12 November 1957
(Fitchburg Sentinel, Massachusetts)
Source: NewspaperArchive.com
The whole article:
“The government’s policy in saying that flying saucers and other
unidentified flying objects do not exist is ‘not wise,’ Rev. Albert H. Baller
of Greenfield,
noted authority and lecturer, told members of the Fitchburg Lions Club last
night.
Speaking at the weekly meeting af the Lions Club at the King’s Corner
Restaurant at which members of the Athol Lions Club were guests, Rev. Mr.
Baller told his audience that public interest in the unidentified flying
objects has increased since the launching of the Sputnik I and II by the
Russians.
‘I have noted a radical change in the reaction of people listening to my
talk on flying saucers since the launching of the satellites,’ he stated.
His belief
Rev. Mr. Baller told his listeners, ‘if
the government knows what I think it knows about flying saucers—that
we are being visited from outer space—I think it should inform the public.’
He stated that evidence has shown that the flying
saucers and other unidentified objects sighted throughout the world in the past
decade are ‘not secret weapons of the United States or any other nation’
but what he termed ‘interlopers from outer space.’
In spite of its efforts to minimize reports of flying
saucers, Rev. Mr. Baller stated, the [Air Force] has said that only two per cent of the
reports are hoaxes and some mirages.
‘Seen Several Times’
‘Hallucinations have been ruled out as an explanation
for reported sightings of the flying saucers,’ he said, ‘because the objects
have been seen several times by more than one person.’
In response to a question from the audience concerning
the lack of printed reports of what trained astronomers have thought about flying
saucers, Rev. Mr. Baller answered that Dr. Lincoln [LaPaz], the discoverer of
the planet Pluto, ‘for one, takes it extremely serious.’
‘Several astronomers have seen these things,’ he
added.
Rev. Mr. Baller told his audience that he ‘has spoken
to several influential men in the Pentagon’ and especially in the [Air Force]
about the phenomena of flying saucers and stated that they are ‘very much
concerned.’
‘In playing down reports of sightings of unidentified
flying objects, the [Air Force] is saying that its own men can’t be trusted in
these things,’ he said.
Warns of Crackpots
‘The field of unidentified flying objects is a vital
and serious field of research,’ Rev. Mr. Baller stated. ‘However, it is wide
open for every crackpot in the world.’
Rev. Mr. Baller’s talk was highlighted by the showing
of more than 50 colored slides on the phenomena of flying saucers including
many sketches of the different sizes and shapes of saucers reported seen
throughout the world.
Also included were tape-recorded interviews with three
of Rev. Mr. Baller’s neighbors in Greenfield who
have sighted the objects over Massachusetts
skies.
Saw 3 Objects
The speaker told how he became interested in the field
of investigating flying saucers and other unidentified flying objects after
sighting three spherical objects in the sky on Feb. 20, 1952.
‘I had been reading some books and other material on
the mysterious flying objects with some scepticism, but sighting them myself
gave me a tremendous push toward the investigation which I am now carrying
out,’ he stated.
Rev. Mr. Baller is a member of the board of governors
of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena with headquarters
at Washington, D. C., and also is a member of the Flying Saucer Research Society
of London, the Australian Flying Saucer Research Society in addition to several
other civilian organizations studying the phenomena of aerial objects.
A graduate of Nebraska
Wesleyan University
and the Boston University School of Theology, he is rector of the Robbins Memorial
Church in Greenfield.
Arthur J. Lanides and Norman H. Crawford were
co-chairmen of the Lions Club program committee.”
NOTE: The planet, Pluto, was discovered by U.S. astronomer Clyde William
Tombaugh in 1930, not by Dr. Lincoln LaPaz.
Related posts:
realtvufos.blogspot.com/search?q=1952
The late Reverend Albert H. Baller, U.S. Minister,
UFO Lecturer, Researcher & NICAP Board Member
(nicap.org photo)
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