UFO FYI: 1965- A Bunch of Incidents at Exeter

I, Norman J. Muscarello, was hitchhiking on Rt. 150, three miles south of Exeter, New Hampshire, at 0200 hours on the 3rd of September. A group of five bright red lights appeared over a house about a hundred feet from where I was standing. The lights were in a line at about a sixty-degree angle. They were so bright, they lighted up the area. The lights then moved out over a large field and acted at times like a floating leaf. They would go down behind the trees, behind a house and then reappear. They always moved in the same sixty-degree angle. Only one light would be on at a time. They were pulsating: one, two, three, four, five, four, three, two, one. They were so bright I could not distinguish a form to the object. I watched these lights for about fifteen minutes and they finally disappeared behind some trees and seemed to go into a field. At one time while I was watching them, they seemed to come so close I jumped into a ditch to keep from being hit. After the lights went into a field, I caught a ride to the Exeter Police Station and reported what I had seen.
signed,
Norman J. Muscarello

Scores of people, including two highly reputable policeman, swear that what they saw over a period of weeks in the New Hampshire area - big, silent and glowing - was nothing the Air Force could explain away.

The following article is from the TRUE Magazine's Report On Flying Saucers, 1967, compiled by the editors of TRUE after 17 years of exhaustive UFO research (presented here courtesy of UFO Phenomenon at Close Sight):

Main square in Exeter, New Hampshire, a typically quiet New England town of 7,000 people, none of whom had ever seen a flying saucer before. Police station is located behind Town Hall (lower left)

A wide, 10-acre field near the New England town of Exeter, N. H., provided the setting for one of Flying Saucerdom's finest hours. As recounted in John G. Fuller's exciting book, "Incident at Exeter," it stands as probably the best-documented - and most tantalizing - case in the growing mystery of UFO sightings. The fact that two policeman were among the observers didn't hurt its case for authenticity, either. Nor the fact that the New England locale is not particularly known for wild-eyed story-telling. On the warm, moonless night of Sept. 3, 1965, Norman Muscarello, then 18, burst into the Exeter police station, still shaking from having seen, as he was hitch-hiking home about 2 a.m. "The thing" was bigger than a house, he told Patrolman "Scratch" Toland, with brilliant, pulsating red lights around. It floated toward him silently. Diving from the road into a small ditch to avoid the on-coming object, he watched, terror-stricken. Then it backed off slowly until it had reached a sufficient distance for him to get up and run.

Patrolman Reginald "Scratch" Tolandwas first person to hear incredible story of saucer landing. He was at the desk when Muscarello came in, shaking, after seeing "the Thing".

At the same time, Patrolman Eugene Bertrand, an Air Force veteran, was cruising when he found a lone woman at the wheel of her car just two miles outside Exeter. Still badly shaken, she told how a huge, silent, airborne object had followed her for 10 miles, at only a few feet's distance from her car. It, too, had brilliant, flashing red lights. When she reached the Route 101 overpass, the UFO took off at a great speed. Officer Toland, putting the stories together, instructed Bertrand to return to the open field with the boy.

Patrolman Hunt points to spot in the field where he saw the fluttering movement of UFO. Patrolman Bertrand was in Air Force for four years and swears UFO he saw was not a plane, a helicopter or balloon.

While Officer Bertrand was shining his flashlight toward the tree line, the horses in a nearby corral began kicking and whinnying, dogs began to howl. Muscarello then let out a yell: "I see it! I see it!"

What Muscarello and an astounded Bertrand saw was a brilliant round object rising up silently over the pines. All of a sudden the entire area was drenched in a brilliant red light as the object fluttered toward them, still noiselessly. Racing back to the patrol car with the boy for fear of radiation, Bertrand reported to the station, "My God, I see the damn thing myself!" Moments later, Patrolman David Hunt pulled up in another cruiser. He had heard Bertrand's exclamation on the radio and decided to see for himself. He got out and observed the slow, rocking movements of the still-pulsating object moving slowly across the tops of the trees and toward Hampton.

Patrolman Hunt arrived on the scene after Bertrand and boy saw "Thing" reappear. Note presence again of power lines near scene. (see page 33)

In the next weeks, many other seemingly valid sightings were made in the New Hampshire area. None, however, was more vivid than Ron Smith's.

The 17 year-old high school senior was out driving with his mother and aunt when they spotted an object in the sky. He stopped the car, looked up and saw something with a red light on top and a white glow on the bottom. It passed over the car once, stopped in midair, then went back over the car again and yet a third time.

Shaken and frightened, he started back to the Exeter police station to report the incident when, as he told Fuller:

"I came to my senses. I wanted to go back to make sure it was there. To take another look to make sure I wasn't seeing things. We did go back. And sure enough, it was in the same spot again. It passed over the car once, and that was the last time I saw it."

Mrs. Virginia Hale, reporter for Haverhill Gazette, saw the saucer from her kitchen window. It hovered over neighbor's house 4 minutes.

FROM THE UFO CASEBOOK
Written by BJ Booth

In 1965, in the city of Exeter, New Hampshire, a series of UFO sightings took place which gained vast media attention, and became the subject of the book, "Incident at Exeter," by John G. Fuller. The sensational happenings were also featured in a two-part article in "Look" magazine. The remarkable chain of events in New Hampshire began with a man named Norman Muscarello, who was hitchhiking back to his house in Exeter on Route 150. At the time, Exeter was a small New England town of about 7,000 people. In the wee hours of the night on a cold, September 3, 1965, eighteen-year-old Muscarello made his trek. It was about 2:00 A.M. that this lonely hitchhiker first noticed an unusual light in the dark skies. The light became an object, which suddenly came from the sky towards the young man. The object was described as approximately 90 feet in diameter, with bright, beaming lights that appeared around its rim. Silently, the object began to wobble and float toward the frightened man. His fear of actually being hit caused him to fall to the ground by the side of the road. At the last moment, the object floated away from him. Muscarello took this opportunity to jump up and run to a nearby house, pounding on the front door. The house was the home of Carl Dining.

No one answered his frantic pleas for help. Meanwhile, at the Exeter Police Station, Officer Eugene Bertrand received a call from a frightened woman who stated that a large, silent object with flashing lights had followed her car for twelve miles from the city of Epping to a spot on the road where she pulled off in fear. After she stopped her automobile, the strange object had disappeared into the night. Bertrand did not make an official report on the woman's call, believing it to be untrue or a trick.

Meanwhile, Muscarello, not finding anyone at the farmhouse, ran back into the road, and flagged down a passing car. A middle-aged couple stopped to render aid. They drove the weary traveler to the Exeter Police Station. Muscarello, full of excitement, began to recount the events of the last hour on Route 150.

B J's Note: Muscarello would later relate that the driver of the car was never identified in Fuller's book because the woman with him at 2 AM wasn't the driver's wife.

The desk Officer, Reginald "Scratch" Toland, is now convinced that something has happened, and radios to Officer Bertrand, who is now on patrol. At about 3:00 A.M., Bertrand arrives at the station, and after hearing Muscarello's story, thinks he may have discounted the earlier call from the woman too quickly.

