Part 26 (1/2)

During our previous visit we repeatedly asked the question, ”Was the hat burned before you went into the woods?” and, ”Had the cap been ironed?” We had received the same answers each time: ”The hat was not burned because we [the boy scouts] were playing with it at the scoutand would have noticed the burns,” and, ”The cap was new; it had not been washed or ironed” It is rumored that the cap was never returned because it was proof of the authenticity of the sighting

The hat wasn't returned simply because the scoutue; it's as simple as that

Everyone as faon, were convinced that this was a hoax until the lab called rass saet charred?” Roots charred? I didn't even knohatabout He explained that when they'd exarass they had knocked the dirt and sand off the roots of the grass clurass theed; they had never been heated, except on the extre over touching the ground and were also charred The lab had duplicated the charring and had found that by placing live grass clurees F over a gas burner the charring could be duplicated Hoas actually done outside the lab they couldn't even guess

As soon as we got the lab report, we checked a few possibilities ourselves There were no hot underground springs to heat the earth, no che we found could explain it The only way it could have been faked would have been to heat the earth frorees F, and how do you do this without using big and curound? You can't Only a few people handled the grass specience officer in Florida, and I The lab wouldn't do it as a joke, then write an official report, and I didn't do it This leaves the intelligence officer; I'le answer everyone is overlooking, but as of now the charred grass roots fro an official report on this incident was difficult On one side of the ledger was a huge ainst the scout true On our second trip to Florida, Lieutenant Olsson and I heard story after story about theup tall tales One , I'd look up to make sure” There were parts of his story and those of the boy scouts that didn't quite mesh None of us ever believed the boy scouts were in on the hoax They were undoubtedly so is they didn't actually see The scouteon had duplicated these by burning his own arhter But we didn't ht up dozens of ways that the man could have set up the hoax but couldn't prove one

In the scoutmaster's favor were the two pieces of physical evidence we couldn't explain, the holes burned in the cap and the charred grass roots

The deputy sheriff who had first told me about the scoutmaster's Marine and prison record had also said, ”Maybe this is the one ti the truth, but I doubt it”

So did rote off the incident as a hoax The best hoax in UFO history

Many people have asked e didn't give the scoutmaster a lie detector test We seriously considered it and consulted soainst it In soive valid results This, they thought, was one of those cases Had we done it and had he passed on the faulty results, the publicity would have been a headache

There is one way to explain the charred grass roots, the burned cap, and a few other aspects of the incident It's pure speculation; I don't believe that it is the answer, yet it is interesting Since the blades of the grass were not daround had not been disturbed, this one way is the only way (nobody has thought of any other way) the soil could have been heated It could have been done by induction heating

To quote fro” fro textbook:

A rod of solid metal or any electrical conductor, when subjected to an alternating netic field, has electromotive forces set up in it

These electromotive forces cause what are known as ”eddy currents” A rise in temperature results fro is a co metals in a foundry

Replace the ”rod of solid metal” mentioned above with damp sand, an electrical conductor, and assu round, and you can explain how the grass roots were charred To get an alternating netic field, some type of electrical equipment was needed Electricity--electrical sparks--the holes burned in the cap ”by electric sparks”

UFO propulsion comes into the picture when one re the relationshi+p between electro-netic field can heatthe scouth to burn hiht, machete, coins in his pocket, etc The answer--he wasn't under the UFO for more than a few seconds He said that when he stopped to really look at it he had backed away fro froround

To further pursue this line of speculation, the scoutmaster repeatedly mentioned the unusual odor near the UFO He described it as being ”sharp” or ”pungent” Ozone gas is ”sharp” or ”pungent” To quote fro air between two plates which are charged at a high electrical potential”

Electrical equipas will also cause you to lose consciousness

I used to try out this induction heating theory on people to get their reaction I tried it out one day on a scientist frohed when I explained that I thought this theory just _happened_ to tie together the unanswered aspects of the incident in Florida and was not the answer; he was slightly perturbed ”What do you want?” he said ”Does a UFO have to come in and land on your desk at ATIC?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Digesting the Data

It was soon after we had written a finis to the Case of the Scoutive another briefing on the latest UFO developust that had been read with a good deal of interest in the ust 1952 several groups in Washi+ngton were following the UFO situation very closely

The sighting that had stirred everyone up came from Haneda AFB, now Tokyo International Airport, in japan Since the sighting caate it, but the intelligence officers in the Far East Air Force had done a good job, so we had the co account of an encounter with a UFO Only a few minor questions had been unanswered, and a quick wire to FEAF brought back these et routine questions back and forth, but this tie of wires took only aI talked to one of the FEAF intelligence officers who had investigated it, and in his estimation it was one of the best to come out of the Far East

The first people to see the UFO were two control tower operators alking across the ra toward the tower to start the ht shi+ft They were about a half hour early so they weren't in any big hurry to get up into the tower--at least not until they saw a large brilliant light off to the northeast over Tokyo Bay They stopped to look at the light for a few seconds thinking that it ht be an exceptionally brilliant star, but both hts in a control tohen they had nothing to look at except stars and they had never seen anything this bright before Besides, the light was ar and could see that it was continually ht

In a minute they had run across the ramp, up the several hundred steps to the tower, and were looking at the light through 7x50 binoculars Both of the ot a good look at the UFO The light was circular in shape and had a constant brilliance It appeared to be the upper portion of a large, round, dark shape which was about four tiht itself As they watched, the UFOcloser because it became more distinct When it ht on the lower edge of the dark, shadowy portion