1952 Washington D.C. April 2

 

In July of 1952 objects will be tracked by radar and visual around the nation's capitol. However, April of that year also saw a great number of objects being reported that were either secret government crafts or something else entirely. 

This image was the only information in one file - nothing but the date and the image and location. It appears to be a view with the Washington Memorial in the backgroun. Odd lights do seem to be flickering in the "cloud. "

The informative entries on the NICAP Chronology page for that year reflect some of the numerous sightings for April of 1952 - many listed as unknown for the dates 17-29.  Also, an issue of LIFE with comments from notable people regarding UFO's could have turned the eyes of people to the skies but there was also - since about March - a tension between the US and the Russians. See new1952 (nicap.org)

All in all a fascinating image ....what is needed is more information. 

EXPERIMENTAL CRAFT: IF PEOPLE WERE SEEING SECRETS - WHAT WERE THEY?

 EXPERIMENTAL CRAFT 

The claim by researchers is that as many as “one half of all UFO reports in the late 1950’s and 1960’s were the “U-2”, “A-12” or the “SR-71.”  They may be right, up to a point.

The “given” of all UFO reports has been that some are likely misidentified common objects (either natural or man-made).  Some, at the time of their sighting, were unrecognized and were a concern to the government. Their performance, maneuverability and other features could not be matched by current technology. Some, were known to the government (or parts thereof), but passed off as natural or misidentified common objects due to high levels of security imposed.  Note, also, that the time span encompasses a developing rocket, satellite program, early manned orbital projects, and space exploration. All in competition with a Cold War opponent in the form of the U.S.S.R.

Before 1950

Flying Flapjack, formally the name was Vaught  XF5U , was project of the U.S. Navy.  It first flew 1943 but was cancelled 17 March 1947 because the military was switching from propellers to jet powered craft. Structurally it was well built but massive, 32 feet wing tip to wing tip and weighing 16, 722 lbs. Its top speed was only 462 mph and its ceiling was 34, 500 ft. with a low range.  Only a few were actually made and most tested were in the area of Connecticut.  Its design was as the nickname suggested, flat, somewhat round with propellers. 

When the first “flying saucer” reports started coming in from around the county (mostly in May and June) this was a craft many suggested as a possibility. It had appeared in magazine and newspaper articles so “John Q. Public” was aware of the craft and the concept. 

In fact very quickly in the post “crazy” days of the Arnold, Pacific Northwest, and Roswell events, military spokesman competed for both claims of new impressing soon-to-be-released aircraft designs and rhetoric that boiled down to “saucers are bunk!”  

BELL X-1 Jet was first flown in January 1946. The first manned supersonic flight occurred on 14 October 1947, less than a month after the U.S. Air Force had been created as a separate service.  The airplane was drop launched from the bomb bay of a B-29 and reached Mach 1.06 (700 mph).  This was XS-1 flight number 50 indicating numerous previous versions or test runs. 

1950’s – 1960’s

The files of Project Blue Book, and a look at news pieces, interviews, and commentary of the 1956 to 1963 period as increasingly secretive (new restrictions via AFR 200-2), a removal of access to files, a return to files being stamped “secret” when previously many were “classified” or “restricted.”  A new aggressive and often antagonistic attitude to civilian research groups (“flying saucer hobbyists” as AF Spokesman Tasker said and also the “science fiction writers” referring to those who held to a ETH of the origin of many of the reported UFO’s).

So – what were some of those potential ‘top secret’ or highly secret project craft that might have been viewed, reported, and then dismissed with one of the favorite labels (“insufficient data”, “air craft”, “balloons”, “astro” or others) DURING SPECIFIC TIME PERIODS/

The U2 aircraft had its first flight in August of 1955. It was noted for its ability to fly very high (50,000-90,000 feet) but at only about 500 mph. Its profile from the side had a slightly staggered double dome appearance with one end toward the tail merging into a long slant. That gave the profile a slight art deco line. Used primarily for high altitude spy missions and reconnaissance the aircraft was so finely constructed and enduring that they are still flying today.

The A1-12 from Lockheed operated from 1962 (first flight) until 1968. The craft, “archangel class” was part of Project Oxcart and the CIA in conjunction with “Skunkworks.”  Flying at Mach 2 (2212 mph) at 95, 144 ft. ceiling, the aircraft, if seen, would have been noted for its altitude but also its rapid speed probably moving in a straight line course in most instances.

