- - - ~
--- PAGE 30 ---
and inll•llectually dishonest tactic. Septemhcr 15. 1976, Cordon wrote: Conrad on Gcmini-11 and Apollo-1 2.
Three ti llll' space veteran Wally ::ichirra, " I ,•i\'idly re..:a!I the inciden t which writes that " I never s:iw a l.Jf'O".
who according to lffOlogisls saw oc.:11rrcd when a light of indistinct Astronaut "Dcke" Sla}·tor, claims t!1at
"glowing masses"( actually lightning-lit shape and size was spolled on o ur "[ don't recollect anyone u,porting
clouds, over the Ind ian Ocean) hos return to earth... (it) did appear lo be any UFOs on any of our nights''.
written. "I do not know enough about in the Indian Ocean. ln our discussions "'Buzz" Ald rin went to the moon
this subject to render an opinion of and debriefings that occurred l:iter. on Ai,ollo-11, on which the l.iFO
any kind. The o!lly information l ~ave Rusty Schwcikart provided the press lists at least three separate UFO
is that which has been released to the answer. He simply said, 'how about incldenls. There were no UFOs:
public through the years by the the moon's reflection?' and, of course, "There are people who say there's a
various news media". UFO writers that is what it was... How often those go\"ernment conspiracy to covu up the
would ha,·e us belieH~ that this is part of us in aviation have seen the moon's • existence of flying saucers." Aldrin
or a ,·ast conspiracy of lies which only reflection on the water in the course told a Reuters reporter in 1973,
they can penetrate. ,Accil~ t:l.,. of a nom1al flight. We simply did not
The actual answi!r to the "shapeless "That's a lot of hogwlsh."
put it together in returning from lunar The L.M pilot on the next fligh~.
light" mystery illustrates the wa~· distance, where we had the black back
NASA races real space mysteries. The Apollo-'12, was Alan Bean. Following a
ground of space, the dark night of the new press conference in 1975 when
crew was puzzled by the sighting but earth. and the moon behind us."
reported it to space officials who made James Harder repeated his stories of
Other spacemen have been asked to
• no e ffort to conceal the incident. If Apollo-11 and Apollo-12 UFOs, Bean
answer these questions). They have
NASA were trying to co,·er up actual been forthright in their denials: "I told UPI that at no time during his
UFO sightings by astronauts, this was mission did he ever see an unidentified
never ha\'e personally seen anything I
a good candidate for one-and it could identify as a UFO", says John object. "At no time did we see
would never have been publicized. Glenn, now a Senator Crom Ohio. anything which was not of our
Astronaut Dick Gordon revealed to spacecraft, either during lunar orbit or
Astronauts Grissom and Young said,
me the unpublicized solution to the "We have never seen any UFOs". during the voyage to and from the
.., publicized mystery. In a letter dated moon," Bean stated.
Richard Gordon, who was with
A common sourco of space and othor UFOs
is shown hore. The aura and the lens-shaped
disc Is actually a sunrise photographed from
Skylab. NASA photo SL3-118,2177.
61
--- PAGE 31 ---
Th:.: AH:CJ ll1d l ·t111 \ Fdi. l!J io J Sl.'!,·nlbl~ :it \\',,.-1;". \,L• fi,id tl1 c phony and l-'dJru.iry 197:; a11<! nthc•,~- T l11,
c:011li1n1c<l to g1•111•r,1t..: llt.:W ;JSlClJll;JUt Fa1u·..tt li., t. Li.; L l;a~ incorn:cl dales nyi11g saucer club llt'w.,;lettL• r b·,l
(;Fl) f-1iry IJlcs with tile rinony111011s and 111a11y lli;.:hi.:; nul ,if ~•H1ur11cc. On t:. pi fit s the dlsn•gard for i1:1p,,.·ti:tl
rcH•l;,tinn from "Mr. X", who hL·,.irtl J uly I, 1~7Li. lk J . .-\lk-11 Hyne k i11ws1i;,:atio11 o f cvid~•nc~ whid1
the Apt>II,>-I l ,htrn11:iuts d escribe rc,:i,".\"£•d 111 y ,,,·it.lean, and cndors,·d it, prtH·id1)d the climatr in wh:ch the
Hthre•: di::,· ::h:.!:J•.•\! s h:-u:l,:-i•.•:5 tl1;,t \.V' •n-• anrl n•p11 :l'.11,·ci I hr. F'awcctt li, t. which mylh ot' --astronaut liFOs " co11IJ g-101\·
paci11~ them ::ic r-i,:; th.: :;urfc1cc of the he ;·L'port,·d tl1,1t lw inr:luded in his and tluu nsh.
moon. '' The best answer l.'o thi.; book as a ru,i1.>sity Olily. That is, just Th e Star, :Vfan.:h ~- 1976. pa;:,• 7.
