question; or immediately begin to expound on his accomplishments in
the field of science. I arrived at Ohio State just before lunch, and
Dr. Hynek invited me to eat with him at the faculty club. He wanted
to refer to some notes he had on the Mantell Incident and they were
in his office, so we discussed UFO's in general during lunch.

Back in his office he started to review the Mantell Incident. He had
been responsible for the weasel-worded report that the Air Force
released in late 1949, and he apologized for it. Had he known that it
was going to cause so much confusion, he said, he would have been
more specific. He thought the incident was a dead issue. The reason
that Venus had been such a strong suspect was that it was in almost
the same spot in the sky as the UFO. Dr. Hynek referred to his notes
and told me that at 3:00P.M., Venus had been south southwest of
Godman and 33 degrees above the southern horizon. At 3:00P.M. the
people in the tower estimated the UFO to be southwest of Godman and
at an elevation of about 45 degrees. Allowing for human error in
estimating directions and angles, this was close. I agreed. There was
one big flaw in the theory, however. Venus wasn't bright enough to be
seen. He had computed the brilliance of the planet, and on the day in
question it was only six times as bright as the surrounding sky. Then
he explained what this meant. Six times may sound like a lot, but it
isn't. When you start looking for a pinpoint of light only six times
as bright as the surrounding sky, it's almost impossible to find it,
even on a clear day.

Dr. Hynek said that he didn't think that the UFO was Venus.

I later found out that although it was a relatively clear day there
was considerable haze.