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foreign

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the best hoax in UFO history by Charles

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Lear there are cases throughout UFO

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history that continued to inspire debate

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even though they've been declared hoaxes

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by most of the people who have looked

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into them one such case came up early on

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during the beginning of the UFO mystery

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it was investigated by Captain Edward J

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Rupel then head of Project Blue Book and

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second Lieutenant Robert M Olsen in his

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1956 book the report on unidentified

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flying objects root belt tells the

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reader that it was officially labeled a

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hoax and calls it the best hoax in UFO

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history even so there were a couple of

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unexplained details that have left some

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researchers such as Carl flock wondering

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according to root belt in his book he

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got a call from Air technical

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intelligence command Wright-Patterson

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Air Force Base Dayton Ohio where Project

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Blue Book had its office while he was in

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the shower getting ready for work an

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operational immediate wire had just come

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in and root belt was told that he should

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come in as soon as he could when he got

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to ATEC he learned that the wire was

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from an intelligence officer at a

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Florida Air Base he told of a UFO

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encounter by a scout master and three

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Boy Scouts the scout master was

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reportedly burned after getting too

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close and was described as a solid

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citizen according to root Pelt transport

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on a B-25 was arranged and he and Olson

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headed to Florida when they got to the

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air base an intelligence officer there

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arranged for the scoutmaster to come to

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the base and he got there within minutes

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having expected the arrival of rupelden

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Olsen rupelt describes the scoutmaster

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as a pleasant man in his 30s not very

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talkative but willing to cooperate the

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man told them that he had lived in

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Florida his whole life called a military

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Prep School some college and joined the

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Marines he'd been a car mechanic owned a

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gas station and was at that time working

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as a clerk in a hardware store a few

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months before local church established a

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Boy Scout Troop and he volunteered to be

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a scout master he said that he was

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driving three boys home after a scout

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meeting when he saw a light off to his

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left he asked the boys if they'd seen it

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and they said no he then saw lights and

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this time the boys saw them too and he

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stopped he wanted to go into the woods

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which consisted of scrub Pines and

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Palmetto thickets and investigate but

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the boys were afraid to stay in the car

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alone so he drove on he said he became

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bothered by the possibility that what

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he'd seen had been a plane crashing and

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he was moved to turn around to go back a

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program that was scheduled the last 15

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minutes had just come on the radio and

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he told the boys that if he wasn't back

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by the time it was over they should go

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to a nearby Farmhouse they had passed

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and get help according to the scout

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master he went into the woods equipped

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with a machete and he was wearing a

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denim cap with a bill he said he went 50

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feet in and then finding no path through

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a palmetto Thicket he ended up waiting

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through waist tie brush he perceived a

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faint odor root belt says that it was

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actually more like a subconscious

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awareness and a slight increase in

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temperature he worked his way through to

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a clearing where one of the many ponds

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that dot the area he then became

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consciously aware of the odor and the

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heat he felt someone was watching him

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looked up to fund the North Star and saw

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that a dark shape about 30 feet above

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him was blotting out the sky he moved

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out from under it and the air was

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fresher and cooler he said he's shown

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his flashlight on the shape and saw it

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was circular with a smooth gray surface

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he said there was a dome on top that the

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edge of the craft was thick and had

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veins spaced around it about one foot

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apart he said he felt a fury come over

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him and that he got the idea to attack

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the object with his machete as soon as

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that idea came into his head he saw the

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Shadows on the Dome changed slightly and

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he heard a noise like the opening of a

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well-oiled safe door he froze and

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watched as a small red ball of fire

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floated towards him it then expanded

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into a Red Mist he covered his face with

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his arms and passed out as the Mist

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enveloped him when the scoutmaster

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didn't come back the boys went to The

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Farmhouse the farmer there listened to

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their story called the Florida State

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Highway Patrol and someone there called

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the County Sheriff's Office a deputy

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sheriff in a constable came to the house

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and the boys were taken along with them

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back to the car the scoutmaster had

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regained Consciousness and came upon the

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group as they pulled up the deputy later

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told rupelp that he had never seen a

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person as scared as the scout master was

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who was barely able to tell his story

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everyone went to the woods and they

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found a flashlight and grass that was

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flattened as if someone had been lying

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there they marked the spot the Constable

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took the boys home and the scoutmaster

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followed the deputy to the Sheriff's

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Office the scout master said that that

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was when he first noticed that his face

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and arms were burned and when he got to

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the sheriff's office he found his cap

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had been burned as well the deputy then

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called the Air Force according to root

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belt the scoutmaster kept asking what

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did I see and said that even though the

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story had leaked to the papers he was

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waiting for clearance from the Air Force

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before he spoke with the Press groupelt

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told him he was free to say anything he

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wanted rupelt wrote that he spoke with

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the flight surgeon who had examined the

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scoutmaster and he confirmed that there

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were burns on his arms in the backs of

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his hands he added that his nostrils

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were burned as well and that his hair

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had been singed according to him the

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burns were minor and could have been

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made with a lighter he suggested that

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rupelt should check the man's Marine

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records rupelt Olsen the deputy sheriff

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the constable and three people from the

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intelligence office went to the site

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they tested for radiation and found

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nothing unusual they also took soil and

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grass samples rupelden Olson interviewed

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the Scout Masters employer and some of

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his friends and they had nothing bad to

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say about him after returning to Dayton

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root belt learned that the scoutmaster

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had been discharged from the Marines

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after stealing a car and being AWOL and

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that he'd also done time in a federal

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prison he also learned that the man had

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hired a press agent rupelt sent the

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machete cap and the soil and grass

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samples to be analyzed because the man

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portrayed in the records didn't match

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the man described by the people rupeld

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and Olson had interviewed they returned

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and found more character Witnesses and

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this time the man the new Witnesses

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described matched the man in the records

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and they became convinced that the

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report was a hoax the lab that had

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examined the machete and hat found

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nothing unusual about the machete and

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could only confirm that the cap was

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indeed scorched but found some tiny

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Burns had very probably been made by an

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electrical spark the lab that had

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examined the grass had found that the

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roots had been charred while the part

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above the soil hadn't been it was

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determined at the lab that this could be

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duplicated by heating pans of grass and

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sandy soil to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

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root belt couldn't come up with an

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explanation as to what could have caused

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the charring at the site so while The

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scoutmaster's credibility was

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questionable what caused the charring of

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the Grassroots remains a mystery Carl

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flock wrote a highly detailed 1997 paper

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on this case titled the best hoax in UFO

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history where he identifies the scout

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master as Dunham Sanborn Sonny

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despergers he closed with this so was

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this the best hoax in UFO history or as

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UFO historian Jerome Clark put it the

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ufologist's worst nightmare a real

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experience which happened to an

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[Music]

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foreign