UFOs over Nevada
A True History of Extraterrestrial Encounters in the Silver State
Nevada has been a hotspot for UFO activity for more than a hundred years. This is the first book ever to present a comprehensive history of extraterrestrial encounters in the Silver State. Inside you will found a dazzling array of sightings, landings, face-to-face encounters, abductions and onboard experiences and even UFO crash/retrievals. With 84 percent of the state owned by the Federal Government (more than any other state), Nevada’s military bases have been deluged by sightings from the beginning, many of which involve large fleets of UFOs. Although much of the population of Nevada lives in urbanized areas, the UFOs seem to show no fear, and have been seen deep in the heart of Las Vegas City. Also, Nevada’s numerous remote desert highways have produced many dramatic UFO-car chases, some of which received national publicity. Not surprisingly, there are many famous UFO contact cases too, including Truman Betherum who had a series of encounters with friendly humanoids, country singer Johnny Sands who had a face-to-face encounter with very unusual-looking ETs in the desert outside Las Vegas, and UFO researcher, Bill Hamilton, who after years of research, found that he himself had been abducted. Surprisingly, there are also many accounts in which people have seen ETs walking among the local population, including even inside casinos. Like many other states, Nevada has experienced several UFO crashes. Many people don’t know that in 1962 a UFO crashed outside Las Vegas, and was seen by numerous witnesses. And if that’s not enough, Nevada is the location of the super-secret Area 51, where the U.S. government is rumored to not only reverse-engineer UFOs, but is in actual contact with ETs. Why are UFOs terrorizing so many vehicles along Las Vegas highways? Why do the lights of Las Vegas attract so many UFOs? How can aliens walk undetected among us? What is really going on inside Area 51? Find out the answers to these questions and more. Examine the eyewitness testimony and dramatic photographs and discover the truth for yourself.
Contents
Introduction........................................................................................ 8
Chapter One: Early Cases.................................................................. 13
Chapter Two: UFO Sightings 1950-1959........................................ 18
Chapter Three: UFO Sightings 1960-1969...................................... 28
Chapter Four: UFO Sightings 1970-1979....................................... 38
Chapter Five: UFO Sightings 1980-1989......................................... 46
Chapter Six: UFO Sightings 1990-1999........................................... 52
Chapter Seven: UFO Sightings: 2000-2009..................................... 79
Chapter Eight: Landings and Humanoids...................................... 94
Chapter Nine: Onboard Experiences............................................... 115
Chapter Ten: UFO Crash/Retrievals................................................ 152
Chapter Eleven: Inside Area 51........................................................ 161
Chapter Twelve: Current Cases........................................................ 182
Epilogue............................................................................................... 188
Photographs........................................................................................ 190
Appendix.............................................................................................. 203
Endnotes.............................................................................................. 208
Sources................................................................................................. 209
Index of Place Names........................................................................ 216
There are a lot of strange things in the Nevada desert. Some
military and some…well…non-military.
—Anonymous Nevada UFO witness
It was silent. Dead silent. It did not appear to have an engine…
Maybe we have this kind of craft at Area 51. If we do, that’s a big
story. If it’s not ours, then it’s a big story. Either way, it’s a big
story…It really doesn’t matter that much to me if anyone believes
me. Thousands of people seeing the same thing cannot be wrong.
—Art Bell
American Broadcaster and Author
Something extremely extraordinary happened on the night of April
18, 1962. The air force offered a series of explanations ignoring the
facts. But the witnesses who were there know the truth. They saw
something from outer space, and it was not a meteor. It was a craft
from another world.
—Captain Kevin Randle
(USAF, retired)
Introduction
For most of its early history, Nevada was primarily occupied by various
Native American tribes—mostly the Shoshoni, the Piute, the Bannock,
and the Washoe. While Spain and later Mexico both claimed possession
of the area, it remained largely unexplored. One of the first explorations
occurred in 1825, when Peter Skene Ogden, an employee of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, headed an expedition to the area, marking
the discovery of the Humboldt River. Two years later, the famed
American trapper Jedediah Smith recorded his explorations traveling
across the state.
