THE FIRSTSCIENTIFIC
RELD STUDY OF
UFO PHENOMENA

Harley D. Rutledge, Ph.D.

Inc, Englewood

Cliffs, New Jersey

All line illustrations by Caxton Services
Paul R. Walker, President
Michael Tenholder. Artist
Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Project identification:

The First Scientific Field Study of UFO Phenomena,
by Harley D. Rutledge. Ph.D.

Copyright © 1981 by Harley D. Rutledge, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form or by any means, except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

Address inquiries to Prentice*Hall, Inc.,

Englewood Cliffs, N. J. 07632
Printed in the United States of America
Prentice-Hall International, Inc., London
Prentice-Hall of Australia, Pty. Ltd., Sydney
Prentice-Hall of Canada, Ltd., Toronto
Prentice-Hall of India Private Ltd-, New Delhi
Prentice-Hall of Japan, Inc., Tokyo
Prentice-Hall of Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Whitehall Books Limited, Wellington, New Zealand
10 987654321

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Rutledge. Harley D.

Project Identification.

Includes index.

1. Unidentified flying objects. I. Title.
TL789.R83 001.9*42 81-5076

ISBN 0-13-730713-6 AACR2
ISBN 0-13-730705-5 (pbk.)

This book is dedicated to the memory of Reggie Bone, head basket¬
ball coach at Clearwater High School in Piedmont, Missouri, from
1965 to 1974 when he was forced to relinquish his duties because of
the debilitating effect of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He learned of
his disease in the fall of 1972, about six months before he and Hve of
his basketball players first saw a UFO in the area. Although he did
not seek the publicity that made him somewhat of a media per¬
sonality—the interviews, the telephone calls, the visitors—all the
attention helped to sustain him until his death at age 48 on
April 5,1977.

i * e

A. « m ItiOklib

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1. The Piedmont UFO Flap 1

2. Observations During Initial Field Investigations 10

3. Project Identification 20

4. Anomalous Lights and Coincidences 32

6. A Forty-Five Second Transformation 39

6. Perplexing Photographs 49

7. Operation Intercept 65

8. A Terribly Strange Night 75

9. A Second Terribly Strange Night 100

10. Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect HI

11. A Military Presence 125

12. A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight . 138

13. The UFO Activity Increases 155

14. Physical Evidence? 163

15. 1973: UFOs in the Winter Months 175

16. 1974: End of a UFO Flap 182

17. Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 195

18. Project Summary: A Final Report 210

19. A Very Subtle Phenomenon 236

20. A Historical Perspective 244
Appendices 257

Index 259

Acknowledgments

Project Identification would have been impossible without the
support of many persons and several organizations. Fortunately
George A. Killenberg, managing editor, St Louis Globe-Democrat,
saw the possibility of a good story and awarded the first Project
grant Dr. Donald Froemsdorf, dean of the College of Science,
accepted the UFO study as a bona fide research topic and supported
it In addition to the demonstrated sanction by high university
officials, the University Research Council awarded three grants to
assist in the study. Others who contributed financial support and/or
equipment are Vinton Johnson, James E. Palen, M.D., Rick Palen,
Jeiry Mclane, M.D., and especially Dr. Don Taylor, a Project
member. Most noteworthy is the contribution of Robert L. Adams
and his Southeast Missouri Astronomy Club for which the term
“amateur astronomers” seems somewhat inadequate. During the
seven-year period of the UFO study, club members ground a 20-inch
diameter mirror of exceptional quality.

Information needed for the study was contributed by various
Air Force, Army, and National Guard personnel. Weather data was
obtained from ^eNOAA National Climatic Center, Asheville, North
Carolina. Officials at the Kansas City and Memphis Air Traffic
Control Centers were obliging. Persons at the local FAA Flight
Service Station patiently responded to my inquiries. Robert Young
and Jim Leggett supplied many sighting reports, a few of which
appear in this book.

Dr. James E. Thomas, professor of physics at Kansas State
University at Pittsburgh, critically examined the entire manuscript
Dr. Peter Sturrock of Stanford University advised me about plasmas.
Dr. Sidney Hodges and Dr. Leo Connolly of my staff critically read
Chapters 6 and 8; Dr. Richard Cannon made the computer drawings.
Dr. Jay Thoma.s, department of bioengineering. University of Mis¬
souri, Columbia, computer-enhanced a few of the photographs.

I am particularly grateful to Jane Stacy, irector of Alumni
ervices and wife of Dr. Bill Stacy, president of the University,
w ose suggestions and inspiration contributed largely to this book’s
pu jcation. Robert Vaughan, noted author from Sikeston, guided
eLT ^ contract with the publisher. Dr. Mike Hogan of the

nara^ cpsrtment taught me elements of proper sentence and
Grants*^ structure. Dr. Larry Lagow, director of Educational
rewritinff*^^”^ ®any evening and weekend hours for nearly two years
organization and clarity into the manuscript Others who

IX

z Acknowledgments

read portions of the manuscript are Dr. Charles Hearn, Annette
Dean, Jo Ann Bock, and Ed Schafer.

Words of encouragement from interested persons around the
world are highly valued. Many new friends are the rich reward. But
my greatest gratitude must go to the nearly 40 Project members who
risked innuendo, if not outright ridicule, to serve in our search for
truth. Last, I mention with affection Ruth, my wife and the mother of
our five children, who endured a disrupted home and curtailed social
life for more them seven years.

THE PIEDMONT
UFO FLAP

In late February and March 1973, strange events were being reported
in the area of Piedmont, Missouri. For example, there were reports
that cars had become stalled on highways when a light had flown
nearby or when a light had beamed down from above. Usually, the
car radio ceased to function, too. Interference with television signals
was reported not only in the Piedmont area but in nearby towns as
well. After the picture had become scrambled and the sound garbled,
people would step outside and see a silent ball of light come floating
over; sometimes the yard lights went out, too.

On one occasion, the police radio system stopped working.
According to Dennis Hovis, manager of radio station KPWB, the
transmitter was “knocked out” the same night. Hovis and others had
seen a lighted object pass directly over the radio transmitter tower.
On another occasion, a man reported that he not only lost his
television signal but that his lights dimmed and his house shook.
Stepping outside, he saw an egg-shaped object hovering nearby that
emitted a high-pitched sound. His dogs had run away to hide. There
were other reports of lights that made erratic turns, or went off when
fl^craft approached. There were even reports of flying saucers, of
o jects sitting on the ground in fields, and of objects moving under-

Clearly, “the Piedmont UFO,” as Hovis
termed ,t on his newscast, had arrived.

Piec^onte*^^' persons, sightseers, thrill seekers, relatives

scientist <w°t 'ufologists, pseudoscientists, and even a

wo came from all over the country to see the spectacle.

2

The Piedmont UFO Flap

Hundreds of cars lined country roads or occupied Pyle’s Mountain.
Some nights, more than 300 cars were parked at Clearwater Dam.
The roadsides at Brushy Creek were also full. A few persons drove
from location to location as messengers, making inquiries and trans¬
mitting information from other viewing sites. But once the adults
came to look, the high school crowd became bored with nocturnal
UFO watches. They could no longer chase after the fast-moving
UFOs in their cars because roads were clogged with traffic, and
roadsides were crowded with people scanning the sky.

The nightly ritual was well covered by metropolitan news¬
papers and television stations. Some of the articles were sarcastic,
almost acerbic; others portrayed Piedmont residents as uncultured
and lacking in table manners. A few reporters suggested that the
UFO stories were nothing more than a scheme to stimulate the local
economy. And indeed, many of the town’s two thousand residents
derived their income from ownership of motels, trailer parks, and
boatdocks. Clearwater Dam, completed by the Corps of Engineers in
1948, provided a lake that is a perennial attraction to vacationers.
Clear streams abounded for fishing, and forests were ideal for
hunting. Main Street was lined with small shops and businesses,
among them Toney’s Drugstore, where people met to swap stories.
(But not all businesses depended on the tourist trade. Three large
sawmills and a couple of quarries were in the area. The Brown Shoe
Company had a factory at the northeast edge of town, where State
Routes 34 and 49 merge to become Main Street, next to McKenzie
Creek.)

Mayor Roy Anderson stated, “The reports of unusual sight¬
ings hereabout shouldn’t have any ill effects on the town.’’ To the
contrary, he said, “We’re a resort town, and if people come here,
they leave some money here.’’ Police Chief Gene Bearden agreed:
“Something like this helps the economy of Piedmont’’’

The Chamber of Commerce of a nearby town good-naturedly
beseeched the UFOs to visit them so that their economy would be
stimulated. Most reporters tried to be factual, but wrote in a manner
that betrayed their undercurrent of skepticism.

I learned that many Piedmont residents were perplexed no
only by the antics of the UFOs but by the intense media coverag®-
Much tension and excitement pervaded the area. Newspapers r®
ported that frightened women in rural areas were carrying firearm®
at night Residents of the Clark Mountain Rest Home had be®
alarmed by a lighted object that hovered nearby. And self-proclaim®
ufologists arrived, purporting to make a scientific study with t

The Piedmont UFO Flap 3

most modem and sophisticated equipment: a small pocket compass,
cheap tape recorder, and a CB radio!

A man from one amateur UFO organization claimed over
radio station KPWB that UFOs were of extraterrestrial origin. He
lent credence to the rumor that Clearwater Lake was a large UFO
base by hiring divers to look for evidence. After reassuring people
that UFOs posed no physical threat, he negated this statement by
saying that UFOs had destroyed Air Force jets in aerial combat.
Actually, his purpose was to collect a few hundred UFO reports that
he could publish in sensational weekly tabloids.

In March, during a television network interview, Maude
Jefferis displayed some of her UFO photographs. The next morning,
two of my colleagues made the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that I
should investigate the Piedmont UFOs. I laughed and responded: “I
wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole!” Less than two weeks later,
I would change my mind completely.

This was my tenth year at Southeast Missouri State Uni¬
versity at Cape Girardeau, the last nine as chairman- of the Physics
Department. My Ph.D. degree had been in the area of solid state
physics; in particular, photoelectric emission from the chemical
compound strontium oxide. Having just completed two years of
service to the Missouri Academy of Science as vice-president and
president, I was preparing to collaborate with a colleague in research
on the electron emission properties of thin films of tin oxide.

Although I had always maintained a skeptical attitude about
the existence of UFOs, the l^lmark of all scientists is their curiosity.
My own curiosity about UFOs dated from the early fifties when I
read a couple of books by Major Donald Keyhoe: Flying Saucers
rem Outer Space (1953) and The Flying Saucers Are Real (1960). In
h ^ w ^ ® f®”' other books, including the much-

voluminous Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying
Cond * referred to as the Colorado Report or the

Universit ® summary of a study made at the

Ur. E. U Colorado, funded by the Air Force, and directed by
the scientif^*' ^ *t°*°o>tsense physicist who was well respected in
UFO reports thnist of the study was to investigate

hon teams w'ero ^ UFOs themselves, even though field investiga-
field investicatinn*^ u latter purpose. In my opinion, the

tretors did not r failed because the program adminis-

>eld. Instead, the need for observation stations in the

P'^gress, always arri, responded to reports of sightings in
ys amv mg too late on the scene.

4

The Piedmont UFO Flap

In 1967, a short-lived UFO “flap”—a local outbreak of UFO
sightings—occurred in southeast Missouri. The sightings were re¬
ported in the January 16, 18, 19, and 21 editions of the Cape
Girardeau Southeast Missourian. My reaction was only a mild interest,
and I instantly refused a friend’s invitation to go UFO watching. A
scientist wouldn’t jeopardize his career in that manner. I soon forgot
about it. But in 1973, after I had become publicly involved in UFO
research, several faculty members told me privately that during the
1967 flap, they had seen peculiar lighted objects at night in the sky
over Illinois across the Mississippi River from Cape.

In March 1973, as more and more UFO reports poured out of
Piedmont, my interest increased, in spite of my original skepticism
about the UFO enigma. But my decision to become actively involved
did not come easily. Because it would mean placing my career in
jeopardy, I vacillated as to whether I should become publicly involved
with the UFO phenomenon, pondering the ramifications for more
than a week.

Finally, being somewhat of a closet iconoclast, I decided to
satisfy my curiosity. After all, the phenomenon was only seventy-five
miles away! Wisely, I involved a few of my colleagues from the
Department of Physics. I persuaded Milton Ueleke, then astronomy
instructor, to go along for an initial look.

Ueleke was an excellent choice, a man in good standing in the
community. Bom and reared in Cape Girardeau, he had attended
local Cape schools and graduated from the University, then taught
high school at Dexter until World War n. As a navigator on a B-24
bomber. Lieutenant Ueleke had experienced aerial combat. After
the war, he had returned to Cape, married a local girl, and taught
physics at Central High School for nineteen years. He had been
hired by the University because of his maturity and reputation as a
teacher.

I then informed Dr. Mark Scully, then president of the Uni¬
versity, via a memorandum, that a few colleagues and I were going to
Piedmont to investigate. In order to avoid a negative response, I
hadn’t couched my statement in the form of a request:

To: President Mark Scully March 27, 1973

From: Harley D. Rutledge

After a bit of soul searching and discussion with colleagues,
some of us in the department of physics have decided to investigate the
strange lights appearing in the sky around Piedmont, Missouri.
plan to go as a team of scientists from the University, limited to me, Dr-

TThe Piedmont UFO Flap 6

Sidney Hodges, Prof. Milton Ueleke, and two students. The students
are John Wilson and King TumbulL

Tentatively, we plan to take scientific recording instruments to
the locale with the purpose of obtaining data, if we are fortunate. The
instruments include several astronomical telescopes rigged with cam¬
eras or light-sensing devices, a magnetometer, sound recorders, radios,
and binoculars.

As a matter of courtesy, I am informing you of our plans, as
there may be publicity involving us as University representatives.

One reporter, Bill Clark of the Detroit News, was an avowed
skeptic when he arrived in Piedmont on March 27 but not when he
left, according to Maude Jefferis, local professional photographer
and high school photography teacher. The night of his arrivd he
accompanied Hovis and Jefferis to isolated Millers High Point not
far from the Brushy Creek area. They observed many white and
multicolored lights making frequent trips in the sky between Brushy
Creek and Clearwater Lake. Clark was impressed. (He would visit
Missouri again in late November, when he came to Cape Girardeau
to interview me for a total of nine hours. He was exceedingly
thorough and fair. His story, one of the most factual ever written
about Project Identification, appeared on the front page of the
Sunday Detroit News on December 2,1973.)

The weekend of March 31, a bona fide scientist and his

assistant who came to Piedmont were not very impressed. Dr. J.

Allen Hynek, then chairman of Northwestern University’s Astronomy

Department and a former scientific consultant on UFOs to the Air

Force, was invited to Piedmont by State Representative Jerry T.

Howard at the request of Police Chief Gene Bearden. Hynek said

that their brief visit turned up only “very uninteresting stuff.” “We

o^selves didn’t see anything, but that’s to be expected,” he said.

But we found a great number of highly excited people....” He

power of suggestion is so great that people

ought they were seeing UFOs, which were actually just distant

pu satuig lights, probably from observation towers. “You have to

not^fi **^^.*' horizon,” he said. He added, however, that

Dunoh ^ Piedmont was negative: “... neither of us can

8DeflWirf”^f D ™ story of the basketball coach.” He was
speaki^ of Reggie Bone.^

®bly the b °st^i^ Piedmont doubted the word of Coach Bone, prob¬
east Missouri roost popular person in the area. In south-

asketball coaches are idolized, especially if they

6 The Piedmont UFO Flap

have winning seasons. Bone, a native of the area, was no exception.
In early 1973, he was completing his eighth year as coach of the
Clearwater High School Tigers. For a month or so following his
sighting. Bone’s name appeared frequently in worldwide media
reports.

On the night of February 21, Bone and five of his basketball
players had been driving home from a tournament at Dexter. “We
were coming back by way of Route 60,” he later related. “I might add
here that this was the Hrst place that we saw it... about a mile and a
half from where you turn off to go to Ellsinore. We just happened to
glance in the tree line over there. Some of the boys were talking and I
asked one if he could see it. At the time we more or less passed it off
as an airplane, although I did glance back over there and thought to
myself: This thing is not moving. But, oh, well, we’re moving,
probably driving the speed limit. It is an airplane.

“It was a real dark night, about two hours before the moon
had come up. The thing was in the tree line. The only thing we could
see was a rotation of lights. The lights were red, green, amber, and
white. A light came down from it. This wasn’t the workings of any
aircraft I had seen before.

“When we turned off Route 60, we had forgotten the matter
really. We came over Brushy Creek and up Ijames Hill [sic) and
started down Ijames Hill. One of the kids in the car, I can’t recall
exactly who, said, ‘There’s that thing we saw over on Highway 60
sitting out in the field.’

“So we did stop, sure enough, and I looked over there. It’s
hard to judge at night, but I would say the object was less than two
hundred yards away. It looked fairly close and a little weird, I might
say. Here was this object that appeared to be some fifty feet up off
the ground with the same light rotation, the same pattern that we
observed on 60 on the first time we saw it”^

After Bone stopped the car, all got out to observe the silent,
hovering craft. Bone said that the row of colored lights looked like
portholes. They could not discern the shape of the craft. About ten
minutes later, the configuration rose silently at an angle and dis¬
appeared over a ridge. The group jumped into the car to follow,
hoping to see the object pass over Mill Spring, where the city lights
might reflect off the object, revealing its shape.

Despite Bone’s admonition to his players, the event was later
reported worldwide by the media, and Piedmont was “on the map-
Starting the next night after the Bone sighting in the Brushy Creek
area, a series of sightings originated there and elsewhere.

The Piedmont UFO Flap 7

I learned of the Bone sighting and other events at Piedmont
through media sources as well as from students who commuted daily
to the University. Two University students, Ron Miller of Piedmont
and Joe King of Mill Springs, came to my office one day to relate a
story difficult for me to believe. On their way home on March 22,
they had observed a silvery disc. Sunlight reflected off the disc as it
flew, tilted slightly forward in the direction of motion, at treetop
level over a farm near Patterson. They were so shocked they didn’t
stop their car to watch. Both students were seniors, both were in
their early thirties and obviously sincere. Nonetheless, I could not
accept their story as true; but neither could I accuse them of lying.
Besides, they were in no mood to have their integrity questioned;
they had been ridiculed enough by friends and acquaintances.

In making preparations to become involved at Piedmont, I
telephoned Chief Bearden. His statements to the media had been
honest and forthright Obviously, he was a man with a level head,
and in his position of authority, he would be a good man to know. I
told him that scientists from the University wanted to look at the
situation at Piedmont. His response surprised me: “Well, uh... I
don’t know. We’ve had enough people in here looking around already.
We don’t want any more of that!’’

I knew what he meant. I assured him that we, like him, were
from Missouri, that we were practically neighbors. Students from
Piedmont attended the University; we would make friends and
would not embarrass anyone. He was particularly impressed when I
mentioned names of persons in Piedmont who were known to me or
Ueleke. He immediately reversed his stance and was eager for us to
come.

My involvement began six weeks after the Bone sighting.
Ueleke and I and our wives drove to Piedmont on Friday afternoon,
April 6, to learn firsthand what was happening there. After we
^^ed U.S. Route 67, we were in the St. Francois Mountains—
country. Another fifteen miles and we came to the eastern
thp before turning onto Main Street, we saw

UFO marquee was the message “WELCOME

IS lipn opposite side proclaimed “PIEDMONT

appeared ” Photographs of the marquee had

until We c*” o®'''®Papers. We continued across town on Main Street
CYCLES””’® !" A-frame structure with “KPWB 1140 KILO-
As "“^^’“todroof.

studio read^^^ff’^c*^ I noticed that the clock in the small broadcast
omiling, a husky, light-haired man in his early

8 The Piedmont UFO Flap

thirties rose to greet us. “Are you Dr. Rutledge from Cape Girar¬
deau?” he asked. Chief Bearden had told him that we were coming.

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

“I’m Dennis Hovis. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

I introduced Ueleke and then our wives. Ueleke and I seated
ourselves near Hovis, who began to relate accounts of some of the
more important sightings, starting with the much-publicized Bone
report. Hovis, as I learned later, was very well liked. Most people in
the area had reported their sightings to him at the radio station.
During our interview, he was interrupted a couple of times to listen
to UFO reports that listeners were phoning in. The calls lent a
strangeness to our visit. Obviously, the radio station was the real
“Piedmont UFO Headquarters.”

After Hovis finished his report to us, he asked if we planned
to visit Maude Jefferis to inspect her photographs. Apparently this
was a ritual for all visiting dignitaries who professed a genuine
interest in UFOs. His esteem for Mrs. Jefferis was evident.

The telephone rang again, and Hovis rushed to answer. When
the conversation concluded, he said excitedly, “There’s been a UFO
landing on Clark’s Mountain! This high school boy just called about
it. His parents saw it too, and they are reliable. Why don’t we go out
there? It’s only a couple of miles the other side of Piedmont You
came by it on the way in.”

After agreeing, I nodded at Ueleke and winked. His answering
grin assured me that he too believed the report was somewhat far¬
fetched. When we got into the car, I said, “Milton, this could be a big
put-on for our benefit” He agreed.

East of the city we came to a dirt road where we turned north
toward Clark Mountain. Immediately, someone in a pickup hailed
Hovis to a stop. The driver said that he had not seen anything
suspicious. He did suggest that a local pilot named Don Casey had
flown over Clark Mountain with his landing lights on, and after
dropping down the other side, had switched them off. This could
have given the appearance of an aerial vehicle landing on the moun¬
tain. Hovis thought the driver’s suggestion seemed a plausible expla*
nation for the boy’s report, so he returned to the radio station whil*
we went to dinner in Piedmont with Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Hibbard,
friends of the Uelekes. The Hibbards would serve as our g^mdes foi
the evening. ,

After dinner, we went to Pyle’s Mountain, where we stood an
peered into the semidarkness.

The Piedmont UFO Flap

9

NOTES:

1. St Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1,1973, p. 10 F.

2. Edward U. Condon, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (New

York: E. P. Dutton, 1969). Hereafter referred to as “Condon Report”

3. St Louis Globe-Democrat, April 2,1973.

4. From an audiotape recorded June 1,1973.

OBSERVATIONS
DURING
INITIAL FIELD
INVESTIGATIONS

Even before our first trip to Piedmont, my colleagues in the Depart¬
ment of Physics agreed that any involvement there should be on a
scientific basis, using instrumentation. If data could be collected, it
would be catalogued and used later to compare and contrast different
sightings. Although the purpose of the first trip that Ueleke and I
made, on April 6,1973, was to ascertain the feasibility of a scientific
study, data from five observations were obtained that night, assuring
a continuation of the investigation.

After reaching Pyle’s Mountain, I found a concrete slab in the
semidarkness that would serve as a firm base for our Ques^
telescope, mounted on a sturdy Davis and Sanford tripod. Unlike
most telescopes, the Questar telescope’s magnifying power can
changed without replacing the eyepiece lens (the lens closer to the e)
when looking through the telescope) with another of a different
length. The focal length of a lens, like that of a magnifying glass us^
to focus sunlight, is the distance between the lens and the point I

a small, clear image of the sun appears. After each lever change*
telescope must be refocused—a time-consuming process, depe** ■

on the skill of the operator. M

10

Observations During Initial Field Investigations 11

Magnifying power determines the size of the image seen in a
telescope. The term is also used in describing binoculars which, in
reality, are two telescopes side by side. Typical values of magnifying
power for binoculars are 6X, 7X, 1 OX, and even 20X. For telescopes,
the magnifying power can be still larger. The Questar starts with a
magnifying power of 8, designated 8X. This means that a distant
object wUl appear to be eight times as close—or, to put it another way,
will appear eight times larger through the telescope. The 8X setting is
used for finding and focusing on an object. The next step is a lever
change, along with some refocusing, to get the telescope on 80X.
This can be followed by another lever change and adjustment to
160X, if desired.

Less than an hour had elapsed on Pyle’s Mountain when a
small stationary light suddenly appeared near the southern horizon.
After locating and centering the light in the telescope on 8X, I
attempted to view the light on a higher power, but before I could focus
properly, the light went out. It had been visible for about five seconds.

At intervals of several minutes, the light appeared three more
times, but in a different position on each occasion. First it appeared to
the left of the original position; then to the right; then back to the
original azimuth but closer to our position. On its fifth and final
appearance, the light was at its original distance and azimuth but
higher in the sky, about halfway between the horizon and the overcast
This time the light was visible for about twenty seconds, allowing me
to view it on SOX. Even then, it appeared as just a stationary ball of
light. When the light went out it didn’t switch off instantaneously but
derayed, in about two seconds. I was reminded of powerful 1000-watt
^bs with tungsten filaments used to Uluminate athletic fields at
t. The filament, having a relatively large thermal mass because of
rather slowly when the electric current is switched off.
flicked observation, the brightness of the light appeared to

area After the last sighting, we left for the Brushy Creek

onusualhxM^^"^ sightings had been reported. Not seeing anything
Ann ** the Hibbards for doughnuts and coffee.

Doughertv anH T ®hould have stayed at Pyle’s Mountain. Leo
“fountain at a>ir,i Wulfers of Cape Girardeau arrived at the
10:30, they observo,i Brushy Creek. At

to left. Other

^®oods. it btiEe/f After about ten

■ .''a light reneateH seconds and faded from view. At

to about fifteen or tw sequence at the same azimuth, fading
or twenty seconds.

12 Observafdons During Initial Field Investigations

Well after midnight, we left the Hihhard residence and started
home. Our conversation soon led to a discussion of our observations
from Pyle’s Moimtain. On five occasions within two hours, we
had observed a light hovering in the distance. The five sightings did
not convince me that UFOs existed, but they were peculiar, and they
certainly aroused my interest.

Ueleke insisted that we had seen automobile headlamps.
Although Ueleke taught astronomy at the university he had not
viewed the lights through a telescope or binoculars. Not for a
moment did I accept them as car headlights, nor did our wives. My
only recourse was to make calculations which would later prove to
Ueleke that he was wrong.

How far away can two lights, four feet apart, be seen (resolved)
as two lights; that is, before the two lights appear to overlap?

Resolution is a measure of an optical device’s capacity (simple
magnifying glass, camera, microscope, telescope, or eye) to dis¬
tinguish separate images of different objects; i.e., to “see” detail. For
example, some telescopes “see” small craters on the moon that other
telescopes cannot. As another example of resolution, look at the two
black spots in Fig. 2.1. Now, while looking at the spots under good
illumination, move away until they can no longer be distinguished as
two separate spots. The angle subtended at the eye (Fig. 2.2) is
approximately the minimum angle of resolution of the eye.’

• •

Fig. 2-1 Two spots that can be used to test the resolution of the eye

Fig. 2-2 Measurement of the angle A of resolution of the eye

Starting with the telescope, or binoculars, what is the most
important factor affecting resolution? Stars, being at prodigious
distances fi-om earth, are true point-sources of light—but are not seen
as point sources. In a telescope, the image of a star is a bright circle
caused by the diffraction (bending) of light at the aperture (objective
lens or mirror). The size of the circular diffraction image depends on
the diameter of the aperture: the larger the aperture, the smaller tn
image circle—meaning better resolution. Usually, the resolution
stated in terms of the angle (Fig. 2.3), subtended at the aperture ”
the diffraction image,*

ANGLE A = i.22VD

Observations During Initial Field Investigations 13

!

0

1

__I Circular

Z.A I Diffraction
Image

Rg. 2-3 Diffraction image of a star produced by a telescope tens

where D is the diameter of the aperture lens or mirror and X is the
wavelength of light. Note that the resolution for the longer wave¬
lengths of red light is not as small as for the shorter wavelengths of
the blue light at the other end of the visible spectrum, but also that
they differ by a factor less than two.

If two stars appear to be close in the sky, their diffraction
images in a particular telescope may or may not overlap, as shown in
Figs. 2.4b and 2.4c. The limit of resolution (smallest angle for which
the image of two stars can be ascertained) is defined as the angle
subtended when the two images half-overlap, as in Fig. 2.4c.

Fig. 2-4 Diffraction images of stars in a telescope: (a) single star,
(b) double star where images do not overlap, (c) double star where
images do overlap

The same theory applies to the viewing of stars with the
naked eye. Diffraction of light at the pupil of the eye produces
fraction images of stars on the retina. For the human eye, the
diameter of the pupil varies from about 2 mm in daylight to almost
ffim in the dark. But the better resolution resulting from the larger
apertoe ^ameter is more than offset because of the eyes’ poor
ysto opcal response under conditions of low illumination.^
than th ® ""^^^lutions of telescopes and binoculars are far better
and Mil ° ^ human eye. For example, look at the two stars, Alcor

hinocuw’Th handle of the Big Dipper, using

•hey resoived‘>^K*°A at the same stars with your naked eye. Are
ated by an jin«i » American Indians used this pair of stars, separ-
The3,°^ 12 minutes, as a test for good vision,

angle than l/i I*’® has been stated to be no less

or fhe five siehtinu j;® tmnutes).^ (One minute is 1/60 degree.)
^lescope. The anut ^ f ^ ^ 1^® viewed through a Questar

is abmi? of the Questar, given by the

*’""'®''er. 1 have asTZl ®®®ond.s of angle. In the calculation,

St the resolution of my eye is no better

14 Observations During Initial Field Investigations

than 5 minutes of angle, 215 times that of the Questar telescope.
Hence, the telescope was not a limiting factor in whether two lights
were present and resolved. With this, calculations show that the car
headlamps Ueleke maintained he saw would be distinguishable as
two lights up to 0.52 mile, viewed with the naked eye. Using a
simplified approach, I multiplied the distance by 80, the power of
the telescope, to obtain a distance of about 40 miles. This means
that car headlamps, as seen through the Questar telescope on SOX,
would appear as two lights—not as the single ball of light that I
observed—unless the headlamps were more than 40 miles away.

Although it is nearly impossible to judge the distance to a
light in total darkness, my estimated value of ten to fifteen miles fell
well within the forty-mile maximum. But I was not observing in total
darkness; I had visual cues. For instance, the terrain received some
illumination by scattered ambient sky light arising from yard lights,
city lights, and car headlamps as primary sources. The tops of ridges
were easy to make out In addition, there was another important
visual cue, a small area of illumination or glow on the overcast arising
from the lights of a town. When the stationary light first switched on,
it was close to the glow on the overcast. In fact I wondered if anyone
in the town could see the stationary light. I judged the stationary
light to be the same distance away as the town whose lights reflected
from the overcast. Later, I learned that the town was Ellsinore, near
U.S. Route 60, about seventeen miles south of our position. I
concluded that the stationary light had indeed been a single ball.

Ueleke was not convinced by my calculation; he continued to
insist that we had been viewing automobile headlamps. That was not
the last time I would encounter persistent skepticism.

Although I did not accept Ueleke’s hypothesis of car head¬
lamps, his was a rational explanation that could be checked by
experiment Consequently, I planned an attempt to reproduce the
sightings by observing headlamps of a moving vehicle on a distan
mountaintop at night. The driver of the vehicle would maintain racW
contact with us on Pyle’s Mountain. If two lights were observe
surely Ueleke would be convinced that none of the lights I ®
observed were automobile headlamps—that each of my observatio ^
had been of a single light. The task was to find a road oa
mountaintop.

The following Thursday, I flew with Drake Kambitch, a ,

versity student majoring in physics, to Piedmont in a Cessna i

After arriving over Pyle’s Mountain, our departure point M

search, we flew south. Seventeen miles later, we crossed U.S- U

Observations During Initial Field Investigations 15

60. On our left was EUsinore, about a mile north of Route 60. It was
then that I concluded that this was the town whose lights reflected
off the overcast the previous Friday night. Because of intervening
terrain, the lights of the town could not be seen directly from Pyle’s

Moimtain.

“Dr. Rutledge, do you want to search south of the highway?”
Drake asked. “We’re about eighteen miles from Piedmont.”

“Yes,” I replied, “let’s keep going since we’re here. Those
lights I saw last Friday night seemed to be ten to twenty miles away,
although it’s difficult to say, if the size of the light isn’t known.”

Eventually we located an old, unused logger’s road that made
a semblance of a hairpin turn atop a flat ridge. Small trees bordered
the road, although they had not yet acquired their spring foliage.
Having found our prescribed road, so that the experiment could be
carried out, we flew back to Piedmont, landing on the dirt-strip
airport. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Hovis.

When we took off, darkness was setting in. Our flight path
took us directly over the town as we headed for outlying areas. Less
than an hour later, we were southeast of Piedmont af2,500 feet and
heading west. On my right I could see the lights of Piedmont as well
as the form of Clark Mountain looming in the darkness.

Suddenly an amber—almost orange—light appeared on the
slope of the mountain near the top. Seeing the light, Drake made an
immediate turn to approach it. Within seconds, the light went off,
and simultaneously, an identical light came on to our right, about
seven ridges away. Drake banked to the right, and I began observing
through binoculars. The light appeared to be very close to the
earth s surface, possibly on it. A slight to-and-fro motion of the light
reminded me of the undulations of the wings of a perched butterfly
str^ ® ‘8ht breeze. Suddenly, as we flew toward the light, it shot

Well no binoculars, I could make out red and green as

s ongmal orange in the streak.

^as sm^t^ instant, I thought that despite the fact that our flight
binocular.s t ^ I had possibly caused some motion of the

Explanation effect of a moving light. That rational

engine noise * moment later when Drake shouted over

the sky?” ’ damned thing shoot straight up

We d’

finally said, observ'ation for several minutes. “Drake,”

i'eS^’^i^aswesarif- H “g’^ting, but we’U jus

ffect he did not attru!* f®ded out as it rose

attnbute to its increasing distance from

OH

16 Observations During Initial Field Investigations

aircraft. Subsequent experiences have led me to believe that we did
observe a bona fide UFO, Class A.

Drake, observing with the naked eye, could see the entire
flight upward, while my view was restricted to seven degrees in the
binocular field. His estimate—that the light climbed one mile in one
second—provided data for a simple calculation of acceleration and
speed.

In the analysis of the sighting from the Cessna 150, where a
light shot upward at an estimated mile in one second, a constant, or
average, acceleration “a” can be calculated:

a (acceleration) = 2h (vertical height)/^ (time squared)
where h = 1 mile (5,280 feet) and t = 1 second. Then, the speed “v”
can be calculated, using the calculated value for acceleration:

V (speed) = aXt = 10,560 ft/S^ X1 S = 10,560 ft/S
From Drake’s estimates, the acceleration—assuming that it
was constant during the first second of flight—was calculated to be
an incredible 10,560 feet per second squared. Since 88 ft/S is
equivalent to 60 miles/hour, then 10,560 ft/S divided by 88 ft/S
yields a speed at the end of one mile equal to 7,200 miles/hour.

This acceleration is 330 times the acceleration of an object
falling to earth (in a vacuum where there is no air resistance) near the
earth’s surface. The latter acceleration, commonly called “accelera¬
tion due to gravity,’’ is approximately 32 feet per second squared.

Physicists and engineers use a term called “g-force.” For
example, a human sitting or standing is under a g-force equal to his
or her weight. Although structures can be built to withstand thou¬
sands of g-forces, for the sighting under discussion, an occupant of
the “craft’’ would have experienced a g-force 330 times his/her
weight, sufficient to crush most living creatures. A 100-pound human
aboard the “craft” would have experienced a force of 33,000
pounds—nearly 16.5 tons! Could a human possibly withstand this
force, even with proper equipment? Humans thoroughly trained an
immersed in a fluid to equalize the distribution of force over *
entire body surface can withstand 30 g’s of acceleration for ,

than one second.’ NASA officials abandoned this concept |

the space program in favor of contoured couches, for . jj ,
astronaut could withstand 14 g’s for a period of two minutes. T
far less than the 330 g’s calculated from Drake’s estimate. ^ |

At a speed of 7,200 miles per hour, there should have j

terrific sonic boom. Sonic booms occur when vehicles traveling ^
achieve the velocity of sound—about 720 miles per hour, t A

Observations During Initial Field Investigations 17

called sound barrier. The value of 7,200 miles per hour is ten times
this value.

More important, if the light we observed were attached to a
solid object, its luminosity should have increased with altitude.
Friction developed between the air molecules rushing over the
surface of the object and the surface itself would have quickly raised
the skin temperature to incandescence, or else caused the object to
disintegrate. Instead, Drake observed the light fading out with in¬

creasing altitude.

Friction produced by the rapid motion of an object through
the atmosphere presents a real engineering problem. Jets fly at high
altitudes where the density of air molecules is less—hence, less
friction than at lower altitudes. At high altitudes, the jet is more fuel-
efficient. For example, the F-15 jet fighter, manufactured in St.
Louis by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, flies at 60,000 feqt,
an altitude of more than eleven miles.* The world’s fastest jet, the
Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, has attained a speed of
2,193 miles per hour, but a fixed-wing rocket-powered aircraft has
been clocked at 4,534 miles per hour.’ This wasn’t at low altitude.

In the early years of the space program, NASA scientists were
forced to solve the problem of heating because of friction on reentry
of space vehicles from high in the atmosphere. They settled on a
blunt design of special material which ablated, dissipating the heat
by melting, and thereby protecting the space capsule. Meteors are
another example of friction produced by motion through the atmo¬
sphere—at altitudes of 48 to 60 miles where the air is very ratified—
at speeds ranging from 30,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. Meteors
are usually about the size of a grain of sand, but because of their high
^aed, the particles encounter many molecules per second. Friction
particles to heat to temperatures where they become
ionize^^ molecules in the path of the meteor become

of thu 1 ° light Once meteors enter the denser layers

e “j^osphere, most vaporize completely.*

light sW ’^‘1 and green colors did not appear until

atmospheric o 9 d colors derived from excitation of

streaks, each observation of the three well-defined

Other observ color, negate that explanation.

^ghtings. For ont^ f,.°"®™i®®9*’C8tions about the complexity of the
ahway to the too of 1 vehicle could ascend more than

“eht was a single baU ‘‘^y- another, each

ght of some size. Had either source been

18 Observations During Initial Field Investigations

automobile headlamps, two lights would have been discerned. The
simultaneous extinction of the first light with the appearance of the
second light seemed more than a coincidence, since both lights
seemed identical in size and color. And the second light went upward
at tremendous speed and acceleration, far greater than that of any
known vehicle. In fact, the light appeared to be going full speed from
the instant it started—a physical impossibility. My interest took a
decided leap after these two sightings from the Cessna 150. But
although the appearance and behavior of the two lights were per¬
plexing, I did not accept them as UFOs at the time.

According to two men from Farmington, flying lights were
active elsewhere in the vicinity that same night Their account of a
strange experience'® is important here not only because of its con¬
tent, but because of a decision I was to make under somewhat similar
circumstances at Farmington in May.

Kenneth Pingel, a twenty-three-year-old commercial pilot
with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience, was returning home
to Farmington in his Piper Cherokee airplane. A friend, Marvin
Colyer, was serving as copilot At about 10:30 P.M. they were twenty
miles north of Farmington, flying at 150 miles per hour, when Colyer
spotted a light off the left side of the aircraft Although the distance
to the light was difficult to ascertain, it appeared to Pingel to be
relatively close and about four to six inches in diameter.

“It gradually turned to a yellowish tinge with an orange tinge
around the circumference,” Pingel reported. “The object also
appeared to be moving at the same speed we were. As we looked at
it, the object disappeared.” But there was more to come.

“As we arrived in Farmington and were on our final approach
to land, we looked up, and the object was coming at us at a very high
rate of speed,” Pingel continued. “Once again, the object was about
six inches in diameter and had a beam of light from it at about a 30-
degree angle towards the ground.”

Pingel said that at first they thought it was another airplane-
When he discovered that it wasn’t, he pulled up and started to fly
toward the object. The object stopped instantly, reversed its direc*
tion, and started to move away at high speed. “We followed it abou
two miles northeast of Farmington at 140 miles per hour,”
said. “Its size didn’t change; it just faded away.” After landing,
discussed the fact that it did not appear to grow larger
approaching, but maintained constant size. “That was one
really strange about the object,” Pingel told me.

Pingel

ig.they

r when
e thin^

Observations During Initial Field Investigations 19

NOTES:

1. Derek Keeling, “Retinal Resolution,” Photographic Applications in

Science, Technology, and Medicine (March 1974), p. 18.

2. E. Hecht and A. Zs^ac, Optics (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub¬

lishing Co.. 1974), p. 354.

3. John Strong, Concepts of Classical Optics (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman

& Co., 1968), p. 485.

4. Condon Report, p. 623.

6. Paul Webb, Bioastronautics Data Book, NASA SP-3006.

6. St, Louis Globe-Democrat, August 11-12,1979, p. 1.

7. St, Louis Globe-Democrat, August 8,1979.

Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, National Investigations Committee
for Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Washington, D.C., May 1964, p. 81.
Leonard Cramp, Piece for a Jigsaw (Isle of Wight, England: Somerton
Publishing Co., Ltd., 1966), pp. 20-23.

Don Berliner, “The UFO From the Designer’s Point of View,” Air
Progress (October 1967), p. 72.

Jim Hartz, “Alone, Unarmed, Untouchable: The Amazing SR-71,”
Readers Digest (January 1981), p. 132.

8. George Abell, Exploration of the Universe (New York: Holt, Rinehart &

Winston, 1964), p. 304.

“Meteor Weather Vanes,” Engineering Outlook, College of Engineering,
University of Illinois, Vol. 21, No. 2 (September 1979), p. 1.

9. James M. McCampbell, Ufology, New Insights from Science and Com¬

mon Sense (Belmont, Calif.: Jaymac Co., 1973), ch. 3.

10. St Louis Globe-Democrat, April 23,1973.

PROJECT

IDENTIFICATION

The very next evening King Turnbull—another physics major—and I
set up equipment in the Brushy Creek area not far from where the
initial Bone sighting had occurred.

About 20 persons were already congregated along the road¬
side to watch the sky. Before dark, I set up the telescope and leveled
the base with a spherical bubble, which floats in a compartment of
circular symmetry, so that the bubble is free to move in any direc¬
tion, unlike the carpenter’s level where the bubble is constricted to
move back and forth along a transparent tube. Now the telescope
could be used not only to view but to measure the angular elevation
as well, employing the same method a surveyor uses with a transit
(Fig. 3.1).

To the east, a peak with an angular elevation of about seven
degrees dominated our view. The peak was flanked by other eleva¬
tions to the north while the level Black River valley opened to the
south. I would have preferred a viewing station atop the highest
mountain, if there were no trees to obscure the view. But I had been
told that the Brushy Creek area was a good place to observe. My
informants were correct.

The first light to cross our front appeared at 7:18 P.M.,
estimated angle of 60° left of east over the hills to the northeast. T ^
amber color gradually changed to an off-color white as it
did not attribute this to any inherent color change in the light it® ^
but to absorption of the shorter wavelengths of the visible spect

20

Project Identification 21

Angis of

Fig. 3-1 Telescope used as a sufveyoi'a transit to measure the azimuth and
angular elevation

by the long path through the atmosphere.’ A primary example of the
phenomenon is that of the setting sun, whose light passes through a
longer atmospheric path than when the sun is overhead. The effect
depends on the density and size of particles (water vapor, smoke,
dust, and so forth) present in the atmosphere. On some evenings,
when the sun is a deep red, the effect is more pronounced.

As the off-white light approached, it gradually changed to its
1 tracked it with the Questar telescope on SOX. Like
^e observations the week before, this was a ball of light. Using the
wh***^rK*i-^* ®ogular elevation was measured to be ten degrees
feneat H f position. The procedure was to be

At subsequent sightings during the evening,

lower oathbght came into view, following a similar but
lieht w of our position, the angular altitude of

our front. degrees. This light passed behind the hill to

ebout five milea^ aircraft approached from the east. When within
for practice, I vvat Pf^’f^on, it turned and retraced its path. Just
0 ed it recede for at least ten minutes with the

22 Project IdentiHcation

naked eye. Lights on the aircraft could he clearly discerned when it
was close; the flashing xenon strobe light could be seen during the
entire observation.

The third light was seen at 9:20, traveling south to north, a
reverse path when compared to the paths of the other two lights.
Like the elevation of the first light, the angular elevation of this light
was ten degrees. It was similar in appearance to the other two lights.

Fifteen minutes after the 9:20 sighting had terminated, two
men drove up and introduced themselves as Jim Becker and Clifford
Crites from Williamsville, a town approximately ten miles to the
southeast. They reported that the light had passed two miles west of
Williamsville at low altitude. That information eliminated even the
remote possibility that we were observing earth satellites, because
any satellite between Williamsville and Brushy Creek would be seen
only by looking straight up. UsuaUy, earth satellites come no closer
to earth than about 180 miles.

At about 10:00 P.M., Jerry Hollis and Ron Wilson arrived from
KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau. They told me that a light had ap¬
proached their position on Pyle’s Mountain at 8:30, about the same
time that we had observed the aircraft in the east Because many of
the persons at our viewing site had scaiuied the sky in all directions, I
wondered why someone hadn’t seen the light approach Pyle’s
Mountain.

But Hollis and Wilson weren’t the only ones to see it from
Pyle’s Mountain. Robert J. Nistler, construction supervisor for the
Metropolitan Sewer District his wife, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Werner,
and about 20 other persons saw the “silent bright amber-colored,
steady ball of light’’ approach from the southeast. Nistler estimated
the diameter of the ball at eight inches. Quickly he ran to his car, got
his 35-mm camera, rushed back, set the lens to infinity, steadied
himself against a tree, held his breath, and took a six-second expo¬
sure (Plate 1). The light which had not passed his position when the
exposure was made, was at an estimated angular height of 45°.
the light made an abrupt turn to the northeast, diminishing immedi¬
ately in size and in brightness.

Nistler used Kodachrome film, ASA 64, in a
Matic-9 rangefinder camera with a Rokkor PF 45-mmf/1.71ens(
field of view). The color slide has been recopied on black and «
HP-6 film. From right to left, the sense of the motion of the
upper trail is orange while the lower trail is yellow with the u ^
crossing near the left side of the exposure, creating a bright pa j
light. On the right side of the exposure, a definite break (o*"

Project Identification 23

appears in the orange (upper) trail. It cannot be attributed to an
intervening cloud.

The next and last sighting caused me real consternation. At
10:45, another ball of light appeared, very similar to the first one:
same direction of travel (north to south), same color (white), and
same angular altitude (10 degrees). But a major difference soon
developed. As the ball of light was progressing across our front, I was
tracking it with the Questar telescope on SOX—not an easy task.
Suddenly, a streak of orange light came from the opposite direction
on a collision course. In that split second, my brain registered the
event, but I didn’t have time to tense. But—no collision occurred!
The streak ended at the slow-moving ball of light (Fig. 3.2). Hollis
and Wilson, who were using binoculars, confirmed the event

White light Orange streak of light

>> - <---<-

" Y> y (Motion to the left)

(Motion to thf right)

Rg. 3-2 An orange streak of light appeared to enter a slow-moving light

(Brushy Creek; 10:46 P.M., CST, April 13,1973)

Because we had measured the angular elevation and had
timed the transit across our front for two of the sightings; and
because Becker and Crites had informed me that the third light had
passed between our location at Brushy Creek and Williamsville,
allowing me to approximate the paths of the lights, estimates of
altitude and speed could be made.

I assumed that the distance to each light, when due east of our
A mUes. Consequently, the corresponding altitude of

“h” f calculated with simple trigonometry. The altitude

jjy ° ® ught/object can be measured indirectly if two other quan-
s are known or can be measured (see Fig. 3.3): the vertical angle

24 Project Identification

A, sometimes called the “angular altitude” or “angular elevation,”
and the horizontal (ground) distance Z) to a point directly under the
light/object Examples of devices to measure the angle are transit,
theodolite, and telescope (Fig. 3.1). The equation for altitude is:

h=D tan A

where the value of tangent A can be obtained from a trigometric
table or from a calculator such as the Texas Instruments model
SR 51, Sharp Elsimate model EL-8109, or Hewlett-Packard model
35.

Calculation of the size of an object or the distance it travels: If
a light/object moves from point Pi to point P2 (Fig. 3.4), the

distance W can be calculated if the distance D and the horizontal
angle B are known (measured). The distance D is called the distance
of closest approach (DCA) because it is the minimum value of d, the
distance from the observation point to the moving light/object. Note
that the line D is perpendicular to the line W. The equation for IF is:
W = DtanB

where again the value of tangent B can be found or calculated. Note
also that W could be the size of a vehicle subtending an angle B at
the observation point

Calculation of speed: If the time of travel (transit time) of the
light/object from PI to P2 is known, the average speed over the
distance W can be calculated:

v=^W/t

where t is the time.

Calculation of angular speed using a telescope: In Fig. 3-®' ^
distance W subtends an angle B (here assumed to be 6°)
objective (front) lens of the telescope. If a light/object travels ^
PI to P2 in 24 seconds, the angular rate of change of the ang .
(angular speed) is 0.257S. Of course, the distance W and the sp

Project Identification 25

V can be calculated if the distance D from the telescope to the
light/object is known.

Size, speed, and angular speed from photographic negatives:
Most of the data gathered in Project Identification were recorded
photographically. The importance of photography in scientific re¬
search is stressed in a NASA publication.* To calculate the size,
speed, and angular speed of a moving Ught/object from its trail on a
photographic negative, see Fig. 3.6.

w Image

Let W equal the actual size of an object whose image length
on the negative is w. Then, the length W can be found from the
relation:

W=^wD/F

where D is the distance from the camera lens to the light/object and
>8 the focal length of the camera lens—800 mm, for example,
the rt,’ ^ represents the path of a moving light/object,

disu^ ”**^"*^® calculated, using the corresponding

sneeH^f ^ negative. Further, if the transit time is known, the
be calculated.

object P ** known or not, the angular speed of the light/

lens and bv m** ‘^nlsted by knowing the focal length F of the camera
fi is calculat*^fr*^^ length of the trail w on the negative. The

Spefd*

can also be ^^®®^bnated if the distance traveled in a known
K ts Were timed duri sightings, the

ng fransit—that is, during their motion across

26 Project Identification

our entire fi'ont. Insofar as the light was first seen at an estimated
angle of 60 degrees left of east, the distance traveled during the
transit would be about seventeen miles. Dividing seventeen miles by
the measured transit time of three minutes, for example, yields an
average speed of 340 miles per hour for the first light. The data,
although crude, were all that we had at this juncture, and can be seen
in Table I.

TABLE I BRUSHY CREEK AREA: FRIDAY, APRIL 13.1973
SUNSET (6:30 CST)

Order

Time (PM)

Direct.

Transit

Time (min)

Ang. Alt.
(degrees)

Altitude

(feet)

Speed

(mi/hr)

A

7:18

N-S

3

10

4666

340

B

7:28*

N-S

—

6

2310

8:30

(Aircraft was sighted in the east)

C

9:20

S-N

8

10

4666

130

D 10:45 N-S — 10 4655

*The light passed behind the hill directly in front of our position.

Certainly the lights were not earth satellites, nor were they
bum-up vehicles reentering the earth’s atmosphere as one man
suggested.^ Each of the four lights appeared to be a single ball, even
through the telescope on SOX.

Apparently FAA regulations for aircraft lighting were not ob¬
served. Paragraph 25.1385b of these regulations states clearly th^
“forward position lights must consist of a red and green light spaced
laterally as far apart as practicable and installed forward on the
airplane so that, with the airplane in normal flying position, the re
light is on the left side and the green light is on the right side.

Another position light is required near the rear of the airpl^
as stated in Paragraph 25.1385c: “The rear position light ^ "
white light mounted as far aft as practicable, and must be
In Paragraph 25.1387 of the FAA regulations, the angles
the rear position light must be visible are delineated. To |

the rear position light should be easily seen from behind the a
but must not be visible from positions in front of or to the
airplane. Hence, the rear position light of an approaching m

should not be seen by an observer on the ground until the
nearly even with the observer’s position.

Project Identification 27

Paragraph 25.1401 describes the requirements for the anti¬
collision light system. The arrangement of the system “must give an
effective flash frequency of not less than forty nor more than one
hundred flashes per minute. Each anticollision light must be avia¬
tion red or aviation white.”

No navigation lights, no position lights, and no flashing strobe
lights were seen. For an aircraft or helicopter, the configuration of
lights will change as the craft passes an observer. The four balls of
light that I observed did not vary except for the color change; each
remained a single ball of light for the entire transit.

The antics of the first three lights were not unworldly, but the
last one, where the orange light apparently collided with or entered
the slower-moving light, presented an enigma. Perhaps this didn’t
happen at all; perhaps the orange light came close to the white light
and just as they met, went off. But why? Finally, the orange light
traveled at incredible speed. An astronomer at the University of
Missouri suggested to me privately that we had observed a meteor.
Although that was a rational explanation, I found it difficult to
accept. How many meteors are seen at an angular altitude of five or
ten degrees, so near the horizon?

King and I went to the radio station to spend the night. Hovis,
with the permission of owner Gloria Bumpus, had graciously offered
US the upstairs for lodging. King spread a pallet on the floor, while I
occupied a short vinyl couch. Soon King fell asleep, but my mind
dwelt on the lights we had seen at Brushy Creek, especially the
orange streak. It reminded me of a similar observation I had made

ne summer night in 1953 near Jefferson City. While sitting in an
da^h "^th a date, I had noticed red light reflecting off the

swift! f instantly, I saw a small red ball of light passing

caueht ^ f ^ ®*clainied to my date: “Look!” She barely

glimpse of it disappearing over the horizon.

reflected on that 1953 sighting bothered me as I

case with thing, the color did not change, as is usually

**‘llight of 800 ^*^°*^* resembled the red

Passed from hori 7 /f 1 estimate that the light
horizontal path »t i* “orizon in about four seconds, traveling in a
horizon tftat ^tude of about one mile. Assuming that the
per hoi^lt “iles. the speed of the light was

g at the time that the sighting could have

28 Project IdentiHcatioD

been a UFO, I shrugged it off, partly because the duration of the
sighting was so brief. From what I know now, I doubt that the fast-
moving light was a meteor.

On Saturday night, April 14, I was stationed on the south
slope of Clark Mountain, about halfway to the top. I was with
Richard Lee Toney, his wife Joan, and their son Mike, then a pre-
medical student at the University. Stationed about three miles away
at the airport were Dr. Robert Freeman, nuclear physicist in the
department, and King Turnbull. Our two groups unsuccessfully
attempted to maintain contact via flashlight signals, but one ob¬
server at each station had to watch the other viewing station con¬
tinuously for this method to work. Although we didn’t see anything
from the moimtain. Freeman and Turnbull did see a moving light in
the distance. From our dismal experience with the flashlight method
of communication, we decided to change Project policy: the method
would not be used again in an attempt to maintain continuous
communication between two viewing stations.

In all, twelve lights had been seen in three nights of viewing.
Although the source of the lights remained a mysteiy, I was not yet
convinced that these were unidentified—or unidentifiable—flying
objects.

After these sightings, I decided to come to Piedmont every
weekend to initiate a formal investigation. The opportunity fo*'
scientiHc study was obvious because the flying objects were ap¬
pearing frequently near a given place, and the probability of acquiring
data was high. I believed that the objects would remain near Pic<J'
mont and that a field study using instruments was feasible. Also,
would need a crew and at least one senior scientist from the faculty
to assist me. Funding would be needed to support the research.

The next weekend I led a large contingent of professors an ^
students to Piedmont. The group included Ueleke, Hodges, Ka^
bitch, and James Sage of the Industrial and Technical EducaJ^^
Department. Unfortunately, we had no sightings.

Hodges withdrew from the field investigations, as did Dr. Free^ ^
Freeman had come to Piedmont on Saturday night, April io
request. But most important, I did persuade Dr. Sage to n
further field study. ^ h**

Jim Sage was building a good electronics f

department and required his students to take several co'

Project IdentiHcation 29

physics for a minor to give them a firm understanding of the basic
principles of electronics. I judged tall, handsome, self-assured Jim to
be his own man and not one to make foolish decisions. He had served
in the U.S. Army as a military policeman. His students liked him, and
80 did I. His experience in practical electronics was exactly what I
needed. In addition to his technical competence, his presence would
be a great morale booster for me. I wouldn’t have to stand alone.

First, our organization would need a name. I settled on
“Project Identification” because of the second of its two major

objectives:

1. to measure the physical properties of the lights and/or objects
in the sky

2. to iden^y their origin.

In addition to Dr. Sage, we needed a crew. Immediately,
Drake Kambitch, John Wilson, emd King Turnbull volunteered their
services. Others have joined the organization from time to time. At
least thirty-five scientists, engineers, students, and lay persons have
assisted in the field research at one time or another.

I insisted, however, that lay reports not be accepted as
scientific data. A “lay report” we defined as a written or oral UFO
report from a person who did not have a qualified scientific back¬
ground—that is, college training or equivalent experience in one of
the physical sciences. I intended to present the results of our Project
Identification investigation at a scientific meeting, just as I would if I
were doing any other kind of research: and most scientists place no
validity in lay reports. One scientist told me that a woman who had
lived in a rural location for about twenty-five years still didn’t know
north from south. The example is extreme, but I have occasionally
^ountered similar circumstances. Nevertheless, some lay reports
jjg oxcellent in their detail and clarity. We welcomed lay reports
“plicated where and when flying objects might be
'I'e D research teams a chance to respond when

^^ost observing such an object was relatively great.

Project Id and are reviewed and catalogued in

^is book headquarters. A few are included throughout

Purpose, su h ^ seem reliable and serve some specific
Infomiation^f ^ ®'^PPort a unique facet of the UFO phenomenon.
'’®tion. My persons is used sparingly and with reser-

Project evid^ existence of UFOs is presented primarily

end of the*!^ fall-scale investigation for the interim between

spring semester and the beginning of the

summer

30 Project Identification

term—a period of three weeks. There was little time to obtain
funding, so I wrote the same letter to each of three large metro¬
politan newspapers in Missouri;

Apnl26. 1973

Dear Sir;

I have orgaruzed an investigative research team of University
staff members, qualified students and other scientists and engineers in
the Cape Girardeau area under the name Project Identification. Our
purpose is to study the nature and origin of tights that appear almost
nightly in the sky in the vicinity of Piedmont

On Friday everting, April 13,1 observed phenomena that led me
to believe that our study should be continued on a much broader basis.
Beyond the sensationalism, I suspect that there is an important and
interesting story to be obtained.

Our approach is to obtain data by the use of such scientific
instruments as radar, electromagnetic frequency analyzer, high-
frequency low-intensity sound detector, spectroscopic camera, Questar
astronomical telescopes with cameras attached, photographic equip¬
ment and an assortment of other devices. The more expensive instru¬
ments can be obtained on loan or rental while several items of
equipment are available from various departments of the University.

Unfortunately, the University is on a fixed budget and cannot
support an investigation of the magnitude required. I solicit your
support and hope that a large metropolitan newspaper in Missouri will
find wisdom and public service in our undertaking.

I am 47 years old and have experience in planning and organt-
zatioTL I was president of the Missouri Academy of Science last year.
Other faculty members involved are mature and responsible.

I will wait for your reply.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harley D. Rutledge
Head, Physics Department
Director, Project Identification

George A. Killenberg, managing editor of the St Louis
Democrat, invited a written proposal which subsequently
approved. The Project’s contract with the newspaper read:

It is the understanding at the Globe-Democrat that the re^
of the investigation will be reported to the scientific
scrutiny eventually, but that all current releases, reports, and aU

Project Identification 31

statements about the findings of the project group, other than those
made by volunteers, will be through the Globe-Democrat only.

Without the financial support of the Globe-Democrat, the
scope of the field study would have been severely limited.

Hence, at the end of the spring semester at the University,
our group, consisting of Dr. Sage, several students, and me, went to
Piedmont to establish field research headquarters.

NOTES

1. M. Minnaert, The Nature of Ught and Color in the Open Air (New York:

Dover Publications, Inc., 1954), p. 239.

2. Albert J. Derr, Photography Equipment and Techniques, A Survey of

NASA Developments. (NASA SP-5099, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C., 1972.)

3. Steve Erdman, “The Distortion Factor,” Probe the Unknown, Vol. 2,

No. 2 (Spring 1974), p. 47.

ANOMALOUS
LIGHTS AND
COINCIDENCES

Having read most of the literature concerning UFOs since 1973,1
concluded that there is little agreement among scientists regarding
the terms used to describe UFOs. Consequently, the public does not
receive a consistent and coherent account of the UFO phenomenon
from scientists. To add to the public’s confusion, scientists can’t
even agree on how to pronounce “UFO,”' an acronym for “unidenti¬
fied flying object.” Some pronounce it youfo; Condon, and later
Menzel, preferred oofo, while most choose to pronounce it as it is
spelled; U-F-0. This is the pronunciation that I prefer.

The term originated May 13, 1954, in an Air Force press
release describing radar and visual sightings over Washington, D.l-
Air Force spokesmen in the Pentagon told the press to call them
“unidentified flying objects.”*

For the first two or three years of our investigation, I ^^d %
use the term “unidentified flying object” or the acronym ‘ U^ ^
publicly. To us in Project Identification, these terms
connotation almost as unsavory as that of “flying saucer,
example, in the November 18 issue of the St Louis Post-Di^
Jerome P. Curry, the science reporter, wrote: “Rutledge avo^^
use of the term 'unidentified
to be associated with what

d flying object’ because he do®®
he terms the lunatic fringe. He is

32

Anomalous Lights and Coincidences 33

that his reports may be met with scorn by those who are afraid to
accept what he says he has seen.” In titles of various papers I have
given, the phrase was purposely withheld.’ Instead, I used the
euphemism “anomalous lights,” though I had seen objects by day as
well as by night.

