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- The following is the NIDS reply to a recent article in
the Skeptics UFO Newsletter (SUN) #62 by Philip Klass suggesting that the
recent multiple police officer eyewitness case on Jan 5, 2000 was based
on the police officers mistakenly seeing the planet Venus. Rebuttal to
SUN #62, March 2000
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- By Eric W. Davis, Ph.D. Fellow of the British Interplanetary
Society Member of the American Astronomical Society Senior Member of the
American Inst. for Aeronautics & Astronautics
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- The SUN author suggests, on the basis of extremely brief
excerpts taken out of context from eyewitness testimonies, that a parsimonious
explanation for the Illinois UFO case of Jan. 5 is that the UFO "might
be Venus. The SUN author then faults the NIDS analysis because NIDS investigators
did not consider this a possibility. NIDS considered but rejected stars
or planets as possible explanations for this case on the grounds that the
majority testimony identified the UFO as a large (200-600 feet linear,
40-60 feet thick) triangular-shaped object possessing (on its underside)
downward pointing white lights arranged at the corners, a red light near
the center, possible additional red lights spaced at intervals across the
underside and near the perimeter, and a row of multicolored lights along
one side between two corner white lights. There also appeared to be large
windows with light emanating through them, but these could have possibly
been openings or light sources. The bright white lights on the corners
were described as blinding to the eye and lighting up the area below the
craft. A witness estimate of the brightness of the white lights was that
they were much brighter than a police cruiser spotlight. Witnesses observed
the UFO to be hovering, slowly rotating about a vertical axis, a combination
of the first two followed by slow linear motion, and slow linear motion
or hovering followed by sudden linear accelerations sending the object
across the sky to the witness,s apparent horizon. The UFO was flying at
low altitude, described by witnesses as being tree top or 1000-2000 feet
above ground. The object flew northeast to southwest from Highland at
4 a.m., later observed at Lebanon and Shiloh in Illinois, changed its course
to northwest and then changed course again heading southwest. At 4:30
a.m. it was sighted at 10,000 feet altitude near Dupo, changing direction
from southwest to north then to east while maintaining that altitude (knowing
that this altitude is very approximate), yet at this time Venus was still
less than a degree above the horizon and very difficult to see. The object
hung around the Dupo area for about two more hours.
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- These facts together do not argue in favor of a planet
or star explanation for the UFO. They argue in favor of an aerial object,
a craft, possessing extended physical dimension, shape, complex array of
lights along with slight sound. The present data is insufficient to determine
whether this object was a special access (black) program vehicle or something
of unknown origin. The planet Venus was not above the horizon until it
rose at 4:25 a.m. on January 5 in Illinois/Missouri and it was -4.07 visual
magnitude. At 4:30 a.m. Venus was 0° 45, (corrected for atmospheric
refraction) above the horizon when it could first become visible to local
observers, but generally difficult to see because of the surrounding trees,
rolling hills and structures known within the localities of the UFO sighting.
Venus was at 4° 38, (corrected for atmospheric refraction) below the
horizon at 110° 52, azimuth (between E and SE) when the UFO was first
sighted near Highland, Ill. in the northeast part of the sky by the first
witness at approximately 4 a.m. At this altitude below the horizon, Venus
will not be seen any earlier in this time frame due to refraction. (The
refraction angle correction for visible star/planet altitude above/below
the horizon is measured in arc minutes, 1/60th of a degree, which decreases
in value as objects approach zenith, and 30 arc minutes is the maximum
refraction correction at the horizon.) The second witness saw the UFO
in Lebanon approximately ten minutes later when Venus was still 2°
49, (corrected for atmospheric refraction) below the horizon (112°
23, azimuth). The police log in Lebanon also noted that witness one,s
report was recorded at 4:10 a.m. ten minutes after he sighted the object
in Highland. Jupiter (-2.51 visual mag.) rose at 12:11 p.m. on January
4 and set at 1:15 a.m. on January 5 so it was not in the sky during the
January 5th event. Mercury (-0.77 visual mag.) was well below the horizon
near the sun until it rose at 7:02 a.m. that morning. Vega (visual mag.
0.10, NE), Arcturus (visual mag. 0.02, E), Sirius (visual mag. 1.6, SW),
Procyon (visual mag. 0.5, SW), Rigel (visual mag. 0.3, W), Betelgeuse (visual
mag. 0.6, W) and Capella (visual mag. 0.2, NW) are the only relatively
bright stars at or above the horizon after 4 a.m. January 5. But again,
they (visual magnitudes and sky positions) do not fit the facts as described
by the eight witnesses as an explanation for the UFO.
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- A thorough forensic investigation requires consideration
of all facts and details gathered from complete eyewitness testimony, and
not just from selected excerpts from same such testimony. Anything short
of this is irresponsible. The testimony transcripts were put on the internet
to make clear to interested readers the evolution of events as described
by the witnesses interviewed by NIDS. It is erroneous that the SUN author
would extract selected excerpts from witness testimony out of context as
described in SUN #62 (March, 2000) so as to frame a simple explanation
for the Illinois UFO. For example, the SUN author neglected the rest of
witness one,s testimony describing how the object "kept moving and
"kept getting closer as he continued to watch it in the northeastern
sky until it was close enough to him that he could see the underside and
side of the object, describing it,s size, array of red lights and windows
on it. The object kept moving on to the southwest. Venus was below the
horizon and between east and southeast at the time.
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