Convinced that Muscarello's story is real, Officer Bertrand takes Muscarello back to the spot on Route 150 where the incident began. At this point, Bertrand has no idea what lies ahead of him on this night. Arriving at the scene, the two men scan the area, and at first see nothing out of the ordinary. By the road, there is a large open field, the house that Muscarello had visited, and a horse corral. They begin to walk out into the open field in the direction of the horse corral. The horses seemed to be a little edgy, and suddenly dogs began to bark. From behind two pine trees, an object begins to rise, lighting the whole area with a reddish hue. Muscarello screams, "I see it! I see it!" The next moment, Bertrand says, "My God, I see the damn thing myself!" It is important to note that Bertrand had been in the Air Force for four years, and knew military aircraft. He would later insist "this wasn't like anything I had seen before." Like a leaf floating, the object slowly moved toward the two men. They scurried back to the police car. The object is now hovering about one hundred feet above the ground, some fifty yards from the police car.

I, Eugene F. Bertrand, Jr., was cruising on the morning of the 3rd of September at 0100 on Rt. 108 bypass near Exeter, New Hampshire. I noticed an automobile parked on the side of the road and stopped to investigate. I found a woman in the car who stated she was too upset to drive. She stated that a light had been following her car and had stopped over her car. I stayed with her about fifteen minutes but was unable to see anything. I departed and reported back to Exeter Police Station where I found Norman Muscarello. He related his story of seeing some bright red lights in the field. After taking him back to where he stated that he had seen the lights. When we had gone about fifty feet, a group of five bright red lights came from behind a group of trees near us. They were extremely bright and flashed on one at a time. The lights started to move around over the field. At one time, they came so close I fell to the ground and started to draw my gun. The lights were so bright, I was unable to make out any form. There was no sound or vibration but the farm animals were upset in the area and were making a lot of noise. When the lights started coming near us again, Mr. Muscarello and I ran to the car. I radioed Patrolman David Hunt who arrived in a few minutes. He also observed the lights which were still over the field but not as close as before. The lights moved out across the field at an estimated altitude of one hundred feet, and finally disappeared in the distance at the same altitude. The lights were always in line at about a sixty-degree angle. When the object moved, the lower lights were always forward of the others.

The object's light is so intense, that it is difficult to make out its shape. The lights emanating from the craft dim and then brighten, from left to right, and then right to left. The object now begins to slowly move away from the men, in the direction of the city of Hampton. At this very moment, another Policeman, David Hunt, arrives at the scene to witness the craft in the sky, as it fades out of sight. In a matter of minutes, the craft is sighted in Hampton, and a report made to Pease Air Force Base. Mrs. Virginia Hale, a reporter for the Haverhill Gazette, also sees the unknown craft from her kitchen window as it hovers over a neighbor's house for about 4 minutes. There were many other reported sightings of a similarly described craft over the next several weeks, but it is uncertain if they were all legitimate or not.

A UFO Hotspot in New Hampshire?
Saturday January 24, 2009
By BJ Booth for About Dot Com

Everyone seems to have their own Roswell, and the east coast of the United States is no exception. Some call the small city of Exeter, New Hampshire, the "East Coast Roswell," and this distinction does not come lightly. A recent article tells us all about it. As many of you who are students of Ufology already know, Exeter was the location of one of Ufology's most well documented cases, The Incident at Exeter. Not long after the 1965 sightings became public, a book was written by investigative writer John G. Fuller, which made it to the best seller list. The sensational happenings were also featured in a two-part article in "Look" magazine. Many eyewitness accounts by respected community members make this one of the best cases.

The events at Exeter began as eighteen-year-old Norman Muscarello was hitching for a ride on the cold night of September 3, 1965. He was on Route 150 heading for the small New England town of Exeter, population 7,000, at 2:00 AM. As he walked along, he suddenly noticed an unusual light glowing in the dark skies. The light soon became an object, and headed straight toward the hitchhiker.

Muscarello would later describe the UFO as being about 90 feet in diameter. It had extremely bright lights positioned around its exterior. The object was now slowly floating downward toward the frightened man. Actually thinking that the object would hit him, he fell to the ground, just off of the pavement. Seemingly at the last possible second, the object veered away from him. Muscarello jumped to his feet, and made a run to house nearby.

Meanwhile, police officer Eugene Bertrand was manning the phones at the Exeter police station. He was later to leave on patrol. He received a strange call from a woman who told him that while driving her car from the nearby city of Epping, a large, silent object had followed her for about 12 miles, frightening her to death. Finally, she reached a spot where she could make a phone call. She said that the object left the area after she pulled off the side of the road. Bertrand thought the call to be a joke, and dismissed it.

Meanwhile, back near Route 150, Muscarello was running back to the road, after not being able to get anyone to answer his frantic knocking at the farmhouse. Finally, a car stopped for him. A middle-aged couple drove the frightened man to the Exeter police station. Immediately, he began to relate the events of the last half hour or so to desk Officer Reginald "Scratch" Toland.

Toland, aware of the strange phone call that officer Bertrand had received, now believes that something strange is going on. Officer Bertrand is now on patrol, and Toland radioes him and tells him of the report from Muscarello. Around 3:00 AM, Bertrand arrives back at the station, and listens to Muscarello's story. He now believes that he dismissed the woman's earlier call erroneously, and thoroughly believes what Muscarello is telling him. He decides to take the teenager back to the spot of his sighting.

When Bertrand and Muscarello arrive at the site of the teenager's sighting, they look around the area, and at first, see nothing. Finally, they decide to venture out into the open field which contains the house that Muscarello visited, and also horse corrals. The horses, according to Bertrand, seem restless. Then they hear the sound of dogs barking. Suddenly, from behind two large pine trees, a UFO begins to rise up and fill the landscape with a red hue.

Bertrand was a four year veteran of the Air Force, and very familiar with planes of all types, but the object he is looking at is like none of the planes he had ever seen.

Muscarello screams, "I see it! I see it!" The next moment, Bertrand says, "My God, I see the darn thing myself!"

Similar to a dead leaf falling, the UFO gently moves toward the two stunned observers. They run back to the police car, while the UFO hovers some 100 feet above them.

The light of the UFO is so intense that it makes the shape of the object indecipherable. The light of the UFO dims and then brightens from their left to their right, and then right to left. Shortly, the UFO begins to slowly move away from Bertrand and Muscarello, toward the city of Hampton. As the object moves away, another Exeter policeman, David Hunt arrives in time to see the object. Soon reports of the craft being seen in Hampton are received. The testimony of police officers and civilians to the incredible sightings and events at Exeter were so convincing that the case was part of the April 5, 1966, Congressional hearing that eventually led to the creation of the Condon investigation.

An unofficial "stamp of approval" was given to the case because of the testimony of policemen. Author John G. Fuller insisted that the Exeter incident was "convincing evidence" of the existence of UFOs and that they were of extraterrestrial origin. The history of Exeter is full of many sighting reports, and other phenomenal activities. The area has been the location of many UFO reports of disc-shaped objects, along with the mysterious triangle-shaped objects.

It has always been strange to me that certain areas are "hotspots" for UFOs. Could there be some reason for this? Many theories have been offered to explain hotspots, and yet the verdict is still out. Do any of you have a theory? Tell us about it.

http://ufos.about.com/od/bestufocasefiles/p/exeter.htm

BOOK REVIEW
from Amazon Dot Com:

Two classic UFO books combined into one volume!
Incident at Exeter and The Interrupted Journey
by John G. Fuller

July 6, 2001

By A Customer

John G. Fuller, who died in 1990, was a regular columnist for the "Saturday Review" magazine. In the mid-1960's he personally investigated and wrote two seperate books on two of the most famous UFO incidents in American history. Both books were bestsellers and both were given considerable publicity because they were written not by some "lunatic" UFO "nut", but rather by a respected and well-known writer who wrote seriously about UFOs.

