1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,240 Welcome to America's Town Meeting from New York City. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,720 Tonight's subject, Flying Saucers, Fact or Illusion. 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:17,560 Our speakers are Major Donnelly Keough, author of Flying Saucers from Outer Space, and Jonathan 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:28,880 N. Leonard, science editor of Time Magazine and author of Flight Into Space. 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:34,640 For scores of generations, civilized men have recorded astonishing descriptions of atmospheric 6 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,280 phenomena and awesome things hovering in the skies above them. 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:45,880 Mysterious floating objects, flashes and fireballs, and luminescence manifestations of every description 8 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:52,040 are recounted in the annals of western civilization as far back as Roman times. 9 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,560 Speculation as to their origin was, of course, largely conditioned upon the degree of scientific 10 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,560 knowledge at the disposal of the observer. 11 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:06,800 Generally, however, they were isolated instances, unrelated, and devoid of organized study anywhere. 12 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:11,720 Against this historic background, the controversy which has developed in the United States since 13 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:19,040 1947 over the so-called Flying Saucers sightings are absolutely without precedent or parallel. 14 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:25,440 An oppressive accumulation of approximately 800 unexplained reports has not only been accorded 15 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:30,400 the widest possible publicity, intriguing the public everywhere and taxing the credibility 16 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:36,880 of many, but has by now enlisted on a national scale the ingenuity of some of our top airmen, 17 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,360 scientists and military experts. 18 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,360 Curiously enough, it is said that more than 18 percent of these sightings were reported 19 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:49,720 by trained military personnel, and some 11 percent were reported by Air Force pilots 20 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:50,720 aloft. 21 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:56,720 Of all sightings recorded, somewhat less than 15 percent are reported to be classified 22 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,000 as unexplained. 23 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,360 To delve into the mystery of these unexplained phenomena, the resources of the United States 24 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:09,520 and other nations have mustered as strategic points scores of special cameras, radar installations, 25 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,800 and other detected devices, meant by trained personnel. 26 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:19,880 Meantime, the controversy rages unabated between those who believe that the so-called 27 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:25,040 Flying Saucers are fact and those who dismiss them as an illusion. 28 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:30,560 Tonight, Town Hall is proud to present two distinguished exponents of each of these 29 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:31,560 viewpoints. 30 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:38,320 Our first guest is Major Donald E. Kehoe, author of Flying Saucers from outer space. 31 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:43,440 Born in Iowa, Major Kehoe attended the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned 32 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,800 with the rank of Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. 33 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,720 The following year, he finished a training course for naval aviators at Pensacola. 34 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:56,360 From 1925 to 1927, he was Chief of Information of the Aeronautics branch of the Department 35 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:02,040 of Commerce and was assigned as Manager of the U.S. Tour of the Josephine IV North Pole 36 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,600 Plain, which flew around the country with Floyd Bennett and Bert Blanchen. 37 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:13,320 In 1949, Major Kehoe was assigned to investigate the Flying Saucer mystery for a true magazine. 38 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,880 The Flying Saucers are real was his first book on this subject. 39 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:22,600 It was followed by Flying Saucers from outer space, published in November of this year. 40 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:28,720 Town Hall is proud to welcome Major Kehoe. 41 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:39,040 In 1948, like many other pilots, I scoffed at the Saucer reports. 42 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,760 Now after a five-year investigation, I believe they are real. 43 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:48,360 But there's only one way to decide this question fairly, by examining the official reports. 44 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:54,080 Neither my opinion nor Mr. Leonard says any value unless it is backed by the evidence. 45 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:59,240 In the last five years, I've seen hundreds of Air Force reports covering worldwide sightings. 46 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:04,800 The official records cleared for me have included the most baffling cases and intelligence files, 47 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,760 cases used in the secret briefing of high government officials. 48 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,280 Intelligence reports were made by Air Force Navy, Marine Corps, and airline pilots. 49 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,720 By expert radar man, guided missile trackers, and other trained observers. 50 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,120 The official conclusions were released to me by Air Technical Intelligence. 51 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,920 Since Mr. Leonard cannot be expected to know these hundreds of reports, I shall refer mainly 52 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,480 to official cases from my book, which he has reviewed. 53 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:34,360 I repeat, these are Air Force intelligence reports certified by official documents in 54 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:35,360 the book. 55 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,480 They are not from anonymous sources as Mr. Leonard mistakenly stated. 