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earthlings being visited by extra–
terrestrial beings in mysterious
UFOs? Millions of Americans ap–
parently believe so. In fact, accord–
ing to a Gallup poli, the majority of
Americans believe tha t UFOs-un–
identified fiying objects- a re real
and "not the figment of people's
imagination." Moreover, sorne 15
million Americans claim to have ac–
tually seen a UFO.
In a recent survey of members of
the American Astronomical Society,
an impressive 53 percent said UFOs
"certainly" or "probably" should be
investigated fur ther and another 27
percent said "possibly" there should
be further investigations.
Few subjects genera te more fasci–
nation than the hotly debated con–
tention that UFOs represen! sorne
form of alíen intelligence.
Actually, strange and mys terious
objects have been seen in the skies
for thousands of years. Even the
prophet Ezekiel reported seeing an
awesome "wheel within a wheel"
that has served as an oft quoted
preceden! for unusual sightings in
the heavens.
"The appearance of the wheels
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and their work was ... as it were a
wheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went, they went upon
their four sides: and they turned not
when they went. As for their rings,
they were so high that they were
dreadful; and their rings were fuiJ of
eyes round about them four. And
when the living creatures went , the
wheels went by them: and when the
living creatures were lifted up from
the earth, the wheels were lifted up"
(Ezek. 1: 16-19).
Ezekiel's description has often
been interpreted as a vision of a
"portable throne" of God, complete
with representatives of the angelic
host.
Whiff of Paranoia
Yet the modern UFO era did not
really dawn until just after World
War Il when Kenneth Arnold, an
Idaho businessman and pilot, de–
scribed a formation of disklike ob–
jects skimming through the sky "like
a saucer would if you skipped it
across water." From that early ac–
count carne the term "ftying sau–
cer."
Since that time , UFObia ,
UFOria, and UFOiogists have pro–
liferated at an amazing rate. Not
even veteran pilots are irnmune. In
fact, at one point baffiing and omi–
nous reports of "fiying saucers" ob–
served over ai r bases grew so
worrisome that the U.S. Air Force
launched a full-scale investigation.
For 22 years, the Air Force kept
track of UFO reports. Then in 1969,
after investigating nearly 13,000
"phenomena," the Air Force closed
Operation Blue Book, saying tha t
further investigation cou ld no
longer "be justified ei ther on the
grounds of national security or in
the interest of science."
That conclusion followed a two–
year study sponsored by the Air
Force and conducted by scientists at
the University of Colorado under
the direction of Dr. Edward U. Con–
don. According to the Condon Re–
port. about 90 percent of UFO
sightings proved to be "related to
ordinary objects" such as planes,
satelli tes, balloons, street lights, bea–
cons, clouds, birds, space "j unk,"
and other natural pheoomena. The
report said that no evidence had
been found that any UFO was a
"spacecraft visiting earth from an–
othe r civilization."
Th e National Academy of
Sciences agreed and asserted there
a re "so many reasonable and pos–
sible directions in which an ex–
planation may eventually be found
that there seems to be no reason to
attribute them [UFO sightings] to
an extraterrestrial source without
evidence that is much more con–
vincing."
Following the Air Force study,
saucerian circles cried "cover-up"
and resolved to continue their quest
for proof that UFOs should be
taken seriously.
Dr.
J.
Allen Hynek, Northwestern
Univers ity astronomer and founder
of the well-known Center for UFO
Studies, believes the Condon Report
was premature in its conclusions.
"Sightings have gone on too long
for it lo be a fad," says Hynek. "You
no longer can dismiss these reports
as the result of overheated imagina–
tions."
A New lnvestigation?
In most cases. flying saucer reports
refer to sorne type of hovering, often
rotating, metallic object or "craft"
with generally a circular (or cigar)
shape and with a diameter of about
40 feet. UFOs usually have multi–
colored (often flashing) lights and
are capab le of moving at stu–
pendous speeds and of making vir–
tually instantaneous 180-degree
turns. Alleged landing sites have
a lso been described as having a cir–
cula r pattern, with scorched ground
and even what appear to be tripod
imprints.
Such accounts are cen a inly fasci–
nating in themselves, but in recent
years reports of "encounters of the
third kind" have been increasing–
i.e., actual contact with beings tha t
occupy the UFOs. 'When l first gol
involved in this field. I was particu–
la rly skeptical of people who said
they had seen UFOs on severa! oc–
casions and totally incredulous
about those who claimed to have
been taken aboard one," states Hy–
nek. "But I've had to change my
mind.
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no longer dismiss any case
as too absurd to be investigated."
Dr. James A. Harder, director of
research for the Aerial Phenomena
Research Organization. bel ieves
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1978