Project Blue Book: Exposed

October 2, 1961: A Daylight Disc

At night there are many things that can fool those not familiar with the sky. Bright stars, artificial satellites, radio towers, and even the pattern of lights on an aircraft can conspire to fool even the most careful observer. During the day, the number of atmospheric phenomena that exist is reduced, and it is easier for people to identify even the unusual when the sun is out to provide additional clues.

Waldo J. Harris, a private pilot and real estate broker from the Salt Lake City area, encountered, according to the Project Blue Book files, a natural phenomenon on October 2, 1961. Others have suggested that it was the classic daylight disc.

Harris, himself, provided a long account of the sighting. He wrote, "About noon… I was preparing to take off in a Mooney Mark 20A from North- South runway at Utah Central Airport when I noticed a bright spot in the sky over the Southern end of the Salt Lake Valley. I began my take-off run without paying much attention to the bright spot as I assumed that it was some aircraft reflecting the sun as it turned. After I was airbourne and trimed (sic) for my climb-out I noticed that the bright spot was still about in the same position as before. I still thought it must be the sun reflecting from an airplane, so I made my turn onto my cross-wind leg of the traffic pattern, and was about to turn downwind when I noticed that the spot was in the same spot still. I turned out of the pattern and proceeded toward the spot to get a better look.

"As I drew nearer I could see that the object had no wings nor tail nor any other exterior control surfaces protruding from what appeared to be the fusilage (sic). It seemed to be hovering with a little rocking motion. As it rocked up away from me I could see that it was a disc shaped object. I would guess the diameter about 50 to 55 feet, the thickness in the middle at about 8 to 10 feet. It had the appearance of sand-blasted aluminum. I could see no windows or doors or any other openings, nor could I see any landing gear doors, etc., protruding nor showing.

"I believe at the closest point I was about 2 miles from the object at the same altitude, or a little above, the object. It rose abruptly about 1000 ft above me as I closed in giving me an excellent view of the underneath side, which was exactly like the upper side as far as I could tell. Then it went off on a course of about 170 degrees for about 10 miles where it again hovered with that little rocking motion.

"I again approached the object but not so closely this time when it departed on a course of about 245 degrees climbing at about 18 to 20 degrees above the horizon. It went completely out of sight in about 2 or 3 seconds… I can keep our fastest jets in sight for several minutes, so you can see that this object was moving rather rapidly.

"All of the time I was observing the object, after getting visual confirmation from the ground, I was describing what I had seen on radio unicom frequency. I was answering questions from the ground both from Utah Central, and Provo. The voice at Provo said that they could not see the object, but at least 8 or 10 people did see it from the ground at Utah Central Airport…

"I was returning to the field after it had departed when I was asked over the radio if I still could see the object, and I reported that I could not. They said they had it in sight again. I turned back and saw it at much greater distance only for about a second or two when it completely vanished. The guys on the ground said it went straight up as it finally left, but I didn't see that departure."

Harris wasn't, of course, the only witness to the sighting. Air Force Project Blue Book files show that Douglas M. Crouch at Hill Air Force Base, who a year later would investigate the first part of the case of an object that flashed over central Utah to explode east of Las Vegas, reported, in accordance with AFR 200-2, what he learned. On October 9, he wrote, "At 1916Z [Greenwich Mean Time] on 2 October 1961 a report of a UFO sighting was received from civilian sources at Utah Valley Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah, via Flight Operations Division, Hill AFB, Utah, and the Salt Lake City Utah Air National Guard Control Tower. Six of the eight persons [identified as Mr. and Mrs. Jay Galbraith, Clyde Card, Duane Sinclair, Robert Butler, and Russ Woods] who reported seeing the object were available and interviewed at the Central Valley Airport and tape recorded statements obtained. All six of the persons agreed that the object had no similarity to manned aircraft, either in configuration, speed, or maneuverability. The sixth person attempted to make an interception of the object and stated he flew within three to five miles of the object before it rose rapidly, started off in an upward southerly direction, paused and then disappeared to the west at a speed believed in excess of 1,000 miles per hour. Federal Aeronautics and Utah National Guard personnel at the Salt Lake Municipal Airport were contacted and reported no radar contacts had been made with the object. Wind velocities at various altitudes in the area discounted the possibility that the object could have been a weather balloon moved rapidly at times by the wind, and no balloons released during the period locally had assumed such a direction or path. No unusual meteorological or astronomical conditions were present which might account for the sighting."

By examining all of the report made by Crouch, we can find some interesting facts. On page three of his report, in an interview with Russ Woods, it was reported that the object "Had an oval shape when sun was shining on object. When it disappeared to those watching it without binoculars, it looked to him like it was dark and more or less cigar shaped. That the oval shape was like a football."