Among scientists, UFO issues arouse emotions; scientists
take sides; attitudes harden. They become skeptics or believers. For
instance, the phrase “flying saucer” is rather explicit if taken liter¬
ally, yet it has a bad connotation. Among skeptics it arouses the
specter of invasion from space. The jacket of a recently published
book by the late Dr. Donald Menzel (a hardened skeptic before his
death) bears the statement: “This is the (italics his) book that proves
that ‘flying saucers’ are not extraterrestrial vehicles bringing little
green men from outer space, but illusions produced by easily ex¬
plainable meteorological and optical phenomena.”^ Throughout
my experiences in the field, evidence has been gathered that refutes
his statement that UFOs are nothing more than illusions.

Dr. David M. Jacobs recognized the problem when he wrote:
“There are semantic difficulties in a discussion of unidentified flying
objects.” Further, he pointed out that people “use the terms flying
saucer and unindent^d flying object synonymously.”’ He didn’t
offer a solution, but tried to use the terms the way the observers of
the UFO phenomenon used them. He should have defined these
terms to remove the ambiguity, although he did differentiate
between a UFO sighting and a UFO report.

When our field research began, we were not concerned about
uennitions of terms. We soon realized, however, that we were using
UFO in a general sense. Incredible sightings were grouped
those that were merely extraordinary. After about a year of field
^^^nence, I suspected that someone—say Air Force officials—
cons **F*®iA a number of the extraordinary sightings, with the
public would infer that all of our sightings,
^fferenti r ones, could be explained as well. By

^ classify the two types of sightings, we found it easier

from fbe dehnitions given here are functional,

UPOs as direct experience in the field. We defined Class A
bizarre behavi * objects that can be identified as having

®*PUnation. “d/or physical properties that defy conventional
Obvious?v*tu of the incredible variety.

definition K ♦ ^ **flying saucer” does not require a sep-
o IS merely a subset of Class A sightings. Should

34 Anomalous Lights and Coincidences

man-made disc-shaped objects become prevalent in our skies,
greater discretion in applying the Class A definition will then be
required.

An example of a sighting of a Class A UFO occurred the night
of May 24, 1973. While standing in the middle of the concrete
runway at the Farmington Municipal Airport, John Wilson, two other
observers, and I saw a configuration of four lights pass silently
overhead. Apparently, the lights were on the trailing edge of a huge
wing, although the shape of the vehicle was not discerned. Each
individual light was long and narrow, like that on the rear of some
automobiles. From left to right, the colors were white, red, red,
white, a symmetrical pattern. The sighting was labeled Class A
(incredible) because of the large angular width of the configuration
as measured through binoculars, because the configuration was
unknown in aviation circles, and because there was no sound in the
quiet of the night. All of these are abnormal technological attributes.

Class B UFOs, seen much more frequently than Class A
UFOs, are defined as lights and/or objects that cannot be identified
using available instruments, but which, in the judgment of the
observer, do not display bixarre behavioral or physical properties
that would defy rational explanation.

Class B UFOs are more difficult to assign than Class A, partly
because they comprise the middle portion of the spectrum be¬
tween Class A UFOs and identified flying objects (IFOs) such as
airplanes and helicopters. Class B UFOs range over the extra¬
ordinary, but are neither incredible nor commonplace. Since judg¬
ment is required, the more experienced the observer, the better. Class
B UFOs are usually observed as lights or lighted objects at night; they
are not necessarily nocturnal lights. For example, a light that was not
visible during a check of a particular region of sky may be found there
moments later. Conversely, a light may go off or simply fade out. Of
course, lights on airplanes and helicopters may be switched on or oft-
Lights may fade out when they are covered by a patch of haze. But tni
is where experience and judgment prevail. .

A light that hovers and then moves away is always susp^^
since few vehicular types can hover: helicopters, VTOLs
takeoff and landing), craft developed by NASA, and Hovercraft-
latter vehicle operates within inches of the earth’s surface;
will not be seen in the sky. The VTOL is jet powered and should
light and sound when hovering. Helicopters emit sound, but ce
types are relatively quiet compared to the models that flew a j
ago. As more sophisticated vehicles are developed, the f

1

Anomalous Lights and Coincidences 35

identification and differentiation becomes increasingly difficult

The classification of a sighting depends not only on the
observer but the observing equipment used and the distance to the
sighting. For instance, binoculars allow an observer to see more
detail than with the naked eye, and also allow surveillance at greater
distances. On the other hand, the angular view is very limited
compared to the naked-eye view. The naked-eye classification of a
lig htin g may change when binoculars are used. Again, experience
and judgment are important factors in classifying UFOs.

Up to this point, the terms “UFO” and “sighting” have been
used interchangeably. Since the term “UFO” has been defined, the
term “sighting” is defined as a temporal event, existing in time for as
long as one UFO is in view.

A sighting may involve one or more UFOs. For example, the
event I was to witness from an aircraft near Piedmont on May 11,
1973, was a single sighting of ten UFOs, i.e., a multiple-UFO sighting.
One sighting may follow another, but there must be a time break
between. A UFO may be counted as two sightings if it passed within
visual range of two viewing stations several miles apart.

As with UFOs, sightings may be classified as A or B sightings.
The classification of a sighting of a single UFO is the same as that of
the UFO. In the case of a multiple-UFO sighting, the sighting will be
classified B unless there is at least one Class A UFO present; in that
case, the sighting is Class A.

In his classic book. The UFO Controversy in America (1975),
M. Jacobs wrote about our effort: “One of the most
^bitious of scientific research projects on UFOs took place in
. • • •” Although short of funds, we had a modicum of

^ equipment included several cameras,

and a r ’ Questar telescopes, one C-8 Celestron telescope,
^hich ^ millimeters (about 31 inches) focal length,

’I'ektro^x ^^^’Wiorse of the Project. Electronic gear included a
®Pcratina analyzer, oscilloscope, and three transceivers

•“lowatt ge” * of 37-1 megahertz (MHz). A portable 1.6-

current^^*^’ driven by a gasoline engine, provided the alter-
'Tljg ^ power the electronic equipment,
annual m 371 was in Columbia, Missouri, to attend

P*'a8ident8 wer**t Missouri Academy of Science. Past

® be honored at a banquet; I felt obliged to attend.

36 Anomalous Lights and Coincidences

Apparently, I missed a great show in Piedmont. Debbie Ellis, a
University student from Portageville, told me that on seven occasions
a light came into the vicinity of Pyle’s Mountain, causing much
excitement among the observers. After learning of these sightings, I
was eager to return to Piedmont on Friday, May 4. Three physics
majors came along: King Turnbull, Jon Hardgrove, and John Wilson.
Hardgrove was working as an engineering technician with the
Missouri Utilities Company. During the ensuing months, Wilson
would be my partner in the field.

After synchronizing our watches, Turnbull and Hardgrove
went to Brushy Creek, while John and I observed from Pyle’s
Mountain.

At 9:11 PJH. the crew at Brushy Creek observed a light
approach from the south. Orange in color, its brightness varied,
possibly because of haze and clouds. When directly in front of their
position the angular elevation was 10°, the same value as measured for
three of the four sightings at Brushy Creek on April 13.

Four minutes later, a light approached Pyle’s Mountain from
the southeast. Since the light apparently covered nine miles in four
minutes, its average speed was 135 miles per hour. It was not very
bright. We waited for it to clear the treeline in front of us, but it
abruptly turned north. Carrying a 35-mm Praktica camera mounted
on a D & S tripod, John ran to the opposite side of the treeline,
where he planted the tripod firmly on the ground. Using a Kalimar
wide-angle lens (63° field of view) of 35-mm focal length, he took a ten-
second exposure. The film used was black and white Kodak 2475
recording film, ASA 1000, a highly sensitive film developed for
police surveillance at night under low light conditions. Its America
Standards Association (ASA) rating of 1000 indicated the films
sensitivity to light. The higher the ASA rating, the less the amount of
light required to form an image on film. (ASA ratings of commercim
films range from ASA 25 to ASA 1200 and more.) When the expose
film was developed, the pattern on the negative was not what
expected.

The photograph, magnified 14.5 times in printing
presents a dilemma. Since the camera shutter was open (or
seconds, the path of the moving light should have recorded on m®
line, or trail. Instead, the photograph shows a pattern of fractio
light, while the naked-eye and binocular views were of a single
light. Because of haze, clouds, and the short exposure time, *
appear in the photograph.

The photograph taken on Friday night presented an e

ited ;

Ilof 1^

S

uio* M

Anomalous Lights and Coincidences 37

but other photographs obtained two weeks later from Pyle’s Moun¬
tain would prove to be even more puzzling.

Following John’s exposure, the light turned east and faded
from view. Less than a minute later, I picked it up going north again.
As it receded, I observed red light mixing within the ball of white Ught.
Moments later, green light rather than red light mixed with the white.
Since this observation. I’ve seen many aircraft and helicopters that
flash individual lights, but none has resembled the effect I observed
that night.

Saturday night, a chilling wind blew under an overcast sky.
John and I spent several miserable hours on watch, huddled under a
blanket while sitting on the top step of the fire tower on Mudlick
Mountain in Sam A. Baker State Park. Although we saw no UFOs, an
innocuous event led me to stop and analyze a certain aspect of
sighting.s to that date.

We had taken along candy bars, a thermos of coffee, and two
paper cups. After climbing the tower, I placed the candy bars and
thermos on the top landing, wedging the paper cups between the steps
and one side of the landing. About an hour later, I asked, “John, are
you ready for a picnic?” When he said he was, I turned to reach for the
paper cups. But just as I was about to grasp them, they rolled across
the landing and sailed into the darkness below.

“What a coincidence, John!” I said. “There have been quite a
tew of those lately,”

At that moment, I realized that I must be very cautious in my
of UFO events. Obviously I could not read any implica-
pure^^ paper cups’ wind-blown disappearance; it was simply
our too. And that paper-cup incident led me to examine

**l^*th"*^^* ® through May 5.

’''’■as reluct ® °f the twelve sightings had been spectacular, I
aightin^ label them as UFOs. Certainly, I didn’t accept any of
they coufri astronomical phenomena, but I surmised

had dir ^®6n produced artificially. An obvious intelli-
•■aaciion to our or flight More puzzling was their apparent

* inUj the one light went out and another

^ht of April 12 ^ approached in the Cessna 150 the

^'soiueactofot^Q^^P^*' ® something that correlated

ut all such “reactions” must necessarily be

38 Anomalous Lights and Coincidences

labeled “coincidence” too, because we cannot know if the UFO truly
reacted to us or if it was just a coincidence. Admittedly a contradiction
in terms, the labeling scheme should still satisfy the large majority of
people who cannot embrace the concept of UFO reaction to a human
being. One fact remains: either UFOs reacted to members of the
Project, or else we have a large number of coincidences.

But not all events labeled “coincidence” involved an apparent
reaction of a UFO. For example, the sighting on April 12, when one
light went off and another went on simultaneously, I label a coinci¬
dence, because I cannot prove that the lights, separated by several
miles, were synchronized. During the last sighting the next night, an
orange streak appeared to enter a white light This too must be
labeled a coincidence. How can I prove otherwise?

NOTES

1. D. H. Menzeland E. H. Taves, The UFO Enigma, The Definitive Explana¬

tion of the UFO Phenomena (New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1977),
p. 9.

2. Frank Edwards, Flying Saucers—Here and Now (Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle

Stuart, 1967), p. 87.

3. Titles of papers given by the author

James E. Sage and Harley D. Rutledge, “Project Identification; A Pre¬
liminary Investigation of Anomalistic Lights in the Sky over SouA-
eastem Missouri,” Fall Meeting, American Association of Physics
Teachers, Meramec Community College, St. Louis, Mo., November
17,1973.

Harley D. Rutledge, “Project Identification: Anomalous Lights over
Southeastern Missouri,” Illinois Science Teachers Association#
Southern Dlinois University, Edwardsville, HI., October 19,

Harley D. Rutledge, “Project Identification: A Progress Report on

Kenneth K. Kornstett and Harley D. Rutledge, ‘‘Project

Instrumentation for Making Measurements of Anomalous j|

Objects over Southeastern Missouri,** Missouri Academy of I

William Jewel College, Liberty, Mo., April 26,1975. i

4. Menzel and Taves, book dust jacket. fl

5. David M. Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington* ■

Indiana University Press, 1976), p. 3. ■

A FORTY-FIVE
SECOND

TRANSFORMATION

It was 7:01 Friday evening, May 11, as the Cessna 182 lifted from
Runway No. 02 at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport. I occupied the
copilot’s seat alongside Jim Trickey; in back were John Wilson and
Drake Kambitch. When we had boarded the plane minutes earlier,
Drake’s hesitation had indicated to me that he wanted to sit in front.
An accomplished pilot, he itched for a chance to fly the four-seater
airplane.

Drake and John were physics majors completing their junior
years at Southeast Missouri State University, where I was their
•fK the pilot, had received a bachelor of science degree

te K I*' physics three years before. Now he was an engineering

At th'*^**” Missouri Utilities Company in Cape Girardeau,

hnporto^”'^’ *^8ual teacher/student relationship didn’t seem
town that ® strange mission to an Ozark

national become the focal point of a mystery attracting

plane slowly climbed westward away from the
heavy n could see the reflection of the sun in

below. Shortly after leaving the floodplain, we
'tfi Way fro^Q^ wooded Ozark terrain where State Route 34 snakes
ape Girardeau through yellow pine, red cedar, oak.

40 A Forty-Five Second Transformation

Ro.6-1 Map of southeastern Missouri

cottonwood, hickory, and sycamore trees toward our destination of
Piedmont, Missouri (Fig. 6.1).

The engine droned, making conversation difHcult. From the
back seat of the Cessna, Drake called out, “Dr. Rutledge, there are
the mountains ahead.” We had already covered more than half
75 miles to Piedmont The old, eroded St Francois Mountaiitf
looked like bumps on the horizon. In fact when Drake and I ha

made the initial flight to Piedmont my first impression

of the

AAUUCII AAigtii. w X txij xxxov .

mountains had been that we were seeing a cloudbank in the west
we continued, the peaks, ranging in elevation firom 900 to 1,450 e
loomed larger. ^

On our approach to Piedmont I could see Clark
three miles east of town, where I had spent a cold, windy
night in April on the south slope. We flew over Piedmont ^

Route 34-^9 snaking up the mile-long hill that some local •
tants called Pyle’s Mountain, after the name of the man who jj

the bulldozer at a landfill near the sununit The base of the mo ■

A Forty-Five Second Transformation 41

encroaches on the town itself. By now a familiar landmark to me from
the air, the moimtain would become a favorite observing site from
the ground. Until late February of that year, the moimtain had
always been a parking place for teenagers. Then, after strange lights
and objects began appearing in the sky, adults began to go there
nightly to take advantage of ^e panoramic view.

From these heights, on more than one night, I had seen lights
that seemed completely out of the ordinary. I had been puzzled
because they had not looked like lights on aircraft or helicopters,
but at the time I didn’t know what to call them. Although media
persons used the term “unidentified flying object,” I was unwilling
to label these sightings as UFOs. Perhaps, I thought, I couldn’t
interpret my sightings correctly because I was an inexperienced
observer. After all, physics professors seldom spend their nights on
mountaintops lookmg for strange lights. They are more at home in
the laboratory, or working at a desk or computer. But this particular
trip to Piedmont on May 11,1973, was to change my research plans
completely.

After circling the town twice, we headed north to set the
boundary for our area of search. We flew north for some time, noting
on the flight chart small towns such as Des Arc, Annapolis, Glover,
and Lesterville. In early April, a truck driver had been driving from
Lesterville to Annapolis on Route 49 after dark. Later, he had
reported seeing something approaching from across the field. A dark
object had beamed down three huge bright lights, illuminating a
broad area of the field. The driver had slowed his truck to a crawl,
opened the door of his cab, and leaned out to watch the configura¬
tion. When the silent object had crossed the road ahead, he had
®8t.iinated that it was leas than 300 feet away. The truck driver told

frightened by the experience.

tnv t . reports I had received during the spring were just as
>oust u these persons could have been mistaken. There

‘driver h rational explanation, I had thought Could the truck
® I’ohcopter? I wouldn’t be convinced until I had
W^^ d * UFO sighting for myself,

us. ‘tj- were as far north as our search should

^0 a few minut ^ back, fly over Clearwater Lake.”

of Pigfj over Clearwater Lake and Dam, nine miles

^^^gton, virhur fK extends northwest toward

There wer ®rai reaches some fifteen miles to the

the blue lake^—^"^ boats scattered about the surface. From the

appeared bottomless

42 A Forty-Five Second Transformation

We flew south from Clearwater Dam, following the Black
River valley. Approaching the small towns of Deeper and Mill Spring,
we spotted what local inhabitants call the Brushy Creek area. Here
too, I had seen white balls of light drifting through the night sky at low
altitude. I was still not convinced that there were things that deserved
to be called UFOs. But this night of May 11 was to change every¬
thing. Before I returned to earth, my rational beliefs would be
shaken to their very foundation.

At eight o’clock, I asked Jim to turn back to Clearwater Lake.
According to the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, sunset
was 7:58 P.M., but we were not to enjoy the beauty of a sunset seen
from the air. Many miles to the west, a dark, ominous cloudbank hid
the setting sun. But in the Piedmont area, the sky was clear. There
would be no immediate change in the weather.

“Let’s go up north of the dam,” I requested. “I want to find
out whether the lights come from the ground, horizon, or sky. I just
hope we see some tonight.”

“O.K., Dr. Rutledge, whatever you say,” Jim replied.

“Go up to four thousand feet,” I said. “The lights I saw
before weren’t much higher than thirty-five hundred feet. I want to
look down on them to see if they look the same as they did from the
ground. If we decide to chase one, we’ll have a downhill start”

“Yeah,” Drake interjected. “We’ll have a downhill start all
right. If we have to run, we might need it!” We laughed at that
remark.

Headed north at 100 miles per hour, we could see ground
lights being switched on in small towns and the stubby beams of car
headlamps moving along roads and highways. The denser traffic on
U.S. Route 67 caught our attention. Through the airplane’s wind¬
shield, I began scanning the entire ground, horizon, and sky in front
of us with binoculars. The predetermined scan pattern consisted of
slow horizontal sweeps back and forth, starting at the left bottom of
the windshield. I raised the binoculars a few degrees on each sweep,
until the last sweep was across the top of the windshield, left to ngh^
After returning to the lower left portion of the windshield, I initiate
a repeat pattern. . ..

The sky was turning a darker blue. Astronomical twijj". j
would persist until 9:40 P.M. so that any object in the sky would ® j
well illuminated. As yet, no stars were visible. J

At 8:10 it happened.

“Hey, fellows! I believe we got a friend up there,” f ® M
holding the binoculars steady. “I sure hope he’s firiendly.” "

A Forty-Five Second Transformation 43

“What is it?” everyone shouted, almost in unison. “What do
you see?”

I described a small, pulsating light that had suddenly appeared
in the sky, seemingly many miles away. Because I had been making a
last sweep across the top of the windshield, I knew that the light was
high in the sky above us, about 45®. The azimuth (compass direction)
to the light was 20“ right of our heading, due north. The alterations in
intensity (pulse rate) were about one per second. Since the light had
switched on in the upper left of the binocular field, I left the light
there (Fig. 5.2). The observation of the single, pulsing light through
my binoculars continued for at least ten seconds.

“There’s another one!” I exclaimed. “It’s blinking too. There
was nothing there before. It just switched on!”

In my binocular field of seven degrees, the two lights were
separated by about six degrees: the first light was in the upper left of
the binocular field and the second in the lower right I continued the
observation for another ten seconds or so, while the lights took turns
pulsing. First, one would pulse three or four times; then, the other
would seem to answer. In any event, the pulsations of the lights had
no meaning to me. Surely, I thought this is not some simple form of
communication.

As I described my observation to the others, excitement
mounted in the small cabin of the aircraft

Suddenly, to my amazement, a row of seven lights came on in
niy field of view. While continuing to observe, I informed the others.

“Where? Where?” Jim shouted above the engine noise. The
others began to shout also.

At the moment the row appeared, I thought: that’s not the Air
It hit me: many of the stories dating from World War n
^ 8 t Iwve a basis. A great wave of excitement overwhelmed me.

^ experienced such exhilaration. UFOs really exist. And I
was an eyewitness!

tion scientist in me made me begin more critical observa-

‘ofonnati ^ unfolding in the sky. I needed to gather all the
on possible from this unexpected and incredible event.

remabf The first individual light I had

^eld; the se ^ ®tationary in the upper-left portion of the binocular

Were light was still in the lower-right portion.

Centered b Pulsating. The horizontal row of seven lights
1 ^^ Wag ® aud somewhat above the two individual lights,
* oted . ®*Tendicular to my line of sight. Instead, the row
me, right to left.

44

A Forty-Five Second Transformation

A Forty-Five Second Transformation 45

The seven lights in the row were not identical. The three
adjacent lights on the right end appeared to be closer and were each
surrounded by a peculiar, dark, cloudlike, shimmering haze. The
density of the haze decreased outward firom each light at its center.
Occasional smaller lights streaked out of the central source of light,
but they never reached the periphery of the haze. The appearance of
each of the three lights reminded me of the “burnout effect” one gets
on a television screen when a television camera is aimed at a bright
light source.

The other four lights were farther away and seemed to twinkle
and jiggle in position. I could see the broad, blue slqr between the
four lights, w^e the spheres of dark haze surrounding the first three
lights almost touched at their peripheries. The first three lights
were somewhat brighter than the last four, matching in brightness
the two individual lights seen first. Had the haze effect been a
physiological response of my eyes to the bright lights, the effect would
have been confined to the two individual lights seen first, as well as
to the first three lights in the row. In my opinion, I was observing an
actual physical phenomenon.

Finally, heeding the shouts of the others, I removed the
binoculars from my eyes and pointed in the direction of the observa¬
tion. Jim made a corresponding course change to 20* right of north
and increased our airspeed to the aircraft’s maximum of 140 miles
per hour. The only illumination inside the cabin was from a dim red
light in the ceiling behind the visors. (The light’s red color preserved
wght vision, yet allowed enough illumination to read the dials and
gauges on the instrument panel.) 'Thus the white lights that I was
? ®®*^g in the sky could not have been reflected images of lights
refl * aircraft Nor, I was sure, could the scene have been the
Bround lights outside the aircraft. The lights in the sky
®re there. They were real.

still binoculars to my eyes, I exclaimed, “'They eu-e

see th crew, not having binoculars, were unable

^e seconds, a tenth light came on. It was below

5 [^‘' 8 hts arid pulsating.

*lap 8 ed.*A^gr^^ slshting, more than forty-five seconds had
I realized*! hi niy perspective had occurred. But

in the skv ^ cabin to view the configura-

Ten liehtR ^ believe such a story? I wondered.
Nation, I han!? ^ binocular field of seven degrees! Wanting
he couidn'j * u to Drake in the back seat. But

® the ten lights, I snatched the binoculars back

46 A Forty-Five Second Transformation

from him and made a futile attempt to relocate them. All I found was
a vast, blue void. We continued to fly a search pattern in the vicinity
of Piedmont while it got dark. I remained charged with excitement
and was highly alert

At 9:10, we were a few miles east of Piedmont flying east at
3,500 feet. The airspeed indicator read ninety miles per hour. John,
acting as our rear observer, was peering through the back window of
the aircraft. Then, rather matter-of-factly, he announced, “Dr.
Rutledge, a light is coming.” Quickly he repeated the statement
except this time his voice rose. “It’s coming toward us!” he screamed.
“It’s... it’s coming right at us!”

Cold chills laced my back. I had visions of a very close brush,
if not an outright collision. Perhaps, I thought, the object would
circle our aircraft, causing electrical or engine failure. Such occur¬
rences had been reported before when strange craft had come close
to man-made vehicles. And we were over mountain terrain!

I told Jim to turn the aircraft, hoping to face the object head-
on as it arrived. But when our aircraft turned, John could no longer
see the light because his view of the sky had changed. Since he had
been the only one to see it, we relied on him for a description. He
described it as a fluorescent-colored white light that flashed at least
four times per second in equal time intervals. Furthermore, he said
that the motion of the light was “jerky”; that is, not straight and level
as one would expect By John’s estimate, it had passed over our
aircraft less than one half-mile above us. He concluded his descrip¬
tion with a phrase that he would use throughout the summer: “Man,
that thing was really honkin’ on! That was no airplane!”

Fifteen minutes later, Jim commented that we were low on
fuel and should head back to Cape. Everyone lapsed into silence. In
spite of the rhythmic throb of the engine, I could not relax. Mentally*

I was reliving my experience over and over and asking the obvious
question: What is the probability that I could fly to Piedmont on n
Friday night, observe ten lights apparently appear out of nothing,
a narrow binocular field, and then see them disappear? ,

The probability was small indeed; yet, it had ^apPf®
Unfortunately, I was the only crew member to observe the ten
In fact, Jim and Drake felt denied. They hadn’t seen an.''
unusual during the evening except two excited cabinmates. J'
somewhat skeptical about the existence of UFOs,
believed that “something was causing sane people to report
lights and objects in the sky.” Drake had been my P'l®^
previous sightings; his skepticism had nearly dissipated.

A Forty-Five Second Transformation 47

When we reached the floodplain, we were less than 20 miles
from home. Suddenly, I was startled by a light below and behind us
that seemed to be pursuing our aircraft The light seemed to flicker
on and off as it paced our plane. Only moments later did I recognize
the source: moonlight reflecting off intermittent pools of floodwater.
The four of us laughed about that one.

After we landed, I instructed the others not to discuss the
sightings with anyone except their immediate family members. As
we walked toward the hangar, I said to Jim, “This has been a great
experience for me; one I’ll never forget.” He didn’t seem to appreci¬
ate my excitement (For more than a year, as I approached that
particular episode during public lectures, I had difflculty dealing
with the emotion it stirred. Even now, the impact of the experience
may surface without warning.)

While the plane was returned to the hangar, Jim completed
the paperwork relating to the flight, then drove me home. Vividly I
described the experience to my wife. To my relief, she never ques¬
tioned my account. I slowly succumbed to sleep, believing that my
life would never be the same.

During the weekend, my mind dwelt on the sightings. The
research had now taken on a new signiflcance, because determining
the origin of the Piedmont UFOs would be more difficult than I had
estimated. Although unwilling to abandon the hypothesis that UFOs
were man-made, I now gave little credence to the theory that UFOs
were a natural phenomenon.

After arriving at the office on Monday morning, I discussed
we sightmgs with two of my oldest and most trusted colleagues in
We physics department. Each had gone to Piedmont with me at one
^-heir names had been linked publicly to the
^ stories, both local and national. Dr. Sidney Hodges

cepted my account, but Professor Milton Ueleke’s response was
Frida ^ expected: “What were you boys drinking

^ countered with what I considered cogent arguments
observed^ reality of UFOs; in particular, the ones I had

admonished ** * P*'°^ 3 bly something the Air Force is doing,” he

^®rce right,” I responded. “But why would the Air

‘drivers?" ^ night and scare the devil out of truck

had been a navigator on a B-24 in the China-
® e during World War H, countered by describing

48 A Forty-Five Second Transformation

how some bomber pilots had enjoyed buzzing Chinese junks in the
Bay of Bengal. Also, he placed no validity in other persons’ UFO
reports. In contrast, I now found it easier to accept the many reports
which had been arriving at my office from persons living in south¬
east Missouri.

After the debate with Ueleke, I vowed never again to try to
persuade or dissuade people in their opinions about UFOs. I
wouldn’t become an “evangelist” but would simply file others’
reports and present my own observations. That vow has guided me
in my UFO research ever since.

Not until December 23, 1980, did Jim Trickey tell me about
his own sighting on May 11,1973. His paraphra.sed account follows:
Nearing Municipal Airport on our return from Piedmont, Jim alerted
the Flight Service Station of our approach and obtained wind condi¬
tions. We would land on Runway 28 (heading 280“^.

Turning into the downwind leg of his approach pattern, Jim
saw a light ahead, same altitude, azimuth 100”. To see if the light
was moving, he kept his eye on it, saying nothing to the rest of us. The
light, about a mile away and not far from the end of Runway 28
where we would descend, was soft white, large, and not as bright as
an aircraft landing light I did not see it from the copilot’s seat
probably, I was looking down to the right at the lights of Runway 02,
which we would soon cross over.

As Jim continued his approach, the light suddenly disap¬
peared! Now he was even more concerned about a collision with
another aircraft, since there was no control tower in 1973 to direct
traffic. He radioed the FSS, but they reported no other aircraft in the
area. Still concerned, he watched the former location of the light
until we flew through it. But nothing was there. Making a 180” turn,
he landed the Cessna 182.

In 1980, Jim said, “The light was simply there, and then i
wasn’t there.” He ended his story by saying, “That sighting has
bothered me all these years.” ,

Now I understand his silent response to the statement I ma
to him as we walked toward the hangar that night.

PERPLEXING

PHOTOGRAPHS

From April 6 through May 4 , 1973, I had experienced twelve
sightings. But after the May 11 sighting from an aircraft near
Piedmont, my reluctance to label these as UFOs all but vanished.

Although the Project wasn’t scheduled to move its head¬
quarters to Piedmont until Monday, May 21,1 decided to go there
Friday night, the 18th, to see if any UFOs were about. After loading
my car with equipment and picking up John Wilson at his home, I
drove to a farm near the city limits on Route 74. After turning onto a
rock-covered lane, we approached a home in a rustic setting among
trees near the bottom of a steep ridge. We were there to pick up
Robert L. Adams, who had told John that he would help in our UFO
field research because our approach was scientific.

Out of the house came a man of medium height, husky build,
end black hair. Around his neck were slung a camera and a black
leather case obviously containing binoculars. In his left hand he
carried a larger black leather case containing—I presumed—more
optical equipment. Because of the paucity of equipment and short¬
age of manpower in the Project, Robert was a welcome sight. He was
^earing a grin, and his handshake was firm. After he got into the car,
a three of us left for Piedmont.

fa Robert talked, I knew I would like him. He said that he
j^ed 350 acres of rich Mississippi River bottomland, that his wife
two* elemental^ school teacher at Benton, and that he had
*ons, Doug and Jim. I learned of his deep interest in astronomy:

60 Perplexing Photographs

he had founded the Southeast Missouri Astronomy Club years
before, and had designed his own home with two-story-high
windows—to view the night sky. Because of our conversation, the
trip to Piedmont seemed much shorter than usual.

On arrival, we checked in at radio station KPWB, then went
to Pyle’s Mountain. I parked the car by the concrete slab near the
peak so that we could use the car as a platform on which to lay
cameras, binoculars, and support equipment Bob laid his United
15 X 65 binoculars on the roof; the large objective lenses were ideal
for night viewing. From the large leather case Bob withdrew a lens,
800 mm in focal length and four inches in diameter—actually a
refracting telescope. He mounted the lens on a Davis and Sanford
tripod I had brought attaching his 35-mm Pentax camera to the lens.

(A 35-mm camera uses Him that is 35 millimeters wide. The camera
body can be attached to any one of a number of lenses of differing
focal lengths, the most popular lens being one of 50-mm focal
length—about two inches.) The yard-long system mounted on the
tripod looked like a small cannon. It would be easy to aim directly
over the long barrel, much easier than with a Questar telescope.

I laid my own 35-mm Pentax camera, a Polaroid camera, and
Empire 10 X 35 binoculars on the roof of the car. Because darkness
was more than an hour away, I didn’t bother to remove the equip¬
ment from its carrying cases.

Within minutes, a car approached our position, stopping on
the opposite side of the line of trees. A man, woman, and three girls
approached. The man identified himself as Carl Campbell of Web¬
ster Groves in St. Louis County. Returning from a vacation, the
Campbells had elected to come through Piedmont on their way home
in hopes of seeing a UFO.

As we talked of our families and other things, darkness
approached. Unknown to me. Bob had noticed a dim light to the
southeast. “What the hell is that?” he asked John. “Let’s walk over
to the other side of the trees and watch it.”

At first glance they thought it was a planet, but no planet was
supposed to be in that region of the sky. To them, the light did no
appear to be moving. After about two minutes, it began to
and approach. Bob and John ran back toward the concrete slab. ^ •
Rutledge!” John yelled. “There’s a light! A light is coming!”

Looking through the line of trees, I saw an amber ng
approaching. Because there would not be time to adjust the setting^
on the more complicated Pentax camera in the semidarknes*
grabbed the Polaroid camera. John grabbed the 12 X 65 binoc j

Perplexing Photographs 61

and ran to the other side of the line of trees, the Campbell family
following. Bob manned the 800 - mm lens-camera system while I
removed the cover from the Polaroid.

The light approached our position directly from the south¬
east, traveling a compass bearing of 298°, perpendicular to the line
of trees in front of us (Fig. 6.1).* From our position on the concrete

1968,

the

declination at Piedmont was 5.5® east

52 Perplexing Photographs

slab, 55 feet from the trees, Bob and I watched its apparent rise
through one of the trees as it approached. Expecting it to pass over
our heads, we waited for a clear view. Instead, it turned abruptly,
appearing to travel a course parallel to the line of trees.

As the light moved, it continued to be masked by the line of
trees. While Bob waited approximately one minute for the light to
come into full view, I ran to the other side of the line of trees, sat
down against a lone tree, asked one of the Campbell girls to move out
of my line of sight, and squeezed off an approximate 20-second
exposure while holding the camera steady in my lap (Plate 3).

Most 35-mm cameras have a variable time setting to control
the duration the shutter is open, thereby limiting the quantity of
light falling on the Him where the latent image of the scene photo¬
graphed is formed. These settings usually range from one second to
0.001 second. For exposures in daylight, the photographer chooses
settings usually from about 0.01 second to 0.001 second.

An additional setting, labeled “B” for “bulb,” locks the
shutter (or light gate) open for any desired time duration. Obviously,
this setting cannot be used in daylight or the Him would be com¬
pletely overexposed. The setting “B” can be used at night in low
light, but the shutter cannot be held open indefinitely if there is
moonlight In a totally dark room or cave, the shutter can be held
open indefinitely because there is no light to enter the lens and strike
the film.

In the Project our “quick” shots were of no shorter duration
than 0.1 second—to insure that we got something on film. Most of
our exposures were time exposures, usually 10 to 30 seconds,
depending on the field of view of the lens-camera system and the
angular rate at which the light/object moved. For example, the
angular field of view of my 50-mm lens was 46° and that of the 800'
mm lens only 3°.

Usually the exposures were of lights moving through the si^>
creating a corresponding path on film that we call a (light) trail, m ^
diagram (Fig. 6.2), as the light moves through points labeled A, '
and C in the sky, the light striking the film moves
corresponding points a, b, and c, respectively. In essence, the hg ^
the sky “writes” on the film, much like a person walking alongs*
blackboard and holding a piece of chalk steadily against it

In this case, to keep the shutter open, I held my
the electric eye. Although the camera contained black-an , I
Polaroid 107 film, I had intentionally set the camera to I

Perplexing Photographs 63

change the f-number to f/8.8 from f/42, normal when using Type 107
film, ASA 3000, in daylight.

When I returned to the slab. Bob was completing his fourth
time-exposure. Bob was elated. “I got him in the 800!” he said. He
told me that he had used exposure times ranging from four to six
seconds.

John, who had observed the light through binoculars just
before it turned, when it was closest and brightest, was very excited.
He had seen a ring with a shaft tiirough it, both the color of neon light

' 6.3). In his opinion, the space inside the ring was not solid

material.

^ amateur astronomer for many years, John was familiar
gyg flares and their causes.* Also, he knew that an astigmatic

'*'as ® distorted image on the retina because his left eye

Since condition for which he wore prescription glasses,

incusing* H °®ctied no correction, he made a lens-flare test by
*®Paratel^ • while looking through each binocular lens

'^®ing his^w^ ® check, he repeated the process

flare ®^®‘ concluded that he was not observing a lens

*^ugh ® ^servation didn’t present the only enigma. The
ch Bob and I watched the light approach served as a

54 Perptoto8P'»>'»S«»'’*

14.0 mm

Perplexing Photographs 55

reference point, so the motion of the light was easy to detect The
time duration for the light to make a right turn was about one
second— rather quick, even for a helicopter.

After the film was developed and after exposures were
analyzed and compared, other enigmas were found.

Obvious is the dissimilarity between the pattern of the
Polaroid print (Plate 3) and the pattern of Bob’s first exposure
(Plate 4). The Polaroid print exhibits a relatively long line or trail of
Ught, a series of short straight trails stacked in the shape of a
sombrero, along with a number of light patches. The entire pattern is
strung out for 39.1 millimeters in the upper-left portion of the print.
(Fig. 6.4). In contrast, the pattern of Plate 4 consists of a horizontal
trail, 13.2 mm long, with two shorter segments above the main trail
(Fig. 6.5). The short segment on the left joins with the main trail.

Direction of Motion

A

•i

AB ■ 1.63 mm

a tr^e drawing of Plate 3 (Polaroid print) with measurements from the
n and width of a Polaroid print are, respectively, 95 mm by 73 mm

Plates 3 dissimilarity between the pattern shapes of

maximum angular width of the Polaroid
®*P08ure. the maximum angular width of Bob’s first

66 Perplexing Photographs

0*0.25 mm cd* 0.77 mm ef* 0.88 mm

Rg. 6-5 TNs is a trace drawing of Plate 4 with measurements of distance
on the negative shown. The length and width of a frame of 35-mm film are
respectively, 36 mm by 24 mm

A dissimilarity exists between the single trails in Bob’s three
subsequent exposures (Plates 5, 6, and 7) and the pattern in either
Plate 3 or 4. These three single trails on film of a ball of light moving
through the sky are expected, including undulations that suggest
minute vibrations of the lens-camera system, attributed to a breeze
blowing across Pyle’s Mountain.

Counting three differing photographic patterns among Hve
exposures, counting John’s binocular view, and counting the naked-
eye view, five completely different descriptions of the light emerge.
How does one explain this?

Even individual exposmes raise perplexing questions. For
example, how was the light pattern of the Polaroid print (Plate 3)
formed? An aircraft equipped with an array of lights seemed a likely
candidate. If each light in the array was controlled by a switch or key,
the operator could create light patterns. An advertising aircraft fie*
frequently over St Louis; several persons in the city had mistaken it
for a UFO. After telephoning for two days, I finally reached Bi®
Kohm, president of Aeroads Company and owner of the advertisin?
plane. He soon demolished my hypothesis: “We don’t
advertising plane out of the St. Louis area,’’ Kohm said. ^
operate over Busch Stadium mostly. We would never fly as far a*^^
as Piedmont’’ When I inquired about other advertising
assured me that no one else could have been at Piedmont
only thirteen such planes existed in the United States, the neare
Chicago. fur

In Bob’s first exposure (Plate 4), two pulses of
above the main trail of light The first pulse starts at
right of the four-second exposure, and the second pulse ®”“^ [jgM
extreme left. The photograph portrays the actual motion of t

Perplexing Photographs 67

Fig. 6-6 Division of the light trail of Plate 4 Into time segments

in the sky, right to left. If the exposure trail is partitioned into four
intervals, the upper light appears to have been on for almost one
second, off for two seconds, and on again for about one second
(Fig. 6.6). Yet the pulsing light recorded in Plate 4 did not appear in
the three succeeding exposures. John did not see the pulsing light
through binoculars, nor did any of us see periodic brightness varia-
dons with our naked eyes.

An obvious feature of Plate 4 is that the first pulse of light at
the beginning (right side) of the exposure is less bright than the main
trail below, while the second pulse, on the left, is brighter than the
main trail of light. We measured the brightness variations of the light
in Plate 4, using camera model 700 SU image scanner
^atial Data Corporation) and computer model PDP-11/50 (Digital
^iporation)—a computer-controlled image scanner in the Depart*
of Bioengineering at the University of Missouri in Columbia,
{jj pF^Phs, drawn by a Hewlett-Packard 9820 calculator, are shown
qJj b, and c. Although the variations in brightness are
die TO * ^ photograph, the graphical plot using numbers from
puter scan, shows the variations on a quantitative basis,
of exposure (Plate 4) exhibits structure at the left

^ fact where the pulsed light appears to join the main trail,

“‘dentist ®f^‘^bire is so well defined (Plate 8) that a

f need * of Optics in Rochester, New York, suggested

**®n8fornj in”tK ®^®Pf sharpen the image by optical Fourier
A trari« perplexed by the light pattern as I

th Althou I ® 6 ®-

® Presence of f^ucture on the left in Plate 4 is well defined,
® spike of light raises the question as to the exact

Relative density

CJi

00

Perplexing Photographs

Perplexing Photographs 59

Be\8tiveclen*«V«>"

O

Perplexing

Perplexing Photographs 61

instant the shutter closed and the exposure terminated. Does the
spike represent further motion of the light in the sky, or is it simply a
crystal-growth mechanism created during the development of the
film?* The focal plane shutter, used in this type of camera, can cause
an image to be lengthened or shortened under certain conditions.*
For these exposures, however, the camera was operated on setting
B; hence I do not attribute the spike to shutter action.

The rather subtle enigma suggested in Bob’s first exposure
(Plate 4) involves a techniceil explanation. When an object moving in
level flight is viewed through a restricted aperture (camera, tele¬
scope, or even a cardboard tube), the approaching object will first
appear to rise, then level off when closest to the observer, and finally
descend as it recedes (Fig. 6.9). A similar effect is seen if electric
^wer lines are observed from horizon to horizon in areas such as flat
deserts or lake beds. Whether an object approaches fi’om the right or
e left does not affect the pattern; it is symmetrical.

. , ^ addition, it is important to realize that the back lower edge

and th remained parallel (horizontal) to the flat concrete slab,
nat the 800-mm lens camera system was mounted on a very

Fig. &9

^^maiiy In a typical film record of a light moving

the 1« closest to during three short time exposures.

in «« centerframe.

62 Perplexing Photographs

stable tripod. Yet the trail in Bob’s first exposure (Plate 4) is
horizontal, indicating that the light, approximately one minute after
we observed it make a right-angle turn on its approach to the line of
trees, was traveling perpendicular to the lens axis. But the light was
going away from us, not across our front For that to happen, a
second turn was necessary; it didn’t happen. According to Fig. 6.1,
during the first exposure, the direction to the light made an angle of
27° with the path of the Ught, not 90°, as has to be the case for Plate 4.
In other words, Bob’s first exposure should have exhibited a down¬
ward slope to the left. Subsequent exposures (Plates 6, 6, and 7)
show increasing downward slope, as they should for a receding light
(See Figs. 6.10a, b, and c.)

Motion: right * to • left

(a) Second exposure (Plate 5)

ZB-5®

Horizontal

t ^C-8»
Horizontal

(b) Third exposure (Plata 6)

Horizontal

(c) Fourth exposure (Plate 7)

Rg. 6-10 These trace drawings show the increasing
slope of the trails on the Kodak Tri*X negatives exposed
throu^ the SOO-mm lefts by Bob Adams

Perplexing Photographe 63

We didn’t keep time during the sighting. I wanted to know if
Bob’s first exposure was taken before, during, or after my Polaroid
exposime, so several years later Bob, John, and I returned to Pyle’s
Mountain to reenact our movements. Our best estimate is that Bob
started his first exposure ten seconds after mine was begun, sug¬
gesting that his four-second exposure may have overlapped my
twenty-second exposure. More than likely, his did not precede mine,
because his exposure times ranged from four to six seconds, and
because he was taking his fourth exposure when I returned to the
slab. Nevertheless, my Polaroid exposure exhibits a slope downward
to the left (Fig. 6.4), increasing in steepness from right to left as it
should for a relatively long exposure through a relatively wide-angle
lens (46®) as compared to the field of the 800-mm lens (only 3°).

To be thorough, I checked the possibility that an earth tremor
might have rotated the concrete slab so that Bob’s first exposure
recorded as a trail of zero slope. No tremors occurred until a week
later, the night of May 25, when we were in Farmington.

With regard to the analysis of slopes, I have assumed that the
light did not change altitude while in our view.

Triangulation was impossible with only one viewing station,
and no instruments (range finder or radar) were available, so the
distance to the light could not be ascertained. But the angular speed
can be calculated fi'om Plate 4. In four seconds, the light traveled
through an angle at the camera of 0.95®, corresponding to 13.2 mm
on the negative (Fig. 6.5). The angular speed is 0.24® per second. If
the distance to the light is estimated, a calculation of speed can be
made. If the light was five miles away just after making its right-angle
then the speed when Bob made his first exposure was about
60 miles per hoiu", if only two mUes away, the speed is about 144
miles per hour.

re ,1 attempt to construct a rational explanation for what was
^or ed on Plate 4, suppose that we were observing an airplane,
is fl • trail represents the left wing light, and the airplane

app^-^ ^ ® banked position (despite the fact that

minute had elapsed since the very sharp turn).
Private*^- * wingspan as characteristic of jet fighters^ and

^late 4 the distance to the lights, as ascertained from

made. ^artainly less than four miles when the exposure was
How ® distance of closest approach of less than two

light sound coming from the direction

64 Perplexing Photographs

K we assume that the lights were on a helicopter, the “wing¬
span” would have been much less, implying an even smaller distance
of closest approach.

In conclusion, the enigmas remain. But despite the sharp
turn, despite John’s binocular view, and despite other enigmas
arising from analysis, the sighting is rated Class B. Later experiences,
discussed elsewhere and themselves enigmas, were to suggest an
explanation as to how the light patterns were formed—explanations
that are not very satisfying to me as a physicist

After the light disappeared in the distance, we continued on
watch. At 10:35 P.M., we had no difficulty distinguishing individual
lights on an aircraft that came within a few miles of our position.
Finally, at 1:30 A.M., we left the mountain for the long journey home.

During the rest of the weekend, I remained in Cape while
Bob, John, and Bill Nanna, another member of SEMAC, went to
Piedmont to observe from Pyle’s Mountain on Sunday night From
the southeast an amber light approached—again, at 9:30. Again, it
turned to the northeast In contrast to our May 18 exposures of light
trails, those of May 20 were not unusual. The report that UFOs were
still in the Piedmont vicinity was exhilarating, for we were going there
the next day as a group, as Project Identification. What adventure
awaited?

NOTES I

1. Condon Report, p. 79. J

Modem Photography (June 1976), pp. 82, 90. Excellent drawings and j

discussions for nonscientists.

2. C. N. Wykoff and J. C. McCue, “A Summary of the PhotograpWc |)

Process/’ Photography Equipment and Techniques, NASA SP-5099r J
Appendix A, A. J. Derr, Washington, D.C., 1972. , j

C. B. Neblette, Fundamentals of Photography ^ew York: Van Nostranfl I

Reinhold Co., 1970), ch. 4,5. ^ I

3. Leonard H. Greenberg, Pities for Biological and Pre-Med Stuasn» i

(Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1975), p. 181. ^ I

Lewis Larmore, Introduction to Photographic Principles (New York: V I

Publications, Inc., 1965), p. 8. - ^ I

4. Fact Sheet, United States Air Force, Headquarters Aerospace Uei ■

Command, Directorate of Information, Ent AFB, Colo. j

Private communication. Department of the Air Force, Headquarter
Training Command, Randolph AFB, Tex.

5. Specification sheets, Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kans.

Specification sheets, Mooney Aircraft Corporation, Louis

Field, Kerrville, Tex.

OPERATION
INTERCEPT

Day One: Monday, May 21,1973

Monday morning I awoke early, pleased that finally we were
going to Piedmont as a scientific expedition to study UFOs in the
field. At last, we would have ample personnel to set up more than
one viewing station—and we would be in radio contact At last we
would have some sophisticated equipment something more than a
camera and binoculars. And Operation Intercept a plan to intercept
UFOs from the air, would become a reality.

My plan was simple. We would establish a radio network of
three field teams of two persons each. One team would watch for
WOs at Pyle’s Mountain; the second team would watch from the
^ tower on Mudlick Mountain; and the third would wait by the
Cessna 150 at the airport, ready to fly an intercept course if a UFO
was sighted.

Qui W the team in the aircraft to get to the UFO more

ne'*^^’ *“1 early warning system. Persons residing in

Pho towns or outlying areas who saw a UFO were to tele-

station KPWB in Piedmont, where someone would
® the night This person would then telephone the team

team who would radio the team at Pyle’s Mountain and

*PecifieH^*'*^*"^ aircraft that a UFO was approaching fr-om a
®tely antj The team at the airport would take off immedi-

^th it in ‘direct intercept course to the UFO, hoping to interact
er to acquire useful data. After arriving in Piedmont, I

65

66 Operation Intercept

would hire someone to receive calls at the radio station and would
secure the cooperation of the media in neighboring towns; they
would publicize my plan as well as KPWB’s telephone number.
Long-distance calls to the radio station would be paid for from the
Project Identification fund.

To equip three field teams, five other persons besides me
were needed. Each person was required to have training in the
physical sciences and to bring his own camera and binoculars.
Committed to the Project were Jim Sage, Drake Kambitch, John
Wilson, and Mike Mudd, a physics mqjor from the University of
Missouri at St. Louis. I had written to several Midwestern universi¬
ties to recruit help, but Mike was the only student who could make
the arrival deadline of May 21. I was short one crew member.
Although Drake’s friend, Steve Huffman, didn’t satisfy the criterion
for training in the physical sciences, he agreed to fill in as the sixth
member of the field unit. Frank Horton, a Cape Girardeau business¬
man, who had majored in physics at the University, graduating prior
to World War H, also volunteered to help.

To obtain data, we were taking a lot of equipment to Pied¬
mont The major items of equipment were detectors of electromag¬
netic radiation in three frequency ranges: (1) the visible region of
frequencies; (2) the S-band radar frequencies; and (3) the range
from one to 1800 megahertz (MHz). The optical equipment for the
detection of visible light emanating from a UFO included the 800-
mm lens camera system, three Questar telescopes with tripods (one
setup for each field team), cameras, and binoculars. The S-band
radar set, rented from a firm in Greenville, Mississippi, would be
used to fix the location of a UFO, to determine the distance to a
UFO, and to detect nonvisible UFOs that reflect radar frequencies.
The spectrum analyzer would detect lower frequencies from about
one megahertz to 1800 MHz. But there was stiU much to do before
we left for Piedmont

During the morning, I was busy checking equipment arranging
maps, making telephone calls, purchasing last-minute items, an
conferring with Jim, who was as busy as I making his own prepara
tions for three weeks in the field. Mike arrived from St. Louis a
10:30, while Drake and Steve were developing film exposed wc
night before at Pyle’s Mountain. Unlike the patterns obtained on
negatives Friday night, these were just straight trails.

The entire field unit was not going to Piedmont the first
Jim would leave as soon as his field equipment was ready fo*’

Operation Intercept 67

and Drake would fly the Cessna 150 to Piedmont the next day if the
runway was open. Jim had borrowed from the Cape Girardeau Civil
Defense Unit a portable electric generator, needed to power the
radar set and the spectrum analyzer. The generator, rated at 1.5
kilowatts, was a source of 120 volts at 60 hertz, about the same as
obtained at a wall socket. In addition, he mounted on sturdy plywood
bases three radio units, also borrowed from the Civil Defense unit-
radios that operated on a frequency of 37.1 MHz, almost a private
channel. Two of the radios were to be placed in cars, while the third
was to be mounted behind the seats of the Cessna 150 to facilitate
air-ground communications. Mounting the antennas was a problem,
especially in the aircraft. Not only were radio communications essen¬
tial for triangulation measurements to locate a UFO in the sky; they
were needed also to coordinate field operations—to effect Operation
Intercept.

At five o’clock, John, Mike, and I, the vanguard of Project
Identification, arrived in Piedmont As we approached on Route 34
the intersection with Route 49 at Main Street, we saw the Waltrip
Motel on our right On the marquee in front of the motel remained
the message that had been there since mid-March: “Welcome UFO
People,” while the other side read “Piedmont is UFO Headquarters.”

When I had arrived in April, the message was amusing; now, it
had meaning. We were going to lodge at the Waltrip Motel; it would
be our operational headquarters. To avoid being seen near the signs,
we made it a policy to enter and exit the motel by the back entrance
during daylight hours.

Our operational headquarters was half a white-frame house in
the center of a U-shaped courtyard lined with motel rooms. Tall
trws surrounded and secluded the motel. Other trees and a small,
red-brick laundry house near our back door afforded a measure of
Wvacy. Glenna Waltrip, who with her husband owned and operated
e motel, led us to the back-door entrance,
comf ^spected our quarters and judged that they would be
Wnin*^*^'* functional. The entrance led into a kitchen con-
'''hich^ * refrigerator in which we would store film, and a sink in
“''d a b^th process it The kitchen connected to two bedrooms
Photogjl •. ®rtunately, there was space for us to bring our valuable
^’^droom*^ f electronic equipment into the kitchen and outer

jo^”*Sht after coming off watch.

*'®treali 2 in ^ chose to occupy the small connecting bedroom,
g that we would be awakened by the other crew members’

68 Operation Intercept

late-night treks to the bathroom. But our room had one advantage:
John and I could get up every morning about eight o’clock without
disturbing the others.

Soon after we finished unloading the equipment and our
clothing, Frank Horton arrived in his black Lincoln Continental. It
contrasted with our University-owned car, a white 1970 Ambassador.
We chatted awhile, then went to Lumsden’s Steakhouse on Main
Street. After a leisurely diimer and a return to the house to procure
equipment for our first night on watch, we drove the length of Main
Street, then followed Route 34-49 up Pyle’s Mountain. Near the
top, we turned right to enter an open gate leading to a landfill. A
sharp right turn and a drive uphill over rough ground brought us to
the line of trees.

On the northeast end of the line of trees was an entrance with
an open gate not far from the concrete slab, our favorite viewing site.
We would have almost complete sky coverage because John and
Mike would set up about 150 yards away on the other side of the
trees, on solid level ground beside the landfill. They could see that
portion of the sky to the east that the line of trees blocked from our
view.

After the setup and a long conversation, during which I got to
know Horton better, I realized that our stay on the mountain would
be abbreviated. A cloudbank had blocked the setting sun. A quiet
calm was soon punctuated by the rumble of thunder to the west I
told Horton that we were going to be rained out the first night. After
a long wait, we heard the wind roaring in the trees across the valley,
warning us to leave the mountain. John encased his equipment while
Mike held the flashlight. As I was dismantling my equipment I
caught a glimpse of John and Mike running toward us with their
cumbersome loads.

At the exact moment I slammed the trunk lid, the stoi®
struck, seemingly with more force than any I had ever experienced*
Perhaps it was because we were atop the highest elevation in on*’
vicinity. We drove through heavy rain to our motel. As Horton left to
Cape in wind and rain, I worried about his safety. . j

Some time after ten o’clock, the storm abated. John
returned to view on Pyle’s Mountain, parking at the entrance to
landfill. We maintained our vigil under a heavy overcast; but a c ^
wind forced us to take turns observing while the other person oj,
side the car with the heater on. Once when John was the -gt
observer, we both saw a patch of lightning in the west, ^
rectangular in shape, that aroused our curiosity. After comP

Operation Intercept 69

views, we established a policy: if one of us was observing an event, he
would not describe it to the other person until the event bad
terminated. Then, if both of us had seen it, we would compare our
independent observations. John and I were to work comfortably as a
field team for several months.

Well after midnight, John and I left the mountain for the
second time that night, in mist and fog that limited visibility. Although
mildly disappointed, I thought of tomorrow and the implementation
of Operation Intercept. In the morning, we would set out for neigh¬
boring towns to explain the operation to media persons and to ask
their cooperation in publicizing it.

Day Two: Tuesday, May 22, 1973

After breakfast, John and I checked in at the radio station—
an established ritual—where I explained Operation Intercept to
Dennis Hovis. He suggested that Jeneal Bumpus might be inter¬
ested in serving as the telephone receptionist each night at the radio
station. In addition, she could type our daily reports while on duty,
using the typewriter in the office there. Because the station went off
the air at 7:00 P.M., the receptionist would need a key to the front
door. Hence, Jeneal was an excellent choice because her mother
owned KPWB. When I telephoned Jeneal at her home, she accepted
the position.

Next, we went to the airport to check the runway. Tall timothy
hay growing on the runway had been mown, as I had requested of
city officials a week before. But to my chagrin, the hay had not been
harvested. It had been raked into three parallel rows to cure. The
t^ee rows extended the entire length of the runway. In the center of
™e runway, a plastic sheet anchored to the ground with bricks
ormed a large “X,” which, according to FAA regulations, warned
flyer not to land. The airport was closed.

And John and I went to the office of Mayor Roy

the Missouri Farmers Association. He was adamant,
'ise'th attorney had advised him not to encourage us to

had ofr because of possible legal complications. The FAA

“X” closed the airport on January 1, 1973; yet the large

CUT airc ft ®n the runway recently. Anderson warned that

end of th ®®‘^Dger children on a playground near the south

^^‘^laini ^ I suggested that the city attorney draw up a

woidd mayor did not believe that the docu-

®«ying legally binding. After much persuasion, he relented,

could use the runway at our own risk. In addition, he

70 Operation Intercept

promised to complete the hay harvest. He offered us the services of
the city-owned jeep and suggested the premises of the city water
tower as a viewing station. Few persons would bother us there, he
said.

After we left his office, I reviewed my puzzling conversation
with the mayor. No legal document had been signed absolving the
city in case we crashed. I concluded that his tactic was one of delay.

When we arrived back at the motel, a telephone message from
Drake in Cape Girardeau helped us to determine our itinerary. He
would fly the Cessna 150 to the vicinity of Van Buren, where he
would land in a pasture. While we were discussing our plans for the
trip, Mike decided to go with us.

Late in the morning, the three of us left for Van Buren by a
circuitous route, planning to stop at Williamsville and Ellsinore to
introduce the local media to Operation Intercept. Route 49 took us
through the Brushy Creek area, where we stopped to take some
daylight color exposures of the terrain in the vicinity of our viewing
station on April 13. In Williamsville, we interviewed several persons
who had had sightings, including Clifford Crites, one of the two men
we had met at Brushy Creek almost five weeks before. I learned that
southbound lights often turned near Williamsville to return north,
and from this, I inferred that Piedmont was indeed a focal point for
UFO activity. Clifford and his wife Helen agreed to publicize Opera¬
tion Intercept in Williamsville. The southeast portion of our line of
the early warning system would be functional.

Late sitting down to lunch, we left Williamsville at 3:30 for
Ellsinore and Van Buren, our eventual destination, 34 miles away.
Before we reached the intersection of Route 49 with Route 60, w
were in a rainstorm. Because of the heavy rain and the late hour, we
didn't stop at Ellsinore. I was determined to be at that pasture,
whose location we didn’t know, to meet Drake. Too bad, but^
southern portion of our early warning line from Williamsville to V
Buren would be missing. ^

The rain had stopped when we reached Van Buren,
heavy overcast dampened our spirits. We went to the office o
local newspaper, where we met with the editor to explain Opcf
Intercept. As I talked, a look of incredulity clouded his
didn’t believe a word I was saying and proved it by refusing tn
story about my plan in the newspaper. I didn’t pursue the p® '
simply left _ [bjt

From a passerby we received directions to the pe®

ri

Operation Intercept 71

served as the local airfield. I doubted that we could find it, but we
did locate the designated side road. As we drove, the road degen¬
erated and the hills got longer and steeper. We were about to turn
back when we cleared the top of a hill. Below and to the left, a
verdant valley spread before us. A stream meandered through the
valley, creating a scene of natural beauty. After the cleansing rain,
the various shades of green grasses and foliage contrasted beauti¬
fully. Across the stream, we had been told, was the pasture that
doubled as a landing strip. But there were no aircraft on the ground
and none in the sky—which was beginning to darken.

At the top of the hill, we turned left, went through a gate,
turned right, and followed a deeply rutted lane that descended
steeply for at least one half-mile. I kept the Ambassador in low gear,
using steady pressure on the brake pedal. Near the bottom, the hill
was steeper and muddier. Whether or not we would escape the valley
I didn’t know, but we had committed our.selves.

After we reached the bottom, I could find no access to the
pasture in the distance. The stream was not bridged. Nevertheless
we waited. One half-hour beyond the rendezvous time, we had to
leave because of impending darkness. K we could negotiate the first
incline, we could make it up the rest of the way. With John and Mike
pushing, the Ambassador easily climbed the grade. I stopped to pick
up Mike and John. With great relief we reached the top of the hill
ond left the valley.

When we arrived back at the Waltrip Motel, I was in a bad
mood—vdiich suddenly worsened. At the motel office was a message
^m Jim, who had come to Piedmont from Cape, informing me that
mke would not arrive at Van Buren as planned, but would land
IJear Ellington, 52 miles northeast of Piedmont, Jim had gone to pick
. Drake did not show up there either. When Jim got back

We™ ^ Idm that I was very glad to see him. Both of us

laro Drake had us looking in obscure pastures over a

left of southeast Missouri for a small aircraft that had never

®eain vf viewing stations on Pyle’s Mountain;

•^asionr*”^ remained poor most of the night. On three

flashing identified aircraft by their navigation lights and

minute lights. Each could be seen for approximately

A m , ^ passing our position. We left the mountain at
“Ppointij^g ^'^8 home in dense fog—a fitting climax to a dis-

72 Operation Intercept

Ofty Three: Wednesday, May 23,1973

After breakfast, Jim and John went to Cape Girardeau, where
Jim procured the spectrum analyzer. Next, he notified officials in
Greenville, Mississippi, to ship the rented radar unit so that it could
be brought to Piedmont He planned to place the radar unit on the
south slope of Clark Mountain, a location inaccessible to auto¬
mobiles, to forestall any risk of radiation damage to curiosity seekers.
To complete his business in Cape, Jim recharged some car batteries
Horton had loaned us.