Next, most probably, would be the prototypes and actual finished project known as the “SR-71” or “Blackbird.” This craft, or an earlier version, had a first flight date of around Dec. 22 1964 amd functioned until 1999. Some sources state it did not go into widespread operation until 1966. Most agree, however, that only 32 of the planes were built. The aircraft, designed to be fast, silent, and unseen could reach Mach 6 (4,5667 mph) and fly at 80,000 ft. (that may not have been its ceiling). Head on sketches indicate a bell shaped or slightly round triangle center body with two large lights/housings (one to each side) with an antenna like protrusion leaned back toward the center. Looking straight on someone would most likely see three very bright lights and three legs that might disappear in the bright lights on the ground or the air. Another sketch shows an object looking like a center triangle with one large light on either side. In the air the side one vision might seem a fat diamond shape. Looking straight up the main configuration would appear a dark triangle, possible with one projection (holding those lights) on each side. In the sky a witness might have seen a dark triangle moving very high and very fast. On the ground, three lights, the center one a bit larger, that seemed to hover above the ground (due to the legs being hidden from view or concealed by light shining downward from those lights. When this craft took off the noise was recorded at 17 decibels it would be like a whisper (most jets rate a 100+ rating on the decibel chart. See the Yale chart at https://ehs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/decibel-level-chart.pdf) .  

BELL XV-3 was a hovering craft that made its first flight Aug. 11, 1955 and went into out of production Aug. 31. 1966 due to an ongoing instability issue.  It could land and take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane. It early efforts achieved 32,000 feet and topped off at 450 mph. But later versions were stuck at 15,000 and less than 200 mph.  Its profile, however, remained easily identifiable as a helicopter from all directions.

Another helicopter workhorse was the HUGHES OH-6 Cayuse that had its first flight 27 Feb 1963 and its last in 1966. In 1964 ALL fixed wing aircraft were transferred to the USAF. The ARMY transitioned to rotor-wing aircraft (helicopters, etc.). In early April 1966 one OH-6 flew from California to Florida demonstrating its long haul capabilities. 

Another potential aircraft sighted might have been the F-11 Aardvark. A massive wing spread of 63 feet head-on would have revealed a large rounded bottom triangle in the center with wings spreading thin and far out to achieve that breath and a single narrow shaft at the back over the crown of the triangle. This was a craft that easily reached Mach 2.5 and had ceiling 66,000 ft. It first flew on 21 Dec. 1964 and was retired in 1998.

The YF-12, a Lockheed design had its first flight in 1963, achieved Mach 3.35 (2,275 mph) and had a ceiling of 90,000 ft. The one the ground, head on profile was similar to the SR-71 with a wing span of 55 feet. In the air the outline could be a square with a triangle on top (house like).

The F-117, “Nighthawk” or possibly ‘Boomerang” apparently was flown (or a prototype) as early as June 1981 and Oct. 1983. The records indicate it was in service from 1983 until April 22, 2008. Head on profiles of the craft give an almost shallow turtle shell appearance with thin wings tops and two thin tail fins like antennae. Seen from the ground had a sleek bird, with wings fanned back, appearance that no doubt gave it the “Nighthawk” nickname.

A McConnell-Douglas and Boeing Aircraft design was responsible for the YF-118g, “Bird of Prey” that flew from 1996 to 1999. From below it had a sharp, pointed nose, wide shoulders and tapered body with two wing projections that gave it the appearance of a pointed and armless turtle. 

Author William Knell in his work “UFO Guy” recounts a story about the record-breaking test pilot Chuck Yeager. Allegedly, while testing the Bell X-plane (Bell X-1 jet flying) he was paced by a “UFO”. The new craft was going about 700 mph, was 30-40 feet wide, moved close and frankly frightened the seasoned pilot. It vanished shortly thereafter.  After a flight he would normally be debriefed by the test team people but on this occasion there were only two civilian men with the look of “Air Force Security.” They did not introduce themselves but told him not to tell about what he had seen. It was a “new experimental craft.” At which time, Yaeger demanded, “Then why am I flying this pile of crap?” He stomped out certain of one thing, whatever it was he saw it did not belong to the Air Force.”  It is unclear how much truth is in this story, there are some questions (such as how to tell AF Security if they were civilians) and the fact that the answer was limited to the “Air Force” may hint that it was one of the other agencies at work designing new and top secret craft (DID, CIA, etc.).  The date is unclear but it is known the BELL X-1 was first test flown in January of 1946.

