1 00:00:00,709 --> 00:00:07,708 Hidden away in an underground archive are row upon row of files few have seen. 2 00:00:07,708 --> 00:00:12,707 The lights work of history's greatest UFO hunter. 3 00:00:12,707 --> 00:00:18,706 And they may contain proof that we are not alone. 4 00:00:18,706 --> 00:00:29,705 In 1957, America's most advanced aircraft is followed by something that had the power to disappear. 5 00:00:29,705 --> 00:00:37,703 In 1957, you don't have an aircraft that can jump from 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock instantaneously. 6 00:00:37,703 --> 00:00:44,702 A landing in the desert turns sand to glass and leaves behind other physical traces. 7 00:00:44,702 --> 00:00:48,702 These weren't just random holes in the ground, this was an engineered craft. 8 00:00:48,702 --> 00:00:50,701 Who came out to investigate this? 9 00:00:50,701 --> 00:00:51,701 FBI. 10 00:00:51,701 --> 00:01:02,700 And the most sought after photographs in UFO history. 11 00:01:02,700 --> 00:01:08,699 These photos have become the holy grail of the ufology. 12 00:01:08,699 --> 00:01:17,697 Corroborating reports, strange marks in the desert, and a picture too perfect to be a hoax. 13 00:01:18,697 --> 00:01:21,697 It's a perfect match. 14 00:01:21,697 --> 00:01:28,696 This is case number 54103, the Lost UFO Files. 15 00:01:28,696 --> 00:01:42,693 The Lost UFO Files 16 00:01:42,693 --> 00:01:47,693 1954, the Arizona desert outside of Tucson. 17 00:01:47,693 --> 00:01:58,691 Under sunset, James E. McDonald, a senior physicist at the University of Arizona, is driving through the expansive desert with four meteorologists. 18 00:01:58,691 --> 00:02:05,690 Off in the distance, McDonald notices a strange point of light hovering above the mountains. 19 00:02:05,690 --> 00:02:09,689 A bright anomalous object appears to be made of aluminum. 20 00:02:09,689 --> 00:02:15,688 He points it out to his colleagues, but none of the men are able to identify it. 21 00:02:15,688 --> 00:02:20,688 It appears without much of a reaction. 22 00:02:20,688 --> 00:02:28,686 Little do these men know, but this mysterious sighting has just changed the course of UFO history. 23 00:02:28,686 --> 00:02:34,685 James McDonald became fascinated with the controversy over UFO studies. 24 00:02:34,685 --> 00:02:43,684 And the more his fascination grew, the more he realized that these cases had to be investigated. 25 00:02:46,684 --> 00:02:59,682 Over the next 16 years, McDonald interviews over 500 witnesses, uncovers important government documents, and gives presentations of UFO evidence to huge crowds across the country. 26 00:02:59,682 --> 00:03:07,680 He was the first man to take hard science into the UFO phenomenon and bring it into the scientific community. 27 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:18,679 Today, McDonald's legacy lives on in the archives of the University of Arizona, an untapped resource of UFO investigation and evidence. 28 00:03:18,679 --> 00:03:25,678 There's a massive amount of material here. The collection is extensive, very meticulously detailed handwritten notes. 29 00:03:25,678 --> 00:03:31,677 We've got film, video, physical artifacts. There could be some pretty interesting information here. 30 00:03:31,677 --> 00:03:46,674 With special access to his archived files, UFO hunters aims to piece together the investigations of James McDonald by bringing classic case files into the 21st century. 31 00:03:46,674 --> 00:03:52,674 UFO hunters meet with archivist Scott Cossel, who escorts them into the vault. 32 00:03:52,674 --> 00:03:55,673 Here we are now, this is the archive of the University of Arizona special collections. 33 00:03:55,673 --> 00:04:02,672 The James McDonald papers run from here all the way down that way. This is a restricted area. 34 00:04:04,672 --> 00:04:05,672 Happy hunting. 35 00:04:08,671 --> 00:04:09,671 Wow. 36 00:04:10,671 --> 00:04:26,668 Bill Burns will reopen one of the most controversial cases in UFO history, the 1965 Eflin photographs, and put them through vigorous tests and visual analysis. 37 00:04:27,668 --> 00:04:42,666 These four images have become the holy grail of ufology. If they're real, they're the best pictures of UFO we have anywhere. 38 00:04:43,666 --> 00:05:00,663 Dr. Ted Acworth will dig into the RB-47 UFO sightings of 1957, when a UFO reportedly pursues an Air Force crew for over 90 minutes and 700 miles. 39 00:05:01,663 --> 00:05:13,661 One of McDonald's most compelling cases, the incident includes three verifiable sources, the pilot, a ground radar station, and the plane's state-of-the-art electronic countermeasure technology. 40 00:05:13,661 --> 00:05:18,660 Did all three see a UFO with staggering capabilities? 41 00:05:18,660 --> 00:05:25,659 This one looks pretty good because it's not just witness testimony, but if we can uncover more technical data about the radar. 42 00:05:25,659 --> 00:05:32,658 It wasn't just the radar systems on board the aircraft, but also the radar on the ground. There were active radar installations that actually picked up the UFO at the same time. 43 00:05:32,658 --> 00:05:35,658 So maybe through this research here, maybe we can end up with something new. 44 00:05:35,658 --> 00:05:44,656 Pat Uskert is looking closer at the 1964 sightings of a strange craft by Lonnie Zamora, a police officer in Socorro, New Mexico. 45 00:05:44,656 --> 00:05:51,655 The case involves a shiny capsule-like craft that blasts off, leaving hard evidence behind. 46 00:05:51,655 --> 00:05:55,655 In the Zamora file, there were sketches, there were photographs, and his testimony. 47 00:05:55,655 --> 00:06:04,653 What I'd like to do is, using our more modern techniques and tools that we have today, is pick up where McDonald left off and see what actually happened that day to Lonnie Zamora. 48 00:06:04,653 --> 00:06:08,653 After all these years, this has never really been resolved. 49 00:06:10,652 --> 00:06:15,652 The files are the culmination of 17 years of work by McDonald. 50 00:06:16,652 --> 00:06:22,651 He began assembling them in 1953 while a professor at the University of Arizona. 51 00:06:22,651 --> 00:06:29,650 Within McDonald's files, cases originally conducted by Project Blue Book are reopened. 52 00:06:29,650 --> 00:06:36,649 His research uncovered some of the first proof that the CIA was investigating UFOs. 53 00:06:36,649 --> 00:06:47,647 His documents revealed the possibility that the Air Defense Command, Air Force Intelligence, and even the Strategic Air Command were involved in UFO incidents. 54 00:06:47,647 --> 00:06:51,646 His conclusion? The public is being deceived. 