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EDITORIAL.
The publication of NICAPTS, trThe UFO Evidencerr,
(reviewed jn this issue) will no doubt result in some stocktaking
being done in UFO research grouPs about what has been achieved
by such groups during the past seventeen years that flying saucers
(as such) have been with us.
trThe UFO Evidencerr puts together in the one volurne
virtually everything that is known about UFOrS--and this is a very
great deal indeed. To those of us who have now believed in the
reality of the UFO for more than a decade, this publication has the
effect of reinforcing everything we have long believed to be truel
that this planet is being visited by spaceships, piloted by intelligent
beings, frorn a source, or sources that are still unknown to us, and
for a purpose, or purposes still unresolved.
When we take stock of what we research groups have
accornplished, we-rnust conclude that we have done a vast arnount
of very valuable work in the collection, analysis and dissernination
of data pertaining to UFO sightings; but, I feel, there is still a
vast arnount to be done:-
(") There can only be a srnall percentage of the people
of the world who have given serious study to the rnystery of the
UFO. We rnust continue in our endeavours to educate people to a
spirit
- of enquiry into the UFO lnystery.
(b) We rnust fight twitfr renewed effort to have the blank
wal1 of officialdorn borne down by the weight of nurnbers of those
who believe that what is known by governments about UFOrS should
be available to all.
Paul Norrnanf s excellent article in this issue is typical
of the concern that is felt when we are given Air Force analyses of
UFO sightings which constitute an affront to our intelligence. The
people have every right to know what has been found out about
visitors frorn other planets by our officials for they are rnatters of
optirnurn concern to the people no rnatter what we are told to the
c ontrary.
To read the rnountain of evidence for the existence of
UFOIS that has been assernbled by NICAP and then to be confronted
with the following shows just how great is the gap still to be bridged
befor e the truth will be available to all. ttThe U.S. Air Force
asserts that no evidence has been subrnitted in any of the thousands
of cases that any new technological developrnents or scientific
principles were involved that go beyond the range of present day
knowledge. And it says that in all of its investigations there has
been nothing produced in the way of evidence to suggest that these
unidentified flying objects were extraterrestrial vehicles under
intelligent controlrt (ttre Ctristian Science Monitor, 8/9 /6+1.
'W.hat
then does the U.S. Air Force think they are ?
GREAT EVENT IN SAUCER RESEARCH.
PUBLICATION BY NICAP OF IITHE UFO EVIDENCE'I
rrrhe uFo Evidence,. Published by The National Investigations
cornrnittee on Aerial phenornena (NIcAp), 1535 connecticut Ave.,
N. W. Wahsington, 36, D. C.. Richard Hall, Editor. M"y, 1964.
We have no way of knowing when the mystery of what the
flying saucers are, where they corne frorn and why they are so
interested in this planet, will be revealed to the people of Earth; it
rnay be next year, the next decade, the next centrtry-ot the one after
that, or it rnay not be resolved until Man has progressed sufficiently
so that he has rnastered a rrreans of travel which will take hirn across
the galaxies of the Universe as easily as he is now able to'cross the
continents. When the rnystery is solved in full I wonder what then
will be the attitude of future historians to the way in which the people
regarded the whole flying saucer question in the yearJ aftlr
91 P"tth
1947 when these objects first attracted public attention. How will
these writers of sorne enlightened future day regard Manrs abysrnal
ignorance and fear and plain lack of interesl in ihe obvious signs of
the greatest event in his history - an irnrninent rneeting with pieople
of other planets. How will the future regard the reprEhensi6le
attitude of governrnents in with-holding the true facti about flying
saucers frorn the citizens who elected thern to office; their glib -
cover-up stories given or.rtwith an irnplied, rrwerre the only ones
capable of handling tfis business so you keep your interfering noses
out of it.rr what will be thought of the wholL rotten, rrrercenary
business of contacteeisrn, New Age spiritualisrn, rneetings with
angels, rides to venus, rnarriage to beautiful space*ortt.n and the
inevitable books about thern which have helped to create in the rninds
of rnany, a perve_rted irnage of the flying sjuce" field. our irnagin-
ary future historian wiII, no doubt, have rrlany scathing things to say
a-bout the early days of flying saucers but he will, I arn regard
the publication in M ay, I964, of NICAptS ,The uFo Evidencer ",r""1 as the
sanest staternent, up to the tirne, of what was known about saucers
that had ever appeared.
rrrhe uFo Evidence'r is a sober,
authoritative account of
everything that is known about uFors and it is a staggering, rrlonum-
ental and utterly convincing body of evidence, lg3 lJrge, q-uarto-size
pages of it. rt has been published to help bring abouia c6ngress-
ional hearing on the subject of UFOrs. ifris iJthe airn towa-rd.s which
NICAP has striven since its inception in late I956. A copy of nThe
UFO Evidencetrhas been sent to every Mernber of Congre-ss and all
readers of it (in U.S.A. ) are asked to write to their orirn Senators and
congressrnen in an atternpt to force an open hearing. If after
surveying the vast arnount of incontrovertible evidence prepared by
NICAP, a full investigation is not carried out it arnounts to nothing
less than a public scandal of irnrnense proportions. If the u.s"
-l-
Airforce and other U.S. Governrnent bodies have evidence that this
planet is being visited by spacecraft frorn other planets and have
kept this evidence secret for whatever reasons,then they have a
vast arrrount to account for. Why, if as the U.S. Airforce has
insisted with rnonotonous regularity, they have no such evidence,
are their records still classified as Secret and not open to public
inspection. A body of evidence like this on every conceivable
aspect of UFO perforrnance sirnPly cannot be denied or passed over
wilhout sirnila rly inc ont r ove rtible c ounte r - e videnc e being pr e s ente d .
The only rneans that exists for clarification is an oPen hearing at
the higtres-t possible official level and the sooner the better for all
c once rneG .
