1957 - New Mexico and Ohio

Witness identified as Olden H. Moore and John H. Moore in the file. November 1957 near Alburquerque, New Mexico. Below, a news story from Ohio dated 11-22-57. That was a VERY busy month for sightings all over.

 

7 July 1947 - Phoenix, Arizona

The top two images are from photos taken in Phoenix, Arizona on 7 July 1947 at 1600 local time.
 

Below, the original sketch of the objects Kenneth Arnold saw and reported.

A Mystery Photo

 Labeled 1942- Tiensten _ Hop 112670i

An intriguing photo - some claim it was taken in 1911  (of a hate thrown into the air and flying across the street) and others indicate it was it was taken in northern China in 1942.  It stands alone in the "undated" folders in Project Blue Book. 

Edward Morrow: 1949 Film "The Case for the Flying saucers"

 

THE ECHO SATELLITE AND UFO'S: A CASE STUDY (Altus, Ok 1964)

 21 May 1964 at Altus Air Force Base, Altus, Oklahoma, witnesses described seeing a strange object. The conclusion was the witness had seen ECHO II flying overhead.

At 1030 zulu, a civilian guard at Missile Silo # 6 (papers said they were not military personnel) reported seeing a large, bright object (the size of an aircraft). It was described a white, round, and emitting no sounds. 

When initially\seen the object was coming from the south (S) at a 45-degree elevation,

It lingered there, hovering for some 8 to 10 minutes.

The guard called to report this because the light was strong enough it illuminated the cap of the silo. A silo commander in silo # 7 sent a maintenance man up to visually verify any object. He did and returned to confirm the report. Two personnel are named in the report: Willie L. Davis and Paavo Samera.

By the time this maintenance man reached the upper levels and visually sighted the scene the presumed light had drifted upward where it then appeared to the intensity of the north star.

This object faded in 2-4 minutes.

Motion was against the slight prevailing winds on that clear night. No other observations emerged from other silos in the region. 

As required by AF Regulations, a report was submitted and the file ended up with Project Blue Book as 640521altus.  SAC had sent the report through because the area where one of the lights was seen was around a missile silo. 

It does not show up in the current online collection of Project Blue Book, indicating it was removed, as many were, once an answer was attached.

Nearly hidden in the cover form document are several important facts:

The form says the witness was a military source.

The object was observed for 12 minutes.

The object moved to the NW

The form indicates the sighting is in two parts (1) is the sighting of ECHO II and the other (2) light is unexplained.

Closely reading the report it is clear that the object first seen coming in from the south and by the south gate, that hovered for close to 10 minutes, and glowed bright enough to illuminate the silo cap was that unexplained object (2).  The small object, moving northward, high and star bright only, may have been the satellite ECHO II.

The witness who observed the round, white, silent object that hovered and remained in a specific area desbribed the size as "a basketball held at arm's length." That was the standard estimating size guide used by Project Blue Book.  The consultant, who may have been Dr. Donald H. Menzel, added several declaration points to illustrate how unbelievable he found that estimate. Menzel's notes often seem to be abrupt, declarative, and short on the milk of human kindness. Menzel did not believe in the reality of UFO's - which he continued to call flying saucers to demonstrate his opinion of the topic -and so there for there could not be any such things. Numerous authors of the time and those who knew him, as well as how he reveals himself via newspaper quotes, prove this. 

This 21 May 1964 sighting at the Missile Silo # 6 at Altus, Oklahoma was a two-part episode. One part was used to explain the other and put the case to bed. 

ECHO II provided an excellent cover because it was in the news, was technical, and information was only made available sporadically to the public. Even today, images of the massive satellite moving across the sky are hard to locate. They would be invaluable for comparisons to what people reported and movement across the skies at specific windows of time. Finding the schedules or the newspapers that printed them can be challenging.

Explanation: Object seen and reported by military witness was ECHO II, a communication satellite sent up in January of 1964. ECHO 2 (or II) satellite mission ends during June 1969.  What was ECHO 2: Echo 2 was a 135-foot satellite that was launched by NASA in January of 1964 and it orbited the Earth in a near polar orbit for the duration of its time in space. It was described as a communications satellite but it is probable it may have been involved in other activities as well.

Polar orbit was defined as “one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about 60 - 90 degrees to the body's equator. “For the Earth, that would be a mostly North and South direction, with a moderate angle to one direction or another.

 It was easily visible to the naked eye across Earth’s surface due to its large size and type of orbit. It was used to perform some passive communications experiments and to measure the shape of the Earth. The satellite burned up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Note the size difference of the people in the above image and the one below....

Local newspapers often carried viewing guides for those interested in tracking the satellite.

"Echo II Path Charted", Oklahoma City Times, Nov.30, 1964 (pg.8) informed readers that the satellite "can be seen

 7:06 p.m. Monday at 8 degrees above the horizon, west of Oklahoma City, moving southeast."

The real conclusion is hidden in that cover sheet summary. There were TWO objects seen that night. The one the guards outside observed: LARGE, round, very bright light with no noise.  The other object, at a missile silo some distance away, observed by a military service man in maintenance, was of the far distant, passing overhead, ECHO 2 satellite, that was seen until it passed into shadows on its normal nearly polar orbit. The first object was UNEXPLAINED. It was UNKNOWN. The second could be classified and made to fit a natural and expected sky object. In Project Blue Book fashion the one identified was forced into serving as the label for all other sightings despite any conflicting witness statements of size, movement, speed, etc.  

It is a familiar pattern for any who have read and studied the total content of the available files.

For additional reading on the fabulous ECHO projects:

NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details

Project Echo 2 (arthurcollins.org)

Echo | satellite | Britannica

QUOTES IN CONTRAST

August 1952.

General Hoyt Vanderberg, Air Force Chief of Staff. Quoted Aug. 1, 1952, after the summer "flap" that included a fly by in Washington D.C. - according to radar and some visuals.

"I don't believe there are flying saucers...However, there are apparently physical phenomena which makes people think they have seen them.,, I don't like the continued occurrence of mass hysteria about flying saucers."

"Inside Washington: March of Events" , a column of Washington D.C. news, printed Aug. 4, 1952.

"You too can be a saucer spotter. How to Observe, Report on Saucer. "Now everyone can get in on the act of spotting flying saucers. The United States Air Force has made it official by asking anyone who thinks he saw a saucer, or any other strange object in the sky, to report it to the nears Air Force field....The Air Force hastens to add that its call for information is not an official "alert" and professes not to be excited over presistent reports of the phenomena. But the new attitude is a reversal from a little over a year ago, when the whole idea of saucers was pooh-poohed by the higher ups."

Or in the case of these quotes, a reversal in a matter of days. 

Dec. 1969. Comments in response to the closing of the Project Blue Book investigation by the U.S. Air Force.

Dr. Donald H. Menzel. Harvard University Astronomer, Project Blue Book Consultant. Alleged to have had connections to the NSA and CIA. Debunker.

"Scientists of the 21st century will look back on UFO's as the greatest nonsense of the 20th century."

Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Northwestern University Astronomer, Project Blue Book Consultant. Founder of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), Chicago, Ill. 