55 00:06:55,646 --> 00:07:01,645 You can't do any research into the work of James McDonald without examining the Heflin case. 56 00:07:01,645 --> 00:07:05,644 McDonald was fascinated by the Heflin case. In fact, he couldn't let it go. 57 00:07:05,644 --> 00:07:13,643 August 3, 1965, Santa Ana, California, approximately 12.30 p.m. 58 00:07:13,643 --> 00:07:19,642 Traffic investigator Rex Heflin is about to take a picture of a tree branch that is obscuring a road sign. 59 00:07:19,642 --> 00:07:24,641 But out of the corner of his eye, he witnesses something fascinating. 60 00:07:25,641 --> 00:07:32,640 A saucer-shaped craft moving across the horizon just 150 feet above the ground. 61 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:39,639 According to Heflin, he snaps these three pictures with his Polaroid 101 Instant Camera. 62 00:07:39,639 --> 00:07:45,638 As the object travels left to right across the road, the first, taken through the front windshield, 63 00:07:45,638 --> 00:07:52,637 clearly shows a saucer-shaped object that appears to be off in the distance flying above the ground. 64 00:07:52,637 --> 00:07:59,636 The second seems to show the same disk as taken through the side window of Heflin's truck. 65 00:07:59,636 --> 00:08:05,635 In the third picture, the object seems to be smaller, as if traveling away from the camera. 66 00:08:05,635 --> 00:08:13,634 Within two minutes, the alleged saucer disappears, but leaves behind a peculiar smoke ring in the sky. 67 00:08:14,634 --> 00:08:18,633 James McDonald wasn't the only person fascinated by the Rex Heflin case. 68 00:08:18,633 --> 00:08:23,632 The Air Force investigated it, Project Blue Book investigated it, 69 00:08:23,632 --> 00:08:27,632 and also the Condon Committee investigated this case. 70 00:08:27,632 --> 00:08:31,631 All of those groups dismissed the case as a hoax. 71 00:08:31,631 --> 00:08:39,630 Project Blue Book was the Air Force's official program studying UFO phenomenon until 1968, 72 00:08:39,630 --> 00:08:42,629 when the Condon Committee, headed by physicist Edward Condon, 73 00:08:42,629 --> 00:08:47,629 determined that UFO research was unlikely to yield any serious results. 74 00:08:47,629 --> 00:08:51,628 Blue Book was abandoned two years later, in 1970, 75 00:08:51,628 --> 00:08:55,627 but James McDonald believed Condon's conclusions were highly flawed 76 00:08:55,627 --> 00:09:00,627 and showed a blatant disregard for the high number of unexplained incidents. 77 00:09:01,626 --> 00:09:07,625 Bill's investigation begins with Ann Druffel, who not only maintains copies of the Heflin photographs, 78 00:09:07,625 --> 00:09:10,625 but is also James McDonald's biographer. 79 00:09:10,625 --> 00:09:15,624 These photos have become almost like the Holy Grail of ufology. 80 00:09:15,624 --> 00:09:19,624 It did, but you see, Rex Heflin didn't think anything of it. 81 00:09:19,624 --> 00:09:25,623 He had lent them first to two military sources that wanted to analyze them, 82 00:09:25,623 --> 00:09:27,622 and both of these sources returned them. 83 00:09:28,622 --> 00:09:34,621 But then, according to McDonald's files, Heflin states that two men claiming to be from NORAND, 84 00:09:34,621 --> 00:09:39,621 the North American Air Defense Command, asked to borrow the photos. 85 00:09:39,621 --> 00:09:45,620 Now, Rex Heflin was used to working with official sources because of his job, 86 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:50,619 so he gave them the photos expecting that they would be returned within a few days, 87 00:09:50,619 --> 00:09:56,618 but they never were, and all we had left were second-generation copies. 88 00:09:56,618 --> 00:10:00,617 After Heflin claims his originals are not returned, 89 00:10:00,617 --> 00:10:04,617 the U.S. Air Force officially labels them a photographic hoax. 90 00:10:04,617 --> 00:10:10,616 With only copies to analyze, some debunkers claim to see a line just above the UFO, 91 00:10:10,616 --> 00:10:14,615 indicating some type of wire or connection to the object. 92 00:10:15,615 --> 00:10:21,614 Others disagree, saying these are defects or alterations seen only in the copies. 93 00:10:21,614 --> 00:10:25,614 Without the original photos, there is no way to be sure. 94 00:10:27,613 --> 00:10:32,612 So suddenly other copies of the photos began to spread through parts of the community? 95 00:10:32,612 --> 00:10:34,612 Yes, of course they had been altered. 96 00:10:34,612 --> 00:10:39,611 So if one were paranoid, one would say there was some kind of a disinformation thing going on 97 00:10:39,611 --> 00:10:43,611 with various copies of the photos that kept turning up. 98 00:10:46,610 --> 00:10:51,610 Some believe that the originals were taken for precisely this reason. 99 00:10:51,610 --> 00:10:57,609 And then, almost 20 years later, something miraculous happens. 100 00:10:57,609 --> 00:11:01,608 One day his phone rang, and a woman's voice said, 101 00:11:01,608 --> 00:11:04,608 have you checked your mailbox lately? 102 00:11:04,608 --> 00:11:06,607 And Rex was puzzled. 103 00:11:06,607 --> 00:11:10,607 But he went out and he saw an envelope there. 104 00:11:10,607 --> 00:11:14,606 He opened it, and there were the three original photos 105 00:11:14,606 --> 00:11:20,605 that the so-called NORAD men had borrowed 20 years before or so. 106 00:11:20,605 --> 00:11:27,604 Today, Anne Druffel is the closest source for getting to the original photographs taken by Heflin. 107 00:11:27,604 --> 00:11:31,603 And she gives Bill copies of the photos for further analysis. 108 00:11:31,603 --> 00:11:38,602 Heflin died in 2005 and never wavered from his story that he photographed an actual object, 109 00:11:38,602 --> 00:11:40,602 albeit an unusual object. 110 00:11:40,602 --> 00:11:43,602 The question remains today. 111 00:11:43,602 --> 00:11:47,601 Is he hoaxed the photo, or is it a real object? 112 00:11:47,601 --> 00:11:51,600 Will the wire or line appear in the original copies? 113 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:56,600 Closer analysis and crucial data from McDonald's files may reveal 114 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,599 if these are really photos of a flying saucer. 115 00:12:00,599 --> 00:12:03,599 It's a perfect match! 116 00:12:07,598 --> 00:12:09,598 After his death in 1999, 117 00:12:10,598 --> 00:12:14,597 physicist James McDonald left behind an amazing array of files, 118 00:12:14,597 --> 00:12:17,596 precise notes, photos, audio files, 119 00:12:17,596 --> 00:12:23,596 and other evidence meticulously collected over years of research into UFO phenomenon. 120 00:12:23,596 --> 00:12:31,594 UFO hunters have selected three of the most intriguing cases to follow up with new investigations. 121 00:12:31,594 --> 00:12:34,594 April 24, 1964 122 00:12:35,594 --> 00:12:37,593 5.45 p.m. 123 00:12:37,593 --> 00:12:41,593 Officer Lonnie Zamora of the Socorro New Mexico Police Department 124 00:12:41,593 --> 00:12:46,592 is pursuing a black Chevrolet speeding down Old Rodeo Street 125 00:12:46,592 --> 00:12:51,591 when he hears a loud roar and sees a bluish flame to the southwest. 