Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Number 116
Number 116
UFO JOURNAL
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF MUFONI/ MUTUAL UFO NETWORK, INC
By Richard Hall
an area filled with dangerous, creased its altitude swiftly although Smith, Ark. MUFON State Director for
partially or totally covered rocks. the witness isn't too sure in this. Arkansas
tion thus it couldn't have been "like a fleeing star, like a sputnik." William F. Hansel, Ph.D., Woodland Hills,
After presenting the story, the dif- Calif., MUFON Consultant and State .Section
something attached to a mast or
Director
other floating object, which would ficult task remains for the investi-
have had at least some gentle gator to interpret it. In this case,
MODERN IMAGE PROCESSING REVISITS
oscillating motion, especially when in the absence of physical evidence
THE GREAT FALLS, MONTANA AND
it was stationed near the rocks. and as the witnesses can't give a TREMONTON, UTAH MOVIES by William
But, apart from what was said description of the structure which H. Spauldlng, Phoenix, Ariz., Director of GSW,
before, I consider the description of supported the light, it is inevitable Inc., MUFON State Director for Arizona and
the light as much as the way in but to accept as most probable the Photographic Consultant
which it disappeared as being fun- interpretation that the object was
damental in this case. one of those rare and little under- WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HYPNOSIS
That light which illuminated all stood atmospheric phenomenon, OF IMAGINARY ABDUCTEES? by Alvln
directions uniformly was a "rare which generally take the shape of H. Lawson, Ph.D., Garden Grove, CAIif.
MUFON State Section Director for Orange
light," something unconventional. rays in a globe or balls of plasma.
County
"Not of a lantern nor of a car's Of course, in contrast to this calm
headlight. It was like a blowtorch interpretation, one should think in
SCIENCE FICTION, SCIENCE, AND UFOs by
when it is cutting, but without the the abnormal and cunous behovior
Stanton T. Friedman, Nuclear Physicist, UFO
sparks, of a rare color. It was as of this supposed atmospheric phe- Lecturer, and MUFON Consultant In Nuclear
if something was burning, but with- nomenon, since at least theore- Physics
out the flame moving from its tically it shouldn't have behave so
source. As if there were a circle systematic in its maneuvers, as Price: $5.00 Poet Paid From:
outside which wouldn't permit the it did that night in the fall of 1973. MUFON
flame to leave from there." Before 103 OLDTOWNE ROAD
SEGUIN, TEXAS 78139 U.S.A.
UFOs Collide Over Brazil! byO. Raymundo
A strange collision took place in dade and three military troopers, headed this author to examine the
the skies of Icoaraci (Latitude all on duty that night. It was pre- ball lightning phenomenon hypo-
1 degree 18 minutes South, Long. sumed that the loud sound, pre- thesis, with no convincing results
48 degrees 28 minutes West), a ceeding the huge collision, was pro- either. Being a very rare type of
quiet village near Belem do Para, duced by the unbridled run of the natural phenomenon and as yet
Brazil. All the villagers came out- UFOs one against another. Al- unexplained by the science, ball
doors to watch the unusual happen- though the possibility of a crash lightning is known to have some
ing, on the evening of May 17,1977. between two small airplanes was basic peculiarities such as: a small
For the highly supertitious it . taken into consideration, no trace size ball with luminous colors be-
meant the very end of this world, of wreckage or any debris was tween orange-reddish or yellowish;
and many started praying and cry- found in the area, after an immed- of very short duration; moving most
ing. For the most skeptical, it was iate search by the authorities. of the time horizontally; and some-
the results of a government or It was learned from official state- times rising and exploding or pop-
the results of a government experi- r ments also, that the collision of the ing in the air. Indeed, it has never
ment or caused by some ardent UFOs did not cause explosion been photographed! Conclusively,
firecracker. But most of the eye- with debris but only a loud crack- it can be said that there is no factual
witnesses declared it was a dazzling ling sound, like the striking of light- explanation for the ball lightning
experience, whatever they witness- - ning. This fact was compared to phenomenon itself, and quite pos-
ed in their small village that Tues- another weird happening in the sibly, no link at all with the bizarre
day evening. • 1950's, when a bolt of lightning phenomenon witnessed in Brazil.
The skies were dark and clean, • struck a river, in a neighboring Past research and investiation
with no moon in the warm tropical village, also leaving a reddish color into similar UFO activity may lead
sky. At about 9:30-p.m., people in in the vicinity for severaldays. us to accept more: that such lumin-
the streets started hearing a steady According to other sources a few ous display could be related to
deafning loud sound,, like many days before in the small village of some intelligent controlled devices
continuous thunder laps. People Moreni, town of Benevides (Pop. that may have become out of con-
inside their houses came out and. 13,000), a fisherman known by the trol and were intentionally flown
joined the passerbys, all staring at name Jango, saw on a clear after- into each other.
the skies in astonishment. noon, a strange object cruising the The area of the incident (Belem
Two blazing balls, with no defin- sky. do Para' in the estuary of the great
ite outline, coming in North-South A few days later, this author was Amazon River), has seen many
opposite directions, crashed in the futher notified by a correspondent mysterious objects in the skies—
sky. According to the witnesses, that a contraditory note was pub- and some of them plunging into the
the fiery object coming from the lished in the same newpapers, waters, too. South America has
north was rose in color, and the one stating that some signal firework been known to be one of the great-
coming from the south was green- devices were recently stolen from a est areas of UFO activity in the last
ish. After the sudden collision, a local fishing company, "which led decades, and a close study might
tremedous flash took place and a to the conclusion that the unusual lead the dedicated ufologist into
pink smoke filled a large area in phenomenon was clearly explain- most interesting conclusions.
the sky, dissipating about 20 able". Probably the usual debunk-
minutes after the collision. ing pressure by the authorities was
In the local police station, the put into effect, denying the extra-
affidavit of Chief Ronaldo Silva was terrestrial theory.