A vast arnount of detail ed research has gone into the
cornpilation of this report and everyone connected with NICAP
deserves the unstinting praise of all connected with UFO research
for the preparation of a docurnent which will do rnuch to help place
this whole rnatter on a rrlore unequivocal footing. At last we have
a book which we cah put into the hands of anyone who professes
about the objective reality of UFO|s and say, rrRead
skepticisrn
this and if you still disbelieve that there is anything there in the
skies of Earth that is not of this Earth then I can feel nothing but
pity for the srnallness of a rnind which cannot encornpass a new
orientation. As the authors say at the conclusion of the book,
'tlf delusion is the answer to UFOts, then our whole society is
deluded". I would venture to add that if this is the case hurnanity
is suffering frorn a horrrific disease the like of which has never been
seen before; a rnass psychosis on'such a vast scale that the rnind
cannot grasp all the rarnifications of it. No, there is no such
disease or delusion, only spacecraft frorn we know not where in our
skies.
This report is based on details of. 57 5 sightings with
others included in separate chronologies and as cross references to
the rnain sightings . 5AToof the witnesses to these sightings were
trained or ex perienced observers. The book is divided into l4
sections which deal exhaustively with such rnatters as, statistics
and analyses of consistent physical appearance, rnaneuvers, flight
characteristics, recurrent concentrations; cases indicating
intelligence, pacing of vehicles, reaction to stirnuli, forrnation
flights; sightings by scientists, engineers, pilots, rnilitary
personnel, police officers, civil defense and ground observer corPS;
the Air Force investigation and rnuch rnore. There is nothing here
that is not fact, checked and double-checked - there is no.specul-
ation conjecture, subjective opinions, nothing is offered without-
proor The test is excellently printed and is illustrated with rrlany
drawings, charts, graphs etc. It is in every way the definitive
test book on UFOrs.
NICAP has often been criticised in sorne of the less
reliable saucer publications who are perhaps envious of the
-)-
contacts and resources which NICAp has; they have certainly been
criticised for their refusal to jurnp on the bandwagon of contacteeisrn
and rnake thernselves sorrre publicity, and of course, the resultant
fast buck. To quote frorn the rntroduction, rrrhis report is an
atternpt to clarify the reliable evidence of UFOts, atrd to rernove the
fog-of rnysticisrn and crackpotisrn which has helped to obscure the
real issues. ftrhey continue, rtDiverse beliefsl---a"e
being
e-xpounded by rnany cults, including rnany individuals who ,t"E th"
U_FO gubject forthe purpose of sell-enrichrnent at the expense of an
iIl-informed publi c. " (vide: rny earlier rernarks) Nrcap have
thoroughly investigated the clairns o{ people who have been alleged
to have had contacts with spacepeople and to have undertaken rides
in flying saucers.ir ttour investigations have
found no evidence to
support these clairns, but considerable evidence of fraud. This
does not rnean that we believe a rneeting with spacernen is irnpossible,
rneans that the public is being rnisledby sorne unsc^rupulous
-It 3ere1y
individuals rnaking these clairns, whose fatse stories are beclo,tairrg
serious evidence.tt I could not agree rnore with these sentirnents.
lies a good deal of the reason why the 1ay public associates
T"l"
flying saucers with some sort of esoteric spiritualisrn. AII this,
you rnust agree, will be a fruitful field of research for our rnythical
future historian. To quote frorn the report again, ,In any normal
situation, no one would question the sanity atrd reliability of trr"
group of witnesses narrred in this report. But the uFo problern
because it is controversial, and because rnystical or crickpot uFo
groups are publicized all out of proporti on, appears to be a- special
case. unthinking skeptics often take the easy way out by assurning
that there rnust be rsornething wrongr with people who report uFot;.
The notion that uFo reports originJte with a srnall groui of
cultists, or crackpots: or any other srnall and unifoirr, of
our society, is refuted by the reports in this docurnent. "'"g*"nt il This
report will help irnrneasurably to undo the harrn that has been done
to authentic saucer
{esearch by the lunatic fringe.
A11 who are concerned about getting down to the truth
about flying saucers should see that this pubticition is read by as
ryIany people as possible, particularly those who are in responsible
positions and those who have at their di sposal the rneans of dissern-
inating inforrnation. They should write to their parliarnentary
rePresentatives and put before thern the facts so that sornething rnay
be done in this and other countries to end the present barrie, oJ
secrecy that exists. But first you rnust read it for'yourself and I
would urge you to do that without de1ay. (tan H. Godden).
OFFICIALDOM AND THE FLYING SAUCER
By Paul Norrnan.
Why does officialdorn continue a trcover -up pol i cyt' w i th
regard to flying saucers ? To realize this, one needs onl v to
- J-
intelligence officers and are questioned on into the night when we
are tired and anxious to get horne to our farnilies. When we have
reported all details of the sightings we are warned to keep quiet and
rerninded of the fine and irnprisonrnent and told the thing which trailed
us for fifteen rninutes was a bolt of lightningl Nuts to that; who
needs this Big Brother attitude ?rl
In spite of all these cover-up atternpts, the facts are
slow1y but surely leaking out. Professor Herrnann Oberth, the
Father of rnodern rocketry and co-designer of the VZ, indicates
that the theory which best fits all descriptions of the flying saucer
is the Artificially Created Gravitational Field by rneans of electro
rnagnetis rn.
This G. Field theory would explain the rnaneuverability
of the objects, i. ., hovering in rnid-air 90 degree turns without
changing speed and sudden take-offs without acceleration.
The theory explains the silence of the objects since a
G-field would pu1l air along with the object. It explains the change
in color with a strong variable magnetic field bending the light rays
and also why the objects interfere with radio, T.V. and electrical
equiprnent when near such apparatus.
One exarnple of this effect on ignition was in Novernber,
I957, when several rnotor cars stalled as a large cigar shaped craft
passed low over a highway. As inte::est and curiosity soared, the
Air Force put out the following explanation; 'rThe object was a
rnirage. The car ignitions failed frorn darnpnesstr. An ideal
explanation if the cars had been fording a river. Just why all cars
restarted irnrnediately after the object sped away was not explained,
The reason given by Professor Menzel of Harvard University, was
that the feet of nervous drivers flooded carburettors when they
spotted the rrrniragett. It is true that carburettors are sornetirnes
flooded when an atternpt is rnade to start a rnotor but after the
engine is once running, one could purnp the accelerator constantly,
resulting in no rnore than the engine speeding or slowing down, and
the chain of coinci dences necessary to stall so rrlany cars at one
tirne is rnore fantastic than adrnitting the truth. Such an explanat-
ion leads one to ponder whether sorne of our professors have not
discarded their text books which teach that space rockets are
irnpossible because there is nothing to push against and tell all about
why the atorn cannot be split. Either the professor is trying to
assist officialdorn with a cover-up carnpaign or else belongs to
another era.
