Stephenville UFO Incident - Surprising Result

[fitzbew88]

I just read this in Billy Cox's blog:

"The [Stephenville incident] MUFON report’s closest approximation of a smoking gun was buried in the tenth graph of the AP piece. MUFON’s Freedom of Information Act queries produced Federal Aviation Administration documents indicating that its radar tracked a large object zipping along at 700 mph at 6:35 p.m. on Jan. 8. More ominously in this post-Sept. 11 era, the blip had no transponder.

“Apparently, there was a phenomenon of some sort going on,” says Cherry [the MUFON investigator]. “There have always been significant military bases in this area, so the folks who live out there are used to seeing military aircraft. They’re not suddenly going to start misidentifying military jets as UFOs.

The timing of the radar hit is important, Cherry says, because it happened within 10 minutes of when Steve Allen, a freight company operator and pilot, said he first saw it. Allen described an object of nearly a mile long and half a mile wide."

Link to the blog page (May 28 entry): Mixed results for MUFON

I have not been able yet to find the actual MUFON report yet.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Wow, that was quick. Usually takes 3 years to get that stuff I hear.

 

[fitzbew88]

I have not been able yet to find the actual MUFON report yet.

This is a courtesy post for anyone who may be subscribed to this thread.

Giuliano has shared a link to the radar report in another thread:

http://forum.theparacast.com/f8/mufons-radar-report-on-stephenville-t2172/

And here's a direct link to the report itself:

http://www.mufon.com/documents/MUFON...adarReport.pdf

I'm only partially through it, but so far it looks like good stuff.

 

[Roger Knights]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of this case. Perhaps the switch to new software has caused many members to be unable to log in.

I saw a replay of the Larry King show on YouTube. Shostak seemed to be trying to shove the flying saucer interpretation off the table by emphasizing how implausible it was (assuming we know the range of normality). But a secret military craft with the characteristics and behavior described would be equally extraordinary. They're both "off the map." The only reasonable conclusion that a Skeptic should draw is that an investigation is warranted. A real one.

It's quite suspicious that the military bases claimed not to have any radar records of that day. If they destroyed them by writing over them, did they do this in advance of their ordinary lag period? It seems likely, if the FAA tapes were still obtainable. The AF should be questioned about this.

************************
Here's one explanation for why the military might fly its experimental aircraft over populated areas: to send a silent message to potential enemies that "This is what we've got up our sleeve, so don't mess with us." The military wouldn't want to make an overt statement to that effect, for two reasons: first, it would be denounced as provocative saber rattling. Second, it would give the enemy the motivation to develop similar technology. Simply knowing that something has been invented is a great aid in re-inventing it. If all the enemy knows is that we MIGHT have something super-dooper, without knowing exactly what or whether it really exists, his attempts at replication will be less hearty and less successful.