More explorations followed. In 1848, the Mexican-American War
concluded, and under the Treaty of Hidalgo, the United States acquired
the area of Nevada. In 1858, Mormons were the first Europeans to
move in and establish permanent settlements. At this time, the non-
Native American population of the state was less than 7,000.
That all changed in 1859, when prospector Henry Comstock
announced his discovery of massive amounts of silver and gold on
the eastern slope of Mount Davidson outside the town of Storey. The
discovery, known as the Comstock Lode, changed the course of
Nevada’s history and would earn the state its name as “the Silver State.”
For the next 20 years, the mine yielded more than 300 million dollars
worth of silver and gold. The population of the area surged, doubling
and then tripling in number. The local Native American population
was quickly out-numbered as the incredible flood of wealth attracted
more and more westerners.
The seventh largest state, Nevada is comprised of 110,561 square
miles, most of which consists of a vast plateau (average altitude 5,500
feet) with several high mountain ranges, the most prominent being
the Sierra Nevada. The climate is extreme. It is the most arid state in
the union, and the temperature ranges from minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit
near the Idaho border, to 122 degrees in the town of Overton.
The area is incredibly rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper,
zinc, manganese, magnesium, mercury, tungsten, barite, petroleum,
and more. Not surprisingly, minerals comprise 33 percent of Nevada’s
economy.
While Nevada’s population, in 1860, was only 7,000, by 1880, as a
result of the Comstock Lode, the population had grown to 62,000.
However, when the vein dried up in 1898, the population of the state
dropped by 20,000. People did eventually return, but growth in the
state remained slow. By 1920, only about 77,000 people made Nevada
their home.
In 1931, the state legislature legalized gambling and, as a result,
there was an incredible boom in growth. Before long, tourism dominated
Nevada’s economy. By 1980, the population had grown to more than
800,000. By 2012, it had surged past 2.7 million.
A unique feature of Nevada is that it is one of the most urbanized
states, with the majority of its population living in urban areas. Part
of the reason for this is because most of the land in the state (86.1
percent—more than any other state) is owned by the federal government.
This fact becomes significant considering the subject of this book: a
history of UFO encounters in Nevada.
Nevada’s UFO history includes the entire range of UFO phenomena
from sightings and landings to UFO abductions and crash/retrievals.
Interestingly, many of Nevada’s UFO encounters have gone largely
unpublicized and only a handful of cases have received national media
coverage. The reason for this could be because of Nevada’s relatively
low population, combined with the fact that much of the population
is urbanized, and UFOs tend to shy away from heavily urbanized
areas. Another factor might be that most of Nevada is owned by a
government that is aggressively suppressing the release of UFO
information. Likely, the deficient coverage is a combination of these
reasons. Whatever the cause, the lack of publicity is at odds with the
dramatic nature of many of Nevada’s encounters.
Early Nevada UFO reports were often characterized by close-up
sightings by military personnel. There is also a surprisingly large
number of sightings involving large groups of objects or fleets of UFOs.
As one might expect, there are a significant number of cases involving
UFOs that pace cars along the desert highways. The complex surrounding
Area 51 is perhaps Nevada’s greatest contribution to the UFO subculture.
Popularized in the late 1980s by alleged insider physicist Bob
Lazar, the area has now come to be known as the prime location where
the U.S. government is allegedly reverse-engineering extraterrestrial
craft. The Area 51 story has put Nevada on the worldwide UFO map,
and is today a major tourist destination for UFO investigators and
enthusiasts. Correspondingly, a large number of Nevada’s UFO sightings
come from the periphery of Area 51. Conversely, because Nevada’s
population is mostly urbanized, there are many sightings coming from
such areas as Las Vegas, Reno, and other major cities.
