Wednesday, January 09, 2019

History's Project Blue Book


Back in the 1970s, Jack Webb of Dragnet fame created something he called Project UFO. It was based on the files of Project Blue Book and it was difficult to recognize the cases presented. The attitude of the program, if I remember it correctly, was to
Jack Webb
examine a case that might have been inexplicable and find a rational and reasonable answer before the hour expired. Although I was excited about the show, I was quickly disappointed in the final product. It reeked somewhat, again if I remember correctly, of a debunking operation.

This new incarnation, given the snappy tile of Project Blue Book, seems to be at the other end of the spectrum. It suggests a grand conspiracy that involves what most of us believe is the mythical MJ-12, Air Force officers who will go to about any length to prove a case has a terrestrial explanation and a hint of the Men in Black. In other words, it is filled with the paranoia of the UFO field and has very little to do with the reality of the situation as it was then or as it is now.

While it is suggested that it is based on the history of Project Blue Book, very little of what I saw was based on that. About the only things that were accurate were the names of some of the people such as Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Project Blue Book. Once beyond the superficial, we plunge headlong into the fantasy that has grown up around UFO investigation. In one scene, a general walks into an office that is reminiscent of Fox Mulder’s FBI office filled with photographs, newspaper clippings and drawings of alien creatures. Since this is the beginning of Hynek’s association with Blue Book (Project Sign actually), some of the material there is out of place. It shouldn’t show up for years.

And while I’m in a nitpicking mood, I’ll note that the military customs and courtesies are simply misunderstood. The civilian show runners and directors don’t understand saluting and get it wrong. You have an Air Force captain referring to Hynek as “Doc,” which seemed to be a little disrespectful. And the uniforms seemed to be a combination of Army and Air Force, meaning that elements of Army uniforms showed up on the Air Force uniforms. As I say, nitpicking.

The real trouble here is a suggestion that the stories are grounded in reality but I fear it is a reality driven by every paranoid rumor, half-truth and fantasy that has infected the UFO community since the 1940s. I just had a hard time getting beyond all of that. I was hoping for something that had a little more of a documentary atmosphere, not something that was invented for a story that has little to do with the history of Blue Book.

In other words, as Jack Webb had done decades ago, we have a show that is “based” on the truth, but that moves into fiction immediately. I was quickly disappointed again. However, this time, I recognized the case that began the tale
Lt. George Gorman on the left.
without having to have the producers tell what it was. The opening sequence and the investigation are wrapped around the October 1, 1948, sighting by Second Lieutenant George Gorman, an Air National Guard pilot, on a routine night flying mission near Fargo, North Dakota.

In the show, he buzzes a football stadium, climbs out and spots something, a glowing ball in the distance. He attempts to intercept, chases it, is apparently hit by it, and open fires on it. Once he lands, he is more than a little crazed by the events and for me, talks gibberish.  He is suffering from an acute case of PTSD and eventually ends up in the psycho ward before being given a shot and dragged off. Apparently, the shot will wipe out his short-term memory of the event.

Hynek is called in to investigate and walked over to where the plane is being examined. He is stopped by a military guard but Hynek gives him the facts of high-altitude radiation and then is allowed to not only examine the plane but to sit in the cockpit. The guard should be reprimanded because he didn’t know that Hynek was authorized to see the plane and shouldn’t have allowed him close to it. After the captain with Hynek told the guard that Hynek was authorized to examine anything he wanted should the guard allow him to pass.

But really, all of this is trivia. If you understand that this is a television drama and not a documentary, that they were not constrained by what really happened, and that they are creating situation to move the plot, then the show is enjoyable. Maybe I nitpick a little too much, but that’s half the fun for me. I am interested in where the show is going and how many elements that have nothing to do with Blue Book will be brought in. I suspect they are going for an X-Files vibe as opposed to an actually historical vibe.

