observatory, said flatly that they couldn't be meteors.

{p. 26}

"They're probably man-made," he told the A.P. Dr. Oliver Lee, director
of Northwestern's observatory, agreed with Kieuper.

"The Army, Navy, and Air Force are working secretly on all sorts of
things," he said. "Remember the A-bomb secrecy--and the radar signals
to the moon."

As I went through Purdy's summary, I recalled my own reaction after
the United Airlines report. After seeing the Pentagon comment, I had
called up Captain Tom Brown, at Air Force Public Relations.

"Are you really taking this seriously?" I asked him.

"Well, we can't just ignore it," he said. "There are too many reliable
pilots telling the same story--flat, round objects able to outmaneuver
ordinary planes, and faster than anything we have. Too many stories
tally."

I told him I'd heard that the Civil Air Patrol in Wisconsin and other
states was starting a sky search.

"We've got a jet at Muroc, and six fighters standing by at Portland
right now," Brown said.

"Armed?"