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January the 8th, 2008,
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it was approximately
6:00 PM in the afternoon,
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00:00:19,228 --> 00:00:22,898
and the sun was just going down,
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00:00:22,898 --> 00:00:25,442
and my buddy Mike Odam
called me and says,
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00:00:25,442 --> 00:00:27,569
"You want to come over
and enjoy the afternoon?
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We'll build a campfire
up on the hill
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and just hang out
and shoot the breeze."
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And I said, "Sure can."
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Second I got out of my pickup,
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I noticed some lights
coming at us
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at a very high rate of speed.
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00:00:44,503 --> 00:00:48,715
I asked Mike and Lance if they
was seeing what I was seeing,
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00:00:48,715 --> 00:00:53,303
they replied back,
"Yes, we're seeing it."
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We saw a craft coming
from the east going west.
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00:00:59,434 --> 00:01:02,062
Had extremely large lights,
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like a magnesium flare,
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almost burnt your eyes
to look at it.
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00:01:07,693 --> 00:01:09,945
And it was moving
extremely fast,
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00:01:09,945 --> 00:01:13,907
faster than any normal aircraft
that we have around here.
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And as we watched it, we saw
that it had two F-16 jets
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in hot pursuit after it,
chasing it.
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I know what a F-16 is.
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I go to air shows and
pretty familiar with aircraft.
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It was unbelievable.
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It left us all in shock,
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you know, it was, uh,
out of this world.
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Last week, several
people in Stephenville, Texas,
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witnessed what many
are calling a UFO.
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The Air Force
has lied about UFOs
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for 60 years, actually.
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And this would be
in keeping with that.
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In the late '40s
and early '50s,
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there was so many sightings
across the United States.
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00:02:00,078 --> 00:02:01,580
It was in the middle
of the Cold War,
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00:02:01,580 --> 00:02:04,124
so government officials
were trying to figure out
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00:02:04,124 --> 00:02:06,168
what these objects were.
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00:02:06,168 --> 00:02:07,377
The government examined
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00:02:07,377 --> 00:02:10,714
over 12,000 UFO sightings.
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00:02:10,714 --> 00:02:13,425
Many of those bore
a striking resemblance
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00:02:13,425 --> 00:02:15,510
to what we're seeing today.
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There have been
a certain percentage of reports
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00:02:18,221 --> 00:02:23,393
by credible observers of
relatively incredible things.
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The Air Force,
I think, for a time
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may have been making
an honest effort
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00:02:27,898 --> 00:02:30,692
to clear the air
about the phenomenon.
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Unfortunately,
it didn't last too long.
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00:02:32,861 --> 00:02:34,529
To this time,
there is no valid
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scientific proof that we have
been visited by spaceships.
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They were inundated
by these reports
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00:02:42,079 --> 00:02:44,956
and just wanted to be done
with the whole thing.
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We are not hiding anything;
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we have nothing to hide.
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This became the launch of
taboo on a more official level.
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Ridicule became sanctioned.
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00:02:55,092 --> 00:02:56,927
I would like
to have answers,
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00:02:56,927 --> 00:02:58,845
but I'm not sure if
we'll ever get any.
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00:03:01,181 --> 00:03:02,933
We get reports
every night.
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00:03:02,933 --> 00:03:04,267
I don't know what
the hell it is.
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00:03:04,267 --> 00:03:06,561
Looks like
a rotating right around it.
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00:03:06,561 --> 00:03:08,980
I'd like to report a UFO.
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00:03:18,115 --> 00:03:21,159
In 2017, two colleagues
and I published a story
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in The New York Times
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about a secret Pentagon program
studying UFOs.
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The story was on the front page
of The New York Times,
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and it was huge,
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it was covered everywhere
all over the world.
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It was like such a sea change
for me as a journalist
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00:03:35,048 --> 00:03:38,802
and also for the issue
of UFOs in general.
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For most people, this was the
first time they heard anything
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about any official relationship
between the government and UFOs.
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00:03:46,643 --> 00:03:48,854
But actually in the late 1940s,
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the government was really
starting to wake up
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00:03:51,857 --> 00:03:56,570
to what this issue
was really all about.
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00:03:56,570 --> 00:03:58,738
It's extremely
important to understand
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00:03:58,738 --> 00:04:03,201
that the Cold War affected
both the perception of UFOs
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00:04:03,201 --> 00:04:06,746
and how it was handled
by the military.
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00:04:06,746 --> 00:04:08,999
It's hard for us
today to remember
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what the mindset was,
but it was dire.
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It was life and death
between the United States
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and Soviet Union.
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There was people out with
binoculars all over the country,
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constantly searching the skies
for a Russian strike.
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It was only natural
that during the Cold War,
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UFOs sort of got folded
into this overriding fear
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of what might attack us
at any given time.
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Air Defense, go ahead.
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Bravo, hotel,
three five, black, west.
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Check. Thank you.
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00:04:41,615 --> 00:04:45,076
And then, in 1947,
just when these Cold War fears
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00:04:45,076 --> 00:04:46,995
were starting to take hold,
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there was a very famous sighting
by a pilot named Kenneth Arnold.
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That was the sighting that
marked the beginning
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of the modern era of UFOs.
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It all began
with an incident
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which occurred in 1947.
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On the afternoon of
June 24th of that year,
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Kenneth Arnold made the first
report on flying saucers.
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Kenneth Arnold
was a private pilot
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searching for a military plane
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00:05:12,270 --> 00:05:14,189
that had crashed
sometime earlier,
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and he sees,
off in the distance,
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a chain of nine silvery objects.
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He said they look sort of like
silver pie plates
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with a crescent cut out of them.
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And he times them at going
over 1,000 miles an hour.
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Nothing in 1947
was capable of traveling
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1,200 miles an hour.
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Nor did we have any aircraft
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that looked like this.
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They seemed to
flip and flash in the sun,
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just like a mirror.
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Kind of weaving and going
at a terrific speed.
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He landed at his next
stop at the next airport
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and told the flight crew
what he had encountered,
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and people pretty much
just laughed him off.
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But when got to his next stop,
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there were reporters
waiting for him.
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He described their movement as
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00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:03,446
"a saucer skipping
across the water."
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00:06:03,446 --> 00:06:05,699
And that reporter thought,
"Ah, flying saucers.
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That's what we'll call 'em."
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00:06:07,951 --> 00:06:10,745
And that's what we've
been using ever since.
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00:06:10,745 --> 00:06:13,582
In the aftermath of
Kenneth Arnold's report,
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00:06:13,582 --> 00:06:15,750
there were hundreds
and hundreds of reports
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00:06:15,750 --> 00:06:18,169
pouring into the Air Force
every day,
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00:06:18,169 --> 00:06:21,214
and the Air Force couldn't
just ignore that.
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00:06:21,214 --> 00:06:22,757
It was in the middle
of the Cold War,
128
00:06:22,757 --> 00:06:25,427
and so government officials
were trying to figure out
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00:06:25,427 --> 00:06:28,096
what these objects were.
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00:06:28,096 --> 00:06:30,223
General Twining
saw this phenomenon
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00:06:30,223 --> 00:06:34,311
as a possible threat
to our country.
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00:06:34,311 --> 00:06:37,772
So, he issued a very famous memo
in which he said,
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"The phenomenon reported
is something real...
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not visionary or fictitious."
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00:06:44,112 --> 00:06:46,489
Those were pretty big words
coming from a general
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00:06:46,489 --> 00:06:50,368
in the Air Force
in the summer of 1947.
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The Twining memo marked
the beginning of an era
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in which the Air Force would
become deeply involved
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00:06:56,166 --> 00:06:58,960
with the question of UFOs.
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00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,213
The government was put in a
position where it had to decide
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00:07:02,213 --> 00:07:04,382
was it going to engage
with this phenomenon,
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00:07:04,382 --> 00:07:07,385
and if so, how much of it
was it going to make public?
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00:07:07,385 --> 00:07:10,722
That continued on
in the decades that followed,
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00:07:10,722 --> 00:07:15,018
and it impacted all the cases
that came decades later.
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The Stephenville, Texas,
UFO case
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is very intriguing to me.