126 00:12:51,591 --> 00:12:54,591 Zamora abandons pursuit of the vehicle 127 00:12:54,591 --> 00:12:59,590 and radios that he is investigating a possible explosion. 128 00:12:59,590 --> 00:13:01,590 As he nears the scene, 129 00:13:02,590 --> 00:13:05,589 he expects to see an accident. 130 00:13:05,589 --> 00:13:10,588 Instead, he sees something entirely different, 131 00:13:10,588 --> 00:13:15,588 a shiny metallic object that has landed to the side of the road in the desert. 132 00:13:15,588 --> 00:13:19,587 He estimates it is approximately 30 feet wide, 133 00:13:19,587 --> 00:13:22,587 the size of a small RV today. 134 00:13:22,587 --> 00:13:27,586 He also claims the egg-shaped craft has four landing supports at its base. 135 00:13:27,586 --> 00:13:33,585 Suddenly, the object lifts off with the same bluish flame traveling to the southeast. 136 00:13:33,585 --> 00:13:36,584 It disappears within minutes. 137 00:13:36,584 --> 00:13:39,584 Pat is in Socorro, New Mexico, 138 00:13:39,584 --> 00:13:43,583 hoping to find new leads based on James McDonald's file. 139 00:13:43,583 --> 00:13:47,583 It's really hard to emphasize how significant the Lonnie Zamora case is. 140 00:13:47,583 --> 00:13:52,582 It's been a part of every major UFO report since Project Blue Book. 141 00:13:52,582 --> 00:13:55,581 So this case has never been so clear. 142 00:13:55,581 --> 00:13:58,581 And that's why we have to look at it. 143 00:13:58,581 --> 00:14:01,581 Local historian and reporter Paul Hardin 144 00:14:01,581 --> 00:14:06,580 recently covered Zamora's sighting in the L. Defensor Chieftain newspaper. 145 00:14:06,580 --> 00:14:08,580 And after more than 40 years, 146 00:14:08,580 --> 00:14:12,579 he found that Zamora's story still has legs. 147 00:14:12,579 --> 00:14:16,578 Can you tell me why people are still talking about this incident 40 years after it happened? 148 00:14:16,578 --> 00:14:19,578 That's a good question. I was kind of surprised myself. 149 00:14:19,578 --> 00:14:22,577 I do a lot of history articles, 150 00:14:22,577 --> 00:14:24,577 never UFO articles before. 151 00:14:24,577 --> 00:14:26,577 You don't consider yourself a ufologist? 152 00:14:26,577 --> 00:14:28,576 No, not really. 153 00:14:28,576 --> 00:14:32,576 I was really surprised at how many people in town actually remembered it, 154 00:14:32,576 --> 00:14:35,575 more were involved in it, and so it got kind of interesting. 155 00:14:35,575 --> 00:14:39,575 So from a historical point of view, this is real history. This really happened. 156 00:14:39,575 --> 00:14:42,574 No doubt in my mind that the incident happened. 157 00:14:42,574 --> 00:14:47,574 The only thing that history can't tell you is, you know, what did Mr. Zamora see? 158 00:14:47,574 --> 00:14:49,573 I can't answer that. 159 00:14:49,573 --> 00:14:54,572 Zamora's account is one of the most specific UFO sightings ever recorded. 160 00:14:54,572 --> 00:14:57,572 According to McDonald's Zamora file, 161 00:14:57,572 --> 00:15:03,571 not only did he provide descriptions of the object's size, appearance, speed and behavior, 162 00:15:03,571 --> 00:15:07,570 but reports described marks left in the sand by the object, 163 00:15:07,570 --> 00:15:11,570 as well as fused sand and scorched brush. 164 00:15:11,570 --> 00:15:14,569 Numerous witnesses to these strange physical traces 165 00:15:14,569 --> 00:15:18,569 are unseen within minutes after the sighting. 166 00:15:18,569 --> 00:15:22,568 So immediately you have a fair number of law enforcement agents 167 00:15:22,568 --> 00:15:27,567 that were at the scene ten minutes or so after Lonnie sought. 168 00:15:27,567 --> 00:15:30,567 When you say at the scene, you mean they went to the landing site? 169 00:15:30,567 --> 00:15:32,567 They went to the actual landing site. 170 00:15:32,567 --> 00:15:37,566 Okay, and so these were law officers that could confirm that there were landing impressions in the dirt 171 00:15:37,566 --> 00:15:40,565 and that there were burned bushes. 172 00:15:41,565 --> 00:15:46,565 Well, as a matter of fact, in the original Defensure Chiefs and Story, 173 00:15:46,565 --> 00:15:51,564 they cite how when they arrived at the scene, the plants were still smoldering. 174 00:15:51,564 --> 00:15:53,563 Wow. 175 00:15:53,563 --> 00:15:56,563 So, you know, it tells you something happened. 176 00:15:57,563 --> 00:16:00,562 Many people have looked into the Zamora sighting, 177 00:16:00,562 --> 00:16:03,562 but few have come up with any solid conclusions. 178 00:16:03,562 --> 00:16:08,561 Some believe this is because Zamora has remained silent for over a decade, 179 00:16:08,561 --> 00:16:12,561 but Pat is on his way to hear the story first-hand. 180 00:16:12,561 --> 00:16:16,560 Lonnie Zamora has agreed to break his silence. 181 00:16:20,559 --> 00:16:23,559 As Pat heads out into the desert, 182 00:16:23,559 --> 00:16:27,558 Ted travels to Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California 183 00:16:27,558 --> 00:16:30,558 to meet with aviation expert Bill Scott. 184 00:16:30,558 --> 00:16:33,557 The two are looking into James McDonald's file 185 00:16:33,557 --> 00:16:39,556 on the sighting of a UFO trailing a state-of-the-art RB-47 in 1957. 186 00:16:39,556 --> 00:16:43,556 Now, Professor McDonald was really interested in this case 187 00:16:43,556 --> 00:16:46,555 because he's felt there was an awful lot of technology involved, 188 00:16:46,555 --> 00:16:49,555 which was giving up serious hard evidence. 189 00:16:49,555 --> 00:16:53,554 It was our most sophisticated listening technology on the planet, really. 190 00:16:53,554 --> 00:16:59,553 The RB-47E was the reconnaissance backbone of the U.S. Air Force during the 1950s. 191 00:16:59,553 --> 00:17:02,553 It was specifically outfitted not to carry weaponry, 192 00:17:02,553 --> 00:17:06,552 but highly sensitive elant or electronic intelligence technology 193 00:17:06,552 --> 00:17:09,552 used to intercept radar signals. 194 00:17:09,552 --> 00:17:12,551 Its job, with all its electronic gear on board, 195 00:17:12,551 --> 00:17:16,551 would be to fly along the border of the Soviet Union, for instance, 196 00:17:16,551 --> 00:17:19,550 and listen for the Russian radars that were transmitting. 197 00:17:19,550 --> 00:17:22,550 In the 1950s, when this aircraft was launched, 198 00:17:22,550 --> 00:17:26,549 it was our most sophisticated radar listening equipment in the world, right? 199 00:17:26,549 --> 00:17:27,549 That's exactly right. 200 00:17:27,549 --> 00:17:31,549 1950s technology, of course, but that was a state-of-the-art. 201 00:17:31,549 --> 00:17:33,548 It was critical to our national security, 202 00:17:33,548 --> 00:17:36,548 so of course we had the best electronic gear that was available. 