56 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:45,280 These sightings were analyzed by intelligence officers or by scientists under secret contracts. 57 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:49,880 In case after case, pilots and radar men insist that the outbanks maneuver under intelligent 58 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,400 control, often at fantastic speeds. 59 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,680 In the last two months, reports have rapidly increased. 60 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,880 As a result, new orders have been given to pilots, which I shall explain later. 61 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:02,960 Military governments have also taken new steps. 62 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,320 In Canada, a special observatory has been set up to track sources and learn their means 63 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:08,320 of propulsion. 64 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:13,600 Mr. W. B. Smith, the official in charge, with a frankness unknown here, publicly admitted 65 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,040 that sources are probably from outer space. 66 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,080 In our Air Force, only one intelligence officer, Colonel William C. O'Dell, has been allowed 67 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,120 to make such a statement and then, without use of his rank. 68 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,520 But this conviction is privately shared by many in the Air Force. 69 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,640 Even the airline pilots, after sighting strange machines, have publicly announced their belief 70 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,720 that the sources are observation devices from another planet. 71 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:40,560 That an advanced race is making a long survey of the Earth, delaying contact until they 72 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,920 understand every phase of our life and can gauge our probable reactions. 73 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:51,760 On the basis of the evidence, I believe this is the answer, fantastic as it may seem. 74 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:58,280 Thank you Major Keough. 75 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:03,200 Our next guest is Jonathan Norton Leonard, science editor of Time Magazine. 76 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:08,400 Mr. Leonard joined the weekly news magazine staff as foreign news writer in 1943. 77 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,320 He became Time Science Editor in 1945. 78 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,920 Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, he attended public schools there and entered Harvard University 79 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:17,960 in 1921. 80 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:23,120 Originally, with the New York Times, he became a freelance writer and for the next 10 years 81 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,920 turned out innumerable books and articles, including the enjoyment of science, crusaders 82 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:34,560 of chemistry and his most recent book, Flight into Space, a philosophical but factual view 83 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:40,320 of the fact and fancies of spaceflight which was published in October of this year. 84 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,560 We are proud to welcome Mr. Jonathan Norton to America's town meeting. 85 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:56,160 The question, do you believe in flying saucers has come to mean do you believe that flying 86 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,520 saucers are spaceships from a foreign planet? 87 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,720 I do not believe it because I have seen no evidence for it. 88 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,600 All I have seen is reports of strange sights in the sky. 89 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,840 Most of them have been explained in unsensational ways and most of the rest were so poorly 90 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,080 reported that no conclusion is possible. 91 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:22,640 But even if many unexplained saucers had been seen, they would not necessarily be spaceships. 92 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:27,720 To call them spaceships is jumping to an extremely unlikely conclusion. 93 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,480 It is explaining a small mystery by pinning it on a big mystery. 94 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:37,680 The ancient Greeks could not explain lightning, so they gave up and called it a weapon of 95 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,320 the God Zeus. 96 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,600 This was no explanation at all. 97 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,240 The flying saucer cutists are doing the same thing. 98 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:51,000 To explain a few puzzling reports, they are dreaming up spaceships and they give them 99 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,640 a godlike ability to violate all known physical laws. 100 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:00,160 The world is full of mysteries and the way to solve them is to observe them and study 101 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:01,660 them carefully. 102 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:06,400 This is what the Air Force has been doing and it says that it has no evidence that flying 103 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,040 saucers are spaceships. 104 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:14,480 People who say that the Air Force is lying about this and that it is deliberately concealing 105 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:20,040 a threatened invasion from space are accusing it of something close to treason. 106 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,480 I do not think that they are justified. 107 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,960 Spaceships are not impossible theoretically. 108 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,760 The human race can build them if it makes the Air Force and there may be races in space 109 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,000 that have already done so. 110 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,880 At least I cannot prove that there are not. 111 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,840 But to say that flying saucers are spaceships, just because a few of their reports are hard 112 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,760 to explain, is naive and primitive thinking. 