◆ SpookStack

+ in the way it dinappe me a the line of sight Oe Here, the experts prof. sto hope, was something Project Saucer could get its teeth into. “he whole Aying-saucer mystery might he explained, The first step was to determine whether the ob- ject was an aircraft that had been par- gilly obscured by a cloud ar whose spearance had been distorted by a rain- arm. Two hundred and twenty-five ivilian and = military flight schedules were analyzed, and it was found that one other plane, an Air Force C-47, had been wear the Eastern airliner at the time the mysterious object was sighted. Conjecture about the C-47 began to appear irrelevant, however, when the Macon ground crews agreed with Chiles and Whitted that the thing they had seen was going much faster than two Baadred miles an hour, anid so, unless it dawdled around some- where, wouldn't have taken anything like an hour to get from Macon to Montgomery. Astronomers went ta work on the problem. Dr. Hynck considered the possibility that a brilliant, slow-moving meteor might be the explanation. Vari- ous bits of the apparition’s: description coeouracee) this natin -“oranecered flame,” “eigareshaped,” “a tremendous burst of flame.” "Unfortunately, the flight schedules of meteors are not aviul- able, and Dr. Hynek lad ne means of testing his hypothesis, “Lt will have to he left te the psychologists to tell us whether the immediate trail of a bright meteor could produce the subjective im- pression of a ship with lighted win- dows,” he wrate ina report aa his > findings. “The psychologists exprened - Fae 2 ; the apiaion drat a meteor could indeed be mistuken fur a space ship, Dr. Fitts, the Ohio Strate poychologist, observed that both Chiles and Wohitted were human and therefore as dikely te be victims af mass suggestibility as any- une ele. Dr. Fitts told me during a talk Thad with him that psychologists are used to the fact that even people of high mental calibre often: make mis- takes about achat they see, Also, I would dike teomitke the potato pilots are trained to instruments he said, Phey grow very dependent an tha “satruments, and Eadlon’t know whether Fe necessurily superior observers wut them. I do know that during we war, when I was in the Air Force, pilots frequently gave seme pretty odd reports of avhat they'd seen while fly- ing their missions,” Chiles and Whitted readily agreed that their report might 4 7 * : . . ¥. 7 . Fae. a 3 ais ae ie ‘ " eget, ; ta wee ct rei " . . : ; - PF! ? ay + fy Pye ee => pr eS ia ae Ae ke Se eae Pree - we so - > o: . ies ro ke ee . a x” i : & gars Solid “oF bosre Nye Walt LN Aldvatitaged Of being ‘niothp rf fb laind ak th Withstand : < srt a: paze 69, 70