Close Encounters With the Fourth Dimension
Nearly 40 years ago, the current age of interplanetary flights, or unidentified flying objects (UFOs), dawned upon the public with the inexplicable experiences of airplane pilot Kenneth Arnold. On June 24, 1947, over Washington state, pilot Arnold reported having sighted from his cockpit 9,200 feet above ground a group of bright objects traveling at speeds unachieved by man, which he described as shaped like saucers. Though Arnold’s experience with UFOs was not the first, his report attracted great press attention and, later, official military interest.
1947 marked the beginning of the U.S. Air Force’s official investigations into UFO reports. The Air Force effort, centered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, was known variously as Project Sign, Project Grudge, and, finally, Project Blue Book. The first two projects were secret and short-lived. Project Blue Book, however, lasted from 1948 to 1969.
For the purposes of its investigations, the Air Force defined a UFO as "any aerial object or phenomenon which the observer is unable to identify’" Its interest in UFOs grew out of both security and scientific concerns. Between 1947 and 1966, the Air Force investigated 11,108 reports of UFOs. Upon investigation, only 676 remained "unidentified." Most of the sightings were explained by the Air Force as astronomical phenomena, aircraft, or balloons.
The document reproduced here is typical of those sighting reports. In 1962, Project Blue Book received 474 reports of UFOs, though only 15 remained "unidentified" after Air Force investigations. The file of the Greenwich sighting includes this notation by an Air Force staff member: "Description of the obj. [object] & flight conform to that normally expected of an a/c [aircraft]."
Since 1969, the government has had no official investigation procedures for UFO sightings. The Air Force’s Project Blue Book files are now in the National Archives. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the agency that now does most space research, simply tells interested callers that the government no longer collects data on UFO sightings.
The document reproduced here is from case files, September 6-15, 1962, Project Blue Book, Records of the Headquarters United States Air Force, Record Group 341. The names and addresses of the two UFO reporters have been deleted to protect their privacy.
Teaching Activities
1. Before discussing the letter in class, review its basic elements with students: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
2. Ask each student to react to the letter either verbally or in writing. Ask students to justify their reactions with specific details from the letter. Finally, ask each student to pose two questions that the writerof the letter leaves unanswered.
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3. In class define reliability. Discuss with students the reliability of this letter as a historical source.
4. Students, especially middle-school students, enjoy discussions of unusual phenomena—Big Foot, unicorns, and the prospects of interplanetary visitors. Their interest in these subjects is an opportunity to refine their skills as judges of evidence and developers of logical arguments. Divide the class into two groups. Assign Group 1 to collect evidence to support the UFO report and direct Group 2 to collect evidence to counter the claims of the observers. Enjoy the lively discussion.
5. In 1949, when George Orwell’s 1984 was published, interplanetary travel seemed a cockamamie idea. Today, with the space shuttle gliding in and out of the Earth’s atmosphere, the idea of travel to other planets seems much less fantastic. Discuss with students their "wildest dreams" of the future. Ask students to consider what changes they foresee in schools, transportation, government, and entertainment by 2034. Classify their predictions to discern where they envision the greatest changes.
6. History is replete with examples of individuals whose observations led them to espouse ideas contrary to prevailing thought; Jesus, Galileo, Joan of Arc, Gandhi, George Orwell, and many others, including our UFO observers. Obviously their points of observation (scientific, societal, and so forth) differ, but they shared one common problem. Discuss with students the proposition that gaining acceptance of an unusual idea involves at least three processes: establishing credibility, convincing skeptics on the rational level, and touching the emotions of the skeptics so that they also accept the phenomenon at a nonrational level.