JANUARY

1972

iJllrt

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NICAP II SUITE 801, 17S0 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE N W i WASHINGTON,

lllll

Maryland

Reports

.C. 2

IV TE, NONPROFIT CORPORATION

Rash of UFO Sightings

A five-county area in central Maryland has been under close

scrutiny by NICAP investigators recently, following a rash of
UFO sightings during the last five months of 1971.
At least 12 separate sightings, many of them by multiple
witnesses, occurred between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31. This is an
unusually high number for the state, which is not normally an
active source of UFO reports.
Of equal interest is the fact that most of them occurred
within 30 miles of each other; three of these within five miles
of each other. Here is e breakdown of some of the more interesting easeson a town-by-town
basis:
WESTMINSTER

Report of an egg-shaped UFO with two rows of colored

lights on its underside was received around 10;30 p.m., August 1, by state police at Westminster, Maryland.
Charles P. Kenyon, 39, of New Windsor, Md., had driven his
wife and their four children to a location outside Westminster to observe a violent thunder and lightning storm then
in progress.
Kenyon and his wife observed the object for a total of 20
minutes as it maneuvered about the rural countryside. The
outline of the object, including a pulsating amber light on top
and a bubble-like protrusion at one end, was seen clearly,
according to Kenyon, thanks to lightning flashes every few
seconds.
At one point, the UFO passed within 3,000 feet of Kenyon's vehicle at an altitude of 200-300 feet. The object emitted for a few seconds a high whine, similar to an air conditioning unit, during one of its passes. Just before disappearing, the
UFO was observed to turn on what appeared to be a white
landing beacon to search the ground below.
The sighting, stig unexplained, was investigated by NICAP's
Capital Area Subcommittee,
chaired by astronomer John
Carlson.
FRIZZELLRURG
One week later, James Key, of Frizzellburg,
Maryland
(near Westminster), reported observing a bright, disc-shaped
UFO at approximately 8:15 p.m. August 8.
According to Key, at least 20 persons gathered for a family
picnic at his home witnessed the UFO. The object, emitting
"a lot of light," was observed for at least ten minutes by his
guests as it traversed a path from north to south towards
Frizzellburg, then west towards q'hurmont, Maryland.
Key estimated the speed of the craft at about 290 mites per
hour.The case is still under investigation,
WOODBINE
On Sept. 12 around 9 p.m. at least five witnesses in Wood
bine, Md. (about 20 miles south of Westminster), reported
observing a large, dark object with four lights moving slowly in
the sky above this semi-rural area.
At least two of the witnesses reported a "humming" sound
coming from the UFO and a beam of light that seemed to
switch on and off. Investigation by N/CAP headquarters

determined that the Goodyear blimp had been in the Woodbina area at the time of the sighting, en route from New Jersey
to Washington, D.C.
PIKESVILLE-EASTON
Two UFO sightings were reportedly made Sept. 22 by
Maryland state troopers located in two different sections of
the state. Both cases are still under study, but it is known one
of the sightings occurred early in the morning near Pikesville,
Md., northwest of Baltlmore.
The second sighting that day occurred around 8 p.m. when
two state troopers and two game wardens observed what one
of the wardens described as a buff or cream-colored light with
a red light and a green light which rotated about it in the sky
near Easton.
Another object of similar shape and size was soon spotted
in the same vicinity. Both objects were in view for at least
three hours. Officials at nearby Dover Air Force Base, informed of the sighting, reported they had picked up one unidentified object on radar,
HYATTSVILLE
An object described
dows" was sighted near
ton, D.C.), one evening
investigated and closed.

as a "saucer with three legs and winHyattsville, Md. (outside of Washingin late September This case has been
The object in question was identified

as a single-engine advertising
on the night in question.

plane being used in that vicinity

RALTIMORE
A "cigar-shaped or possibly circular" object with 16 to 20
lights around its peripherv was observed around 9 p.m. in the
(See Maryland Sightlngs, paEe 3)

Page 2

UFO INVESTIGATOR

JANUARY

1972

A Well Known Writer Wonders Aloud

Are We Getting All The Facts About Mars?