Meanwhile, Mike and I went to the radio station to inform
Hovis that we would continue to implement Operation Intercept by
visiting towns to the north on Route 49. Already the day was off to a
poor start: a thunderstorm was in progress. While at KPWB, I
received a telephone call from State Representative Jerry Howard.
Just as I said “Hello,” a nearby lightning bolt terminated the phone
service. We left.

Our first stop was Des Arc, a small town clinging to the steep
slope of a mountain of the same name. Mrs. Jackie Ruble, a local
store owner, described a large red ball of light that had passed
silently over Des Arc in March. Apparently, the light was attached to
a craft, because she saw red light reflecting from a metallic surface.
A few minutes later, she said, it returned from the direction of
Vulcan, joined another red ball, and the two left together. “It scared
me,” she said. “I wouldn’t go out at night.”

One twenty-yeai^old man had seen a lot. In late February, he
saw a lighted vehicle in a field near a “TV cable tower” close to
Piedmont Many other persons saw it according to the man, and
when he returned to Des Arc four hours later, it was still there. He
told me that he had watched the antics of lights in the sky since he
had been in the third grade. More than once, lights had followed hiw
and his friends. In a recent incident, he had been riding with a
who “drove ninety” to get away from an aerial vehicle that seenic<*

pursue them for some distance.

An elderly man described an incident that **'**''®®*® i gjjt
because of its recent date. On May 19, he had observed a white ^
approaching from the north “like it was struggling.” Then, a j
light approached from the south. The two lights met and
After a minute or so of hovering, one light went out; the other jj
away. He said, “Just as it started to leave, three lights app®
looked like one of the lights had come up, unloaded from t^
and hatched some new ones.” I recalled Maude Jefferi^ *
vation of a hovering light she called “Grandpa” until, one n

Operation Intercept 73

light exited from it, prompting her to rename the light “Grandma.”

A housewife related an interesting experience with what
seems to have been ball lightning. During a thunderstorm, a “ball of
fire” had entered her home through a keyhole, bounced on the floor,
and disappeared with a loud report. The whole affair had frightened
her. I assured her that she had observed an infrequent but natural
phenomenon.' Indeed, some scientists believe that ball lightning and
corona discharges are the sources of UFO reports.* Some of the
accounts I heard in Des Arc reminded me of Ozark tales of “spook
lights” and “ghosts” that seemed indigenous to the region.

After a brief stop in Sabula, we ate lunch in Ironton. Next, we
visited the editor of the Mountain Echo, who told me that he would
run an article about Operation Intercept—but the paper was a
weekly and it was publishing day.

In Fredericktown, I talked to the editor of the Democrat News.
He said that an orange light had been seen in the vicinity of
Farmington, a town 17 miles to the north on Route 67. I was
interested, but I was tired; it was 3:30 P.M., and we were 45 miles
from Piedmont. Then I recalled the UFO-aircraft encounter of Ken
Pingel and Marvin Colyer on April 12. Reluctantly, I decided to go
on to Farmington. This decision ultimately ended my effort to
establish Operation Intercept, but proved to be very productive
because of two terribly strange nights that were to follow.

In Farmington, I met with the editor and publisher of the
^urmngton Press, Wit Ledbetter. He told us that Ron Short, owner
of the Dicus Drugstore, had photographed the lights. We went
*®mediately to the drugstore to tape-record his story.

A tall man, Short wore his light-colored hair in a crew cut, and

he

serious, the typical head of a city planning and zoning
Ledbetter had described him as “calm, alert, and
which he was. Short had three years’ experience as an air
ttafTic ^ military service, followed by FAA school for air

u ®'*^hiating in three more years in that position at
^ *e d, now called St. Louis International Airport.

On ''Qiicu ou ijouis iniemauonai Airpon;.

^■^tions occasions. Short had observed a light undergoing

in of ®Poed- He had first seen it one

Appearing ^Pnl while driving in the country. Now it was

^iednion, o!® week. Because we hadn’t seen a single UFO

'^dtnont sin**^"** * week. Because we hadn’t seen a single w*

our arrival on Monday, I assured Short that a field

I

\

***Pbe best pooo place to set up equipment, Ron?” I asked.

D apo .1 . . .. replied, “There’s a good

place is the airport,’

74 Operation Intercept

view there, and less light than anywhere else. Of course, you have the
beacon there.”

Mike and I left the Dicus Drugstore for the Farmington
airport where we met Chuck Pingel, Ken’s younger brother. Chuck
told us about many personal encounters with UFOs while flying.
Before we left for Piedmont, Chuck gave me permission to set up
equipment across the runway to the east.

When Mike and I arrived back at the Waltrip Motel at six
o’clock, Drake was there—without the Cessna 150. He had returned
with Jim and John, and I was pleased. All were in the kitchen, Jim
tinkering with the spectrum analyzer sitting on the table, creating
intricate patterns of green lines on the oscilloscope screen. The
others were working on the radios. We were beginning to look like a
scientific Held unit.

After dinner, Mike, Drake, and Jim went to the fire tower on
Mudlick Mountain while John and I occupied the concrete slab on
Pyle’s Mountain. A heavy overcast hung at about 2,600 feet with
surface winds at 15 to 20 miles per hour. This weather description
constituted our total report for the evening. Three nights, and we
had no data! But that situation was about to change.

Although Piedmont was our headquarters for two weeks.
Project members had set up equipment at Farmington, at Williams-
ville, and in Sam A. Baker State Park. During the first week, Wilson
and I left the main group at Piedmont and went to Farmington to
observe for two consecutive nights—nights punctuated by experi¬
ences so bizarre that I have labeled them “A Terribly Strange
Night” and “A Second Terribly Strange Night” after the title of
story A Terribly Strange Bed by the nineteenth-century British
author Wilkie Collins. Of course, our experiences were not fiction.

NOTES

1. Leonard B. Loeb, Electrical Coronas, Their Basic Physical

(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California P*’®®*’Lx I

2. Philip J. Klass, UFOs Identified (New York: Random House, 19boh ||

A TERRIBLY
STRANGE NIGHT

Day Four Thursday, May 24,1973

Fortunately, the day dawned bright and sunny, for Jim Sage
had a lot of work to do. He had to install a radio in the Ambassador
before John and I could leave for Farmington to set up a viewing
station, as I had indicated to Chuck Pingel the afternoon before. In
addition, he had to install the spectrum analyzer in the fire tower on
Mudlick Mountain. An antenna for the spectrum analyzer would be
needed, too. This equipment, as well as a 37.1 MHz radio and 12-
volt car batteries, would have to be carried to the top of the 100-foot
tower. The third team would take a radio to Pyle’s Mountain.

Now that they had radios, the two teams in Piedmont would
* ready to make triangulation measurements—for which a mini-
toum of two stations is needed.

ba 1- ^ *p^ginary line connecting the two stations is called a
''iewin'^ 8-1)- The vertical angle (angle of elevation) at each
(pj measured with respect to a horizontal plane

fereii,. ' viewing station is higher than the other, this dif-

token into account.

toe ba^ ”*^ontal angle at each station is measured with respect
horizontal* i’ T^^ose compass direction (azimuth) is known. The
®hject witv,^® ® itself may be regarded as the azimuth to the light/
Of ^ baseline.

are nac measured at the two viewing stations, only

®®8ary to calculate the position of the light/object. The

76

76 A Terribly Strange Night

LIGHT/OBJECT

VIEWING

STATION Th« angles A and D are vertical angles (elevation angles).

The angles B and C are horizontal angles (azimuth angles).

Fig. 8-1 Location of a light/object in the sky by triangulation. The four angles must be
measured simultaneously

fourth angle can be used as a check on the calculation. Since all
angles must be measured at the same time at each location for a
moving light/object in the sky, radio or telephone communicatioiH-

are essential. •

After breakfast, Jim telephoned Cape Girardeau and
that the radar unit would be shipped by truck from
Mississippi. Because yet another person was needed to comp**
third field team, Jim telephoned Steve Huffman, asking him
to Piedmont. Steve arrived later that afternoon in his dar
Corvette, bringing his own camera and binoculars. .

At 4:30, John and I left for Farmington, hoping to
radio contact with our base at Piedmont, a distance of abou ^
miles. Unfortunately, we lost radio contact a few mu®*
Piedmont . fhU**

After dinner in Farmington, we drove to the .. of ^
Pingel opened a gate, allowing us to drive to the east a*

A Terribly Strange Night 77

runway, where we parked near the wind sock. We were as far as
possible from the rotating beacon light. Farmington lay less than a
mile to the north. I placed a transistor radio on the car roof to listen
to radio broadcasts. If a UFO were nearby, there might possibly be
electromagnetic interference in the AM radio band.

“What is the ceiling of this overcast?” I asked John, after he
had set up the 800-mm lens camera system on a D & S tripod.

“I’d guess about six or seven thousand feet,” he replied. John
had taken a course in meteorology at the University. So had I at
another college many years earlier, in 1946.

Later the owner of the airport, Ralph Pingel, father of Ken
and Chuck, walked over to chat. He and his two sons had joined the
growing ranks of flyers who had encountered mysterious vehicles in
the sky. “There’s something funny going on,” he remarked. “I’ve
been in aviation fifty years, and Fve never seen anything like it. A lot
of strange craft have flown over here.”

Pingel’s comments increased our expectancy. At 8:50 P.M., we
listened to radio KXOK news; the temperature in St. Louis was
75® F. An occasional aircraft flew by or used the nmway, including
one airplane we recognized as a Cessna Skymaster. John photo¬
graphed it taking off.

At 9:21, an eastbound airplane flew south of the airport. As it
was receding in the distance, a stationary amber light came on
almost southeast of the airport. It looked as if the hovering object
liad waited until the airplane had passed before making its ap¬
pearance (Fig. 8.2).

“There it is, John!” I called out “Take your time and get a
good exposure. I’ll help you.”

j. , ^hn aimed the long-barreled 800-nun lens at the hovering
. The size of the image on film of John’s exposure would be
^®ngth” larger than that made with a lens of 50-mm focal
®“nute ^ make an exposure. He was well into a one-

(See when a car approached from across the runway.

sure,*' damn lights!” I shouted. “We’re taking an expo-

WlSi Pingel got out of the car.

any heU ®oatoued to observe, Short told Pingel, “That sure
••vy copter.

^ was,” Pingel answered.

'Vhije loot- * filter from my pocket and held it to my

’ ^hrougj^ trough it at the light in the sky, I rotated the
• If the light was polarized, its brightness would

78 A Terribly Strange Night

Tol-»

♦

I

I

O Llbtrtyvilto

To Ffd t fkfctown

Fia8-2

Rt.e7

VORTAC©

vary as the filter was rotated. (To observe a familiar effect of
polarized light, hold one lens of Polaroid sunglasses in front of your
eye. While viewing the northern sky in daylight, rotate the lens, and
notice two variations in brightness during one complete rotation.)

The light’s brightness did not vary. On the other hand, the
light reflected off the overcast from the hovering light did vao' ^
brightness, telling me that the reflected light was partially polarized.
The phenomenon is rather common when light is scattered from
molecules of gas. .

An airplane, barely visible in the fading twilight, approawW
from the west and headed directly toward the hovering amber lig
When the airplane appeared to be within a mile or so of the h?
from my perspective, the light went out. The airplane turned
and departed. I wondered why the pilot of the small airplane ha
continued on toward his apparent objective.

As we watched and waited, ^rkness engulfed us.
aircraft flew directly over the runway, headed in the general
of the Farmington VORTAC station that is located 12.5 mil®*

w*

ao j
0^ I

A Terribly Strange Night 79

the airport at an azimuth of about 117® (Fig. 8.2). (A VOR station,
at a known location on the ground, continuously broadcasts naviga¬
tional signals on an assigned frequency in the 108-118 MHz range.
Pilots receiving this signal in their aircraft can fly a desired course.
VOR stations that also have distance-measuring capability are called
VORTAC stations.') Because the aircraft was relatively low, its
individual lights were easily seen.

"That sounds like a turboprop,” Pingel said. “Yeah, you can
hear the turbo sound now.” Moments later, he added, “Look at that,
Ron! He’s got a red light on the right wing!” According to FAA
regulations, the light should have been green. John got an exposure,
but unfortunately, the film was black and white.

Later, what appeared to be the original hovering light came
on in about its original position, having been off for 15 minutes. John
was well into a 1-minute exposure when the light began to move
north (Plate 10). In response to the movement, he cocked the camera
and began a series of exposures of the moving light During the
middle of one 9-second exposure, he masked the lens for 3 seconds
(Plate 11).

I rushed to the car, about 30 feet away, placed the Pentax
camera with the 50-mm lens on the roof, and prepared to take my
first exposure. Holding the camera firmly against the roof with both
hands, I depressed the cable-release button on top of the camera
slowly, to minimize camera movement, just before the light entered
the camera’s field of view. After the light had passed across the field
^ view, I terminated the exposure by slowly releasing the button
(Plate 12). I made a second exposure using this same technique, also
about a minute in duration, although the exposure time on film for
oth exposures may be somewhat less (Plate 13). Approximately

three

minutes after the light had begim to move, it disappeared over

® ndge to the northeast. The four of us walked to the middle of the
•tway where we stopped to discuss the sighting,
lorth had ceased; all was quiet. By chance, I was facing

few ^ ^he direction of the city park bordering the airfield. A
mercumoving about the parit, which was illuminated by
he^ lights. Children were playing. Instinctively, I tilted
for lifg Upward—and what I saw will be etched upon my memory

*®ff to lights had just passed overhead. From

L

fom" white, red, red, and white—a symmetrical

a line perpendicular to the direction of motion. Each

80

A Terribly Strange Night

red.

A Terribly Strange Night 81

long and narrow light seemed to be attached or molded to the back of
a huge wing, although I couldn’t make out any form in the darkness
(Fig. 8.3).

I was amazed at the size of the configuration, by its apparent
low altitude, and by the swift, silent way it moved through the night.
And, of course, I had never seen lights attached in such way to any
type of flying craft Immediately, I raised my binoculars to my eyes
and looked at the white light on the left It was bright but not
unusually so. Light from it reflected from what appeared to be a
metal, like aluminum. The same was true when I looked at the white
light on the other side. Quickly, I scanned from the white light to the
first red light. The light was emanating from what appeared to be red
glass—similar to that used in the taillights of cars. Through binocu¬
lars, I could clearly see a raised or ribbed structure, ostensibly for
reinforcing the glass (Fig. 8.4). Surely, I thought, this looked too real
to be something from across the galaxy.

Flfl. 8-4 The lines represent the raised or ribbed structure In the red glass that was
attached to the rear of a large, silent craft Fig. 8*3

We couldn’t photograph the configuration because our equip¬
ment was back near the car, about 150 feet away, and the craft was
moving too fast for us to reach our equipment in time. Within
the lights were out of sight. John repeated his now-familiar
m&ain: “Boy, it was really honkin’ on!”

Dh J®™®<imtely, I went to the operations building and tele-
ohte'^” Flight Service Station (FSS) at Cape Girardeau to

®*ond ceiling. The figure quoted to me was 10,000 feet,
"ocula^^’ examination of the craft through bi-

‘ista for a calculation of the spacing between the
white lighte, or the width of that part of the craft I could see.
city i'"^^ opuuon, the craft was about 2,500 feet in altitude, yet
^O.OOo ®ot illuminate it. Certainly, it was no higher than

^moculaj^ ceiling quoted at the FSS in Cape. When I raised the
confi I could see no more than one third the width

‘guration, because two adjacent lights did not fit into the

82 A Terribly Strange Night

binocular field of seven degrees. So as not to overstate the case, I
assume that I could see hedf the row of four lights; i.e., that the row
actually subtended fourteen degrees rather than twenty-one degrees.
From this figure, the width of the lights can be calculated for
assumed altitudes up to 10,000 feet, the height of the overcast.

The calculations are summarized in Fig. 8.5. As indicated in
the drawing, a craft flying just under the cloud cover would have been
nearly a half-mile across; at 2,500 feet, it would have been more than
600 feet across. At 1,500 feet, the width would have been 368 feet,
more than the length of a football field. The wingspan of the B-52,
the largest bomber in the U.S. Air Force, is a mere 185 feet by
comparison, although the wingspan of the C-5A Galaxy, a heavy
transport aircraft, is 228 feet.^

During this sighting, I noted one other strange fact. For the
entire time they were in view, none of the four lights was masked by a
fuselage, nor was there any visual clue that a fuselage or such
appendage existed. To me, the row of lights made a slight angle
(slightly swept wing), whose vertex was in the direction of motion.
John disagreed; he was of the opinion that the lights were in a
straight line, but I saw the configuration when it was more nearly
overhead.

The object may have been a flying wing, but one of extra¬
ordinary size and one that flew without sound. During public lectures
I have given about UFOs, a few scientists have suggested that the
craft may have been very low. My response has been: “Why didn’t
we hear sound; at least the rush of air over an aerodynamic surface?’

If the craft were a large jet in a glide, with engines idling, we would
have heard the engines. Was it a coincidence that this craft flew the
return course of the airplane with the red light on the right
sighted earlier, in violation of FAA regulations? But also disobeying
regulations was the “flying wing,” as was the ball of light seen east ot
the airport!

As discussed earlier, this sighting of the “flying
classified as an example of a Class A (incredible) sighting. W X*
Because there was a low, heavy overcast, which places an upper
on the altitude of the object; because there was a reasonable es^
mate of the angular width of the light configuration; because ^
was no sound. And because there were three witnesses jg.
cation, this must be called an incredible sighting. No other pj^ p,
cation is reasonable. In this case, the observer need not have a
degree in physics to know that a very strange craft had P®
overhead.

A Tembly Strange Night

OVERCAST

OVERCAST

'^0-8^ Size

rear

84 A Terribly Strange Night

It was getting late, and we figured that we wouldn’t see any
more UFOs for the evening. John and I loaded our equipment in the
Ambassador and began our journey back to Cape. As we rode along,
I could tell that John was keyed up, as was I. The full impact of the
four sightings was beginning to take effect. When the craft had
passed over without a whisper of a sound, an eerie feeling had
surfaced, one that we could not shake.

“John, it’s been quite an evening,” I said.

“Yeah,” he responded, “it’s hard to believe.”

“We’ll get some boys from the astronomy club up here
tomorrow night,” I suggested. “Then we can set up at several
locations.”

At midnight we passed through Fredericktown, where we
made the turn off Route 67 to Cape. I remarked that the town, like
Piedmont, folded early in the evening. A road sign at the east edge of
town read 52 miles to Cape.

We were about one half-mile out of Fredericktown on Route
72 when I noticed a xenon-like light, flashing once per second, in the
upper right portion of my windshield (Fig. 8.6). At first, I thought it
was an airplane, but the strobe was very sharp and intense, and no
other lights as required by FAA regulations were visible. Moving
parallel to our course but in the opposite direction, it soon became
masked by the roof of the car. John didn’t see it. After I pulled onto
the shoulder and stopped, John got out to train his binoculars on the
flashing light. While I waited in the car, the whiz of passing auto¬
mobiles interrupted the silence of the night.

Seconds drew into minutes, and I grew impatient.

“Come on, John, it’s late and I’m getting tired,” I said. “Let’s

go home. It’s just an airplane.”

“Dr. Rutledge, I wish you would get out and look at tWs
thing,” John said, being careful not to prejudice me by describing
the event

Unknown to me, the light had turned south as I parked the
car. A coincidence? As I watched through binoculars, a strange scene
unfolded: the light was jumping back and forth across the
binocular field. The sequence was a flash at the top, then
bottom, the top, and so forth. An eerie feeling increased. To ma
sure that the change in position was not caused by my “ivolun^^^
movements, I laid the binoculars firmly on the roof of the car.
effect persisted: flash-top, flash-bottom, flash-top, flasb-bottomy^
my eyes adjusted to the darkness, electric power lines by the si

A Terribly Strange Night 85

road became visible, assuring me that there was no binocular

Movement.

^ ®'*<idenly, the strobe light changed pattern; it jumped side-
this thing be flying a helical pattern? I wondered. More
•ubsid “^iiiutes after I first viewed it in binoculars, the pattern
®‘^ased abruptly, although the brightness of the light de-

holdine uniformly throughout my observation. John, tired of
^ e heavy 15 X 65 binoculars, had ceased to observe.

•ualvRic r”’ binocular observation allowed me to make an
’'“^f.CUss A sighting.

uming that the light was jumping through an angle of six

86 ATerribly Strange Night

degrees in my binocular field while at a distance of ten miles, the
sideways jump distance is one mile! Because the time between
flashes was about one second, the sideways jump speed would be
3,600 miles per hour. Was there an object really doing this?

I have been told by a Viet Nam veteran that a similar
phenomenon was created by installing many large lights on a cargo
aircraft. Two of these aircraft, separated by a mile or so, would fly over
Viet Cong territory with one of the aircraft displaying no lights.
Upon radio signal, the aircraft lights would be switched on; simul¬
taneously, the lights of the other aircraft would be switched off,
creating the illusion of a jumping light The procedure would be
reversed seconds later.

When I first saw the strobe light, it was on a straight horizon¬
tal path, going west I had no reason to believe that other aircraft
were present. Four aircraft would have been needed to create the
pattern I observed. The slant-jump pattern that John saw before I
got out of the car would not necessitate the presence of six aircraft.

This was not the last time I would observe the jumping xenon
strobe light (JSLX). Other sightings considered, I doubt that the
military would create such a charade—and for whom? Again, FAA
regulations were violated.

We got into the car and began driving the lonely, winding path
of Route 72, bordered on both sides by a heavy growth of trees.

“What else can happen tonight, John?” I asked, with a nervous

laugh.

“I don’t know,” he replied, half seriously. “Something will
probably set down on top of the car!” Despite our apprehension, the
rest of the trip to Cape was uneventful.

The same evening, Jim Sage and his crew at Piedmont had a
sighting that resulted in our first triangulation data. An imaging
baseline, twelve miles long, was established between the viewing
stations on Pyle’s Mountain and the fire tower on Mudlick Mountain i

(Fig. 8.7). At Pyle’s Mountain, the azimuth and altitude angles we^ |
measured using a Questar telescope. Because of the lack of
the little structure atop the 100 -foot-high tower, another
used to locate the position of forest fires, was substituted fof
telescope.

By 6:30, Drake and Steve were set up on Pyle’s
having leveled their telescope with a spherical bubble, ^ 36 -iin®
set the azimuth circle to magnetic north. Steve’s Yashica
camera was loaded with infrared-sensitive fflm. ,

Mike and Jim went to the fire tower, where they ha

A Terribly Strange Night 87

PIEDMONT

CLEARWATER
LAKE

Fig. 8*7 TriangulaUon measurements made from two viewing
stations on a 12*mile baseline

1,500 feet of fine antenna wire during the afternoon. The antenna was
connected to the spectrum analyzer, which could display electro¬
magnetic frequencies up to 1800 MHz.* The spectrum analyzer’s
main component was an oscilloscope-screen display, similar to a
television screen, displaying green lines instead of a picture. Unlike a
TV set, which picks up only one electromagnetic frequency (TV
station) at a time, a spectrum analyzer “looks” at many frequencies,
displaying each as a different vertical green spike. For example, each
area radio and TV station could provide a spike on the screen of the
spectrum analyzer. The operator can control the range of frequencies
toplayed, perhaps looking at that portion of the radio broadcast band
0.536 MHz to 1.605 MHz, say. Each spike would represent an
radio station. The more powerful the signal from a station, the
gher that individual spike. And the closer a station, the higher its
P e as compared to an identical station farther away.

120 t K radio contact was established between radio unit

1 2 1 ^ tower and radio unit 122 on Pyle’s Mountain. Unit

pujgrg*^ of commission—and in Farmington. As the evening
'''ero f, ’ ®®'^oral lights were observed. Practice triangulation runs

aircraft.

Pi Piedm tower crew picked up an orange light southwest

tower is 713 feet higher than the
******lation Pyle’s Mountain, affording a better view. Tri-

* 0 '>thwe 8 t p p®’^o*®®ots indicated that the light was six miles
0 Pyle’s Mountain at an altitude of 3,500 feet with

88 A Terribly Strange Night

respect to the viewing station there (Fig. 8.7). The light approached
Pyle’s Mountain at 207 miles per hour, passing within a quarter mile
to a location a half mile northeast of the mountain. There the silent
ball of light went off, 310 feet higher than the viewing station.

Five minutes later, the light came on again, 300 feet higher
than the viewing station and in a slightly different position. Traveling
almost parallel to the baseline, the light moved northeast toward the
fire tower, rising in altitude to 1,500 feet when it disappeared. Was it
a coincidence that the light moved along our baseline?

Although radio static permeated the radio transmission during
the sighting, Jim did not pick up any appreciable signals on the
spectrum analyzer.

The two crews arrived back at the motel about midnight
Although weary, they huddled in the large outer bedroom to plot the
orange light’s path on a topographical map. A measure of success had
come at last at Piedmont—and at Farmington.

During the evening in Farmington, we had seen three Class B
sightings and two Class A sightings, in that order. More than likely,
the first and third Class B sightings were of the same object, because
the object was in the same approximate location when it reappeared.
The two 1-minute exposures. Plates 9 and 10, show very little
structure. But, most important, they show that the hovering light did
not remain stationary during the exposures. The most obvious simi¬
larities between the two exposures are equal slopes and approxi¬
mately equal lengths. An important difference is the density of each
light pattern. In Plate 9, the density of die trail is uniform, while in
Plate 10 the trail is less dense at the top. John did say that he
terminated the exposure a little early because the light started to
move, but no movement to the left is indicated in the exposurt-
When the object moved away, it went to the left. Apparently, the
craft moved more rapidly while John was exposing the upper
of the trail in Plate 10. Whether this occurred at the beginning or
end of the exposure cannot be determined. ^

After the disappearance of the object over a ridge
northeast, John and I estimated that the distance to the ligW
hovering was five miles—an estimate that was to dictate the ^
of one of three viewing stations the next night. Because t e^^ ^
from the hovering object reflected from the cloud cover, |

visual clue in making our estimate of distance. Months 1*^^’ five
found the time to make a calculation of distance, our estim* ®
miles agreed well with the calculated value. ved*^**

The calculation itself depends on an estimate of the

A Terribly Strange Night 89

angle (angle of elevation) of the barrel of the 800-mm lens while the
object was being photographed. John and I believe that an angle of
20“ is our best estimate. Using this estimate and the value of 10,000
feet (the height of the cloud cover given by the FSS in Cape) the
distance to the light was calculated to be 5.2 miles.

Because die barrel elevation angle is only an estimate, the
calculation of the horizontal distance to the light is made for two
other angles, 15“ and 25* (Table II). Additional calculations of
horizontal distance for the three angles are made, assuming a ceiling
of 6,500 feet, the arithmetic average of John’s estimate of 6,000 to
7,000 feet, made before dark at the Farmington airport

TABLE II HORIZONTAL DISTANCE TO HOVERING UGHT

Elevation of

6,500 feet

10,000 feet

Lens Barrel

Distance

Distance

(degrees)

(miles)

(miles)

15

4.6

7.1

20

3.4

6.2

26

2.6

4.1

The values of horizontal distance in Table n show that the
object hovered relatively close to the airport—intentionally, it would
8 wm. But why? Was it a coincidence that the light went out when the
sirplane approached from the west? Are helicopter pilots supposed
to turn their lights off when a small private aircraft approaches? On
'y® f^^toary, it would seem that the helicopter pilot would have kept
“Ehta showing so that the pilot of the aircraft would have been
presence of the other vehicle. And was it a coincidence
the object began to move during John’s second exposure?
deDarti leaving the mechanics of the sighting, the speed of
expog calculated with the data of Plate 11 —a 9-second

®y*tei^ A? object as it departed, using the 800-mm lens camera

masked the lens for 3 seconds, the entire trail
Second Kn angular rate of motion of the light is 0.20“ per

^® ®alculat°,r*”^ angular rate, the speed of the moving light can

toe cal * 1 ^ distance to the sighting is estimated. In Table

2 .5, 5 ^®’^ speed of the light is listed for assumed distances

‘Eht ^les. The speed refers to the movement of the

® hovering position to its disappearance over the ridge

90 A Terribly Strange Night

to the northeast. The speeds in Table in are not beyond the range of
helicopters.

TABLE III SPEED OF DEPARTURE OF THE UGHT
Distance (miles) Speed (miles per hour)

7.6

94

6.0

63

2.6

31

Before the fllm that John and I exposed at Farmington could
be developed, more than two weeks had elapsed. Late one evening in
the darkroom at the University, just after John had developed the
negatives, he turned on the darkroom lights, and we examined the
film. All of his exposures were what we expected: trails, as in
Plate 11. But when we examined the two consecutive frames repre*
senting my two exposures at Farmington (Plates 12 and 13), we were
stunned. The patterns were weird, entirely unexpected, not normal
like John’s.

Why did the patterns differ so much? One possible explana¬
tion is that I was using a faster system, the 50-mm lens at f/1.4, while
John was using the 800-mm lens at f/8. On the surface, my system
was about 32 times “faster,” or more sensitive, than his—noting that
both cameras had the same type of film in them, developed under
the same conditions. Later, when I realized that the light was moving
so that its image moved across the film, I reconsidered the speed of
the two systems and found that my system was really only twice as
fast as John’s. See Appendix.

Faster system or not, a search for the origin of the intrica
patterns on film had to be made. Clues lie in the photographs and
knowledge of existing conditions at the time of the two exposures

Immediately apparent is the similarity of the general
of Plates 12 and 13. If the two patterns are superimposed. ^ ^
similarities shown are a bulge in the center of each exposure,
separation of the pattern near the left side of each exposure
8 .8). The pattern outline of Plate 13 is larger than that of
The difference in size is contrary to what is anticipated, be
during the second exposime, the light was farther away,
similarity in the two patterns is a coincidence, but that
unlikely.

~ Fim Expowr.

^■B-e • --- Second Expoeure

CO

Terribly Strange Night

92 A Terribly Strange Night

Obviously, the slopes of both general patterns are downward
from right to left, giving the sense of the light’s motion. To compare
the slopes of Plates 12 and 13, a “best” line is drawn lengthwise
through the estimated middle of each pattern. Fig. 8.9 shows the
slope of the general pattern of Plate 12. For a short distance on the
plate, the initial slope is 6.5®, changing to 9.0®, and finally reverting
to 1.6®. Fig. 8.10 shows the slope of the general pattern of Plate 13.
For a short distance, the initid slope is a large 18.5®, changing to
9.5®. The slope of the general pattern should be determined by the
slopes of the individual trails that make up the general pattern.
Because the light was farther away for the exposure of Plate 13, the
greater slope is expected.

For both exposures, the slope of the main pattern changes.
For Plate 12, the change of slope is 7.5®, which differs little from the
9.0® change for Plate 13. But the points in the two plates where the
slopes change are not in the same relative positions. The change in
slope by the amount of these angles could have been caused by the
rotation of the camera counterclockwise, as one looks through the
camera. Because the roof of a car is not a solid base, increased
pressure on the left side of the camera could cause counterclockwise
rotation, producing the opposite rotation effect observed in Plates
12 and 13.

Obviously, the general patterns of Plates 12 and 13 are made
up of individual traUs. In fact, when others have examined my
photographs, their reactions have been that the traUs were produced
by camera vibration. But are they? A more in-depth look is in order.

First, the individual trail pattern of Plate 12 differs markedly
from that of Plate 13. The undidations of the individual patterns of
Plate 12 are greater than for those of Plate 13. But the changes in
Plate 13 are more abrupt. Evidently, some condition besides time
and distance to the light changed from one exposure to the next.
Procedurally, between the two exposures, the camera was lifted from
the roof of the car, cocked, and replaced on the roof, and held firm y
with both hands in preparation for the second exposure.
knowing the mechanism by which the patterns were formed,
cause of the difference between individual trail j jn

obvious. The individual trail patterns of Plate 13 will be examine
greater detail.

In Fig. 8.11, thirteen individual trails could be ®^gj.of
Plate 13. These have been traced and assigned a number in or®
appearance, right to left, the sense of the motion of the jV.
slopes and lengths of the individual trails are tabulated in Ta

motion

Slope • 9.50

Fig. 8-10

Slope • 9.0®

Slope • I8.50

;o

CO

29 ®

,( 12 )

^^21

( 10 )

31 mm

(9)

43 mm

ng. 8-11

A Terribly strange Night

A Terribly Strange Night 95

table IV INDIVIDUAL TRAILS; SLOPES AND LENGTHS (Plate 13)

Line

Number

Slope

Left-to-right

Length (mm)

Line

Number

Top-to-bottom

Slope Length (mm)

1

13"

27

12

29“

21

2

13"

25

1

13“

27

3

12“

28

6

18“

19

4

16“

26

2

13“

25

5

16“

26

4

16“

26

6

18“

19

10

23“

25

7

14“

41

5

16“

26

8

15“

43

3

12“

28

9

18“

31

11

So

CM

21

10

23“

25

9

18"

31

11

25“

21

13

19"

35

12

29“

21

7

14"

41

13

19“

35

8

15"

43

In general, the slope increases from right to left, which is
expected because of the large angular field of view of the 60-mm lens;
but no trend is revealed. But from top to bottom, the trend is an
increase in the length of the trails.

In Plate 12, the trails also lengthen from top to bottom.
Surely, the trails at the bottom of Plates 12 and 13 are longer
because in the sky, they were formed closer to our viewing station.

Second, the patterns of Plates 12 and 13 are repeated across
“le entire length of the frame, in each case a time exposure of 30-60
®®cond8. In fact, for all trails lying on a particular horizontal line
the frame, the trails are identical for a given plate. In Plate 14,
was”^* on the negative from which Plate 12 was printed, the frame
^8 placed in the enlarger in the darkroom and overexposed. Had
been too long, the pattern would have disappeared
print would have been black, just as it would have been
6 daritroom lights been turned on accidentally, exposing the

that technique allowed us to look at the individual trails in
thatia exposure where the density of trails is greatest—

»the central portion of Plate 12, where they all nm together. In

96

A Terribly Strange Night

Plate 14, which was overexposed in printing, the individual trails
remain and make up the entire general pattern of the exposure. Yet
the individual trail patterns remain the same for any horizontal line
across Plate 14. Compare the patterns of Plates 12 and 13 to those
made from a moving vehicle on a busy street at night. A similarity
will be noted; yet, they are not the same/ That is, the patterns made
by taking a time exposure with a camera in a moving vehicle at night
of a city scene do not repeat across the photograph, as is the case for
Plates 12 and 13. Of course, there is one major difference: the
camera was moving with the vehicle, while at Farmington the camera
was relatively still.

Most persons who have examined Plates 12 and 13 do not
fully recognize the length of the trails in the sky. They were relatively
long. The lengths of the trails can be compared with the length of the
print, 246 mm, from which the lengths of the trails were measured.
The length of a frame on the negative, 36 mm, was printed 246 mm
long—a magnification in printing of about 6.8. A frame subtends an
angle at the 50-mm lens of 39.6°. At a distance of five miles from the
camera, this angle represents a distance of 3.6 miles, perpendicular to
the camera lens.

Hence, by proportion, the length of the trail on the print can
be converted to the length of the trail on the negative and, from
there, the actual trail distance in the sky can be calculated. In
Table V, the trail lengths in the sky are shown for both Plates 12 and
13, each for three assumed distances of the camera to the light At
five miles, a trail may be up to a half mile in length. In Table V, the
length of the line of light pulses in the sky for Plate 12 are listed.

TABLE V LENGTHS OF INDIVIDUAL TRAILS IN THE SKY

(The actual trail lengths In the sky are greater than shown here, because rte
50 - mm camera lens records only the projected path ol a light on film.)

Distance
to Object (mi)

Corresponding

Plate 12

Plate 13

Dist. of

36 mm frame
(ml)

Trail

Length (mi)

Length of
Pulses (mi)

Trail

LengtMjJIII,

2.6

1.8

0.13

0.06

0.25

6.0

3.6

0.26

0.10

0.50

7.6

6.4

0.39

0.16

0.75

A Terribly Strange Night 97

I

Another very strange aspect of both Plates 12 and 13 is the
small light pulsations associated with each individual trail, which
may be a significant clue to the cause of the light patterns. At the
right end of the individual trails, Plate 12, is a sequence of light
pdses—ten per line. The effect is easier to discern in Plate 15, a
blowup of Plate 12. In Plate 13, lines of pulsation project downwards,
not upwards as in Plate 12, from the ends of individual trails.

Plate 16 is a blowup of Plate 13. These pulsations suggest a
light powered by alternating current, like that available from home
wall sockets where the frequency is 60 Hz. To illustrate this effect, a
camera was aimed simultaneously at the moon and at a mercury-
vapor yard light with the camera set on “bulb” for a time exposure.
At the instant the exposure was started, the camera was rotated
quickly about a vertical axis. The image of the moon left a contin¬
uous trail on film, while the mercury-vapor light, powered by alter¬
nating current, yielded multiple images (Plate 17). If the frequency
was the familiar 60 Hz and if both the negative and positive portions of
each voltage cycle produced a light pulse (as is usually the case for
so-called arc lamps), the time to form the line in Plate 15 is 1/24
second (about 42 milliseconds). This information is useful in sum¬
marizing the discussion.

Because of the small AC-type pulses at the ends of the trails,
one can hypothesize that the beacon light was somehow instrumental
in producing the two patterns of Plates 12 and 13. The airport
beacon light, of course, is powered by a source of AC electricity. If
Ae moving object caused condensation of water vapor, then the film
the camera may have detected light from the beacon reflecting off
Water droplets. Light from the beacon was not picked up directly,
ecause it was behind us. And light from the beacon striking the roof
w lit ^ front of the camera and reflected into the camera
produced well-defined images, because the lens was
The beacon makes a complete rotation in 20 seconds.

tVi*” sees alternating white flashes and green flashes

the h * of beacon at 10-second intervals. The angular height
the bea^^'" to FAA regulations, is from 1° to 3°, although

^ itself is rather broad. Assuming exposure times of 1
® flashes illuminated portions of the sky

Plates 12 and 13.

8u L water vapor in the air depends on several

amount of water vapor present (density), the
® of the air, and the presence of condensation nuclei.*

98 A Terribly Strange Night

For example, injecting carbon dioxide particles into the
atmosphere will fail to bring rain unless enough water vapor is
present to form on the carbon dioxide nuclei. The effect of tempera¬
ture can be observed by placing ice and water in a shiny metal
container. Water vapor in the air will condense on the metal surface
at a temperature called the dew point, a temperature related to the
relative humidity. On the night of May 24, 1973, the humidity was
high. Perhaps condensation nuclei were provided by the exhaust
products of a turbojet engine and stirred into vortices by the action
of helicopter rotor blades.

Apparently, large helicopters carry electrostatic discharging
systems that dump electric charges into the surrounding air.‘ These
ionic charges could serve as condensation nuclei for water vapor, but
the air must be in a special supersaturated condition.^ (A super¬
saturated vapor is used in the WQson cloud chamber, a device used
to detect the tracks of charged atomic and subatomic particles.) In
my opinion, the air was not supersaturated.

Another aspect of the individual trail patterns, almost as
intriguing as the whole pattern itself, is the apparent helical shape
(like a coiled spring) of the individual trails. The upper right individ¬
ual trail in Plate 16 is an especially good example. It is not difficult to
imagine that a small source of light corkscrewed through the sl^. To
see if this was the case for a particular trail, mathematics graduate
student Jay Thomas scanned an individual trail with an image
scanner. From the two-dimensional pattern on print, it was impos¬
sible for him to determine if it was a helix.

Reflections off the car’s roof from the moving light source
could possibly have produced multiple-trail images if the roofs
surface was not mirror smooth, or if minute droplets of water vapor
lay on the surface. (A mirror-smooth surface would have given oiJy «
reflected trail image in addition to the primary image formed by light
entering the camera lens directly from the moving source.)
explanation seems the most likely, but serious objections can
raised.

Another explanation is that the multiple trail images we ^
formed by light reflected from mist or dust purposely
helicopter. Since the moving light was seen to hover, it could
been attached to a helicopter.

Ironically, at the time the sighting was in progress. I f®*

John, using the 800-mm lens camera system, would obtain ® ^
sures of greater detail than I could with the 50-mm lens
system. If I hadn’t made any exposures with the latter syste®*

A Terribly Strange Night 99

mystery of Plates 12 and 13 would never have been. One of the basic
tenets I have learned from personal experiences in the field: never
take anything for granted. This was never better exemplified than
during the following Terribly Strange Night at Farmington.

NOTES

1. Flying VOi?, pilot’s manual, Bendix Avionics Division, Ft. Lauderdale,

Fla.

How to Fly VORy Bendix Avionics Division, Ft Lauderdale, Fla.
Instrument Flying Handbooky Department of Transportation, Federal
Aviation Administration, Aero Products Research, Inc., Los Angeles,

ch. VI.. ch. vn.

2. Fred T. Jane, Janets All the World's AircrafU 1972-73 (New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Co.), p. 353.

Jane, Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1961-62 (New York: McGraw-Hill
Book Co,), p. 221 for the B-52.

3. Charles Lee Jackson, ‘*The Allocation of the Radio Spectrum,” Scientific

Americany Vol. 242, No. 2 (February 1980), p. 34.

Morris Engelson, ‘‘Spectrum Analyzer Measurements, Theory and Prac¬
tice,” Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, Ore. (February 1971).

4. James A. Sugar, ‘‘Trucks Race the Clock from Coast to Coast,” National

GeographiCy Vol. 145, No. 2 (February 1974), p. 226.

6. Earl J. McCartney, Optics of the Atmosphere, Scattering by Molecules and
Particles (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1976), p. 71.

6. Philip J.Klass, (New York: Random House, 1968), p. 171.

7. F. W. Sears and M. W. Zemansky, University Physics (Reading, Mass.:

^^^^l^^^Vcsley Publishing Co., Inc., 1964), p. 406.

McCartney, Optics of the Atmosphere, p. 117 ff.

A SECOND
TERRIBLY
STRANGE NIGHT

Day Five: Friday, May 25,1973

Late Friday afternoon, John and I returned to Farmington, full
of expectancy and with ample help. With us were several senior
members of the Southeast Missouri Astronomy Club: Bill Nanna,
Kenneth Aldrich, and Bob Adams. Nanna was project engineer at the
Charmin Manufacturing Company plant near the Mississippi River
north of Cape Girardeau. Aldrich, a retired Navy chief petty officer,
was a junior high school science teacher at Scott City, nine miles
south of Cape. Ken had brought with him a ninth-grade studen^
Danny Freed. Senior members of the Astronomy Club investw
many hours each year in youngsters who showed an interest w
astronomy—a policy they still practice.

After the introductions, I learned that in World War H,
had served in the South Pacific as a hospital corpsman j

“island-hopping Marines,” as he put it. On several occasions he
observed UFOs from a destroyer at sea. After the war, he
participated in Admiral Byrd’s Antarctic expedition,
Deepfreeze I (1955-57), wintering at Little America V, a base fof
explorers.

At the Farmington airport, I instructed Bob to set up ^

teams, one at each end of the runway. John and I would locate

A Second Terribly Strange Night 101

miles east of the airport, in case the orange light appeared in the
same position as the night before.

About 2.6 miles east of the airport we found a farm with no
yard light. It was an ideal situation for photographing UFOs at night
because—as we have discussed—when light from bright mercury-
vapor lights enters a camera during a time exposure, curious patterns
such as lens flares and halos can appear on the negative. When we
explained our purpose to the owner of the farm, Fred Billedo, he
described a sighting of the previous fall: a light had approached a
distant tree to the east, stopped, hovered awhile, and left. He and his
wife described several other perplexing sightings as well.

Billedo opened two gates, allowing us access to a verdant
pasture, waist high in growth. I stopped the car near a patch of
spar.se growth in the center of the field. As soon as I got out of the
car, I made a binocular scan of the sky. After all, it was only about
6:30—a long time until dark. There would be ample time to set up
the equipment.

To my surprise, through the binoculars I saw a small ball of
off-color white light to the east, traveling north at very low altitude. I
had seen similar ones at Brushy Creek. Quickly I snatched the
Questar telescope from the car, removed it from its case, placed it on
the hood of the car, adjusted it for SOX, and looked for more white
balls of light.

Sure enough, one drifted across my narrow field of view,
taking about three seconds. According to Questar specifications, the
field of view for the eyepiece I was using (40-80X) is 0.92“ Another
light soon followed. There was little we could do to record these
sightings, but they presaged another exciting night.

We hurriedly completed our setup and began our binocular
scans. By this time, the lights to the east were gone. Very strange ...
and in daylight too! Because the lights had been so low, I wondered if
, persons living in the vicinity had seen them.

I Before 7:00, while I was scanning the sky high to the south-

in^^ angle of about 45“, my attention became riveted to a spot
m ® where a series of xenon-type lights flashed at random. This
display lasted no more than four seconds. The lights

I

’fid n . ° ^ several miles away, and I was puzzled because they
of agri attached to anything. The display reminded me

ligjjt ^T^edo displays on the Fourth of July: a series of localized
Wbb before explosions are heard—except in this case, there

102 A Second Terribly Strange Night

phenomenon, which I have labeled “the random flashbulb effect” or
RFEX, where X stands for xenon' (Fig. 9.1).

As soon as the RFEX terminated, an off-color white light
came on in the midst of the area of disturbance and began to move
eastward. Through binoculars, the light had no structure—it was just
a small ball of light, apparently unattached to a material object.
During a ten-minute period, the light progressed on a horizontal path
to the east

Finally, I terminated my attention on the moving light. A scan
of the area where it originated yielded nothing unusual. During the
entire episode, John could not locate the moving light, either with his
naked eyes or through binoculars, because the light did not contrast
well with the blue sky. I pointed at it several times, but did not
remove the binoculars from my eyes for fear of losing sight of it.

Either the moving light was just that—a light unattached to a
solid structure—or else the light was so far away that the so
structure couldn’t be made out, even through binoculars.* t
analysis in this case is similar to that of the fifth and last
from Pyle’s Mountain on our first night in Piedmont In this cas^
however, the objective was to determine the smallest
flength) that could be determined (resolved) at a given distance
the viewing station. jjgjjt

To make the calculation, I estimated the distance to the
as ten miles and used the magnification of the binoculars (1^'
was the case for the sighting on April 6, an eye resolution of h

J

A Second Terribly Strange Night 103

angle was assumed. Calculations show that a fuselage of 8 feet or
more in length could have been resolved; at 20 miles, the fuselage
length required would have been 16 feet or more.

The moving light could not have been a satellite, for several
reasons. First, the light just appeared, “came on.” Second, the light
took ten minutes to travel less than the horizon-to-horizon distance.
Hence, had it been a satellite, its altitude would have been far
greater than the 180-mile minimum, and satellites at that altitude
pass over in about two minutes. In my opinion, the light was not
above the atmosphere, but could have been as high as 50,000 feet,
because it did not reach the horizon within the ten minutes that I
observed it. On the other hand, the light may have been traveling
slower at, say, 10,000 feet.

Could the light have been an airplane, helicopter, or craft?
Possibly. But during the ten minutes I watched it through binoculars,
the light looked the same from various angles. It was not directional,
nor did it become masked by any portion of a craft such as a fuselage
or a wing. The light did not appear to be sunlight reflecting from a
metal surface, either; the brightness was steady! diminishing uni¬
formly as it receded to the east. Add to this that more than a half-
dozen xenon-type lights flashed prior to the appearance of the white
light.

About 7:30, through 15 X 65 binoculars, John saw an orange
light, apparently beyond the airport to the west, traveling south. I
verified his sighting. Next, he observed the light through the 800-mm
lens (16X), using a Praktica 35-mm camera with 6X magnifying glass
over the ground-glass viewing screen, for a total magnifying power of

“Dr. Rutledge, the light appears to haive a fuselage structure
ohind it,” John said, as he prepared to make an exposure. “It’s
going behind a hill. I’ll snap one so that some terrain appear in
e picture.” Then, moments later, he added, “It just faded out! I
aidnt get a picture at all!”

that K ^ evening, on returning to the airport, we learned
Was teams had seen the light. They had thought the light

®nd 'tntil Ron Short arrived at Ken’s location at the south

'adioedn “d said, “That’s it! That’s the light!” Ken

Ail Wat h ^ ^ north of the change in the light’s status,

the littk? f** through binoculars. When southwest of the airport,

haci **^®ded out,” as

didn’t r ® about one second. On the contrary. Bob said, “It

At ^ ** went out”

viewing station 2.3 miles east of the airport, John and I

104 A Second Terribly Strange Night

observed a very high-flying white light, traveling WSW to ENE,
which faded out in the shadow of the earth, as satellites do. The fleld
teams at the airport confirmed our assessment, as did the two fleld
teams at Piedmont when we saw them later in the week.

As darkness approached, we watched the stars come out. To
the east I noticed three stars in a vertical straight line. I did not know
the names of the stars, but the presence of the straight line bothered
me. I decided to check through binoculars. Although the two upper
stars did not appear unusual, the bottom star “jiggled” when I
looked at it. Immediately, I placed my Pentax camera on the car roof.
Because of the ambient light remaining at dusk, I limited the exposure
to fifteen seconds.

At the instant I began the exposure, the pseudostar began to
move left, to the north (Plate 18). Although camera movement is
apparent—as can be seen from the fuzziness of the treetops to the
lower left—the path of the pseudostar is unmistakable.

After termination of the exposure, the pseudostar was gone.
The other two stars in the original line followed the normal course of
stars during the evening, traveling at the sidereal rate of 15° per
hour.

Soon after dark, a low-flying object we thought to be an
airplane approached from the east at an estimated altitude of 2,000
feet We could hear an engine sound. Passing to the north of our
position, it seemed no more than 2,500 feet away. John and I saw
three red lights in the form of a large triangle (Fig. 9.2). In addition,
a sizeable blue-green glow seemed to fly unattached off the right
side of the triangle.

N

i

DIRECTION OF MOTION *

Fig. 9-2

tb®

John saw it differently. He saw two blue-green ^juai** I
right side, not one light as I did, apparently attached to to J

A Second Terribly Strange Night 105

body by a long, invisible wire. John said that the lights seemed to be
following the triangle, that they seemed to be waving in the breeze,
like the whip antenna on a car. Frankly, I don’t know how John could
have perceived two blue-green lights, but I did get the impression
that the blue-green light was not part of the triangle structure. To
me, the eerie light seemed to be escorting the triangle of red lights.

As it passed to the north of us, I said, “John, that engine
sounds like a Maytag washing machine motor. It defmitely isn’t
powerful enough to fly an airplane that size.” John agreed with my
assessment.

John attempted to photograph the craft, but because it was so
close, it crossed the 3® field of view of the 800-mm lens too quickly. I
should have photographed it with the 35-mm lens camera system,
but then, I thought it was an aircraft—after all, there was an engine
sound. The same type of craft with engine sound had been reported
to me by Mike Toney. Seeing it fly over Piedmont, he had assumed
that it was an Air Force plane.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of all is that team members at
the airport never saw or heard the craft! While I watched, John was
trying to photograph the triangle as it flew toward the airport. If the
triangle was flying as slowly as 60 miles per hour, it would have
reached the airport in 2.3 minutes. At 120 miles per hour, the time
would have been about one minute. We saw the triangle apparently
fly over the airport to the west; I even mentioned it to John. But they
didn’t detect it. Because there were several experienced observers at
the airport, I find it difficult to accept that they didn’t see or hear it.

In addition to the triangle’s relatively large size, apparently
Underpowered engine, weird blue-green oversized light, and the
*®8ult of subsequent experiences in the past seven years, I now
suspect that the craft may have been transparent or without material
ucture. Certainly, no solid structure was seen. More important, the
li&ht was never masked by an opaque fuselage. (For that
not 8^®®n navigation light on the right wing of an aircraft is

'Usible from the left side of the aircraft.)

of the engine sound, I didn’t even label this a UFO
•^ceiv fime; now I call it Class A. During the next few years, I

reports of triangular-shaped objects seen in south-
Oran a One pre-1973 sighting involved Doris Ressel of

near three children. At dusk, they left her sister’s house

*®trang^ south on Route 61. In the distance was a

*0 be ^’^’^'*®ual, stationary light, too low to be a star and too high
light’’ As they approached, the chUdren became

106 A Second Terribly Strange Night

curious. Mrs. Ressel pulled onto the shoulder, stopping almost under
a triangular-shaped craft—with a large hole completely through its
center. The children rolled down the windows to listen for sound,
although the car engine was running. Hearing no sound, they became
frightened. One child screamed, “Let’s get out of here!” Before
Mrs. Ressel could react, the object “shot” out of sight to the northeast

The triangle was the last sighting of the evening for John and
me. At 11:15, Billedo lowered the fence to expedite our departure.
We had a short rendezvous at the airport where we compared
experiences.

The other two field teams described a sighting John and I had
missed. An orange light had approached the airport from the east, on
a path that would take it north of the airport The field teams
accepted it as an aircraft, expecially after it began a left turn as if to
approach the runway to land. But then it just disappeared from view.
All observers in the two field teams believed that for an aircraft that
close, they should have heard an engine sound. Also, they reported
that no anticollision light, as required by FAA regulations, was
visible.

Truly, it had been a second terribly strange night at Farming-
ton. We were eager to come back the next night

Meanwhile, the same evening in Piedmont, Jim and Mike
went to the fire tower on Mudlick Mountain to set up a viewing
station. To their chagrin, vandals had destroyed the antenna they
had so laboriously strung between the tower and trees the day
before. Even worse, the wire had been stolen, and immediate replace¬
ment was impossible. Instead, Jim decided to bring the specti^
analyzer to Pyle’s Mountain, where an antenna could be improvisec^
Hence, Drake would work with Mike at the fire tower while Jim an

Steve would set up at Pyle’s Mountain. .

Jim constructed a system of dipole antennas, each of
could be connected individually to the spectrum analyzer by
a coaxial switch. Each antenna covered a particular range
quencies from below the radio broadcast band (0.6 MHz to 1.6
to 1100 MHz. In addition, he constructed an array of stacked
antennas that was very directional and responded well to
in the range of 140 MHz to 200 MHz. He had received
electromagnetic interference in this frequency range. The
telescope was readied for triangulation measurements.

A Second Terribly Strange Night 107

Radio Unit 122 was at Pyle’s Mountain, while Unit 120 was at
the fire tower, its antenna attached to the tower structiure. A few of the
transmissions are given here:

9:10 (122): Satellite sighting with naked eye, heading northeast.
Could not locate in telescope.

(120): We could not locate either.

FaUure of the crew in the fire tower to see the satellite is
understandable; the roof of the cabin atop the tower blocked their
view of a large portion of the sky overhead.

At 9:30, Wellington Lemmer of St. Louis and a friend joined
Jim and Steve on Pyle’s Mountain as spectators. Lemmer was very
inquisitive about the scientific equipment

9:37 (122): We have a light in the west. Could very possibly be an
airplane. It is not strobing at this time.

(120): That’s our sighting! That’s our sighting over there! Start
the fifteen-second marks.

The cause of the excitement was an amber light seventeen
miles west of the tower. Bearings and angular altitudes were
measured and transmitted over the radio every fifteen seconds—not
an easy task. Transmissions were recorded on tape. Wristwatches
had been synchronized with the WWV time signal broadcast by the
National Bureau of Standards from Fort Collins, Colorado. At the
time, the station broadcast extremely accurate time signals on fre¬
quencies of 2.5, 6.0,10.0, 16.0, 20.0, and 25.0 MHz.

9:42 (122): We still have it in sight It’s moving across the sky rather
slowly. It is fairly bright say a first-magnitude star. It is yellowish-
orange in color.

(120): We have it in full view now.

Successful triangulation data were taken, beginning at 9:43.
g ^‘Ungs were taken when Drake called out “Mark!” over the radio.
9-44 * interference (static) was so intense that the reading at
could not be deciphered at Pyle’s Mountain (Fig. 9.3).

^ter nine triangulation measurements, the light was lost

from

bav tower. Later calculations showed that the light

b»warri p ® speed of 310 miles per hour and, after turning

Mountain, approached at 325
^ the southwest.

: 325 miles per hour, until it

L

Screen flater, Jim picked up a very strange signal on the
® the oscilloscope. The frequency spikes were pulsating both

108 A Second Terribly Strange Night

in amplitude (height on the screen) and in brightness, not a typical
situation. Furthermore, the frequency spikes were sweeping across
the screen, indicating that the incoming signals picked up by the
antenna of the spectrum analyzer were changing. Normally, the
frequency spikes do not move across the screen on their own accord.

Although perplexed, Jim set about systematically to find a
rational explanation for the strange oscilloscope display. He noted
that the gasoline engine and generator were running steadily, P*^
viding a constant output voltage to power the spectrum analyzer wd
oscilloscope. Furthermore, no aircraft were in sight of either viewing
station. Many military aircraft are provided with the capability n
broadcasting the type of signal picked up on the spectrum analyz^’
Not accepting that explanation outright, Jim decided to investig®

further.

In early June, Jim tried to repeat the strange signals
the most stringent field conditions. For instance, he
operating voltage to the electronic components: the spec
analyzer, and the oscilloscope. No change. He placed a
transmitter in proximity to the equipment Still no change; no sig“

A Second Terribly Strange Night 109

like those observed that night on Pyle’s Mountain. Finally, he re¬
ported his Hndings to a former Electronics Countermeasures War¬
fare (ECM) officer in the U.S. Air Force. The written report from the
anonymous ECM officer follows:

Your display appears to indicate wide-band panoramic jamming
with sweep frequencies. Such a jamming technique could be herring¬
bone patterns to such an extent as to cover the video section of a
television and create buzz in the audio section. It would make a drown
sound on radio.

Jim elicited an independent response from another former
ECM officer. The reports were almost identical.

I recalled that many of the local residents at Piedmont had
complained about jamming of their TV sets in March when lights
flew over. The jamming signals Jim measured, ranging from 39 to
190 MHz. were in the television range of frequencies. For example,
Channel 2 begins at 54 MHz, and Channel 12 ends at 216 MHz.
Other VHF channels fall within this range.

In my opinion, we cannot say unequivocably that the jamming
signal did not arise from a military aircraft. Surely, the range of the
electromagnetic jamming signal is greater than the distance from an
observer to an aircraft he can barely make out in the sky. And from
an unofficial source, I have been told that on rare occasions. Air
Force personnel do use their equipment to jam the TV range of
frequencies, or even the lower AM broadcast band, 0.5-1.5 MHz.
One night of jamming data is not conclusive evidence of UFO
®terference, but there has to be some reason that commercial TV
channels were jammed so often during March at Piedmont. Persons
irom outlying areas told me that when the picture and sound were
scrambled, they could step out and see a white light passing over-
experiences with these lights suggest to me that the
Force may not be responsible at all.

^ 12:30, personnel at both viewing stations terminated their

'>>he I* ^°®®®9uently, they missed some of the action. It was 1:14
® Lenuner knocked at the back door of the white frame house,

a story to tell:

/cWows left the mountain, I scanned the sky with 10X50
^ orange star in Scorpio, except there is no

a Iq^„ ^here this one was. It was moving east Farther east, I saw
sifting there about 10° (drove the horizon. It
fo be about 5 to 10 miles away.

110 A Second Terribly Strange Night

/ continued to observe the objects for approximately fifteen
minutes. The small object finally moved towards the larger object in
wavering flight I shot some infrared photos with my Exacta camera.
Through binoculars, I could not make out much detail due to the
brightness. As the smaller object got closer to the larger one, the smaller
one became brighter.... When the smaller one got right under the
larger one, they both Just turned off, like turning off a light bulb.

I was amazed to see anything tonight I had no a priori belief in
UFOs. I had read newspaper articles about strange lights over Clear¬
water Lake, and I drove here to see for myself I am familiar with fixed
wing aircraft from my days with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. I can’t
explain what I saw.

A disappointment was to follow when Drake developed
Lemmer’s infrared exposures in the kitchen sink, finishing at
2:20 A.M. The negatives were useless, however; apparently because
Lemmer had kept the unexposed film too long in a drawer at his
home. The film ^d deteriorated with age; to extend its useful life, it
should have been stored in a refiigerator. But everything considered,
it had been a productive night in Piedmont—and in Farmington.

NOTES

1. Harley D. Rutledge, “Light Flashes in the Sky,” letter to the editor,

Physics Today, Vol. 27 (September 1974), p. 11.

“Li^ts in the Sky,” Physics Today, Vol. 28 (October 1975), p. 9.

2. Opcit

RETURN

OFTHE RANDOM

FLASHBULB

EFFECT

After our experiences on Thursday and Friday nights, we looked
forward with great anticipation to two more weeks of full-time field
work. Unfortunately, a natural disaster was about to intervene.

Day Six: Saturday, May 26. 1973

Late in the tdtemoon, under a sunny sky, we left Cape for
Farmington in a three-car caravan. With us was Rick Kuntze, a
SEMO student and experienced photographer who brought his 500-
Vivitar lens and 35-mm camera.