113 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,760 It is like explaining lightning by calling it the weapon of a god. 114 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,280 Thank you very much, Mr. Limit. 115 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:02,040 Major Kehoe, before we go into our exchange of views, and I know they are going to be 116 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,400 sharp this evening, I was intrigued by the statement which you made in your opening 117 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:07,720 presentation. 118 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,280 I would like to ask if you might not wish to elaborate on it. 119 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:16,040 You said that during the last two months reports on unidentified flying objects have rapidly 120 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:21,040 increased and then you said that as a result of this new orders have been given to pilots 121 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:22,800 and you would explain that later. 122 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,840 I want to go ahead and explain that to us now. 123 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:26,360 Yes, I shall. 124 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,920 The Air Force, through the Matt's intelligence, that is military air transport intelligence, 125 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,880 has sent word to all airline pilots and instead of waiting after they sight an unidentified 126 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,440 object in the air, waiting until they land to write up the report or be interrogated, 127 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:47,840 they are immediately to get on the radio and give a running account of what they see. 128 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:53,960 This was confirmed to me by the Airline Policy Association and also by Air Force Public Information. 129 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,600 The same order has been relayed to all military pilots and presumably to those in the Navy 130 00:09:58,600 --> 00:09:59,600 and the Marine Corps. 131 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,040 I see. Mr Leonard, do you have any comment to make on that? 132 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:04,400 Well, I think it's a fine thing. 133 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:05,400 Sure. 134 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,400 Why not? 135 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:11,520 It's a lot of controversy on this thing and Air Force has been accused of concealing 136 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:12,520 evidence. 137 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,120 It's a very good thing to tell the pilots to report right off. 138 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:21,120 But this shows a great deal of concern which the Air Force at the same time disavows. 139 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,560 It says we're not concerned, there's nothing to it and at the same time they give these 140 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:28,800 orders and tell everybody to get in the information as rapidly as possible. 141 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,800 I don't think they're concerned about spaceships. 142 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,520 I think they're concerned about the publicity they're getting. 143 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,520 They're concerned about the objects. 144 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,920 Well gentlemen, that brings us I think to the very first point which the average American 145 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,240 would like to have clarified and discussed this evening. 146 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:48,560 What are the observers seeing in your opinion? 147 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:50,800 Are they seeing something or are they seeing nothing? 148 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:55,040 Is it imagination or is it factual that they are seeing something? 149 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,520 Want me to answer that? 150 00:10:58,400 --> 00:10:59,800 I think they're seeing something. 151 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,520 I think that good many of these people are perfectly sincere. 152 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:10,160 There are some jokers and liars, some drunks no doubt, but I think good many of them see 153 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:11,160 something. 154 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:13,160 What they see is another question. 155 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:19,600 Do you have your opinion Mr. Lendon as to what they may be actually seeing? 156 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,520 I think they see a great variety of things. 157 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:29,600 I think they see all reflections from the tail pins of aluminum airplane. 158 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,040 You can see them at a much greater distance than you can see an airplane. 159 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,560 They see weather balloons. 160 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:41,720 I think in the case of the more mystifying reports they see various kinds of optical 161 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:42,720 effects. 162 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,920 Now they aren't optical illusions anymore than a rainbow is. 163 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,720 A rainbow is an effect, an optical effect. 164 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:49,720 It's very real. 165 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:50,760 It's so. 166 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:51,760 We know how it works. 167 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:57,960 There are great many other ways that lights can be apparently displaced and made to move. 168 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:03,480 The common mirage of this water in the road is a very common example. 169 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,480 Every auto owner knows. 170 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,400 You see the sky apparently in the road. 171 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,680 That's true of great many other optical effects. 172 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,680 Major Key, how would you subscribe to that theory? 173 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:17,200 No, I'm afraid I can't. 174 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:22,840 That might be true in many cases of untrained observers, people who be honestly mistaken. 