5 August 1947
Subject: Matters of National Interest
To: Commanding Officer, Alaska Communication System...
1. Per AGAO-S 319.1 the following report is submitted on a matter which may become of National Interest. Captain Jack Peck and his CoPilot Vince Daly have stated that on August 4, 1947 they sighted and followed a flying saucer Northwest of Bethel Alaska. This object was bigger than the Douglas DC-3 they were flying, crossed their course at right angles to them. It was flying at an Altitude of one thousand feet. They swung in behind it and followed it at an air speed of one hundred seventy miles per hour but it was out of sight in four minutes. They state the object was smooth surfaced and streamlined with no visible means of propulsion whatever...
THIS IS THE STORY of the time after Ken Arnold's report of 9 discs over Mount Rainier. It is the behind the scenes tale of the military's response -- including a pilot's death, a secret project, a UFO dog fight, and an 'estimate of the situation' -- and how it all became, in its full security implication, a Matter of National Interest.
But this is not a simple tale to be told in one sitting. Hence, part one...
THIS POST IS BEING MOVED to its new home at Saturday Night Uforia and will appear in early 2013.