Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997
From: Jerry Washington <skyeking@aye.net>

It's been awhile, but I'm back with another case file from Oak
Ridge, Tennessee: my hometown. The "Atomic City" has a long
and storied history where the UFO phenomenon is concerned, and
this is just one account among many that are available for public
consumption, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, and books
by guys such as J. Allen Hynek (CUFOS), and Edward J.Ruppelt
(Project Blue Book).


                          Jerry Washington
                            SD KY/MUFON


The following account is taken from an FBI document (circa
1950) sent by J. Edgar Hoover to Mr. Francis R. Hammock,
Acting Director of the Division of Security of the Atomic
Energy Commission in Washington, D.C.:

"On 15 October, 1950, Atomic Energy Security Patrol Trooper,
Edward D.Rymer, and a caretaker, John Moneymaker,
from the University of Tennessee Research Farm, at Oak Ridge,
saw an object at about 12,000 to 15,000 feet above Solway Gate
of the "Control Zone." This object appeared to be an aircraft
which was starting to make an outside loop, trailing smoke
behind. Soon these two men realized that the formerly
described smoke behind the aircraft was a tail. This object
continued to descend in a controlled dive, and when it
approached the ground it leveled off and flew slowly, parallel
to the ground. This object came within two hundred and ten (210)
feet of the two observers and was paralleling the ground at
approximately six (6) feet. Trooper Rymer attempted to approach
the object but as he approached the object became smaller and
started moving in a southeasterly direction. This object is said
to have approached a nine (9) foot cyclone chain link fence and
made a controlled movement to clear the fence, then a Willow
tree, then a telephone post and wire, after which the object
gained momentum and altitude and cleared a hill at approximately
one (1) mile away. The object appeared to be pear shaped. When
this object was over the hill it was still visible as the same
object that was observed when only fifty (50) feet away. (The
explanation given was that this object grew larger as it gained
altitude and speed.)

Approximately five minutes later the object appeared
again having reappeared from approximately the same location
from which it had disappeared. The object was seen again five
minutes later for approximately ten seconds.

During the above happenings, Mr. John Moneymaker had
visual reference of this object during its first [appearance]
for approximately seven minutes. Trooper Rymer was interrupted
twice during which times he called his headquarters in an attempt
to get other observers. Also, during the fantastic flight of this
object, Trooper Rymer stopped Mr. E.W. Hightower, who was
on the highway in his vehicle, to verify what was being seen. Mr.
Hightower's statement substantiates the description as before.

By the time the object appeared the second time, Joe
Zarzecki, Captain of the Atomic Energy Commission Security
Patrol, was present and also witnessed this phenomenon. Each
of the observers describes the object substantially as follows:

a. When the object was first sighted it appeared to be an
aircraft trailing smoke, or better described as "smoke writing."

b. When the object was approaching the ground in its descent,
it took on the shape of a bullet with a large tail.

c. When the object was sighted on the ground (from app. 210 ft).
It appeared to be approximately the size of a 2x5 card {from a
distance], with a twenty (20) foot ribbon tail. The object and the tail
were alternately moving up and down, and the ribbon appeared to
be waving in the breeze. The color was a metallic gray.

d. When Trooper Rymer came within fifty (50) feet of
the object he described it similar to the above except that the
first two and one-half (2 ½) feet of the tail appeared more
solid, but the last seventeen and one-half (17 ½) feet of the
tail appeared almost transparent and was glowing, intermittently,
in sections. The tail appeared to have four or five sections
which would glow intermittently.

Trooper Rymer's record is among the best of the troopers
at the Atomic Energy Commission Security Patrol. Mr. John
Moneymaker holds badge No.UT-1817, and is employed by the
University of Tennessee Agricultural Research Farm as a
caretaker for small animals. Mr. E.W. Hightower holds badge No.
6633 and is an employee of the Maxon Construction Company.

The Controller, Capt. W. Akin, of Detachment No. 2…at the
Knoxville Airport Radar Site, made a report that he had seen
peculiar readings on the radar scopes at approximately 1520 hours.
Apparently the radar picture was indefinite, intermittent, and
inaccurate, because the objects sighted by radar would only make
a short "painting" on the scope and would then disappear only to
reappear at another location."

Attached to this Summary are eleven (11) enclosures
which tend to clarify information contained in the former two
(2) Summaries of Information on SUBJECT. These enclosures are
composed of witness statements; background information concerning
previous sightings of peculiar objects over Oak Ridge; and radar
reports. The most reliable sources available were utilized in the
compilation of this report. The employment records and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation reports concerning the witnesses were
inspected to ascertain their reliability, integrity, and loyalty
to the United States Government.

The opinions of the officials of the Security Division, AEC,
Oak Ridge; Security Branch, ??PA [partially unreadable]
Division, Oak Ridge: AEC Security Patrol, Oak Ridge; FBI,
Knoxville: Air Force Radar and Fighter squadrons, Knoxville;
and the OSI, Knoxville, Tennessee, FAIL TO EVOLVE AN
ADEQUATE EXPLANATION FOR SUBJECT [emphasis mine]
however, the possibilities of practical jokers, mass hysteria,
balloons of any description, flights of birds (with or without cobwebs
or other objects attached), falling leaves, insect swarms, peculiar
weather conditions, reflections, flying kites, objects thrown
from the ground, windblown objects, insanity, and many other
natural happenings HAVE BEEN REJECTED because of the
simultaneous witnessing of the objects with the reported
radar sightings; because of the reliability of the witnesses;
because of the detailed, similar description of the objects
seen by different persons; and BECAUSE OF IMPOSSIBILITY…"

(The previous document was declassified in 1983.)