175 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:27,760 When you take hundreds of airline pilots, radar men, weather bureau observers who are 176 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:32,440 trained to recognize such things, and for year after year they have been reporting these 177 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:38,000 objects, many of which are confirmed by a radar simultaneously, prove that the object 178 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,040 was real and that was under intelligent control maneuvering. 179 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:47,400 Many of the cases, of which I can only mention a few tonight, have so stated that the answer 180 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,680 was unknown and in the analysis they stated the object seemed to be under intelligent 181 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:52,680 control. 182 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,920 Well, Mr. Leonard, I believe you stated at the outset that you felt that there were only 183 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,040 a few puzzling reports. 184 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,360 Now Major, I know that you disagree with that. 185 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:09,640 Do you have any idea, however, as to how many reports are puzzling or unsolved so far? 186 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,120 I don't think there are very many. 187 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:17,720 I think there are many reports which are put down by the Air Force as unidentified. 188 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:24,400 And they may be, and in most cases are, unidentified because the evidence given is extremely sketchy. 189 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,560 I heard of one example, for instance, of a man who called up very excitedly and said 190 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:29,560 something like this. 191 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:31,680 He said, I saw something flying by. 192 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,120 It looked like a bird, but it was flying a lot faster than any bird ought to fly. 193 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:36,120 What was it? 194 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:42,560 Well, the Air Force put that down as unexplained and listed the thing as a UFO, I think Major 195 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:47,120 Kehoe calls it an unexplained flying object. 196 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:48,120 Major Kehoe, do you agree with that? 197 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:53,760 Well, I would like to give a report by, let us say, someone a little more trained. 198 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:59,400 On October 29th, over in Hempstead, Long Island, two jet pilots were on a mission, spotted 199 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,800 a very bright white light, and they tried to close in. 200 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,200 Then the machine, whatever it was, tightened up. 201 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,760 They were unable to get inside its turn, and finally, after trying to match the machine's 202 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,280 performance for several minutes, they gave up. 203 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,400 Now, here's the statement that the senior pilot gave to intelligence. 204 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:21,800 Based on my experience in fighter tactics, it is my opinion that the object was controlled 205 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,800 by something having visual contact with it. 206 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:29,200 The power and acceleration were beyond the capability of any known U.S. aircraft. 207 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,320 Below this, the Wing Intelligence Officer added, it is believed this report is based 208 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,000 on reliable and verifiable observation. 209 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,640 That's an official intelligence report. 210 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:43,800 How many reports such as that, not to interrupt, Ms. Landon, but how many reports of that type 211 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,240 do you feel that there are on the books now, Major? 212 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:48,480 At least 400. 213 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,680 I have some of the key cases right here, which prove that the objects are real, that they 214 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,360 are under control, and that many of the people who saw them are convinced that there was 215 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,280 some kind of revolutionary machine. 216 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:04,120 Ms. Landon, do you feel there's any pattern in these reports that the Major has cited? 217 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,440 Yes, I think there's a pattern. 218 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,560 Some of these facts are similar. 219 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,800 But I'd like to say a little bit about these trained observers. 220 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:16,800 The pilot, the airline pilot, or a fighter pilot, is generally a very fine guy. 221 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,280 Some of my best friends are pilots. 222 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,360 But he is very rarely a physicist. 223 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,880 He very rarely understands the effects of refraction. 224 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,520 I think if you question, you'd find that they know very little about such things. 225 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,200 And so when you say a trained observer, you mean that he's been trained to recognize 226 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:36,600 certain definite things. 227 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:41,360 And when he comes up against something which isn't in the book, he often misinterpreted 228 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:42,520 very widely. 229 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,280 And this, I think, is the case in a Major Pioja cited. 230 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:52,720 But you do feel that he saw something, however, what he saw was not any kind of a space machine. 231 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:58,680 And I think he jumped to the conclusion that it was intelligently controlled. 232 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,160 It was a very, very long jump. 233 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,640 Well, speaking of intelligently controlled incidents, I think almost everyone is aware 234 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:10,240 of the so-called citing that Washington several months back. 235 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:16,680 And I wonder if you would care to discuss that as an example of either accidental or 236 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,560 perhaps controlled performance. 