Simulcast on KGRA Radio, YouTube, Facebook & Twitch – Tuesday, October 13th, 6:00-8:00 PM EDT (-4GMT)
BIO: Jan L. Aldrich resides in Canterbury, Connecticut, USA. Education BA History from University of Maryland, Retired US Army Master Sergeant with assignments in meteorology, intelligence, personnel, and safety. Assignment locations include four in Korea, two in Germany, one in Italy, two at the Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and others in the US. Also, retired from the US Postal Service. Studied UFOs for over 55 years. Contributing author of the book “UFOs and Government”, also author of reports on Ghost Rockets, the 1947 UFO Wave. Currently working on digitizing project of the Center for UFO Studies UFO report files. Correspondent for overseas UFO magazines. Website www.project1947.com
In the early years of the flying saucer mystery, the U.S. Air Force was the only organization doing any sort of significant investigation. Then, in 1952, a number of private groups were organized and the first citizen investigators went into the field and endeavored to solve the mystery for themselves. The first of these to rise to global attention was the International Flying Saucer Bureau, founded by Albert K. Bender. They put out a quarterly publication called Space Review, and were taken seriously by their fellow enthusiasts. They didn’t last long, however, as Bender put an end to his creation in 1953 after telling his followers he had solved the mystery. He later informed them he’d been visited by three men wearing black suits and homburg hats, who’d threatened him into keeping silent about his discovery. The mythos of the Men in Black entered flying saucer lore and the Bender Mystery became a subject that is still being debated today.
Albert K. Bender was born on July 16, 1921 in Duryea, Pennsylvania. What the “K” stood for seems to be part of the mystery. He served stateside as a dental technician in the U.S. Army Air Forces from June 8, 1942 to Oct. 7, 1943. He was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia. After his service, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut with his mother and stepfather. His mother died shortly thereafter.
The 1956 book by Edward J. Ruppelt, “The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects” is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject. Capt. Ruppelt was the first director of Project Blue Book after leading a massive re-organization effort to revitalize the investigation while it was still operating as Project Grudge. He was the person who came up with the designation, Unidentified Flying Object, or UFO, which was pronounced “yoofo”, for what were popularly known as flying saucers. His book recounts his time with the project under both names and provides an insider’s view of what were then classified activities. There are two editions of the book with two different endings. The second edition was published in 1960 and Ruppelt included recent cases as a means to update the book. This edition has three more chapters tacked on that have a decidedly more negative tone than the original preceding chapters, where Ruppelt displays an open-minded view. This has led some to wonder if Ruppelt was pressured by the Air Force, which was then following the 
The state of Michigan is best known to UFOlogists as the swamp gas state. This is because of Project Blue Book scientific consultant, J. Allen Hynek. He came up with the explanation that swamp gas was responsible for sightings that were reported there. That was way back in 1966. It caused a furor that led Michigan representative and House Minority Leader, Gerald Ford, to call for a hearing in Congress. The case is based on multiple witness testimonies, which include those of police officers, and is well represented in UFO literature. However, there is a more recent, and less well-known case that not only has multiple witnesses, but radar confirmation and a 911 dispatch tape as well.
On the night of March 8, 1994, meteorologist Jack Bushong was manning the National Weather Service office in Muskegon. He received a call from an Ottawa County dispatcher who’d been dealing with multiple reports of mysterious lights in the sky. The dispatcher wanted to know if there was anything on radar to confirm the reports.
Much has been written about the 1952 Flatwoods Monster encounter in Braxton County, West Virginia. It is a bizarre tale that received national press coverage at the time and it is still celebrated today as part of West Virginia’s weird history. You can have your picture taken in one of five giant Flatwoods Monster chairs located in various areas around Braxton County and you can visit the Flatwoods Monster Museum in the town of Sutton. With all of the focus on the monster itself, certain aspects of the case tend to be overlooked. For one thing, this was the very first report of a creature associated with a U.F.O. For another, the case was looked into by some of UFOlogy’s very first private investigators.
The very first flying saucer flap occurred during the summer of 1947. It began with the reported sighting of nine mysterious objects by pilot Kenneth Arnold on June 24 and hit its peak that July. This was the first, “summer of the saucers.” Much has been written about Arnold’s sighting but the sightings after that have been largely ignored. For the interested student of this period in U.F.O. history, there is a document available online that is well-worth reading. It provides a comprehensive account of the flap, citing a large number of newspaper articles that appeared during that time.
In 1966, there was a flap over Michigan that got the attention of the press and the Air Force. There was a great deal of excitement and Project Blue Book’s scientific consultant, J. Allen Hynek, was sent in to help calm things down. At a press conference, he offered some possible explanations. Due to sightings over a marsh, he speculated that people had seen ignited balls of swamp gas, some going out and others igniting and that this created the illusion of movement. The swamp gas explanation made the headlines, outraged many Michigan residents, including then-Governor Gerald Ford, and became forever associated with Hynek in the history books. Fortunately for Hynek, he had a sense of humor and was able to turn his gaffe into an entertaining talk at a celebration of the Michigan events, ten years later.