This reprint combines both books into a single volume and should be considered a "must" for any serious student of ufology. The first book, "Incident at Exeter", describes a series of fantastic UFO sightings in the small city of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965. It all began when Norman Muscarello, a local boy and recent high school graduate, was hitchhiking home along a quiet rural highway outside of town. At around 2:30 am Muscarello was shocked when a huge object which gave off a intense red glow rose up from some nearby woods and moved towards him. He banged on the door of a nearby house but there was no answer, meanwhile farm animals nearby were kicking in their stalls and making loud, frightened noises. The object eventually flew back over the woods, Muscarello caught a car and, badly frightened, made his way to the Exeter police department. He eventually convinced two policemen to return with him to the site, and this time all three men saw the UFO at close range. Their stories were given national publicity and soon others in the Exeter area were reporting similiar objects in the night sky. The Air Force declared that Muscarello and the two policemen had simply seen military planes from a nearby Air Force base on training maneuvers, but all three men, as well as those who had investigated the case, strongly disputed this and said that the Air Force explanation was absurd.

Fuller gives a complete description of the Exeter UFO sightings, which went on for several weeks, and he clearly sympathizes with the UFO witnesses (especially Muscarello and the policemen) and criticizes the Air Force explanation. The second book, entitled "The Interrupted Journey", is even more important in UFO lore. This is THE first book to make a serious case that credible witnesses were not only seeing UFOs but being abducted by them as well. In September 1961 Betty and Barney Hill were returning from a vacation in Canada. They were driving late at night through the almost deserted White Mountains of New Hampshire when they spotted a bright object in the sky which seemed to be following their car. The object finally came close enough for Barney to stop the car and view it through binoculars, and what he saw terrified him - he claimed to see a UFO with the occupants looking back at him. He ran back to the car and drove away.

They soon heard an odd humming sound - and then they were at least two hours farther down the highway with no idea of how they had spent the last two hours. Strangely thinking no more of it, they traveled on to their home near Boston. Soon, however, they both began to have terrible nightmares, and they decided to go to a psychiatrist (and UFO skeptic) for help. He put them under hypnosis, and then they both told a remarkably similiar story. The UFO had apparently taken over the couple's minds, causing them to turn off on a side road.

The UFO landed in front of them, the "UFOnauts" got out and took the dazed couple inside their ship and conducted a kind of medical and scientific examination (among other things, they were apparently mystified when they could remove Barney's false teeth, but couldn't remove Betty's real ones!). The aliens were apparently friendly, although Barney was far more scared than Betty, and in the psychiatrist's audiotapes of the hypnosis sessions (which still exist), you can hear Barney screaming with terror as he recounts the story. The couple gave remarkably similiar descriptions (under hypnosis) of the ship and its crew. The psychiatrist never believed that the couple had seen or been kidnapped by a UFO for two hours. Instead, he wrote off the experience as a result of severe job stress (for Barney) and the tensions of being an interracial couple who had experienced some bigotry (Barney was black, Betty white). However, Fuller did believe the Hills story and agreed to write a book about their experience. Few UFO incidents have aroused more controversy and debate than the Hill's encounter, and even some pro-UFO researchers are doubtful of their story. If you're a believer, then you'll find these two books to be a "must" for your UFO book collection. But even if you don't believe in UFOs, then you'll still find these books to be a good read (or nighttime "ghost stories") thanks to Fuller's writing skills.

September 5, 2009

Location: Exeter Town Hall
http://exeterufofest.com/

Not only is the Exeter UFO Festival an educational experience for both believers and skeptics, it's a fun time for families and friends. We'll have activities for the kids, an earthling and alien ball, a self-guided UFO safari, a session featuring an esteemed panel of experts and much more.

Festival Schedule

8:30-9:00 a.m.	Conference Opening / UFO Children’s Charity Art Show
9:00a.m.	Buckets of Chalk — ET and UFO drawings throughout town Face painting by artist Denice Kelly - Squirrel Cat Designs (Founders Park near the library), Beach Rock Painting Peter Geremia: September 3, 1965 “Incident at Exeter” and NH UFOs” (9:00am-10:30am) “September 3, 1965 “Incident at Exeter” and NH UFOs” Peter Geremia held a secret security clearance while working as a civilian federal employee for more than 20 years specializing in aircraft flight simulation. He has 32 years experience as a UFO investigator and is New Hampshire’s MUFON Director Emeritus. During his directorship MUFON attained the highest membership per capita in the United States. He also produced numerous high quality UFO conferences with an international list of top quality speakers. Peter has appeared on numerous radio and television programs such as “Sightings”, “Encounters”, "Paranormal Borderline" and has lectured on his UFO investigations for more than 20 years throughout New England. His presentation will include his in depth investigation of the famous Norman Muscarello multiple witness UFO encounter chronicled in John G. Fuller’s best seller Incident at Exeter, and close encounters in Epping, South Hampton and Fremont, NH. Using his special event simulation technique he will rivet his audience’s attention upon the actual UFO events as they appeared on location. These slides, combined with his nuts and bolts approach, make his lectures stimulating and entertaining.
10:00a.m.	UFO construction for kids, using recyclables (Founders Park) Completed UFO will be on display at the children’s library in the craft room. Alien Crash Site and Debris Field — Children use reverse technology (Founders Park) Children’s story circle (Founders Park)
10:30am	Kathleen Marden: “Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience” (10:30am-12:00 p.m) “Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience” Scientific ufologist, Kathleen Marden, is the niece of Betty and Barney Hill, the focus of one of the most well-known alien abductions in UFO history. During her career as a social worker, educator and researcher, Marden implemented model educational programs and taught adult education classes on UFO and abduction history. For 10 years, she served on the MUFON Board of Directors as the Director of Field Investigator Training. She is internationally known, having appeared on news programs, dozens of radio and television shows, and documentaries in the United States, Canada and Europe. In her virtual reality slide show, you’ll meet the late Betty and Barney Hill and the major players in the UFO investigation. You’ll view the Hill’s encounter route through New Hampshire’s White Mountains, learn about Kathy’s comparative analysis of the Hills’ hypnosis transcripts and gain startling information about their captors’ physical and social characteristics. Further, you’ll view forensic paintings of the extraterrestrial beings who reportedly abducted them. Additionally, you’ll examine the scientific evidence that it was a real event and listen to rare audio taped excerpts from the Hills’ hypnosis sessions with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Simon. Her Web site is http://kathleenmarden.googlepages.com
11:30am	ET Costume Contest (Founders Park) followed by sidewalk parade through downtown.
12:00-1:00 p.m.	Lunch break (on your own).
1:00-2:30 p.m.	Peter Robbins: “The Power of Ridicule vs. A Most Uncomfortable Truth: Why We Need to Take UFOs Seriously” “The Power of Ridicule vs. A Most Uncomfortable Truth: Why We Need to Take UFOs Seriously” Peter Robbins is one of the best known and most respected investigative writers and public speakers in the world with regard to the serious study of UFOs. He has been involved in this field for more than 25 years as a researcher, investigator, writer, lecturer, activist and author. A regular fixture on radio shows around the country, he has also appeared as a guest on and been consultant to numerous television shows and documentaries. He is coauthor of the British best-seller, Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident, Its Cover-up and Investigation. Peter’s lecture will explain why the subject of UFOs and their implications have been ridiculed and laughed at since the summer of 1947, the so-called advent of our modern age of sightings. How did this come to be? What set of events actually created this condition and attitude, and why is so important for us to grasp how serious the subject actually is? In this presentation investigative writer Peter Robbins guides us through the birth and growth of this extremely effective (and still ongoing) strategy of ridicule, and then examines some of this country’s most significant and well documented UFO cases and events.
2:30-4:00 p.m.	Ted Loder, Ph.D.: “The Disclosure Project: UFO Secrecy and our Future” “The Disclosure Project: UFO Secrecy and our Future” Dr. Loder retired in May 2005 from a long and productive career as a Professor at the University of New Hampshire, Department of Earth Sciences and member of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. He has conducted environmental research in numerous countries, and published extensively. Dr. Loder will present three aspects of the UFO/ET issue in his talk. First he will present an analysis of the what, the how and the why of the present secrecy issues. He will focus on the reasons behind the secrecy which are not what we are told and the dangers of continued secrecy. Second he will present some of the evidence about the existence of extensive government involvement from many of the witnesses in the Disclosure Project. Finally, he will present recent evidence from extensive field work by CSETI training groups in making contact with ETs at different locations around the US. Websites covering some of these issues include www.DisclosureProject.org and www.CSETI.org.
4:00-4:30 p.m.	A voice from the past: surprise speaker
4:30-5:30 p.m.	Panel Discussion
6:00-7:30pm	Happy Hour at Alien Café (Loaf and Ladle) Discussion: UFOs Off-Label
8:00-11:00pm	1960s Rock & Roll Dance — Earthlings and Aliens Ball (Town Hall) featuring New England’s famous “The Morlocks” band
There will be a short break for set-up between presentations.