"We in the 20th century may be as far away from a solution to the UFO problem as the 19th century physicist was from an interpretation of the Aurora Borealis..."

Happy New Year !

 May we all find that the new year is as full of wonder and surprises that are truly "out of this world!'

Condon Report: The Nine

Chicago News Service correspondent, Donald Zochart published a syndicated article in the late 1960's "Condon Report on UFO's Noting Convincing Many"   The article outlined the nine instances where the report and the statement issued by Condon. The much noted "conclusions" made by Dr. Condon, lead scientist of the famous University of Colorado research into the topic of UFO's, was issued and made public far in advance of the massive document still to be published. As a result, what his "conclusions" said carried the day, as far as most newscasters, scientists and the public thought.

Yet not all agreed, even as the project was closing down, one scientist had ready a manuscript he sent to publication informing just where the Condon report had gone off track.

The purpose of the Condon Report (In Condon's own words) was: "The Condon Committee was the informal name of the University of Colorado UFO Project. This group was funded by the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1968 at the University of Colorado to study UAPs under the direction of physicist Edward Condon. The result of its work, formally titled Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, and known as the Condon Report, appeared in 1968.  This study examined files from the Air Force's Project Blue Book, National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), and investigating sightings reported during the project." The final report was over 1400 pages and was written in an often stilted academic style. It contains often needless repetitions that created a cumbersome 1500+ page document and hardcover book (900+ pages in paperback) and greatly selected and truncated editions beyond that.

It is notable the number of scientists who did come down on the side asserting it was a subject deserving more study. The Wikipedia entry on the "Condon Committee" has some excellent citations and overview. 

The total effort was plagued by several factors. There was the sensed feeling by many that this was yet another in a long line of attempts to get the Air Force out of the "flying saucer" business and on to serious work. Many felt it was large shell game which continued to manipulate the public's "right to know." Still others - a large majority - accepted the much briefer conclusion issued by Condon without bothering to deeply study the work itself. 

Copy of the Condon Report: The Full Condon Report.pdf - Google Drive

Thank You to Those Who Have Shared Their Stories! Keep Them Coming!

 A big thank you to those who have stepped up to share their stories in volume 2 of SOONER SAUCERS: Oklahoma UFO's.  This volume will look at before and after Project Blue Book, add some recently uncovered information about previous "flaps" and events in Oklahoma, and more. Since the area post- Project Blue Book is largely dependent on a good news story in a paper - the pickings are small and the tone is often ridicule laced with laughter. Good, serious, detailed accounts of things seen or experienced have to come from the people who experienced them, or heard about them in detail from a loved one who may have already passed on. See elsewhere on the blog for some of the details needed. But openness, details, and your stories are needed! Thanks!!

PREPARING FOR CONTACT

One of the early reports conducted on the topic of first contact was the 'Brookings Report", that was the shortened title of a longer analysis of the impact on modern society with a supposed superior and advanced culture from another world.

The military minds of the day conceptualized things in broad war-derived concepts of control.  These WW2 era leaders had one example of their youth upon which they placed all their expectations. It created a rule that said: The public is prone is mass hysteria.  The 1939 radio program, "The War of the Worls" was cited as the fate awaiting any announcement of contact or the reality of alien life.  Like all situations of the modern era it was blown wildly out of proportion. 

The facts of the impact of that broadcast were very localized and were the result of many groups not realizing the power of the media.  Had there been wider, more aggressive marketing to promote the radio program and its topic, even those who did not listen to it would have been made aware of its existence and its topic.  Instead of large throngs of people reduced to hysteria by fear of the "this-is-real" format of the radio program, those so influenced were localized and in small pockets. Newspapers and rumor, according to many reports in newspapers and academic papers after the fact, indicate it was all sadly overblown.

Despite that, military and political leaders, believed that there was a "mass hysteria" and "mass hallucination" lurking in the populace. Headlines sell papers; this old rule was probably behind many of the tales related to the event and combined with facts to generate a false comprehension of the facts. 

"Mass hysteria" is an unusual term to use because the term, used in sociology and psychology, refers to  a phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as a result of rumors and fear.  A related issue for most military, and UFO debunkers in particular, was to hammer away at that "fear" idea. An early and dedicated debunker for astronomer and sometimes employee of the NSA, was Dr. Donald H. Menzel.  His book of flying saucers, draft copies of chapters were supplied to Project Blue Book and apparently served as guides in drafting replies to many sightings, is replete with assertions that people were "fearful", "terrified", "hysterical", and the like. Oddly, the group that most demonstrated that fear component appeared to be the military, guided by people like Menzel whispering in their ears.

The truth is that looking at the topic of "contact" in the early days of the 21st century is far different in many important areas than the same topic in the middle of the 20th century. When the "flying saucers" and "UFO's" first appeared education (especially scientific education) was at a low level for most American adults.  A largely rural based culture where crops and herds still demanded a majority of the workforce, the educational needs were less valued. Pre-WW2 a 6th to 8th grade education was very common. The late 1950's, with the baby boom generated by the war, schools and higher education were given a prominent place in society. The government, seeing a need for skilled workers in scientific and technological fields, provided money to build and equipment schools to train this new emerging workforce. 

When crowds were swayed by the techno babble of answers to alleged flying saucers in the late 1940's and early 1950's, it was because their confidence in understanding certain principles and theories was lower. In the late 1960's when sightings were taking place around college campuses, many of those sighting the objects were soon-to-be engineering, aviation experts, and scientists.  The Air Force tendency to apply a "one-size-fits-all" answer to a cluster of sightings would end up leaving them with egg on their face more than once. 

What is needed to prepare people for "contact" or "disclosure"?  

1. Science bodies will need to speak clearly about the possibilities.  As a young student it was driven into my science knowledge that there was no way for water to exist on Mars. It could never happen. Now, there is an almost daily release of news that erases decades of previously "written in stone" scientific pronouncements. In many ways, science had begun to take on the role of society's "religion" and scientists the new "high priests."  Issues of infallibility often overrode the potential for some new data to mean changing long held "proofs."  True science is always open to new changes, they must be proven and repeatable, and not merely accepted in a blind assumption but then they should not be rejected out of a faith-based understanding an unchanging set of scientific principles.

2. News outlets will need to accept that people who have claimed seeing things and were ridiculed for it was a failure of their discipline to search for the truth and present it objectively. 

3. Religious people will need to examine their own presumptions about what their holy books say about the planet's role in the cosmos. I believe most will find that their assumptions of being the center of things is faulty and limiting. Just as out science one conceived the planet as being the center around which all the planets and the sun revolved, I think philosophies and religions will need to grow to the place that they recognize that their place in the universe may be vastly different and filled with new rich potentials.

THE 1948 SPACE VISITOR: NORTON, KS METEORITE

 The large meteorite, along with collective smaller pieces, rests in the La Paz Collection at the University of New Mexico. Other pieces went to the University of Nebraska. The blazing "ball of fire" when first sighted late afternoon of Wednesday, February 19, 1948 was seen by people in six states: New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Most sources will only say three or four but combining all newspaper accounts and Project Blue Book files found there were reports of people seeing the ball of fire and/or hearing the earthshattering boom when it plowed into the earth on the borderlands of northwestern Kansas and southwestern Nebraska.  Today the rock's official name is Norton County due to the largest sample being found there first. 

