Lou’s View 6/10

By Lou Bernard

So, are there really aliens from other planets visiting Earth? Well, that would explain some of our local politicians. I’ve written before about UFO sightings, when someone sees unexplained lights in the sky. In the past, they’ve happened over Lock Haven, Fleminton, and Farrandsville. Also, often, Renovo, though as those regularly happen around early July, they can generally be written off to fireworks.

Actually, a lot of UFO sightings are like that. I get people who say,”You don’t really believe in aliens, do you?” That question shows a misunderstanding of how the process works. First, I don’t believe anything, per se—If I believed, I wouldn’t have to investigate. When I check into a UFO sighting, I’m looking for answers, not aliens.

Second, UFO stand for “Unidentified Flying Object,” which means exactly what it says. An object, in the sky, that’s unidentified, because we don’t know what it is. Often, these things turn out to be planes, weather, fireworks, or other bright flying items. Ironically, if I did prove it was aliens, the object would no longer be unidentified.

This brings me to an incident that happened in March of 1959. On the night of February 24, the crews of two United Airlines planes saw UFOs. They described them as blinking lights, connecting and detaching, at 17,000 feet, as compared to the airplane’s 8,000.

The reason I’m writing this? They saw them as they passed over Lock Haven.

Now, nobody from Lock Haven itself seems to have reported this. Maybe it was cloudy and they couldn’t see up to 17,000 feet. Maybe it was a slow night and nobody looked up. But the United crew saw the lights, checked their position, and reported it as being over Lock Haven. The lights then followed them, flying west to Ohio.
The sighting was reported to the Air Force, which took it seriously and investigated in a way that they would not have if, say, the report had come from a bunch of people on the sidewalk down below. The Air Force performed what was described as a “detailed investigation” and came back about a month later with their conclusions.
They said that it was aliens from another planet, which explained some of our local politicians.

Kidding! That was just a joke, and I urge you to not take it seriously. (Particularly if you are a member of city council.) The Air Force came to the conclusion that the crew had seen three B-47 jet bombers being refueled by three KC-97 tanker planes. They were on training flights, learning how to refuel in air.

This makes a pretty historic event, as it’s the only time I can recall when the military has admitted to something like this. Normally when you check into it, you can’t get any kind of straight answer out of them. Initially, the Air Force suggested that the crew had actually seen the three stars in the belt of the constellation Orion, which everyone knows is at about 17,000 feet above sea level. But Major Lawrence J. Tacker of the Pentagon publicized the report, adding that an American Airlines crew had also reported seeing the jets over central Pennsylvania and the New York border, but they recognized them as refueling military jets, having an evidently better view than the United crew.

“They’re lit up like Coney Island,” Tacker said when questioned about it.

And that pretty much put the whole question to rest. The lights above Lock Haven—Which, again, weren’t actually noticed by anyone in Lock Haven—Were military jets, not aliens. And if any politician wants to discuss this column, let me know. I guess that counts as taking you to my leader.