C00015452 or Which Novosti Writer Do You Read? 1. Whether you believe in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or not, the Soviet "unofficial" news agency) agrees with you. We are forwarding attached reproductions of two articles which argue both sides of the issue: i I a. "unidentified Flying GtPyects" by Felix Ligel, 7%04:o; or Science (Technology), Asstatant Professor, Moscow Aviation Institute, appearing in the February 1968 issue of Soviet Life (counterpart to USIA's America) for which APP .supplies all materials; and b. "'Flying Saucers'? Theyaro a Myth!" by Villen Lyustiberg, APN science Commentator, which originally appeared in the 16 February 1968 issue of Noalcovilty Komsomolats, and which Alin, released in English translation on 12 March lqbU. The first article takes UFOs quite seriously; the second laughs them of., and even claims the U.S. publicizes them to divert people from its failures 2. It is not surprising that two writers take opposing views on so controversial a subject, or that one adds a dollop of propagande.? It is surprising to find any. disagreement or., any subject in Soviet media, especially in materials made available; by the same agency to approximately - ---- ------- _ - - . :.~;, ~.}-~:.; ,~~.r ;?'S w:~ti,~.?:i~ . _,?::i53+'"~:A~: ~?~qy~,~.F +v:v+?i'w~' -x ~y {iC&.~^_"~~'~~.':ir.^~? ...;1 C00015452 C00015452 Tuead iy , 1'arth 12. i "FLYING CAUCERS TRCY'RE A MfYTH: Viiken I&ustiberg; A$N Science Commentator In the last 20 years publicatii of literature on "unidentified flying objects" has advanced to one of the first places in the world. This prob- lem is dealt with by numerous associa- tions and clubs. Are these "flying saucers" just imagination or reality?. Thousands of recorded statements by bye-witnesses seem to show that "there must be some- thing in it". But let us try to look all these materials from a different stand. So, as the convinced supporter of the "saucer" theory say almost ever time, you can drew your own conclusiot while we give you. "Facts only" N Kenneth Arnold, an American pilot, is the "godfather" of flying saucers. It he who noticed in 1947 nine shining-discs flying in formation at the speed of about 3,000 km an hour. The next encounter with saucers had a tragic outcome. In January 1948, an immense flying saucer appeared over the Nox US Air Base. Pursuing it Captain Thomas Manthell perished. The last thing he reported from an altitude of 9,000 metres was that he saw an object and was going to approach it. But the results of a thorough investigation by US authorities received much less publicity. The mysterious "saucer" proved to be nothing but a thin-walled plastic balloon made by US Naval Forces under the secret "Skyhawk Operation" pro- ject. Such balloons could rise to an altitude of 30,000 metres. Meanwhile, Thomas Nanthell pursuing it, forgot that he had no oxygen apparatus on board his craft. We know of stories about encounters and even hand-to-hand fights with pilots of craft landing from other planets. They were shot at, but without success. A saucer out down a tree on sne Amazon River short and disappear!' tr, `h- turbid stream. It was ;never recovered. Another saucer glided over the earth likc sr, injured r:. ar.d crashed before the eyes of witneroes. But "having cpi' out" several pieces of metal, it levelled out its course and flew off. Delivered to the police, the metal proved to be ordinary tin. An abandoned silvery disc wus found in the deep rock-coal seams in Norwegian coal mines on Spitsbergen. It was pierced and marked by mtcroiseteor impacts and bore all traces of having performed a long space voyage. It was sent for analysis to the Pentagon and disappeared there. Nothing but a saucer put out of coumission a high-voltage power transmission lire in 1965 and thus plunged several large American cities Tito darkness for six hours. But the most thrilling masterpiece of this sort was probably the "Interview w., a Man from Venus" published at the close of 1967 by the Nest German Stern magazine. This sateria].zed blue-eyed "superman", a version of Nietzsche's "blon beast", proved to be a secret service agent of the Pentagon: He was 190 cm tall, spoke excellent English (it was Ena ...sh indeed!) and could breathe freely in our stmos- phere without any devices. His modest fibre suitcase contained an unusual silvery suit, flexible like silk and so hard that a diamond drill broke off it. The man from Venus said that he sound walk freely in such a suit over the our- face of the hottest stars, ignoring all powerful gravitational fields. How Can They Be Studied? It is easier to ask this