UFO FYI: June 24, 1947- Kenneth Arnold Sees Something

Kenneth A. Arnold (March 29, 1915 in Sebeka, Minnesota – January 16, 1984 in Bellevue, Washington)
From WIKIPEDIA (abridged)

Kenneth A. Arnold was an American businessman and pilot. He is best-known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported unidentified flying object sighting in the United States, after claiming to see nine unusual objects flying in a chain near Mount Rainier, Washington on June 24, 1947. Arnold described the objects' shape as resembling a flat saucer or disc (see quotes below), and also described their erratic motion as resembling a saucer skipped across water; from this, the press quickly coined the new terms "flying saucer" and "flying disc" to describe such objects, many of which were reported within days after Arnold's sighting. Later Arnold would add that the objects resembled a crescent or flying wing.

The U.S. Air Force formally listed the Arnold case as a mirage; this is one of many explanations that have been rebutted by critics, and researchers Jerome Clark and Ronald Story both argue that there has never been an entirely persuasive conventional explanation of the Arnold sighting.

On June 24, 1947, Arnold was flying from Chehalis, Washington to Yakima, Washington in a CallAir A-2 on a business trip. He made a brief detour after learning of a $5000 reward for the discovery of a U.S. Marine Corps C-46 transport airplane that had crashed near Mt. Rainer. The skies were completely clear and there was a mild wind. A few minutes before 3:00 p.m. at about 9,200 feet (2,800 m) in altitude and near Mineral, Washington, he gave up his search and started heading eastward towards Yakima. He saw a bright flashing light, similar to sunlight reflecting from a mirror. Afraid he might be dangerously close to another aircraft, Arnold scanned the skies around him, but all he could see was a DC-4 to his left and back of him, about 15 miles (24 km) away.

About 30 seconds after seeing the first flash of light, Arnold saw a series of bright flashes in the distance off to his left, or north of Mt. Rainier, which was then 20 to 25 miles (40 km) away. He thought they might be reflections on his airplane's windows, but a few quick tests (rocking his airplane from side to side, removing his eyeglasses, later rolling down his side window) ruled this out. The reflections came from flying objects.

They flew in a long chain, and Arnold for a moment considered they might be a flock of geese, but quickly ruled this out for a number of reasons, including the altitude, bright glint, and obviously very fast speed. He then thought they might be a new type of jet and started looking intently for a tail and was surprised that he couldn't find any.

They quickly approached Rainier and then passed in front, usually appearing dark in profile against the bright white snowfield covering Rainier, but occasionally still giving off bright light flashes as they flipped around erratically. Sometimes he said he could see them on edge, when they seemed so thin and flat they were practically invisible. According to Clark, Arnold said that one of the objects was rather crescent shaped, while the other eight objects were more circular, but initially Arnold's descriptions were only of the latter disk-like shape.

At one point Arnold said they flew behind a subpeak of Rainier and briefly disappeared. Knowing his position and the position of the (unspecified) subpeak, Arnold placed their distance as they flew past Rainier at about 23 miles (37 km).

Using a dzus cowling fastener as a gauge to compare the nine objects to the distant DC-4, Arnold estimated their angular size as slightly smaller than the DC-4, about the width between the outer engines (about 60 feet). Arnold also said he realized that the objects would have to be quite large to see any details at that distance and later, after comparing notes with a United Airlines crew that had a similar sighting 10 days later (see below), placed the absolute size as larger than a DC-4 airliner (or greater than 100 feet (30 m) in length). Army Air Force analysts would later estimate 140 to 280 feet (85 m), based on analysis of human visual acuity and other sighting details (such as estimated distance).

Arnold said the objects were grouped together, as Ted Bloecher writes, "in a diagonally stepped-down, echelon formation, stretched out over a distance that he later calculated to be five miles". Though moving on a more or less level horizontal plane, Arnold said the objects weaved from side to side ("like the tail of a Chinese kite" as he later stated), darting through the valleys and around the smaller mountain peaks.

As the objects passed Mt Rainer, Arnold turned his plane southward on a more or less parallel course. It was at this point that he opened his side window and began observing the objects unobstructed by any glass that might have produced reflections. The objects did not disappear and continued to move very rapidly southward, continuously moving forward of his position. Curious about their speed, he began to time their rate of passage: he said they moved from Mt. Rainer to Mt. Adams where they faded from view, a distance of about 50 miles (80 km), in one minute and forty-two seconds, according to the clock on his instrument panel. When he later had time to do the calculation, the speed was over 1,700 miles per hour (2,700 km/h). This was about three times faster than any manned aircraft in 1947. Not knowing exactly the distance where the objects faded from view, Arnold conservatively and arbitrarily rounded this down to 1,200 miles (1,900 km) an hour, still faster than any known aircraft, which had yet to break the sound barrier. It was this supersonic speed in addition to the unusual saucer or disk description that seemed to capture people's attention.

Arnold landed in Yakima at about 4.00 p.m., and quickly told friend and airport general manager Al Baxter the amazing story, and before long, the entire airport staff knew of Arnold's claims. He discussed the story with the staff, and later wrote that Baxter didn't believe him.

He also wrote that some former Army pilots told him that they had been briefed before going into combat "that they might see objects of similar shape and design as I described and assured me that I wasn't dreaming or going crazy." Arnold wasn't interviewed by reporters until the next day (June 25) when he went to the office of the East Oregonian in Pendleton. Any skepticism the reporters might have harbored evaporated when they interviewed Arnold at length; as historian Mike Dash records:

Arnold had the makings of a reliable witness. He was a respected businessman and experienced pilot ... and seemed to be neither exaggerating what he had seen, nor adding sensational details to his report. He also gave the impression of being a careful observer ... These details impressed the newspapermen who interviewed him and lent credibility to his report.