f:tbrir.ltivn is in a I! tler from ;--:ASA becau~e ht' pre,t'nted it a~ fact to Sequence or headlines: On the front
Assistcnt Administrator for Legislative thousands ot' ro:adt'rs '.\·as no reason for page, ''Astronauts Say: We Saw L:FOs
Afiairs Rob(;rt F'. Allnutt, to anyone to concl11 dl.! he thought it was in Space". On pai::e 7, --Tc-iJ
Congr<)s;:nan Bob Casey, dated true. This appallingly irresponsible Astronauts Con firm: We spotted l\\'O
January 29, 1970: ''Conversation attitude towards rules of e\·idcnce UFOs". lll the article, ;\!cDi·:itt ta!k5
between the Apollo 11 c,·ew :ind seems to in fer.t the whole UFO field. oi his UFO, and Cooper discusses his
~·Jission • Cont,ol were released live Sightings by 26 A stronauts exper:ences as a fighter pilot in
during the entire Apollo 11 mission. Co11iirm: UFOs Spied 011 Sl:ylabs (sic) Germany-and makes 110 mention of
There were betwel)n 1000 and 1500 Jla11y Other Space Shots-U FOs Watch the space UFO associated with his
rep resentati\·es of the news media Every tlo\'e NASA ;\Jakes, Say name. The headlines, as can be
present at the Houston News Cl)nter Astronauts Who Were Tailed on Space expected in such a newspaper, are
listening and observing, but not one Shot, " National Tattler", March 17, deliberately misleading.
has suggested that NASA withheld any 1974. This is an embellished version of SAGA magazine, May 1970:
news or conversations of this nature." the same Fawcett fantasies. Weekly Classified TOP SECRET-Apollo
The evidence is clear. There is, out tabloid newspaper "conformed to the Astronauts Reported Two UFO
of all the dozens of "reports of highest standards of modern reporting. Sightings, by Beckley and Salkin, p. 13
II astronaut UFO sightings", no residue Tattler and its staff are dedicated to rr: Complete story of Apollo-12 UFO;.
of authentic cases, no 20:o or 5% or total, truthful coverage... " In fact, plus enough false information to
even 0.01% of " true UFOs" behind all staffer Robert Abborino made no "discredit" the true explanation.
the "noise". My research is compelling effort to check any of Fawcett's Quotes "space expert Gary
in its conclusion: afler fifteen year3 of outrageous claims. Henderson", another active spreader
manned space voyages including space UFOs Past, Prese11t and Future, by of the myth. Refers to long-discredited
stations and landing on the moon, Robert Emenegger, research by Alan stories of "secret dead Russian
spacemen have brought back not a: . Sandler. Ballantine, 1974. Chapter 15, cosmonauts" probably created by
shred of evidence-verbal, phpto• "Na:;a", pages 100-106. Extensive F tank Edwards.
graphic, or otherwise-for the transcripts of space communications Houstvn Post, Nov. 30, 1975. page
existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft, cover up the fact that Sandler 1D: "Just One Astronaut Claims
or "UFOs". carefuily selected evidence and must Seeing UFO ", by Jim ;\laloney. 1his
That" evidence, if it exists at all, have knowingly omitted information sensible and sane investigation
must be sought elsewh ere. The which would have explained . many (i\lcDivitt stuck to his story) clearly
performance and standards of conduct cases. An excellent photo section is did not excite the national news media
of the UFO groups and of UFO writers included. and was relegated to the obscuri ty of a
cannot be cause for optim;sm that UFO Report, People Press, 1975. local newspaper.
such evidence, if it exi;;ts. will bP. "NASA Hiding UFOs From You", by Science and .\lechanics, June 1969.
recognized and correctly ~valuated. Robert D. Barry, pages 4-10. Barry is Cover Story: "This UFO was
The lesson of the "astronaut UFOs", associated with Carl Mcintyre's photographed by astronaut Gordon on
then, teaches us nothing about UFOs, fundamentalist Christian group, and is Gemini 11 flight" (the co\·er photo
but a lot about UFO investigators. one of the wilder UFO writers. Even shows a tremendously enlarged out of
the mass media has learned to focus image of a piece of insulation
disregard his fictional descrip tions of floating a f.:w inches in fron t of the
non-events. Here, he explains "why camera). Page -1-1, Lloyd '.\.lallan: ··.-\re
Scientific Study nf Unidentified NASA called in the CIA to keep these liFO Space Crews Spying on ou r
Fly ing Objects (Condon Report}, photos secret", without explaining Astronauts?" Descriptio n of the late
Bant_am Edition, 1969, Chapter 6: how , in that case, he got copies. He L. ~lallan's inter\'iews on Ge mini-l ;.
Visual Observations :\lade bv uses the forg.cd Gemini-7 photo provides some new informaLion but
Astronauts/ Franklin E. Roach. Pag;s proudly. cements some old misconce ptirrns.
