Dec 28 2006
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20 Most Important Dates In Ufology (Pt.1)
Everyone likes lists. I know I do. Perhaps if only to re-educate myself, I present this one.
Inspired by Paul Kimball, whose forthcoming documentary on the 10 best UFO cases and list of the 50 most important people in the history of the subject, let’s see if we can come up with the 20 most important dates, or perhaps years in the history of UFOs. We will not be concerned with personal opinions on these dates, only the effect they had on our awareness and opinion of the subject. Since this post would be way too long if done in one go, I’ll break it up into 2 parts. Let the debate begin.
In chronological order then:
1) 1897 - The Great Airship Mystery
What were people seeing in the skies back then? Sure, a lot of the stories were probably cooked up by bored newspaper editors, but there is a core of sightings that were probably “real.” What is most interesting about this is that the flying machines were described as something just ahead of the technology of the time. What I have always thought is that witnesses took a weird experience and forced it into something that they could understand in terms of their period. Ghost hunter Richard Senate recently told me that he looked into the subject and decided that it was possible but not very probable that there indeed could have been a secret group of inventors at the time, doing just what was reported. Bill Moore and others have delved into the history of a shadowy group of just this type that called itself “The Sonora Aero Club.” No one has been able to verify its existence.
2) June 24, 1947 - Kenneth Arnold Sighting
Do I have to rehash this one? Acknowledged by all to be the incident that gave birth to our hobby.
3) July 2-8, 1947 - Roswell Incident
I am NOT going to rehash this!
4) September 24, 1947 - Possible creation of MJ-12
According to the incredibly disputed “Eisenhower Briefing” document, MJ-12 was created by President Truman, possibly because of the fallout from Roswell. While we have been kicking this issue back and forth for years, there do remain numerous references in leaked documents and unconfirmable personal recollections to some sort of working group at the highest levels to deal with the UFO question. Since we know about MJ-12, it’s probably not that one. Announcement of the Eisenhower document at the 1987 NUFOC in Burbank, California breathed new life into Ufology. Even your uninterested friends have heard of this group.
5) September, 1949 - Project Sign Report
Usually referred to by its actual name “Estimate of the Situation,” the first conclusion reached by a panel of scientists and U.S. Air Force personnel was that the UFOs were “of extraterrestrial origin.” Either looking far ahead to the ETH debate, or the more likely the fact that he couldn’t handle the idea, General Hoyt Vandenburg rejected the findings as having no conclusive proof. All copies of the report were ordered destroyed. Some may have survived well into the 1960s and possibly beyond, but none have ever surfaced publicly, leaving the Project Sign report in the same basket with the UFOs themselves. Ufologists have crowed over this one ever since Ed Ruppelt revealed its existence.
6) July- August, 1952 - UFOs Over Washington, D.C.
The darting lights came in three waves; the first on July 19-20, the second from the 26-27, and the third from August 2-3. The lights flew over the Capitol, the White House, and even near Air Force bases in the area. (One of them, Bolling AFB, later became the Air Force’s clandestine intelligence clearing house for UFO reports.) The targets were confirmed by military and civilian radar operators and became a huge embarrassment until AF Intelligence Chief Major General John Samford called a press conference to explain that the sightings were due to temperature inversions. Although this situation is likely, but nearly impossible, the inversion explanation is still trotted out occasionally.
7) November 20, 1952 - George Adamski meets Orthon
George picked a good year to have his CE3K. 1952 was the biggest “flap” year on record. Although it is generally believed that Adamski made the whole thing up, this “event” was the genesis of the Contactee movement, which has delighted the public and dogged “serious” Ufology ever since. I don’t think that the Contactees made everything up, but I’ll cover that in another post.
 1952-53 Robertson Panel
Wanting to get in on the UFO action, the CIA ordered its own Estimate Of The Situation with an ad-hoc committee (including J. Allen Hynek) who met for a total of 12 hours before submitting its report. They said that 90% of sightings were misidentifications, and the remaining cases could be explained if given enough time. They further suggested that the Air Force should begin a debunking campaign to keep a check on public hysteria in case the Russkies decided to use the panic for psy-war purposes or to mask an invasion or any other military action. Notice that they were more concerned with national security than keeping the “real” extraterrestrials secret. They didn’t even think that aliens existed.
9) September 19, 1961 - Hill Abduction
On a drive home from Montreal, Barney and Betty Hill sighted a strange light in the sky near Lancaster, New Hampshire. After hearing a “beeping” sound, they felt dizzy and disoriented, but continued the rest of their trip. Upon arriving at home in Portsmouth, they found that the trip had taken almost 2 hours longer than it should have. After months of lost sleep, ulcers, and unrelenting nightmares, they sought help from a Boston psychologist. What was revealed under hypnosis was to affect the Hills and the entire abduction phenomenon forever (see post for details.)
10) April 24, 1964 - Lonnie Zamora Sighting
Seeing something fly over the road and into a nearby arroyo near Socorro, New Mexico, Police Officer Lonnie Zamora drove up to investigate. What he saw that day was to become one of the best UFO sightings on record. As he approached over a rise, he saw an egg-shaped craft about the size of a car sitting on the ground on “girder-like” legs about 150 yards away. Two humanoid figures in white coveralls stood next to the object. When they saw him, one of them jumped as if startled and the two figures went around behind the object. It lifted off with a roar and a blue flame and was lost from sight in seconds. Project Bluebook and J. Allen Hynek were on the scene within 24 hours and proclaimed the case truly unexplained.
Next - Controversy as we move into the late ’60s and on!
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December 28th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Greg:
Some of these I agree with, and some I don’t.
