Before I get to the main thrust of Tim's Roswell piece, I noticed his opening section of SUNlite, "Relaxing under the stars."
"August is always a fun month for me as an amateur astronomer. Nothing is more fun than putting away my telescope to stare at the sky and enjoy the annual Perseid meteor shower. As I watched the spectacle, I began to wonder about all the meteor observing hours I have logged over the years. They must number in the thousands by now. Despite all this time watching the sky, without any distractions, I have yet to see anything I could not identify. Over the period of the maximum, hundreds of amateur astronomers all over the world were watching the sky without any optical aid other than their eyes. Despite all these experts watching the night sky, I did not see any qualified amateur astronomers actually reporting that they saw a “true” UFO. Some saw unidentified satellites but that is not what UFOlogists would consider a “true” UFO. From what I have read, they consider a “true” UFO to be an actual craft of unknown design/origin."
I thought this to be most appropriate and corresponds well with my last blog post. No, I guess I did not see a "true" UFO in the Ufology vernacular, but I did see an unidentified object that has all the markings of a prosaic origin. Sooo much crap in orbit to choose from...
While I'm not into Roswell, I do follow the debates that have issued forth on Kevin Randle's site, as well as Rich Reynolds' site. For me, getting involved with Roswell is like venturing into a dark forest at night...you simply disappear and you never seem to find your way back out.
Flying Saucer or Mogul balloon? Sort of a Shakespearean question. Despite all of the hoopla with the attempts to prove the UFO angle, no hard tangible evidence appears to have been forthcoming. Yet, as Tim has pointed out, there is a tangible piece of evidence that points the other way...Mogul.
The important points that have been raised by the skeptics is that there are multiple reasons to suspect that this “cluster of balloons” may have made it to the Foster ranch site. All one has to do is examine how the recovered “disc” was described and recorded in 1947:
1. Mack Brazel (confirmed by his daughter Bessie in 1993) described finding large quantities of rubber and remains of, what appears to be, radar reflectors.
2. Jesse Marcel is quoted in 1947 news papers as finding debris that matches what we see in the photographs.
3. The photographs show balloon materials that had been left out in the sun for a long period of time (see SUNlite 4-4 and 4-5) as well as the types of radar reflectors known to be used by the NYU team.
4. The news wires, which are the very first news reports regarding the story, mentioned that the disc was made of tin foil and was only a few feet across.
5. The FBI teletype stated that the “disc” was supported by a very large balloon of twenty feet (this estimate may have been based on the amount of rubber found and not finding a single piece of rubber this size).
While the crashed space ship proponents consider all of these items part of the grand conspiracy to hide the truth, an equally compelling argument is that these were descriptions and photographs of the actual debris that was recovered. This argument does not have to assume a vast conspiracy for which there is no evidence. There is also no evidence, other than stories told decades later, that it is not the debris that was recovered.
The UFO proponents have bashed the Mogul theory to death with the lack of issued NOTAMs and supposedly accurate weather data that precludes a Mogul flight over the Roswell area (Foster Ranch). Tim succinctly reinforces the notion that regardless of one's side of the issue there is still an "800 pound gorilla" in the room...Mogul.
The ball remains in the dream team’s court to provide more conclusive evidence to falsify the project MOGUL scenario or support the crashed spaceship solution. Until that occurs, the best working hypothesis for the debris recovered at the Foster ranch remains to be project MOGUL.
An absolutely great article from Tim Printy. I highly recommend that you take a look.
Outstanding summary, Tim (to both of you). The fact is, any UFO assessment in regard to Roswell has to be proven, and the responsibility for presenting that evidence is in the hands of the UFO advocates. Thus far, they have failed to make a compelling case in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWhat's most disturbing about the efforts of those proposing a UFO solution is the fact that the only real organized efforts to prove the UFO ET theories are almost entirely dedicated to reviews of decades old cases -- as if they're just waiting around for all the witnesses to die. Invariably, you end up with either no sense or nonsense. It's the same route to infamy that the History Channel took, a gambit that has resulted in widespread criticism that they no longer examine history. These are the issues that add character to Tim Printy's work, and make that work so necessary.
When you pointed at "the lack of issued NOTAMs and supposedly accurate weather data that precludes a Mogul flight," I think you pinpointed one of the incessant platitudes that typify these cases. You can list out 100 reasons why Roswell couldn't be a flying saucer from another star system, and the organized chaos that UFO advocates bring to the table will batter and ridicule the one little reason that seems immediately weakest, then base the "new" protests on that one detail, while ignoring everything else.
"There weren't any NOTAMS -- that proves it wasn't a balloon! And that means there was a cover-up! The only thing it COULD be is a flying saucer piloted by aliens from space!" The whole thing is sickening, yet obvious. Very unfortunate.
In a lot of ways, it's just nothing but a damn shame that the preservation of human history necessitates this constant guard against those who would rewrite that history. It's not like everybody doesn't have better things to do with their time ...
James, great to see you back!
ReplyDeleteI thought Tim P. did one hell of a job making his case. Will it make a difference to the UFO supporter? You and I know the answer to that one.
Tim P. has produced quality analysis in the past and this one is no exception. Yet, just like his RB-47 work (his best ever IMHO) this one will be pissed on if not out right ignored.
Your take on the demise of the History Channel is spot on. I quit watching a few years back and Discovery appears not to far behind.
Great comment as always!
Our buddy Gilles posted this link before on another blog. It is SO appropriate to all UFO cases and not just Roswell:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQEXW0lVts
Tim, thanks for Gilles' YouTube link. It pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'll say this, anyone seriously interested in Roswell'47 should read Tim P.'s 30 parts work on the subject. (I'll have to go through it again cuz there's a lot of stuff there.)
ReplyDeleteI have a question : besides a collective case of Saucer Fever, are there other suggestions as to why, for more than 24 hours, no one at Roswell AFB could figure out what Jesse Marcel had brought back, whereas the weather officer, called by General Ramey to his office, needed little more than a second to establish the very mundane nature of the debris laid out on the floor ?
There's a significant dissonance there.
My own opinion as to what was found at the Foster Ranch ? I don't know.
Kolyma,
ReplyDeleteYou have to realize that the debris was only on base for a few hours. According to some of the media reports, Marcel brought the debris in that morning around 8AM and the debris then left the base on a B-29 at 10AM (see SUNlite 4-6 pages 7-8. If this is correct, then I doubt they bothered to get somebody from the weather observation group to take a look at the debris. It was a spot decision made by Blanchard and Marcel.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I accidentally deleted your comment in an attempt to respond...please accept my apology...there is no attempt to silence your opinion. Please feel free add another comment and I'll make sure that it stays on the board.
ReplyDeleteLet me add, that your main premise may be correct as far as the Mogul flights, but since no other credible evidence has been proffered by those supporting an ET crashed vehicle...in my opinion.
I have an acquaintance that has proffered that the event at Roswell was directly related to the Circleville, OH disc sightings, roughly same timeline, that was determined to be a balloon carrying sensors mounted on discs similar to Mogul.
BTW, did you email Tim Printy with your views?
Again, apologies for the comment deletion. Thanks for taking the time to respond and feel free to add another response.
Tim Hebert