Eyewitness statements by the crew of a B-29 and observant Highway Patrol, local people and more provide some interesting, and sometimes contradictory information. It was roundish, multicolored, and blazing like a ball of fire. Eyewitness accounts indicate it seemed to turn over in a "jellyroll", then straightened, and then did another jellyroll, repeating until it exploded. The explosion was reported as being seen, felt, and heard across at least three states (Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado) closest.  Other regions were concerned enough that they called out crash vehicles and emergency trucks fearing planes had gone down. No matter where they were when they looked no downed planes or exploded businesses could be located.  The April issue of Sky and Telescope of 1948 has a multipage article. 

Some states said the object was viewed at 4 p.m. and some said 5 p.m. and differences were blamed on time zones. Although the military time used on one report indicated the 4 pm time was most accurate. 

The earliest reports appear to have come from the area of Alburquerque, New Mexico and then reports by people of the 'ball of fire' heading "southeast" of Limon, Colorado and then reports of people in Buffalo, Oklahoma and Gage, Oklahoma in the panhandle indicate a northeastern trajectory. From Buffalo, Oklahoma it is a 221 miles trip straight north to Norton, Kansas and the nearby Nebraska site. 

Over Norton County, Kansas the "great ball of fire" exploded with a poweful, concussive explosion that some people said had a "mushroom" cloud and all indicated generated a great deal of white smoke.

"Could Not Be the Reason for all the "flying discs" (1947)

It was the two-day wonder of July 1947. On July 8th wire services carried the press released authorized by local base commander in Roswell, New Mexico that one of the "flying discs" making headlines and radio shows across the country had been found.    A flight of debris to Ft. Worth, and the next day, headlines chimed out with "Saucer Emptied", "Disc Excitement Sizzles - then Fizzles."  Most newspapers carried the photos of General Ramey by the shiny weather array debris or the one of a Major Marcel holding a piece with an odd and uncomfortable looking visage. Others, although fewer, showed a very young Warrant Officer, JG, Irving N, Newton holding the familiar kite shaped reflector from a weather balloon array. The photo, via NEA photo wire, includes some text and that includes a statement that "These balloons travel with wind currents and therefore could not be the reason for all the "flying discs". 

Remember the explanation that these were "weather balloons" and then later part of a highly classified "Project Mogul" (which strangely was very little classified and records carelessly tossed and lost). An Air Force retired officer known for his de-bunking skills, according to some sources, headed up the 'final answer' to the subject in the 1990's.

One of the chief problems with the weather balloon and reflector answer was that these were common objects; this photo was in the paper just days before the press release. Any military base would send these up almost daily. If varied in style or accessories, the basic purpose and identity would remain. Even the claims that anew "secret" plasticized balloon construction would not have changed the recognition factor that much.

AS these images show the objects spread across the office at Ft. Worth were different than the object described by Major Marcel and other witnesses from Roswell. Indeed, the final sentence under the photo of Warrant Officer Newton, quoted in the blog entry title, is very telling. It indicates an awareness by someone that the answer did not answer all the questions.

A weather balloon launch from the period of the Roswell event; a common site on numerous military bases and nothing unusual.

Charles Moore, the man doing the launces of Project Mogul shown with one of the units. Moore himself reported seeing something strange when he was working in New Mexivo.

Mexico City UFO: Striking Similarities and Interesting Timing

 March 1950 saw a news item going the rounds in Los Angeles and from there various outlets utilizing AP news stories. A rumor in LA men's club locker rooms was claiming of a crashed flying saucer near Mexico City.

Explosive's salesman Ray L. Dimmick claimed he had seen a crashed saucer, its occupant and handled a piece of the craft. 

The crash he claimed had happened about three months early (Jan. 1950), that the crash had a 23 inch deceased occupant "from Mars" with a big head.

He claimed the ship was eight feet across (one say 45 feet) and 90 inches thick and had two motors. In addition, he saw a strip of metal taken from it" and describe the piece as a foot (one source say 8 feet), 8 inches wide and about 3/4 inches thick.

As expect both the Mexican and United States authorities denied any such event occurred. The story Dimmick shared - was framed by "top secret" and "classified" parts he could not share but apparently these did not stop him from sharing the broad sweep of the story.

The story emerged after a December 1949 closing the books on investigating the "flying saucers" under a project known popularly as "Project Saucer" but was in reality the Air Force Project Sign. That work, the press release announcing its closure, had begun January 22, 1948.  The books were being closed because "there was nothing to show that the reports were not the results of natural phenomena."  The Air Force asserted again that "all evidence pointed to three factors as cause of the sightings. They were 1) misidentification of various conventional objects*, 2) a mild form of mass hysteria, and 3) hoaxes." The Air Force defined various conventional objects as "birds, meteors, balloons, optical illusions, aircraft, etc."

The closure of the Project Sign came, most felt, due to the comments in papers and the planned inclusion in a major publication of seeing the unbelievable by Commander Robert B. McLaughlin, USN.  

As the Project Sign was buried, a story was already going the rounds, with comments by McLaughlin that challenged the 'nothing to see- move along' attitude of the Air Force. Eagerly looked forward to was the March 1950 issue of True magazine. It was a headache to anyone wishing to keep something secret, the worst thing about it was McLaughlin was  high enough ranked and in the U.S. Navy that the Air Force was hard pressed to do much to squash the interest in flying saucers or flying discs his comments generated. The competition between all the branches was running high in the 1947 to 1950 window. It would be so fierce that finally a division of research and oversight would be formulated. This meant the missile development went to the U.S. Navy, the helicopter and ground launched missiles went to the U.S. Army, and all things in the sky that flew went to the U.S. Air Force. 

As we noticed in an early entry here, the similarities between the story of Roswell and the Aztec crash hint at a connection. My argument was that the best way to weaken a potential leak about a Roswell Incident was the corrupted leak of one similar but too extreme to be easily believed. A story that immediately places anyone suggesting a serious examination of it as a candidate for a white room with a very tight-fitting jacket. 

Here again, the basic motif emerges and the inclusion of the particulars of the incident are question begging in themselves. A crashed alien craft, a dead occupant, a piece of metal from the craft.

Some may argue that the emergence of the Roswell Incident in the 1970's and 1980's might have been a mash-up of memories of these stories of the Aztec, New Mexico crash first mentioned in Frank Edwards book Flying Saucers: Series Business and these news articles of the Mexico City crash. That might float except for the fact  that Roswell actually bears the weight of officially sanctioned news, detailed publication in a newspaper and photos. Roswell - no matter which side of the issue a person comes down on - was a real event that was covered by real newspaper reporters. The same cannot be said of the Aztec or the Mexico City alleged events. 

The time of the release of the story, the same month as the appearance of the story in True Magazine could be a clever marketing gimmick or a more sinister attempt to continue to lather on ridicule any who might believe the story of extraterrestrial craft, or worse, those who might be tempted to share what they saw or think they saw as a civilian contractor, low level technician, or military personnel who allegiance to the service diluted once released. 