One unique feature of Nevada encounters are the large number of
cases in which UFOs have been seen hovering at low altitude over
various casinos. These “casino encounters” are not limited to simple
sightings; in a few cases, witnesses have reported seeing alleged ETs
inside casinos, mingling unnoticed with the diverse group of casino
visitors and tourists.
While many of Nevada’s UFO cases have received little publicity,
there are some which have become very well-known. Area 51 is
obviously at the top of the list. Other cases which have received national
attention include several waves of sightings over Las Vegas, and the
sighting of a triangular UFO by Art Bell, former host of the hugely
popular radio program, Coast to Coast.
Nevada also produced a few significant UFO landings, particularly
in Ely in the 1950s.
Some famous UFO contactee cases come from the Silver State. First
among these is the case of Truman Bethurum, who claimed to have
repeated contacts with human-looking ETs in the Nevada desert.
Another well-known case was the alleged abduction of country singer
Johnny Sands during a Las Vegas UFO wave. Perhaps most famous
of Nevada’s contactees is Charles James Hall, whose account of repeated
alien encounters with “Tall Whites” is told in his trilogy of semifictional
UFO Crash of 1962, which still remains unexplained.
Nevada’s entire UFO history is presented here. Cases have been
collected from a wide variety of sources, primarily from the vast
literature on UFOs. This includes books, magazines, and newspaper
articles. Other sources include television programs, documentaries,
radio-shows, UFO researchers, and firsthand interviews. Some websites
also proved helpful. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC)
based in Washington and the Mutual UFO Network (based in Texas),
have both collected hundreds of reports from Nevada directly from
witnesses. All the cases were reviewed. Most of the cases were not
included here because they had little to contribute, other than a strange
light seen in the sky. Only the most interesting, credible, and unusual
cases from both databases are presented here. These are cases that
were more extensive than an anomalous light and typically involved
a solid object or entity and interaction with the witnesses.
Nevada’s UFO story is both fascinating and complicated. In this
book, cases are presented both chronologically and topically. First
presented are sightings beginning from the late 1890s and continuing
to the present day. These are followed by chapters focusing on more
extensive cases including landings and humanoid encounters, onboard
experiences and UFO crash/retrievals. Also included is a history of
AREA 51, including the latest developments, and reports concerning
what is going on inside the super-secret facility.
As can be seen, Nevada has made significant contributions to the
understanding of the UFO phenomenon. So now let us begin our
exploration of Nevada’s UFO history from early times to the present
day.
Here is another excerpt from the book detailing a UFO landing case:
UFO Landing Outside Tonopah
On November 23, 1957, at 6:10 p.m., first Lieutenant Joseph F. Long
encountered a landed flying saucer alongside the highway about thirty
miles west of Tonopah. Long was a member of the 97th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron and had just completed a USAF Advanced
Survival School course at Stead Air Force Base. He was finally on his
way back home to Delaware. His first clue that something was amiss
was when his car engine mysteriously stalled. He exited his vehicle
and immediately heard a steady high-pitched whining noise. Following
the source of the noise, he observed four saucer-shaped objects landed
on the ground about 300 yards to the right of the highway.
Long approached to within fifty feet of the closest object. An official
USAF report on the incident describes the objects in detail: “They
were disc-shaped, emitting their own source of light causing them to
glow brightly. They were equipped with a transparent dome in the
center of the top, which was obviously not of the same material as the
rest of the craft. The entire body of the objects emitted light. They did
not appear to be dark on the underside. They were equipped with
three landing gears, each that appeared hemispherical in shape, about
two feet in diameter, and of some dark material.”
The objects were about fifteen feet high, and each had a dark rotating
ring around the circumference. The witness then tried to approach
closer. At this point, the whining noise increased in pitch and the
objects lifted off the ground. The landing gears retracted into the craft.
The objects rose to about fifty feet of altitude, then proceeded at ten
miles per hour across the highway, over some hills and into the distance.