1. The 1897 Airship sightings - Nope. Not top 20 material.
2. Arnold. Obviously.
3. Roswell. Ditto.
4. Possible creation of MJ-12, Sept. 1947. Absolutely not. A better date, if you wanted to reference the MJ-12 docs, would be the date they appeared in Jaime Shandera’s mailbox, and the whole circus began. Or maybe Bill Moore’s birthday!
5. Project Sign Report. I can see why you have included it, but I wouldn’t, as it didn’t really have any impact, other than with some ufologists who have overstated its importance decades later.
6. UFOs over Washington. I’ll buy that, and would add General Samford’s press conference as part of the package.
7. Adamski meets Orthon. Fair enough.
8. Robertson Panel. No problem.
9. Hill abduction. Agreed.
10. Socorro sighting. No. I think there are many better cases, like the RB47 case in 1957, that could be referenced, and that history will judge as more significant.
I would add, as substitutes from the pre-Condon era, the first saucer con at Giant Rock, the RB47 case, and the date NICAP was formed.
Still, food for thought. I look forward to part 2.
Paul
December 28th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Surely one of the Top 10’s of the 1960s has to be January 2, 1967.
You may well ask: “So what happened then?” Well, none other than Paul Kimball was born. Which makes him - oh no! - 40 next week!
I had to get that in, Paul.
December 28th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Paul,
I’m taking into account
1) The effect on Ufology in general
2) The effect these events have on the perception of the phenomenon and
3) The effect on public awareness (other than ufology.)
So, I’ll give you the Airship mystery.
As for MJ-12, the possible formation date vs. the awareness date I believe lies in semantics.
RB47 is important in UFO circles, but not in public awareness or current popularity. I WISH it were more important!
I only left off the Giant Rock Convention because it all started with Adamski. If I had a top 50, or even a top 30, it would have made it.
I’m torn between the dates for NICAP and Bluebook. Which was more important given the criteria I mentioned? I was going to include the close-down date for Bluebook.
Your comments are thoughtful and challenging, as always. Lawyers are good for Ufology, after all!
December 28th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Oh, and Happy Birthday!
December 29th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
What, no Jack Parsons and Hubbard opening the stargate which ushered in ALL future sightings of UFOs!?
What, no Antonio Boas getting down and dirty with that red haired alien gal with all her sensuous gruntings and groanings. (Man, makes me hot just talking about it!)
What, no Albie Bender getting visited by those freakshow MIB’s screwing over his mind and paradigm?
Certainly Whitley Strieber should get a nod of the head.
Did you mention Bentwaters? I’m too lazy to scroll back and see!
Or Reich shooting down UFOnuats with his cloudbuster!
Or Van Tassel channeling the SB’s who gave him instructions on how to build the majestic Integratron?
What gives? Certainly a Top Ten list should include one hundred more!
December 29th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Yes!
December 29th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Damnit!
December 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I guess I should give you a chance to get to part 2. Sorry…
December 30th, 2006 at 1:05 am
Adam,
Your suggested list includes MY most important dates. Not THE most important, and I’m dumb enough to think that there’s a difference.
December 30th, 2006 at 7:30 am
How about Levelland, Texas 1957?
December 30th, 2006 at 8:31 am
Hi, All
I guess, from a purely historical point of view, if you are going to go with “years,” as opposed to specific dates, per se, I would have to see the following added to a more comprehensive list:
1) 1896-1897. Airship Wave. The events actually began in 1896, and there’s no reason to have the contemporary media and popular ufological practice of acting like this was something that only happened in 1897 become part of such a thoughtful list, right?
2) 1905 Welsh Revival UFO events.
3) 1909 New England & New Zealand UFO flaps.
4) Charles Fort books and influence of Fortean Society. Often forgotten, but these had a large impact in bridging the study of the subject from 1910 to the beginning of the 1940s.
5) Foo Fighters and Ghost Rockets - 1940s.
Enough of my outsider insights, so to speak.
Best wishes and it is a good exercise,
Loren
December 30th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Loren,
Thanks for the suggestions. This is the sort of information and discussion I wanted to see with these posts. The list was concieved with Ufology, the public, and the listed events/dates effects on the opinion and awareness of both. I included the Airship wave as #1. As Ufologists are generally an insular group, this locked out the Fortean Society, even though they would have much to learn from their bretheren.
The others you mention I thought would not have had as much of an impact on awareness when the phenomemon is taken as a whole. This is why I really didn’t worry about anything from the Bible, “flying shields” of the Romans, etc.
I didn’t know about the 1909 flaps!
December 30th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Nullspin,
Good case, but not the sort that changed people’s or Ufology’s perception of the phenomenon. Like RB47, it would be nice to include it, but it’s not as history-changing as the others. I think, anyway.
December 31st, 2006 at 4:21 pm
If I had to add one to the list, it would be May 11,1950 - the date the Trent photos were taken.
I’ll also put in a plug for January 16, 1958 - the date of the Trindade photos.
Lastly, how about August 3, 1965 - the date for the Rex Heflin photos? By the way, is the new analysis of those photos due out this year?
S
Happy Birthday, Paul!
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Those three photo cases were sure important. They’ve been reproduced everywhere.
The Trent and Heflin pictures still intrigue me, but the object in the Trinidade photos is so indistinct in the clouds or fog that it has always been difficult for me to put the hoax idea completely out of my mind. Others have debated this for years. The fact that fundamentalist skeptics think the Trent incident was a hoax, and their calesthenics to prove it gives me more faith in their authenticity.
I don’t know if somone is presently doing a re-analysis of the Heflin sequence, but Ann Druffel, Bob Wood, and Eric Kelson did about three years ago. My doubt was further destroyed by their resulting report.
The reason I didn’t put them in as important dates for the list is that they (and other photo cases) taken as a group affected Ufology and the general public’s views on the UFO subject. Individually, I’m not sure that they qualify.