1 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: Strange Arrivals is a production of I Heart three D 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: audience for full exposure. Listen with headphones. Will of the 3 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: Wind your dancing night? Where do you wander into night? 4 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: Where would you lead? If I keep you in? Find 5 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: willow the wind? Where you're that kind of Norman? For me? Modeste? 6 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: What about you beg of me? Done for the same 7 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: Will of the Wind. I'm Toby Ball and this is 8 00:00:50,800 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: Strange Arrivals, Episode seven, The Illusion of Movement. In March 9 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: of nine, the area around Hillsdale County, Michigan, experienced a 10 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: wave of UFO sightings that eventually garnered too much media 11 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: coverage for the Pentagon to simply ignore. The Air Force 12 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: sent Alan Heinek, the consulting scientists to Project blue Book 13 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: to see if he could find a satisfactory explanation. Here's 14 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: George Pruitt from w j R Radio in Detroit interviewing 15 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: Project blue Book head Major Hector Quentinilla the local news run. 16 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: An Airporce investigating team is looking into the runch of 17 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: UFO reports that have taken place in southeastern Michigan. The 18 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: team is headed by Dr h Alan Heineck of Northwestern University, 19 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: who was the Air Force Scientific Adviser on project of 20 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: Blue Book. That's the Air Force project to investigate UFO 21 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: reports w j RS Bill Jolls, contact of the Momentary 22 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: Cheaper Blood projects of White Potters and Air Force Base 23 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: near Dayton, Major Hector's Lindonella and had some questions for 24 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: the leaguer about the investigations. No, one of the things 25 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: that general mentors the public and you know, like I 26 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: mean so many you received word uh, any other organization 27 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: perhaps or radar you know with one of the Air 28 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: Force bases or something is also spotting these. We are contact, 29 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: try to defend devided nothing and needs you need now 30 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: is investigation in tale we'll talk and do the deep 31 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: collection trancition. What obsurred, trying to den turn motivity and 32 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: caring to conceded in that fashion. Alan Heineck hit the 33 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: ground in Michigan with two ex dictations of him find 34 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: an explanation for these sightings and find it fast. It 35 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: would not prove to be that easy. Host of the 36 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: Sascer Life podcast, Aaron Gallias. What he finds are that 37 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: the witness statements are while there's a lot of them, 38 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: they aren't necessarily consistent. And Heinek at this time had 39 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: been involved in Air Force investigations of UFOs since the 40 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: ninet and in one capacity or another, and he was 41 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: getting very frustrated, not only with the Air forces seeming 42 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: reluctance to dedicate serious scientific sort of resources to this, 43 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: but also with what he would call the quality of 44 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: some of the witness statements that he was having to 45 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: deal with. It's hard to take a scientific approach sometimes 46 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: when you don't have sort of the raw materials of 47 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: evidence to work with. Heineck's interviews were not limited to eyewitnesses. 48 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: Because the sightings took place You're ann Arbor, home of 49 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: the University of Michigan, he was able to meet with 50 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: local experts in astronomy, botany, and other subjects, hoping they 51 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: might help uncover a prosaic explanation, author Mark O'Connell. And 52 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: after interviewing all these people over the course of several days, 53 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: Heinech he's he's been getting pressure the whole time he's 54 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: in Michigan from his boss holder press conference. Tell everybody 55 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: it was just nothing, Tell them it was just something natural. 56 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: Quentinila's pressure meant that Heinech had to come up with 57 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: a quick solution, too quick Heineck believed for an investigation 58 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: to truly get to the bottom of this series of sightings, 59 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: I think is resisting because he says, well, I don't 60 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: know what it is. I don't know what they saw, 61 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: so I don't want to have a press conference until 62 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: I can say something that I really believe is true. Well, 63 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: his boss at Project Luba Hector Kingtonia, basically says, no, 64 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: you're doing a press conference Friday at five period. You're 65 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: doing a press prenference and you're going to give the 66 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: media a natural explanation for what's going on. He goes 67 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: to this press conference and it becomes incredibly famous in 68 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: Ufo lore, and it's it's well known in the region 69 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: there in southeast Michigan. Even people who aren't Ufo people 70 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: have kind of a sort of folk memory of this. 71 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: He basically says, in a roundabout way that what what 72 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:30,679 Speaker 1: was seen at various places by various witnesses matches many 73 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: of the conditions required for ignited swamp gas. Now, the 74 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: term swamp gas is unfortunate because why you still might 75 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: not believe that it is the cause of the sightings. 