Long examined the area where the objects had rested and found
“several very small impressions in the sand where the landing gear
had obviously rested. Impressions were very shallow and bowl-shaped,
triangular in pattern.”
The lieutenant proceeded to Indian Springs AFB where he reported
his encounter to the base security officer. The sighting eventually made
its way to J. Allen Hynek, consultant to Project Blue Book, who felt
that the members of Blue Book seemed more worried about publicity
from the case than investigating the case itself. He wrote that the only
reason they investigated the case at all was because “The damage and
embarrassment to the Air Force would be incalculable if this officer
allied himself with the host of ‘flying saucer’ writers, experts, and
others who provide the Air Force with countless charges and accusations.
In this instance as the matter now stands, the Air Force would have
no effective rebuttal, or evidence to disprove any unfounded charges.”
In an apparent attempt to find an alternate explanation other than
UFOs, Blue Book officers contracted a nearby university psychologist
to examine the report on the case. The psychologist wrote, “This is
indeed an unusual report. With one important exception, it has many
of the characteristics of a deliberate hoax and reports of psychopathological
cases. This exception was that it was made by an Air Force officer, a
pilot who presumably should be a most competent observer. On the
basis of the evidence, I can only offer conjectures on the nature of the
incident.”
The psychologist concluded his letter by saying that there was “the
possibility of a deliberate hoax” or “it was possible that the officer was
suffering from a temporary condition such as has been sometimes
called ‘road hypnosis’ brought on by excessive fatigue and loss of sleep.”
Hynek vehemently disagreed and wrote that it was typical of the
Air Force to label an event as psychological, while disregarding the
evidence. As he wrote, “What is so frustrating in these kinds of cases,
and particularly in this one, is the readiness with which a ‘psychological’
explanation was grasped without adequate justification.”
To Purchase on Amazon, click here: UFOs over Nevada
CLICK HERE TO SEE GEORGE KNAPP INTERVIEW PRESTON DENNETT ABOUT UFOS OVER NEVADA
A True History of Extraterrestrial Encounters in the Silver State
Nevada has been a hotspot for UFO activity for more than a hundred years. This is the first book ever to present a comprehensive history of extraterrestrial encounters in the Silver State. Inside you will found a dazzling array of sightings, landings, face-to-face encounters, abductions and onboard experiences and even UFO crash/retrievals. With 84 percent of the state owned by the Federal Government (more than any other state), Nevada’s military bases have been deluged by sightings from the beginning, many of which involve large fleets of UFOs. Although much of the population of Nevada lives in urbanized areas, the UFOs seem to show no fear, and have been seen deep in the heart of Las Vegas City. Also, Nevada’s numerous remote desert highways have produced many dramatic UFO-car chases, some of which received national publicity. Not surprisingly, there are many famous UFO contact cases too, including Truman Betherum who had a series of encounters with friendly humanoids, country singer Johnny Sands who had a face-to-face encounter with very unusual-looking ETs in the desert outside Las Vegas, and UFO researcher, Bill Hamilton, who after years of research, found that he himself had been abducted. Surprisingly, there are also many accounts in which people have seen ETs walking among the local population, including even inside casinos. Like many other states, Nevada has experienced several UFO crashes. Many people don’t know that in 1962 a UFO crashed outside Las Vegas, and was seen by numerous witnesses. And if that’s not enough, Nevada is the location of the super-secret Area 51, where the U.S. government is rumored to not only reverse-engineer UFOs, but is in actual contact with ETs. Why are UFOs terrorizing so many vehicles along Las Vegas highways? Why do the lights of Las Vegas attract so many UFOs? How can aliens walk undetected among us? What is really going on inside Area 51? Find out the answers to these questions and more. Examine the eyewitness testimony and dramatic photographs and discover the truth for yourself.