176-209, with bibliography through Flying Saucers-Here and ,V ow', by Also embellishes Condon R eport
1967. Good bal"k;;round m:itNial F'rank Edwa rd,,, Lyle Stuart. >iew "unknowns".
including unpublish<'d 1·alitl solutinns York. 1967. Astruna~1t iar.ta~il's Lockhced-~.-\S.-\ Contract ;\ .-\ S
to a numbL'r of c;isrs. Incorrect w h()lly ur in part creatrd in the forti le 9 -5 191 (.\larch 19 70), ·'T1:ch:1kal
solution to Gemini-:--~ I case. (and unlimill)d by w,il ily) mind o f Report: L'nid1.•11tified Vi,;uJI
lnad..-4uat<- anal_.-~b and u1,j11stificd ·11,-11-;man' l·'ra11 l- Ed1\Jrd,; :ire iound Ph1.•11<1mena ...\ssoc;ated wilh Sp:icl'
encinr,;l)nH•nt ot f:,,r,;i ni-1 ',- ca.,,·. on p:1ge$ t :L l HO. an<1 l !l 'i. Tltrnui,: h fli:,:ht''. F . HL•atty and J. R:.iron.
Th i: £,!;;,: o/ Uc:ul,l_\', b} fl:,-n,·k and s11d1 entriL'$ :i j,>11 rnalis111 stud t"n l can Dis<.: tb :ic•s the fr,1i,:1ne11ts ~<',· 11 :111d
Vallee. Hl'nry H,•:,:1ll'ry & Co., 1975. trace thl· adual i::r,,wth of the myth. photographt'd on ,\ pol!•J· 12, and
Pa;:l· G:!,6-1 111 ::i S1.·ctit>11 cnllt·ci ..The , \ /'l:U Hui/din, :\l.1rd1-:\pril 1970 traces them t,> spacc,cr:ift effct·r;;.
6:!
--- PAGE 32 ---
~
REPL,Y To: REPLY To;
0 135 HART SENATE OfFICE 8UtLOlNG Q 103 FEDERAL COURTHOUSE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, 0C 20510-1501 3206THSTREET
(2021224-3744 Sioux CITY, IA 5 1101- 124A
TTY: (2021 224-4479 (71 21 233-1860
0
e-mail:ehucLgrassley@grassley.senate.gov
721 FEDERAL BUILDING
tlnitEd ~totes ~rnotr Q 210 WATERLOO B UILDING
531 COMMERCIAL STREET
210 W ALNUT $',-REET WATERLOO, IA 50701-5497
DES M OINES. IA 50309- 2140 CHARLES E. GRASSLEY (3191 232-6657
(5151284-4890
WASH INGTON, DC 20510-1501 0 116 FEDERAL BUILDING
0 206 FEDERAL BUILDING 131 E. 41H S TREET
101 1 S1 STREET SE. DAVENPORT, IA 52801 - 15 13
CEDAR RAP10S. IA 52401 - 1227
(319) 363--6832
August 3, 1998 (3191 322-4331
0 307 Fl!DEHAL B UILDING
8 SOUTH 6TH STREET
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA 51501-4204
(7121 322-7103
Ms . Mary D. Kerwin
Deputy Assoc. For Legislative Affairs
National Aeronautics & Space Administration
300 E Street, S . W.
Two Independence Square, Room 9L33
Washington , DC 20546
Dear Ms . Kerwin:
Enclosed please find a communication from (6) (6)
regarding several concerns about the space program . ------------
I woul d appreciate any assistance you could provide pertaining to
this matter. Please mark your return corre spondence to the
attention of Sherry Kuntz when responding to my office .
Thank you for your attention to my request .
DCharles E. Grassley
United St ates Senator
CEG/sk
En c los ure
Committee Assignments:
FINANCE AGRICULTURE CHAIRMAN ,
JUDICIARY BUDGET SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
--- PAGE 33 ---
. (
Author: (b)(o) <(b) (6) ~ at internet
Dat_e~ 7/6/98 04:14 PM
Priority: Normal
TO: chuck grassley at Grassley-DC
Subject: Message from a Voter
Greetings Honorable Senator Grassley,
I have recently encountered a number of new and interesting
tidbits of i nf ormation concet"oing letters T hovo previ~unJy written to
you i n regard of the UFO phenomenon that seems to be happeni ng in the
United State s as well as the rest of the world. I greatly appreciate
all the i n f ormation you have led me to through our past correspondence .
I am hoping you c an help me track down a few more specific things.
Here is a something I heard from someone I was corresponding with:
11
0n Sunday, August 10, 1997 at around 9:45am CDT, I was wat-ching
TV and switched to the NASA channel f or news of the ongoing shuttl e
mission . At the time, they were broadcasting a nighttime view of Earth.
As I watched, I was surprised to see a light rising vertically from the
bottom of the screen where Earth was displayed. As it continued to rise
vertically (relative to the TV screen), the shut tle camera clearly began
to track the l i ght and kept the picture c entered on it .
"After it rose we ll above the horizon of Earth, the light made
an apparent 90 - degree turn to the r ight (again relative to the screen)
and continued off in that direction . The shuttle camera continued to
track the object a nd began to zoom i n for a closer l ook. At that point
NASA cut off the feed from the external camera and displayed the Houston
space center instead. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared to record this on
my VCR. The entire episode lasted l ess than a minute, so I was unable to
get the VCR ready i n time."