For those interested in the facts of this case, I have examined the relevant documents contained in the Blue Book files. Gorman was building his nighttime flight experience at the time. As the program told us, Gorman did, in fact, fly over a football stadium but at 1500 feet, as FAA regulations required. Gorman did see a smaller aircraft about 500 feet below him. (We would later learn that it was flown by Dr. L. N. Cannon with his friend Einar Neilson thought the names are redacted in the actual files.) He then spotted another object that was flying between the Hector Airport Tower and the football field. The tower operator told Gorman that there was only one other private aircraft in the sky. Gorman said that he was going to give chase. Gorman later told the Air Force investigators:

After the initial peel off, I realized the speed of the object was too great to catch in a straight chase, so I proceeded to cut it off in turns. At this time my fighter was under full power. My speed varying between 300 and 400. The object circled to the left, I cut back to the right for a head-on pass. The pass was made at apparently 5000 feet, the object approaching head-on until a collision seemed inevitable. The object veered and passed apparently 500 feet or less over the top above me. I chandelled [a flight maneuver] around still without the object in sight. The object made a 180 degree turn and initiated a pass at me. This time I watched it approach all the way as it started to pull up, I pulled up abruptly trying to ram the object until straight up with me following at apparently 14,000 feet, I stalled out at 14,000 feet with the object apparently 2000 feet above me circling to the left. We made two circles to the left. The object then pulled out away from me and made another head-on pass. At this time the pass started and the object broke off a large distance from me heading over Hector Airport to the northwest at apparently 11,000 feet. I gave a chase circling to the left trying to cut it off until I was 25 miles southeast of Fargo. I was at 14,000 feet, the object at 11,000 when I again gave the aircraft full power… to catch it in a diving turn. The object turned around and made another head-on pass. This time when pulling up, I pulled up also and observed it traveling straight up until I lost it. I then returned to the field and landed.
Although the program suggested that Gorman had fired on the object and that his aircraft had been damaged by it, there is nothing in the Blue Book files to corroborate that. This is artistic license, I suppose, but it is important to note that this was an aspect added to the story.

Gorman did say, “I am convinced that there was definite thought behind its maneuvers.” He added:

I am further convinced that the object was governed by the laws of inertia because its acceleration was rapid but not immediate and although it was able to turn fairly tight at considerable speed, it still followed a natural curve. When I attempted to turn with the object I blacked out temporarily due to excessive speed… I do not believe thee are many pilots who could withstand the turn and speed effected by the object, and remain conscious.
There were other witnesses, though they didn’t support all of the statements made by Gorman. One of those was Dr. Cannon and he provided a statement for Air Force investigators. It said:

I was flying and Nielson was using the phone and while circling the Football Field at the A.C. at 1600 feet, the Fargo tower advised us there was a [F]-51 in the air and a few moments later asked who the third plane might be. We had noticed the 51, and when we were over the North side of Hector Field going West a light seemingly on a plane flared above and to the North moving very swiftly toward the West. At first we thought it was the 51 but we then saw the lights of the 51 higher and more over the field. We landed… and then went up to the tower and listened to the calls from the 51 which seemed to be trying to overtake the plane or lighted object which then went southward and over the city. The plane was moving very swiftly, much faster than the 51. Tried to get a better view with a pair of binoculars but couldn’t follow it well enough…
In the tower, L. D. Jensen, said that he had seen the object or light at about 1000 feet in the northwest, pass rapidly over the field, flying in a straight line. He could see no form or shape, even through binoculars, and he could not see the maneuvers of either the F-51 or the object.

Officers from Project Sign, the forerunner of Blue Book, arrived from Ohio and interviewed all the witnesses. Eventually, after an investigation that included testing Gorman’s aircraft for radiation [which might have had more to do with the altitude and cosmic radiation rather than alien spacecraft], they concluded that Gorman had engaged in a dogfight with a balloon. Dr. Donald Menzel believed that Jupiter had a role in the dogfight as well. The official answer in the Blue Book files is balloon.