Contents
Introduction........................................................................................ 8
Chapter One: Early Cases.................................................................. 13
Chapter Two: UFO Sightings 1950-1959........................................ 18
Chapter Three: UFO Sightings 1960-1969...................................... 28
Chapter Four: UFO Sightings 1970-1979....................................... 38
Chapter Five: UFO Sightings 1980-1989......................................... 46
Chapter Six: UFO Sightings 1990-1999........................................... 52
Chapter Seven: UFO Sightings: 2000-2009..................................... 79
Chapter Eight: Landings and Humanoids...................................... 94
Chapter Nine: Onboard Experiences............................................... 115
Chapter Ten: UFO Crash/Retrievals................................................ 152
Chapter Eleven: Inside Area 51........................................................ 161
Chapter Twelve: Current Cases........................................................ 182
Epilogue............................................................................................... 188
Photographs........................................................................................ 190
Appendix.............................................................................................. 203
Endnotes.............................................................................................. 208
Sources................................................................................................. 209
Index of Place Names........................................................................ 216
There are a lot of strange things in the Nevada desert. Some
military and some…well…non-military.
—Anonymous Nevada UFO witness
It was silent. Dead silent. It did not appear to have an engine…
Maybe we have this kind of craft at Area 51. If we do, that’s a big
story. If it’s not ours, then it’s a big story. Either way, it’s a big
story…It really doesn’t matter that much to me if anyone believes
me. Thousands of people seeing the same thing cannot be wrong.
—Art Bell
American Broadcaster and Author
Something extremely extraordinary happened on the night of April
18, 1962. The air force offered a series of explanations ignoring the
facts. But the witnesses who were there know the truth. They saw
something from outer space, and it was not a meteor. It was a craft
from another world.
—Captain Kevin Randle
(USAF, retired)
Introduction
For most of its early history, Nevada was primarily occupied by various
Native American tribes—mostly the Shoshoni, the Piute, the Bannock,
and the Washoe. While Spain and later Mexico both claimed possession
of the area, it remained largely unexplored. One of the first explorations
occurred in 1825, when Peter Skene Ogden, an employee of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, headed an expedition to the area, marking
the discovery of the Humboldt River. Two years later, the famed
American trapper Jedediah Smith recorded his explorations traveling
across the state.
More explorations followed. In 1848, the Mexican-American War
concluded, and under the Treaty of Hidalgo, the United States acquired
the area of Nevada. In 1858, Mormons were the first Europeans to
move in and establish permanent settlements. At this time, the non-
Native American population of the state was less than 7,000.
That all changed in 1859, when prospector Henry Comstock
announced his discovery of massive amounts of silver and gold on
the eastern slope of Mount Davidson outside the town of Storey. The
discovery, known as the Comstock Lode, changed the course of
Nevada’s history and would earn the state its name as “the Silver State.”
For the next 20 years, the mine yielded more than 300 million dollars
worth of silver and gold. The population of the area surged, doubling
and then tripling in number. The local Native American population
was quickly out-numbered as the incredible flood of wealth attracted
more and more westerners.
The seventh largest state, Nevada is comprised of 110,561 square
miles, most of which consists of a vast plateau (average altitude 5,500
feet) with several high mountain ranges, the most prominent being
the Sierra Nevada. The climate is extreme. It is the most arid state in
the union, and the temperature ranges from minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit
near the Idaho border, to 122 degrees in the town of Overton.
The area is incredibly rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper,
zinc, manganese, magnesium, mercury, tungsten, barite, petroleum,
and more. Not surprisingly, minerals comprise 33 percent of Nevada’s
economy.
While Nevada’s population, in 1860, was only 7,000, by 1880, as a
result of the Comstock Lode, the population had grown to 62,000.
However, when the vein dried up in 1898, the population of the state
dropped by 20,000. People did eventually return, but growth in the
state remained slow. By 1920, only about 77,000 people made Nevada
their home.
In 1931, the state legislature legalized gambling and, as a result,
there was an incredible boom in growth. Before long, tourism dominated
Nevada’s economy. By 1980, the population had grown to more than
800,000. By 2012, it had surged past 2.7 million.
