http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Skyopen/message/9802
| From:
"Bill Hamilton" <skywatcher22@h...> Date: Wed Nov 13, 2002 9:44 am Subject: Pioneers of the Flying Saucer Era |
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I was curious about some of the pioneers of the UFO/Flying Saucer era and how much we have learned since then, or have we? It is amazing how some of the same themes are still playing out after 50+ years of study. One of the pioneers was Major (ret) Donald Keyhoe, a Marine Corp pilot,a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (1920), and a man who was dedicated to finding the truth about UFOs. He wrote: "Since January 1950, when TRUE published my first article on UFO's (see page 6), there has been a tremendous change in the public attitude toward Unidentified Flying Objects. Before, the "flying saucers" were ridiculed by most Americans. Only a small number knew the dramatic evidence - confirmed reports by veteran pilots and other competent witnesses. Even fewer knew of the Air Force Top Secret Estimate of the Situation - that the Flying Saucers - officially Unidentified Flying Objects - were interplanetary vehicles engaged in a long observation of the earth. Today, according to national polls, half of our population is convinced that the UFO's are real (see page 52). Over five million people claim to have seen strange flying objects. Some newly convinced Americans, reluctant to believe we are being observed by a technically superior race, first ask if the UFO's aren't highly secret devices - American or Russian. But the massive documented evidence of tremendous speeds and maneuvers far beyond any earth made craft has proved this answer impossible. More and more millions now accept the long-hidden AF explanation: The UFO's are interplanetary probes from another world." Little has changed. Maybe slightly more than half of our population is convinced UFOs are real and a lesser percentage believe they are interplanetary craft, but the Air Force's position has radically changed since those early years when it considered the interplanetary answer. What changed behind the scenes? Another pioneer who was not as well known as Keyhoe played a significant role in giving scientific weight to the UFO question and that was Dr. James McDonald who received his Ph.D. in physics from Iowa State University in 1951, then worked there as an assistant professor in meteorology and served as professor in many other universities. Here is what he had to say," Curiously, I have said this both in NASA and fairly widely reported public discussion before scientific colleagues, yet the response from NASA has been nil...Even attempting to get a small group within NASA to undertake a study group approach to the available published effort seems to have generated no response. I realize, of course, that there may be semi-political considerations that make it awkward for NASA to fish in these waters at present, but if this is what is holding up serious scientific attention to the UFO problem at NASA this is all the more reason Congress had better take a good hard look at the problem and reshuffle the deck....I have learned from a number of unquotable sources that the Air Force has long wished to get rid of the burden of the troublesome UFO problem and has twice tried to 'peddle' it to NASA -without success". (1967) Has anything really changed with NASA and UFOs? Not really, and this after 35 years! Has Congress had a hard look at the problem? No, they seem more concerned about keeping their jobs. How about early rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. Here is a quote: In 1955, Dr. Werner Von Braun invited him to the U.S. where he worked on rockets with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and later NASA: "It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our Earth for centuries." (Oberth, H., "Flying Saucers Come From A Distant World", The American Weekly, Oct 24, 1954) Hmmm, did the good professor know something positive about his thesis? How about the head of Project Bluebook, Air Force Captain who wrote a book about UFOs. He says, "UFO BRIEFINGS BY PROJECT BLUE BOOK TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN EARLY YEARS. (1956) Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt: "The one thing about these briefings that never failed to amaze me, although it happened time and time again, was the interest in UFOs within scientific circles. As soon as the word spread that Project Blue Book was giving official briefings to groups with the proper security clearances, we had no trouble in getting scientists to swap free advice for a briefing. I might add that we briefed only groups who were engaged in government work and who had the proper security clearances solely because we could discuss any government project that might be of help to us in pinning down the UFO. Our briefings weren't just squeezed in either; in many instances we would arrive at a place to find that a whole day had been set aside to talk about UFOs. And never once did I meet anyone who laughed off the whole subject of flying saucers even though publicly these same people had jovially sloughed off the press with answers of 'hallucinations,' 'absurd', or 'a waste of time and money.' They weren't wild-eyed fans but they were certainly interested." (1956) Scientists not laughing at UFOs! Heavens! I am glad to see that the interest has spread among scientists over the last 46 years. The UFO situation got so serious in 1952 that a meeting was convened with Air Force officials and the CIA (Robertson Panel). Captain Ed Ruppelt: "...and it was up to them to tell us if they (UFOs) were real---some type of vehicle flying through our atmosphere. If they were real, then they would have to be spacecraft because no one at the meeting gave a second thought to the possibility that the UFOs might be a super secret U.S. aircraft or a Soviet development. The scientists knew everything that was going on in the U.S. and they knew that no country in the world had developed their technology far enough to build such a craft that would perform as the UFOs were reported to do." With all the rumors around today that some UFOs are secret aircraft this statement seems like a definite anachronism. Astronomer Morris K. Jessup was one of the first to suggest that UFOs were not a modern phenomena. He stated, "Flying Saucers are not new! For thousands of years men have seen mysterious objects in the skies... Probably the oldest, and almost surely the most prolific of sources bearing on wingless flight, are the records of the Indian and Tibetan monasteries. These in themselves are almost conclusive. Records of 15,000 years ago imply wingless flight at least 70,000 years prior to that. Add this to the recorded visit of a space fleet to the court of Thutmose III, approximately 1500 BC, and we are close to paralleling the sightings of today." (From THE CASE FOR THE UFO, 1955) What about those MJ-12 guys? The head of the group was supposedly Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, surely dedicated to keeping the whole subject secret, but then we read what he says, "It is time for the truth to be brought out. . . Behind the scenes high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense." —Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, Director of the CIA (1947-50) in a letter to Congress, 1960 quoted in Above Top Secret Hey Admiral, I guess no one listened then, are they listening now? Speaking of MJ-12, what about the President said to have started this secret group. He said, "I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on Earth." —President Harry S. Truman April 4, 1950, White House Press Conference Perhaps there were deliberate attempts to debunk the subject from the beginning. Here is what one early pioneer said, "Blue Book was now under direct orders to debunk. . . I remember the conversations around the conference table in which it was suggested that Walt Disney or some educational cartoon producer be enlisted in [the] debunking process." —Dr. J. Allen Hynek in The Hynek UFO Report Thank goodness they stopped all of that nonsensical debunking. Wake up folks, there is something alien in our atmosphere. We are told there is nothing above top secret, not even UFOs, but the late Senator Barry Goldwater (Ret USAF Brig. General and pilot) said, "I made an effort to find out what was in the building at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where the information is stored that has been collected by the Air Force, and I was understandably denied this request. It is still classified above Top Secret." —Senator Barry Goldwater in a letter dated March 28, 1975 And of course, our friendly famous scientist from Canada said, "The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States government, rating higher even than the H-bomb. Flying saucers exist. Their modus operandi is unknown but concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by Doctor Vannevar Bush." —Wilbert Smith in a Top Secret Canadian government memorandum, 21 November 1950 quoted in Above Top Secret Scientist Bush was said to have orchestrated the scientific study and reverse engineering of these interplanetary craft. I have only skimmed the surface of numerous writings and statements made by the pioneers of the UFO space age, yet we do not see in any of these that the subject was taken lightly or laughingly. UFOs were considered a serious problem, especially by the Air Force, yes, the same Air Force who debunks UFO sightings and UFO crashes. We will continue to explore the new terrain we are on today, but let us not forget history for it can teach us many lessons and who wants to wait another 50+ years to advance another few inches? Sincerely, Bill Hamilton Executive Director Skywatch International, Inc. Website: http://www.skywatch-research.org |