by Wells Alan Webb

The piecemeal release of photos and
other data from the Mariner 9 space
probe has puzzled peoplewho had hoped
for quick answers to fundamental questions about the planet Mars. Some wonder if the full returns of the Mariners
will ever reach the public. People ask,
"Why hasn't the orbiting satellite shown
the kind of details that telescope astronomers have been reporting for nearly a
century? What has become of the work
done by prominent observers whose maps
of Mars show the surface to be covered
with a network of lines and dark green,
interconnecting bands?"
Echos of an old
controversy
are
heard; this is the debate over the presence or absence of the famous Martian
canals. The question is significant, not
only to the historian of science, but to
those who have analyzed the pattern
made by the canals and reported the
pattern to resemble a world-wide cornmunication system rather than any known
work of inorganic nature,
We can compare the return of significant data by Mariner probes with the
rate of progress made in past years by
telescope observers. The Italian astronomar Schiaparelli, who gave the dark lines
their name, "canalli", regarded them as
water channels. He had studied the planet
over a decade before he announced their
discovery in 1877. Later, Lowell, Slipher,
Tombaugh, Trumpler and others studied
the planet through several seasonal cycles,
reporting that the canals are visible only
during the Martian spring and summer,
and are more prominent in the southern
bemisphere than in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Observational results
depend upon the turn of the seasons, and
no sophisticated method can return full
information unless it can stay On the job
for long periods of time.
If a probe flys by Mars and sends
pictures to Earth, or if it lingers in orbit
about the planet but is productive for
only a few weeks, what will it miss?
The answer is that it may miss the canals
entirely, for they are visible in their
fully developed state for only a short
period,
The sequence of canal development
starts in the springtime when a polar
cap is presented to the sun, and the
diameter of the white cap starts to shrink,
A dark ring then appears around the rim

orating polar cap. Mariner results give

support to this theory by revealing high
humidity
in portions
of the Martian
atmosphere. Telescope astronomers were
_ surprised when a Mariner survey reported
_J 90% carbon dioxide (much higher then
previous estimates) in the atmosphere.
It is clear that though the polar caps
may be principally
carbon dioxide in
the solid state, nevertheless a substantial
percentage of water crystals must also be
present in the frosty cover.
When this layer of mixed composition
is exposed to warmth by the sun's rays,
a fractionation
must occur in which
carbon dioxide sublimes at a more rapid
rate than water crystals, and the latter
cannot enter the atmosphere until a
higher temperature is reached. Over the
"7 lowlands, the total atmospheric pressure
is well above the trip|e-polnt
of water.
This means that water as frost and as
liquid can exist together on the Martian
surface, in equilibrium
with a humid
atmosphere. The condensation
and fall
of water crystals (snow} can occur at
night when the atmosphere is humid and
the temperature is sharply reduced. In
the daytime, when the ground warms,
some of the frost sublimes, and a portion
melts to liquid water that moistens the
dry sol), darkening it. An astronomer
f
An unexpected feature on the Martian surface
is this sinuous valley photographedby Mariner
9 from 1666 kilometers (1093 miles) during the
spacecraft's133rd revolutionof the planet.3"he
valley, some 400 kilometers (290 miles) long
and 5 to 6 (3 to 3 miles) wide in this photo
resemblesa giant version of an Earth "arroyo"
-a watercut gully found frequently in the
mountainoussouthwesternUnited States.Scientistsbelieve,however,that not nearly enough
water exists in the Martian atmosphere to
allow formation of rivers. Mariner 9 infrared
spectral data, as well as Earth-based instruments, show very little water on Mars at the
presenttime The Martian valleysalso resemble
sinuous rills on the Earth's moon believedto
be associated with lava flow& However, no
lunar rills display the branching tributaries
seenin the Martianvalleys.

of the polar cap. Next, canals grow out of

this ring and lengthen until they cross the
equator. By mid-summer, the intricate
cross-connections
of canals with oases
(interconnecting points)appear.
With onMr, Webb is a researchchemist and aerospace coming fall and winter, dark green areas
engineerwho has written extensivelyon Mars turn to gray or brown, and most of the
His best known work, Mars, the New Frontier,
canals disappear,
published in 1956, deals with the Lowellian
Some scientists have reasoned that the
canal theory, He presently lives in California, ring about the polar cap is moistened
where he works as a technical consultant to sog. The moisture
comes from winds
variousindustrlalcompanies.
_
made humid while passing off the evap-

who has watched the development of

greenish color over dark areas, has reported evidence of C-H bonds, typical of
light reflected by growing plants. Unfortunately,
some of these observations
are inconclusive and we must look to the
Mariner satellites to clear up this uncertainty.
Thus a Mars lander might quickly
determine the presence of plants and
animals if it surveyed the landscape with
the type of television cameras that have
been used on the Moon. On the other
hand, the lander might hit upon a barren
area and report no life forms visible when
such forms might be just over the horizon
or otherwise out of range of the camera.
To get a more certain assay of biological
conditions on the surface of Mars, a binanalyzer will be used on the first lander.
This will operate on the assumption that
if llfe is present in any form, [t must
surely exist on the surface as bacteria
for which tests can be made by devices on the spacecraft.
Scientists do not encourage the hope
that orbiting satellites or Mars landers
will quickly confirm or refute observations and theories of Earth-based astronomers. Rather, the new probes will return
new and novel information that will take
long periods to digest. We have all seen
newspaper photos of the Martian surface.
(See Mars Facts,page 4)

