PROJECT BLUE BOOK

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

Was Balloon
Probably Balloon
Possibly Balloon

Was Aircraft
Probably Aircraft
Possibly Aircroft

Was Astronomical

3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
tect! 703552 lar So 2% Ground- Vi sual O Ground-Roder

Ol ~-01/0355Z Mar 59 Mar 59 8 Air Visual O Air-intereept Rader
Probably Astronomical

eee Civilien at Astronomicol
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION &. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE
eceicnan Gepe ta mmnee Dete for Eveluction
oO Unk no wn
2-3 seas North

Big blue flashing light passed directly Light could have been a spotlight,
overhead at 90° angle. However, there is not sufficient
information to form a valid conclu-
sion/
SLON/

pe a

tion—W. J. D. Escher and R. W. Foster—
Naval Res. Lab. (Office of Technical Services),
15 P» illus., 75¢. Includes master sequence
diagram.

THe Properties AND Structure or Matter:
Part 1—Lewis Pokras—Macmillan, 580 p., illus.,
paper, $5. Experimental college textbook of

ndamental chemistry with stress on more in-
dependent study by the student.

Rivers in THe Desert: A History of the
Negev—Nelson Glueck—Farar, Straus, 302 p.,
illus., $6.50, Archaeological exploration of
southern half of Israel, the site of trade routes
and civilizations since the 4th millenium B.C.

Scate-Up in Practice — Richard Fleming,
Ed.—Reinhold, 1 34, p.. $4.50. Based on an
“Experience in ustry” symposium jointly

{ Ph il | | hi -Wil » " Ss tl
Tks heater tacton of Chee See
neers and the University of Pennsylvania.

. Tue Soctat Impact or Boma Destrucrion—

Fred Charles Ikié—Univ. of Okla. Press, 250

gy $3.95. Findings of the effects of

ing on the functioning of society, based

on extensive analysis of World War Il data

from Germany, Japan, Poland, and other coun-
tries.

Sreciar Porutarions—D. J, K. O'Connell,
Ed.—Interscience, $44 Pp. illus., $10. Proceed-
“@ of the Conference sponsored by the Pon-
tifical Academy of Science and the Vatican Ob-
servatory, 1957.

Tie Sroxy or THe Dinosauns: A Guidebook
for Young Scientists—Stanley B. Brown and
Barbara M. Brown, reviewed for scicentilic ac-
curacy by Mary PB. Patsuris—Harvey Honse, 125
P., illus. by Don Bolognese, $2.95. Acctirate
information in simple language abundantly i-
lustrated.

Srupies on THE STRUCTURE AND I)rveELor-
mMeNnT or Vertresrates, Vols. I and ti—tulwin
S. Goodrich—Dover, 837 p., illus., 2 veols., paper
$5. Unabridged reprint of original one volume
edition published ia 1930.

A Symroswum on THE CHemicar Baste oF
Devecopmenr — William D. Mecklroy and
Bentley Glass, Eds.—jJohn Hopkins Press, 944
p. illus., Sis. Papers on developmental cy-
tology, cellular and tissue interactions in de-
velopment, problems of specificity in growth
and development and on control mechanisin in
development.

Syxruetic Mernons of Orcanic Cremisrey:
Yearbook Vol. XIL— W. Theilheimer—later-
science, 546 p., $22.50. Reports on new trends
in the synthesis of organic compounds and im-
provements of known methods published be-
tween 1955 and 1957. Includes German Reg-
ister-Schlussel of volumes I-XIL.

A Text-Book or Orcanic Cuemistry: His-
torical, Structural & Economic—John Read and
F. D. Gunstone—Bell, G., 4th rev. ed., 610 p.,
illus., $5.25. Includes discussions of modern
theories of organic chemical structure, reactivity
and reaction mechanism.

Tue Touroay of vue Porentiac —— William
Duncan MacMillan Dover, 469 p., paper,
$2.25. Unabridged reprint of first edition in
1930.

Tiree Mites Deer: The Story of the Trans-
atlantic Cables—John Merrett—Hamilton, H.,
191 p., illus, $1.90. A cable-man’s story of
how the 2,400-mile-long submarine telegraph
cables were laid which established rapid com-
munication between Europe and America a
hundred years ago.

3 Rerowers OF SOMMER CONFRRENCES FOR
Science Teactiers: Teacher Demonstrations in
Chemistry, The Science Teacher as a Career
Counselor, and Teaching for Critical Thinking
in Chemistry-——National Science Teachers Assn,
32 p., illus., paper, $1.

ee

i oe -

(2) DIRECTLY OVERIEAD
(3) 99 DEGREE ANGLE
(4) PASSED DIRECTLY OVER HEAD
(5) TO THE NORTH FAST
(6) 2. OR 3 SECONDS
c. €1) GROUND VISUAL
(2) NONE

(3) NONE

Ge. ¢1) CLEAR CALM
(2) 272/12 262715 253/25 272/42 212/750 2623/15
(3) CLEAR
(4) 19 MI

PAGE THREE RJEDSJ 3
(5) ‘CLEAR

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Bi/1440Z MAR RJEDSI ver ;