76 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: It's not as ridiculous as it sounds. It's a real phenomenon, 77 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: but the pressure was such that Heinech had to go 78 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: with it because it was the best he could do 79 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: in that time frame. Here's Heinek talking about this explanation 80 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: on Voice of America DA. And let me remind you 81 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: that all that was described, with the exception of two people, 82 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: The great majority of the people described only lights a 83 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: glow and rather small red, yellow, and green lights. Now, 84 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: the fact that this occurred near a swamp or at 85 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: a swamp in both cases a great number of observers 86 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: were referring to that. Those two events led me to 87 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: follow that as a clue. Now, an astronomer doesn't usually 88 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: worry about swamps. His eyes are looking elsewhere generally, but 89 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: in a in his rapid and as thorough away as 90 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:55,799 Speaker 1: was possible in that time. I did UH notice, for instance, 91 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: that in Professor Minaret's book and Minhart as an astronomer, 92 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: he describes in his book light and Color in the 93 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: Open Air. He describes lights of these colors green, red, 94 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: and yellow and white h as dancing around swamp areas. 95 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: The willow lewis sometimes called Egnis factors and UH known 96 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: by other names. Also. I believe fox fire is another 97 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: name given to it. Heinich talked with professors of chemistry, zoology, 98 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: and botany to get more information. He learned that the 99 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: vegetation decomposing under the winter ice would produce gases, including 100 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: one called phosphene. And the phosphene can, they tell me 101 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: spontaneously ignite after the when the spring thaw comes and 102 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: the gases can be can bubble up from and get released. 103 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: The guesses can ignite spontaneously, and they flicker all over 104 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: other place, though flicker at one place, then go out 105 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: and suddenly appear someplace else, which gives the delusion of motion. 106 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: And this description fit quite well the description that both 107 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: the many co eds at the Hillsdale College uh told me, 108 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: and also the policeman who were actually in the swamp 109 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: and saw off the lights themselves. Remember Bud van Horne's 110 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: description of the lights that he saw near Hillsdale College 111 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: to be on the surface of the earth on the ground. However, 112 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: I don't feel that it was, because it moved very 113 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: freely from left to right and right to left at 114 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: various times, which it would be impossible for a type 115 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: of week ago on wheels or on the ground. Too 116 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: that because of the market portion area. Heinik went on 117 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: to specify that the swamp gas explanation applied only to 118 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: this case and not as an explanation for UFO sightings 119 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: in general. But I would like to emphasize here that 120 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: this does not, in no sense of the word, this 121 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: particular explanation which refers to these two specific cases. Am 122 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: I trying to give a blanket interpretation or a blanket 123 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: solution to the entire uful phenomenon. Given the pressure he 124 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: was under, this was the best Heineck could do. But 125 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: while a case could be made that this was a 126 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:52,199 Speaker 1: plausible explanation, the nuances were lost on the press, who 127 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: not surprisingly fixated on the term swamp gas. He doesn't 128 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: say that that is what it is. It just said 129 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: this is one possibility of what people might have seen 130 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: that is an explainable, sort of supportable thing. He doesn't 131 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: come out and say it was swamp gas. But what's 132 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: reported in the media is Air Force says UFO sightings 133 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: are swamp gas. Basically, a flying saucer expert hired by 134 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: the Air Force today dismissed reports of weird flying object 135 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: excited throughout southern Michigan this past week. Dr J. Alan 136 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: Heinick told a news conference in Detroit this afternoon, and 137 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: this leads to a huge backlash against the Air Force, 138 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: which is accused of not taking witnesses seriously, not taking 139 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: the subject seriously. The public dissatisfaction was taken up by 140 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: future President Gerald Ford, who at the time was a 141 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: Michigan Congressman and minority leader of the House of Representatives. 