July 9, Richmond Indiana Palladium-Item
FINDING OF "FLYING DISC" IN NEW MEXICO PROVES DUD;
COUNTY LINEMAN FINDS POSSIBLE "SAUCER" IN OXFORD
OXFORD. -- This college town, seat of Miami university, is taking its first "flying saucer," if that is what it is, in stride.
John Strunks, Cincinnati Gas and Electric lineman, found the contraption, a three-foot-square kite-like dingus on the university golf course Monday. It had been there for several days. Strunks reported, recalling he had seen it shining in the grass once before.
When the "flying saucer" craze got well started, Trunks returned to the spot and picked up the affair. By that time, it had been blown or was carried across a roadway.
The disc is a yard square, built like a kite. Cross pieces are tacked together and circled with a heavy cord. The heavy paper which covers it is plain on one side and covered with tin or lead foil on the other.
One of the cross members carries a heavy piece of cloth, similar to the tail of a kite. The opposite corner has a small piece of string thread through eyelets.
On one corner there is some writing, almost too fine to read with the naked eye. It reads this way:
CC-7724-I.
Some who have viewed the contraption report that it may be a radar target, whatever that is.
But until Oxford sees a real-for-sure "flying saucer," or until someone proves otherwise, the "thing" that Mr. Strunks found is just that.
OBJECT FOUND NEAR OXFORD DESCRIBED AS RABAL TARGET
Editor's Note The following article was written by George Lane, a member of The Palladium-Item editorial staff, who during the war served with the United States Army Air forces as a weather observer.
The triangular object which was found by John Strunks near Oxford, Ohio, appears to me, from the picture, to be a Rabal target, used by the weather service to obtain the speed and direction of winds aloft.
Although during several years weather service in the army, I never served at a station which operated Rabal, I did have the opportunity to become familiar with the appearance and working principle of both the air and ground Rabal equipment.
Description Given
The air equipment consists of a diamond-shaped, foil target attached to a gas-filled balloon and sent aloft. On the ground an observer follows the target with a movement antenna, from which is sent a radar beam.
The radar beam is "shot" at the target during the flight of the balloon.
Description Given
The air equipment consists of a diamond- shaped, foil target attached to a gas-filled balloon and sent aloft. On the ground an observer follows the target with a movement antenna, from which is sent a radar beam.
The radar beam is "shot" at the target during the flight of the balloon.
The horizontal angle and the angle from north at which the antenna is aimed are measured at regular intervals during the ascent of the balloon.
The measured angles give the basis for a series of mathematical calculations which tell the speed and direction the balloon is being blown as it rises in the atmosphere.
The observer knows the rate the balloon ascends and thus easily determines the speed and direction of the upper winds at any given height.
The upper wind data is used by the weather forecasters and is also part of weather information supplied pilots.
Looks Like Kite
The foil target is about three feet in length and looks similar to a child's kite.
As the balloon rises, it becomes increasingly bigger and eventually bursts. The attached target then, of course, drops to the earth.
The distance which one of these balloons travels from the station where it is released depends on the speed of the winds. One could very easily travel several hundred miles form its point of origin before bursting.
It is my guess that the object found by Strunks is a Rabal target sent aloft by a weather station somewhere in Illinois.
