Page 8 of Flying Saucers Magazine - October 1959

By 0lavo Fontes, M.D.

In the February, 1959 issue of FLYING SAUCERS we desciabed a "mystery" satellite which held a southwestnortheast orbit, had a brilliance fluctuation rate about twice that of Sputnik III, and crossed from horizon to horizon in about 4%s minutes. The time of our sighting was early in July, 1958. We received many doubting letters, and quite a bit of ridicule. With this article, we are pleased to note that we were 100% correct in our observations and orbital calculations, and that there actually was an unidentified satellite in the heavens between July 7 and September 6 1958. Score one more scoop for FLYING SAUCERS!

One day last August, the U. S. Navy missile-test ship Norton Sound pulled away from tier dock at Port Hueneme, California. Apparently she was off on another of her routine, one-day rocket-testing trips to the Navy's offshore test range. However, this time things were quite different. She was going to a secret rendezvous with a special U. S. Navy task force off the Falkland Islands, some 10,000 miles around Cape Horn and off in the South Atlantic. Her secret mission: to fire three nuclear-armed rockets into space, to detonate three nuclear devices at more than 300 miles above the earth. This scientific and military experiment was called Project Argus, had been proposed by the physicist Nicholas Christofilos in a paper written in late 1957 and was certainly the most ambitious nuclear -missile launching project in the history of the U. S. Navy. What Captain Arthur Gralla (this skipper) and his crew had come to shoot were three 57-ft. X-17A solid-propellent rockets, each tipped with a 1.5 kiloton atomic warhead. SINCE HE HAD NO TARGET TO HIT EXCEPT THE WIDE SKY -as it was said when the world finally learned of his mission - Gralla's task apparently was simple, but in fact it was fantastically difficult. Why? Because the rockets had to go off at PRECISELY THE TIMES WHEN A CERTAIN ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE ORBITING THE EARTH WAS IN THE PROPER POSITION. According to the information released to the press, this satellite was the U. S.'s Explorer IV, sent aloft in July, which should be in position to monitor radiation from the explosions. Taking all difficulties into account, Navy experts had estimated Task Force 88's chances of fulfilling Project Argus requirements at one in 200. _.

On Aug. 27, Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, WITHIN THE THREE - MINUTE TIMING TOLERANCE that orders prescribed, the rockets zoomed off in straight-up flight. Then, mission accomplished, Task Force 88 started its return trip. Admiral Mustin (the Commander- in -Chief) and Captain Gralla received the Legion of Merit.

The question is: Why explode nuclear warheads in the near-vacuum 300 miles above the earth's surface? The explanations given till now are obviously only a part of the whole answer. To test the theories on how charged particles such as electrons would behave in the vacuum of space near the earth - was the official answer. But other authorities suggested that strictly military lessons of Project Argus still kept secret may have already affected U. S. Planning for above-the-atmosphere warfare. Dr. Van Allen, for instance, has stated that neutrons from a nuclear charge exploding in a vacuum might detonate or deactivate an incoming enemy warhead, "if there were enough of them." On the other side, there are others who declare that "enough of them" is an improbably large figure, and that it would be easy to protect the warheads with a shield of Boron 10 or any other neutron-absorbing material. Presumably, Argus also had some global effect on radar and radio - communications. These effects, however, would disturb the defenders as well as the attackersin the case of war-except if the hostile missiles and craft were remote-controlled from an artificial satellite placed outside the manmade shell of radiation. But, in such a case, the best thing to do would be to destroy the unfriendly satellite itself, or at least to put it out of operation for some time.

Adding to the mystery around the military objectives of Operation Argus, there is the report of Prof. Ettore Martin, from the Astronomy Observatory of Trieste, Italy, who disclosed the fact that an unidentified "satellite" was orbiting the earth. The information was released on August 22, 1958 and put on the wires by the U.P.I. The period indicated covers exactly the time of the Norton Sound's secret trip. Prof. Martin, who was the Observatory's director, released the following statement (transcribed verbatim):

"Since August the 16th, an 'ANONYMOUS SATELLITE' has been sighted in Italian skies EVERY NIGHT. It has been spotted from Trieste and other Italian towns the last seven nights. It always appears about 10-12 minutes before the time of the previous night's sighting. It can be seen with the naked eye and looks like a THIRD MAGNITUDE STAR, but the light emitted by such an unknown object is not steady, blinking on and off at regular intervals of about seven seconds. It moves on a Northwest-Southeast, trajectory about 300 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH. AND APPARENTLY LOSING ALTITUDE DAY BY DAY Its passage can be observed with the naked-eye, for just two minutes as it moves along its orbit around the earth at tremendous speed. Such an orbiting object DOES NOT EMIT RADIO SIGNALS. It is not the Sputnik III but could be, perhaps, the third stage of the rocket that launched it."