As we arrived at the airport near Farmington, our anticipation
owly turned to despair. Lightning flashes in the west illuminated a
for^^ Not again! I thought. Hadn’t we had enough rain

one spring? Within fifteen minutes, wind and rain engulfed us,
«onti ^ oars. An hour later, I decided that the rain would
^oi^ u ^^^'^‘^oally most of the night, and I told the crews to go
dtiv • ^ iiven the signal only ten minutes earlier, we would have

*** heart of a tornado east of Fredericktown.

(Jgg ^'^hen we reached Cape Girardeau, the water was several feet
and streets. Because we couldn’t reach John’s house, John

stayed at my home. The next morning we learned that

111

112 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

Cape had endured 9.5 inches of rain, seven of those inches falling
between 11:00 P.M. and 2:00 A.M. Automobiles had been washed
away and seven persons were drowned in southeast Missouri and
southern Illinois. No wonder our families had been concerned for our
safety.

Day Seven: Sunday, May 27, 1973

On Sunday, Jim Sage brought the portable electric generator
from Piedmont The Civil Defense unit needed it to power water
pumps to empty hundreds of flooded basements. Not only had the
rain driven us from the field, but now we couldn’t operate the
spectrum analyzer. I was crestfallen. Local records show that on
Wterch 10 the Mississippi River exceeded its flood stage of 32 feet,
and remained above that level for 98 consecutive days. Almost all of
Bob Adams’s farm, rich bottomland, lay under water.

We didn’t give up. Sunday afternoon, John, Mike, and I left
Cape for Piedmont, arriving at Pyle’s Mountain before dark, soon
followed by Bob in his pickup.

Later in the evening, when we were on watch again, a reporter
from a national tabloid arrived. Although he didn’t “believe in
UFOs”—a phrase I detest^he was looking for a story. He did not
get one from us, but indicated that he would tour the countryside to
interview persons who had seen UFOs. (Three days later he turned
up again, saying that he had heard UFO reports simUar to those he
had obtained recently in Pennsylvania where a flap was in progress.')

We left Pyle’s Mountain about 3:00 A.M. Our score: zero.

Day Eight Monday, May 28, 1973

At his home in Jackson, Jim got up quite early, con.siderii* it
was Memorial Day. After breakfast, he telephoned Greenville*
Mississippi, to inquire about the radar unit, but got no answer.
Rather than go back to Piedmont, he decided to go to Farmington for
the evening, but this plan was thwarted, too: the Highway Patrol to
him that rain was stUl falling in the Farmington area. .

Memorial Day in Piedmont did not amount to much. Bob W
left for Cape about 5:00 AAi. During the afternoon, John and I
east of Piedmont on Route B, searching for a new viewing loca
On our return drive, we noticed a driveway entrance leading “P ^
and drove up the steep incline. “Heck,” John exclaimed,
cemetery!” It lay atop a high ridge where the view was
except to the west, where trees masked the view. Cemetery
we decided to try it. Certainly, we would have no specta
bother us.

Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect 113

After our return to the motel, I struck up a conversation with
Glenna Waltrip. Although very reluctant to discuss UFOs, she did
consent to describe a sighting in August 1969. While she was
standing in front of the motel, a large white light had passed “directly
over the shoe factory” across the street at 7:00 P.M. on a clear
evening. The light was very low and made no sound. “I thought at the
time that if the light went out, there would be nothing there,” she
told me. Later in the summer, I would better understand her
meaning.

After a dinner of cold cuts, John, Mike, and I went to the
cemetery. By 8:40 we were ready. As we moved about, city lights
reflecting from tombstones flashed brightly. The cemetery was still,
and our log was brief:

9:15: It is getting dark The overcast is heavy, but we feel a cool breeze.
An airplane is passing to the west above the clouds. It sounds like an
airplane

9:50: Pretty cloudy. A few stars have peeked out Nothing yet
10:30: Still overcast Nothing has happened
12:50:1 am taking a photograph of the starAntares as it passes
across the field of view of the Questar. I am placing my hand in front of
the telescope for one second out of every ten seconds. This will yield the
angular velocity of the star.

1:00: We are giving up. What a way to spend Memorial Day,

1973!

Day Nine: Tuesday, May 29,1973

After breakfast, John and I drove to Cape, returning to
Piedmont in the afternoon. Rain again started to fall during our
retura trip. In the evening, John, Frank Horton, and I set up a vewing
^tion at the cemetery while Jim, Drake, and Mike went to Pyle’s
Mountain, 1,6 miles to the south. With Horton’s long Lincoln Conti-
J*entel parked on the cemetery drive behind the Ambassador, it
ooked as if a small funeral was in progress.

u Thirty minutes later, large water droplets began falling. Soon,
Qj was on his way back to Cape, rained out once more. The rest
**8 retreated to the motel for a long bull session.

^ednesdoy. May 30, 1973

anHk started poorly; one tire of the Ambassador was

racJiQ ta * ^ ^ changed. After breakfast, John and I went to the
After d where one of the announcers was in a talkative mood.
Clearw mysterious bow waves he had seen on the surface of

Lake, he mentioned “an intersection of lights,” a term

114 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

Hovis used frequently. The announcer went on to say that one light
approached another “going thousands of miles per hour when it
entered the other light.” I was reminded of my sighting at Brushy
Creek on April 13.

It was my morning to hear UFO stories. When I got back to
the motel, I met a guest outside his room getting ready to leave.
After salesman Stephen F. Estell learned of our purpose in Pied¬
mont, he related a strange tale:

In the fall of1957,1 was driving my car along a flat highway in eastern
Iowa near the Illinois border at dusk. The sky was nearly devoid of
clouds. My mother and sister were passengers. My headlights and
radio were on.

Suddenly, the headlights flickered and went out! Tremendous
static saturated the radio. The engine sputtered and died as we coasted
to the shoulder. Then, we heard this terrible roar overhead. We all had
a mental picture of an airplane about to crash.

I stopped the car and got out About 35 feet above us was this
oblong or cigar-shaped object going through all kinds of contortions,
like a football bounding. The craft seemed to be in trouble, about to
crash. Then, it regained its equilibrium. When I blinked my eyes, it was
no bigger than a dime, but still shining brightly. After it left the car and
accessories were operative again.

His story is typical of many that appear in books about UFOs.

After lunch, Gary Myers from St. Louis arrived in his red
Volkswagen to replace Steve Huffman, who had returned to Cape on
Sunday. Gary was a student at the University of Missouri at St.
Louis, majoring in astrophysics. He quickly became acq lainted with
other project members. Open minded on the topic of UFOs, he
appeared capable and intelligent and would be an asset to our
research effort He had brought with him a Celestron 8 telescope
that had a mirror eight inches in diameter, much larger than the 3.5-
inch mirror of the Questar telescope. A larger mirror gathers more
light and gives better resolution; Aerefore finer detail of a
object is theoretically possible, assuming that the quality of o
mirrors is the same.

The Celestron telescope had a much more important
tage: the small finder scope, used to locate objects initially* was
perpendicular to the axis of the telescope barrel, as was the j
the Questar. The Questar is an excellent telescope for terrestn
astronomical viewing and, in some respects, is superior to

Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect 115

telescopes sold commercially. But it was not designed to track
moving objects—a difficult task even with telescopes like the
Celestron.

After consultation with Jim, I decided to set up a viewing
station at MiUers High Point south of Piedmont. Maude Jefferis had
taken Detroit News reporter Bill Clark there one night in late March.
I wanted to try the location.

The six of us loaded into the Ambassador to go to Millers
High Point, traveling Route 34-49 past Pyle’s Mountain, across the
Black River. Eventually, we turned onto a side road and drove
several miles. The road degenerated into a narrow path, and the
terrain became increasingly rough. Trees clutched at us from both
sides. We were in Mark Twain National Forest... and isolated.

When we found a clearing, everyone got out of the car to clear
the brush. The view was open to the north and west, but was
restricted to the south and east by trees. Smoke could be seen rising
from Pyle’s Mountain in the distance. John emd I decided to set up
there in the evening.

I had planned to nap upon our arrival back at the motel, but
Drake persuaded me to go to the airport. He wanted to fly. Yes, the
Cessna 150 was at Piedmont. I agreed if he would take me to Millers
High Point to take some Polaroid exposures and to get a better feel
for the compass directions. When we pulled to a stop at the airport,
Drake told me, “Dr. Rutledge, I hear air leaking from a tire!’’

Right he was. “My God, Drake! It can’t be. Not two flats
within twenty-four hours!’’ I said plaintively. “We don’t have a
spare!’’ It seemed we were having a run of bad luck. The weather—
and now the tires. What else could go wrong? I thought Nevertheless,
We flew to Millers High Point where I photographed the area and got
a shot of Pyle’s Mountain from the distance. After landing back at
® airport, I telephoned Jim, who picked us up along with our
aaless, deflated spare tire.

After dinner, the crews departed early for their assigned
som^^ ®*®^ons. At Millers High Point, John and I chopped down
lens* ^ improve our view. After setting up the 800-mm

aad * fk Q'^astar telescope, we took bearings on Pyle’s Mountain
coxite t P*‘o*®inent features. In addition, we established radio
Set un at Pyle’s Mountain, where Jim and Gary were

mileg fr Mike, Unit 120, were in the fire tower, about 22

^01 our position. We were radio Unit 121.
a Usual, a huge cloudbank dominated the western sky. From

116 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

this bank, a long, narrow cloud protruded eastward for many miles.
The rest of the sky was blue and cloudless. John and I scanned the
sky with binoculars.

At 8:35 I saw it! Just above a small portion of the protruding
cloud formation, I observed the familiar off-white light switch on in
my field of view (Fig. 10.1). The hovering light pulsed once per
second. No material object could be seen through lOX binoculars.
Within six seconds, I observed the “random flashbulb effect’’
(RFEX) for the second time within a week. The flashes terminated in
about four seconds, as they had at Farmington, but the white light
continued to pulse. I raised the radio microphone and depressed Ae
button to speak:

“122, this is 121. Over.’’

I was sdll watching the light through binoculars. At the
instant I depressed the microphone button, causing a 37.1-MHz
carrier signal to be emitted by the radio, the light in the distance
went out.* Was this a coincidence? By the end of the week, a ham
radio operator would report similar experiences to me. (The ham
radio operators used much higher frequencies than the 37.1 MHz we
were using.)

“This is 122,” the other radio unit replied. “Go ahead.”

“Jim,” I said, “there was a blinking light over that cloudbank
to the east. It just went out when I depressed the mike switch. Some
other lights popped off around it Is that cloud nearly overhead?”

“No," Jim replied, “it’s about twenty miles north of us.”

“That far!” I exclaimed. “It seems closer. That makes it
about thirty miles north of us. It’s north of the fire tower. O.K. We’ll
be in touch if anything else develops.”

The crew in the fire tower confirmed that the cloud was north
of them.

With darkness came a cacophony of sound from the nearby
woods. Small animals rustled branches, crickets chirped, and whip*
poorwills added their song to the orchestration. I recorded the
sounds on tape. With darkness, we could see the fires on
Mountain, where people dumped trash, often at night. Perhaps
explained the affinity of flying objects for the mountain: the ^
served them as a beacon.

At 9:57 all stations reported a possible sighting,
soon identified as a satellite. Various aircraft were spotted “

*

*This sighting, and the sighting of the RFEX the previous week at
were reported in Physics Today (September 1974), p. 1L

binoculars.

10X

r''Wt&1^30mite8l^y^<2^.dovera

118 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

the evening. After midnight, the crew in the fire tower generated
momentary excitement. But it was only the great planet Jupiter
rising in the east. Gary identiHed it through his Celestron telescope.

At 2:00 A.M., I took the microphone and radioed the crews to
quit for the night. Everything was covered with dew; all of us were
very tired. Ironically, all of the action had occurred before sundown.
All those hours on watch after dark had produced nothing.

Day Eleven: Thursday, May 31, 1973

Thursday morning, Jim left for Cape. John and I soon followed,
leaving instructions for Gary and Mike to meet us at Farmington in
the evening. Drake was to fly the Cessna 150 to Farmington.

In Cape, Jim telephoned Greenville and cancelled the radar
set rental order, since the unit would be useless without an electrical
power generator. I took the Ambassador to the University garage.
Not only did it need a spare tire, but the muffler had been ruined
during our forage deep into the woods at Millers High Point. Vince
Seyer, the shop foreman, informed me that he couldn’t repair the car
by 5:00, which was our planned departure time but also the end of
his work day. Instead, I was assigned a new Ford Galaxy.

With John driving, we picked up Jim at his home in Jackson
at six o’clock, on our way to Farmington. While we rode along, I
reflected that we had gotten data our first week, but that the second
week had been different; we were observing transient phenomena
and getting no measurements. Because little was happening at Pied¬
mont, I considered terminating our field research there.

At the Farmington airport, John and Mike set up the 800-mni
lens camera system and a Questar telescope east of the runway.
Exactly one week before, John and I had observed a stationary light
from this same location. Jim and Gary set up the Celestron telescope
near the operations building.

Darkness came, but Drake didn’t. I waited in the operation
building in case Drake sent a radio message. At last, I heard his
From his aircraft a few miles south of the airport, he was observe
two amber balls of light near the ground below. I instructed h™*^
approach the runway from the south, to land, and to taxi to the no^^
end. I would be waiting there to get aboard. In order to mining® j
time on the ground, I waited in the middle of the runway- So®
could see the lights of the approaching Cessna. Drake
the landing light, made a landing that only skilled pilots can pe
saw me standing in the nmway, taxied close, wheeled .
around, and let me climb aboard. Within seconds, we were m

Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect 119

F ailin g to find the amber lights that Drake had seen, we
initiated a search. To the southeast a thunderstorm was in progress,
while lightning also flashed the eastern sky. Although we saw two
orange balls below us, we did not go down to investigate because we
were on the edge of a storm.

About 20 minutes later, we were southwest of Farmington,
flying west. Straight ahead was the constellation of Gemini, the
Twins. At the time, I hardly knew one constellation from another,
but for some reason, I became suspicious of a star in the lower right
of the constellation. The light was at our altitude or slightly higher.
Off-white, it was about the same brightness as Castor or PoUux, the
constellation’s main stars.

“Drake, I don’t believe that star belongs there!’’ I shouted
above the engine sound. “Let’s fly straight at it and see what
happens.”

Suddenly the “star” brightened considerably, appearing to
enlarge. At that instant, I suspected we were meeting a commercial
jet airliner. But then the light decreased in brightness and apparent
size, appearing to move directly away from us. But there was ito
lateral motion.

“Keep flying toward it!” I yelled. “Those things can fool you.
Remember what happened to Kenny Pingel right here at
Farmington.”

For several minutes we continued on course. Suddenly the
light brightened, which was soon followed by a lateral move to our
left In lOX binoculars, I could not make out any structure; just
another ball of light None of the lights required by FAA regulations
could be discerned. Outdistancing our Cessna, it soon disappeared
to the southwest.

Drake radioed the Air Traffic Control Center at Kansas City.
Theb radar had “painted” our Cessna 160, but had not painted the
Moving light. When I first noticed the pseudostar, Drake had radioed
ob* building to inform Jim of our sighting. They had

^^rved an orange light in the northwest sky, and Gary examined it
a dim^^ Celestron telescope. Two red lights, a bright white light,
light, and a green light were visible on the craft as it

®°''ed south.

"'are- tk' opinion, they were not observing the same thing we
They aircraft. Our light was not in the northwest sky.

We observed variations in brightness just as we did. If

^et^^.JJ*^® observing an aircraft, it should have provided a radar
■^Unless the radar controller simply missed it.

120 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

After flying for another half-hour, we were low on gasoline.
Therefore, we returned to the airport to join the ground observers—
but not for long. The visibility was reduced by increasing fog,
causing us to terminate our watch.

John rode back to Cape with Drake in the Cessna. When they
approached Runway No. 02 from the north, they saw orange lights,
one on each side of the airport, each less than a mile from it. John
said that the lights appeared to be hovering at about 1,500 feet, but
they did not investigate further.

Meanwhile, I asked Jim to drive home, because I was ex¬
hausted. He agreed. We loaded the equipment and left the Farming-
ton airport. Mike and Gary had left for Piedmont on Route 67,
Instead of returning to Cape by way of Fredericktown, Jim chose to
take Route 32 to Ste. Genevieve, then 1-65 to Cape. I promised to stay
awake to provide conversation during the trip home.

When we reached the outskirts of Farmington, we came to
an intersection of Route 32 with an outer loop highway. Jim never
saw the stop sign. A speeding pickup truck was headed toward my
side of the car from the right. “Look out!’* I shouted. Jim stood on
the brakes, but we were almost halfway through the intersection.
Fortunately, the driver of the pickup swerved around us somehow.

Although Jim was shaken by the experience, I was very calm,
too tired to care. In years past, Jim had served in military inteUi-
gence and had worked as a police officer. He wasn’t one to get
excited, but now he didn’t regain his composure for several miles. I
concluded that he, too, was nearly exhausted. Viewing late into the
night and driving during the day was taking its toll.

After reaching 1-55, we turned south toward Cape. A while
later, we heard a roar that pounded the roof of the car. Calmly» I
leaned over and switched on the radio to check for electromagnetic
interference. Jim bent over the steering wheel so that he could peer
above the car. When he slowed the car, the noise abated. Neither o
us spoke.

As the car regained speed, the pounding noise returned. Now,

I could identify the source—a large diesel-powered truck about 1
yards ahead. When the distance between the truck and car becam
some particular value, the sound occurred.

Throughout the field research, I had wondered if
cepted the existence of UFOs. He had been noncommittal
reaction to the sound told me he did. In fact, I learned later that
in the evening, John saw it in the southwest sky, Jim had observe
RFEX in the northwest sky from the airport John said:

i

Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect 121

It happened before Drake arrived... before sundown, very near some
clouds to the south southwest I would move my binoculars to the left or
right, up or down, about four degrees, the angular field of the binocu¬
lars. After each move, I would see one or two lights flash, and I wouldn’t
see U any more in that area. I'd move the binoculars and see them in a
different place. The observation lasted from one to two minutes.

Day Twelve: Friday, June 1, 1973

Friday morning I went to my office at the University to pick
up a sound detector constructed by our electronics technician, Lynn
Bates. The basic component was a sound collector made from one of
those saucer-shaped metallic discs that children use to slide on
snow. A metal rod was mounted on the central axis on the concave
side of the sled. A microphone, attached to a rod, was positioned at
the focal point of the collector, and the microphone cord was plugged
into a tape recorder secured to the back of the collector. The
resulting unit was light, self-contained, and portable.

On our drive back to Piedmont, John was exuberant over his
first night flight from Farmington to Cape. He described the orange
lights seen while landing as well as the RFEX he saw at Farmington.

After we got to Piedmont, Gary and Mike went to Pyle’s
Mountain, while John and I went to the cemetery to test our sound
detector. I taped a barking dog, but the sensitivity was much less
than needed. I had tried to borrow from KSD-TV a microphone
pickup unit used at St Louis Cardinal football games, but it was not
available. (Several months later, we obtained a three-foot-diameter
radar antenna as a sound collector, and connected the microphone to
a General Radio 1551-C soimd level meter as well as a tape recorder.)
Although overcast as usual, the breeze was warm for a change,
t 8:45, I saw a red flash of light to the northeast. Later, John
/>ught that he saw a light enter a cloud, but he did not count it as a
^hting as I did the red flash. At 10:00,1 made a pallet out of my
ncoat, using my jacket for a pillow. John was to sleep the first
Pa^' ^ second. At 10:10,1 heard a jet above the overcast,
tjj the west. While watching the sky, I became lost in

®®®pletely detached from my funereal surroundings. I
vjaj ^10 ®tatus of our field study: The cost to stay in Piedmont
data I sightings were only transient, with no

ecided to terminate our study at Piedmont on Sunday.

Cray, startled me back to reality with a groan. I signalled the
'•f y*®’s Mountain with a flashlight A return flash assured me

® ertness. At 11:10, John took his turn on watch while I slept.

122 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

At midnight, he awakened me. I decided we had been on watch long
enough, for I had a severe case of autokinesis, a physiological effect
that made one star appear to be circling another no matter how long I
looked.* We went to Pyle’s Mountain to get Gary and Mike. Back at
the motel, a message informed me that Jim, instead of coming to
Piedmont, would go to St Louis to confer with an expert in Elec¬
tronic Coimtermeasures Warfare.

Day Thirteen: Saturday, June 2, 1973

Saturday, John and I got up to an overcast sky. After break¬
fast and the usual check at the radio station, I decided that on our
last full day in Piedmont, we should interview persons who had seen
UFOs. Although I was familiar with basketball coach Reggie Bone’s
story, I wanted a taped interview. After all, Reg was something of a
celebrity now.

When the front door at his home was opened, I was expecting
a rather tall man, typical of a basketball star both in high school and
in college, not the diminutive 5'8" person standing before me. We
seated ourselves around a table in the living room, which was
tastefully decorated and dominated by a large flreplace, while
Reggie discussed his now-famous UFO sighting in late February. He
had told the story so often that it sounded almost rehearsed. But as
he talked, I was drawn to him. He was very warm and personable; no
wonder he was held in such high esteem.

After a long conversation, John and I reluctantly left Reggie’s
cozy fire and headed toward Clearwater Lake. Unbelievably, another
heavy rainstorm engulfed us. I couldn’t even see the road ahead, so
we took refuge in a tavern. Many UFO tales assailed our ears before
we left.

After crossing the dam, we located the home of a man who
had seen objects fly low in the early days of the phenomenon. On
several occasions, his yard light had gone out and his TV receph^
had been affected. In addition, he confirmed a report I had receive
from Richard Lee Toney of Piedmont that a loose formation of w
lights had passed over Clearwater Lake on the night of May
Because of his noncommittal stance and refusal to let us
comments, John and I left. I wondered if he was the
type who didn’t want to get involved, or whether he had been dee
affected by what he had seen. v, re we

After a light lunch, we drove to Brushy Creek
interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Wilson at their farm as well as

Boatwright, their neighbor. All had stories to telL , «for

I had Je“

By the time we got back to the motel, Gary Myers I

J

Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect 123

St. Louis. We would miss him. After dinner, Mike, John, and I took a
circuitous route through Greenville to Williamsville, where we
stopped at the home of Helen and Clifford Crites, whom I had
interviewed the previous week. Next, we drove to the center of a
nearby field to set up our equipment, noting the shoulder-high grass
and ground soft from recent rains.

Then, while John and Mike remained on watch, Crites took
me to the home of Floyd White. I could see that judging from the
variety of antennas protruding from the roof of his white frame
house, White had more than a passing interest in amateur radio.
During our introduction in the yard, I sensed his self-confidence: he
wasn’t particularly impressed with my credentials as a university
professor. He claimed some 70 UFO sightings, but before we began
taping, he uttered a classic statement: “I don’t give a damn whether
you believe me or not!” A portion of his report follows:

Not more than 30 feet above my car was a red, white, and green object
The Ughts were flickering on and off. My wife stood right here and
watched it It looked like three windows in that thing. It was about 9:30
or 10:00. Before the sighting, I was talking on the radio, and it was
really cutting up. When the CB is on, the radio will buzz just like die
high lines. You go outside, and they will be up over your house. Several
times it has done this. A woman across the river had the same thing
happen to her radio.

rve seen them several times sitting there in the air. We saw three
lights in one night They were little at first Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Deason
^ere here for coffee When they got ready to go, the lights were large and
colored The lights took off like they were shot out of a gun barrel
Sometimes they just sit th^e and flicker on and off. Three of them did
^ once, just like they were talking to one another. Another fellow saw
too. When he turned on his powerful CB radio, they just went
* ^^ht up! Sometimes the lights go out when you turn the transmitter
"'t but one the other night didn’t

]^j ^ excellent raconteur. White also described a vehicle that

a poL another UFO, large as a car, that was shaped like

''BKe pan.

'They ^ twenty or thirty come out of the west” he said,

really * circle around here and go back to Piedmont. They

the weekh information given to me by the town marshal

Since rain was imminent, I thanked White for his
and returned to the crew in the field.

124 Return of the Random Flashbulb Effect

Luminescent fireflies and relentless mosquitoes took ad¬
vantage of the twilight period. The impending thunderstorm blocked
our view of a beautiful sunset. Our trip was not a total loss, however,
because John had observed the RFEX again. We decided to leave
the field before we became mired in mud, and visited in the Crites
home.

On the way back to Piedmont, hard rain pelted the car. Our
sojourn to Piedmont was ending the way it had begun: rain, rain,
rain. That we had any data at all was a miracle.

Day Fourteen: Sunday, June 3,1973

Sunday morning, we packed as much equipment as possible
into the Ford Galaxy and drove to the fire tower, where we carried a
radio and car batteries down the steep, winding stairs. Atop the
tower, I quizzed Mike about the sighting on the night of Friday, May
25. His description seemed compatible with the angles measured
To be sure, I marked the four major compass directions relative to
the tower, taking color-slide exposures before descending the tower
for the last time.

When we reached the intersection of Route 72 and 1-55
between Jackson and Cape, we said goodbye to Mike, who would
hitchhike to St. Louis. But our work wasn’t complete. John and I
made a second trip to Piedmont to secure the rest of our equipment
Jim made one trip for the same purpose.

Bob had told me that moving white lights were seen during
Friday and Saturday nights. Both nights, one had been moving in the
constellation Corvus and another in Gemini. At 9:00 P.M., John and I
arrived at Adam’s observatory, located on his farm. Sure enough, the
pattern of the previous two nights repeated. Apparently, the UFOs
had come to Cape Girardeau before we did. We agreed to continue
the field investigation on Monday night

The Piedmont phase of the field investigation was over.

NOTES

1. David M. Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington, h»d

Indiana University Press, 1975), p. 264.

2. Condon Report, p. 565. . ^ yotfc

M. Minnaert, The Nature of Light and Color in the Open Atr (JN®

Dover Publications, Inc., 1954), p. 142. ners^’^

Barry Schiff, The Proficient Pilot (Washington, D.C.: Aircraft Ow
Pilots Association, 1980), p. 63.

A MILITARY
PRESENCE

Although we had planned to remain at Piedmont for three weeks, we
stayed only two weeks because of the paucity of data during the
second week—and because UFOs were then being reported in the
vicinity of Cape Girardeau!

On Monday night, June 4, the summer phase of the investi¬
gation began in earnest—with the help of the Southeast Missouri
Astronomy Club. Four of us were set up on Nash Road, two miles
west of the Cape Girardeau airport. In the level floodplain of the
Mississippi River, this location, which we were to use frequently over
the next few years, provided an unrestricted view of the sky. Being
on low groimd, however, our camera and binocular lenses were sus¬
ceptible to dew on summer nights and frost during winter viewing.

Bob operated a Questar telescope with 35-mm Beseler
®^era attached. Behind the telescope was a thin diffraction grating
^>ugh which the light had to pass before entering the camera. The
fraction grating separated the light into the component colors of
p ®P®ctrum. From the color spectrum of a light source, scientists
^ what materials constitute that light source. The color

obiert^ fingerprint are analogous: both provide clues. Our

Order obtain the color spectrum of light from a UFO in

obsAL- the physical properties of the light

we were

had a iq 800-inm lens camera system while Ken Aldrich

expoQy lens connected to his Pentax camera. But during an

one cannot see through a single-lens reflex camera. A

125

126 A Military Presence

mirror inside the camera used to deflect light coming through the
objective lens to the viewfinder via a fixed prism (or mirror) pivots
upward when the cable-release button is depressed, allowing light to
pass straight through the shutter opening, and onto the film while
the focal-plane shutter opening is open. At the conclusion of the
exposure, the rotating mirror pivots back to its normal position.*
Members of Project Identification used single-lens reflex cameras
almost exclusively. So Ken had rigged binoculars to the barrel of the
135-mm camera lens and aligned them so that he could continue to
view a magnified image of the UFO while making an exposure. The
optic axis of the binoculars was aligned with that of the camera; that
is, the center of each view coincided. Each night during setup, Ken
diligently realigned the system.

All the cameras were loaded with GAP color film, ASA 500,
except for my Pentax, which was loaded with Tri-X, and another
camera that was loaded with infrared-sensitive film.

The sky had a look that we had come to expect in Piedmont: a
cloudbank threatening in the west. Certainly the bottomland did not
need additional moisture. Although dry now, deeply rutted Nash
Road had been a quagmire, having been covered by floodwater for
weeks throughout tiie spring. Bob had not yet planted soybeans, but
the weeds were doing quite well.

Bob was an experienced observer with a good eye. At 9:65, he
spotted a dim white light, similar to the others we had already
observed during the weekend, in the southwestern constellation of
Corvus. Possibly it was a satellite, because it disappeared in the
east. At 10:05, Bob picked out anotiier light passing through Corvus
that faded out two minutes later to the east at a compass bearing of
160®. At 10:07 Bob picked out another light in the western constella¬
tion of Gemini. The westerly course of the light precluded its being a
satellite, for it would have been in retrograde motion; that is, traveling
opposite the easterly rotation of the earth. Because of the extra
expenditure of rocket fuel needed to launch to the west, launches are
usually made in a general easterly direction.

While the rest of us were engrossed in watching the ligh *
Gemini, John remembered to check other areas of the sky—a
we had learned from experience. A shout interrupted our
sation. “A light is coming. Dr. Rutledge! A light is coming
Chaffee!” We had just checked that portion of the sky, but
correct: The approaching amber light had already passed ^ .^giy
Resembling a moving star, the light was very low and re*®
bright (Fig. 11.1).

J

AMilitaiyPregg^pg

Rg. 11-1

128 A Military Presence

“Dr. Rutledge, that’s the damned orange ball we saw at
Farmington,” John said emphatically. It was the same color.

All of us began to photograph the moving light. Cameras
began to click and tape recorders were turned on to record individual
descriptions and conversations. A small part of the conversation is
given here, beginning about two minutes after the light was first
sighted:

H.R: He's past the moon now. Look at him' Look at him speed up and
get brighter. He's rising a little ... white now.

B.A.: I've got him in the Questar. Look like two lights joining
some kind of fuselage.

J. W.; That's what I see in the 800.

A period of silence followed as everyone worked swiftly.

K.A.: There's another light beneath him’A red light It's beneath him
It's not attached. It's not moving. Oops! It just went out! [Ken was
observing through binoculars while making the exposure; Plate I9.J

After the light passed the moon, I started to time the motion
by placing my hand in front of the lens every 10 seconds (Plate 20).
Aldrich estimated the angular height of the moon at about 35”.
Soon after passing the moon, the light disappeared, then reappeared,
in clouds', hence, I quit my timing procedure (Plate 21). We watched
the light move into a thunderstorm to the northwest.

Fortunately, one of Ken’s relatives (who desires anonymity)
saw the light pass just west of Dutchtown. Even more fortunately,
Paul Hughes, a member of the astronomy club from Jackson, had
seen the object pass just west of that city. The distance between
those two points is nine miles. These additional sightings permitted
me to estimate the object’s speed and size.

The speed of the object can be calculated from a graphical
estimate of the distance to the object, and from a measurement o
the corresponding distance traveled on film during a given
say, ten seconds. First, the angular speed in degrees per second i
calculated, using the four timed exposures (Table VI).

Next, the distance to the object when the exposures were
is measured from the map. The sightings at Jackson and ^
town are located on the map (Fig. 11.1). A straight line drawn
Jackson to Dutchtown (representing a distance of nine rode ^
continued (extrapolated) to a point east of Chaffee
miles). Now, a line is drawn on the map from the viewing locao

A Military Presence 129

TABLE VI ANGULAR RATE AND SPEED

Lens

Trail

Length

Exposure
Time (Sec.)

Angular

Rate C’/S)

Speed

(mi/hr)

60 mm

2.8 mm

10

0.32

60.5

800 mm

8.0 mm

2

0.29

64

800 mm

36.0 mm

10

0.26

49

135 mm

11.0 mm

20

0.33

62.4

Nash Road, straight west, until it intersects the extrapolated line,
the assumed position of the object when the exposures were made.
In effect, the extrapolated line represents the path of the object from
Chaffee to Dutchtown. The length of the east-west line on the map is
measured and converted to distance—in this case, three miles.
Table VI lists four values of speed for four different exposures. The
values of speed agree to within 25 percent.

The spacing between the lights is calculated to be about ten
feet. As a check, the distance traveled during the 0.1-second expo¬
sure was calculated to be eight feet, a value that makes sense,
because the trail of the aft light almost touches that of the forward
light (Plate 22).

In considering rational explanations, we observe that sixty
miles per hour is near the stall speed for many winged aircraft, but a
helicopter could fly at this speed. The spacing of 10 feet between
lights is not extraordinary because the lengths of helicopters—and
aircraft—are normally within the 20- to 60-foot range.

But are there aircraft or helicopters that fly at night exhibiting
0% two lights of equal intensity, spaced about 10 feet apart? We
msceraed no flashing anticollision lights and no red or green posi-
lights, as required by FAA regulations. The rear light of the
o did not meet these regulations, either, because it could be seen
™^ugh binoculars, through the 800-mm lens, and through the
^estar telescope long before it pulled even with our position. In
ort, there was no typical rear position light,
red r explanation for the momentary presence of the hovering
^ ght ff^late 19) is that a second vehicle was hovering in the
hide*^*^ Perhaps the moving vehicle accelerated and rose in alti-
e*Pla^ the stationary vehicle. But in contradiction to these
^“ebons, none of us heard any sound during the sighting.

object disappeared in the direction of the thunder-

’ We discussed the sighting. At 10:35, a jet passed over at a

130 A Military Presence

higher altitude than the object. Five minutes later, another jet was
observed going southwest. We easUy made out the individual lights
on the jet, which were not nearly as bright as the orange light we had
observed earlier. Then John photographed the moon. The rest of us
remained on watch, although we didn’t expect additional action.

“We’ve got another one!” Ken suddenly shouted. “From the
north, four degrees left of north and low.” It was coming over hills
about three miles away, at an angular altitude of less than 10®. The
time was 10:55, about 45 minutes since the last sighting. Apparently,
the amber light would pass directly over us; instead, it swerved to
the west of our position (Fig. 11.2). Ken made out five individual red
and white lights, plus an additional flashing red light in the center of
the object. Although this object appeared to be closer than the first
one, we heard no sound. During the transit of the object, each of us
took several exposures except John, who had only one frame left

Aldrich timed the transit of the light across a four-degree
binocular field at four seconds for an angular speed of 1®/S, about
four times the angular speed of the light seen in the first sighting. In
my opinion, this second light appeared to be moving much more
slowly. Using Ken’s measurement, if the object was one mile away,
its speed was 63 MPH; and twice that at 2 miles. A speed of 60 MPH
is consistent with the fact that this object covered about fifteen miles
from north to south during the 15 minutes elapsed since it was first
seen to the north until it appeared to stop a few miles south of
Chaffee, about 4 miles from our position. The bearing was 190®, 10
degrees right of south. In binoculars, Ken picked out other lights
hovering near the one that had stopped.

Suddenly a number of jets thundered into our vicinity* Ce^
tainly there was sound now! One of the hovering lights to the south
went out. I heard someone (probably Bob) exclaim, “What in the hell
is going on here?” We counted at least a half-dozen jet fighters; three
were west of us going south. Two jets met overhead; one going north,
one going south—a maneuver that puzzled us. Each jet bore a white
light on each of its two wingtips, with a red flashing light in the center
between the white lights. The time was 11:10 P.M. ^

It was perplexing that the light that passed across our
seemingly stopped to wait for the jets. To add to the mystery*
received information the next day from Paul Hughes and two fne ^
who saw the object at about 10:50, before we did. 1

signed statement, wrote: “On the night of Monday, June 4,
and two other witnesses saw a yellow-white light in the
from Jackson. It travelled southeast over the city. It apP®

A Militaiy Presence

131

Fig. 11.2

132 A Military Presence

made no noise, and passed over at about an eighty-degree angle.
Soon after it passed over, two jets followed it in the same course but
at a lower altitude. Our sighting was about ten to eleven. All of the
preceding knowledge is true.”

We can assume that either the military was investigating a
UFO, or that there was a military exercise over civilian territory. If
there was a jet-UFO chase over Jackson, conceivably the UFO
disappeared from the two jets’ radar screens... and visually, as
well, unless these were Missouri National Guard F-lOO jets from
Lambert Field, St Louis. The F-lOO had weather radar on board
but not target acquisition radar, as did the newer F-4 Phantom.
Presumably, after losing their target, the jets may have passed over
Cape Girardeau while the invisible UFO turned south to pass around
our position, becoming visible again (Fig. 11.2).

None of the administrative personnel at several state and
federal air bases know of any operations in the Cape Girardeau area
on the night of June 4,1973.

The next evening we were late getting into the country to view
because of a scheduled monthly astronomy club meeting. Tony Le
Grand, a SEMAC member, and Bob were in a jeep ahead of us on
Route 74, headed for Dutchtown. John and I foUowed in my car while
attempting to maintain radio contact via walkie-talkies. We were
searching for a different viewing station farther west than Nash Road.

When we were about four miles from Dutchtown, we saw a
brilliant orange light approaching across the flatland from the south¬
west (Fig. 11.3). The time was nine o’clock, and there was still
daylight. I could see no visible structure at a distance I took to be
about six miles. If we drove slowly, our path would intersect with it.

Tony and Bob had seen it too and wanted to know what to do.

I was about to tell them to stop and get cameras ready to photograph
it when it began to turn toward Dutchtown. I told Tony to drive fast
so that we would arrive at Dutchtown at the same time as the light
We drove as fast as we dared, but as we approached, the light passed
over a hill northwest of Dutchtown. Although we were less than a
mile from it, no structure was apparent—just a floating, driven ba
of light. I was reminded of a similar ball of light that Glenna Waltnp
had seen pass over Piedmont one summer night in 1967. .^

I was thoroughly perplexed by our sighting. Surely, we sho^ ^
have seen wings or a tail structure. Was it a ball of plasma- ^
wondered. Then why did it turn away from us? Was that jn
coincidence?

AMiJitaiyPresei

nee 133

Fffl. 11-3

134 A Military Presence

No more UFOs were seen the rest of the evening from a road
that I call “Chaffee Road,” paralleling Route M. More orange lights
were seen on Wednesday night from the same location, but Thursday
night was still more eventful.

By 8:25, the equipment was set up. Present in addition to
Bob and John were Bill Ownbey, a member of SEMAC, and Debbie
Scherer, a University student Ownbey brought a Celestron telescope
with camera attached. Now and then, we saw an orange light in the
distance, but no UFOs were counted.

At nine o’clock, a large jet landed at the Cape airport, making
a terrible racket. We were only about three mOes from the runway.
After it left at 9:30,1 remarked, “I wonder why we are having that
kind of activity around here?” I was suspicious, having been told that
jets couldn’t land on the short runways, 4,000 and 6,500 feet in
length.

Upon checking with the Flight Service Station the next day, I
was told that a U.S. Navy jet had landed for medical evacuation
purposes. Cape does have a Naval Reserve unit, but I didn’t buy that
answer. The person giving me the information had a very anti-UFO
attitude, although other personnel at the FSS were and are very
cooperative.

Quite by accident, I learned from Ruth Withers, owner of
Cape radio station KGMO, that the jet had been carrying a VIP,
General Seth McKee, conunander of the North American Air Defense
(NORAD) at Colorado Springs. When I wondered aloud if the
general’s presence was related to the high intensity of UFO activity
in the area, Ruth assured me that it wasn’t But the situation was
fraught with possibility; imagine an encounter between a UFO and
the commander of NORAD!

As the evening wore on, we saw various lights. Some could be
identified as aircraft lights. A few were high-altitude white lights, the
color of satellites.

“Those are not satellites!” John argued. “Heck, we saw fw®
in less than fifteen minutes down here last night.” .

“There’s no way we could have that many satellites,
agreed. “Besides, we had one going southwest.” «

But if not satellites, they may have been high-altitude airc
According to Project policy, we did not count them as a

At about 10:00, I began exposing sections of the
camera containing infrared-sensitive film. The camera was an
one, and the exposures were several minutes in duration beca
did not monitor them except to start, time, and stop each

A Military Presence 135

A Wratten 89B filter placed in front of the lens allowed infrared
radiation to pass through to the film, but was opaque to the visible
wavelengths. Hence, any pattern on the developed film would have
been caused by infrared radiation.

In addition, another Pentax camera, loaded with sensitive
black-and-white Kodak 2475 recording film, was aimed in the
general direction of the Big Dipper. This was the camera that
captured the image of an unseen light on the negative. The first
exposure (Plate 23) was 5 minutes in duration. While I was making
the first exposure, an automobile approached from the west with
bright headlamps, forcing me to terminate the exposure prema¬
turely. The time interval between the two exposures was 2 minutes;
the second (Plate 24) was 12 minutes in duration.

For the first exposure, the brightness of the light source was
greater than any of the stars in the background; yet it was not seen
by any crew member. Probably, the light flared bright when no one
was looking in that direction. Obviously, the light was stationary
relative to the earth, because its pattern does not exhibit the effect
of the earth’s rotation as do the star trails in the 5-minute exposure.
In the second exposure of 12 minutes, the light apparently moved
upward relative to the Big Dipper handle and possibly farther away.

To some, the pattern in Plate 23 may suggest a lens flare,
caused by light from the automobUe headlamps. A lens flare is
caused when light enters a camera lens of several elements (several
lenses sealed together as a unit) and is reflected back and forth
among the various lens surfaces, eventually striking the film at the
back of the camera. Light reflecting from the external portion of the
lens barrel in front of the lens, and reflection of light from the
mternal portion of the barrel, can contribute to flare patterns too.
(Multiple reflection among lenses is reduced with nonreflective lens-
aurface coatings, while barrel reflections are minimized by baffles
^d black paint inside the lens barrel. Because light can still enter
® lens and reach the film via reflections, a lens hood should be
“^ployed even for night photography.)*

mat case, the headlight beam made an angle of approxi-

by camera lens. The estimate is obtained

"'bich”'*'^^ that the axis of the lens was pointed at the Big Dipper,
^late 2^^'* time. If the pattern in

Car, no ^ caused by stray light from the headlamps of a

becgygg pattern should have appeared in the second exposure,
(actor ^ already passed our position and was no longer a

136 A Military Presence

Could the pattern in Plate 23 have been a lens flare caused by
light from a mercury-vapor security light on some nearby farm? The
vertical angle of the lens axis with the ground was about 50 degrees.
This is estimated from the fact that the angular altitude of the Pole
Star is 37.3®, the same as the latitude of Cape Girardeau, and that
the “pointer stars” in Plate 23 show that the camera was aimed
about 13® higher than the Pole Star—which is directly to the right of
the “pointer stars” and does not appear in the exposure. In addition,
there were no bright mercury-vapor lights in our vicinity. For the hun¬
dreds of exposures made in the Project, no lens flare ever appeared
in a photograph for such a high angle of camera elevation, even when
night exposures of long duration were made from my yard in the city.
A final argument against a lens flare caused by ground lights is that
the light pattern in Plate 23 does not appear as a flare in the second
and much longer exposure, Plate 24.

As a final check, I returned to the location and repeated the
two exposures under the same conditions as those of the original
exposures, headlights and all. The negatives showed star trails, but
no extraneous light patterns as in the original exposures.

One scientist told me that the pattern in Plate 23 may have
resulted from light scattered by a dust particle on the lens. According
to the late Dr. Donald Menzel, prominent Harvard astronomer, dirt
on a lens will rarely cause a problem, since it is out of focus.^

I later learned that there was a comet in the same sector of the
sky as the Dipper. On consulting the magazine for amateur astron¬
omers, Sky and Telescope, I knew that I had not photographed
Comet 1973b. Besides, comets do not perceptibly change their
position relative to the stars in 20 minutes.

Another person, about two months earlier and 75 miles away,
had made an exposure similar to that in Plate 23. On the night of
Saturday, April 28, Maude Jefferis had her Crown Graphic portrait
camera, loaded with Royal Pan film, on the patio of her home. At
about 10:00 she saw a light high in the sky. She told me that she too
a 1-minute exposure, although analysis of star trails suggests an
exposure time closer to three minutes (Plate 25). .

While at home a few days later, I stepped outside into
front yard just before dark because low dark clouds were
the city. A storm was imminent. I had been asked if UFOs are
under clouds or near storms, and I wanted to observe until the
came. My wife joined me, and we scanned the sky for ^ve
minutes before thunder and lightning told us to go inside,
turned to face the house, my wife and I saw a well-defined re

A Military Presence 137

of light just under the clouds. Although the duration of the flash was
short, it was unmistakable. No solid object was discerned, although
city lights reflecting off the clouds gave ample illumination. This was
the first sighting from my front yard—but it wasn’t to be the last.

On the night of Friday, Jime 8, John, Debbie, and I decided to
set up our equipment farther west than usual, having observed
amber lights in Uie west earlier in the week. We drove to Arbor, a
small town on Route 25 about half-way between Delta and Advance.
Turning south, we found an open field and set up our equipment
near a drainage ditch containing stagnant water. Gigantic mosquitoes
made ferocious attacks on our bodies. Although beautiful to observe,
the thousands of lightning bugs made night viewing difficult Those
that glowed 200 to 300 feet above us diverted our attention. In all,
the evening was a dud.

As we put our equipment away, I said, “Well, John, it had to
end sometime. I guess this about does it for the summer.’’

Fortunately, I was mistaken.

NOTES

1. Lewis Larmore, Introduction to Photographic Principles (New York; Dover

Publications, Inc., 1965), p. 12.

R. B. Rhode and F. H. McCall, Introduction to Photography, 2nd ed. (New
York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1971), p. 13.

Phil Davis, Photography (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., PubUshers),
pp. 3,17.

2. I^ns Test Glossary, Popular Photography (June 1973), p. 82.

“A Flair for a Flare,” Modem Photography (June 1975), p. 82,

Bennett Sherman and Hiroshi Kamata, “Multicoating: Asset or Gim-

„ niick,” Modem Photography (June 1975), p. 90.

• Donald H. Menzel and Ernest H. Taves, The UFO Enigma, The Definitive
Explanation of the UFO Phenomena (New York: Doubleday & Co.,
Inc., 1977). p. 189.

A BULLET-SHAPED
OBJECT
VANISHES
IN DAYLIGHT

On Monday, June 11, 1973—three days after our bout with mos¬
quitoes and fireflies in the field near Arbor—summer school began
at the University. While resuming my duties as chairman of the
Physics Department, I made plans to assemble and organize my data
for analysis. Jim Sage hadn’t yet prepared his data for analysis
either. According to my contract with the Globe-Democrat, I had to
report our findings to the scientific community and to supply the
newspaper with information for an article.' Several months would be
needed for even a preliminary analysis: hence, we didn’t plan to go
into the field again. But my attempt to resume the normal lifestyle o*
a professor—staying inside at night and not in some field or on s
mountaintop—was short-lived. ,

The following Friday night, while John Wilson and
Scherer were strolling in Capaha Park, John saw a big
south of Cape Girardeau. Although it was as big and as brigh
Jupiter, he knew it wasn’t Jupiter, which was visible farther
Besides, the light couldn’t have been a planet; it was moving so
The Class B sighting put us into the field again.

J

138

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 139

The next evening. Bob, John, and I set up on Nash Road.
There was a distant thunderstorm in the west, reminiscent of other
nights, but by the time we quit at 2:00 A.M., the storm had dissipated
before reaching us. Our score for the evening was a few exposures of
the moon and Jupiter and a number of mosquito bites. Nevertheless,
we decided to return to field work for several consecutive nights.
These following accounts are capsuled here from tape recordings
made in the field.

On Sunday, June 17, the three of us had again set up on the
road near Chaffee when we picked out an object in the southwest,
traveling north. In the Questar telescope. Bob could make out three
white lights and a flashing red light. When northwest of our position,
at 10:20, it brightened and went out This Class B UFO had been in
view for five minutes.

At 10:50, we had a reenactment of the sighting except that
the object was going south. The light went out in the southwest,
qualifying it as a Class B UFO. We quit at midnight

The next evening we set up on Blomeyer Road, about seven
miles west of the Cape airport, well out of the approach pattern for
aircraft landing there. The flat bottomland afforded an unrestricted
view. Farm lights were not much of a problem, road traffic was light
and the location was to become our favorite for the Cape Girardeau
area.

At 10:13, we picked up two satellites traveling southeast. At
the zenith, their paths crossed. One went out. A few minutes later, a
third satellite came through the constellation Corvus, going south¬
east. We thought that three satellites within a five-minute period was
a little unusued.

At 10:55, a storm moved in, causing us to leave in a hurry,
oince our arrival before sundown, our only guest had been a farmer
distributing chemical fertilizer on a nearby field.

The next evening, Tuesday, June 19, was one of those I’ll
^^r forget. The time was 7:12 P.M., CDT—still daylight. I was
siding hy the door of my yellow Mustang, having just loaded it
the equipment for another night in the field. I had laid a camera,
ocmars, and tape recorder on the front seat, ready for use. I
back toward the house. Then I saw it!
gf Ibe east, from behind intervening trees, appeared a dull

sbai glance, I thought it was a small airplane flying

the r * speed—private planes frequently approach

airport by flying down the river past the city. Then I

140 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

realized that the object was no airplane. To borrow a phrase from the
many persons who have reported UFO sightings to me, “It was not
like anything I had ever seen before.”

I looked at the craft. It had no wings. I did a double-take: It
had no tail structure either. I looked again. The stubby, untapered
body and flat rear reminded me of a .45 caliber bullet (Fig. 12.1).^

Fig. 12-1

Quickly, I decided to estimate its angular width, view it in
detail through lOX binoculars, and photograph it. Facing the object,
I extended my left arm, framing the object between thumb and
forefinger. Immediately, the object changed from a dull gray to a
light green (olive drab) color. Then I snatched my binoculars from
the car, consuming not more than two seconds. When I looked up,
the object was gone—vanished! The blue sky was empty; I checked it
everywhere. A slight feeling of nausea overcame me. Any lingering
doubt I had about the existence of UFOs had vanished with the
object.

Nonetheless, there was work to do. When I drove into John’s
driveway, he approached the car.

“Dr. RuUedge, what happened to you?” he exclaimed.

“I... uh... I’ve seen something,” I stammered. “In broad
daylight, too.”

“My gosh, you’re as white as a sheet.”

“I feel odd, John,” I admitted, then described the sighting to

him.

“Boy, that’s really something,” he said in a low voice. “Wait
till Bob hears about this.”

John told me that the weather radar at our local TV station
was showing a severe thunderstorm southwest of the city; hence we
decided to spend the evening in the University darkroom develop®?
film and making prints. .

The size of the object can be estimated, knowing the
size of the object and the distance to it. An estimate of the ang
size was obtained from the spacing between my thumb and
framing the object, with the arm fully extended. My estimate “
thumb-forefinger spacing was three-quarters of an inch. So as
overstate the case, I assume the spacing to be one-half inch-

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 141

object appeared to be near the Mississippi River, about 2 miles away.
From these estimates, the calculated length of the object was 210 fee t
A similar shape has been reported infrequently in the UFO
literature. On October 16,1948, the pilot and navigator of a U.S. Air
Force F-61 Black Widow dueled an object near Fukuoka, Japan.
Shaped like a rifle bullet, the object tapered to a square-cut aft end.
Following it in radar, the pilot would close the distance, only to have
the object speed up to 1,200 miles per hour. On one occasion, it
made a 180® turn followed by an up-and-down motion.’

At 7:20 A.M., February 19,1951, the radio officer of an East
African Airways airplane saw a bright white “star” hanging motion¬
less about 10,000 feet above Mount Kilimanjaro. Through binocu¬
lars, he saw a bullet-shaped object he estimated to be more than 200
feet long. After 17 minutes, it began to rise, disappearing at an
altitude of about 40,000 feet.^ On February 6, 1953, a U.S. Army
weather officer stationed on Truk Island in the Pacific saw a bullet¬
shaped object without wings or tail overhead at midday.’ In Januaiyr
1966 a number of persons on the northwest side of Omaha, Nebraska,
sighted a stubby cigar-shaped object®

A University student told Dr. Sage that the McDonnell
Douglas Corporation in St. Louis was flying a prototype model of the
space shuttle to New Orleans and back on a weekly basis. Pre¬
sumably, these were training flights. The informant had gotten his
information from his brother, who was employed at the firm.
Knowing that the firm was bidding for the contract to develop the
space shuttle system, I wrote a letter of inquiry to McDonnell
Douglas. A spokesman informed me that they did not have any
experimental flying models of the space shuttle.” In fact, they
weren’t even building the shuttle; that contract was awarded to
Rockwell International, El Segundo, California. In closing, the
spokesman assured me that “if UFOs are flying in Southeast Mis-
®®uri, they do not originate from McDonnell Douglas.”

To be sure of my facts, I wrote to a scientist friend employed
® cDonnell Douglas in St. Louis. His reply afiirmed the content of
e spokesman's letter. Now I couldn’t explain away the bullet-
®«aped object.

The same evening, although a thunderstorm lay foreboding to
Adams decided to drive to Blomeyer Road to
Onto’ Doug along. Soon after they turned off Route 25

fionj tK Road, they saw a yellow-orange light approaching

ligijt ®°'’thwest. Bob stopped the car, got out, and examined the
'®’^*igh binoculars. He could see no detail. Next, he began to

142 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

take exposures with a Pentax camera with 80-mm lens while Doug
observed with binoculars. When the light was over the road in front
of them, it suddenly swerved sharply to the northwest. They jumped
into the car and pursued the light at speeds up to 65 miles per hour
on the narrow rock road. The light pulled away from them and
“blinked out,” and did not reappear (Fig. 12.2).

Again we have a case where a bright light floats noiselessly
across the twilight sky, with no structure visible. Again we have a
course change, in apparent reaction to observers on the ground. Bob
told me that the light was brighter than the one we had observed
coming across the same area toward Dutchtown on June 5, except
that in this case, the sky was darker. The light in the sky may have
appeared brighter because Bob’s eyes were partially light-adapted.’
The uninitiated will suggest a plasma ball arising from natural causes
in the thunderstorm.* This hypothesis I reject totally, as later ex¬
periences will show.

The next night we were set up on Blomeyer Road again. Our
Reid unit consisted of Bob, John, Bill Ownbey, Rick Kuntze and me.
We logged a few aircraft and two satellites. At 11:13, we observed a
Class B sighting—two dim white lights that appeared to meet on line
under the lower left star of the constellation Cassiopeia.

On Thursday night at Blomeyer Road, our field unit consisted
of Bob, John, Bill, and me. At 9:20, we thought that we were
observing a satellite, but it changed direction. Bob said, “That ain’t
no airplane. All I got [in the Questar telescope] was a round, yellow
ball, almost white.”

Two more satellite-like lights passed over within a few
minutes. At 10:16, I saw a light low in the south-southwest. After
examining it through the 800-mm lens, John said, “Bright light in
front and dimmer one behind.” The light, several miles away, ap'
proached almost on line with us. After a long period of silence, I
aimed my seven-cell flashlight at it. At that instant, the light turned
from its northeast path to a northwest path, a change in direction o
90®. Was this a reaction? A coincidence?

At 10:27, we logged another satellite passing overhead to the
north-northeast. After sighting an airplane to the east. Bob pic^
out a high-altitude light passing through the constellation Leo. 1
time was 11:07. The light brightened and went out, uncharactei^^^
of satellites, which fade out gradually when entering the eartn
shadow. After seeing more aircraft, we quit at 11:30.

On Friday and Saturday nights, we observed satellites
aircraft. The sky was very active on both nights, but no
sightings occurred.

144 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

A week elapsed with no field trips. On Thursday, June 28, my
son Mark stepped outside to check the night sky. Fifteen minutes
later, he called me. West of the city, a bright orange light was
traveling north at a fast pace. I rushed inside to procure camera,
lens, and tripod, which were already mounted, but when I returned,
the light was masked by a line of huge trees across the street.

Then Mark noticed a second light of identical color—east of
the city going north, our second sighting. From the middle of the
street, I took two time exposures of 30 seconds on 2475 recording
film. (Luckily, no cars came!) The whole affair lasted 6 minutes,
starting at 11:13, when Mark spotted the first light, to 11:19 when
the second one passed over a far ridge out of view. I wondered if the
two lights were a pair.

Moving the equipment to the front lawn, I continued to watch
the sky. At 11:30,1 saw a stationary xenon-type strobe light north¬
east of Cape in the direction of Trail of Tears State Park. After
taking a couple of exposures, I went into the house, changed clothes,
and drove 8 miles closer to the flashing light, stopping alongside the
road that borders the Junior Chamber of Commerce golf course on
the north. The strobe lights were visible at about a 40® vertical angle.
I turned off the headlights.

When I opened the door to get out, the car’s dome light came
on. As if reacting to the signal, the strobe light to the north started
toward me—causing a mild apprehension on my part. I waited. When
the object passed overhead, I could hear the sound of a gas-turbine
engine. The object was a helicopter—but its colored lights did not
conform to FAA regulations.

The next day I went to the Flight Service Station at the
airport to check the flight log. There was no record of a helicopter in
the vicinity, but helicopter and airplane pilots aren’t required to file
flight plans for local flights. I did wonder why a helicopter was
hovering in the darkness with only an anticollision light showing. To
me it didn’t make sense: if the pilot wanted to be clandestine, he
should have turned off all his lights.

At the airport, the flight log showed that at 11:32, a Cessna
210 left the airport for a checkout flight. The pilot was T. E. “Gene
Brackett, a friend of mine from Jackson. Fortunately, Gene was in
the Flight Service Station that morning, preparing to make a flight o
Georgia. When I asked him about the orange light west of the airpo
the previous night, he told me that he had seen it, but didn t P
much attention to it because he was working with a malfunction!
nose wheel.

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 145

On his return from Georgia, Gene gave me a written, signed
report stating that he was flying over Runway No. 02 while checking
his landing gear. His heading was 280 degrees, airspeed 135 miles
per hour, and altitude 300 feet. He saw the orange ball of light to the
west off the nose of his plane. It moved north swiftly, stopped, and
then moved out of his line of sight. (I noted that his time of
observation was later than ours from the street)

Of course, the sighting aroused our interest in field trips
again. Saturday and Sunday nights we observed from Chaffee Road,
but everything that we saw was identifiable.

Over the weekend, Drake Kambitch informed me that he and
Steve Huffman had observed orange lights from a rock quarry, where
they frequently went swimming, in the vicinity of Oak Ridge. This
small town of about 180 inhabitants lies about 12 miles up 1-55 from
Cape and 2.5 miles west on Route E. I decided that we should
observe from that location.

On Tuesday, July 3, we loaded two cars with equipment. Bob
and Doug Adams, Bill Ownbey, John, and I left early to locate the
rock quarry before dark. David Aubuchon, a young member of
SEMAC, and Paul Hughes would arrive later. I followed the direc¬
tions prescribed by Drake: take 1-55 north to Route E, turn west on
Route E until a certain side road appears. I found a side road, all
right; the hills got steeper and steeper, with tall bordering trees.
After a considerable drive north, we turned sharply east, where the
view opened straight ahead somewhat

Suddenly, an amber light crossed our front, above trees
ahead where the road turned north again. Immediately, I stopped the
got out, and took an exposure of the slow-moving light When it
disappeared from our narrow view, I got back in the car and speeded
the next turn up the hill. To our surprise, after turning north, the
^aw on the right opened to pastureland. There was 1-55 not more
a half-mile away; we were looking down on it slightly. But where
the light? It was gone! I estimated that not more than 30 seconds
elapsed from the time I jumped into the car, which was still
until we saw 1-55.

fg^t ^ opinion, the light couldn’t have been more than 1,500
regg.®”®''® the highway. This sighting confirmed reports I had
8igh^“ ®o®ceming lights flying up and down the highway. This
^loiji ^ similar to the Dutchtown sighting on June 5 and the
d'scern tfi by Bob and Doug on June 19: no structure was

Ihreg c ® from the light in each of the

®®es. For this sighting, no thunderstorm was present to create

146 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

a lightning-produced ball of plasma. Not one cloud dotted the clear
blue sky. Again it seemed that a performance was for our benefit; a
vignette. Or was this merely a coincidence?

We never found the rock quarry. Instead, we circled through
Oak Ridge and drove east on Route E toward 1-55. We found a drive¬
way with a wide entrance, leading to a home nestled in the woods.
Here, we began to set up our equipment so as not to block the
driveway... and we were on state property.

While we were still setting up, David and Paul arrived. They
hadn’t found the quarry either. Across the road from us was a small
white frame house; a teenage girl kept coming out the back door and
going back in ageiin. Two or three of the young single men in our
group naturally cast glances in her direction. The frequency of her
appearances increased, while her father and brother eyed our group
from their front yard.

When we finished setting up, I walked across the road in
semidarkness to tell the family what we were doing. As I approached
the front door, I was startled when the man appeared out of shadows
from behind a tree. I should have known he wouldn’t believe my
explanation that we were doing astrophotography.

About 20 minutes after I returned to our group, two cars
approached from the east, in the direction of 1-55. We watched their
headlamps as they approached. Suddenly, when they were about
200 feet from us, each car turned a spotlight on us. We were blinded,
transfixed; our night vision gone. The two cars careened into the
drive, one after the other, and slid to a stop. My anger was rising
until I saw a huge man leap out of the first car, his right hand resting
on a gun holster. “All right, boys,” he commanded in a stentorian
voice. “Hold it there!” It was a dramatic moment

A man got out of the other car. I was very apprehensive until I
read the word SHERIFF on the side of the first car. I identified our
group and explained our mission as astrophotography, just as I na
done across the road. The spotlights were turned off; I was relieveo-
Next, the huge officer accused us of trespassing on private property-
I requested that he look at the fence defining the highway right ^
way. (Having worked in the highway departments of two stateSj^^
knew that we were on state property, not private ,gr

alleged.) He agreed that we were not trespassing. We learned 8^
that the entire sheriff’s department had been summoned to
Ridge the previous Saturday night to an altercation involving se'
drunken youths.