Proving a UFO requires that the craft seen exhibit some non-normal characteristics in the technology and maneuvers. Many of the alleged "Airship" sightings of the 1890's are not technologically impossible for their time period; they exhibit in shape, actions, and movements perfectly logical extensions of the experiments into airships, dirigible, powered balloon, and aircraft of the day. Further, their appearance was advertised by numerous articles around the globe citing the research being done along those very lines. So, likely several inventors, a good PR job and some willing tall tale tellers combined to create the great airship mystery. 

What will stand out in a true UFO sighting will likely be :

- Maneuvers beyond current potential actions (High speed (High G) turns), reversals at speed, etc.)

- Speeds or altitudes beyond current potential achievements

- Other aspects that indicate this object is not "one of ours": tracked high speed transits from place A to place B, massive and possibly controlled electrical interference. 

When exploring the Unidentified Flying Object topic, it is important to be able to classify reports within time periods to known possible explanations. This was hampered for most of the years of the Air Force Projects (SIGN, GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK) but conflicting interests that hampered true scientific study and understanding of the phenomena being reported. 

Scientific study requires sharing ideas and information. Discussing and reviewing methods, test results, and challenging conclusions. It involves the creative and imaginative energy found in pure research. Science has often been the captive of agendas of control and conflict.

In the early stages, the sharply dipping temperature between the one time allies – USA and USSR – meant that tensions and fears of a “communist plot” using mysterious new craft was afoot clamped secrecy onto the whole topic. To maintain control and fight “spies” reports were ridiculed and the people seeing things were shamed and insulted as a means of getting rid of the stories. 

As the end of the 1950’s emerge, new secrets and new agendas are at work creating what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex. A symbiotic relationship where the fear and paranoia of some fueled and directed the spending and actions of others. 

Today, the real coin of the global realms is not gold or silver but information. Secrets are therefore both hoarded and sought in ways unimagined a century ago.  

The quest of the UFO searchers is one of truth. It has always been that. Since the first things whizzed through the skies all people have ever asked was a simple, “What is that?”

So much time and effort could have been saved had governments merely informed their people that they were testing some new designs, they were using balloons to conduct some tests, or yes, we do not know what that was but we have gathered a large and global community of thinkers to make it a priority to learn more than we know now.  This, they should have said, is a matter of global importance, and we should work together instead of fighting one another. 

Maybe if they had done that, we would be using those hover cars and visiting resorts on the moon by this time. 

MULTI-STATE METEORITE: 1948

 1948

At its essence one could say that the event of February 18, 1948, was a brilliant fireball and a loud noise that generated a very large shower of meteorites fell that fell over a large area of northwestern Kansas, specifically in the Norton County (Kansas) area and over the state line to the north into Furnas County (Nebraska). 

On April 28, snow had prevented some search efforts until then, a research team from the University of New Mexico set out to identify and recover pieces of the meteorite. Everything that they recovered was either donated to or sold to the university. Research classed the meteorite :

Type Achondrite of the Class Asteroidal achondrite,  and  Group Aubrite

United States ;  Region Kansas ; Coordinates 39°41′N 99°52′WCoordinates: 39°41′N 99°52′W[1]

Observed fall Yes on February 18, 1948     TKW 1100 kg

This was a massive find and almost all parts of it are in the University of New Mexico collections due to the work of Dr. Lincoln LaPaz, one time Kansas resident, who was then one of the world's leading experts on meteors. See an image of the UNM team here.

The tremendous boom was heard by people in at least six states, windows shattered in homes and offices and people fled uncertain what had happened. A blue-tinted cloud billowing out some 35 miles over head as it spilled in the upper atmosphere. The ground shook, buildings swayed and the sound echoed. The editor of the Weekly Norton News (Norton, KS) first thought it was the nearby corner gas station blowing up as other rumbles echoed from all directions. People wandered out into streets, stood on sidewalks and stopped in their tracks as a immense vapor trail , twisting in crooked spirals, augured through the night sky (see image above).