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00:07:23,943 --> 00:07:28,823
In 2008, a large, unidentified
flying object was observed
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by a large number of people
from the ground.
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When we first saw it,
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it had seven lights
across the back of it,
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all blinking in
no particular order.
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As it approached Stephenville,
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these seven lights became
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an arch shape of seven lights,
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and then a brief moment later
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they burst into a flame,
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and it looked to me like
the flame was contained
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in a rectangle box.
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Somebody had made the comment,
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00:07:59,270 --> 00:08:02,565
"Well, is it half the size
of a Walmart?"
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I said, "It's much bigger
than a normal Walmart."
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What made the
Stephenville case so interesting
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was that in a four-hour
period of time,
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you had dozens of reports
of an object.
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And they all described
seeing the same thing.
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It happened about
12 and a half, 13 years ago.
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I still think about it
quite often.
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We're still trying to find out
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and discover what
the cause of it was.
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00:08:32,846 --> 00:08:36,808
It just had two large,
bright, intense red lights
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with a white light
in the center of it,
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and it had two military jets
behind it,
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which everybody saw in town
the jets.
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They was running full throttle,
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but they wasn't able
to catch it.
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There were fighter jets
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chasing those lights.
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And the jets couldn't
keep up with them.
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And then it just left,
it was gone. That fast.
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What do you think it was?
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00:08:57,704 --> 00:08:58,747
I don't know what it was,
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00:08:58,747 --> 00:09:01,291
but I know it wasn't
an airplane.
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00:09:03,752 --> 00:09:06,504
After that, I spoke to
probably 200 or 300 people
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that witnessed it.
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00:09:07,964 --> 00:09:12,010
Business owners,
city councilmen, policemen.
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00:09:12,010 --> 00:09:16,556
But no one could say
what we saw that night.
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So I called
the Stephenville Empire-Tribune
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to see if anybody may
have got a visual on it.
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00:09:21,978 --> 00:09:24,814
The editor directed me
to a newspaper reporter
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named Angelia Joiner.
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00:09:27,484 --> 00:09:29,611
She interviewed me
over the phone,
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and she started digging deep
193
00:09:31,905 --> 00:09:34,741
to help find out
what we was seeing.
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00:09:34,741 --> 00:09:37,660
She was hell-bent
to find out the truth.
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00:09:44,584 --> 00:09:46,377
My name is Sara Vanden Berge,
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and I was the managing editor of
the Stephenville Empire-Tribune
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for 14 years.
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00:09:51,466 --> 00:09:54,219
In 2008, Steve Allen and
a couple of his friends
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saw some suspicious lights, and
they called into the newsroom
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00:09:57,263 --> 00:09:59,974
and talked to Angelia Joiner.
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00:09:59,974 --> 00:10:03,353
Angelia Joiner was one of my
reporters at the Empire-Tribune.
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00:10:03,353 --> 00:10:07,690
Sadly, Angelia passed away
of COVID last year.
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00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:11,528
Angelia was a super fun person,
but she took her job seriously.
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00:10:11,528 --> 00:10:12,987
Good writer, she was thorough,
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00:10:12,987 --> 00:10:14,989
she was, she was
a good reporter.
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00:10:14,989 --> 00:10:16,741
Steve Allen
called me and said,
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00:10:16,741 --> 00:10:18,493
"Hey, I got a story for ya."
208
00:10:18,493 --> 00:10:20,453
And I could tell
by talking to him,
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00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:22,580
you know, the way
his voice changed
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00:10:22,580 --> 00:10:27,836
and his inflections changed,
and, and he was just so sincere
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00:10:27,836 --> 00:10:30,755
when he was describing it to me,
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00:10:30,755 --> 00:10:32,423
I knew this guy saw something.
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00:10:32,423 --> 00:10:35,677
He really saw something big.
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00:10:35,677 --> 00:10:37,178
After Steve Allen called,
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00:10:37,178 --> 00:10:38,513
she pitched the story
to me and said,
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00:10:38,513 --> 00:10:40,056
"Here's what's happened,
what do you think?"
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00:10:40,056 --> 00:10:42,100
Did you have any
concern at that point
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00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:43,434
about reporting on this?
219
00:10:43,434 --> 00:10:44,644
Yeah, it just
seems like, you know,
220
00:10:44,644 --> 00:10:46,062
it's the thought of
the little green men
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00:10:46,062 --> 00:10:47,397
coming out of the spaceship.
222
00:10:47,397 --> 00:10:50,984
It was sort of
tabloid-ish to me.
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00:10:50,984 --> 00:10:52,569
That was my concern
as a journalist
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00:10:52,569 --> 00:10:54,070
who wanted to be
taken seriously.
225
00:10:54,070 --> 00:10:55,572
I was afraid that, you know,
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00:10:55,572 --> 00:10:58,158
this would somehow
taint my reputation.
227
00:10:58,158 --> 00:11:01,077
So, I said put something
together and pitch it to me
228
00:11:01,077 --> 00:11:03,079
tomorrow evening when
I get back to the office,
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00:11:03,079 --> 00:11:05,039
and then we'll talk about it.
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00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:06,875
This sighting
was like right here
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00:11:06,875 --> 00:11:09,252
in our core readership area,
and I thought, you know,
232
00:11:09,252 --> 00:11:10,628
the readers are gonna like this,
233
00:11:10,628 --> 00:11:12,172
they're gonna really like this.
234
00:11:12,172 --> 00:11:16,134
So, and the people, they, they
know the people in the story,
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00:11:16,134 --> 00:11:17,552
that's another thing.
236
00:11:17,552 --> 00:11:21,931
So that was another reason
I went ahead and did it.
237
00:11:21,931 --> 00:11:22,932
Do you, uh...
238
00:11:22,932 --> 00:11:25,393
And the editor
left early.
239
00:11:25,393 --> 00:11:27,770
You have to cut that part!
240
00:11:27,770 --> 00:11:29,230
But she did!
241
00:11:34,068 --> 00:11:35,320
Next morning,
at the end of my driveway
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00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:36,404
was the paper.
243
00:11:36,404 --> 00:11:39,782
I picked it up,
and across the top had
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00:11:39,782 --> 00:11:43,536
"UFO Sightings in Erath County"
in like 72-point font.
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00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:45,038
It was just huge.
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00:11:45,038 --> 00:11:47,332
After I had left for the day,
the publisher and Angelia
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00:11:47,332 --> 00:11:50,585
redid the front page and went
to press, and I had no idea.
248
00:11:50,585 --> 00:11:52,378
I almost had a nervous breakdown
right then.
249
00:11:52,378 --> 00:11:53,922
I could not believe that, um,
250
00:11:53,922 --> 00:11:56,174
that that had happened
overnight.
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00:11:56,174 --> 00:11:59,052
Two hours into my day,
I got a call from the publisher.
252
00:11:59,052 --> 00:12:00,470
She said,
"Things are blowing up.
253
00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:02,847
We've sold out of all
the papers we've had."
254
00:12:02,847 --> 00:12:04,140
That was my first indication
255
00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:06,809
like, wow, people are
really interested in this.
256
00:12:06,809 --> 00:12:08,603
You need to get
a helmet, ma'am!
257
00:12:08,603 --> 00:12:10,021
You need to get a helmet.
258
00:12:10,021 --> 00:12:12,482
It generated
a lot of excitement here.
259
00:12:12,482 --> 00:12:15,193
A lot of businesses had
T-shirts made and sold those,
260
00:12:15,193 --> 00:12:17,904
and the high school kids
had fun with it.
261
00:12:17,904 --> 00:12:19,614
Stephenville
may be typical,
262
00:12:19,614 --> 00:12:21,991
but what's happening
in the skies above it
263
00:12:21,991 --> 00:12:23,785
is a whole 'nother story.
264
00:12:23,785 --> 00:12:26,246
It kind of is the talk
of the town right now.
265
00:12:26,246 --> 00:12:27,872
Angelia Joiner
is a reporter
266
00:12:27,872 --> 00:12:29,332
with the town's newspaper.
267
00:12:29,332 --> 00:12:30,917
She's now on the strangest
268
00:12:30,917 --> 00:12:34,379
and possibly the biggest
story of her life.
