◆ SpookStack

“ FLYING-SAUCER _ ‘RIDDLE SUNDAY DISPATCH JULY 9, 1950 LONDON, ENGLAND O far flying saucers have been treated by the majority of British people with incredulity and polite ridicule. But why ? I have studied all the reports available. I have seen photo- graphs—those in the ~ Sunday Dispatch last week were particu- lazly clear—and I believe they are photographs of disc-type aircraft. arlier pictures published in tHe Spanish Press last April, arid alteged to have been taken in the Balearic Islands, might have been anytning and could have been a leg-pull. It is not always easy to sort the wheat from the chaff. SECRET TRIALS | BS all the reports the objects fall into three groups, The most substantial of ‘them come from America. First group are those saucers ich are capable of being ex- ined away as glimpses of ex- ‘imental trials of various ices. nder this bey aia fall many of the objects seen in Southern U.S. and other areas where Secret experiments are in pro- gress. For this: group I am pre- pared to accept the explanation given by the United States Army Air Force as “ misinterpretations of conventional objects.” These conventional objects are giant experimental cosmic ay palloons which fill out to 100ft. Jong and 70ft. in diameter as they rise, radar aa a balloons capable of rising to 70,000ft. and trailing glittering aluminium foil strip, guided missiles, and stratospheric experiments from Los Alamos, c stated to have above the urface. : Two consists of those 1@ descriptions are remark~- y and generally the or ver. er wit) out directiuuens eontrol or travelling at prodigious speeds, vanish- ing suddenly, and associated with brilliant light, fringes of fire or flames of peculiar colour alld generally rotating or whirling. From many parts of the wor come these reports. The vely fact that their descriptions are consistent has led to their being dismissed as hallucinations, de- fective vision, or mild hysteria. It might be that the solution of this riddle could lie in a very unorthodox approach, and I have wondered if there could possibly be turbulences set up in our atmosphere which could cause whirling “dust devils” of luminous gases caused by jet or other high speed experiments which might be responsible for the generation of small atomic whirlpools in the atmosphere. Group Three reports suggest that the saucers are high speed aircraft of circular or dise shape travelling at speeds much higher than those attained by normal planes. SAFETY SEARCH Ty HERE is no reason at all woe annular and circula dise-like aircraft should not have been common objects at any time during the past 30 years. The early history of these very unorthodox-looking aircraft was, ~ ironically, based on a search for safety. Before 1910 it had been shown that square and cireular surfaces had very good non-stalling char- acteristics up to large angles. But when powered aircraft arrived ib was found that the easiest way to minimise the losses due to the end slip of the air from the wing tips was to increase the span of wings while keeping them narrow. This compromise brought other trouble. arly Planes reached their stalling angle at some at degrees, and stalling must res in a dive ance the only correct stall is a flight at some Ser C i hes = BP 2s sek ere A : wife would nob accept. that "aireral’ [22 - NOT RE 85 AUG 111950 ORDED>