Numerous airfields sent planes aloft certain some large aircraft must have crashed. Near to Norton and Norcatur, Kansas - areas close to what was believed to be the initial blast zone of the aerial object, Army B-29 bombers circled looking for evidence of smoking debris, crashed airplanes, or other signs. Country roads were packed as people came to look.  A few, to be sure, were concerned those new "flying saucers" and "flying discs" might have been responsible. 

A couple of stories did emerge of witnesses who saw something looking like a rocket or war time missile fly past overhead with a roar or a hiss that startled them. One reported such an object heading northeast toward the area of Norton. Another man some 14 miles est of Norton reported a queer objcet coming from the southwest, that appeared to be a rocket. What he saw traveled on a level course but with some gradual loss of altitude before it exploded with a huge cloud of smoke. To his view it seemed to do that right over the area of Norton. The witness was observing this from his position south of Prairie View, Kansas.

Strangely, a similar sighting had been made near Inola, Kansas, where the object turned west and then disappeared into the sky.  Feb 18, a man on a farm west of Stockton, Kansas (1 mile of US 24) was by his pigpen about 5 p.m. and saw an object hovering over his house. It was funnel shaped and belching flames and smoke. Then an explosion was heard after it passed on by them. The air was hot from where it had passed.  Also, later over the days of Feb 20-26 would see similar stories out of Utah that matched the 'anomalous' behaviors of the NortonCounty Meteorite.

What is very clear is that the event of surrounding the Norton meteorite was much larger than even the record-breaking meteorite dug out the Nebraska farmland. There was at least one larger, perhaps massive, object that blasted itself that evening, but there were - from witness statements - several other blasts or explosions. The initial meteor may have been one huge object that broke into parts as it superheated in the atmosphere (not unusual), or it could have been part of a "fall" that involved several larger meteors that fell in close proximity, gathered together by gravity or happenstance of a outside the atmosphere collision that tangled them together in their last moments of fiery and explosive glory.

So, to explain the various directions by those noted in these brief quotes and the associated other reports of the month of February 1948, the only logical conclusion is there was a very large series of meteor falls spread over a large segment of the U.S. (and possibly other locations since this is the time of "Ghost Rockets" over Sweden and Norway).

One theory floated at the time - beyond "flying saucers" was that the objects seen and reported could have been 'someone's" early attempts to place a rocket into space (either to reach it, orbit it or target the moon).  This, coupled with the "Ghost Rockets", as examples of an early and very secret attempt to test possible early escapes from the bonds of Earth, was not laughed off so swiftly by the military who were offered that thought by more than one thinker.

Studies into the strange "green fireballs" that so captivated LaPaz in this time period and spurred "Project Twinkle"  have shown that there are apparent "corridors" as we transit through space and regions where large fireballs and massive meteors can, and do, plunge with some frequency. (See: Fireballs (nasa.gov and Bolide Home (nasa.gov)  ).

The Furnas Co., Meteorite  - The Furnas County Stone of the Norton County, Kansas‐Furnas County, Nebraska, Achondritic Fall (1000,400)* - Leonard - 1948 - Contributions of the Meteoritical Society - Wiley Online Library

NortonCounty Meteorite - Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for Norton County (usra.edu)

AIRSHIPS, HO!

In my research I ran across a site that was discussing "airships" of the noted 1896-1897 "Flap". Since I was raised in Kansas, the story of LeRoy and the Alexander Hamilton story of seeing an airship, occupant, and the rustler from the skies, was familiar.  I read the familiar tale and was astounded to see the author claiming this was the SAME Alexander Hamilton who had dueled with Aaron Burr.  He was a "Founding Father." That Alexander Hamilton, however, was born 1755 and died 1804. 

The Kansas Alexander Hamilton of Airship note was one of several men in Kansas with that same historic name. 

