UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN

Between 1896 an and 1897, a famous swarm of airship sightings occurred in the United States. The initial reports began occurring in November, 1896 over Sacramento, and involved many townsfolk (including some city officials and members of the Sacramento mayor’s staff) claiming to have seen a dark body with a bright illumination resembling an arc light fitted at the front of the craft as it passed overhead in the stormy winter skies.

Several more sightings would occur in the Sacramento area before the airship flap took off toward the east, with sightings continuing throughout the Midwest and southern United States into the middle of 1897. Then, as quickly as the mysterious aerial visitor had appeared, it was gone again.

Scholars on subjects ranging from the history of aviation to UFO sightings debate what these “mystery airships” might have been. Were they actual airships, invented by some clever engineer just years in advance of the earliest successful attempts at manned flight? Were they hoaxes perpetrated by pranksters with fire balloons, and/or bored newspapermen conjuring tall tales, or could there have been something more to the reports?

While the airships of the 1890s remain a mystery, less often mentioned in the literature is the fact that a second, shorter wave of sightings along the pacific coast occurred a little more than a decade later, which bore many characteristics of the 1896-1897 flap.

Tacoma, Washington, as it appeared in a postcard from around the time of the “airship” flap of 1908 (public domain).

The earliest report dates to February 1st, 1908, beginning with sightings of a bright light moving through the sky over the Pacific coast. Tacoma area newspapers gave the following description:

“…(a) mysterious flying object described as three times as bright as the planet Jupiter, displaying colors of dark red, pale green, yellow and brilliant white… cruising the evening skies over the region around Tacoma between the hours of 7 and 9 o’clock… Rumors in such towns as Kent, Crays Harbor, and Tacoma had the phenomenon explained as a Japanese airship spying out the Pacific coast. On one occasion something like a rocket was seen discharged from the apparently unknown object.”

Two nights later on the date of February 3rd, the aerial phantom reappeared over Kent, Washington. The object was described as a bright light seen at apparently low altitude in the western sky, and brighter than the planet Jupiter. Weekend observers near Kent watched the light appear between 7 and 9 PM local time on both Saturday and Sunday nights, just as it had appeared over Tacoma two nights earlier.

Many telephone calls to local newspapers were made reporting the appearance of the strange western light. “At times the strange light did not appear to be more than 10 to 12 miles distant,” one newspaper account read. “All sorts of conjectures are ventured as to the mysterious illumination.”

Admittedly, these descriptions don’t seem to preclude the planet Jupiter rising over the western horizon after sundown as a possible explanation. The same was offered of some of the 1896-97 airships, which had similarly first appeared as a bright aerial apparition out over the Pacific; however, the strange light was seen again the following night on February 4th, this time by a group of passengers on the Northern Pacific train at the Fifteenth Street Bridge in Tacoma.

The engineer had been the first to observe the object, looking up to behold “a strange multi-colored light in the evening sky,” which appeared to be traveling from north to south. “So prominent was the light, the trains conductor and some of the passengers left the coaches and ran down the track to get a better look. One person had field glasses and said he discerned a cigar-shaped mass.”

The cigar shaped mass would indeed seem to be something apart from Jupiter’s nightly appearances off over to the west. Little more was said of the Washington airship after this, apart from a peculiarly-worded editorial which discussed capturing the airship “by the usual method of salt on its tail,” having a bit of fun with the reports of the previous several nights.

Venus appearing brightly in the western sky over the Pacific

(Wikimedia Commons).

As to the possibility that some residents had been observing a planet, sky mapping software made available at www.in-the-sky.org indicates that Jupiter would have been positioned relatively high in the sky in the early days of February 1908. However, the planet Venus would have been visible between 7 and 8 PM, disappearing below the western horizon shortly after 8:10 PM local time. The less brilliant planets of Mars and Saturn would have remained visible for several hours before passing below the horizon.

It is possible that some observers shortly after 7 PM might have been observing Venus on its westerly course over the Pacific. Further, the fact that some of the newspaper reports mention that the light appeared “two to three times as bright as Jupiter” would seem to indicate that the object had been observed in some region of the sky apart from Jupiter (which would have appeared overhead as the sky darkened at around this time), and that observers were aware of Jupiter’s location at the time. Venus setting over the western horizon might indeed have appeared brighter than Jupiter; however, it would have had the appearance of moving gradually toward the North, whereas newspaper accounts describe the object “moving slowly from north to south.”

Had the residents of Washington merely seen a bright planet as it passed through the night sky in early February of 1908? Had they still been afflicted with a touch of “airship fever” in the aftermath of events from one decade earlier? Or had there actually been more to the sightings of what at least one observer called “a cigar-shaped mass” to which the unearthly light had been attached?

THE DEFENDERS

While investigating these claims, Popular Mechanics was able to locate and speak to a previously unknown witness who was with the Nimitz carrier group in 2004. Unaware of some of their fellow shipmates previously coming forward, and out of concerns related to security oaths, the witness agreed to speak only under the condition of anonymity.

“I do remember the events of 2004 very well,” says the witness, who at the time was an Operations Specialist aboard the USS Princeton. “The decision was made to scramble two fighter jets to investigate. From what the pilots described, the movement of the UFO was defying the laws of physics.”