269
00:12:34,379 --> 00:12:36,089
It went from
this little story
270
00:12:36,089 --> 00:12:41,761
to this huge, out of control,
worldwide frenzy.
271
00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:44,472
I started getting phone
calls from all over the world:
272
00:12:44,472 --> 00:12:47,058
Brazil, Japan, England.
273
00:12:47,058 --> 00:12:48,309
And the next thing you know,
274
00:12:48,309 --> 00:12:52,021
CNN, and quite a few other
TV things showed up
275
00:12:52,021 --> 00:12:54,440
and wanted our story.
276
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,985
What's notable about
the Stephenville case,
277
00:12:56,985 --> 00:12:59,362
and other cases that
are similar to that,
278
00:12:59,362 --> 00:13:01,406
is that despite
the numbers of witnesses
279
00:13:01,406 --> 00:13:04,117
seeing these gigantic craft,
280
00:13:04,117 --> 00:13:07,870
nobody in positions of authority
came to investigate.
281
00:13:07,870 --> 00:13:11,332
That's in contrast to what was
going on in the '40s and '50s
282
00:13:11,332 --> 00:13:12,875
where there was
an Air Force program
283
00:13:12,875 --> 00:13:15,795
and they would
investigate cases.
284
00:13:18,131 --> 00:13:20,967
Here is a picture
that was released just today.
285
00:13:20,967 --> 00:13:23,302
It shows four luminous objects
in formation
286
00:13:23,302 --> 00:13:26,014
in the sky over
Salem, Massachusetts.
287
00:13:26,014 --> 00:13:28,808
Now here on this map
are pinpointed locations
288
00:13:28,808 --> 00:13:31,394
where some 30 saucers
have been sighted
289
00:13:31,394 --> 00:13:34,147
and are still unexplained.
290
00:13:38,318 --> 00:13:42,113
In 1949, the military
started looking into
291
00:13:42,113 --> 00:13:43,906
all these stacks
of UFO reports
292
00:13:43,906 --> 00:13:47,243
that the Air Force
was receiving.
293
00:13:47,243 --> 00:13:49,412
Headquarters United States
Air Force has issued
294
00:13:49,412 --> 00:13:54,584
a directive for a detailed study
of flying disc reports.
295
00:13:54,584 --> 00:13:57,587
The program was initially
called Project Sign,
296
00:13:57,587 --> 00:14:00,423
then became Project Grudge,
297
00:14:00,423 --> 00:14:04,343
and then it was named
Project Blue Book.
298
00:14:05,595 --> 00:14:07,096
Project Blue Book
was operated
299
00:14:07,096 --> 00:14:13,311
out of the dingiest office at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
300
00:14:13,311 --> 00:14:17,523
They had a malfunctioning coffee
pot, they had a couple desks,
301
00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:20,818
they had a big map up
on the wall, and that was it.
302
00:14:20,818 --> 00:14:23,279
But they just had a system down.
303
00:14:23,279 --> 00:14:26,240
Project Blue Book
started as a good faith effort
304
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:31,746
by the government to collect
reports and investigate UFOs.
305
00:14:31,746 --> 00:14:34,457
When there were big cases, they
would sometimes dispatch someone
306
00:14:34,457 --> 00:14:36,959
to interview the witnesses.
307
00:14:36,959 --> 00:14:38,211
The Air Force
was pretty open
308
00:14:38,211 --> 00:14:39,587
about Project Blue Book.
309
00:14:57,814 --> 00:15:00,316
Alongside
the military employees,
310
00:15:00,316 --> 00:15:01,984
the Air Force felt
that they needed
311
00:15:01,984 --> 00:15:07,865
a credible scientific opinion
to support their research.
312
00:15:07,865 --> 00:15:09,784
Is it in
the realm of possibility
313
00:15:09,784 --> 00:15:14,622
that there are spaceships
someplace in this universe?
314
00:15:14,622 --> 00:15:16,582
Well, if you
put it in the word,
315
00:15:16,582 --> 00:15:19,168
use the word "possibility"
and not "probability,"
316
00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:20,419
then I would have to say,
317
00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:22,880
I think as any scientist
would have to say,
318
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,425
it is certainly possible, yes.
319
00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:30,179
J. Allen Hynek was a
mild-mannered college professor
320
00:15:30,179 --> 00:15:32,306
from Ohio State University.
321
00:15:32,306 --> 00:15:35,560
His job was to go through
all these stacks of UFO reports
322
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:37,353
that the Air Force was receiving
323
00:15:37,353 --> 00:15:40,648
and try to find out
what's going on.
324
00:15:40,648 --> 00:15:42,441
Project Blue Book examined
325
00:15:42,441 --> 00:15:46,112
over 12,000 UFO sightings,
326
00:15:46,112 --> 00:15:48,239
many of them bore
a striking resemblance
327
00:15:48,239 --> 00:15:50,741
to what we're seeing today.
328
00:15:50,741 --> 00:15:54,745
Crafts with a similar shape,
sometimes the same color,
329
00:15:54,745 --> 00:15:57,665
hovering, then shooting off
instantaneously
330
00:15:57,665 --> 00:15:59,584
at hypersonic speeds.
331
00:15:59,584 --> 00:16:03,546
Multiple, multiple cases
like that.
332
00:16:03,546 --> 00:16:05,715
While working
for Project Blue Book,
333
00:16:05,715 --> 00:16:09,635
Hynek noticed that he was able
to explain 80% of cases.
334
00:16:09,635 --> 00:16:14,432
But he also noticed that there
was about a 20% residue of cases
335
00:16:14,432 --> 00:16:17,310
that he hadn't been able
to explain away.
336
00:16:17,310 --> 00:16:20,188
Allen Hynek
came into the UFO project
337
00:16:20,188 --> 00:16:23,566
with the attitude which is,
there's nothing to UFOs,
338
00:16:23,566 --> 00:16:26,194
but he was a good enough
scientist to say,
339
00:16:26,194 --> 00:16:27,695
"Wait a minute,
340
00:16:27,695 --> 00:16:31,240
I'm seeing reports here that
are not easily explainable."
341
00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,202
The Air Force
and their UFO study project
342
00:16:34,202 --> 00:16:36,621
may have been making
an honest effort
343
00:16:36,621 --> 00:16:39,457
to clear the air
about the phenomenon.
344
00:16:39,457 --> 00:16:41,876
Unfortunately,
it didn't last too long,
345
00:16:41,876 --> 00:16:45,379
simply because they were just
overwhelmed with reports.
346
00:17:03,481 --> 00:17:04,982
This is the Kremlin.
347
00:17:04,982 --> 00:17:08,653
Russia today is regarded as
a grave threat to our nation,
348
00:17:08,653 --> 00:17:11,739
to our freedom,
to the peace of the world.
349
00:17:16,077 --> 00:17:17,495
In the '40s and '50s,
350
00:17:17,495 --> 00:17:20,665
tensions with Russia
were building.
351
00:17:20,665 --> 00:17:22,833
The Cold War was
so intense at that point,
352
00:17:22,833 --> 00:17:25,086
so there was a genuine concern
353
00:17:25,086 --> 00:17:28,881
that the UFO phenomenon
could be exploited.
354
00:17:28,881 --> 00:17:30,758
The US government
felt adversaries
355
00:17:30,758 --> 00:17:32,843
could hoax UFO sightings
356
00:17:32,843 --> 00:17:35,596
and then clog up
our reporting channels
357
00:17:35,596 --> 00:17:37,515
and then have a surprise attack.
358
00:17:37,515 --> 00:17:39,684
So the idea was that
the UFO problem
359
00:17:39,684 --> 00:17:41,686
was not a security problem
as such,
360
00:17:41,686 --> 00:17:44,564
meaning aliens aren't going
to land and, and attack us.
361
00:17:44,564 --> 00:17:48,025
What the UFO problem was,
it was a sociological problem,
362
00:17:48,025 --> 00:17:52,780
and it was one that demanded
a different approach.
363
00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:54,824
The CIA entered the picture
364
00:17:54,824 --> 00:17:57,118
by convening a panel
of top scientists
365
00:17:57,118 --> 00:17:59,036
to examine UFO phenomenon.