203 00:17:36,548 --> 00:17:39,547 But the U.S. Air Force's best available technology 204 00:17:39,547 --> 00:17:43,547 would soon encounter something beyond its own capabilities. 205 00:17:43,547 --> 00:17:49,546 July 17, 1957, just after 4 a.m., 206 00:17:49,546 --> 00:17:52,545 an RB-47 with a six-man crew 207 00:17:52,545 --> 00:17:55,545 is on a routine training mission over the Gulf of Mexico 208 00:17:55,545 --> 00:17:58,544 near the town of Gulfport, Mississippi. 209 00:17:58,544 --> 00:18:03,544 On the No. 2 monitor, one of the officers detects a signal moving rapidly. 210 00:18:03,544 --> 00:18:07,543 For the next 90 minutes and 700 miles, 211 00:18:07,543 --> 00:18:11,542 the aircraft's elant, ground radar installations, 212 00:18:11,542 --> 00:18:14,542 and even the Air Force pilots themselves, 213 00:18:14,542 --> 00:18:19,541 will observe a strange object tracking one of the Air Force's most important aircraft. 214 00:18:20,541 --> 00:18:23,541 This crew was on their way back from our training mission, 215 00:18:23,541 --> 00:18:26,540 all six of them aboard, three of whom were the elant operators. 216 00:18:26,540 --> 00:18:28,540 This is the end of their training. They were about to ship out, 217 00:18:28,540 --> 00:18:31,539 so they're probably at the height of their expertise, 218 00:18:31,539 --> 00:18:34,539 just finishing up an extensive training program in the states before deployment. 219 00:18:34,539 --> 00:18:39,538 At the time, this was our front-line fighting force, a strategic air command, 220 00:18:39,538 --> 00:18:43,538 so these elant operators would have been very well trained, 221 00:18:43,538 --> 00:18:47,537 because literally the fate of the country were in their hands 222 00:18:47,537 --> 00:18:50,536 and the pilots that flew these airplanes. 223 00:18:50,536 --> 00:18:53,536 How about the elant equipment? How long had that been out? 224 00:18:53,536 --> 00:18:56,536 Is there any chance that this equipment was malfunctioning 225 00:18:56,536 --> 00:18:59,535 or it's such a brand new technology that there's some question there? 226 00:18:59,535 --> 00:19:01,535 Or was this tried and true hardware? 227 00:19:01,535 --> 00:19:04,534 I would say it was probably tried and true hardware at the time. 228 00:19:04,534 --> 00:19:07,534 So it was cutting edge, very well maintained. 229 00:19:11,533 --> 00:19:14,533 According to James McDonald's report, 230 00:19:14,533 --> 00:19:18,532 despite this being the most advanced equipment in service, 231 00:19:18,532 --> 00:19:21,532 the officer who first spots the object on the elant 232 00:19:21,532 --> 00:19:24,531 thinks the equipment is malfunctioning. 233 00:19:24,531 --> 00:19:27,531 They had one of the other operators that double-checked it, 234 00:19:27,531 --> 00:19:29,530 tried it on another monitor, 235 00:19:29,530 --> 00:19:33,530 which would use a different set of antennas on the RB-47. 236 00:19:33,530 --> 00:19:36,529 They established very early on that the equipment was working fine, 237 00:19:36,529 --> 00:19:38,529 everything was perfect. 238 00:19:38,529 --> 00:19:43,528 But the rest of the crew is about to get an up-close and personal view 239 00:19:43,528 --> 00:19:46,528 of whatever is appearing on their scope. 240 00:19:46,528 --> 00:19:52,527 As the RB-47 approaches Jackson, Mississippi for the second part of its exercise, 241 00:19:52,527 --> 00:19:56,526 one of the pilots spots what he first thinks are landing lights 242 00:19:56,526 --> 00:19:58,526 of another jet coming in fast. 243 00:19:58,526 --> 00:20:01,526 As the single bluish-white light closes rapidly, 244 00:20:01,526 --> 00:20:06,525 he alerts the rest of the crew to be ready for sudden evasive maneuvers. 245 00:20:06,525 --> 00:20:08,525 But before he can attempt anything, 246 00:20:08,525 --> 00:20:13,524 both he and his co-pilot see the light instantaneously change directions 247 00:20:13,524 --> 00:20:16,523 and flash across their flight path. 248 00:20:16,523 --> 00:20:18,523 Then it blinks out. 249 00:20:21,523 --> 00:20:24,522 In these rare recordings from the files, 250 00:20:24,522 --> 00:20:29,521 James McDonald is heard conducting an interview with a pilot who encountered the object, 251 00:20:29,521 --> 00:20:31,521 Colonel Lewis D. Chase. 252 00:20:31,521 --> 00:20:34,521 I'm looking at it as a pilot at night now, being a light source, 253 00:20:34,521 --> 00:20:36,520 that I interpreted as an airplane. 254 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,520 But then suddenly the pilot's going to be so fast that I put my loose on. 255 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,519 Did it simply blink out or did it take off at the appreciate-wanker Boston? 256 00:20:44,519 --> 00:20:46,519 No, it just went off. 257 00:20:46,519 --> 00:20:47,519 Just disappeared? 258 00:20:47,519 --> 00:20:48,518 That's what you think? 259 00:20:48,518 --> 00:20:49,518 Yeah. 260 00:20:49,518 --> 00:20:53,518 That's quite an intercept which you're starting back on. 261 00:20:53,518 --> 00:20:55,517 That is really, really strange. 262 00:20:55,517 --> 00:20:58,517 Now these were trained aircraft pilots. 263 00:20:58,517 --> 00:21:00,517 These are United States Air Force officers. 264 00:21:00,517 --> 00:21:02,516 These guys know what aircraft look like. 265 00:21:04,516 --> 00:21:09,515 Nothing in the U.S. military arsenal has the ability to simply blink out. 266 00:21:13,515 --> 00:21:19,514 In the report, the pilot, a 20-year veteran, claims the object moved at a velocity, 267 00:21:19,514 --> 00:21:23,513 quote, he'd never seen matched in his flight experience. 268 00:21:23,513 --> 00:21:28,512 And for them to be really shocked about something they saw visibly says a lot. 269 00:21:28,512 --> 00:21:32,512 So now you add to that that in addition to the visible sighting, 270 00:21:32,512 --> 00:21:36,511 we had, you know, this aircraft, the technology back here in the bay, 271 00:21:36,511 --> 00:21:41,510 was our most sophisticated listening system for listening to radar. 272 00:21:44,510 --> 00:21:47,509 With no surviving images from the flight's elant, 273 00:21:47,509 --> 00:21:54,508 Ted turns to the testimony in McDonald's files to verify the object's incredible maneuvers. 274 00:21:54,508 --> 00:22:01,507 And Bill zeroes in on Rex Heflin's photographs with a field test putting the hoax theory on the line. 275 00:22:03,507 --> 00:22:10,506 James McDonald's files are offering up intriguing leads on some of the top UFO cases ever recorded. 276 00:22:10,506 --> 00:22:15,505 From Lonnie Zamora's strange encounter in the desert, 277 00:22:15,505 --> 00:22:22,504 to highly trained RB-47 pilots being buzzed by objects they cannot describe. 