DISCLOSURE / FILE
NAA series M1148 file 'Flying Saucers 1954–1955' from Prime Minister Robert Menzies' personal records, containing correspondence among Australian External Affairs Minister R.G. Casey, CSIRO radiophysics chief E.G. Bowen, UK Ministry of Defence scientific adviser Sir Frederick Brundrett, and overseas posts on the flying saucer question.
NAA series M1148 file 'Flying Saucers 1954–1955' from Prime Minister Robert Menzies' personal records, containing correspondence among Australian External Affairs Minister R.G. Casey, CSIRO radiophysics chief E.G. Bowen, UK Ministry of Defence scientific adviser Sir Frederick Brundrett, and overseas posts on the flying saucer question.
The file collects 1954–1955 correspondence routed through External Affairs Minister R.G. Casey, who circulated overseas dispatches on UFO reports from France, Italy, and the United Kingdom to CSIRO Division of Radiophysics chief E.G. Bowen for scientific comment. Bowen, replying on Casey's letters of January 4 and 24 1955, dismissed Lt. Plantier's electro-magnetic propulsion theory and W.B. Smith's views in Keyhoe's 'Flying Saucers from Outer Space' as violating known physical laws, and agreed with UK Scientific Adviser Sir Frederick Brundrett that the reports' inconsistencies pointed 'in so many directions at once.' Brundrett, reached via Australian External Affairs Office London officer L.R. McIntyre, reported that no sighting in roughly 30 years had been independently corroborated by a second observer, that every case admitted a rational, often meteorological, explanation, and that while a saucer-like vehicle was mechanically feasible it would be expensive and offer no clear strategic advantage. A separate 1953 RAAF Home Command report (No. 207/6/Tele) from Group Captain J.I. Black documents anomalous 2800-megacycle Ground Controlled Approach radar returns at RAAF Williamtown moving against the wind below 5,000 feet, with vectored aircraft seeing nothing.
There are j ust too many physical inconsistencies in the reports to put much faith in them. The difficulty is that they point in so many d1rect1ons at once, not in a single direction .p.3
It might even be persuaded to make excursions outside the atmosphere , but the energy expenditure would be simply enormous and no- one woul d be l eft in any doubt that it was around.p.3
The tarcot oves in any direct on irr = active of uind snd ln nany csses has been observed to move in a direction aga~nst the lind.p.4
on no single occasion has a reported sighting b"en verified by an independent eye witness in another position.p.6
every case so far reported has lent itself to at least one poss ibl e rational explanation - meteorological in a good many cases .p.6
the period mid-September to late October of this year was an open season (about 500 reports), Discs of all shapes and sizes, strange objects landing in lonely fields, little men in space suits, with "ray guns" and many other familiar complements to science fiction were claimed as having been seen.p.9
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1 L W . or.>UG L A S • 'OUTHERN ARIZONA BANK ANO TRUST BUILDING TU C$0N 1 ARIZONA CAt!U." AODAESS 0U0l.EW IS 1 TUCSON 7 Bff February 15, 1955 Your letter of the fifteenth of November, to- gether with a copy of your letter to Bowen, ap- parently was received in New York when I was in the hospital and has been rattling around since unanswered . Please excuse this unseemly and unpardonable delay. The book, " Flying Saucers from Outer Space," ' I have only now located and I shall read it with great interest, only because you recommend it. Were it not for you, I suspect that the title and the c o ve r would persuade me to look in the opposite direction. Your letter to Bowen does not suggest that you hav e gone nuts - yet! Sinc e you wrote the letter many things have been happening in the Far East. I should so like to talk with you about them . It seems to me that our Administration would be on much firmer ground on the Formosa and Pescador es question if they would rest their cas e on the simple legal question of title . T here is no doubt that the title to For- mosa and the Pescadores is very cloudy. It seems to me that there is littl e doubt that title permanentl y can pass only as the result of the terms of a peace treaty or of an instrument equivalent to a peace t r eaty. ' Rt. Hon. Richard G . Casey, CH, DSO, MC Minis ter for External Affairs Melbourne C . 2, Australia
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• 'L. W. DOUGLAS • SC."IJTM£R N ARIZONA SANK ANO TRUST SUILOING TUCSON, ARIZONA C •,eL.C ADOR£SS; OUGL£WI S 1 TUCSON November 20 , 1954 . Dear Mr . Casey : In the absence of Mr . Douglas I am writing to acknowledge your letter to him of November 15th. Mr . Douglas is at present in the hospital in New York where he ts recupera- ting fro~ the operation he underwent recentlY . I will forwe.rd your letter there and it will be brought to his attention as soon as he has sufficiently recovered to be able to t&ke cere of his correspondence . Rt. !Ion. Richard G. Casey, CH, JJSO, .t-'C, l•tl.nis ter for External Affairs, V.elbourne, C. 2 . , Austral.ia. )~IV>· ~t'"Y fA' .;"'-.. )!!j1i -?4o ; ,
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' EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. For Mr . Casey : Press release on FlYing Saucers. I was not satisfied with the cable that I got back from London saying that there didn ' t appear to be much sense in your statement, so I for\7arded a complete copy of it to Dr . Blount who is known to you and who is now No . 2 in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. I have just had a letter from Dr . Blount and he forwarded your statement to a man called Mr. Turney of the Directorate of Scientific Intelligence , who deal s particularly in such matters . Turney replies as foll ows :- 11 I have not previously seen the statement and I can find no trace of it or anything like i t having been received in D. S . I . from one of Brookes ' friends . Mr. Casey ' s statement is entirely sensible , if not very original . There is no doubt whatever that meteors or meteorites account for many, perhaps most , of the reported sightings of flying saucers at night ; we have ourselves had a number of excellent exampl es in reports received from members of the public . The apparent correlation between the sightings in Australia and periods of meteoric activity is interesting, though one is chary of accepting a correlation as significant ~dthout seeing the data on which it is based. If the figures are available I should be glad to see them; they might be useful in breaking up the waves of belief in the flying saucer myth which are occasionally generated." Dr. Blount says if we want to get in touch with Turney , his name and address is :- G. L. Turney , Esq. 1 O. B. E., Director ate of Sc entific Intelligence , Ministry of Defence , Metropol e Buildings , Northumberland Avenue , LOliDON , W . C. 2. Dr. Blount adds that we might l i ke our attenti on drawn to a book recentl y published on the same subject. I t is entitled simply ''Flying Saucers" and is by Donal d H. Menzel, Professor of Astro Physics at Harvard . It is published in London by Putnam and Coopany Ltd . in 1953. You might like to write to Turney direct i f you are interested in following up the subject any fur ther, and send him any figures . Alternativel y you might wi sh me to forward it on for you, which of course I would be del ight ed to do. I must apol ogise for getting you a nonsense answer from London initially and hope that the above re- establisl our faith in their commonsense . ~ Would you like me to get the book by Menzel? I don ' t suppose one should make any menti on of what Turney has to say withour first getting his cl earance , because he is a Public Servant who probably tries to avoid the light of day . A. B. Dictated over telephone by Mr. Brookes on 23/2/1954.
Concatenated page-by-page transcript. Born-digital pages came through pdf.js; scanned pages were transcribed by Claude vision OCR. Pages marked unreadable failed multiple OCR retries (heavy redaction, microfilm artifacts, or blank separators) and are kept in place for audit.
1 L W . or.>UG L A S • 'OUTHERN ARIZONA BANK ANO TRUST BUILDING TU C$0N 1 ARIZONA CAt!U." AODAESS 0U0l.EW IS 1 TUCSON 7 Bff February 15, 1955 Your letter of the fifteenth of November, to- gether with a copy of your letter to Bowen, ap- parently was received in New York when I was in the hospital and has been rattling around since unanswered . Please excuse this unseemly and unpardonable delay. The book, " Flying Saucers from Outer Space," ' I have only now located and I shall read it with great interest, only because you recommend it. Were it not for you, I suspect that the title and the c o ve r would persuade me to look in the opposite direction. Your letter to Bowen does not suggest that you hav e gone nuts - yet! Sinc e you wrote the letter many things have been happening in the Far East. I should so like to talk with you about them . It seems to me that our Administration would be on much firmer ground on the Formosa and Pescador es question if they would rest their cas e on the simple legal question of title . T here is no doubt that the title to For- mosa and the Pescadores is very cloudy. It seems to me that there is littl e doubt that title permanentl y can pass only as the result of the terms of a peace treaty or of an instrument equivalent to a peace t r eaty. ' Rt. Hon. Richard G . Casey, CH, DSO, MC Minis ter for External Affairs Melbourne C . 2, Australia
• 'L. W. DOUGLAS • SC."IJTM£R N ARIZONA SANK ANO TRUST SUILOING TUCSON, ARIZONA C •,eL.C ADOR£SS; OUGL£WI S 1 TUCSON November 20 , 1954 . Dear Mr . Casey : In the absence of Mr . Douglas I am writing to acknowledge your letter to him of November 15th. Mr . Douglas is at present in the hospital in New York where he ts recupera- ting fro~ the operation he underwent recentlY . I will forwe.rd your letter there and it will be brought to his attention as soon as he has sufficiently recovered to be able to t&ke cere of his correspondence . Rt. !Ion. Richard G. Casey, CH, JJSO, .t-'C, l•tl.nis ter for External Affairs, V.elbourne, C. 2 . , Austral.ia. )~IV>· ~t'"Y fA' .;"'-.. )!!j1i -?4o ; ,
C OMMONWEALTH COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL D IV ISION OF RADIOPH YSI lllfGJAIIIII CO U t i . U (M t\'ONU TELU HO N£ o IIW UU Rt: FI:J TO The Rt . Hon . R. G. casey, OM, CH, nso, MC, Minister in Charge of c . s . I . R. O., commonweal th Offices , Tr easury Place , MELBOURNE , C. 2 , Victoria. MY near Minister, I am writing in reply to your two letters of January 4th and 24th on flying saucers . I read them and the enclosures with great interest, but I must admit that I was rather at a loss for comment on the despatches from France and Italy. It was , however, very amusing to see that the main reaction in France was a ribald one . I did not entirely understand the theory of el ectro-magnetic pr opulsion expounded by Lt. Pl ant i er in Pari s - Pr esse l' Intransigeant but , like the views of Mr. W . B. Smith in Keyhoe ' s "Flying saucers f r an outer space" , t hey savour very much of doing work without the expenditure of power. This is an age- old fallacy or, to put it in rather different terms , propulsion by these means violates all the physical laws as we know them. The latest letter with comments from Brundrett I found much easier going and most heartily agree with the pointe he makes. There are j ust too many physical inconsistencies in the reports to put much faith in them. The difficulty is that they point in so many d1rect1ons at once, not in a single direction . Also I agree with Brundrett that given enough time and finance it mi ght be possible to build a body with some of the characteri stics of a flying saucer. It might even be persuaded to make excursions outside the atmosphere , but the energy expenditure would be simply enormous and no- one woul d be l eft in any doubt that it was around. Yours sincerely , .- (? ~ (E. G. BOVIen) CHIEF OF THE DIVISION p . s . I am returning the enclosures to your le t ters of January 4th and 24th.
In re,..J please quote : No. ~{)7 /6/Tele ( oA) RESTRICT m ROYAL Al'S'!'RALIAN AIR FORCE Headquarters nome co~ru:md , R. A. A. F., Penri th 1 . I NeYI South tales l~th nece ber 1953 commonrealth Scientific and Industrial rtesearch Oruanization , University arounds , City Road , Chippcn ale. TFJLEC01Tt:U1'IICATIONS AND RA~AR lillOMALOl'S PROPAGATION 1. Advice has been received from the R. A. A. F. Units at ~illlamtown of a phunomcnon Hhich is being obse1•ved on the frequency of 2800 megacycles , thi£ frequency being used by the Ground cont1·olled Approach equipment . 2 . The pheno enon t kes the form of strong echoes sinil ~ to radar returns frOM heavy cloud for tiona but no cloud formation hfls been vieil: le ut the time the echoes have been observed. The tarcot oves in any direct on irr = active of uind snd ln nany csses has been observed to move in a direction aga~nst the lind. Ch nges in shape similar to cloud formations take place and are clearly observed to a radius of 10 miles . 3 . The actual heights to which the echoes rise is unlmovm l)ut is believed to be belO"i/ 5000 feet, as a tilt of 5 de;rees of the search antenna causes severe attenuation of the signals in icating tho target to be at low levels . E<;hoes seen on the Precioion Indicators show the targot to be from ground level to approximately 2000 feet . 4 . It ~1ould appear the turget has 1nter.nal movement u::; it shows up brilliantly v1hen the !'oving Target In icator Sy tern is in operation , although its relative movement to or from tho !C)ro md installation is very sloVI , on occasions being less than 2 miles per hour . 5 . several times aircraft have been vectored on to tho area in which the phenomenon has been observed but pilots have reported nothing unusual. A number of landings have been made through the phenomenon but no abnorJal ef~ects were observed by all concerned. 6 . The possibility of dust being the couee is rejected as visibility has been uxcellent except in one instance when a pilot reported haze whilst looking for tho tar et . 7 . The mutter \7as discussed with the e 1bers of the Meteorological Branch at 'lill.i.amtown who can advunce no possible cmtse for the phenonenon . a. Tho rn£t tter is referred for your information and it wottld be appreciated if any solution cun be of1'er·ed by your Deportment . ( J' . I . BLACK) Group capt ·d.n for Offir.er Te 1 orarily commandingRGC/CVH Dear Dr. Bcmon, Cotll!lon\'tenlth Offices , Treasury Place , ~LP01JRI{§ 1 C.?. 24th January , 1955. I enclose n latter rrom our External Affairs Minister 1n London - L. R. Uclntyre - about tttly1ng Slluocrs 11 • I think ~·ou may find this on intere:lting lottcr - and it l~aches tho saoo conclusion as yourself. \ I \'iOUld be gr.:t teful to have 1 t back when you have had a loolt ot it, I am going today up to Sydney for two or I thrco days - and I may eivo you a call on the telephone - altho~gh my time up thoro is fairly well :r.ortan_ged in advance. 1ith bast wishes - I am, Yours sincerely, y ( R. G. CASL'Y). Dr. r: .o. Dcr.ton, t Chief or the D1vis1onGot Radiophysics, c.s.I.R.o., university G~~~ds, SYDNLJY . n.s ,E .• • CO 'F1 ENTI L TEMPLE BAR _....,.. 2435 AUSTRALIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICE. l rt r~p/y quole No. AUSTRAUA HOUSE, LONOON. W.C.Z. Personal & Confidential 12th Janunry, 1955. l u., ~ /:~ 1 A:.y enquiries in respect of your letter of 9th November last, asking whether any responsible people over here were taking flying saucers seriously, have ultimately led me to ~ir .rrederick Brundrett , Scientific Adviser to the Minister of Defence and (I am told) a Anowledgeable and authoritative figure in the eyes of the United Kingdom Chiefs of Staff. I had previousl y made some sotmdings at the senior service level, and have been given to understand that , so far as was known, flying saucers were not taken seriously here and no special research VI8.S being carried out to try to find a siq>le explanation for these phenomena (as the Americans are reported to be doing) . At the same time I was told that if by any chance anything was being done here , Brundrett would be bound to know about it. Brundrett is from all accounts a person you yourself might be interested in meeting. In addition to being hibhJ.y regarded as a scientist , with long experience as an adviser to all the ciervioes at various times , he is I believe a successful farmer , who breeds Red Poll s and makes his farm pay by scientific methods. lie is certainly agreeable and pleasant to meet, He told me that he had as a oatter of fact made something of a stu:ly of the problem himself in an effort to lay a ghost , as it 'l"'ere. He says that as stories of sightings of flying saucers accumulated he himself refused to be completely sceptical and decided to make first of all a careful study of all available visual "evidence". This study, covering a large number of reported sightings extending over the past 30 years or so , revealed two things that struck him as curious : (a) on no single occasion has a reported sighting b"en verified by an independent eye witness in another position. In other words , a report from an aircraft crew has never been verified by another aircraft or from an observer on the ground; and observations fraa the ground , even men claimed by several persoos in one position , have never been supported by observers situated elsewhere . (b) every case so far reported has lent itself to at least one poss ibl e rational explanation - meteorological in a good many cases . Brundrett is particularly impressed by (a) ; he feels that, with so many reports now avaiJa.ble , it is almost inconceivable that there should hav e been no independent testimony in at least one of them. He finds it difficult to accept the possibility that the kind of thing periodicall y reported by pilots could not at least saueti es be seen at various places on the ground. On the whole , therefore, he has reached the conclusion that there is nothing in the f l ying saucer theory. But he has not entirely discarded the possibili ty that such things may ex ist . He believes that the kind of thing pilots tl1ink they h.ave seen is a feasible mechanical proposition which could be manufactured on the basis of monern scientific knowledge - i f it were considered worth making. It would be difficult , and also expensive; but it co1.Ud be made , and it could travel very fast . I asked hir. whether it would in fac ~ be worth making, and whether it would have any mechanical or strategic /advantages
c 2. advantages over any flying cachine produced up to the present . Brundrett said it could have distinct advantages . One might imagine an advanced development of the Rolls-Royce "flying bedstead" which caused a lot of interest at last year' s Farnborough Air Display. In other woriis, it might provide a solution to the problem of vertical take-off for super-sonic aircraft . Since in fact such a nachine could be manufactured , one must not completely dismiss the possibility that it was already in existence; but he himself thought this highly unlikely. Another conceivable explanation of the phenomenon was the possible presence of small satellites rocketing round the earth at , of course , a very high level . He by no means ruled out the possibility that, with the developnent of nuclear energy, ::~uch " satellites" could be created artificially. The idea had been tho~t about in America. Vlho c auld say that things of this sort , created naturally, and moving so fast as to be normally invisible from the ground, might not already be in existence? It was a faintly possible explanation of the saucer theory, though he did not really accept it. In short , he did not believe that f'l;ing saucers ex is ted , and considered that all reports so far received , even though emanating from many sane and responsible people , had been based on one or[other form of hallucination . Nor :lees he consider that the available evidence is enough to ,justify the setting aside of money and resources for serious study. But he has by no means closed his mind completely. I am still continuing my search for the photograph of WavellfStump that you enquired about longer ago than I care to think. 1 y early enquiries got nowhere , and I am afraid :. have not followed them up as pertinaciously a.a I might have , 1ut I am still trying, and we may get somewhere. Rt. Hon. R.G. Casey, CH, DSO , ~C , ~ ~ ~inister for External Affairs, Canberra, A. C. T. ~ ( ...... rt. Jrcintyre)
... PERSONAL - F'LYING SAUCERS RGC/CVH Co~nuoalth Off1cc3 , Treasury Place, l:\E!LBOURiiE , c.. 2., 4th January, 1955'. I enclose a nucbor or letters £rom our posts about ''FlyL"'ll; Saucors" . If you have any comcent on them, I ' d be intorestod to he3r . I an, Yours sincerely , (R. G. CASEi) . Dr. E. G. Bowen, Division of Radiophysice , c.s. I.R . o., University Grounds , sxnum:. tt.s .r:. P. S . Would you please let me have the attached papers back with your reply .
AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY, PARIS. · ..-J 21st December 1954. Your letter of 9th November reached me when I was in London. Soon after, Paul McGuire talked to me about flying saucers, and asked me whether there had been any particular interest in them in France. I told him there had been a certain number of reports, but I thought they had been treated rather derisively. There, in London, I found a certain amount of interest in some quarters, and t here have been one or two books produced. A rather reliable friend of mine told me that a friend of his in the Air Force, when he was flying a jet, saw one flying alongside him. It went ahead, then came back straight at him, but before colliding swerved and went over him. Unfortunately, he did not press the trigger which would have put his camera gun into operation, but the radar had recorded the saucer and, I understand, it has recorded many others - but then the radar will also record heavy cloud formations. One interesting thing I was told was that flying saucers have been reported in Europe since the Middle Ages and that there are various references to them in the chronicles of that time. I cannot give you references but no doubt the National Library would oroduce them . Recent ones seem to be of two types - cigars or saucers, and there is a theory that the cigar launches the saucers. As far as France is concerned, unidentified flying objects (u.f.o.) have been seen or detected 1n the past by many people in widely separated parts of France, but the period mid-September to late October of this year was an open season (about 500 reports), Discs of all shapes and sizes, strange objects landing in lonely fields, little men in space suits, with "ray guns" and many other familiar complements to science fiction were claimed as having been seen. At first, the reports in the Press were presented relatively seriously, but, as the fashion developed and tbe claims became more fantastic, the Press took up the game and they became a national joke. For this reason it is impossible to disentangle fact from speculation and true reports from sensational fantasies. Apart from a 11 Flying 4 Chevaux" (t.enault), and an illuminated "Flying Pumpkin", chased by some villagers in the Pyrenees, the objects described appeared to fall into two main groups: saucers and cigars. It is possible that they may refer to the one and same object depending on the angle The Rt . Hon . R.G. Casey, C. H. 7 D.S.O., M.c., M.P., Minister of State for External affairs, Canberra. A.C.T.
2 . of vision. They are supposed to resemble two saucers placed rum to rim with port-holes on top; the reported diameter varied from 10 ft . to 50 ft . or more; they could remain stationary in mid- air and then move noiselessly at very high speed either horizontally or vertically; they are alleged to be capable of suddenly changing course whilst in flight, and it is possible that this operation would account for the variously coloured lighting effects described. It would seem probable that by far the greater number of genuine u. f . o . seen could be accounted for by meteorological balloons, experimental guided missiles, research aircraft, etc . However, in company with the United States, Canada, and perhaps other countries , France has considered the problem sufficiently disturbing to create a special commission of enquiry to investigate the more serious reports . The findings , if any, have not to our knowledge been revealed, but I will endeavour to obtain the report of the special committee of enquiry and let you have it . A certain number (perhaps less than 5 per cent) of u . f . o . reports describe machines which could absolutely not be accounted for by conventional mechanics , and the power of which would have to exceed by far even the biggest jet or rocket motors to account for alleged performances . A French book was published on the subject a few weeks before the last outbreak : 11 Lueur sur les Soucoupes Volantes 11 , by Aim~ Hichel. It provides various accounts of u.f.o. reports since the end of the war and, in particular , in France up to the summer of 1954, and goes into consider- able detail in providing various possible explanations . A theory that the u.f.o. are propelled electro- magnetically has been put forward by a certain Lieutenant Plantier of the French Air Force . This seems to be particularly favoured by the author, who does not rule out the possibility that they may be of extra- terrestrial origin . Scientific opinion in this country is generally sceptical , but there are nevertheless several intelligent and informed persons who have been sufficiently concerned about the u . f . o . reports to state that they are retaining an open mind on the subject . Even so, to my knmvledge , u.f. o . have not become a subject for serious dinner conversations here . I am sending a copy of this letter to Paul McGuire as he is interested in the subject . Enclosures: 1. 2 . 3. 4. One page of cartoons; Two pages of speculation; Extracts from specially published paper , giving impressions of r·:artians on first seeing the Earth and its fauna; One advertisement .
THIS IS A LARGE FORMAT DOCUMENT WHICH WILL NOT BE LEGIBLE IF SCANNED. IF YOU WIS H TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE DOCUMENT PLEASE S END YOUR REQUEST TO REF@NAA.GOV.AU dix ans des satellites artificiels encercleront la terre rtresldent dt Ia Soci~t~ britannlquor interplanetaire, le Dr Shepherd, a declare au congres du 21' anniversaire de Ia societe, dans Je courant de la prochaine decade • des satellites artl:ti- commencer l dkrire leur orbile autour <to globe WTe!rtre •. creation de cea sa~ellitcs. a-t-Il alllrme. cno~ltuera la pre- mitre etape dan.. !'organisation des voyages inlerplani!talres. Avant de se lancer dans le vide lnterastral, il est, en eftel, neceESllfre de recuefllir ainsi un erand oombre d'observatlons. E Le prefet de police de Vienne « surveille les soucoupes volantes » VIENNJ:, 18 octobre !Reuter). - M. Holaubek, prMet de police de Vlenne, a ordonne aux agents se trouvant sous ~~ ordres d'eta• blir un rapport sur toutes les aUalres de soucoupe, volantes et su.r toutes lea dl!claratloru d,. personnes afflrmant avoir vu c des vf&l· teun d'un autre monde •• Le pr~ct lnalste, dans une clrculalrc, sur le fall qu'un tell n1>n Mltra!ne peut aiaement conlondre un balion-sonde avec une sott- coope volante. • Voici ce que vous devez savoir s1 /'on vous en parle ou si vous en << voyez JJ une ... SEULS DES SUPER-EINSTEIN P.OURRAIENT CONSTRUIRE DES SOUCOUPES VOLANTES L 'HOMI\JE qui le premier imagina des soucoupes volantcs {ut sans doute Jonathan Swift, !'auteur des« Voyages de Gulliver ».Swift (1667-1745) decrit dans un de ses ouvrages l'iJe volante de Laputa qui flotte dans le ciel par repulsion magm!tique, en " s'appuyant , sur le . champ du gigantesque aimant que constitue Ia terre. Depuis 1929, le principe de l'antipesanteur a ete defini Swift etait d'ailJeurs doue d'une imagination bien curieuse : plus de cent ans avant que les astronomes les decou- vrent, il a donne deux satellites a Ia planete Mars en precisant assez exactement leur temps de revolution. ' , ~ • Et II decrit egalement, sur aon ile volante de Laputa, des m achines a calculer elec- troniques utilisant les nom- bres binaires a Ia facon des « eerveaux • artiCic:iels Jes plus modernes et composant des • poemes • faits de bouts de phrases, comme Ia ma- chine electronique Calliope du Fran~ais Ducrocq. Selon Ia tlteorie dtl lieutuant Plantier, lea ciruea volanh Ce ctoqu i~ repreae11te le diacra,..me cl" forces en cu 4e seraient IU'Ie combiouison de deux ou pluaieuN soucouJHI& vol en croupe. Les aoucoupu combineraient le flux cl'elec- t reunia par une coque contenant Ia ubine protire• pn cles Irons sur lequel elles s' • appuient • et qui entlainorait avec f. ' ecrans C'Onlte d'eventllelles radiations nocives. lui lea moleculea d'ajr en climinll3ftt le frottement . ~ ' . Or, l'ile magnetique de .Jonathan Swift n'est nulle- ment une conception ab- surde. C'est ainsi que le bismuth, un metal repandu, est doue d'une propriete curieuse, appelee proprie- te c diamagnetique • : une t ::.::_ ., 7-?rt~i~;;ff~~~:ffifJK 0/ «~j~~~~;~~J!W§I"~M~?:t~J:·:'w!il"'f-~, ,Jiliif::~ el rendralt p<lSSible de !llbrlquer ausal &Implement que des pastes de radio des engl.os capables des I.anlastlques performaoces attrl- bueell aux soucoupes. ptece de bismuth a tendance L11 deuzieme rivolllliflll a se placer perpendiculal- rement a l'aiguillc a?mantee d'Eillslein d'une boussolc. Le bismuth Cettu theorle rnatMroellque a se comporte en somme com- hte formulee en 1929, et son au· me une sorte de boussole teur s'appelle Albert Einstein. loppee et conduite jusqu'l cea conclusions priltlques. de l'inergje fournie a l'appar"il CISl finalement traduite en do!- placement, le reste lK' PE!'cbmt en cbaleur, trottement. lutte oon- tre Ia pesantwr. etc... Le rnoteur a exp1osion d'uoe automobile possede deJ.\ m1 ren- d~t nettement ~iem-, n vofs.lnant les 25 %. c chambr~ • un groupe de ma- t!lemntici.,ns de genie en lul de- mandant de chercht·r la soluUoB dPS equation& d'Einsteln. Qui nous dlt qu'lls n'auralent pu rcunl ! C'eat un problene qui i n quIet e auU!samment cert.~lns gouvcmeml'nb JX>ur qu'on rut etabll un rccensl'ment pr~cis dr.~ gTnnt.l~ mallu!mati- cifns de notrt> t\poque. Aucun d'entrc t!UX n'a diJsperl.\ de- pUll 1929. C:a 6•aphique montro le Yira&e ci' UJie Mucou,. tel que •• le represente lo lioutcnnt Plutier. De I l II, le ,note buculo brutaloment lOft encln pour contrar l'acci14ratlon centrifuce. Ce bascuJement a eti plnleun fois obMt'fi, pos.-;ederait ces connarssancet et partitulea presentent dea eon- ce• engine poi.IIT&it aisemoot .e densetlona d'ener&ie atteJcnant... reodre mattre du monde, et on environ lOO.OOC !olt l'energle que •• demande pourquoi il ne l'au- pourraJt donner Ia • subl!ma- ralt pe.s deja fait.. tion • compl~te et lrrbll!IBble Le developpement des ~!Qua- d'un noyau d'uranlum. .. Elle., tlom gc!on~ales d'Einste.ln peut, suppoaent une energle de bbse it est vraJ. reserv~ de& surpri- fabuleuse : n taudralt, t'n etret, ses. Ricn n'empeche de penser des cyclotron~ geanl$ pour ob- __e _s _t_ -_ o_ u_ es _t _ .__________ ,!:.a remiere eta des trava;ux En 1929 - et c'est Ia deuxl•- me etapc de ~es recherches - Einsteln se manite:<tait de nou- veau en publlant sa theorle dite du champ un!talre : II etablls- .ail !'unite des trois • champs • : champ magru!Uque. champ elec- trlque el champ de Ia p~san t cur. Mals alors que le mnth6- maticicn tran~als Elle Carlan avolt auparavant elabor6 un outil mathemallque qui avalt oermi.a-de-devJ!~ or En revanche les maehtn.e. ba- ~es sUr 1a con,·er&ion des chaJllills oHectrlque et m.agneti- que rept'6seote l'ldl!al auqueJ l& tecludque peut tendre : leur ro:'ll· n-.....; ...................... ..._,i!A...ualt..::l..-- qu"il Mrrtontrern l'impo~!billte tenlr des partlcule.o anlmces de de convcrtlr uo C'hamp electri- ttlles energ~s. Or, rlt'D n•a H6 que en champ de pesanteur. La dh<ele dana l'upae ~ qui pulne tho!orle sdentifilf;le a bien dejl esPiiqurr ces m)'at6ri11U•ell cun- demontr~ par ~OOll>l.e qu'il ~talt .tenaatlona de puissance. " --~--- > ______ JI:Wl$!ll!l:!!ii....!l.@....k!iHmi·ttz:a de _ -...g..&xln o en de molkules le1 plus procbes, sera toujours tres infUieure a la vl- tesse ·du son 3, P01tt la mme raison, l'ea· gin pourrait se deplacer ll tr•· vers !'atmosphere a des vitel'SU enormes sans s'etbauffer beau- coup : Ja chaleur du trotlement, au lieu d'tHre concentree sur Ia coque de l'engin, ~e repartirait dans le vaste volume d'alr e.D• lraln~ par le champ de torte. 