According to the information printed on Italian newspapers, the "anonymous" satellite was first spotted by Dr. Dino Di Colbertado a professor of Geology in the Universities of Milan and Padua. He lives near the town of Udine and Astronomy is his hobby. According to his report to the Udine's newspaper "Messagero Veneto," he had sighted a luminous object crossing the skies, at night, in the middle of July. A few weeks later, in August, at 10:00 P.M., he saw it again. Yet this time its trajectory appeared to be slower and its brightness more intense. It was blinking on-and-off at intervals of seven seconds, and it reappeared on successive nights always with an anticipation of about 10-12 minutes each time.

I have additional evidence that the "anonymous" satellite was orbiting the earth at least since last July. As a matter of fact, it was also seen in the Brazilian skies starting with July 13. That night at 6:30 P.M., an unknown object the size (apparent size) of No. 5 soccer ball, crossed the skies over the Northeast region of Brazil, following a NORTH-SOUTH TRAJECTORY. It was RED IN COLOR AND BLINKED ON AND OFF AT REGULAR INTERVALS. It was sighted for three successive nights-BUT ALWAYS AT THE SAME HOUR, and following the same trajectory. It did not leave any trail. It was sighted for two minutes, with the nakedeye. This unknown object was sighted simultaneously from the following towns and village across the state of Ceara: Santa Quiteria Igatu, Marco, Gadelha and Chaval. All the witnesses in each of the places listed above described an object with the same characteristics and the time of sighting was also the same.

A few days later, on July 17, an object with the same characteristics was spotted over Sobral, another town in the same area. About ten days later, on July 28, the same object apparently was sighted from Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas. The time was 7:00 P.M. and the "unknown" was reported as round-shaped and red in color.

Next night on July 29, came the last observation of the "anonymous" satellite in my country - also the most detailed one. The place was an artifical lake near the town of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceara. It was a starlit night with no moon, no haze and no winds. Mr. Ribeiro Ramos, a commentator from the newspaper "Correio do Ceara," was enjoying his vacation there with his family. Just after sunset, that day, the silence that surrounded the place was suddenly broken by the startled cry of Ramos' small daughter, Tereza Maria. She was calling, very excited: "Papa, Mama, come to see a star in the sky, moving and blinking its light on and off! Hurry up, please! ..." They ran to the spot and saw a luminous object moving at a very high altitude across the cloudless sky, from horizon to horizon, slow and magnificent. It was small and looked like a third magnitude star. Its light was not steady, it pulsated at regular intervals increasing and diminishing in intensity. The witnesses counted just 26 increases in brightness before the object disappeared over the horizon. It was moving on a SOUTH - NORTH TRAJECTORY and crossed from horizon-to-horizon in about five minutes. DURING FOUR SUCCESSIVE NIGHTS, the phenomenon was again repeated with mathematical accuracy, ALWAYS AT THE SAME HOUR: 6:45 P.M. However, on the first night the unknown object appeared near the Southern Cross constellation; each subsequent night it followed the same direction, but gradually changing its position in the sky as compared to the fixed stars - in such a manner that on the fifth night, it was no more in sight.

It may be relevant to emphasize, at this point, that Sputnik III was observed by astronomers at the Observatory at Bologna. Italy, on the night of July 14. It was glowing like a first magnitude star and could be seen with the naked eye. On the other side, the third stage of Sputnik III's rocket was observed in the night of Sept. 5 by Brazilian astronomers when it crossed over Sao Paulo City. It showed the brightness of a FIRST MAGNITUDE STAR - but with no pulsation in its luminous intensity....

The data listed above suggest the following conclusions: 1-that the "anonymous" satellite was real; 2 - that this unknown object was moving at least 300 miles above the earth's surface on a polar orbit (at least in July, 1958), possibly changing later to a NW-SE trajectory; 3 - that it did not emit radio signals; 4 - that its characteristics did not correspond with those of Sputnik III or, its rocket; 5 -that it was probably a "spy satellite," possibly from another world; and 6 - that it was not sighted anymore after Sept 6, ie., after the explosion of the last Operation Argus' nuclear warhead in the near vacuum 300 miles above the earth.

By a curious "coincidence," the same day that the. first information about Argus wasp released to the press (March 19, 1959), Dr. W. L. Whitson made a very important statement in a conference at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Whitson is a scientist from the ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency). He said that "The U. S. has put in operation a network for the detection of satellites, which is complete in its basic aspects; in order to avoid a surprise attack launched from space by artificial satellites". He explained that "such a network included a series of detection posts across several countries to the south of the U.S. and would be used to localize satellites that do not emit radio signals, as would be the satellites with "UNFRIENDLY" objectives."

It is important to stress that Dr. W. L. Whitson was not talking about Russian satellites, but about objects not made by earth-man. In fact he also stated that "those 'UNFRIENDLY satellites will not reveal their position through radio signals and, therefore, we have to spot them by other means;" that "because of the possibility of the existence of hundreds of satellites orbiting the earth within the next 10 years it is VITAL that we have the means to 'identify' all of them and also detect the presence of new ones - to protect the nation against a possible attack originating in sidereal space;" that "Within 10 or 15 years space vehicles capable of any kind of maneuver shall be needed to cape with this menace from interstellar space;" and that "it will be also necessary- to operate from natural and artificial space stations, and it will be equally important to establish strong defensive systems in space as well as VIGILANCE SYSTEMS ON THE MOON AND OTHER PLANETS.

