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ufo trace evidence in delphos kansas by

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charles lear

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on december 17 1969 a press release

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announced the closing of the air force's

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ufo investigation project blue book

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despite this the ufos didn't go away and

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once the media stopped focusing on the

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end of blue book stories of ufo

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sightings again made the news and graced

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the pages of many newspapers throughout

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1970 and 1971

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toward the end of 1971 there was a case

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that would become a classic that was

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looked into by an investigator who would

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become well known as a specialist in ufo

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trace cases over the coming years

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in the november 5th 1971 salinas journal

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out of kansas

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there is an article headlined delpho's

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youth surprises ufo it is reported in

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the article that fifteen-year-old ronald

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johnson son of mr and mrs gerald johnson

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was doing his evening chores in the

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early dark tuesday night this was

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november 2nd he was with his dog

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snowball he said that as he approached

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the back of the barn he heard a rumble

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he saw something bright like a welder

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about 50 yards away it whistled like a

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jet plane and rose up quickly he got his

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parents out to look and they were able

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to see it ronald estimated the object to

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be eight feet in diameter and ten feet

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tall on the ground where it had been

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there was a phosphorescent ring the

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ground was burnt and a dead chinese elm

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tree had been knocked down there is a

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follow-up article in the november 7th

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edition of the same paper headlined the

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thing that left a ring the story of the

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sighting by ronald and his parents is

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told again with the additional detail

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that ronald was putting a roof on a

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small stock shed that would provide

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shelter for sheep expected to give birth

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shortly according to the article law

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enforcement officials and personnel from

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the concordia weather bureau office

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visited the site and tried to find clues

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as to what the object might have been

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a picture that had been taken of the

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ring was at the ottawa county sheriff's

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office an official from that office told

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the paper that another sighting of an

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object heading north was reported by a

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minneapolis kansas resident ronald said

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that the ring had stopped glowing but at

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least two trees in the area had spots

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that glowed at night ted phillips looked

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into the case and wrote a report that

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was published in flying saucer review

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case histories supplement nine february

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1971.

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according to phillips dr j allen heineck

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an astronomer who had been a scientific

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consultant for the air force throughout

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almost the entirety of its ufo

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investigation contacted him on december

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2nd 1971. phillips had become a

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specialist in trace evidence cases on

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hynek's advice he was a member of the

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aerial phenomena research organization

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and one of the founders of the midwest

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ufo network which would go on to become

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the mutual ufo network

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phillips called ottawa county sheriff

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ralph enlow who was one of the first to

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investigate the report and told him he'd

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be in the area on december 4th enloe

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offered to contact the johnsons and did

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so when phillips arrived he was given a

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soil sample that enlo had taken and the

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two of them went to the johnson farm

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phillips described the lot as being like

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a bug at that point as the snow in the

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area was melting phillips talked to

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ronald and his parents and they told him

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what they'd seen they went to the site

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and phillips was amazed to see that the

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ring was visible as it was defined by

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the unmelted snow on top of it after

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removing the snow they found that the

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soil within the ring was dry in contrast

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to the moist soil around it phillips and

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mr johnson got a soil sample from the

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ring and phillips describes it as

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containing a white substance that was

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found throughout the ring he also

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describes the soil as being dried to a

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depth of 12 inches philips report

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contains information not contained in

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the initial news accounts ronald johnson

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said that for several days after the

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sighting his eyes were sore and he had

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headaches mrs johnson said that when she

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touched the glowing ring her fingertips

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went numb and when she went to rub her

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fingers off on her leg the part of her

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leg she touched went numb as well

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phillips includes a report written by

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thaddeus smith a reporter at the delphos

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republican the johnsons had told her

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their story the day after their sighting

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and she went to the farm saw the ring

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and took a picture she called the

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concordia weather bureau and the ottawa

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county sheriff's office there is also a

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report from under sheriff harlan enlow

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he wrote that he sheriff ralph enlow and

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kansas highway patrol trooper kenneth

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yaeger went to the farm on november 3rd

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talked to the johnsons observed the ring

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took a soil sample of it and took a

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picture of it they also checked for

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radiation with a civil defense

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radiological monitor and found nothing

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unusual phillips returned again on

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january 11 1972. he spoke with sheriff

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enlo and included a written statement

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from enlo in his report enloe wrote that

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the johnsons were respected by the

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officers of his department and that he

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felt the information given by the

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johnsons would be accurate to the best

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of their knowledge a letter to jl and

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heineck at the center for ufo studies

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dated december 9 1977 contains the

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results of a chemical analysis done by

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errol a farouk phd a research fellow at

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the university of nottingham according

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to farooq the soil contained an organic

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substance that caused it to be

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hydrophobic he says that paradoxically

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the substance could be washed out of the

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soil with water he describes the

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substance as being an alkali metal salt

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of an organic acid and speculates that

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its depth in the soil was due to its

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being introduced in an aqueous solution

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he then compares the structure of the

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substance that being an essentially

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hydrophobic organic residue containing a

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hydrophilic carboxylate anion to the

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structure of some local anesthetics

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which he says are similar farouk

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maintained an interest in the delphos

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case in 2017

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he self-published a book about the case

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titled the compelling evidence for ufos

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the book is based on a paper he wrote

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for publication in a scientific journal

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that was rejected farouk said in a 2017

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interview with express that he was told

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the paper dealt with inappropriate

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subject matter in 2021 fruit did manage

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to get published by the scientific

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coalition for uap studies in his paper

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the delphos ce2 case a new appraisal of

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the data he still doesn't conclusively

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identify the substance but presents a

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reasonable deduction as to its chemical

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makeup with the formula c14 h14 n2 o12 2

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negative ca 2 positive he explains the

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luminescence of the ufo and the ring as

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possibly having been due to oxidation as

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the substance was spread over the ground

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in a sprayed aqueous solution in his

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conclusion farouk argues that while his

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hypothesis that a uap spraying an

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aqueous solution into the ground may

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read like a sci-fi fantasy it provides a

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model that fully explains the more