4. Les accelerations les plua terriliantes de l'engin scraient, a allirme Plantler, non scule- mcnt supportables, mais insen- slbles aux passagers de l'engln. En eflel, ccs passagers seraicnt eux-memes prb dan~ le ebamp de force. Pn c(,lnserpJ'!nt, cha- que atome de leur corp$ etant egalement cntralne, les passa• &era ne a'aper~eVl'Bient rlgou· reusement de den Or toutes ces caracteristlqus ne aont-elles pas celles que !'on pr~te aux soucoupe 11 \•olante.s f /JisiDiigrlllifiD e11 Ytll Imagioona l'en&in de Plantier en vol. Comment se comporte- ra-l-11 ! Pour rester immobile dana le ciel, 11 devra dlrlger le champ de forte a la .-ertlcale. e:"l lui donnant une iotensite exac- tement ~ au champ de !'at• traction ter:Testrc. mais de sena contralre, c'est-a-dire d!rigee vera le haut. Vu d'en bas, rnn· gin aura exactement !'aspect ce 1a aoucoupe cU.ssique, ctrt'lllaire pour le! apeclateurs situo?s eXJlc- tement dessoua, eillptique pour let autres. Or, Plantier rappelle qu'on peut ob5erver, a la sorUe des ae- celerateurs de particules utilises dans les laboratolres nuelo!airea, une forte lumipescence due il l'actlon du tluidc COTPUSC'Uio--on- dtJialoire • vomJ • par l"accele- rateur . comme l'a~gmentation brutale du champ de force de l'eng!n ne peut ~Ire obtenue que p~ r une tellc acceleration, on dolt done prt-volr que l'engin,~ ·~ .... ,' Perls-presse-l'fntranslgeant Le probleme de l'equipe de France est enfin resolu Oc:tobre 1952 : Paul Nlcol&a eat membre du eomlt4 de atlee- tlon. ~ joueu1'11 rrancat. bat- unt tour II tour I' All•mar;ne 1 Colombu, I' Aut.rlebe 1 \'lenne, ete. Octobra 1953 : Paul Nteolaa qultle le comlt4 da afl~Uon pour devenlr pr63ldent du J'I'Ou- prement dee club• autoruu. L'~qulpe de Franc~ joue sept matches d~anta. Elle en perd quatre : Yougoatavle Sulaae. Itall~ et Yougoslule.' Elle aa PI'De deux : Eire at Mel<lqu~. Elle obtlent un tllllteb nul : Bel- cJque. Oetobre 1154 : Paul Nleol&a eat deYenu - proY!eotrement - dlreeteur de l't!Q.uJpe de Franee. Premier match : lea Allemancta, cl!amplons du moniSt 19Sf, sont batttU aur leur terrain par dea Joueura trleoll)ru aurvoltb. A INSI, I L ES T CLAI R que Paul Nicolas est L E SE UL qu i eaehe PTCP&Nr c moral~ment > lea rootballeurs appel& l dHen- dre It preatJp de Ia formation natlonale. 11 eat LE SEUL qui alt Ia eo~~ de joueurs. n est LE SEUL II I"• romprendre. AINSI, fl. EST CLAIR que Paul Nicol..,. DOlT - mal~rr~ lui - accepter de restl'r au pOlite cle ~ommande de l'fqnlpa de France, pour que d'autrrft ex- plolla o'ajoutent 1 eeux r~alhtt' JI l VIenna en 1952 ou A llanon a aamedl. A INSI, I L. EST CLAIR que THIS IS A LARGE FORt.4AT DOCUt.4ENT WHICH WILL NOT BE LEGIBLE IF SCANNED. THIS PAGE IS THE REVERSE OF THE PREVIOUS PAGE AND MAY NOT BE RELEVANT TO THE FILE IF YOU WISH TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE DOCUMENT PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST TO REF@NAA.GOV.AU Avant Dyn amo de Moscou, lt pubUc parisien auu l'occaslon d'usisler au elaulque match Ra- cing-Arsenal organi.e au prolU des plus grands invalide.s de 6\lerre. c·e,t d emaln aolr - n heurea au Pare de• Prlncea - qu•aura lieu cette reocontre qui permettra d'applaudlr Marche. Gr!llet e l MAhjoub, troll d es oon heros du r~cent France-AIIema gne (3-1). Le Raclnr. e n d~pit d u match Important qu'll dol ~ joae r dlman· cbe contre Touloute en champion· nat, v~ut battre Antenal : - Alnsl, dlt·on rue Amp~re, &e dlsputt'ra Ill !I n ovembre un e v~ · rltable tlna le e nt re r~t D l.! valn- queura d 'Arae nal. Le dub lond on len, en e Uet. a I' INFOiniATIONS SPORTIVES 20-10-1954 - pour efla<of!r les effet& d'une poU- IIquf! de panlque • que Ia IDJlbon de cycles diri1ee par Raymond LouYtut - dont on avalt annonef' un peu vile qu'l'Jie s'abluendr~tt de rrcourlr - a r~ndu • pre.ent • · Tant et sl bien qua le cycll•me a bi·nHicM A tout Je molns d'un sur- sis. II repartlra done avec force, l'an procbain, sur let routes. On se demande, du rest~. a1 le C)'CIIIlllle tut jamala au!ISI populaire qu'A present I Quln7 ... mille "P"cta- teura, duuant d'enlhouslasma sur les aradins, dans Jea lOll'S OU SliT Ia pelouu, avalent talt 11 d'un so- leU pourtant bien pardm<mleux crlte annt'e, pour aulster au match Routiers-Plstard•. ce drmter di- mnncht> .. Une seconde • riviere des tribunes » reste a franchir Ceet ebmt po•~. II rffie une • secorule tWl.ere dea trlbunet • 6. franehlr. Elll! Kt constttu~e par l'f,piJlew;e queaUon dea ltO!JpU $0rtlll!. LH co.zutructeura tnn~;Us unt repou"e l'ldee de tout S<>COilrS financier de• 11rm~ extra-IIJ)Ortlves. C'etatt leur drott. Mala lis auraient pu odmettre que les coureura e1ran- rtors. lies par eontrats avec des !lr- mcs publlcl1alreJ, vln.sent cour1r t'n Fr.snce avec tout un barlolage de rklamM aur lr dos. Cela "" pou- vaJt nou.s- dt!lriJer et eela ,.uvait le canlCl:et« inlt'mattonal de nos compt>titions condlllon essenUelle de leur ex1ilte!u:e. Malt la Cllambre sYDdlcale du eycle n'a pas voulu de dmtl- mt.sure : pas de maillot• publlct- talres en. Fran<!e, mfme pout les coureura etrangcrs. ll apparUent done l M.. ;rotnard, en tan\ que pre- Fident de I'U.C.l, de a'armer, une rots de plus, de dtplomatte pour \' elll~r aux • kbanaes • et : I • convaino:re ,.,. rklt'!raUons ~lrAniC<-tes que Ju r~11lementa de ch:acune d'ell"" dolvenl Hre res- pect<• l l'tnt~rlcur de ...., 1ron- Ul-ro: 2• aasurer qu'Jl ne pouvail, com- me pi"CCili=t de Ia F .r.c., que aul- vre Ia V<>lontr de Ia Clumbre syn- du~ale du cycle, parc.•e que celk-<:l ialt vi\Te le 61)0rl c:)'ellale de ses deniers : 3• rt'elamer Ia I.'Ompr~·henslon des RJ!OUpes sporllfll <'tt·angers I>Dur au - torber leurs coureura l porltclpet awt epnu\··· !un~alse. qui lt!s lnl~res:seraient aowo le aeuJ maDIOI de leur marque c.- dolt ~".. poalbte. F ,nco i~ TERBEEN. JOURNAL DES SOCIETES A L'.\SS•:~mr.n; E::\.'TR.\OllDI- NAIII ~: du 4 novembre, le eonl(>il de lA l.lbralrl(• linch\:lle propo• sera d'nucmrnte.- Jo capltul do I, I~'S millions • 2.1100 millions l>ar lnL·orporatlon de rt.ae.rns au moy••n, d'uroe part, de l'Cll!vatlon de 2~ A 5.000 fr, d<' Ia V&l<!UT ntornlnale des actions ~. d'autn part, de l'attdbuUon - t Utro de convor.lon - de 7 actions nou .. niles d~> 5.000 tr. pour 2 partl. l'Ot:R U!S t l\IOIS SE TT.R~It:o;",\N T fin •cPtrmbre : les USine. de Ba- Ucnnllu-<'hitiUnn ont eu u" e activit~ 110utcmue : le chWre d'af· !alrPll tnl&l d" Ia socl• te d(opas~e de 3Cl <;;, r~lul de Ia p(:rlodo cor- respondante do 1953. L Y. COS8.t:tl, OF. LA Cle GF.Nl':· IL\J,f: Ill~ RADJOLOGlY. a d<!c:lde de porter '" eap!V!l : 1• de :l~.JJS8.400 rr. A 3U.44ll-OOO fr. par !ncorporatton partlelle de la rt- a~rve 11)felale de reevatuath:>n .t ~1!\'at!on de UOO tr. l 4.000 fr. du nominal de' aeuona : :z. de 3U m!lllorut 4411.000 lr, 6 4681172.000 tr, par tlnlulon A 4 tOO tr. de 39.056 Rcllons de 4.000 frnnea, LA J)J!'ITrtm CTTON D'AC'fiON!I ORA TUITI\R er•'~..s en repr~.,n taUon de l'3ugment.aUon de capi- tal de !100 a 1.1!00 mmtoos p~r I& Ch.• Cl6n~r&le des Eau:c II nou - v.,lle pour l ar.ctennel aera.lt rt!a- llsfe, saut lmprevu. dans le cou- rant du mots de n"'"embre. Au « Bulletin d es Annonoes Legale! Obliga to ir~s ,, LE R.A.L.O. du ta o<:rohre, pu· l>lle de lnst."rtlons cnn.,~ant, no- tatnml!lll, tu a<>ch!tu wlvant.,. : Comp&ll'nle Fran~ah•~ d.. l'oitr~ les. - E:mtaton rle UJO.H5 •~ tlon• de &.000 fr. ldnnt 5.000 •~ Uollll catfrorte • A • et 1 153.3!5 ac:.tons cal~rle c B •>, A 50\locrlre Clu 28 ~tobrP au 3 decemhre. AU JlTix de 0~ tr. DI"'it de sous~rtp tlon. abaltatllon fa1te de• actlona nnuvell~s anuoerlte<: par !''F:tal • unP IICtlnn • fl • pnur trot• nctl<>nt • A • QU .. B • de 6.000 trnnc:s ; foutaaaoll'<! Cleo actions nou\•eu.. : ler Janvlc>r 19'4- !lo~l~~ Comm•rrble de J'Oue•t A,lrtra!n. - 1• Emis!ion A 5.!500 fr. e. cotatlon de 500.000 acUoJU t!e 5 000 fr., joulssan<"e le:r a\"rll 195• (1 pour· 2 dt' 3 000 tr.) : souaertp. tlon du 25 oc1obre au 4 d<kembre : to Rerrroupement des aetlona de J.OOO rr. en 11tres c!e 3.000 tr .. pull creation de 200.000 acUons nouvel- les de !5.000 fr., aUr!bueel< l(ratul- teme~nt aux 1.100.000 actions de 5.000 franca reprfsentant a!Ol's I<' C•DIInt (2 pour ll I ; rotation de ces 200.000 a<:tlons nouva116. SOd6W Commerclale ,t rnclu<- trleUp lie Ia C6te d'Airfqup, - £miaalon A 5.MO Jr et cotaUon dr 38 000 art!on• d<' 5.000 Jr.: jouls- san~e ler mal 11154 (3 pour J). Bourse de Londres mo.................. 39 7is 40 u• l Preced. ~~oct. • .. -.. .... .. ....... u 3/t 28 314 ............ ~ 22 .<l!UJ•L.---~-
OUCOUPES VOLANTES • • « UNE MYSTIFICATION » « MAIS MOl, J'Y CROIS » P . ARIS • PRES- ( ( • SE '' me fait le grand hon- neur de me demander une conclusion pour son enquete sur les « sou- coupes volantes ,. . par Jacques BERGIER ---.., ... J'homme qui lnforma le premter le~ allies des pnlparatlfs allemands de fusee5 VI et V2, J<~cques Bergier, a co!labore it notre ~erie sur les c soucoupes ". Son optnlon prend d'autant plu$ de polds que ce sctentifique, membre de !'Academle des Sciences de New-York, n'a rlen d'un sceptique : tl est en ~me temps coredacteur de Ia revue d' •nllcipation • Fiction •. m.ls Jamais je o'ai rccuellli un aeul 14\moicnage permeltant de conclure a l'exi$tence d'un vehi- cule terrestre ou autre l!t pour mo1 c'est une mystification. donncnt l'exemple de phenord- n.,. verifiables pouvan\ rendre 1'811' lum1neux. II est extrbnement probuble qu'll e.O.te des pbt!nom"'ea de ce genre pouvant falre apparal- dar. ondes m111im~trlquu ter- vanl par exemple au teliguldllae de l\J!ees, exploalons atomiques, dkharaes en couronne des lila de transport d'o\ner~rle elei!tTique, tout cecl se combinant pour donner nai8sance au ph~ne dlt de.s • aoucoupu volante5 •· Da04 eea conditions il n 'y a aueune rai.x~ de erolre a des soucoups maWrielles - v&icules ou pl'OjecUIM. Commr la foudre, l'aurore bo~ale et l'en..oeiane au nlton, m soucoupea volantes me paralSiel'lt ~tre un pht!t'lom6ne de dech..-re lwnine~.me dana lea ,n de !'air. L A question posee par le probleme d e s soucoupes volantes n 'est pas de sa- voir s'il se deroule dans le ciel des phenomenes curieux, vagues et diffi- d les a identifier. S'il en etalt ainsi, la re- ponse s e r a it simple ; la science dispolle dans cet or- Si j'ose emcttrc unc opi- nion sur ce• sujet, c'est que je suis depuis longtemps • amateur d'insolite et scri- be de -miracles •. C'est aussi parce qu'il m'est a.ttivC, plusieurs fois, de prevoir a partir de don- nees scienti.!iques les deve- loppements a vcnir : V2 ou bombe atomique, su.f!isam- ment a l'avance pour pou- voir etre de quelque utilite pendant la derniere guerre. D e~ cas explicables par la fluorescence de l'atmosphere tre dans l'air des di.aques ou d• r----------------------- fu.seaux lwruneux. i . Comme rroacteur 1 Ia rovu~ • Fktion • j'ai pu examiner tau- lea U!s publications c:onnues sur le aujet des souc:oupe~~ volantes abW ~ des centames de lcttres, L'examen de Ia documentation trk complete rassemblee par cPa- ria-pr~ • montre que IOta les timoicn•ces sur les soucollP"s volanles sont explicables par Ia fluort'scenee de !'atmosphere aous dts Influences elect.riques. IA, nous nous trouvons sur un terrain plus aolide. L'aurore bo- reale comme l'en.oreiRO• au neon ~ Elle » est nee dons un Joborotoire Le physicien americain Noel Scott a realise ' " laboratoirt c:ette expi· titnce qui, nlon lui, livre l'eniem• des soucoupes vola ntes. Sous une cloche datts laquelle niste un vide partie!, II fait puser un c.hamp electrique crea nt eel • lueura anodes • qui chansant da forme, pn- unt du champianon i Ia bo ule, tt u de pl a~an t dans Ia cloche a l g.re dt leur fantaisle. Selon le physicien amerlcain et de nombrewr sa- vanta, les soucouper seralent lo mime phenomeno repet.! d..,s l';dmosphilre 1ur une plus ara nde echtlle. La 8.)