joined by the opinion of Agent Trin- Other opinions and discussions
8
-V .••' ' . . ' . ' .-•:••• ' • • ' v' :
''.-,' ...f^ '.''' JV. : V,J: ' f
^'^' / : •-:' \ ' : • • '• •'.••'
$K &•- • ^Itt^^^l^fcSf'v'B
' • v . • • - . : " - • • • • ' • - . - • • ^tfjf£z&/r& f*>f.-zf- '--^ «^^'?ar.^^x.Qr?',v>P.-} ^- ^,.-', .:o
;
v.: • V^M^^^Pi':r^^W^|lpJ
:
'":•.•: :^'Vt|)^;
f: -^-":*"-^&^/f^^]-^
wm-^-^' " ~
S»••;:'•
^J>?l^tv *• . . -(•«.•> »»• «"•„•" • . -i&tytr/s ~.~* r*U/
December 14, 1974, between Pritz said, "it would ge kind of a and the witness, who chose to
6:45 and 7 p.m. (CET) Hans Pritz, push and run again at its usual remain anonymous, is not acquaint-
22 year old compositor working at rate. (It would accelerate from this ed with the Pritz family. Mrs. X
Zwettle and living at Traunstein, point-Ed.) With binoculars you'd lives in an isolated wooded valley
started his car and left for Kalten- see clearly that the rotating light with scattered houses, south of
bach. Near the garage that was a even cast a shadow or a faint line Poeggstall, which lies 15 km SSE of
major reference in the October inside the object's front side at Traunstein and 7 km W of the
1973 sightings the road branches a certain position, and it had maxi- Ostrong mountains. She is an old
off to the right. The night was mum brilliance there, and a faint country wife in her sixties, walking
starry, even too starry. One es- hajo." The object also projected a with a limp after a leg injury and
pecially bright "star" seemed to be motionless ray from the upper left with reduced hearing, but im-
out of place, twinkling 4 degrees edge straight upwards to a point pressive mental freshness and in-
above the horizon. Pritz turned the about two object diameters distant, terest in natural phenomena.
car around and drove home to fetch where it ended abruptly. Her testimony was simple and
his 8 x 40 "Revue" binoculars with The object hovered 5 degrees honest from beginning to end, we
a field of 6.5 degrees. A few over the horizon with Mt. Jauerling agreed after analysis of the tapes.
minutes later he trained the bi- which has an important TV tower, On a clear morning before Christ-
noculars on the "star." What he and above some trees near the road mas 1974 (according to the weather
saw was enough to cause him to to Lugmuehle, but at considerable logs it was clear at 7 a.m. on Dec.
drive 1.7 km further to the south- distance. It was on a bearing of 21, 22, 23, and 24) she entered the
west and park his car in a field. 114 degrees, which .is nearly the anteroom of her country house at
"Have you ever watched the same azimuth obtained from the 6:30 a.m. After her first glance into
beacon light of a patrol car?," garage point, so we couldn't fix the the dark north through the large
Pritz asked. "It was very much like true distance. The fuzzy globe re- window, she stood transfixed.
that, a patch of light going round mained stationary for 5 minutes, "What's going on out there,"
and round." The object was as then moved slowly and horizontally she thought. "It was a globe,
bright as Jupiter (about - 2 magni- to the west, stopped again at 126 halfway up the mountain—it's
tude), basically yellowish, but degrees azimuth for a minute, then called Mt. Mandelgupf—, and it
changed colors a little. The continued westward. (Pritz then was swinging, and like a sword
'' beacon'' rotated continuously noticed a carmine red "dot" in the throwing out sparks." The witness
about 1 revolution per second. beacon's first position, but lower, described it vividly while we were
Pritz compared it to a searchlight flying eastward at moderate at thw site. "I went back into the
rotating counterclockwise behind speed. The "dot" was intermit- kitchen at once to get the time—
the object's rim so that only the tently visible.--Ed.) 6:30 precisely...And the sword was
bright glow was visible. (Mr. Len- "The beacon object flew further like the globe, it all fitted together.'
nartz of Hochries hut, Bavaria, to the west," Pritz continued, there Very low in the north, over a
witnessed the same phenomenon, was ho sound at all the whole time, meadow in the valley and in front of
but rotating clockwise. See SKY- and disappeared behind a cloud." the Mandelgupf slope, a globe
LOOK No. 87, Feb. 1975). (At 140 degrees azimuth, 4 degrees hovered in mid-air. It wasn't
"Every time the light would elevation). - -- motionless, but swinging to and fro
reach a position at the lower left, This report reached us by chance (Continued on page 12)
10
AND UFQS by Jean Bastide, MUFON
Representative In South France
The famous american Ufologist of Chemical Engineering in the UFOs and specifically wondered if
James M. McCanipbell has writ- University of Tucuman, Sr. Walter they were interested in seeing one.
ten that "when witnesses report Gonzalo Tell, did an analysis of The long and short of it is that
a UFO sighting involving an object them, which showed that they con- shortly afterward—almost before
moving near the surface of a body tained 96.48% of calcium carbonate their very eyes—there was a widely
of water, they may describe a ripple arid 3.51% of potassium car- observed and documented (dis-
effect oh the water which appears bonate" (2) Now, the witnesses counting a ludicrous cover-up)
to have been caused by the object. have stated that this object "f" was landing and the deposit of some
The UFO researcher should be "a solid body some 28 to 30 feet, in "Whitish Powder-like Substance
interested in studying the possible diameter, its surface appearing to that was originally The Size Of
cause of this effect, and what this be of metal, resembling alumin- Golf Balls, but which shrunk down.