366
00:17:59,036 --> 00:18:03,291
The thinking was that the enemy
could exploit UFOs as a decoy
367
00:18:03,291 --> 00:18:06,419
in the preparation for
an attack on the United States.
368
00:18:06,419 --> 00:18:08,045
Five outstanding scientists
369
00:18:08,045 --> 00:18:11,340
and various Air Force and CIA
representatives were to meet.
370
00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:15,636
Among the panel members
was J. Allen Hynek.
371
00:18:15,636 --> 00:18:19,598
In 1953,
the Central Intelligence Agency
372
00:18:19,598 --> 00:18:24,186
formed a scientific panel led
by a highly regarded scientist
373
00:18:24,186 --> 00:18:28,274
named Robertson to examine this
phenomenon and its implications.
374
00:18:28,274 --> 00:18:32,194
The Robertson Panel was a
group of hand-picked scientists
375
00:18:32,194 --> 00:18:35,156
who came together to try
to determine a way
376
00:18:35,156 --> 00:18:38,993
to damp down
public interest in UFOs.
377
00:18:38,993 --> 00:18:40,536
Dr. Hynek was
actually brought in
378
00:18:40,536 --> 00:18:44,832
to be a consulting witness
to the Robertson Panel.
379
00:18:44,832 --> 00:18:48,544
The panel members
were seated around this table.
380
00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:52,465
It was a rather somber and
impressive occasion, actually.
381
00:18:52,465 --> 00:18:55,176
The mission given
by the Robertson Panel
382
00:18:55,176 --> 00:19:01,807
was essentially to make people
stop filing UFO reports.
383
00:19:01,807 --> 00:19:05,770
They proposed two methods
to damp down public enthusiasm.
384
00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:08,522
One was through debunking.
385
00:19:08,522 --> 00:19:10,983
The second one
was through education,
386
00:19:10,983 --> 00:19:12,860
teaching people to explain UFOs
387
00:19:12,860 --> 00:19:16,489
in other ways than
something extraordinary.
388
00:19:16,489 --> 00:19:20,451
It was an extremely important
moment in the evolution
389
00:19:20,451 --> 00:19:24,497
of how government was going
to engage with this topic.
390
00:19:24,497 --> 00:19:28,250
This became the launch of taboo
on a more official level,
391
00:19:28,250 --> 00:19:32,088
where it was becoming
policy in a way.
392
00:19:32,088 --> 00:19:35,341
Ridicule became sanctioned.
393
00:19:35,341 --> 00:19:38,969
The Robertson Panel conclusion
seemed to have a big impact
394
00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:40,680
on Project Blue Book.
395
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,016
The project began to dismiss
as many cases as possible
396
00:19:44,016 --> 00:19:47,770
and provide sometimes
ridiculous explanations for them
397
00:19:47,770 --> 00:19:51,649
just to have an answer
and make them go away.
398
00:19:51,649 --> 00:19:53,526
Hynek's job
became going through
399
00:19:53,526 --> 00:19:55,069
all these UFO reports
400
00:19:55,069 --> 00:19:57,988
and explain them away
as natural occurrences.
401
00:19:57,988 --> 00:20:02,785
Comet, meteor, shooting star,
sun dog, eclipse.
402
00:20:02,785 --> 00:20:06,831
I would say the great
majority are balloons, meteors,
403
00:20:06,831 --> 00:20:10,835
satellites, aircraft seen with
the sun glinting off of them.
404
00:20:10,835 --> 00:20:15,214
Generally, quite usual things
seen under unusual circumstances
405
00:20:15,214 --> 00:20:17,133
or surprising circumstances.
406
00:20:17,133 --> 00:20:19,802
Dr. Hynek did his job
very thoroughly.
407
00:20:19,802 --> 00:20:23,347
Allen was a fellow trying
to please the Air Force
408
00:20:23,347 --> 00:20:26,058
and what they wanted.
409
00:20:26,058 --> 00:20:27,768
Hynek would have
a bunch of reports
410
00:20:27,768 --> 00:20:29,061
dropped on his desk,
411
00:20:29,061 --> 00:20:31,939
and he would explain
them all away.
412
00:20:31,939 --> 00:20:35,651
If a report said
"probable airliner,"
413
00:20:35,651 --> 00:20:38,571
they would cross out "probable"
and just say "airliner,"
414
00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:40,030
and that's what the witness saw.
415
00:20:40,030 --> 00:20:43,993
It was kind of an insult to the,
to the, to the intelligence
416
00:20:43,993 --> 00:20:46,162
of the American people.
417
00:20:46,162 --> 00:20:48,706
Hynek had taken the job
for the extra money.
418
00:20:48,706 --> 00:20:52,042
Struggling young professional
with a growing family,
419
00:20:52,042 --> 00:20:54,253
of course he's not gonna
turn down work.
420
00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:55,796
But behind the scenes,
421
00:20:55,796 --> 00:21:00,551
Hynek gradually realized that
this was a scientific problem.
422
00:21:00,551 --> 00:21:04,263
But he wouldn't go out
and state it publicly.
423
00:21:04,263 --> 00:21:07,475
He didn't want to do that,
because it would have been
424
00:21:07,475 --> 00:21:11,562
what the Air Force
didn't want him to do.
425
00:21:11,562 --> 00:21:13,731
Even though
it took place in 1953,
426
00:21:13,731 --> 00:21:15,774
the Robertson Panel
was so potent
427
00:21:15,774 --> 00:21:19,153
in terms of its desire
to clamp down, to ridicule,
428
00:21:19,153 --> 00:21:20,738
to debunk, and to, quote,
429
00:21:20,738 --> 00:21:24,241
"educate people to interpret
UFOs in other ways,"
430
00:21:24,241 --> 00:21:26,535
its legacy carried on
through the decades,
431
00:21:26,535 --> 00:21:29,079
and it impacted cases
like Stephenville
432
00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:31,874
and other cases of the time.
433
00:21:33,375 --> 00:21:35,085
Alright, stand by!
434
00:21:36,754 --> 00:21:39,632
Last week, several people
in Stephenville, Texas,
435
00:21:39,632 --> 00:21:41,926
a small, rural town
of about 15,000,
436
00:21:41,926 --> 00:21:44,762
witnessed what many
are calling a UFO.
437
00:21:44,762 --> 00:21:46,680
In Selden, Texas,
is Steve Allen.
438
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:48,891
Also there is Angelia Joiner,
439
00:21:48,891 --> 00:21:50,726
staff writer for
the Empire-Tribune,
440
00:21:50,726 --> 00:21:52,728
the local newspaper
in Stephenville.
441
00:21:52,728 --> 00:21:55,606
Angelia, what are some witnesses
telling you?
442
00:21:55,606 --> 00:21:57,608
The thing that I hear
over and over and over
443
00:21:57,608 --> 00:21:59,527
is how bright the lights were,
444
00:21:59,527 --> 00:22:05,491
so I think there's been a lot
of consistency in the spottings.
445
00:22:05,491 --> 00:22:08,577
It was Angelia
that started digging deep.
446
00:22:08,577 --> 00:22:11,705
She was hell-bent on trying
to find out what we saw
447
00:22:11,705 --> 00:22:13,666
and what happened.
448
00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:17,836
And it almost consumed her.
449
00:22:17,836 --> 00:22:21,048
The incredible thing
about the Stephenville sightings
450
00:22:21,048 --> 00:22:25,094
was that witnesses reported
seeing F-16 fighters
451
00:22:25,094 --> 00:22:27,054
pursuing this object.
452
00:22:27,054 --> 00:22:29,306
I heard this
really, really loud noise.
453
00:22:29,306 --> 00:22:31,350
And I ran out the front door,
454
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:34,436
and there were fighter jets
chasing those lights.
455
00:22:34,436 --> 00:22:37,189
Angelia wanted to know
what the Air Force knew
456
00:22:37,189 --> 00:22:39,942
about the two F-16s
and what we saw.
457
00:22:39,942 --> 00:22:44,113
She got in touch with the naval
air station in Fort Worth
458
00:22:44,113 --> 00:22:47,241
and talked to
a Major Karl Lewis.
