December 18, 2019

Yesterday, December 17, marked 50 years since the United States Air Force ended Project Blue Book in 1969. The project, which began in 1952, was an official research study of UFO’s (unidentified flying objects). A UFO is a light or object spotted in the air that has no obvious explanation. Some people believe UFO’s are spaceships from other planets.

Four unidentified objects appear as bright lights in the sky in this 1952 photograph taken in Salem, Massachusetts. Credit: © Popperfoto/Alamy Images

Project Blue Book began in part because of widespread public interest in UFO’s. Reports of UFO’s were increasingly occurring in the United States and around the world in the 1940′s and 1950′s. Officials in the U.S. Air Force felt obliged to investigate the phenomenon. Their reasoning was that they needed to determine where UFO’s came from and whether they posed a threat to national security. Investigators with the project collected thousands of reports and conducted many interviews with civilians and military personnel who claimed they had interactions with UFO’s in some form.

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A “flying disc” UFO was said to have crashed near Roswell, in southeastern New Mexico, in 1947. The Air Force said the mysterious craft was a weather balloon. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Project Blue Book followed an earlier government project investigating UFO’s called Project Sign. This project began in 1947, following widespread media coverage of a UFO sighting reported by Kenneth Arnold, a civilian pilot. Arnold claimed to have seen a group of silvery, crescent-shaped craft flying at high speed near Mount Rainier, Washington, on June 24, 1947. His sighting led the press to coin the term flying saucer for UFO’s. A mysterious crash of what some people believed was a UFO near Roswell, New Mexico, was also reported that same year.

Project Sign was disbanded after one year of investigations that found little of interest. However, one member of the project, Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, argued that UFO’s were real and extraterrestrial in origin. Ruppelt is credited with coining the term UFO. Project Sign was shut down and the staff were reassigned. It was later reconstituted as Project Grudge. The investigators of this project produced a report that concluded that UFO’s were not real. However, by 1952, Ruppelt was once again asked to lead Project Blue Book, the final official government investigation of UFO’s. He was joined by the noted American astronomer J. Allen Hynek. The Project Blue Book team amassed a great number of UFO reports and sightings from many witnesses.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was tasked with evaluating the large volume of information collected during Project Blue Book. In 1953, the CIA organized a panel of scientific experts led by the physicist Howard Percy Robertson to review the material. The Robertson Panel concluded that most reported UFO sightings were worthless and declared that reasonable explanations could be suggested for most, if not all, sightings. Therefore, the panel said, the government should work to debunk (prove false) UFO sightings. However, critics argue that the panel obscured those reported UFO sightings that might have some validity.

In the years following the Robertson Panel, the directors of Project Blue Book were dismissive of most UFO reports and sightings. Publicly, the government saw UFO investigations as a waste of time. In the 1960’s, Congress established another committee to study the evidence for UFO’s. The physicist Edward Condon served as chairman of this committee. The Condon Committee issued a report in 1968 that concluded there was no genuine evidence for extraterrestrial UFO’s. The government used the report to justify ending Project Blue Book. The government took the position that UFO’s were misidentifications of known phenomena, hoaxes, or products of mass hysteria. The official records of Project Blue Book are kept at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The records are available to the public.

March 1, 2019

On March 2, 1949, 70 years ago tomorrow, a United States Air Force bomber called Lucky Lady II landed at Carswell Air Force Base in Texas, completing the first nonstop flight around the world. The achievement took 94 hours and 1 minute and covered 23,452 miles (37,742 kilometers). The bomber, a Boeing B-50 Superfortress, took off from Carswell on February 26, and was refueled in flight four times—a tricky technique that had only recently been developed.

A KB-29M tanker refuels Lucky Lady II (below in the foreground) during a flight in 1948. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The B-50 was a modified version of the famous Boeing B-29 Superfortress that saw extensive action during World War II (1939-1945). The B-50 used powerful Pratt and Whitney piston engines and was the last Boeing propeller bomber built for the Air Force. Later bombers flew with jet engines. Lucky Lady II was specially outfitted with an extra fuel tank and a larger than normal crew of 14 people (including 3 pilots). Captain James Gallagher commanded the mission.

Lucky Lady II flew east from Texas and was refueled over the Azores, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Hawaii. The aerial refueling technique involved pairs of KB-29 tankers (modified B-29′s). The KB-29′s flew above and forward of the B-50, and each unreeled a long refueling hose. The hoses were attached one at a time to the B-50, the fuel tanks were filled, and the hoses were released. The round-the-world flight of Lucky Lady II took place at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet (3,000 to 6,100 meters), with an average ground speed of 249 miles per hour (401 kilometers per hour).

After completing the much-publicized mission, the crew of Lucky Lady II received numerous awards and decorations. The success of the mission demonstrated the ever-increasing range of military aircraft, as well as the capability of striking anywhere in the world in a matter of hours.

A B-50 named Global Queen attempted the nonstop round-the-world flight at the same time as Lucky Lady II, but an engine fire forced the plane to land in the Azores. Lucky Lady II followed Lucky Lady I, a B-29 that completed a round-the-world flight—with eight stops—in 103 hours and 50 minutes of flight time in 1948. Lucky Lady III, a jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, completed the nonstop round-the-world flight in 45 hours and 19 minutes in 1957. The fuselage (body) of Lucky Lady II can be seen at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.