may suggest about the nature of ium' ' and that the object was at less When it was picked up by a police-
UFOs" (1) We must bear in mind than 5 ft. from the ground, rockling man, he droppd it quickly, in sur-
that although no definite conclu- to and fro without revolving and prise, because it was cold as an
sions can actually be reached re- that "A Whitish Mist was coming ice cube. It retained the cold
garding the means of propulsion out of its lower extremity", the feeling for at least 24 hours". The
and the effects of UFOs, science whitish mist "giving off a penetra- teenagers were reluctant to report
can nevertheless be utilized to ting odor resembling the smell of to their straight-laced father what
resolve the UFO phenomenon. sulphur." (3) they had done, not only because of
As we now know, such ripples could We can also quote the Galssboro the weird, possibly UFO-related
be a key effect to explain more (New Jersey, USA) landing case: experiences, but because of the fact
strange effects. the two teenage boys of Mr. Ward that they were late in getting home,
In fact, on October 21, 1963 a C. Campbell-technically trained and they were fearful of being
very curious observation took place and a prominent citizen of Galss- scolded for fishing where they were
in Argentina, near the town of boro-were fishing in a pond in an not supposed to be! (4)
Trancas. As written by Mr. Oscar off-bounds orchard when they were One can make several important
A. Galindez, "beneath the air- approached by two tall men, bare- remarks:
space where the object "f" (one of foot, and long-haired. The thin a) in the two cases, the balls
the 6 objects involved in this case) and blond young men impresed seems to have always the same size
had been rocking to and fro, and the two teenagers by "their beauti- between them, as if a strictly-
within a circle 28 to 30 ft. in dia- ful ("non-pimply") fair com- defined weight could not be ex-
meter, they (the witnesses) found plexions". As related by Mr. ceeded.
forming a perfect cone 3 feet Berthold Eric Schwarz, "this meet- b) in the two cases, the balls are
high, innumberable "little white ing was unusual for this time of the whitish; and crumbly, therefore
balls" 1/2 inch in diameter. Next ye'ar and place, for the ground was formed of powder.
day, they found similar little balls gravel and broken glass (the men c) in the first case (Trancas, the
on the railway line (where the other being barefoot). Also, in a small balls formed a cone, as if they were
objects had been seen), but not in town everyone knows everyone created by a field of axial symmetry
such vast quantity as in the garden else. This was before the .time of such a magnetic one.
The little balls crumpled under the "hippies", and the two young The conclusions are quite simple:
gentle pressure. The head of the men were total strangers. They the UFOs can induce an anti-
chemical laboratory of the Institute asked the teenage poachers about gravitational field, of axial sym-
11
metry, and greater in the centre compositions. We must hope that (Continued from page 10)
inducing itself the formation of further cases will bring us more gently, like a pendulum (the first
little spheres composed of soil facts, which will, in return, streng- time the pattern would appear in
powder attracted and conglom- then this theory. We must note the the flap). At the same time it
erated, by an effect roughly similar cone may (almost) reach the object, seemed to be moving slowly E on
to the one known in outerspace, in being 3 ft. high, the periphery of a straight course, towards the slope
which the particules conglomerated the UFO being at 5 ft. high only. of Mt. Hofkogel, S of Mandelgupf.
themselves into spheres, the gra- Mrs. X continued: "First I said—
vitation being near to zero (inde- for heavens sake, what does it
pendently of the well known effect (1) Skylood (now MUFON UFO mean? Is the thing going to
of surface tension for liquids). Journal), no. 94, September 1975; explode? ...It was like a sword,
The process could therefore be James M. McCampbell, Micro- and it changed from left to right
as follows: waves and water, scientific deduc- alternately, but the ball remained.
a) the soil powder begins to con- tion and UFO investigations; the But the most interesting to me
glomerate. well-knwon book of Mr. McCamp- was the sparks, like a blacksmith
b) the size limit (weight) being bell—UFOlogy—has been recently hammering a red-hot iron, but only
reached, the whitish powder balls published again (new edition) by for seconds." As soon as the sword
drop to the ground, being too heavy Celestial Arts, 231 Adrian Road, would extend to full length, lots of
to be now attracted. Millbrae, Ca. 94030, USA. tiny sparks "like tiny stars" spray-
We can also think that the (2) Flying Saucer Review, Vol. ed up and down from a point in the
gravitational field is highest in the 17 no. 3, page 18; OVNIS, un desa- middle of the appendage, halfway
center, decreasing to the periphery, fio a la ciencia, Ano I, Noviembre- from the globe to the outer tip. It
to be almost equal to zero outside diciembre 1974, no. 4, page 7: extended to the left and then
the radius of the UFO, roughly. "debajo del sitio en que se balance to the right reciprocally and without
We can infer also that the field aquel objeto, y dentro de un a stop. The sparks seemed to be
whatever it may be exactly—is circulo de 8 a 10 metres de dia- dependent on full extension of the
constant, unchanged, during this metro, comprobaron la existencia peak; for they never appeared
short lapse of time, the UFO de inumerables bolitas blancas de outside this period. The globe and
being stationary. 1 cm. diametro"; in his book extension were about 2 moon dia-
Is it not strange that a few facts "Los OVNIs ante la ciencia", Mr. meters in aparent size.
could have given so much in the Galindez writes that the white balls (Mrs. X went to her son's house,
way of concepts! We can add now forms a perfect cone: "un perfecto next down the slope, to see if he
that carbonates are very common cone de un metro de altura" was awake but he wasn't. When
in terrestrial soil, being very crum- (page 89). she returned the ball was partly
bly, to form an impalpable powder (3) FSR Vol. 17, no. 3, page 16; obscured by trees. Only the upper
(by the effect of wind erosion). read OVNIs, Ano I, No. 4, page 5: shower of sparks remained visible
We can think, too, that the field of "la niebla comenzo a tornarse for a while longer until the object
the UFOs can induce the formation espesa, despidiendo un olor pene- moved away. Total time of obser-
of calcium and potassium carbon- trante, como azufre", the exact vation was 8-10 minutes. The in-
ates with the calcium and potas- distance from the ground being less vestigators calculated the size of
sium of the soil, combined with than 1.50 meter (page 4: "apenas the object to be over 5 meters in
the atmospheric carbon dioxide. 1,50 metres"). diameter, the height less than
In conclusion, the question to be (4) MUFON 1974 UFO Symposium 60 meters and more than 20
answered first must be: why have Proceedings, Akron, Ohio, June 22, 60 meters and more than 20 meters
there not been more cases like 1974, page 92 (case 6). above the terrain. Mrs. X inquired
these? Probably, many conditions in the neighborhood, but no one/
must be realized to obtain the ideal else reported seeing the thing//
conditions of atmospheric and soil --Ed.)
