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

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.... ........:.. ....... .
rn;lit:1ry i11t1·lli~cncc. /\ prompt and
<?ncrg1•Lic investigation was launched.
The object looked like a long
cylinder with
l\\'O square
p:tddlcs
rr.srmbliug sol:ir panels at each end.
ily 11ac,,:-.u1i11~ its ,-tiigu:at 5i;:c on ~~o
negative,
analysts
were
able.
to
deter'.nine that it wa!> about 20 feet
long a mile away or 2000 feet long a
hundred milrs away.
j r.
A careful investigation revealed the
surprising
answer.
the
UFO
was
actually thousands of feet in length,
but its altitude was zero! lt was an
airstrip
in
the
Brazilian
jungles!
Further checking showed that the
objected appeared at the same spot in
Skylab photos taken months later; the
airfield was also found on an inter­
national aviation chart.
Recent UFO books and articles
h:ive resurrected the X-15 rocket plane
sightings of fifteen years ago. This has
..,
prompted the NASA Headquarters
Public Affairs Office to reissue a
photograph taken by a belly camera of
the spacecraft at an altitude of about
60 miles (photo 76-H-139). v\o:\-'!. 34
Published reports speak of "fleets
of UFOs" at a range of 30 feet from
the X:15. But even a casual reader
with any familiarity with spacecraft
systems will recognize the effect for
what it was: "fireflies". This is a
phenomenon seen by many Mercury,
Vostok, and later spacemen, as flecks
of paint chipped off the spacecraft. On
the X-15, it was flecks of ice clinging
to the liquid oxygen tanks. The pilot
clearly describes the pieces as being
close-in, small, tumbling, and drifting
along with his vehicle through the
vacuum.
Considering these cases as I have
described them (and there arc other
lesser ones which [ have also investi­
gated to a successful conclusion),
what can we now say about authors
who
present
such
evidence
of
:,
"astronaut UFOs"? While speaking
f
ominously about a NASA coverup and
of secret agencies which muzzle space•
men, these same researchers list such
quotations as:
John Young: '.'Odds are UFOs
exist".
Edgar '.\-litchell: "\Ve all k'now UFOs
are real".
Eugene Ceman: "I believe UFOs
belong to someone else and that they
arc from some other civilization".
Cordon Cooper: " [ brlieve that
UFOs, under i11telligcnt control, have
,;-.. .. _. - .· .
.. .
'
:·. - . ·...."
-,/
..
,... .... : . . '
. .... ·•.
Flake of ice floating off of the X-15 rocket plane. Somo invcsti g:,1or~
call thi• a " large UFO". NASA photo 76-H-139.
59