278 00:22:22,504 --> 00:22:24,504 But perhaps they are not. 279 00:22:24,504 --> 00:22:29,503 But perhaps the most well-known case involves these photos. 280 00:22:29,503 --> 00:22:37,502 Four images of a saucer-shaped object taken in 1965 by Rex Heflin in Santa Ana, California. 281 00:22:37,502 --> 00:22:41,501 Many have claimed that the photos are a hoax. 282 00:22:41,501 --> 00:22:48,500 One reason they cite is that Heflin could not have possibly shot three polar bears in the desert. 283 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:50,500 But could he? 284 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:56,499 Bill has brought in a senior scientist from Polaroid, Ted McClelland, to put this theory to the test. 285 00:22:56,499 --> 00:23:04,498 Was it possible for Rex Heflin to snap off three photos in 20 seconds using a Polaroid 101? 286 00:23:04,498 --> 00:23:06,497 It was a very long time ago. 287 00:23:06,497 --> 00:23:08,497 But it's not a long time ago. 288 00:23:08,497 --> 00:23:11,497 It's been a long time since he was shot. 289 00:23:11,497 --> 00:23:19,495 Heflin has been able to snap off three photos in 20 seconds using a Polaroid 101. 290 00:23:23,495 --> 00:23:27,494 Ted has brought an authentic Polaroid 101 camera. 291 00:23:27,494 --> 00:23:34,493 It is the exact same model Rex Heflin used in his everyday work and to take the infamous photos. 292 00:23:34,493 --> 00:23:38,492 The filter very simply goes in to the back of the camera, 293 00:23:38,492 --> 00:23:40,492 throws it up and everything is light tight, 294 00:23:40,492 --> 00:23:46,491 raises the viewfinder and hits the shutter button and pulls the frames out and I'll demonstrate that. 295 00:23:46,491 --> 00:23:51,490 So you're not waiting for the film to actually process inside the back of the camera. 296 00:23:51,490 --> 00:23:54,490 You just take the whole pack right out as soon as you're done with the photo? 297 00:23:54,490 --> 00:23:57,490 You take the frame out as soon as you snap the shutter? 298 00:23:57,490 --> 00:23:59,489 Okay. Well, acid test. 299 00:23:59,489 --> 00:24:00,489 Ready? 300 00:24:00,489 --> 00:24:01,489 Ready. 301 00:24:01,489 --> 00:24:02,489 Go! 302 00:24:09,488 --> 00:24:12,487 Two, you're doing good. 303 00:24:16,487 --> 00:24:18,486 Seventeen seconds. 304 00:24:18,486 --> 00:24:20,486 Very good. 305 00:24:20,486 --> 00:24:27,485 But with one debunking point crossed off the list, there are still others that plague the Heflin evidence. 306 00:24:27,485 --> 00:24:33,484 Several claims have been made that the shots are too focused, suggesting a double exposure. 307 00:24:34,484 --> 00:24:40,483 A double exposure happens when two photos are taken on the same frame of film. 308 00:24:40,483 --> 00:24:46,482 If this was a hoax, Heflin could have taken one photo out of his window of the sky 309 00:24:46,482 --> 00:24:51,481 and then taken a second photo of a hubcap or similar object on the same film, 310 00:24:51,481 --> 00:24:55,481 making it appear as if the two images are one. 311 00:24:58,480 --> 00:24:59,480 So Ted, 312 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,479 another really big issue in this whole Heflin controversy is this. 313 00:25:03,479 --> 00:25:05,479 Look at this shot. 314 00:25:05,479 --> 00:25:10,478 This looks like it's in focus, that looks like it's in focus, that looks like it's in focus. 315 00:25:10,478 --> 00:25:15,478 And these vagus look like they're in focus, and this is in focus. 316 00:25:15,478 --> 00:25:16,477 The rear view mirror. 317 00:25:16,477 --> 00:25:21,477 So one of the issues is that these are somehow double exposures or hoax shots. 318 00:25:21,477 --> 00:25:24,476 Depending on the camera settings and the film stock, 319 00:25:24,476 --> 00:25:27,476 objects can be seen as well as the camera. 320 00:25:27,476 --> 00:25:30,475 The focus is on the focus and the film stock. 321 00:25:30,475 --> 00:25:35,475 Objects close to the lens or far in the distance can appear out of focus. 322 00:25:35,475 --> 00:25:39,474 Heflin's ability to capture a crisp foreground and background 323 00:25:39,474 --> 00:25:42,474 led many to question the validity of the photos. 324 00:25:42,474 --> 00:25:48,473 Using this camera, having it set on infinity with 3000 ASA speed film, 325 00:25:48,473 --> 00:25:52,472 you would be in focus from three feet to infinity. 326 00:25:52,472 --> 00:25:57,471 That camera can keep all of these disparate objects, this, this, this, 327 00:25:57,471 --> 00:26:02,470 and the line of the road going off into infinity here, in focus at the same time. 328 00:26:02,470 --> 00:26:03,470 Correct. 329 00:26:06,470 --> 00:26:12,469 Another point that plagued James MacDonald was seen in Heflin's fourth and final photo. 330 00:26:12,469 --> 00:26:18,468 Heflin's last image appears to show a smoke ring that lingers after the craft flies away. 331 00:26:19,468 --> 00:26:23,467 The first three photos show what seems to be clear skies, 332 00:26:23,467 --> 00:26:28,467 but the fourth, supposedly taken only two minutes after the first three, 333 00:26:28,467 --> 00:26:30,466 shows clouds in the sky. 334 00:26:30,466 --> 00:26:33,466 So looking at these three photos taken from inside the car, 335 00:26:33,466 --> 00:26:37,465 in fact, you can't see any clouds in these photos, whether they're not. 336 00:26:37,465 --> 00:26:41,465 Gets out of the car, takes this, now suddenly clouds appear in the photo. 337 00:26:41,465 --> 00:26:44,464 So the question is, where are the clouds? 338 00:26:44,464 --> 00:26:50,463 This camera, the automatic exposure, is probably tricked by the darkness within the van 339 00:26:50,463 --> 00:26:52,463 and setting the exposure closer to that. 340 00:26:52,463 --> 00:26:57,462 The outside photo, the last one, is nothing to interfere the auto-exposure 341 00:26:57,462 --> 00:27:00,462 and it's picking up exactly what it sees. 342 00:27:00,462 --> 00:27:04,461 So let me get this straight. Here, it's getting darkness from inside the truck. 343 00:27:04,461 --> 00:27:05,461 Correct. 344 00:27:05,461 --> 00:27:06,461 Over-exposes this. 345 00:27:06,461 --> 00:27:07,461 Correct. 346 00:27:07,461 --> 00:27:11,460 Therefore, totally white sky against the totally black background. 347 00:27:11,460 --> 00:27:17,459 But here, he's outside, so the automatic exposure only takes what it sees 348 00:27:17,459 --> 00:27:20,459 from the light that's coming in the lens, nothing interferes with it. 349 00:27:20,459 --> 00:27:23,458 It takes exactly what it sees, i.e. the clouds. 350 00:27:23,458 --> 00:27:24,458 Correct. 351 00:27:24,458 --> 00:27:26,458 That mystery solved. 