I am also interested in any information that can be relayed
about the Groom Lake Area , also know as Area 51, or Dreamland, and an
area known as Area S-4. The media has stated t hat these areas in the
Nevada desert are testing grounds for US "Black Projects". I believe
that vehicles such as the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Stealth Fighter
where tested here.
The gove rnment to date denies the existence of such places, even
though I have in my possession of several videotapes, pictures, and e ven
a Russian satellite image showing the area. Does such a place exist?
Or at leas t , are you, the Air Force, or NASA, whoever happens to be in
control of the site willing to tell us that is does exist. It is my
understanding that the Nellis Air Force Base surrounds Area 51, so I
imagine that t he Air force is the one who has jurisdic tion over the
Area.
Many peop le including Bob Lazar, Bill Uhouse, and the father of
a guy I work wi t h all claim to have worked in this secret area, and have
seen and worked on craft o f an alien origin .
Bill Ohouse claims that both President Nixon, and Bush visited
the Area 51 facility to examine the progress of recreating alien
technology. He also claims that the pro ject was going on with the aid
of an alien "gray" known as Jarod (JAY-rod ).
If there is any t ruth to thei r claims and the claims of many
others, I woul d wonde r why such a spectacular secret would be kept from
us, and why the aliens would not have made themselves known to t he
general populace of Eart h .
Please do not just send me another list of Project Blue Book
documents, a nd I have already seen the censored files released by the
CIA . These documents have been censored so all that they do is bring
more suspic ion toward the government, and they just make me think even
more that someone is hiding some thing. The thing I can "t figure out is
why.
--- PAGE 34 ---
Anything you can do to help in my search for the hidden truth is
greatly appreciated. Please help me find out if we do have aliens at
Area 51, or even an admission that Area 51 exists.
Thanks Muc~he-..:..
· -------,
(b) 16)
Here is a list of Organizations, and places which may be helpful in
helping track down some information:
Organizations - Military groups and civilian contractors.
•
*
Nellis Air Force Base - Controls the land surrounding Area Sl.
Nevada Test site - Borders base on the west. I nitially "owned"
Area Sl.
..
* Security Anonymous "Cammo Dudes" patrolling base perimeter.
* "Janet" Aircraft - Official EG&G "airline" ferrying workers to
Groom Lake
* ~ir Force Flight Test Center - Agency that controls Area 51.
Based at Edwardo Air Force Base.
• EG&G Special Projects - General contractor at Area 51.
* Bechtel - General contractor at Nevada Test Site, with some
projects at Area 51.
* Tonopah Test Range - "Semi-secret" aircraft testing base
northwest of Area 51
• Lo ck.heed- Martin - Aircraft manufac turer for whom the base was
built.
* Johnson Controls - Contractor at Nevada Test Site, possibly also
at Area 51.
* Wackenhut Security - Security contractor at Nevada Test Site
Places
* Rachel, Nevada - Nevada's "UFO capital", the closest town to
Area 51
* Basecamp Airfield - "Secret" airfield in plain sight
* Green River Launch Complex, Utah- According to "Popular
Mechanics" the site of the "new Area 51"
* Papoose Lake - Site of Lazar's "Area S-4" south of Groom Lake
• Tikaboo Peak - Last accessible viewpoint into Area 51
--- PAGE 35 ---
Author: {~ (6)
Date:
--------
<(o) (6)
7 /6/98 04 :48 PM
at internet
Priority: Normal
TO: chuck grassley at Grassley-DC
Subject : NASA
This is a continuation of an e-mail I just sent you. These are some
alleged conversations and observations made from NASA Astronauts. If
there is ANY truth to this, there is a big sha~e shame, on NASA. If you
could contact NASA on my behalf about t hese incidences ·r would be very
grateful.
(o) (6)
Major Gordon Cooper
One of the original Mercury Astronauts and the last American to fly in
space alone. On May 15, 1963 he shot into space in a Mercury capsule for
a 22 orbit journey around the world. During the fina l orbit, Major
Gordon Cooper told the tracking station at Much (near Perth Australia)
that he could see a glowing, greenish object ahead of him quickly
approaching his capsule. The UFO was real and solid, because i t wa s
picked up by Muchea's tracking radar .
Cooper's sighting was reported by the National Broadcast Company, which
was covering the flight step by step; but when Cooper landed, reporters
were told that they would not be allowed to question him about the UFO
sighting.
Major Cooper was a firm believer in UFOs. Ten years earlier, in 1951 he
had sighted a UFO while piloting an F-86 Sabrejet over Western Germany.
They were metallic, saucer-shaped discs at considerable altitude and
could out-maneuver all American fighter planes.
Major Cooper also testified before the United Nations:
"I believe that these extra -terres trial vehicles and their crews are
visiting this planet from other planets ... Most astronauts were
reluctant to discuss UFOs."