142 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: The Congress should investigate the rank of reported sightings of 143 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: unidentified flying objects in Southern men and other parts of 144 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: the country. A congressional inquiry would be most worthwhile because 145 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: the American people are becoming most interested in in many instances, 146 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: very alarmed by the UFO story. I firmly believe the 147 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: American people would feel much better if there was a 148 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: full blown investigation of the life incidents. A second Congressman, 149 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: Edward Rausch of Indiana, also express frustration with the official explanation. 150 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:39,359 Speaker 1: People want to know what a UFO is, and therefore 151 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: any chance that we have to to learn, we should 152 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: take advantage of us. When you tell them American, I 153 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: can't explain it. He wants to know, why can't you 154 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: explain it? Why doesn't someone explain it? I want someone 155 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: to explain it. And I think that kind of pressure 156 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,040 Speaker 1: is going to change the view of many government on 157 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: officials and members of Congress in the future. The swamp 158 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: gas explanation, whatever its merits, had only increased suspicion that 159 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: the government was not acting in good faith. As the 160 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: face of the investigation, Heinich was the obvious target, and 161 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: he just he's getting squeezed in this vice because on 162 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: the one hand, all his UFO friends are furious with 163 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: him because they all thought this was the big one, right, 164 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: this is the case that nobody can explain away. This 165 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: is the case that proves that we're being visited by 166 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: spaceships from another world, and Heineck didn't give them that. Meanwhile, 167 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: the people in Michigan were also furious with him because 168 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,319 Speaker 1: he seemed to be saying that you people in Michigan 169 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: are a bunch of dopes and you can't tell swamp 170 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: gas from a UFO, and what is wrong with you. 171 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: Heineck felt that his scientific objectivity was being called into question, 172 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: that he was viewed as a mouthpiece for government obfuscation. 173 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: Some of the lawnforcement officers in Michigan that that Heinech 174 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: dealt with Bud van Horne, for example, who has involved 175 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: his a civil defense official and law enforcement officer connected 176 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,719 Speaker 1: to the Hillsdale sidings. He believed the hine came in 177 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: with his mind already made up. Bud van Horn, you 178 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: both in fact, he watched one last time. I wondered, 179 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: do you going on to the theory and Mr Van 180 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: Horne that it would be gas out there? Because this 181 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: definitely not Bob, very definitely not Bob. I would like 182 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: to ask Mr Van Horne, when you didn't report this 183 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: to the nearest Air Force and had them send some 184 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: planes over to investigate what this thing actually was while 185 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 1: he watched it from the eleven until two. Because on 186 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: the previous reports to self rate the air Force base, 187 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: I have received very far reception and he had been 188 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: made to look like a very uh ignorant person. Really, 189 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: I can't figure this solved. They had this US hole 190 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: investigating program. But if I had to give an eye opinion, 191 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: I would say a lot of and say either they 192 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: just playing our answer every report they receive remains means 193 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: to favor words, or else they know what it is. 194 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: It's evident in hindsight that whatever else you think of 195 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: Heineck's investigations, he did seem to be genuinely trying to 196 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: figure things out. While he was initially a skeptic, he 197 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: didn't undertake investigations with the predetermined conclusion in mind, regardless 198 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: of how it looked to the public. After this, heine 199 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: begins to realize more and more that the Air Force 200 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: is not necessarily interested in determining what people might be seeing. 201 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: They're really just interested in clearing the cases and ensuring 202 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: that people don't think that it's anything out of the ordinary, 203 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: and that he's sort of been playing a role in this. 204 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: But the way Blue Book operated helped contribute to that perception. 205 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: So I think this, especially the way the Air Force 206 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: sort of positioned him as almost the public face of 207 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: their ridiculous explanation, put him more on guard with with 208 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: respect to how the Air Force handled things and pushed 209 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: him more towards trying to investigate things more with an 210 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: open mind. And this was the point at which heine said, 211 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not going to let the Air 212 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: Force put me in this situation again. I'm not going 213 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: to carry their water anymore. And at the same time, 214 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: Heineck's name had been all over the news. People outside 215 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: of Michigan and who weren't part of the small population 216 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: of UFO enthusiasts identified Heinich as the expert on UFOs. 217 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: There was this vast middle ground of people who thought, Wow, 218 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: this guy knows what he's talking about. This is the 219 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: guy who knows all about UFOs. All of a sudden, 220 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: and I would see this researching his files. There's this 221 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: transition between early nineteen sixty six and later in nineteen 222 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: sixty six, when all of a sudden, his correspondence in 223 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: his files just expands like you wouldn't believe. Heinek was 224 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: getting fan letters from people all over the country, all 225 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: over the world, people saying, I want to tell you 226 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: about my experience. I want to tell you about this 227 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: thing I saw, I want to tell you about my 228 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: theory of of reality. He was just getting fan letters 229 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: from people everywhere. So even though the swamp Gass case 230 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: at first glance looked like it could have basically ruined Heineck, 231 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: it could have destroyed him in a very strange way, 232 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: it made him more popular and more credible than ever. 233 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: People around the country, but especially in Michigan, insisted that 234 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: the swamp gas explanation could not stand. They wanted accountability. 235 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: They wanted Congress to step in. So Gerald Ford and 236 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: another one of his colleagues in the Congress actually held 237 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: hearings just a couple of weeks after all of these 238 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: events took place. Heineck, of course, was the star witness. 239 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: His boss, Hector Kingtonia had basically told him you stick 240 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,479 Speaker 1: with the company line or else. Well, Heinick didn't want 241 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: to do that. This is how much Heineck had change. 242 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: He was now willing to buck, really openly buck his 243 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: superiors at the Air Force. When it became Heineck's time 244 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: to address the Senate Panel, the Senate Committee, instead of 245 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: towing the company line, Heinech pulled out a like five 246 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: page prepared statement that he had not cleared with his 247 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: bosses at the Air Force at all. This was a 248 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: complete surprise to the Air Force people. Heineck pulls out 249 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: this prepared statement and he reads it to the Congress 250 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: people and he makes the case for we need to 251 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: get together the country's brightest scientists, and we need to 252 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: fund a study program by which these scientists can spend 253 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,199 Speaker 1: all the time and all the resources they need to 254 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: investigate these really important cases. What Heinick was doing was 255 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,719 Speaker 1: calling for an investigation by people outside of the military 256 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: into the cases that had proved most difficult to explain. 257 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: But even when the military wasn't involved, they were involved. 258 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: Although the Air Force wouldn't run the program, they would 259 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: organize it. There were calls in Congress for a more 260 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: scientific approach to this, and so the Air Force was 261 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: basically commissioned by Congress and funded by Congress to bring 262 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: together scientists from all over the country and give them 263 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: a bunch of reports from the Air Forces Project Bluebook 264 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: effort and have these scientists sort of independently review these reports. 265 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: In April one, one month after the sighting at Manner Farm, 266 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: Gerald Ford, a man who would soon as sent to 267 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: the Presidency, sent out a press release taking credit for 268 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: pressuring the Air Force into quote arranging for a study 269 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 1: by high caliber scientists of some of the UFO sightings 270 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: which have never been explained. Retired Air Force pilot James mcgahey, 271 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: they wanted m I. T to do it, and m 272 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: my team told him where they could go. They were 273 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: not interested at all. They got Dr Edwin Condon at 274 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: University of Colorado to accept it. He was a had 275 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: been chairman of the National Bureau of Standards. He was 276 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 1: a very famous quantum mechanics physicist, one of the great 277 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,120 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. He was a very, very imminent scientist. 278 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: He put together a team to do the investigation, which 279 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: became known as the Condent Report, and that team for 280 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: about two years investigating current sightings in the Best Cases 281 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: in Blue Book. On October seven, a press release from 282 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public 283 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: Affairs announced that the Universe the of Colorado had been 284 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,199 Speaker 1: given a contract of more than three hundred thousand dollars 285 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: to quote analyze phenomena associated with UFO sightings and to 286 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: make recommendations on the Air Forces methods of investigating and 287 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: evaluating UFO reports. Congress had signaled that they were serious 288 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: about the UFO question. Heinick was no longer responding to 289 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: the Air forces pressure to explain away compelling UFO sightings. 