Mutual UFO Network’s radar analysis of the watershed Stephenville incident has been languishing in obscurity for nearly four years. But recently, a British computer programmer’s animated reconstruction of that data has brought the mystery into sharper visual focus.
Applying a program that duplicates conversions used by air accident investigators, Rob Jeffs has bundled the 2.8 million radar returns MUFON acquired from five FAA and National Weather Service sites, and recreated moving images of the air traffic over central Texas from 4-8 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2008.
Jeffs compressed the four-hour window into just under three minutes. The first version shows transient individual blips as they appeared on radar in real time, which makes the UFO’s path more difficult to follow. The second version is more dramatic because it imprints each radar track and plots the UFO’s course as it beelines from Stephenville southeast towards President Bush’s ranch in Crawford. The most compelling activity doesn’t kick in until around 6:55 p.m., or 18:55 according to the time counter at the top of the frame.
The second version is presented below, and to understand everything that’s going on, read the MUFON report. You may need to enlarge your screen, but keep an eye on the color coding. The green (and, rarely, blue) objects have activated their transponders; the white blips have not. Carswell Air Force Base sits to the northeast. Its F-16s are flying in pairs or groups of four, but only half the planes are employing transponders. They conduct maneuvers long before the UFO lights the scope.
MUFON investigator Robert Powell, who analyzed the original radar data from FOIA records with Glen Schulze, notes the planes that cross the UFO’s path as it nears Crawford are likely at high altitudes of maybe 30,000 feet and says they’re non-military craft. Which raises the question (again): Where the hell is security when a bogey without a transponder sets a head-on course for restricted air space over the former Western White House? Recent history indicates the law doesn’t necessarily wait ‘til an intruder violates the no-fly zone to pounce.
“As far as I can tell, we’ve pushed the limits of what can be known with the available data,” Powell says from Austin, Tex. “To me, if a person is trying to visualize an event, it’s a lot more meaningful to see it actually unfold, as opposed to Excel charts or power point slides. I think Rob’s done a pretty good job.”
Jeffs calls his application RADARplot. He hopes to get governments now conducting UFO research to run their own data through his program. Directing technical questions at De Void is a fool’s errand. Contact Jeffs at freeman69@gmx.com.
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