A unique feature of Nevada is that it is one of the most urbanized
states, with the majority of its population living in urban areas. Part
of the reason for this is because most of the land in the state (86.1
percent—more than any other state) is owned by the federal government.
This fact becomes significant considering the subject of this book: a
history of UFO encounters in Nevada.
Nevada’s UFO history includes the entire range of UFO phenomena
from sightings and landings to UFO abductions and crash/retrievals.
Interestingly, many of Nevada’s UFO encounters have gone largely
unpublicized and only a handful of cases have received national media
coverage. The reason for this could be because of Nevada’s relatively
low population, combined with the fact that much of the population
is urbanized, and UFOs tend to shy away from heavily urbanized
areas. Another factor might be that most of Nevada is owned by a
government that is aggressively suppressing the release of UFO
information. Likely, the deficient coverage is a combination of these
reasons. Whatever the cause, the lack of publicity is at odds with the
dramatic nature of many of Nevada’s encounters.
Early Nevada UFO reports were often characterized by close-up
sightings by military personnel. There is also a surprisingly large
number of sightings involving large groups of objects or fleets of UFOs.
As one might expect, there are a significant number of cases involving
UFOs that pace cars along the desert highways. The complex surrounding
Area 51 is perhaps Nevada’s greatest contribution to the UFO subculture.
Popularized in the late 1980s by alleged insider physicist Bob
Lazar, the area has now come to be known as the prime location where
the U.S. government is allegedly reverse-engineering extraterrestrial
craft. The Area 51 story has put Nevada on the worldwide UFO map,
and is today a major tourist destination for UFO investigators and
enthusiasts. Correspondingly, a large number of Nevada’s UFO sightings
come from the periphery of Area 51. Conversely, because Nevada’s
population is mostly urbanized, there are many sightings coming from
such areas as Las Vegas, Reno, and other major cities.
One unique feature of Nevada encounters are the large number of
cases in which UFOs have been seen hovering at low altitude over
various casinos. These “casino encounters” are not limited to simple
sightings; in a few cases, witnesses have reported seeing alleged ETs
inside casinos, mingling unnoticed with the diverse group of casino
visitors and tourists.
While many of Nevada’s UFO cases have received little publicity,
there are some which have become very well-known. Area 51 is
obviously at the top of the list. Other cases which have received national
attention include several waves of sightings over Las Vegas, and the
sighting of a triangular UFO by Art Bell, former host of the hugely
popular radio program, Coast to Coast.
Nevada also produced a few significant UFO landings, particularly
in Ely in the 1950s.
Some famous UFO contactee cases come from the Silver State. First
among these is the case of Truman Bethurum, who claimed to have
repeated contacts with human-looking ETs in the Nevada desert.
Another well-known case was the alleged abduction of country singer
Johnny Sands during a Las Vegas UFO wave. Perhaps most famous
of Nevada’s contactees is Charles James Hall, whose account of repeated
alien encounters with “Tall Whites” is told in his trilogy of semifictional
- books titled, Millennial Hospitality. Las Vegas has also had a
UFO Crash of 1962, which still remains unexplained.
Nevada’s entire UFO history is presented here. Cases have been
collected from a wide variety of sources, primarily from the vast
literature on UFOs. This includes books, magazines, and newspaper
articles. Other sources include television programs, documentaries,
radio-shows, UFO researchers, and firsthand interviews. Some websites
also proved helpful. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC)
based in Washington and the Mutual UFO Network (based in Texas),
have both collected hundreds of reports from Nevada directly from
witnesses. All the cases were reviewed. Most of the cases were not
included here because they had little to contribute, other than a strange
light seen in the sky. Only the most interesting, credible, and unusual
cases from both databases are presented here. These are cases that
were more extensive than an anomalous light and typically involved
a solid object or entity and interaction with the witnesses.
