Comments on: 1948 “Birdmen” Cases Revisited

by: Munnin

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:38:28 +0000

I can’t help but notice the interesting synchronicity of this story preceeding (by 3 days or so) the sudden media attention paid to Yves Rossi, who those at The Daily Grail call “the first Icarus of the XXIst century” Anyone else?

by: red_pill_junkie

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:51:55 +0000

Hmmm… maybe those guys have returned after 60 years, and are performing their maneuvers south of the border:

http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/damndata/index.php?/archives/1403-More-flying-figures-in-Mexico.html

by: sschaper

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:21:44 +0000

I wouldn’t want to say that the hang gliders and related phenomena explain -all- the reports, but in ‘48, we’d've been both continuing to test crazy ideas from WWII and ideas from the German scientists.

Today, there are parawings in the commercial market. One wonders how long they might have been used for HALO insertions by the military. An early cobbled-together parawing with maybe a small hydrazine engine for control is not inconceivable, is it? Not safe, I wouldn’t think, but possible.

by: TaishaMcGee

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:57:36 +0000

Once again, I am inclined to point out: Washington is amazing. I am lucky to live there.

by: MattBille

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:58:13 +0000

“wings retracting and extending…” a human-sized ornithopter has only recently been built the the most modern technology, and it’s extremely limited. Likewise, jetpacks or rocketpacks have yet to evolve beyound allowing a long hop: the tradeoff between weight and fuel doesn’t allow for extended flight even with 2008 technology. The kind of flight described is out of the bounds of possibility in 1948 (the charming film The Rocketeer aside).

A unique problem arises when witnesses describe something not physically possible. They must either be lying or mistaken. If we assume the witnesses are sincere, we are then left with the choice of whether the object of their mistake was an ordinary creature like a large bird or a cryptoozological creature (Mothman or whatever).

by: greywolf

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:51:53 +0000

There was a description of “3 planes” perhaps early version of powered hang glider? Who knows who was working on that kind of stuff then.

by: edlaroche

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:47:21 +0000

When I was at the 68 world fair in NY there was a demo of a jet pack that allowed a single individual to fly. It’s not unreasonable to think that some testing of such a device might have been happening in 48.