A study of. the history of inventions and fresh ideas
reveals an interesting story concerning the fathers of orthodoxy.
The technical field abounds with hurnourous exarnples even if we
ornit rnention of Louis Pasteur in the rnedical and other fields and
the Billy Mitchels of pre-aircraft days.
-5-
When the Wright brothers rnade their first flight of. LZ4
feet there were only five witnesses because the fathers of orthodoxy
were certain the flight.would be irnpossible. The newspapers
thought the report of the flight was too absurd to print, and two
weeks after the event took place the leading scientific journal of the
day printed a dozen reasons why the contraption could not f1y.
As the phonograph of Edison was being dernonstrated
before the Acaderny of Science in Paris for the first tirne, one of
the rnernbers became angry, leapt to his feet and shouted, rrThe
dernonstrating engineer is a fraud and a ventriloquist.rr
At the best orthodoxy i s only the space between steps.
With officialdorn it is not a guestion of rDo flying
saucers existr, but rather rWhither, whence and why'. And while
this article is being written, the National Aeronautics and Space
Adrninistration (N.A.S.A. )is nearing cornpletion of a space probe
to Mars to deterrnine whether the two tiny rnoons are natural or
artifical. Prior to I877 during the close approach of this planet,
world wide observations were rnade by earthrs largest telescopes
and no rrloons of Mars were seen, but in L877, the tiny filoons were
observed through the srnallest telescopes . Officialdorn knows that
if the satellites prove to be artificial, that a civllization which
could hurl space stations into orbit in 1877, would be capable of
sending space ships to earth in L947.
Another forthcorning probe will cornpare the tirne of an
atornic clock on earth against an atornic clock aboard a speeding
rocket to prove or disprove the Related Tirne Theory of Dr. Ein-
stein.
Perhaps 1964-65 will deterrnine whether the source of
flying saucers is far or near - or bothl
EDITORIS NOTE
Any reader of Paul Norrnanrs article who is interested
in studying further exarnples of the incredible lack of foresight of
tthe fathers of orthodoxyr is referred to Arthur
C. Clarkers
fascinating work rrProfiles of the Future" (Gollancz, 1962, Ausn.
price 29/9). Clarke has sorne very pertinent corr]rnrits to rnake
on these rnatters in Chapter I, rrHazards of Prophecy: The Failure
of Nerveil and Chapter II, 'rHazards of Prophecy: The Failure of
knaginationrr. On Edison for exarnple, Clarke says that in I8ZB,
when Edison was working on the incandescent larnp, The British
Parliarnent set up a cornrnittee to look into the rnatter and found
that Edisonts ideas were rrgood enough for our transatlantic friends
.but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific rnenr'.
Thus a rnere eighty years ago our fathers of orthodoxy thought the
electric light to be of no rnore significance than the ptaything of an
e r ratic genius
CIarke is particularly good on sorne of the predictions of
so-called experts about the outcorne of experirnental work in aero-
and astronautics. He quotes the erninent American astronorner,
Sirnon Newcornb, who concluded an essay with these rather less than
percipient words, rtThe dernonstration that no possible cornbination
of known substances, known forrns of rnachinery and known forrns of
force, can be united in a practical rnachine by which rnen shaII fly
long distances through the air seerns to the writer as cornplete as it
is possible for the dernonstration of any physical fact to be.rt
The widely publicised prognostications of the current
crop of fathers of orthodoxy on the subject of flying saucers are too
farniliar to readers to be worth reiterating. If there is an early
solution of the UFO enigrna there will certainly be sorne red faces
and dented reputations arnong the rofficialsr about whorn Mr. Norrnan
writes.
Further Note: Since the above was written a paperback
edition of Clarkers book has been published here by Pan Books
Lirnited at 5/-.
REMARKABLE UFO SIGHTING IN N. Z.
Many readers will recall the significant sighting rnade in
Tasrnania a few years ago by Rev. Lionel Browning. A New Zealand
wornan who read a newspaper account of it later wrote the following
Ietter to hirn giving a rnost rernarkable first-hand report ofa sight-
ing which she rnade in I959. The full account has not been published
here before and is of unusual interest. We are indebted to Rev.
Browning and his s on David, a V. F. S. R. S. Cornrnitteelrlan, f or the
following account which is reported in the words of the witness,
Mrs. F. E. Moreland of Blenheirn, N.Z.
On July I3th" L959, I saw a flying saucer, very close to
rne, and it is sornething I wi1l never forget. I have a srnall farrnlet
of nine acres and rnilk cows. At that tirne I supplied rnilk to the
town of Blenheirn, and as the lorry carne to pick up the rnilk at 6,30
a " rn. and I was the first on the run, it rneant that I had always to be
up by 5 a.m, This particular Monday rnorning, I got uP as usual and
went to rnilk. After lighting the stearn sterilizer and switching on the
lights and the radio, I took the torch and set off across the paddock to
get the cows which were bedded down beneath a row of pine trees along
the boundary fence.
The rnorning was very cold with a hard frost and a heavy
bank of cloud which was estimated later at about 2,000 feet. As I
went, I noticed a greenish glow in the cloud and at first thought it
rnust be the rrloon, until I realised it was the wrong side of the sky for
the rnoon. While I was looking, I saw two green lights like eyes
-7-
suddenly break through the cloud and redlised they were corning
towards the ground. I looked around rne and noticed that every-
thing was lit up by a peculiar greenish light so penetratingly clear
that everf twig on the row of peach trees running through the
centre of the paddock was very clearly defined, as was every blade
of grass and every dried thistle stalk. I looked down at rnyself
and realised that I was lit by this weird green glow too. Sornething
told rne, rI shouldnrt be hererand I pelted for the pine trees and
galloping anlong the cows, which were also clearly lit up, I dived
behind a tree and turned to look back . By this tirne the lights had
corne to within a few feet of the ground and I was horrified to see a
Iarge flying ship hovering only a few yards f rorn rne. It was a
large circular, ungainly aff.aft. As it drifted slowly to within a
few feet of the ground I noticed that it had two bands of jets around
it which stuck out all round it like the rays of the sun. When the
ship stopped, the flarnes disappeared. The two bands began
whirling at high speed, one one way and one the other, and this was
accornpanied by a 1ow hurnrning sound. The top was of clear
perspex. plexiglass or sorne sirnilar clear stuff and was lit up with
a clear white light. I then noticed that there were two figures
seated in the cabin. They were dressed sirnilarly in alrnost skin-
tight silvery suits like alurniniurn foil which gave off little points of
tight like alurniniurn does if it is crurnpled and held under a light.