Although Harris reported the object moving, it seems some of those on the ground did not see it move. Instead, they observed it in different positions. Typical of that are the responses to Crouch's questions about flight path and maneuvers. One observer said, "I saw it in one position low on the horizon, and a second time it was to the right and higher, maybe eight to ten thousand feet variation. It was approximately five minutes between the two sightings."

But another of the ground observers, Jay Galbraith, told Crouch, "It was climbing and changing altitude. It seemed to go to the east for some time and hover in one position, then the last he remembered it was going west, climbing and going west. Some of the maneuvers were at rapid speed, and some were slow. At one time it climbed quite fast, with abrupt changes of direction."

In his assessment of that witness, Crouch wrote, "… appears to be a logical, mature person in his early fifties, and has been a private pilot for approximately twenty years, with approximately 2,000 hours flying time. His report of the sighting was very coherent."

Still another of the observers, Robert Butler, reported "Noticed a flight path of straight up and also to the west. Flight upward was at a rapid speed, the flight to the west was fairly slow. No abrupt change in flight."

Of this man, Crouch wrote, "…appears to be a mature, reliable person in his early thirties, and has been working around airports for some time. He has a student pilot's license, with fifty-five flying hours, and appeared very proficient in the identification of conventional type aircraft."

Another witness told Crouch about additional maneuvers. Crouch wrote, "It was climbing and changing altitude. It seemed to go to the east for some time and hover in one position, then the last he remembered it was going west, climbing and going west. Some of the maneuvers were at rapid speed, and some were slow. At one time it climbed quite fast, with abrupt changes of directions."

Of Harris, the private pilot who had attempted the airborne intercept, Crouch wrote, "Harris appears to be an emotionally stable person in his late forties, and gave a consistent and coherent account of his sightings. He holds a private pilot's license and has approximately six hundred hours flying time. Fellow pilots at the airport described HARRIS as reliable and very truthful."

Crouch completed his investigation and submitted his final report to Project Blue Book. He wrote, "Preliminary analysis indicates that each of the six observers interviewed were logical, mature persons, five of whom had some connection with aviation, and that each person was convinced that he had observed some tangible object not identifiable as a balloon or conventional type aircraft. The observer who attempted interception [Harris] and reported closing within three to five miles of the object and within one thousand feet of its altitude gave a definite and coherent description of the size and shape of the reported object, and emphatically and consistently described the maneuvers and flight path of the object. No leads or clues were developed which would lead to the identity of the object or explain the sighting… With the completion of this initial investigation, it is believed that all local efforts to explain the sighting and identify the object have been exhausted."

Crouch, a security specialist and a GS-9, signed the report. Charles W. Brion, an Air Force major, and the Chief, Security and Law Enforcement Division, approved it before it was sent on to Blue Book headquarters.

Within two days of Crouch's report arriving at Blue Book, unnamed "Air Force officers at the Pentagon" found a solution for the sighting. According to them, Harris and the others had seen Venus… or a research balloon.

Harris responded, telling reporters, "If the Pentagon thinks I have eyes good enough to see Venus at high noon, they are really off the beam. The object I saw was saucer shaped, had a gray color, and moved under intelligent control. I got within three miles of it, and that is a lot closer than Venus is. I have seen a lot of balloons too, and this was no balloon. It just doesn't make sense for the Pentagon to make such statements."

What is interesting here is that Crouch, during his investigation, checked into the possibility of balloons being responsible for the sighting. He found no evidence of balloon launches that would place one in a location to be seen. The Air Force spokesman seemed to have overlooked the fact that the object was observed by witnesses on the ground who used binoculars. All of these facts rule out the conventional balloons and the old standby of Venus. This is just another example of the Air Force reaching into the grab bag and pulling out an answer. That it didn't fit the facts, as discovered by their own investigators, seems to be irrelevant to them. They can announce a solution and get back to their "real" work.

Venus, of course, would have been a physical impossibility. Harris, while attempting to intercept, saw the object against the backdrop of the mountains. Venus might be visible near the horizon during the day, but certainly not below it at any time. Venus, as a culprit, was eliminated if we accept the testimony provided by Harris.

The Air Force gave up on Venus and the weather balloons, probably because such explanations had already been overworked by 1961. But they did come up with an explanation that satisfied them. The witnesses had seen a sundog.

In the final summary of the case, the Air Force officers wrote, "Sun at time and date of this sighting was in a direction coincident with that reported for UFO. UFO was reported to be at elevation of approx. 22 degrees above horizon while absolute elev. of sun f[rom] Salt Lake area was 46 degrees 59' 42" at time of sighting. This would put objt at approx 24 degrees below sun. It is noted that weather conditions at time of sighting indicate high cirrus clouds. Cirrus clouds are associated with ice crystals. Sun dogs, which are associated with ice crystals from at 22 1/2 degrees and sometimes 45 degrees from sun. All indications in this case are directed toward objt being a sun dog. It is significant that witnesses on ground observed objt to be stationary while airborne witnesses indicate motion — probably his own. There is no available evidence which would indicate the objt of sighting was not a sun dog."