The Airship Story Hamilton. As Wikipedia puts it (without citation): "An account by Alexander Hamilton of Leroy, Kansas, supposedly occurred around April 19, 1897, and was published in the Yates Center Farmer's Advocate of April 23. Hamilton, his son and a tenant witnessed an airship hovering over his cattle pen. Upon closer examination, the witnesses realized that a red "cable" from the airship had lassoed a heifer,but had also become entangled in the pen's fence. After trying unsuccessfully to free the heifer, Hamilton cut loose a portion of the fence, then "stood in amazement to see the ship, cow and all rise slowly and sail off."[20] Some have suggested this was the earliest report of cattle mutilation. In 1982, however, UFO researcher Jerome Clark debunked this story, and confirmed via interviews and Hamilton's own affidavit that the story was a successful attempt to win a Liar's Club competition to create the most outlandish tall tale.[citation needed]"

According to the 1895 Kansas State Census there were three groups named Hamilton living in Woodson County, Kansas (home to Yates Center). LeRoy was actually part of a neighboring county of Coffee.  The story from FATE magazine later carries a line that a group of local men had met in a town and began to talk and dreamed up a tale inspired by all the stories in the newspapers of "airships" beginning in California in 1896 but then continuing into 1897 with more regional sightings in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, etc. They published it and then - they swore on their honor in an avadavat that their tall tale was true.

People have always loved a tall tale and this must have been a great opportunity - especially is a bet or wager was involved for personal or community benefit. 

Although many of the time, and later, viewed these sightings as fantasy or as early 'flying saucers'  they were on the "drawing board" in so many ways. Protypes were already being explored that would lead in a brief five years to the Wright Brothers first flight of airplane. 

Balloons, on the other hand, had been in active use around the globe for one reason or another since the late 1700's, during the civil war in the US, and improvements were an ongoing quest by inventors around the world. 

In February of 1896 - two months before the first California airship stories emerge - this new item filled paper across the county. "Leading scientists of Berlin, " began the untitled piece (filler) - "predict before the close of the century half the world's passenger traffic will be....in the air." The item went on to say a German syndicate had formed to construct airships built on the Count Van Zepplin "contrivance". A machine promoted as the greatest achievement of the age.  The article went on to describe the "Zepplin Airship" -"cigar shaped", steerable to achieve up and down, back and forth, right and left motions. (Two sources found for this news item were the Hennessey Kicker (Hennessey, Oklahoma,26 Feb 1896 pg.2) and the Cleveland County Courier (Moore, Oklahoma; 20 Feb 1896, pg. 1).

Given the fact that other newspapers from 1880-1897 carry articles of inventors and scientists working to achieve controlled flight by attaching bicycle pedals, wheels, gears, flaps, wings, motors, electric lights and winches...and the fact that con-men were hawking the same goal....indicate that there was enough proof around to indicate it COULD happen. Thus, the stories of men in military looking uniforms speaking a strange language, strange bright lights searching the ground, or even steal a cow for a dinner...become less science fiction and more than science becoming fact.

Two online sources for some very good early discussions and vast survey of newspapers of the
time  are found here. The works by Loren E. Gross on airships, and others, are there and readable. A vast resource.

SITUATION REPORT: 1952

 

Dr. Menzel's UFO Report (1963)

 The document is labeled "UFO SIGHTING BY DHM, September 8, 1963:

"From a jet plane flying at an altitude of about 30,000 feet over eastern Kansas, September 8 1963, I saw a remarkable and realistic UFO, quite unlike any that I had previously noted. I was seated on the northern side of the plane The time was around noon, local time, and the sun was shining very brightly at that altitude. I suddenly became aware of a bright object, broken in two by a  horizontal dark line. It closely resembled the Saturn shaped saucers frequently reported. It seemed to be pacing our plane at a distance of several miles and at an appreciably lower altitude, I almost immediately recognized it for what it later proved to be though its physical appearance was certainly very different. It was indeed a jet plane, the silver body brilliantly illuminated. There was no trace of wings.

The double line was a reflection effect between the double windows and I was actually seeing two reflections, themselves very bright, separated by a region in between that seemed dark by comparison. It did give the effect of a single Saturn -shaped ship following along. While I was trying to conform this by detection of the plane itself, to my amazement a second similar apparition came flying by at an enormous speed in the opposite direction. It was, of course, a jet and the relative speeds of the plan were about a mle in three seconds. Another jet, of course.  The saucer shaped illusion continued for at least ten minutes. And then, with gradual changing illumination or something, the brightness of the reflection must have concentrated rather sharply toward our plane, diminished and I could then see the form of the plane itself.  You will recall these windows are truly double with a considerable air spacing between them. This gives rise to the multiple effect. I could not help but think of the Chesapeake Bay Case in this connection and again keep wondering if you could not build up a reflection from outside in some such fashion by repeated reflection between the double windows. I do not know, however, whether there are actual double windows in the DC4 and if the spacing of them would give rise to such reflections."

