1 - The Black Vault

••
AVIONICS
Spectacular corona display along General Electric's experimental 500,000-v. transmission line near Pittsfield was produced by
applicat=on of more than 120% of r~ted voltage. Corona also is induced by dirt, salt crystals or ather foreign particles on the
line or insulators. An extremely high voltage gradient can develop across these, exceeding breakdown voltage of air.
Plasma Theory May Explain Many UFOs
·By Philip J. Klass
Washington-Luminous plasmas of ionized air, a special form of "ball lightning"
generated by electric corona that occurs on high-tension power lines under certain
conditions, may explain many sightings of lower-altitude "unidentified flying ob·
jects.~· It is n~lated tO St. Elmo's fire, sometimes seen on or near aircraft iri flight.
If this theory is correct, it would explain the increasing frequency of UFO sightings
in recent years when there have been growing numbers of very high-voltage
· power lines. Also there has been increasing atmospheric pollution whose contaminants
may play a catalytic role in the phenomenon.
Descriptions contained in a recent ---------------­
book, "Incident At Exeter." appear to
support this theory. John G. Fuller, its
journalist author, interviewed dozens of
persons who reported seeing. UFOs in
the vicinity of Exeter, N. H., approximately
a year ago.
Fuller expresses the belief that top
Air Force and government officials
know that the UFOs are extra-terrestrial
spacecraft but have successfully kept
this a secret for nearly two decades to
prevent national panic. But a much
more plausible scientific explanation
emerges when the Exeter sigh.tings are
analyzed.
Most of the UFO sightings in the
Exeter area occurred along or very near
to high-tensiori power lines, according
to the author. The same is true of two
other ·sightings he investigated in western
Pennsylvania and others reriorted at
the time of the No.rtheast power black-·
out last November. Fuller speculates
that the extra-terrestrial spacecraft may
be attracted to the power lin~s as a
source of energy for refueling ..their pro-
. pulsion systerf!s. · ·
Electric corona, which this writer be·
· lieves is the mechanism that triggers one . ·
form of "ball lightning"· under suitable
conditions, is a moderately well uriderstood
phenomenon. But mOst scientific
investigations of corona have been
aimed at devis-ing means of suppressing
it, rather than gainjng f1.,lndamental theoretical
understanding.
Ball lightning, most frequently reported
during or immediately following
a thunderstorm, is poorly understood.
Until recent years it attracted little scientific
attention, having been treated by
many as an "old wives tale." But in the
late forties and early. fifties, ·ball light·
ning attracted the attention of several
top Soviet scientists, including Academician
Peter Kapitsa.
Five years ago, several U. S. laboratories
began to invest!gate the phenomenon,
motivated in part by its possible
application to anti-ICBM defenses
(AW&ST Dec. 4, 1961, p. 52). These included
the Bendix Research Laboratories,
the Illinois Institute of Technology's
Research Institute and Raytheon's
advanced development group.
There is a striking similarity between
the reported characteristics of ball lightning
and the UFOs sighted by dozens
of persons in the Exeter area, as reported
by Fuller, who used a tape recorder
to insure accurate observation
details. For example:
• Color: Ball lightning is multi-colored.
but red is the most predominant
color reported, followed by intense bluish-white
and green. A vast majorHy of
the sightings reported from Exeter said
the object was red, whil~ the remainder
were. either. bluish-white. green. or a
combination of all of these.
• Shape: Ball lightning normally is
either spherical or ellipso'dal with many
reports of a doughnut-shaped or ring
configuration. The Exeter sightings were
mostly round, ova1-shaped or domeshaped.
.
• Sound: Ball lightning is often ac-
48 Aviation Week & Space Technology, August 22, 1966