459
00:22:47,241 --> 00:22:49,785
And Major Karl Lewis said
we didn't have any aircraft
460
00:22:49,785 --> 00:22:52,663
in your area at that time.
461
00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:57,376
I feel like we wasn't
given the truth,
462
00:22:57,376 --> 00:22:59,920
and the military didn't seem
like they was interested
463
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,172
in any questions.
464
00:23:02,172 --> 00:23:03,966
Then on about the tenth day,
465
00:23:03,966 --> 00:23:08,095
the military issued
a press release.
466
00:23:08,095 --> 00:23:10,514
Now in a plot line
that's out of The X-Files,
467
00:23:10,514 --> 00:23:14,018
Air Force officials are saying
they concede they had F-16s
468
00:23:14,018 --> 00:23:18,355
over Stephenville, Texas,
on the evening of January 8th.
469
00:23:18,355 --> 00:23:19,940
Major Karl Lewis says there was
470
00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:22,151
an internal
communications mistake.
471
00:23:30,326 --> 00:23:33,329
The plot thickened,
but the Air Force wouldn't say
472
00:23:33,329 --> 00:23:39,001
why they did in fact
have F-16s in the area.
473
00:23:39,001 --> 00:23:41,629
Angelia Joiner says
that the Air Force's admission
474
00:23:41,629 --> 00:23:43,797
that it did indeed
have fighter jets,
475
00:23:43,797 --> 00:23:47,843
as reported by the witnesses,
bolsters their story all around.
476
00:23:47,843 --> 00:23:49,553
Military coming out
with this at this point
477
00:23:49,553 --> 00:23:51,805
just is going to
fuel the fire for,
478
00:23:51,805 --> 00:23:55,851
okay, there is something
going on, now what is it?
479
00:23:57,770 --> 00:24:00,773
We thought their attempt
to try to explain it away
480
00:24:00,773 --> 00:24:03,442
was terribly strange.
481
00:24:03,442 --> 00:24:06,028
We had more questions
than answers.
482
00:24:10,324 --> 00:24:13,410
UFO reports,
hoax or serious sightings,
483
00:24:13,410 --> 00:24:17,289
wind up here at Wright-Patterson
air field in Dayton, Ohio.
484
00:24:17,289 --> 00:24:21,293
The Air Force investigative unit
is known as Project Blue Book.
485
00:24:21,293 --> 00:24:23,545
In the wake of
the Robertson Panel,
486
00:24:23,545 --> 00:24:25,589
Project Blue Book
was investigating
487
00:24:25,589 --> 00:24:27,007
these civilian reports
488
00:24:27,007 --> 00:24:30,052
as a way to tamp down
public concern.
489
00:24:30,052 --> 00:24:32,513
For example, in Michigan,
there were at one point
490
00:24:32,513 --> 00:24:36,392
a large number of sightings
by people in a community there.
491
00:24:36,392 --> 00:24:41,522
And Walter Cronkite, the arbiter
of truth for many Americans,
492
00:24:41,522 --> 00:24:42,982
covered the story.
493
00:24:42,982 --> 00:24:45,567
The great
flying saucer mystery of 1966
494
00:24:45,567 --> 00:24:49,780
began here, near
Dexter, Michigan, late in March.
495
00:24:49,780 --> 00:24:52,241
As I turned around
to come back on the porch,
496
00:24:52,241 --> 00:24:58,122
I looked to the north of me,
and looked like a falling star,
497
00:24:58,122 --> 00:25:01,041
meteor, it was red
and kind of coming down.
498
00:25:01,041 --> 00:25:03,585
Frank Mannor's UFO
remained over his swamp
499
00:25:03,585 --> 00:25:05,671
more than four hours.
500
00:25:05,671 --> 00:25:10,134
40 miles away, another swampland
and another UFO sighting.
501
00:25:10,134 --> 00:25:12,344
I believe I saw it,
but I can't fathom it,
502
00:25:12,344 --> 00:25:15,305
because it seems so unreal.
503
00:25:15,305 --> 00:25:17,307
This was
a huge national story.
504
00:25:17,307 --> 00:25:22,604
Everyone was demanding that
Blue Book solve the case.
505
00:25:22,604 --> 00:25:24,815
And so they called in Hynek.
506
00:25:24,815 --> 00:25:27,985
His Air Force Project Blue Book
boss said,
507
00:25:27,985 --> 00:25:31,113
"Get out there and
put a lid on this."
508
00:25:31,113 --> 00:25:33,365
The Air Force sent
its chief scientific consultant
509
00:25:33,365 --> 00:25:35,993
on UFOs,
Professor J. Allen Hynek,
510
00:25:35,993 --> 00:25:38,162
to check the Michigan sightings.
511
00:25:38,162 --> 00:25:40,998
The illusion of motion
frequently is given by the fact
512
00:25:40,998 --> 00:25:44,835
that a little bit of swamp light
appears here, it goes out,
513
00:25:44,835 --> 00:25:46,920
another one appears over here,
that goes out,
514
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,590
and but the illusion
as viewed from a distance
515
00:25:49,590 --> 00:25:52,134
is that the object has
moved back and forth.
516
00:25:52,134 --> 00:25:55,846
And sometimes this gas
will gather into a ball
517
00:25:55,846 --> 00:25:58,390
and actually float away.
518
00:26:03,812 --> 00:26:05,898
Allen made
an ill-fated remark about,
519
00:26:05,898 --> 00:26:09,818
"Well, some of these sightings
could be caused by swamp gas,"
520
00:26:09,818 --> 00:26:15,616
and the witnesses were, um,
upset to say the least.
521
00:26:15,616 --> 00:26:17,201
The people of Michigan
thought that Hynek
522
00:26:17,201 --> 00:26:19,119
was making fun of them,
523
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,371
that he thought they were
all loonies and kooks.
524
00:26:21,371 --> 00:26:24,124
And the whole thing
blew up in Hynek's face.
525
00:26:24,124 --> 00:26:27,169
They think you're a nut,
tell you the truth,
526
00:26:27,169 --> 00:26:29,046
that's just what
they figure you are,
527
00:26:29,046 --> 00:26:30,172
and I'm not gonna
take it no more,
528
00:26:30,172 --> 00:26:31,465
I don't want nobody
down in here.
529
00:26:31,465 --> 00:26:33,842
I just...leave me alone.
530
00:26:33,842 --> 00:26:36,512
When Hynek came up with
the swamp gas explanation,
531
00:26:36,512 --> 00:26:39,556
we don't really know whether
he believed that or not.
532
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:42,142
But we do know that he was
working for the Air Force,
533
00:26:42,142 --> 00:26:43,936
and they were committed
at that point
534
00:26:43,936 --> 00:26:47,314
to discrediting sightings
like this one.
535
00:26:47,314 --> 00:26:49,566
It was a real turning point
for the beginning
536
00:26:49,566 --> 00:26:53,529
of people really just
having had enough
537
00:26:53,529 --> 00:26:57,699
of these kinds of bogus
explanations for these events.
538
00:27:01,411 --> 00:27:03,038
Following the swamp gas
incident,
539
00:27:03,038 --> 00:27:04,957
the public was outraged,
540
00:27:04,957 --> 00:27:09,336
and even members of Congress
became involved.
541
00:27:09,336 --> 00:27:11,880
We've had
several incidents in Michigan
542
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,177
that many reliable citizens felt
were sufficient to justify
543
00:27:17,177 --> 00:27:19,304
some action by our government,
544
00:27:19,304 --> 00:27:24,184
and not the kind flippant answer
that was given by the Air Force
545
00:27:24,184 --> 00:27:27,855
where they passed it off
as swamp gas.
546
00:27:27,855 --> 00:27:30,399
Gerald Ford, who was
a congressman at the time
547
00:27:30,399 --> 00:27:33,110
in Michigan, decided
that his constituents
548
00:27:33,110 --> 00:27:34,820
were not being taken seriously.
549
00:27:34,820 --> 00:27:37,447
Gerald Ford listened
to his constituents
550
00:27:37,447 --> 00:27:40,492
and decided that he should call
for congressional hearings.