---1963 09 9733827 EasternKansas.

One of the astounding things in this narrative is that this is a man, it is suspected, who left his impression on many, many case files by the presence of acerbic, sometimes slightly sarcastic, and imperative commands concerning the quality of witness statements, data collection, what was not asked, etc. The impression was those heavy, black, and sternly made notes and comments is of a man with little tolerance or patience and who did not suffer fools gladly. His multiple "??!!!" are very different from the notes left by others identified by name or initials. This individual NEVER left any sign of who he was.

If that man was this man, Donald H. Menzel, he had been involved with the "project" for many years, mostly in the shadows.  Had he been reading his own report I would expect those heavy, impatient, "!!!" because there is no mention of the type of plane he was in at the time, no clear indication about where he was over "eastern Kansas", there is no indication of which direction the plane was flying. Both of those details would have a lot to say about the quality of his sighting, the quality of his suggested explanation, and that seriously limits the ability to verify what other planes were in the air at the time to support his claims. 

In 1963, Menzel published his second book on the topic of "flying saucers" - a term he used as both label and laugh line - with Lyle G. Boyd. The book, THE WORLD OF FLYING SAUCERS (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963) can be found in gallery format and photocopies in more than a dozen Project Blue Book files. It, literally, appears to have been the "bible" for assigning solutions to cases and probably contributed greatly to the shifting of cases from the "Unknown" columns into the "probable". He was, however, very selective in stories he presented, how much he presented, and how he formed the narrative about the people, the events, and the explanations. 

According to his 1963 book preface several things stand out:

"At a conference with Air Force officials in Washington in April 1952, He [Menzel} presented his idea that planetary mirages, sundogs, reflections and other atmospheric, and optical phenomena probably accounted for a large percentage of the mysterious UFO's.  This suggestion met with strong skepticism from some of the conferees who at that time were sympathetic to the interplanetary hypothesis."  I wonder if this was one of the planning meetings with the AF, CIA about the "study" then being planned, i.e., The Batelle Institute study (the results would not be published until 1955).

THE SKY IS FALLING!: No, really, what?: Satellites, Moondust, and UFO's in 1960

In 1960 there are some interesting cases in Project Blue Book. It was a busy time as the space race kicked into high gear. When December 31 rolled around that year the U.S. had launched 31 earth satellites (9 of 16 were still in orbit and transmitting as of December) and 2 deep space probes.  Those were the successful efforts.

1960 was also a year where launches, one after another, failed to achieve orbit or otherwise fizzled out. 

A project had emerged to collect the debris falling from the skies (theirs, ours) and it was called "MOONDUST."  

Two examples are found. One in a 28 Sept 1960 file in Project Blue Book for a round, grapefruit to basketball sized object that was first blue to blue-white and then orange that moved west in the area SW of Wichita Falls, Texas. In that file is a telex type page "Moon dust sighted by lcl police to have landed in fiel 10 miles SW of Sheppard AFB TX, search will begin at daybreak." At that time a Major Cooper, Provost Marshall called ATIC to report that the incident was getting out of hand and requested aid in the investigation. It was requested that the 1127th investigate this sighting in accord with provisions of Par#6c of AFR 200-2 DYD of 14 Sept. 29.

A "specimen" collected by one witness (of many) was determined to be a probable spider web.  This may have been what was called "angel hair" in the period and was promoted in Donald H. Menzel's 1963 book on the topic of UFO's.

Oddly, in this year of so many things going up into orbit, the fact so many are labeled as "reentry" sightings is interesting, especially when the names and dates they provided seem to be incorrect. 

16 September 1960 , Ramey AFb Puerto Rico had civilian and military witnesses to what was first labeled a possible, rare, "slow meteor" but was then labeled a probable "reentry of 1960 Episilon vehicle, part of which reentered during Sept. and Oct. 1960."  "Epsilon" was Sputnik 4, also known as Epsilon 1 or Korable Sputnik 1) that had been sent up by the USSR to begin the process of launching out into space. The vehicle contained a television system and a self-sustaining biological cabin with a man like dummy along with scientific instruments. It had only 4 days of flight and part of it fell to earth 5 September 1960 and was recovered at Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Also, on September 16, 1960 a pilot flying near Salina in north central Kansas reported seeing a flash of silver, multicolored. He thought it looked odd , unlike anything he had seen in some 14 years of flying but was ready to assume it was some meteor or maybe space debris burning up. The Air Force being handed one of their favorite explanations, instead choose to be strangely forthcoming and labeled it a probable sighting of the reentry of "KAPPA (Discoverer XVI/Discoverer 16) that had, they said, reentered that date.  The problem, as seen in an earlier entry on this case, was that #16 failed at launch and the dates are all wrong for the others). 

