1952.11.01
FIRST REPORT ON THE CAPTURED FLYING SAUCER!
By EW Greenfell
On a tiny island in the North Sea off the German coast, a secret investigation is in progress to determine whether hydrogen bomb explosions in the Pacific Ocean knocked a flying saucer to earth. Preliminary findings were revealed recently in Oslo, Norway, by Dr Hans Larsen Løberg, a retired Norwegian scientist, who said investigators have already made some startling discoveries.
In his report, Dr Løberg said the mysterious cracking and shattering of automobile windshields in several US cities a few months ago may be explained when results of the investigation are in. Because, he added, the grounded saucer is reported to carry firing instruments capable of shattering glass with magnetic rays.
The saucer came down on Heligoland, a small island which the Germans used as a U-boat base during World War I. Since the island is only a speck of land in a large body of water, Dr Løberg believes the disk was forced to earth when H-bomb blasts created conditions of atmospheric pressure that made flight impossible.
It was not a crash-up, and investigators found most of the saucer’s instruments in good condition. On ground near the ship were found the bodies of seven men, all burned beyond recognition. They may, or may not, have been passengers aboard the weird flying craft.
Dr Løberg, one-time winner of the Hungarian Physics Award, said descriptive details of the saucer were told him by a fellow scientist who is with the investigating team on Heligoland.
If magnetic rays from the flying saucer shattered auto windshields, then police in several American cities will close the books on a case which drove them to the boiling point a few months ago. It all began in the city of Bellingham, Washington, where horrified citizens learned that, in one week’s time, 1,500 automobiles had turned up with cracked windshields – and no one could explain the reason why. Bellingham’s 34,000 people began to wonder if ghosts had invaded their midst. Even house and store windows slithered into bits. The windshields at times cracked up while cars were in motion, but no one could pin down any concrete cause.
While the astounding story made headlines throughout the US, Bellingham’s city officials were dodging frantic citizens, police were going crazy, and local glass manufacturers were making a fortune. Then windshields began falling apart in Wyoming, in Oklahoma City, in Pittsburgh and finally in New York City. Nobody, not even glass experts, could come up with a reasonable explanation.
The saucer’s magnetic ray gun, which Dr Løberg believes responsible for all the disintegrating glass, may also provide a solution for yet another mystery – an airplane crash near Fort Knox, Kentucky, on January 7, 1948. On that day an unidentified object was sighted over Godman Air Force Base at Fort Knox by both military and civilian observers. Air Force Captain Thomas K [Mantell], flying his plane over the base, radioed the Godman tower and reported the object was travelling at half his speed.
“I’m closing in now to take a good look,” he reported. “It’s directly ahead of me and still moving at about half my speed. This thing looks metallic and of tremendous size… It’s going up now and forward as fast as I am. That’s 360 miles per hour… I’m going up to 20,000 feet and if I’m no closer I’ll abandon chase.”
The time was 1.15 pm and that was the last radio contact [Mantell] had with the Godman tower. Several hours later, his body was found in the wreckage of his plane near the base.
If the Heligoland saucer’s magnetic ray gun is in good condition, it may reveal the power to shatter airplanes as well as glass.
Dr Løberg contends the craft apparently landed under guidance of its own instruments and the investigators studied it at a distance for two days before risking closer observation. The area where the saucer came down was bombarded with cosmic rays, Geiger counters and other protective devices before investigation began.
The seven charred bodies found around the saucer are yet unidentified. Their clothing was burned away completely and there were no clues to indicate whether they were passengers aboard the craft, or whether they were Heligoland residents who ventured too close to the saucer too soon. Curiously, all seven men seemed to be from 25 to 30 years of age and of the same height – about five feet eight inches. All had excellent teeth.
Investigators have one theory: That the seven men were passengers who were consumed by fire inside the descending ship. The blaze had been caused by sudden changes in atmospheric pressure conditions inside the saucer’s hermetically sealed cabin. Atop the craft was a trap-door through which the seven bodies could have been thrown by the impact of landing.
Even more curious were the ship’s measurements. It was 91 feet in diameter and the cabin 70 feet high. In fact, all dimensions were dividable by seven. On the control board were a series of push-buttons, but investigators are still studying the interior mechanism to learn what propelled the saucer in flight.
Dr Løberg’s theory is that the disk may have travelled by harnessing magnetic lines of force which scientists know encircle the nine planets of the solar system. He points out that there was no motor and no propeller, but if magnetic force is involved, the saucer would move just as a nail moves when approached by a magnet.
The landing gear resembled a tripod of three metal cylinders which would revolve in any direction. There were no bolts, rivets or screws on the saucer and in the construction were found two metals which are entirely unknown to scientists. Outer metal of the ship was light in weight and resembled aluminum, but it was so hard that even 15,000° Fahrenheit could not melt it down. Two men could easily lift one side of the saucer.
Although it was not immediately established that the seven burned men were former passengers of the ship, investigators found equipment inside which definitely resembled living quarters! Well-enclosed bunks were ingeniously placed on one side of the cabin’s interior.
A liquid resembling water but almost three times as heavy as normal drinking water, was found in two small containers. On a wall-bracket was a tube filled with a large number of pills, possibly tabulated food.
The saucer’s radio, which had no tubes, no wires and no aerial, was about as small as a king-size cigarette package. Pamphlets and booklets, which seem to deal with navigation problems, were also found but investigators are still trying to decipher the script used in the text.
Dr Løberg emphasized that when the Heligoland investigation is completed, the report will add a new chapter to flying saucer history.
(Sir! 1954.09)