◆ SpookStack

Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0 The ‘‘classic’’ case of this type is the sighting by Eastern Airlines pilots C. S. Chiles and J. B. Whitted, July 23, 1948. At 2:45 a.m. in the vicinity of Montgomery, Alabama, Captain Chiles and his co-pilot noticed a brilliant light loom up in front of the DC-3, hurtling head-on toward them. The UFO swooped down, veered to the right of the airliner, emitted a long red exhaust blast and shot straight up into clouds. Captain Chiles later described the UFO as torpedo-shaped, about 100 feet long, with two rows of brightly-lit apparent windows along the side. The USAF currently contests the fact that the airliner was rocked when the UFO climbed away, but the statement that it was appears in the Air Force Project ‘‘Saucer’’ Report from the witnesses’ original descriptions. [47] At Robbins AFB, Georgia on the same night, about 2:00 a.m., a ‘‘long, dark wingless tube’’ was seen rushing overhead spurting flame from the stern. Similar maneuvering rocket-shaped objects have been re- ported by military pilots [see August 1, 1946 case, Capt. Jack Puckett, Section III] and private pilots. January 1, 1949: Tom Rush of Jackson, Mississippi, saw a cigar-shaped object while approaching to land at Dixie Airport. The UFO crossed in front of his plane, accelerated and flew out of sight. [48] January 20, 1951: A bright light, source unknown, was ob- served from the control tower at Sioux City, Iowa, airport about 8:30 p.m. Chief Controller John Williams cautioned a Mid- Continent Airlines DC-3, which was about to take off; thinking it was another aircraft approaching the field. Shortly after take-off, Capt. Lawrence W. Vinther and Co- pilot James F. Bachmeier, in the DC-3, were startled to see the bright light closing on them very rapidly. Before they could take any action, the light flashed past the airliner and the pilots saw a clear silhouette of a cigar-shaped object behind the light. The Co-pilot turned quickly, and there was the UFO pacing the airliner. The object had apparently reversed direction in an instant. Bachmeier called out to Captain Vinther, and he turned and looked. Thenthe UFO shot straight up and disappeared. 49 ! | one of the passengers who also witnessed the UFO was a full colonel of Air Force Intelligence, who filed a report along with the pilots. He was reportedly greatly impressed by what he had seen. [50] AVIATION PERSONNEL OTHER THAN PILOTS Aviation personnel other than pilots --Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) [51] control tower operators and Slight controllers, flight crew members, ground crews, airport supervisors, etc. ~-have made regular reports of UFOs. The FAA often has cooperated with NICAP, in some cases Jurnishing logs, teletype reports, and other documentary material. Some of the information has come from NICAP members employed by the FAA, other from public servants (not NICAP members) who apparently have no prejudices about UFOs and merely believe that the subject should be treated frankly and openly. September 24, 1959: Redmond Airport, Oregon, is situated southeast of the city. (see sketch map), Just before dawn, policeman Robert Dickerson was cruising the city streets when he noticed a bright falling object like a meteor. Instead of “burning out,’’ the object took on a larger, ball-like appearance, stopped abruptly, and hovered about 200 feet above the ground. Its glow lit up juniper trees below it. The patrolman watched the UFO for several minutes, then drove toward it on Prineville Highway, turning in at the airport. The UFO, meanwhile changed color from bright white to a duller reddish-orange color, and moved rapidly to a new position NE of the airport. At the FAA office, Flight Service Specialist Laverne Wertz had just completed making weather observations minutes before, and had seen nothing unusual. Now Patrolman Dickerson, Wertz, and others studied the hovering object through binoculars. The UFO was round and flat, with tongues of ‘‘flame’’ periodically extending from the rim. At 1310Z (5:10 a.m. PST), official logs show, the UFO was reported to Seattle Air Route Control Center. Logs of the Seattle center show that the report was relayed to Hamilton AFB. The Seattle log continues: ‘‘UFO also seen on the radar at Klamath Falls GCI (Ground Control Intercept] site. F-102’s scrambled from Portland.’’ As the Redmond observers studied the UFO, they noticed a highspeed aircraft approaching from the southeast. The log con- tinues: ‘‘As aircraft approached, UFO took shape of mushroom, observed long yellow and red flame from lower side as UFO rose rapidly and disappeared above clouds.”’ The UFO was seen again briefly, hovering about 25 miles south of the airport. Radar continued to show the UFO south of Redmond for about two hours. [See FAA log, Section IX.] October 9, 1951: An earlier UFO, rated an ‘‘unknown’” by the Air Force after investigation of similar evidence (apparently without radar confirmation) was reported at Municipal Airport, Terre Haute, Indiana. About 1:43 p.m., CAA Airways Operations Specialist R. L. Messmore noticed an unusual object approaching from the SE, and quickly called another witness. C. W. Sonner, Chief of Interstate Airways Communication Station, ran outside to watch. ‘‘I have been working atairports for 16 years.’’ Sonner said, ‘‘and never before have I seen an aircraft like it.’’ The flattened round object sped overhead, disappearing to the NW after 15 seconds. Using the angle of sighting, Messmore and Sonner calculated that the UFO was travelling at 2,880 mph, assuming it was at treetop level; 18,000 mph if at 3,000 feet; etc. Because of the experience of the observers, this would have been a good sighting as it stood. But two minutes later, near Paris, Illinois (19 miles to the NW), a private pilot encountered a hovering UFO shaped like a flattened sphere. (See diagram.) When the pilot turned directly toward the UFO, it accelerated and shot away to the NE. [53] In the next two days, General Mills, Inc., balloon personnel spotted UFOs over Wisconsin and Minnesota. [Section VI} GREENCASTLE Tllinois Indiana Time: 1:43 p.m. UFO sped over airport, visible 15 seconds. Time: 1:45 p.m. Private pilot enroute from Green- castle to Paris encountered hovering UFO. When pilot turned toward it, object accelerated and shot away northeast. OTHER SAMPLE CASES March 13, 1950; Mexico City, Mexico. Santiago Smith, chief weather observer for the Mexican Aviation Company, J. de la Vega of the airport commander’s office, and others saw a total of four UFOs passing over the airport during the day. Smith caught one in a theodolite telescope, and described it as resem- bling the ‘‘shape of a half-moon.” [54] March 26, 1950; Reno, Nevada. Mrs. Marie H. Matthews, CAA Tower Operator (over four years experience in aircraft observation with Navy and as a civilian), others in the tower, and United Airlines employees Robert Higbee and Fred Hinkle at about 8:50 p.m. saw a brilliant light NE of Hubbard Field which Approved For Release 2001/04/02 “CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0