Jerry Clark, who is one of the historians of the UFO field, and who might be THE historian of the field, wrote in his UFO Encyclopedia:

Though some knowledgeable students of the UFO phenomenon… have rejected such an explanation for this famous sighting, unlike some Air Force would-be solutions this one seems plausible, particularly in the light of the failure of ground witnesses to confirm the extraordinary performance Gorman ascribed to the object he was pursuing After the Mantell incident [in which another Air Guard pilot was killed chasing what turned out to be a balloon], the Gorman sighting may be the most overrated UFO report in the early history of the phenomenon.
I will note here that Clark is more liberal than I when it comes to UFO sightings and explanations, so his conclusion here carries extra weight. I agree with him. Gorman somehow tangled with a balloon.

There is one final point and that concerns the over reaction of the pilot in, dare I say it, the pilot of Project Blue Book. There is no evidence Gorman was completely freaked out over the encounter. True, he had trouble landing the aircraft, but that was the reaction of the encounter. It was not a long-term problem. He remained in the Air Guard and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1969.

17 comments:

  1. My wife and I viewed the show and at frequent intervals, I explained that the presentation was not a documentary but embellished by the producers.The late 1940's scenery was good but the introduction of the blonde acquaintance who began to befriend Hyneck's wife for the purposes of further intelligence gathering was way over the top.I had the same thought when Hyneck politely advised the low ranking military staff member to back off so that he could view the interior of the cabin.

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  2. Surely you weren’t surprised by any of this, Kevin? Especially given the amount of absolute garbage that History has churned out in recent years.

    I believe that episode 2 will cover the Flatwoods monster, which should be interesting, to say the least.

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  3. I knew it would be as far from a documentary as possible, but I enjoyed it.

    A

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  4. I enjoyed it, some people from the Ufologist circle say is bored , some liked as entertainment like my self , some are upset because they are not telling the truth but the thing I that My wife that doesn't like SFI neither is interested in UFOs , watched the 44 minutes and want to watch the next :)

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  5. Pure garbage. I could only take about twenty minutes before I checked out. The plane crash was beyond absurd. I remember Dr. Hneck's investigation of the Michigan UFO event in Dexter I think it was in 1966. I'll not watch this ridiculous excuse for UFO research. I was waiting for a cameo appearance of Georgi Tsoukis..........maybe he'll portray the Flat Woods monster....his hair is perfect for the part. Regards Mr. Randle keep them honest.

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  6. Discounting some of the most obvious points, such as the fact that Blue Book didn't exist until 1952 and the Gorman event occurred in 1948, although Hynek apparently did provide some expertise to the government on projects Sign and Grudge. Also, Hynek would still have been squarely in the skeptic category at this early date.

    This is a purely fictional entertainment show, based loosely on real events and people. I found it entertaining and will continue to watch it as entertainment. I was not expecting anything different than that, as I could ascertain from the previews that this is what it was.

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  7. far superior to the Roswell: Decoded alleged documentary they tortured us with this week

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  8. He was in a dog fight with a weather balloon for almost 30 minutes. Ok. A veteran pilot got his but kicked by a weather balloon.ok. It's obvious you have your facts straight about everything but obviously you don't believe the pilot. I see no reason not to believe him. Of course the rendering is jazzed up, it's not a documentary, it's what it's claim to be implies. Still, give em hell. Facts are facts.

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  9. Wow, taking this way too seriously. It's a drama, based on real events. Thats it. Never was presented as history. I found the show to be great fun and well done. 6.6 million viewers on the first episode agree. And, if a future Dr. Hynek is watching and gets involved because of this show, all the better. Sometimes we all go to far in our criticisms of what is really quite straightforward, including myself. Enjoy the show and do not fret the historical deviations..

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  10. I was so looking forward to this program, and am so disappointed. I agree 100% with your assessment of the program. Thank you for writing your blog. It was spot on.

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  11. edithkeeler writes, >> This is a purely fictional entertainment show, based loosely on real events and people. I found it entertaining and will continue to watch it as entertainment. I was not expecting anything different than that, as I could ascertain from the previews that this is what it was.<<

    Exactly, as if anyone should have expected any different. All involved--producers, creator/writer, cast and crew--have their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks and are laughing all the way to the bank. Entertainment, that's what it's all about and nothing more.

