Orbiter - No 15 - 1989

Magazine Overview

Title: ORBITER
Issue: #15
Date: January 1989
Publisher: The New England Aerial Phenomena Report

This issue of Orbiter magazine, dated January 1989, focuses on government surveillance of UFO phenomena, scientific explanations for sightings, and updates on notable cases.

In This Issue

• The "In This Issue" section highlights several key articles:
• Page 2: A commentary on government surveillance methods and the ineffectiveness of helicopters for such purposes.
• Page 5: A reproduction of a Sputnik article from June 1981 titled "What is the Nature of UFOs?"
• Page 7: An update on the Gulf Breeze "Demon Photos" by Dr. Willy Smith of the UNICAT Project.
• Page 8: A Glastonbury, CT UFO police report and news clippings from the New York Herald Tribune dating back to 1947.

Radio/TV Log

• The issue notes two relevant broadcasts:
• January 25, 1989: Channel 25 aired a segment on "Current Affairs" concerning UFO religions.
• January 30, 1989: Paul Harvey Jr. on WBZ radio commented on the Gulf Breeze case.

Project Visual

Founded in 1974 by James Gregory, Project Visual serves as a clearinghouse for investigating and publishing UFO sightings and encounters. The acronym "VISUAL" stands for Volunteer Investigators that Study Unidentified Airborne Lights. The organization is actively seeking volunteers to assist with casework and research data, with sighting reports and other information to be published in their magazine. For more information, Project Visual can be contacted at 50 Euclid Ave., Ludlow, KY 41016, USA.

Something to Keep in Mind

This section presents survey data suggesting a significant portion of Americans are scientifically illiterate. Polls conducted by the Public Opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois University for the National Science Foundation reveal that many adults lack basic scientific knowledge, such as the Earth orbiting the sun. Another poll indicated that one in five Americans believes sound travels faster than light, and only 36 percent correctly identified that lasers work by focusing light, not sound waves.

A quote from Arthur C. Clark is included: "If they come from other planets, it is certain they are not spaceships...they will be something much more sophisticated."

Surveillance or Harassment

This extensive article, a commentary by Jim Melesciuc, details the history of government surveillance on UFO organizations. It begins with the 1952 UFO flap and the recommendations of the Robertson panel in 1953, which suggested monitoring major private UFO organizations like APRO and CSI due to their potential influence on public thought. The article recounts how APRO founders Jim and Coral Lorenzen were subjected to scrutiny by individuals posing as painting contractors. It also notes the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) significant, and ultimately dissolving, influence on NICAP.

The piece highlights later instances of perceived government surveillance, including an interaction between a National Security Agency (NSA) agent and Ufologists Dr. Hynek and Phil Imbrogno investigating the Hudson Valley sightings. Another case involves UFO investigator Ray Fowler discovering his telephone line had been tapped, explaining strange phone anomalies he experienced.

A CIA memo released through the FOIA in 1976 is cited, proposing how agency officers and personnel monitor UFO phenomena and maintain contact with reporting channels. The author suggests this indicates a government interest in gathering intelligence, likely through infiltration of UFO organizations and electronic surveillance.

The article then details methods of intelligence collection, including "penetration" by agents who can elicit information from trusting individuals, or by recruiting existing members. It warns Ufologists to be aware that agents can easily record discussions and photograph materials using discreet devices like pocket recorders and wristwatch cameras.

Modern office and meeting rooms are described as potential targets for intelligence gathering. The article lists various miniature surveillance devices, including telephone monitoring devices, radio transmitters disguised as everyday objects (lighters, pens), and carrier current devices that transmit speech through electrical mains. A "laser eavesdropping technique" is also mentioned, which uses a window as a modulator to capture speech.

For visual surveillance, the article notes the use of video cameras integrated into objects like intercoms and wall clocks, and the development of "Abscam" pinhole lenses and flexible fiber optic lenses for discreet observation. Infrared sensing technology, used in spy satellites, is also discussed for detecting body heat through walls.

A personal anecdote is shared about a conversation with a friend in the U.S. Justice Department, who confirmed the use of surveillance techniques, including a fisheye lens camera built into a briefcase for photographing individuals at an international airport.