}_-_,
_,. _

UFO INVESTIGATOR/JANUARY

1972

On Increase
Maryland
Sightings
(Continued from
page 1)
sky west of Baltimore. The object appeared to be moving quite slow, "20 to
30 miles per hour," during the time of
observation (UFO Investigator,
Novembet 1971). An advertising plane is the
suspected cause of the report, but this
has not been confirmed.

Ohio UFO Mystery Solved

Alliance, Ohio, a city that bills itself as

"'A Growing City on the Go," quickened
its pace last November with a report of a
UFO that allegedly crashed into and destroyed by fire a small wooden shed in
the town.
Interest in the UFO case was height-

A majority of witnesses to the object

placed the time of their sighting at
between 8:15 and 8:17 p.m., at least 40
minutes before the first fire alarm was
logged.
In addition, notes Webb in his report,
at least two reliable witnesses located

object has been reported by local residents on several occasions, and is usually
seen around 11 p.m. The object appears
to circle the area, changing speeds and
sometimes hovering in one place,

ened soon after with the discovery of a

"mysterious"
substance found in the
smoldering remains oFthe shed.
NICAP, encouraged by numerous enquiries and newspaper headlines proclaiming "UFO Suspected as 'Culprit' in Shed
Blaze Here," investigated the incident,
NICAP member David B. Webb, formerly
a resident of Alliance, returned to his
home on a visit and submitted the following report:
Numerous citizens of Alliance, Ohio
reported
a "'fiery
object or objects"
flash through the southern sky over
Alliance during the evening of Nov. 4.
At least ten witnesses reported seeing
the object, with seven of the ten placing
the time at between 8:t5 and 8:17 p.m.
Two witnesses reported that the object
appeared to crash wjthln 100 yards of
their location, near an abandoned starage shed.

south of the shed, indicated the object

passed through the sky south of their
location.
Although
descriptions of the object
suggest it could have been a fireball,
Webb learned that a local high school
rally, including a fireworks display, was
conducted the night of the sighting within a quarter-mile of the shed. The rally
began at approximately 8 p.m.
The "mysterious"
substance, followin9 an investigation by the AFD and the
Babcock and Wilcox Research Center in
Alliance, was identified as a magnesiumaluminum alloy. When fire officials later
determined that a metal dolly had been
stored in the shed prior to the fire, they
concluded the "lump of grey dough"was
in fact the remains of the dolly.
Summarizingtheease, Webbconcluded:
1. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Arson, however, is a strong possibility.

No satisfactory
explanation
the
sightings
has been found,
despitefor interviews by NICAPinvestigators,
BRUNSWICK

At received
8:59 p.m.a the
Alliance
Firethat
Department
report
of a fire
had
just broken out in the vicinity of the
shed. The AFD arrived at 9:05 and quick-

2, No "mysterious"
substance now
=
exists.
3. The difference of at least 40 minutes between the sighting of the UFO and

A bright fight that appeared to hover

for several minutes above some power
lines located a quarter-mile off the road
was observed around 7 p.m., Dec. 30
near Brunswick, Md. The UFO, according
to the witness, was bright enough to
fight up the surrounding area, but went
out as an aircraft flaw overhead,

ly extinguished the fire.

Investigation
of the smoldering remains turned up a strange substance later
described as "'a lump of grey dough."
This prompted speculation that a UFO
had crashed into the shed.
Although a definite cause for the'fire
was never determined, five youths were

the subsequent fire at the shed indicates

there is no likely correlation between the
two events.
4. The UFO was probably a fireball,
but might have been associated with the
fireworks display.
I

tail,A was
reported
the same
eveninginbyde-a
similar
sightieg,
but lacking
husband and wife living outside of Brunswick.

after
evidence
questioned
by was
policeuncovered
later thatindicating
evening
they had been near the shed a short time
prior to the fire. After questioning, the

ADAMSTOWN
Three bright lights that appeared to
hover for several minutes at a height of
1,000 feet were reportedly seen the evaning of Dec. 2 by three 17-year-old
youths near Adamstown,
Md. See the
UFO Investigator,
Dec. 71, for further
details,
CAVETOWN
Several residents of Cavetown, Md.
(near Hagerstown), including a Maryland
state trooper end a college professor,
reported seeing a 1argo bright light circling over Hogday Acres, a local subdivision, Dec. 14, around 11:45 p.m. The

Page 3

FREDERICK

youths were released.

RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION

A large glowing object and eight smaller ones were spotted later that same
evening (Dec. 30), near Frederick, Md.
(about 15 miles east of Brunswick), by
at least three witnesses. One of the witnesses, employed by a local radio station,
was making a delivery for the station
around 9:30 p.m. when she observed two
red lights, at first thought to be those of
an airplane. The lights suddenly seemed
to fly apart, then approach each other,
rising vertically at the last moment. At
that point, according to the witness, a
"large, brilliant,
blue-white
observed (to the right of
position) along with other

light" was
the moon's
smaller red

lights
independently at "fantastic" maneuvering
speeds=
A truck driver, stopping to see if the

One of the facts uncovered by Webb

Bulletin

theAs
following
findingsfrom
itsMariner
photothis issuewent
to press,
NASA 9released
reconnaissancemissionof Mars,still in progress
(seestory, page2):

regarded the discrepancy in time between

the sighting of the fiery object over
Alliance and the subsequent shed fire.

Comparative studies between Mariner 9

data and Earth-basedobservationsindicate a
"need to reinterpretthe classictelescopicpho-

witness (who had parked her car on the

side of the road to observe the UFO) was
in trouble, also observed the lights after
they were pointed out by the woman,
The woman then drove down the road
to a telephone booth, hoping to report
what she had seen. When she arrived, two
men were already there, trying to report
the lights to the police. One man, after
talking a few minutes, stormadoutofthe
booth and said to the woman,

tographsof Mar_'"
So-called"canali" of Mars'categoricallydo
not exist." They are probably quasi-alignments
of spotted featuresonMartian terrain.
Possibility of life on Mars is "enormously
improved" by discovery of water vapor and
surface features that indicate water may have
existedin liquidstate.

"They

areasof erosion.

told

me to take two

and go home to bed."

aspirins

OMars is "dynamic, evolving planet," with

dust storms, violent winds, volcanic piles, and
_-c:_'__

......--q

Page 4

urn

FOR

BOARDMEMOS
MEMBERS

NICAP's Connecticut Affiliate stgl has a

small supply of indices available for the first
three volumes of the UFO Investigator. To
order them, wrlte the Affiliate at 9 Hiram Lane,
8taornfield,
Connecticut Q6002,
and enclose
fifty
cents. For information
on back issues of

phenomena "we cannot even begin to

predict," says Arecibo director Dr. Frank
D. Drake. Currently undergoing extensive
revamping to upgrade its monitoring capability, stretched
the telescope
isa natural
a 1000-foot
antenna
across
sink-

the newsletter, seethe June 1971 issue, page4.

hole in the humpback hills south of Arecibo. When the modifications

are completed, the telescope will be able to reach

NICAP RECEIVES GIFT OF STOCK

1972

fl6WSliO|6$

SPACE EAR TO SEEK ETI

In approximately 30 months, the yawning face of the radioteleseope near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, will look skyward for

UFOI INDICES AVAILABLE

INVESTIGATOR/JANUARY

For the first time in its history, NICAP

has received a large donation in the form
of stock certificates. Given by a NICAP mere-

the outer limits of the known universe

with its sensing system. Projects scheduled for the device include mapping of
her in Massachusetts,
the securities
are 90
Jupiter and Venus, and searching for
sharesof common stock in Chesebrough-Ponds, organic molecules in intergalactic space.
Inc.,worthapproximately$5,OOO. ChesebroughThe listening program will be part
Ponds manufactures
an extensive
llne of cosof an international
effort to search for
tactic and health products, including Ponds signs of extraterrestrial
life (UPO InBeauty Cream. NICAP is exceedingly grateful vestigator, September 1971).
for this donation and p/abe to hold it in
reserve.
SAGA NOTES NICAP'S "ACCESS"
Saga magazine's "Science Scope" fast
CORRECTION
month took note of NICAP's computer
study, Project ACCESS (Automated ClearIn our August ]971 issue, we said the inghouse for Collection and Exchange of
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro- Sighting Statistics). The monthly column
nautic_ (AIAA) had published the first of a noted the possible resurgence of sightinge
series of "UFO
Encounters"
in its July journal
in 1972, and said NICAP, in anticipation,
We should have said its July magazineA_tro- {s moving to "coordinate existing infernautics andAeronautics. Our apologiesto those marion'" so that data can be "made availmembers who searched the AIAA journal in able to interested parties."