12
A Response to Richard Hall's
Commentary by Ray Stanford
! fiantt
I wish to thank Dennis w. Hauck, to be popularly published. So, in critical of him.
MUFON JOURNAL editor, for this early 1975 I finally found time to Hall refers to a report in my book
opportunity to respond in depth to severely edit it down-to size and that "fused sand" was found at the
the extensive statements of Richard remove the technical language. landing site. He says my source
Hall (MUFON JOURNAL, Novem- Only then did a small local publish- was a letter from the late Dr. James
ber, 1976) concerning himself, er, Blueapple Books, accept it. McDonald, to him, a copy of which
myself, and my book Socorro Hall says I had an "...obvious was sent to me. That is true.
'Saucer' in a Pentagon Pantry. desire at the time to believe" that Although I do not literally say that
Hall asks why I waited twelve I had "the conclusive physical the letter was obtained from Dr.
years "...to make a public issue of proof of UFOs." In the first place, McDonald, changes made in a rush
the Socorro case..." He also asks no one in a balanced state of mind at the last minute before printing
why I did not protest and force the could possibly believe that tiny certainly make it sound as if I am
issue (of whether there was a metallic slivers—regardless of saying that. (Reference to the Mc-
NASA coverup of the metallic how 'strange—could be "the con- Donald letter was inserted at the
evidence) with NICAP. Hall must clusive proof of UFOs." Nowhere last minute—when the initial
have forgotten that I did, via two in the book or elsewhere do I call negatives for the printing plates
phone conversations with him. the Socorro metallic slivers "con- had already been made. Space
I urged him to consult experts in clusive physical proof of UFOs" factors were already defined and,
techniques of analysis, as I had which obviously they were not. If hence, the material was much too
already done (see pages 148 and my attitude during the Socorro in- contracted.) Failure to acknow-
149 in my book), and, thus, learn vestigation and the reporting of it ledge Hall as the source was a very
for himself that in evaluating the was subjective as Hall now sug- inappropriate and unfortunate
X-ray diffraction test, for example, gests, why did Hall write me (on oversight which will be corrected
Frankel and his assistants could not NICAP stationery) on May 5, 1964, in any future editions. For its
have mistaken mere silica to be a saying, "Your taped report arrived, occurrence I duly apologize. Hall's
zinc-iron alloy. and I found it extremely thorough help is acknowledged in the front
Concerning Hall's quandary as to and intelligently done. We are of the book, but, unfortunately, not
why I waited until now to tell of my grateful to you for this job"? where it should have been.
Socorro investigation. It took me However, Hall may not be impug- Another point Hall makes • is
about five years of careful checking ning my 1964 work on the case. possibly correct. My dating of the
and cross-checking facts to 'as- Yet, as the importance of the Socor- Goddard trip could have been off
semble all the data in Socorro ro case became more evident, my one week, since I have no reason to
'Saucer' in a Pentagon Pantry, caution and thoroughness, if any- doubt Walter Webb's diary. My
nearly five hundred pages long! thing, increased. error, if it was such, must have
I tried for five more years to get a Hall complains that I mentioned occurred in my working back from
publisher to handle it. The answer on June 20, 1975, my forthcoming notes placed in wrongly dated
was always to the effect that, while book, but "...did not say that the envelopes before the book was
the manuscript was the best-docu- book would be highly critical of written.
mented one they had ever seen me." Of course not. The book is Hall makes a point of concern
concerning UFOs and very convin- not highly critical of Hall. Where because copies of tapes and notes I
cing, it was simply too long and he and NICAP were negligent, I supposedly made, including a
filled with too much "engineerese" say so, but I was never highly "tape...which he claims to have
13
made surreptitiously while riding pened, I ask WHAT WOULD THEY of the specific combination or ratio
in the car with Walt Webb and me PROVE? Precisely nothing. It of the two main elements involved
to NASA Goddard Space Flight still is a matter of faith since one here. This finding definitely
Center," were not sent to him as can easily prepare spontaneous- strengthens the case that might be
requested on July 21, 1976. The looking notes long after the fact. made for an extraterrestrial origin
background for Hall's statement is Why waste my time and Hall's too? of the Socorro object." (See page
as follows: When I called him after He is too cautious an investigator 139.)
her had read the complimentary to believe that mere notes from Frankel told me he had already
copy of the book which I had sent someone other than himself would called Dick Hall and told him the
him, he vigorously, if not vehnem- prove anything to him. same thing. Frankel added that
ently,; denied that my account of our Hall asks why I did not tape- Hall "...was very interested."
conversations on the way to the record the absolutely vital phone Hall verified that Frankel had done
Goddard Space Flight Center could conversations that "...he claims, so when I called him soon there-
be accurate. I felt on the phone that prove a coverup." I told him why after.
Hall's reaction to this account, soon after sending him a compli- Hall, upon first reading my book,
which had been based upon careful mentary copy of the book. But 1 did not remember that Dr. Frankel
notes, was purely an emotional shall repeat it because Hall raises it had reported a zinc-iron alloy, but
reaction. I decided to "smoke" again: At the time I had no tele- his own notes at NICAP did at least
him out as to his own self-assur- phone recording coil for use with prove that to him. He then readily
ance. my recorder, and if I'd had one, I acknowledged it.