237 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:21,800 Major, would you like to begin a discussion of that? 238 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:22,840 Yes, I should. 239 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:28,720 I investigated that for six weeks after the two weekend incidents. 240 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:33,240 I talked with all of the radar men who were in the control center, with the radar engineer, 241 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:38,520 with Dr. John Hagen, the chief radio astronomer of the Navy, with Bonn-Rochney of the Weather 242 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,160 Bureau, their radar expert, with the pilots who cited these things in the air, with the 243 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,400 radar men at other stations. 244 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,680 Now, these things were triangulated from three radar stations. 245 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:54,360 They were seen simultaneously in the air at exactly the point where the radar sets showed 246 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:55,360 them. 247 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:59,680 They showed the same maneuvers, the same speeds, which were reported visually by observers 248 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,040 in the air and on the ground. 249 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:10,000 And later on, I was told from Air Force Technical Intelligence Center that this principle applied. 250 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,120 They looked the same thing that they added in another similar case. 251 00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:17,440 The electronic or visual mirage of meteorological phenomenon is out of the question, and the 252 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:22,800 radar set was on high beam and both were not occur simultaneously in the same place. 253 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:28,800 Now, this was ruled out completely, although at the Air Force conference in July, it was 254 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,040 suggested that temperature inversion was probably the answer. 255 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,640 Later on, I asked the Air Force to designate an official spokesman who would give me what 256 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,440 they considered the answer. 257 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,000 We went into it, I presented all the evidence, and gave him the temperature inversion on 258 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,800 that night, which was less than one and a half degrees. 259 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,360 This spokesman then told me and allowed me to give it as the official Air Force Force 260 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:58,480 viewpoint, that with such a low inversion, it was impossible for temperature inversion 261 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,400 to have been the answer, and the case remained unexplained, and it still is. 262 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,520 Elizabeth, how would you explain the Washington site? 263 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:10,120 Well, as Sam said, Dr. Keim, I got a report on that immediately. 264 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:16,080 In fact, I got a telephone report from the inside of the radar station where the observations 265 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:21,160 were being made, and one of our men was there, right on the spot. 266 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,600 I had very great doubts about this. 267 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:29,440 It seemed to be a very curious, panicky situation going on around these boys. 268 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:35,720 One thing I did was to ask whether these objects had been seen on radars at a flight distance 269 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:36,960 from Washington. 270 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:43,440 I could find no radar that had seen them, except in the immediate vicinity of Washington. 271 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:49,840 Then I also asked about, they called up jets, of course, to come down there and defend the 272 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:56,080 White House and Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank and other such things from flying saucers. 273 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:01,400 And the jets came over from Delaware, and they got there pretty soon, and they criss-crossed 274 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,400 all around Washington. 275 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,680 They found those such things. 276 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,760 So I decided there wasn't very much to it. 277 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:12,760 And then when the Air Force later came out with an official statement on the subject 278 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:16,880 that there wasn't anything much to it, of course Major Keough says that they didn't, 279 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:22,400 but actually they did come out with a statement that this was caused by temperature inversions. 280 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,840 I think they had a lot more information than can be gathered in the newspapers and by talking 281 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:32,560 to individuals who, having seen something, are committed to stand by it. 282 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:38,600 Now before there's any more said about official statements to the Air Force, I'd like to read 283 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,000 part of a letter. 284 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,880 I thought that there would be remarks about the official attitude of the Air Force, so 285 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:50,160 I called up the Air Force and asked them, this is a letter on the station area of the 286 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,960 Department of the Air Force, Washington, the office of the Secretary. 287 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,480 That's the Secretary of the Air Force, and it's as high as you can get. 288 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:05,480 It's signed by Colonel Max B. Boyd, Chief of Information Division, Office of Public Information. 289 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:10,400 General Smith, Mr. Dimmick Salena, General Smith has told me of your need for a statement 290 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,080 from the Air Force concerning flying saucers. 