Tales from the Morgue: UFOs are real

Tales from the Morgue returns with a tale about a University of Arizona professor who was quite curious about Unidentified Flying Objects. He believed that some UFOs were really extraterrestrial in origin, perhaps probes from another intelligent species.

He Welcomes Reports

Physicist Admits Curiosity About 'Flying Objects'

Dr. James E. McDonald Believes They Have Significance, Deplores Ignoration

by Don Carson

Unidentified flying objects . . . are they only hallucinations or are they of scientific significance?

Dr. James E. McDonald, senior physicist for the University of Arizona's Institute of Atmospheric Physics, says he has no definite answer to the question.

But what he terms "an unorthodox curiosity" has taken him into a study of the UFO's "for reasons that are not clearly apparent to me."

"I can't believe that all these reports," says Dr. McDonald, "are just deceptions. I'm sure that there is scientific significance to some of them."

Dr. McDonald, who came to Tucson in 1954 to assist in the university's weather research program, finds the investigation of the mysterious objects a difficult one.

"Science as a whole has tended to ignore the field," he says, "and it is certainly a regrettable situation. I suppose the main reasons for the neglect are the lack of proper data and the ridicule that sometimes follows the man who sees an unidentified object."

Dr. McDonald plans to continue his part-time research in the field, but the difficulty in locating witnesses of the celestial events and acquiring accurate data from the few who either call or write him has prompted him to develop several rules.

If you should spot an "unidentified flying object," he asks you to do the following:

"1. Stay in one spot, if possible. Mark the spot and the object with reference to some stationary point, such as a telephone pole, a tree branch or a roof top. If this is done I will be able to recreate the scene if I investigate.

"2. Check the time of day. This is important in correlating your report with others.

"3. Note the direction of the object from your position. Try to get a compass bearing.

"4. Estimate the angular diameter of your sighting. A good rule of thumb for this is to hold three fingers in front of the object at arm's length. This will give an approximate five degrees. Then pull your fingers from in front of the object and try to break it down to less than the five degrees. Another method of accomplishing this would be to hold a coin in front of the object."

McDonald admits it is very easy to be deceived by an object in the sky. "The most experienced observer may be tricked," he says. "My wife and I once mistook two bronze-colored kites for strange objects."

Running down flying object reports has brought Dr. McDonald descriptions that ranged from "fire balls" to "a whining, metalic object that sped about 500 feet above the ground at about 500 mph."

Despite the many inaccurate reports and his own deception, Dr. McDonald plans to continue his research in hopes that some day it may bear fruit.

The 38-year-old Iowa State graduate had his interest aroused in 1947 when the first flying saucers were reported from Tacoma, Wash.

Since his arrival in Tucson he estimates he has checked into "a few dozen" reports. The time he spends on the investigations is usually short, but one sighting (last April) prompted him to question 75 people.

He says he has "solved" only one of the reports — what he feels was a green flare set off in the university area.

"I was extremely lucky on that one," he explains. "I got calls from several people in different parts of the city. And all their facts were roughly the same."

Over the long haul, Dr. McDonald gets many reports that "seem to hang together internally but can't be explained."

But if observers follow his suggested procedures, some of the mysteries of unidentified flying objects may be solved.