The Trindade Isle Case

National Investigations Committee

ON AERIAL PHENOMENA

Telephone NORTH 7-9434                                 December 7, 1959
CABLE ADDRESS:
     SKYLIGHT

MAJOR DONALD E. KEYHOE
USMC (RET.) DIRECTOR

Dr. Donald H. Menzel
Director,
Harvard College Observatory
Cambridge 38, Mass.

Dear Dr. Menzel:

Please excuse the delay in acknowledging your letter of 27 November 1959. Your tentative conclusion that the UFO was an aircraft enveloped in vapor trails is interesting—— I note that you conclude a real, solid object was present. it seems to ire, however, that it would have been within the means of Brazilian authorities to check out this possibility, and no such announcement was made.

The crucial test of your hypothesis, of course, would be information of this sort plus the relevant meteorological data for the day in question. If you would like to retain the photograph and other material and query Brazilian officials, you are welcome to do so. Also, I am in touch with an atmospheric physicist who apparently has records of the necessary type. Whether he would have similar records for the Trindade Isle area I don’t know, but I will query him about it.

It would seem to be worth a little extra effort to try to pin down the facts in this case, since it is fairly typical of a "good" UFO report. if it were possible to confirm your hypothesis, it would tend to cast doubt on other apparently solid cases —particlarly the Saturn—type, if Brazilian authorities checked on air traffic, and atmospheric conditions were not conducive to exceptional vapor trails, we are left with a fairly well—established UFO.

I also believe that your explanation is typical, within the alternatives you allow, in that some legitimate doubt remains about the identification of the object. The need for better data and more complete investigation of such cases is obvious. Taken in the of the many other strange objects reported by responsible people, this object could well have been an "aircraft" of undetermined origin.

At any rate thanks for your interest in this case and for your time and trouble.

Sincerely,

Richard Hall

*NOTE: Some but not all grammar, typing and spelling errors have been corrected from the original letter.