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 147

Bob, in his inimitable friendly manner, invited the officers to
take a tour of the heavens through the telescope. He showed them
planets, stars, nebulae, and star clusters. As time passed, the law¬
men became our friends. Finally, one talked of his days in the Air
Force and of his own accord, he began to discuss UFOs. We smiled,
listened, and remained noncommittal Meanwhile, we worried that a
UFO would come into range during their presence. After they left,
we laughed about their interest in UFOs and wondered what their
reaction would be when the results of our study were publicized.

A few minutes later. Bob did see three high-altitude lights
north of our position. Two of the lights were approaching, coming
south, while the third light was going in the opposite direction. They
met, the single light going between the approaching lights. The three
lights resembled the color and brightness of a typical satellite. If we
were observing satellites, they had to be in polar orbit We did not
count the lights as UFOs.

The continuing presence of UFOs was surprising. Certainly,
the events in June committed us to maintain field research. Of course,
we had no way of knowing when or how the flap would end.

On Thursday, July 5,1 decided to vary our strategy; we would
set up north of Cape Girardeau instead of southwest. John, Mark,
and I were late getting started, so we didn’t have much daylight left
to search for a viewing station. Consequently, we chose the J.C. golf
course, approximately four miles north of my home, and set up near
the ninth green. John had the 800-mm lens camera system, and my
camera had a 500-mm lens, on loan to me for the summer from Rich
Kuntze. Both cameras were mounted on D & S tripods and were
loaded with GAF color film, ASA 500.

After we set up, I suggested that we should check for undulat¬
ing (wavy) flight. The literature of UFOs is replete with descriptions
of unddating flight, and in early June, while set up near Chaffee, one
0 the lights I had seen had appeared to undulate. But I coddn’t be

that the wavy line I found on the film was not caused by camera
'^bration.

moving mirror of the single-lens reflex camera is a major
ler^^ camera vibration, especially noticeable when a telephoto
the 1** ^ decided to eliminate that problem simply by masking

sgj. that no light entered the camera during the two to three

any ^ ® “®®ded for the vibrations to damp out and disappear. Then,
'be li biles in the exposure wodd presumably be actual motion of

» t photographed—unless external conditions, such as the

148 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

wind blowing or a bumping of the system, caused new camera
vibrations. I found two pieces of opaque cardboard to place in front
of the lenses. I gave one piece to John, keeping the other for myself.

We didn’t have long to wait. At 9:30, when it was nearly dark,
an orange light was spotted low to the southeast, traveling north,
apparently along the path of the Mississippi River. Following the
procedure I had outlined, John and I began exposures of several
seconds’ duration. Obviously, the light was flying a level course, with
no undulations. Finally, a few seconds before the light would go
behind a distant ridge, I told John not to take any more exposures
because when developed they would show nothing but straight trails
of light.

We let go of our cable releases. To our amazement, the light
began to undulate up and down as it moved along (Fig. 12.3). The
amplitudes of the motion were quite pronounced. Before we could
grab our cable releases and cock the cameras, the light passed
behind a ridge. Was this all a coincidence? Or was there a reaction to
our presence? After all, I hadn’t planned to check for undulating
flight until we were set up.

Nothing imusual was observed on the nights of July 6 and 7,
but the night of July 8 provided a rare spectacle: an apparent
violation of a law of physics.

At 9:30, with orJy a hint of twilight remaining, I was set up m
my front yard. About 9:45, as I was facing northwest, I s®*
eastbound satellite overhead. I made a 30-second exposure, but i
faded out in the northeast before the exposure was completed. I
no reason to believe that it was not a satellite, but I wondered
hadn’t seen it sooner. Of course, satellites contrast better with ^
sky after they have passed the zenith because then they are
the sun from the observer’s point of view. At any rate, I looked to
west, ready for another one should it appear.

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 149

Less than a minute later, I saw a satellite approaching the
handle of the Big Dipper on the same course as the first one (Fig.
12.4). I surmised that it was part of the same system—possibly a
booster rocket or something, although there was no tumbling effect,
just a steady light. But a second later, that explanation was laid to
rest.

When the satellite reached the stars Alcor and Mizar, in the
Dipper handle, it instantaneously made a right-angle turn—a square
comer! Traveling east at one instant, in the next instant it was going
south. The now pseudosatellite continued toward the star Arcturus.
When about a degree of angle from the star, the moving light went
out. The transit time from the turning point in the Dipper handle to
its disappearance was approximately twenty seconds; I timed it
counting by thousands.

Other persons had described instantaneous right-angle turns
to me. Now, I had seen one. I wondered how many of the lights we
had labeled satellites in the field really were satellites. And since I
teach Newton’s laws of motion in a freshman.physics course, the
apparent abrogation of Newton’s Second Law of Motion had a
profound effect on me.*

*Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object wiU not speed up or slow
down unless acted on^a force. An object that speeds up or sbws down is said
to accelerate. A car that can accelerate from rest to 60 miles per hour in 7
seconds has twice the acceleration of a car requiring 14 second to reach 60
miles per hour from rest The irwerse process is an application of the brakes to
bring the car to rest—a reverse acceleration sometimes called a deceleration.

To produce acceleration, a force is needed, like the push or pull
provided by a car engine or its brakes. A more massive object requires more
force to produce the same acceleration. For example, twice as much force is
required to accelerate a two-ton vehicle to 60 miles per hour in 7 seconds as is
required for a one-ton vehicle. Or, twice as much force is required to accelerate
tjcarfnm rest to 60 miles per hour in 7 seconds as is required to accelerate an
•oCTticat car to 60 miles per hour in 14 seconds. Obviously, more force is
rnove a heavy (massive) object than a light one. These statements are
^tOMied in Newton's Second Law of Motion: force equals mass multiplied by

^<^eleration(F;^mXa), ^

Everything said about acceleration and force in straight-line motion
Q ^^^-Assumean object traveling at 1,000 miles per hour makes

^ change in the direction of motion. The turn cannot occur without a
^oreTobject The tighter the turn (smaller turn radius R), the
oftheni^ ^ ^ ^ proportional to the radius

on E varies as 1/R Iftheobject makesasquare comer turn (what 1 call
needed right-angle turn), then the turn radius is zero, and the force

^ infinite—a physical impossibility!

by the same token, instantaneous starts and stops are also

o*

o

OUT

• SOUTH

ABCTURUS — -- ^^ECONO LIGHT *

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STARS: ALCOR ^

and mizar

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big dipper

,ed Object Vanishes

Plate L A G-second exposure of a single ball of light moving right to left The upper
trail is orange, the lower trail yellow. Film: Kodachrome, ASA 64 (copied using
Ilford Hf^5). Lens: 45 mm, f/1. 7. (By permission of Robert J. Nistler)

^ ^ 0-second exposure of a single ball of light moving right to left Note
eral lights rather than the expected single trait Film Kodak 2475, ASA 1000.
mrru f/3.5. (John Wilson)

/

Plate 9. A I-minute exposure of a light
hovering southeast of the Farmington Air¬
port Film: Kodak 2475, ASA 1000. Lens:
800 mm, f/8. (Wilson)

Plate 10. A second I-minute exposure of
the hovering light in Plate 9, taken 15
minutes later. (Wilson)

Plate 11. A 9-second exposure of the light
as it moved left to right (north). (Wilson)

Plate 12. An approximate I-minute exposure of the U moved left to nght

(north). FUm: Kodak Tn-X, 80Q. Lens: 50 mm, f/1-4. (Author)

Plate 13. A second approximate 1-minute exposure^the light in Plate 1

/5

’ of a portion of Plate

pattern of individual

"»JR AWoU’wrf-P”*”''"'""'''

trails.

was rotated roP

(below): for companson.
the left (Author)

I

Plate 18. A 15-second exposure of a pseudostar that * jiggled** when o66t?rt|
through binoculars, moving left (north) when the exposure began Film Kod\
Tri-X, ASA 800. Lens: 50 mm, f/1.4. (Author)

Plate 19. During a 20-second exposure of a light moving northwest, a stationarf
red light appeared for about 5 seconds. Film' GAF 500 (copied on Ilford HP-5]
Lens: 135 mm, f/3.5. (Kenneth Aldrich)

rise^Th l^bted object had Just passed the moon appearing to speed up one
KoH 1 %}^^ ^ ^ seconds, then masked for 1 second in sequence. Film

Tri-x, ASA 800. Lens: 50 mm f/1.4. (Author)

PJntp 20 the light was in

Plate 22. A 0.1-second exposure \
moving objecU showing fore and aft I
equal brightness. The calculated sp|
10 feet M= 7. Film: GAF 500 (co\
Ilford HP-5). Lens: 800 mm, f/8. (Wl

Plate 23. A 5-minute exposure J
direction of the Big Dipper from a rQ(\
Chaffee. The light near the Dipper -
was not seen. Film’ Kodak 24 75, i45*4|
Lens: 23 mm, f/3.5. (Author)

Plate 24. A second exposure of 12 mi
in the direction of the Big Dipper. See
23. The light appears to have moved iq
away.

Plate 25. A 1-minute exposure of a light
that Maude Jefferis called **Grandpa. **Film:
Royal X Pan, ASA 1200. Lens: Optar
135 mm, f/4.7. (By permission of Maude
Jefferis)

Plate 26. Time exposure of a psmdostar
that moved from a hover position near the
starCapella to the left toward Jackson^ Mo.
Film: Kodak Ektachrome, ASA 160 pushed
to ASA 400 (copied on Ilford HP-5 film)-
Lens: 50 mm, f/1.4 (Author)

Plate 27. Time

Millers High Point, Piedmont, Mo., on March 27, 1973, using a Eetrt
loaded with infrared-sensitive film and a lens of400 mm focal length. (»y
sion of Maude Jefferis; Gary Sutton)

Plate 28.

Wtet 2 ^ seconds, nej^

“outhwestofourpositu

^hte 2o ^ exposure

Plate 31. 10-minute exposure of Vega and the constellation Cygnus. Film: Kodak
Tri-X, ASA 400. Lens: 50 mn% f/1.4. (Author)

Plate 32. A second 10-minute exposure of the same view as for Plate 31.

Plate 33. The third 10-minute exposure of the same view. A dim
about the same position as the hovering light seen there more than 30
before. Note that the light does not trail, as do the stars, but may be nwtio

a fie^ setup at Elsbeny. about 30 miles northwest
From left to right. Mark Rutledge. Bob Adams. Jim

Exposure made during
on July 3, 1978.
(Author)

Plate 36. Cables lead down through a bole
in the roof to signal processors in my office
below. (Author)

Plate 35. I tighten a guy wire while Mark
UHitches. The biconical antenna connects to
a spectrum analyzer. Other detectors on the
roof are a Geiger counter tube, radio an¬
tenna, and magnetometer pickup coil (By
permission of St Louis Post-Dispatch:
Gene Pospeshil)

A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 151

At 11:15,1 observed an orange light in the northeast, going
north. Before I could make an exposure, the light passed behind
some trees. Later, a pulse of light, lasting about one second, appeared
in the container portion of the Dipper, close to the pointer stars. It
appeared to be moving toward the North Star.

Although I was set up in the front yard on the night of July 9,
nothing unusual was seen. But the next night was quite different.
About 10:45, I looked overhead and saw a light traveling north-
northeast. I rushed fifteen feet to the equipment in the darkness,
knocking the tape recorder off a chair to the groimd. As I whipped the
long lens around and up, the light went out. Coincidence?

Three minutes later, a jet followed the same path as the light,
apparently at the same altitude. But was it a jet? It sounded like a jet
But when I put the binoculars to my eyes, tilted my head as far back as
possible, and centered the jet in my view, it did not look like any jet I
had ever seen (Fig. 12.5). The wings’ leading and trailing edges were
serrated, like a saw blade. Maybe the Air Force has a new wing design,
I thought But it didn’t make sense that the light was unevenly
distributed over the entire undersurface of the craft in a “quilt-like
fashion.’’ Earlier, Linda Martin, a high school senior at Piedmont
had used the term to describe her sighting, in late March, of a
relatively large, bright red object that hovered over the parking lot of
the Clark Mountain Nursing Home, where she worked.

Later in the evening, I saw a one-second pulse of light in the
container portion of the Big Dipper. This pulse did not appear to be in
motion.

From July 11 to July 17, we had two Class B sightings. Then,
we decided to check out Piedmont again. On Friday, July 20, Bob put
a large camper on his three-quarter-ton blue pickup. After loading it
with canned goods and other supplies, we picked up John and headed
for Piedmont.

We didn’t have any sightings on Friday night while set up in a
pasture at the Toney residence. But we had learned never to set up a
''lewing station near a herd of cattle. During the summer of 1973, a
Wave of cattle rustling spread throughout Missouri, causing farmers to
* wary. Lights had been reported above cattle herds at night The

Acce/erotm is inversely proportional to the time required for a
speed to happen (F varies as 1/t). Hence, if the time t duri^ the
w sero, an infinite force is required—again, a physical impos-
° semesters, when Newton’s Laws of Motion were the topic, I
hand behind my back, crossed my fingers, and smiled a little.)

A Bullet-

Shaped Object Vanishes in DayUght

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A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight 153

prevailing explanation was that these were the lights on helicopters.
While set up along roadsides, we were more concerned about people
who came by, drinking or looking for trouble. Usually, however, we
made new friends by showing people the delights of the night sky
through a telescope. Bob was a master at that sort of thing.

On Saturday night we went to the fire tower on Mudlick
Mountain, where we set up equipment on the three top levels. At 9:26,
we saw a light in the west, heading south. Three minutes later, when
well south of us, it brightened and went out—a Class B sighting.
About 10:00, a light pulsed in the container portion of the Dipper-
like my sighting from the firont yard on July 8. At 10:31, and again at
10:40, bright moving lights were observed, which we identified as
military or commercial aircraft. At 12:15, we had a fourth sighting, but
labeled it a probable aircraft. At 3:00 A.M., we retired to the camper
parked below, but the restless Bob was back on the tower at 4:00. He
saw unidentified lights, Skylab, and the star Capella, which scintU-
lated so brightly that he would have mistaken it for a UFO had he not
been an experienced observer.

Set up in my front yard on the nights of July 22 and 23,1 saw no
UFOs. But on Thursday night, July 26, my luck was better. Soon after
dark, an amber light approached directly on line with my location fix)m
a ridge to the northeast. I immediately cocked the camera in anticipa¬
tion of a number of close exposures. It never happened. As if on cue,
the light instantly reversed direction. Before I could get an exposure,
it disappeared over the ridge.

Once again, about an hour later, the exact process was re¬
peated. The amber light retreated as I cocked the camera. Was it a
coincidence that each light reversed direction as I cocked the camera?
Was it a coincidence that it happened twice in one night? Was there a
reaction to me in each case? I was tempted to label both sightings
^lass A rather than Class B because of the quick reverse in direction
of each light.

On Saturday, July 28, Debbie Scherer and two other witnesses
riding in a car north of Cape near Trail of Tears State Park. They
. . ® daylight sighting of a stationary object with no wings. Debbie

me, “It was oblong shaped, and light in color with a dark area at
®ne end.”

We duly 29, Bob, Ken Aldrich, and I went north of Cape, where

gP fri the yard of David Aubuchon’s rural home. We logged one
off sighting, a light moving northeast. It went out as if switched
ununating a satellite as an explanation. By this time, because of

154 A Bullet-Shaped Object Vanishes in Daylight

Bob’s tutelage, my son Mark had become quite interested in as¬
tronomy and took some excellent photographs of several constel¬
lations. The sky was very dark and the city lights of Cape were in the
distance.

July had been a reasonably productive month, with fifteen
sightings; four of them were Class A. I wondered if we would do as
well in August.

NOTES

1. Charles J. Oswald, “UFOs Are For Real,” St Louis Globe-Democrat,

June 16-17, 1973, Section B.

2. “ ‘Hubcap,’ ‘Bullet’ in California,” The APRO Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 12

(June 1979), p. 1.

3. U.S. Congress, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Hearings, Sym¬

posium on Unidentified Flying Objects, 90th Congress, 2nd Session,
29 July 1968, p. 69. Hereafter, I refer to this as Hearings, The trans¬
cript of the hearings is included without material submitted for the
record in John Fuller, Aliens in the Skies (New York: Berkley Medal¬
lion, 1969).

The UFO Evidence (Unidentified Flying Objects), National Investigations
Committee on Aerial Phenomena (MCAP), Washington, D.C., 1964,
pp. 84,124.

Ralph and Judy Blum, Beyond Earth: Man's Contact with UFOs (New
York: Bantam Books, 1974), p. 188.

Paris Flammonde, The Age of Flying Saucers (New York: Hawthorn Books,
Inc., 1971), p. 24.

4. The UFO Evidence, p. 123.

Flammonde, Flying Saucers, p. 32.

6. Hearings, p. 43.

6. Hearings, p. 58.

7. Richard F. Haines, “Psychological and Biological Aspects of Viewing Very

Bright Objects,” UFO Conference, Center for UFO Studies, Lincoln-
wood, ni., April 30-May 2,1976, p. 1.

8. Philip J. Klass, UFOs Identified (New York: Random House, 1968).

THE UFO ACTIVITY
INCREASES

Judging from the many reports that I received in early August, UFO
activity in southeast Missouri was on the increase. At this juncture,
we planned to continue Held observations until the UFOs left the
area. None of us expected the UFOs to stay around permanently.

Among the interesting reports I received was one from Gale
O’Neail of Irondale, who experienced a television blackout similar to
those reported in Piedmont during the spring. On July 29, while he
was watching the ten o’clock news, the picture turned to "snow” and
the sound faded away. He went outside, where he observed a silent
starlike object passing overhead. A minute later, he returned to the
TV set, which now functioned normally.

At 8:40 P.M., on August 3, Ralph R. Mouser, Sheriff of
Stoddard County, was driving south on Route 114, two miles south
of Essex, Missouri. Mouser reported a cigar-shaped craft over some
bees about a quarter of a mile away. The object, moving about 100
^es per hour, had three red lights on it and one smaller white light.

ouser stopped his car and turned off the engine, but could hear no
*ound from the object.

Lif I ^“6ost 5, Bob Krone, an agent with Northwestern Mutual
® ^®*“'fioce Company, was enjoying a summer evening viewing the
when he saw a brilliant blue-white light approaching Cape
viiiH? -from the southwest He thought that it must be a satellite
“sh hovered over the city for about thirty seconds, and

upward at what appeared to be a steep angle.”

On August 8, a Sikeston auxiliary policeman and his wife

155

156 The UFO Activity Increases

were walking their dog near their home in Advance. They reported
seeing an object moving north “at a pretty high rate of speed, having
two large red headlights, like on a car.” They observed it for five
minutes.

Several other sightings were reported to me, but these ex¬
amples suffice to show that the UFOs were still being observed by
many persons in the area.

About 10:30 on Friday evening, August 10, my doorbell rang.
Because we hadn’t been in the field since July 29,1 was surprised to
see John Wilson, obviously excited. After I invited him in, he told me
that while shopping on Main Street, which parallels the Mississippi
River, he had decided to walk the short distance down to the river¬
front. Immediately, his attention was drawn dowmstream, across the
river, past the Illinois end of the bridge. There, he saw a hovering
object with sequential flashing red, white, and green lights. From his
position, the object was less than a mile away. Then the object began
to move upriver until it met two similar objects flying south, this
taking place directly across the river from John. He thought that he
heard an engine sound.

He immediately started for my home on the north side of the
city. About halfway there, he observed a craft overhead that was
identical to the other three objects he had seen.

After John concluded his story, I telephoned the Flight
Service Station, where I learned that four U.S. Army helicopters had
departed Municipal Airport at 9:30, headed toward their base at
Fort Campbell, Kentucl^. The next day, a pilot friend of mine cor¬
roborated the information. He had seen the helicopters leave the
airport and head for Kentucky. I tried to persuade John that he must
have seen Army helicopters. But John’s sightings had occurred over
the river at 10:00—thirty minutes after the helicopters left the
airport. John was sure of his time because he had checked it. “They
sure didn’t look like helicopters to me,” he said. “I saw them across
the river about one-fourth mile away.”

In 1980, I queried Colonel Willard Bean, state aviation
officer. Adjutant General’s Office, Missouri National Guard, Jef¬
ferson City, about John’s sighting of the helicopters. Colonel Bean
said that he was of the opinion that the helicopters would not “piny
around for a half-hour.” The air distance from Cape Girardeau to
Fort Campbell is about 100 nautical miles (1 nautical mile
1.15 statute miles.) The helicopters at Fort Campbell were the .
and OH-58 types, each turbine powered, each with a cruise speed o
about 90-100 knots (nautical miles per hour), with a ma-xiro
speed of 120 knots, and each with enough fuel capacity for two ho

The UFO Activity Increases 157

of flight plus a reserve of 0.5 hour. He said that all helicopters have
rotating red beacons with white lights on the tail.

A belated inquiry to Headquarters, 101st Combat Aviation
Group at Fort Campbell was fruitless. According to Specialist Four
Gary Sikma of the Headquarters Unit, Army flight records are
destroyed after 90 days unless there is an incident or mishap.
Sikma interviewed various veteran helicopter pilots, but none could
recall the flight over Cape. Sikma said that “no substantial or con¬
clusive evidence can be derived from my research.”

Whether John had seen helicopters or not, he and I packed
some photographic equipment into the car and headed for the Illi¬
nois side of the river. By 11:00 we were set up on a side road
southeast of the bridge.

All aircraft passing within range of our vision were easily
identifiable. In fact, there was nothing unusual about the aircraft
approaching our position at 1:00 AM. With the naked eye, I could see
the shape of the aircraft high to the east, and I could hear the sound
of its piston engine. Particularly, I noted the white rotating anti¬
collision light Nothing unusual yet; just a routine check—untU I put
the binoculars to my eyes. To my consternation, the anticoilision
light was no longer a rotating beacon, but had become a xenon-type
strobe light of exceedingly short flash duration. If that wasn’t enough
to assault my senses, the strobe light was jumping around in my
binocular field like the phenomenon I had observed on the night of
May 24 at Fredericktown. John confirmed my description through
his binoculars. Although I took several exposures of the receding
JSLX, the flashes were not bright enough to register. No images
showed up on the developed film.

During the entire observation, I was looking through glass. At
“Tst, when the anticoilision light appeared to be a rotating beacon, I
was wearing spectacles. To look through the binoculars, I removed
®P®<^t®cle8—a procedure I followed throughout the Project study,
though the repetition rate, the number of flashes per second, was
^ ® same for the spectacle view as for the binocular view, the flash
^ non decreased dramatically in going from corrective-lenses view
acc view. There is no physical reason for this. The only

®*planation is that the pilot turned off the rotating
l>ino^*i ^™ed on a xenon strobe light at the moment I put the
ihg . ray eyes—a very unlikely coincidence. Then, of course,

* U’ of the jumping strobe light.

^ set up at the location the next night, but saw no UFOs.
Siltgg. week I received a report from Beth White of

P- She described a light that hovered nightly in the same

158 The UFO Activity Increases

location. Usually the stimulus for this type of report is a scintillating
star, one that appears to flash red, white, and green Ught But her
description was so vivid that we decided to check it out.

On the night of Tuesday, August 21, Ken, Bob, John, and I
went to Sikeston to Beth White’s residence. She took us to the back
yard, where she pointed at the light described in her report. We
immediately recognized the bright star Antares in the constellation
Scorpio. Antares was scintillating, or “cutting up,” as we sometimes
called it. We explained the phenomenon to her.

Since we were in Sikeston, we decided to find a viewing
location. We found a side street in a subdivision in southwest Sike¬
ston earmarked for construction. The view was good except to the
north and east, in the direction of the city lights.

During the next couple of hours, we observed two or three
amber lights, but did not label them as UFOs. At 12:06, Ken spotted
a dim light in the constellation Cassiopeia to the northeast. Until we
observed it in binoculars, we didn’t detect its motion. We could not
identify the slow-moving light even on the SOX setting of the Questar
telescope. It remained visible in the telescope, haze and all, until
12:24. We didn’t call this a UFO either, although it certainly aroused
our curiosity.

At 1:18, John spotted a southbound light in the northwest. To
Bob, looking through the Questar telescope, it appeared to have two
white lights, one fore and one aft, with a red light underneath. Within
seconds, we noticed a second light in the southwest, going north.
The two lights appeared to be on a collision course. As they closed
the distance between them, John shouted, “They’re going to meet!
They’re going to meet!’’ John, standing next to me, was operating
the 800-mm lens camera system, while I had the 500-mm system.

When the two lights entered our fields of view, we began our
time exposures. The two Ughts met perfectly on line. Then, the light
going south dinuned while the one going north brightened. Ken
observed the southbound light until it disappeared in the distance.
On the northbound configuration, Bob observed two flashing red
lights and two steady white lights, one each of the latter, fore and aft-
The white light in back went out for two minutes. By 1:28, the object

was out of sight.

On the slide exposures that John and I made, there is
evidence that two lighted objects met All we have are single trau*’
yet, John euid I each made an exposure while the lights were
ing. The meeting of the objects is slightly unusual, but
unworldly or incredible. If the objects were very close and on ^
with the cameras when they met, it is possible that their paths

The UFO Activity Increases 159

superimposed on film. Nevertheless, by our criteria, we counted one
sighting of two UFOs.

We didn’t go into the field the rest of the week, but on
Saturday night, several of us gathered at the Adams observatory.
Although we were there to look for UFOs, we observed several
astronomical objects through the observatory’s telescopes, one with
a mirror 10 inches in diameter and one with a 12.5-inch mirror.

At 12:02,1 asked Bob, “What is the name of that star high to
the east?”

He pondered a moment and said, “I don’t know, I don’t recog¬
nize it rU have to look it up in the star atlas... hey, that’s no star!
It’s moving!”

In movement and direction of motion, the light resembled the
one we had seen at Sikeston on Tuesday night. This light looked
more the color of a satellite, although the other one at Sikeston had
been observed through haze at a much lower angular altitude. I
photographed the light with the SOO-mm lens camera system, while
John and Bob rushed inside the observatory where they observed
the light through the ten-inch telescope.

Even on 150X, the light had no structure. They timed the
transit of the light across the known angular field of the telescope.
Using this angular speed and requested data sent to me by a
scientist at the Space Sciences Research Center at the University of
Missouri at Rolla, I concluded that the slow-moving light was a
satellite in polar orbit by the name of Pageos A. The time of ap¬
pearance on both Tuesday and Saturday nights agreed with the
satellite’s predicted appearance. Being a high-altitude satellite
(varying from 2,300 to 2,800 miles) and in polar orbit, Pageos A may
be seen at almost any hour of the night—the satellite can be eclipsed
by the earth —unlike low satellites which are approximately 200
miles high. Those in a west-to-east (nearly equatorial) orbit fade out
ss they enter the earth’s shadow, and are seen only during the early
evening or predawn hours.

The scientist wrote that there were 2,500 objects in orbit, of
ch about 10 are visible to the naked eye at various times. (As of
jj^e 1980 by contrast, there were about 4,555 man-made objects
orbit. Each month the Soviet Union and the United States add

about

SIX each.‘) These included Pageos A, two Pegasus meteoroid

aatalif^*^ ^^tolUtes, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO)
and a Russian space station. To this list we added Skylab.
noj _ sightings occurred in August for which the dates were
involved what I call an accidental sighting—which
®o when we were not set up; not on watch. In this case, I went

i60 The UFO Activity Increases

outside into the front yard after dark. There, at an angular elevation
of about 45® in the southwest, I saw a “star” circling another, real
star. After making more than one complete circle, the light went out.
The star that was circled was at the exact center of the circle
described by the moving light I labeled the sighting Class B. The
next sighting reported here was certainly not a Class B.

STAR: Antarei • *

Three lights race to the northwest

CONSTELLATION: Scorpio

Rg. 13*1 Three lights at dusk appeared to be three stars that had come out of the
constellation Scorpio

At the time, I was set up in my front yard, alone. The family
had gone on some errand, probably grocery shopping. The stars
were out Twilight faded into dusk. To relieve my boredom, as I
watched, I walked the 25 feet from the setup to the street. I could,
with difficulty, read the license plate on the car parked in the drive
across the street Looking down the street to the southwest, I saw
three off-color white lights moving at moderate speed to the north¬
west (Fig. 13.1). Stacked in a vertical line, the middle light was closer
to the lower light and forged ahead of the other two. During the five
seconds I watched, it looked like a race. I ran to the 800-mm lens
camera system, mounted on a D & S tripod, and whipped the long
lens around to point southwest. The three lights were gone—
vanished!

An odd feeling came over me. The three lights had been on
direct line with the three stars in the upper right portion of the
constellation Scorpio. The three lights, it seemed, had come ®
Scorpio. Quickly, I checked Scorpio to the south-southwest All tn®
stars of the constellation were there, in place. Perhaps, I thought
three lights may have been aligned with the three stars in Scorp*
before moving, m probably never know. .

Ufologists place great emphasis on radar-visual sightiw^
because the UFO can be seen as well as detected by an instruinco
On the night of September 4, Drake Kambitcb had a radar-v|^^^
sighting while piloting a Cessna 337 to Los Angeles on a con

The UFO Activity Increases 161

basis for the owner of a local trucking firm, Jerry Lipps. Lipps was
riding copilot, but could not confirm the sighting. Drake gave me this
account:

‘‘We were flying west at 1,400 feet MSL (mean sea level) be¬
tween Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles in the mountains approxi¬
mately 9:00 P.M., WDST. My heading was 270“ at 196 miles per
hour. Soon I observed a white light ahead of us. It moved to the left,
then back in front again. It was the same color as those lights we saw
at Piedmont The brightness of the light was the same as that of an
aircraft landing light at that distance.”

Los Angeles Center radioed Drake: ‘‘Skymaster one-seven-
seven-zero-M, traffic twelve o’clock, four miles ahead, eastbound,
slow.”

‘‘Seven-zero-M looking for traffic,” Drake replied. He could
see nothing ahead except the light A few moments later, the Center
called again: ‘‘Seven-zero-M, traffic no factor. He must be low and
dropped behind the terrain. Lost radar contact.”

‘‘Seven-zero-M, roger,” Drake responded. But Drake could
still see the light, whose position had not changed relative to the
Cessna 337. The light maintained a constant distance of four miles
ahead of the aircraft for some time. Drake didn’t inform Lipps of the
sighting, because he didn’t want to create any excitement before
coming into the airport at Los Angeles.

By late summer, the Piedmont flap had spread to a large
portion of Missouri, then nationwide. I wasn’t too surprised when a
UFO flap broke out in the Tennessee-Georgia area in early Sep¬
tember.* One night in late August, while we were set up, a dozen or
so white lights passed over during the evening, all headed southeast.
Because of the large number of lights, I figured they were not
satellites. But because the high-flying lights did nothing unusual, we
didn’t count them as UFOs. Because we were having fewer sightings
dian usual, I predicted that the UFOs would show up in the south-
sastem United States.

During most of September, I observed from the front yard,
though a few field trips were made to the vicinities of Chaffee,
IL*"’ Delta. Classes were in session again at the University, and
d little time available for field study.

, ^t 8:08 P.M., on September 23, 1 observed from my yard a
least direction of the Big Dipper. It was flashing at

dir , P®*" second in equal time intervals. Because it was passing

get ^ ^ ®''erhead and because it was moving so fast, I was unable to
iQ ^ estimate of the transit time was between

d 20 seconds. It disappeared into the eastern haze. Although

162 The UFO Activity Increases

not as bright as the star Vega, it was brighter than most of the other
stars. Although I heard no sound, I did not count it as a UFO.

One evening in September, my wife and son were riding with
me in the front seat. We were going east on Bertling Street. Just
before I turned right on Sprigg Street, I saw a bright light high to the
east, about 10° to the right. I asked Mark what planet could possibly
be in that position. He knew as well as I that no planet belonged
there. While turning the comer, we lost sight of the hovering light
When I looked again, it was gone.

Others who live in Cape Girardeau have told me of similar
experiences. The wife of a prominent physician was driving to
Southeast Missouri Hospital one night with the wives of three other
physicians. She told me that they saw a light hovering over the
hospital. Then, it “shot straight up,” out of sight

The August-September period was not particularly produc¬
tive with regard to sightings by Project members. We had five
sightings (eight UFOs) in August and three in September, much less
than the fifteen sightings in July. Perhaps the UFO flap in southeast
Missouri was finally ending.

But the UFOs didn’t leave southeast Missouri in October.
Quite the contrary, the new month began with an immediate increase
in UFO activity, correlating with a nationwide flap that started in
September.

NOTES

1 .

2 .

Thomas O’Hanlon, “Lost in Space,” Omni (June 1980), p. 36.
Johnson City Press-Chmnicle (Tenn.), September 2,1973.
Herald-Whig (Quincy, HI.), September 4,1973.

Vie Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colo.), September 4,1973.
Washington Star-News (Washington, D.C.), September 4,1973, p.
Orange County Register (Calif.), September 5,1973.

PHYSICAL

EVIDENCE?

On the morning of October 2,1973,1 received a telephone caU from
newsman Mike Shain, at KFVS-TV in Cape, informing me of a tele¬
type message at the newsroom concerning a sighting the previous
night at Sikeston. I picked up the teletype copy, which read:

Z. T. JACKSON. 707 EAST KATHLEEN. SIKESTON.
41702830. MR. JACKSON AND HIS WIFE WERE DRIVING ON
NORTH INGRAM ROAD ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF
SIKESTON YESTERDAY EVENING WHEN THEY SAW SEV¬
ERAL UGHTS MOVING RAPIDLY AND ERRATICALLY. THEY
STOPPED. TURNED OFF CAR LIGHTS AND GOT OUT TO LOOK
AT LIGHTS. SUDDENLY AN OBJECT ROSE FROM A NEARBY
SOYBEAN FIELD TO A HEIGHT OF A HUNDRED FEET.

glowed red and then very bright red. he turned

CAfi LIGHTS ON IT AND IT ROSE QUICKLY TO SEVERAL

hwdred feet and hovered briefly and then left

SPESO TOWARD THE NORTH. FIRST LOOKED

shaped but as it got redder, seemed to be

011^’ feet IN DIAMETER. SILENT. NO NOISE. NUMER-

Rapier sightings of two or three lights moving
^^GLY and erratically, police have been getting

THprS « ^ WEEK OR SO AND SOME OFFICERS HA VE SEEN

^ sikeston NORTH TO CAPE.

Jackgo^^*^ lunch, Bob Adams and I went to Sikeston, where we met
^ at the Ramada Inn just off 1-55. Jackson was a special

164 Physical Evidence

officer with the Sikeston police force. Detective Lieutenant Dan
Hinton and Sergeant Jack C. Patterson were there too. After intro¬
ductions, we taped Jackson’s account of the sighting. Then Lieu¬
tenant Hinton went on to describe sightings he and other poUce
officers had seen during the summer. A few sounded to me like
descriptions of scintillating stars, but in one account, a Sikeston
police car had been followed by an amber light whUe returning from
Charleston. The UFO could not have been a star.

After our conference, Bob and I followed Jackson to the farm
about three miles north of Sikeston where the event had occurred. A
large German shepherd dog awaited us in the driveway. We did not
get out of the car until the dog’s owner, Harold Rettig, came over.
After some discussion, he took us to the edge of a soybean field west
of the bam. We drove along a lane through the middle of the field.

The land was flat, for this was Mississippi River floodplain.
The soybeans on each side were knee high. We stopped near the
location where the red light had been spotted. With a portable
Geiger counter, I checked the clothes Jackson had worn the night
before. There was no unusual level of radiation. Next, I took samples
of soil and soybean leaves from a circle about twelve feet in
diameter. Jackson said the object had been directly over the circle.
To me, the circle was not well defined and it looked as if the
soybeans in that area were deficient in their growth and therefore a
different shade of green. Certainly, none of the plants had been bent
or broken, and the soil had not been disturbed.

After the red light had left, Jackson had walked into the
soybean field, using a flashlight. He said that the bean leaves in the
circle were wet, while those outside the circle were dry. As a control,
I took samples of soil and bean leaves from well outside the circular
area. As we left, I paced the distance from the circle to the road—
about 100 yards. Then Bob and I left for Cape.

At Ae University, the samples I had taken from the circular
area were subjected to fluorescent X-ray analysis to determine what
chemical elements were present. But for both the soil samples and
for the leaf samples, the spectra on the oscilloscope screen matched
those of control samples taken from outside this area. At the time,
we did not have more sophisticated equipment to make additional
tests. Chemical tests, using atomic absorption flame spectropho
tometry, would have been arduous and time consuming. I®
opinion, the craft/light had not set down on the soybeans and left ^
physical evidence. Jackson himself was not sure that it had set dow
it may have only hovered above the beans instead.

Physical Evidence 165

Because of what the police officers told me at the Ramada
Inn, I decided to return to the beanfield that night to set up a viewing
station. Besides, a setup at Sikeston would be good public relations
for our Project and for the University.

When I got home, I telephoned several Project members. For
once, even reliable Bob couldn’t go. In desperation, I asked my wife
to go along. She agreed. When we arrived at the Rettig farm, the
faithful German shepherd was there to greet us. As a precaution, I
pulled my arm back through the window. Rettig came out of the
house, quieted the dog, and told me to drive into the soybean Held,
where he would join us later.

We drove down the lane about halfway to the end of the field,
which was bounded on the west by a line of closely spaced trees. I
didn’t want to get so close to the treeline that our view would be
greatly restricted. While I was mounting the 800-mm lens camera
system on the D & S tripod. Officer Jackson and his wife joined us.
We had not planned tUs meeting in the field, but they too had
brought coffee and cookies. The women passed the time in conver¬
sation. Rettig, his young son, and the German shepherd arrived
before dark. The dog really was quite friendly.

My first entry on tape at 8:15 P.M., CDT, describes the
equipment and the sky conditions. Mars and Jupiter were visible.
The moon, in its first quarter, was so bright that we could see our
shadows. Ten degrees left of west was a vertical line of red lights on a
microwave tower.

At 9:04, we saw a bright light in the west, to the right of the
tower, headed northwest. In 12 seconds, it crossed my binocular
view of 7®, an angular speed of 0.58®/S. At 9:05, near the end star of
the Big Dipper handle, it went out. It did appear again in a couple of
seconds. Because there were clouds in the sky during the evening, I
•^tojot say definitely that clouds did not obscure the light Perhaps
toe suddenness with which it went out influenced me to count it as a
.j s B sighting. We did identify several aircraft; possibly several
st/?^ flying in search of UFOs, because the police officer’s
O' had been publicized in Sikeston too.
toe Vi the western sky was clear. The moon was 5® above

ioin to set We picked up an orange light in the west

gjgjj® ®orth. Suddenly, as we watched, it went out—another Class B

tijjou another light in the west. When I looked at it

. ^oculars, however, this was not just another light! It was
’ hke a window. The color was yellow-to-amber, like the color

166 Physical Evidence

of the flame of a kerosene lamp, a candle, or a match. After three or
four seconds, two additional “windows” appeared, one on each side
of the original “window.” In less than five seconds, the two “win¬
dows” went out, then came on again a few seconds later.

The configuration seemed to be approaching as I viewed it
through binoculars. I bad seen enough; tiying to get an exposure, I
cocked the camera. At that instant, all three “windows” went out, as
though switched off. There 1 stood with cocked camera—and nothing
to photograph. It seemed a bit unfair not to give me at least one
exposure. Was this a reaction to me, I asked myself, or just another
coincidence?

At 10:54, an amber light in the west, much farther away than
the “windows” had been, went on and off a few times—a sighting
that I labeled Class B.

At 11:02, the police dog became alert. His ears stood erect,
and the fur ruffled his back. Suddenly, his demeanor changed to one
of fear. He ran to Rettig, cowered, then burrowed between the man’s
legs. Rettig said he had never seen the dog act afraid. Surely, the
fear shown by the big German shepherd was not caused by some¬
thing biding in the knee-high soybeans, which were below the height
of the dog. Instinctively, I looked straight up, and for an instant, I
thought that I saw a dark form. A chill went down my back. Although
the entire episode hadn’t lasted more than a minute or so, a definite
uneasiness pervaded our group.

Later, I asked my wife to describe her perception of the
“window” sighting. She said that she had discerned the windows
with her naked eye, and added something else that intrigued me. She
said that when the dog became afraid, she felt as if some invisible
object were flying overhead. (She had never read a book on UFOs
and had little real interest in them.) She too thought that she had
perceived a dark form overhead. Although our perceptions agreed,
as a scientist I had to discard them.

Instead of returning home by 1-55,1 chose the older, more
circuitous, and relatively unused Route 61, which winds throug
wooded hUls. I had received reports that lighted objects had
near automobiles in this area—sometimes frightening the occupa®

of the cars—and I was hoping that our car might attract an

aerial

object. Although I kept the camera ready, nothing happened during
the drive home. . . ^

Six hours later, we learned of a truck driver who claime
have been struck in the face by a ball of fire shot from a
UFO! The alleged event took place on Wednesday morning, af ®
6:30, on 1-55, not more than t^e miles west of my home.' The

Physical Evidence 167

driver had just passed the Jackson exit when he looked in the rear
view mirror and saw red and yellow glittering lights following about a
mile behind. He mistook the lights for a flatbed trailer with its
headlights off. After he woke up his wife, in the sleeper cab behind
the front seats, she could not see the lights.

Just before the truck entered a patch of fog, the lights were
close behind. The driver later described the object as turnip-shaped,
about 30 feet in diameter, and nearly as wide as the concrete road¬
way. The bottom and top sections, looking like aluminum or chrome,
were spinning, he said, but the center section, consisting of red and
yellow lights which seemed to mix, was not spinning.

He stuck his head out of the cab to look back and saw a
spotlight shining on his tandem of the trader. Above the engine
sound of the truck, he heard a humming sound, he said, which rose in
frequency with the lights. Moments later, a "flash, like a ball of fire,”
hit him in the face. He withdrew his head and according to his wife,
screamed, “I can’t see! I can’t see!” He slammed on the brakes and
stopped the truck in the middle of the highway. His glasses, appar¬
ently melted from the fireball, had fallen off, one lens separating
from the fi'ames.

His wife drove the truck to their destination, the Sam
Tanksley complex south of Cape off Highway 61 near the airport An
ambulance was summoned, and he was taken to Southeast Missouri
Hospital. A local ophthalmologist examined him, but could find no
evidence of blindness, bums, or other injuries to his eyes. The truck
driver was released and returned with his wife to their home in
Greenville, not far from Piedmont.

The next day, I learned of the episode when Sergeant Ed
Wright of the Missouri Highway Patrol telephoned to inform me of
glasses, which I received later. During the afternoon, the glasses
Were examined and photographed under a microscope. A check for
radioactivity gave a negative result.

Friday morning, I took the frames down the hall to the Law
nforcement Assistance Council laboratory. No unseen residue was
frames. Next, Dr. Donald Froemsdorf, an organic
frames, which were pitted by bubbles that
dam eliminated acid or typical flames as the cause of

^ opinion,” Froemsdorf said, “vapors from a volatile
chemical could cause the same effect. These vapors could
^^ause skin bums and impairment of eyesight.”
uianae ®^day morning, I took the frames and lenses to the branch
made American Optical Company laboratories in Cape. He

rious tests on other similar frames, but none of these yielded

168 Physical Evidence

similar damage patterns. He tested the glass lenses of the frames
worn by the truck driver but could find no evidence of damage.

After he completed his tests, I went to the Tanksley complex to
inspect the truck itself—which, unfortunately, had been dispatched
to California. 1 questioned the night foreman who had been on duty
when the driver and his wife had arrived on Wednesday morning.
The foreman gave me a clue as to what could have happened, a
hypothesis for me to test. He said that on Wednesday morning, one
of the drivers for Tanksley saw the truck in question at a highway
department rest stop fifteen miles north of Cape. Allegedly, the
driver saw a road flare near the truck.

Next I drove to the rest stop to search for remains of a road
flare, but found none. I showed the glasses frames to a truck driver at
the rest stop and asked him how the damage could have been pro¬
duced. His immediate response was: “Road flare!” He gave me the
name and company of a truck driver from the St. Louis area, who
also had seen a road flare at the rest stop early Wednesday morning.

On the way home, I purchased some road flares and held a hot
flare within six inches of test frames similar in composition to the
damaged frames. A considerable time of several seconds was re¬
quired to cause bubbling of the plastic. No one could withstand such
heat while wearing the frames—but the damage pattern on the test
frames was simUar to that of the frames worn by the truck driver.

In summary, the radiation that struck the truck driver in the
face either had to be visible, or the pulse of radiation had to cause
the air to become luminous in passing through it. The air could have
been excited by microwaves or even certain types of nuclear radia¬
tion. On the other hand, microwave radiation in the vicinity of
2,450 MHz—a resonant frequency of the water molecule—could be
eliminated; the bone, flesh, and especially the fluid substance in the
eyeball would have been heated, while the plastic frames would have
been unaffected by this radiation! As a check, I placed similar frames
in a microwave oven. As I expected, no change in temperature o
the plastic frames was detectable.

I had planned to send the truck driver’s frames to a group
Columbia, Missouri, for tests using a nuclear reactor, but I decide
to terminate the investigation and released a story stating that
was a possibility of a hoax.* In fairness to the truck driver, I had n
proved that the incident did not happen. ,

Probably few persons know that the truck driver later file
workmen’s compensation and medical expenses.’ On
1975, Edward F. Raglin, Missouri Division of Workman s
pensation referee, ruled that the truck driver had been injured

Physical Evidence 169

accident while on the job. Attorneys for the insurance company
argued that UFOs are “acts of God,” and therefore the truck driver
wasn’t entitled to damages! Then Judge Raglin had a change of
mind; in March, he set aside the ruling in the truck driver’s favor and
scheduled a hearing on the matter to consider all the issues.

I was visited by attorneys from both parties. I informed them
that if called to testify, I would say that UFOs exist. I could see that
the case could be of much greater importance than a simple appeal
for compensation and medical expenses. The hearing would attract
the media, and it seemed to me that I would be the key figure in
proving that UFOs exist.

Fortunately, the parties settled out of court. I was relieved,
partly because I realized that what is considered legal proof often
differs considerably from what is considered scientific evidence. It
did not appear likely that my participation in the trial would enhance
my credibility in any way.

I have noticed that newspapers, magazines, and books that
carried the original account of the truck .driver incident did not
include the follow-up story, in which the incident was labeled a
possible hoax. One ufologist and prolific writer questioned my in¬
vestigation by stating: “Like the Pascagoula story of robot-like
monsters,* the facts were unbelievable to local scientists, who ex¬
amined them out of context of the overall phenomenon.”* What
facts?

I wasn’t the only one to have a UFO sighting the night before
the truck driver incident. A University student, Steve Palmer, and a
girlfriend were parked after dark in the city park at Jackson. The car
was facing east toward a grove of trees about 100 yards away,
suddenly, their attention was drawn to a disc-shaped object or light
^t rose silently from among the grove of trees, made a right-angle
n, and headed southeast. For an instant, Palmer thought that he
®U8t be seeing the reflection of a searchlight off the clouds, but
ere were no clouds and certainly no searchlights. The girl sum-
**^^^T^* situation succinctly: “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
driv • * night, Wednesday, October 3, the date of the truck
*■ mcident, I was driving on Route 61 on my way to pick up Bob.

tli

C/wr/es Hickson and Calvin Parker, were reported to have
^hen (I ^ from a pier on the Pascagoula River on October 11,

their position and hovered Three strange-looking
* toward the two men, **floQted*' them back to the craft, gave
while Parker was unconscious from fright,
by their position on the pier. The story was a major

^ course.

170 Physical Evidence

As I was coming up the last hill past a row of business establish¬
ments, a bright white light crossed the road at the top of the hill. If it
wasn’t a UFO, it was rather daring to pass over the city at about 200
feet, in violation of an FAA flight regulation. It violated FAA regu¬
lations further, bearing no green navigation light, no rear position
light, and no flashing anticoUision light

When I reached Bob’s home, I described the Class B sighting
to him. After loading his equipment in my car, we left for our familiar
location on Nash Road. Bob was very proud of his new Criterion
Dynamax 8 telescope with an eight-inch diameter mirror. The focal
length of the telescope is 2110 millimeters (83.1 inches). We wished
that the telescope had arrived months earlier. Using the excellent
finder scope parallel to the axis of the main telescope, it was easy to
aim. Certainly it would have helped in tracking a moving target

At 8:50,1 picked out a dim flashing light to the west—some¬
thing I had seen before. The light was a jumping strobe, flashing
once every second, and executing a rising stairstep pattern. I made
several exposures. Bob said that he didn’t think that the light was
jumping, but I could see it was—I was looking right down the barrel
of the stable 800-mm lens. But on the developed negative, the light
pattern did not show up. I was not surprised, since the maximum
aperture for the lens was f/8.

A similar phenomenon had occurred the night before, while
we were in Sikeston. At 7:30 P.M., Ron Lowes, a Cape Girardeau
insurance salesman, was driving on Route 177 in the northeast part
of the city when he saw a silvery object reflecting the sun’s rays. On
it were bright flashing red and green lights; so bright, in fact, that he
could not make out the shape of the object, although he surmised
that it was round. Most important, he told me that the flight of the
object was erratic. Lowes, a 1965 graduate of the University and a
former combat photographer with the Marine Air Wing in Viet Nam.
told me, “I’ve flown in several types of aircraft, including the F-4
Phantom, but this was not any type of aircraft I’ve ever seen!’’’ ^
Later Wednesday night after midnight, when Bob and
were ready to quit, we saw an orange light originate just east of
airport across 1-55 and shoot away at tremendous speed. It
to travel a horizontal path at very low altitude; less than a mile hig ■
maybe less than a half-mile high. j

A day or two later, I accidentally met a man who had obse
the light from his position in the northern portion of Cape,
vicinity where the insurance salesman saw the erratic jh?

man agreed with my estimate of the flight path. He describe ^
light as a “blur.” I recalled the night in May that Drake and

j

Physical Evidence 171

returned from Farmington in the Cessna 150 and saw an orange light
on each side of the airport as they approached for a late-night
landing.

Friday night, October 5, was memorable for the sheer number
of observers and vehicles involved. Our crew consisted of nine
persons in three vehicles bound for a farm near Millersville, about 20
miles west of Jackson. A nearby farmer, Ernie Seabaugh, had
reported to Bob that lights had been hovering over his farm on a
nightly basis.

Arriving after dark, we drove through gates to an open field.
Three vehicles and a tractor pulled into position with headlights
blazing. No wonder the UFOs avoided us that night! The briars
didn’t improve my disposition either—and I ruined the muffler on
my car. Fortunately, Seabaugh had an interesting story that I tape-
recorded.

For more than a month, lights had been hovering over his
farm, at an altitude he estimated to be 6,000 feet and neeu* a jet
airway (J-35), although a jet airway is from 18,000 feet up. The lights
were white and would go out at times, Seabaugh said. They would
also remain stationary, even on nights when the wind was blowing at
20 miles per hour or more. One night he observed blinking red lights
and blinking white lights. One of the objects turned on a spotlight;
then suddenly, all of the lights went out. He telephoned the sheriffs
patrol at Jackson to report his observations. A spokesman told
Seabaugh that someone at the Flight Service Station had said that
the National Guard was holding training maneuvers.

The first few nights, Seabaugh perched on the roof of his bam
with a high-powered rifle handy. He had heard that cattle were being
rustled by persons using large cargo helicopters. One night, when he
saw two lights approach each other, then execute fancy circles about
each other in a vertical plane, he concluded that he was not watching
elicopters. I wish he had taken his camera instead of his rifle up on
tue bam roof.

did ’ Saturday night, I set up equipment in my front yard, but I
fte there long. At about 8:001 received a telephone call from
(jg ° a large crowd in Jackson was observing a UFO. It must

®ut wK *hing! I thought. Quickly, I put some equipment in my car.
•bom ^ arrived at the address given me in Jackson, no one was
•I ne street was deserted.

ringing a few doorbells, I received an explanation.
^®crih persons had gathered to watch what one observer

to South ** “orange ball of fire” move across the sky from east
West. Fred Williams had seen it first and had notified the

172 Physical Evidence

FSS. As I talked to Williams, the mysteiy was solved. It was the
planet Venus, seen for a time between two cloud layers low in the
west. Through the haze, the planet had appeared as a red ball.*

I was beginning to develop an ambivalence toward investi¬
gating others’ reports, and from that experience, I vowed never again
to react so quickly to a UFO report I would drive too fast jeop¬
ardizing my life and the lives of others, and the probability of
arriving on the scene during a sighting was minimal.

The next weekend, my parents visited from Council Bluffs,
Iowa. I was hoping that my father would see a UFO during their visit,
so on Saturday night, October 13, at my invitation, he went along on
our second trip to the Seabaugh farm. I was disappointed that we
saw no UFOs, even though six of us were observing.

For some reason, both the skeptics^ and the believers* have
stated publicly that the 1973 flap originated in Georgia in late
August, and was beginning to ebb in October until the Pascagoula,
Mississippi, incident on October 11.’

Then Ohio became the locale of UFO activity. Governor
John J. Gilligan reported that he and his wife had observed a UFO
on the night of October 15 while driving back from a weekend
vacation in Michigan.” The Ohio flap culminated on the night of
October 18 when the crew of an Army reserve helicopter had a
frightening encounter with a UFO."

Meanwhile, on the evening of Sunday, October 14,1 stepped
outside to check the dark sky from my front yard. It was 8:20, and a
beautiful, clear fall sky showed its many stars. In the northeast, the
star Capella danced brilliantly in red, white, and green. Approxi¬
mately 10® right and 5® lower, a star of lesser brightness matched
Capella in the beauty of its scintiUations.

Not being able to identify the star, I went back inside, but the
presence of the unidentified star bothered me. Thirty minutes later,

I went outside again, taking my binoculars with me. First, I viewed
the scintillating Capella. Nothing unusual there. Then I moved the
binoculars down and to the right. Surprise! The red, white, and green
scintillations weren’t as random as they were for Capella, as they ar®
for any real star. These were mechanically or electrically controUe
the flash durations, although only a fraction of a second, w®*'®
equally spaced. They were not of natural origin. As soon as I j

that it was a pseudostar, it began to move to the left, tow
Jackson. Was this a reaction, I wondered, or just a coincidence. ^
Rushing into the house, I alerted everyone while I
D & S tripod, 35-roni camera, and the 800-mm lens TTsually 11®
800-mm lens ‘amera system sot »d on the tripod in my office, w

Physical Evidence 173

I could move it to the yard in record time; scratches on our wall
paneling attested to that, my wife said. But upon my hasty return to
the front yard, I knew I had to hurry, for the light had almost pulled
even with KFVS-TV tower six miles to the north-northeast. The
light would pass between us and the tower. Finally, I realized I would
not be able to put the system together in time.

As an alternative, I steadied the camera with 50-mm lens on
the tripod, exposing the film as long as I dared in the light of the
numerous mercuiy-vapor lamps to the north (Plate 26). By this time,
the light had changed from orange to an off-color white. Soon the
light passed from view in the general direction of Jackson.

I went into the house and telephoned the FSS, but they had
no knowledge of a helicopter in the area. On the other hand, they
told me that three young men, who had been lounging at Wedekind
Park on Route 61 near the 1-55 overpass, had seen the soundless
object pass overhead and bad telephoned the Cape police department

I could determine the maximum altitude by using a topo¬
graphical map, knowing the initial direction to -the pseudostar, as¬
suming an initial distance to the pseudostar, and using the angle of
elevation of the moving light on the color slide. For an initial distance
of 10 miles, the maximum altitude was 2,700 feet; for an initial
distance of 5 miles, the maximum altitude was 2,100 feet, assuming
that the object flew a level course from the initial hover position.

During the last two weeks of October, we didn’t go into the
field. The time had come to report our initial findings at a scientific
meeting, as stipulated in my contract with the Globe-Democrat From
the beginning, my intent had been to bring truth and candor to the
subject of UFOs, but at the time the contract was written, I didn’t
know I would have so much to report. I approached the task with
some misgiving, because I didn’t know how the report would be
received by my colleagues in science.

I decided to present the report at the fall meeting of the
American Association of Physics Teachers, Missouri Section, sched-
nled for November 17 at Meramec Communiiy College in St. Louis.

®mg a former president of the organization and having hosted the
Meeting at Southeast Missouri State University in 1969,1 felt that
*®y request to be on the program would be given serious consider-
nn. I telephoned an old friend and prime mover in the organiza-
Dr, g physicist at the Materials Science Research

of Missouri at Rolla. His response was, “Why
We need something far out to pep up the meeting.’’

8nti • presentation was probably “farther out’’ than he had
®*Pated. The title of the paper was The Anomalistic Lights in the

174 Physical E vidence

Sky over Southeastern Missouri, by James E. Sage and Harley D.
Rutledge. I left some of our experiences out of the presentation
because I was not comfortable describing them in front of an
audience.

Following the presentation was a question and answer ses¬
sion. Most of the questions from the audience of several hundred
were timely and relative to the subject. At the end of the session, a
number of persons remained to converse, including John Schuessler,
an engineer with the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. He said that
he was amazed at the amount of data we had amassed. From him, I
was surprised to learn of the lack of serious field studies of UFOs
using instrumentation. Apparently, our group had scored a first. In
summary, the reaction of the scientists, media representatives, and
the public pleased us.

NOTES

1. Cape Girardeau Missourian, October 4, 5, 6,1973.

David M. Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington, Ind.;

Indiana University Press, 1975), p. 271.

Frank Salisbury, The Great Utah UFO Display (Old Greenwich, Conn.:

The Devin-Adair Co.), Appendix E., p. 274.

Ralph and Judy Blum, Beyond Earth: Man*s Contact with UFOs (New
York: Bantam Books, 1974), p. 57.

2. Cape Girardeau Missourian, Octobers, 1973.

3. St Louis Globe-Democrat, March 22-23,1975, p. 6A.

Cape Girardeau Missourian, March 22,1975, p. 2.

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.), March 31,1975, p. 3.

4. Jacques Vallee, The Invisible College (New York: E. P. Dutton, I975h

p. 16.

5. Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, October 4,1973, p. !•

6. Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, Octobers, 1971, p. 1. .

7. Philip J. Klass. UFOs Explained (New York: Random House, l9fV»

26-29 inclusive.

S. Jacobs, UFO Controversy, ch. 10.

9. Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 277.

Klass, UFOs Explained, ch. 27.

10. Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 265.

Klass, UFOs Explained, p. 2S7.

11. Klass, UFOs Explained, ch. 29.

1973: UFOS
IN THE WINTER
MONTHS

As fall progressed into winter, the number of viewing nights de¬
creased because of the inclement weather. Likewise, the number of
volunteers for field work diminished, but Bob Adams continued to
go anyway, lending his encouragement even though the winter envir¬
onment was hostile to observers and equipment alike. And we
continued to observe UFOs throughout November and December,
*nd January and February of 1974.

At 5:15 PAI., CST, Thursday, November 29,1 left my office
earlier than usual. Twilight would soon arrive on that overcast day.

81 neared my car in the parking lot, north of my office, I noticed a
^ tionary, brilliant white light very low in the northeastern sky. It
®ore than ten miles away, across the river in Illinois,
light’s shape was somewhat flat, at first glance I mis-
for the landing lights of a commercial aircraft.

"'as n for three or four minutes, I concluded that I

vvflg an aircraft’s landing lights. For one thing, the light

*^<ile f with large variations in brightness, like the flame of a
Of ® draft. Then, too, the light appeared motionless,

appear aircraft in the distance with landing lights on can

^hservgj. motionless for some time, but eventually the

detect motion of approach. This light was not ap-
cagg e. and I was viewing in daylight, not at night as is the usual

176 1973: UFOs in the Winter Months

By this time, a dozen or so students had gathered. One, newly
arrived, exclaimed, “Oh, look! There’s a UFO!” I inwardly chuckled
at his certainty.

Because all the cameras were at my home, I could not photo¬
graph the light. Finally, I dispatched a student to Magill Hall to fetch
Ueleke. I wanted to observe his reaction when he saw the light. But
before Ueleke arrived, the light moved sideways to the right two or
three degrees and went out. No solid object was discerned. The
sighting was a precursor of events later in the evening.

By 7:45, Bob and I were set up on Blomeyer Road. We were
disappointed because his much-needed Criterion telescope had
been damaged in shipment and could not be aligned, so he had
returned it to the factory.

Later, we watched a helicopter lift off from the Cape airport
seven miles to the east and head our way. Through Ken Aldrich, we
knew that the pilot of the helicopter was Major Lloyd Young,
Missouri National Guard, of Scott City. I wondered why he brought
the helicopter to Cape every weekend, even though the nation was in
the grips of a severe oil crisis. Unwittingly, Young passed directly
over our location, then turned the chopper east as if to return to the
airport. We photographed the helicopter with the 800-mm lens as it
made its turn. Next, it made a return pass over our heads, going
west, as if searching the area, then it turned east for the airport for
the second time. At that moment, a light came on in the northwest
sky under the constellation Lyra. The time was 8:05. To us, it
seemed that the object in the northwest had waited until the heli¬
copter had turned before exposing itself.

Moving in the southerly direction, the light reached a position
west of us, then brightened considerably. We took several time
exposures. Continuing south, the light passed under the moon,
which was about 30® above the western horizon.