--mt!trie et une forme cir- ~:ulaire .!Dill les ce.ractlriatiqu• de nombreux. ph4!noml!nes phy- .!lqlle5. Pluaieura expllcatiou. de ee fel!l'l! rendl!llt compte dee ap- paritions de souooupes volantea et eUes me parai~Rnt fort pleu- sibles. On disque d'air 'ionlri ae com- porterait cxactem.ent comma le font lcs soucoupes volantl!ll. L'imaginaiion .Y ajoute dee hu- blots conune elle a ejou\4 des canaux aux ~t.t!s obser- v~es a Ia surface de Ia planl!te Mar.. D ta~t notnmmeot se m~ner de l'lmaglnatloo redoutable des a.atronomea qui nt voir II G ru lt- h.ausen des cites dan!l la Lune, au cel~bre Hefschel dea habi- tants sur le Solei! et aux astro- nomu Scbl,apareUl et LQweU leJI canaux de Mars. R ien de plw qu' une decharge electr iq ue Les d.i.sques d'air ionL• aeraient repousses _par 1e m•tal d• avions. se deplacei-aient A IP'BJlde \-lteiSe el serai.ent totalemeot Stlen<:leux. lh poUiraient dUparaltre en ex· plosant (comme la .ouc:oupe de Dieppe) ou se diaiperalmt dana l'air <.'OI:Ilme le clpre de Vemon- sur-Eure qui donna n~ l phWeU1'5 souco~. Cette Ionisation ~ut avol:r plu.!l.eurs causes. Des causes na- tuceUes, rayons cosmlquea, elec· trona solaires, deeb&rlet electro- magru!tiquea terre.stres. Ce der• nier pbenom~e lle l'appar!Uoo de boulu de feu aux tremble- menta de terre et a ~~~ deve- loppe par M. Montandon daM la revue • GeoarBC)hlca Helve- tica •• en 194.8. Jl y avalt ~t6 fait allwion deux ans aupara- vant dans l'ouvra1e de M. Ro- the • S4tlsmea et volcan1 •, peru dans In collection • Que sals-je . en 1946. L'ionlsation peut avolr efale- ment des causes humaine.s: ra· Yoici ce pe rollS derez loire si rolls es ~ royez :»· IIDe ..• .. ' L ES temollrnal!ll sur les liOU- coupea volanle1 pechent le pk11 80\1'\"e!nl -par manque do prkislon, Le ou les specta- teur• du ph~nomene sont trOOI- blt!t et oubllent oo rt!lllal'q\ler dea details qui pourraient per- mettre 100 identlfiC'Iotion. S'ils gndent leW' aantHroid, il$ ne aavent pu tou.)Ours o\1 ach'es!;er le compte rendu de leur obser- vation nl queUe aulorite pr;h•e- nlr pour 4111'eventuellemuot le pheoom~ne eolt etudie t l'aldc d'lnstrurn.ents approprh!s. C'est pourquol, au ca.1 ou vou~ au•l aerle7. un jOU'I' tmnoln d'llll vol de JOUOOUPe«. nous vous !ourn!Nons ccs quelque. indica· tlon:s. Sl le ph~ne .e d6roule a proxlmlte d'une habitation ou d'u.n vehic:ule ou ae \rouve un paste de T.S.F., allumez.-le el placez l'algullle entre deux sta- Uona. Sl Ia soucoupe est un ve· blc:ule tonctlonnant IUr un quel· con.que prlnclpe electrlq~ 011 magnetlque, II y a de tortes chaoces pour que le paste. de T.S.F. enreJ!st.re du pat'Ulte.l exb'Miement bnlyanta. Verifiez l'aimantation Sl l'oa. vous tdJD~Ie qu'une eoueoupe a 6t6 aper~ue pede •ur le aot. rendez-vow sur place et, 11 voua n'apercovez rleQ. verlfiez a'll ne a'l!lt pu prodult d'airnan- tatlon aux alentoun. En .Gmettant que le pheno- m6ne ne .ali pu purM'lent hal- luc:ln•tolre et que l'encJ.n IIIli· vc l'un des princlpea qu'l.ma· glnent certalna I!Op8clall!tea lanti- pesanleul' champa de tor~:e) de.! objel.t de IMtal proche de l'ab:e d'•tter.rll ... e poun'&lent avoir 6Ul llmantu, Un lnat.;ument agrloole en metal, ooe cllart'Ue, ~.roe cloture en frl de fer peu- vent avoir l'll! magnetites. Une boua>le ou ph• •Implement un cau.teau ou une el& tu!t~ent pour consUlter cgte etman!a- llon. Potu· Wle o~vatloo de sou- oocpe en vol, pr~venir Ie plua ra:pldemeJll poulble l'obaerva- toire ou le centre ~t~roloaf gue Je plus proche qo1 pourront obeen•er le pbinom~ne avec leur& appareils. Si vous ~ pou- vez. le.s }olndre, prfflne~ au Dl()iM Ia lfendarmerle. Ce que vous notere~ Un bon compte rendu d'obur- vation eliot~ cornprendre de~~ J)l'e-- eislons W£ Ia dale, l'beure, Je lieu, l'eta.l du del lnutgc., vlai- b!Ute, brume, temperature ... ) La de.acrlptton du ph~nomene l~meme devralt lndlquer Je point du del ou il eat apparu, a:1 trajectolre, sea oban,cementa de dlredion, aa torme 1 sa cou- leur, ~ lfl'OISeur appal'ftlte. Quand !'objet a peroouru ooe lJcne drolte, DOWr I. loocueur de ~tte ligne en laraeur de Ia main par exemple et le tempt mil a la pari."'W'ir. Noler a·n y • des acofleratlon•. ra Jentissemenb, 1tationneme-o ta. La grosseur apparente de !'ob- jet peut ~t.re comparee A ~Jia d..., Ia ple1ne luooe ou du .aiel!. Si ! !'Objet p._e devant une manta• int au 1.1(1 nuage noter sl possi- ble leur dlsttnce. Noter •I la Ju- m.iere p;nll .rttl.kble w au con· 1 tral.re PI'OIX'e A l'objel. Joindre un eroquia au compte 1 reoou, li possible pr~l! del photoerapbies. .U comp\r rendu de l'obeer\'a- llon dolt 6tre adresse t10lt au Burem1 SdenllriQtte de l'Armee de l'Air, 24. boule\'Vd Victor a Part•, toil a la M~l()fie na· tionile, 1, aveoue Rapp A Parl.s, aoit 6 c Paris-presae •, 12, rue du oroi.oant qui lransmellrl --------~~--~ par Aime MI CHE L---., ... auteur du livre c Lueurs sur les soucoupes volantes •· est l'un d4s premiers specialistes ftan~als Sllrleux dans ce domalne. Alme Michel, qui a collabore, comme Jacques Bl!raler. ~ notre serle sur les souc:oupes, a etudie dans un esprit d'objectivlte taus las t~moignages dignes de fo! exi$t~nt a ce jour et les a reunls dans son ouvrage. dre d'idee de tout un arse- nal d ' explications large- ment satisfalsantes pour l'csprit : bolides, aerolithes, etoiles tilantes, mtHcorites, parhelies, halos, arcs-en- del, meteores, faux soleils, astres de forte magnitude (Venus, Jupiter, Vega, Arc- turus, etc... ), foudre en boule, aurores borea.les, ballons-sondes, h.elicopteres, avions, etc... sans parler de !a dernieres. c e 11 e q u e M. d' Alton proposait re- cemment et qui explique avec beaucoup de vraisem- blance certaines apparitions lumlneuses par la rencontre d'une couche d'alr ionisee avec un .!alsceau d'onde radar. MalheurotUement, la question n'eal pas ll. La question posee par le pro- bHtme des sou~oupes volantes est Ia sulvante : comment expliquer Ja de!ICriptlon ext~;emement pre- cise et concr~te, donnee par des mllllera de h\molns. d'un engin cl'awarence m~lallique, ayant des e!J)~ces de hublots et qui evolue touJours de Ia m~me ma- ni~re en buculant et projetant d~ Ia lumlere aux accelerations 1 A cette que.;tion, tous ceux qui ant jusqu'l pr~sent tent<! d'expii- quer les 10ucoupes vola.ntes par de. phenom~nu naturels omet- tent de repondre. Et cecl pour deux ra!sons : lt!.ll uns ignorent Ie• temoiJn&Je$, les autre.s n'y croient pu, En ce qui me conceme j'al poursuivi mon en- qufte pendant dl!! anm!es et j'ai depoulll~ des mUliers et des m1lliera de temoignages. Quant a n'y ~s crolre, ce serait plus facile L<ruremenl Mal" comment t~n:r pour unanim.ement m.en- teura Ja !oule dea utronomes. les technlclens d'engins teh\gui- d~•. de• avlateurJ, des o.Uiclers, del meteoro}OJistes, qui illlr- ment a\'oir vu l'engin ? Voila pourquol. bon are, mal gre-, j'at f:t~ amene A crolre aux. soucou- pea volantes. Faut-11 traltt!r de menteur et de tou le vand 8!lronome Clyde Tombau1h, qui partaie avec Low~ll Ja elolre d'avol:r decou- vert lo planete Pluton, 10t$qu'll rapporte avoir vu avec toute sa !amille, le 20 aoill 19.49 un cigare a hublots lravrrser le clel au- dessus de lui ? Fou ou menteur, le arand u- tronome Hess de l'observatoire de Fla&staft. unlver&ellement connu notamment pour !et tra- vaux sur l'atmospb~re de Man, qUi vit une soucoupe pas.oer sans se presser sous une couche nua- ge~ assez !Ache, br.ller au .o- leil. tentrer dans l'ombre, se pro- filer sur les nuages, et qui put meme 4!\'llluer ses dtmensiona ? Fou ou menteur, l'utronoml' Hall, de l'observatoire Lowell, qui vtt lui aussl une aoucoupe passer au soieil, briliD.nte et om- brte. l'observa 1 Ia jumelle et parvlnt lul aussl l caiculer 8.'\ vttesse et ses dimensions ? II laul chel'chel' Fou ou menleur, Je pro!esaeur Lincoln La Paz, dlrecte-ur de l'Instltut de ~eteorique du Nou- veau M~xlque, qui contempla le mysterleux engtn par deux rot~ ? Fous ou menteurs, le capltalne Mac LsugbliD et son equlpe de specialistes de la base d'essa;s d'engtns tel~gutd~ de White- Sand!, qui 6Uivlrent A plusleur~ reprises, evoluant autour de leurs rus~es lt. 100 lttlom~trc., d'almude, des englns clrculalrP.a !.i.la.nt a 28.000 et meme 32.000 , ldlom~trel-heure 7 1 ns aont des diza!nes de mU- liers maintenant comme Tom- ba.ugb, La Paz, Hall, Hess, Mac Laughlin, ZObm, t.i. Daurces, etc... q.ut ont ~'U quelq~ choto de prlcis et d'inexpllcable : car n n'y a pas de ph!nomene natu- re! en !orme de ci&are avec des hublots. Ces mllllera et mUliers de temoins, ce sont eux qui po- sent le probl~me, et non P\\!1 ceux QUI ont vu quelquee va111e~ lueur1 diUill le clel. Aves ces t.t!· moins Ia, Je cholx est simple : 1 u !aut les accuser de raux te- mol&naae ou renoncer provlaal- rement a l'expllcauon, c'est l· dire, chercber. Ce cholx. U est evident qu'll eng~e une attitude morale. Lea presomptueux ont l'MccusaUon fac.De, mala Pascal conselllalt de c cbercher en ~temwant •· Pour mol, je crols que Pascat avalt raison. Mt!me sl, jusqu'A plus ample lntorme, 1J n'~t PM utile de g6mlr Ce qu'onl . vu Jes oslronomes L t: 20 mill 1950, a 13 heurea; te pro!eJ~eur llall, astro- nome dt' I'Oh$Uvv.,!olre de Lowe!, dans le l.\Ia55acbusetta, obnrva i loiSir un disque ar- cr-nte brlll:ant au ~oleil, q~ se di'phl.(lllt a une \'itUlle mode.re~ L'ut.ronome e-:uunlna Ia I'OU- coupe dan~ sa jumelle, pula la auh·lt au lhf-odollle poUl' mesu· rn ~a rra.ndr-ur et ses d~pla('e mrnla Rpparrnts. 11 estima que 5& distance ret'lle Halt romprl'e entre des rbitrres dfo l'ordre dJ! 2 a 4 kilo- mHre., Jon dlamHrt> dr lt a U mi'tre,, el s:~ \·iteue r&Ue de qurlque 300 kll'llllttres. ~a dt,crlpllon de l'objd est t'tri·mtmtnt pretise : 11 a Yu un dl5que mrtalllque br.illani " entourf- d'un bouiL!onnemeot blanc. ft!n.rt cr~me tooetlre "· Sf' rC'p~o,cnler ce " bonillonne.- r.~ 22 mal 1950, dt>ux Joon apr~ l'obitr"'!Uon de JlaU t. t.ow~l. l'a~lronmne Urss cludlalt It~ condllton.s mHeorolofiqu~. lorSIJU'It remuqua un diSque brlllttni qul passalt, sans se pre~ ~rr trop, entre Irs n!Jll.ges et le 101. I I etaiL parfailement vltible A. l'rell nu, m:ll' l'utronoaJe l'etu- dltt i\ Ia luneiiP, C'elall un diMtur d'apparence met.tlllque. Lr~ nun~es ctnnt as- set lf.dtes, 14' proless.etn He• put le voir 1e llroftler tantO£ sar tr.s nuagr~ Ires blar.r~ - et ntors sa ~llhouelle l'tall sombre, ror elle eUiit a l'ombre - tantot •ur lc hlru du riel, rt alo~ ~&t.nt fn.ppf p&r In r&yOtn!l da soleil, II ruplendl-tt comme un mlrolr. Rt> .. anlt IDl t'xcellent moyen de mesurer !'altitude maximum dl' l'enfln, pulsque ctiJII..cl Yo· lalt p l o~ ba<~ que les nuaxes. Et connals~nt l'nllilude rt le dla- metre apparrnt, II pat <'3leultr les dimension• rHilrs : U ITotrra ! mHru a print. Le solr du %0 a.oiit 1M9, a Z! h. 4.5, le profes.seur Tombauch. qui, en 1930. dEcouuU Pluton, Ia derntrre pl!l.nHe du 'lysteme ~olnire, ~e lroo\'&.it dennt sa molson dP L:u Crnfes, dam le Nounsu-~fulque, LrvRnt l ~s yeux ven It d el, II aper~ut ~oudaln, vres do ,_~ . nllh. •fx on hult rectan~les r es- plendl~sant d'one lumlere ver· dalre, volnnt rapldement n ra un point dr l'bortzon altw' entre ~5 tt so ttt.