An additional motivating factor might have been that in this 1948 to 1950 time period there were large lay-offs going on across the country. Those massive civilian workforces that had driven the war effort were now being downsized. The government, with its projects and institutions, still remained one of the largest direct or indirect employers of the era. It is possible that keeping quiet was job insurance.

1947 - July, 4/5, Roswell Incident. Two crash sites (one 75 miles northwest of Roswell and one further to the west near a mountain range); 1 or more "bodies"; an odd piece of metal like material with odd markings.

1948 - April )?) Aztec, NM Incident. Reported in Frank Edwards Flying Saucers: Serious Business (published in the early 1960's). 100 foot across craft; many bodies.

1950 - January, Mexico City. Reported in March 1950. 40 foot across craft, 90 inches tall, 1 or more dead bodies; a strange piece of the craft in an 8 ft. x 8 in. and 3/4 wide section.

Other 1949 Events

June 1949 a "meteor" zig-zagged across the sky leaving a trail for some 30 minutes across several southern states. As the comments note that was very unusual.

Once again, the Air Force had its say...whenever the press releases appear there were often more reports in the newspapers, or emerging investigating groups, than in the PBB files

Recommendations that the study of unexplained objects be reduced in scope, preliminary to closing Project Grudge completely.  Note number 3 about the "psychological warfare division" and other government agencies interested in the psychological aspects of the topic be informed of study results.

A 1947 report from Oklahoma City. Included probably to reaffirm the natural explanations they Air Force was applying to any and all sightings of things in the sky by reputable persons.

In October 1949 there is a series of photos taken at Roswell at the Air Base there. See the previous entry on that topic.

In 1950, a story breaks out of Kingman, Kansas covered in a previous entry here.

 

Project Mogul in Project Blue Book

Object recovered in 1947 near Shreveport, LA. Thought part of a hoax but lacks certainty and kept in the file.

Debris found in Hackensack, New Jersey, that FBI and Army Air Corp investigated in 1947 (August). A later hand had written on the report "Project Mogul."  This may have been added after it was declassified or when the Air Force was producing its final answer book in the 1990's. One of the interesting aspects of this ultra-top secret project was how so much of the paperwork and records of it disappeared. For future reference or study such information would have been very useful. Yet, often who test projects and their reports were sanitized by companies and/or their government funders leaving huge gaps in the record of many developments.

1949, Delta, Colorado...

 

The FBI Hottel Memo of 1950: Some Historical Context

 The famous Hottel Memo is noteworthy for the content. The field officer reported an AIR FORCE investigator had said 

Three (3) flying saucers had been recovered

Occupants were recovered from each "saucers"; two per for a total of nine (9) occupants

The cause of the crash was a high-powered radar in the area that interfered with flight

After receiving this report, third hand though it was, the field office reported they would cease further investigation into the matter. From other reports and other documents this could be understood that the FBI was backing, retreating in the face of prior claim by the Air Force into that particular incident. The crash of a flying saucer did seem to interface within the purview of the FBI but there were turf issues to be considered. The Air Force had been given the things in the sky as their field of operations. 

The event is posited as occurring in early 1950 (or possibly 1949). Some have offered the explanation that this was the Air Force passing on the cover story of Aztec (March 1948) in order to further bury the real story of Roswell (July 1947). Others have suggested it was an attempt to cover a top-secret crash of an experimental craft or crafts using advanced systems or designs too classified to be made public to anyone.

1948-1952 was a busy time for people seeing things in the sky - and on their radar screens - and so  exploring some of the events of that time period can be enlightening. 

How DO You Bury a Story? With another story?

How do you help clamp down a classified secret that is in danger of leaking? Like a bubbling pot with a tight lid, escaping the confinement of secrecy oaths, hidden secrets, and threats, creates the potential for some future explosion.

Working on the premise that what happened at Roswell was less highly classified projects along the line of Project Mogul and more along the lines of something really did land or crash, the long arm of military might in post WW2 America was loosing some of its grip. 

Men were leaving the service by hundreds. They were returning to civilian life. They would move away from the all powerful influence of the military on their daily lives. They might go out for drinks and while in their cups they might - - talk.  They might share their deep felt fears or horror or awe with - - - someone. 

What to do?

An intentional and very planned leak to clearly make anyone saying anything about a crashed craft or alien beings appear to be escapees from a loony bin.

The crazy, convoluted and nearly unbelievable case of the Aztec, New Mexico crash fills the bill rather well.  There is even a symmetry to the tale. 

The two events are almost at opposite ends of the desert state. Roswell to the southwest and Aztec to the northwest.

The appearance of crashed "saucer". Bits and pieces in Roswell (according to the main story) and a huge craft in Aztec.

The presence of "bodies" at both sites. At Roswell, found at a secondary crash site and reported as being crated on base for shipment to Wright-Patterson, site of the Air Technical Intelligence Service and the Foreign Technology division. At Aztec, to Denver, Colorado.  In 1949, a similar story emerges out of Mexico  (with an alleged and very tiny alien) and a barber from the southern states in the U.S. who shaved monkeys and painted them silver before staging a "crash site."

The event of the Aztec incident was alleged to be March 1948 and shared with author Frank Scully by two mysterious men alleged to be government agents but who, in the early fifties, were charged with being con men.

What do we have then? In the years when the appropriately named Project Grudge was overseeing the entire subject of things seen in the skies, we have a story appearing, leaked or promoted by con men, that sets the stage for a hot story to be shot down. Worse, it is presented in such a way as to be  unbelievable. The fallen craft was 99 feet in diameter with six humanoids.

In Scully's own words (I have added bold to pertinent parts) : "Published in Variety on October 8, 1949.. Scully's Scrapbook by Frank Scully, Magnetic Springs, O. Oct. 8: 

Some Hollywood characters manufacturing a picture presuming to give the inside story of flying saucers have closed the set to all visitors, including members of the press. I presume, in one category or another, that would include muggs like me. Others are rushing to Hollywood with legends that they have already photographed saucers swirling around the Alaskan icecaps and have had to sit on the footage for reasons of security up to now. A publication called Plastics has even claimed seeing the occupants of such a saucer in Oregon. Instead of tearing my hair out at being scooped on these items, I feel terribly sorry for the poor wights who are depriving themselves of my vastly superior knowledge in the field of their endeavors. I presume these producers are attempting to dramatize saucers which have had the origin of their flight from this earth. I have just spent a weekend with scientists who know all there is to know about flying saucers, not only from this planet but from others. In one afternoon, these men convinced me that they knew more about flying saucers than the surviving members of Mack Sennett's crockery that once functioned for entertainment and profit at Edendale, Cal. Weeks ago these sages informed me that they had checked on two of the disks which had landed here from another planet and even told where the patters had landed: The Mojave Desert got one and the Sahara got the other. The one that landed in Africa was more cracked than a psychiatrist but the other panicked gently to the earth like a slow motion of Sonja Henie imitating a dying swan. All the saucer showed on inspection was a tiny hole in its side about the size of a 6B pencil. The word "pencil" made the scientists think of Venus, a planet well within the cruising limits of our solar system. IF the disk traveled on magnetic waves, the Scientists assured me the round trip from Venus and back could be made in 42 minutes. This one obviously had come down on a one-way pass.

