Flying Saucers Again: Do You Believe in Them?

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

there were "hideous people" aboard the airship and that when it departed it took with it one of his heifers, which had been bound with "a cable . . . made of some red material fastened in a slipknot around her neck." I won't attempt to evaluate that part of the statement—it is possible that under the stimulus of the sight of a literally unearthly marvel, both truth and hysteria-induced fiction might have been reported.

But I take full note—and I call to my readers' attention—the facts that the Oakland Tribune article was dated November 23, 1896; the New York Herald article April 11, 1897; and Farmer Hamilton's statement April 21, 1897.

If these sightings were real, if in truth a "huge airship" of unknown origin and reported high mobility was in our skies, these sequential dates seem to me conclusive proof that Farmer Hamilton, of Leroy, Kan., saw the same unidentified flying object that had been reported over Oakland, Omaha and Chicago.

## Monthly Weather Review

In, respectively, the March 1904 and July 1907 issues, the U.S. Weather Bureau's Monthly Weather Review printed two of the most mystifying and beguiling UFO reports on record.

The author of the 1904 report ("Remarkable Meteors") was Lt. Frank H. Schofield of the U.S. Navy. He stated that he saw "three somewhat remarkable meteors" at 35 degrees 58 feet North—128 degrees 36 feet West, which "appeared near the horizon and below the clouds, travelling in a group from northwest by north (true) directly toward the ship. . . As they approached the ship, they appeared to soar. . . "

(Author's note: To call meteors which travel in a group and soar "somewhat remarkable" was the understatement of the century.)

The 1907 report ("A Possible Case of Ball Lightning") was by William H. Alexander, the official weather forecaster of Burlington, Vt. He wrote about an "explosion so sudden, so unexpected, and so terrific that it startled practically the entire city of Burlington." He quoted Bishop John S. Michaud, who, at the time of the incident, was standing in conversation with ex-Gov. Woodbury of Vermont, at the corner of Church and College Streets. Readers who may already have concluded that the explosion was indeed either just a "possible case of ball lightning," or a bolide (exploding meteor), should note what the weather expert quoted the Bishop as saying. After a reference to "the most unusual and

body some 300 feet away, stationary in appearance and suspended in the air about 50 feet above the tops of the buildings. Although stationary when first seen, this object soon began to move, rather slowly . . ."

I can't help wondering out loud what Project Blue Book's "explanation" of this report would have been. Marsh gas?

## Mongolia: 1927

In his book, "Altai Himalaya," Nicholas Roerich—painter, traveler, and mystic—wrote that in Mongolia in 1927 he and his party saw "something big and shiny reflecting the sun, like a huge oval moving at great speed. Crossing our camp, it changed its direction from south to southwest. We even had time to take out field glasses and saw quite distinctly an oval form."

To Unbelievers who might ask, with a gentle smile, whether Roerich's oval object, sighted in the High Himalayas, was piloted by an Abominable Snowman, this Believer would reply, with a gentle smile: "I wonder. I wonder about the whole thing. And so, I think, do you."

## Yes or No?

The first basic question is: Has anybody really seen anything? (I believe that many eyes have seen many marvels — and that great marvels are still to be revealed.)

The next questions are: Are UFOs of terrestrial origin, and, if they are, who or what is putting them up there—and for what purpose? Or are they of celestial origin, and, if so, are they interplanetary, even possibly interstellar—and with what purpose?

My lifelong hobby of astronomy, together with what I consider to be overwhelming affirmative evidence, incline me toward the belief that UFOs are "real" and of celestial origin-interplanetary or interstellar.

In "The UFO Evidence," NICAP states, in judicious, conservative language, its "support of the hypothesis that UFOs are under intelligent control, making plausible the notion that some of them might be of extra-terrestrial origin."

NICAP also quotes, in the May June 1966 issue of its publication, "The UFO Investigator," the stated position of one of the most highly qualified members of its Board of Governors, Joseph Bryan III (Colonel, USAF, Retired), former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force (1952-53) and former member of the staff of Gen. Lauris Norstad, then Supreme Allied Commander at NATO: "It is

my opinion that the UFOs reported

technical evidence prove them superior to any aircraft or space devices now produced on earth; and that these UFOs are interplanetary devices systematically observing the earth, either manned or under remote control, or both."

Frank Edwards, an implacable Believer, quotes, in his "Flying Saucers-Serious Business," Dr.

expert ("I am convinced that saucers have an out-of-world basis") and Dr. Herman Oberth ("Flying saucers come from distant worlds").

But the battle lines remain drawn in the War of the Unbelievers and Believers. It is still a Donnybrook, with Armageddon not yet in sight.

Are flying saucers real or unreal fact or fantasy?

As of now, I don't know.

And you don't know.

## ---

But one day we'll know.

INCIDENT AT EXETER: The Story of Unidentified Flying Objects Over America Today. By John G. Fuller. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 251 pages. $5.95.

FLYING SAUCERS — SERIOUS BUSINESS. By Frank Edwards. Lyle Stuart, Inc. 30 illustrations. 319 pages. $5.95.

THE UFO EVIDENCE: Unidentified Flying Objects. Richard H. Hall, Editor. Pulished by The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Washington, D.C. Drawings and charts. 184 pages. $5.

FLYING SAUCERS AND THE U.S. AIR FORCE: The Official Air Force Story. By Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Tacker, U.S. Air Force. D. Van Nostrand Co. 10 illustrations. 164 pages. $3.50.

Approved For Release 2001/04/02 CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010009-2 terrific explosion, Bishop Mr. services under intelligent control; that chaud said: