OMNI

Magazine Overview

Title: OMNI
Issue Date: January 1987
Price: $3.00
Cover Headline: 14 GREAT MINDS PREDICT THE FUTURE

This issue of OMNI magazine, dated January 1987, features a prominent cover story promising predictions from "14 Great Minds" about the future. The visual theme of the cover suggests a journey into the unknown or a new perspective, with a distorted, tunnel-like checkered pattern, a crystal ball, and a key.

UFO Update: The 'Great East Coast UFO'

The issue includes an article by James Oberg titled "UFO UPDATE" which addresses the widely witnessed "Great East Coast UFO" sighting that occurred on Tuesday, August 12, 1986. Millions of people across North America, from Georgia to Michigan and Quebec, observed a brilliant, cloudlike object in the eastern sky around 10 PM Eastern Daylight Time, coinciding with the Perseid meteor shower. Descriptions varied, but a common one was an "orangish nebulosity surrounded by an irregularly shaped white cloud" that appeared to spiral and glow like a "spiral pinwheel standing on end," seeming six times larger than the full moon.

However, Oberg provides a prosaic explanation for this event, identifying it as an "Identified Flying Object" (IFO). He explains that the object was a cloud of propellant dumped from the second stage of a Japanese amateur-radio satellite launch. Observers, including those at the David Dunlap Observatory and amateur astronomers, were able to identify the satellite and the released material. Oberg notes that while this specific event was new to North America, similar phenomena involving rocket exhaust clouds have been observed over Australia (from American rockets) and South America (from Soviet rockets).

Oberg points out that the descriptions gathered by UFO enthusiasts from this event were sometimes "drastically different" from astronomical observations, and that the data collected by these groups "put a bizarre spin on already unusual perceptions, exaggerating the strangeness of the phenomenon and reducing the plausibility of other UFO eyewitness accounts." He concludes that "if we look hard enough, we'll usually find a logical explanation for even the most spectacular UFO."

Other Content

While the scanned pages do not reveal the full contents of the magazine, the cover clearly indicates a significant feature on "14 Great Minds" offering their predictions for the future. The magazine's overall focus, as suggested by its title and cover, is likely on science, technology, the future, and the unexplained.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The magazine's editorial stance, as exemplified by the "UFO Update" article, appears to favor rational explanations and scientific inquiry when investigating phenomena. While acknowledging public interest in UFOs and the unexplained, the publication seems committed to providing evidence-based analyses and debunking sensationalized accounts. The inclusion of "14 Great Minds" predicting the future suggests an interest in forward-thinking and speculative content grounded in expertise.