were to the left of the sun.

The AISS commander concluded it was "probably" Venus but BB did not agree apparently, or was asleep at the wheel under Capt Hardin, and they evidently did no investigation. 

Venus and Antares were low on the horizon about 12 to 24 degs to the left of the sun, which set at about 5:25 PM, Antares set at about 5:50 PM or near or at the end of the sighting, times all depending on exact location and height of the hill and western horizon terrain for the radar base witnesses (not worth researching).  The two objects were compared to a "bright star" and separation distance estimates yield angular separations of roughly 10 to 20 degs.  Capt Denkler said they disappeared by "sinking below the horizon."  All the arm's length estimates are completely worthless and in general highly unreliable unless verified by on-site investigation with intelligent witnesses.  Size / distance estimates yield more reliable angular sizes, which turn out to be at the limits of perception -- e.g., 100 feet at 20 miles is about 1/10 Full Moon or close to a point source star or planet, unlike the worthless "half dollar" or "football" at arm's length which would be roughly 40 to 500 times larger.  In other words 40-500x factor error, massively overestimated.

Not explained is why Venus disappeared, since it would not set until around 6:30-6:40 PM, unless some cloud cover came in that was not noticed or properly reported.  One witness at the radar station said the objects did not move in front of or behind any cloud formations during his 4 minute sighting, but in the 4602d's sloppy reporting we can't tell if that means there were cloud formations in the sky but Lt Anderson didn't think the objects were near them.  No explanation why radar station witnesses had such disparate durations ranging from 4 to 20 minutes for the same objects seen from the same location, with start times ranging from 5:20 to 5:50 PM, which makes it seem that some witnesses first sighted the objects after they had already disappeared to other witnesses, which apparently means some of the clock times given are in error.  The 4602d didn't bother to ask why.  Objects were described as motionless or slow-moving except when moving "fast" towards and away -- classic atmospheric distortion of stars and planets low on the horizon.

Remember now, the low quality of the reported data is seen by analyzing the data, not just by ad hoc commentary.

Brad