Monday, August 5, 2013
Edward R. Murrow, "Case Of The Flying Saucer"
The renowned journalist Edward R. Murrow hosted this great radio broadcast on April 7, 1950. Type this link into your browser. Give it a listen. It's great, vintage stuff from a far more innocent time. Again, sit back, don't relax, but enjoy!
Sunday, August 4, 2013
UFOs: Friend, Foe or Fantasy
Watch this great UFO documentary produced by CBS news in 1966. It was hosted by "the most trusted man in America", Walter Cronkite. Type this link in to your browser. Then sit back, don't relax, but enjoy!
What Is A "Sun Dog"?
Many scientists explain UFO sightings as what are commonly referred to as "sun dogs". So, exactly what are those sun dogs? Let's take a look.
A sun dog or sundog, scientific name parhelion (plural parhelia) from Greek παρήλιον (parēlion), meaning "beside the sun"; from παρά (para), meaning "beside", and ἥλιος (helios), meaning "sun", also called a mock sun or a phantom sun, is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.
Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.
Sundogs are commonly made by the refraction of light from plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, these ice crystals are called diamond dust, and drift in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. If the crystals are randomly oriented, a complete ring around the sun is seen — a halo. But often, as the crystals sink through the air, they become vertically aligned, so sunlight is refracted horizontally — in this case, sundogs are seen.
As the sun rises higher, the rays passing through the crystals are increasingly skewed from the horizontal plane. Their angle of deviation increases, and the sundogs move further from the sun. However, they always stay at the same elevation as the sun.
Sundogs are red-colored at the side nearest the sun. Farther out the colors grade through oranges to blue. However, the colors overlap considerably and so are muted, never pure or saturated. The colors of the sundog finally merge into the white of the parhelic circle (if the latter is visible).
Does this explain some of the UFO sightings? Perhaps. But does it explain them all?
A sun dog or sundog, scientific name parhelion (plural parhelia) from Greek παρήλιον (parēlion), meaning "beside the sun"; from παρά (para), meaning "beside", and ἥλιος (helios), meaning "sun", also called a mock sun or a phantom sun, is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.
Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.
Sundogs are commonly made by the refraction of light from plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, these ice crystals are called diamond dust, and drift in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. If the crystals are randomly oriented, a complete ring around the sun is seen — a halo. But often, as the crystals sink through the air, they become vertically aligned, so sunlight is refracted horizontally — in this case, sundogs are seen.
As the sun rises higher, the rays passing through the crystals are increasingly skewed from the horizontal plane. Their angle of deviation increases, and the sundogs move further from the sun. However, they always stay at the same elevation as the sun.
Sundogs are red-colored at the side nearest the sun. Farther out the colors grade through oranges to blue. However, the colors overlap considerably and so are muted, never pure or saturated. The colors of the sundog finally merge into the white of the parhelic circle (if the latter is visible).
Does this explain some of the UFO sightings? Perhaps. But does it explain them all?
Did Walter Cronkite Have A UFO Encounter
Walter Cronkite was known as "the most trusted man in America" during the heyday of national network news in the 1960s and 70s. Cronkite traveled to Viet Nam in early 1968 to view the aftermath of the surprise Viet Cong attack on several key cities in what was then called South Viet Nam, known as the Tet Offensive. Cronkite gave his "We Are Mired In A Stalemate" broadcast on February 27th, 1968. Many historians believe that was a major turning point in the American public's support for the war.
So, when someone says that Walter Cronkite claimed to have an encounter with a UFO, it is certainly something to consider. UFologist Bill Knell claims that Cronkite told him about the encounter prior to an interview of Knell for a 1973 CBS special on UFO's.
What does Knell tell us? That Cronkite was part of a pool of reporters invited to watch an Air Force missile test on a small Pacific island in the 1950s. Knell says Cronkite told him what happened just as the missile was launched was astonishing.
Knell claims Cronkite told him that a disc-shaped object about "fifty to sixty feet in diameter" suddenly appeared on the scene. The disc fired a blue beam which allegedly froze the missile about seventy feet from its launcher. Knell claims he was also told that a guard and his dog were also frozen in place by the mysterious blue beam. Then the missile suddenly exploded.
Knell reports that Cronkite and the rest of the reporters were then quickly ushered into a nearby observation bunker and left there for about thirty minutes. When they were all finally escorted out of the bunker, an Air Force Colonel advised the group that what they had witnessed was "all part of the missile test".
It is worth noting that Walter Cronkite never publicly discussed this event. There are also no corroborating witnesses who have come forward saying that Cronkite also shared this UFO experience with them.