An hour later, at 9:05,1 said, “Bob, that star in the southwes
appears to have a different color than the other stars. It’s almos
orange.” . j

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Hey, that light is moxong! I lo®
that way a while ago and I thought it was a star.” ^ ^

Like the first moving light, this one brightened as it
position west of us. I wondered why. As it continued north, we
a piston-engine aircraft in the northeast, going south. As if ^
the northbound light—now in the northwest—appeared to ^

pulsating light. It was not distinct from the two white lights, -
could separate in binoculars. Perhaps the red light was reflec

1973: UFOs in the Winter Months 177

the surface of a craft, causing a source broadening. Or perhaps the
light had been masked from our view by the craft’s configuration.
Certainly, the red light did not resemble the usual rotating beacon
light. We estimated the distance between the southbound aircraft
and the unidentified northbound craft to be at least five miles.

After dark on Monday, December 10, Mark and I were
loading the car for a field trip to our familiar location on Blomeyer
Road. We had been there Saturday night and on Nash Road Sunday
night but had had no sightings. After placing the equipment in the
car, I turned around to return to the house for another load. From
the northeast, a light was approaching very low. Since early in the
summer, when I had seen the bullet-shaped object, this was the first
time I’d had a sighting while making preparations to go into the field.
“Run inside,” I yelled to Mark, “and get the binoculars!” I knew the
light was moving too fast and would be gone before he returned.
Even without binoculars, I could easily distinguish two white lights,
fore and aft, of equal brightness. I was reminded of the night of
June 4 on Nash Road, when Bob and John had seen a fuselage
carrying two equally bright lights, although on that occasion, the
lights were orange (Plate 22).

The soundless vehicle passed just southeast east of my
house, at probably not more than a thousand feet high. When the
craft reached the west side of Cape, I saw it make a sweeping turn to
the northwest. I ran across the street into the neighbor’s back yard
Md, through the trees, watched it recede. I thought I saw an
indistinct red light on i^ however, it was not alternating in brightness
like a rotating beacon or flashing strobe light Had the red light been
on when it passed near my home, I couldn’t have missed it

By eight o’clock. Bob, Mark, and I were set up on Blomeyer
‘‘Oad in the driveway to a field. In the moonlight, we could see
^ttered cirrus clouds to the east a light haze to the west. The cold
bearing down on us. I had three camera-lens systems set up on
®^d a Bell & Howell Super 8 movie camera loaded with
ak daylight Ektachrome film, ASA 160. On one tripod was a
ijj ®'*^cra system of 50-mm focal length with a diffraction grating
*yfite tripod bore a similar lens-camera

the 1 camera loaded with infrared-sensitive film. In front of

into th* * Wratten 89B filter that would pass infrared radiation

^^ock out visible light. On the third tripod was
the lens camera system. This camera and the one

KTating attached were loaded with sensitive Kodak 2475 film,
y this time. Bob had his now-repaired Criterion telescope

178 1973: UFOs in the Winter Months

back from the factory. Between the telescope and the eyepiece, we
had inserted a star spectroscope—another device for obtaining a
color spectrum. But as we searched the sky, we were not sure how
long we would endure the biting cold.

At 8:15, almost due west down the road, we saw a southbound
light. Evidently, the light had not been on during most of its travel to
the point where we saw it. We were accustomed to lights coming
relatively close to us. As the light moved south, it seemed to disap¬
pear, then reappear again. It was in view for five minutes in all.

At 9:20, something very unusual happened. We had two con¬
secutive sightings, one following immediately upon the other. More¬
over, the first UFO went east of us (unlike the great majority of our
sightings, which were in the west while we were set up on the
floodplain southwest of Cape Girardeau). Following is a portion of
the tape recording of the event:

H.R: Don’t get in front of my lens, Mark ... 7 shot a time exposure
with the grating. .. now the 800 mm. He looks fishy to me. Fll shoot
the infrared now ... now back to the diffraction grating.

M.R: Do you want the movie camera?

H.R: Yes! Get the movie camera, Mark ... Bob, that is no
airplane. He’s almost overhead and no sourtd. ... Can’t see through
the 800. What’s the matter here? (The cable release attached to the
camera was stuck} Now I got it I’m going to shoot a fast one on the
800. He’s got a double light on him. Go ahead and shoot him. Bob. He
may be a plane. I’m taking several shots with the 800 ... now I’ll take
a trail shot. .. got to kill (terminatej the grating shot He’s way out of
the field of the grating camera ... take another one. ... Tve got to kill
the infrared shot ... Here comes a car . ... Infrared is pointed east and
he’s already northeast Another infrared shot Now kill tfie800. Time it
1000, 1001, 1002 ... 1010. There’s a ten-second exposure. .. •

B.A.: There’s another one behind us! Look behind you!

H.R: I’ll swing the 800 around. It’s very bright Holy cow!

B.A.: Very low. It will pass to the west of us.

The second light, which was coming toward us, swerved to the
northwest, the direction in which it finally disappeared.

By 9:35, it was all over. We had been very busy; even
had been forgotten. Bob had removed his gloves to operate the
scope’s delicate controls, because tracking a moving object
with a telescope using relatively large magnification is no
especially at night. When Bob removed his hands from the coo
he left some of his skin behind.

1973: UFOs in the Winter Months 179

Bob and I estimate that at closest approach, both objects
came within a mile of our position, but we didn’t hear any sound.
The night was cold and still, the countryside very quiet. Sound
travels well in cold air.* Had there been an engine sound, surely we
would have heard it. Both craft displayed two white lights of equal
brightness, one fore and one aft. Again, this improper lighting
violated FAA rules. Both objects were identical to the one that Mark
and I saw pass low over Cape earlier in the evening.

The infrared exposure (not reproduced here) indicates that
the two lights on the first craft were typical “hot” or “thermal”
sources of light. The pattern consisted of a straight light trail on the
infrared-sensitive film, however, as did the exposures for other
cameras where visible light fell on the film.

A photograph taken on infrared-sensitive film at Piedmont
certainly was not ordinaiy. On the night of March 27, 1973, at
Millers High Point, Dennis Hovis, Maude Jefieris, Bill Clark, and
Gary Sutton—a student in Jefferis’s high school photography class-
observed white and multicolored lights flying back and forth be¬
tween Brushy Creek and Clearwater Dam. Sutton said that a phe¬
nomenon repeated four times during the evening: First, a barely
discernible orange glow would appear in the sky. Then, the “glow
would pull in to form an orange light and travel a little ways.” Moving
left, the light would “increase in intensity and size.” Last, it would
suddenly vanish—“switch off.”

Sutton used a 35-mm Petri camera with a lens of 400-mm
focal length, a tripod, and cable release. The camera, although
loaded with infrared-sensitive film, did not have an infrared filter
over the lens. One of the exposures, approximately two minutes in
duration, is shown in Plate 27. The photograph is strikingly similar
to one taken by newsman Bob Campbell at Sherman, Texas, on
A*igu.st 2,1965.*

Is it possible that a hovering helicopter discharged an en-
oping mist or dust, then illuminated the material with an orange
6 t, creating the effect that Sutton photographed?

H . ®** I^riday night, December 28, Bob and I setup on Blomeyer
® agan, but closer to Delta, near a power line. In spite of a cold,
towe'^*^^*^ wnd, Ken Aldrich and a student were perched on a fire
other Occasionally we flashed our flashlights at each

if we could evoke a response, momentarily relieving the
Seen- standing along the roadside shivering. No UFOs were
' *'^®*P°®***‘®s were made.

sky wgg darkness came on Saturday night, December 29, the
® cloudy. I had almost given up plans to view; but at about

180 1973: UFOs in the Winter Months

6:00 the sky cleared. I telephoned Robert and Gail Snider, a couple
who were interested in UFO field operations. Robert was a physics
major at the University, and his wife, Gail, taught English at Central
High School in Cape. By 8:00 we were set up just off Blomeyer
Road; actually, we used a private side road to avoid vehicle traffic.
Also, because the side road ran north-south, we could set up a line of
equipment that could be brought to bear in a westerly direction
without other team members getting in the way. The night was cold
and clear, and a sharp breeze blew from the east. The moon was
bright in the southwest It wasn’t a good night to stand along a road
and wait for something to happen—but happen it did.

At 8:10, in the west, we had a “bogey” — a light that bright¬
ened in about the same position as other lights had done on previous
nights while we viewed from Blomeyer Road. When the light was
directly west of us, Gail timed its transit, across a 7.1 ^ field in 7 X 50
binoculars, to be about 20 seconds, giving an angular speed of 0.36°
per second. If the light was 5 miles away, its speed was 112 miles
per hour. Next, Gail spotted a stationary red light near the moon, but
I could not see it.

Gail was a good observer. At 9:44, she spotted a northbound
light 30° to the left of the moon. In my initial attempt to photograph
the light, I could not see through the single-lens reflex (SLR) Pentax
camera. I had covered the camera lens to prevent fi-ost from settling
on it, but frost had covered the camera viewing window. After wiping
the window, I took two exposures while recording the action in detail
on tape. Later that night, in my office at home, I discovered that the
tape recorder, at this juncture, had been running slow because of the
cold. After the recorder warmed up in my office, the playback was
garbled.

At 9:43, we had a third sighting. This time Gail did not see it
first. I picked it up almost due south and figured that it would pass
overhead. But it didn’t. The light veered off to the northwest,
brightening while due west, and went out at 9:45. Because of the co
and because we had expended our film, we quit the field early.

Aldrich and some of his students had stationed in a fie ^
several miles to the south of us, near Chaffee, but could not
contact because of skip waves from Florida and Arkansas
masked our CB transmissions. (Radio skip waves are radio
that travel from a transmitter to a receiver by reflecting from
of ionized air molecules in the ionosphere as compared
waves that travel directly near the earth’s surface.) When I go
I telephoned Ken. According to our wristwatches, they had le

1973: UFOs in the Winter Months 181

location near Chaffee a few minutes before our last sighting. The
light must have come very close to the field in which they had been
viewing. I wondered: had they been present in the field, would the
object have followed the same path?

Several of us in the Project who went frequently into the field
purchased citizens band radios to maintain communications both in
the field and at other times. Although we didn’t attempt triangula¬
tion measurements, we did set up viewing stations several miles
apart to give us a better perspective of the sky. And we built quite an
audience among owners of CB radios.

Licensed operators cannot use their names on the air, the
Federal Communications Commission requires that they all use call
letters. In practice, however, most CB’ers adopt pseudonyms or
“handles.” Our group was no different Bob was known as “Apollo,”
the Greco-Roman god, while Ken chose a mere star, “Betelgeuse,”
the red giant in the shoulder of the constellation Orion. At first, I
tried “Rigel,” another major star in Orion, but during conditions of
poor transmission, the word was difficult for a listener to decipher.
Eventually, I chose “Orion,” the Great Hunter of Greek mythology.
It seemed an amusingly appropriate handle—after all, I was a hunter
too.

The year 1973 finally ended, and was acknowledged by
ufologists as the year of the greatest UFO activity ever. Our work
was barely mentioned in the literature, and I preferred it that way.
But when we were mentioned, the truck driver incident was usually
cited.

In 1973 Project Identification had logged a total of 105
^ghtings of 122 UFOs. Ten of these sightings were multiple UFO
sightings. Of the 105 sightings, 23 were Class A sightings, while the
other 82 were Class B sightings.

f^OTES

•ieari Walker. The Flying Circus of Physics (New York: John Wiley & Sons,
J. All ®dition with answers.)

en Hynek, The UFO Experience, A Scientific Inquiry (Chicago: Henry
«egnery Co., 1972), Plate 2.

1974: END OF
A UFO FLAP

During the winter, I sensed in some way that the UFO flap would last
about one year, that it would be over by April 6,1974. My records
show that between the first of the year and April 6, there were twelve
sightings; and only fourteen more the rest of the year. In 1974, only
three sightings were Class A. But I used the spare time to begin
upgrading our equipment.

The new year began with many nights of cloud cover. Seldom
did we go out into the field unless the sky was clear. The much-
heralded comet Kohoutek had circled the sim and was following a
path out of the solar system. Although the comet’s size and brilliance
hadn’t lived up to expectations, we still wanted to photograph it. On
the night of the 21st, we remained at the Adams Observatory, where
the 10- and 12.5-incb-diameter reflecting telescopes could be aimed
at the comet.

On Thursday, January 24, the evening broke clear and un
characteristically warm, and we didn’t miss the opportunity
into the field. We planned to set up farther west, somewhere
vicinity of Advance. Another member of the astronomy club,
Bagbey, was going into the field with us for the first time. .

We headed for Advance on Route 26, Bob Adams an^d
following my car in Bob’s pickup. Using Channel 20 of our CB
we discussed the large number of private aircraft circling in
the south, the pilots taking advantage of springlike weather.^
my habit—a dangerous one—I glanced frequently at the sxy
the windshield. My persistence paid off.

182

1974: End of a UFO Flap 183

When we were within a few hundred feet of our destination, a
side road off Route 25,1 noticed a white light approaching from the
north. “Hey, Apollo!” I yelled into the microphone, “That Bght is
going to pass right over us! ” As if in response to my radio call, the light
made a sharp turn to the west. Immediately, we turned left onto the
side road, parked, and got out quickly. Before I raised binoculars to
my eyes, I noted the time: 8:30 P.M., CDT.

Through binoculars, I easily discerned two lights of equal
brightness, one fore and one aft. While stUl relatively close, both lights
dimmed perceptibly. I told the others that the object was headed for
Piedmont.

After it disappeared in the distance, we discussed several
curious aspects of the sighting. First, the time duration of the turn was
less than two seconds, reminding me of the one made by a light
approaching Pyle’s Mountain on May 18. Second, although we never
saw a fuselage or wings, the lights didn’t appear to “bank”; they just
made a short-radius horizontal turn. Third, although we estimated
that the Ughts approached to within oneh^ mUe of our moving
vehicles at an estimated altitude of 2,500 feet, we never heard any
sound. We didn’t hear sound after we parked and turned off our
engines, either. Fourth, although the lights were closer to us than the
aircraft to the south—and despite the fact we saw the object clearly
through binoculars—no navigation or anticollision lights could be
seen. These lights were easily identined on the aircraft to the south.

On Tuesday, January 29, Bob, Frank, and I went to Nash
Road, accompanied by a new member of the Project: Jim Hickam, a
ffiember of SEMAC, who taught science at Jefferson School in Cape.

he large, jovial man always wore a grin and his light red hair was
tnmmed in a flat top. We were set up by 7:45 pjw., CDT, and 30
®*nutes later we had our first sighting—a yellow flash to the north.

About 9:15, we picked up a single pulsating light in the
southwest, about 15“ above the horizon. In the distance, the light had
to it, but as it got closer, the red tinge disappeared,
^ white with some yellow showing. Looking through the
i^i®8cope. Bob could not make out any strobe light or
must ^Shts. In the west, it brightened twice, then went out. “He

forgotten to pay his light bill!” Hickam said,
wijjjg j. ^ saw a triangular-shaped configuration of red and

Were came on high in the west. At least three red lights

eastbound configuration continued east until out

hile we waited, the sky cleared and the wind picked up out of

L

184 1974: End of a UFO Flap

the southwest At 10:10, we saw a northbound orange light that
appeared to pass over Cape, then go out Bob was watching it in the
Criterion telescope while the rest of us observed through binoculars.
To all of us, it appeared as just a ball of light No other lights required
by FAA regulations could be discerned, although we had no problem
distinguishing these lights on two aircraft that landed at the airport
during our sighting.

On Thursday, January 31, Robert Snider and I were on our way
to a high hill north of Advance. At about 7:00, we were west of
Blomeyer, driving west on Route A. We wanted to arrive at the
Leonard Huffman farm, where we would set up before dark. As we
rode, we could identify several B-52 jets in the sky, the sun reflecting
off their vapor trails.

Due west of us was a small ball of light. At first, it appeared
pink, purple, and yellow. In a few minutes, its appearance changed to
that of a butane torch pointing downward. To be safe, I had Robert
take a few exposures. Eventually, we identified the light as a vapor
trail of another B-52. Presumably, the large jets were from Blythe ville
Air Force Base in Arkansas, where they had operated since returning
from Southeast Asia in the late summer of 1973.

After arriving at the Huffman farm, we set up our equipment in
bitter cold. We marked the prominent features in the distance,
especially the azimuth to a large natural gas terminal station on Route
74 about ten miles away. But at 9:20, we could hold out no longer. I
radioed Adams and Hickam on Blomeyer Road, eight miles to the
east, and told them to put their equipment away. “Apollo” advised
us to meet them at his home.

Despite inclement weather, January had been very interesting.

Friday, February 22, was a clear day, and too cold for anyone to
be outside for long. I wasn’t expecting the telephone call from Snider
at 5:00 P.M., suggesting a field trip. But before the evening was over,
was glad that he had called.

We left at 7:00 for the Huffman farm. By 8:00, we were
and ready for the initial sky survey. Because of haze, all the -s
appeared rather dim, especially the ones lowest in the sky. I
pleted a binocular scan.

At 8:04,1 noticed a relatively bright orange star to g

about 5" above the horizon. Surely, I thought, I would have no
star that bright during my scan of the sky not moi“
before. It was on the same line as a lone mercury-
about two miles away. Immediately, I looked at
binoculars. ,

“Look at that light. Bob,” I said. “It’s scintillating re

1974: End of a UFO Flap 185

and green. It’s just like the one I saw from my yard back in October.”

“Oh, it looks like a star to me,” he responded.

“Well, compare it with the other stars on the horizon!” I said,
as I started to cock the camera. “I’m going to take a picture of it with
the 800.”

“It sure looks like a star to—oops! It just went out!” he said.
“There’s another one over there!” he added, sweeping his binoculars
to the right. He was right. Another pseudostar was hovering about 10
miles away and 10“ to the left of the building complex of the Natural
Gas Pipeline Company of America. When I put my binoculars on it,
the light went out.

Continuing to traverse to the right with my binoculars, I picked
up a third pseudostar hovering to the right of the complex. At that
instant, it too went out!

“Bob, that’s too much of a coincidence. Whoever is in those
vehicles must know we are observing them,” I said. “This sort of thing
has been happening to me all year!”

“It does seem sort of strange,” he admitted.

The presence of the scintillating pseudostars did not greatly
surprise me. Back in October, a man living near the building complex
telephoned to say that he had observed starlike lights hovering in
the sky. In response to his call, Aldrich and I had gone to the
complex on a dark, overcast night, but hadn’t seen anything unusual
during our hours on watch.

During the next hour, Robert and I endured a cold, biting wind
from the south. A little after 9:00,1 gave the word to pack it up. Just as
I was unscrewing the lens hood on the 800-mm lens, I spotted a white
light in the south at an azimuth of 184“.

The time was 9:14. The light, which had already approached
somewhat before I had noticed it, was very white, atypical of the
orange and amber lights I had seen so often. Quickly, I tightened the
6ns hood, turned on the tape recorder, and began a 25-second
6*P08ure (Plate 28).

The light moved vei 7 slowly. At one time I thought it had
moving, but Robert said there was motion. Then the tight
ceded up and brightened, and I took a SO-second exposure
snoth ^ seconds later, the brightness diminished. I took
djgtj f ^®'86cond exposure (Plate 30). T^e light was getting so close

nad to get on my knees to aim the barrel of the 800-mm lens at it.
a hunch ** nearly overhead, Robert shouted, “All right, I got

^be^ lights now. It’s a cotton-picking jet! I can hear him now.”
ftjaJte ’ observing through binoculars, was right We could

individual lights, instead of the ball of light we saw on

186 1974: End of a UFO Flap

approach. In Robert’s opinion, we were watching a large jet flying well
below Jet Airway J-35.

Oddly enough, the light that had approached our position
somewhat before we saw it took six minutes to reach a position even
with us, and only three minutes to disappear in the distance after
passing our location. Remember, at one time in its approach, I
believed the light to be hovering. During this time the brightness
varied considerably. During this time the jet was due west of our other
viewing station (Adam, Hickam), located on Nash Road. Also, Plate
28 shows that an additional light was turned on. Judging from the
amplitudes of the motion, the light was attached to an appendage of
the aircraft, such as a flexible wing or tail section.

I radioed Bob on Blomeyer Road. He had identified the jet
through his Criterion telescope and described the flashing red lighten
it. We agreed to meet at his home to discuss the sighting further.

On Saturday, March 30, Bob and I went to Perryville in
response to a request from Vicki Hahn, a teacher at St. Vincents High
School in that town. She and her husband had had a strange
experience involving a UFO and asked me to investigate. While there,
we had a Class B sighting of a white light that went off and on several
times while making a large turn from north to south. By mid-April
1974, judging from the decline in personal sightings and the decline
in sighting reports from others, I suspected that UFOs had aban¬
doned southeast Missouri. But I was wrong. Sighting reports con¬
tinued to be received sporadically by other members of Project
Identification. At night I occasionally received telephone calls from
persons who claimed to be seeing a UFO. In most cases, bright .stars
like Capella or bright planets like Venus were the culprits.

I have forgotten the exact dates of two other sightings in the
spring of 1974. In one case, it was dark when Bob and I had just left his
home on Route 74 to drive to Blomeyer Road. About a mile down t e
road, I saw a stationary bright white light high to our right and
tall hill. Although it looked more like a planet—no planet could ®
there—I asked, “Bob, what is that star up there?”

Caught unaware. Bob answered, “Gosh, I don’t know. • •

let’s check it out!”

By this time the light had become masked by the hill, pa
ridge system. Quickly I turned the car around in the road, but w e
got back to where we had seen the light, it was gone. As I recal,"
no sightings during our hours on watch at Blomeyer Road.

The other sighting, brief in duration, occurred on a
night, after midnight After arriving home from my office

1974: End of a UFO Flap 187

University, I checked the sky before going inside. While scanning
straight overhead, I saw a thin pencil of light come on and make a 180®
turn, east to west-by-south. It didn’t look like a searchlight beam: it
appeared to be several miles high, it didn’t broaden, although I was
viewing it from the side, and it came to an abrupt end. I had the feeling
this was no mere coincidence.

Research on searchlight beams has shown that the beam does
not appear to end abruptly when viewed from the side at a con¬
siderable distance.* The explanation involves the theory of scattering
of light from particles in the atmosphere. In perfectly clean air, the
beam would be invisible.

I have one report from a Missouri couple who claim to have
seen a beam of light that did not widen and ended abruptly. The beam
originated from a landed vehicle at night. It came down through a low,
heavy overcast as a white sphere of light, changing to an orange disc-
shape as it neared the ground in a field. A light mist was falling. That
the beam was not like a searchlight disturbed the observers. (Obvi¬
ously, they could not have seen the beam unless some light was
scattered to their eyes.) The beam was turned toward their car, but
did not illuminate it. When the disc-shaped light moved toward the
car, they left in a hurry, the wife and two teen-age girls screaming.

From the front yard on Sunday, May 12, Meu’k and I watched
an apparent satellite pass to the southeast at 9:05 P.M. As measured
through binoculars, it covered seven degrees in fourteen seconds—an
angular rate of 0.50® per second. This one was followed by a second
apparent satellite at 9:07, traveling an azimuth slightly to the east of
the first satellite.

A few minutes later, a northbound light of similar color passed
to the west of Cape. I tracked it through binoculars until I could no
longer see it. At that moment, I was looking directly at Polaris, the
North Star. Moments later, we saw another northbound light, almost
®*^nge in color, which soon became masked by large trees in the back
ysrd across the street It never came out from behind the trees as it
®nould have, considering its flight path.

th' /I we saw a fourth light, identical in color to the

m K *** southeast. It too was northbound; it too became
apD a young maple sapling in my front yard. The light never

the other side of the tree! When I changed my position to
the sky behind the tree, the light was gone. Perhaps the two
' t^aightings were merely a coincidence,
livg^ K summer of 1974, Mark and his friend, Chris Watson, who

oout a block away, had developed a keen interest in astronomy.

L

188 1974: End of a UFO Flap

photography, and UFOs. Frequently they set up their own equipment
in the front yard, at times staying up for the entire night. But I did not
consider them as members of the Project until they reached age
sixteen.

The night of May 17,1 went outside to converse with the two
boys and we promptly had a Class A sighting. An erratic strobe light
(ERSX) suddenly appeared to the southeast over the house, moving
in a curved path to the north. It moved through an angle of at least 30°.
None of us thought that it was a lightning bug because the flashes were
the color of xenon—exceedingly sharp, and veiy high.

One Sunday night during the spring I received a telephone call
at home from a man living on tbe south side of Cape. He said that a
UFO was hovering west of the city and assured me that he was not
seeing Venus. I told him that I would drive to the west side of the city
to check it out, and did—but all I saw was bright Venus in the sky. I
figured the man had been mistaken and went on home, without
bothering to tell him of his misidentification.

The following Sunday evening, he called again with the same
story. I patiently explained to him that he was seeing Venus. Perhaps
he should make a reference mark on his window; Venus would lower in
the western sky at about 15° per hour, and it would set like the sun and
the moon. He didn’t argue; he just hung up. I had won my point.

Next, I went out into the street to check on Venus. About that
time, my wife came to the front door and told me that the man was on
the telephone again. I returned to the house. When I picked up the
phone, he said. “That may be Venus, but it just shot north, stopped
under a star, and shot back south again!’’

I assured him that Venus couldn’t execute that kind of
maneuver. But after he hung up, I still wasn’t sure it really happened
the way he described.

Five nights later I changed my mind.

On Friday evening, two of my daughters, Teresa and Sus^*
came home with their dates. The girls charmed me into showing t ®
boys the wonders of the heavens through a new Celestron telescop®
with eight-inch diameter mirror, recently purchased by the
Department. Mark helped me set up the telescope. Because Ven ^
would soon drop behind trees in the back yard across the ^
chose to aim the telescope at Venus first. I had just gotten the P
centered on the finder scope’s cross hairs when I raised
slightly to transfer my eye to the eyepiece of the main scope-
instant, a light streaked south, originating exactly on line Mth
Mark immediately ran across the street, and I called to hinJi
why. “That wasn’t a meteor, Dad!’^ Ihe replied. I had to agre®

1974; End of a UFO Flap 189

him. Now I wondered if UFOs hovered in the dark around the
perimeter of the city.

On Friday, June 21, Ken Aldrich, Mark, and I were set up at
our familiar spot on the Blomeyer side road. With us was Jim
Kirkwood, a former SEMO University student who was working on his
Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Oklahoma after a four-year
stint as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.

At 9:35,1 recorded that a few airplanes were about, and that we
had gotten a glimpse of a satellite going east It was not yet completely
dark. The wind was blowing, and the crescent moon was hidden
behind a cloudbank in the west.

At 10:20, we saw a lighted object that had no anticollision
lights. Immediately after we located it, the light went out, came back
on again, and went out permanently at 10:32, never having moved far
from its location in the southwest. At 11:25, we quit. The cool breeze
had subsided and we were hot. A farmer in the field to the west of us
was still disk harrowing.

On June 25, Kirkwood and I set up on the west side of a
comcrib on the Huffman farm. The sky was very active, but the Class
A sighting occurred after midnight.

We had gathered our equipment to leave. As I opened the car
door, I took one last look at the sky. A xenon-type strobe light fired off
six or seven times at a flash rate of about 4 per second. After misfiring
for three or four flashes, it fired six or seven times again. Even to the
naked eye, the path was jagged; it seemed to be about one-half mile
high to the northwest, at a high angle of elevation. This was the second
ERSXI had observed, the first being on May 17 from my front yard.

On Friday afternoon, June 28, Jim Kirkwood and I started for
Piedmont, followed closely by Ken Aldrich and Jim Hickam. We went
wectly to Sam A. Baker State Park, where the other team went to the
^ tower on Mudlick Mountain. Kirkwood and I located in a pasture
^ Camp Lewellen, a facility for Boy Scouts from the southeast
Missouri district.

selected a spot with an open view, one from which we could
® he upper structure of the fire tower four miles away, and pitched
our white tent, which held two persons. We set up

ate a cold dinner, and threw a Frisbee until dusk. After
** number of aircraft, satellites, and lights
f identify. Occasionally, we signaled the team on the tower

lac. from a General Radio Model 1538A xenon Strobo-

flagjjjj couldn’t miss those sharp flashes; they responded by

One

sighting was logged as a Class B UFO. Kirkwood picked

190 1974: End of a UFO Flap

it up at 9:15 in the east, going southeast. To him, it was as bright as a
second magnitude star like Polaris. At first, through binoculars, it
appeared to be two white lights stacked vertically. Seconds later, as
it receded, they blended into one light, as expected. The light would
not have been classified as a UFO had it not gone out—at the instant
Kirkwood and I lowered our binoculars!

About midnight. Scout field director Mike Toney came over
to the field to chat with us and to get ready for his class on viewing
the night sky, with which Boy Scouts are expected to be familiar,
Mike told me about a number of sightings in the Piedmont area. A
girl who worked in the Toney Drugstore in Piedmont told Mike that
she had seen a large object from which smaller ones exited. She said
that they would come out and go back in several times. (I had heard
similar stories.)

Mike related a personal sighting that seemed to parallel the
one I had witnessed in the soybean field at Sikeston in early October
1973. He and his girlfriend were driving on a country road one cold,
clear night when they saw a light come over a distant hill. When they
stopped the car to look, the light continued to approach. Mike said
that he could see three square windows, closely spaced and yellow in
color.

They became scared. When the girl jumped out, the dome
light of the car came on, and the three lighted windows went out
Mike estimated that the object passed over them at a height of less
than 600 feet—silently.

At 2:00 A.M., our valley became covered with fog. We were
about 500 feet from a stream, and the condensation was extremely
heavy. We were cold too, so we retired to the tent; but we did not
sleep well on the hard ground. Who would have thought that we
would need an extra blanket or two in the middle of the summer.

The next morning I took off the plastic covers that ha
protected the equipment from the dew and put the equipment
After a hasty breaMast, Jim and I saw a young man approaching.
he neared, I recognized Harry Willson of Piedmont, an
major at the University and, like Mike Toney, a Scout field
During our conversation, he brought me up to date on loc
sightings, then he left to conduct a .22-caliber-rifle target p
with some young Scouts. bad

Later in the morning, Kirkwood and I went to a cabin ^
been donated to the Scouts by a Sikeston businessman, oe
gomery. We had a delightful conversation with a
director from Scotland who was staying in the cabin. After

1974: End of a UFO Flap 191

lunch, we rendezvoused with Aldrich and Hickam at the radio station
in Piedmont. After a chat with Dennis Hovis, we went to Clearwater
Lake and Dam for sightseeing and loafing in the park. When we got
back to the radio station, Ken learned that his mother was ill. He and
Hickam left for Cape.

I was curious about the view from the fire tower at Vulcan;
when Jim and I visited there, I was not disappointed. The tower was
practically in the well-kept front yard of a white frame house, where
many flowers lent their color to the scene. No one was home, but I
assumed that a park ranger live there. We pitched our tent on the
lawn near the base of the fire tower.

Before dark, we made several trips up the tower, carrying
observation equipment. We had a view in any direction to the
horizon. But the wind didn’t help our situation. Ousting up to 20
miles per hour, it caused the tower to sway perceptibly.

During the evening, we saw several aircraft. At 10:45, we had
a Class B sighting: a light in the southwest, going south. It looked
more like a satellite in polar orbit than a high-altitude aircraft—undl
it went out. About midnight, two young men drove in, climbed the
tower, and visited for about an hour, with many UFO stories to tell.
We quit our vigil soon after they left.

After breakfast, we packed our equipment and tent and drove
back to Cape, arriving at 12:30.

On Friday, July 6, Bob Adams, John Wilson, and I went back
to Piedmont again to meet Roswell Messing, a prominent St. Louis
businessman, his wife, Wilma, and their guests, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Baron of Olivette. The Barons had been on Pyle’s Mountain
before, on Saturday night, April 7,1973, the night after Ueleke and I
Went there the first time. They had sightings too,* but unfortunately,
the Barons were to see no UFOs this night.

^ter dinner at a local restaurant, the seven of us went to the
“joimtain, set up our equipment, and waited. By midnight, it was
fo UFOs wouldn’t show. The Messings and Barons left

their motel—too soon, as it developed, for we were about to be
^ nature’s spectacles, the northern lights. Only on

fill ^*^®®*°** (from a jet five miles up) have I seen them more beauti-
toB I had a wide-angle lens with me and 1 loaned it

®bot an entire roll of color film, while I exposed the display
t<itQ ®®^*’f/1.4 lens of smaller field. When we had finished, we left
"^1 home at about 4:30 in the morning.

^°^8h we set up twice more in July, we didn’t have a UFO

until November.

L

192 1974: End of a UFO Flap

By 6:00 P.M., CST, on Wednesday, November 27, Hickam,
Wilson, and I were in position on the Blomeyer side road. A full
moon hung in the eastern sky, and temperatures were in the low
forties. Over the next two hours, we saw several moving lights in the
northwest and southwest quadrants but they may have been distant
aircraft. But at 8:10, John noticed a slow-moving amber light low in
the northwest, at an elevation of between 5® and 10®. A definite red
color could be seen through binoculars, but could not be resolved as
separate from the amber portion of the light.

I viewed it through the Celestron telescope, using a 40-mm
focal length eyepiece lens, giving a magniHcation of 50X, consider¬
ably more than the binoculars we were using. I couldn’t resolve the
lights either (Fig. 16.1a). Nevertheless, I didn’t stop tracking to
change from the 40-mm to the 25-mm eyepiece, with SOX magnifica¬
tion. On SOX, the light would have been difficult to relocate in the
telescope.

The light, in the northwest quadrant, was moving south¬
west—which meant that it was moving farther west, away from us. I
timed its transit across my field of view at nine seconds, giving an
angular speed of only about 0.06® per second. Truly, it was quite
distant In the telescope, the amber light appeared as a relatively
large ball of yellow light that appeared to scintillate and sparkle. At
times, the top of the ball showed a red tinge.

Hickam, who was viewing the light in binoculars, suddenly
exclaimed, “It just went out! The light just went out!’’

“No, it didn’t,’’ I replied. “The yellow light went out, but
there are still two red lights on it.’’ One was a small, steady ball of
red light, while the other was a larger red light that pulsed two times
per second. The pulsing red light resembled the common area of two
overlapping circles of equal radii (Fig. 6. lb). Both lights fit perfectly
into the circle defined by the yellow ball of light I had seen before it
went out.

The only conventional explanation I can present is that we
had been viewing several external lights on a helicopter. I
accept that an internal cabin light produced the effect, however. 0
is the fact that the two red lights fit precisely into the circle
light. Perhaps the flashing red light was reflected off the cabin
rotating beacon light on the helicopter. That portion of
would have to be opaque, because FAA regulations are
regarding the periodic variations of light from an airplane
copter’s anticollision warning light system. Light from this s.v
must not shine directly into the cabin, although reflections fro®

1974: End of a UFO Flap 193

(a)

RED TINGE

(b)

RED. FUVSHINQ

TWO TIMES PER SECOND

Fig. 16-1 View of a light through a Celestron telescope
on SOX. In (a) the scintillating yellow light had a red
fringe on top occasionally. In (b) the yellow light
extinguished, leaving a small, steady red light and a
larger red light that flashed two times per second

struts, wheel structures, or even the propeller, may be visible to the
cabin occupants. If the aircraft enters a cloud, the effect of the
•hythmic light reflecting off the surrounding water vapor is usually so
*^ere that the pilot turns off the anticollision warning light system.

the system were left on, the pilot could suffer disorientation or
MJcker vertigo.’

At 8:25, we saw a light in the west that appeared to be farther
®y than the previous sighting. Through the telescope, I easily
® e out three white lights and a red light One white light was
'’^hter than the other two.

uigjjtj ^®te January 1975 a Carlyle, Illinois, woman had a similar
amber light followed her car for about fifteen miles,
I <li8playing a red tinge about its circumference. Then, too,

Aprti *®^ded of the Pingel-Colyer sightings from their aircraft on
• 1973, near and at Farmington.

n four nights in December, we set up equipment on the

194 1974; End of a UFO Flap

Blomeyer side road. By this time, I had procured blazed trans¬
mission diffraction gratings to place in front of the camera lens, even
when the camera was attached to the Celestron telescope. The more
efficient gratings would enhance my chances of capturing the color
spectrum of a UFO on film.

On December 13, the last night that the sky was clear in
December, I was set up on the Blomeyer side road alone. To keep
frost off the telescope corrector plate at the front of the telescope, I
placed three handwarmers, suspended in an elastic band, around the
telescope’s barrel. The handwarmers were needed, all right; my
thermometer read one degree below zero.

Using the camera grating attached to the eyepiece of the
Celestron telescope, I photographed a mercury-vapor yard light
about a mile to the east. Later, when the Ozark flight appeared north
of Cape with its landing lights on, I photographed it too.

About 30 minutes later, I saw a light in the southwest moving
north. Through the telescope it was just an orange light. I exposed it
through the telescope and grating. Then the light got dimmer and
nearly disappeared; finally, it went out. When the slide film was
developed, this Class B sighting exhibited a color spectrum.

At 10:05, I had had enougL I missed Bob Adams and the
others, and didn’t much care for observing alone. I put the equip¬
ment away and went to visit Bob at his home.

The year 1974, just past, had been rather fruitful, better than
I had expected. The Project was still viable, and I had plans to
acquire more sophisticated equipment.

NOTES

1. M. Minnaert, The Nature of Light and Color in the Open Air (New York

Dover Publications, Inc., 1954), p. 262. i nf the

E. 0. Hulbert, “Optics of SearchUght niumination,"

Optical Society of America, Vol. 36, No. 8 (August j (Old

Frank B. Salisbury, The Utah UFO Display, A Biologists Repm
Greenwich, Conn.: The Devin-Adair Co., 1974), PP’ , p.mjiy loW

2. Gerald Meyer, “Piedmont Aerial Carnival Turns A "hole

UFO Believers,” St Louis Post-Dispatch, April 20, A^'„erso'’^

3. Barry Schiff, The ft'o/icicnt H/ot (Washington, D.C.: Aircral

Pilots Association, 1980), p. 63. feder*

Instrument Flying Handbook, Department of Transporta ^ los
Aviation Administration, Aero Products Researc •

Angeles, p. 9.

> 0 *

FIVE YEARS
OF ACCIDENTAL
SIGHTINGS:

1975-1980

During the years between 1975 and 1980, we made few field setups;
for the two-year period of 1976 and 1977, in fact, there were no field
setups. Because of a change in administrative personnel at the
University, my duties and my teaching load nearly doubled. At
times, I was tempted to terminate Project Identification and store
tile data. But because of sporadic but continuing UFO reports from
others living in southeast Missouri, and because of my own infrequent
^idental sightings, I did not terminate the Project, and continued

check the sky on a daily basis. I had sequences of accidental
*ghtings, mostly incredible, often from my yard, followed by long

“tervals of no sightings.

year 1975 started off with an accidental sighting of the
^ ®sic flying disc. At about 8:30 P.M., on Friday, January 3, my wife
•tight *^tiiming home from a visit downtown. I was driving. The
fegt and dark; the sky was clear. When we were about 120

the y T driveway, we saw a light emerge from behind trees in
becjjjjjJ* ti) our left. Moving rapidly across our front to the east, it
the ’®88ked by trees on our right. I asked my wife if she had seen
deacrj..^ ^tiing I had. She described a flying disc. I concurred with her

"®^Pt.on (Fig. 17.1).

195

196 Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980

Fig. 17-1 Ruorescent-colored disc that passed over Westrldge Street on January 3,
1975. Note light at top of the dome

The semi-convex disc was self-luminous, the color of a flu¬
orescent light or a TV screen that is momentarily blank. I also made
out a dim yellow light at the top of the dome but not protruding
above it. My wife didn’t see the small yellow light, but the disc was
moving so fast that detail was difficult to see. The surface of the
dome did not differ from the rest of the surface; that is, no dome
structure was apparent except its outline.

In reenacting the event, my wife and I estimated that the disc
moved through 30° in about three seconds, maybe less, yielding an
angular speed of 10° per second. In my opinion, the diameter of the
disc was about 20 feet. It was very low, appearing to pass over the
houses about a block away at an altitude of 500 feet.

The next day I told my good friend. Dr. Harold Hager,
chairman of the Department of Mathematics at the University, that a
disc had passed over his house. The laconic Hager had little to say,
but he didn’t disbelieve me, either. Several years before, he and Ws
wife Jeanine had seen a peculiar vehicle with windows in the vicinity

of Rolla, Missouri.

On January 24,1 received an incredible report about a teenage
girl who was chased by a UFO in an area known as the Landgw
subdivision in the middle of Cape Girardeau! Lori Klinkhardt,

14, described the object as “about four times the diameter o ^
Frisbee.’’ On each side of the disc a blue light glowed;
red light in the rear, and a dominant white light in the j. ^nd

Lori reached the carport of her home, the object overtook
flashed a bright light down on her. • hbor?^'

The latter part of the episode was observed by a neig
Sandra Peterman. Lori’s mother observed the flash of the
inside the house. According to Lori’s mother, Lori rushe
house crying, “Mom! Mom! I can’t see!’’ The effect persi”
she went to bed. Her eyesight was normal the next mormwe*

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 197

After learning of the incident a few days later, I took Lori to a
local ophthalmologist for an eye examination. He found no retinal
bums or other eye damage.

Landing sites are of particular interest to ufologists because
of the interaction with the environment. Effects on soil may include
the destruction of organic materials, loss of more volatile elements or
compounds, introduction of metallic elements to the soil, residual
radioactivity and magnetism, possible recrystallization of minerals
present in the soil, and introduction of foreign materials in solid or
liquid form.' I investigated a few alleged landing sites—“alleged,"
that is, unless a UFO had been seen to land or leave the vicinity of
the site.

One particular case was brought to my attention by Tony
Legrand. On July 19, 1975, Charlie Baldwin, vice-president of the
Davis Electric Company in Cape, Legrand, and I went to a farm near
Glenallen where we met with the tenant He took us to a flat area
near a cattle pen that adjoined a bam. A few feet south of the pen
was an annular ring ten inches wide and fourteen feet in diameter,
the latter measurement often reported in landing site cases.^ The
tenant told me that he had discovered the ring almost three weeks
before. At that time, he said, the “ring was very distinctive,” al¬
though now the grass was growing into it on the side nearest the pen.

We took soil samples using clean plastic spoons, placing them
in clean glass jars. Samples some distance from the ring were taken
«8 controls. The area was checked for residual magnetism, for
radioactivity, and for foreign material. We photographed the ring
with black-and-white and color film, using a variety of niters, and
with infrared-sensitive film.

Samoles were riven elemental analv.sis in 197fi. iininir the

otometer), and in 1978 more extensive tests were made using a

®i®ctron microscope where the results were displayed on a

screen (Princeton Gamma-Tech ISI Super I scanning

microscope). The elements found in the soil were in the

^ ® abundance in the control samples and those taken from the
‘6 area.

Ihn* j.??^m8tingly, the incident involving the white sphere of lieht

tar^ pa occurred on July 12, 1975, about five miles from the

198 Five Years of Accidental Sightings; 1975-1980

For a whUe on Saturday night, August 30, Mark and I sus¬
pected we were observing a pseudostar. There was an extra star in
the constellation Cygnus. Because it remained in position, allowing
us to photograph it at our leisure, we concluded that we were seeing
a relatively rare astronomical event, a nova. (A nova is a star that
becomes unstable and blows off excess material, flaring up brightly
for a period of a few days to several weeks.) The next day, we read in
the newspaper that it was indeed a nova, first discovered by a
Japanese schoolboy. Because of the overcast in our area, we had
been unable to see it until Saturday night At least Mark had the
distinction of discovering the nova locally, although the ever-alert
Bob Adams had found it too.

The only other sighting of 1976 came on the night of Novem¬
ber 8, during one of four field trips for the entire year. I had been
receiving reports of strange lights—even huge furry creatures!—in
the vicinity of Egypt Mills, just seven miles from my home.

At 10:30, Bob Adams and I had been set up for about three
hours when an off-color white light approached from the north on
line. By this time, we had seen several aircraft, but we carefully
watched this slow-moving light through binoculars. When it was
about two miles away, it turned abruptly west. The sharp turn
reminded me of other lights I had seen. Through binoculars, two
lights of unequal brightness were in line. No other lights required by
FA A regulations could be seen. The light was in view for about five
minutes.

On Sunday, June 20,1976, twilight was waning when my wife
and I set out for a leisurely walk around the Oak Hills subdivision,
where we live. As we were nearing the bottom of the first hill, I
picked up the flashing red lights of a commercial Ozark flight headed
for the airport south of Cape. The flash pattern was familiar because
I had seen it many times: a red rotating beacon on top of the
and another on the bottom, the two lights offset somewhat. I watc e
the shape of the airplane as it made its way over the southeaste
part of the city. .

After walking about 100 feet farther, I looked up to chec ^
sky again. I had made a habit of doing this because of the^
incidence of UFO appearances at or about the time an airpla"^
passed by. I looked in the direction where I had
airplane, expecting to see the consteUation Cygnus and bng
in the nearby constellation of Lyra. But I became confuse
were two Vegas! At that moment, I did not know which ypgai*’
star and which the impostor. The pseudostar was identical to
both color and brightness.

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 199

About five seconds later, I pointed toward the stars, saying,
“Hey, there’s something funny going on up there. Look at that!”
Then, before my wife could look up, the pseudostar to the right of
the real Vega went out. It did not switch off instanteously, but
dimmed out in about one half-second.

Quickly, we retraced our steps up the steep hill back to our
house while I debated whether to telephone the pilot at the airport.
The light had appeared to be about 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the
path of the Ozark aircraft. Before reaching home, I decided not to
telephone: the light had not been visible when the airplane passed;
hence, the pilot couldn’t have seen it.

Instead, I photographed that area of the sky with a 50-mm
lens camera system. I made three exposures on black and white film,
each of 10 minutes’ duration (Plates 31, 32, emd 33). Only the star
trails, caused by the rotation of the earth, appear in the first two
exposures, but the pseudostar shows up faintly in the last exposure.
/ never saw it, however.

At about 7:15, on July 15, 1976,1 had left the 1-55 ramp to
Route 74, on my way to the Adams Observatory. Ruth, Mark, and
Chris Watson were along. The boys and I would stay for the astron¬
omy club meeting. Ruth and the boys first noticed the off-white light
hovering far south of the airport. Just as I glimpsed the light, it went
out. This daylight sighting was labeled Class B. Even though we
could not make out a solid object, I could not be positive that it was
not an aircraft with landing lights on.

After the astronomy club meeting, we stepped outside to
enjoy the view of the dark, clear sky. Immediately, I looked to the
*'orth. There, over Cape or beyond, was a starlike object. “What star
IS that. Bob?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. No one else volunteered an
**!^r^*^ either. In a moment we knew; the light went out and became
e Class B sighting.

ch w 10:30 P.M., on August 21,1976,1 stepped outside to

lou- night sky. Our family had arrived at my parents’ home in
1 Manawa in the southeast part of Council Bluffs. When

an ^ ^ west, toward Omaha, I saw a light that I figured to be

lay because the Strategic Air Command Headquarters (SAC)
exacti^"^ to the south of Omaha. But the light wasn’t moving. It
The ®®tched the star Arcturus in color, and was nearly as bright.

separation of the light and Arcturus was about five

^^t it the time that I realized the light was not moving and
sn t an aircraft, it went out. No physical form could be seen

200 Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980

in the glow of the city lights of Omaha, but the distance to the light
may have been ten miles or more.

Students often come to my office to discuss UFOs in privacy.
Before the conversation ends, they usually ask me where I see UFOs.
I respond that I have seen them from various locations about the
countryside, and from the city, including my front yard. I used to
add, “But I have never seen one from my office window.”

When I arrived at the office on Sunday morning, September
5,1976, the clock on the wall read nine o’clock. Before sitting down
to work, I looked out the large, second-story window facing north,
over the entrance to Magill Hall of Science. The sky was light blue
and cloudless with calm air, the sun warm on the landscape. All was
quiet; I was alone in the building. My yellow 1969 Mustang was the
only car in the parking lot Nothing moved except an occasional
sparrow flitting about the birdhouse on a pole some distance from
my window. What a beautiful day! I thought I would rather be
playing golf.

Sitting down to the task at hand, I put my thoughts of golf
aside. In this position, light from the outside fell on my desk from the
rear, and nothing outside distracted me.

At exactly 10:30,1 turned in my swivel chair to look outside
and rest my eyes. High in the sky, and on line with the birdhouse, a
flash of light caught my attention. In one brief instant, I had a
glimpse of a disc shape—somewhat similar to the World War I
helmet of the American soldier, and similar in shape to the disc my
wife and I had seen in early January 1975. The disc shot upward at a
very steep angle, slightly to the right The leading edge appeared to
accelerate or move before the back part, presenting a stretch effect
Within two to four degrees of arc, the disc simply faded from view
(Fig. 17.2). The fadeout effect was not caused by the disc receding in
the distance, for the disc was traveling almost perpendicular to iny
line of sight The whole event may have lasted one fifth of a secon •

Immediately, I checked my surroundings to see if the eve ^
had somehow been produced by reflected light. First I
reflections of the office fluorescent lights from the large
because the outside daylight illumination was much greater than
of the fluorescent lights, I eliminated these reflections as a
cause. Next, I checked the location of the sun to see if direct siw
on the window could have produced the effect. Not possible, t
was behind the northeast comer of the building, and
window was in shadow. Then, I looked for a source
sunlight outside my office—in particular, a moving ®P®. \ly

tor (smooth surface) such as the windshield of a moving

A

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 201

tf

/

/

Fig. 17-2

Stationary car was the only one in view. Last, as I looked out the
window, I moved my head to various positions, but I could not pick
up reflected sunlight from any smooth surface. I concluded that in
spite of the short duration of the sighting, I really had seen the
classic daylight flying saucer.

The fadeout effect intrigued me. In my opinion, the object
moved so fast that not enough light, reflecting from the object,
*)itered my eye to stimulate the cone receptors in the retina.’ A
-milar circumstance can be experienced with a camera, when a
^^ding object may fail to register on film because too few photons
®ch the film emulsion to register a latent image.

Idlb 26,1976, Bob and I drove more than 50 miles to

m response to a woman who telephoned to say that she had
m UFOs. Actually, she had been seeing the three stars

®7ion. Low to the east on cool fall nights, these stars
iJpQ brightest. Originally, I feel, she had had a bona fide

But 8h sparked her interest in an unfamiliar night sky.

B sigbJ[^^ before we arrived at Lilboum, Bob and I did have a Class

k ***®*ke(i ® hovering light that disappeared while the terrain

uur view of it for a few seconds.

202 Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980

In 1977, 1 had six accidental sightings, but three of the four
Class B sightings occurred one night over a span of a few minutes.
Two of the six sightings were Class A.

On June 20, 1977, exactly one year after my sighting of the
pseudostar near Vega, I had a somewhat similar experience, except
that it happened soon after an evening stroll through our subdivision.
Ruth went inside, but I stayed in the yard to observe the sky. At
about 10:30, I watched a dim light, of about third magnitude,
traveling toward Alkaid, the first star in the handle of the Big Dipper,
with a star magnitude of +1.9.

Astronomers use a star brightness magnitude scale such that
a star of magnitude +1 is about 2.5 times as bright as a star of
magnitude +2, and is about 100 times as bright as a star of magni¬
tude +6, which is so faint that few persons can see it with the naked
eye. The stars Spica and Pollux are about magnitude +1 stars, being
+0.98 and +1.15, respectively. Telescopes, used to detect fainter
stars, have been constructed with large-diameter mirrors that can
detect stars fainter than magnitude +23.

Stars of negative magnitude are even brighter than those of
positive magnitude. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky (other than
our sun), is magnitude -1.47. Venus, a planet, can be as bright as
magnitude -4; our sun is rated at about -27.

In other words, the moving light was not as bright as Alkaid.

I assumed that the off-white light was a high-aldtude aircraft.
But the sequence of events that followed seemed to eliminate that
possibility.

When the light got to within about three degrees of Alkaid, it
simply disappeared. I peered ahead of the point where it vanished,
thinking that I might pick it up again. Perhaps the light had been
obscured by haze or cloud. But all the other stars in the vicinity were
visible and steady in brightness. ,

About that time, I saw Merak, the lower pointer star of ^
Dipper, flare brilliantly, taking about one second to reach
brilliance and go out again. I turned my attention to that region o
Dipper. Obviously, I thought, the star itself didn’t flare; ^
had to be hovering exactly on line with me and Merak. I r®ca ®
night that a pseudostar had originated on line with my telescop

Venus. seconds

I was surprised when the light flared again a .
later. This time it was about 3° or so to the right of a line
two pointer stars and positioned about half the distance
them (Fig. 17.3). For an instant, I thought that all i®

Missouri would be illuminated, but as before, the light eu

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 203

Flg.17-a

\</

about one second. Other persons had told me that they had seen
large areas of terrain illuminated by hovering lights. In one case, a
woman saw the phenomenon from a window of her rural home at
about four o’clock in the morning. Apparently it happens most
frequently after midnight.

Friday evening, October 7,1977,1 awoke from a nap, alone at
home in the dark. The rest of the family had gone shopping. Without
himmg on the lights, I made my way out into the front yard where I
discovered that a faint twilight persisted. To the northeast, I saw two
'[®ry bright lights moving fast to the east. Both lights had passed my
•'e of sight to the KFVS-TV tower. The light in back showed a
^ Mting red light. No problem there, I thought; it’s an airplane. But
® light in front was pure white. It could be a UFO, I surmised. My
was that one light was chasing the other.

Within four seconds after I first saw the lights, the one in front
Now, my curiosity was aroused! The trailing light began to
^ian tn* ®’“’ou8 maneuver. Instead of continuing on course, it
the traiv ® figure-eight pattern. After completing the pattern,
I'ositive'^u continued on its eastward course. Because I was not
*^^ded ^ ** jet-UFO chase—there was no sound—I

^ iog the description in my files and forget it.

JlW(

cnty minutes later, additional information from Jon

204 Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980

Hickam confirmed my observation of a jet^UFO chase. A former Air
Force electronics expert and brother of Jim Hickam, he lived five
miles west of 1-55 and more than five miles north of Jackson. At
7:15, he saw a bright white light coming up 1-55 from the south at an
altitude he estimated as 5,000 feet. As he watched, the configuration
didn’t change in passing by, as an airplane does. Even when he
looked at the silent light through a 4X rifle scope, it was “just a ball
of light.”

When Hickam noticed a commercial airliner overhead, the
light dimmed, soon changing to an orange color and turning sharply
to the northeast. Then he heard a McDonnell F-4 Phantom jet
diving from the northwest from a much higher altitude than the light.
He said that the jet “was really highballing,” breaking the sound
barrier with its afterburners on. Hiclmm lost sight of the jet and the
light behind some trees on a ridge to the northeast.

Moments later, when I saw the light, it had changed back to
white. With the identification of the jet, the sighting now took on a
new complexion.

To my surprise, I was indirectly to receive additional confir¬
mation of the jet-UFO chase from another witness who was very near
the sighting. A few days after the event, an Air Force cadet at the
University came to my office to tell me about a jet-UFO chase that
ended over Dlinois. I checked the date with him; they were the same.
He told me that a University student had observed the event from
his vantage point ten miles north of Cape on Perryville Road. The
student told the ROTC cadet that “a McDonnell F-4 Phantom had
chased a UFO over into Illinois.” The student had heard and seen
the jet and, having spent a tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force,
recognized the tail structure as that of an F-4. When the ROTC
cadet came by my office to tell me of the other student’s sighting, he
didn’t know that I too had seen the event and had received a report
from another eyewitness.

On October 9,1977, at 6:00 P.M., CDT, Mark and I went mW
the back yard to toss a football around. Not a whisper of air w ^
about. We threw the ball back and forth a few times until I
over his head. As he was retrieving it, I had an urge to jook
overhead. Instead of looking around the sky at about 45®, as I ^jy
did, I looked straight up—a difficult position for the neck. I
saw a small sphere the color of plastic, like polystyrene with a ^ p,
surface; i.e., not specular, but slightly diffuse. It moved
dicularly over our yard in a straight line to the southeast.

I called Mark over, not taking my eye from it, becaus

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 205

not contrast with the clear sky. I pointed, but Mark could not locate
it. In fact, he never did see it although I pointed at it during the
several minutes it was in view.

After the sphere had traveled southeast for two or three
minutes, it made a slight hitch as if to turn south, but went east
instead. Soon it was out of sight.

I cannot say that it was not a balloon, but I have never seen
one like it. Second, it did not reflect light any better once it was
opposite us from the sun. Third, it didn’t appear to be more than a
thousand feet high, although I realize that the sky was featureless,
and there were no visual clues. But disregarding my feeling of
premonition, why did I look straight up and—more important—why
did I see it that very instant, while Mark was unable to locate it at all?

In the fall of 1977,1 was photographing Jupiter in the eastern
sky every two weeks, always at the same clock hour. My purpose was
to show students photographically how a planet changes its position
relative to a fixed-star background. (In Greek, the word “planet”
means “wanderer.”)

On the night of November 16, while photographing Jupiter
from my front yard, I noticed a bright point of light to the lower right
of Jupiter and assumed that it was a star. The next night, I stepped
out at about eight o’clock, to return to work at my office. I checked
the sky, first looking in the direction of Jupiter and couldn’t believe
what 1 saw. A pseudostar, identical in color and brightness to the real
star on the lower right, was to the upper right of Jupiter. Not only
that, the two stars and Jupiter made an equilateral triangle, with
“'Tee equal sides and three 60® angles (Fig. 17.4). I thought, “Hey,
httle star, you don’t belong there!” Then the pseudostar obligingly
®oved about 3* to the right and went out.

'^he first sighting of 1978 did not occur until June 26. At
^ P'M., Mark stepped outside to go to the garage and took a

-Outl

Jupiter %

• Real Star

'The pseudostar to the upper right of Jupiter
^ ®Quilateral triangle with Jupiter and the real star
^jhe lower right The pseudostar moved over and went

*^06 Fivp Years of Accidental Sightings; 1975-1980

quick loo) « the sky. An extra third-magnitude star caught his
attention «hout 2“ west of Arcturus. About one second later, the
Dseudostp» "‘dimmed out.”

His next sighting of the evening was at 12:05 A.M. when he
and I were on a walk through the subdivision. We were on Hunting-
ton Drive, the last leg of our route before turning onto Westridge.
Mark, scanmng the sky to the north, saw a first-magnitude star about
halfway between Polaris and the horizon and a few degrees of the
meridian. After he realized that it was a pseudostar, it flared to an
approximate magnitude, -3, and “dimmed out” I remarked about
his having had two sightings in one night, but he told me that one
night, from the front yard, he had seen five, all of which reacted this
way. Chris Watson saw them too.

During June 1978 UFO sightings and cattle mutilations were
reported near Elsberry, Missouri, about 50 miles northwest of
St. Louis. At the invitation of one of my students from Elsberry, five
Project members set up equipment in a field on his father’s farm,
Plate 34. Because of hysteria generated by certain segments of the
media, I decided to wait until media personnel had left the area. On
the nights of July 2 and 3, Bob Adams, Jim Hickam, Mark, and I,
along with John Huston, a professional cinemaphotographer from
St. Louis, watched the sky, but we saw no UFOs. We did not
investigate cattle mutilations.

On July 29, Mark and I set up on the Blomeyer side road
where we listened to a St. Louis Cardinal baseball game as twilight
slipped away. The planet Mars was relatively low in the western sky
and not very bright. To the left of Mars, I noted a large area devoid of
stars. It was not yet dark.

While Mark adjusted the radio, I turned to check the eastern
sky for about five seconds. When I turned to face the west, sure
enough, an extra light hung to the left of Mars. I yelled at Mark to
look at it through the Celestron telescope. I could determine that the
light was headed directly toward us. While Mark examined the ligh
on 50X, I rotated the blazed grating on the 50-mm
system to orient it properly for the light’s head-on motion. To
a ball of light showed in the telescope. No lights required by

object to either arrive on line or appear. It didn’t. We never ne
engine sound near our position. The light had simply disapp®

regulations could be seen. Then, just as I completed adjusting
grating and was ready to cock the camera, the light went out. J
was crossing the sky, from south to north in the vicinity of the ligh
above it. The two events could have been related, or justcoinciden^^^
Mark and I peered into the semidarkness, waiting

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 207

On November 8,1 set up on the Blomeyer side road using two
35-mm cameras with gratings in front of their lenses and a Beaulieu
4008ZM4 8-mm movie camera. The moon was about 20“ right of
south and so very bright that I could see my shadow. The night was
clear and cold. Orion was almost completely “up” in the east.

At 8:45,1 watched a light approach from the south-southwest
on a path that would take it west of my position. Through binoculars,
I could see only a single ball of light. Then, before it reached
Advance, it started a slow turn to the southwest. I watched it recede
for several minutes, when suddenly I saw a bright amber light
directly west., going north. Certainly, the light did not come from the
south, or I would have seen it My guess is that the object flew from
the south with its lights off, turning them on when due west of my
position. I labeled the sighting Class B.

Working as a team, John Wilson and I had seen many UFOs
in 1973. John graduated from the University in 1974, later leaving
the southeast Missouri area to work as a night assistant at McDonald
Observatory in Texas. (He returned to the. University for graduate
work in physics in the fall of 1977 and will receive his master’s degree
in astronomy from Vanderbilt University in 1981.) I had confided to
John my sightings subsequent to 1973, including my suspicion that
the UFOs either reacted to me or were aware of my presence—a
claim that I never made public. Apparently, John had not been
convinced, but in September 1978, he was to change his mind.

While walking across campus one night with a friend, John
noticed a stationary bright light to the east in the Great Square of
Pegasus. He knew it was not a bright star or planet. After about 25
seconds, he pointed it out to his friend. When the friend looked up,
Ihe light went out.