Nevada’s UFO story is both fascinating and complicated. In this
book, cases are presented both chronologically and topically. First
presented are sightings beginning from the late 1890s and continuing
to the present day. These are followed by chapters focusing on more
extensive cases including landings and humanoid encounters, onboard
experiences and UFO crash/retrievals. Also included is a history of
AREA 51, including the latest developments, and reports concerning
what is going on inside the super-secret facility.
As can be seen, Nevada has made significant contributions to the
understanding of the UFO phenomenon. So now let us begin our
exploration of Nevada’s UFO history from early times to the present
day.
Here is another excerpt from the book detailing a UFO landing case:
UFO Landing Outside Tonopah
On November 23, 1957, at 6:10 p.m., first Lieutenant Joseph F. Long
encountered a landed flying saucer alongside the highway about thirty
miles west of Tonopah. Long was a member of the 97th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron and had just completed a USAF Advanced
Survival School course at Stead Air Force Base. He was finally on his
way back home to Delaware. His first clue that something was amiss
was when his car engine mysteriously stalled. He exited his vehicle
and immediately heard a steady high-pitched whining noise. Following
the source of the noise, he observed four saucer-shaped objects landed
on the ground about 300 yards to the right of the highway.
Long approached to within fifty feet of the closest object. An official
USAF report on the incident describes the objects in detail: “They
were disc-shaped, emitting their own source of light causing them to
glow brightly. They were equipped with a transparent dome in the
center of the top, which was obviously not of the same material as the
rest of the craft. The entire body of the objects emitted light. They did
not appear to be dark on the underside. They were equipped with
three landing gears, each that appeared hemispherical in shape, about
two feet in diameter, and of some dark material.”
The objects were about fifteen feet high, and each had a dark rotating
ring around the circumference. The witness then tried to approach
closer. At this point, the whining noise increased in pitch and the
objects lifted off the ground. The landing gears retracted into the craft.
The objects rose to about fifty feet of altitude, then proceeded at ten
miles per hour across the highway, over some hills and into the distance.
Long examined the area where the objects had rested and found
“several very small impressions in the sand where the landing gear
had obviously rested. Impressions were very shallow and bowl-shaped,
triangular in pattern.”
The lieutenant proceeded to Indian Springs AFB where he reported
his encounter to the base security officer. The sighting eventually made
its way to J. Allen Hynek, consultant to Project Blue Book, who felt
that the members of Blue Book seemed more worried about publicity
from the case than investigating the case itself. He wrote that the only
reason they investigated the case at all was because “The damage and
embarrassment to the Air Force would be incalculable if this officer
allied himself with the host of ‘flying saucer’ writers, experts, and
others who provide the Air Force with countless charges and accusations.
In this instance as the matter now stands, the Air Force would have
no effective rebuttal, or evidence to disprove any unfounded charges.”
In an apparent attempt to find an alternate explanation other than
UFOs, Blue Book officers contracted a nearby university psychologist
to examine the report on the case. The psychologist wrote, “This is
indeed an unusual report. With one important exception, it has many
of the characteristics of a deliberate hoax and reports of psychopathological
cases. This exception was that it was made by an Air Force officer, a
pilot who presumably should be a most competent observer. On the
basis of the evidence, I can only offer conjectures on the nature of the
incident.”
The psychologist concluded his letter by saying that there was “the
possibility of a deliberate hoax” or “it was possible that the officer was
suffering from a temporary condition such as has been sometimes
called ‘road hypnosis’ brought on by excessive fatigue and loss of sleep.”
Hynek vehemently disagreed and wrote that it was typical of the
Air Force to label an event as psychological, while disregarding the
evidence. As he wrote, “What is so frustrating in these kinds of cases,
and particularly in this one, is the readiness with which a ‘psychological’
explanation was grasped without adequate justification.”
To Purchase on Amazon, click here: UFOs over Nevada
CLICK HERE TO SEE GEORGE KNAPP INTERVIEW PRESTON DENNETT ABOUT UFOS OVER NEVADA