question, than to answer it. These flying saucers -- they are like Our Lady: they appear to those who believe in them. And they per- sistently fail to show themselves to air observation posts, meteorologists and astronomers, i.e. precisely to those who can give us accurate information and trust- worthy descriptions of a flying object. Experiments that do not repeat themselves, or the chance appearance of a phenor_encn always either handicap the possibility of investigation considerably or exclude it altogether. Nowhere in the world is there EVEN ONE trustworthy stereoscopic photograph making it possible to trace from two points simultaneously the outlines of a solid flying object clearly. ALL photographs that exist have been made with single-lens cameras and always leave a margin for doubt. A series of such photographs amazingly resembles a straw hat with a black silk ribbon, thrown into the air. Others undoubtedly prove to be internegatives obtained from two combined slides, for instance, that of a landscape and that of a strangely graphs to be produced which no expert will ever prove to be counterfeit. They are objects unexpectedly foreshortened -- pots, pans, plastic toys, and the like. likely these photographs chow bell lightning. inai..entally, the nature of the let has not been fully elucidated yet either, due to the vagueness of the place and ti of its formation. However, no one ever thought of ascribing a cosmic origin to it Even with a superficial analysis, mysterious flares on clouds proved to be reflections of electric welding, warning lights v; airplanes in the area of airpor or distant summer lightning. And the November 1967 "saucer" over Sofia proved to a high-altitude NATO reconnaissance balloon. Among the moat serious works devoted to an investigation of the problem, them are two which ought to be mentioned. One of them is the book "Flying Saucers" by Donald Menzel who explains almost all cases of their appearance by disturbances in the Earth's or Sun'a atmosphere. Our planet travels in the upper lagers of the Sur atmosphere where clots of high-temperature plasma are moving freely. The other is a book by Frank Edwards. It is a collection of statements, notes and records of eye-witness testimony classified into several sections. True, Edwar often qualifies his source as a wi,tress who did not wish to have his name mentioned but who may be fully trusted, or that the trustworthiness of the witness is con- firmed by numerous of his country, ,, but he cannot mention his name so far for a number of reasons. That's not very convincing, is it? For Whom Is It Not a Myth? They are those for whom science is a business. Taking advantage of the lively interest of people for everything that : trange and unusual, numerous lecturers in the Went appear before audience . .-c-ports and stories, invite eye-witnesses to such lectures, and demonstrate pc ..;+hs and slides. Most of these lecturers are nothing but ordinary quacks. True, there are people who are sincerely convince, in the truth of what they aretalkirs about. They strive to draw the interest of the public to certain phenomena but, we are sorry to say, there is more harm than use in that. The Americans Lesly and Adamski are the most outright frauds among them. Using their "good frieddly relations" with strangers from other planets, the enter- neighbours to treat by simple and accessible methods such diseases as cancer, We may trace a clearly defined regularity in the appearance of large numbers' of flying saucers. And, strange as it might seem, this regularity is closely connected with earthly events. The first "cycle" of four years began in 1947. The number of saucers always grows sharply on the eve of presidential elections in the USA. This is difficult to explain. Maybe people on other planets lay bets as to who will win in the next elections -- the republicans or the democrats. Perhaps, these saucers appear in programme and premises to may- eat" and "prooperin, ' society. The next invasion or saucers was in 1965-1966, when 35 American advisers in population of North Vietnam be eubjebted to brutal bombings. In short, when newspaper oirculation drops, when readers %et tired of sconomie: Saucers, the m. Serpent (sootet es it is substitued by the Loch Ness Lake monitor), and the Snow Man. It is mob nicer to read about siysterious craft from Venus than?to think of tht future, of the wage freeze, of% growing prices or Unemployment. Statesmen in imperil let countries resort to this 'information", quite deliberately. For them the flying And nothing but that. _(Moskovsky Komsomo.ets, February 16. In fu;