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Two Wright-Patterson Air Force base officers last night reported they recently "
saw a strange object" in the sky over Alamagordo, N. M.
Capt. J. E. Cocker of the all-weather flying division and Capt. E. W. Spradle
y of the aerial photographic laboratory said they spotted the object as they tra
cked a large weather balloon. The balloon was similar to the type used in Navy
weather observations and which the Navy said explained "flying saucer" reports.
"We were following the balloon when I noticed a strange object in the sky," s
aid Captain Spradley. "It was flat and looked like a dime. It was a milky colo
r. It wasn't doing anything, just hovering near the balloon."
The fliers estimated the object and balloon were "somewhere around 50,000 or
60,000 feet." They said that just before it disappeared there were "three brilli
ant flashes, like photo flashes."
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EDITORIAL
Comparatively successful plastic balloon has been developed and is being utilized
in broad program of upper atmosphere research. In 52 flights, heavy loads have
been carried to altitudes exceeding 30 km. (NoteThis is 98,400 feet.) Scientifi
c instruments are carried aloft to collect new information on cosmic rays, biolo
gical phenomena, meteorological parameters, etc.
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UNCLASSIFIED OPERATION INTERLOPER - RECENT REPORTS
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On a clear morning this week, the pilot, radio officer and passengers of an East
African Airways Lodestar saw what they took to be a flying machine of unknown t
ype high over Mount Kilimanjaro. What this machine was, where it had come from
and where it was bound, no one knows.
The Lodestar was on the normal Monday morning (2/19) service from Nairobi to
Mombasa. It left Nairobi West at 7 a.m. with nine passengers. What happened af
ter that to bast described in the words of the pilot, Captain Jack Bicknell and
his radio officer, Mr. D. W. Merrifield, as told to the Sunday Post on Wednesday
.
At 7.20 a.m., said Captain Bicknell, "the radio officer drew my attention to a
bright object like a white star hanging motionless about 10,000 feet above Kili
manjaro. My first reaction was to say nothing. We watched it for three minutes
. Then we told the passengers about it. One of them had a very powerful pair o
f binoculars with him and he began to study it. In the meantime we put a radio
message through to Eastleigh describing it. Eastleigh asked us to check whether
it was a 'Met' balloon. I then examined it for several minutes through the bin
oculars.
No 'Portholes'
When we first saw it we were about 85 miles from the mountain. Our course to
ok us nearer until we were about 50 miles away from the object.
Through the glasses I saw a metallic, bullet-shaped object which must have be
en over 200 feet long.
At one end was a square cut vertical fin. Its colour was a dull silver and a
t regular intervals along the fuselage were vertical dark bands. Its whole outl
ine was clear and sharp and there was no haziness about it at all.
The passengers took turns with the binoculars and two of them were taking pho
tographs. Then it began to move eastwards, rising as it did so. It disappeared
at about 40,000 feet.
We've calculated that in the three minutes sf visible movement it covered abo
ut 60 miles. That gives you a speed of well ever 1,000 m.p.h.
Reports that it had windows or portholes are false, and so is the statement th
at we saw it rising to about 60,000 feet.
There were no cloud formations about at all. The machine left no vapour trai
l, and had no visible means of propulsion.
Asked if he had any theory about the nature of the machine, the radio office
r, Mr. Merrifield said, "If it was a flying machine, it was 500 years ahead of a
nything we have today."
My impression," said Captain Bicknell, "was that it was definitely a flying m
achine of some kind.
I would like to believe that it was some kind of mirage, added Mr. Merrifield,
but I never heard of a mirage without cloud, and that wouldn't explain the movem
ent.
If this report had come from a few isolated individuals it would soon be dis
csunted. But it came from two responsible airline officials and nine ordinary t
ravellers. Captein Bicknell took the precaution before landing of asking his pa
ssengers to sign a statement verifying his radio report to Eastleigh. It is undo
ubtedly the best authenticated of all flying saucer stories.
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Flying saucers real or imagined have border area citizens in whirl today.
Scores of people claim to have seen silvery discs streaking through the strat
osphere yesterday afternoon. Bill McClellan of CKFI was one of the many persons
who has joined the I-saw-a-saucer fraternity.
McCllelan said that the objects he saw resembled a jet plane flying at tremen
dous height and great speed. Every once in a while the object would stop and re
main stationary. The sun's rays glinted off the thing and it looked like silver, M
cClellan is reported as saying.
It would travel fast, then stop, drop, and rise again. The object was joined
by another and the two disappeared behind a cloud.
Reports of similar objects came from Duluth radio stations and one from Kansa
s, but the one that added to the interest and confusion was one from New York ea
rly this morning.
Don Hollenbeck, ace CBS newscaster and narrator of the News of America progra
m at 8 a.m. daily, reported that flying saucers were observed over International
Falls, Minn., yesterday. Hollenbeck stated they were travelling about 700 miles a
n hour.
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Otto Bock
514 Edgewood Ave.
Dayton 7, Ohio.
Now, on Friday, Aug. 17. our wishes were unexpectedly fulfilled: By acci
dent I looked up to the sky,( 11.30 AM ) then my eyes were attracted to a very s
hining spot which remained at the same location in the contrary to the relativly
(sic) fast moving clouds and to my judgement the object must have been very hig
h above the clouds and of a tremendous size: it appeared to me approximately wi
th an angle correspondent to a diameter of about ½ that of the sun. In order to c
heck closer on it, I got my telescop (sic) out (20 X ) and then I could see very
interesting details, that it was not a cloud but rather a metallic object, shin
ing much brighter then the white clouds, silvery with a slight greenish tint and
the sun reflecting on a very particular surface. The attemt (sic) to take a Ph
otograph failed because of the covering clauds; I had to wait always a long time
until there was a hole in the clouds to observe it again, but never long or cle
ar enough to take a photograph, which made me very sad. During the period of ab
out 2 hours the object was seen frequently and the observation confirmed by four
more persons.
That day I was on leaf (sic)) at my home in Dayton. In order to get more
information and confirmation I made several phone call with a News-Paper and Wr
ight Field. The News-Paper did not receive any more reports. With Wright Field
I made a somewhat funny experience during my 3 phone calls, but I hesitate to wr
ite about it freely in this letter, since I am a member of the group of German s
cientists at Wright Field. On the other hand we would like it very much to taIk
about it with you in case you should have an opportunity to stop hier (sic) in
Dayton while on a business trip. Therefore we would appreciate it very much if
you would send us a letter in reply to this.
Hoping to hear from you I am
ver
y truely yours
Otto Bock was a German scientist who came to the U.S. as part of "Operation Pape
rclip", a program under which military and U.S. intelligence services extracted
German scientists from Nazi Germany during and after the final phases of World W
ar II.
Bock's speciality was in the area of optics and high-speed photographic instrume
ntation which played a major part in advancing U.S. Air Force development of aer
oballistic programs.
More information on Otto Bock's career can be found at the official U.S. Air For
ce site.
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