352 00:27:34,456 --> 00:27:38,456 While some of the major debunking points have been dismissed, 353 00:27:38,456 --> 00:27:43,455 the harshest one of all is that the object itself is a fake. 354 00:27:43,455 --> 00:27:48,454 Project Blue Book labeled the photos as a hoax, 355 00:27:48,454 --> 00:27:54,453 calculating that the object was only 9 inches in diameter, 12 feet off the ground, 356 00:27:54,453 --> 00:27:58,453 and about 15 to 20 feet in the distance. 357 00:27:58,453 --> 00:28:05,452 There is no hoax that I saw pulling up negatives of this, magnifying this as best I could. 358 00:28:05,452 --> 00:28:07,451 I saw no signs of a hoax. 359 00:28:07,451 --> 00:28:09,451 No strings, no piano wire. 360 00:28:09,451 --> 00:28:10,451 Nothing like that. 361 00:28:15,450 --> 00:28:23,449 Yet the strongest proof that this is a true UFO may lie in calculations by James McDonald himself. 362 00:28:23,449 --> 00:28:29,448 But Pat is still in search of something solid on the Lonnie Zamora file. 363 00:28:29,448 --> 00:28:33,447 I'm here at the police station here in Socorro, New Mexico, 364 00:28:33,447 --> 00:28:36,447 where I'm going to meet the chief of police, Lawrence Romero. 365 00:28:36,447 --> 00:28:41,446 Lawrence has agreed to take Pat to meet Lonnie Zamora at the landing site. 366 00:28:41,446 --> 00:28:45,446 Pat is hoping to get a clearer picture of Zamora's sighting 367 00:28:45,446 --> 00:28:49,445 and revisit some of James McDonald's lingering questions. 368 00:28:51,445 --> 00:28:53,444 So what is your opinion of Lonnie? 369 00:28:53,444 --> 00:28:58,444 Lonnie is a very upfront type guy, excellent police officer. 370 00:28:58,444 --> 00:29:01,443 He's a pillar of his church also. 371 00:29:01,443 --> 00:29:03,443 So you don't doubt his story at all? 372 00:29:03,443 --> 00:29:04,443 No. 373 00:29:04,443 --> 00:29:06,442 So are we close to this site now? 374 00:29:06,442 --> 00:29:07,442 Yes, we are. 375 00:29:07,442 --> 00:29:11,442 We're about 400 feet, 500 feet. 376 00:29:14,441 --> 00:29:18,441 By finally meeting Lonnie Zamora, the key witness in the case, 377 00:29:18,441 --> 00:29:23,440 Pat aims to dig deeper into one of McDonald's strangest cases. 378 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,439 What touched down in the desert outside of Socorro, New Mexico on that cold spring day? 379 00:29:28,439 --> 00:29:31,439 This is one of the original indentations? 380 00:29:35,438 --> 00:29:39,437 Pat is in Socorro, New Mexico and has come to meet with Lonnie Zamora, 381 00:29:39,437 --> 00:29:43,437 the subject of one of James McDonald's top UFO cases. 382 00:29:43,437 --> 00:29:49,436 Zamora hasn't talked about his 1964 encounter in the desert in over a decade, 383 00:29:49,436 --> 00:29:55,435 but after years of scrutiny, Lonnie hopes that he can help prove what he saw was not a hoax. 384 00:29:56,435 --> 00:29:58,434 So what did you see from this vantage point? 385 00:29:58,434 --> 00:30:03,434 From here I can see down on top of it sort of an ancient object. 386 00:30:03,434 --> 00:30:07,433 I'll say about 30 to 40 feet wide. 387 00:30:07,433 --> 00:30:11,432 I didn't know what it was until I started moving towards it. 388 00:30:11,432 --> 00:30:15,432 I realized it was something that I had never seen before. 389 00:30:15,432 --> 00:30:21,431 I thought maybe it would be some kind of air force experiment at the first. 390 00:30:21,431 --> 00:30:26,430 So at first you thought maybe this was a military aircraft of some sort. 391 00:30:26,430 --> 00:30:27,430 Yeah, something like that. 392 00:30:27,430 --> 00:30:31,429 Well it was investigated and they found out that there was no such aircraft. 393 00:30:31,429 --> 00:30:33,429 Yeah, I wasn't here at all. 394 00:30:36,429 --> 00:30:42,428 The odd shape and structure of the object Lonnie describes is similar to the lunar module. 395 00:30:42,428 --> 00:30:49,427 In fact, air force investigators initially theorize that this might be a test of this top secret vehicle. 396 00:30:50,426 --> 00:30:53,426 But further analysis quickly proved this theory wrong. 397 00:30:53,426 --> 00:31:03,425 A flyable working model of the lunar module was not ready until 1965, a full year after Zamora sighted. 398 00:31:03,425 --> 00:31:08,424 But whatever landed here left evidence behind. 399 00:31:11,423 --> 00:31:15,423 Now you're saying there were actual indentations from the craft down here. 400 00:31:15,423 --> 00:31:17,422 Yes, the craft's a rod. 401 00:31:17,422 --> 00:31:20,422 And there's one indentation right there. 402 00:31:21,422 --> 00:31:23,421 This is one of the original indentations? 403 00:31:23,421 --> 00:31:24,421 Yeah, right there. 404 00:31:25,421 --> 00:31:26,421 Okay, one of them's there. 405 00:31:26,421 --> 00:31:27,421 There's another one over there. 406 00:31:27,421 --> 00:31:28,421 Okay. 407 00:31:28,421 --> 00:31:30,420 Where the rock is. 408 00:31:30,420 --> 00:31:32,420 And one over there. 409 00:31:32,420 --> 00:31:33,420 And one over here. 410 00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:35,420 So it was four. 411 00:31:35,420 --> 00:31:40,419 So right after the craft lifted off, these indentations were fresh? 412 00:31:40,419 --> 00:31:41,419 Right, right. 413 00:31:41,419 --> 00:31:43,418 Real fresh. 414 00:31:44,418 --> 00:31:51,417 The indentations are not the only physical traces the craft leaves. 415 00:31:51,417 --> 00:31:57,416 According to Lonnie, bushes burn and rocks smolder at the landing site. 416 00:31:57,416 --> 00:32:00,416 So Lonnie, where were these bushes exactly? 417 00:32:00,416 --> 00:32:04,415 Well, that was a big one right there, one right there, where I up here. 418 00:32:04,415 --> 00:32:05,415 And then we'll all burn it. 419 00:32:05,415 --> 00:32:08,415 This was the one that was burning more, you know. 420 00:32:08,415 --> 00:32:12,414 You couldn't get near it, it was just burning. 421 00:32:12,414 --> 00:32:15,414 Do you think this fire here was directly related to the object you saw? 422 00:32:15,414 --> 00:32:17,413 Yeah, what it took off, yeah. 423 00:32:17,413 --> 00:32:21,413 But this evidence is quickly confiscated by Air Force investigators, 424 00:32:21,413 --> 00:32:24,412 who arrive soon after Lonnie does. 425 00:32:26,412 --> 00:32:32,411 And McDonnell reveals it wasn't the Air Force that asked for this debris to be collected and taken away. 426 00:32:32,411 --> 00:32:34,411 It was the FBI. 427 00:32:36,410 --> 00:32:41,410 Adding to the mystery, the files reveal that the FBI didn't want anyone 428 00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:44,409 to know they were working on the case. 429 00:32:44,409 --> 00:32:47,409 The reason is never fully revealed. 430 00:32:48,408 --> 00:32:53,408 They were excited about it, you know, trying to ask questions. 431 00:32:53,408 --> 00:32:57,407 But they wouldn't let me answer any questions. 432 00:32:57,407 --> 00:32:59,407 Just keep it quiet for a while. 433 00:32:59,407 --> 00:33:01,406 Air Force told you to keep this quiet for a while. 