291 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:18,000 The Air Force position concerning the unexplained aerial phenomena has been restated recently 292 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,240 in the enclosed fact sheet, which I hope will be useful to you. 293 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,720 You may be interested also in another recent Air Force statement which said, after reviewing 294 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:31,920 its massive reports and presenting the better documented ones to highly competent scientific 295 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:37,680 advisors, the Air Force has found that there is absolutely no proof in these reports that 296 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,320 space travel from another planet is going on. 297 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:46,240 Either of these statements may be attributed to the Air Force or to an Air Force spokesman. 298 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:52,280 Now this is, if I will read on occasion some of the things from that fact sheet. 299 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,200 One of them is about the same sort of thing. 300 00:20:55,200 --> 00:21:01,080 It says that no authentic physical evidence has been received establishing the existence 301 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:02,840 of spaceships from other planets. 302 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:08,560 Well Mr. Lennon, if I may interrupt, is there any evidence or any statement by the Air 303 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:15,360 Force which would deny, for example, that these sightings are sightings of solid objects 304 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,960 controlled by intelligent procedure? 305 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:26,840 Well, if you ruled out that the Air Force also rules out that they are their own guided 306 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:33,600 missiles and they rule out that they are also not guided missiles from foreign countries. 307 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:40,520 And if you rule those things out and they still say that they are not in the planetary 308 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,160 why they must be something that can be explained in some much simpler way. 309 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:50,080 Well gentlemen, do you feel that there is anything being withheld by the Air Force or 310 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:56,000 the Pentagon films or photographs or secret analyses perhaps which the public has the 311 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:57,000 right to know? 312 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,000 A major key help. 313 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:07,400 Well in one specific case, the analysis of the motion picture known as the Utah pictures 314 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,120 has been withheld from the public. 315 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:12,520 These pictures were taken in July of 52. 316 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:18,120 They were analyzed for a period of four to six months by the Air Force and the Navy. 317 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:24,160 And they were also analyzed by civilian experts who were brought into that purpose. 318 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,880 At that time it was decided that the objects could not be explained as any conventional 319 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:30,880 objects of any kind. 320 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:36,240 They were not aircraft, they were not balloons, they were not reflections from birds wings. 321 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,440 It was decided then by a group that believed that this should be made public, that there 322 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,760 would be a showing of this film to the press in Washington and a public statement would 323 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:45,760 be made. 324 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:52,040 A controversy arose over that which lasted for about two months at which time the planned 325 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,920 showing was killed. 326 00:22:53,920 --> 00:23:00,320 I was given a copy of the press release which was to be given out at that time and it stated 327 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,720 emphatically that these were the answers, that they did not have any explanation for 328 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:05,720 them. 329 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,000 The Air Force therefore would not speculate on what they were. 330 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:14,640 But it showed that they were maneuvering at high speeds and that they had been within 331 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:21,000 a five mile distance that could easily have been identified as aircraft or balloons. 332 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Later on, about six weeks ago, I inquired the Air Force if they had any new answer. 333 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,960 And I was told by the Air Force press desk, by an official on the desk that there was 334 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,280 now a suggestion that they might have been migratory birds in spite of the fact that 335 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:41,040 in this analysis which has not been released to the public, it says they could not be reflections 336 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:46,960 from birds because their flight source was too intense and no bird's wing could be that 337 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:47,960 reflective. 338 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,800 I have that statement here tonight and I'd be glad to short to Mr. Leonard or anyone 339 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:52,800 else. 340 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:54,600 Statements seem to be a little bit confused. 341 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,240 Now here's the latest from the Air Force. 342 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:02,440 There have been some misconceptions concerning Air Force handling or flying saucer reports. 343 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,440 One of these misconceptions is that the Air Force is either withholding flying saucer 344 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:11,160 information from the public or cloaking it beneath a security classification. 345 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,160 This is untrue. 346 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:22,320 And they also say that they have been very, let's see, they have only a very few movie 347 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,200 type films have been received by the Air Force and they reveal only 10 points of light moving 348 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,160 across the sky. 349 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,600 The Air Force has been unable to identify the source of these lights. 