Huge helrnets covered their heads and took in aknost frorn one
shoulder tip to the other. Suddenly the rear figure.stood up and
leaned forward onto his hands and looked at sornething in front of
hirn. There was a flickering light which was lighting up the figure
in front, but I could not see what it was. It has been suggested
that it was a radar screen. Suddenly the rear figure sat down, the
ship tilted slightly, the bands of jets stopped whirling, disappeared,
then reappeared in the fixed sunrs rays position, and then shot
straight up into the sky at a speed that had to be seen to be believed,
and with a high pitched shriek which was rnost unnerving. After a
rnornent the air around rne becarne noticeably warmer and there was
a strong srnell like burning pepper which seerned to stick in rny
throat for hours -
It was a terrible experience and one which I hope never
to endure again.
FLYING SAUCERS AND SCIENCE FICTION
Dy
Ian H. Godden.
I have never yet rnet an unirnaginative, petty-rninded
person who believed in the objective reality of flying saucers.
Most readers and writers of that provocative branch of literature
known as science fiction could not be called less than irnaginative
-B -
Why is it then that rnost scienc6 fiction readers and writers scoff at
those who believe flying saucers to be i ntelligently controlled sPace-
craft frorn another world?
To believe that we could be (and in fact are) being
visited by sentient beings from sornewhere beyond the Earth needs
an unfettered and far-sweeping rnind; a rnind that is oPen too,.to
judge evidence on its rnerits and not sweeP it under the convenient
rug of rationalisation; it needs a rnind that is not so Presumptuous
aslo believe that a vast Urdverse exists solely for us to occupy; a
rnind pr epared to accept that somewhere there wiil be civilizations
so faf inLdvance of ouls as to be, in all probability, incornprehens-
ible to one which i s still in short pants .
The philistine fears what he does not understand and wiII
rnake no atternpt to understand it for fear that it will upset the apple-
cart of his cornfortable conventionality. Thus the ranks of the
philistine are pretty 'ragged in flying saucer research where strong
i"nd open rnindi are' tequired qualifications. I refer now orrly to
those who are genuinely trying to discover the facts about flying
saucers, not tlie lunatic fringe (often wider than a rnere fringe too)
of cranks and cultists and those carnp-followers who rnake rnoney
out of exploiting thern. (The law of supply and dernand operates
here ." .1"ewh6re. If people want flying saucer evidence badly
enough theytll get it. S-orne tnicer contact stories have filled the
- genuine seeker
biII tiere. All of which bedevil the issue for the
after truth and the curious layrnan. )
It seerns to rne then that readers of science fiction need
the sarne qualities of rnind as do those who are prepared to believe
in flying They are both the antithesis of sorneone with his
"i,tcers. rhere and nowr. Why is
rnind cJrnfortably buried in the trivia of
there not more overlap between the two fields ? Are flying saucer
believers afraid to adrnit to a liking for science fiction for fear of
being accused of rnaking fact out of fiction? How can rrGal&Xlrr,
(one1t the best S.F. r::.:agazinesin U.S .) run a laudatory review of
br. Menzelts latest book on saucer debunking? Why is Patrick
Moore able to have his space travellers in fiction, but to have an
attack of desperate rexpilining awayr if he finds factual evidence of
their existence ? Vide: the Wiltshire Crater affair . May S . F .
writers be interested in saucers but reluctant to adrnit to it for fear
of runsavoury associations I losing thern readership?
There is no doubt anyway that both fields are rnuch
rnaligned by those who speak only out of ignorance of either. I
think-that an interest in either of these fields leads naturally enough
to an interest in the other.
Let us now exarnine what two leading British writers of
science fiction have to say about saucers.
Eric Frank Russell, now nearing his sixties, wrote his
- o-
first science fiction in the thirties at the instigation of Leslie J.
Johnson, one of the founders of the British rnt"erplanetary society.
Russellrs education and work were such as to give a firrn
scientific background to his writing. one of liis greatest
influences was the legendary Charles Fort whose took. ,Lorr
produced the idea for the plot of Russellrs best known story,
trSinister Barrierrtfirst published in I939. Since then Fortrs
books have provided source rnaterial for countless science fiction
stories. These four works of the eponymous Fort are required.
reading for those with an interest in saucers too. It is highly
probable that Russellts close reading of Fort introduced hirn io
unidentified flying obj ects . In I 9 52 Rus s ell published, ,Great
{orld Mysterie"" (1 copy of which is in the v.F.s.R.s. library)
which contained a chapt-er on what he calls, rGadgets in the sky;.'
Russellrs trenchent style and wide knowledge has produced one of
the best and rnost succinct accounts of the ityirrg .'"rr.". mystery
(to that da!e) that can be found anywhere, .r.i to rny acquaintance
is sorne of the best writing on saucers by an s.F. writer. Before
the rapier-like thrudt of his pen there fall, revealed for the fools
and phonies they really are, the serf-styled scientists and author-
ities, the s o-called saucer texperts I and the bogus saucer writers
who give flying saucer research such a bad narne. But Russell
believes that rna-rry saucer sightings are inexplicable in ord.inary
terrns and that they represent alien space trivellers in sorne type
of space-craft. rt is an article refrJshingry free frorn the
distressing cant of so rnuch writing on the"subject. .It pleases r'le
greatly to know that the writer is J leading science fiction praction-
er.
