Now, the visual sighting.

Balloon?  No, the fighters could have caught a balloon in seconds.

Airplane?  Same answer.  These jets were the fastest things in the air.

Planet or star?  Out came the almanacs and the puzzle went to the astrophysicist.  Venus was on a bearing of 300 degrees from the Duluth Municipal Airport at 5:20P.M. on March 23rd. But Venus was just below the horizon at that time and the observers said the UFO was “moving fast.”

Once again the weather charts were studied.  The atmospheric conditions were such that it was very possible that due to refraction Venus would have been visible just on the horizon.  The fact that the UFO faded so fast would bear this out because the conditions for such refraction are critical and a slight change in atmospheric conditions could easily have caused the planet to disappear.

The speed—­a common illusion.  Further interrogation of the observers showed it had never moved.

So, the history of the UFO is almost brought up to date.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Off They Go into the Wild Blue Yonder

At 12:30P.M. on Thursday, November 20, 1952, history was made.

At least, so says George Adamski, lecturer on philosophy and student of technical matters and astronomy.

At 12:30P.M. on Thursday, November 20, 1952, George Adamski was the first man on earth to talk to a Venusian.

At least, so says George Adamski.

I was chief of Project Blue Book at the time and the name “Professor Adamski”—­he had a title then—­wasn’t new to me.  He, or some of his followers had been showering the Air Force with photos of flying saucers.  Letters by the gross were coming in demanding recognition of the great professor and an analysis of his photos.

We obliged and the photos were examined by the experts at Wright-Patterson Photo Reconnaissance Labs.  The verdict came back:  “They could be genuine, of course, but they also could have been easily faked by a ten year old with a Brownie camera.”

For a few weeks we forgot George Adamski.  But then the press began to clamor at our gates.  The news was leaking out of Southern California.  George Adamski had talked to a Venusian!  We held out for a long time but the pressure mounted and I headed for California to find out what it was all about.

As far as George Adamski was concerned I was just another thirsty sight-seer from the famous observatory on Mt.  Palomar when I walked into the little restaurant at the foot of this famous mountain one day in 1953.

The four stool restaurant, with a few tables, where Adamski worked as a handyman, was crowded when I arrived and he was circulating around serving beer and picking up empty bottles.  There was no doubt as to who he was because his fame had spread.  To the dozen almost reverently spoken queries, “Are you Adamski?” he modestly nodded his head.