1 00:00:27,719 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: UFOs is Sky Creatures by UFO history buff and author 2 00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:35,759 Charles Lear, read by sam Milo Dragovic. Among the many 3 00:00:35,799 --> 00:00:40,200 possible explanations for UFOs is that some might be creatures 4 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,960 that live in the sky. The person who became best 5 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,960 known for this idea was Trevor James Constable, who presented 6 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,399 it along within fred photos of what he claimed were 7 00:00:48,439 --> 00:00:51,840 bioforms invisible to the naked eye, in his nineteen fifty 8 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,479 eight book as Trevor James, They Live in the Sky. 9 00:00:56,359 --> 00:00:58,679 James wasn't alone in his belief, and the concept of 10 00:00:58,719 --> 00:01:01,640 sky creatures goes back farther than nineteen fifty eight in 11 00:01:01,679 --> 00:01:05,159 both speculative literature and science fiction. A good starting point 12 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,879 for the history of the sky creature's hypothesis is the 13 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:12,760 nineteen ninety seven paper by Jerome Clark, Spacemen, Demons and Conspiracies, 14 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,280 published by the Fund for UFO Research. Clark explores the 15 00:01:17,359 --> 00:01:20,439 many explanations for UFOs put forward throughout the years and 16 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,840 looks at the scch in the section Secret Weapons and 17 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,879 Space Animals. After going into the speculation by people such 18 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,560 as James Moseley, Leon Davidson, and Jacques Valet that flying 19 00:01:31,599 --> 00:01:35,359 saucers or UFOs can be explained as classified secret weapons. 20 00:01:35,719 --> 00:01:38,319 Clark delves into the history of the sky creature concept. 21 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,000 According to Clark, sky creatures originally appeared in fictional form, 22 00:01:42,159 --> 00:01:44,280 possibly for the first time, in the story by Sir 23 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,480 Arthur Conan Doyle, The Horror and the Heights, published in 24 00:01:47,519 --> 00:01:51,760 the November nineteen thirteen issue of The Strand magazine. The 25 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,359 first person to offer the speculation that our skies might 26 00:01:54,439 --> 00:01:57,159 truly be full of living creatures was Charles Fort his 27 00:01:57,239 --> 00:02:00,680 nineteen twenty three book new Lands and what Clark calls 28 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,439 a casual Aside, Fort wrote, it seems no more incredible 29 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,039 that up in the seemingly unoccupied sky there should be 30 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,719 hosts of living things than that the seeming blank of 31 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,919 the ocean should swarm with life. In his nineteen thirty 32 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:18,599 one book Low, he wrote, unknown luminous things or beings 33 00:02:18,599 --> 00:02:21,520 have often been seen, sometimes close to this earth and 34 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,039 sometimes high in the sky. It may be that some 35 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,199 of them were living things that occasionally come from somewhere else. 36 00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:31,439 After Kenneth Arnold's June twenty fourth, nineteen forty seven sighting, 37 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,639 on July seventh, John Philip Besser wrote the Army Air Forces, 38 00:02:35,719 --> 00:02:38,080 giving his opinion that what Arnold and the many others 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,840 that had followed him had seen were a form of 40 00:02:40,879 --> 00:02:45,639 space animal or creature of a highly attenuated ectoplasmic substance 41 00:02:45,759 --> 00:02:49,680 capable of materialization and de materialization, whose propellant is a 42 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,879 form of telekinetic energy. Besser posited that their presence might 43 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,719 explain blood and meat falls reported throughout history. Fort wrote 44 00:02:57,759 --> 00:03:00,680 about such events, and in the assumption that they were 45 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,639 hostile predators with the taste for human flesh, might explain 46 00:03:03,719 --> 00:03:07,840 missing persons. As silly as Besser's theory might seem, according 47 00:03:07,879 --> 00:03:10,560 to Clark, an Air Force spokesman replied to Besser saying 48 00:03:10,599 --> 00:03:13,680 it was one of the most intelligent theories we have received, 49 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,599 and in nineteen forty nine summary of Projects Signs Investigations, 50 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,240 it was noted although the objects has described act more 51 00:03:21,319 --> 00:03:24,120 like animals than anything else, there are few reliable reports 52 00:03:24,159 --> 00:03:28,960 on extraterrestrial animals. Clark adds that aerospace engineer Alfred Letting, 53 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,680 who worked with Projects Signed as a civilian he was 54 00:03:31,719 --> 00:03:34,280 a core member when it was established, is quoted in 55 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:38,080 the October tenth, nineteen fifty four Trenton Times advertiser as saying, 56 00:03:38,639 --> 00:03:41,840 I suspect that UFOs may be a kind of space animal. 