Arthur C. Clarke is one of the world.rs best known
writers of science fact and fiction. Now in his rniddle forties,
Clarke has had published rrrore than thirty books on factual science
topics and science fiction novels and stories. of clarkers rnany
achievernents in the field of science the rnost notable was the
winning of the 19-62 Kalinga prize, awarded by uNESCo for the
popularization of science. This plac ed clarke in the cornpany of
Julian Huxley and Bertrand Russuu, *ho are arnong previous
winners.
crarke was a radar expert with the R.A.F. between
l94l and 1946; he has twice been ihairrrran of the British
rnter_
planeta.rysociety which he first joined in L934, a short tirne after
its
.beginning; he is a Fellow of ihe Royal Astronornical society;
he is known throughout Arnerica and England as lecturer
and
broadcaster on scientific rnatters; he iJ an authority on under-
water photography and exproration; he is one of the iest s.F.
writers with the ernphasis on the science; his rrrhe
Exploration
of Space" (I951)is one of the rnost widely read of the *.try-poput""
books on space travel, and was the first book of this
natu"e to'
enjoy a Book-of-The-Month-club award in u.s.A. you rnust
agree then that clarke has the qualifications to rnake
worthwhile
-I0-
cornrnent about flying saucers. What he does, in fact, have to say
is rnost interesting but not very syrnpathetic to the saucer cause.
He believes that there are indeed Unidentified Flying
Objects, but that they can all be explained as various natural
phenornena viewed under unusual conditions resulting in the viewers
rnistaking thern for rflying saucersr .
Clarke adrnits to seeing several rflying saucersr hirnself,
all of which he has been able to explain to his own satisfaction. He
was in Australia about ten years ago to do underwater research along
the Great Barrier Reef . Frorn an office window in Brisbane he rnade
a sighting of a rline of brilliant silver discsrwhich appeared rnetallic
and oscillated twi th a regular seesaw motionr. Flying Saucers ?
No, rnerely seagulls reflecting the setting sun with their under-
surfaces
He rnade another sighting in Sydney when standing at the
north end of the Harbbur Bridge looking towards the city. He
observed a single, dark cloud floating rnotionless in a strong breeze.
After studying it through binoculars he carne to the conclusion that
it was produced by sorne gas escaping frorn a factory chirnney and
then condensing a hundred feet or so downwind in the sarne trranner
that stearn condenses near the spout of a kettle.
Of Clarkers several sightings one other is worthy of
rnention. In October, I958, he was in a rplane approaching Naples
when he, and other passengers, noticed a brilliant oval of light, of
solid appearance, keeping pace with the tplane a few thousand feet
below it. He observed it untilit disintegrated. Verdict: a rnock
sun or rsundogr forrned by an invisible layer of ice crystals each
reflecting the sunrs rays.
Clarke agrees that such objects sighted under unusual
conditions produce rnany saucer reports. He agrees too that there
is left a hard core of sightings which are apparently inexplicable.
He takes care of these by placing thern all within the province of the
new science of rnagnetohydrodynarnics which deals with the rrrove-
rnent of electrified gases in rnagnetic fields. An aurora is caused
by electrified particles frorn the Sun which produce, in the Earthrs
atrnosphere, a type of fluorescence. Clarke believes that rrlany
rsaucersrare really the strange shapes of the aurora caused by the
Earthts rnagnetic field which has a focusing effect on particles,
directing thern toward the poles .
Clarke is a rnan of profound intelligence and wide
irnagination. What would his rlaction be if hJsaw sornething in the
sky which he could not explain? I wonder how he would get around
a sighting such as Father Gillrs ?
I have already rnentioned how Fortrs four books have
-lt-
provided the inspiration for nurnerous science fiction stories. It
is interesting to find that a well known saucer book has been the
raison d'etre for an intriguing science. fiction story. The young
English writer J. G. Ballard is one of the rnost brilliant talents
working in the field at the rnornent. His short story, ilThe
Encounterrr was published in-the Arnerican rnagazine ,Arnazing
Storiesrr in June, 1963. This story is obviously based on Adarnski
and his experience of rneeting a venusian as described in, r'Flying
saucers Have r,andedrr. In Ballardrs story Adarnski has becorne
rKandinskirand Mt. Palornar is nowrMt. vernont, but the details
tal1y closely with Adarnski. The story centres around one
Dr. Andrew ward frorn the observatory, and his growing acquaint-
ance with and belief in Kandinski and his story of rneeting with a
venusian who left behind a series of rcryptograrrrsrto be solved..
(Readers will recall the hieroglyphics oiitrJrear Adarnski tale).
Ward reads Kandinskits book (which rnade only 150 dollars because
the reviews were unfavourable. I'People who read science fiction
apparently di.slike flying saucers and everyone else disrnissed hirn
as a lunatic") and attends one of his lectures where he rnakes
Kandinski look a fool because he tells hirn publicly that a sixth
rnoon of uranus has recently been discovered. This happens just
after Kandinski has told his audience that the Venusian he had rnet
had told hirn uranus had five rnoons. The crirnax cornes when
ward is about to addreqs the Twenty third congress of the rnter-
national Geophysical Association at the Observatory. He gets a
phone call frorn a highly excited Kandinski telling hirn to join hirn
as another space-ship has landed. ward goes and sees what
Kandinski sees, and of course, loses his job. Ballard leaves us
to decide for ourselves whether there was really a space-craft
there or whether Kandinski needed sorneone to share a private
vision with. Ballard is apparently as curious as we aie about the
reality of Adarnskirs purported experience.
Space precludes rne frorn continuing further this account
of how science fiction writers view the saucer field. I rnust
conclude by saying that I believe that reading science fiction will
probably be a rewarding experience for the type of person who is
interested in the enigrna of the flying saucers. I would welcorne
the views of any readers of this article on this rnatter.
B OOK RE V I E WS .
'rThe Sky Peoplet', by Brinsley Le poer Trench Neville Spearrnan,
London, 1960.
To quote frorn the inside flap of this book by a well
known writer on saucers and allied subjects and a forrner editor of
ilF]ying saucer Reviewtr,
"This is the fascinating story of the sky
Peop1e who have been visiting our planet for rnilllons of years.
- tz-
You will learn frorn this startling, but scholarly book that Apollo,
Herrnes, Prornetheus and other Greek Gods, together with Egyptian
deity, Osiris and the Biblical Angels, were all visitors frorn Outer
Space.rr
They carne down to Earth and rningled with rnortals,
bringing much-needed light and wisdorn at critical periods in our
history. Subsequently, lfter their withdrawal they were worshipped
as Gods, which they did not desire. \
\
The whole of history seems to Pass $efore the readerrs
eyes through the pages of this absorbing book, \rnmense research
has gone into its preparation and the author has reached s orrle
r ernarkable c onclus ions .
His researches indicate:-
(") That the Garden of Eden was on another planet.