Arnold would soon complain about the effects of the publicity on his life. On June 28 he was reported saying, "I haven't had a moment of peace since I first told the story." He then said a preacher had called and told him that the objects he saw were "harbingers of doomsday" and that the preacher was preparing his congregation "for the end of the world." But that wasn't half as bad as an encounter he had with a woman in a Pendleton cafe who looked at him and dashed out shrieking, "There's the man who saw the men from Mars." She ran out "sobbing she would have to do something for the children" Arnold was reported saying "with a shudder".He then added that, "This whole thing has gotten out of hand. I want to talk to the FBI or someone. Half the people look at me as a combination of Einstein, Flash Gordon and screwball. I wonder what my wife back in Idaho thinks."

Arnold's sighting was partly corroborated by a prospector named Fred Johnson on Mt. Adams, who wrote AAF intelligence that he saw six of the objects on June 24 at about the same time as Arnold, which he viewed through a small telescope. He said they were "round" and tapered "sharply to a point in the head and in an oval shape." He also noted that the objects seemed to disturb his compass.

The Portland Oregon Journal reported on July 4 receiving a letter from an L. G. Bernier of Richland, Washington (about 110 miles (180 km) east of Mt. Adams and 140 miles (230 km) southeast of Mt. Rainier). Bernier wrote that he saw three of the strange objects over Richland flying "almost edgewise" toward Mt. Rainier about one half hour before Arnold. Bernier thought the three were part of a larger formation. He indicated they were traveling at high speed: "I have seen a P-38 appear seemingly on one horizon and then gone to the opposite horizon in no time at all, but these disks certainly were traveling faster than any P-38. [Maximum speed of a P-38 was about 440 miles an hour.] No doubt Mr. Arnold saw them just a few minutes or seconds later, according to their speed."[9] The previous day, Bernier had also spoken to his local newspaper, the Richland Washington Villager, and was among the first witnesses to suggest extraterrestrial origins: "I believe it may be a visitor from another planet."

About 60 miles (97 km) west-northwest of Richland in Yakima, Washington, Mrs. Ethel Wheelhouse likewise reported sighting several flying discs moving at fantastic speeds at around the same time as Arnold's sighting.

When military intelligence began investigating Arnold's sighting, they found yet another witness from the area. A member of the Washington State forest service, who had been on fire watch at a tower in Diamond Gap, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Yakima, reported seeing "flashes" at 3:00 p.m. on the 24th over Mount Rainier (or the exact same time as Arnold's sighting), that appeared to move in a straight line. Similarly, at 3:00 p.m. Sidney B. Gallagher in Washington State (exact position unspecified) reported seeing nine shiny discs flash by to the north. A Seattle newspaper also mentioned a woman near Tacoma who said she saw a chain of nine, bright objects flying at high speed near Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately this short news item wasn't precise as to time or date, but indicated it was around the same date as Arnold's sighting.

However, a pilot of a DC-4 some 10 to 15 miles (24 km) north of Arnold en route to Seattle reported seeing nothing unusual. (This was the same DC-4 seen by Arnold and which he used for size comparison.)

The primary corroborative sighting, however, occurred ten days later (July 4) when a United Airlines crew over Idaho en route to Seattle also spotted five to nine disk-like objects that paced their plane for 10 to 15 minutes before suddenly disappearing. The next day in Seattle, Arnold met with the pilot, Cpt. E. J. Smith, and copilot and compared sighting details. The main difference in shape was that the United crew thought the objects appeared rough on top. This was one of the few sightings that Arnold felt was reliable, most of the rest he thought were the public seeing other things and letting their imaginations run wild. Arnold and Cpt. Smith became friends, met again with Army Air Force intelligence officers on July 12 and filed sighting reports, then teamed up again at the end of July in investigating the strange Maury Island incident.

A similar sighting of eight objects also occurred over Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 12, 1947. In this instance, a photo (left) was taken and published in the Tulsa Daily World the following day (photo at right). Interestingly, the photographer, Enlo Gilmore, said that in blowups of the photo, the objects resembled baseball catcher's mitts or flying wings. He was of the opinion that the military had a secret fleet of flying wing airplanes. He had been a gunnery officer in the Navy during the war, and using information from another witness, also a veteran, he performed a triangulation and arrived at an estimation of speed of 1,700 miles per hour (2,700 km/h), or essentially the same estimate as Arnold's. One of the objects, he said, seemed to have a hole in the middle.

Two or three photos of a similar, solitary object were taken by William Rhodes over Phoenix, Arizona on July 7, 1947, and appeared in a local Phoenix newspaper and some other newspapers. The object was rounded in front with a crescent back. These photos also seem to show something resembling a hole in the middle, though Rhodes thought it was a canopy.

Publicity and origins of term "flying saucer"

Starting June 27, newspapers first began using the terms "flying saucer" and "flying disk" to describe the sighted objects. Thus the Arnold sighting is credited with giving rise to these popular terms. The actual origin of the terms is somewhat controversial and complicated. Jerome Clark cites a 1970 study by Herbert Strentz, who reviewed U.S. newspaper accounts of the Arnold UFO sighting, and concluded that the term was probably due to an editor or headline writer: the body of the early Arnold news stories did not use the term "flying saucer" or "flying disc."

Years later, Arnold claimed he told Bill Bequette that "they flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it across the water." Arnold felt that he had been misquoted since the description referred to the objects' motion rather than their shape. Thus Bequette has often been credited with first using "flying saucer" and supposedly misquoting Arnold, but the term does not appear in Bequette's early articles. Instead, his first article of June 25 says only, "He said he sighted nine saucer-like aircraft flying in formation..."

The next day in a much more detailed article, Bequette wrote, "He clung to his story of shiny, flat objects racing over the Cascade mountains with a peculiar weaving motion ‘like the tail of a Chinese kite.' ...He also described the objects as 'saucer-like' and their motion 'like fish flipping in the sun.' ...[Arnold] described the objects as 'flat like a pie-pan and somewhat bat-shaped'." It wasn't until June 28 that Bequette first used the term "flying disc" (but not "flying saucer").

A review of early newspaper stories indicates that immediately after his sighting, Arnold generally described the objects’ shape as thin and flat, rounded in the front but chopped in the back and coming to a point, i.e., more or less saucer- or disk-like. He also specifically used terms like "saucer" or "saucer-like", "disk", and "pie pan" or "pie plate" in describing the shape. The motion he generally described as weaving like the tail of a kite and erratic flipping.

For example, in a surviving recorded radio interview from June 25, Arnold described them as looking "something like a pie plate that was cut in half with a sort of a convex triangle in the rear." His motion descriptions were: "I noticed to the left of me a chain which looked to me like the tail of a Chinese kite, kind of weaving... they seemed to flip and flash in the sun, just like a mirror... they seemed to kind of weave in and out right above the mountaintops..."

The first investigation of Arnold's claims came from Lt. Frank Brown and Capt. William Davidson of Hamilton Field in California, who interviewed Arnold on July 12. Arnold also submitted a written report at that time. Regarding the reliability of Arnold's sighting, they concluded:

"It is the present opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnold actually saw what he stated he saw. It is difficult to believe that a man of [his] character and apparent integrity would state that he saw objects and write up a report to the extent that he did if he did not see them."

Despite this, the Army Air Force's formal public conclusion was that Arnold had seen a mirage.