Popular Mechanics didn’t provide the witness with any of the previous claims.

“What really made this incident alarming was when a Blackhawk helicopter landed on our ship and took all our information from the top secret rooms,” the witness says. “We were all pretty shocked and it was an unspoken rule not to talk about it because we had secret clearances and didn’t want to jeopardize our careers.”

Regarding whether or not there was originally a longer recording than the infamous UFO intercept, Aiello says that’s “entirely possible.”

“FROM WHAT THE PILOTS DESCRIBED, THE MOVEMENT OF THE UFO WAS DEFYING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.”

“The 8mm tapes in use at the time had two hours of recording time, and it was not uncommon for aircrew to leave it on for most of the flight,” Aiello says. “It’s plausible that they simply recorded a short segment of the tapes down in CIC, but that the rest of the tapes were available … up until they were either recorded over or whatever happened.”

Aiello, who was on the Nimitz aircraft carrier in 2004 but was assigned to another strike-fighter squadron, says he doesn’t have any direct information on the incident, but he’s willing to offer his opinion based on his experience as a military fighter pilot for over 20 years.

The enlisted witnesses say it’s disappointing to hear Fravor suggest some of their accounts are inaccurate. However, they all stand by their experiences, and equally support Fravor’s account. For them, they say the only reason they ever came out with their story was to support Fravor and their fellow sailors. “That’s what it’s always been about since day one,” Turner says.

But even if Fravor isn’t buying the witnesses’ stories, that doesn’t mean others don’t believe.

“The combination of those aviators, the Princeton Aegis Radar operators, and the E-2 crew convinced me beyond a doubt of the veracity of the story,” says Paco Chierici, a former F-14 pilot, author of Lions of the Sky, and the person credited with first sharing the news of the Nimitz event in a 2015 Fighter Sweep article. “I know those people and how that world works. There is no way it could have been fabricated or misinterpreted.” (Fravor did not respond to several requests for an interview.)To be clear, the only Nimitz witness Chierici personally knows is Fravor. “But,” he says, “I know these people. I worked and lived with them for 20 years, operating at very high tempos and stress levels. They’re all, from the enlisted radar operators, to the squadron COs, incredibly professional and competent. The absolute best at what they do.”

From Left: Patrick “PJ” Hughes, Dave Beaty, Kevin Day, Gary Voorhis, and Jason Turner.

DAVE BEATY

THE TRUTH...

By the Nimitz’s “other” witnesses’ accounts, there’s overwhelming evidence to suggest someone was very interested in this event when it occurred. Since none of the witnesses or pilots involved say they were ever interviewed at the time, it appears the most significant concern for the witnesses was the ship’s electronics data. What this data reveals, however, remains a mystery.

Popular Mechanics spoke with the man who says he investigated UFOs while working for the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense for Intelligence: Luis Elizondo. When asked about the existence of a longer video than what’s been publicly released, Elizondo—who now serves as the Director for Global Security and Special Programs for To the Stars Academy—says, “Unfortunately, I’m unable to comment at this time as to what is in the possession of the U.S. government.”

Elizondo simarily parried additional questions about the missing electronic data, saying only, “A comprehensive investigation was conducted, including various data sources, in which conclusions remain in the providence of the U.S. government.” On whether or not other non-Navy sources were used during this investigation, Elizondo says he was “unable to confirm or deny any information as it relates to coordination with other U.S. Government elements.”

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As for whether or not other data sources (which may or may not exist) helped influence the Navy’s public stance that these objects are still “unidentified,” Elizondo is coy. “It is certainly plausible,” he says, “in addition to the other numerous reports by pilots in the U.S. Navy.”

And as far as why other data may be being withheld from public release, Elizondo says this could have more to do with what was used than what was actually recorded.

“Many of the systems and the manner in which data is collected remains classified in order to protect tactics, techniques, and procedures,” says Elizondo. “I am not at liberty to discuss any of those systems.”

Elizondo says he would “absolutely” encourage other military witnesses to come forward with their accounts. “Many of our service members are highly trained observers,” he says. “Data obtained by these types are always considered valid observations, although the nuances may not be immediately known.”

Nick Cook, the former aviation editor for Jane’s Defense Weekly, says there are a number of reasons why personnel might have boarded ships and seized electronic data. “It could mean it was sensitive information,” he says. “It could mean this was an exercise.”

Regarding the latter possibility—that this was a secret military test of some sort—Cook, a career defense journalist, says in his opinion it was unlikely this was a classified test. “It’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t think it’s likely. It would be so against the norm of my experience with how the black world conducts testing.”

Having spent a decade investigating the potential for secret highly advanced aerospace technology, and publishing these efforts in The Hunt for Zero Point, Cook was cautious in offering any definite conclusions as to what the Nimitz carrier group had encountered. Cook says it’s possible, but not likely, that the “Tic Tac” was some type of classified drone.

“I searched for 10 years, and never found any compelling evidence that the type of technology exists,” Cook says. “[That] doesn’t mean it couldn’t still exist … I just never found any smoking gun for it.”

But when pushed, the career aviation journalist, soberly says, “In the balance of probabilities, I don’t think it’s ‘ours’.”