They Ever Find The Cup?

The saucer was 100 feet across and the cabin itself was about 18 feet in diameter. Its center remained at rest but it had an outer edge that revolved at terrific speed. It operated in other words like a magnetically controlled helicopter. It was not propelled by jet or other power such as we have been using to date. Magnetic waves, the scientists explained, emanating from the sun, go around the earth and the moon like millions of fine-spun belt line. Each planet has its moon and operates a similar way the trick in getting from one planet to another is to get from a positive to a negative which those in control of these flying disks managed to do. The structure which had withstood the trip from one planet to another had two metals completely unknown on this earth of ours, but the rest in the min was of recognizable materials?

What No Women?

Inside the saucer were 16 men. They were intact but charred black , due either to gases which had been siphoned into that pencil-hole which developed in the outer structure on being caught in between the positive and negative magnetic waves en route from one planet to another. The men were about the size of Singer midgets. They weren't Singer midgets because all these have been accounted for. Neither were they pigmies from African jungle. Something about their bone and skull structure was different the scientists said. Though the saucer was loaded with pushbuttons and control instruments none of the American scientists present dared to push any of the buttons for fear of being blown to wherever the charred bodies had come from. Our scientists bombed the ship with cosmic rays and geiger devices to make sure no lethal dangers were present before they opened the cabin door. There was some water in containers in the saucer. When tested it turned out to be heavier than ours, much like the water found in Norway which the Nazis figured would help them be the first to make an atom bomb..."

With such incredible dimensions, number of crew and their size, there was a lot of material to begin a serious ridicule campaign. That was a hallmark of the Project Grudge years: harsh, unrelenting, totally lacking in humor, ridicule. The stinging, abusive kind that send people to therapists in latter years. As a calculated move to insure anyone who did see anything in Roswell (or anyplace else) would not say a word it was brilliant and effective. 

As the fear, paranoia, and stresses of the Cold War, the Korean Conflict, and fears of Communism began eating away at people in authority they expressed their fears to the public. They often stated it like the complaining person who goes to the person charge and prefaces it with "some people" or "people are feeling- " as a means of expressing their own opinions. So, the American public were hysterical, frightened, terrorized when in reality it was the military and government leaders who experienced those feelings and transferred them onto the public.  The military and those in charge were the ones frightened. Too much was going on they could not explain. That was a frightening experience for men seasoned by war and lauded as heroes.

It was bedtime and the monster was crawling out from under the bed....that was the general feeling expressed in news articles and reports and comments of the day. 

'ALMOST FORGOTTEN MYSTERY OF THE "FLYING SAUCERS"': 1947, An Explanation

The spring of 1947 saw reports of objects overhead from the Pacific Northwest to Florida and diverse spots in between.  July saw the captured flying disc at Roswell abruptly emptied and labeled a common and very ordinary weather balloon; an explanation that, by implication, implied the highly trained and classified military of the only nuclear military unit of it day, were too inept to recognize since they were sent up almost daily for weather purposes on the base. Assorted events cropped up but with the often vicious batting down and ridicule they received most stories dwindled.

So, by December when one U.S. Representative, Matthew Harris Ellsworth (R-OR) offered an explanation, it was reported. Ellsworth (1899-1986) was a six-term representative from Oregon to Washington D.C. (1943-1957).

Ellsworth in a press release said that he had received "reliable information" concerning the development of high velocity missiles, adding: "Strangely enough, the development might be a solution of the now almost forgotten mystery of the "flying saucers."

Apparently, his reliable source had reported the Russians had a powerful new rocket of "almost limitless range." This craft was propelled by a series of discharges, each explosive pack separated by a thin metal disc, that ejected, much like a cartridge from a weapon, once expended. It either sailed off into the vast blue yonder, thus generating flying saucer sightings or disintegrated before reaching ground.

As an explanation it served a couple of purposes. One was it reinforced the disquiet being felt about the competition Russian presented to the U.S. Many were aware of the scientists America had appropriated after WW2 in Operation Paperclip but only some were aware that Russia had also sped to the great northern power a group of scientists as well. All had worked for the Nazi forces designing both practical and theoretical concepts that could be important in a face-off between the two nations.  America was working on its on missile projects, usually under the oversight of the U.S. Navy due to the concept of battleship based warfare and the U.S. Army related to over land fighting needs. The second purpose served was to continue to minimize any of the "silliness" of those June and July episodes and quell the latent interest in such things by the application of cold, logical facts. 

Any facts, apparently, because few of the sightings reported by people bore any relationship to the exploding disc theory of the alleged missile. Sightings fell into two main groups: the high, fast and straight and the lower, closer and maneuvered.  The first could be explained by secret military projects for breaking the sound barrier, achieving greater speed, fuel use and testing new designs. Early and later satellites will fit this category as well (from Sputnik and ECHO 1 forward).  The second category is much harder to explain because the details are usually more numerous (size, speed, directional changes, lighting, etc.).  The first goes from point A to point B. Period. The second may, according to records of sightings, be seen back tracking, turning around, and shooting away at high speed.  Some of those motions can be attributed to some early balloons but not all and not when coupled with other descriptions that early researchers or Project Blue Book ignored. 

1945 UFO :Tom's River, NJ (Ocean County)

The file in PBB was dated November. 1, 1945. The file has no narrative information or forms, just "3 photos".  As can be seen, however, someone has noted a specific shape in the pale, washed out photos: a oblong "saucer shape" with groups of three small round objects presumed to be lights or landing apparatus." In a addition, one brighter and more clearly defined image shows a distinct saucer like profile. 

Close up of two images from the set. Since no narrative accompanies it may be presumed that in 1945, some in New Jersey captured an image of something that it was believed might fit into the framework of the "flying saucer" craze. But wait, that does not rear its head until June 1947 and the sighting by Kenneth Arnold, right? Or is that just another story. Given the fact that 1947 began with reports from here and there and increased as the year progressed, it is safe to assume that in 1945 there might have been other things being seen as well, with even less understanding. 

The early records of Project Sign were largely destroyed or removed from active inclusion in the PBB. An erratic numbering system of cases is included randomly in the files for 1947, usually the notes submitted by the astronomer consultant (usually Dr. Hynek but others as well due to handwriting and/ syntax and tone variations in their notes).

The search continues...
 

Seeking Stories of Sightings in Oklahoma

 Due to the good response to SOONER SAUCERS (2020), a volume 2 is in the works. This will look at events after Project Blue Book closed in 1969 forward. To do that, because newspapers did not always cover the events and there was no strong single entity to report any sightings to, they are a bit harder to find. I ask that any witnesses to an "event" in Oklahoma from 1969 up and including 2020/21 please email me.  

I will need a 

-close date or approximation, 

-where the sighting took place, 

-what the object looked like, which way it was moving, 

-any lighting, colors, or sounds associated with it, 

-and time, weather, and any other details possible.