In addition, on July 9 AAF intelligence, with help from the FBI, secretly began an investigation of the best sightings, mostly from pilots and military personnel. Arnold's sighting, as well as that of the United Airline's crew, were included in the list of best sightings. Three weeks later they came to the conclusion that the saucer reports were not imaginary or adequately explained by natural phenomena; something real was flying around. This laid the groundwork for another intelligence estimate in September 1947 by Gen. Nathan Twining, commanding officer of the Air Materiel Command, which likewise concluded the saucers were real and urged a formal investigation by multiple government agencies. This in turn resulted in the formation of Project Sign at the end of 1947, the first publicly acknowledged USAF UFO investigation. Project Sign eventually evolved into Project Grudge, and then the better known Project Blue Book.

In a 1950 interview with journalist Edward R. Murrow, Arnold reported seeing similar objects on three other occasions, and said other pilots flying in the northwestern U.S. had sighted such objects as many as eight times. The pilots initially felt a duty reporting the objects despite the ridicule, he said, because they thought the U.S. government didn't know what they were. Arnold did not assert that the objects were alien spacecraft, although he did say: "being a natural-born American, if it's not made by our science or our Army Air Forces, I am inclined to believe it's of an extraterrestrial origin." Then he added that he thought everybody should be concerned, but "I don't think it's anything for people to get hysterical about." The first issue of Fate (1948) featured the article The Truth About The Flying Saucers by Arnold. In 1952 he described his experiences in the book The Coming of the Saucers, which he and a publisher friend named Raymond A. Palmer.

Recently in news, a team from the Northrop Grumman defense-contracting corporation used original Nazi blueprints (see re-created blueprints of Hitler's stealth fighter) and the only surviving Ho 2-29, which has been stored in a U.S. government facility for more than 50 years. This plane looks similar to the drawing made by Arnold. Its possible what Arnold actually saw was this secret German prototype which the US Army recovered after world War II.

The all-wing Ho 2-29 looked more like todays U.S. B-2 bomber (B-2 bomber picture)—or something from a Star Wars prequel—than like any other World War II aircraft. Made primarily of wood and powered by jet engines, the plane was designed for speeds of up to 600 miles an hour (970 kilometers an hour).

Armed with four 30mm cannons and two 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) bombs, the planned production model was also meant to pack a punch.

A Ho 2-29 prototype made a successful test flight just before Christmas 1944. But by then time was running out for the Nazis, and they were never able to perfect the design or produce more than a handful of prototype planes.

Determining the Horten's stealth capabilities could help reveal what might have happened if the Ho 2-29 had been unleashed in force.

FOR MUCH MORE INFO ON KENNETH ARNOLD, VISIT WIKIPEDIA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Arnold

(UFO Casebook) Although the history of UFOs can be traced back to early cave drawings, pictures, and folklore, the modern era of the study of UFOs is usually believed to be the 1947 sighting report of nine "flying saucers" made by pilot Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947. Arnold was aiding in the search for a missing plane when the sighting occurred. He did not believe his story would be believed, but swore that it was true. Arnold related his sighting to the Chicago Daily Tribune: "The first thing I noticed was a series of flashes in my eyes as if a mirror was reflecting sunlight at me..."

"I saw the flashes were coming from a series of objects that were traveling incredibly fast. They were silvery and shiny and seemed to be shaped like a pie plate...What startled me most at this point was...that I could not find any tails on them."

Arnold estimated that the objects were flying at an altitude between 9,500 and 10,000 feet, and at a great speed. After clocking them from Mt. Ranier to Mt. Adams, he arrived at an estimated speed of 1,200 miles per hour. "It seemed impossible," he said, "but there it is...I must believe my eyes." The term "flying saucer" was coined, not by Arnold, but a reporter. Arnold made the statement that the objects moved, "like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water." East Orengonian newspaper reporter Bill Bequette paraphrased Arnold's statement when he placed the story on the AP news wire. Arnold's term "saucer-like" became "flying saucers." The US military attempted to ignore the press reports of Arnold's sighting, but as the story grew, they felt compelled to take action. A meeting to discuss a course of action was held at the Pentagon on July 7, 1947, only a few days after the Roswell crash. Taking charge was Chief of the Army Air Force Air Intelligence Requirements Division, General Schulgen. The group made the decision to follow up on "qualified" observers' reports of flying discs. Three days later, Arnold received a request from Continental Air Command to appear for an interview, regarding his report. Two Counter Intelligence Corps investigators would carry out the investigation. The results of this session were included in Project Blue Book.

Arnold's report was one of the first of 850 different UFO reports to make US media by the end of July, 1947. More than anything else, Arnold was in the right place at the right time to forever be an important part of the history of UFOs.

http://www.ufocasebook.com/kennetharnold.html

Pilot Reports Seeing Mystery 'Aircraft' Over Coast Range
Sacramento Bee June 26, 1947

PENDELTON (Ore) June 26.-(AP)-Nine shiny objects flying at 1200 miles per hour over the Coast Range of Western Washington-that is what pilot Kenneth Arnold of Boise, Ida., reported he saw while on a routine flight over the mountains. He stuck to his story while fellow pilots openly scoffed at his report and experts said they had no explanation as to what the "objects" could be.
"It seems impossible, but there it is," Arnold insisted.

Calls Them Aircraft

He said they were bright, saucer like objects-he called them "aircraft"-flying at 10,00 feet altitude. A flash of reflected sunshine brought them to his attention, he asserted, and for a second he was stunned by their "incredible" speed.

He said he rolled down the window of his plane, thinking it might have caused the reflection, but he still saw them with the window down.

They flew with a peculiar dipping motion, "like a fish flipping in the sun," he said, and "they were extremely shiny, and when they caught the sun right it nearly blinded me."

Figures Speed

He reported they were about 25 to 30 miles away when first sighted flying north. He glanced at his instrument clock and timed them between Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, a distance of 47 miles.

It took 1:42 minutes, Arnold reported, added that after he landed, he got out a map and by triangulation figured the speed of the "objects" at 1200 miles per hour.

"I might have missed a second or two in my timing, but the speed still would be near 1,200 miles per hour," he asserted.

In Portland, the state senior Civil Aeronautics Administration Inspector, Edward Leach, said he doubted "that anything would be traveling that fast."

Size of Transport Plane

Arnold also said a DC4 was flying in the vicinity and he estimated that the "objects" were about the same size as the four engined passenger ships, although the "objects" did not have wings.

"One thing that struck me," he said, "was that they were flying so low. Ten thousand feet is very low for anything going at that speed."

He reported that they appeared to fly almost as if they were fastened together-if one dipped the others did too.

Maury Island "hoax": an early Men-In-Black incident three days before the Arnold sighting, in which a "donut-shaped object" dropped slag on a boat near Tacoma, Washington; the next day an MIB visited Harold Dahl, who was piloting the boat, and warned him not to discuss the sighting; the boat's owner, Fred Crisman, was suspected of being a CIA employee and was later called to give secret testimony at the trial of Clay Shaw in New Orleans; pilot Dahl disappeared and UFOlogist Arnold, who investigated the case, reported unexplained failure of his own plane's engine soon after two Air Force investigators were killed taking off from Tacoma's airport.