August 23, 2016

On August 2, the United States Air Force declared its new F-35 Lightning II fighter planes ready for combat. The F-35 (F is the Air Force designation for a fighter plane) is a “fifth generation” fighter, combining advanced stealth technology with heavy firepower, long range, high speed, and remarkable agility. Stealth technology allows an aircraft to evade radar detection. Eventually, variants of the F-35 will be the core fighters throughout the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Such Allied nations as Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom will also fly F-35 squadrons. The Lockheed Martin Corporation, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, designed the F-35 Lightning II.

A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II lands at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on Sept. 2, 2015. Credit: Todd Cromar, U.S. Air Force

The F-35 development program began in 2001. The first production F-35 flew in 2006 and variants were tested over the next several years. The program took longer than expected, and it cost more too (the average price tag is $178 million per aircraft). The first F-35 military training squadrons were activated in 2013.

A Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engine allows the F-35 to fly at Mach 1.6 (roughly 1.6 times the speed of sound), or about 1,200 miles per hour (1,930 kilometers per hour). The aircraft can reach a maximum altitude of more than 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). The plane’s range is 1,350 miles (2,170 kilometers) with internal fuel, or unlimited with aerial refueling (receiving fuel from another plane or a drone while in flight). The plane carries one pilot with a helmet-mounted display system showing all intelligence and targeting information on the pilot’s visor. The F-35 has “internal and external” armaments, including rapid-fire cannons, missiles, and bombs.

F-35 variants include fighters modified for use on aircraft carriers and aircraft with short takeoff /vertical landing (STOVL) capability. STOVL variants are equipped with special propulsion systems and swiveling engines, allowing the plane to fly straight up and down and stop and turn in midair. Over the next several years, the Lightning II will replace older fighters such as the F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, A-10 Warthog, and AV-8 Harrier. Lockheed’s first “Lightning,” the P-38, was one of the most famous fighters of World War II.

December 4, 2013

Mice laced with a common painkiller parachuted into a United States Air Force base on Guam recently as part of an ongoing attempt to kill off invasive brown tree snakes that have caused enormous ecological damage on that South Pacific island. For the helicopter drop, the dead mice were attached to tiny paper streamers that deposited them in the forest canopy, where the snakes live. Each mice is dosed with 80 milligrams of acetaminophen, an amount scientists consider harmless to other animals and humans. (Acetaminophen tablets used for pain relief in humans commonly contain about 500 milligrams.) No mouse drops were made over populated areas. Guam is an American territory in the Mariana Islands.

Brown tree snakes, which are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea, entered Guam in the late 1940′s or early 1950′s, probably by traveling with military cargo. The snake is a fierce predator of small animals, including birds and lizards. Animals native to Guam had no experience of the snakes. Nor were there predators to control the snake’s numbers. In addition to destroying native bats and other animals, the snakes have wiped out 9 of the island’s 12 native bird species. An estimated 2 million of the snakes currently live on the island. Brown tree snakes slithering into electric power substations on Guam cause about 80 power outages each year, at a cost of up to $4 million in repairs and lost productivity.

Mice bombs attached to cardboard and paper streamers are being dropped on parts of Guam to combat destructive brown tree snakes. (USDA/APHIS)

The recent mouse bombardment was the fourth official aerial drop in the new snake eradication effort, which began in Sepember. Wildife experts on the island also employ snake traps, snake fences, snake-sniffing dogs, and human hunters. A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that the snakes are taking the tasty but lethal bait. Scientists worry a brown tree snake invasion of nearby islands, including Hawaii, in cargo planes or ships could cost billions in damage.

In a blog on the Anderson Air Force Base website, Marc Hall, the supervisory wildlife biologist of the USDA at the base wrote, “Before the snakes arrived, Guam’s ecosystem was very different. Numerous birds could be seen and heard when walking through the northern limestone forests. Without the birds to disperse seeds and the fact that nonnative pigs and deer tear up the ground and eat sapling plants, the native limestone forest has been severely degraded and will require extensive help in order to recover.”

 Additional World Book articles:

• Invasive Species (a Special Report)
• New Top Predator? Pythons in the Everglades (a Special Report)
• Trees Under Threat (a Special Report)

June 29, 2012

President Barack Obama has declared Colorado, currently being ravaged by wildfires, a national disaster area. The declaration releases federal funds for people affected by the two worst fires of the eight or so raging in the state: the High Park Fire in the north and the Waldo Canyon Fire in the center of the state.

The High Park Fire–the second-largest fire in Colorado’s history–began June 9 with a lightning spark in the Fort Collins area. By June 29, the blaze had consumed more than 87,000 acres, destroyed 259 homes, and caused the death of one person. Fire officials stated that as of Friday, the fire had not grown for two days and was considered 85 percent contained.

The Waldo Canyon Fire, raging since June 23, is smaller. However, extremely dry, hot, and windy conditions have made this fire fiercer, faster-moving, and more difficult to restrain. The blaze began near Waldo Canyon in the Pike National Forest. It quickly reached the northwestern outskirts of Colorado Springs–the state’s second most populous city–and doubled in size. By Friday, the fire had destroyed at least 346 houses, forced more than 36,000 people to evacuate their homes, and killed at least one person. The charred remains of the victim were discovered late Thursday in the Mountain Shadows subdivision, one of the areas hardest hit. Some 20,000 homes and the U.S. Air Force Academy remain under threat of the fire, which has burned more than 18,500 acres. According to local fire officials, the blaze is only 15 percent contained.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, reports that 32 large, active fires also continue to rage in 7 other western states: Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Additional World Book articles:

• Forest
• Forest Service
• Weather 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Why Forests Need to Burn (a special report)