-If your event includes an alien or non-human element, add also a detailed description of the entity, distance from you, any smells, colors, sounds detected. If missing time occurred, how did you determine this?

Finally, please include your name and contact information. If you prefer to remain anonymous, I will not include your data in the final published work, however, to be sure the information collected is as good as possible and can be verified a record of who, what, when, where etc. will be maintained by this author. This is to insure that a higher level of research is maintained. 

More details as to location, direction of flight, time, etc. can help link what was seen in Oklahoma with other possible sightings elsewhere thus building a better and wider picture of what was happening at that time.

Email the author-researcher, Marilyn A. Hudson. 

Please share with others who might have a story or experience to share. 

ROSWELL: October 1949

A Sighting of UFO's at Walker Airfield, Roswell, New Mexico in 1949 produced these images found in Project Blue Book.  As you will see, the images were produced in negative and positive formats to aid in the analysis of the photographs.

The two images above (which appear to be the same view; one neg. and one positive; with one image possible reversed in that process based on the shading of what may be a road edge at the bottom of the page. These two enlarged images were in a single file labeled :Chron. 24-185-17-137, Oct. 21, 1949, Roswell, New Mexico, 2 photos."  There was no accompanying report; it is possible they are mentioned in other reports of that year and said report may be filed in one of those sightings files.

The area where the images were allegedly captured. 

 These images were in a different file labeled: "File 577, Oct. 21, 1949, Roswell, New Mexico, 8 photos."  Again, no accompanying report or forms.

This is interesting because these are the only two reports in PBB for that year - indeed the NM list begins with 1949 and these two files. Other sources indicate a report of an unidentified of January 1949 and an alleged crash.  The sighted object was a flare-bright blue-green. For more details on that check Kevin Randle's blog entry at A Different Perspective: The 1949 Roswell UFO Crash (kevinrandle.blogspot.com).

The January event was later labeled a "meteor" despite many anomalies in the reported movements. Dr. Lincoln LaPaz was intrigued and believed it fell further north and west. Oddly, in San Antonio, Texas on Jan. 20th a round blue-green object was observed moving from the ESE to the WNW and moving across the sky in a 5 second window of time. Trailing it was a large tail - nearly as wide as the object tinged with pink and shooting red sparks. It was labeled a "meteor",

An October file for Atlantic, Iowa reveals 25 pages of witness accounts of seeing a large round or circular object (5-6 feet in diameter), moving north according to one witness from possible another state entirely. Several witness statements made this file: April in Inglewood, California, Oct. 28, Napa, California where it was termed an "unusual aircraft", Oct 30 Novato, California (a 50 ft. diameter sphere, white, moving 500 mph--military witness), 

Oklahoma and UFO's: A Bibliography

 OKLAHOMA BOOKS AND RESOURCES ON UFO’S

Mysterious Oklahoma : eerie true tales from the Sooner State. David A Farris. Edmond, Okla : Little Bruce, [1995]. Summary: Mysterious Oklahoma examines the world's most perplexing mysteries from an Oklahoman perspective. The hard to believe tales the reader will encounter in this book are accompanied by references to help sway the hardest core of skeptics.

Native encounters: a look at Oklahoma UFO sighting cases and abduction reports. Richard D Seifried; Michael S Carter.[Place of publication not identified] : M.S. Graphics, ©1994.

Oklahoma Voices: LaToris Curtis; Sandra Richards; Metropolitan Library System (Oklahoma County, Okla.); Friends of the Metropolitan Library System.; Arts Council of Oklahoma City;  Oklahoma Voices series. Audiobook. [Oklahoma City, Okla.] : [Metropolitan Library System], [2007]. Summary: In this interview, LaToris Curtis talks with his sister, Sandra Richards, about growing up in the Oklahoma City fairgrounds area, the sighting of a UFO, his call to the ministry, and more.

Strange State. Cullan Hudson, Oklahoma: 2007 [1st ed.]. Summary: The most comprehensive book on paranormal phenomena in the Sooner State. In addition to Ghosts, UFOs, Sasquatch and all else that goes bump in the night, this volume examines legends of buried gold, forgotten ghost towns, and mysterious places suffuse with unexplained forces. "Hudson has shown himself to be good at digging into old cryptozoology cases in the Sooner State, especially as it relates to bigfoot." - Loren Coleman, cryptomundo.com "Hudson takes you on an exciting journey..."[He named it one of the best crypto books of 2007] - Oklahoma Today “Hudson does an amazing job. . . you won’t be disappointed.” - Ravanne Alexander, Territory Tellers/Raven Guard Press “. . . an entertaining read. Mr. Hudson has left few stones unturned in his research as he attempts to shake the truth free.” - Joel-Anthony Gray, Society for Paranormal Investigation - "...did a fantastic job!” - Terri French, Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa 3rd edition.

Sooner Saucers: Oklahoma UFO’s 1949-1969. Marilyn A. Hudson. Oklahoma: 2020. Summary: "Oklahoma - the Sooner State - has been witness to numerous strange and unusual events over its history and that include things zipping across its skies and landing on its soil. Author Marilyn A. Hudson serves as tour guide to a collection of the assorted events that had people looking up to search the skies from 1947 to 1969. Drawn from government records, newspapers, personal accounts and local legends she shares what people saw, what some said the objects were and provides some information and questions along the way. Today, as 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" are becoming newsworthy and the term is replacing the well-worn "Flying Saucers" and "UFO's" of the past, take a trip to see what was going on over Oklahoma skies...You might be surprised."--Publisher's description

UFO’s: Where From Here. Fred Worfe.   Mustang, Oklahoma : Tate Publishing & Enterprises LLC, [2014]. Summary: UFOs: Where From Here makes a unique and persuasive case that all governments of planet Earth should combine thoughts and resources at the soonest moment possible in an unprecedented global effort to understand and effectively communicate with extraterrestrials now flying in our skies. -- Cover.

--A BIBLIOGRAPHY, MARILYN A. HUDSON

Hayden C. Hewes: A Bibliography

Early Oklahoma pioneer in investigating the topic of UFO's was a young man named Hayden C. Hewes. He spearheaded first the Interplanetary Intelligence of Unidentified Flying Objects (IIOUFO) in 1957 and saw it emerge as a strong and growing force by 1965 committed to the possibilities of "civilian research" to help solve the mystery. Utilizing "research - investigation -analysis" he brought together a team of knowledgeable and dedicated professionals agreeing with those tenets. 

Here is a working bibliography of his works, as others are found, they will be added:

HAYDEN C. HEWES BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Collected Issues of Interplanetary Intelligence Report, The Truth About Flying Saucers. Magazine. Hayden C. Hewes, editor. Oklahoma City, OK: Interplanetary Intelligence of Unidentified Flying Objects (IIOUFO), 1965-1966.  [unknown]: Saucerian Publisher, 2020.

Earthprobe : the complete story of the "Piedmont unexplained" : statements taken from over 200 eyewitnesses : complete with illustrations and unexplained photos by Hayden C Hewes; Daniel Garcia.   [Oklahoma City, OK] : [International UFO Bureau], [1973]

UFO missionaries extraordinary.. Hayden C Hewes; Brad Steiger. New York : Pocket Books, 1976.