I asked him, "Suppose I told you would not have used it without I suspect Hall's memory is sim-
I had tape-recorded our conversa- informing the other party—which ply not serving him accurately on
tions?" (I had not.) might have precluded candidness. other pertinent facts of which he
Dick respdnded, "How could you Butvsince,,,Ha: llLraises the .issue, I made no notes. I only wish he had
haye done that." might'turn the tables and ask why records of disputed matters—re-
"Remember that big purple did NICAP or Hall not tape-record cords he could accept. I can easily
briefcase I was carrying? I had a the pertinent conversations with believe that Hall is correct in his
tape-recorder in it," which in fact Frankel in which Hall was reported- recollection that Frankel said to
I did. But, of course, it was not on. ly involved? him that the zinc-iron alloy remind-
Well, "smoke" Hall did, and in Hall says he will testify before ed him of "a zinc pail," but I would
fact, he has been "smokin" ever any Congressional committee that point out that a zinc-galvanized
since. And it is time that this issue "...neither Dr. Frankel nor anyone iron pail (which is to what Hall's
be laid to rest. Dick, you have else at NASA ever suggested to me "zinc pail" probably refers) would
never .been surreptitiously tape- that they were leaning toward an not leave a zinc-iron alloy if scraped
recorded (at least not by me). extraterrestrial interpretation.'' onto a rock—it would leave, at best,
I did make careful notes to record Hall seems to be suggesting that I zinc and iron mashed together.
the Goddard trip—written in the said that Frankel told me he Since the first test done at NASA
afternoon following the trip. Since "leaned" toward such an explan- was X-ray diffraction, a zinc-iron
Hall confesses he made no exten- ation. My notes, made during and alloy would reveal a very different
sive notes on the contents of the immediately following the phone diffraction pattern that would a
trip to Goddard conversation, and conversation with Frankel, show mere physical mixture of the two.
since I did, the world is, admittedly that he told me—and I will stick And, it was an alloy which Frankel
at the mercy of my accuracy. to it in any government hearing—" reported by phone to both me and
But, I was very careful about ac- "...there is something that is rather Hall that he found. Hall says,
curacy'in recording all that hap- exciting about the zinc-iron alloy... "...when Dr. Frankel talked to me
pened. Our charts of all alloys known to be about the tentative findings of a
As to sending Hall copies of my manufactured on Earth, the USSR zinc-iron alloy..." So, Hall admits
scribbly notes to prove what hap- included, do not show any alloy that Frankel reported that the two
14
metals were alloyed, even though
Hall adds the word "tentative."
Frankel never used that word to By Walt Andrus
me. He merely said that another
test was needed, "...to get some Columbia Pictures forthcoming possible. Dr. Haines has suggested
readings on some of the elements UFO motion picture, written and that MUFON investigators become
that are present only in small directed by Steven Spielberg, prepared for the possible influence
percentages." starring Richard Dreyfuss with of this movie upon the American
I have suggested by phone that Francois Truffaut as Lacombe, public and their subsequent
Hall check for himself with expert will premiere at the Ziegfield reporting of CE-III. Our actions
metallurgists in order to verify my Theater in New York City and the now will lead to greater under-
statement that the scraping of a Cinerama Globe in Hollywood on or stading of the influence of this
galvanized bucket could not appear about November 1. On December mass presentation upon our data.
in X-ray diffraction to be an alloy 15, 1977, this movie is scheduled He has outlined some suggestions
of zinc and iron, but to my know- to open in about 400 theaters on how we should deal with this
ledge he has not done so. across the United States. Some of potentially biasing media event.
Hall says, "A major myth pur- us had the privilege of viewing a (1) Each member should take the
veyed by Stanford is the impression promotional film for "Close En- initiative to contact the managers
he leaves that I more or less twisted counters of the Third Kind" of all local theaters who plan to
his arm to have the analysis done in April at the First International show this movie. Try to obtain an
by Dr. Frankel at the NASA fa- UFO Congress in Acapulco, Mex- agreement that you will be given
cility..." Nowhere do I either state ico. It featured Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the approximate attendance fig-
or imply that he twisted my arm! who served as scientific consultant ures, and starting and final show-
The loss of the potentially valuable for this Phillips Production. ing dates of the film in your local
evidence was the responsibility Columbia Pictures, in their bro- theater. These data may then be
of both myself and Hall. If there chure, has stated "millions of correlated later with the frequency
was no coverup on NASA's part, people will experience the most of CE-III type reports in your area.
why does Hall try so hard to assert beautiful, frightening, and signi- (2) MUFON members should see
that I chose NASA (Goddard) ficant motion picture adventure of this movie so as to become familiar
when, as my correspondence with all .time". Considering that with its details. Such ultimate
Hall clearly shows, it was Hall who "Jaws" cost 9 million dollars to familiarity will make subsequent
first brought Goddard and Frankel produce, "Close Encounters pf the eye witness interviews more sen-
into the candidacy as the place to .Third Kind" has a budget of 20 sitively aware of similarities and
use for the analysis, and highly million dollars. differences between a reported CE-
recommended them. (Witness Richard F. Haines, Ph.D., III encounter and the movie.
Hall's June 25, 1964 letter to me in Research Scientist and Consultant, (3) Investigators should adhere to
which he says that Frankel "...is in a letter to MUFON feels that this the following advice when inter-
very strongly against suppression motion picture will strongly influ- viewing witnesses and investiga-
of information." Hall went on to ence UFO witnesses descriptions ting cases. One of your questions
describe what fine equipment and may possibly ''contaminate" might be "What can you think
Frankel had at Goddard and to our efforts to obtain as unbiased of that is anything like the close
highly recommend him. 1 (See page sighting data as possible. His encounter you have just had?"
117 in Socorro 'Saucer' in a Penta- central concern has been the devel- Under no circumstances should the
gon Pantry for details.) I think that opment of techniques to help make investigator mention the name of
maybe Hall really knows, at one eye witness reports as reliable this movie or its contents until the
(Continued on page 20) and faithfully representative interview is almost over. Always
of the original sensory event as let the eye witness raise the issue.