-reN aud-e!l. 11~ 11e t'l~p t a~;nlt'nt d'un mou\'cment r&- l_llde d unltonnf' et !em b.l.Ue.nt 4•tre lc~ hublolw de quel1Jue en - lin non f<·lnlrr por te en va1 ue silhouette lumine'ICwle sur le nolr du Hnn:-mrul.,.u is-press•l'infranslgeant THIS PAGE IS THE REVERSE OF THE PREVIOUS PAGE AND MAY NOT BE RELEVANT TO THE FI LE INFORMATIONS 31-10 et l n-11-1954 - Pagc jCRN(! Apres avoir applaudi "Les Indes Galantes" a l'Opera Les autobus LES HAILE SELASSIE RE()U PARLE ne sero~t :pas M. Vincen t Auriol CONSEIL MUNICIPAL PASSERA suppr1mes fait une deposition de 1 h. 20 •.. car ce serait mettre 31 minu- sur le pave tessurla Seine I E seJOur pari~ien de :.J S.M. Haile Sclassie s'acheve. Demain, 1 e souverain quittera ]a capitale pour Lyon. Auparavant. il aura etC - ce malin - l'hote de la municipalitt.! de Paris. Hier ~ol r, apres avotr 11 son tour ln\· t~ M. el Mml' Rene Ccty il diner en Ia nouvelle ambas- aade d'Elhiopie, avenue Charles- Floquet, le roi d~ rols et le J!ff- sJdent de 1a Republique out past~ la IIOi~~ fl !'Opera, Ql1and l'hOtt' de Ia France des- ceodit de fa Talbot pr~ldentielle, &t'cUCillf par le pr~ r idt>nl du Con•eil, lell presidents des as- &embl ~e s, les acciAmatiocs de Ia foule qui attendal t turen t cha- leureuses. L'emperrur d'Etbiople etait en habit. Ia P01trine barr6e du l!'and cordon de la Legion d'hoonneur. Lcs gardes t cheval, mu~es jus- que ~ur l~s tro\tolrs, presentalent les arm~ s. Bole de Ia capllale A l'lnterieur du tMllLre, les tl'omopettc:s de Jn cavoterie son- naieot, pour accentuer le carac- t~~ ~olennel de celte entm. Aprk qur le souvernln, M . et Mme Rene Coty et le due de Rarrar eurent pr~ place dans Ia loge oCCk'ieUe, un ravi.ssant l]lec- tac:Je de bollela - Le~r lndts Ga- lantes c-t Ehu.les, de Hnrold Lan- der - rut Joul\. A l'l'ntracle, Balh! seJ.a...'3ie, 1 .. presment d~ 1a Repu- bl ~que 4.'1 M. :\Ieud"-France appa- rurent ('n haut du ltl'llnd HC:alier el f n"L 'IIt !"objet d'une 0\>aUoo dp. ~ateun . Ce malin a 10 heures, le mo- n arque et son t!ls ont vlslte I'InstltuL Pasteur, s~ BOnt Inclines lltlr Ia tombe du grand &a\•ant et ~ sont 1nthe~ daDJ les labo- tairf'S, au mlc:~ 6Jectronique qul leur a i)C!rmis de volr des ,;_ rus, lm•ls:lbll'~ a"""t l'inv.,ntlon de eel appare1L A 11 h. 3D, l'empert:-ur arrive il l'H6tel-di'-Vme, dkore des dra- peaux Hhlopiens et Crar.calL De 827 m illions de pi~ tons P ARt S conserver& ses au- tobus. n n'est pas tout a fait supe.rflu de l'an- noncer. Le bruit avait couru qu'il etait question de les supprimer. On en a meme discute a la prefecture de police, avant de decider qu'ils continueraient a rouler. I Lt's aulobu• .onl conlre eux Jes conductrurs de voiturt'~ particu- li~re s. l - Si Paris, dlsent-il!, e!rt em- boutelll"'. In !aute en rsl en l{l'.antll:' partie auJC autobus : 1a I plupnrt de nos rues ne ~ont pas falles pour des blllstodontes de dlx m~lres de lon1 et 2 m. 40 de I large qui, en outre. bloquent Ia moiUi> de la chauss~ quand i1s s'arri'tt'nt;. » c·e~t vrai : les outobua l50n:l L E cnlme est revenu hler a Ia caserne de Reuil- ly. L 'interrogatoir e do capit aine Cazalet a dii e tre r e mis, le commanda n t 1\l e r - eler , q u i instruit !SOD cas, etnn t toujours sou Cfr ant . Baranea - qul continue II ccrlre ses Mtmoires - a cholsl un trol- aleme d6fenseur : M' Tixil'r- Vi- a:nancour, qui des hier solr a pr!s connalssan~ du dossler concer- nant l'aneien ddacteur du jour- nal Liberation. DURANT L' ENTRACTE, HIER SOIR A L'OPE RA, S.M. HAILE U LASS IE APPARAIT AU IALCON DU CRANO VESTIBU LE. encombrnnts pa r- leur ma•~t' . Les piktons lc ~ont 1\ussi, p:u lrur nombrf'. CependanL ju.•qu'ici on le$ tol~re. n faudra birn aussl A Murrl, !'ancien pr6,1dPnL de 1a R~publlque, M. Vincent Auriol, qui, de par ses !onctions. n a.uisu! durant sept ans aux reunions du ConseH .ruperleur de la D~!ense naUonale, a verse son tl!moignnge au dossier de l'atialre des !ultes. C'est le commandant Brun, JUge d'instruction pres le tribunal ml- li!alre dl! Bordcaull:, qui. 111r com- mission rogatolre du conunondant de Resse(Uier, a proced6 a son audition. Celle-ei a durc 1 h. 20. Mou tl~r eerC.take d'Etat tux A!- laitt• •tran&erl!3, el leur pn·sentl! les mt'mb<H de I'A."t'mblo:e pari- slenne-. Puu te c:or\ect' game la. salle des fftes ou l'attendent 1500 personnes du Tou1-'Puls. Le pr<'sldent du con•ell munici- pal prend 1.• l>JU'<>Ir pour salUt'r lt rot de• rols el exaltt'r l'amttfO, qui le lie A Pdria et d Ia France. Et, en JOUVt'nlr de cette journft', 11 lui nmct un \'olUme. d.,..t~ac:~ Pill' Urrlllo, do .:euvno du p•lntre de Montmartr e, En quelques mota le aouveraln. dana un t~ls par[all, r~cte M Lalay et tous lt'O J'arll1ens de l*Dt'C::\letl qu'tl$ lui ont -:ret.t>rve. evo .. quanl • ea \oisltes ant~rl•uret~ et cellet. plus recentes. mala trop 1'&- pld ... • son ~;, . .i FlinJ, A l'lnstitut Pasteur el ~ u Mus<-e du Louvre. A 12 h. ~~- l'empcreur le prbl- d t'ol de Ia Bl'publlq'ol•, 'lit, Latay, lOI. rtron el Le buruu du conun municipal, aulttent J'HOtel de VIlle pour 11-.ner !'hOtel de Lau:wn, qual d'Anlou. oli. le menu auh•ant Ies attend : Turbot soulfit amlral. C lrue de ~h..vr••ul Gra.od Veaeur. Bri<Kbe Au coun de Ia reception orpn1see hier i l' hot el Criilon, l'e111,.,eur d'Ethiopl. a lonsuement converse avec Mme Mendes - P-ee. fe COlt' 1ru a ll X tru. Sda clt' Lo- ;--------------- --------- nttf. Fromacu. Guco du Uldb. TtUIUt'Lh. ' t ontruhot ~!M7 cloa d ·E•tour- Jirl t$%6. Gra:Ad P ommanl 1926. lb~mll:tfn • Lauson llrl•t 1~1 •n Jerubvam . Sous les ponls de Paris Cet aprb·mldt, 1 15 h 1 10. l'em- J>•reur H le pr~ • ldent d'l Ia R~pu btlC{u•, t.~Uittant l"hOII•I IAurun, mun l~ nt l bord d u c Bortl~F...,tl ~)1 •· doni Mme R~.n6 Col)' • t Ia Un nouveau vaccin antidiphterique mis au point par le nr Fleming S IR ALEXA.'\'l)ER FLEMI NG, lnvcnteur de In pO.:nicllllne, qu~ la Fra!lce r cceva!t t rlumphul<>ment au lendP.tnain <1e Ill guerre, ~ ·t ;\ nou\ cau l'h6tt' c pour mif'UX ttavalller • toutes Ec s !onct ioM otncielleJ, - J e ~uls venu \ Pnr19. nous a-t· •l d4!clare. pour usister nux tfloVllttx <'u Consen des oJ'I'II)Jsa- Mile Nl .cole de continun a ~olerer l~s autobu~ Car les JUPpr1mer ,lqwvaudrmt a • lanC<"r- sur le p:1vf 827 milllom Quant a Mme Oilier, eli:-Viet- consul-archlviSte a l'ambusade de Fr11nce i Canberra, elle est inlt'r- rogee t't' malin fl nouveau au tri- bunal milita.lre. Castries dP Par ls1ens qui. m~me rt'parti~ I sur ~G!i jours de quln7e heures, • " d L ' 1 repre~entent une nrmt!e de phl- (pebte-ruece U genera ) tons dont on ne £aurnil que tnlre. se marie dans la petite eglise du village de Castries MO~'TPELLIER , 30 octobrc c d•' (>Cch~ particuliere > . F lLI.E alnee du due de Cas- trlf'S. trememe du nom et petite n.ii!ce du gt':nloral, :11.'1- .ol ;:~c Castries epo\Ue aujourd'hui. dan s Ia pet.te ~glise du village de C'ast~ICll. & quelques kllom~tre)l de MontpeUier. le baron de Vitrolles. Agee de 19 ans, Nicole de Cartries \·ient lL 'peint' de t:lire Jon entree dame le monde . .Elle n'n qUltt~ le cou~ent que le 1er julllct demler, r, 'Imperiale esl condiUDnee Il l!!t probable qu'il• pren- droicnt le mt!tro. Tout au mains s'y e~Fnyeraient-ils. On n vu ce qu'lt "" t!tAit en 1945 et 19-1.6 avnnt que l'on eilt retabli le5 ser- Le Conseil (rE ta t « blanchit » le profes~eur Louis Rougif'r VJCe$ d'autobu< ; en un :tour, ll l~ Conseil d'Etat a nnnul6 un ar- r<'Ut' ~poque. on a comple ju..- r~t~ du mlnbltre de I'Educa.Uon na- qu'l c:i~ million• d'enlr~!<. 1 t.lonate, en dal<! du 23 jullJet 1941. Le · a)·a.nl pronon"' Ia mlt~ i Ia ~tralte m t~ ~rle aetu~Ue- d'oftlre de )o(. LoW. Rou;lu, pro- ~ent un mtlllard vmat-hult mU- , .. _ur A Ia. F .. .:utt6 des lA!ttres de lion~ de voya(eUf' par an. ll au- B~S&Il~on. rait quelque peine fl en accueillir .Le prof••!eur R4uct~r. qut aecom- 82.7 mllllona de plua. plt~aatt una mla.~ion en Grand•·Bt<'- n n'y a PIIS long-temps, lea ser- t.agne a.U dfbut de Ia guer~. krtrit ! vi~ lnt4!resses ont pointe les par J& auh• un U-.re : c lo1laalons .e- 1 passaaes entno 17 h. 20 et 18 h. 30 rrlt..s l Lonoirf'<o :t, qui mu~ l ta dn &l'tmu,. dt l'Op6ra (en direction eommentAl"-' I'U!'lonn~. (II a!llr- du Palab-Royal). lls ont d~nom- malt r~x1Bte1101 d'acronb P~tAin ~ baron dr VitroDes hablte bre 3..<13 l'Ottures psrtlculi~ et Clmr<bltll. Aix-en·P rovvncl!. 11 est l'h ... ritier ; 35 autobua; or eellts-ll transpor- R~ttr~ l ~·w-York J>•ndant l'oc- d'un<' ltl'lmde famille du Dauphl- , tall·n ~ une moyenue dl' 1,8 per- cupatlon. II rut accus6 d'a,·olr t:' ~ nl! Srn arriere-J(rand-pht>. F.u- IIKlllnes chacune, co qui r t>prtll!Pnte Yorl•4 I• P<>ll ttqu: PxVrleure u geni.'-F'ran(Oi~ d'Armand. baron t. peu prol.s '100 passagers au total, go•n•rr n.,rnont dr \t~hy, ron tic! \'ltrollel", cbanlle::l le coun landis QUI' ceu:x-d aval,.nt ab- Ma~ le co~ll d'F.tat a c:onclu que de- l'tlistolre. C'est lui qui en 1814 10rb6 1.~ voyagi'UfS, e'm-l-dlre l'aceullatlon purt~ contre 1111 d'uolr dkida en ell~ Je t-ar et ses alUt<s deu x Col~, plus t'1l ctn:ulant dlx I ~ l'• rt ~rt d• gue!T1) aUI6 "t a rdablir- Lotm XVIII mr Je Cola moln~ ' d'a YOfr tentt d'111t•n'1!nlr dans des Wne - Mal~ voua ollbllt:"Z de parter coiiTt'l'Mllons dlplomaUqu~ ,...poaa.tt d t' l'a lte- d'encombrem!'llt, dJra- aur a ~ .ll rattJI lnua•t.s. Le IPtvice reli!tleux est pre- ~~d~ par Ml!r de Prevenchere•, ar- che'·~que d'Alx. Arle.• •·l Ambnm. Lt'1 ttmoln. s.ont, pour Ia !a- mlllro de C rtri~ t-on. Pour une anto dl' p b8,11t moy•n. l'nlr4' de dt\plnaement est de :12 mHt't'S carre 67 ton t!'n&nt Vne casserole d'eaa chaude a lail deborder l'indignalion du mari trom pe L A tOo CbJU!lbre I.DI.&'n lendn. <et aprb·mldt dan• 1Ul rn~, .. a trQil. 'llr r;mpf, l>mttu (ff,baude m~m•l rt vat rcnt,.nt, Z\1. Dfl1&rncbe, qui t st ald••oUICn~ur a l'h""l'lCt' d'l \'1')', a prl6 Ill• rorn~ d .. rtclam•r A •• remmr laOdel" ot l aun htu- reux rlul. le plolllbl•r Ludm Wrlaand, qu'aMUte M• ~-bllrlu Muc~olt, l"! ropra I lulU qa'll e.Ume tal •Ire justem•nt dua, ,,prh 13 U'U oho\Ude dli<'U>IlOA qul l'e-n,·oyA &•a\-~rr . d«"UX moll dan• aun prcropu bliprt.al. 11 " avalt bWe Iurette Qlio \\ rlrancf otalt du drralor b•• n 1 vee lllmr Dr.la.nK.bt', I c nun avalt ttnte dP prol.&'strr, lltals 1 M me Delarothr. Jl l' on rn crott I•• 'olsln.o, " te cuactbrc dos a.DUqu•s harpks. uae btU~ u r - ruro •t qu•lqll.e renomblante ano 1\l m• Ansot. A a•o.lne JJrla- roch~ uunalt-11 b bouth l! qu'll b nlrrnult, letrorh~ . II tul ar- th·al&. mlome de ae r.Jilre • rorri- l•r •· Un tel ruhn• avail IIAf pa.r f or cer t DPI.>f(l('be u. pbl- tosophl,., n tU!SliWt •'ftre ri~ cnE. ~l ah, le Jt ma.J d untn, reve- nant Clo '"" tra.vall, 11 trO<R-a \lm ~ llt'IArudte au d llllllrlle <Oft- Jur.ol anc Wtlr"nd. • •tto le>lt. c•oo ~111.11 u ~p. notu uoha l'ell prlt. an plom blrr. l is rn • 1n rent l\UX tOU.LJ~, ~t l'aidC• IOICDC:IIf t 'D rr~ut n bonne !J&rt. Ls nnit P"'""- All matlA, ll•la- roebe, prt'lttllt son eoura1e l deux ~. au n'prodler • p fnnme son lncondz:ll.&'. Ma l 1111 t'D prll : Mme V tbrocba a'artal- ralt a.lo ra t. aon , ,......, ... 5'em- parant d•un f P f ehaud, elle ftn - ta, lDdU; nie. d~e n u'ctmnaar re m.u l l m pudr:nt, D tl<aroc.b" pot parrr Irs ~oups. Ce que \ oyant, lillie T>tlarocbe -pooa son tu, mal• u.Wt b quru" d 'lmr c:u••- role d 'rau b o11.fiJ;uJ1e q a"dle n- tollmll IRlr b nuq 11.e d r aoa ad- ~ rr aal r•. Quand Ia custrole fnl vld o, M. D~la ro c hr, lt urbll~ de doulrur, n •f' ut. PhlS qu'A aa•ptltr l':t.mb u lan c~. C"est !!Ut' llflB li t df' ;loutc ur q D 'II d~, ·att porter plaln- tr, assu rlllll en our.re q uo lea coup• lllJ vnaU'e n (tu Ia nllle 4r Weiland avat.-nc l'lltr.ala~ I• r<'ton r d 'II.De ht'nlle d.bp:a r11.e de~ pub du IUUl~h .\ -- 0 -- / -~~~~~-~~ _o'r-tal-t u_"_ hom_m_e. -II -bro-no-= her--:"ll:--1 ___ --.~,.../ f/ . 4'>'\.1). - C'ut bien tol qui me disalt qu'll' su·alrnt un sen.s alcu de lo. clvlllsa.llon. - \·ou• tombf1. 11 plr I Ju•temrnt Je f<'u ,.,.rt "'t drtraque ~ \'OU8 all~r uou" donnrr un ruup dr main. L-c._ ____ b \\ ~:!o\on.,sl tut·sun homme _!-~-~-
ENU SERPA EPUOCUOS NE EDANEMORP perrier TEM UD PSCHITT UA RUEOC Pour traduire ce message, écrit en Martien, lire de droite à gauche.