290 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: The committee began their work in November after the break 291 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: after the Michigan UFO wave of j Alan, Heinik found 292 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: himself off in the strange position of having both experienced 293 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: his greatest professional humiliation and at the same time risen 294 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: to prominence as the publicly recognized expert on UFOs. In 295 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: the last episode, we looked at the archetypal story of 296 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: the hero's journey, where the hero goes from normal life 297 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: and there's a mysterious or mystical world where he fights 298 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: a battle and emerges back into the normal world, transformed 299 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: and with a message. We tracked how Heinich left the 300 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: normal world of an academic to immerse himself in the 301 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: investigation of UFO sightings taking place across the country, and 302 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: while the vast majority of cases were easily solved, that 303 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: left a small number that defied explanation. Given the available 304 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: resources these cases Socorro, New Mexico, Hillsdale County, Michigan, and others, 305 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: and the Air Forces seemingly prioritizing public debunking over actual investigation, 306 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: lad Heineck to a crisis of conscience. What exactly was 307 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: the nature of the project he was spearheading. The review, 308 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: organized by the Air Force and known informally as the 309 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: Condon Committee, began work at the University of Colorado. It 310 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,280 Speaker 1: was the final opportunity for the official assessment of the 311 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: UFO situation to match up with Heeneck's evolving views. Things 312 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: seem set up well to accomplish this. Aaron Gullias, Now, 313 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: this was the sort of thing that UFO advocates, like 314 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon or NIGHTCAP and 315 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: its leader Donald Kehoe, had been pushing for a long time. 316 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: UFO advocates believed and declared that if the UFO topic 317 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: could be taken out of the Air Force's hands and 318 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: put in the hands of independent scientists, that those scientists would, 319 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: you know, looking at things rationally and objectively, come to 320 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: the conclusion that we were being visited by beings from 321 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: outer space, that at least some of the sightings were extraterrestrial. 322 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 1: The Air Force had succeeded in covering this up, but 323 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: if we could take it away from the Air Force 324 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: give it to scientists, the truth would come out. So 325 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,479 Speaker 1: there was a lot of initial hope from the UFO 326 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: people that the CONDOM Committee would would come up with 327 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: the truth about or the truth as they wanted it 328 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: found about about UFOs. Heineck himself express optimism that the 329 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: committee shared his outlook. This is Heinik from his February 330 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: seven appearance on k ABC TVs press conference. The kind 331 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: of committee, and Colorado has in charge now with the 332 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: responsibility of taking a scientific look at UFOs and ed condons. 333 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: Has was for years, as you know, in the director 334 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: of the view of Standards, and they very solid person 335 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: in his whole field. But as you probably suspected, he 336 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: was disappointed when the report was finally released in nineteen 337 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: sixty nine, the Condom Committee issues their report. Their report, 338 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: their conclusions are basically not too different from what the 339 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 1: Air Force had said in their Project Bluebook investigations. Basically, 340 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: the vast majority of sightings that people report are the 341 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: result of people misidentifying planets, stars, satellites conventional aircraft. These 342 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: sightings could in overwhelming numbers be explained, and while there 343 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: was a significant number of cases that could not be 344 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: immediately explained in a conventional manner, that does not prove 345 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:13,400 Speaker 1: that these are alien craft. Visiting Heineck found this acknowledgement 346 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: that there were unexplainable cases hardening, despite the fact that 347 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: the report's conclusion and the summary released by Condon himself 348 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 1: were definitive in dismissing the UFO issue. Surprisingly, the count 349 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: of Committee built their final report, they built a pretty 350 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: strong case for the continued study of UFOs, and Heineck 351 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: found that very encouraging. For instance, Heineck noted that one 352 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: of the common features of many UFO sightings was that 353 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,880 Speaker 1: car engines and radios would fail, and he was pleased 354 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,400 Speaker 1: that the Connan Committee would look at this phenomenon. This 355 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 1: is Heinik again from his interview with k ABC. Cannot 356 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: speak for them obviously, but I understand that they are 357 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: undertaking investigations of physical things, for instance things many many 358 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: reports come in saying that persons car was stopped, UFO 359 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: came by and their car stopped, and when up left 360 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: the car started again. And in the conclusion of the 361 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,880 Speaker 1: section on indirect physical evidence, the report reads of all 362 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: the physical effects claimed to be due to the presence 363 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: of UFOs, the alleged malfunction of automobile motors is perhaps 364 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: the most puzzling. The claim is frequently made, sometimes in 365 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: reports which are impressive because they involved multiple independent witnesses. 