Inside Heaven's Gate : the UFO cult leaders tell their story in their own words, by Brad Steiger; Hayden C Hewes.  New York : Signet, 1997.

The Aliens by Hal Crawford; Hayden C Hewes; Kietha Hewes; International UFO Bureau. Oklahoma City : International UFO Bureau, 1970.

Biographical Information:

Investigator Hayden Hewes Died in 2017 (cryptozoonews.com)

UFO SKIES: OKLAHOM PIONEER UFO INVESTIGATOR: HAYDEN COOPER HEWES

A Great Resource for Historic Sky Research

 I have used this to verify that several of the explanations offered for sightings - and recorded in Project Blue Book - were incorrect. The objects offered as answers to the questions, "What was that?" were not even in the sky...

Charts of the Night Sky - In-The-Sky.org

REVISITING THE SUMMER OF '65: OKLAHOMA UFO'S IN A BROADER CONTEXT

 As I began researching the history of "UFO's" in Oklahoma, I learned several things in stages. First, that there was little belief in the reality of UFO's. Second, that the "hubbub" of the summer of 1965 was just people imagining things and seeing things. Third, that the topic was one guaranteed to elicit tongue in cheek, gentle ridicule, or sad shakes of the head.

Oddly, the deeper I dug into the topic the more those truisms appeared to fall about.  IN my book SOONER SAUCERS: OKLAHOMA UFO'S 1949-1969 (2020) , I wrote:

"The late summer of 1965 saw eerily similar sightings from coast to coast, in Nebraska military scrambled to understand the fleets of nine or more objects being seen by eye heading off in three different directions!  Others tried to understand the round, oval, glowing red to red-yellow objects that were reported to have landed more than a few times. Some even took photos - which often oddly went missing or did not develop. Many are oddly missing from the Project Blue Book file containing these accounts or are found in apparently unrelated case files (see, for example, the file labeled for Bunkie, Louisiana 1952). 

One of those military men in Nebraska, Colonel Johnson, called through to the Strategic Air Command (SAC command post). He said that at 1000z Q Flight reported nine (9) UFO's were in sight. Four were reported being in the Northwest, 3 to the Northeast, and 2 over Cheyenne, Wyoming.  At 1025z, a single object was reported descending toward a nearby site with lights glowing on each side and red blinking lights in the middle areas. A pilot of an airline also reported something orange glowing beneath him. Denver radar found NO RESPONSE on their radars for these objects. As always, when radar was involved the standby explanations were “ghosts” or false readings. Often this was the general label applied to all sightings Even those reports with numerous visual ground-based sightings of strange objects.

August, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Late July to early days of August of 1965 was a peak year. Sightings of multiple objects came in from all across the country but especially in the middle corridor of the country. The Project Blue Book files make mention of a so-called ‘Mid-West Flap’ (ignoring the sightings elsewhere at the same time).   One Oklahoma event of that month was on August 2nd with the capture in a color photo of a UFO by a 14 year old youth in Tulsa. Detractors claimed it was a hoax and an image of a lighted color wheel used to illuminate Christmas trees.  Case 9666 of August 2, 1965, however, contains 22 pages of images of the Air Force attempting to duplicate in a studio that image without apparent success."

As I also noted, "The Air Force tried out several explanations: it was the planet Jupiter, it was a weather balloon launched from Will Rogers Airport across on the west side of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area as far west as Tinker was east. That launching took place at 2313 Zulu on 30 July 1965. Prevailing winds for the time would seem to rule out it sticking around the Oklahoma City area.  Besides that, Tinker launched a balloon at 0515zulu on 31 July 1965.  So, it seems unlikely that people on the ground would be too excited over something that was no doubt pretty familiar around any base or airport that regularly sent balloons up for weather information purposes.  A favorite excuse of the Air Force was the old standby of ‘weather inversions’ (used frequently in Project Blue Book) and the ‘radar ghosts’ or ‘angels’ explanation (but since many of the 1865 sightings did not involve solely radar readings that did not ‘fly’ too well). Standbys were: Venus (or Jupiter, Mars, Arcturus, Capella or any of several astronomical bodies), meteors, aircraft, balloons,  weather reflections (mirages, lights on fog, etc.) and misidentifications in general."

The problem with so much of the reporting of those events of 1965 are that they were locked into place. What happened in one place, largely remained in one place, and what was front page news one day soon became page 10.  No one, including many UFO proponents, was looking beyond for a bigger picture of events. They were, also, easily distracted by the flashy card shark moves of government and media that held and hid the aces up their sleeves while providing Joker card explanations.

The example is the evolution of the explanation for the things seen flitting over middle America in those first three days of August 1965. " On Monday August 2, the Air Force issued a press release addressing the many reported objects. The pulled out a sighting of the planet Jupiter or one of a half dozen stars. 

On the suggestion that people had mistakenly seen the planet Jupiter, local Oklahoma Science and Arts Foundation Planetarium director, Robert Risser would be blunt: “That is as far from the truth as you can get…These stars and planets are on the opposite side of the earth from Oklahoma at this time of year.” Another planetarium staffer, Dale Johnson, also swiftly chided the suggestion.  “It is a mystery where the air force got its information” because “Jupiter is not even in view this time of year.” 

The Air Force backtracked to then suggest in new additions of their spiel that stars, or weather balloons, or temperature inversions or summer madness was the cause of people seeing strange “craft.”  This was noted in “Stars in their eyes? Many insist “Flying Objects” seen” in the Daily Oklahoman, of 4 August 1965.The Air Force tried out several explanations on Monday August 1, 1965.  What people had seen was the planet Jupiter, or another of a dozen stars. 

Oddly enough, when Mary Joe Nelson, a reporter with the Oklahoma City Times called the Air Force on 4 August 1965 she would be fed an interesting tale about that explanation of the planets and stars. The unnamed officer keeping the daily log of phone calls told her that the Air Force had been talking about “two different things.” They had, he told her, been referring to the sightings in Wyoming and Kansas that occurred between 0100 and 0430 hours and not to the Oklahoma sightings that occurred between 2100 and 2400 hours. The explanation, he believed, fit Wyoming and Kansas but not Oklahoma. For the record, according to various astronomical records of the period Jupiter in early August would have been a morning object.

Of course, the well-worn weather balloon explanation made an appearance. With over four metro locations releasing weather balloons for many years it still was an awesome sight to see, especially if a balloon was being illuminated by the setting sun. There was a weather balloon launched from Will Rogers Airport across the county (on the west side of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area) as far west as Tinker was east. That launching took place at 2313 Zulu on 30 July 1965. Prevailing winds for the time would seem to rule out it sticking around the Oklahoma City area.  Besides that, Tinker launched a balloon at 0515zulu on 31 July 1965.  So, it seems unlikely that people on the ground would be too .