V OICI peut.etre le veritable portt'·parole dea Terrlena. L'alr ulme et pondere de cettf' crbture lnaplre la conllanee en son ju(emtnl. On It dnlnr !lain, ~qui· tlbri, pOA edanl l'Pqulvalent de la SI(CSAt d'un 'l'itux mar• lien. Nn'J ldenux rommun11 noll!! rapprochrront, tn dipit des diJrkuJtes qu'auront DO$ diplomate!O a falrr admettre le ceremonial en u-aJe cbt'Z nou~ . Nos t'D'~'OYU s'adapte· ront 'itt' au't eoutumes de leurs lntrrlocuttur• terrestre1.
Devant nou1, un £tre bouce. Notre apparell approche de lui, lentement. U fait ven nou• un cute. A tout ba.ard, noUI braquon• le plstolet atupUadtour. A-t-ll Vllulu nou1 ..luer, nou1 menacer? Par me1ure de prudencl', oous repartona, 1an1 le ••,·otr. • ,
Letterdated 11th December, 1954, from llr. Crocker to Minister reflying saucers, etc . Sent to Sir Ian Clunies Ross - 11 You may care to see 11 - 29/12. R GC .
I PERSONAL ------- --- RGC/CVH -- xx:xxxxxxxxx Coaco~ealth Offices , Treasury Place, Jffii,BOlJRliE, C. 2. 6th Doee:nber , 1954. Enny thanks indeed for your letter of November 25th, 1n which you were good enoueh to analyse Keyhoe •s book and to give oe your viows on it. It was very good of you to hove eono to all this trouble and both my uife ond I lmve read your letter with the greatest interest. It puts Keyhoe •s theories into proper perspective - and I can woll believe that your reaction to it is tho right one - althoueh it recoves o ra thor romantie conception that bad intrigued both cy ife and myself. I am returning herewith the tao photographs that you wore good. enough to oncloso to me with your letter, as you may need them. again. Bo doubt you nlll let me know rJhen you reach tho next stage 1n respect of your ra~king l1ork, which I need not tell you I continue to bo most interested in. With bost :~ishes to you - I am, Yours sincerely , • R.&.C. (R. G. CASEY) . Dr. E. G. Bowen! Chief ot the D vision of Radiophysics , university Grounds, pxp mx. n.s,u.
COMM O NWEALTH .~~ ~ OF AUSTRAL<A ~ COM MONWEALTH SC IENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION DIVISION OF RADIOPHYSICS TlLIGRA MI C.OitEICA IIC:M IYDNU UNIVERSITY GROUNDS. SYDNEY. N .S W tttn• ro 25th November 1954 The Rt . non . 11. 0 . casey , o·:, CH , P'30 , Minister in Charge of c . s . I . n . o., co~nonwealth Offices , He , I RECEIVED --, 2 9 N OV 1954 I MINIST ER'S OFflf" Treasury Place , MELBOURl"W , c . 2 , Victor'~a . My Dear Minister , I found the book by Major Keyhoe intensely amus ing and entertaining and read it right through practically without stopping. I must say , however , that I am far from convinced by any of the anecdotes or argwnents . The fact is the author is trying very hard to support his thesis with very inad.equ&.te evi dence and throughout the book his main aim in life seems to be to trap the Air Force into saying something they obviously were not going to say . I want to deal ~t length with some of the evidence gi ven in the book, but before doing so perhaps I should outline a fev1 Pht:momcna which we .1r.vc had experience of in this Laboratory which are relevant to the whole problem. (1) As you well know , there are a whole range of (2) (3) atmospheri c reflection phenomena in which it is possible to see mock suns , sun dogs etc . c..s a result of the bending of light waves or reflection from ·water drops or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. A good exampl e of this sort of phenomenon occurred during an experiment we performed near nowra a few years at;o. It happened towards the end of a rainmaking experiment in which a cloud was seeded with dry ice. The cloud rained out and disappeardd, leaving a thin layer of ice Cl'ystals in the atmosl h .... re . These were quite invisible viewed from above or below and we only knew they were there by flying through them. From 4 , 000 Ol' , OCO feet above the crystals , loolting in the direction of the sun , a very strong reflection of the ~un could be seen as shown in the uttached photograph. This was exceedingly bright , was saucer-shaped and ·noeuvred about with the aircraft . If we had not lmown what was going on it would have been ve1•y easy to imagine that we Her•e being folloned ar•om1d by a stranee device . It is a very common thing to obtain radar reflections from meteor a when they enter the earth ' s atmosphere ond there is now an extensive li terattn•e on the subject . They usually range in hei;ht from 40 to 80 miles and have a wide rang·e of speeds around 5 or 10 mileo a second. A typical photogra ph on a heieht -time scale (obtained by the canaaians) is attached. These are real visitor::: from outer spuce and ther·e is no mystery about thut they consist of or how they behave . In the particular case of this photogPaph the rmrt i cle responsii,le was probably no hie~~;er than a grain of sand or a t;;reen pea. As you have pointed out so clearly, vist1nl sightings of meteors and meteo1·i tes are not \.mcommon and many alleged saucer sightings , as for example the recent one
{1) - 2 - observed by a football crcmd in Italy , ccme into this category . As f'ar as one can judge ~rom the newspaper re~orts , this nas a ~retty exact description of a group of meteorites , including the cloud of dust \'lhich is sooetimes left as a 1·ezult of the disintegration of the particles . There are a large number of radar- echo phenomena which can m'ise from refraction or reflection of' radio waves in the atmosphere . A typical example o~ · ·.~ s is describad in the attached letter from the R. A. A. , . Home connno.nd. The explanation in this case is tn'lt signals from a radar set on the grourd 'b ~eflected - ®1~ - - from a low-lying temperature inversion , giving echoes from e;round objects at J. \thich have the appearance to the radar operator of being in the air at B. This phenomenon is quite fre~uent on summer afternoons in coastal areas of New 3outh '/ales and was extensively investigated towards the e:nd of the war. These are only a few examples of atmOSI)heric phenomena , which I have picked simply because ,,.e have had direct and recent experience of them • . It would be quite easy in all these cases to interpret the observations as due to some strange visitation . Turning now to some of the exwnples given in Keyhoe ' s book , I found them unconvincing and deficient in fact in many cases. For example - (1) The mysterious device described on the bottom of puge 46 which "flashed by 11 the control Tower at Hnmilton Field at a speed estimated at between 1000 and 1500 miles an hour. It is quite possible that a space ship might have a soundless propulsion system , but it is quite impossible for a solid body to puss through the atmosphere as fast as that without producing shock waves and a pretty devastating noise . There should at least be some broken Ylindows around to show ~or it , but the traffic control men appear to have heard nothing. I think therefore that either their height estimate was badly in er·•or and hence their estimate of speed and distance or , <-,a is more likely , they did not see a material body at all but some kind of reflection phenomenon . {2) Keyhoe makes a great deal of the aighting by two Pan- American pilots near 'Tewport News on page 58 . As in the Hrunilton Field case , this is an exa~ple of a device travelling at r.1ore th~·n lOCO miles an hour at a height of 2000 feet . The most obvious result of such a passage would be the noise it would make together with a certain amount of ground damage along the track. None of this appenrs to have happened and it seems therefor'e as if the sighting must have heen an optical reflection effect . {3) The observation at V'/hite Sands Guided Missile Base , on page 46, of a disc travelling at 18 , 000 miles an hour 56 miles above the earth tallies exactly with a meteor phenomenon./ - 3- (4) The reference to green meteorites observed 'in New nexico is very misleading . These were the subject of quite extensive and open investigation and it happens that some of my friends were involved. There was no question but that they were meteorites , the only unusual point being that they v1ere green . This suggested that they were of different chemical composition from the average run of meteorites , hence the careful watch &nd the efforts which were nade to dig one out of the ground. (5) In nearly all the descriptions reference is made to the wobbling or shimmering of the saucers as they r10ve along. This is very characteristic of refraction phenomena in the atmosphere and suggests that this is the explanation . (6) I found the reference to nr. Markowitz on page 151 to be a frighti~lly distorted piece of logic . Any scientist would admit the possibility of inter-stellar flight . The fact that he then observes a body in the solar system which he cannot identify does nothing to prove that space travel is taking place. (7) Broadly speaking , I found all the radar sightings referred to in the book quite unconvincing . J.!ost of the phenomena described read exactly like refraction phenomena , arc. \1toll v..nown to most radar people and can be readily oxpl~ined in terms of atmospheric conditions. ~le Here all confused by this .ind of thinl5 in the early days but quickly learnt to recognize the abnormal effects . There is always a burst of unidentified echoes when new operators are put on to a radar set and I suspect , with all due respect to the people concerned, that the large number of such reports in the post -war period was due to the compa1•atively large number of trainees who found themselves for the first time with highly complex military or civil equipment . (8) Similarly with the visual sightings . As the author rightly states , th ··re hove been re )Orts of strange flying machines in the sky for several hundreds of years . The optical phenomena responsible are more easily seen from aircraft than they are from the .;round and the increasing number of reports in recent years is probably due to the vast increase in flying and therefore in the number of people likely to sec such phenomena. (9) One thing which I most decidedly cannot understund is simultaneous visual and radar sightings of high-speed objects in the lower atmosphere. In the upper utmosphere , of cOUl'SO , meteors are seen simultaneously ~~Y eye and by radar. In the lower atmosphere it is also possible to get simultaneous sightings of olm~-moving objects like a balloon or a small cloud.giving rain . But there is no ready explanation of hi~h - speed objects noving in the lower atmosphere both tracked by radar and seen by eye . ~he only dencription I can recall or a case of this l!..ind is that of a B- 29 crew on page 1-1'1. The description of what went on inside the aircr ft roads exactly like what the R.A.A· F· call "finger trouble" . The 'lCC)unt of individual echoes merging \'lith a 11 half- inch spot on tl1e scope" moving at 5 , 000 miles an hour is very r:mch what happens with an abnormal refleution phenomenon . Incidentally , a half-inch spot on the cathode ray screen would coi·respond to an object about t\tenty miles in diameter. If this uere a space ship, a very ordinary radar set \."Ould detect it ·:~hen it was about half woy to the moon and at night the astronomers could see it even ful'ther .