From About Dot Com
http://ufos.about.com/od/bestufocasefiles/p/arnold.htm

There have been UFO sightings ever since man roamed the Earth. There exist many paintings of centuries past that depict unusual flying objects in the sky. Folklore of many early peoples are filled with stories of strange objects flying through the skies. However, most Ufologists credit pilot Kenneth Arnold's UFO sighting of 1947 as the beginning of the modern UFO age.

On June 24, 1947, businessman Arnold was using his plane to help search for a missing aircraft. He was flying over the Cascade mountains. As he scanned the landscape below him, he would notice some flashes in his eyes, like reflecting sunlight. He told the Chicago Daily Tribune, "The first thing I noticed was a series of flashes in my eyes as if a mirror was reflecting sunlight at me... "

Arnold soon found the source of the flashes - a series of fast moving objects. He described them as silvery and shiny. The most startling aspect of the object was a lack of a tail. The objects appeared to be shaped like a pie plate. This description almost certainly meant that the objects had a raised top, or cupola on them. This description very closely fit that of the large UFO photographed during The Battle of Los Angeles.

The stunned pilot was seeing something that he had never seen before in his many years of flying. He estimated the objects' altitude as between 9,500 and 10,000 feet. He began to clock their flight from Mt. Ranier to Mt. Adams. This information would be used to estimate the objects' speed at 1,200 mph, an unbelievable speed for the era.

"It seemed impossible," he said, "but there it is... I must believe my eyes."Although the term saucer was used in a 1930 UFO report in Texas, it was meant to show the relative size of the object from arm's length. Arnold told a newspaper reporter that the objects moved "like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water." Arnold was indicating how the objects bounced across the atmosphere, not the shape of the object, Yet, newspaper reporter Bill Bequette's report on the AP news wire used the term "flying saucer" to describe the objects' shape. A phrase was coined.

As was the custom of the day, the U.S. military, though aware of the Arnold report, at first tried to simply ignore the matter. But, the story broke big across the nation, and the military had to make some statement on the sighting. On July 7, a meeting was held to determine how to respond to the report.

Chief of the Army Air Force Air Intelligence Requirements Division, General Schulgen would head the group. Under pressure to give the public some reassurance, the decision was made to hear from "qualified" reporters of UFO sightings. In a couple of days, Arnold was called in for an interview. The results of this interview would earn a place in Project Blue Book.

Place in History: Although there had already occurred several excellent UFO cases before the Arnold sighting, his account will always have a place in UFO history. Over 800 reports would make U.S. media by the end of July, 1947 alone, and Arnold's was one of the most important.

FROM ANSWERS DOT COM:
http://www.answers.com/topic/kenneth-arnold

Skeptical explanations

One skeptical objection raised is that Arnold was suspiciously precise in his descriptions (for example, "approaching Mt. Rainier at about 107 degrees" and "passed almost directly in front of me, but at a distance of about 23 miles"), perhaps calling into question Arnold's reliability as a witness. However, Arnold's "about 107 degrees" was clearly not meant to be exact but an estimate, based on judging flight bearings from thousands of hours of flying experience. Arnold was also explicit from the beginning that his 23-mile (37 km) distance figure was based on seeing the objects momentarily disappear behind a sub-peak of Rainier of a known distance.

Skeptic Steuart Campbell has argued that the objects Arnold reported could have been mirages of several snow-capped peaks in Cascade Range. Campbell's calculation of the objects' speed determined that they were travelling at roughly the same speed as Arnold's plane, indicating that the objects were in fact stationary. Mirages could have been caused by temperature inversions over several deep valleys in the line of sight.[17] It is true that when Arnold had turned the plane so as to fly parallel to the apparent N-S course of the objects the relative bearing to very distant mountains would change at a much slower angular rate than the bearings to nearby peaks, i.e. as nearby landmarks fell aft of the left wing parallax would cause distant landmarks to be relatively displaced in the opposite direction. Because mirage affects visual elevation but preserves visual bearing, detached mirage images of distant peaks could appear to pace the plane. However, Arnold said that he first saw the objects crossing the nose of the plane at speed from N - S before he turned S in order to watch them through the open side canopy. Parallax does not explain this. He also said he saw the objects fly in front of Mt. Rainier; they could be seen in profile and also flashing brightly against the snowfields of Rainier. That would be impossible for mirages of mountain peaks dozens of miles away to the south. UFO skeptic Philip J. Klass[18] cited an article by Keay Davidson of the San Francisco Examiner in arguing that Arnold might have misidentified meteors on June 24, 1947. In rebuttal, optical physicist Bruce Maccabee pointed out a meteor theory would require impossibly slow speeds and durations for brightly glowing meteors on a horizontal trajectory.

James Easton was the first of several skeptics to suggest that Arnold may have misidentified pelicans: the birds live in the Washington region, are rather large (wingspans of over three meters are not uncommon), have a pale underside that can reflect light, can fly at rather high altitudes, and can appear to have a somewhat crescent-shaped profile when flying.

Similarly, Richard Carrier recently claimed to have seen the same UFOs as Arnold described, "ovoid objects flying in formation" "rotating along their axis of motion, like footballs, with one side black and one bright white, so they alternated in color while they spun." Then he realized it was an optical illusion and a flock of seagulls of which he misgauged the speed. He further claimed that Arnold's account showed that Arnold was incorrectly estimating his height, believing himself level to mountains four thousand feet below him giving him erroneous estimates of the level, distance, and speed of the objects. Birds unable to meet these erroneous estimates are ruled out by the minds eye as a possible explanations for the object and aren't recognized.

Rebutting the various bird explanations, Maccabee, argues it is physically impossible for a bird to be blindingly bright as reported by Arnold—the objects; brilliant brightness being what initially attracted Arnold's attention. Further, Arnold was flying at roughly 110 miles (180 km) an hour on a parallel course to the objects. Arnold reported the objects rapidly moving forward of his position as he observed them flying southward on a parallel course between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. However, no bird could possibly fly faster than Arnold's plane; instead birds would have steadily moved backward, not forwards, relative to his position.

Donald Menzel's explanations

Donald Menzel was a Harvard astronomer and one of the earliest UFO debunkers. Over the years, he offered several mutually exclusive explanations for the Arnold's 1947 UFO sighting. Bruce Maccabee rebutted Menzel's explanations in a 1986 monograph, arguing that Menzel often left out data that conflicted with a given 'explanation'.

1. In 1953, Menzel argued that Arnold had seen clouds of snow blown from the mountains south of Mt. Rainier. Maccabee noted that such snow clouds have hazy light, not the mirror-like brilliance reported by Arnold. Further, such clouds could not be in the rapid motion reported by Arnold, nor would they account for Arnold first seeing the bright objects north of Rainier.
2. In 1963, Menzel argued that Arnold had seen orographic clouds or wave clouds; Maccabee noted that this conflicted with testimony from Arnold and others that the sky was clear, and again can't account for the brightness of the objects or their rapid motion over a very large angular region.
3. In 1971, Menzel argued that Arnold had merely seen spots of water on his airplane's windows; Maccabee notes that this contradicts Arnold's testiomony that he had specifically ruled out water spots or reflections shortly after seeing the nine UFOs. For example, the early Bill Bequette article of June 26 in the Pendleton East Oregonian has Arnold saying he at first thought that maybe he was seeing reflections off his window, but "he still saw the objects after rolling it down."
   