The article then addresses the use of helicopters in gathering intelligence and for surveillance, prompted by numerous accounts of mysterious helicopters allegedly harassing UFO witnesses. The author quotes an unnamed source stating that helicopters are "absurd" for collecting intelligence due to their conspicuous nature, but acknowledges their utility for visual surveillance, allowing one to "sort of see over the hilltop."

However, the article questions drawing conclusions of harassment solely based on helicopter sightings. It raises points about whether the claimant is familiar with air routes, the possibility of civilian or private industries using black helicopters, and whether overflights could be coincidental. It also asks why other individuals or organizations haven't reported similar harassment. The possibility of helicopters being used for engineering purposes, such as checking roof leaks using infrared scanning, is also presented, citing Briggs Associates Inc. as a company that performs such work.

Isolated instances of helicopters being associated with UFO activity are mentioned, such as the 1975 overflights on SAC bases and the 1980 Cash/Landrum case. The article concludes that claims of overt government or military operations in civilian neighborhoods "simply does not add up."

References: The article cites nine sources, including books by Dr. David Jacobs, Raymond Fowler, Greenwood/Fawcett, Imbrogno/Hynek, Jenny Randles, Allen Dulles, Colonel William Kennedy, Graham Youst, and the MI MUFON Newsletter.

Illustrations are included showing a laser eavesdropping technique, an ultra-miniature microphone, a wristwatch camera, and a diagram of a "modern office" with surveillance devices.

What is the Nature of UFOs?

This section presents a "simplistic article on the origin of UFOs as seen through the eyes of scientists," noting that it leaves many questions unanswered. It describes UFOs as appearing by day and night, resembling luminous balls, discs, cucumbers, cigars, sickles, and triangles, and hovering at various altitudes.

Sputnik: The article references reports from the Soviet press, including descriptions of objects resembling Sputnik but exhibiting unusual behavior. One report describes a luminous object descending and a cloud growing around it. Another details an object traveling rapidly with a white plume, leaving a bent trail. A third account describes a luminous object appearing on the horizon, leaving a zigzagging trail, stopping abruptly, and then turning eastwards, with the trail remaining visible all night.

These reports sparked debate about whether they could be emissaries from alien civilizations.

What Scientists Can Say: The initial scientific explanation for these phenomena was anomalous atmospheric phenomena. J. Bode, a German astronomer, suggested that "wandering lights, torches, blazing pillars and other luminous meteors" are similar to falling rocks but vary in size, possibly forming from dense evaporations of air. V. Meyer, a German scientist, described luminous masses appearing at night that grow brighter and then burst, creating celestial fireworks.

Donald Menzel, an American astronomer, concluded that many "flying saucers" could be explained by natural phenomena like mirages or mock suns. Y. Ridpass, a British scientist, analyzed eyewitness accounts and found that 90% of "flying saucer" sightings were the result of impressions created by meteorites, planes, Sputniks, meteorological balloons, or atmospheric pollutions.

Despite this apparent consensus, scientists have differing opinions. Some believe UFOs are hoaxes, others that they are not of artificial origin if they exist, and a third group suggests UFO reports contain falsifications, errors, and instances of incompetence. However, a proportion of cases remain unaccounted for, leading to questions about whether they are atmospheric or cosmic.

Why Not Adopt a New Abbreviation?: This short piece suggests that most "mysterious visitors" are indeed atmospheric phenomena or consequences of atmospheric experiments, such as launching weather balloons or geophysical rockets.

Sputnik: The article reiterates that phenomena often spring from multiple sources. The launching of artificial satellites or spaceships can cause optical effects and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. M. Dmitriyev, D. Sc. (Chemistry), suggests that "saucers" might be conditioned by terrestrial phenomena like chemiluminescent formations (CLFs), which emit luminescence or reflect sunlight, move quickly, and can even explode. Thousands of observations and photographic pictures of CLFs have been studied in Soviet laboratories. CLFs are described as having individual distinctions but common features, appearing in the atmosphere, flaming up, and sometimes falling to earth, leaving depressions or charred objects. No extraterrestrial elements have been found in CLFs, which consist of atoms, molecules, and ions of nitrogen, oxygen, ozone, carbon, and hydrocarbons.