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SECURITY CLASGIFIC oN

JOINT MESSAGEFORM-

UNCLASSIFIED

SPACE ZELOW” RESERVED POR COMMUNICATION CENTER

Han G7 56°59

TS - -—Ort—‘“—<(“al

PRECEDENCE CCOUNTING ORIG, OR REFERS TO CLASSIFICATION
SAT svueOL OF REFERENCE
ACTION JULLINE
INFO MTL 001-03

FROM: ; SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

COMDR, ATIC
: COMDR, 2500TH AB GP, MITCHEL AFB, N.Y. “AROeAsT -

/UNCLASSIFIED/FROM: AFCINe)E, 3 — “4// -£-

REF MSG BASE OFS MIL 001-03, REPORTING A FLASHING LIGHT OVER
BELAIRE, N. Y. THE INFO SUBMITTED IS VERY LIMITED IN NATURE AND
CANNOT BE EVALUATED. REQ AN INVESTIGATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH
AFR 200-2. ‘HE FOLLOWING INFO IS REQUESTED IN ADDITION TO ANY
OTHER PERTINENT INFO. WHAT WAS THE ELEVATION AND AZIMUTH OF
OBJECT WHEN FIRST AND LAST OBSERVED, IN DEGREES? WHERE IS
BELAIRE, N. ¥. LOCATED? WHERE WAS THE PREMIER LIGHT YOU

REFERENCE LOCATED?

COORDINATION:
Col. Glaser -
AFCIN-}E ef Hoye FO
DATE TIME
5 1245

| MONTH YEAR
oe ss 1959
SIGNATURE _-
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SYMBOL

w TYPED e, (Signature, if require R TYPED (or stam NAME "AND TITLE L
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= HON - ° ye i oe S
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SECURITY “LASSIFICATION R SAF
UNCLASSIFIED ee USE rive otis

DD FORM ] F 3 REPLACES DD FORM 173, 1 OCT 49, WHICH WILL BE USED UNTIL EXHAUSTED
1 MAY 56

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JNCLASSIFIED FROM BASE OPS MTL 157-93, UFO. ©

REF YOUR MSG AFCIN-4E4 3-411~-E. UNABLE TO CONTACT PERSON

WHO REPORTED SIGHTING OF UFO, LOCATION OF BELAIRE NY

IS APPROXIMATELY 15 MILES WEST OF MITCHEL AFB, COORDINATES
73-45W 49-435N. AIRDROME OFFICER STATED THAT THERE WAS A
POSSIBILITY OF SIGHTING PREMEIR LIGHTS WHICH ARE FREQUENTLY
USED THROUGHOUT THE AREA FOR ADVERTIZING PURPOSES,

BT
-18/2952Z MAR RJEDSJ

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58

Science News Levrer for January 24, 1959

ASTRONOMY

Venus Brightens

Mars will fade in February skies as it travels farther
from the earth. Meanwhile, the planet Venus can be seen in
the southwest until about two hours after sunset.

By JAMES STOKLEY

> MARS is drawing farther away and
rapidly fading. Now Venus is increasingly
prominent. It can be seen low in the
southwest on February evenings until about
two hours after sunset.

It is in the direction of the constellation
of Aquarius, the water carrier. This, how-
ever, is a rather inconspicuous group of
stars that will be much harder to see than
Venus itself. During February, Venus shines
with a brilliance about 20 times that of a
typical first magnitude star, such as Pollux,
seen high in:the south in Gemini, the twins.
Thus, there is no difficulty in locating
Venus, if the southwestern sky is clear.

Venus is not shown on the accompanying
maps, as these depict the sky at a later
hour: 10:00 p.m., your own standard time,
at the first of February, 9:00 p.m., at the
middle of the month and 8:00 p.m. at the
end. Mars appears on them, however, as
it is in Taurus, the bull, high in the south-
west. It stands just to the left of the little
cluster of fainter stars called the Pleiades.
These are sometimes called the “seven sis-
ters,” although it takes a keen eye to see
more than six without some sort of optical
aid, such as a telescope, or binoculars.

Mars, at the middle of February, will be
about 75% brighter than Pollux, but this
is less than one-tenth of what it was last
November, when it made an unusually
close approach to the earth.

Sirius is Brighter

Even brighter, however, is the star called
Sirius. This is the “dog-star,” in Canis
Major, the great dog, in the south. Directly
above this group is the faint constellation
of Monoceros, the unicorn. Canis Minor,
the lesser dog, is just above that; in it is
another first-magnitude star, Procyon. Go-
ing upwards another step, is Gemini, in
which Pollux stands. Castor, the other
twin, is represented by the fainter star
(which is second magnitude) a little above
and to the righr.

Taurus, which is the present location of
Mars, is shown high ia the southwest. It
aiso contains a star of the first magnitude,
Aldebaran, the eye of the bull. Above this
is Auriga, the charioteer. Capella is the
name of its bright star, On the maps,
Auriga is divided; part of it appears on
the southern map and the rest, with Capella,

on the northern.
Orion, the warrior, the most brilliant

of all the constellations, ts beeween Taurus
and Cams Major. ti is the only star group
to contain two first magnitude stars. One
is Betelgeuse, above, and Rigel, below. Be-
tween these is a row of three stars, each a

}

little fainter, which form Orion’s belt. This
feature makes it rather easy to identify.