The problem was quickly noted by scientists, including the director of the Oklahoma City Planetarium who disgust is nearly palatable in his remarks as he pointed out that the explanation was ridiculous since the planet noted was visible only on the other side of the globe at the time of the sightings.  The Air Force was quick to amend their statement with a hearty, "Oh. that was only applicable to the Wyoming and Nebraska sightings! They saw the planet!" They must have assumed an abysmal level of scientific knowledge. Those location would have been in the same condition as the witnesses in the states below them.

Sapulpa, OK Daily Herald, Aug. 3, 1965

Since, most of the reports for those military installation sightings were locked away for many, many years few were aware of the issues faced and when they were faced in those locations in Nebraska and Wyoming.  Also, since man newspapers were lost in dusty archives and hard to access collections, many reports were hidden.

"To place these events in some larger context and illustrate the scope of the sightings the following are offered for review.

July 31, 1965 – Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the Minuteman Missile Station, reports of objects being seen in the sky. Common descriptions are the objects are white, green and red. All missile silo sites are alerted. The result for July 31 is 75 objects sighted by 70 personnel. On August 1, 29 objects will be sighted by 27 personnel. On August 2, there will 44 objects observed by 44 personnel.  This will bring the total of sighted objects to 148 by a total of 143 personnel. Note that the colors are mirrors to the reports that came from Oklahoma during this same window and about which the Air Force told people they were “seeing stars.” The report from the Wyoming and Nebraska military installations indicate that the sightings were all described in terms of being round, oval or cigar/pencil shaped or merely a light source. They were seen in sizes from a pinhead to a half dollar as seen through binoculars. When there were multiple objects they were described as moving in a “V”, echelon, cross, box, tail-shaped formations. Remember the “diamond shaped” formations reported in Oklahoma?

August 1, 1965 – Sherman, Texas,  at about 11:00 a.m. a witness observed a drab green color object approximately 125 to 140 feet long in an elongated half-moon shape. The observer said it was shaped like an umbrella and was about 12 to 18 feet at the thickest part. There were no lights or windows. It made a “U” turn, leveled off and then returned to a northerly heading over Sherman Air Field.

August 1, 1965 – Cheyenne, Wyoming and the Frances E. Warren Command Post received numerous reports from the region (civilian and military). The military witnesses included airmen and NCO’s in the Minuteman flight areas and some of the most highly trained and security minded persons around. On August 1 there will be 29 objects observed by 27 military personnel. 

Reports indicate that sightings began about 0500 zulu and continued for the next two nights. This day sees the only daytime sighting (there was one daytime sighting the same day in Cushing, Oklahoma as well). The Wyoming sighting was described as an object tumbling through the sky that seemed to break apart and then went separate directions. There were never any discernable features beyond the color of lights that seemed consistent across these accounts and would brighten and dim at intervals. As to direction, the report indicated all moving objects tended to move NW, N and NE of the missile bases established observation points. The preference for nighttime movement was noted in the Wyoming report of the data with a distinct prominence after midnight.  Further, attempts to correlate these to the popular “weather balloon” explanation was found possible in only one instance and, further, there were no correlations found with air craft movements. 

 A visual on August 1 at 0430z  is described in a report of a red, circular object, 45 degrees above the horizon…appeared to descend to ground 50 miles east of Cheyenne, Appeared about 6 inches in diameter (arm’s length). At 0450 z a witness who said he saw 6 lights red and green flashing and the object was stationary. At 0600 another reported the object was the size of “quarter at arm’s length” at the Golf 1 missile site at the F.E. Warren Missile site, 55 miles southeast of Cheyenne. This object was observed for 15 minutes. 

August 1 or 2 (report is unclear). Reports labeled as coming from the “Warren Command Post” identified as “#7” and “#8” said: “reported from 3 different places at the same time…Golf, Juliate, and India at 0507 050z” Those places were three of the missile sites at the Warren Missile Station. They went on to describe a "large“ dot with 4 smaller dots forming a triangle to the right of the larger object…alternate red and green…Hovering 30 degrees above horizon to the northeast…binoculars used.” The entry labeled “8” “sighting seemed to be a blob, approximately 20 feet in diameter, orange in color. No sound. About as tall as a one story building. Descending. Observed for 3 minutes by Staff Sgt. Boast.”

August 1, 1965, - Sidney, Nebraska. Additionally, the military personnel at the main gate of the Sioux Army Ordnance Depot at Sidney, Nebraska saw UFO’s for three straight nights starting this date. This locale is about as far into the east into Nebraska as the Cheyenne location is west into Wyoming. Both events created some concern.

August 1 – Caldwell, Kansas. Local police told the Wichita radio station KFN they had sighted 1 object moving E of the Caldwell airport. Edward Roberts said he observed an object hovering just above the ground so close it seemed to be on the ground. It was red, greenish-blue and yellow-white. It was oval about 100 yards longs Egg shaped.

August 1, 1965 – UFO’s reported in Arizona (Gila, Globe and Sedona areas) oval shaped and white to orange in color. Reports came also from south New Mexico angling across to the Texas panhandle (Denton, Amarillo, Pampa, Dalhart, etc.) into northwest Oklahoma and the Oklahoma panhandle and into Kansas and then into the Cheyenne, Wyoming and Sidney, Nebraska regions.

August 2, 1965 – Ponder, Texas, In the Justin to Ponder stretch of HWY 156 was a report of a craft landing Monday night. Police checked but by the time they arrived there was no evidence of anything amiss and found no evidence.

August 2 – Military reports that at 0855z the Oklahoma Tower lost communication; at 0925z Fort Worth and Kansas had “static.”

August 2, 1965 – Perrin AFB, Texas. SAC reported that at 0740z there was one red, green and white light stationary, then it moved slowly west at about 8,000 ft. near Perrin AFB. At 0810z a white object observed by a KC-97 pilot.

August 2, 1965 – Richardson, Texas. 3 objects red, blue, green at Richardson by police moving southwest to southeast.

August 2, 1965 – Wichita, Kansas.   Wichita Weather Station confirmed their radar had sightings of UFO’s over a wide section of south-central Kansas between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. August 2 (today). A Deputy Sheriff and his wife from Wellington to the south observed an object at 4:30 a.m. and “it was moving rapidly to the north.” He said it had a red vapor trailing behind and was egg shaped. Wellington police had seen several early that morning and one was spotted 4 miles east of Wellington.

August 2, 1965 – Carrollton, Texas – Not reported until August 5th in the local paper. Three flying objects were sighted in the area and were described as mysterious lights that constantly changed colors and moved in formation were spotted by Carrolton and Richardson communities police officers early on Monday morning.  Patrol man Bennett Anderson of Richardson first observed the objects at 2 a.m."

Texas newspapers were very clear that witness reports had come in from Mexico? that objects had been seen over Carlsbad, NM across the Panhandle of Texas on a northeasterly course. That can account for the object seen moving in large formations northerly across Oklahoma. It does not explain, however, the formations witnessed moving northwesterly or north into the region of Nebraska and Wyoming. 

In most cases, the authorities preferred a reductionist approach to sightings. Reports came in of several, many, dozens of objects? The authorities reduced that to a SINGLE object solved through a single explanation. Occam's Razor - a view that an explanation should be reduced to the minimum and no more - can apply in some cases but is a manipulation when misapplied.