"I did have occasion in 1951 to have two days of observation of many
flights of them, of different sizes, flying in fighter formation,
generally from east to west over Europe . "
And according to a taped interview by J. L. Ferrando, Major Cooper said:
"For many years I have lived with a secret, in a secrecy imposed on all
specialists in astronautics. I can now reveal that every day, in the
USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition
unknown to us. And there are thousands of witness reports and a quantity
of documents to prove this, but nobody wants to make them public.
Why? Because authority is afraid that people may think of God knows what
kind of horrible invaders. So the password still is: We have t •o avoid
panic by all means."
"I was furthermore a witness to an extraordinary phenomenon, here on
this planet Earth. It happened a few months ago in Florida . There I saw
with my own eyes a defined area of ground being consumed by flames, with
four indentions left by a flying object which had descended in the
middle of a field. Beings had left the craft (there were other traces to
prove this). They seemed to have studied topography, they had collected
soil samples and, eventually, they returned to where they had come from,
disappearing at enormous speed .. . I happen to know that authority did
just about everything to keep this incident from the press and TV, in
fear of a panicky reaction from the public."
--- PAGE 36 ---
Ed White & James McDivitt
In June 1965, astronauts Ed White (first American to walk in space) and
James McDivitt were passing over Hawaii in a Gemini spacecraft when they
saw a weird-looking metallic object. The UFO had long arms sticking out
of it. McDivitt took pictures with a cine-camera . Those pictures have
never been released .
James Lovell and Frank Borman
In December 1965, Gemini astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman also
saw a UFO during their second orbit of their record-breaking 14 day
flight. Borman reported that he saw an unidentified spacecraft . some
distance from their capsule. Gemini Control, at Cape Kennedy told him
that he was seeing the final stage of their own Titan booster rocket.
Borman confirmed that he could see the booster rocket all right, but
that he could also see something completely different .
During James Lovell's flight on Gemini 7:
Borman: ER GEMINI 7, HOUSTON HOW DO YOU READ?
Control: Loud and clear 7 go ahead.
Borman: GOT A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.
Control: This is Houston. Say again 7.
Borman: SAID WE HAVE A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.
control: Roger
Control: Gemini 7, is that the booster or is that an actual sighting?
Borman: WE HAVE SEVERAL ... ACTUAL SIGHTINGS.
Control: . .. Estimated distance or size?
Borman: WE ALSO HAVE THE BOOSTER IN SIGHT ...
Further controller cuts in: Gemini control here again, the reference in
that conversation was er bogey. It was er Borman who reported sighting
the bogey. Er this is Gemini control Houston at er 4 hours 24 minutes
into the flight.
Ironically, it was Lovell who ma de the classic statemen t "Please be
informed that there is a Santa Claus". This was during his Apollo 8
flight on Christmas day in 1968 - some people believe there's a deeper
meaning to these words, although the sceptics believe that this was
little more than American humour. However, Walter Schitta, who was
aboard Mercury 8, reputedly used Santa Clause as a code-name for a UFO
presence, adding some weight to the argument that Lovell was
experiencing another sighting.
Neil Armstrong & Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
According to the NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong the Aliens have a base on
the Moon and told us in no uncertain terms to get off and stay off the
Moon .
According to hitherto un-confirmed reports, both Neil Armstrong and
Edwin "Buzz" Aldri n saw UFOs shortly after that hi storic landing on the
Moon in Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969. I remember hearing one of the
astronauts refer to a "light" in or on a crater during the television
transmission, followed by a request from mission control for further
information. Nothi ng more was heard.
--- PAGE 37 ---
emp.1.oye~ ot t q lii nder 1 un nam,ed ra,di o j,a rps wi t j.1
A<a:c,;ord i a9 Lo a f.ormer NASA
I
their own VHF receiving facilities that b ypassed NASA' s b r o a d casting
outletc pic k e d u p t h e fol lo wing exchange:
NASA: What's there?
Mission Control calling Apollo 11 ...
Apollo 11: These "Babies " are huge , Sir! Enormous!
OH MY GOD! You wouldn't belie ve it!
I'm telling you there are other spacecraft out there,.
Lined up on the far side of the crater edge!
They ' re on the Moon watching us!
The two astronauts, talking to the NASA base in Houston.
Text of the conversation:
Astronaut 1: Hal What is it?
Astronaut 2: We have some explanation for that?
--BEEP--
Houston: We have (not), don't worry, continue your program!
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: Oh boy it ' s a , it's, it, it is really something (similar
to)
fantastic here, you, you could never imagine this!
--BEEP--
Houston: Roger, we know about that, could you go the other way, go back
the other way!
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: Well it's kind of (rigged) ha, pretty spectacular ..... .
god . . . what is that there? ··,
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: It's (hollow), what the hell is that?
Houston: Go Tango, Tango!
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: Ha! There's kind of light there now!
--BEEP--
Houston : Roger, we got it, we (watched it), lose communication,
Bravo Tango, Bravo Tango , select Jezebel, Jezebel!
--BEEP- -
Astronaut 1: . ..... ya, ha! .... . . but this is unbelievable!
Houston: (we call you up Bravo Tango, Bravo Tango)!