Other intriguing cases of that time are:

-the 15 September 1960, Tulsa, Ok at 1900 local time, for 5 minutes of a "U" shaped, oblong object, silver in color that moved, turned and changed directions. When first seen the object was about 25 degrees above the horizon moving North. Then, it turned around, and headed South. Then it turned around again and headed back N. It appeared softly glowing, had no wings, and left no contrails.  The case is one that was investigated by "other" individuals (the forms are different and the technique is different. The interviewing individual made one of the most sexist and derogatory reports found in the files of PBB.  The conclusion was that even though "the fact witness lives near an airport does not mean they can't misidentify a high-flying a/c." It was apparent there was something being hidden because people who live near to bases and airports have a better than average awareness of the variety possible in aircraft. The fact that this one did not act normal was what led to the report. 

-17 September 1960 (the day after the Salina, KS event) there was a "military" report from Kirksville AFB Missouri. For 27 minutes the radar tracked two groups of objects (one group with 8-12 objects and a second one with 6-8 objects). The objects came in high at 95,000 feet and then dipped to 23,000 and were lost. Later another group was picked up and those 6-8 were at 100,000 feet but were soon lost to weather. They radar was blamed, and the case was labeled "possible weather conditions affecting radar returns."  These might have been F-104's - at the time one new incarnations was the hot new thing being developed - and soon they would be deployed to Taiwan. As one source said, they would just set people down and let them watch the radar screen and be awed by what they saw. 

- September 20 was an almost repeat of what had occurred on the 17th with three groups this time. This too was noted as "probable weather conditions." Given it was at an Air Force Base, one has to wonder if there were "visitors" at the time who might have been given a preview of the potential of a new craft. 

-23 September 1960 at Bitberg AFB, Germany at 0119z came a report with the source noted as "MOONDUST", a satellite re-entry. Reported was one object moving SW to NE. A luminous streak, like a shooting star, colors red and yellow, left a trail. Appeared suddenly and was red in color then changed to yellow, disappeared briefly and reappeared much larger than a meteor.  The conclusion was that the object "conforms to satellite re-entry, descent and duration, color and breaking up.  1960 LAMDA II Rocket body, re-entered this date. "Based on general description evaluation as satellite re-entry." This was another USSR launch experiement and carried living organisms, including small mammals: "Sputnik 5 was launched on 19 August 1960 at 8:38 UT from Baikonur Cosmodrome into a roughly 306 x 340 km (190 x 211 mile) altitude orbit with a period of 90.7 minutes and an inclination of 64.7 degrees. The cabin re-entered the atmosphere after 17 orbits on 20 August 1960. Recovery was successful. The Sputnik 5 rocket body (1960 Lambda 2) re-entered on 23 September 1960."NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details

-the 24 Sept 1960 report at Coos Bay, OR of a large green and yellow parachute falling with a cylindrical or rectangle box. The object falling with the chute was 9-10 feet long. The area was heavily wooded. The fall was observed via a 30x set of binoculars and place estimated to be 8 miles southeast of Coos Bay, OR. A helicopter overflew the area on the 25-26 but had negative results. The conclusion was " observation of known object - parachute."

- the 27 Sept 1960, Aurora, CO. Six objects seen for about 30 second. Round, red or maroon objects, size of a pea. Had a "V" formation that then split apart into a straight line. Faded slowly into the south. 

-the 30th of September 1960, Kansas City, Missouri. A round, luminous object the size of a baseball to a basketball, had the appearance of a bright star (this apparently means its color and brightness). Objected reported from Wichita and Topeka in Kansas, Kansas City , Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska. No one knew the source of any high altitude weather balloons moving on a NE course. A local weatherman was one witness. Source of balloon, if it was that, they were unable to confirm as none of the launches matched.