Alcala 1958

sci ent ists , tec hn ician sand other obse rver s. Eac h report was of an un identi fiedfly ing ob jec t (U FO ). One of the se rep orts 14 concern ed an Eas tern Ai rli ne sDC -3 that took off from Hou ston on a sch edule d flig ht to Atlanta on Jul y 24 , 19 48 . At abo ut 2: 45 the nex t mo rn ing the pilo t saw a ligh t dead ahe ad and clo sin gin rapid ly. Nat ura lly, hi s firs t though t wa s that it wa s a jet. But no jet could approach with tha t speed .He rea ched ove r an d tapped the cop ilot on the arm and poi nte d. Th e ligh t was now almost on top of them . Qu ick ly the DC-3 wa s racked ove r int o a tight lef t turn , apparently just in time to av oid a col lisi on . The UFO flas hed by at abou t 70 0 fee t to the righ t, its rush caus ing enou ghair dist urb anc e to rock the pla ne. Th ey look ed back , and ther e was the UFO pu llin gup int o a steep clim b. Both pilo ts got a goo d look at the thi ng an d ga ve a go od desc ript ion, but ther e wa s nev er an y exp lan ati onshor t of an "u ni dent ifi ed fly in gobj ect ." Maj or Ruppelt org ani zed and was in cha rge of the Ai r For ce' s "Proj ect Blu e Boo k," wh ich was org an ize dspeci fic all yto inv est iga te and analy ze all suc h UFO re­ port s. Hi s book, Th e Re po rt on Un ide nt i­ fied Flyin g Obj ects , is und oub ted ly the mos t trus two rthy and aut hor itat ive revi ew of the sub jec t of fly ing sau cer s that has ists, icians s. i tified f g t O). ts e line - cl led 1, 1 . : ing a ' ect i a ized fical y L te l ze C - rt i li• /i g jects, tedly _t rthy itative hj t i g

After rea dingabo ut two dozen books on this sub ject , all from the "5 00" shelf and not cla ssif iedas scie nce fict ion ,I fin d it a relie f to read som ething fre e frompre jud ice and appa rent exa gge rat ion ,som eth ingthat can be thor ough ly reli ed upon . I am not sa yin g that these other book s are not re­ liable . I hav e no wa y of knowin g. But whe n you read of persona l exc urs ion s in the se UFO 's, con ver sati ons with the ir crews, hai r-raisin gexp erie nce s,foul odo rs and eve n dea th-c ourt ing adv entu res, you be gin to wond er whe ther the auth ors are spe ak ing of dream flig hts , nig htmare s, act ual personal exp eri enc esor are try ing to out do the sci enc e-f icti onwrit ers. Aft er readin gMaj or Rupp elt's book you can 't hel p but real ize that there is some ­ thi ng stra nge r than fict ion and ver y sol id abo ut the UFO . In the summer of 19 52 , when Majo r Rupp elt and Majo r Gre gor y, anothe r inte llig enc e off ice r, land ed in Wa shin gton , D.C ., eve ry ev eni ng pap er car rie d bann er hea dli nesabo ut the UFO' s: "F ier yObj ectsOutrun Jets Over Capit al; Inv esti gat ion Ve iled in Secrec y Fol low ing Va in Cha se" "Jets Aler ted for Sa uc ers; Inte rcep tors Chas e Lights in D.C. Sk ies " "Expe rt Here to Pu sh St ud yas Ob ject s in Sk ies Repo rted Ag ain " Maj or Ruppelt was the expe rt, but just as one inv esti gat ionwas abo ut to get und er wa y alo ng came som eth ingelse that seeme d i g , i ied fiction, L i ro j ice ration. ing ouo- ly . g - l . g. _ l io s C 's, sation e -rai i g i nee , t - o rting r , , cl ing , re, . l l ien i L _ -fiction cl g l\I ' I i - L cr l ncr l . , ~1 I y, r l i ence r, cl '\ ;. glon, . \' ,· g ril' l' linc ' 's: i y t. ,· i al· i m y l ing c ; t ~ i " L t . L y ' m i " I H \\ m· Li ion er

ed.

ye t app ear ed. 14 0 / j . cit., p. 61. [READ] [a BOOk||LflllLY 14 J J;AD DTbL

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