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FLYING SAUCERS continued Orderly processes of natural laws explain saucers These are the Lubbock Lights, as photographed Aug. 30, 1951, over Lubbock, Texas, by Gemini. Then, very suddenly, I realized that Gemini was a winter object; the two stars had to be something else. Like most astronomers, I am always hope- ful of finding a nova (exploding star) which can be seen with the naked eye, so I rapidly opened the window of the car for a better look. I could bring neither of these objects into clear focus, although nearby Antares was sharp. Both hazy disks shone with a slightly bluish light. They were, in a sense, “flying” simply because they were elevated. Suddenly, alive to the fact that I was seeing something unusual, I asked the driver to stop. We climbed out of the car just in time to see the saucefr literally fade away as mysteriously as they had ap- peared. I reported the occurrence in detail to the Air Force. I later found that an English meteorologist, Edward J. Lowe, had recorded a similar phe- nomenon as long ago as 1838—similar except | for the fact he saw four instead of two ghostly images flying near the moon. Perhaps you expect me to say, at this point, that I can explain exactly what I saw that evening. I am sorry to disappoint you. I cannot. I have certain ideas on the subject, but they are only hypotheses—reasonable but not yet fully confirmed. I shall explain those ideas, but first let me say what I do Not believe. I do Not believe that what I saw, or anything anyone has re- ported seeing, were missiles or messengers or vehicles from the moon or Mars or space. I do Not believe they were missiles or messengers or vehicles from Russia or any other foreign country. Indeed, how simple science and life would be if every time we encountered some seem- ingly inexplicable fact, we could blame it on some outside force over which we have no control. Such a mode of thought is as old as man himself. Our prehistoric ancestors personalized 36 { . ee eet ee oe ee aig Titman atten ed ge = s * all the forces of nature. Gods blew the winds, threw lightning bolts and stoked the fires that - belch forth from volcanic craters. Brilliant showers of meteors have made men fear that the end of the world was immi- nent, The ancients have interpreted a solar eclipse.as a dragon devouring the sun and re- joiced when their beating drums and weapons frightened the dragon away. How simple this type of science. No labo- ratory experiment to prove or test the hypo- theses. No complicated mathematics to study the details of the process. Nothing to argue about here. For each new and unexplained fact, we invent a new god—or assume the exist- ence of a superintelligence. How simple—and how wrong! Centuries of civilization have taught us the futility of inventing mysterious forces and superhuman beings. You could explain any- thing that way. Such explanations, however, are completely useless and nature falls into chaos, subject to the whim of a pagan deity instead of to the orderly processes of natural laws. "An Uncivilized Attitude” Asa scientist, I am not bothered if I can- not give a complete, iron-clad explanation for every phenomenon I meet. Unraveling the puzzles of science is my business—as well as my pleasure. I find the world still full of unsolved problems. I look for the explanations, but I do not arbitrarily invent forces that make expla- nation unnecessary. : Why, then, have so many civilized people chosen to adopt an uncivilized attitude toward flying saucers? I think there are three reasons: First, flying saucers are unusual. All of us are used to regularity. We naturally attribute mystery to the unusual. Second, we are all nervous. We live in a world that has suddenly become hostile. We ed ae ey Fb 7 3 have unleashed forces we cannot control; many persons fear we are heading toward a war that will end in the destruction of civilization. Third, people enjoy being frightened a little. They go to Boris Karloff double features. But such analysis should concern the psy- chologist rather than the natural scientist, so let me hasten back to our flying saucers. First of all, we must recognize that “flying saucers,” in the public mind, cover a wide va- riety of objects and phenomena. Some of them, we can almost immediately dispose of, al- though the mere fact of their misinterpretation has been one of the chief difficulties men have encountered in getting at the basic truth. A man sitting in the park on a calm sum- mer afternoon scarcely realizes how intense the winds aloft may be. Perhaps real gales exist, with speeds in excess of 60 miles an hour, different layers moving in opposite directions. Light, flat objects such as newspapers or kites can be caught in an occasional whirlwind and lifted to enormous heights, where they may fly for hundreds of miles before they again reach the ground. Weather balloons, which are often released in groups rather than singly, are not at all uncommon. Indeed, most such objects lose their true identity when viewed against the sky. And it is extremely hard to recognize them. Occasional reflections from distant planes or even from the backs of high-flying birds account for some of the reports. The planet Venus has, on many occasions, produced its own series of sensations. Few people seem to realize that this planet, when at greatest bril- lianee, can be plainly seen in the daytime. | floating cirrus clouds overlie it, the planet me give the illusion of being in rapid motion. Mr people find it difficult to focus their eyes 0 distant object; hence, they see a bright blur the sky and thus give rise to another flyir saucer story. 18-year-old Car! Hart, Jr.