434 00:33:05,406 --> 00:33:09,405 James McDonnell was interested in breaking that silence 435 00:33:09,405 --> 00:33:15,404 and doggedly tracked down specialists who had been brought in by the government to investigate Lonnie's sighting. 436 00:33:15,404 --> 00:33:21,403 His files indicate one expert, Amari Maze from the University of New Mexico, 437 00:33:21,403 --> 00:33:24,403 was enlisted to analyze plant material. 438 00:33:24,403 --> 00:33:28,402 In an interview with McDonnell, Maze described the location 439 00:33:28,402 --> 00:33:34,401 and reported seeing a 25-30-inch patch of fused sand at the landing site. 440 00:33:34,401 --> 00:33:39,401 According to her, a small area of desert had turned to glass. 441 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,400 One test may shed additional light on Lonnie's story. 442 00:33:57,398 --> 00:34:00,397 In hopes of adding to McDonnell's investigation, 443 00:34:00,397 --> 00:34:07,396 Pat aims to find out just how much energy it would take to melt the sand from the site of Zamora's encounter. 444 00:34:07,396 --> 00:34:11,396 I'm meeting Patrick Morrissey, a glassblower with 30 years of experience, 445 00:34:11,396 --> 00:34:15,395 who's going to tell me exactly how sand fuses in the glass. 446 00:34:15,395 --> 00:34:20,394 And I've specifically brought sand from the Sikoro landing site, 447 00:34:20,394 --> 00:34:23,394 where Lonnie's Zamora saw the craft land. 448 00:34:26,394 --> 00:34:29,393 Now, you know that there are various theories about what happened. 449 00:34:29,393 --> 00:34:34,392 One of them is that something landed and fused the sand from incredibly high temperatures. 450 00:34:34,392 --> 00:34:38,392 Another theory is that there may be hoaxers somehow fused the sand. 451 00:34:38,392 --> 00:34:43,391 So what I'd like to know from you is, what does it take to fuse sand into glass? 452 00:34:43,391 --> 00:34:47,390 First, what we have to do is we're going to take it off of here, we're going to use this plate right here. 453 00:34:47,390 --> 00:34:52,390 And then we'll put it into our glass glory hole over here and see if we can melt it. 454 00:34:52,390 --> 00:34:55,389 So Patrick, while this is heating up, I'd like to ask you a few questions. 455 00:34:55,389 --> 00:34:58,389 Let's say these hoaxers came out with some equipment, let's say a blowtorch. 456 00:34:58,389 --> 00:35:02,388 Could that work? If a hoaxer brought out a blowtorch and tried to fuse sand? 457 00:35:02,388 --> 00:35:06,387 It's a pretty good plane, but that would not really melt any glass at all. 458 00:35:06,387 --> 00:35:07,387 It's just not hot enough. 459 00:35:07,387 --> 00:35:11,387 So basically you're saying you need an oven to melt glass. 460 00:35:11,387 --> 00:35:12,386 That's right. 461 00:35:14,386 --> 00:35:17,386 I think I see the sand changing color. 462 00:35:17,386 --> 00:35:19,385 It's starting to bond a little bit. 463 00:35:19,385 --> 00:35:24,385 Now don't let that bond fool you, it's not glass. Not yet anyway. 464 00:35:25,384 --> 00:35:31,384 After nearly 25 minutes, the sand sample from the Zamora site is ready to be examined. 465 00:35:31,384 --> 00:35:33,383 It's kind of hot. 466 00:35:35,383 --> 00:35:36,383 About how hot? 467 00:35:36,383 --> 00:35:39,382 Right now it's definitely at least 2100 degrees. 468 00:35:39,382 --> 00:35:42,382 So 2100 degrees Fahrenheit is sufficient to melt sand. 469 00:35:42,382 --> 00:35:46,381 2100 degrees is hot enough to melt the sand that you bought. 470 00:35:46,381 --> 00:35:51,381 So now according to our reports, there was a huge patch of fused glass at the landing site. 471 00:35:51,381 --> 00:35:55,380 So you're saying it takes 2100 degrees to create this. 472 00:35:55,380 --> 00:35:58,379 25 minutes to melt that little piece. 473 00:35:58,379 --> 00:35:59,379 Right. 474 00:35:59,379 --> 00:36:02,379 So the hoaxer scenario is kind of hard to believe. 475 00:36:05,378 --> 00:36:09,378 It takes over 2100 degrees and some duration of time to melt sand. 476 00:36:09,378 --> 00:36:11,377 Maybe over 20 to 25 minutes to melt the sand. 477 00:36:11,377 --> 00:36:16,377 So in Patrick's professional opinion, the hoaxer scenario is unlikely. 478 00:36:16,377 --> 00:36:24,375 Pat's finding adds great validity to Lonnie Zamora's story. 479 00:36:24,375 --> 00:36:30,375 Meanwhile, Ted continues his investigation into James McDonald's RB-47 case. 480 00:36:30,375 --> 00:36:38,373 What happens when the most sophisticated aircraft in the U.S. arsenal is upstaged by something far more advanced? 481 00:36:38,373 --> 00:36:45,372 1957, you don't have an aircraft that can jump from 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock instantaneously and then just blink out. 482 00:36:46,372 --> 00:36:59,370 James McDonald's files have provided new grounds for investigation for both Rex Heflin's photos and Lonnie Zamora's sightings in the desert. 483 00:36:59,370 --> 00:37:14,368 But with no radar records or eyewitnesses from 1957, little is known about the RB-47 encounter where an object pursued a state-of-the-art Air Force jet for over 90 minutes and 700 miles. 484 00:37:14,368 --> 00:37:23,366 With this in mind, Ted and Bill Scott have plotted the course of the aircraft in hopes of understanding the strange events on that summer morning. 485 00:37:26,366 --> 00:37:33,365 So the aircraft turns west and that's when the pilot has a visual sighting right out of the cockpit. 486 00:37:33,365 --> 00:37:36,364 And then what do they do over this course here before Dallas? 487 00:37:36,364 --> 00:37:39,364 That's when they're actually trying to evade the object. 488 00:37:39,364 --> 00:37:47,363 They started accelerating and decelerating to see if they could lose the object and it always stayed right with them all the time. 489 00:37:48,363 --> 00:37:53,362 Now at this point, the pilot contacts Duncanville with their ground-based radar. 490 00:37:53,362 --> 00:37:57,361 Not only does Duncanville confirm they can see the UFO, but they can also see the aircraft. 491 00:37:57,361 --> 00:38:05,360 One of the things that fascinates me in this particular incident is that when the pilots reported that the bright light disappeared, 492 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:12,359 the ground-based radar at Duncanville said they lost the object and the E-Land operator said he lost the object as well. 493 00:38:12,359 --> 00:38:18,358 So they all three disappeared at the same time and when it reappears, all three of them see it again. 494 00:38:18,358 --> 00:38:26,357 All three are agreeing on the progression of the case, the visual of the pilots, the RB-47's E-Land technology, 495 00:38:26,357 --> 00:38:33,356 and most amazingly, the radar on the ground as well. Everything is transpiring at the same time. 496 00:38:33,356 --> 00:38:40,355 Now at this point, our pilot has received permission to deviate from his course back to base and now he's basically going after the object, right? 