57 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,000 Much of Clark's paper seems to have been sourced from 58 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,800 the December fifteenth, nineteen fifty seven Civilian Saucer Intelligence of 59 00:03:48,879 --> 00:03:53,039 New York newsletter CSI n Y was a science minded 60 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,280 organization found that in nineteen fifty four by Isabel Davis, 61 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,719 Ted Bletcher, and Lex Mabane. On page thirty one of 62 00:03:59,719 --> 00:04:02,120 the news letter. Is the article page thirty three of 63 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:07,159 the pdf, headlined who Discovered Space Animals, which has most 64 00:04:07,159 --> 00:04:10,719 of the same information provided by Clark. Clark references another 65 00:04:10,759 --> 00:04:13,360 CSI article on the subject that appeared in the September 66 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,800 nineteen fifty seven issue of Fantastic Universe. The newsletter article 67 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,199 begins with a reference to the Fantastic Universe article. After 68 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,560 we'd written an article for the September Fantastic Universe suggesting 69 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,319 that angel hair might be interpreted as organic tissues cast 70 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,439 off by stratospheric creatures, we began to wonder who was 71 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,000 the first to think of UFOs as animals. Ivan T. 72 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,079 Sanderson as the first person mentioned as possibly being the 73 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,040 most eminent advocate of the idea at the time, and 74 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:44,079 is said to have been principally influenced by an article 75 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,720 by contest zoe Wasilko Sireki published in the September nineteen 76 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,079 fifty five American Astrology. Clark provides an excerpt and says 77 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,720 her article was the most influential of all articles written 78 00:04:55,759 --> 00:04:58,720 on the subject because it gave the theory concrete shape. 79 00:04:59,199 --> 00:05:02,240 It summed up in the CSI newsletter this way, this 80 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:07,959 theory postulated ionospheric energy feeding quasi electrical entities. According to 81 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,399 the CSI article, others came up with their own sky 82 00:05:10,519 --> 00:05:14,759 creature theories at about the same time. French engineer renee 83 00:05:14,759 --> 00:05:17,759 Foer published his theory. In the summer nineteen fifty four, 84 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,759 Paris mom parness that UFOs were disc beings. Commander Walter 85 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,639 Kreeg suggested that UFOs behaved more like puppies than spaceships, 86 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,360 and Desmond Leslie suggests that in flying saucers have landed 87 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,240 that in the CSI reporter's words, the cylindrical UFO of 88 00:05:34,319 --> 00:05:38,839 Oleragayek might have been a huge living thing. The CSI 89 00:05:38,959 --> 00:05:41,680 article brings up the same early post nineteen forty seven 90 00:05:41,759 --> 00:05:45,480 theorists as Clark and adds Arnold to the list sometime 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,680 during this period two We don't have definite references. The 92 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,480 idea was publicly advanced by pioneer saucer investigator Kenneth Arnold. 93 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,000 A search on our part came up with a quote 94 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,040 from Arnold in the article by Fred Schneider headlined Eerie 95 00:05:58,079 --> 00:06:01,879 blue Lights settle Live Thing in the January twenty nine, 96 00:06:01,959 --> 00:06:05,959 nineteen fifty five issue of The Observer out of La Grande, Oregon. 