(b) The Sun is a cocil body and all the planets have an equable
clirnate.
(") The real identity of the two angels who visited Lot in Sodorn,
and went into his house and did talk, wash and eat.
(d) That the Earth is going through another critical period in its
chequered history. That we are approaching rnost rnornentous
tirnJs and that our extra-terrestrial visitors are corning back
here once rnore in their sPace craft
Indeed, during the last twelve years hundreds of thousands
of people all over the world have sighted these ships of light. They
have been photographed, filmed and tracked on radar innumerable
tirnes .
In the authorrs own words: trYes, the occupants of these
craft have always been with you. They are with you now' although
you pass by in the street without noticing thern--your friends, The
Sky People.tl
I found this a thoroughly enjoyable book with sorne
astounding views on the two types of Adarnic rnan and the Serpent
People, and the farnily of Jehovas. Not a book for people with
orthodox views, but definitely providing rnuch food for thought.
There is enough rnaterial here for half a dozen rnore books , Well
worth reading. (T . S. H. MILWARD. )
trThe Flying Saucertrby Bernard Newrnan, Gollancz, London, 1948.
This review is unusual in two respects:- (a) it refers to
a work of fiction (U) ttre book concerned was published l5 years ago,
It is included here because, as its title indicates, it is about saucers
and I arn writing about it now because it only recently carne to rny
notice.
-r3-
The author, Bernard Newrnan, is a veteran writer with
a prolific output of rnystery stories, thrillers, travel books and
books on current affairs and political cornrnentary to rnention only
sorne of his varied spheres of activity.
This sornewhat irnprobable story concerns a hoax of
gigantic proportions which is perpetrated on the worldrs people in
the rnost laudable cause of world unity. The plot is uasea on a
rernark attributed to Mr. (as he was then) Anthony Eden, when
Prirne Minister of England, to the effect that the nations of the
world would only be united when faced with a cornrnon enerny; thus
what was needed was an invasion frorn Mars;---_the hero of irre story,
Drurnrnond, a brilliant and wearthy English scieitisq forrnulates a
grand-iose plan to stage an attack by Mirtians to frigirtenlhe world
out of its cold war and into a warrn unanirnity.
This he does by building rockets of ad.vanced design and
firing thern frorn.a ship at sea to land on strategic parts of
th!
Earthrs surface (without injuring anyone). They cbntain rrlessages
which are alleged to be frorn the inhabitants of Mars who dernand.
that Earth hand over all_its gold reserves. When this is not d.one,
a rprotonictbornb is explod"i *itfr spectacular results in a forested
region of southern Russia. By this tirne the united Nations deleg_
ates have forgotten about their petty parochial differences, and have
been instrurnental in forrning a World Governrnent.
where do flying saucers fit into all this ? Mr. Newrnan
rnust have worked out the plot for this'book not long after the
world_
wide spate of saucer sightings following Kenneth Ainoldrs initial
sighting in rnid-r947, which led the A rnerican press to label these
phenornena Flying Saucers. Clearly Mr. Newrnan d.oes not for a
rnornent believe these reports; to hirn they are red corpuscles
passing-in front of the eyes and rrlass hallucination, but he has
crrnningly used these flying saucer reports in his work of fiction.
(Hoping, no doubt, to cash in on the interest there was at the tirne
in
these reports). His line of reasoning is that because of publicity the
people of the world are expecting visitors frorn other
world.s which
rnakes the Martian invasion plot easy to foist on the world.
The book ends with the world und.er the progiessive rule
of-a League of Scientists and flying saucers still being feported
frorn
all. over the g1obe. I wonder whaiMr. Newrnan thinks of the uFo
enigrna after a further I 5 years of continued sightings,
I arn inclined to think that the hoax which forrns the basis
storlis no rnore elaborate than The Great Flying saucer Hoax
?:rli.
(to borrow Coral Lorenzonrs phrase); this is the hoax ri6icr,
Govern-
rne.nts have perpetrated on the worldrs people by telting ttrern
itrat
flying saucers do not exist whenthey know'full well thJt
they do. No
doubt the rnany Governrnents believe, like the hero of
Newrnanrs
story.,
.that they are-acting for the cornrnon good;'(rAN
whether they are
or not is a rnatter of opinibn.
_r4_ H.-COObnNl
A FIERCE NEW LOOK AT U
By PauI Norrnan.
The r ecent sightings of unidentifie{pulsating objects
rrranoeuvring in the skies of Victoria have given'b{fitional evidence
that UFO's, cornrrtonly called saucersrr are glavity powered
"flying
space ships and Australian Parkes Radio Telescope is now playing
a key role in a new discovery which rnay lead to the secret of inter-
planetary propulsion for space ships.
understanding the nature of gravity and its role in the
Universe lTlay be near at hand due to evidence now corning frorn far
out into space l50O rnillion tight years away and frorn the rnysterious
fl ying being sighted in our' atrnosphere all over the world'
""t."""s
Gravity is the rnost farniliar and yet the rnost rnysterious
force known to rnankind. We do not know what it is, we do know
that whatever it i s, gravity is a very potent force indeed.
For rnany years uFo researchers have been reporting
that the flying saucers are gravity powered, nuclear powered,-
electric powered and Iight powered sPace ships capable of shifting
frorn any of these forcel to the other at will The researchers have
lo.rg expiained that the unknown observ ers have solved the problern
of g:ravity and have sorne unknown rrleans of controlling gravity.
gultne pulsations rrrany tirnes observed when the strange rnachines
.rra.oe,rvred through the air rernained one of the rnost rnysterious
rnanifestations until only a few days ago.
A surprising new clue carne to flying saucer research
frorn an unexpected source - none other than farnous English
Astronorner Fred Hoyle and rnathernatician Dr. Vishnu Norikor,
neither of whorn rnay realise the fuII irnplications and significance
of their dis clo sure .
For the past few rnonths astronorners have been stunned
with the startling new discovery of the QUASARS or QUASI-STARS.