posium on Unidentified
Flying Objects,
currently being put into book form by
Cornell University
Press (UFO Investi-

cater, July 1971), are scheduled for

publication
[ate this year. Edited by
Dr. Carl Sagan and Dr. Thornton Page,
the book will include a special introduction plus the testimony of the 14 scienlists who participated in the Symposium.
The Symposium was held in December
Ig69 Advancement
by the American
Association
for
the
of Science
(AAAS).
Entitled
Thebook
Physics
Psychology
of
UrGe, the
wasand
originally
set for
release this winter but has been held up
by lengthy editorial

preparation.

The Facts About

Mars

AIAA RUNS SECOND "ENCOUNTER"

For the second time, the American
YULETIDE THANKS
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
To all the thoughtful memberswho sent us (AIAA) has published a detailed account
Christmas cards this holiday, we offer our of a UFO sighting "'to give...reader(s)
warmest appreciation and the wish that your a flavor of the observational...material
new year wig be the happiest yet. We received which underlies the UFO controversy."
so many cards, we almost ran out of spaceto Entitled "'UFO Encounter II,'" the acdlsplaythem,
count appears in the September 1971
issue of the AIAA monthly
magazine
DONATIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE
Astronautics and Aeronautics.
The case
selected is the bizarre series of incidents
ll y_u made a donation to NICAP in 1971, at Lakenheath and Bentwaters, England,
remember you can deduct it on your income on the night of August 13, 1956, involvreturn for that year. All donations, includ- ing radar, ground observer, and airborne
ing tangible property of provable value, are contacts with unknown objects. The acdeductible. Pleasenote, however, thatrnernber- count was written
by Dr. Gordon g.
shipduesarenot,
Thayer, former scientist with the Coinrode Project, who ca[is the case "one of
CALENDAR COMING UP
the strangest and most disturbing radar-

{Continued from pafle 2)

A few square miles are in each photo.
One photo reveals rills, another mountain
tops with the mountain bases hidden in
dust, another revea{s a portion of an icecap, and another shows merely a dusty
atmosphere that is interpreted as a dust
storm. Before the whole picture can be
grasped, these photos of tiny areas must
be developed by computer analysis to
bring out desired contrast conditions.
After that, a multitude of such pictures
must be assembled to construct a panorama that will show details extending
over the broad surface. The process is
rather like aesembhng a jigsaw puzzle.
We do not know what is in the minds
of the scientists and administrators
of
the Mariner program. It may turn out
that full information
about the surface
of Mars will be as difficult to come by as
is full information
on UFOs. This difficutty could be raised if important confirmation
of the canal theory were at
hand, and conservative administ'rators felt
they should protect the public against the
kind of excitement the Brookings Institution has warned against (see the June
1970 issue of the UFO Investigator).
For example, a fully developed network of canals having a pattern identical
to a world-wide
transportation
system
would surely be examined for military
implications.
Pentagon personnel might
even be called in to supervise the release

As we promised in the September issue,we

are preparing a special calendar on UFOs for
NICAP members.Our original intention waste
make it part of the newsletter, starting with
this issue. We now plan to make it a separate
item, mailed with the newsletter beginning next
month.

of such information,
as NASA's Dr.
Young suggested to NICAP last spring
(UFO Investigator,
May 1971). This is
not the way science prefers to function,
but it is a possibility the public must consider as our probes begin to penetrate
the secrets of the red planet.

vain

for

the

referenced

article.

The

journal

andmagazinearetwo different publications.

visual UFO episodes on record." In introducing the report, the AIAA says, "'We
hope (the reader) wifl give it his independent assessment as engineer or scientist.'"
SAGAN-PAGE BOOK DUE THIS YEAR
The proceedings of the AAAS Svm-

i
urn

INVESTIIGATOR.

Copyright

(_ 1972

by the National

Investigations

Committee

on Aerial

Phenomena,

Inc.

(NICAP

}. All

rights

reserved, except

quotations
of 200 wo_ds or less with credit. Pubhshed monthly
at Washington,
O_C., for NICAP members and stlbscribers. Correspondence
and changes
of address should be sent to NICAP, Suite 801, 1730 Rhode lslar_ Avenue, N.W., Washington,
n.c. 20036.
For information
on back issues, see dun_ 1971
issue or write for details= Editor: Stuart Nixon. Anneal Membershin Dues: Llntted States, Canada, and Mexico -- $1000;
Foreign -- $12,0n.