551
00:27:40,492 --> 00:27:43,704
I think the American
people would be more assured
552
00:27:43,704 --> 00:27:48,417
that there were or were not if
such a public hearing was held.
553
00:27:51,211 --> 00:27:53,922
On April 5, 1966,
554
00:27:53,922 --> 00:27:56,383
Harold Brown,
the Secretary of the Air Force,
555
00:27:56,383 --> 00:28:00,178
and J. Allen Hynek walked
into the Capitol Building
556
00:28:00,178 --> 00:28:02,472
to answer questions about
557
00:28:02,472 --> 00:28:05,225
Blue Book's investigation
into UFOs.
558
00:28:05,225 --> 00:28:08,312
We have not
been hiding anything.
559
00:28:08,312 --> 00:28:11,815
The investigations
have been made public,
560
00:28:11,815 --> 00:28:15,819
the explanations of those, where
there is a clear explanation,
561
00:28:15,819 --> 00:28:17,487
have been made public.
562
00:28:17,487 --> 00:28:20,407
They brought in
the secretary of the Air Force,
563
00:28:20,407 --> 00:28:22,326
and he just stonewalled.
564
00:28:22,326 --> 00:28:25,287
And then it came to be
Hynek's turn to talk.
565
00:28:25,287 --> 00:28:28,081
He made his own statement that
he hadn't shared with anyone,
566
00:28:28,081 --> 00:28:32,794
and he said, "Look, we need to
sponsor a scientific study
567
00:28:32,794 --> 00:28:34,880
and tell us whether
this is something
568
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,132
we need to keep studying."
569
00:28:37,132 --> 00:28:39,718
How many really
mysterious incidents are there
570
00:28:39,718 --> 00:28:42,512
that you'd like to go back
and look at again?
571
00:28:42,512 --> 00:28:44,181
Well, as I mentioned
in the hearings this morning,
572
00:28:44,181 --> 00:28:47,476
I have picked some 20 cases,
573
00:28:47,476 --> 00:28:49,102
I think those, I would recommend
574
00:28:49,102 --> 00:28:51,813
that they be looked at
quite closely.
575
00:28:51,813 --> 00:28:55,651
A scientists has to keep
open-minded on an investigation,
576
00:28:55,651 --> 00:28:57,819
a scientific one,
without fanfare,
577
00:28:57,819 --> 00:29:02,741
a quiet look at the data,
I think, is in order.
578
00:29:02,741 --> 00:29:04,493
Hynek was
initially a skeptic,
579
00:29:04,493 --> 00:29:06,912
but as he went
through the years,
580
00:29:06,912 --> 00:29:10,791
he gradually learned that there
really is something to this.
581
00:29:10,791 --> 00:29:13,919
Hynek started to believe that
we could learn a lot more
582
00:29:13,919 --> 00:29:17,172
about the phenomenon through
better scientific study.
583
00:29:17,172 --> 00:29:20,676
And in fact that's what happened
in Stephenville, Texas.
584
00:29:24,930 --> 00:29:26,014
Good evening, everyone!
585
00:29:26,014 --> 00:29:27,182
My name is Steve Hudgens.
586
00:29:27,182 --> 00:29:29,643
I'm senior field investigator
for MUFON.
587
00:29:29,643 --> 00:29:32,521
We're down here to investigate
this extraordinary event.
588
00:29:32,521 --> 00:29:35,816
We have our section director
from Waco, Dave Fields,
589
00:29:35,816 --> 00:29:39,403
and Director of Research
Robert Powell.
590
00:29:39,403 --> 00:29:40,946
My name is
Robert Powell.
591
00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:43,824
My educational background
is in chemistry,
592
00:29:43,824 --> 00:29:46,284
and I work in
the semiconductor industry
593
00:29:46,284 --> 00:29:48,829
as an engineering manager.
594
00:29:48,829 --> 00:29:53,041
Early January of 2008, I'm the
director of research at MUFON.
595
00:29:53,041 --> 00:29:57,713
The term MUFON stands for
Mutual UFO Network.
596
00:29:57,713 --> 00:30:01,049
I went up to Stephenville
with multiple investigators,
597
00:30:01,049 --> 00:30:04,761
and we began to interview
the witnesses.
598
00:30:04,761 --> 00:30:06,513
- Hey!
- How are you?
599
00:30:06,513 --> 00:30:07,889
I'm good, how are you?
600
00:30:07,889 --> 00:30:11,518
I met several key people
such as Angelia Joiner,
601
00:30:11,518 --> 00:30:13,895
Steve Allen, and Lee Roy Gaitan.
602
00:30:13,895 --> 00:30:17,816
And Lee Roy just gave me
the best description
603
00:30:17,816 --> 00:30:21,445
of what happened
that day to him.
604
00:30:21,445 --> 00:30:23,864
As I walk out to my car,
605
00:30:23,864 --> 00:30:30,203
I saw 10 to 12 bright,
fluorescent orbs.
606
00:30:30,203 --> 00:30:32,456
They're moving really quickly
and then they stop.
607
00:30:32,456 --> 00:30:34,666
And then all of a sudden,
they shoot off.
608
00:30:34,666 --> 00:30:37,711
But what was surprising,
as I'm still looking,
609
00:30:37,711 --> 00:30:43,091
probably 20, 30 seconds,
I hear two jets.
610
00:30:43,091 --> 00:30:45,635
After interviewing
Lee Roy, the first thing
611
00:30:45,635 --> 00:30:50,932
I decided that I could do
was get radar data.
612
00:30:50,932 --> 00:30:54,644
Freedom of Information request
to the FAA,
613
00:30:54,644 --> 00:30:59,024
and I got that data back
after about six to eight weeks.
614
00:30:59,024 --> 00:31:00,484
And it was incredible.
615
00:31:05,155 --> 00:31:07,324
Good morning.
My name's Robert Powell.
616
00:31:07,324 --> 00:31:08,575
I'm the director of research
617
00:31:08,575 --> 00:31:10,786
with the MUFON organization.
618
00:31:10,786 --> 00:31:14,706
We obtained radar data from the
Federal Aviation Administration
619
00:31:14,706 --> 00:31:16,541
in the Stephenville area.
620
00:31:16,541 --> 00:31:18,877
I talk about this a little bit
on the screen here.
621
00:31:18,877 --> 00:31:22,255
One of the first things I do
when I get the radar data,
622
00:31:22,255 --> 00:31:25,675
is I find the F-16s
and I match that, yes,
623
00:31:25,675 --> 00:31:30,472
that matches the time
they went by Lee Roy's home.
624
00:31:30,472 --> 00:31:33,975
Then I look on the radar data
for unknowns,
625
00:31:33,975 --> 00:31:38,730
and I find two miles south of
his home, just like he told me,
626
00:31:38,730 --> 00:31:41,983
objects on radar that are
basically stationary,
627
00:31:41,983 --> 00:31:44,319
just like he said.
628
00:31:44,319 --> 00:31:47,531
And then, the really
interesting part
629
00:31:47,531 --> 00:31:53,328
was, on radar, these objects
that were over his home,
630
00:31:53,328 --> 00:31:58,834
the next radar blip,
the object is to the northeast,
631
00:31:58,834 --> 00:32:03,713
towards Stephenville, and it had
traveled at a minimum speed
632
00:32:03,713 --> 00:32:06,424
of 1,900 miles per hour.
633
00:32:06,424 --> 00:32:09,886
And that is from stationary.
634
00:32:09,886 --> 00:32:12,430
There's no way for me
to know what it was.
635
00:32:12,430 --> 00:32:15,142
The only thing I can say
is what it was not.
636
00:32:15,142 --> 00:32:20,313
It was not any type of aircraft,
because no aircraft can hover
637
00:32:20,313 --> 00:32:25,777
and then move to a speed
of over 1,900 miles an hour
638
00:32:25,777 --> 00:32:29,865
at low altitude and then
stop and hover again.
639
00:32:29,865 --> 00:32:33,493
It's just not something
we have the ability to do.
640
00:32:40,292 --> 00:32:42,335
There are so many
UFO sightings,
641
00:32:42,335 --> 00:32:45,922
and the vast majority of them
can be explained.