Radio astronorner s working with the new Parkes Radio Telescope
pinpointed the position of one of these super stars caIIed 3C-773.
i ts position was sent to Palornar's 200 inch telescope in California
where a photograph was rnade,
At a recent rneeting of the Royal Society of Astronorrlers,
rrThese newly found
Hoyle rnade an unexpected disclosure ---
stars, " he said, "rnust be gravity powered, and if gravity powered,
it becornes irnportant to understand gravity properly" . Hoyle
pointed out what UFO researchers have been trying for years to get
Lefore the general public, including the scientific world, and that is
used by the late Dr. Einstein to describe
"the rnathernatical forrnula
-I5-
gravity could just as well describe anti-gravity by a sirnple change
of a rninus sign to a plus sign.rl
Toward the end of his announcernent, professor Hoyle
suggested I'that X-Ray telescopes be launched into orbit for better
observations, " followed by a staternent which should send everv
open rninded scientist to the files of UFO research groups every-
where to review the thousands of observed cases of pulsating
flying objects frorn all over the worl d.
Listen to Hoyle carefully : r'If these stars are gravity
powered they will be found to be pulsating . . . and should bJ
throbbing about once each second. r' WhiIe this staternent was made
with reference to stars, it revealed a-characteristic that gravitv
power would have. when the perforrnance of UFors opet-"t:.ng in
our skies was first reported, orthodoxy loudly and widl.ly pro-laim-
ed the usual irnpossibilities, i. e. "such fantastic speeds would
rnelt the rnetal by friction" ... rrNo being could withstand
the
sudden stops in rnid-air nor the instantanLous accelerationr.
rrEarthly intelligence has not
devised anti-gravity control, there-
fore hovering in rnid-air is irnpossible. " ,such perforrnance is
unknown to science therefore it doesntt exist. r etc. etc. etc.
Most all of our inventions have been the result of
natural observation. such as: Man first thought of flying when
observing the birds. The arch in a bridge adds grearer srrength
Iik.e,the arch in the foot. spectroscopes duplicate the sirnple
ralnD ow.
The Briquette works at Morwell and Yallourn duplicate
nature to rnake black coal frorn brown by cornpression, because
Nature failed to provide sufficient overburden for sufficient
pressure when the earth was in upheaval in this area. And along-
side the open cuts, the great power stations of the Latrobe valley
are generating and transrnitting energy which was first observed in
Nature. Then there is sonar used by subrnarines to d.etect under-
water objects; the cornrnon bat used it alt aIong. volurnes could.
be w ritten on the role Nature has played in idejs for inventions of
rnankind.
The gravitational fierd of the flying saucers is also
duplication of Nature. while we do not know ihe principle involved
in this duplication as yet, we do know sorrre of the reactions and
effects once this duplication is achieved.
The changing colour is explained as the rnachines per-
forrn superior aerial feats, by a sirnple law of vision. The
Ionge-st light rays appear to our effi red. Any longer wave
Iengths pass beyond our sight into the infra red band oithe
spectrurn. The shortest light rays appear to our eyes as the colour
of violet. A.ty shorter wave lengths pass beyond our vision into the
1.6-
ultra violet band of the spectrurn'
out by
on light has been pointed
The influence of gravity tnu C-field of
obse-r-ve the ' Therefore'
astronorners as they -i"'variable "itt" enough to affect the frequency
r.ri
the flying "Jt"ttg control and colour
"",,."",
of the light *tt""-*f ich explai"" Uottt lravity
change of the object'
TheG-fieldexplanationaccountsforthereaSonthecraft which have been
withstand the f"i.tio' it tf'r"-i"t"ttastic speeds As we
can
by radar, as well.." ]/i",rli ,igtr,ittg sirnultaneously'
cl ocked
or pr'y"ic-"' *tt"ti"" Ju3tttt rnoves rapidly
know uy a sirnpie'r"* causes a\ositive charge to be
th" f"i.tion
through.rrol""oii";;;*, ele.ctr[!tY' we know that
the rrrfi ty
forrned on
""J " "i*pi"-i-* "f Thus by\nducing a
Iike pole" ffirfract. rnoving rapidly
""p.i*r.J".fii.
ut""tri.li *itrrin the rnachine when to
positive
tlt"
";;;;"
ttttto"pftt"tl-tn" rnolecules are repelled tending
through hull reducing
of .r".11r-,.ttaround the rnoving
produce a narrow tand
the f riction '
any
we know that if there were
By a sirnple Iaw.of sound''"orr.ra through
objectl irr" would not pass
noise associatea w6ttre noise is sornetirnes heard
the vacuurn' Although t to*.tt"tttt"ing
ttto"ing slowly or hovering'
when UFo'"
"";-i;;l"a cloud-
explains the sornetirnes
The gravitational field also Iow when pacing a
*n'e^ri n";.rg
like appearanc" E"pucially "ro*ry.and
in the vicinity of wonthaggi
rnotor car as was experienc-"d-;;;;ars ttitt vapour, srnoke and
Th;Z- iila would r"ii;;';;ld
recently.
dust to its surface '
radio
accounts for the reason
The G-field explanation
Dudley
around wonthaggi and South
andtelevisioninterferenceissornetirnesexperiencedwhenUFo's
are in the area, such as-o".r."r"J "-Within
a rnile-widJarea below the
196S'
on the Igth Sepiernber ' varied considerably'
There
object, ,-"Ift;;;;;" t; the T'V' "etsstreaky'with lines' or with Iines
screens'
were white screens , ETeY usually the first
in one. naalo and television are
and two pictures
devices to be affected'
the rnanifestations have
Objects dernonstr?ti".q all -"!:"u within the
rniTe radius of Melbourne
occurred withiir-" orr" hundred
pasttenrnonths.Thernost"u."",,tsightingoccurredaslateasthe The sight-
irr" E:".,e Press.
tzth June , tg64, and was ""p;;;;-i"
ings,inthe.,i.Li,v"fWonthaggi,
[email protected] Exqr-e:g-s,*durinffiTerno"-1..Tjt-
covered in detail by the wonthqeei
October,l96;:.-Si',,ita@xperienceSareoccurr1ng1n
all Parts of the world'
YetinspiteofthisdrarnaticSuccessionofrnanifestatrons,
thescientificworldasawholerernainsindeepdogrnaticslurnber.
