79 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
UPDATE
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The NASA Apollo-Saturn Rocket Test Launch UFO Sighting
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(Washington State MUFON, May 31, 1988.) I have some followup
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information on the UFO report made by Jack Allen, a Boeing
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engineer who currently lives in Snohomish, Washington. You may
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recall from my first report that he was employed as a quality
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control inspector in 1966 by General Electric at the Mississippi
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Test Facility during a test firing of the second stage of a
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Apollo-Saturn rocket. At that time he witnessed, along with many
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others, a UFO approach the test facility and hover over the
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updraft of the rocket burn during the duration of the test.
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First, a correction in the name of the rocket. The rocket
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that was being test fired at the time of the incident was the
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second stage of the Saturn V-B rocket, not the Saturn IV-B as had
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previously been reported. No test firings of the Saturn IV-B
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occurred at the Mississippi Test Facility. This second stage
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rocket is correctly referred to as the S-II-T or S-II-1,
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depending on the version. I talked to Bob Lessels, a Media
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Affairs officer at Marshall Space Flight Center (205/544-6539)
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and he provided me with a chronology of possible dates. I also
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talked to Jack Allen again to verify to the best of his
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recollection which test firing it was, since it is unlikely now
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that it was the first one.
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A bit of background about the facility itself. The NASA
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facility in question is located approximately 60 miles East of
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New Orleans on the Gulf Coast in Hancock County, Mississippi, on
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the East Pearl River. It has undergone a couple of name changes
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since 1966. Until very recently it has been known as the
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National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL), and its new name is
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the J.C. Stennis Space Center. The Public Affairs
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representatives at the facility are Max Herring and Ms. Myran
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Webb (601/688-3341).
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The first captive test firing of the S-II-T occurred on April
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23, 1966, according to Bob Lessels. He used as a reference a
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NASA publication authored by David Akens entitled the "Saturn
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Illustrated Chronology". Although the time of the firing is not
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mentioned, a photograph indicates that it was a daytime firing,
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not a night firing as reported by Jack Allen. The test was
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successful and lasted 15 seconds.
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The next firing was scheduled for May 10, 1966, but was
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cancelled. On the 11th the engine fired for 47 seconds but there
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was a premature cutoff. A third captive test firing of the S-II-
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T occurred on May 17th, and lasted 154 seconds, followed by a
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fourth test on May 20th which lasted 354.5 seconds. On May 28th
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the S-II-T was destroyed in an accident during another test
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firing and a full investigation into the cause ensued.
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The destruction of the S-II-T caused the Apollo launch schedule
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to be changed, adding about a month's delay.
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On July 5, 1966 there was a successful test Apollo-Saturn 203
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launch and the first flight of the S-II stage from California.
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On August 13th the S-II-1 arrived at the Mississippi Test
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Facility. On December 30, 1966 at the Mississippi Test Facility
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the first static firing of the flight version of the S-II-1 was
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conducted. On January 5, 1967 an 18-member S-II task team was
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assembled, and Col. Sam Yarchin was assigned the position of
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team leader. On January 11, 1967 the initial post-static
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checkout of the S-II-1 ended. Finally, the source mentions that
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a S-II-3 stage firing occurred on September 19, 1967, but it
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doesn't say where.
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Jack Allen is sure that the test firing occurred at night at
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approximately 11:00 p.m. He now thinks that, if the first test
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firing had been during daylight, the UFO incident must have
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occurred during the second test firing. This would place the
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occurrence of the event as May 11th, 1966, during the premature
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cutoff of the test. This still needs to be further confirmed by
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obtaining the exact time of the testing.
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--Donald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
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