AN IDENTIFIED UFO

UFO's are one of those subjects where the facts don't matter; you are either a convert to the religion, or an unreasonable pighead who is open to evidence, but puts the burden of proof on those who claim the unusual and abnormal.

But there is one type of UFO that has been identified. It has appeared over South America and would probably have caused a panic in war-jittery Argentina on May 20, but on that day it passed over South America unseen.

The mysterious objects come from the Soviet super-secret spaceport at Plesetsk, 125 miles south of Archangelsk in the Soviet European Arctic. The inclination of a rocket's initial orbit to the equator is the same as the latitude of its launching base at Plesetsk - 62.7 degrees, and the orbit passes over South America. In particular, the Kosmos-1367 rockets, now launched under an accelerated Soviet program of an early warning system over the northern hemisphere, fire their fourth-stage engines at high altitude, leaving a giant cloud in orbit. This can be seen from the Soviet base in the light of the midnight sun, and an hour later in the western sky of South America if it is dawn or dusk (on May 20 it was 11 a.m., so the UFO was not visible).

More interesting still, the Soviets have on past occasions greatly dignified UFO reports by conducting official investigations, sometimes involving the Soviet Academy of Sciences; they are no doubt pleased that Western UFO buffs helped to disguise their military programs, such as the 1967 "fractional orbit bombarding system" (a nuclear first-strike weapon) launched, in the best Soviet tradition, just after they had signed a treaty outlawing such systems.

Only a year ago he published his outstanding Red Star in Orbit [AtE Sept 81], and a new book, UFO's and Other Space Mysteries, is about to be published (Donning Press, 5659 Virginia Blvd., Norfolk, CT 23502, tel. toll-free 800-446-8572; $6.95).