UFO FYI: 1993- Back to the Beach

1993 THE MASLIN BEACH, AUSTRALIA PHOTOS

Maslin Beach is a coastal suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga local government area, and neighbours the suburbs Moana, Port Willunga, and McLaren Vale. The southern half of Maslin Beach was declared Australia's first official nude beach in 1975. The cliff-lined beach is some 3km in length, and so the area reserved for nude bathing is some distance from other beach users. Around Australia Day each year, the "Maslin Beach Olympics" are held, consisting of informal competitions such as three-legged races and the judging of "best bum".

When Eric Thomason in Maslin Beach, Australia, looked out across the ocean, he saw - to his great surprise - how an object rose from the waves and started flying towards him. When the object came nearer, Eric took out his camera and started taking photographs.

- I could feel water dripping from the craft, he tells UFO-Aktuellt.

By Clas Svahn Translation by Stefan Isaksson
http://www.ufocasebook.com/maslinbeach1993.html

The photographs are quite sensational, and there are really just two alternatives: either Eric Thomason's photographs are the most astounding so far, or it's just a simple hoax. Eric Thomason, 69, is a senior citizen living in Maslin Beach in southern Australia. Not far from his house is an old abandoned mine, Maslin Old Quarry, where he sometimes takes his dog for a walk. In March 1993, Eric decided to try to document the old mine using his son's camera, a Kodak S50 with a Fuji 100 ASA-film. Despite having never owned a camera of his own and having virtually no experiencing photographing, Eric set off in order to try to capture the beautiful colors of the open-cast mine from as many angles as possible. And, s photo contest in the magazine "Southern Times-Messenger" about the best image of a sunrise over land also helped him in his decision. He thought he would be able to capture the sunrise on film from Ochre Point, a cliff 60 meters high from where hang-gliders used to take off - but the sun was hidden behind a dense layer of clouds.

Wednesday, March 10, didn't appear to be much better. It was a cool morning, only 14 degrees Celsius, and a stubborn wind came from the west. From the top of the grassy cliff, Eric was forced to accept that there wasn't going to be a sunrise that morning either. A persistent layer of clouds blocked out the sun, and the time was 06:00 AM when Eric instead turned to face the ocean to the west.

- It was then that I saw a movement on the surface on the water, and something looking like the tower on an atomic submarine emerged, Eric tells UFO-Sweden. When the object rose from the water I was able to see how three legs were pointing out from the hull. I was also able to see how it was spinning, and how the three legs were pulled in.

Before the legs were pulled in, Eric managed to take his first photograph of the object, and he estimates the distance to the object at the time being about 400 meters. It then dawned on him how exposed his position was. Standing on top of the Ochre Point with the sun right behind him made him an easy target to spot for a possible crew.

- I had heard of people being abducted by UFOs, so I climbed down a slope nearby. From there I could see how the light-grey object came flying somewhat south of me, and came to a halt over the mine. At that very moment I spotted yet another object, north of the first one. That's when I snapped my second picture, but since the light from the sunrise was straight into my view-finder I moved a little to the left.

While taking photographs from his hideout five meters below the top of the cliff, the new object moved towards the larger one, came to a halt, and then continued upwards, into a deepening in the larger object.

In a report form to the Australian UFO-group Australian Flying Saucer Research Society, Eric estimates the size of the object to be 40 meters, and the distance (when he first saw it rise from the ocean) to be 2 kilometers. While talking to him on the phone, Eric tells me how it never got closer to him than 400 meters. When the incident was over, Eric returned home. However, despite his amazing encounter he decided to remain quiet about it, even to his wife. He first wanted to have the film developed in order to find out if there indeed were any photographs of it. But he was not in a hurry. Before he handed in the film for development he made sure to use up the entire film. And not until May, 1994, when he had watched a UFO show on TV, did he bring forward the photographs.

- At first he didn't tell me anything since I wasn't feeling well at the time, and later he believed that the photographs weren't going to show anything, Mrs. Thomason says when UFO-Sweden talks to her. But after he had had the film developed he showed them to me. I'm certain it's a spaceship. Eric is not the lying type, and I believe him.

Still, there are several details in his story that are worth pondering. Eric Thomason set his alarm clock to 05:45 in order to catch the sunrise, which took place around 06:00. During these 15 minutes, Mr. Thomason had time to get out of bed, put on several layers of warm clothing, bring his camera, fetch the dog at the back of the house, walk to Ochre Point (which according to Mrs. Thomason takes 5 minutes), climb the 60 meters tall cliff, wait for the failed sunrise, and then walk on to another site close by in order to look out over the ocean. At 06:00 sharp he took his first photograph of the object. The bright blue sky on the first photograph suggests the images were taken later in the day. In a letter, Eric describes what happened when the photographs were returned from the photo lab: "When the film had been developed I noticed yet another object on the first photograph, which I hadn't seen during the incident itself. A black dot in the distance, halfway between the object and the edge of the photograph, which might have been an airplane several kilometers away, or the smaller object on its way to intercept with the larger one."

According to Eric, the negatives were analyzed by Kodak in Adelaide, but he doesn't know anything about the results. The camera Eric used was a cheap Kodak S50, purchased in a department store for 40 USD. The S50 uses normal 35 mm film, and has never been available on the Swedish market. Its focus is set, and cannot be changed. There are, on the whole, no buttons to push except the shutter release. Cameras of this type are always set on infinitude, and have a large depth of field. And here's where an uncertainty becomes apparent. If you look at the first photograph the object, which supposedly is 400 meters away, is in focus while the horizon is fuzzy. As a matter of fact, both the object and the horizon should be in focus. That aside, the images agree with Eric's story, and during our entire conversation he answers all my questions correct, even when I try to trap him. That aside, the images agree with Eric's story, and during our entire conversation he answers all my questions correct, even when I try to trap him. Mr. Thomason's photographs have caused a lot of attention worldwide, and have even ended up in an American UFO almanac.

- There have been so many people calling, that I'm now starting to get sick of it, Eric says while mentioning how he is very critical to other UFO photographs. But I've begun looking for them in the evenings while out walking the dog. I know there are UFOs from different planets in the universe. But so far I've only seen meteorites.

Finally I ask Erik Thomason the most important question of them all: Are the photographs really genuine? Do they really depict the object you said emerged from the ocean? -

-Yes, absolutely, he says briefly and adds, OK?

Post scriptum
After this article went into print in UFO-Sweden's magazine UFO-Aktuellt in 1996 several readers has pointed out that the Maslin Beach UFO does have many similarities with a part of the ventilation system built for private boats. As can be seen in the pictures below, this theory can not be ruled out. The author of this article is currently trying to find more ventilation parts that could make a better match.

This picture, taken by the author, shows a part of the ventilation system for private boats. The part is made of plastic and very light and shows many similarities to the Maslin Beach UFO but of a different brand. The ventilation part comes in several different configurations. To this date it has not been able to find a part with the exact looks of the Maslin Beach object.
http://www.ufo.se/maslinbeach/

From the
Australasian Ufologist website

http://ufologist.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_ufologist_archive.html

Maslin Beach Hoax
UFOlogist Magazine Vol8 No3 2004

The 1993 Maslin Beach, South Australia UFO photographs are a very poor Hoax. They have been investigated by a number of researchers down this way, who went over to SA. In one shot the string that holds the small object below the larger object is visible. An Editor from one of our big women’s magazines was asked to purchase the images, he took the negatives for a look see, and then sent them down to Victoria for analysis (VUFORS & PRA). The conclusion - there were 17 other telltale errors with the images and the story! Why would anyone have these images on the front of their magazine?

Simply mad!