There was a giant upsurge in UFO sightings in the 1950s. It would not be unreasonable to blame that on the zeitgeist. Russians and rockets and Russians with rockets, coming right after the Germans aimed for the Moon but hit London. Mass psychology is a plausible explanation.
But such logic would be wrong! The Air Force started Project Blue Book in 1952. Testing for the U-2 spy plane started in 1955. And whaddaya know? A recently declassified CIA report tells us that more than half of all UFO reports in 1955-69 turned out to be U-2 (or later A-12) sightings. From pages 72-73 of the CIA report: “When the sun dropped below the horizon of an airliner flying at 20,000 feet, the plane was in darkness. But if a U-2 was airborne [at 60,000 feet] in the vicinity of the airliner at the same time ... its silver wings would catch and reflect the rays of the sun and appear to the airliner pilot, 40,000 feet below, to be fiery objects.”
I will bet dollars to doughnuts both that the earlier 1947-55 sightings and most of the remaining unexplained from 1955-69 are due to flight tests that remain classified for whatever silly reason.
This post does not really belong in the “space” category, but it seemed like the closest fit.
Hat tip: Will Baird.
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