- 4 - Turnin · now to some nore general considerations on the whole problem of saucers. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) I know many of the scientists concel'ned \lith defence matters in the United States and know thau .. uey completely discount the suggestions made in Keyhoc; 1 S book. I also know several of' the canadians , · ut - .... o not know ·/. B. Smith . Eis ideas on 1•otatinz gnets are \lild in the extreme and I susvect from his u .. ncr ans :e1•s that he is either being misreported or is a l'uther irresponoible .c her of the scientific cornmuni ty . Tl1ere are a '1U :'her of refer•enecs in the book to scientific matters , for example radio ast1•onomy , in 'lhich ~he facts are not t..t u.ll cleurly brought out . Instead they are f;i ven in un obsettre way \Jhich implies that ~hey support ~he atlthor 1 s contention . por example , on the bottom of page 159 and the top of page 160 he tries to illlply that the source of radio signals received from outer space is unkno\'Tn and he quotes Grote Reber and Hanbury BroVJn in support . It hu!)peno that Reber is here in the Laboratory at the present time and Hanbury Brown is a very old friend of mine and I am sure they would be horrified to see this . The fact is that the signals received are random noise and carry no intelligence in the usual oense of the term. From the character of the signald , uowever , it is possible to know pretty precisely ho l tt.ey o1•iginate and from whex·e they come . They come ei tt1er from thermal processes or from randan go.s discharge phenomena and certainly not from any ordered motion like that in a radio transmitter. Prom the form of the signals it is poAsible to measure the temperature of the source and in one special case it tells us a great deal about the distribution of hydrogen atoms through our galaxy , their velocity of approach or recession , and so on . I think it is inconcJivable Lhat beings who were sufficiently advanced to indulge in space travel would not use light and radio w ves for signalling and navigation purposes . If they uid , it is also inconceivable that they would have gone undetected. considerinp- that we have no difficulty in detecting and identifying the racUatj on from hydrogen atoms floating around at the far end of our galaxy ·hen they have a density of about only 1 per cubic inch , it would be quite easy to receive any kind of signal sent from a space ship. I find it si _snificant tbat no radar echoes thought to be from space vessels have been received from outside the earth 1 s atmosphere. prom their very nature space ships would have to spend a fair amount of time just outside our atmosphere befo!'e entering and the!'e are radar sets which are easily capablo of etecting them doing this . strange reflections have , in fact , only been received from inside our atmoophcre end this makes it likely that they are due to meteors or to refraction or reflection effects . I agree that the Air Force huvo not behaved particularly well on this question . Hany of the early sightings were of "sky- hook11 balloons 1hich were being sent across the United states at heights of 100 , 000 feet for meteorological purposes . This was well knovm
- 5- to a great number of people but fo~ some reason the Armed Sei·vices wanted it k~:;Jt tJ secret . Although I do not have the evidence to hand , I believe it is a fact that the death of captain Mantell took place when he tried to chase a balloon which was actually at 100, 000 feet and moving at 200 to 300 knots . The crash was simply due to the fact the he went up too high and ran out of oxygen . The story v1as classified in the fii•st :plc..ce to conceal the existence of the balloons and the Air Force were reluctant to say anything about it subsequently because of the futility of the whole episode . There was also a certain amount of inter-Service friction , as the balloon r1as actually released by the Navy . In conclusion I would give as my own view the one which has been suggested many times before , namely that the whole thing can be put down to hysteria and mass suggestion . People certainly see phenomena which they cannot explain. In the old days they put it dovm to witches and sorcerers ; now it has simply changed to saucers from outer s~ace . In this respect books like that of Kcyboe will , of course , c..o a great deal of good. Like people 'I o - ed to ..,. "'edict the end of the earth , they build up suspenoc , ake out , as he does , that 1954 is the fateful year - and t'1en nothing happens . ,he public gradually becomes disillusioned and forgets the whole thing. This , I think , is what will happen in the present case. There will , no doubt , be saucer scares in othEJr parts of the world but I doubt \thether we will hear much more about them from the u.s .A . yours sincerely , (E.G. BOWen) CHIEF OP THE ::JIVISION
Parliament House, CANBERRA. A. C. T. PERSONAL 23rd November, 1954. Thank you for your letter of 16th November in reply to my enquiry about possible reports of flying saucers in your area. I have appreciated your looking into this matter for me and will be interested in any future reports you might have that are relevant. His Excellency Dr. E.R. Walkor, Australian Ambassador to Japan, TOKYO. R.&.c.
-- ~ (~~ (J.n ~,' ol c ~ l-~~r'\1 AUSTRAJ..IAN HIGH COMMISSION. NEWOEJ..HI . 18th }';ovel!lber, 1954· Thank you for your lettcr of 9 November regarding flying saucers. 1.s a matter of fact there has recently been e. series of reports about flying saucers fr<n several parts of India and I put aside for you a number of newspaper cuttings on them. I naw discover that they were "cleared am~.y 11 a couple of days ago by a new servant 'When clea.ni.ng my office and have disappeared. I w.i.ll see Bhatnagar, or Krishnan, or other Indian scientist~as soon as I can and ask them ~t they make of the matter. J.s you say, it does seE:Ii1 that a proportion of the "unexplained object3" are in fact "unexplained" on any rational hypothesis. The Rt· Hon. R. G. Casey, C. B., D. S. O., M . C., M . P., Minister of State for External Affairs , CAlrnE:RR..~ , A. C. T. ·
NOVEMBER. 18, 19:>-t ·' ~ · 'lFlying Saucer" Mystery l Is Still Talk Of Town CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS THE PHENOMENON ON "The- Timr of India'' New" Srn ice CALCUTI'A' THE first authoritative report on the luminous object in the sky said to have been seen by a large number of people in different parts of West Bengal on the night of October 31 has sb1ce come from an officer who was on cluty at the time in the Dum Dum aerodrome Co n~ trol Tower. According to him, this M ''fiyin~ saucer" or "flying ; cigar' was a bright white ~ ooicct with a long luminous n tatf of ~U'tused whl(e light. 'J"he oft\cf!r entered his obs~rvn.Uon c In the duty lor book and gave I· the phenomenon u belnlt about o .ftve miles away at ll helrht o! ], about 2,000 teet and travelling I 11t an estimated ~~peftd ot about c ooo knou. 1 Thla "brlg'lt whitt light," he turther stated, wu three to ll four times brighter lhnn an ~lroJOtl'a tall 11&". ht and \'llnllh· Nl fr(lm view In a hoie nfttr a minute. The omcel' M~lll'ted there was nothlnr erratic about Ita tll~;ht, the objl'd chnnK!n&' nelthcz height. dtrecllon nor eptoed. HI• description lereely tallies • \\1th the accounta ~ven about It 1 1 1 , by aome membera of the publll' In Calcutta. Deo,ll'har, Cooch Be· har and East Pnklslan Int"VIta'bly, the "tlyln~ aauc. ~r" 111 1.1\e subject or a 11po te ot 1 gol!&lp In t~~am cars, b\VIOII, cot-I t fee hou11oa and omcoa. Tho eor- , n•apondence eolumns ot local 1 ·: newspaper• also contain a nwn· 1 her of letters !rom read~ra try· • lnlf to explain the phenoml'.non. TRP:ORV XOT ACCEPTED The Rtv. Father F. Goroux. who n1na a well-equipped ob· eervatory &t St. X11.vler'1 Col· lege, cnlcutta. 1111ld lh11t the ob· jec:t waa cer~lttl:v nol an a.stro- 1 nomtcnl one. polnllmr oul that Ita tow &peed wu not <:omp&tt· bll'! with the movement ot an utronp~rleal object. Nor wu he lnellned to accept the theory of W. Bengal Newsletter ' ..,......,.._-~ , t a "tlylnr saucer," rfTnarklnr: t "There might be acme amount ot unln1th or bluff In thtee re- f'Orlll." (In Italy one suc.-h hoax l haa t·f'sulled In a court caRe r hlunchl'd aga.Jnat a new~rpaper r rtoporter and a group of youths c "for ~p~lldlng f&!Be and Alarm- l 1111; teports" about the landing , or ,.Martians In a "flyln~r nue- 1 er. ) • , Mr. D. V. Rao, Barrtckpore p Metl'orolog'lcal 011\cer. hu etat· ed that In most eues popular IJ report• of "tl}1ng llaUC:f'.ra" may be explained away u "cont!en· qtlon trails" of alrrr11!l. The I errlne ~f'ed could a!Ro b11 8Jl "opt1c111 Illusion lndU<'I'd by what to I he nuked eye ls 11. domtt·lht\p· f'rl lky." • , __
..-------- --- -- -- --- · ·~ OFJ'ICE; o .- •Hr "'-., M INI T .. t-• tX T: ll'l.' , PE! SONAL . ,. AUSTRAI..IAN EMBASSY. TOKYO. ~/L~ , 16th November, 1954 . Thank you f or your letter of 9th November referring to rPports from Italy about unexplsined sightings of flying saucers . I have not so far heard anything of special interest on this subject from the Ame r icans in Tokyo, but t he Italian Ambassador, who has just returned here aft er a visit of s everal weeks to Rome , tol ct me t here was no doubt whateve r in Italy that nifferent narts of the country were being visited by unexolained nbjects . He said that quite rPcently a football match with several thousand snectat~rs in Florence was stopned because of the appea r ance of the so- ca l led "flying saucers " and there was no question whatever of the whol e cr owd being subj ect to a ~ass illusion. Anparently these objects have been observed to arrive at a narticular point, renain stationary in the a ir, dena rt at great speed and a gain r eturn to the same neighbour hood . In addition, the Ambassador said that traces of a substance, which annea red to be glass fibre, ~ad been recovered fr~ the air after such annearances . He had not hi~self seen anything of this kind . There is no soecial talk about this matter in Japan so far as I know , but I shall take any onnortunity of obtaining further information. The Rt . Hon. n . G. Casey , C. H., D. S. O., ll . C. , M. P . M ini stPr f or External Affairs , C A N B E R R A. A. C. T.
. . -· --- SAUCERS RGC/CVH Commonwealth Offices, Treasury Place, Hfi!,BOURHE, C.?, 15th November, 1954. I attach copy oro letter that I've just written to Dowen, which I hope won •t lead you to the inescapable conclusion that I've gone nuts. However, 1r you get one or your people to get you copy or the book I mention, I reel suro you will at least be intricued by it - and you need never admit publicly that you've read 1t. And 1r you would care to make discreet -nquiries at the top end ot the 0 .s .A .F. as to whllt its all in ..n:td ot - I'd be very interested to lmow what they havo to say about 1t 1n private, as apart i'ro:n tho obvious "attitude" that they have to observe vis-a-v1o tho public. R a ,... v Mr. Lewis W, DoUglaa 1 Southem Arizona Bank and Trust Building, :rucsou. ARIZONA.
RGC/CVH . PERSONAL -------- Co~~onr.cnlth Off1cns , . Tl~n ur," Place, l~Rounrm , c.~~c.a 15'th J;ove bor, 1954. l nm sendinG you copy or a s~all book under. sopo.rot.o oovcr. You ·~1 probObly hnvo o i'it rhon you see i.t. It 1a c :.~UO(l "Flying Snuccra from outer Spaca 11 • Tho cover ic enoueh to put anyone orr. I~ ~uo eiven to mo - nnd I hnd the ereatest roluctonco cvon to start it, but I tound thot l benama strnnncly 1ntorasted in it . ybc you ould have tho same experience. Ono naturally reeards tho title uith ovary ocoptici:;c - ... f not -omcthing stronner. I have seen ono or t o official U.s. Ai:r Force st3te::tonts about "Uncxplflincd Air Objects", which are always cnrof'Ully ordod and aro at pains to e~-pla1n that the {!J:"e"'t~r part or the 11 s1ghti.nes" aro cxpl.ain:lblo s natural phcnooa"U! or on sor.1e other erounds . But the 1nrm·once iR that there is a rcontage that u:oo not so explainable. It is ith thi.s st:r.lll minority of those things that this tollcr.1 Keyhoo ao~ls in this book that I am sondinc you. It oppC!lrs to be honestly \'1rittcn (cl thoueb ra thor jom•rutl1Gt1cal1y) - and ho quote a a nultibor or Pentagon people by naco - not thnt thoy endorso bin t.heoryhbut thc~r never wipe it Ol" 1ndoo:l evan diacour.t the poasib 1ty ot it. Anyhcm, I think you till not be as nausoated Tlhen you reed the bool:, as you n1ll undoubtocUy bo from the lool: of tho covor. - nd ouhan rou hn va read 1 t - 11' you can br1nfl yourself to do so - I 'd be interested to knacr your rcnction. I em, Yours nincorely , (R. G. CASEY) . Dt~ . E . G. Barren, Clliot ot the Division or Rad1opll)'.s1ca , c.s.x.n.o., University Grounds, SXQ lh'Y , N, S ,V1 ,RGC/EW Ju t 27 h tobor. a • c.2. I • U reply to t:t oth r princi 1 t r tn your 1 ttcr oon I coo. In to, rli.tb 0 t w1 OD - l 1nc 11' • R.es-.c. (n. G. CASEY) Oui~ , C.B.E., r to Italy,
FLYINS SAUCERS Same ~ t t er t o Offi cer, Mcintyre, Copland, ~ McClure Smit h , Walker RGC/EW Correspondence to Mr . Tange with c/s -----------..- 9th sury Gardena• oumm. c.2. OV~ b r 1954 I ttach copy ot utroct from a er onal lett r to e ~rox:r Paul CcGuir in nome. It nll sounae rather trangc and one 1a naturally inclined to b quit sceptic l - dthougll ther aee a to be o vidence t hat a proportion of the "unexplained obj ate" re in f ct aunoxpl in 4" on ony rational hypoth eia . f.b1a ia just n not to k if you hnv noounter d any evidence or vien on this subject h la y rcspone1ble end inform a p ople in your part of tll orla. Hie Ezc llency r. • • Crock r . t Uigl Co 1 eioner fer Auatrnl1 • l'EUII. ({.&.C. /EXtract from letter from Paul UcGuire of 27.10.1 954 . ----------------- - --------------- I do not know what you he~r of flying-saucers. Personally, I una born sceptical. But if they have no physical reality, they ore certainly a !oliticnl and psychological factor. The air here ialiied with them or rumours of them. And both Mrs. Luce and her Air Attache profeoa to take them seriously. She talked thea here on Thursday at lunch. On Thursday evening at a little dinner given on his birthday by the Air Attache , I sat next to her, she next to him. They went at it solidly for two hours. The three or four Italians (Foreign Ministry and Service) were pop-eyed. Cassady, the Air Attache , says flatly that ~he sightings are constantly increasing and are up to 50 "unexplaineds" a week. The reports are now su:f"f'iciently consistent to establish the prime type as cigar or clipped- cigar shaped, about 70 metres long. They are recorded by various instruments, sufficiently to establish a physical object: i.e. to reoove the assumption that they are all effects of atmospheric disturbances, or such. lie says that two senior Air Generals of the u.s. Forces have net a saucer in flight. Mrs . Luce mentioned a third General. She says that her brother-in-law saw one closely while walking in new England, •ana he hasn't been the same m n since"; though he refuses to talk for publication. Henry Luce held a conference of his editors lately to decide whether they should make an effort to knock the whole business on the head. His people said, "And how the hell do you think you can do that? There's too much evidence." Mrs. Luce and Cassady both said that whatever is there does not belong to the U.S.A., and that no scientists could yet produce the phenomona established, or explain them. As I said, I was born sceptical and achieve belief only by (I hope) rational processes . I am quite incompetent to judge the technical pointe Cassady puts. So I dismiss the question of the flying-saucers• existence. ' But we cannot dismiss tolitically the fact that Mrs. Luce and her Attache are ta king them. Krs . Lnce and Cassady may have some political motive for lying. That I doubt . They may be deluded or misled or fanciful (that is much more likely) . But, whatever the cause , the fact is that they are talking here of sauoors as established or near-eatabliohed realities. May I presume to suggest that other posts might be asked whether Americans elsewhere are talking like this •
~EG[IVEO 2 • G f rg54 IM~~l"'TER M I N ISTER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Parliament House , CANBERRA. A. C. T. 28th October, 1954. ~~~~ I enquired about thie in u . s .A. - and got the attached papers - which you may care to look at. I ' d be glad to have back when seen. Yours sincerely, ---- The Honourable Athol Townley, M. P., Minister for Air and Civil Aviation, Parliament House, CANBERRA. A. C. T. 1.