A certain professor, who wished to remain anonymous, was engaged in a
discussion with Neil Armstrong during a NASA symposium.
Professor: What REALLY happened out there with Apollo 11?
Armstrong: It was incredible, of course we had always known
there was a possibility, the fact is, we were
warned off! (by the Aliens). There was never any
--- PAGE 38 ---
question then of a space station or a moon city.
Professor: How do you mean "warned off"?
Armstrong: I can't go into details, except to say that their
ships were far superior to ours.both in ·size and
technology - Boy, were they big! ... and menacing!
No, there is no question.of a space station.
Professor: But NASA had other missions after Apollo 11?
Armstrong: Naturally - NASA was committed at that time, and
couldn't risk panic on Earth. But it really was a
quick scoop and back again.
According to a Dr. Vladimir Azhazha:
"Neil Armstrong relayed the message to Mission Control that two large ,
mysterious objects were watching them after having landed near the moon
module. But this message was never heard by the public -- because NASA
censored it ."
According to a Dr. Aleksandr Kasantsev, Buzz Aldrin took color movie
film of the UFOs from inside the module, and continued filming them
after he and Armstrong went outside .
Armstrong confirmed that the story was true but refused to go into
further detail, beyond admitting that the, CIA was behind the cover- up.
Donald Slayton
Donald Slayton a Mercury astronaut revealed in an interview he had seen
UFOs in 1951:
"I was testing a P-51 fighter in Minneapolis when I spotted this object.
I was at about 10,000 feet on a nice, bright, sunny afternoon. I thought
the object was a kite, then I realized that no kite is gonna fly that
high. II
As I got closer it looked like a weather balloon, gray and about three
feet in diameter. But as soon as I got behind the darn thing it didn't
look like a balloon anymore. It looked like a saucer, a disk .
About the same time, I realized that it was suddenly going away from me
- - and there I was, running at about 300 miles per hour. I tracked it
for a little way, and then all of a sudden the damn thing just took off .
It pulled about a 45 degree climbing turn and accelerated and just flat
disappeared."
Major Robert White
On July 17, 1962 Major Robert White reported a UFO during his
fifty - eight-mile high flight of an X-15. Major White reported:
"I have no idea what it could be. It was grayish in color and about
thirty to forty feet away." Then according to a Time Magaz ine article,
Major White exclaimed over the radio:
--- PAGE 39 ---
"There ARE things out there! There absolutely is!"
NASA Pilot Joseph A. Walker
On May 11, 1962 NASA pilot Joseph Walker said that one of his tasks was
to detect UFOs during his X-15 flights. He had filmed five or six UFOs
during his record breaking fifty - mile - high flight in April, 1962. It was
the second time he had filmed UFOs in flight. During a lecture at the
Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space Research in
Seattle, Washington he said : ..
"I don't feel like speculating about them. All"I know i:s what appeared
on the film which was developed after the flight." - Joseph Walker
To date none of those films has been released to the public for viewing.
Commander Eugene Cernan
Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17. In a Los Angeles Times article
in 1973 he said, about UFOs:
"· .. I've been asked (about UFOs) and I 've said publicly I thought they
{UFOs) were somebody else, some other civilization."
NASA's Maurice Chatelain
In 1979 Maurice Chatelain, former chief of NASA Communications Systems
confirmed that Armstrong had i ndeed reported seeing two UFOs on the rim
of a crater. Chatelain believes that some UFOs may come from our own
solar system -- specifically Titan .
"The encounter was common knowledge in NASA, but nobody has talked about
it until now. 11
" ... all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed, both at a distance and
sometimes also quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial
origin - flying saucers, or UFOs, if you want to call them by that name.
Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed Mission Control, who
then ordered absolute silence ."
Pilot Walter Schirra
"I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the
astronauts to use the code name 'Santa Claus • to indicate the presence
of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements
were barely noticed by the general public.
James Lovell
It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8
command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to
hear: ' PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.' Even though this
happened on Christmas Day 1968, many people sensed a hidden meaning in
those words."
The rumors persist. NASA may well be a civilian agency, but many of its
programs are funded by the
defense budget and most of the astronauts are subject to military
security regulations . Apart from the fact that the National Security
Agency screens all films and probably radio communications as well.We
have the statements by Otto Binder, Dr. Garry Henderson and Maurice
Chatelain that the astronauts were under strict orders not to discuss
their sightings. And Gordon Cooper has testified to a United Nations
committee that one of the astronauts actually witnessed a UFO on the
ground. If there is no secrecy, why has this sighting not been made
public?
--- PAGE 40 ---
Shuttle Discovery - Mission 20
The voices of the astronaut and of the amateur radio station WA3NAN
Goddard in the Space Center of Greenbelt Maryland .
WA3NAN: We are retransmitting the Space Shuttle airground communication
from mission 20 . This is WA3NAN .
Astronaut James F. Buchli ...
Astronaut: Houston, this is Riscovery, we still have the alien
spacecraft
under observance ...