    The people who are so incensed by this fiction are the people who can't stand the fact that this TV show is good evidence that in the 21st century, the entire "UFO" subject and all of "UFO" conspiracy mythology has been fictionalized, returned to its origins as entertainment for boys. (Since no one can produce a real "UFO" of any kind,) And as Captain Quinn says to Hynek in the first episode, you've all been suffering under "a form of mass hysteria," an entrenched myth and collective delusion that has no basis in reality.

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  12. PROJECT BLUE BOOK UFO secrets you won’t get from the movie!
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1513645854

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  13. History Channel Did US Proud ... Seeing the TV Presentation Proj.BlueBook on the "Big Screen" was a lot to take in for a real UFO Researcher.(UFOR) The same anguish and bitterness we all felt (as Researchers) in the 1980s and, due to lack of info and tranparency in USA Gov about UFO cases, was there in the faces of the 2 chosen federal gov UFOR guys...FighterPilot Guy and Hynek guy in the era of the late 1950s and '60s. Their fears, or anger, or angst of course was about what they were stumbling in to at that time and problems. The problems of evidence found at the scenes of ufo sightings and credible witnesses versus the USA Gov Mil guys saying there is nothing to ET UFOs. About my reference to US Military History era 1980 and 1990 it was referred to by UFOR as the "desert or info wasteland" era due to lack of much good info from sources on UFOs. By that I mean verifiable info.There was the Paul Bennewitz matter, the Contactee claims, and the attempts to make fools of UFOR people whenever possible by the hidden secret UFO Coverup group.(UFOC) And because UFOC had propaganda psy. ops govt agents in the field, there was no way to tell what story being circulated by ufo sighting witnesses, or contactees, or military spokesmen was any where near the truth. There was no way to tell. A review of reports from the era (1955 to 1965, 1966 to 1977, 1978 til 1999) will give you an idea of the chaos of the time. The actors chosen to perform the roles of 2 UFOR Investigators, WW2 Fighter Pilot Air Force guy and J. Allen Hynek, are perfect in the show. Perfect. No other word seems to do more justice to what I am seeing on the screen.written by UFOR Derrufo Konepke Codename...Jan 2019. And anyone who says their air force status makes them great references for this
    type of review...well I was in the USAF too.Once.

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  14. Disappointing as usual, why do I get my hopes up and really no one promised a documentary, but awful I never even considered. Must be some kind of strange comedy, awful....

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  15. it can be done as an informative show, or one to reveal the times when dr. Hynek joined project bluebook...the latter was the case and certain unfortunate modern social "customs"
    of adding pro gay or homosexual conduct was seen. However your comment timing is perfect as it comes on same day US Navy is compelled to resubmit security guidelines for its combat trained pilots to report UFOs...meaning something they are seeing but have not experienced in human powered flying machines in the past. The guidelines I assume are re-issuing strict security
    controls that will stop pilots from talking to the news media....as in the recent past few years....they have been . More Shows about UFOs are coming from the history channel, and some will present a no-nonsense form of news documentary reporting...Keep Watching...

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    Replies
    1. I just don't understand...was the whole blonde-Russian-spy-with lesbian-undertones-but-not-really, nessesary?

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  16. A woman was made assistant director on the show,and the ideas perhaps were to show the dangers
    of Russian interests to get as much info on ET and UFOs at that time in USA history. All well and good...Instead, the areas of the show with a cute blonde femme fatale were able to continue the Hollywood Alienation from the Real World.
    So a male Russ spy abuses the blonde,she kills the guy, but with no sign of concern, with little care or sign of emotion...a carryover ingredient first seen in the marvel superhero movies. Instant Justice by the female character against any perceived opponent.Indifference to death,etc. Very Toxic sick moviemaking by producers/directors that was made into an orgy of indifference by moviemakers when FILM "LUCY" was made....revealing a total lack of their responsibility to NOT deform minds of young viewers,& of course the Censors Board or FCC showed their true colors as well.

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