No available evidence which would indicate the object of the sighting was not a sundog? Did I miss something in the case file, which I have read. There is nothing in the file to suggest high cirrus clouds. Nothing. Instead we are told that the "Visibility was 40 miles with ceiling unlimited…" In another part of the report, Crouch wrote, "Woods stated the weather was clear with no cloud cover, and there was very little surface winds."

In still another part of the report, Crouch wrote that one witness said "The weather was bright and clear with no clouds, and that there was very little wind."

And another of the witnesses said, "Clear in every quadrant, with little surface wind."

What this tells me is that there were no clouds, not even the high cirrus clouds that can indicate ice in the air. There is absolutely no evidence of clouds, based on the witness statements who were on the field at the time of the sighting.

This overlooks the fact that none of the descriptions of the object resemble a sun dog. Harris, in his initial statement had suggested that the craft he saw was between 35 and 50 feet in diameter and about four feet thick, possibly thicker in the center. Later he would amend the dimensions, suggesting it was 50 to 55 feet in diameter and eight to ten feet thick.

Skeptics would seize on this change in the dimensions and suggest that some sort of hoax was being perpetuated. Of course that theory breaks down when the testimony of the other witnesses is brought in. They were respectable citizens who had no reason to lie about this. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that an object was seen in the sky. The sighting was of something real and that the change in Harris' dimensions of the craft are irrelevant trivia.

The point is that Harris, and the others, are not describing something that is a glow of light that is related by the sun reflecting from, or through, ice crystals in the air. And, there were those on the ground who looked at the object through binoculars. A sundog seen through binoculars would remain a sundog. It would not be resolved into something that looked like a metallic craft.

And, I had selected from the various interviews that Crouch submitted to Blue Book, those in which the witnesses on the ground reported movement. In other words, the Air Force claim that "It is significant that witnesses on the ground observed the object to be stationary…" is simply not true. They did see it move.

Finally, the witnesses both on the ground and in the air were pilots or associated with aviation. If one or more of them were unfamiliar with sun dogs, surely one of them would have recognized it as such. The Air Force, however, ignored all this information and invented ice crystals and cirrus clouds so that they could invent an answer.

There is one final, disturbing aspect to this case. In many of the files I have found "galley proofs" from one or more debunking books all authored by Dr. Donald H. Menzel. In this case it is Donald Menzel's World of Flying Saucers. Although I'm not sure why the Air Force went out of its way to get the galley proofs from Menzel's books, it might be that it validated their own ridiculous conclusions.

Menzel and co-author Lyle G. Boyd wrote, "Since the ground observers remained in one place, their position relative to the sundog did not change and it seemed to remain stationary. The pilot, however, was in a moving plane and changing his position relative to the UFO; hence it seemed to move rapidly away from him… The angular distance between the sun and the UFO was exactly that to be expected between the sun and mock sun, at that time and place."

But again, that analysis is not based on the witness testimony. To reject what the witnesses say, there must be some persuasive evidence presented for that rejection. Neither the Air Force nor Menzel and Boyd presented any such evidence. They just rejected the testimony, drew the conclusions they wanted based on their opinions, and continued to suggest an answer.

Dr. James E. McDonald, the atmospheric physicist with the University of Arizona, didn't believe the sundog solution. He wrote, "The altitude of the noon sun at Salt Lake City that day was about 40 degrees, and sundogs, if there had been any, would have occurred to the right and left at essentially the same annular altitude, far above the position in the sky where Harris and others saw the objects hovering. Furthermore, the skies were almost cloudless [or completely cloudless according to the witnesses] the observers emphasized. This case is just one more of hundreds of glaring examples of casually erroneous Bluebook (sic) explanations put out by untrained men and passed on to the press and public by PIO's who are equally untrained and cannot recognize elementary scientific absurdities when they see them. Yet this kind of balderdash has left the bulk of the public with the impression that UFOs can't exist because the Air Force has disproved virtually all the reports they've ever received."

What McDonald is pointing out is that Project Blue Book was not in the business of investigating UFO sightings. They were to resolve them, slapping a label on them regardless of the facts. The campaign was successful because of the localized nature of the reports. When the answer was offered, it was published in Salt Lake City. Those involved, the witnesses, knew that the answer was ridiculous, but to others, who didn't know the facts and who didn't know the witnesses, such an explanation sounded plausible. It was accepted.

When I begin to examine the case files, I find that same thing over and over. An explanation is offered, it is ridiculous when the facts are examined, but it is accepted. The image is of an Air Force doing the job it is paid to do. In reality, that simply was not the case.