350 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,720 Images are too small to analyze properly. 351 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,160 They don't know what they are. 352 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,560 And I think that's a great many cases we don't know. 353 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:48,200 But the thing that I object to is the vast jump from lack of knowledge to a dogmatic 354 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,680 statement that these things are spaceships. 355 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:55,520 Well, Mr. Leonard, before I go into that, I would like to read one thing here to show 356 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,320 that someone is not stating the truth. 357 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,800 And I would like to have it brought up. 358 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:06,840 I have invited the Air Force to put me back on active duty and have me court-martial for 359 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:13,080 falsifying the Air Force documents if they can prove that anything I said about official 360 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,640 sightings or the Utah pictures is false. 361 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,000 And I repeat that here and now. 362 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:19,000 I have it. 363 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,560 I have documents here which prove it. 364 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,440 I have proof from the former head of Project Blue Book who cleared all of these documents 365 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,040 from me at right field. 366 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,760 I have a statement here by the official who gave them to me at the Pentagon who was assigned 367 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:32,920 to do that. 368 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,480 I can prove that every case in that book that I say is from the Air Force is an official 369 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,360 sighting case that the pictures were taken. 370 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,240 They were analyzed and the analysis has not been released. 371 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:48,200 And still they deny that they have ever had any evidence whatsoever that these things 372 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,200 are from space. 373 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:50,200 That's right. 374 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,200 That's two weeks ago. 375 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:52,200 That's right. 376 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,720 Here is what they told me repeatedly. 377 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,000 We have no concrete evidence. 378 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:03,320 Now Mr. Finletter, the former secretary of the Air Force, said when he was briefed by 379 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:11,080 intelligence officers in 1952 after a series of sightings, he said, there is no evidence 380 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,920 yet, no concrete evidence to prove or disprove the existence of flying saucers. 381 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:20,680 However, since we cannot explain a number of the sightings, the Air Force will continue 382 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:21,680 its investigation. 383 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,800 He said nothing about spaceships. 384 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:29,520 No, but in many of these sightings, which I can't read here, but some of them are in 385 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,760 the book and any that you wish to know, I'll be glad to show it to you. 386 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:34,240 They're from very junior officers. 387 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:40,800 The speeds have been computed and confirmed by radar and intelligence certifies that the 388 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,280 speeds were measured at speeds of thousands of miles an hour, that the objects were solid. 389 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,400 They don't certify any such thing major. 390 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:48,400 I think they're fine. 391 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:49,760 No, they don't. 392 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,520 These things have been analyzed by higher sources, higher groups in the Air Force, and 393 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,760 that conclusion is just what I read to you. 394 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:01,120 Well gentlemen, we'll return to that in just a moment. 395 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:06,000 I've seen everywhere from the North Pole up to Greenland, Alaska, and in every country 396 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,480 that we know of, except behind the Iron Curtain, and there have been very few cases, but a 397 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,080 few from that area. 398 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,880 In this country, they have been seen more frequently around Air Force bases and occasionally 399 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:19,920 atomic installations. 400 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,800 Now that may be because there is more observation there, but it still remains the fact that 401 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,760 they've been seen there more frequently, and that is where the Air Force has placed the 402 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:36,320 75 new grid cameras, which they have distributed around the country and spawned bases abroad 403 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,840 to get pictures of these objects and try to resolve the light source. 404 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,000 We've checked today, those cameras have seen nothing. 405 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,760 Mr. Leonard, what is your answer to the... 406 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:50,800 My answer is that the sources are most frequently seen in places where people have read the 407 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,400 most about flying saucers. 408 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,640 They've also been seen in places where they've had no flying saucer reports at all. 409 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:02,000 They've been seen in Africa, or far east, or near east, by Chinese who can't even read 410 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,000 their own language. 