CAUGHT IN THE LIGHT PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Robert Goddard | 448 pages | 29 Jun 2011 | Transworld Publishers Ltd | 9780552162975 | English | London, United Kingdom Caught in the Light by Robert Goddard There was a wind of 25 to 32 miles an hour, so if they'd been balloons they would have moved". Another witness saw "two balls of fire" about 4 a. On Friday night, 19 August , Sgt. Berger, RA , a member of this organization was operating a standard Army General Electric antiaircraft searchlight on a volunteer basis for a local group who were using the light for publicity purposes. Between the hours of and he picked up an object in the light beam in the sky which presented an unusual appearance and was not readily identifiable. This subject appeared to change color in the light beam from a sort of phosphorescent appearance to a bluish color if held in the light and when the beam was removed the object remained visible with what has been described as a luminous appearance. The object was North but slightly East of Cincinnati at an elevation of mils or approximately directly overhead. Judging from the atmospheric conditions and the range of light, the object appeared to be at an altitude of 4 to 5 miles and at about the same range. It did not seem to move but remained as far as could be determined approximately stationary for the entire period of the three and one-half hours Sgt. Berger observed it. This phenomenon, whatever it was, was seen by several hundred people in this city, a number of whom called it to the attention of Sgt. Berger while he was operating the searchlight. A notice of this incident although not released by military personnel appeared in at least one daily newspaper of this city. The letter was then passed on to Project Grudge , the Air Force's investigative body for such incidents and the predecessor to Project Bluebook with a cover slip THE LACK OF ACTION by Project Grudge was not surprising, for the covert objective of those in charge was to 'debunk' all such reports, and the incident occurred at just the same time that Grudge filed its report concluding that all such incidents were the result of misidentification, hysteria, hoaxes and psychopathological imaginings. Berger's log, continued apace: Sept. Gertrude Church, Madeira, Ohio. Picked up object at 15, to 20, ft. The object disappeared within a few seconds, traveling straight up. I picked it up again at much greater altitude. Then, when I changed carbons I lost it again until hrs. As soon as it reappeared, I phoned Wright-Patterson Field. The sky was clear with no visible clouds or haze. Several thousand people also saw object. Place: Milford, Ohio. Testing the searchlight about dusk, I had it set at mils. I could see an object which looked like a white glow. When I turned the light off, I could see nothing. I did this several times. As soon as it became dark I turned on the light at same elevation and caught object in the beam. Peter and Paul, Norwood. I turned on the light and picked up object at mils. About hours, two distinct groups of triangular-shaped objects seemed to come out of the main disc. Each group had about five objects. They came down the beam then turned out of the beam. The same performance was repeated about half hour later. The disc was still visible when I turned out the light for the night. Peter and Paul. Set light at mils. The object appeared immediately in the beam. Held object in beam for about half hour until covered by clouds. Especially intriguing are the notations that calls had been made to Wright-Patterson on two occasions, and that an 'ATIC agent' had been present for one incident. But the witness who would propel Air Force action was William R. At different times recently we have picked up an object at altitudes over 30, feet which we speak of as a flying saucer - it is not a flying saucer or anything like it - according to the popular conception. I have been trying to obtain an interview with Wright-Patterson officials but they are not interested - which leads me to believe you are aware of its identity. On Sunday Oct. I have been very careful to keep a record of all weather conditions and have made sketches on the spot which convey all details fresh in mind. If by any chance the Air Corps does not have knowledge of the character of this object you may be sure someone has quite a jump on us in the department of aircraft - aircraft basing and launching or possibly radar extension. I would appreciate an interview with a responsible officer with advanced scientific background and a knowledge of recent aircraft development. There have been local members of FBI, one or two antiquated Colonels and amateur scientists blustering around [illegible] the issue and offering ridiculous solutions, but this is too serious in my mind to stop your investigation on such advice. Please acknowledge. Respectfully Wm. Winkler, Pres. Please forgive this hand written letter. My secretary has gone for the day. And this time, Grudge finally sat up and took notice. Under the direction of Colonel Watson at ATIC, Grudge had -- unknown to the upper chain of command -- been purposely inactive when it came to investigations, with one exception: when pressure was applied from without. This time the order had come down as the result of a letter to the Chief of Staff himself, and the matter could not be overtly ignored. William R. Winkler Your letter to General Vandenburg [sic], dated 28 October , has been forwarded to this Command for necessary action. As a result of your telephone call on 26 October, this Command has taken steps to investigate the phenomenon you described. If you have not yet been contacted, you may expect to be contacted soon regarding this matter. Berger had continued to make entries in his log: Nov. Place: Norwood, Ohio. At hours the beam of the light flashed on the object. Guiding the light back on the object, it then disappeared immediately. About a minute later I picked it up again much higher. The elevation was between and mils. Many witnesses, including William Winkler. Sky was covered with low broken clouds. At time objects appeared much brighter. Turned light on at and picked up object immediately. At first it was faint and small. As haze cleared, object brightened. At it got much brighter and spread out almost as large as beam, then disappeared. Present were D. Wells, Dr. Again, the named witnesses were intriguing. Wells was a physicist at the University of Cincinnati, and Dr. Herget was a professor of astronomy there. Object was picked up in a searchlight beam. Searchlight beam has always been vertical and sky conditions have been practically the same on each occasion. This investigation was requested by Lt Colonel A. The object was last picked up on 23 October , at which time certain smaller objects were picked up in the light beam along with the original object. On 16 December Mr. The object appeared to be beyond the tip of the beam. The object was kept in the searchlight from to hours. At approximately hours a string of small indefinite triangular objects appeared to emanate from the large object, dived down the searchlight beam towards the light, and then turned out of the beam towards the south-east and disappeared. He advised that there were two groups of objects. He estimated that there were twelve to fifteen objects and the size of those diving objects was approximately three times the size of a fighter aircraft. The telescope was a 20x prismatic telescope with a 40x eyepiece. He stated that he believed that he had a much better sight of the diving object than anyone else present but that all in the crowd of some fifty people who were present saw the diving objects. He estimated the height of the main object at more than 35, feet. He further advised that at a previous sighting of the object at Milford, Ohio on 17 September he and [BERGER] triangulated the height of the object by using the searchlight beam as 67 miles or better. This triangulation was crudely done and little attention was given to taking exact measurements. The object was picked up for approximately thirty minutes on 24 October and then was lost due to being covered by clouds. On 19 November [Blacked Out] attempted to take some pictures of the object but nothing appeared on the negatives. The object remained in the beam of light from to hours, at which time it disappeared for approximately ten minutes and then was picked up again in the same position. At approximately hours the object grew faint and then disappeared. It was not picked up again before hours when the searchlight was turned off. He advised that he has no other explanation for the object. SCOTT, Official in Charge, Weather Bureau, Greater Cincinnati Airport, Covington, Kentucky, was contacted on 15 December and, after reviewing the weather files for 23 October , stated that there had been a thin overcast at 15, to 16, feet and another thin overcast at 25, to 30, feet; visibility was better than 15 miles. On 21 October [sic, probably should be 21 December ] the weather sequences for the preceding 24 hour period, 20 December , were checked at the CAA Flight Advisory Service, Provident Bank Building, Cincinnati, Ohio and revealed that the Greater Cincinnati Airport Weather Station, which is located approximately 20 miles from Norwood, Ohio, reported a thin overcast at 30, feet and a visibility of better than 15 miles during the period from to hours.