15
Lucius Foriih
In Others' Words
The August 2 issue of NATIONAL equal time to some of the smaller Those of you who look forward to
ENQUIRER featured two articles Ufological publications which each issue of Canadian UFO
of Ufological interest. The first contain good material. One such Report (as I do), will be pleased to
report dealt with the large tri- example is the PAGE RESEARCH know that the REPORT'S editor,
angular UFO seen by police officers LIBRARY NEWSLETTER, edited John Magor, has had his first
over Memphis, Tennessee on May by Dennis Pilichis; You'll normally hardcover book published. Entitled
17, 1977. The second feature gave find a potpourri of news items, OUR UFO VISITORS, it is largely
details of some cave paintings in letters from readers, news of new a review of the UFO activity which
Baja California which seem to lend books, etc. Dennis also sends out has occurred in Canada's Western
credence to the ancient astronauts . PRL catalogs of new and used UFO Mountains and Rocky Mountain
theory, although these examples books and magazines. If you have Trench areas. In 1967-68, this
of artwork are not too impressive specific wants, you'll find that the region was subject to a UFO "in-
in the photographs included with $2.00 for 4 issues of the NEWS- vasion" and Magor provides the
the article. LETTER and catalogs is well worth details of many cases from that
THE STAR for July 26 rehashes it. The address is: 6708 Colgate period. While it is true that a good
Kenneth Arnold's opinions of Avenue - Cleveland, Ohio 44102. portion of the material has seen
UFOs and mentions his participa- Michale Hervey's UFOs OVER print in previous issues of the
tion at the recent FATE-sponsored THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE is REPORT, it is well worth re-reading
UFO Congress in Chicago. a revised edition of his previous (for those familiar with it); for new-
The August issue of SCIENCE paperback of the same title. Begin- comers, it clearly shows the vast
DIGEST has an interesting article ning with introductory material on amount of UFO activity which
by Don Berliner on the omissions UFOs, Hervey then relates press Canadians have witnessed in recent
in the Project Blue Book files. accounts and first-hand sighting years. Magor has some good points
Researcher Barry Greenwood, reports from all areas of Australia, to make about the testimonies of
who is obtaining microfilm copies of New Zealand, and Tasmania. lone witnesses: "If a researcher
the complete Blue Book files, The incidents generally extend back never passes the point where he
verifies Berliner's contention that to the early 1950's, although there believes the word of a single wit-
important information (and, in are some historical (pre-1947) ness can be sufficient at times,
some instances, complete cases) reports scattered through the book. I think he is wasting his time. He
has been "sanitized," i.e. deleted. For anyone not acquainted with has come to a halt because he
Berliner's article is excerpted from UFO happenings "down under," continues to put skepticism before
a forthcoming book and additional this might prove a useful reference inquiry. He is trying to reduce
details concerning this volume will volume. It is available for approxi- the problem to his own terms, which
be presented in a later column, mately $7.00 from Robert Hale he will .never do." OUR UFO
hopefully. & Co. - Clerkenwell House - Clerk- VISITORS has an excellent selection
UFO REPORT for September enwell Green - London EC1 OHT, of photos and illustrations, plus an
includes interesting articles by B. England. index and bibliography. It is
Ann Slate, Robert A. Goerman, Dr. J. Allen Hynek's Dell paper- available from Hancock House
and others, along with the usual back, THE BLUE BOOK REPORT, Publishers, Inc. - 12008 - 1st Ave.
amount of rehash. has been postponed again. Rumor South - Seattle, WA 98168. The
Although I tend to concentrate on has it that it will now be out in price is $8.95 and it certainly has
newsstand magazines in this September, but this has not been my recommendation.
column, it seems only fair to give confirmed by the publisher.
16
UFO Enigma by Stanton T. Friedman
31628 Trevor Avenue
Hayward, CA 94544
THE UFO ENIGMA: The Defini- taining the testimony of 12 scien- almost every case discussed seems
tive Explanation of the UFO tists—including Dr. Menzel. There to be arm chair theorizing. Field
Phenomena Donald H. Menzel is no mention of the 310 page book investigation, witness interrogation
and Earnest H. Taves. Doubleday "UFOs: A Scientific Debate" checking with the weather records,
& Company, 1977 $8.95. 297 published by Cornell University quantitative calculations all
pages. Press and edited by two astron- appear to be practically nonexist-
omers with papers by 16 scien- ent. The reasoning seems to be
Dr. Menzel, who died just a few tists—including Dr. Menzel. There that if one can find a possible ex-
months before this book was pub- is no mention of Project Blue Book planation for a particular sighting,
lished was one of the outstanding Special Report Number 14, a 300 the fact that it doesn't fit several
American astronomers of the past page volume and the largest of- important aspects of the sighting
half century. Dr. Taves was a close ficially sponsored, scientific in- doesn't really matter.
personal friend of Dr. Menzel, was vestigation of UFOs ever publish- The October, 1961, Salt Lake City
a practicing psycho-analyst and is ed. It has categ orizations, quality UFO sighting witnessed by the pilot
an active writer of science fiction. evaluations, statistical cross com- of a small plane and seven other
Despite the authors' outstanding parisons of over 2000 UFO sight- witnesses on the ground at mid-
professional backgrounds, the book ings by professional persons at day with 40 mile visibility in clear
in no way lives up to the subtitle. Battelle Memorial Institute in skies is dismissed as a sundog.
