An Unidentified Flying Object

On a cold winter afternoon just as the sun was setting in the southwest, a strange flying object was seen from the Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks. It hung apparently motionless in the southern sky about twenty degrees above the horizon.

Viewed through binoculars, the object appeared to consist of two reddish-white flat-sided flying saucers lying back-to-back, as shown in Sketch 1. After viewing for several minutes, we announced over our loudspeaker system that the object was there and asked other people to look at it. When you don't know what you are seeing, it is good to have as many observers as possible join in the viewing.

Several minutes later the object changed its orientation and appeared as in Sketch 2. By then it was lower in the sky and weaker. Some minutes later yet, it appeared as in Sketch 3. Only then we knew that we had been watching a contrail from a jet flying from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

At first, we had seen the contrail end-on as the jet climbed away from us and from our vantage, hung motionless in the sky. Later the jet achieved altitude and was perhaps moving slightly left to right as we saw it. Finally when the aircraft headed down toward Anchorage, the contrail could be seen stretching out behind and being distorted by air turbulence.

Long ago, I gave up being embarrassed at not being able to immediately recognize familiar objects in the sky. They take on strange shapes that easily fool one. The best one can do is observe carefully and try to note and write down all the conditions. If the object is not a flying saucer from another world, careful unbiased observing will probably eventually bring out the truth. And if it really is a flying saucer, one wants to get all the facts possible.