366 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: Witnesses seem certain that the function of the cars was 367 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: affected by the unidentified object, which sometimes reportedly was not 368 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: seen until after the malfunction was noted. No satisfactory explanation 369 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,640 Speaker 1: for such effects, if indeed they occurred is apparent, so 370 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: still puzzling. Unfortunately, the head of the committee, Condon, wrote 371 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: a summary of the report in which he just completely 372 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: demolished the idea of UFOs, said, they're ridiculous. It's a 373 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: waste of time and a waste of money to be 374 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: studying these things. And a lot of people who read 375 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: the report simply read Condon's summary and didn't read the 376 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: whole thing, and those parts were unsparing in their assessment. 377 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: The second paragraph of the first section of the Condon 378 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: report says, quote, our general conclusion is that nothing has 379 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: come from the study of UFOs in the past twenty 380 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:44,880 Speaker 1: one years that has added to scientific knowledge. Careful consideration 381 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,400 Speaker 1: of the record as it is available to us leads 382 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: us to conclude that further extensive study of UFOs probably 383 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be 384 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: advanced thereby. Later, in the same section, it concluded that 385 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: there was no defense value in continuing this work. Quote 386 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: This question is inseparable from the question of the national 387 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: defense interests of these reports. The history of the past 388 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,919 Speaker 1: twenty one years has repeatedly led Air Force officers to 389 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: the conclusion that none of the things seen or thought 390 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: to have been seen which passed by the name of 391 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: UFO reports constituted any hazard or threat to national security, 392 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: much as was the case with the Robertson panel, there 393 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: were grumblings that the connon Committee had begun their work 394 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: with the conclusion predetermined. The most notable piece of evidence 395 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: for this assertion is a memo written by an assistant 396 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: dean at the University of Colorado named Robert Lowe to 397 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: two men in the university hierarchy. At the time, the 398 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: university had not yet committed to undertaking the committee work 399 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: and are evaluating if they should do so. The memos 400 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: summarizes various faculty members arguments for and against taking it on. 401 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: The controversial passage reads quote, the trick would be, I think, 402 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: to describe the project so that to the public it 403 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 1: would appear to be a totally objective study, but to 404 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: the scientific community would present the image of a group 405 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: of nonbelievers trying their best to be objective, but having 406 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: an almost zero expectation of finding a saucer. This passage 407 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: can be read to mean that it would be difficult 408 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: to produce a report that satisfied both the public and 409 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: the scientific community, or it could mean that the fix 410 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: was in from the beginning, that before they even looked 411 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: at the evidence, the outcome was predetermined there were no 412 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: flying saucers, so they missed the message, you know, as 413 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: one of these forests for the trees things. They read 414 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: Condon's summation and thought, oh, well, there's nothing here. We 415 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: can trust this guy. He says there's nothing here, So 416 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: there's nothing here. But regardless of these objections and the 417 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: admission that some of the sightings were not able to 418 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: be explained the public who was given the headline and 419 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: not the details, the story that is sort of broadcast 420 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: by the media, sort of simplifying things like the media 421 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: often does, is that scientists conclude UFOs are not alien spacecraft. 422 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: Is basically the headline that goes out and due to this, 423 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: the the Air Force uses this to say, well, you know, 424 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,959 Speaker 1: we had our conclusions. Scientists independently arrived at their conclusions, 425 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: and so we can shut down Project Blue Book. The 426 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: issue has been settled. There's not a danger to national 427 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: security here. This isn't something the Air Force needs to 428 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: be in the business of now. This is not to 429 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: say that the committee's conclusions were wrong. I don't necessarily 430 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: think they were, but looking at the narrative of hi 431 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: Nick's UFO work, it's another time when given the opportunity 432 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: to support his viewpoint on UFOs, the voice of authority 433 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: chose instead to discredit their importance or even existence. So 434 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: the whole thing kind of backfired, and a lot of 435 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: the people involved in the Content Committee who really felt 436 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 1: that they could make a legitimate case that there was 437 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: some reality to these events and that we needed to 438 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: study them, those those people all just got sort of sideline, 439 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 1: and the consequences were fatal for the government's investigation efforts. 