642
00:32:45,922 --> 00:32:48,466
But then there are those that
involve mass sightings
643
00:32:48,466 --> 00:32:51,928
of something really unusual,
and in those cases,
644
00:32:51,928 --> 00:32:56,558
people deserve an investigation
by the officials.
645
00:32:56,558 --> 00:32:59,019
In the aftermath
of the swamp gas case,
646
00:32:59,019 --> 00:33:03,231
the government decided to fund
a college research program
647
00:33:03,231 --> 00:33:05,734
of the UFO phenomenon.
648
00:33:05,734 --> 00:33:08,153
At the time,
the Air Force was trying to find
649
00:33:08,153 --> 00:33:09,988
a way to get out
from under the burden
650
00:33:09,988 --> 00:33:13,450
of having to investigate UFOs
and comment on this.
651
00:33:13,450 --> 00:33:17,037
And so a scientific panel
was established
652
00:33:17,037 --> 00:33:20,123
to investigate and
assess the issue.
653
00:33:20,123 --> 00:33:22,125
It was led by
a Dr. Robert Condon.
654
00:33:24,836 --> 00:33:26,296
The Air Force
has turned to
655
00:33:26,296 --> 00:33:28,256
the University of Colorado
656
00:33:28,256 --> 00:33:30,967
to investigate
unidentified flying objects.
657
00:33:30,967 --> 00:33:33,511
And they've asked
Dr. Edward U. Condon
658
00:33:33,511 --> 00:33:35,347
to head the project.
659
00:33:35,347 --> 00:33:37,515
How do you propose
to go about studying
660
00:33:37,515 --> 00:33:39,226
this particular phenomenon?
661
00:33:39,226 --> 00:33:40,977
We'll pick
certain selected cases
662
00:33:40,977 --> 00:33:44,856
that seem specially interesting
and, and go out and try to learn
663
00:33:44,856 --> 00:33:48,652
more about them and those few
in greater depth.
664
00:33:48,652 --> 00:33:49,945
The guy
who was leading it,
665
00:33:49,945 --> 00:33:51,571
Professor Edward Condon,
666
00:33:51,571 --> 00:33:55,200
had no interest in the subject
and had to be talked into it.
667
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:59,079
So, you have a professor who was
not looking to do a project,
668
00:33:59,079 --> 00:34:02,999
that was given the project,
and things didn't go well.
669
00:34:02,999 --> 00:34:06,920
They reviewed 59 cases
and wrote them up in a study
670
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,548
that was close to 1,000 pages.
671
00:34:10,548 --> 00:34:13,468
One of the events they covered
was the McMinnville incident
672
00:34:13,468 --> 00:34:16,179
in 1950, where the farmer
and his wife
673
00:34:16,179 --> 00:34:18,765
took a photograph
of a disk-shaped object
674
00:34:18,765 --> 00:34:20,976
that came over their farm.
675
00:34:20,976 --> 00:34:23,061
The McMinnville
photograph
676
00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:26,856
taken by a poor rural couple
in a remote area
677
00:34:26,856 --> 00:34:28,817
who didn't seek any press,
678
00:34:28,817 --> 00:34:33,196
and it showed a UFO very clearly
in black and white,
679
00:34:33,196 --> 00:34:37,450
maybe 200, 300 yards away.
680
00:34:37,450 --> 00:34:38,702
Here's what
the Condon Report said
681
00:34:38,702 --> 00:34:41,162
about the McMinnville sighting:
682
00:34:41,162 --> 00:34:43,498
"This is one of the few
UFO reports
683
00:34:43,498 --> 00:34:45,875
in which all factors
investigated,
684
00:34:45,875 --> 00:34:48,878
geometric, psychological
and physical,
685
00:34:48,878 --> 00:34:51,339
appear to be consistent
with the assertion
686
00:34:51,339 --> 00:34:53,883
that an extraordinary
flying object
687
00:34:53,883 --> 00:34:56,678
flew within sight
of two witnesses."
688
00:34:56,678 --> 00:35:00,724
And there were other cases
they described in similar ways.
689
00:35:00,724 --> 00:35:02,559
When the final report came out,
690
00:35:02,559 --> 00:35:06,563
the main body of the report
was open to the possibility
691
00:35:06,563 --> 00:35:09,107
that UFOs might be real,
692
00:35:09,107 --> 00:35:11,192
but the final summary
of the report
693
00:35:11,192 --> 00:35:14,696
was written by
Dr. Condon himself.
694
00:35:14,696 --> 00:35:16,448
Dr. Condon said,
"It's time for the government
695
00:35:16,448 --> 00:35:18,867
to just wash its hands
of this whole thing."
696
00:35:18,867 --> 00:35:22,871
That's about the only thing
most people read.
697
00:35:22,871 --> 00:35:26,166
The Condon Report
concluded in 1969,
698
00:35:26,166 --> 00:35:28,877
this was not a threat
to national security.
699
00:35:28,877 --> 00:35:31,963
There was no indication of
extraterrestrial connection,
700
00:35:31,963 --> 00:35:34,424
and there was likely no benefit
scientifically
701
00:35:34,424 --> 00:35:37,761
from continuing to
study this phenomenon.
702
00:35:40,055 --> 00:35:43,808
Dr. Robert Condon was somebody
that was strenuously opposed
703
00:35:43,808 --> 00:35:47,937
to the idea that UFOs could be
alien craft of any kind,
704
00:35:47,937 --> 00:35:51,358
so from the outset
he had his mind made up.
705
00:35:51,358 --> 00:35:54,444
Word is that Dr. Condon himself
didn't even bother to read
706
00:35:54,444 --> 00:35:58,948
the report or review the data,
he just wrote his conclusion,
707
00:35:58,948 --> 00:36:02,660
because that's what
the Air Force wanted to hear.
708
00:36:02,660 --> 00:36:05,622
Condon was definitely
the nail in the coffin
709
00:36:05,622 --> 00:36:07,248
for Project Blue Book.
710
00:36:07,248 --> 00:36:09,459
The Air Force had been involved
with looking into UFOs
711
00:36:09,459 --> 00:36:11,670
for more than 15 years.
712
00:36:11,670 --> 00:36:15,382
They were inundated by
these reports, frustrated,
713
00:36:15,382 --> 00:36:19,427
and just wanted to be done
with the whole thing.
714
00:36:19,427 --> 00:36:20,845
The result was
the Air Force said,
715
00:36:20,845 --> 00:36:23,223
"Well, we don't need
to follow this anymore."
716
00:36:23,223 --> 00:36:28,603
So they used that as a rationale
to close down Project Blue Book.
717
00:36:28,603 --> 00:36:31,481
Shortly thereafter,
Dr. Allen Hynek
718
00:36:31,481 --> 00:36:33,233
renounced the whole process
719
00:36:33,233 --> 00:36:35,694
and, and the way
the Air Force handled it.
720
00:36:35,694 --> 00:36:38,571
Some of us who followed
this whole phenomena
721
00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:41,199
became interested
in the Condon Report.
722
00:36:41,199 --> 00:36:42,534
What's your feeling about that?
723
00:36:42,534 --> 00:36:44,285
Well, my feeling is that
the Condon Report
724
00:36:44,285 --> 00:36:45,829
was a travesty on science.
725
00:36:45,829 --> 00:36:47,831
You don't feel it
presented a fair picture?
726
00:36:47,831 --> 00:36:51,751
Condon committee was
unable to explain one quarter
727
00:36:51,751 --> 00:36:54,254
of the cases that were submitted
that they studied.
728
00:36:58,091 --> 00:37:00,343
Our guest tonight
is one of the world's foremost
729
00:37:00,343 --> 00:37:03,346
authorities on
unidentified flying objects.
730
00:37:03,346 --> 00:37:06,057
Dr. J. Allen Hynek!
731
00:37:12,897 --> 00:37:16,818
When Project
Blue Book is shut down in 1970,
732
00:37:16,818 --> 00:37:21,114
it freed Hynek to say and do
whatever he wanted
733
00:37:21,114 --> 00:37:23,491
where UFOs were concerned.
