Project Blue Book documents on the Killian case, compiled by Dan Wilson

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

It should also be noted that Air Technical Intelligence Center experts formulated the opinion that stars were the objects sighted by their own men and the airline pilots.

Captain Killian's reaction to the Air Force offering was given clearly in a statement to the Long Island Press: "I certainly know Orion when I see it. It wasn't any brief look. During those 45 minutes I saw both Orion and the unknown objects repeatedly. So did other airline pilots. Maybe they (the transport crew) did see Orion through breaks in clouds. I can tell you this - no experienced airline pilot is going to be deceived like that. We've seen stars through cloud breaks many times, and those other crews have confirmed what I reported. Also, in our area, the only clouds we had were about 3500 feet below us. Above that, visibility was unlimited; the sky was absolutely clear. Those other captains would testify to that. So could everybody on our flight; the cabin lights were switched off and they were all looking out."

Deliberately the Air Force spokesmen had cast shadows upon the ability and integrity of these veteran airline pilots. That Orion was clearly visible is a coincidence providing ATIC with a convenient, though unsound, "out". But, applying such an explanation to the airlines sighting is ridiculously far-fetched and completely contrary to fact.

Dr. Orren C Mohler, assistant director at McMath-Hulbert Observatory of the University of Michigan adds his opinion to a host of others: "There is no astronomical explanation of the reported sightings. I know of nothing that occurred in the skies that night (February 24) that could account for the objects described."

It would be interesting to learn the feelings of the crew who manned the Air Force transport after being informed that they too had seen stars among broken clouds. Although privately they may possibly protest the opinion of the "experts". publicly they are in no position to refute it.

Could Killian have been deceived by cloud-covered stars? A man who has been flying since 1929 and who states he has never seen anything like this before, is not likely to be deceived by something as familiar to him as Orion. Pilots of both American and United flights have stated emphatically they saw the mysterious lights and Orion simultaneously. Killian has said the sky was crystal clear and a passenger has verified this fact. Visibility was one hundred miles. The U.S. Weather Bureau verifies this. In a call to the Killian home, Mrs. Killian said Captain Killian has studied astronomy, and that he refuses to believe that he "saw stars".

Evidently the Air Force wasn't too sure Captain Killian had seen the stars either. What they had issued to the press for release to the public was a rather simple explanation one they felt would be acceptable in most cases. However, a need for an additional interpretation must have been felt for three weeks later the Air Force offered a second, more imaginative, reason for the events of the night of February 24th.

"The American Airlines sighting of February 24 near Bradford, Pennsylvania turned out to be a B-47 type aircraft accomplishing night refueling from KC-97 tankers. The American Airlines pilot's report of the sighting confirmed this and Air Force records show that three B-47 type aircraft were in the vicinity of Bradford, Pennsylvania on a night refueling operation. The tanker has several groups of lights which, at a distance, would appear to be one or more lights. The time duration of a refueling operation varies and car last well over an hour, depending upon the type of operation. The KC-97 refueling a B-47 will fly at approximately an altitude of 17,000 feet at around 230 knots. This would account for the lights being approximately 30 degrees above the American Airlines pilot's horizon and his seeing them for 40 minutes."