--- PAGE 41 ---
JLJN 2 Lt /999
L:ATW:mtg: U1998-407f
The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Snowe:
Thank you for your May 18, 1998, letter on behalf of (b) (6} _ _ regarding
Unidentified Flying Objects and his concern over the "authenticity of the recently
released Mariner photographs."
There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (b) (6 is
referring to the images taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). NASA does not
tamper with images received from MGS. These images are received on Earth in digital
format, meaning "O and 1". NASA merely translates these digital images, using
computer processing, into actual images. All images and other instrument data is
deposited in a publicly accessible archive within six months after receipt where they are
available to everyone. All the images currently released can be found on the Internet at
http://photojournal.jp1.nasa.gov.
We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
you in responding to {6) (6)
Sincerely,
.,d "1J
• ... , . •ieninaer
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
ecc:
S/ Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)
((J/22-- ltc8 w.1
--- PAGE 42 ---
-----a
COMMnTEES:
~ OLYMPIA J. SN OWE
MAINE ARMED SERVICES
CoUNSEL TO THE AsslSTANT BUDGET
MA..K.,:1TV LEADER
COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
250 RUSSELL S ENATE OFFICE 8UILD1NG
(202) 224-5344 TRANS PORTATION
CHAIR OF
OCEANS ANO ASHERIES
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-1903 SUBCOMMITTEE
SMALL BUSINESS
May 18, 1998
Mr. Lawrence E . Medway
Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
National Aeronautic and Space Administration
300 E . Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20546
Dear Mr. Medway :
I am writing to x ou regarding the concerns of my constituent, (o (6)
(b) (6) _:_:.:.:--- of Stonington, Maine.
(~~) is interested in U.F . O. 's and the recent photos of
Mars which were recently released. (o) (6) ___ is not
convinced wi th the authenticity of the recently released Mariner
photographs . Further, he questions the authenticity based on the
picture only having 75 shades of grey, rather than t he 256 it is
supposed to have. Any information you could provide which would
help me address his concerns would be appreciated .
Thank you for your time and attention.
lticerel~ , 1
~t. -~
uni~ tes senator
OJS:mjb
AUBURN A UGUSTA BANGOR B tDDEFORO PORTUINO PRESOUE ls~e
Two GAEAT FALLS Pt.Av. 68 SEWALL STI1EET, SUITE 101C ONE CUMBERLAND PLACE, SUITE 306 231 M AIN Smerr. Su1TE 2 3 CANAL PtAZA, SUITE 601 169 ACAOfMV STI1fe1', Sum 3
Su1Te 78 AUGUSTA, ME 04330 0ANGOA, ME 04401 8100,•0RO, M E 04005 P,O. Box 188 P•Fsoue i s, e. M E 04769
A UBURN, ME 04210 (207) 622-8292 (207) 945--0432 (207) 282--4144 POATLANO, ME04112 (207) 764-5124
(207) 786-2451 (207) 874'"°883
M AINE RELA'< SERVICE
TOO 1" 955-,3323
IN MAINE CALL TOLL-FREE l -800-432- 1599 PRINTEO ON RECYCLED PAPER
--- PAGE 43 ---
L98-407 - Sen. Snowe
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects." As
stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed NASA to end its
search program. T~r-extraterrestfials is conduetee-through-Ibe.Seatch..for:.
E ~ t e Higenee-I-nsHtute-(-SET+Institute) in-Mountain View, CA.
(_
As for your interest in the recent photos of Mars taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS),
not the Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "O and l" . NASA does
not tamper with these images. However, the images do require computer processing before they are
suitable for public viewing. All images and other instrument data obtained from the MGS will be deposited
in a publicly accessible archive, and they will then be available to everyone, scientists and citizens alike,
who wants to examine them and draw their own individual conclusions. You can access all the images
currently released from the following website: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be useful
to you.
--- PAGE 44 ---
L98-407 - Sen. Snowe
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects." As
stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed NASA to end its
search program. Today th@ searoh :fer-extratertEtrials is condttst«l-through..Ihe-Sear:ch.ior.
E~rate11esli ial fotemgenee-Ins-t1-tute-(-SffFHnstitute) in-Mountain View, CA.
(___
As for your interest in the recent photos of Mars taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MOS),
not the Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "0 and I". NASA does
not tamper with these images. However, the images do require computer processing before they are
suitable for public viewing. All images and other instrument data obtained from the MGS will be deposited
in a publicly accessible archive, and they will then be available to everyone, scientists and citizens alike,
who wants to examine them and draw their own individual conclusions. You can access all the images
currently released from the following website: http://photojoumal.jpl.nasa.gov/
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this informatio n will be useful
to you.
--- PAGE 45 ---
.___
ACTION REQUIRED
CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY
Office of Legislative Affairs DATE: May 26, 1998
NASA Headquarters PAGES, if faxed: 3
300 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20546
TO: S/Ruth Netting Anne Ward
PHONE: PHONE: (202) 358-1946
FAX: FAX: (202) 358-4343
Action assigned to: S/Ruth Netting
Due date: June 9, 1998
Information copies:
Action number/ Member: L98-407- Sen. Snowe
INSTRUCTIONS:
Please prepare a draft reply to the attached Congressional inquiry and send it
via electronic mail to the following address: Anne.Ward@hq.nasa.gov
or send a copy of your reply on a diskette to the attention of Anne Ward.
