Congressional, White House, UFO-related Constituent Correspondence, 1998

Text

This text came with the file. It may have mistakes. When the text and the image disagree, the image is right.

~--' ·-·. -•-,,-- • C ~
- ~=- ,.....,--.,•·-•~----.··.•-c-,,.--~··o,•:·,1
.... .. ..
.-J
--.1
. -~1
. !
I
•' ;.·
;
~1•
'
. .
.,-
+
'
•.. ..,.,
~
. . .;,
1
· 1
......-
~:·
1•;) .i. .
...'-I
.,.
t
r
t··
nobody thought to ask about it! The
list was incomplete!
What
we do know
from the
complete
Gemini-4
transcripts
(including the on-board tape recorder
as well as space-to-ground links), is
that the UFO appeared at the same
point in the Gemini orbit where the
booster had been rept-3tedly spotted
earlier in the flight. '.\fcDi\•itt had once
described
seeing his booster with
straps h~nglng from it. Furthermore,
on at least one occasion on the first
day, McDivitt had at first been unable
to recognize the booster when he ·saw
il because it was close to the glare of·
the sun! Thi5 had been :it a range of
less than ten miles.
Yet
another
iniport:int
factor
unknown to t!1e Cr1nciL•11 report w:i,
that '.\leDivin •.•::t.; C\J1:1p!:iini:1i;: ro thl-'·
ni~ht surgt:on
abou 1.
his t'Yl'$ight
duri1\g this pho~c of th:) tli~ht. Hi:; eyes
were red and teary due to a reaction
with the cabin atmosphere and an
accidental massive urine spill. "I didn't
think I was going to be able t~ hack
it", McDivitt later had radioed to
Earth.
This
famous
UFO
case
now
becomes that of a pilot with watering
eves catching sight of an object in
p~rallel orbft, an object which he had
already misidentified a
few hours
earlier. As to the photograph, an inves•
tigator must go through all the film of
the night to realize how common such
. blobs-
of
light
(o\·ere.'<posures,
r~tlccti0m. glare. etc. ) ll'erc.
Both
NAS.-l. and ;\lc:Di\·itt han• agrel.'d that
tl-ie sc,qucnCI.' ot' mo\·ie irames are a
,iew out t!u: winc.uw. showit\~ sunlii::ht
r~tl~·cti11~ off a br\t. a~ain:;~ the dirty
window
~la~s.
'.~!C..\F'
thinks
dii'forently b,:c:tu~e <)t t!ll' b:!tk of its
cop,· of th<! ph,Ho is a handwritten
-. .
,.
·...~..
note (nobody known
by
whom)
stating that McDivitt {nobody• knows
when) had communicated .{nobody
knows how) the fact that the picture
showed "his UFO". (This was made
clear by a telephone conversation
between the author and Jack Acuff of
NICAP on March 5, 1976).
Why has this case achie\'ed such
notoriety'? It probably resulted from
the enthusiasm of UFO believers. the
naive
openness
of
NASA
public
relations officials, and the publicity­
seeking opportunism of some of the
principals.
\lcDivitt himself did little to clear
the case up. instead using it as a ticket
onto natil•nal TV talk shows and news
interviews
(especially
after
his
rr.tirement in 19~. To add to the
mystPry. th~ former spaceman assl'rts.
"I have never bcrn ablt- to it.:entify it,
and I don't think anyone ever will."
42