The flying saucer controversy is heating up again with a mysterious sighting of "space ships" over Alaska by the crew of a Japan Air Lines cargo plane.

The Japanese aviators spotted two belts of lights three miles ahead that hovered almost stationary, then shifted from side to side and rapidly pulsed across the sky.

Pilot Kenju Terauchi radioed Alaskan air controllers: "Most unexpectedly two space ships stopped in front of our face, shooting off lights.  The inside cockpit shined brightly and I felt warm in the face."  The objects sped off when another plane approached.

Three radar operators at Anchorage noted an unexplained image on their screens but later concluded it was "ghost reflections" of the JAL airplane.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it is "unable to support" the UFO sighting but also found no evidence to contradict the claim.  The FAA now sells tape recordings of the JAL-control tower conversations for $119 and can't keep up with demand.  Undoubtedly we soon will be deluged with books proclaiming yet another visit by extra-terrestrial beings.

Though I have never seen a UFO, I have talked to several people who have among them President Jimmy Carter and a trustworthy newsman, Dave Goldsberry, of Wooster, Ohio.

Carter was with 20 Lions Club members in Michigan when they watched a strange blob of light cavort for several minutes.  Shortly after his election, the president promised publicly to release "unsettling information" about UFOs obtained by the CIA.  However, he clammed up and said nothing more.

My friend Goldsberry is adamant about what he and some 50 other persons saw parked in a field alongside a highway near Dayton, Ohio, one summer afternoon.

A crowd had gathered to watch for 15 minutes a silver saucer, 20 feet in diameter, no windows, opening or appurtenances.  Gradually the craft rose vertically about 40 feet, hovered for a few seconds then shot away at incredible speed.  It was out of sight in less than a minute.

It is worth noting that Dayton is the location of Wright-Patterson Air Field - the testing facility for Air Force experimental aircraft.

UFOs Real

In the face of this, and other evidence gathered over the years, I conclude UFOs are real, revolutionary American or Canadian vehicles.

Other evidence precludes visits by little green men from outer space.

Biologists know in detail the conditions necessary for "life" which they define as the ability to reproduce.  First of all there must be an abundance of free carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in various combinations with other elements - for these are the building blocks of all living things.

Astronomers view countless galaxies containing countless stars each surrounded by countless planets.  Aside from the theological assertion that God could create life on any or all of these cosmic specks, the laws of nature make intelligent life almost inevitable on millions of planets like ours.

Though intelligent life on other planets is probable, the same logic leading to that conclusion precludes any personal interplanetary contact.

The nearest star that might have life-supporting planets is four and a third light years away.  Light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, and a light year is the distance covered in one year.

Those who contend intelligent beings visit us from outer space bring them here in ships that travel at or near the speed of light.  Einstein's theory of relativity holds that matter turns into energy, or light, as it moves at 186,000 miles a second.  Thus, a space ship would dematerialize at the speed of light and scatter into the universe as pure energy.

The fastest traveling objects in nature are meteors, but these celestial speed demons require centuries to make a trip wholly within our own solar system.  In addition, at this speed meteors are worn away by friction with star light and chipped away by high speed collisions with dust particles.

A space ship traveling at top meteoric speed would require a few thousand years to reach Earth from the nearest star and an equal amount of time to return.

Travel Useless

Even if we assume interplanetary visitors were immortal, a physical trip to Earth would be useless.  There are no elemental compounds here that are not found in equal abundance in all other starry systems.  Any scientific observations made of us would be outdated by many, generations by the time the visitors got back home.

The closest contact we can ever expect with other-world beings is electromagnetic communication with several years between messages, or possibly unmanned probes guided to space destinations by several generations of scientists.

Flying saucers could be unmanned devices from other planets; but the timidity of UFOs, if intelligently guided, demonstrates a warped sense of curiosity that is great enough to launch a highly technical space ship yet fearful enough to avoid even mechanical contact with us.

The technical feats of saucers - hovering, exceptional speed and short turns - are well within existing capabilities of man.  There is much less assault on reason in a man-made saucer, or in heretofore unobserved natural phenomena, than in strange people from outer space.

Original Version: May 25, 1977

Was President's UFO From Another Planet?

The flying saucer controversy is heating up again with release of an account by President Jimmy Carter of an unidentified flying object which he sighted while governor of Georgia.

Carter was with ten Lions Club members when they watched a strange blob of light cavort for several minutes.

The president's personal experience has been made public just a few weeks after the U.S. News & World Report reported that before the end of the year Carter is expected to release "unsettling information" about UFOs obtained by the CIA.

All of which leads to the fascinating speculation - are flying saucers real, are they from another planet?

I do quite a bit of reading in scientific journals and share the general conclusion that life on other planets is not only possible, but probable.

Flying saucers are not only probable, but real in my opinion.  However, I do not believe any of the reported UFOs are space visitors.

The questions of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe, and whether flying saucers are something more than mirages, is intriguing.

Biologists know in detail the conditions necessary for "life" which they define as the ability to reproduce.  First of all there must be an abundance of free carbon, hydrogen and oxygen - in various combinations with other elements - for these are the building blocks of all living things.  Theoretically, atoms of silicon might be substituted for carbon in a life-producing process but there would be no noticeable difference in the composition of living tissue.

The astronomer, as he examines the universe in his great light-gathering telescopes, sees countless galaxies containing countless stars each surrounded by countless planets.  Aside from the theological assertion that God could create life on any or all of these cosmic specks, the laws of chance alone make intelligent life as we know it almost inevitable on millions of planets.

Scientists believe that many planets elsewhere in the universe have life-like conditions, that under these conditions life begins it will evolve into intelligent beings much like ourselves.  The laws of nature, they say, make the Earth experience typical rather than unique.

Though intelligent life on other planets is probable, the same logic that leads to that conclusion precludes any personal interplanetary contact.

Only Earth in the Sun's system has fully developed life conditions.  Rudimentary atmospheric and temperature levels on Mars and Venus might support algae or lichen, but recent rocket probes indicates even this is unlikely.

The nearest stars that might have life-supporting planets are four and a third light years away.  Light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, and a light year is the distance covered in one year.  Our fastest rockets go about six miles per second.

Those who contend intelligent beings visit us from outer space bring them here in ships that travel at or near the speed of light.  Einstein's "theory of relativity" - proven correct in about three-fourths of its applications and awaiting verification of its remainder - holds that matter turns into energy, or light, as it moves at 186,000 miles a second.  Thus, a space ship would dematerialize at the speed of light and scatter into space as pure energy.

The fastest traveling objects in nature are meteors, but these celestial speed demons require centuries to make a trip wholly within our own solar system.  Even at meteoric speed, friction with star light is sufficient to wear away material objects.

A space ship traveling at top meteoric speed would require a few thousand years to reach Earth from the nearest star and an equal amount of time to return.  Even if we assume interplanetary visitors were immortal a physical trip to Earth would be useless.  There are no elemental compounds here that are not found in equal abundance in all other star systems.  Any scientific observations made of us would be outdated by many generations by the time the visitors had gotten back home.

The closest contact we can ever expect with other-world beings is laser-light communications with several years between messages, or possibly unmanned probes guided to space destinations by several generations of scientists.

Flying saucers could be unmanned devices from other plants, but this possibility demands fantastic mastery of space technology and a warped sense of curiosity that is great enough to launch a probe yet fearful enough to avoid even mechanical contact with us.

The technical feats of saucers - hovering, exceptional speed and short turns - are well within existing capabilities of man.  There is much less assault on reason in a man-made saucer or in heretofore unobserved natural phenomena than in strange people from outer space.

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