On Thursday, May 24,1979, Mark and I went to Farmington
to set up in the field on the Fred Billedo farm. I hoped to reconstruct
toe sighting of the pseudostar that had appeared at the bottom of a
^rtical row of three stars six years before so that we could identify
J two real stars. Unfortunately, friendly cattle harassed us and a
toinstorm swept in from the northwest well before dark. We left the
® d, and when the rain had subsided, we went into Farmington so
1 Mark could get something to eat

^terward, we were driving south on Route D when I saw a
een Ughj crossing our front After it crossed the road, I realized
>^0 other lights required by FAA regulations. In my lap
tjg ® camera loaded with color film. I told Mark to stop the car, but
to a stop right behind some trees that masked the light,
' anting an exposure.

208 Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980

The next night I was in Charleston. Five women had reported
to me that the previous night, while they were driving south toward
East Prairie, a light had settled down behind a local motorcycle shop
along Route 105. In addition, the owner of the shop behind which the
light appeared told me that his outdoor advertising sign had gone out
during the night and that the next morning his clock was 18 minutes
slow. The women confirmed that when they arrived at the shop, the
advertising sign was dark.

I checked the area carefully and found no evidence of inter¬
action with the environment. After dark, I set up some equipment at
the farm home of Judy Greenwood, one of the five women involved.
While she and her mother were with me in the yard, Judy and I saw a
star high in the west that went out. It was among several similar
stars, all of about the second magnitude. She told me that she had
seen it too, but would not have mentioned it if I hadn’t brought it up.
She said she was afraid that I would think she was crazy, a response
that is not unusual from persons who have seen a UFO.

Mark and I were not the only ones in our family to whom
UFOs seemed to react. At 11:00 P.M., CDT, June 28,1979, my wife
went outside to close the windows of my Mustang parked in the street.
Then she turned around and, while looking over the roof of the
house, saw a bright light hovering in the sky. She thought the light,
by her estimation much brighter than Vega, was a planet. In a few
seconds, it moved slowly to the right and went out. She is not very
familiar with the night sky. Hence, her situation differed from that of
Mark’s and mine: we would have known before the light moved that
it was not a star or planet By moving, the light attracted her
attention—either a coincidence or a reaction to her gaze. But be¬
cause she is not a member of the Project her sighting is not included
in our statistics.

If there is any doubt that the intelligence behind the UFOs
recognized my presence, it was removed Wednesday evening, Sep¬
tember 26,1979. Mark and I were tossing a football in the back yard.
When he and I finished at 7:45,1 walked toward the patio, where
Ruth and our daughters, Jane and Sarah, were sitting. I looked up-
Hovering in the sky was a very bright white light that reminded me of
Venus, but Venus wasn’t visible. I hadn’t seen a UFO for a long tim®
and was trying to rationalize the sighting. When Mark reached roe,
elbowed him in the side, saying, “Son, how do you like Venus sittioS
up there?” He looked up and shuddered, for he too knew that Venus
was not visible.

Then, at the instant I told Ruth to go into the house to get ro^

Five Years of Accidental Sightings: 1975-1980 209

binoculars, the light dimmed and began to move directly away from
us. It dimmed and brightened three times as it moved. Mark ran
inside to get the 800-mm lens camera system. When I got the
binoculars, I examined the now-distant light but could see no struc¬
ture. Jane brought my Olympus OM-1 camera on a tripod. Mark and
I made exposures, but when developed, none showed the light. In the
distance, it had diminished in brightness and did not contrast well
with the sky. The light’s path of departure suggested to me that it
may have passed directly overhead to reach the point where we first
saw it hovering.

The last sightings of 1979, and the last to be reported in this
book, were on Friday, November 9. I was driving home from the
University and turned on Westridge Drive. Topping the small hill, I
saw a flash of xenon-colored light straight ahead under a heavy
overcast. The time was 5:15 and daylight prevailed. At the moment,
I didn’t count the flash as a UFO because, I reasoned, the flash could
have been internal to my eye, an entoptic effect due to a minute lack
of oxygen in the retina.^ Five seconds later, a second flash occurred.
Now, I knew for sure I was seeing real light flashes even though no
material object was visible in daylight to create them. I guessed that
the flashes were no more than a mile away.

These two sightings ended the seven-year period beginning
that first night on Pyle’s Mountain when Ueleke and I had five
sightings of a hovering light. Even now, I wonder when and under
what conditions the next UFO sighting will occur. I wait... and I
watch.

NOTES

1. John W. Wilson, “Analysis of Soil Samples Collected at a Reported UFO

Landing Site in Southeast Missouri,” Project Report, March 1976.
Wilson, “Continued Analysis of Soil Samples Collected at a Reported
- UFO Landing Site in Southeast Missouri,” Project Report, July 1978.

2. Ted Phillips, Physical TVaces Associated with UFO Sightings (Northfield,

Dl.: The Center for UFO Studies, 1975), p. 125.

• Charles A. Dvorak, “Retinal Signals and Noise Underlying Visual Detec¬

tion,” News Release, American Institute of Physics, New York,
October 12,1979.

Suzanne P. McKee, “Visual Detection of Differences in Velocity,” News
Release, American Institute of Physics, New York, November 1,
1978.

• John H. Taylor, Letters, Physics Today (October 1975), p. 11.

PROJECT

SUMMARY:

A FINAL REPORT

Up to this point, many individual sightings have been described;
several have been analyzed. This chapter undertakes a summary of
the data, to look for trends, to search for patterns, and to see if the
intelligence behind the UFOs, be it human or otherwise, has left a
message to be deciphered. By looking at the physical properties of
the UFOs, perhaps a better understanding of the phenomenon will
result.

Let us look at the scope of the Project over the seven-year
period, 1973 to 1980. A total of 158 viewing stations were set up,
during which the sky was watched for 427 hours, an average of 2.70
hours per station. Of the 620 observers on watch, 378 were Project
observers.

We defined an “observer” as any person looking at the slo^ for
UFOs, without regard to identification of the person. If an individual
was present three nights at a particular location, he would have been
counted as three observers at that location. If a friend came along for
two of those nights, there would have been five observers involving
two persons. If the first individual was a Project member, then ther©
were three Project observers at the location and two observers or
spectators. .

Of course, a particular Project member was counted
night on watch. For example, I was on station 137 nights; 230 otn

210

Project Summary: A Final Report 211

Project observers were on station; and 253 spectators watched with
us. The total number of observer-hours was 1,919 while the mem¬
bers of the Project spent a total of 1,161 observer-hours on watch.
Not included are the many hours Project members individually
checked the sky when not at a setup.

In the Project, there were a total of 157 sightings of 178
UFOs, of which there were 34 Class A sightings of 45 UFOs. Obvi¬
ously, some sightings were of the multiple-UFO type, the extreme
example being the ten lights I observed through binoculars from an
aircraft near Piedmont on May 11, 1973. In fact, there were 11
multiple-UFO sightings for which 33 UFOs were observed.

It would be presumptuous of me to claim that every one of the
157 sightings involved bona fide UFOs. Hence, I have carefully
selected 40 Class B sightings of 42 UFOs, all seen during darkness,
as possible aircraft or helicopters. We could not identify them, of
course, although in our opinion, we should have been able to. Be¬
cause jets—excluding four Harriers at McDonnell Douglas in St.
Louis— do not hover, 12 of the sightings (14 UFOs) are categorized
as possible helicopters. A request to the Army, Air Force, and state
National Guard units to identify any of these sightings as their
vehicles has been made. Unless all flight records are kept on file,
identification is impossible.

Missouri and Iowa are well known for the high occurrence of
UFO sightings. Certainly after 1973, southeast Missouri should be
well remembered. Project observations were made from three major
geographical areas: Cape Girardeau, Piedmont, and Farmington,
though UFOs were observed also from viewing stations at Perryville
and Sikeston (Fig. 18.1). A sighting by a Project member from an
aircraft near Los Angeles is included too. UFOs are frequently seen
throughout the Mississippi River valley, with possibly higher con¬
centration in the southeast Missouri-southern Illinois region. Often I
am asked, “Why the southeast Missouri area?” Many suggestions
have been made to me to answer that question: (1) the affinity of
UkOs for the New Madrid earthquake fault, (2) the availability of
certain minerals in Missouri, and (3) the many lakes and rivers.

Another suggestion I might make is that the FAA radar

coverage is poor in southeast Missouri; in fact, it is the worst along a
oe joining Cape Girardeau with Piedmont, with no coverage at all
AA radar below 7,000 feet. This is the dividing line of respon-
®>bility between the FAA Memphis Air Traffic Control Center
l^otenna at Nashville) and the FAA Kansas City Air Traffic Control
®oter (antenna at St. Louis). Apparently, the military radar at

212 Project Summary: A Final Report

Fig. 18-1

Blytheville AFB covers the airspace at Piedmont above 2,000 feet
Some persons suggest that UFOs are prevalent in southeast
Missouri because they are based here! Remember the diver’s search
into Clearwater Lake in 1973? Then, Dennis Hovis told me that an
airlines pilot saw three lights rise out of the man-made reservoir atop
Taum Sauk Mountain near Ironton.

I can think of at least three other explanations. One is that
UFOs don’t really exist continuously in our space-time domain—a
rather heady concept that some ufologists give serious consider¬
ation.' A second explanation is that they come here from other
worlds (this galaxy? any galaxy? a parallel universe?) in huge “mother
ships” that remain outside the earth’s atmosphere, dispatching
smaller craft to reconnoiter the earth.

Perhaps these smaller ships are themselves secondary

Project Summary: A Final Report 213

"mother ships.” Persons have reported to me that craft come into
southeast Missouri skies at night to disgorge four or five little discs,
which leave for a couple of hours to scout the area. Meanwhile,
“mama” hovers high in the sky, pretending to be a star until her
"babies” return. After gathering her brood, the mother ship departs
quickly, sometimes in the “wink of an eye.” In this way, the UFOs
can be very elusive, hitting whatever geographical area they choose,
even causing minor UFO flaps lasting several nights.

Another possibility is that the phenomenon is man-made and
might originate in St. Louis—say McDonnell Douglas, which does
test aircraft and equipment over southeastern Missouri and southern
Illinois. With lighting and proper maneuvers, several helicopters
could create the illusion of the “mother ship” unloading. But for
what purpose? Besides, the argument is vitiated because all heli¬
copters are limited to speeds under 500 miles per hour and the lights
discharged from the “mother ship” travel considerably faster than
that, often appearing as just a blur.* But for the sake of argument,
assume that a secret man-made craft can travel this fast at low
altitude without making sound. Then, the frequent north-south
paths and the turning around at Williamsville seem to suggest a
I source near St. Louis.

The Ozark region has been an area of occurrence of extra-
' ordinary events well before 1973. Ghost stories and spook tales date
back a century or more.’ There could be some connection to the
UFO phenomenon. Apparently UFOs were seen in the region prior
to World War n. During a telephone inquiry I made concerning the
use of the Forestry Service fire towers, a high official in a Missouri
state agency volunteered the information that he had chased a flying
disc while flying his private aircraft near Van Buren in 1937.

To continue the search for a pattern, we examined the
‘ number of sightings by the year, limited at first to those sightings
I during nights we were set up. Then, accidental sightings were in-
^ eluded. The data are shown in Table Vn. The data are sufficient only
I for 1973 and 1974. In those two years, the number of nights for
which there were sightings average about half the nights set up. To
be more detailed, in 1973, the average number of sightings per night
I set up was 1.02 compared to 0.69 for 1974. That is, in 1973, there
I Were more nights of more than one sighting than in 1974. Because
I there was an average of one UFO sighting per night in 1973 and
■ because the average number of hours on watch per night that year
B- Was 3.08, the average time interval between sightings was about
K ^ee hours.

214 Project Summary; A Final Report

TABLE VII SIGHTINGS BY YEAR

Year

Sightings S
on Nights
Setup

Number of
Accidental
Sightings

Number of
Nights N

Set Up

Nights Set Up

M With Sightings

1973

96

10

94

44

1974

23

3

30

16

1975

1

1

6

1

1976

0

7

0

0

1977

0

6

0

0

1978

2

3

10

2

1979

2

3

2

2

124

33

141

65

Thirty-three accidental sightings occurred when we were not
on location in a field setup, constituting 21 percent of the total 157
Project sightings. Five of these occurred on the same date as a field
setup for which we also had sightings. One accidental sighting was at
dawn and another at midmoming.

Next, the number of sightings per month is examined for the
first year (April 6,1973, to April 6,1974) of the field study. Including
accidental sightings for this period, there were 115 sightings during
104 nights set up, for which there were 121 viewing stations, count¬
ing five aircraft searches on five different nights. The number of
sightings per month is shown in the histogram (Fig. 18.2).

The maximum number of sightings occurred in May 1973, the
month that we spent two full weeks in the field at Piedmont and at
Farmington. In just three nights at Farmington, there were an unprec¬
edented eighteen sightings. The sightings per month decreased
until October, when a slight rise in the number of sightings coin¬
cided with the nationwide flap. Surprisingly, there were almost as
many sightings in December, and January 1974, as in October.

The “success ratio” is defined as the number of sightings
per night set up divided by the total number of nights set up, A.
These ratios are listed in Table Vni. The success ratio for May was a
high 1.75, far greater than for any other month.

The number of sightings per month can also be found fro ^
studies of lay reports in the UFO literature.^ Most studies show t
UFOs are seen more in late spring and again in early fall. The
criticism of these studies is that they are not normalized; that is,

Project Summary. A Final Report 215

TABLE VIII SUCCESS RATIOS FROM APRIL 6,1973. TO APRIL 6.1974
(Accidental sightings are included in S; only nights set up are included in N.)

Month

Sightings

Per Night

Set Up: S/N

Month

Sightings

Per Night

Set Up: S/N

April

1:57

October

1.43

May

1.76

November

0.75

June

1.16

December

0.71

July

0.68

January (1974)

1.00

August

0.63

February (1974) 1.60

September

0.40

March (1974)

0.67

the number of sightings are totaled. Other factors could affect the
data.

When the sightings per day of the week are studied, sur¬
prising results are obtained. The sightings for the first 12 months are
listed by the day of the week, along with the number of nights set up
(Table IX).

TABLE IX SIGHTINGS BY THE DAY OF THE WEEK
(April 6,1973 to April 6,1974)

(Numbers In parentheses represent those after the 40 Class B sightings that
may have been jets or helicopters are subtracted.)

Day of
the Week

No. of
Sightings,

S, Sunday

10(4)

Monday

9(0)

T, Tuesday

15(12)

Wednesday

9(6)

Thursday

29(22)

Friday

28(24)

Saturday

10(4)

No. of Nights Success

Set Up, N Ratio: S/N

16

0.63 (0.25)

11

0.82 (0.00)

16

0.93 (0.76)

11

0.82 (0.55)

13

2.23(1.69)

21

1.33(1.14)

20

0.50 (0.20)

The success ratios show that more sightings were seen per
8nt setup on Thursday night than any other night. However, the
*^cess ratio for Thursdays is inflated by the total of ten sightings at

OF SIGHTINGS

Fig. 18-2

>

5’

e-

50

CD

1

216 Project Summary:

Project Summary: A Final Report 217

Farmington on May 24 and May 31, 1973. By the same reasoning,
the relatively large value of success ratio for Friday nights results
from a total of seventeen sightings at Piedmont and Farmington on
the nights of April 6 (5 sightings), April 13 (4 sightings), and May 25
(8 sightings). The success ratio for Thursdays is 3.5 times that for
Sundays. The data show poor success on weekends, a result agreeing
with most studies.’ However, the peak on Thursday does not agree
with other studies where the peak night is Tuesday or Wednesday.

When we subtract the 40 Class B sightings I have selected as
possible sightings of jets or helicopters that we couldn’t identify, the
changes are significant for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights,
the latter dropping to zero sightings. This result, then, suggests
more activity with conventional man-made craft on these three
nights than the other four nights. National Guard helicopter units are
stationed at Jefferson City and Springfield, Missouri. An Army
Reserve unit is stationed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and there
is a large Army unit at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 1973, there were
five or six helicopters at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Most of
these helicopters are types UH-1 and OH-58, having turbine en¬
gines. The National Guard units have special nights for training; for
the Jefferson City unit, these are Tuesdays and Fridays.

Of the 157 Project sightings, the clock times for 141 sightings
were recorded. In Fig. 18.3 the number of sightings for each half-
hour interval are plotted versus the clock times. All times are
reduced to Central Standard Time (CST). In Fig. 15.3, for example,
the rectangle labeled 7:00 P.M. includes all sightings from 7:00 to
7:29 P.M. The histogram shows a preponderance of sightings be¬
tween 7:00 and 10:00 P.M. In fact, 78 percent of the 141 sightings lie
this range. The precipitate decrease in the number of sightings
^ter the 9:30 interval is apparent. Other studies give similar
results.*

As suggested in other studies, more people are available to
UFOs during the evening. Most people are working during the
and late in the evening they retire. Similarly, we in the Project
in operation mostly from 7:30 to 10:30 P.M. Naturally, we had
®'Shtings during those hours when we were on watch. Hence, to
whether UFOs are more ubiquitous during the evening
I'uniber of sightings for each half-hour interval versus the
, of viewing stations in operation during that interval is
^culated (Table X).

data tell us that the possibility of having a UFO sighting
®®test just before 7:30 P.M., CST.

number of sightings per

TIME OF SIGHTING (Contral Standard Time)

Rq.18-3

>

•n

B-

ES¬

SO

CO

*0

o

218 Project Summary:

Project Summary: A Final Report 219

TABLE X SUCCESS RATIOS BY THE HALF-HOUR INTERVAL (1973-1980)

(Numbers in parentheses represent those after subtracting the 40 Ciass B
sightings that may have been jets or heiicopters.)

Time(CST) Sightings. S Viewing Stations. V Ratio: S/V

5:00

4

0

—

6:30

1

3

0.33

6:00

5(4)

6

0.83 (0.67)

6:30

4

10

0.40

7:00

15(11)

21

0.71 (0.62)

7:30

12(11)

40

0.30(0.28)

8:00

23(17)

73

0.32 (0.23)

8:30

25(19)

80

0.32 (0.24)

9:00

17 (9)

82

0.21(0.11)

9:30

18 (9)

74

0.24 (0.12)

10:00

6 (3)

64

0.09(0.05)

10:30

5 (4)

46

0.11 (0.09)

Because of the large variation in the time of sunset during the
period of a year, more important than the clock times of sightings, I
suspect, is the relationship of UFO sightings to the onset of twilight
and dturkness. During our field work, many sightings occurred well
before dark, even under lighting conditions sufficient to discern the
shape of an object

To test the hypothesis that UFO activity shows a marked
increase during the twilight period, rather than after dark, sightings
during the twilight period were counted. Twilight is the period of
tune firom astronomical sunset to dark, ranging through a minimum
duration of 1 hour 26 minutes to a maximum duration of 1 hour 64
minutes through a year at our northern latitude of 37®, the approxi¬
mate latitude of Piedmont, Cape Girardeau, and Farmington. The
times of sunset and the end of twilight for each day of the year can be
obtained from various sources.’

The scheme is to divide the sighting times into four cate-
8ories: daylight, twilight (first half), dusk (last half of twilight), and
®i6ht. I have arbitrarily divided the astronomical twilight period into
equal time durations by dividing TS by two, where T is the
®*ock time at the end of twilight and S is the clock time of sunset, i.e.,
'^on twilight begins. The data are shown in Table XI.

220 Project Summary: A Final Report

TABLE XI SIGHTINGS DURING DAYLIGHT. TWILIGHT, DUSK. AND NIGHT
(1973-1980)

Period

Sightings

Sightings

(judgment)

Daylight

12

17

Twilight

13

—

Dusk

46

16

Night

83

125

163

157*

*Four sightings were night sightings for which the time was not recorded.

As stated, the purpose of this analysis was to determine if the
majority of sightings occurred just before dark. The tabulations in
the left column of figures show that 25 sightings occurred during
the period of illumination for which an object could be discerned;
and a total of 70 sightings occurred before dark. The latter figure is
about 46 percent of the total number of sightings. If the 40 Class B
sightings after dark are subtracted, only 43 sightings of 83 remain.

There is another subjective way of determining how many
sightings occurred under conditions for which the shape of the object
could be discerned. In this analysis, I relied largely on experience
and judgment to make the classifications. Only three classifications
are made: (1) sightings that occurred before the brightest stars were
seen in the night sky are called “daylight” sightings; (2) sightings
&om that time until dark are called “dusk” sightings; and (3) the rest
are “night” sightings. For example, the May 11,1973, sighting of ten
UFO lights from an aircraft near Piedmont was under conditions of
ample light to illuminate an object in the sky. But by definition of
twilight used in column 1 of Table XI, this is listed as a twilight
sighting rather than a daylight sighting. By using the appearance of
the bright stars as a criterion in assigning daylight and dusk
sightings, seventeen daylight sightings (11 percent) are counted.

The data show that sightings are more prevalent around sun¬
down. Then, too, fewer misidentifications of man-made objects are
made by Project observers before dark than after.

Data on the initial compass direction (azimuth) to each of the
178 UFOs proved interesting. UFOs for which the initial compass
direction was NNW or NNE are included with those UFOs whose
initial compass direction was north; likewise the directions ENE an
ESE are combined with east; SSE and SSW are combined wit

Project Summary: A Final Report 221

south; and WSW and WNW are combined with west. On the other
hand, each of the numbers of initial azimuths for NE, SE, SW, and
NW is not combined with numbers of sightings in any other direc¬
tion. (Obviously, any one of the four major compass directions will
exhibit relatively larger values by this counting procedure because
three directions are included under the label of one major compass
direction.) The data are represented in Fig. 18.4,

NORTH

26

22

18 NE

24

13 SW

20

V

2S

SOUTH

Rg. 18-4

Two thirds of the hours spent in the field were in the Cape
Girardeau area, and these were the locations from which most of the

UFOs were seen initially in the west—one explanation for the pre¬

ponderance of sightings in the west. Of the 42 UFOs (40 sightings)
lhat may have been jets or helicopters that we could not identify, 20
Were seen initially in the west. Subtracting 20 from 44 leaves 24
UFOs seen initially in the west. The other adjusted values are south
(20), east (21), and north (22) for the major compass directions and
southwest (10), southeast (4), northeast (16), and northwest (9).

With this modification, the values of initial direction to a UFO
evenly distributed, except for the direction SE, for which only
tour UFOs were seen initially. Two of these were seen from my front
yard. Presumably, UFOs would not likely be seen in the SE from my

222 Project Summary: A Final Report

less, the SE direction should not have been disfavored while we were
set up at other viewing locations.

Two UFOs were so nearly overhead that no compass direc¬
tion was assigned; they are labeled Up. Similarly, six UFOs were
observed from an aircraft in an initial position labeled Down.

Of more interest is the initial direction of motion of the UFOs.
As was done for the data pertaining to the initial directions to the
UFOs, the data are categorized into eight compass directions
(Table XU).

TABLE XII INITIAL DIRECTION OF MOTION OF UFOs (1973-1980)

(Figures in parentheses are the values after subtracting the 42 Class B UFOs
that may have been jets or helicopters but could not be identified.)

Direction

No. of
UFOs

Direction

No. of
UFOs

Direction

No. of

UFOs

N

30(12)

NE

16(14)

Ground

8

S

28(13)

SE

6

Hover

51 (44)

E

9 (8)

NW

7

Not Assigned 14

W

7

SW

3

Total:

178 UFOs

Note that 58 UFOs traveled in a northerly or southerly direc¬
tion, while 15 UFOs moved NE, more than the number that traveled
east or west. For 14 UFOs, the duration of the observation was so
short that the direction of motion, if any, could not be ascertained;
these UFOs were not assigned a category. Nevertheless, 6 obser¬
vations of the RFEX are counted as hovering, because the effect was
localized and did not appear to be moving during the three or four
seconds the flashes were visible.

Although UFOs are often reported as hovering, the large
number of hovering UFOs (51) seen by Project members is quite
striking. In addition, eight other UFOs hovered near the ground an
could (or should) be included in the hover category. These 59 UFOs
constitute 33 percent of the 178 UFOs seen.

Taking into account the 42 UFOs that may have been jets o
helicopters with regard to the initial direction of motion, .
values for the north and south directions are affected appreciab yi
being reduced to less than one half their original values in Table ^ •

Because the two jet airways, J-35 and J-71, run ^

north-south, perhaps these results adduce further evidence tna

Project Summary: A Final Report 223

number of man-made craft were counted as Class B UFOs. Most of
the 42 UFOs seen near a jet airway were near J-35 (west of Advance)
rather than J-71 (east of Cape Girardeau). Nevertheless, of the 178
UFOs counted, 136 UFOs did not suggest a jet or helicopter.

People have been fascinated by the wide variety of UFO craft
reported. Project members saw seven different shapes of objects,
three of which made sound. Of the seven craft listed in Table Xin, I
saw them all.

TABLE XIII UFO CRAR (197^-1980)

Date

Place

Description

K^y24.1973

Farmington

Silent craft with white, red, red, white lights
on the trailing edge.

May 25. 1973

Farmington

Triangle of red lights with aqua-blue light on
the right side; small-engine sound.

Jun19. 1973

Front yard

Bullet-shaped object in daylight changed
color from gray to olive green; object vanished.

Jul 10.1973

Front yard

**Jer with serrated wings and uneven light
distribution on the lower surface; jet sound.

Aug 10.1973

Illinois

Rotating beacon on aircraft changed to JSLX;
aircraft made the sound of a piston engine.

Jan 3.1975

Westridge Dr.

Ruorescent disc flew over next block; it had
a yellow light at the top of the dome.

Sep 5.1976

Univ. office

Daylight disc shot upward, fading out in about
two to three degrees of motion.

The classical semiconvex disc, most often reported in the
UFO literature, was seen twice. Although we never observed a cigar-
shaped object (the second most frequently reported), I did see a
hullet-shaped object that could be considered a subclass of the cigar
shape. The bullet shape itself is rarely reported in the UFO
hterature.

The triangle-shaped object is frequently reported too, Per-
Ps, the “flying wing” observed on May 24, 1973, at Farmington
a triangular-shaped object, as well as the triangle of red lights
8sen the next night from the Billedo farm.

^ To a physicist, one of the most fascinating aspects of UFOs is
^ dynamics of their motion. Their ability to hover silently is mys-
**ious, even disconcerting to those who experience it. Our photo-
^Phs of the light that hovered southeast of the Farmington airport

224 Project Summary; A Final Report

on May 24,1973, show that there was some motion during the hover¬
ing process (see Plates 9 and 10). The motion could be that of
a hovering helicopter. On the other hand, a back-and-forth jittery
motion has been suggested by interpretation of radar returns from a
hovering target. When the UFO stopped to hover, as observed on the
radarscope, operators switched over to a mode called MTI (moving
target indication)—a standard feature on search and surveillance
radars, MTI eliminates returns from motionless objects such as hills,
buildings, or a stationary helicopter. Hence, any return on the radar
screen from a target when MTI is in use means the target is in
motion. The return on the radarscope persisted, indicating motion,
despite the fact that the return while the radar was in its original
mode was that of a motionless object. Radar operators postulated
that the hovering UFO was executing a jittery motion.* In Plate 9, a
slow drift of the light is evident The same is true for Plate 10, except
that either the drift speed changed or the light itself changed in
brightness.

Some of our observations, where a hovering light subse¬
quently shot across the sky, certainly eliminate a helicopter as the
vehicle. Many of the lights we saw may not have been attached to a
solid craft, but the disc I saw from my University office appeared to
be solid material.

Theoretical explanations of how a craft can hover silently
usually invoke some kind of gravity shield or antigravity device.* No
one has explained—publicly at least—the technology to build these
devices. This type of research, however, has been well funded for
many years by government organizations such as the Air Force.'®

Another amazing, almost unbelievable, aspect of UFOs is
their travel through the lower atmosphere at thousands of miles per
hour. When a material object, like a jet, moves through the air faster
than the sound waves that it produces, a sonic boom occurs. (A
similar phenomenon occurs when a motor boat cuts through the
water, i.e., the boat travels faster than the waves it produces.) T e
speed of sound at sea level is about 760 miles per hour while a
30,000 feet (about 6 miles) it decreases to about 670 miles per hour.
Yet UFOs produce no sonic boom, and they do not burn up.

To date, the best explanation for the elimination of
boom is that the vehicle traveling at supersonic speeds could
the airstream around itself by producing an electromagnetic
ionize the air in front of it." Ene^ to generate the
radiation would originate from within the craft This ioniza
be the cause of the interference with television sets
southeast Missouri in early 1973. Presumably, a similar tnec

Project Summary: A Final Report 225

of microwave emission from the craft’s surface would lower its
atmospheric friction and diminish heating.

In 1977, NASA designers were still concerned with the prob¬
lem of surface Mction. The boundary layer of air next to the surface
of a craft is turbulent, creating drag, and beating up at very high
speeds. In an attempt to afford laminar (smooth) flow of air over the
surface of the craft, NASA scientists attempted to remove the
boundary layer of turbulent air by suction, by drawing it through
porous aircraft surfaces by lightweight pumps.

Microwaves have been suggested not only as a means of
propulsion but also as an interactant with humans and animals.'^
Dogs have become extremely frightened in the presence of a UFO:
recall the night of October 2, 1973, in a soybean field north of
Sikeston where a German shepherd cowered in fear. At the time, I
suspected ultrasonic sound (of a frequency above 20,000 Hz) which
can be heard by a dog but not a human. Later, I learned that
ultrasonic sound is highly absorbed by air molecules; in fact, the
higher the sound frequency, the greater the absorption.** To be sure,
this information caused us to abandon our efforts to obtain a Held
portable ultrasound detector in favor of taking one of Bob Adams’s
dogs with us. Others in southeast Missouri have told me of reactions
of dogs to UFOs, and this phenomenon is recorded regularly in the
UFO literature.

Another incredible aspect of UFO motion is the observation
of quick starts, instantaneous stops, sharp turns, and many other
aerial performances beyond the limit of our known technology.
These can all be termed “chtinges of motion” or acceleration. UFOs
often achieve very high speeds in a fraction of a second; i.e., they
exhibit large values of acceleration. (See footnote, chapter 12.) In
essence, Newton’s Second Law of Motion states that instantaneous

stops, and turns are forbidden for objects having mass—and
objects do have mass.

Of the 164 UFOs that initially were in motion or hovering, 40
1 ^Bed their state of motion—accelerated. Data are tabulated in

Table XIV.

To qualify as a Start, a UFO must have been in a hover
initially. Nine of the 11 cases were of this type; the other two

Were lights that originated as streaks at some point in the sky
altitude. They were not meteors. The one case of Speed
on June 4, 1973, at Nash Road. Four UFOs followed a
9(jo ^^Pcith, An even dozen changed direction by 46® while 7 made
turns (In one case, a pseudosatellite made an apparently in-
^•leous right-angle turn in the handle of the Big Dipper.) Two of

226 Project Summary: A Final Report

TABLE XIV CHANGE OF MOTION OF UFOs (April 6.1973 to January 1,1980)

Category

No. of UFOs

Category

No. of UFOs

start

11

46® turn

12

Stop

0

90® turn

7

Slow up

0

180® turn

3

Speed up

1

Upward

2

Curved path

4

Downward

0

Total:

40

the 180® turns occurred on the same night about one hour apart,
observed from my front yard on July 26, 1973. Two UFOs shot
Upward: the first was observed from an airplane at Piedmont on
April 12,1973, the second from my University office on September
6, 1976. My observation of the apparent instantaneous right-angle
turn in the Dipper handle had really perplexed me; it wasn’t possible.
Although I find the technology amazing, seeing the disc accelerate
upward, three years later, reaffirmed my faith in Newton’s Second
Law of Motion: It suggested to me that the right-angle turn was not a
square-comer turn but slightly rounded. If the light in the Dipper
handle was an object having mass, the acceleration had to be large—
but not infinite.

In all, there were 7 cases of sharp turns that took place in two
seconds or less. This is a short time-interval for moving man-made
vehicles to make a significant change in their direction of motion, for
instance, the B-70, traveling at Mach 3, takes about 200 miles to
make a 180® turn.'* But the B-70 is a large mass. A plasma ball,
which has almost no mass, could make sharp turns, although some o
the UFOs we observed making these turns appeared to be sou
objects. One writer has suggested that in 1973, there were at lea
430 different types of government craft that could make n^aneuve
similar to those of the UFOs.'* The question is: Did any of
in southeast Missouri? In summary, we saw 17 cases of unus
flight, 12 of which were Class A UFOs. .

The tremendous burst of speed from a position of
quires extraordin^ force, and the energy needs for ,fj^gtic
vehicles are prohibited by our technological standards.
energy” is proportional to the mass (weight) of the objec
speed of the object squared (speed X speed). If the UFO -0 a
source of its energy, then the energy is stored or genera

' j

Project Summary: A Final Report 227

relatively small volume. Hence, the energy density is great, probably
precluding chemical energy storage devices, which are relatively
inefficient.

One can only guess at the propulsion mechanism. Again, one
suggestion is electromagnetic radiation in the form of microwaves.
Studies of electrostatic extraction of radioactive particles in air have
led to the discovery that heavier-than-air craft can derive lift and
propulsion from ionic emission. From this, a new lifting device, the
“lonocraft,” was patented,” but this does not provide the answer.
Instead, an interaction of microwaves with the earth’s gravitational
field is suggested, a problem at the frontier of science. The theory by
which electromagnetic radiation interacts with a gravitational field is
esoteric and to my knowledge, remains just a theory. Nevertheless,
many of the physical and physiological effects of UFOs reported by
thousands of persons since World War n strongly suggest the
presence of microwaves in the range of about 300 to 3000 MHz or
higher.** Alan Holt, astrophysicist training -supervisor with NASA,
has proposed an extension of the theory of radiation-gravitational
field interaction.** In what he calls the Field Resonance Propulsion
System theory, he predicts tunneling through space-time; that is, the
spacecraft could jump from this moment on earth to some place in
space and time. It sounds a bit like the “space-warp” so dear to
science-fiction writers, and to a few ufologists.

Observations of effects on the environment directly beneath
the UFO suggest a field force, possibly gravitational. For example,
waves of seawater peaked toward a UFO hovering 15 meters above
the water surface.*® Curiously, a secondhand story told to me about a
farmer living south of Piedmont seems to corroborate the phe¬
nomenon. When the farmer surprised a disc-shaped object resting
on his farm pond, the disc rose rapidly, taking all of the pond’s water
"'ith it! Eventually, the water cascaded back down.

Another suggestion for using microwaves is to reduce the
stmospheric pressure on a thin portion of one part of the craft,
®*^ating unbalanced forces.** But this “electromagnetic atmospheric
^pulsion” wouldn’t work in the near vacuum of space. Hence, if
a tK Physical craft of extraterrestrial origin, more than one
“Od of propulsion is necessary—as suggested by a NASA engi-
of p devised the plans for a spaceship by scrutinizing the Book
*=‘*ekiel in the Bible.**

For decades, people have been reporting UFO colors ranging
of visible spectrum from red to blue, as well as several kinds

ljf >0 ^ appearance.** Color may suggest the mechanism by which
* propelled, by which they hover, and by which they move at

228 Project Summary: A Final Report

high speeds through the atmosphere without sonic boom or burnup.

The numbers of UFOs of various colors observed by Project
members are summarized in Table XV. In every case, the color
assigned is not a measured quantity, but a physiological assessment
of the observer.

TABLE XV COLORS OF UFOs (1973-1980)

(Colors observed after a UFO changed color are not Included. The figures In
parentheses are the values after subtracting the number of Class B UFOs that
may have been jets or helicopters that could not be identified.)

Color

No. of UFOs

Color

No. of UFOs

Gray

2

Amber

30(20)

White

22 (15)

Orange

27 (21)

Otf-white

54(38)

Red

4(3)

Yellow

4

Green

1

Xenon

15

Assessment of adjacent colors like white and off-white is
difficult, as well as amber and orange. Atmospheric haze always
affects the color of white light by scattering the blue wavelengths.
Our Project policy was: if the light was moving, to wait to assess the
color until the light was closest to the observer.

Vehicles with multicolored lights are not listed in the table,
although vehicles with double lights of the same color are counted.
The first configuration of this type was observed from Nash Road on
June 3, 1973. Few reds and greens were observed, but the blue-
white color of excited xenon gas was seen on 15 occasions, mani¬
fested as RFEX, JSLX, and ERSX.

Four multicolored “vehicles” were observed. A huge, silent
object with two red and two white lights flew over the Farmington
airport on May 24, 1973. The next night, a triangle of red lighj^
accompanied by a blue-green ball of light was observed from a fi^
2.3 miles east of the Farmington airport. An object with white an
red lights and a flashing red light was seen from Vulcan fire towr on
June 29,1974, and a fluorescent disc with a yellow light on the dom
passed over the next block from my home on January 3, 1975.

In the Project, five UFOs were observed to change color.
first color change was observed from Pyle’s Mountain, on
1973, when occasional green and occasional red colors

served in a receding white light. The effect, not as pronoun

ced.'

Project Summary: A Final Report 229

seen again from the same location two weeks later when the receding
light changed from white to off-white.

Acceleration and the corresponding color change were ob¬
served by several Project members from Nash Road on June 4,
1973. An orange light appeared to speed up, change to an off-white
color, and brighten considerably. A color change during daylight was
observed from my front yard in early June 1973 when a bullet¬
shaped object changed from gray to olive green. Yet, the most enig¬
matic change of all was observed from Illinois on August 10, 1973,
when a white beacon light changed to a JSLX, a definite color
change—and more.

Project observers saw many lights in the sky that came on,
went off, pulsed, flashed, or changed in brightness. (See Table XVI.)
In many cases, the light simply went out as if it was “switched off,”
while in other cases, the light vanished in about 1 second.

TABLE XVI PROPERTIES OF UFO UGHTS (197^-1980) *

(Figures In parentheses are the values after subtracting the number of Class B
UFOs that may have been jets or helicopters but could not be identified.)

Function

No. of UFOs

Function

No. of UFOs

Off

50(40)

Brightness change

32(15)

On

5 (4)

Single flash

5

On-Off or Off-On

46(49)

Single pulse

5

Multiple flashes

4

The number of occasions (50) when lights were seen to go off is
ten times the number (5) seen to go on. This is expected because the
observer quickly notices a light, especially if it is moving, and will see
II go off. On the other hand, the observer must be looking in the right
ection to see a light come on in the first place. The 50 lights that
^ont off are about equal to the 46 lights that went off-on (or on-off),
^nce, the total number of lights observed to go off is 96; the
Umber observed to go on is 51, the total of the lights seen to go on
^nd the 46 off-on (or on-off) lights.

32 cases, the brightness of a UFO varied. Most of these

Were

I

I

**^*^®* brightness changes of the source itself and not scat-
"'e K absorption by intervening clouds (although

Une these effects many times). Brightness change is not an

phenomenon any more than a light turning off or on; but
bas to be a reason for this.

230 Project Summary: A Final Report

Five single flashes of light were seen from the field, all but one
by me. Two of the flashes were a red color while the other three were
the color of a xenon strobe light. The duration of the light flashes was
counted as 0.1 second; probably they were of shorter duration. In
one case, the red flash was verified by a second observer (yard: June
1973).

The five single pulses were each of about one-second dura¬
tion. Four of the five single pillses were seen in or near the “cup” of
the Big Dipper. The five pulses constitute five sightings seen on four
different dates and from three different viewing locations: Mudlick
fire tower, Nash Road, and the yard. In four cases, the light pulsed
several times in sequence. Most notable were the ten lights sighted
from an aircraft flying near Piedmont on May 11,1973.

The majority of Project sightings were lights, usually single or
double. The double white light, seen in the winter of 1973, could
have been carried by a small man-made craft violating FAA flight and
lighting regulations. Could these have been two tiny RPVs (remotely
piloted vehicles) from the McDonneU Douglas Astronautics Division
in St. Louis? In the November 26,1973, issue of Aviation Week and
Space Technology there is a photograph of the McDonnell Douglas
prototype, two of which had been flying for months. Powered by
gasoline engines, mini-RPVs weigh less than 150 lbs., have wing¬
spans of about 10 feet, cruise at about 60 knots at 10,000 feet, and
carry TV cameras and laser target designators. Their quiet flight and
small size make them difficult to detect by radar, visual, acoustic,
and infrared means. Among the mini-RPVs are pUotless spinning
discs “that hardly make a sound.”" All three services have RPV
vehicles, mini-size and larger.

The director of External Relations at the McDonnell Douglas
Astronautics Company branch at Huntington Beach, Califoroia,

Week

never

assured me in a letter that the mini-RPV pictured in Aviation
and Space Technology was developed in California and was ‘ nevei^
demonstrated anywhere in Missouri.” Now, of course, thousan ^
RPVs have been constructed since 1973 and, as one roan
capable of “all the aerodynamic manoeuvres so frequenUy
of UFOs—tight right-angle turns which could kill any living
on board, sudden descents and ascents, and so on.’ App***
these were not available in 1973. . jjpO-

To us in the Project, the orange light most typifi®“ to
It had peculiar characteristics other than its color, app®

“float” across the sky rather than being driven by a
Perhaps some visual clue gave us the feeling that it was n

Project Summary: A Final Report 231

like a jet. The effect did not seem to be present for slow-moving
white lights. True, some of the orange lights looked like plasma
balls—unless the plasmas surrounded some small material object a
few inches in diameter.” Depending on the relative dimensions of the
object and the surrounding plasma, a two-frequency radar test may
fail to determine whether a plasma contains a solid object.

In his book. Ufology: New Insights from Science and Common
Sense, McCampbell suggests that microwaves are responsible for
(1) stimulating colored halos around UFOs, largely stemming from
the noble gases (neon and xenon gas, for example) in the atmo¬
sphere, and for (2) producing a dazzling white plasma on the surface
of some UFOs. These suppositions would suffice to explain many of
our sightings, but more important, they agreed with my first guess
that the small plasma balls could be produced by microwaves. I
thought of a method that might work, by analogy to a technique used
in medicine where crossed beams of radiation have been used to
deliver high concentrations of radiation where internal cancerous
cells are located. By crossing well-defined microwave beams, it might
be possible to produce a localized “hot spot” in the atmosphere.” But
it would be nearly impossible to form the well-defined balls we
observed, and difficult to move these balls of light across the sky at
low altitudes.

Because I doubted the scheme just described would work, I
looked for another radiation source with a smaller diameter beam—
the infrared laser. (We could have seen laser beams of visible light;
and laser emanations of even higher spectral energy would have been
strongly absorbed by the air molecules.) Here again, the difficulty is
m supplying sufficient continuous power to a laser beam. Another
problem in keeping the beam well defined is a phenomenon known
“thermal blooming”; the beam spreads because it heats the
atmosphere as it passes through it.^* I consider these explanations
or the plasma effect as very unlikely.

Another important Project discovery was the “scintillating
liU Although many persons have described UFOs as star-

a. few, if any, were aware that UFOs would hover in the distance
*rig red, white, and green (the primary colors) in sequence,
of *’®lfltive amounts of each color to produce a scintillating star
q^ ® desired color and brightness to the naked eye. A faster se-
because of the persistence of images on the retina, could
® ^ody color such as amber.

sviqJj |\”are has to be a reason for the UFO intelligence to resort to
'Chicanery—if that is the word. Even a helicopter could be

232 Project Summary; A Final Report

outfitted with lights to perform such a function, of course. But was
this performance part of a continuing military maneuver—or was it
for our benefit? If the scintillating stars were not man made, why did
they hover in military jet lanes?

One case of a radar-visual sighting occurred in the fall of 1973
near Los Angeles. The target ceased to provide a radar return at Los
Angeles Center, but remained vi.sual to Drake Kambitch, the pilot of
the aircraft. In another case, at Farmington on May 30,1973, Drake
and I saw in the sky a light that did not provide a return to Kansas
City Center radar—while our aircraft did. In two jet-UFO chases, the
jet’s action suggested to Project observers on the ground that the
target had ceased to reflect a radar signal. If Missouri Air National
Guard jets were involved in the chase on June 4, 1973, then TAR
(target acquisition radar) was not available on the near obsolete
F-lOO jets. The newer F-4 Phantom did have TAR, but—according
to the commander of the 131st Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at
Lambert Field in St. Louis—the unit did not acquire the F-4 until
January 1979. The aircraft that chased a light and performed a
figure-eight search pattern on October 7,1976, was identified as an
F-4. In response to an inquiry I made to the deputy commander for
Operations, Illinois Air National Guard, stationed at Capitol Airport,
Springfield, he wrote that his unit acquired the F-4C in April 1972.
According to the deputy commander, October 7,1976, was a “stand
down day,” i.e., no flying. As it stands now, I cannot locate the origin
of the F-4 that lost the light visually—and seemed to have lost it on
radar too.

Another important Project observation was that the reaction
time of the UFOs was not instantaneous. In 32 cases of apparent
reaction to the Project observer, the reaction time varied from an
estimated one second to about one fifth of a second. The human
visual system can detect time intervals as brief as 20/1000 to
50/1000 second, depending on the illumination.’® Perhaps these

relatively long reaction times suggest some kind of automatic

feed¬

back system in which the UFO intelligence does not participate
in which it participates at the end of the chain of n*

would be the case if the UFO were “unmanned.” The plasma

—or

as

seen in daylight certainly suggest remote control.

II V.iajriAgili* ucuilljr 0^155^01/ * wvraaMv** fit 0 ^

In this research, more was involved than the
physical properties of UFOs by dispassionate observers. A ^
ship, a cognizance, between us and the UFO intelligence evo
game was played. In my opinion, this additional
more important than the measurements or establishing
phenomenon exists. This facet of the UFO phenomenon

j

Project Summary: A Final Report 233

me as much as the advanced technology we observed. It is a facet I
cannot really fathom—and I have thought about it every day for
more than seven years.

NOTES

1. J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee, The Edge of Reality (Chicago: Henry

Regnery Co., 1975).

Jacques Vallee. The Invisible College (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1975).
Vallee, Messengers of Deception (Berkeley, Calif.: And/Or Press, 1979).

2. Vallee, Anatomy of a Phenomenon (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1965),

pp. 6, 57.

Leonard Cramp, Piece of a Jigsaw (Isle of Wight, England: Somerton
Publishing Co., Ltd., 1966), p. 252.

Jacques and Janine Vallee, Challenge to Science, the UFO Enigma
(Chicago: Henry Regnery Co.. 1966), p. 34.

C. G. Jung, Flying Saucers, A Modem Myth of Things Seen in the Skies
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1959), pp. 5,157.

Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery (New York:

S. G. Phillips, Inc., 1958), pp. 21, 24, 65, 69,117.

Clifford Wilson, UFOs and Their Mission Impossible (New York: New
American Library, 1974), p. 122.

British Record. No. 4, March 25,1974.

3. Vance Rudolph, Ozark Superstitions (New York: Columbia University

Press, 1947), ch. 10, “Ghost Stories,” p. 211.

Rudolph, We Always Lie to Strangers (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1951), ch. 3. “Fabulous Monsters,” p. 41.

Earl A. Collins, Legends and Lore of Missouri (San Antonio, Tex.: The
Naylor Company, 1951), ch. 4, “True Ghost Stories,” p. 41. See
especially “The Mystery of Gordonville Road,” p. 52.

4. Ion Hobana and Julien Weverbergh, UFOs From Behind the Iron

Curtain (London: Bantam Edition, Souvenir Press Ltd., 1974), ch. 7,
p. 120.

Leon Davidson, Flying Saucers: An Analysis of Project Bluebook Special
Report No. 14, 4th ed., New York, January 1971, p. 73.

John A. Keel, UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse (New York: G. P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1970), p. 157.

Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p.

• l^ymond Fowler, UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors (New York: Exposition

Press. 1974), p. 227.

6 Janine Vallee, Challenge to Science, p. 130.

UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, p. 226.

Flying Saucers, p. 87.

Phillips, “Landing Traces, Physical Evidence for the UFO,”
MUFON (Mutual UFO Network] Symposium, Kansas City, Mo.,
66 .

^oloecher, “A Catalogue of Humanoid Reports for 1974,” MUFON
Symposium Proceedings, Des Moines, Iowa, 1975, p. 23.

234 Project Summary: A Final Report

Claude Poher and Jacques Vallee, “Basic Patterns of UFO Observa¬
tions/’ AIAA Paper 75-42, 13th Aerospace Meeting, Pasadena,
Calif., January 20-22,1975, pp. 1-3.

Jacques and Janine Vallee, Challenge to Science, p. 153.

John A. Keel, UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse.

Private communication of observations in southeast Michigan.

7. The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (Printed annually.)

The Astronomical Ephemeris, H.M.S.O., London. (Printed annually.)
Observers Handbook, John R. Percy, ed., Royal Astronomical Society of
Canada, Toronto. (Printed annually.)

8. James E. McDonald, “Science in Default: Twenty-two Years of Inade¬

quate UFO Investigations,” UFOs—A Sciendfic Debate, Carl Sagan
and Thornton Page, eds., (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,
1972), p.81.

Jacques and Janine Vallee. Challenge to Science, p. 45.

9. James M. McCampbell, Ufology: Insights from Science and Common

Sense (Belmont, Calif.: Jaymac Co., 1973), p. 82.

Major Donald Keyhoe, Aliens from Space (New York: New American
Libraiy, 1973), p. 39.

Don Berliner. “TTie UFO from the Designer’s Viewpoint,” Air Progress
(October 1967), p. 72.

Cramp, Piece for a Jigsaw, pp. 110,126.

K. Gosta Rehn, UFOs Here and Now (London: Abelard-Schuman, Ltd.,
1974), p. 168.

Paris Flammonde, The Age of Flying Saucers (New York: Hawthorn
Books. Inc., 1971), p. 195.

10. Frank Edwards, Flying Saucers—Serious Business (Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle

Stuart, 1966), p. 234.

Keyhoe, Aliens from Space, p. 40.

Frank B. Salisbury, The Utah UFO Display (Old Greenwich, Conn.; The
Devin-Adair Co., 1974), p. 189.

Flammonde, o/F/ym^? Saucers, p. 183.

11. McCampbell, Ufology, p. 89. m c * ^

12. James J. Haggerty, “Technolog)' Utilization Program Report,” Spmoj!

1977. NASA, January 1977, p. 19.

13. McCampbell, Ufology, p. 75.

14. Op. cit., p. 46. r. A A /New

Condon, E. U. and Odishaw, H.. Handbook of Physics. 2nd ed.

York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967), pp. 3-127. wtxoCo*,

Richardson, E., Ultrasonic Physics (New York: Elsevier Publismna

1962), pp. 101-102. u K>f.rraw-Hill

American Institute of Physics Handbook, 3d ed. (New York. Me
Book Co., 1972), pp. 3-70. .

15. Don Berliner, “The UFO from the Designer’s Viewpoint, P* ’^ Vd*

16. Robert K. G. Temple, “Taking Us to Their Leader,” Second

l.No.7(May 1979),p. 14.

17. Aerospace Historian, Winter (December 24, 1974), p- 235.

18. McCampbell, Ufology, ch. 7.

19. Harry Lebelson, “UFO Update.” Omni (April 1980). p. 32

Project Summary: A Final Report 235

Connie Stewart, “Q & A.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, June 5,1980.

20. McCampbell, Ufology, p. 92.

Cramp, Piece for a Jigsaw, pp. 132,133,188.

21. Stanton T. Friedman, “Electromagnetic Effects Associated with

UFOs,” Second Look, Vol. 1, No. 8 (June 1979), p. 8.

22. Josef F. Blumrich, The Spaceships of Ezekiel (New York: Bantam Books,

1974).

23. McCampbell, Ufology, ch. 3, p. 21.

24. Aviation Week and Space Technology (November 26,1973).

“Science Newsfront,” Popular Science (December 1974), p. 8.

25. “Ghost Planes in the Sky Are Deadly Engines of War,” Houston

Chronicle, Sunday, December 14, 1975, p. 10, Sec. 2.

Barry Miller, “Navy Studying Varied Roles for RPVs,” Aviation Week
and Space Technology (October 14,1974), p. 39.

26. Temple, “Taking Us to Their Leader,” p. 14.

27. Friedman, “Electromagnetic Effects Associated with UFOs,” p. 8.

D. H. Menzel, Flying Saucers (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1953), p. 16.

Aime Michel, The Truth About Flying Saucers (New York: Pyramid
Books, 195$), pp. 71,172.

Coral Lorenzen, The Startling Evidence of the Invasion from Outer Space
(New York: New American Library, 1962), p. 25.

Vallee, Anatomy of a Phenomenon, p. 54.

Jacques and Janine Vallee, Challenge to Science, p. 118.

28. Philip J. Klass, UFOs Identified (New York: Random House, 1968),

p. 30.

Stefan T. Possony, “Mind Control and Microwaves,” Second Look
(November-December 1979), p. 18.

29. Lee C. Bradley and Jan Herrman, “Phase Compensation for Thermal
Blooming,” App/ied Optics, Vol. 13, No. 2 (February 1974), p. 331.
C. A. Primmerman, F. B. Johnson, and I. Wigdor, “Thermal Blooming
Compensation Using the CLASP System,” Applied Optics, Vol. 17,
No. 18 (September 15,1978), p. 2909.

'JO. Douglas C. Giancoli, The Ideas of Physics, 2nd ed. (New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1974), p. 315.

John Strong, Concepts of Classical Optics (San Francisco: W. H. Free-
I man&Co., 1958), p. 488.

L Visual Psychophysics, Handbook of Sensory Physiology, D. Jameson and

1 Leo M. Hurvich, eds. (New York, 1972), Vol. VII/4, ch. 9,11.

A VERY SUBTLE
PHENOMENON

Unbiased, disinterested physical scientists usually measure the
properties of inanimate matter. Biological, medical, and behavioral
scientists, on the other hand, study intelligences less than or equal to
their own. In this Project, we dealt with an intelligence equal to or
greater than that of man. We interacted with the phenomenon under
study.

Our 34 Class A sightings comprise our most consequential
evidence for the existence of UFOs. A total of 70 other observers
were present for 27 of the 34 sightings, although 16 of these persons
did not perceive a sighting for a variety of reasons: lack of binoculars;
an event that was transient, or difficult to see. At least nine other
Project members observed Class A sightings; for example, Wilson
saw 10 and Adams 5.1 was present for 28 of these Class A sightings;
for 7, I was alone. The types of the 34 Class A sightings are
summarized in Table XVn.

The 34 Class A sightings involved 4 multiple-UFO sightings
(16 UFOs) for a total of 46 UFOs. During the 5 sightings labeled
“hover,” for example, 14 UFOs were seen. Seven craft were ob¬
served, three of which made sound. (These are listed in Table XIH.)

Almost as astonishing as the 34 Class A sightings is the large
number of sightings I have had from my yard—37. It seems as if t ®
UFOs come into visual range of the yard simply to be seen! Ten o
the 37 sightings were Class A, while 27 were Class B. There
27 night sightings, 7 at dusk, and 3 daylight sightings. The to
duration of 9 of the 10 Class A sightings from the yard was on

236

A Very Subtle Phenomenon 237

TABLE XVII TYPES OF CLASS A SIGHTINGS (1973-1980)

Lights

Motion

Other

6RFEX

6 Streaks

7 Craft

3JSLX

11nst. 90® turn

3 Sound

3ERSX

6 Hover

11 Daylight

16 On-Off

5 Vanish

2 Twilight

50ff

21 Night

2 On

minute and 28 seconds, an average of 9.8 seconds per sighting: the
tenth sighting lasted 6 minutes. Of 24 Class B sightings timed, 15
lasted a total of 62.2 seconds, an average of 4.1 seconds per sighting.
The total duration for all 24 Class B sightings timed was 27 M 55.3 S,
an average of 69.8 seconds per sighting. Obviously, UFOs don’t
remain long in the vicinity. Unless the equipment is already set up in
the yard, the UFO is gone before equipment can be brought outside
to bear on the sighting.

If we include the sightings from other locations within the city
limits of Cape Girardeau, then 7 more sightings must be added, for a
total of 44 sightings from the city. Including locations just outside
the city limits (say, 500 feet east of the Mississippi River bridge in
Illinois), 6 more sightings bring the total number of sightings to 50
from the immediate Cape Girardeau area. This Hgure does not in¬
clude any sightings reported to me by other persons, nor the 60-70
sightings by my son Mark from the yard before he became 16 years
old and qualified as a Project member.

During 20 of my sightings from the yard, others were with me;
during 6 Class A and 11 Class B sightings, I was alone. There were
37 other observers involving 11 individuals, 9 of whom were related
to me. Considering the immediate area of Cape Girardeau, the
number of observers increases dramatically to about 45, repre¬
senting about 30 individuals.

Early in the field research, I realized that events seemed to be
•elated. But as an unbiased observer, I could not assume relation¬
ships between events without proof. But consider that I have identi-
ned 80 occasions which I have labeled coincidence! I could easily
®ount another 20 cases.

Some believe that not all coincidences happen by chance but
about because of some undefined “force.”' The famous Swiss

238 A Very Subtle Phenomenon

psychologist C. G. Jung proposed that psychic forces are at work,
causing “synchronistic” relationships between events; that is,
“acausal, meaningful coincidences.”’

In my opinion, people read more into coincidence than is
justified. For example, if the first 4 cards drawn from a deck of 52
cards were the aces, the event would be relatively rare—but no rarer
than drawing any 4 specified cards; say, the deuce of hearts, the 8 of
spades, the 9 of diamonds, and the jack of clubs. What we often
consider a rare event really isn’t; it is just as probable as any other
outcome.

Consider some brief examples. On July 10,1980, at a Brielle,
New Jersey golf course, three persons in three independent four¬
somes shot a hole in one. Unusual! Four years had elapsed since any
golfer playing this course had made a hole in one—and, as it turned
out, two of the players were related.’ Then there was Captain Gene
Hersche, a Continental Airlines pilot and Air Force flyer in World
War n. On his last flight before retiring, two tires blew out on
takeoff, causing an accident. In the ensuing fire, only two persons
died in the evacuation.* It was his first aviation-related accident!

In 1976, I had an experience that I must accept as pure
coincidence. In February, I received a telephone call from a news¬
man in eastern Canada who believed that UFO investigators were
mistaking “fairy rings”—circles of growing mushrooms—for UFO
landing sites. Having never heard of fairy rings, I obtained a biology
book to learn about them.* Later in the spring, a well-defined circle
of mushrooms grew on the lawn below my office window at the
University.

This background material on coincidence is presented to help
the reader in judging whether the 80-100 coincidences were really
all coincidences—or whether many of them were planned events, in¬
tentional events by the intelligence behind the UFOs.

Thirty-two Project cases of apparent reaction or awareness
have been counted, 14 Class A and 18 Class B sightings. On the
second night I was at Piedmont, experiences suggested to me that
the intelligence controlling the UFOs were aware of our presence,
that the UFOs may have purposely attracted our attention, and
that they may have reacted to us—although at the time I did not
label the sightings as UFOs. It was April 12, 1973, when Drak®
Kambitch and I were flying in the vicinity of Piedmont after dark. •
bright orange light appeared on Clark Mountain. Drake turned t
aircraft to fly in the direction of the light. A few seconds later, t ®
light went out; simultaneously, an identical light came on to ou

A Very Subtle Phenomenon 239

right. To this point, there was a possible reaction to us and two
possible coincidences. The third possible coincidence and second
apparent reaction occurred when the light shot skyward as we
approached.

How did the UFOs react to us? They turned lights off, on,
moved away, shot away, changed course, changed brightness, and
the like.

The types and numbers of stimuli for the 32 apparent
reactions are: our vehicle (6), pointing or aiming (16), voice (2), radio
signal (3), telepathy (2), and awareness (4). A few examples of
each type, already discussed in detail throughout the book, are
summarized.

Two of the vehicular cases involved automobiles: First, an
orange light came across the valley at Dutchtown on June 5, 1973,
and turned away from us to the northwest. Again at Dutchtown on
June 19, 1973, Bob Adams and his son, Doug, saw an orange light
excite a thunderstorm, approach their parked car, and turn to the
northwest from a northeast course. Possibly, the latter stimulus
could be classified as the aiming of a camera because Bob took an
exposure just before the light swerved to the northwest.

Three vehicular stimuli involved aircraft. The April 12,1973,
sighting just described suggested 2 reactions, and the light in the
constellation Gemini near Farmington on May 31,1973, flew away as
Drake and I approached in a Cessna 150. The radar-visual sighting
by Drake near Los Angeles, and the sighting of 10 lights in the sky on
May 11, 1973, were not counted as reactions, although they may
have been.

Among the 16 cases of aiming are 1 case of pointing a
flashlight, 3 cases of hand pointing, 4 cases of aiming a camera, and 8
cases of aiming binoculars or telescope. Some examples;

(1) On June 21, 1973, I pointed a flashlight at a seemingly
stationary light low in the south-southwest. The light began to move,
avoiding our viewing station on Blomeyer Road by curving to the
northwest; (2) on June 20,1976,1 pointed my finger at a pseudostar
near the star Vega while making a remark to my wife. The pseudostar
Went out. The reaction could also be classified as a voice response.
(3) On July 26,1973, a light approached my yard from a ridge to the
northeast. As I cocked and aimed the camera, the light immediately
*|®versed direction. About an hour later, the procedure was repeated.
On May 25, 1973, in a field 5 miles east of the Farmington airport, a
P8eudo.star moved away when the camera was aimed at it. On
October 2, 1973, in a soybean field at Sikeston, three lighted

240 A Very Subtle Phenomenon

windows in a UFO went out as the camera was cocked and aimed.
(4) On February 22, 1974, during two separate sightings, a pseudo¬
star went out just as I found it in binoculars. The first of three lights
to appear went out when I cocked the camera. On October 14,1973,
a pseudostar hovered near the star Capella. At the moment I ob¬
served the pseudostar in binoculars, it began to move away; (5) in the
spring of 1974,1 aimed a Celestron telescope at Venus, apparently
causing a streak of light to originate at a point on line with the tele¬
scope and Venus.

