Branch has a questionnaire demanding 42 answers whenever anything in the saucer category is sighted.
With this weight of evidence you could well ask why saucers have never been officially accepted. Why no public statement has ever been made verifying their existence. The reason, says Mr. Kevhoe, is because the Air Force is terrified of widespread and hysterical panic should it vouch for saucer reality.
If the public in general thought that they were being observed by another race—and if saucers were accepted, then all testimony would point to the result could be chaotic.
THE Air Force has every reason to believe this. On July 14, 1952, a huge oval-shaped machine flew at a height of 5000 feet, over the city of Indianapolis. Racing over thousands of startled citizens, the bright red low object streaked towards the north-west trailing a fiery exhaust. The result was pandemonium.
In two minutes police, airport and newspaper switchboards were swamped with frightened calls. The news quickly spread. For a while panic seemed inevitable. Then, when the saucer did not return, the hysteria gradually died down.
While the strange machine was approaching Indianapolis it had been seen by several airline pilots. All soberly told the same story. They had been flying at about 5000 feet when they first saw it. It changed course and came towards them, dropping to their level, paced them for a while, then took off over the city.
Before this all six pilots had been sceptics. Now they were convinced. But it was the mass hysteria that worried the Air Force.
They immediately clamped down on all reports. Information was classified. Newspapers clamoring for stories through official channels were fobbed off with technical and evasive answers. Nothing was denied—but nothing was admitted.
That has remained the policy.
A number of saucers were reported over Woomera after the first British atomic tests there. Many have been seen over the battlefields of Korea.
And that is not all. Flying saucers have been filmed. The United States Air Force is in the possession of at least one film of round bright objects flying and manoeuvring at high speeds.
The pictures were taken in Utah by a naval photographer. He took 40 feet of film through a telephoto lens, before they disappeared. The film was handed over to officials of both the Navy and Air Force who spent months analysing it. They could find no flaw. They could not duplicate them in any way. Proud was completely ruled out. They could be nothing but flying saucers.
For a while there was a possibility the film might be given a public showing, but once more the bogey of mass hysteria raised its head and the scheme was discarded. Once more the proof was put away behind closed doors.
But some day—and there are many who think it will be soon—the public will be told, officially.
Some believe this year of 1954 will see the saucer riddle solved. We are closer to Mars now than we have been for 13 years. But whether we are officially informed or not, Mr. Kevhoe’s book has something for everybody interested in the mystery. Read it and decide for yourself.
[Image: A small, indistinct sketch or drawing, possibly of a saucer or related object, with no discernible text or labels.]