'UFO' connections to the JFK Assassination

[Robert Howard]

It is not often that a non-fiction book, this one related to the Byrd family, as in David Harold Byrd of TSBD infamy, contains factual historical evidence on a topic that is, well, on a thread such as this one.

The topics include a global land grab [circa 1938-40] for lands in the Antartic region including the Nazi Government of Adolf Hitler on one side and Admiral Richard Byrd and the United States on the other......

Before anyone reads the following I want to make it clear that there is no underlying message or agenda intended in posting this other than to recount a point that is already known, that the Byrd Family in the 20th Century, was a significant family whose actions and interests reached into a great many areas of interest to members of this Forum,

Explorer: The Life of Richard E. Byrd - Lisle A. Rose - Copyright 2008 The Curators of the University of Missouri [Press]

Tom Watson [of IBM] put together an impressive committee to organize the Byrd banquet. The presidents of Armour and Company, Cocal Cola, General Foods, and the New York Sun agreed to serve, as did Edsel Ford, Walter Chrysler, William Horlick, Walter Kohler, Jacob Ruppert and the already legendary Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors. Most of these men had steadfastly supported Byrd’s expeditions from the prosperous twenties onward. Myron Taylor of United States Steel, agreed to serve on the banquet committee, as did Owen Young head of General Electric. Young John Rockefeller was also a member, along with Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times.

from page 387 of Explorer: The Life of Richard E. Byrd - Lisle A. Rose

......

I would like to mention Lee Forman's fourth post on this thread, ie Philadelphia Experiment....

Read below any you may find that the IGY was no doubt penetrated as only a Cold War high technology project involving rocket technology would be.......

Key Phrase's Varo Corporation, International Geophysical Year

In the book the Philadelphia Experiment, which is a very controversial book in itself, mention is made of the Project Orbiter Committee.

Being a bit cautious about the U S Navy’s invisibility experiments which is the centerpiece of authors, Moore and Berlitz work. I took it upon myself

to look only through historical references to the Project Orbiter Committee, and found that in the New York Times dated February 1, 1958, a story ran entitled

“Plan for Space Vehicle Shaped as Joint Service Project in ‘54.” New York Times pay-articles only reveal a tidbit of the article, but the passage is listed below.

....The joint venture was called Project Orbiter. Work began but permission from the ... In October, 1954, a special International Geophysical Year committee asked participating

also see

http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/igy/intro.html

Further study revealed an article entitled: Korolev, Sputnik, and The International Geophysical Year

In essence the article concerns Russian scientists working on missile technology that led to the creation of the Sputnik spacecraft that is known historically as the first unmanned spacecraft to orbit the earth, and was the precursor of the competition between the USSR and the Kennedy Administration’s race into space. Excerpts from the article are contained below. Note: footnotes are not included

“Sputnik would not have been possible without the combined contributions of two men who had consistently advocated a commitment for a space program to a reluctant Soviet government. Sergey Pavlovich Korolev, the younger of the two, had become absorbed in dreams of space exploration during his short tenure as a member and eventual leader of an amateur Soviet rocketry group in the early 1930s. It was there that he befriended Mikhail Klavdiyevich Tikhonravov, another former glider pilot. Their paths diverged during World War II and in its aftermath they were working in different institutions, both contributing to the new long-range ballistic missile effort. Korolev had the auspicious title of 'Chief Designer,' by dint of his official title as head of the Department No. 3 of the Specialized Design Bureau at the Scientific Research Institute No. 88 ('NII-88' in its Russian abbreviation). Stalin had established the NII-88 (pronounced 'nee-88') in 1946 to serve as the leading engineering organization in Soviet industry to develop long-range missiles.