Two cases of apparent voice reaction: On October 27,1973, a
light came over a ridge behind the Adams house. A group of Project
members saw it from the Adams observatory. When I yelled, “Get
the cameras!” the light “skidded” to a near stop, making a sharp
turn toward the Cape airport. On September 26,1979, a bright light
hovering in the west began to move when I yelled at my wife to go
into the house and get the binoculars. Both were daylight sightings.

The best evidence for reaction to a radio signal was the obser¬
vation on May 30,1973, at Millers High Point, when a pulsing light
went out as I pressed the microphone button. Because the light went
out before I spoke, the reaction, if any, was to the 37.1-MHz carrier
wave and not to my voice or message. Why would the UFO react to
the 37.1-MHz frequency over other radio signals unless it was tuned
to that frequency? Radio operators in the Piedmont area experi¬
enced the same reaction at other times, but to carrier waves of
different frequencies.

The second case of radio reaction occurred on January 24,
1974, when I used my CB radio to call Bob Adams driving ahead of
me on Route 25 near Advance. A southbound light turned west, as if
it had reacted to my message to Bob, not to the 27-MHz earner
wave. The third case involved the radar-visual sighting near Los
Angeles in the fall of 1973. The Los Angeles Air Traffic Control
Center radioed Drake about a target ahead of his aircraft. Immedi¬
ately, the target disappeared from ATCC radar, but not from visu

In only two cases is telepathy suggested. The first
on July 5,1973, at the Cape Girardeau J.C. golf course. As an
light moved across the sky, John Wilson and I checked it for
lating motion, finding none. As soon as we terminated our tes
light undulated. The second case occurred on November 17. ^

when a pseudostar near Jupiter moved over and went
reacting to my thoughts. A few other cases could have been Qt

as telepathic reactions rather than, say, clues given by v
physical movement.

A Very Subtle Phenomenon 241

Four cases I have labeled “awareness” rather than “reac¬
tion.” The first occurred when I observed the disc shoot upward
from my office window on September 5, 1976. On the night of June
25, 1978, Mark experienced this awareness twice when he observed
a pseudostar go out. A fourth case is again a pseudostar that went
out while two women and I observed the sky from a farm home
between Charleston and East Prairie.

Did UFOs really react to members of the Project? It is pos¬
sible that a light could be flown on a course at low altitude—say
3,000 feet—and turned on for a while, then off, so that persons along
its path within visual range would feel that the light had reacted to
them. The principle would work even better if the light hovered.
Having experienced 28 UFO reactions, I believe that the reactions
were not all mere coincidences. I was there ... and skeptical.

Even more subtle aspects of the UFO phenomenon were ob¬
served by Project members, although I experienced many of these
aspects exclusively. One type of behavior evident to Project mem¬
bers was the avoidance paths flown by the UFOs. A UFO would
approach as if it would pass overhead; then it would go around our
position. The manner in which UFOs approached Pyle’s Mountain
was of this nature. Observations in the Cape area proved no ex¬
ception, starting the night of June 4, 1973, when we were avoided
twice. The following night a bright orange light approached our
moving automobiles in daylight, then turned in an apparent avoid¬
ance path to disappear over a ridge at Dutchtown. Again, on June 19,
at the same location, the similar avoidance path was repeated for
Bob and Doug Adams.

On two nights, I observed a pair of lights flying north, one on
each side of Cape Girardeau. On both nights, the light on the western
side appeared first and failed to emerge from a line of trees in the
nack yards of homes across the street from my residence. Likewise,
both nights, the northbound light to the southeast disappeared
^hind the same maple sapling growing in my front yard. Perhaps
ese are coincidences, but few aircraft lights ever disappeared in
p ® Unobstructed portion of the view of the sky. In all the years of the
^i only one aircraft ever reacted to me by turning off its landing
^ when I pointed to it—and I pointed at a few.

fhe light that approached my yard from over a nearby ridge
receded when I cocked the camera was not quite as
^'^but it happened twice the same night.

We ^ "^ose of us who worked in the Project frequently sensed that
dealing with an intelligence, and not only because of the
reactions of the UFOs. On one occasion, when we changed

242 A Very Subtle Phenomenon

position one night by moving our viewing station 10 miles farther
west, the UFOs changed their flight path accordingly, to go around
us, just as before. I predicted that they would fly around our western
flank—and they did.

Another subtle coincidence took several months to develop.
At one time in May 1973, at Piedmont, I awoke at about 1:00 A.M. to
take my turn on watch. Immediately, I checked the sky. As I looked
overhead, one star appeared to circle another without ever com¬
pleting the circle. In a few moments, I knew I was experiencing
autokinesis. When I looked away and looked up again, the effect
persisted. Some three months later, when I saw a light circle a real
star a couple of times and go out, I knew I wasn’t experiencing
autokinesis.

Not until we began field investigations at Cape Girardeau did
I really begin to suspect that some sightings were staged for me,
when I was alone—the first being the daylight sighting of the bullet¬
shaped object on June 19, 1973. Some of these sightings were of
such short duration that either they had to be staged or I was
extremely fortunate. Two examples were the pseudostar circling the
real star and the sighting of the beam of light that made a fast 180®
sweep. The case of the daylight disc seen from my office is an
extreme example. Then, there were the pulses and flashes of light
that were of very short duration. Also, I had many sightings while
diligently sweeping the sky with binoculars. The question arises:
Would these events have occurred had I not been looking in the
direction of the event at the time of occurrence? Were events oc¬
curring in other directions as well? Many of the sightings occurred
near prominent stars, planeta, and constellations where, presum¬
ably, a person familiar with the sky would look. Was the location of
these events accidental, or by design?

Others in the Project had numerous sightings when they were
alone. Fortunately, there were many occasions where two or more
members witnessed these events, and we were able to compare notes
to establish that we were not “seeing things.’’

Another strange aspect of the investigation puzzles me: my
apparent intuition regarding the presence of some UFOs.
before I became more familiar with the constellations later in 197 . ^
seemed able to recognize pseudostars. At Farmington, for examp
suspected something was wrong because three stars made a
straight line; the lower “star” turned out to be a psuedostar. A ^
later, while flying in the F'armington area with Drake Kambitc
suspected that a star in the constellation Gemini did not
didn’t. There were many other examples, especially where I

A Very Subtle Phenomenon 243

ask Bob the identity of a particular star only to learn that it was a
pseudostar. And there was the feeling of premonition during the
daylight sighting of a ball that passed over my yard; or the appear¬
ance of a light in the west near Mars, when Mark and I were set up on
the Blomeyer side road.

For two sightings, I have suggested the possibility of telep¬
athy (on the part of the UFO intelligence), but this may not be the
explanation. Possibly the UFOs were able to drift silently near our
positions at night and listen to our conversations, or detect them at a
distance. Often, we felt that the UFO intelligence knew our moves;
for example, the night we moved 10 miles farther west. Of course,
our own military was capable of surveillance with very advanced
technology. A Viet Nam veteran told me, for example, that the
military had an infrared laser device that could detect the white
portion of the human eyeball. Of course, Robert Snider and I were
several miles from any of the three hovering lights that apparently
reacted to us while we were stationed at the Huffman farm the night
of February 22, 1974. However, in the case of the pseudostar near
Jupiter that moved over and went out, I gave no visual or oral clue
that I knew the pseudostar was present; I was merely looking in that
direction. After the sighting of the undulating light at the J.C. golf
course on July 5,1973,1 felt as though something was toying with us.

I suspect that UFOs actually dart about in daylight at speeds
at which they cannot be seen. I base this on a few cases of reflected
sunlight and the circumstances of the disc that hovered within
viewing range of my office. Possibly a great deal of UFO activity is
subliminal— which, if true, could have serious ramifications.

notes

!• Alan Vaughan, The Incredible World of Coincidence: The Baffling World of
Synchronicity (New York: J. B. Lippincott Co.. 1979).

Arthur Koestler, The Roots of Coincidence (New York: Random House,
1972).

Koestler. Janus, A Summing Up (New York: Random House, 1978).
Bernard Dixon, “Synchronicity,” Omni (December 1979).

Robert A. Wilson, “Has Contact Already Been Made? A Synergetic
2 Theory of UFOs,” Second Look (December 1978), p. 4.

* C. G. Jung, Flying Saucers, A Modem Myth of Things Seen in the Skies
0 (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1959), pp. xiv, 54,144, 152.

4 Globe-Democrat, July 12-13, 1980, p. 7D.

5 p People (March 20, 1978), p. 94.

’ Constantine John Alexopoulos. Introductory Mycology (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1952).

A HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE

A Gallup poll taken in November 1973 indicated that 15 million
adult Americans had seen UFOs, while 70 million adults “believed”
in UFOs, leaving about 66 million who apparently were skeptical,
agnostic, or just not interested.'

The results of an opinion poll conducted by Industrial Research/
Development magazine appear in the July 1979 issue. The article
states that a large number of applied scientists and engineers believe
in UFOs. Eighteen percent of the respondents thought that they had
seen a UFO, although more than half were not sure. Most of those
who had sighted UFOs had read up to five books on the subject I
suspect that they saw UFOs because they were more observant—
they looked!—as a result of their interest in the UFO phenomenon,
and because as a result of their familiarity with the subject, they
were more cognizant of bona fide UFO sightings. The poll also
showed that the older scientists and engineers, the ones holding
higher degrees such as master's and Ph.D, degrees, do not
UFOs as a reality. From my own experience, I concur with tha
statement .

Dr. Peter Sturrock of the Institute of Plasma
Stanford University, has found that scientists will report
sightings if their anonymity is guaranteed. He mailed UFO
tionnaires to 2,611 members of the American Astronomical Soc
of which 1,356 were returned. There were 62 respondents ^
witnessed 65 events that they “could not identify and whic

A Historical Perspective 245

thought might be related to the UFO phenomenon." Interestingly
enough, 7 sightings of “disk-shaped objects" were reported.*

John Gilligan, governor of Ohio, reported a UFO in 1973, as
did President Jimmy Carter when he was governor of Georgia. In an
attempt to honor a campaign promise that he would remove govern¬
ment secrecy regarding UFOs, the President petitioned NASA to
establish a UFO investigative group. NASA refused because of a
lack of solid evidence such as “little green men," or a “piece of
metal" from a UFO. Dave Williamson, NASA assistant for special
projects, said “... it’s not wise to do research on something that is
not a measurable phenomenon_A photograph is not a measure¬

ment." He ended with: “How do you prove something that does not
exist?"*

Unless one has been in the field to study UFOs, one cannot
really comprehend the phenomenon. Of some 700 Project photo¬
graphs, for example, not one exposure of a Class A UFO was
obtained from 32 Class A sightings. Either the UFO disappeared
before it could be photographed, or it appeared when cameras could
not be brought to bear—or, if exposures were made, nothing showed
on the negative. Was this by design, or was this just a long series of
coincidences?

Although our photographs were of Class B UFOs—a classifi¬
cation based upon visual observation in the field—a number of these
photographs present serious enigmas, most of which are discussed in
this book. During a visit to our university to lecture. Dr. Michael
Zeilik, astronomer at the University of New Mexico, learned of the
photographs and asked to see them. As I began to show them to him,
explaining the enigma of each photograph, I sensed his distress.
Then he squirmed and exclaimed, “But you can’t see the horizon in
these photographs!” Although he had not, as yet, seen those where
the horizon did show, giving a point of reference, I couldn’t resist
saying, “Mike, the next time I see a UFO, I’ll request that it fly a
little lower!” He got my point.

Many scientists and writers remain skeptical about the exis¬
tence of UFOs, evident from the suggestions they make regarding
the cause of the phenomenon. A few of these include: (1) swarms of
spruce budworms stimulated by large atmospheric electric fields to
®njit light in the form of St. Elmo’s fire;^ (2) druglike visions trig-
Bsred by an external source;* (3) application of psychotronic tech-
(use of physical devices to affect human consciousness);*
'1 production by the solar wind;’ (5) remotely piloted vehicles;* (6)
Ejects originating in the sea;’ (7) psychic phenomena;'® (8) the

246 A Historical Perspective

product of the Devil;" (9) creations of the media;*^ (10) CIA-
sponsored;" and (11) devices built by the Nazis,"

In addition, we have the suggestion that the UFO phenome¬
non is a worldwide misperception of meteorological phenomena
(Menzel)." On pages 142-43 of the book, UFOs, A Scientific Debate,
Menzel lists 109 natural and man-made examples of UFOs. Omitting
seven radar types—our radar set never arrived, so we couldn’t be
fooled by radar images—I have experienced 88 of 102 (86 percent)
examples listed, plus a few not on the list.

Philip Klass, senior editor of Aviation Week and Space Tech¬
nology magazine, has long been a proponent of the plasma theory of
UFOs." Certainly Project members saw plasma-like balls both by
day and by night. But I seriously doubt that plasma balls became
detached from some power line, or that luminous gases rose out of
some southeast Missouri swamp, or that “excited” globs of ammonia
vapor floated out of some recently fertilized field to “fly” a straight
course, centered over 1-55. Klass says that lightning is a source of
plasma balls, which is true. From my office at the University, I have
seen a lightning bolt create small balls that looked like molten liquid,
but we saw balls of light that looked like plasma in clear weather, too.
When they went out in daylight, nothing could be seen.

The facts concerning UFOs are mostly secondhand and
tenuous, making publication by skeptics difficult. Skeptics have
attacked ufologists for not applying the scientific method more
assiduously in the investigation of UFO sightings." From the
skeptics, I have found the books by Menzel, Klass, and Condon to be
of great value in our field research. From them, I have learned what
natural and man-made phenomena to look for in avoiding pitfalls.
Unfortunately, their views do not explain the majority of our Project
sightings. Since the skeptics do not accept the existence of UFOs
(certainly not the extraterrestrial variety), they are unaware, or
choose to ignore, the subtleties of the UFO phenomena. UFOs do
imitate natural and man-made phenomena; I’ve seen them do so.
The skeptics are fooled by this; consequently, they often jump to
conclusions and their biases are reinforced. Show me a man without
bias, and I will show you a corpse.

To enhance our perspective on the role of the military in the
UFO situation in southeast Missouri, I am certain that Misso^
National Guard helicopters were flown in search of UFOs— unoffij
cially, not by headquarters command. As an “educated guess,
suspect that Missouri Air National Guard jets, as well as those
Air Force, were involved. UFOs have been a problem for the
Force, at least until it closed down Project Bluebook in 1969 en

A Historical Perspective 247

officially denied further interest in UFOs. Project Bluebook was a
small office-t 3 TJe unit at Wright-Patterson AFB for the purpose of
studying UFO reports and interrogating persons who had sighted
them. The history of the USAF’s effort to cope with the UFO prob¬
lem is well documented in Major David Carlson’s article {Aerospace
Historian, December 1974) and the review book by Jacobs {UFO
Controversy in America).

My first inkling of the presence of military craft at Piedmont
came in March 1973, when Joe King, a resident of the Brushy Creek
area, told me about an amber light that had come up the Black River
Valley. From the opposite direction, with lights flashing, a heli¬
copter approached. The amber light stopped and went off. Then,
when the helicopter was well past, the amber light came back on and
resumed its journey.

Mike Toney and Harry Willson, both University students in
my classes and residents of Piedmont, told me that there was an
unusual number of overflights by military aircraft during the first
month or so of the UFO flap at Piedmont. Some flew lower than the
surrounding mountaintops, so close that Toney and Willson could
look down and see the pUots. The area, with terrain similar to that in
Viet Nam, was used as a low-altitude test area. The McDonnell
Douglas Astronautics Company (East), St. Louis, according to
Senior Group Engineer W. W. Schramm, conducted radio altimeter
systems performance tests at low altitudes over various types of
terrain from a line north-to-south from Taum Sauk reservoir to Wil-
liamsville. One plane flew at 200-700 feet, while a second plane flew
at 3,000 feet, photographing. These were done with company twin-
engine light aircraft, flying daytime only. Hovis, on a newscast from
KPWB, said the last flight was on March 19,1973.

Hovis told me that the two Air Force men arrived in Piedmont
to investigate UFOs, but he did not know if they were acting in an
official capacity.

Our policy in Project Identification has been not to publicly
berate the Air h’orce or any government agency for their handling of
the UFO situation. To the contrary, on June 1, 1973, two days
before the Project returned to Cape Girardeau from two weeks in the
field at Piedmont, Jim Sage and I telephoned General Seth McKee
at NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs. We were referred to
the UFO information officer. Colonel Bill Coleman. He was rather
noncommittal until I described the JSLX seen at Fredericktown on
^ay 24. His response was a long silence; the sighting seemed to have
Cleaning to him. At the time, I didn't know of Coleman’s close
Encounter with a disc while he was aboard an Air Force B-25. Later,

248 A Historical Perspective

when he became involved with the television show, Project UFO, the
encounter was reenacted in one of the episodes. Four nights after
our telephone call to NORAD, we saw several military jets swarm
into the Cape airport area during a UFO sighting.

In the fall of 1973, from our viewing stations on Nash Road
and Blomeyer Road, we observed lights suddenly appear, moving
north or south near Jet Airway J-35. When about due west of our
position, these lights would invariably brighten. In some cases, when
they went out, a telltale dim light, continuing in the path of the
original light, could be discerned through a telescope or binoculars.
By our standards, these were Class B sightings. We suspect that the
brightening phenomenon was related to our presence. Maybe indi¬
vidual pilots were being ‘‘playful.” Our viewing locations were not
secret: I described them in public lectures, they were reported by the
media, and we broadcast our activities on CB radio in the field.

During the fall of 1973,1 received an anonymous letter from a
woman living in Kansas City. She wrote that at age forty an aero¬
nautical engineer, a relative, had retired to a region of northern
Arkansas near the Missouri border along with some other engineers.
As far as she could determine, he had no visible means of support.
This seemed to tie in with information Bob Adams had gotten from
an acquaintance that there were underground installations in
southern Missouri. Allegedly, their entrances were guarded by men
with rifles behind steel fences.

Was the U.S. Navy interested in UFOs? Robert Snider told
me that he had observed radar-equipped Navy planes in the Cape
Girardeau area, one in particular that flew a north-south path once
per hour.

In early 1974, I wrote to the Office of Naval Research in
Washington, requesting an invitation to submit a proposal to secure
funding for Project Identification. They wrote back that they would
like my data and photographs: They were interested in atmospheric
optical phenomena, and did not want to stimulate a proposal at the
time, but an eventual grant from the ONR was not precluded.

Confrontation of military jets with UFOs continued into
1974. On June 20, late at night, Mike Toney and Harry Willson, Boy
Scout directors at Cape Lewellen in Sam A. Baker State Park, and
Gene Cook, a Camp Director and then superintendent of schools at
Marquand, saw a white light traveling back and forth over Turkey
Ridge. After the light had made about eight complete trips, two jeta
thundered into the area with only their landing lights showing. 0*^®
jet arrived from the north and the other from the west, the
coming around Logan’s Mountain. As they converged on the moving

A Historical Perspective 249

light, it stopped suddenly, and then became about three times
brighter, with a corresponding increase in size. The jet pilots had
apparently seen enough. Each made a 180° turn and left!

Anecdotes abound from others living in southeast Missouri
who have observed jet-UFO chases—and an occasional UFO-jet
chase. UFOs have been chased by jets in the St. Louis area, too.
Many veteran radar operators have told me about tracking UFOs at
speeds far exceeding that of fighter jets—and that was more than 20
years ago. Military guards at Army missile bases have told me of
strange encounters, as have police and highway patrolmen from
several states. Truckers and river barge men tell similar stories.

Could UFOs, as some persons think, be the product of an
advanced technology? The earliest firsthand account in my files
describes a wingless, silent craft that “flew” over two five-year-old
boys playing on the bank of New York’s Hudson River—in 1905.
This report follows by about eight years many reports of mystery
airships seen in nineteen states throughout the nation during 1896
and part of 1897.'* Perusal of old newspaper files'reveals phenomena
that, in some cases, might now be categorized as UFOs. For example,
in the “50 Years Ago” column of the Wayne County Journal-Banner
is the news item: On July 12,1928, four persons were returning from
St. Louis by motor, “Quite a bit of excitement was caused Saturday
night by the peculiar light in the sky, some believed it to be the end
of time near at hand.”

The UFO phenomenon is worldwide and apparently dates
from antiquity.” Ufologists generally concede that the modem UFO
era began on June 24,1947, when Kenneth Arnold, flying a private
aircraft near ML Rainier, Washington, saw “a chain of saucer-like
things at least five miles long, swerving in and out of the high
mountain peaks.” Media reports of the sighting made the public
aware, and the flap was under way, spreading to other countries as
well.”

Some persons contend that the modem era began during the
latter stages of World War H. During debriefings, American pilots
described multicolored fireballs they nicknamed “foo fighters” to
Air Force intelligence officers. Allied intelligence officers believed
that the balls, which flew along with Allied aircraft, might be radar-
controlled devices sent up by the Germans to foul ignition systems or
to interfere with Allied radar. But after the war, it was learned that
the German pilots had experienced the mysterious fireballs, too."

Not restricted to the European theatre, the foo fighters
Plfigued B-29 crews on bombing runs over Japan, and were sighted
“y Japanese pilots as well. According to General George S. Brown,

250 A Historical Perspective

then secretary of defense, in a speech to the American Association
for the Advancement of Science on October 16, 1973, foo fighters
were seen also in both the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts.*^ Discs
and other objects besides foo fighters were reported in World War
n. Professor Louis Sewell of the mathematics department at SEMO
had two sightings as a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress. At
midmoming on April 7 1945, Captain Sewell and his comrades were
in nearly 1,000 aircraft over the North Sea on their way to a target
near Berlin. Suddenly, out of the sun, a German fighter dived at
Sewell’s aircraft from the side, leveling off for a swift attack. It was
quite a maneuver for a craft with no wings! Only a fuselage showed.
Instead of firing, the object continued the familiar German fighter
tactic of getting quickly away from the bomber formation in a rollout
dive. Now a climb for altitude would be preparatory for another
attack.

After diving out of range of the B-17’8 guns, the craft exe¬
cuted an impossible maneuver: it stopped! At that moment, Sewell
was looking down on the object between his B-17 and the sea. Then,
Sewell said, the object “darted up and out of sight at about two
thousand miles per hour.”

During the debriefing after the mission, Sewell told his story—
as did his comrades on his B-17, as did flight crews from other
B-17s who saw the object Sewell’s radio operator turned over sev¬
eral photographic exposures of the object to intelligence officers. No
one from the crew ever learned of the disposition of the film, but that
was SOP (standing operating procedure).

Like many of our Project sightings, here is an early case of
imitation—a craft mimicking the attack procedure of a German
fighter. Why was no attack made? Perhaps armament had not been
added. Who would use an advanced technology for display purposes?
Are many of the plasma-like balls of light we observe in the Project
the same as the foo fighters of World War H?

Perhaps Intelligence was becoming inured to strange tales
brought back by Allied airmen. Late in the war, for example, Amen-
can fighter pilots, back from sorties over Europe, described an
airplane without a propeller that flew faster than Allied fghtew*
They were seeing the new German Messerschmitt ME-i262 js
fighter.^ But jet aircraft had also been developed by Great Bri
and the United States.’^ .

Less than three weeks after the war in Europe ended on •
7,1945, Captain Sewell was a member of a courier squadron
ground troops from the European theatre to the Pacific.
carrying B-178 had been modified to carry troops, up to 35 o

A Historical Perspective 251

soldiers. With this lighter load, the B-17 had an airspeed of 180
miles per hour. The route was from Marseilles, France, on the
Mediterranean Sea, to Casablanca in Morocco; then on to a port on
the Atlantic Ocean near Dakar in West Africa. From there, the
troops were flown to the Pacific.

On May 25, 1945, Sewell was in flight from Port Lyautey,
Morocco to Dakar, Senegal, flying a southerly course in an early
morning sun shining through intermittent clouds over the Atlantic.
Several troops were in the nose section with Sewell. When they first
saw the object, it was opposite the sun at their altitude and very
shiny, “like aluminum.” Sewell estimated the distance to the object
as five to ten miles, because he could make out its shape, elliptical
or disc. During the 8-hour flight, they saw it 6 or 7 times through the
clouds. At times, it hovered!

In 1946, people in Sweden and Finland reported sightings of
objects, dubbed “ghost rockets,” close to the Soviet border.*’
Menzel wrote that the proximity of sightings near the Russian-
controlled Peenemunde was disquieting.** Army intelligence sent
General James A. Doolittle to Sweden to investigate the reports. It is
worth noting that Sewell’s flrst sighting was not far by air from
Peenemunde.

Did the flying disc really originate in Germany? According to a
private communication I received in 1977 from a technician who
worked in “a completely new flightkorps, the Fliegande Scheibe
Isaucerj,” Germany began research on flying discs in 1941. Of two
models, the Habermohl-Schriever model was the simple saucer
shape while the Miethe model, 45 meters (almost 150 feet) in
diameter, was the classic double-convex shape. Photocopied photo¬
graphs included with the correspondence, written in German, show
both models having the familiar tricycle landing gear. According to
the translation, on February 14,1945, a Habermohl-Schriever model
flew at 1,250 miles per hour after reaching an altitude of 7.5 miles in
three minutes. Unfortunately, my informant refused to continue to
correspond with me.

By 1979, the contents of his letter seemed to be substanti¬
ated by an article appearing in Saga magazine (July 1979) con¬
cerning UFO reports released from CIA files. Other literature
concerning the German saucer program has surfaced, some sources
®0gge8ting that the United States and Russia captured certain scien¬
tists involved, and others suggesting that at the end of World War n
the Nazis fled Germany to a base in Antarctica where they have
Continued to develop their technology.*’ Strangely enough, scientific
®*Peditions to Antarctica have reported UFO sightings there.**

252 A Historical Perspective

While the suggestion of Nazi bases in Antarctica seems far
fetched, the contents of the letter to me suggest a man-made source
for UFOs. Although an unpopular hypothesis among ufologists, even
with its inconsistencies, it is the most plausible. But who on earth
controls such an advanced technology? The United States govern¬
ment? In my opinion, based upon conversation with servicemen and
veterans, our military organizations now have very sophisticated
vehicles, some of which are flying discs. Why hasn’t the technology
been made available? Where are UFOs kept? In Air Force hangars?
Perhaps the answer to the last question is simple: there aren’t that
many UFOs on earth. Because of their high speed, they can appear
in several places in a short period of time, inflating our impression of
the number of participating UFOs. Perhaps the statement: “either
they are man-made or they aren’t’’ no longer applies. The UFO
source may be a mixture of both.

In my opinion, the dynamic behavior of the lights and craft we
observed indicates an advanced technology rather than an abrogation
of the laws of physics. Perhaps modification or extenuation of some
physical laws will be necessary. But I am concerned with the number
of bizarre reports from sane, respectable persons, like that from a
Bloomfield farmer. One day, out looking for his cows in a field, he
suddenly encountered a landed disc. When he stepped back two
paces, the disc was invisible; he could see trees beyond, in line with
the disc’s position. Two steps forward, and the disc was visible
again. One doesn’t need much imagination to think of the possi¬
bilities of such technology. In cases like these, it would be difficult
for me to accept the objects as a creation of man.

No, UFOs do not behave according to prevailing technology,
and the UFO intelligence does not behave as would a human visiting
another planet. Surely the UFO intelligence has gathered all the
flora and fauna of the earth, has deciphered all the languages, has
determined all of man’s technology, and has become cognizant of the
world’s religions; in short, they must know all there is to know about
man. I believe that the UFO intelligence uses this information to
mimic man and his technology.

I am reminded of the Air Force jet pilot who was to join with
another military jet flying ahead and above. The pilot found a plan®
ahead and above, all right—a commercial jet airliner. Funny thing*
he couldn’t catch up with it Surely, our nation’s best and fastes
fighter jets can fly faster than a commercial airliner!

A plethora of observational data, taken by naked eye, ‘
nocular.s, and telescope, were recorded in the Project. Obviously*

A Historical Perspective 253

were very successful in obtaining photographic evidence for UFOs.
In one case, a UFO registered a trail on infrared-sensitive film
through an infrared filter. In addition, we obtained triangulation data
indicating speeds from zero to 325 miles per hour. On one occasion.
Sage and his crews picked up static on 37.1 MHz radios during a
UFO sighting. A few minutes later, a panoramic frequency jam¬
ming signal in the range 39-190 MHz was detected by a spectrum
analyzer. The color spectrum of a UFO, using an objective blazed
diffraction grating, was recorded on color film.

Later the Project acquired field-portable, battery-powered
instruments so that an engine-driven electric generator would not be
needed. These instruments were sensitive magnetometers to mea¬
sure a changing magnetic field (flux change), a sensitive gravimeter
to measure a change in gravitational field intensity, a compact
spectrum analyzer, and other electrical and optical devices. Because
of infrequent trips into the field during the latter part of the decade,
these instruments were instaUed at my office (Plates 35 and 36) and
were never really brought to bear.

Additional sophisticated equipment is needed, including cer¬
tain types of radar, as well as devices to record the intensity and
spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies including the optical ranges
such as infrared, visible, and ultraviolet ranges. The data should be
scanned and stored in small computer devices. Most important,
automatic tracking devices are needed so that the detectors can be
locked on the direction to a moving UFO. Consequently, any signal
emanating from a UFO could be continuously monitored.

Without doubt, our research has established that there is a
UFO phenomenon, and we have conjectured about the nature of the
intelligence behind the capricious UFOs. I suspect that their game is
to gradually create general acceptance by repeated appearances.
More UFO flaps will occur from location to location, winning “con¬
verts.” More people will “believe in UFOs.”

UFOs will come back to southeast Missouri again for another
I plan to be ready with more sophisticated instrumentation,
adequate facilities, and sufficient technical help. If we are to learn
^eir secrets, they must be studied scientifically—with instruments.
When we understand them on a technical-scientific basis, when most
of the world’s inhabitants accept the reality of UFOs, then we will
®oet them face to face. And then wiU we know their mission.

254 A Historical Perspective

NOTES

1. David M. Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington, Ind.:

Indiana University Press, 1975), p. 296.

2. Peter A. Sturrock, Report on a Surv^ of the Membership of the American

Astronomical Society Concerning the UFO Problem, SUIPR Report
No. 68IR, November 1977.

Alton Blakeslee, “Further Study of UFOs Warranted, Survey Says,”
St Louis Globe-Democrat, March 17, 1977, p. 15A.

3. “Carter Has Seen UFO,” St Louis Glob^Democrat, May 12,1976, p. 1.
“ ‘Show Me,* NASA Says as UFO Clamor Revives,” St Louis Globe-
Democrat November 26-27, 1977, p. 4A.

“NASA Refuses to Reopen UFO Investigation,” St Louis Globe-
Democrat, December 28,1977, p. 1.

4. P. S. Callahan and R. W. Mankin, “Insects as Unidentified Flying

Objects,” Applied Optics, Vol. 17, No. 21 (November 1, 1978),
p. 3365.

5. Robert A. Wflson, “Has Contact Already Been Made? A Synergetic

Theory of UFOs,” Second Look (December 1978), p. 4.

Wilson, “The Unconscious Conspiracy,” Second Look (September
1979), p. 14.

6. Jacques Vallee, Messengers of Deception (Berkeley, Calif.: And/Or Press,

1979).

John Marks, The Search for the Manchurian Candidate (New York:
Times Books, 1979).

Stefan T. Passony, “Mind Control and Microwaves,” Second Look
(November-December 1979), p. 18.

7. M. A. Persinger and G. F. Laft^niere, Space-Time Transients and

Unusual Events (Chicago; Nelson-Hall, 1977).

8. RobertK.G.Temple, “TakingU8toTheirLeader,”SecondLoofe, Vol. 1,

No. 7 (May 1979), p. 13.

9. Ivan Sanderson, Invisible Residents (New York: World Publishing Co.,

1970).

10. Ion Hobana and Julien Weverbergh, UFOs From Behind the Iron Curtain

(London: Bantam Edition, Souvenir Press Ltd., 1974).

11. J. Weldon, with Z. Levitt, What on Earth Is Happening? The Coming

Invasion (Irvine, Calif.: Harv'est House Publishers, 1975).

12. Ron Miller, “Does the Media Create UFO Sightings?” Second Look

(November-December 1979), p. 14.

13. Leon Davidson, Flying Saucers, An Analysis of Project Bluebook Special

Report No. 14, 4th ed., New York, January 1971, p. 146.

14. Mattem Friederich, UFOs: Nazi Secret Weapon (Toronto, Ont.: Samis*

dat Publishers, Ltd.), p. 65 ff.

15. D. H. Menzel, Flying Saucers (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University

Press, 1953). f

Menzel andE. H. Taves, The UFO Enigma, The Definitive Explanation of

the UFO Phenomenon (New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc.. 1977).

16. Philip J. Mass, “Many UFOs Are Identified As Plasmas,” Aviation

Week and Space Technology (October 3,1966), p. 54.

Klass, UFOs Identified (New York: Random House, 1968).

Klass, UFOs Explained (New York; Random House, 1974).

A Historical Perspective 255

17. “Pseudo-Science Update,” Astronomy (January 1980), p. 60.

James Oberg, “UFO Update,” Omni (May 1980), p. 32.

Oberg, “The Failure of the ‘Science’ of Ufology,” New Scientist (October
11,1979), p. 102

Ronald Schiller, “Three UFOs—How Real Were They?” Reader^s Digest
(November 1977), p. 108.

Carl Sagan, “Astral Projection and the Horse That Could Count,”
Readers Digest (April 1978), p. 17.

Robert C. Cowen, “UFO Hoax Was Designed to Find Flaws in Re¬
search,” St Louis Globe-Democrat June 5,1980, Section C, p. 1.

“UA Grad Brings UFOs Down to Earth in Duo,” Arizona Daily Star
(Tucson), Sunday, August 10,1980.

18. Ronald Story, The Encyclopedia of UFOs (Garden City, N.Y.: Dolphin

Books, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1980), p. 8.

19. David R. Carlson. “The Air Force and the UFO,” Aerospace Historian^

Winter (December 1974), p. 210.

Condon Report, “Section V, Historical Aspects of UFO Phenomena,”
ch. 1, “UFOs in History,” Samuel Rosenberg, p. 481.

Carl Sagan and Thornton Page, eds., UFOs—A Scientific Debate (Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972), ch. 6, “UFOs—The Modem
Myth,” D. H. Menzel, p. 123.

Josef F. Blumrich, The Spaceships of Ezekiel (New York: Bantam Books,
1974).

Jacques Vallee, Anatomy of a Phenomenon (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co.,
1965), ch. 1, “The Legend of Flying Saucers,” p. 1.

Sanderson, Invisible Residents, ch. 13, “A Suggestion: Underwater
Civilizations,” p. 189.

Robert Emenegger, UFOs, Past Present and Future (New York: Bal-
lantine Books, 1974), ch. 1, “Ancient Sightings,” p. 3.

Clifford Wilson, UFOs and Their Mission Impossible (New York: New
American Library, 1974), ch. 7, “Sightings Through the Centuries:
And the Chariots Still Crash,” p. 66.

C. G. Jung, Flying Saucers, A Modem Myth of Things Seen in the Skies
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1959), ch. 4, “Previous History of
the UFO Phenomenon,” p. 128.

20. Menzel, F/yin^ Saucers, p. 11.

Condon Report, p. 12.

John A. Keel, UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse (New York: G. P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1970), p. 136.

21. Condon Report, p. 735.

Menzel and Taves. The UFO Enigma, pp. 64-58.

Menzel, F/ym^ Saucers, pp. 96,100,178,195,196.

Ralph and Judy Blum, Beyond Earth: Man's Contact with UFOs (New
York: Bantam Boolw, 1974), pp. 65-67, 73.

Gordon, I. R. Lore, Jr. and Harold H. Deneault, Jr., Mysteries of the Skies,
UFOs in Perspective (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1968), ch. 8. “I’he Too Fighters.’ ”

Jacobs, UFO Controversy, pp. 35-36,42.

Carlson, “The Air Force and the UFO,” p. 211.

Ronald Story, The Encyclopedia of UFOs (Garden City, N.Y.: Dolphin
Books, Doubleday & Co,, Inc., 1980). p. 135.

256 A Historical Perspective

22. Ibid.

Menzel and Taves, The UFO Enigma, p. 55.

23. Warplanes and Air Battles of World War II (New York; BPC Publishing,

Ltd., 1973), p. 156.

Bryan Cooper and John Batchelor, Fighter, A History of Fighter Aircraft
(New York: Charies Scribner’s Sons, 1973), p. 134.

24. Ibid.

25. Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 36.

Menzel, Flying Saucers, p. 11.

Paris Flammonde, The Age of Flying Saucers (New York: Hawthorn
Books, Inc., 1971), p. 117.

Keel, Operation Trojan Horse, pp. 136-38.

26. Menzel, Flying Saucers, p. 11.

27. Hilary Evans, UFOs: The Greatest Mystery (London: Chartwell Books,

Inc., 1979), p. 42.

Friederich, UFOs: Nazi Secret Weapon, p. 60.

28. Art Gatti, "UFO Update,” Omni (June 1979), p. 127.

Flanunonde, Age of Flying Saucers, p. 135.

Appendix

SPEED OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC SYSTEM

The inherent speed of a lens-camera-film (photographic) system is
related both to the speed of the lens and to the photographic speed of
the film. The “speed” of a photographic emulsion is defined as the
reciprocal of the exposure required to produce differing densities on
the negative, resulting in an acceptable photographic image. ‘ A
particular type of emulsion is rated according to its ASA speed. An
emulsion with an ASA rating of 400 is four times as fast as one rated
200 .

On the other hand, the speed of a lens^ is given in terms of its
maximum aperture, say f/1.4, although the transmittance of the lens
should be incorporated into the definition whence f-stops become
T-stops.’ Here, the speed s will be defined as^ s =BS/kIP

where

B = illuminance of the scene photographed;

S = ASA speed of the film emulsion;
k = a constant (includes transmission losses, etc.);
iV = the f-number where f = ND;
f = the focal length of the lens; and
D = diameter of the aperture.

Because the object is moving, its image moves across the
film plane at a rate proportional to the focal length of the camera lens.
Hence, the speed of the system is proportional to DVf and not to
DVf*, the square of the aperture ratio.* The revised definition of
speed becomes s' = BSf/k'N^ where k' is a revised constant.

The properties of three Project photographic systems are
given below.

To effect the analysis of UFO photographs, a calculation of s'
was not necessary, because only a comparison of photographic sys¬
tems was needed. Hence, a dimensionless quantity called “relative
speed” was obtained by taking the ratios of speeds s' in order that edl
constant or unknown factors such as B and k' cancelled. Strictly, B
should not be called the illuminance; more appropriately, it could be
called the brightness of the light in the sky. Also, k' is assumed to
differ little among the photographic systems used in the Project in
order that it can be cancelled when taking ratios.

257

258 Appendix

Properties of Three Photographic Systems

Property

50 mm

800 mm

Polaroid

1 focal length

50 mm

800 mm

114mm

D aperture diameter

3.5 cm

10.3 cm

1.3 cm

N minimum f-number

1.4

8.0

8.8

S ASA emulsion speed

800*

800*

3000

film designation

T(i-X

Tri-X

Type 107

film type

b&w

baw

baw

relative speed**

4.4

2.3

1.0

•The Kodak Tri-X was "pushed" from ASA 400 to ASA 800 by developing in
Kodak D*76 developer at 72° F rather than 68° F.

••Here, the “relative speed" of the Polaroid system is arbitrarily set equal to
unity.

The relative speed of the 800 mm system for the May 18,1973,
Piedmont sighting was 2.3 times that of the Polaroid system, while
the relative speed of the 50 mm system was twice that of the 800 mm
system for the May 24,1973, Farmington sightings.

NOTES

1. C. B. Neblette, Fundamentals of Photography, Van Nostrand Reinhold

Co..N.Y.,1970,p.87.

2. Robert B. Rhodes and F. H. McCall, Introduction to Photography, 2ndBd..

Macmillan Publishing Co., 1971, p. 22. _

3. Bruno Rossi, Optics, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Reading, MA,i» •

p. 93. * p j

4. Kodak Plates and Films for Scientific Photography^ No. P-316, 1st

Eastman Kodak Co., 1973, p. 6. r^^ffn»rtion

5. Ian Halliday, “Meteor Spectroscopy with Transmission

Gratings,”«/. Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 52^ August

p. 171.

Index

Acceleration, 16, 149,161
Adams, Doug, 49, 141, 142, 145,
239, 241
Adams, Jim, 49
Adams, Lela, 49

Adams, Robert L., 49, 50, 51, 52,
53, 55, 67, 62, 63, 64, 100,
103, 112, 124, 126, 128, 132,
134, 139, 141-42, 145, 147,
151, 153, 158, 159, 163, 164,
165, 170, 175, 176, 177, 178,
179, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186,
191, 194, 198, 206, 225, 236,
239, 240, 241,243, 248
Adams Observatory, 182,199, 240
Aeroads Company, 56
Aerospace Historian, 247
Air Force, U.S., 3, 32, 47, 82, 141,
. 189,224,246,247
jamming of signals, 109
Air Traffic Control Center (Kansas
City), 119,211
Alcor, 13,149

Aldrich, Kenneth, 100, 103, 125,
126, 128, 130, 153, 158, 176,
179,180,181,189,191
American Association of Physics
Teachers, 173

American Association for the Ad¬
vancement of Science, 250
American Astronomical Society, 244
American Ephemeris and Nautical
Almanac, 42
American Indians, 13
American Standards Association
(ASA), 36, 257
Anderson, Roy, 2, 69
^imlar elevation, 24
Angular speed, 2, 4, 25,128
^f^rnalistic Lights in the Sky Over
Southeastern Missouri (Sage
. and Rutledge), 173-74
^fares, star, 158
Returns, star, 199, 206
U.S., 141, 156
^y Reserve, U.S.,217
Kenneth. 249
j^^lgmatism. eye, 53

Atmospheric absorption of shorter
wavelengths, 20

Aubuchon, David, 145,146,153
Autokinesis, 122

Aviation Week and Space Technol¬
ogy, 230, 246
Azimuth, 220

Bagbey, Frank, 182,183
Baldwin, Charlie, 197
Baron, Mr. and Mrs. Charles, 191
Bates, Lynn, 121
Bean, Willard, 156
Bearden, Gene, 2, 6, 7,8
Beaulieu 4008ZM4 8-mm movie
camera, 207
Becker, Jim. 22, 23
Bell& Howell Super 8 movie camera,
177

Billedo, Fred, 101,106, 207
Blackout, television, 1,155
Boatwright, Edith, 122
Bone. Reggie, 5, 6, 7,122
Brackett, T. E. (“Gene”), 144-45
Brown, George S., 249
Brushy Creek (Missouri), 2,5,6.11,
20, 27, 36, 42, 70
Bumpus, Gloria, 27
Bumpus, Jeneal, 69

Calculators, 24, 67
Cameras

Beaulieu 4008ZM4 8-mm movie,
207

Bell & Howell Super 8 movie, 177
Beseler, 125

Crown Graphic Portrait, 136
Minolta Hi-Matic-9 rangefinder,
22

Olympus OM-1, 209
Pentax 35-mm, 60
Petri 35-mm, 179
Polaroid, 258
Praktica 35-mm, 36. 103
Single Lens Reflex (SLR), 125-
26. 147

Yashica 36-mm, 86
Camp Lewellen, 189

260 Index

Campbell, Bob, 179
Campbell, Carl, 60
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 4,5,125,
211,221,237,242
Cape Girardeau Civil Defense Unit,
67,112

Capella, star, 153,172
Carlson, David, 247
Carter, Jimmy, 245
Casey, Don, 8

CB radios, 180-81,182
Celestron 8 telescope, 35,114,188,
192

Chaffee, Missouri, 126, 128, 139,
147,161,180,181
Clark, Bill, 5,115,179
Clark Mountai^ 8,15, 17, 40
Clark Mountain Rest Home, 2
Clearwater Dam, 2, 41, 42,191
Clearwater Lake. 1,3,5,41,42,110,
113,122,191,212
Coincidences, 38,237-38,239,240,
241. 242

Coleman, Bill, 247
Collins, Wilkie, 74
Colorado Report, The, see Scientific
Study of Unidentified Flying
Objects

Colyer, Marvin, 18, 73
Comet 1973b, 136
Comets, 136

Condensation of water vapor, 97-98
Condon, E. U., 3,32,246
Condon Report, The, see. Scientific
Study of Unidentified Flying
Objects

Cook, Gene, 248
Corvus, constellation. 139
Criterion Dynamax 8 telescope, 170,
177-78

Crites, Clifford, 22,23, 70,123
Crites, Helen, 70, 123
Crown Graphic Portrait camera, 136
Curry, Jerome P., 32
Cygnus, constellation, 198

Davis and Sanford tripod, 10, 50
Democrat News, 73
Des Arc, Missouri, 41, 72
Detroit News, 5,115

Dew point, 98
Dexter, Missouri, 4, 6
Dicus Drugstore, 73, 74
Discs, flying, 1, 33, 195, 200, 223,
224, 227, 245, 247, 251,252
Habermohl-Schriever, 251
Miethe, 251
Dogs and UFOs, 225
Doolittle, James A., 251
Dougherty, Lee, 11

Ellington, Missouri, 41, 71
Ellis, Debbie, 36
Ellsinore, Missouri, 6,14,15, 70
Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of, 2
Entoptic effect, 209
Erratic strobe light (ERSX), 188,
189, 228

Estell, Stephen F., 114
Ezekiel, Book of (Bible), 227

F-15 jet fighter, 17
FAA Memphis Air Traffic Control
Center, 211
Fairy ring, 238

Farmington, Missouri, 18, 73, 74,
75. 76,88,100,207,211,214,
217

Farmington Airport, 34, 74,76,100,
228

Farmington Press, 73
Field Resonance Propulsion Theory,
227

Film

GAF color ASA500,126
Kodak Ektachrome, 177
Kodak Tri-X, 258
Kodak 2475, 36,135,177
Polaroid 107, 52, 53, 56, 136,
177

Royal Pan, 136
Filter. Wratten 89B. 135,177
Flap, UFO, 1,4,182

Filter, Wratten 89B, 135 «

Flying Saucers Are Real (Keyh^'»
Flying Saucers from Outer of

(Keyhoe), 3
Focal length, 10
“Foo fighters.” 249
Fredericktown, Missouri, 73

. 84 , 1-20

Index 261

Freed, Danny, 100
Freeman, Robert, 28
Friction, surface, 17, 225
Froemsdorf, Donald, 167
Fukuoka, Japan, 141
G-force, 16

GAF color film ASA500,126,147
Gallup Poll, 244

General Radio Model 1538A xenon
Strobotac, 189

General Radio Model 1551-C Sound
Level Meter, 121
Ghost rockets, 251
Gilligan, John J., 172, 245
Globe-Democrat, 138,173
Gravitational force, 227
Greenwood, Judy, 208

Habermohl-Schriever model flying
disc, 251

Hager, Harold, 196
Hager, Jeanine, 196
Hahn, Vicki, 186
Hardgrove, Jon, 36
Hersche, Gene, 238
Hewlett-Packartl calculators
model 9820,67
model 36, 24

Hibbard, Glenn, 8,11
Hickam, Jim, 183, 184, 189, 191,
192, 204,206
Hickam, Jon, 203-4
Hickson, Charles, 169
Hill, Otto. 173
Hinton, Dan. 164
Hodges, Sidney, 5, 28, 47
Hollis, Jerry, 22, 23
Holt. Alan, 227
Horton, Frank, 66,68,113
Hovis. Dennis, 1, 8,14,69, 72,179,
191.212.247
Howard, Jeiry T., 5,72
Huffinan, Leonard, 184
Huffman. Steve, 66, 76, 86, 107,

114,145

Hughes, Paul, 128,130,145,146
Huston, John, 206
Hynek. J. Men, 6

Ijames Hill. 6

Industrial Research Development,
244

Institute of Optics (Rochester, NY),
57

lonocraft, 227

Jackson, Missouri, 112, 124, 128,
130,132,167,169,171,173
Jackson. Z. T., 163,165
Jacobs, David M., 33,35, 247
Jamming (signals), 109
Jarrel Ash AA/FE spectrophoto¬
meter, 197

Jefferis, Maude, 3, 5, 8, 72, 115,
136,179
Jet airways, 71

Jets, military, 3,130,185,203,248-
49

Jumping strobe light, 84-86, 157,
228,229, 247
Jung, C. G., 236-37
Jupiter, 118

Kalimar wide angle lens, 36
Kambitch, Drake, 14,15,16,28,29,
39,40, 45, 46, 66, 67,70,71,
74. 86, 106, 107, 110, 113,
115, 118, 119,120, 145, 160,
232,238,239,240, 242
Keyhoe, Donald, 3
KFVS-TV, 22,163
KGMO, 134
Kilimanjaro, Mt, 141
Killenberg, George A., 30
King, Joe, 7, 247
Kirkwood, Jim, 189,190
Klass, Philip, 246
Klinkhardt, Lori, 196
Kodak Ektachrome film, 177
Kodak 2475 film, 36,135,177
Kohm, Rich, 56
Kohoutek comet, 182
KPWB. 1.3, 7,50,65.69, 72
Krone, Bob, 165
KSD-TV, 121

Kuntze, Rick, 111, 142,147
KXOK, 77

Laser devices, 231, 243
Lay report, defined, 29

262 Index

Ledbetter, Wit, 73
LeGrand, Tony, 132,197
Lemmer, Wellington, 107,109-10
Lenses

dust blockage of, 136
flare, 53,135,136
hood, 135

Kalimar wide angle, 36
Rokkor PF 45-mm, 22
Soligor, 35
Vivitar, 111
Lipps, Jerry, 161
Lockheed SR-71,17
Los Angeles, California, 232, 239,
240

Lowes, Ron, 170
Lyra, constellation, 198

Mars, planet, 206

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics
Company, 213, 230, 247
McDonnell Douglas Corporation,
17,41 141

McKee, Seth, 134, 247
Magnifying power, 11
Mark Twain National Forest, 115
Martin, Linda, 151
Menzel, Donald, 32, 33, 136, 246,
251

Messerschmitt ME-262 jet fighter,
250

Messing, Roswell, 191
Messing, Wilma, 191
Meteors, 17, 27
Microscope, electron, 197
Microwave radiation, 168, 225,227,
231

Miethe model flying disc, 251
Miller, Ron, 7

Millers High Point (Missouri), 5,
115,118, 179,240
Minolta Hi-Matic-9 rangefinder
camera, 22

Missouri Academy of Science, 3,31,
35

Missouri Farmers Association, 69

Mizar, 13,149

Montgomery, Joel, 190

Mountain Echo, 73

Mouser, Ralph R., 155

Mudd, Mike, 66 . 67, 70, 71, 72, 74,

106, 111, 112, 113, 120, 121,
122,123,124

Mudlick Mountain (Missouri), 37,
65, 74, 75,86,106,153, 189
Mushrooms, 238

Myers, Gary, 114, 115, 119, 120,

121,122

Nanna, Bill, 64,100,103
National Aeronautics and Space Ad¬
ministration (NASA), 16, 17,
25, 225, 245

National Bureau of Standards, 107
National Guard, Missouri, 132, 217,
246

Navy, U.S., 134, 248
Nazi UFO bases, 251-52
Newton, Isaac, 149, 225, 226
Nistler, Robert J., 22
Noble gases, 231
North American Air Defense
(NORAD), 134, 247,248
Northern lights, 191

“Observer.” 210
Office of Naval Research, 248
Olympus OM -1 camera, 209
Omaha, Nebraska, 141 199, 200
O’Neail, Gale, 155
Operation Deepfreeze 1,100
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory
(OAO), 159

Ownbey, BUI. 134,142,145

Pageos A satellite, 159
Palmer, Steve, 169
Parker, Calvin, 169
Pascagoula story, 169
Patterson, Jack C., 164
Pegasus meteoroid detector sa
lite, 159

Peterman, Sandra, 196

Petri camera, 179
Photographic evidence

for UFOs.

photographic system, speed
257-58.259

Photography. **^P^*^*^ c

investigation, 25,^ jq,

Piedmont, Missouri, U ! 55 88 .
14, 15, 36. 40, 56 . 64.

Index 263

125.211.214,217
Piedmont UFO. 1,3,47
Pingel, Chuck, 74, 75, 76
Pingel, Kenneth, 18, 73,119
Pingel, Ralph, 77
Planet shifting, 205
Plasma balls. 142, 231, 232,246
Polarizing filter, 77, 78,177
Polaroid camera system, 50, 52-53,
259

Polaroid 107 film, 52, 53,55
Polaroid sunglasses, 78
Pentax 35-mm camera, 50
Praktica 35-mm camera, 36,103
Princeton Gamma-Tech ISI Super I
scanning microscope, 197
Project Bluebook, 246-47
“Project Identification,” 29, 30, 64,
126

“Project UFO” (TV show), 248
Pyle’s Mountain (Missouri), 2,8,10,
11. 12, 14, 22. 36, 40, 65.71,
74, 75, 86,87,107, 113
Questar telescope, 10,13,21,23,35,
50, 114

Radar

coverage, FAA, 211
target acquisition (TAR), 232
UFO detector, 66
visual sighting, 166-61 232
Radiation, 231

microwave, 168, 225, 227,231
Radio signals, and UFOs, 240
Radio skip waves, 180
Radio transceivers, 35
Raglin, Edward F., 168-69
Random flashbulb effect (RFEX),
102. 116, 120-21, 124, 222,
228

Reaction defined, 37
Reentr>\ atmospheric, 17,26
Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV),
230

Resolution, optical, 12, 13
Ressel, Doris, 105
5«ttig, Harold, 164,165,166
^ckwell International, 141
^^or PF 45-mm lens. 22
. 2^ble, Jackie, 72
\ ^tiUedge, Harley D.. 3, 4.8

Rutledge, Jane, 208, 209
Rutledge, Mark, 144,147,153,177,
178, 187, 189, 198, 199, 204,
205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 237,
241,243

Rutledge, Ruth, 198-99, 202, 208
Rutledge, Sarah, 208
Rutledge, Susan, 188
Rutledge, Teresa, 188

Saga, 251

Sage, James, 28, 31, 66, 67, 71, 72,
74, 75. 76, 86, 88, 106. 107,
108, 112, 115, 118, 119, 120,
122,124,138,141, 174, 247
St Francois Mountains, 7,40
St Louis Globe Democrat 30-31,
138,173

St Louis Post Dispatch, 32
Sam A. Baker State Park, 37, 74,
189*

Satellites, 103,104,148,159
Saucers, flying, see Discs
Scherer, Debbie, 134,137,138,153
Schramm, W. W., 247
Schuessler, John, 174
Scientific Study of Unidentified Fly¬
ing Objects (Condon), 3
ScintiUating star effect 172, 184-
185, 231-32

Scorpio, constellation, 158,160
Scully, Mark, 4
Seabaugh, Ernie, 171
Searchlight beam research, 187
Sewell, Louis, 250, 251
Seyer, Vince, 118
Shain, Mike, 163

Sharp Elsimate model EL-8109 cal¬
culator, 24

Short Ron, 73, 77,103
Sightings (UFO)

Class A UFO, 33.34,82,85,181,
188, 189, 202, 211, 226, 236,
237, 238, 245

Class B UFO, 34, 138,139, 142,
151, 153, 160, 165, 166, 170,
181, 186, 187, 189, 191, 194,
199, 201.202. 207,211,217,
220, 223. 236, 237, 238, 245.
248

accidental sighting, defined, 159

264 Index

Sightings (UFO), continued
classification of. 33-35
coincidences of. 237-38, 239,
240, 242
duration of, 237
multiple. 211,236
night, 236

per month. 214, 217
radar, 232
times of, 217-19
totals, 214-15

Sikeston, Missouri, 155, 157, 158,
163,190

Sikma, Gary, 157
Sky and Telescope, 136
Skylab, 153,159
Snider, Gail, 180

Snider, Robert, 180, 184, 185, 243,
248

Soligor lens, 35
Sonic boom. 16, 224, 228
Sound detector, 121
Southeast Missouri Astronomy Club,
50, 64.100,125
Southeast Missourian, 4
Space Sciences Research Center,
University of Missouri at
Rolla, 159
Space-warp, 227
Spectroscope, 178
Spectrum analyzer. 35. 36, 74, 75,
87,88. 106,108.253
Spectrum of light source, 125
Speed, relative, 258-59
Star brightness magnitude scale, 202
Strategic Air Command (SAC), 199
Sturrock, Peter, 244
Success ratio, 214, 215
Supersonic travel, 224
Sutton, Gary, 179

Tektronix spectrum analyzer, 35
Telepathy, 240, 241, 243
Telescopes

Celestron, 35,114, 188
Criterion, 170,178
Questar, 10, 13, 21, 23, 35, 50,
114

Texas Instruments model SR 51 cal¬
culator, 24

Thermal blooming. 231

Thomas, Jay, 98
Toney, Joan, 28

Toney, Mike. 28,105,190, 247,248
Toney, Richard Lee, 28,122
Trail of Tears State Park, 144,153
Triangulation, 75, 76, 87
Trickey, Jim, 39, 46, 48
Truk Island, 141

Turnbull, King, 5, 20, 27,28, 29, 36

Ueleke, Milton, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14,
28, 47, 176

UFOs

activity, year of greatest, 181
avoidance of humans, 241
bases, 212
brightness of, 229
chased by jets, 130, 132, 203,
232, 248-49
Class A, see Sightings
Class B, see Sightings
colors of, 227-28, 229
compass directions of, 220-21,
222

dogs, behavior of to, 225
energy sources, 226-27
existence of, 245
explanations for, 245-46
“flap,”4

hovering. 222,223,224, 236
humans, reactions to, 37, 239-
40, 241

injuries from, 167
intelligence of, 232-33,236, 238,
241-42, 243, 252

landing sites of, 197
motion, dynamics of flight, 223-
24, 225, 226

multiple sightings, 211, 236
propulsion of, 227
purpose of, 253
radio signals, reaction to, 240

reaction time of, 232
shapes of craft, 223
skepticism toward, 246
speed of, 224, 243
subliminal activity of, 243
telepathic powers of, 240.2 ^

TV and radio interference y**
107, 109, 114.122. 123. 22*-
25

Index 265

ultrasonic sound, 225

UFO Controversy in America (Ja¬
cobs), 35, 247

UFOs, A Scientific Debate (Menzel),
246

Ufology. New Insights from Science
and Common Sense (McCamp-
bell), 231

Ultrasonic sound, 225

Van Buren, Missouri, 70, 71
Vega, star, 162,198, 202, 208, 239
Venus, planet, 172,188
Visual system, human, 232
Voice, UFO reaction to, 240
VORTAC station, 79
VTOL aircraft, 34

Waltrip, Glenna, 67,113,132
Waltrip Motel, 7,67, 71
Watson, Chris, 187,199, 206
Wayne County Joumal’Banner, 249
Werner, John W., 22
White. Beth, 157-58
White, Floyd, 123
Williams, Fred, 171
Williamson. Dave, 245
Williamsville, Missouri, 22 70, 74

Willson, Hany, 190, 247, 248
Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde, 122
Wilson, John, 5, 29, 34, 36, 39, 46,
49, 50, 53, 56, 63, 64. 66, 67,
68, 69, 71, 72. 74, 77, 81, 82,
84, 85. 86. 88, 89, 90, 102,
103, 104, 105, 106, 111, 112,
113, 115, 116, 118, 120, 121,
122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128,
130, 132, 134, 137, 138, 139,
140, 142, 145, 147, 148, 151,
156, 157, 158, 177, 191, 192,
207, 236, 240
Wilson, Ron, 22, 23
Wilson cloud chamber, 98
Withers, Ruth, 134
Wratten 89B filter, 135,177
Wright, Ed, 167
Wright-Patterson AFB, 247
Wulfers, Teresa, 11

X-ray analysis, 164
Xenon gas, excited, 228, 229

Young, Lloyd, 176

Zeilik, Michael, 245

A Reward Edition
Science

WHAT IS PROJECT
IDEmiFICATIOri?

Project Identification con-
sists of a team of profession-
ally qualified, highly-trained re-
^ searchers—headed by Hari^ Rut-
* ledge, Ph.D.—whose main objer^e is
to investigate UFOs wTdle thephenom-
ena are In progress. The use of highly
/ scientific instrumentation—Questar telescope

(whose magnifying power can be changed without
replacing the eyepiece), high-quality camera equip¬
ment, electromagnetic frequency analyzer, and high-
frequency, low-intensity sound detectors—enables the
team to calculate the UFOs’ actual velocity, distance, and size,
as well as provide remarkable photographs of the real thing!

DR. HARLEY D. RUTLEDGE, a member of Sigma Pi Sigma (the National Honor
Society in Physics), earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. A past Presi¬
dent of several science organizations. IrKluding the Missouri Academy of Science,
he is presently Chairman of the Physics Department at Southeast Missouri State
University arid Uves with his frimOy in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

PRENTICE HALL, Englewood Cliffs. NJ.

0 - 13 - 730705-5