Does that mean the event is fictitious? That is up to the readers of True UFO Stories to decide.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Estimate Of The Situation
The Estimate of the Situation was a document written in 1948 by personnel of the USAF Project Sign, including the project's director, Captain Robert Sneider, that explained the reasons for concluding that "the extraterrestrial hypothesis" was the best explanations for flying saucers. As late as 1960, the Air Force claimed that the document didn't exist. But many sources describe the report as being a real document that was suppressed and describe the report as "The Holy Grail of Ufology".
As background, Project Sign was established in late 1947, and was charged with investigating flying saucer reports. Sign's personnel operated on the principle that the subject should be taken seriously, on the grounds that these mysterious visitors may represent genuine aircraft whose origins are mysterious and possibly threatening US security.
It is believed that The Estimate of the Situation was completed in September, 1948. The Estimate argued that flying saucer reports coincided with what was then the close approach of the Mercury, Venus of Mars to Earth and that these planets could be being used as staging bases for a surveillance of Earth by some extraterrestrial intelligence. The report also predicted a wave of flying saucer sightings in October, 1948. It is worth noting that this wave of sightings actually occurred.
The report also sparked huge debate at the Pentagon. Soon after, the Pentagon disbanded Project Sign and replaced it with Project Grudge. Project Grudge was tasked with the singular mission of debunking flying saucer sightings.
As background, Project Sign was established in late 1947, and was charged with investigating flying saucer reports. Sign's personnel operated on the principle that the subject should be taken seriously, on the grounds that these mysterious visitors may represent genuine aircraft whose origins are mysterious and possibly threatening US security.
It is believed that The Estimate of the Situation was completed in September, 1948. The Estimate argued that flying saucer reports coincided with what was then the close approach of the Mercury, Venus of Mars to Earth and that these planets could be being used as staging bases for a surveillance of Earth by some extraterrestrial intelligence. The report also predicted a wave of flying saucer sightings in October, 1948. It is worth noting that this wave of sightings actually occurred.
The report also sparked huge debate at the Pentagon. Soon after, the Pentagon disbanded Project Sign and replaced it with Project Grudge. Project Grudge was tasked with the singular mission of debunking flying saucer sightings.
Project Magnet
The United States is not the only nation to investigate UFO phenomena. The Canadian Department of Transport (DOT) launched a UFO research program called Project Magnet on December 2nd, 1950. Project Magnet was under the direction of senior radio engineer Wilbert Smith. The Canadian government funded Magnet until mid-1954. The project continued with private funding until Wilbert Smith's death in 1962.
Project Magnet was actually formed with the intention to collect data about UFOs and apply any recovered data to practical engineering and technology. The ultimate goal of the project was to apply any findings on the subject of geomagnetism to the possibility of exploiting Earth's magnetic field as a source of propulsion for vehicles. Smith and his colleagues in government believed that UFOs, if real, might hold the key to this new source of power.
In October 1952, Smith set up an observatory at Shirley's Bay, outside Ottawa to study reports of UFO sightings, believing that UFOs would emit physical characteristics that could be measured. A number of sighting reports were investigated and they led Smith to a few conclusions about UFOs.
1. UFOs are of extraterrestrial origin.
2. These extraterrestrial craft almost certainly manipulated magnetism for flight.
2. The other-worldly beings communicated through telepathy.
In fact, Smith believed that these beings were actually communicating with him. His views on that controversial subject were published posthumously in 1969 under the title Boys From The Topside.
Friday, August 2, 2013
The Mike Wallace Keyhoe Interview
Most of us remember journalist Mike Wallace from his excellent work on TV's long-running 60 Minutes, that debuted in 1968. But Wallace actually began honing his excellent interviewing skills during television's infancy in the 1950's.
Wallace did a very interesting television interview with one of Ufology's pioneers, Major Donald Keyhoe on March 8, 1958. The subject? Flying saucers. Wallace asks Major Keyhoe several tough but respectful questions. One question, asked more than once, was why would the Air Force and the American government withhold the truth about flying saucers from the American people? That question certainly demonstrates just how much times have changed.
You can search and watch this famous Wallace interview on You Tube and see for yourself.
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Wallace did a very interesting television interview with one of Ufology's pioneers, Major Donald Keyhoe on March 8, 1958. The subject? Flying saucers. Wallace asks Major Keyhoe several tough but respectful questions. One question, asked more than once, was why would the Air Force and the American government withhold the truth about flying saucers from the American people? That question certainly demonstrates just how much times have changed.
You can search and watch this famous Wallace interview on You Tube and see for yourself.
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