The tools used here are not those Columbus, Ohio. According to the The facts of the sighting are grossly
of science. Instead they are Blue Book files Dr. Menzel had a distroted; no mention is made of
character assasination, positive and copy. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astro- the facts that the pilot saw the UFO
negative name calling, selective nomer and dean of American ufo- between him and a mountain, that
choice of facts, misrepresentation, logists is mentioned several times the UFO was observed to tilt back
erros of omission and the other but this book "The UFO Exper- and forth while hovering, had a
techniques of the propagandist. ience" is not. None of the 4 PhD lenticular shape, rose straight up
Much of the book is not about theses that deal with UFOs are extremely rapidly for about 1000
UFOs at all but is textbook material referenced. No mention is made of feet, stopped and then moved off
about sundogs, moondogs, rain- compilations of UFO landings at high speed. The famous series
bows, meteorological optics, etc. though one covers more than 800 of photos taken near the island
Of the 33 photos and drawings two such cases from 39 countries. The of Trinidade in 1958 by a Brazilian
were intentional hoaxes, two were 1966 Gallup Poll on UFOs is briefly navy photographer is dismissed as
of a hoax exposed first by a UFO noted but the 1973 Gallup Poll and an "obvious hoax" though compu-
group of Pittsburgh (though the several others are not. One won- ter enhancement techniques do not
group isn't acknowledged), and one ders if Drs. Menzel and Taves are support this view nor does the test-
dealt with the Hill abduction. The unwilling to face up to the facts imony of the others present at the
other 28 had nothing to do with provided by these polls—especially time the pictures were taken. No
UFOs. The 21 chapters have a total the fact that the greater the educa- source is given for the statement
of 129 footnotes. Eleven are to tion of the individual the MORE that the photographer was a
biblical sources, and twenty-one likely to accept UFO reality and the "known hoaxter". As is the case
are to pre 1940 sources. Yet there older the individual (Menzel was throughout the book holier—than-
is no mention of the 247 page UFO 74 and Taves 61) the less likely to thou statements are made to take
Symposium Proceedings published accept UFO reality. the place of solid facts.
for a congressional committee after The primary investigative Much effort is spent in explain-
official hearings on UFOs and con- technique used to "identify" ing away the famous abduction of
17
Betty and Barney Hill and Marjorie approach to UFO investigations is (Continued from page 4)
Fish's detailed efforts to recon- clear from the statement "Philip
struct in 3 dimensions the 2-di- Klass, author of several books on More detailed information about
mensional star map drawn by Betty UFOs has been the one other this case is to be found in the
under posthypnotic suggestion. investigator (in addition to DHM) records of the UFO section. The
She had earlier described this map who has adopted an unfailingly sci- investigated case that we investi-
as having been shown her on board entific approach in his inquiries". gated as the active members of
a UFO. Menzel and Taves were A study of both books by avionics UFO section is interesting for it
able to show, as anybody would ex- writer Klass and the cases ex- leads to pressumption that the two
pect, that if one throws 47 seeds on plained therein shows that he used eye-witnesses spotted the object
a two dimensional flat area and se- the same unscientific techniques as first as it was making its pre-
lects 15 seed positions to find the Menzel and Taves. The facts in paration for landing. This is also
best fit with a preselected pattern, sighting after sighting are misre- confirmed by the shine, that was to
namely Betty's map, one can find presented, positive and negative be seen behind the forest and which
a pattern that more or less matches name calling abound, there are the eye-witnesses interpreted as
the given pattern. The number 47 significant errors of omission which the result of a fire. Still there
was selected because that is the the reader has no way of knowing. were to be found no traces of its
number of sun-like stars in our Kalss did do far more in the way of possible landing.
close galactic neighborhood. How actual rather than armchair in- Everything points to the fact that
ever, Ms. Fish did NOT restrict vestigation but the bias is equally the UFO spotting in Velika was
attention to only the sun-like stars. clear. In short The UFO Enigma a very real one, but for the present
One of her models, for example, is a good book for those interested the origin is unknown.
included all 252 stars in the volume in atmosphereic physics and PS: I wish to thank our active
taken up by that model. The stars Identified flying objects. It is def- members Franci Bricelj and Kristan
in our neighborhood are NOT dis- initely NOT the definitive explan- Branko for their excellent work in
tributed at random like seeds ation of the phenomenon of the field.
thrown on a table. They are where UNIDENTIFIED Flying Objects.
they are. The pattern found by
Ms. Fish was the only one of
thousands considered which match-
ed reality and made sense. If her
solution was just a random guess
"hit", why was it not found until
MUFON AMATEUR RADIO NETS (weekly)
AFTER the release of the 1969
Gliese catalog of nearby stars with NET
its updated distance data? Why DAY FREQUENCY NET TIME
C.D.S.T. CONTROLS
doesn't Menzel deal with, or even
mention, the very special features
of the base stars, Zeta 1 Reticuli SAT 40 meters 7237 KHZ. 0700 N1JS
and Zeta 2 Reticuli, found by
Ms. Fish? Is it really just coin-
cidence that they happen to be not SAT 75 meters 3075 KHZ. 0800 WA9ARG
only suitable for planets and life
but are also the closest to each .
SUN 20 meters 14,284 KHZ. 1300 N1J8&WONC
other pair of such stars in our
entire neighborhood being only
3 light weeks apart?
That Drs. Menzel and Taves have
no real concern with a scientific
18
DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE by
Walt Andrus
Through the fine efforts of El- MA 01752 in propulsion methods. radio, and newspaper publicity.
mer A. Krai, Central Regional Michael has his Masters Degree Special thanks for hosting this
Director, Glenn Underhill, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. affair is extended to William
has accepted the position of State MUFON's professional stature is H. Spaulding, Director of GSW
Director for Nebraska, replacing further enhanced by the appoint- and his very able associates.
