Tucker
Carlson might be a wiz at political commentary (or he might not be depending on
your point of view) but when it comes to UFOs, he knows nothing. He
demonstrated that again just last night, November 13. He was discussing the
report of a UFO by a couple of airline crews and played the tape of the
discussion with air traffic control. He then brought on someone else who knows
nothing about UFOs to discuss the case.
First,
let me say that Carlson and his pal didn’t make fun of the sighting. In fact,
Carlson suggested that we needed to listen to what the pilots said because they
were, well, trained observers. While we can argue that point if we’re so inclined,
I will say that a pilot who has flown all over the place at night should be
more familiar with what is in the sky and what those things look like. This
just means that they are probably more familiar with the sky than the average citizen
who sits around inside watching television rather than being outside, or
looking outside, into the night.
As
they, Carlson and his pal, wrapped up the short segment, they both commented on
the unidentified astronomer who thought what the pilots had seen was merely
space dust, meaning, of course, a meteor. Carlson mentioned that he didn’t know
of any pilots who had misidentified meteors, which, of course, was another proof
that he knew nothing about the topic… but as a pundit on TV, he can comment on
all sorts of matters of which he knows nothing.
So,
let’s break this down.
The
sighting sounds, suspiciously like a bolide, which is nothing more than a very
bright meteor. CNN reported, that one pilot said, “"It came up on our left hand side
(rapidly veered) to
the north, we saw a bright light and it just disappeared at a very high speed
... we were just wondering. We didn't think it was a likely collision course ...
(just wondering) what it could be.”
 |
| Daylight bolide over the Grand Tetons, 1960s. |
Another pilot who saw the object (and even if it
was a meteor it would be an object) said, “meteor or some kind of object
re-entry appears to be multiple objects following the same sort of
trajectory... very bright where we were."
An aviation expert said that he thought the
sighting was of a meteor.
And while that was my first thought as well, we
get back to Carlson saying that he didn’t know of other sightings of meteors
that had fooled people, or rather pilots. I’m thinking that he hasn’t looked at
the Project Blue Book files, or the MUFON files, or read much of anything about
UFOs. While I know that some of my colleagues will object, I will point out
that I believe the July 1948 sightings by airline pilots, Clarence Chiles and John
Whitted, was of a meteor. If nothing else, this suggests that pilots, just like
others can be fooled by meteors.
I do think the astronomer was a little bit too
dismissive when he called it a sighting of space dust. True, most meteors are very
small but do glow brightly as they fall through the atmosphere. Most burn up
long before they reach the ground. A meteor the size of a softball will light
up the sky and often break up as they fall. Back in the day, as I was
delivering newspapers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, I saw a very beautiful, blue-green
meteor break into four pieces directly overhead, which is to say, miles and miles
above me… but I digress.
Some of these larger meteors, as they break up,
look just like a cigar-shaped craft with a lighted cockpit and a row of windows
behind it. This, I believe is what Chiles – Whitted saw back in the 1940s. I
mention this only to provide a perspective.
Anyway, it seems that what the pilots saw was a
meteor, probably a little larger than dust, maybe the size of a grain of sand,
or even a baseball, as it burned in the atmosphere. Such displays are rare, so
that pilots who routinely see meteors, have not seen anything quite as spectacular
as a bolide. When these are seen, newsrooms, sheriff’s offices and the military
receive calls about UFOs.
While I will applaud Carlson for his reporting, meaning
he didn’t use this to ridicule anyone one, he did display his ignorance. True,
he mentioned that many reporters don’t bother with such stories because they
don’t want to be ridiculed by their colleagues but he took it a step too far.
He suggested that this fear was why reporters never followed up on such
stories, implying that no one did. This is untrue. No matter what you say,
MUFON, among others, do follow up on these sorts of reports, often identifying
the true nature of the event.
For other views of this sighting see:
and many more can be found online for those who
wish to look.
Ian Ridpath sent the following link for those with a more visual nature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5csvJTNU4QA
Tim Printy offered more on the fireball explanation at:
https://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/4788
Ian Ridpath sent the following link for those with a more visual nature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5csvJTNU4QA
Tim Printy offered more on the fireball explanation at:
https://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/4788
