UFOs are back in the news
During my 24 years as an air traffic controller, only one time did pilots report sightings of a UFO to me. It was back in the 1970s and it was very early morning and the fleet of red-eyes from the west coast was just crossing the Alleghany Mountains heading for an assortment of east coast airports. A TWA captain asked what his traffic was. Of course we had nothing on radar that wasn’t identified but 4 other pilots chimed in with the complaint that they had been “buzzed” by a very fast-moving aircraft. We cranked up the primary returns on the radar system but couldn’t spot anything – although if itwas moving as fast as the pilots described, we never would have been able to pick it out. (Finding and tracking the SR-71 was just as impossible a task – but that’s another story…)
None of the pilots wanted to make a report so it probably didn’t go any further than to be written up as an incident in our daily shift log.
But that brings us to today’s story:
Monday a group of pilots and officials demanded the US government reopen an investigation into unidentified flying objects. The 19 former pilots and government officials, who say they have seen UFOs themselves or been involved in probes of strange flying objects, told reporters their questions can no longer be dismissed more than 30 years after the US case was closed.
“We want the US government to stop perpetuating the myth that all UFOs can be explained away in down-to-earth, conventional terms,” said Fife Symington, former governor of Arizona and air force pilot who says he saw a UFO himself in 1997. “Instead our country needs to reopen its official investigation that it shut down in 1969,” Symington told a news conference. Symington read an appeal on behalf of the group of who came to Washington to recount their sightings of UFOs. “We believe that for reasons of both national security and flight safety, every country should make an effort to identify any object in its airspace,” the statement said.
No way, if we were to tell the American public there are
UFOs they would panic.
The group included a retired pilot from Air France who said he saw an enormous flying disc during a flight from Nice to London in 1994, an Iranian pilot who tried in vain to fire on a UFO in 1976 and a former US official from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who claims a probe into a UFO seen over Alaska in 1987 was squelched.
“‘Who believes in UFOs?’ is the kind of attitude of the FAA all the time,” Symington said. “However, when I asked the CIA person: ‘What do you think it was,’ he responded ‘a UFO.’” When Symington suggested the government tell Americans about a UFO, the CIA official allegedly told him: “No way, if we were to tell the American public there are UFOs they would panic.”
The subject of UFOs came up in a recent debate among presidential candidates, with Democrat Dennis Kucinich saying he saw a UFO.
Some interesting “information” can be found by Googling “Men In Black.” If you expect to just find references to the movie, guess again. Some interesting stuff out there.
Stop by http://www.AviaationAnswers.com for more of our editor’s blog entries. We also have the latest aviation and aerospace news updated constantly throughout the day as well as on weekends.
Finally – A clock radio in our hotel room we can live with
t’s Plus they have single-day alarms – one ringie-dingie and no more until it’s
about time! Literally. How many times do you check into a hotel room and find a
clock radio that’s next to impossible to figure out? How often have you given
up and just left a wake-up call only to be jolted awake by the darn clock because the
last guest in the room had to get up at 4 A.M. to catch his or her flight home?
Good news is on the horizon.
reset.
Hilton, Hyatt,
Marriott, and Wyndham are introducing clock radios that are easy to use, with
instructions on the clock. Plus they have single-day alarms – one ringie-dingie
and no more until it’s reset. The clocks each have hookups for assorted iPods
and MP3 players. Hyatt’s iHome (the picture on the right) is a standout: It’s
compatible with all docking iPods, it acts as a charger, and the sound is crisp
and clear enough to fill a suite.
Hotel clock radios
have been due for an overhaul for a long, long time. Someone has finally heard
our complaints and salvation is on the way.
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The flights I take are on time over 90% of the time!
Finding
that hard to believe? It’s true. But then I have a way of picking my flights so
that it isn’t an accident or a quirk of fate. Although I’ve covered all this
before, I’ll run it by you once more. These “rules-to-live-by-if-you’re-going-to-fly-on-airplanes”
are my mode of operation and they should be yours too.
1.
Fly early in the day. Delays build within the
system as the day progresses. The later your flight, the more likely you are to
encounter delays.
2.
Pick the first flight out in the morning.
Airplanes “overnight” at airports all over the country. If yours is there in
the morning, you have an excellent chance of getting out on time.
3.
Book a non-stop flight. Direct flights don’t do
it. They stop along the way and every time you stop, you risk getting caught up
in delays, cancellations, crew time-outs, and a myriad of other possibilities
that will not help ensure you arrive at your ultimate destination in a timely
manner.
4.
Don’t fly during the last week of the month.
Flight crews are allowed only so many hours of flight time each month and
delays during the month compound each day into “time-outs” before the end of
the month. Each crew member has the potential of timing out during a flight and
when they land, they’re done. If you’re on that plane, you’re delayed while the
airline works to get a new crew member in place.
Fly early in the day. Delays build within the
system as the day progresses.
5.
Don’t book the last flight out in the evening.
This is the perfect candidate for cancellation if the system delays have
mounted during the day. The only guarantee that it will go is if the plane or
the crew needs to be at the destination for the following morning.
6.
Plan your route. Avoiding major hubs and major
airports could really help in keeping you on time. Many cities have smaller
airports that are much less prone to delays. If you have to fly connecting
flights, try to connect at non-hub airports.
7.
Plan your time. Arrive early at the airport. Not
only will security lines be easier to endure, but the ticket counter will be
quieter as you’ll be ahead of the “crunch.” You might even end up with a
friendly agent and get an upgrade. It happens so why not to you? Time planning
also means leaving enough time for connections if you’re stuck without that
non-stop flight. Some airlines will book connections with as little as 30
minutes. That doesn’t work. Allowing 60 minutes as second-tier airports and 90
minutes at major airports works a lot better.
You can do a lot for yourself in the pre-planning arena by
subscribing to the airline’s e-mail notification system. Not only will they
send you “deals,” but they’ll send info to your cell phone about changes in itinerary
and delays before other people are aware.
Above all, smile. It makes everyone around you easier to
deal with. And they’ll smile too.
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