734
00:37:23,491 --> 00:37:26,911
Dr. Hynek worked nearly two
decades on Project Blue Book,
735
00:37:26,911 --> 00:37:28,997
and during that time,
736
00:37:28,997 --> 00:37:31,916
in the data that
Project Blue Book had collected,
737
00:37:31,916 --> 00:37:33,293
the cases were still
breaking down
738
00:37:33,293 --> 00:37:36,254
in that very same 80/20 ratio.
739
00:37:36,254 --> 00:37:38,673
He was able to explain
80% of them away.
740
00:37:38,673 --> 00:37:41,301
He was not able to explain
20% of them.
741
00:37:41,301 --> 00:37:43,720
And now he started
to worry about that.
742
00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,181
He was a scientist,
and he saw a trend,
743
00:37:46,181 --> 00:37:49,017
and he thought that
might mean something.
744
00:37:49,017 --> 00:37:50,727
If these things
didn't fit patterns,
745
00:37:50,727 --> 00:37:52,395
then there's no way
of studying it.
746
00:37:52,395 --> 00:37:56,149
But when you get reports from
Australia, Japan, France,
747
00:37:56,149 --> 00:37:58,568
then you have to say, well,
either there's a virus
748
00:37:58,568 --> 00:38:01,070
going around that's causing
everybody to become crazy
749
00:38:01,070 --> 00:38:04,449
at the same time,
or there's something to it.
750
00:38:04,449 --> 00:38:07,076
Hynek was finally
free to start investigating
751
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:10,997
what UFOs are
in any way he wanted.
752
00:38:21,132 --> 00:38:22,884
I'm so glad you're doing
what you're doing.
753
00:38:22,884 --> 00:38:23,927
'Cause there aren't
that many reporters
754
00:38:23,927 --> 00:38:25,512
that take this seriously.
755
00:38:25,512 --> 00:38:27,305
- Yeah!
- I'm glad you're doing it.
756
00:38:27,305 --> 00:38:28,890
I've gotten
tons of people,
757
00:38:28,890 --> 00:38:30,266
you know, they walk up to me
758
00:38:30,266 --> 00:38:33,436
and say, "Thank you for
reporting it as straight news."
759
00:38:33,436 --> 00:38:37,398
And then I think they just,
it was their news judgment,
760
00:38:37,398 --> 00:38:38,691
the publisher and the editor,
761
00:38:38,691 --> 00:38:40,818
that, okay, we don't want
any more of this,
762
00:38:40,818 --> 00:38:42,445
let's get back to normal.
763
00:38:42,445 --> 00:38:43,947
Some people said
you were fired.
764
00:38:43,947 --> 00:38:46,199
Some people said, well, you
kind of wanted to leave anyway.
765
00:38:46,199 --> 00:38:47,700
So, what was the actual story?
766
00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:49,077
I had given my notice.
767
00:38:49,077 --> 00:38:51,996
They--I was asked not to cover
anything else on UFOs.
768
00:38:51,996 --> 00:38:55,291
I came in, my computer was gone,
my Rolodex was gone,
769
00:38:55,291 --> 00:38:57,669
and, uh, called to
the publisher's office,
770
00:38:57,669 --> 00:39:00,505
and it wasn't a pleasant scene,
771
00:39:00,505 --> 00:39:04,467
and they asked me
to pack and go, so I did.
772
00:39:04,467 --> 00:39:06,094
Thanks for
talking with me.
773
00:39:06,094 --> 00:39:09,931
Sadly when Angelia
left, we never spoke again.
774
00:39:09,931 --> 00:39:13,560
I hate that that story really
divided us, but it did.
775
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:18,773
She just could not get back
to doing her regular reporting.
776
00:39:18,773 --> 00:39:20,900
It took over her life.
777
00:39:23,278 --> 00:39:24,320
I thought, you know,
778
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:25,738
the readers are
gonna like this,
779
00:39:25,738 --> 00:39:27,198
they're gonna really like this.
780
00:39:27,198 --> 00:39:29,617
So that was another reason
I went ahead and did it.
781
00:39:29,617 --> 00:39:32,120
And the editor left early.
782
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:33,872
You have to cut that part.
783
00:39:33,872 --> 00:39:35,331
But she did!
784
00:39:35,331 --> 00:39:37,750
I have never
seen this, that's hilarious.
785
00:39:37,750 --> 00:39:40,712
You know, it's funny
to see that, um...
786
00:39:44,549 --> 00:39:47,427
Sorry, I just, I haven't seen
Angelia in a long time.
787
00:39:47,427 --> 00:39:48,511
And she loved that story,
788
00:39:48,511 --> 00:39:50,263
and you know, I look back
on that time
789
00:39:50,263 --> 00:39:52,432
and I think I was so wrong,
790
00:39:52,432 --> 00:39:55,768
and I thought I was so smart,
and I was so wrong,
791
00:39:55,768 --> 00:39:57,270
because they had the foresight
792
00:39:57,270 --> 00:39:58,771
to see something
that I couldn't.
793
00:39:58,771 --> 00:40:03,318
And people did love that story,
it was fun for them.
794
00:40:06,904 --> 00:40:08,656
I've never spoken about this,
795
00:40:08,656 --> 00:40:11,242
but about a year after
the story died down,
796
00:40:11,242 --> 00:40:15,330
I was driving my daughter
to gymnastics one evening.
797
00:40:17,081 --> 00:40:20,960
It was dusk, and I saw
the exact same thing
798
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,922
that everyone else had been
talking about the year prior.
799
00:40:23,922 --> 00:40:26,966
A big thing, with the lights,
the clear lights
800
00:40:26,966 --> 00:40:28,635
that kind of were
all over the place,
801
00:40:28,635 --> 00:40:31,179
they went straight line,
and it took off.
802
00:40:35,308 --> 00:40:39,812
And I get goose bumps now,
even just remembering it.
803
00:40:39,812 --> 00:40:42,482
Oh, my god, that's what we've
been writing about for a year,
804
00:40:42,482 --> 00:40:46,653
and I was the biggest skeptic
of all, and here I am.
805
00:40:46,653 --> 00:40:48,780
It was a strange moment,
for sure.
806
00:40:51,032 --> 00:40:52,241
The next day
I got to the office,
807
00:40:52,241 --> 00:40:56,162
never planned to
say a word to anybody,
808
00:40:56,162 --> 00:40:59,791
and we had about a dozen calls
that day from others who said,
809
00:40:59,791 --> 00:41:02,627
"Oh, my gosh, I think
I saw that again."
810
00:41:04,796 --> 00:41:07,715
That's when I sort of went,
811
00:41:07,715 --> 00:41:10,677
okay, there, there really was
something to this,
812
00:41:10,677 --> 00:41:13,054
but it took me that long.
813
00:41:14,639 --> 00:41:16,599
The government should be
looking at this, of course.
814
00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:19,227
I have to believe that what
happened in Stephenville,
815
00:41:19,227 --> 00:41:20,812
in Erath County, was big enough
816
00:41:20,812 --> 00:41:23,064
that it got the attention
of the government.
817
00:41:23,064 --> 00:41:24,482
I, I just believe that.
818
00:41:24,482 --> 00:41:25,984
And I believe that they know
a heck of a lot more
819
00:41:25,984 --> 00:41:27,777
than, than we do.
820
00:41:30,238 --> 00:41:32,240
Please welcome
from the Center of UFO Studies
821
00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,325
in Evanston, Illinois,
Dr. J. Allen Hynek.
822
00:41:34,325 --> 00:41:35,326
Dr. Hynek!
823
00:41:36,536 --> 00:41:37,578
In the years
that followed,
824
00:41:37,578 --> 00:41:40,248
J. Allen Hynek became a hero
825
00:41:40,248 --> 00:41:42,917
advocating for
the study of UFOs.
826
00:41:42,917 --> 00:41:44,627
Dr. Hynek realized
827
00:41:44,627 --> 00:41:47,130
that this was a serious problem.
828
00:41:47,130 --> 00:41:49,006
These things were coming
over our bases,
829
00:41:49,006 --> 00:41:50,675
over our nuclear facilities.
830
00:41:50,675 --> 00:41:53,177
I thought we were
under attack.
831
00:41:53,177 --> 00:41:55,972
By who or what, I had no idea.
832
00:41:55,972 --> 00:41:57,432
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