Korolev's satellite work may have continued at a leisurely pace through the mid-1950s with lukewarm governmental support were it not for some surprising and well-publicized events outside of the USSR. In the spring of 1950, a group of American scientists led by James van Allen met in Silver Springs, Maryland to discuss the possibility of an international scientific program to study the upper atmosphere and outer space via sounding rockets, balloons, and ground observations. Strong support from Western European scientists allowed the idea to expand into a worldwide program timed to coincide with a period of intense solar activity, 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. The participants named this period the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and created the Comité speciale de l'année géophysique internationale (the 'Special Committee for the International Geophysical Year' or 'CSAGI') to establish an agenda for the program. Soviet representatives, including Academy of Sciences Vice-President Academician Ivan P. Bardin, served on the Committee, but do not appear to have had any significant contribution to its proceedings. In fact, the May 1954 deadline for submissions for participation in the IGY passed without any word from Soviet authorities. At a subsequent meeting in Rome on 4 October 1954, Soviet scientists silently witnessed the approval of a historic U.S.-sponsored plan to orbit artificial satellites during the IGY. The satellite proposal clearly surprised the Soviet delegation, and perhaps had repercussions within the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the fall of 1954, the Academy established the Interdepartmental Commission for the Coordination and Control of Work in the Field of Organization and Accomplishment of Interplanetary Communications, a typically longwinded title which obscured its primary role, a forum for Soviet scientists to discuss space exploration in abstract terms, both in secret and in public.

The existence of the Commission was announced on 16 April 1955 in an article in a Moscow evening newspaper....

While this Commission had little real authority, its Chairman Sedov may have played a crucial role in connecting Korolev's satellite efforts with the International Geophysical Year. The chain of events was set off on 29 July 1955 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Press Secretary James C. Hagerty who announced at the White House that the United States would launch "small Earth-circling satellites" as part of its participation in the IGY. It was at this same time that the International Astronautical Federation was holding its Sixth International Astronautical Congress at Copenhagen, Denmark. Heading the Soviet delegation was Sedov and Kirill F. Ogorodnikov, the editor of a respected astronomy journal in the USSR. The two were called into action by an announcement on 2 August by Fred C. Durant III, the President of the Congress, who reported the Eisenhower Administration's intentions of launching a satellite during the IGY. Not to be outdone, Sedov convened a press conference the same day at the Soviet embassy in Copenhagen for about 50 journalists during which he announced that "In my opinion, it will be possible to launch an artificial Earth satellite within the next two years." He added that "The realization of the Soviet project can be expected in the near future............"

The activity on the space front reached its zenith on 30 August 1955 when Korolev attended two different meetings, one with the defense community, and one with the scientific community, to discuss the new satellite report. The former was at the offices of the powerful Military-Industrial Commission, the coordinating mechanism for management of the entire Soviet defense industry. Presiding over the meeting was the Commission's new Chairman Vasiliy M. Ryabikov. Also in attendance were Academician Mstislav V. Keldysh, a noted scientist involved in research and development on several high profile military programs, and Col.-Engineer Aleksandr G. Mrykin, a senior artillery officer responsible for overseeing the procurement of new ballistic missiles for the Soviet armed forces. At the meeting Korolev spoke of both his satellites and lunar probes. Notorious for his legendary short temper and larger-than-life personality, Mrykin was not receptive to Korolev's old arguments of the possibly great political importance of a Soviet satellite. The artillery officer told Korolev in no uncertain terms that only when the R-7 had completed its flight testing would they consider a satellite. Fortunately for Korolev, he had the Keldysh's support, and that may have tipped the scales. While details of the deliberations remain extremely sketchy, it appears that Ryabikov approved the use of an R-7 ICBM for a modest satellite program. Lunar probes were not considered. There were probably two factors working in Korolev's favor: the possible use of a satellite for military purposes; and the demonstration of Soviet science and technology during the IGY.

Armed with Ryabikov's approval, Korolev attended a second secret meeting the same day at the offices of the 'chief scholarly secretary' of the Academy of Sciences Gennadiy V. Topchiyev. Many other scientists and designers including Keldysh, Tikhonravov, and rocket engine specialist Valentin P. Glushko were present. Korolev reported to the distinguished assemblage that the Council of Chief Designers at a recent meeting had conducted a detailed examination on modifying the original R-7 into a vehicle capable of launching a satellite into orbit. No doubt, he also spoke of the government's interest on the matter. At the end of his speech he formally proposed to build and launch a series of satellites into space, including one with animals, and for the Academy to establish a formal commission to carry out this goal. The Chief Designer had a specific timetable in mind. He told his audience, "As for the booster rocket, we hope to begin the first launches in April-July 1957...before the start of the International Geophysical Year." If earlier, Korolev's satellite plans had been timed for the indefinite future, the Eisenhower Administrations announcement in July 1955 completely changed the direction of Korolev's attack. Not only did it imbue Korolev's satellite proposal with a new sense of urgency, but it also gave him a specific timetable to aim for. If the United States was planning to launch during the IGY, then the Soviets would launch one a few months before the beginning of the International Geophysical Year, guaranteeing a first place finish. The attending scientists at the meeting accepted the new proposal, and at Korolev's recommendation Keldysh was designated the Chairman of the commission. Korolev and Tikhonravov would serve as his deputies.