440 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: There was a final step, though, before the Air Force 441 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: could close Project Blue Book. They knew that their sponsorship 442 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: of the Conton Committee would delegitimize the committee's conclusions in 443 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 1: some people's eyes, so they had the report reviewed. They 444 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: sent it to the National Academy of Sciences for them 445 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: to review. The report a blue Book, and the National 446 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 1: Academy of Sciences were even more positive about what they 447 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,600 Speaker 1: said and commended conduct on one of the greatest ideas 448 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: about how he had approached this problem. The National Academy 449 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: of Science report concluded, quote, we are unanimous in the 450 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: opinion that this has been a very creditable effort to 451 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: apply objectively the relevant techniques of science to the solution 452 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: of the UFO problem. It's concluding sentence read quote. On 453 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 1: the basis of present knowledge, the least likely explanation of 454 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings, 455 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: and the Air Force basically immediately closed Project blue Book. 456 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: It's interesting how it was actually closed. According to mcgahey, 457 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: Quentinillo wrote an unpublished biography that contains this story. Quintillia 458 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: loaded the entire files of Project blue Book from Wright 459 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: Patterson Air Force Base, got on a C one eighteen 460 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: cargo airplane and flew to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, 461 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: which is where the archives were kept for the Air Force, 462 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: and he handed the entire thing offloaded it off the plane, 463 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: signed it over to them, and got back on the 464 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 1: plane and flew back to RYE Patterson Air Force Base. 465 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: That was how Blue Book closed. I know this because 466 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: I have his He wrote a unpublished about a two 467 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: page biography of himself and mostly about Blue Book, and 468 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,120 Speaker 1: I have a copy of it. And he was not 469 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 1: a big fan of Project blue Book, even though he 470 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: was the last commander. But regardless of whether or not 471 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: the fix had been in from the beginning of the 472 00:33:55,960 --> 00:34:01,080 Speaker 1: Condom Committee, the upshot is that by the early seventies, 473 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: the Air Force had pretty much withdrawn, at least publicly 474 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:11,319 Speaker 1: withdrawn from the UFO investigation field, and civilian organizations like 475 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: Nightcap and APPROO, and a new one, the mutual UFO network, 476 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: that would be emerging during the nineteen seventies, would be 477 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: responsible for collecting sighting reports and investigating things on their own. 478 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: So Project Blue Book ended with a fizzle, not a bang. 479 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: For a moment, UFO proponents and people simply wanting to 480 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,240 Speaker 1: see the study of UFOs given some legitimacy, had reason 481 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:42,480 Speaker 1: for optimism in the formation of the Conon Committee. There 482 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:46,799 Speaker 1: was an expectation, given the public relations disaster around the 483 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: swamp gas explanation of the sightings in Michigan that had 484 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: more even handed in their minds, reckoning with the subject 485 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:59,760 Speaker 1: would be forthcoming, but they were sorely disappointed. The conting 486 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 1: Matty may well have given a thoroughly objective report, but 487 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: for people such as Heineck, it seemed as though it 488 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: was more of the same biased assessments. But this final 489 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: disappointment freed Heinich from whatever constraints he had previously worked under, 490 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 1: and he emerged from his time with the Air Force 491 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 1: with a new message next time on Strange Arrivals. Strange 492 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: Arrivals is a production of I Heeart, three D Audio 493 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. This episode was 494 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: written and hosted by Toby Ball and produced by Miranda 495 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: Hawkins and Josh Thame, with executive producers Alex Williams, Matt 496 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 1: Frederick and Aaron Manky, and special thanks to Wendy Connors, 497 00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 1: creator of the Faded Discs archive of UFO related audio 498 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:59,160 Speaker 1: on archive dot org. Learn more about Strange Arrivals over 499 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,000 Speaker 1: at Grimm and Miles dot com, and find more podcasts 500 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio by visiting the i Heart Radio app, 501 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:10,239 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 502 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: H