Elmer in this post. Dr. Underhill ment of two talented gentlemen to Richard Gottlieb introduced the
teaches physics at Kearney State our Board of Advisory Consultants. speakers and served as the master
College in Kearney, Nebraska Harold E. Roland, Ph.D., 6504 of ceremonies. The success of the
68847. He may be contacted by Via Siena, Rancho Palos Verdes, symposium must * be attributed to
telephone at his home 308/893- CA 90274, a professor at the the dedication and work of GSW
2401 or at the college on 308- University of Southern California, colleagues such as Bill and Rose-
236-4139. Glenn is also an amateur will apply his expertise to aero- mary Baum, John Schaefer, Susan
radio operator with the call letters dynamics. He has 22 years of ex- Spaulding, and Lori Field, just to
WRSM. Elmer Krai will assits perience as a military avaitor. In mention a few, knowing that there
assist the medical field, Howard N. Kan- were many more who contributed
Dr. Underhill in his new role as dell, M.D., 6050 North 23rd Place, their time and efforts. This in-
administrative assistant. Phoenix,AZ 85016 has volunteered cludes the young folks associated
New State Section Directors his services as a physician, special- with the "Junior Sky Watchers",
appointed during July include the izing in the medical aspects as re- who constructed an immense
following: Raymond Jordan, lated to abductees and contactees. "welcome" banner specifically for
3831 North Paradise Road, Flag- Dr. Kandell conducted a physical the symposium.
staff, AZ 86001 for Coconino examination of Travis Walton, All of the papers presented,
County; Christopher S. Centi, as an example of his work. Dr. plus two additional published
P.O. Box 142 Jamestown, NY Kandell attended the recent 1977 papers are now available in a
14701 for Chautauqua and Cat- MUFON UFO SYMPOSIUM in one hundred and sixty-six page
taraugus counties in western New Scottsdale, AZ on July 16 and 17. softback book titled "1977 MUFON
York State; and Thomas P. Deuley, The August issue of THE UFO SYMPOSIUM PROCEED-
Route 2, Box 323, Moyock, NC MUFON UFO JOURNAL will con- INGS". A copy may be secured by
27958 to cover Currituck, Camden, tain an overview of the "1977 writing to MUFON, 103 Oldtowne
Pasquotank, Perquimans and Gates MUFON UFO SYMPOSIUM", Road, Seguin, TX 78155 USA and
counties in North-Carolina. specifically for those who were enclosing a check or money order
Two new Research Specialists unable to attend. At this time, for five dollars (postpaid).
have volunteered their services to the MUFON Board of Directors
help in resolving the UFO phe- would like to congratulate the hosts
nomenon. They are Willard D. for the symposium—MUFON/
Nelson, 18302 Montana Circle, GSW for this educational, enlight-
MUFON
Villa Park, CA 92667, specializing ening, and enjoyable event. It 103 OLOTOWNE RD.
in aerospace structures and mater- was planned in detail and imple- S E G U I N , TX 78155
ials; and Michael Fling, 79A-6 mented in a professional manner,
Broadmeadow St., Marlborough, with outstanding prior television,
19
RECAPPING AND COMMENTING
By Richard Hall (MUFON International Coordinator)
(Comments in this month's column details that they otherwise would critical review, and without this
are based, in part, on articles not be able to do from conscious process it can hardly be called
appearing in MUFON UFO JOUR- recollection. However, it is naive "truth."
NAL No. 112, dated March 1977). in the extreme to conclude from the I am convinced that, on the
fact that a witness under hypnosis basis of strong circumstantial
tells a story of being abducted by evidence, all of these devices and
In our search for meaningful spacemen that it really happened. methods need to be applied to UFO
evaluations of UFO data, we must In the course of my six years' cases by the best practitioners
avoid the tendency to think that employment by the American available, and that their results
machines—modern technology— Psychological Association, I had need to be minutely examined by all
can provide "magic" shortcuts to occasion to read numerous articles interested scientists and specialists.
truth. Computer photo-enhance- about hypnosis and hypnotic re- Then and only then might we begin
ment programs, polygraphs ("lie gression, and it is clear to me that to think of "ufology" as deserving
detectors"), the psychological improperly questioned witnesses of being called a science. In part-
stress evaluator (PSE), and the like can and do fabricate stories that icular, I am convinced that we need
all can be useful tools and aids to bear no relationship to reality. the help of the best clinical hypno-
evaluation, in the proper hands. Many people can perform hypno- tists before we can begin to make
All, however, are programmed sis, but relatively few have the any sense at all out of the plethora
and operated by human beings and background and training to inter- of "abduction" stories. Taking
can be operated with more or less pret the results they get. In general these stories at face value is totally
sophistication and training. None clinical psychologists who use unjustified. However, rejecting the
of these can tell us unequivocally hypnosis in the course of patient stories out of hand, without examin-
that a report—or photograph—is therapy, and who are professionals ation by the most knowledgable
true or false simply by being whose work is under constant specialists is equally unjustified.
applied. Both the application and check by their peers, are best
interpretation require considerable equipped to evaluate when the
knowledge and care, and both need stories they get are "truth" rather (Continued from page 15)
to be scrutinized closely by other than artifacts. In some applied level, that there was a NASA cover-
scientists or technicians to assure settings, such as law enforcement up and wants to escape any guilt. I
that proper techniques have been work, experienced hypnotists may cannot say I would react otherwise.
used and proper principles applied also have the kind of practical But we are both to blame for a bad
in the interpretation. Without experience with a large variety final judgement of where to take
this kind of cross-checking, ap- of subjects that would allow them the Socorro metallic slivers. Hall
plication of these devices cannot to be good judges of "truth." certainly did not twist my arm, and
be termed "scientific." The key in this, as in so many I definitely did not twist his. Yet
The same applies to the increas- other aspects of UFO research, Hall says, "For reasons of his own,
ing use of regressive hypnotic is the critical examination and Stanford chose (actually, I conced-
techniques with UFO witnesses. cross-checking of methods and of ed to Hall's suggestion!) to have
This is even more of an art than a principles of interpretation which the analysis done at Goddard..." I
science, but unquestionably has go by the name of "science." am disappointed at Hall's failure
tremendous potential—properly Any result or finding, if it is valid, to present both sides of the
applied—to help witnesses recall ought to be able to withstand question.