If you need clarification of this assignment or additional time to prepare this
reply, please contact Anne Ward.
MESSAGE:
Ruth, If you answer this before June 1, please send answer to me.
Thanks.
Helen
--- PAGE 46 ---
< CONFIRMATION REPORT> 05-26-1998(TUE) 10:26
C TRANSM I T J
NO. DATE TIME DESTINATION PG. DURATION MODE RESULT
18502 5-26 10:25 NASA HQTS 2 0°00'52" NORMAL OK
2 0·00•52"
--- PAGE 47 ---
-,
HegClq Yarters Action l racKing '5ystem (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00407
_________ who's interested in U.F.O.
Title : Sen Snowe fwds ltr from (b) (6 ) _,
and th e recent Mars photo
Recipient: UHeffernan
Author: SNOWE
Organization: SENATE Date Written: 05/18/1998
Date Received : 05/26/1998
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
Action Office: LD/Rothman:P >>Current Due Date: 06/18/1998<<
Original Due Date:
Status: Open
Signature Office: UHeffernan
Info Offices: UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (o) (6) _ _ _ OF STOCKINGTON, MAINE, WHO'S
INTERESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED.
Comments:
Enclosures: NO
Related Records :
Keywords: {b) (6) _ _STONINGTON, MAINE U.F.O. MARS
File Plan: Analyst: BMoore
05/26/1998 Page 1 of 1
--- PAGE 48 ---
,o ~
1 _t DRAFT
0~
{;
L:ATW:mtg:U1998-407f / 7/;> y
~ he Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
United States Senanns \. .,
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Snowe:
There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (6>l 6) is
referring to the images taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). NASA does not
tamper with imageveceived from MGS. These images are received on Earth in digital
format, meaning "0~nd 1". NASA merely translates these digital images, using
cq_mputer processing, into actual images. All images and other instrument data is
deposited in a publicly accessible archive within six months after receipt where they are
available to everyone. All the images currently released can be found on the Internet at
http://photojournal.jp1. nasa.gov.
We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
_____
you in responding tol 6) (6) ___.
Sincerely,
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
--- PAGE 49 ---
..
ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)
--- PAGE 50 ---
5
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00494
Title: Ward/White House Referral: UFO Hearings
Recipient: A/Goldin
Author: (15) (6)
Organization: White House Date Written: 05/17/1998
Date Received: 06/18/1998
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed: 06/26/1998
Date Closed: 06/26/1998
Action Office: UWard:S >>Current Due Date: 07/15/ 1998<<
Original Due Date: 07/15/1998
Status: Closed
Signature Office: UHeffernan
Info Offices: UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Abstract:
White House Correspondence from (6) (6) who supports having congressional hearing regarding the
existence of UFO's. -----
Comments:
Note: Vanessa needs letterhead copy of signed/dated response.
Enclosures: White House Memo
Related Records: A/1998-00416
Keywords: (b} (6) J UFO, hearings
File Plan: 1320.4 Analyst: JMassey
06/24/1998 Page 1 of 1
--- PAGE 51 ---
JUN 2 4
L:ATW:mtg :U1998-494f
(6) (6)
Dear (b) (6)
The White House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17, 1998, letter to
President Clinton concerning possible hearings on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on UFO. Enclosed is a Fact Sheet, "The
US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects," which gives a brief history of NASA's
investigations into UFO.
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be helpful to
you.
Sincerely,
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure
ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Sue J. Smith
Director, Office of Agency Liaison
Room 6, OEOB
The White House
Washington, DC 20502
&l-alt:ii l tt.LY }J.12
' I i ~lr:;y
--- PAGE 52 ---
THE W HITE H OUS E
WASHINGTON
I
l:
DATE
MEMORANDUM FOR:
' J
FROM : SUE J. SMITH c;f'x1
DIRECTOR, OFFfd[ OF AGENCY LIAISON
SUBJECT: REFERRAL OF CASEWORK IN BULK
An unprecedented number of individuals still write the President and
the First Lady for help. I know that this has meant a far greater
volume of mail for your agency than ever before. I appreciate your
continuing cooperation i n our efforts to be a ·s respons i ve as
possible.
Th e attached l et t ers have not received a White House Staff rThis text is truncated. The complete file is available at the official source.
View the official fileCongressional Context
Where this record connects to the congressional record and the people in it.
Related Intelligence
Person
Steven Greer
Steven Greer is a retired physician and ufologist who founded the Center for the Study of Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and the Disclosure Project.
Open fileOrganization
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was the U.S. Air Force's systematic study of unidentified flying objects from 1952 to 1969.
Open fileCaseDECLASSIFIED
Roswell Incident
In 1947, a rancher near Roswell, New Mexico found debris that the military initially called a flying saucer, then retracted as a weather balloon, later identified as a classified surveillance device.
Open file