411 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:08,800 They've been seen all over the world in places where there's no communication about flying 412 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,560 saucer books, articles, or news sites. 413 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,200 They've been seen in ancient times, but they call them dragons and witches. 414 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:20,200 If the Air Force were convinced that what they're telling the public is true, why are 415 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,720 they spending money and a lot of money to investigate this? 416 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:30,680 Why have they scrambled jets at least 400 times in the past four years to chase unidentified 417 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:31,680 objects? 418 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:37,720 There is a standing order that any time the existence of a UFO is established on a radar 419 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,920 filter, jets must be ordered aloft to try to intercept it. 420 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:43,920 But I think that's a very reasonable thing to do. 421 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,400 Why don't they write it all? 422 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,920 If the Air Force really believe what they're saying, why are they going to all this trouble? 423 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:55,800 Is there anything, if I may interrupt, is there anything which has occurred lately, 424 00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,760 or any recent theft taken by the Air Force to show that they are now more concerned, 425 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,440 perhaps before, or then they officially admitted about unidentified flying objects? 426 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:06,440 Anything specific? 427 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:12,560 I think not, and I think this letter I read to you is that they did December 15th and 428 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,840 is from the Secretary of the Air Force. 429 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,840 Well, we will continue with our discussion in just a moment. 430 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,680 Gentlemen, now we have come to the most intriguing portion of America's town meeting, where we 431 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,240 entertain questions from the audience directed to both of you. 432 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,280 I would like to recognize that the outset, the gentleman on my left, for whom is your 433 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:31,280 question intended? 434 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:35,480 I would like to address my question to Major Kehoe. 435 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,600 Major Kehoe, I would like to review your question. 436 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:46,000 How possible is it for the flying saucer or the thing seen to be pilotless and to be 437 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,040 controlled from the ground by the U.S. or some foreign power? 438 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:56,240 Well, if such a device existed which had those speeds and capabilities, it could be 439 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,960 guided by remote control just as we guide our drones or pilotless bombers. 440 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,720 Next question, please. 441 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:05,720 This is Mr. Leonard. 442 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,920 Would you tell us who you are, please, and where you're from? 443 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:09,920 My name is Paul Matthews. 444 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:18,400 Mr. Leonard, don't you think that the Air Force may not wish to create panic, and that 445 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:26,960 is why they're withholding the information that they may have, and also that they may 446 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,480 have discovered that these visitors are not after all hostile or are out to attack us in 447 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:32,480 any way? 448 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,680 Well, there's really two questions. 449 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,720 I think the first one about they're not wanted to create panic, I think if they're proceeding 450 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:44,160 in that way, they're being very, very remiss in their duty. 451 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:49,000 They're supposed, the Air Force is supposed to protect us and not to allow us to live 452 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,000 in a fool's paradise. 453 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,920 And I think that if anyone in the Air Force tried to do that, the higher levels of the 454 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:01,160 government, the president, the secretary of defense would immediately stop them because 455 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,960 it would be the worst way to get us in trouble. 456 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:08,080 And this question of having made contact with them and decided they're not hostile, I think 457 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,800 in that case, I think they'd be delighted to tell us all about it. 458 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,400 May I have the next question, please? 459 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,280 The lady on my right. 460 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,080 My question is that they've addressed a major keel. 461 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:20,480 Would you tell us who you are, please? 462 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,880 My name is Eunice Spord and I'm from Detroit. 463 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:29,240 My question is, is there a possibility, major keel, that another planet might be trying 464 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,360 to contact the Earth? 465 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,600 Well, I think that is part of the answer. 466 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,440 I of course know, there's no way of knowing which one it might be. 467 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,760 It's possible it might be within our own solar system. 468 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,840 Perhaps the Mars committee, which has now been established to watch Mars as it nears 469 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,320 the Earth, may find some evidence during the coming year.