A Discfu of Dirt Rather Than a Space Visitor: This section presents an alternative explanation from two Soviet scientists, G. Barenblatt and Dr. A. Monin. They propose a model of a phenomenon whose properties match most described UFOs, suggesting "saucers" are moving discoidal formations resulting from physical processes in the atmosphere. They explain that the atmosphere consists of layers, and when these layers are mixed due to turbulence, they can form "islets" of similar density with sharp boundaries. Experiments at the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences show that these "islets" can become squeezed, forming stable disclike areas of the atmosphere. These "discs" are visible because the air is mixed with dust, which reflects light. The article suggests that the number of UFO sightings is directly proportional to environmental pollution. However, it notes that this explanation does not cover all aspects, such as daytime sightings, glowing objects, and their prolonged presence in the sky.

The Demon Photos: An Update

This article by Dr. Willy Smith of the UNICAT Project addresses the "demon/ghost photographs" that have surfaced, attributing their appearance to a TV journalist's efforts. The article notes that Ed Walters, Walter Andrus, and other proponents of the Gulf Breeze deception have reacted to these photos. Smith quotes Walter Andrus as calling the photos a "farce by Smith/Boyd" and suggesting Ed simply took them "way out of focus to give the 'spooky' effect."

Dr. Maccabee is mentioned as having hotly denied the existence of such photos. The article criticizes Ed Walters for circulating a poor Xerox reproduction of one photo, which it claims shows nothing and was obtained "directly from the TV screen." Walters's letter chiding "debunkers" for commenting on photos they haven't seen is also mentioned.

The article points out that Frances Hanson, Ed Walters's wife, admitted the existence of these photos in a letter dated April 18, 1988. The appearance of these "demon photos" is seen as a blow to Ed Walters's veracity and the good faith of promoters like Walt Andrus and Bud Hopkins, who have persisted in denying their existence.

Two possible explanations are offered for a photo of a girl and a "demon": either Ed knew about double exposures beforehand, or demons and ghosts indeed exist. The article concludes by quoting Abraham Lincoln: "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can not fool all the people all the time."

A comic strip titled "Connie's Corny Comics" is included.

Midwest May Have Seen Soviet Rocket

This news clipping from the Boston Globe reports that authorities hoped to confirm that a derelict Soviet rocket was the object that blazed across the night skies of the central United States. Jack Lippincott of Fulton, Mo., reported seeing the object on the southwest horizon. Sightings were reported in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, and Iowa.

Historical UFO Reports (July 1947)

• This section compiles several historical UFO reports from July 1947:
• Only 2 Disks Seen; 1847 Hoax Recalled: President Truman remarked that the "flying saucer" reports reminded him of the moon hoax of a century ago by Richard Adams Locke. The Fire Department at Van Nuys, Calif., examined a charred gadget that fell into a flower garden, described as a "disk" made of galvanized iron with fins and a rudder. A farmer in Ripley, Ont., reported seeing dark, smooth-bottomed flying saucers pass in formation.
• France and Manchuria Get In on Disk Stories: A resident of Mans, France, reported seeing two "strangely shaped things" resembling "flying saucers." In Manchuria, a man reported seeing eighty "flying saucers" that were milk-colored and tinted blue.
• More Saucer Eyes: Carl Goerch, a radio commentator in Raleigh, N.C., caused a stir with a "hoax broadcast" about men from Mars in flying saucers, which jammed radio station switchboards and airport control towers.
• 1,000-ton Asteroid Crashes in Siberia: Moscow Radio reported that dentists had collected 250 meteorites from the remnants of a 1,000-ton asteroid that crashed with terrific impact on the Pacific coast of Siberia in February. The impact created a large crater and destroyed a forest. The broadcast noted that the asteroid was traveling at an estimated speed of eight miles per second.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue of Orbiter magazine revolve around the persistent mystery of UFOs, the potential for government secrecy and surveillance, and the ongoing scientific and skeptical attempts to explain these phenomena. The magazine presents a balanced perspective, featuring both ufological investigations and critical analyses. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry, encouraging readers to consider various explanations while remaining aware of potential disinformation or misinterpretation. The inclusion of historical cases and scientific viewpoints suggests a commitment to exploring the UFO phenomenon from multiple angles.