The following day, on 31 August, a smaller group, including Korolev, Tikhonravov, and Keldysh met to discuss some of the proposals for satellite instruments which many scientists had submitted to Sedov's Commission in the past year. A few days later Tikhonravov and Keldysh convened with some prominent Soviet scientific scholars to explain details of the satellite design and how their instruments were being considered. Korolev himself approved a preliminary scientific program in September 1955, a program which included the study of the ionosphere, cosmic rays, the Earth's magnetic fields, luminescence in the upper atmosphere, the Sun, and its influence on the Earth, and other natural phenomena. The detailed development of a scientific program was left in the hands of the two existing commissions of the Academy headed by Anatoliy A. Blagonravov and Leonid I. Sedov.

On 5 January 1957, Korolev sent off a letter to the government.....He asked that permission be given to launch two small satellites, each with mass of 40-50 kilograms, in the period April-June 1957 immediately prior to the beginning of the IGY. This plan would be contingent upon the timetable for the R-7 program which Korolev admitted was behind schedule; the first launch of the missile was set for March 1957 at the earliest. Each satellite would orbit the Earth at altitudes of 225 X 500 kilometers and contain a simple shortwave transmitter with a power source sufficient for 10 days operation. Korolev did not obscure the reasons for the abrupt change in plans:

...the United States is conducting very intensive plans for launching an artificial Earth satellite. The most well-known project under the name "Vanguard" uses a three-stage missile...the satellite proposed is a spherical container of 50 centimeters diameter and a mass of approximately 10 kilograms. In September 1956, the U.S.A. attempted to launch a three-stage missile with a satellite from Patrick Base [sic] in the state of Florida which was kept secret. The Americans failed to launch the satellite...and the payload flew about 3,000 miles or approximately 4,800 kilometers. This flight was then publicized in the press as a national record. They emphasized that U.S. rockets can fly higher and farther than all the rockets in the world, including Soviet rockets. From separate printed reports, it is known that the U.S.A. is preparing in the nearest months a new attempt to launch an artificial Earth satellite and is willing to pay any price to achieve this priority.

While Korolev's information on U.S. plans may have been in error, his instincts were not that far off. The United States could have launched a satellite by early 1957, but various institutional and political obstacles precluded such an attempt. “

also See

http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/siddiqi.html

So the inference that is drawn is that there is a likelihood that Project Orbiter was in some way related to competing technologies between the United States and the Soviet Union, with Project Orbiter being another Top-Secret Program, in which undisputed historical facts, may be in short supply.

I maintain that J S Martin is much more important than high tech elements of the great game......

Edited November 26, 2009 by Robert Howard

[William Kelly]

In January 1953 the CIA called together the Robertson Panel to determine if UFOs were a national security threat.

Among the evidence presented were films of strange objects in the sky, including some lights filmed in Utah by an official Navy photographer and examined and analyzed by the Navy Photo Interpretation Center, based at the Washington Navy Yard at Anacosta.

Two Navy photo interpreters testifed that they concluded the lights in the Utah film were not explained away as birds, balloons or other natural causes. While the Robertson Panel rejected their conclusions, the CIA decided to hire Captain Art Lundahl, the head of the Navy Photo Interpretation Center and the two Lts. who testified, Harry Woo and Robert S. Neasham, and formed the National Photo Interpretation Center, which was based on the second floor of the Steuart Garage at 5th and K Streets in Washington.

The NPIC was a Top Secret facility, the very name of which was classified, and it became the center of much of the nation's strategic and current intelligence that was used by top policy makers, including the President, the National Security Council and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Art Lundahl himself was said to have a vast library of literature on UFOs.

It was Lundahl and Sidney Greybeal, the CIA's missile specialist, who briefed the President in October 1962 about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba that set off the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it was Lundahl who briefed the director of the CIA John McCone on the assassination of JFK, using color photo enlargements of the Zapruder film that were processed at NPIC.

After Lundahl briefed McCone on the assassination, McCone told RFK that there was evidence there were two shooters, as RFK related to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/

[William Kelly]

UFO Over Dealey Plaza 11/22/63 - 12:09 PM

JFKCountercoup2: UFO over Dealey Plaza 11/22/63