Welcome back! This week we're taking a look at photographs taken by Carl Hart Jr, and claims from witnesses of a "flying wing" overhead launching an alien investigation.
Missed Part 1? Don't worry! Click below to get started.
Carl Hart Jr.
Last week we covered Carl Hart Jr., who was able to capture photographs of the lights with a 35mm Kodak camera as they flew overhead. Hart took the photos to the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal, the local newspaper. Jay Harris, the newspaper editor, said he would buy the photos for $10. That's about $110 today!
Harris told Hart that he'd publish the photos, but he'd "run him out of town" if the photos were fake. The photos were picked up by larger newspapers that circulated around the country. They were even published in Life Magazine.
At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, a physics team analyzed the photos to determine their authenticity. This analysis was a part of Project Blue Book, a formal government study that investigated reports of UFOs and aliens. The head of Project Blue Book, Edward J. Ruppelt, sent a written statement to the press saying "the [Hart] photos were never proven to be a hoax, but neither were they proven to be genuine."
That's a little suspicious, don't you think?
The Texas Tech professors who had seen lights a few days prior said the lights were flying in more of a "U" shape, while the photos taken by Hart were clearly in a "V" formation. These two sightings did happen several nights apart, which is a likely explanation for the difference in statements.
Check out Hart's photographs below:
The "Flying Wing"
While investigating the Lubbock Lights claims, Edward Ruppelt stumbled upon other residents of Lubbock saying they saw a "flying wing" pass over the city. The exact date is unclear, but the wife of W.L. Ducker, a petroleum engineer and one of the original Texas Tech professors, told Ruppelt she saw a "huge, soundless flying wing" fly over her house in August 1951.
Ruppelt knew the military had a "flying wing" jet bomber and felt some of the sightings could be explained by that. However, this explanation ignores the fact that everyone who saw the wing said it made no sound as it flew overhead.
