1955 11 00 Catholic Digest - Vol 20 No 1

Magazine Overview

Title: Catholic Digest
Issue Date: November 1955
Price: 35¢

The Flying Saucers I've Seen by H. A. Shanklin

This article, condensed from *Flying* magazine, presents the personal experiences of airline pilot H. A. Shanklin who recounts his encounters with what he initially believed to be flying saucers. Shanklin's primary thesis is that many such sightings are, in fact, misinterpretations of common phenomena.

First Encounter: Reflections of Farm Ponds

Shanklin describes a sunny afternoon flight along the Wichita-Kansas City airway, heading towards Topeka. While flying, he observed a silver disk speed across the nose of his DC-3 airliner, moving from the lower right to the upper left of the windshield. His initial reaction was one of shock and excitement, believing he had finally seen a flying saucer. He observed two more disks following the same course, noting they appeared to be traveling at similar speeds and seemed to pause before shooting off with a burst of speed. He estimated their size to be comparable to a four-engine airliner and their shape to be flattened saucers with polished metal surfaces. He also noted one had a 'wing man,' suggesting a military formation.

However, upon leaning over to speak with his co-pilot, the disk disappeared. When he straightened up, it reappeared. Through this observation, Shanklin began to realize the origin of the 'saucers.' He discovered they were caused by the sun reflecting off farm ponds and tanks scattered across the landscape below. The movement across the windshield was due to the plane's speed. The apparent pause and burst of speed were also illusions created by his own head movements as he unconsciously followed the reflections.

Shanklin reflects that if he had not been able to observe this phenomenon closely, he would have remained convinced he had seen actual flying saucers. He notes that his co-pilot later confirmed his own pale face and glassy-eyed look during the sighting, indicating his genuine conviction.

Second Encounter: Brush Fire Illusion

Shanklin recounts another incident where a co-pilot of his was deceived by a reflection. This occurred on a dark night flight out of Lubbock, Texas, towards Dallas. Flying above a layer of scattered clouds, they encountered a grass and brush fire below, with two lines of fire indicating ranchers backfiring to control a larger blaze. Shortly after passing the fire, the co-pilot suddenly exclaimed, "Look out! Break left!" and "It passed right under us." He described it as a "round saucer with flames shooting out of its sides."

Shanklin explains that the co-pilot's windshield had not been reflecting anything due to the dark landscape and scattered clouds. When the brush fire came into view, it created the illusion of a fiery object. Shanklin humorously remarked, "I'm glad it was round," implying a square saucer would have been more alarming.

General Observations on Visual Illusions in Flight

Shanklin emphasizes the unreliability of human eyes when viewing objects against the vast backdrop of the sky. He explains that light rays reflected from various atmospheric elements—wisps of clouds, dust layers, and layers of warm air with high moisture content—can create illusions that the eyes record honestly, but the imagination then gives substance to.

He provides further examples from his ten years of flying routes near the Sangre de Cristo mountains in northern New Mexico. He describes seeing "silvery disks fluttering southward" which he later identified as reflections from clouds. He also recounts a "red disk traveling eastward" that turned out to be a translucent balloon catching the rays of the setting sun. Shanklin admits to sometimes 'installing' accessories like jet exhausts or identification marks onto these visual phenomena, especially when tired or when his side window is dusty.

Conclusion

Shanklin concludes by stating that while he has flown over 13,000 hours and has never personally seen a confirmed flying saucer, he acknowledges that many things in the sky can *look* like flying saucers but are not. He does not deny the possibility of extraterrestrial craft but stresses the prevalence of misidentification based on visual illusions and reflections.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring theme in this article is the exploration of misidentification and optical illusions as explanations for UFO sightings, particularly within the context of aviation. The author, a seasoned pilot, uses his personal experiences to demystify the phenomenon of flying saucers, attributing them to natural reflections, atmospheric conditions, and the human tendency to interpret ambiguous visual stimuli. The editorial stance of Catholic Digest, by publishing this article, appears to be one that encourages rational explanations and critical thinking regarding phenomena often sensationalized in popular culture. The article aims to ground extraordinary claims in observable, mundane realities, aligning with a perspective that values scientific and logical reasoning.