97 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,480 I believe that whatever they are, they are living organisms 98 00:06:09,519 --> 00:06:11,959 and not controlled by any type of man from Mars. 99 00:06:12,879 --> 00:06:15,959 Going back further in time, the CSI article, like Clark's, 100 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,800 ultimately attributes Charles Fort with the origin of the scch 101 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,959 and includes the same quote from new Lands at the end. 102 00:06:23,439 --> 00:06:26,519 The Civilian Saucer Intelligence article on the subject that appeared 103 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:29,759 in the September nineteen fifty seven issue of Fantastic Universe 104 00:06:29,879 --> 00:06:32,959 is mostly about the angel hair phenomenon. The first part 105 00:06:32,959 --> 00:06:35,720 of a series had lined Shapes in the Sky. It 106 00:06:35,759 --> 00:06:38,600 begins with a description of an investigation by CSI of 107 00:06:38,639 --> 00:06:41,680 an angel hair report, begun after the witness had contacted 108 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,600 Ivan T. Sanderson. Other contemporary cases are described, with the 109 00:06:45,639 --> 00:06:47,839 source provided for each of them, and then there are 110 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,800 several more cases presented going back to seventeen forty one. 111 00:06:51,879 --> 00:06:55,040 The readers told that the latter cases were mostly taken 112 00:06:55,079 --> 00:06:57,240 from fort but we quote in all cases from the 113 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,879 original reference. This all leads to the speculation that angel 114 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,000 hair might come from live large flocks of spherical entities 115 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,439 or creatures about six feet in diameter, which the authors 116 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,240 admit is unquestionably in conflict with present scientific view of 117 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,800 what is possible. The two possibilities offered are that these 118 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,480 jellybirds shed their appendages after mating or burst open after death, 119 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,920 leaving behind their cobwebby remains. A nineteen fifty case in 120 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,959 Philadelphia is reference that is said to have been described 121 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,040 in the second of the Shapes in the Sky series, 122 00:07:30,079 --> 00:07:33,399 published in the May nineteen fifty seven issue of Fantastic Universe. 123 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,879 Clark also described this case in his article, and its 124 00:07:36,959 --> 00:07:40,879 source is the September twenty seventh, nineteen fifty Philadelphia Inquirer. 125 00:07:41,519 --> 00:07:45,399 According to the article, flying Saucer just dissolves. At around 126 00:07:45,399 --> 00:07:49,040 ten pm the night before, patrolman John Collins and Joseph 127 00:07:49,079 --> 00:07:51,639 Keenan spotted what seemed to be a parachute and watched 128 00:07:51,639 --> 00:07:54,560 through their patrol car windshield as it settled into a 129 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,800 field near twenty sixth Street there Boulevard. They called in 130 00:07:58,879 --> 00:08:01,759 street sergeant Joseph coin Book and patrolman James Casper, and 131 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,439 the four of them went to investigate. According to them, 132 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,879 when the object was hit by the light of their flashlights, 133 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:09,959 it gave off a purplish glow, almost a mist, that 134 00:08:10,079 --> 00:08:13,160 looked as though it contained crystals. Collins went to pick 135 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,360 it up in the area where he made contact, dissolved 136 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,920 and left the sticky, odorless residue. Within twenty five minutes, 137 00:08:18,959 --> 00:08:21,360 the entire object, which was so light it didn't even 138 00:08:21,399 --> 00:08:25,439 bend the reeds it sat on, dissolved. Cook notified the FBI, 139 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,279 but there was nothing to show but a magic circle 140 00:08:28,319 --> 00:08:31,680 on the ground where something purple and quite evanescent once 141 00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:35,759 had been. According to many sources, including the Classic Movie 142 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,919 Hub blog, the case was the inspiration for the nineteen 143 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,639 fifty eight movie The Blob. As for sky creatures appearing 144 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,639 as movie monsters, it wasn't until twenty twenty two that 145 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,279 such a creature was featured in a major film. The 146 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,919 creature has the unmonster like name of Jean Jacket. And 147 00:08:52,279 --> 00:08:56,720 is the nemesis of earth bound humans in Nope. Charles 148 00:08:56,759 --> 00:08:59,679 Lear is the author of The Flying Saucer Investigators in 149 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:34,080 its second edition on Amazon dot com.