The underlines are mine. Dr. Whitson's statements were put on the wires by the UPI on March 20 and published in most of Rio's newspapers the following day. They did not attract too much attention - fortunately for the censors - apparently because of the simultaneous release of the information about Argus. However, they are extremely important a n d explain many things that seemed obscure until now. There is no need to tell the reader what those things are. The information listed above is more than enough for him to reach his own conclusions about the whole matter...

Taking into consideration all of the facts and "coincidences" related with Project Argus, there is a very strong possibility that the strictly military lessons of Argusstill kept secret - were connected with a courageous attempt to interfere with an "unfriendly" spy satellite. If that was the case, the orbit followed by the "unknown" should be the most important factor to be considered when the best place to fire the rockets was selected, i.e. a place near one of the Poles should be the best choice - for obvious reasons. Taking all difficulties in account the chances of hitting the target would be around one in 200, as estimated by U.S. Navy experts. A very strict timing tolerance would be needed and probably more than one attempt at different dates would be necessary. As it happened.

If the experiment was successful, as it seems, three things may have happened: 1 - the "anonymous" satellite was hit directly by one of the atomic warheads (probably on Sept. 6); possibly after being damaged by the near-exposion of the previous ones; 2 -it was not destroyed (no direct hit), but seriously damaged and put out of operation for some time; 3 -it was not destroyed or damaged, but forced to leave to a more distant and safe orbit.

We don't know yet what really happened. Anyway, it may be interesting to remember, at this point, that a "UFO-flap" was expected to begin last September. Most UFOlogists agreed on that point. What we know from past experience of the kind also suggested that a "satellite" of some kind would be needed to control the UFOs involved in the "flap".

YET THE SEPTEMBER, 1958, UFO "FLAP" DID NOT COME ... .

(Editor's note: Several years ago, FLYING SAUCERS told of the first Russian atomic bomb tests in space, and advanced the theory that perhaps they were not merely testing, but actually shooting at something, or practicing for future shooting at something they knew was to be a target. We scooped the world on this item, which was later proved to be true - that Russia actually had exploded atomic bombs in space, shot there with powerful rockets. Now that the United States, during its August-September 1958 triple atomic blasts at 300 miles off the Falkland Islands, has succeeded in duplicating the Russian feat, and in doing so in secrecy earned the ire of an uninformed Congress, we have further evidence of the truth that may lie behind our early theorizing. What Dr. Olavo Fontes and Coral Lorenzen cautiously advance as a very strong possibility, FLYING SAUCERS feels is quite certainly a fact-the U.S. atomic shots in outer space (300 miles) were not for the purpose of spreading a cloud of atomic radiation about the earth (because this result was a surprise to them - see Scientific American), but were deliberate shots at the mystery satellite first detected by your editor and so reported in this magazine, which proved. 100% effective.

Naturally we can advance this only as our opinion. Calling it factual cannot really be done until we prove it to be true. But the editors of this magazine feel as confident as a man holding four aces in a poker game! Certainly we are entitled to our stand, whether or not we can produce corroboration from official sources. The fact is, that is all we're likely ever to get-because this is the kind of secret that can only be classified as top secret. Our comments on it can cut no ice, and we realize it.

So let's anticipate the mail we'll get from the doubters, and say "take it or leave it-judge for yourself." But this we believe: 1) there was a satellite aloft during the period mentioned; 2) it was a satellite, and not a U.F.O. (it cannot be said to be unclassified or unidentified, but a true satellite) ; 3) it was manmade (although n o t necessary either Russian or American); 4) if earth-made, it was more likely Russian than American (because of its strong polar inclination of orbit); 5) A incurred extreme effort on the part of our "tracking" agencies to identify it and determine its orbit and time schedule as outlined by our comments on air-borne radar fixes being made on it on both observed passages in July, 1958; 6) a thorough sky-watch in October-November 1958 failed to discover it, thus indicating it had not remained in its July orbit; 7) the reasoning behind keeping the triple atomicbomb space tests from Congress was weak and illogical and suspicious; 8) the tests occurred (not accidentally we feel) so remarkably coincident with the orbital schedule of the mystery satellite as to make most probable an attempt to destroy it; 9) two of OUR satellites, launched perfectly, mysteriously failed to maintain their polar orbits (did the Russians, or WE, shoot them down for more practice?); 10) how ELSE will we intercept ICBMs bearing atomic bombs toward us, if not at the comparatively easy distance of 300 or more miles in space where our "homing devices", already proven to be sensationally effective, mounted on "Argus project type" rockets, CAN do the job?

Question: Would shooting down each others' satellites constitute an act of war?

The BIG question: Is there actually an outer - space enemy against whom we are preparing to defend ourselves? Has the battle already been joined by initial skirmishes against spying satellites and various "U.F.O."?