' . EXECU T IVE Ul-40 • EXT. 17 A CON Fl DENTIAL AUSTRALIAN JOINT SERVICE STAFF WASHINGTON 25. D . C . OJNFIDbNTIAL Room 1435, Temporary 11 U 11 Building, 12th and Constitution Avenue , N.W . 9/DEF His Excellency, The AustrAlian Ambassador, cVo Australian Mission to the United Nations, 4510 Empire State Building, New York , N.Y. ol• September 1954. UNITliD STATES AIR FORGE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT PROORAMME With reference to the telephone conversation of Sunday evening last in which the !1Urrister for External Affairs instructed me to arrange to o~tain information rel~tive to the above subject, I have caused ef¥luiries to be made by the Air Attach! and I forward herewith two copies of a release by the United States Department of the Air Force. I consider this document to be most interesting and informative and am sanewhat surprised that the natter has been dealt w1 th so thoroughly and technically in an unclassified document. The Air Attach~ was told that this was the latest information on the subject, classified or unclassified, issued by the United States Air Force . 2. The United States J\ir Force have set up a special section to deal with this matter, with headquarters at the Air Force Base, D~n , Ohio, at which reception, collation, and evaluation of sighting reports :u-e continually going on, and I am arranging for any subsequent similar publications issued on this subject to be obtained by the Air Attach! and forwarded by him to the Air Board in Australia who, no doubt, wil l keep the Minister for External Affairs informed on the subject. 3 . The United States Air Force hr.ve stated that these publications issued from time to time are the only ones which they are prepared to release ~s a result of general enquiry and h..ve intimated that should more information be required, it would be necessary for us to forward to them a detailed questionnaire in writing setting out exactly what we wish to know, but they would give no guarantee that an answer to any individual question l<lOuld be forthcoming even if it were available. Should it be considered necessary for this more detailed inform~ion to be obtained , it is suggested that the Air Board in Australia be requested to prepare a questionnaire and forward it for action to the Air At :~ch~ . The Air Board will be better able to formulate and phrase technical questions regarding the infonnation required and the United States Air Force, in cor.rnon with other United States Services, prefer the erquiry to come on a "need to know" basis froM the correoponding Service in Australia; moreover, should any question of classified material beco11:e involved, no risk is run by the method I have mentioned of violating the terms of the United States- Australia Security .Agreenent. T¢.~~ JU ·<.o/f->q.CONFIDENTIAL
. . " I ' CONFIDENTIAL 2 . CONFI:)BNTIAL 4. You will, no doubt , be aware that the Royal Air Force have set up a similar body in the United Kingdom to investigate these phenomena . 5. I should be grateful if the enclosures to this letter could be conveyed to Mr. Casey. Enclosures (2) f / / (D. H. HARRIBS) Rear Admiral, lmAD , AUSTRALIAN JODIT 5mVI<E STAFF CONFIDENTIAL
DEPARTloENl' OF THE AIR FORCE Office of Public Information Hashington 25 , D.C. U. S . Air Force Summary of TO:vents and Information Concerning the Unidentified Flying Object Program. The Air Force feels a very definite obligation to identify and analyze things that happen in the air that JDB.y have in them menace to the United States and, because of that feeling of obligation and pursuit of that interest , the Air Force established an activity known as the Unidentified Flying Object Program. This program was established in 1947 when unidentified flying objects were being reported in various parts of the United States. The renorts of sightings reached a peak of 1, 700 in 1952 and dropped to a total of 429 in 1953 . From a survey of the volume of sightings received by the Air Force , it has been determined that over 80 percent are explainable as being known objects . Generally, sighted objects fall in the category of : balloons , aircraft , astronomical bodies, atmospheric reflections, and birds . All reports of unidentified flying objects result from either radar or visual sightings . Explanations pertaining to sighting a reported from w.ili tary and civilian radar facilities are as follows: 1 . Temperature inversion reflections can give a return on a radar scope that is as sharp as th""t received from an aircraft . Speeds of these returns report- edly range from zero to fantastic r ates . The "objects" also appear to move in all directions . Such sightings have resulted in many fruitless intercept efforts . To possibly bear out the theory of temperature inversion reflection is an incident which occurred in January 1951 near Oakridge , Tennessee . Two Air Force aircraft attempted to intercept an unidentified "object" and actually established a radar "lock" on the object. Their altitu ·e at the tue was 7, 000 feet . The un- identified object, according to their radar, appeared to be at an elevation of 10 to 25 degrees from this altitude . Three passes were made in an attempt to close on the object. In each instance the pilots reported t hat their radar led them first upward and then down toward a specific point on the ground . (One scientific theory holds that light can be similarly reflected from a layer of warm air above the earth. If this proves to be correct, many visual night sightings could be accounted for .)' 2 . Ionized clouds have caused sol!l9 unidentified radar returns . Thunder- storms are identifiable by radar and radar returns have also been received from ice formations in the air, balloons , ground reflections, frequency interference between other radar stations, and windborn objects. Obviously, such returns are very difficult to identify, especially when they occur during darkness . 3 • The radar screen has picked up birds and in one case a f l ock of ducks . Flight interceptions proved these phenomena. An explanation of known types of visual sightings are as follows : 1. Present-day jet aircraft, flying at great speeds and high altitudes , are often mistaken for unlmown objects by the untrained observer. Sunlight reflections from the polished surfaces of aircraft can be seen plainly even when the aircraft itself is too distant to be visible . The exhaust of jet aircraft emits a trail ~d often this is seen rather than the aircraft itself . l-XIRE
2 . Weather balloons account for a substantial m.nnber of sight:Lngs . These balloons , sent to altitudes of 40, 000 feet and higher, are launched from virtually every airfield in the country . T' ey are made of rubber or polyethylene , swell as they gain altitude , have very good reflective qualities , carry small lights when launched after dark, and can be seen at very high altitudes . 3. In addition to the ordinary weather balloon, huge 90-foot balloons , which sometimes drift from coast to coast, are used for upper air research. These balloons also have a hir:hly reflective surface and are visible at extreme altitudes . 4. Fre0 uently , urrusually bright meteors and planets will cause a flurry of reoorts , soretil::es frO!" relatively experienced observers . At certain times of the year, Venus, for instance , is low on the horizon and will apooar to change color and move erratically due to hazy atmospheric conditiona . Since the stars are charted and most of their characteristics '\mown, many casPs are traced to them . Meteors on the other hand are of rapid single-direction movement ahd are only visible for a few seconds . Meteor activity is more cornon at certain times of the year than others, and reports of UF0 1 s have shown a tendency to increase during these periods . 5. SoJ'Tie cases arise which, on the basis of information received, are of a weird and peculiar nature . The objects display erratic movements and phenomenal speeds . Since maneuvers and speeds of this kind cannot be traced directly to aircraft, balloons , or known astronomical sources , it is believed that they are reflections from objects rather than being objects tbenselves . For example : suppose we would bold a mirror in hand under a light, causinJ a reflection on the ceiling . Only a slight, quick movement of the band would result in erratic Jr.ovements and phenomenal speeds of the reflected beam. Peflections may be projected to clouds and haze both from the ground and air . Many things \ofhich are common to the sky have highly reflective qualities, such as balloons , aircraft, and clouds. Accurate speeds are also difficult to determine due to the inability of the reoorter to judge distance , angles , and time . 6 . Brilliant flashing lights that someti.Ines appear red and white in color have been reported by observers . This type has been traced to a new lighting system of con:mercial airlines and military aircraft . Atop the tail section of these aircraft highly reflective red and white flasher type lights have been installed and are many times misinterpreted by the ground observer. In the analysis and investigation of the radar and visual sightings described, there are some yardsticks which have been established from experience and trends to measure and attempt to determine the source of UFO ' s . Some of these are general in nature and are subject to change as new scientific and factual information is received . It should be remembered that any object viewed from a great distance appears to be round . Nearly all the sightings reported are described as round and would tend to indicate that most of the objects are at a grePter distance from the observer than is generally estimated. Another misconception centers about photograPhs of unidentified flying objects . At best the majority of photograPhs have proven non-conclusive as evidence to this progra.r: mainly due to type cameras used . Uso , it rJ.ght be mentioned that because still photographs can be so easily faked , either by using a mock- up or model against a legitimate background, or by retouching the negative , they are worthless as evidence . Innumerable objects , from ashtrays to wash basins , have been photographed while sailing through the air . ~y such photos have been published without revealing the true identity of the objects . More attention is given to ~oving pictures of unidentified flying objects since they are more difficult to retouch. Ho\o.'ever , only a very few movie- type films have been received by the Air Force and they reveal only pinpoints of light moving - 2 - l-10RE
a-cross the sky . The Air Force has been unable t o identify the source of these lights because the images are too small to analyze proper:cy . Since ownership of these films remains v i th the persons taking them, the lir Force is not in a position to give them out . The diff iculty of evaluating reports of all types is based large:cy upon the lack of basic data surrounding tte sighti.ngs . The drop in sightings during 1953 is largely due to the increased accuracy and the completeness of reports being received . To be of value, a report should include such basic data as size , shape , composition, speed, altitude , direction, and the maneuver pattern of the objects . Without such information, it is alFost impossible to establish the identity of tte object sighted . In addition , a recent study has shown a direct correlation between the number of sight- ings reported 'lnd the publicity given to 11 saucers 11 by the nation ' s press . The Air Force took a further step in early 1953 by procuring Videon cameras for the purpose of photographing this phenomenon . These cameras were distributed to various mill tary installations . This type cBJOOra bas two lenses , one of which takes an ordinary photograph, and the other has a diffraction grating which separates light into its component parts . This aids in determining the composition of the obj ect photographed . A. small ntmtber of photogr aphs have been r eceived from this camera; however, on:cy light spots of no detail have been indicated in the photos to date . As more photographs are taken by these observers , it is believed that a great deal of the m;ystery will be lifted from the program. 8 The Air Force would like to state that no evidence bas been received which would tend to indicate that the United States is being observed by machines f r om outer space or a foreign government . ~lo object or particle of an unknown substance has been received Rnd no photographs of detail have been produced . The photographs on hand are , at best, only la,-ge and small blobs of light vhich, in most cases, are explainable . It rr.ay be concluded from the above and from past experience that no new significant trends have developed out of t l ese cases . There was an increase in uublic interest which occurred simultaneously with tte publication of var· ous books and articles on the subject ; however, this trend bas been noted several ti.Ires previously. In order to overcome the lack oi" basic data, and to standardize all reports , a detailed questionnaire is now submit ted to each person rtiporting an unide~tifie d aerial object . It is felt that the information thus obtained will lower still more the m.unber of unexplained sightings . For observers who wish to re~ort unidentified aerial objects, the Air Force would welcome the information . Attached to this report is a brief basic summary form . It would be appreciated if observers would send the completed form to the nearest Air Force base . If and when new developments turn up in this prcgr am, the Air Force will keep the public informed . - 3 -
• J • ' . PIEA.SE SEND TO YOUR NEAREST AIR FORCE BASE DATE :-------------------------------------------------- TilE OF SIGJfi'Im : ------------------------- SIZE :------------------------------------------------ SHA~ : ---------------------------------------------- COMPOSITION : -------------------- S~D : ----------------------------------------- ALTITUDE : ------------------------------------- DIRECTION OF TRAVEL : ------------------- ~~R PATrnffi~ : -------------------------------------- COWR : ----------------------------------------------- SOIDID: ----------------------------------------------- IEmTH OF TlliE OBSERVED : ------------------------------- SKY CONDITimlS : ------------------------- VISIBILITY : ------------------------------- GROUND DIRECTION OF \-IDID : --------------- NAME , AGE , MAILnl'r ADDRE"S OF OBS~C.RVER : ------------------------- RE~~KS : (Gener al description of what you saw ) (use back i f necessary)
TI!I.IEPHON£ 1 7<10. TELLGR.APHIC ADDRESs a CO M MON WEALTH OF AUSTRALIA . •• SOL.ARO B," CANBERRA. COMMONW EALTH OBSERVATORY, MOUNT Sl'ROMLO. CANB ERRA. wo .. DF.M/DM. ....... , ......... . 17th March, 1954 . Rt . Hon . R.G. Casey, Edington , BER\VICK . VIC . Dear Mr . Casey , Replying to your telegram I quote D.H. Menzel , Professor of Astrophysics at Harvard, in his book "Flying Saucers" (Put•allll 953) . (p .l2):- Of the early (1947) reports of " saucers", he says "Most of the objects proved to be bright meteors . " or later reports he says (p . 256):- "Lost of the reported saucers are slowly moving meteors . The Air Force official files contain many references to some of the most commonplace fireballs . Flyi ng- saucer enthusiasts have made much of an unusual meteor display that occurred on 9 February 1913 . A great procession of slowly moving meteors m oved diagonally across the United States and Canada , from Saskatchewan to Bermuda (Fig . 81) . It caused, as usual , great consternation among the superstitious . The records clearly show that the objects , which various people estimated at hundreds or thousands , were truly meteoric , though they moved with exceptional slowness ." For your information I should add that a "fireball" in this context means Rimply a bright meteor . The shower referred to (9 Feb . 1913) is undoubtedly the Aurigids . These appear to be slow because they are overtaking the earth in its travel round the sun . I know Menzel well ; also F . L . Whipple of Harvar d , who is one of the world ' s leading authorities on meteors . Both have access to the u.s . Air Force files on saucers . If there is any aspect of saucers and meteor s on which you would like more detailed information I would try to get it for you f r om one or other of these two scientists . Yours sincerely, ~ . Y7~ (D .F . Martyn) . P . s . If you are inter ested in reading Menzel ' s book and have any trouble locating it I ' d be very glad to post our copy to you . -
' EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. For Mr . Casey : Press release on FlYing Saucers. I was not satisfied with the cable that I got back from London saying that there didn ' t appear to be much sense in your statement, so I for\7arded a complete copy of it to Dr . Blount who is known to you and who is now No . 2 in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. I have just had a letter from Dr . Blount and he forwarded your statement to a man called Mr. Turney of the Directorate of Scientific Intelligence , who deal s particularly in such matters . Turney replies as foll ows :- 11 I have not previously seen the statement and I can find no trace of it or anything like i t having been received in D. S . I . from one of Brookes ' friends . Mr. Casey ' s statement is entirely sensible , if not very original . There is no doubt whatever that meteors or meteorites account for many, perhaps most , of the reported sightings of flying saucers at night ; we have ourselves had a number of excellent exampl es in reports received from members of the public . The apparent correlation between the sightings in Australia and periods of meteoric activity is interesting, though one is chary of accepting a correlation as significant ~dthout seeing the data on which it is based. If the figures are available I should be glad to see them; they might be useful in breaking up the waves of belief in the flying saucer myth which are occasionally generated." Dr. Blount says if we want to get in touch with Turney , his name and address is :- G. L. Turney , Esq. 1 O. B. E., Director ate of Sc entific Intelligence , Ministry of Defence , Metropol e Buildings , Northumberland Avenue , LOliDON , W . C. 2. Dr. Blount adds that we might l i ke our attenti on drawn to a book recentl y published on the same subject. I t is entitled simply ''Flying Saucers" and is by Donal d H. Menzel, Professor of Astro Physics at Harvard . It is published in London by Putnam and Coopany Ltd . in 1953. You might like to write to Turney direct i f you are interested in following up the subject any fur ther, and send him any figures . Alternativel y you might wi sh me to forward it on for you, which of course I would be del ight ed to do. I must apol ogise for getting you a nonsense answer from London initially and hope that the above re- establisl our faith in their commonsense . ~ Would you like me to get the book by Menzel? I don ' t suppose one should make any menti on of what Turney has to say withour first getting his cl earance , because he is a Public Servant who probably tries to avoid the light of day . A. B. Dictated over telephone by Mr. Brookes on 23/2/1954.