Leo, the lion, is high in the cast. In it
is another bright star, Regulus. Left of Leo,
is the well-known great dipper, which is
part of Ursa Major, the great bear. Ursa
Minor, the lesser bear, is still farther to the
left, directly north. One member of this
group is Polaris, the pole star, which is
overhead at the north pole of the earth.

Although Venus and Mars are the only
planets presently visible to the naked eye
in the evening, two others appear after mid-
night. The first, rising in the east about
2:00 aun., is Jupiter, in Scorpius, the scor-
pion. While only about one-fifth as bright
as Venus, it is many times brighter than
any other planet, or any star. A few hours
later it is followed by Saturn, which is in
Sagittarius, the archer. This planet is now
about the same brightness as Mars. Mer-
cury will not be visible at all during Febru-
ary, for it is too nearly in the same direc-
tion as the sun. In fact, it passes behind the
sun on St. Valentine’s day. The astronomer
calls this “superior conjunction.”

With rockets being fired at earth's one
natural satellite—the moon—that body has
been attracting a lot of attention in recent
months. In the past, the moon has been

largely neglected by professional astrono-
mers, Who have been more interested in
studying the far more distant stars and
galaxies. But now, as the time when men
may actually be placed there draws closer,
some large telescopes have been turned on
it, and new data are being collected.

One of the most striking recent develup-
ments has been the discovery, by a Russian
astronomer, Dr. N. A. Kozyrev of the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, of
what appears to be an active volcano on
the moon.

Moon Volcano

He used a reflecting telescope, like those
at Mt. Wilson and Mt. Palomar in Cali-
fornia. Unlike the more familiar reflector,
where a lens focuses the light rays from
the distant object on a photographic film,
or into an eyepiece through which the ob-
server looks, this uses a dished mirror to
perform the same function. This mirror,
at the Russian observatory, is 50 inches in
diameter, although only a quarter of the
diameter of the “big eye” at Palomar, the
largest in the world.

As described recently in a British weekly,
The New Scientist, by Dr. Zdenek Kopal
of the University of Manchester, it was in
the carly morning hours of Nov. 4, 1958,
with the moon two days before the phase
of last quarter, that Dr. Kozyrev was
studying the region of the lunar crater
called Alphonsus. There is a prominent

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peak 80 miles wide in the center of this
circular mountain. He was watching this
intently to keep the telescope accurately
pointed for 30 minutes, from 2:30 to 3:00,
while he made a spectroscopic exposure.
The light from the region being examined
passes through a narrow slit, then through
a combination of lenses and prisms. The
result is a spectrum, which shows the dis-
tribution of light of various wavelengths.
Ordinarily, the light from the moon shows
a spectrum similar to that of the light
from the sun, and crossed by similar dark
lines. The light of the moon is reflected
suntight.

But, as Dr. Kozyrev watched the central
peak of Alphonsus, he noticed that it be-
came unaccountably blurred by some sort
of reddish cloud. The spectrogram, when
he developed the plate, was very different
from what he expected. Instead of the
series of well-defined lines, cach due to
some element in the sun's atmosphere that
normally appear, there was a series of bands,
called Swan bands, that showed the pres-
ence of carbon atoms, paired to form mole-
cules. These do not appear in the sun.
Another spectrogram, made between 3:00
and 3:30 a.m., showed only the customary
lines.

It seems, according to Dr. Kopal, that
these carbon molecules, that appeared so
yes | over the central peak, were pro-
duced in some way by the breakdown of
more complicated molecules. This requires
considerably more heat than that of the
sun’s rays. There must have been some
source of heat nearby, perhaps under the
lunar surface, just before the ——_
of the cloud Dr. Kozyrev observed.

This, of course, was very similar to a
volcanic eruption on the earth, so it is the
first good evidence that there is some such
activity on the moon. Perhaps it is not
the completely dead world that many have
assumed it to be.

Scientists are eagerly awaiting the time
when, with more and better rockets, they
can make closeup observations. Then they
may find the answers to some of their

questions.

Celestial Time Table for February

Feb. EST
1 2:56 aan. Algol (variable star in Perseus)
at minimum brightness.
7:32 p.m. Moon passes Jupiter.

3 31:45 p.m. Algol at minimum,
4 7:13 a.m. Moon passes Saturn.
6 &:35 pan. Algol at minimum.
> 2:22 p.m. New moon.
9 5:24 p.m. Algol at minimum.
13. midnight Mercury on opposite side of sun
from earth,
14 9:00 a.m. Moon farthest, distance 251,300

miles,
15 2:20 p.m. Moon in first quarter.
16 12:19 p.m. Moon passes Mars.
230 3:54 am. Full moon.
2g gt am, Algol at muumum.,

26 5:00 a.m, Moon nearest, distance 227,400 |.

miles.
10:20 p.m. Algol at minimum,
Subtract one hour for CST, two hours for
MST, and three for PST.
Science News Letter, Jonvary 24, 1959

‘
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