Baker report, 1968 congressional hearings

exhibited angular dimensions of about 4 by 1 milliradians, whereas their elliptical, Sun-reflection flare image exhibited
angular dimensions of about 6 by 1.4 milliradians.
Upon close inspection, the flare included a roughly circular bright nucleus and a comet-like "tail" of lesser brightness about
4.4 milliradians long. This comet-like Sun flare, which is not exhibited on the Montana film, is also generally characteristic
of airplane-fuselage Sun reflections having approximately the same brightness as the Montana film objects. Even with the
larger comet-like flare, the jets photographed during the photographic experiment are clearly identifiable.
Finally, airplanes at the limiting distance for resolution of structure (over 6.5 miles), with the 3" telephoto lens used, would
have to have been traveling at speeds in excess of the capability of the F-94's (above 600 mph [6] in order to have been
compatible with the angular rates of the images displayed on the film. At 6.5 miles a typical 50 foot airplane (such as an F-
94) subtends angles of 1.5x0.4 milliradians or 5½ by 1¼ minutes of arc. The resolving power of the eye is from 1 to 3
minutes of arc (the Moon is about 30 minutes of arc in angular diameter). The actual resolving power of the camera used
by Mariana (with the 3" telephoto lens and set at f/22) is from 2/3rds to one minute of arc even though its theoretical
resolving power (exclusive of aberrations) is on the order of 2/3rds of a minute of arc (0.19 milliradians).
Thus, theoretically, and as borne out by the author's experiments, the F-94's would have been identifiable even at 6.5 miles.
The (0.8) (1.51) = 1.2 milliradians fuzzy image (as depicted on the film for UFO #1) would have somewhat obscured an
airplane structure at this distance; but the structure would still have been recognizable.
The angular (azimuthal) velocity of the objects was found to be 0.019, 2 radians/second. Equipped with the knowledge of
the focal length and frame speed (16 frames per second) of Mariana's camera and the foreground during the filming, the
transverse component of the velocity of the objects can be correlated to their height above the local terrain (3,312 ft) and
distances from the observer (for the objects when they first appear on the film). Since only angular distances from one
station are available for measurement, their actual range cannot be determined. On the other hand, Table I can be
constructed on the basis of a variety of hypothetical ranges.
The measurements of the diameter of the developed images presented in Fig. I are the least accurate of all the data because
of the smallness of the dimension and the fuzziness of the images. The image of any brilliant light source as seen by either
the eye or a camera can appear much larger than the source itself. This fact had obvious bearing on the analysis of the
TABLE I
Hypothetical Ranges, Heights, and Speeds
SPEED (mph)
Range Height Transverse at 171° for Optimal COMMENTS
(Miles) (feet) heading Sun Reflection
0.5 690 552 642 Upper limit to bird speed; but birds would
have been resolved. 3
2 2,730 1572 1972 3822 Usual F-94 speed in a landing pattern is
130 to 190 mph; but would have been
resolved.
6.5 8,860 4702 6002 1,140 Maximum (dive) F-94 speed is 602 mph;
but would have been resolved.
563 950,000 (290 km) 39,000 Low-speed meteors 7; but would not be
detected at this range on a bright day.
Atmosphere too thin above 100 km for
bolides or fireballs.
2,260 5,610,000 (1,710 km) 156,000 High-speed Meteors 7; but would not be
detected at this range on a bright day.
Atmosphere too thin above 100 km for
bolides or fireballs.
1Above the observer -- Add 3,312 ft. for absolute altitude.
2Includes 20 mph component of head winds.
3Ducks, etc. would be flapping or swooping and would not appear like the objects on the film at any distance.