Notes

 

1 Richelson, Jeffrey, American Espionage and the Soviet Target (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1987), p. 49

2 Zaloga, Steven J., Target America: The Soviet Union and the Strategic Arms Race, 1945-1964 (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1993), p. 267

3 "Calendar of Events: Growth of Soviet Russia's Military Capability (1947-56)", Airpower Readiness Subcommittee, Senate Committee on Armed Services, June 28, 1956. The U.S. device referred to was the Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee, a small one-man ducted fan flying platform.

4 Efron, Reuben, "Account of Trip to Soviet Union," [n. d.], Richard B. Russell Collection, Richard B. Russell Memorial Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens

5 Sampson, Anthony, The Arms Bazaar: From Lebanon to Lockheed (New York: The Viking Press, 1977), p.99

6 Francillon, Renee, Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987), p. 355

7 Tierney, John, "Take the A-Plane: The $1,000,000,000 Nuclear Bird That Never Flew", Science 82, Jan/Feb. 1982, p. 50

8 "RBR Itinerary," June 27, 1955, Richard B. Russell Collection, Richard B. Russell Memorial Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens

9 Dallek, Robert, Lone Star Rising (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 483-5

10 US Air Force Air Intelligence Information Report 193-55: Observations of Travelers in the U.S.S.R., 14 Oct. 1955, RG 341, Entry 267, File 5-2500, MMB, NARA

11 ----, "Bob Gros, '35, Rates with Washington Newsmen As the Top Interviewer of Capital Celebrities," Stanford Alumni Review, April 1947, pp 10-13

12 Gros, Robert R., "I Saw Russia's Atomic Plant", Electrical West, Jan. 1956, p.65

13 Baker, David, The History of Manned Space Flight (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1981), p. 23

14 McDougall, Walter A., ...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1985), p. 118

15 Baker, p. 23

16 Richelson, Jeffrey, America's Secret Eyes in Space.

17 The New York Times, July 30, 1955, p. 1

18 Gillmor, Daniel S., Ed., Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Bantam Books, 1969), p. 91

19 Scoville, Herbert, Memorandum For: Director of Central Intelligence, Subject: Sightings of Flying Saucers or Unconventional Aircraft, [n. d.] (Top Secret)

20 Scoville, Herbert, Memorandum For The Record, Subject: Interview with [Senator Richard Russell], 27 October 1955 (Top Secret)

21 Gros, Robert telephone interview, September 1, 1990

22 Gros, Robert to author, September 12, 1990. When contacted by the author about his 1955 trip, but before he was queried about the Baku incident, Gros recalled that the party had seen many fascinating things in the USSR: "We even passed through their counterpart of Cape Canaveral just as they launched two missiles," he said, prompting the author to inform him that in the official record the objects were described as flying saucers. "Yes, " Gros replied, "the terms 'missile' and 'flying saucer' were used interchangeably in the Embassy."

23 Gros, Robert to author, October 19, 1990

24 US Air Force Air Intelligence Information Report 193-55

25 ibid

26 FBI Memorandum From: A. H. Belmont, To: L.V. Boardman, Subject: Flying Saucers, November 4, 1955

27 Lexow, W. E., Memorandum for the Record, Subject: Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft, 19 October 1955

28 Jacobs, David Michael, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1975), p. 139

29 Leviero, Anthony, "Air Force Plans 'Flying Saucer,' But Denies There Are Any Now," The New York Times, October 26, 1955, p. 1

30 Von Kármán, Theodore, The Wind and Beyond, p.301

31 Richelson, Jeffrey, America's Secret Eyes in Space (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 79

32 Scoville, Herbert, Memorandum for the record: Interview with [Senator Russell], 27 October 1955 (Top Secret)

33 Scoville, Herbert, Memorandum For: Director of Central Intelligence, Subject: Sightings of Flying Saucers or Unconventional Aircraft, N.D. (Top Secret)

34 Russell, Richard B. to Tom Towers, January 17, 1956, quoted in Lorenzen, Coral E., Flying Saucers: The Startling Evidence of the Invasion From Outer Space (New York: Signet Books, 1966), p. 90

35 Miller, Max B. to Richard B. Russell, July 20, 1956, Richard B. Russell Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens

36 --, The New York Times, October 27, p. 8. The comment may refer to President Eisenhower's heart attack on September 24.

37 Earl, Desmond telephone interview, Feb. 21, 1991. Perhaps because of the NOFORN status of the Ryan dispatch, the Canadians were kept ignorant of the Russell report.

38 Russell, Richard B., "Gordon County Industry Appreciation Day Speech," October 5, 1957, Richard B. Russell Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens

39 Jacobs, p. 140-141

40 Lorenzen, Coral and Jim Lorenzen, UFOs: The Whole Story (New York: Signet Books, 1969), p.269

41 ibid, p. 54

42 The McDonnell XV-1, a relatively conventional autogyro; Bell's XV-3 tiltrotor, the direct ancestor of the modern V-22 Osprey; the USAF/Bell X-14, a low-performance VTOL demonstrator built from parts of a Beech Bonanza light plane (and which coincidentally used the same Viper engines as the Avro saucer); the Navy/Convair XFY-1 Pogo, and the Navy/Ryan X-13 Vertijet.

43 -- "Flying Saucers: You'll See Some Official Ones Soon," U.S. News and World Report, November 4, 1955, p. 62-4

44 Memorandum, From: HQ AMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, To: Boston Air Procurement District, Boston Army Base, Subject: Shipment of Classified Material, Contract AF33(600)-30161.

45 U. S. Patent 2,730,311, "Impeller Propelled Aerodynamic Body"

46 Baldwin, Hanson W., "New Ways of Flying - I," The New York Times, February 12, 1956, p. 32

47 U.S. Patent 2,734,699, "Fluid Propelled and Sustained Aircraft"

48 The Coanda effect was far from being "the secret" of MX-1794, but Ley devoted most of the four-page article to detailing how the aerodynamic trick would be used to deflect the saucer's jet exhaust (which was portrayed in a highly schematic and misleading cutaway drawing as originating in a mysterious "central power source") downward to accomplish vertical takeoff.

49 Ley, Willy, "How the Flying Saucer Works," Mechanix Illustrated, March, 1956, p. 78-81

50 Peebles, Curtis, The Moby Dick Project (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991)

51 Hynek, J. Allen, The Hynek UFO Report (New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc, 1977), p. 277-8.