-t7-
orthodox scientists have scoffed at
the G-fietd explanat-
ion, but since its a.doption by Dr. Herrnann
Oberth, the father of
rnodern rocketry, invintor of the, vz and irr" pror"ssor
rocketry to Werner Von Bratrn, the who taught
sneer" u.i. UJgf;;irg^r;;;"
frorn their do grnatic face s
Even Einsteinrs theory required an atornic
a srnall crack into the crosed rnind of split to gain
irthodoxy. At tirnes this
appears to be widening, reructantry,
fr,,i'*ia..ri.rg ,re-.e"th.-
;JiJ:
orthodox science has corne to rearize
two decades, only in the past
b*lions of pranets exist in our galaxy
only a few scientists
'n1l arone, but
wilr yet accept the sirnple,Iaw of mathernatical
odds, that life would find us first.
N."=a;ff"gryet accept a sirnple
law of tife, that intelrigent rife doe" ,'"i";;";;,llri"i.la.,ii"g'r#
thurnbs unless retardea by aogr.,atisrn
and there is nothing else Ieft
to do. Orthodoxy at its best Is only the space ,o"r**".r.
frequency of those steps is restricted steps. The
by the resistance between.
Responsibility rests on the shourders of at serious
research groupJ and open-rninded
scientists, astronomers and.
other professional peoilu, especially
thos" *rro have observed the
strange obj ects, to cIos. tu.rrli" and
iend their tarents to rneaningful
scientific i'nvestiga'tion and help sol
v e the twentieth centurvrs sreat-
est rnystery - uFo's - the ----l*^ ) - 6-
of the
"i.aat" "k;;,
HALLAM SIGHTING
At 5. 55 p.rn. on lZth Ju1e, 1964
unidentified saucer shaped object a sighting of an
look place at Hallarn, Z5 rniles
east of Melbourne.
while travelring arong Dandenong
in two cars saw a stationar-y redirghJ"b;;;'?,i Road, five witnesses
horizon. degrees above the
on turning off onio HalIJrn Road,
visible and the occupants of first the lighi was st*i
'i t car decided to stop in order to
ascertain what was .
At fi r.st they thought the light was
but a couple of rninutes aftet ?nuy supported by a tower,
naltJd, the Iight accererated
and rnoved off in an easierly direction
il:pllvstase
thrs in front of thern. At
*"?,J}"t disc.erni ble and one witness
describ6d "" "rI111:
the object as "iike a coin o'ri" interviewed
stated that the object was slightry whilst another
"iie-,i,
dorned o.r-Jiu
neath' ,op, but flat under_
The brill iant red r.igfrt was at ,front,r
the of the object and
light was notiJed on the ,,rs41,,.
lestrrnated
Jll-" I"ll:* The objecr was
by one witness as being,about
the sarne size as a viscount
airliner" and t" disappeared- toward" tvt"iuorrrne
rrgreater 1"y." at a speed
than a Jetil.
_lg_
At no tirne was any noise heard, or any electro-rnagnetic
or physiological effects noted.
In evaluating the above sighting several points can be
rnentioned to support its validity.
(") The parents of both Mr. Preston and Miss Stevenson,
although thernselves very sceptical regarding UFO's, stated that they
believed their children's reports to be factual in every regard.
(b) The reports of both witnesses differed in sorne rninor
details, sufficient, in rny opinion, to suggest authenticity.
(.) The driver of the seco\d car, who saw the red light
but did not stop to investigate, was unw\i.tg to be interviewed by rne,
and I subsequently discovered that he had\uffered considerable
ernbarrassrnent at work and in the local fodtbail club following the
newspaper story covering the sighting. \.
(d) Lastly, having personally interviewed both principal
witnesses, there is no doubt whatsoever in rny rnind that the reported
observations of a UFO did take place as recorded
Having thoroughly checked the sighting area there appears
to be only one reason who a UFo should be interested in this partic-
ular plac e .
Less than one rnile frorn the point where the UFO was
seen to be hovering, the rnain transrnission lines frorn the Morwell-
Yallourn-Hazelwood power generating cornplex pass. These lines
supply rnost of the power used in Melbourne and other areas.
I have been inforrned that if the supply carried by these
Iines was interrupted, Melbourne would be dependent on a relatively
srnall arnount of power frorn the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric
systern, Newport generating station, and a few other srnaller
schernes. The result would be to deprive Melbourne of rnost of its
electric supply. This hypothesis is in line with theories advanced
by coral Lorenzen, Director of A.P. R.o., who cites cases of an
apparent systernatic reconnaissance by the UFO of terrestrial power
and water supplies since 1959. She also cites rrlany cases prior to
that date which suggest a thorough rnilitary reconnaissance in her
bookrrrhe Great Flying saucer Hoax'r, which is available frorn our
library.
Geoffrey S. Rurnpf .
Siqhtings Inve stiqation Of ficer
_19-
ri , l rrt i, { ,
" -'
:r'l-. :' l,r i:
'-rr'n,.'
'i t
.'
t
-"
:
,r
::, .r
t The Balrarqt Aqtronomical society has had
of co-operation;.fr.om th'e re'sear.ch groups in the prornise
tlelbourne, Sydney,
Adelaide and Brisba-ne-to-participa{ *tirr"
ui-b gathering next year.
rt has been decided to hold-irre,rreeti.nsjn
the,Iast saturday in
Feb.ruary to coincide with the Begoni"'r"rii.rli,
so ciety is organiging a we e k rs , d iip la y _ ; ih ; ; ; h e n t s "rra the Astronomical
The Saturday will bJ,u:y:r"g to. thl. u^fg. a n d .p ro je c t s .
;- ;i;,-;."ference being
oPened by the mayoriat the Ballarat Observatciry
when the interesting as.se.mbry_of in the afternoon
exp ected will meet i,ocially . ' t .scientirf",, and skeptics
t h e . e v e n i; ; "r.t.gists
t h ; r" wirl b e s lid e l,
p a p ers, and discussion in t h e c it y lib ra ry .
jl-------.-
As there was some critical response
to our rather drab
first cover,' we'have decided on,a more
eyecatching design. For
designing;this we are grateful to our
member, Mr. M. p. GeIIert.
we hope the new cover meers witir yo"i.;;-"-";il''tr'""f
kn ow' ' l;
r, ., , , , . . 1.,r
...1 ,:.
""
,
PERSONAL NEWS.
Our popular committee-worrran, Miss
was married Dorothy GilIman,
to Vrr. Crafr"*ifi"rrrer,. on friaay, 24th Septernber
last.
We wish the-young couple every happiness
in their future Iife together. and succees