497 00:38:40,355 --> 00:38:50,353 That's right. The object is at a lower altitude, so the pilot of the RB-47 dies towards the object and all of a sudden the object stops and they overshoot it. 498 00:38:50,353 --> 00:38:56,352 So at that time, the crew starts a left-hand turn to get back to where it can see the object. 499 00:38:56,352 --> 00:38:58,352 Unfortunately at this point, they're running low in fuel, right? 500 00:38:58,352 --> 00:38:59,352 That's right. 501 00:38:59,352 --> 00:39:02,351 And that's when they decide to break off and head back for home. 502 00:39:02,351 --> 00:39:09,350 That's right. So then they took off to the north, headed back towards Ford's Air Force Base, Kansas, and the object tends to stay with them. 503 00:39:09,350 --> 00:39:12,350 Right, stayed back, stayed with them almost halfway home. 504 00:39:12,350 --> 00:39:16,349 All the way back to Oklahoma City, again Oklahoma City, it disappears. 505 00:39:16,349 --> 00:39:23,348 After 90 minutes, the intense chase leaves the pilots and the ground-based radar operators dumbfounded. 506 00:39:23,348 --> 00:39:27,348 None of them have an explanation for what has just occurred. 507 00:39:27,348 --> 00:39:35,346 When you string together the various descriptions of the flight maneuvers of this object, would you say that these are explainable through conventional aircraft? 508 00:39:35,346 --> 00:39:43,345 Well, in 1957, you don't have an aircraft that can just blink out both in the electromagnetic spectrum as well as the visual spectrum. 509 00:39:43,345 --> 00:39:45,345 And I would say we don't have anything like that now. 510 00:39:46,345 --> 00:40:00,343 Despite the overwhelming evidence and testimony, Project Blue Book dismissed the sighting quickly, as the near collision of two DC-6 American airliners near Salt Flat, Texas. 511 00:40:00,343 --> 00:40:06,342 They give no details or rationale for this explanation, except for the following statement. 512 00:40:07,341 --> 00:40:17,340 Quote, it was definitely established by the CAA that object observed in the vicinity of Dallas and Fort Worth was an airliner. 513 00:40:18,340 --> 00:40:27,338 Blue Book's conclusion is highly unlikely. The RB-47's flight path didn't come within 400 miles of Salt Flat, Texas. 514 00:40:28,338 --> 00:40:34,337 McDonald used this quote in his report to demonstrate Blue Book's poor methods of investigation. 515 00:40:34,337 --> 00:40:39,337 Yet the case is now carried in the official Blue Book files as identified. 516 00:40:40,336 --> 00:40:43,336 I feel like there must have been something out there, something going on. 517 00:40:43,336 --> 00:40:51,335 It sure looks like something was there. What it is, I don't think we know, and here it is, 50 years later, we still don't know. 518 00:40:52,335 --> 00:41:00,333 The answers to the RB-47 case will never be fully known, but the investigation can be sure of one thing. 519 00:41:00,333 --> 00:41:08,332 James McDonald never agreed with Blue Book's findings, and for him, the case remained unidentified. 520 00:41:10,332 --> 00:41:13,331 But there's one last hoax claim left to be tested. 521 00:41:15,331 --> 00:41:17,331 Rex Heflin's photographs. 522 00:41:17,331 --> 00:41:24,330 Heflin claimed the object he photographed was roughly 20 feet in diameter and about an eighth of a mile from his truck. 523 00:41:24,330 --> 00:41:30,329 Project Blue Book said the object was small, like a hubcap, and close to the camera. 524 00:41:30,329 --> 00:41:37,328 Bill has brought in Ted, an image analyst expert Terrence Masson, to give the photos a closer look. 525 00:41:37,328 --> 00:41:47,326 Blue Book said it was a total hoax that the object was no more than 9 inches in diameter, that it was maybe 12 feet off the ground, maybe 15 to 20 feet in the distance. 526 00:41:47,326 --> 00:41:55,325 But Heflin's account varies greatly. He describes a specific object 20 feet in diameter and 700 feet away. 527 00:41:55,325 --> 00:42:02,324 Using these specific numbers, Terrence has constructed a 3D landscape to test Heflin's claims. 528 00:42:02,324 --> 00:42:10,323 He places a 20-foot diameter saucer 700 feet in the distance, matching the description given by Heflin after the incident. 529 00:42:10,323 --> 00:42:21,321 If Heflin had hoaxed the photos and simply made up numbers regarding the size and distance of the object, there will be almost no chance of the 3D model matching the photos. 530 00:42:21,321 --> 00:42:28,320 If he was telling the truth, if he made an accurate estimation to his eyeball, that object in our simulation has to line up. 531 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:40,318 Here's our 20-foot diameter object, 150 feet off the ground, let's slide it along, fade up our image, and put our object at about 700 feet. 532 00:42:40,318 --> 00:42:41,318 Amazing! 533 00:42:41,318 --> 00:42:42,318 So that's better than close. 534 00:42:42,318 --> 00:42:45,317 Better than close? It's a perfect match! 535 00:42:47,317 --> 00:42:52,316 This is just very simple trigonometry. You just put it in the space, that's very accurate. 536 00:42:52,316 --> 00:42:58,315 At the size of the object and the height of the object that Heflin said it was, they match very, very precisely. 537 00:42:58,315 --> 00:43:05,314 So you've eliminated somebody throwing some stupid thing in the air like a hubcap, you've knocked that out because that couldn't come up this way. 538 00:43:05,314 --> 00:43:16,313 The investigation's theory is now that Heflin must have been observing something not under his control, and that he himself was not hoaxing it. 539 00:43:16,313 --> 00:43:22,312 In my estimation, James McDonnell did a really good job collecting relevant evidence for this case. 540 00:43:22,312 --> 00:43:27,311 They didn't have a lot of computational power back then, digital image processing was a brand new technology. 541 00:43:27,311 --> 00:43:41,309 We've enhanced what McDonnell said because we had these tools at our disposal and therefore could definitively show by the mathematics of that computer simulation that Heflin was right. 542 00:43:42,309 --> 00:43:55,307 Given today's extraordinary leaps forward in technology and scientific analysis, James McDonnell's investigation into UFO phenomena would only have gotten stronger. 543 00:43:55,307 --> 00:44:06,305 But tragically, he committed suicide in 1971, his personal life unraveling as he pushed forward with his scientific studies of UFOs. 544 00:44:07,305 --> 00:44:11,304 Now, his legacy and his tireless work live on. 545 00:44:11,304 --> 00:44:19,303 With other cases awaiting new investigations, and more answers, still waiting to be discovered.