Regarding...

>Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 23:45:33 -0800
>From: mprice at mindlink.bc.ca (Michael Price)
>Subject: Re: They Came From Outer Space - Or Did They?

Michael wrote:

>There's another possible candidate species in the area at that time
>of year (sporadically) whose color, size, flight profile and
>proclivity for formation flight at sometimes quite high altitude
>would even more produce *every* detail of the phenomenon which Arnold
>observed: a flock of non- or failed-breeder southbound White
>Pelicans....


Michael,

This is obviously of great interest and I'm extremely grateful.

At the moment, I don't have access to a book on North American birds,
but I did find the following note:

"Pelicans fly in long lines, sometimes in a V formation, sometimes
abreast, sometimes in single file directly behind one another. Most
often they form a wide echelon, each bird slightly behind and to one
side of the next".

Source: Birds of the World, by Oliver L. Austin Jr., p 42


This seems a close match to Arnold's description:

"In group count that I have used in counting cattle and game from the
air, they numbered nine. They were flying diagonally in echelon
formation with a larger gap in their echelon between the first four
and last five".

If the "gap" Arnold mentions is a known feature of Pelican formations,
perhaps someone could kindly confirm for the record.


Arnold also commented:

"What startled me the most was the fact that I could not find any
tails on them".

Which would seem to be consistent!


There's considerable information about the American White Pelican
(AWP) available from several web sites and this has also proved to be
informative. One thing I couldn't find anywhere was confirmation of
the typical airspeed for an AWP.

Any ideas what this might be?


>I'd submit that the hypothesis of a small southbound flock of failed-
>or non-breeder American White Pelicans observed by someone unfamiliar
>with underwing reflectivity would provide the same phenomena and be
>at least as good an alternative possibility than seeing artifacts
>from another planet.

Arnold stated that, "the time was about 3:00 PM and the sun was just
slightly to the southwest of being directly overhead" and also
estimated that the objects "were pretty much on the horizon to me
which would indicate that they were near the same elevation as me".

Under conditions where "the sky and air was as clear as crystal", the
almost directly overhead sun would presumably also be significantly
reflected from Pelicans, even if Arnold was horizontal with the
formation or at a higher altitude?


We'll obviously never prove what Kenneth Arnold witnessed, although
the AWP explanation does seem the most likely explanation.

What has been cited as evidence ruling out a flock of birds, is that
Arnold, unquestionably a highly experienced pilot, claimed, "I hadn't
flown more than two or three minutes on my course when a bright flash
light reflected on my airplane. It startled me as I thought I was too
close to some other aircraft".

"Before I had time to collect my thoughts or to find a close aircraft,
the flash happened again".

Appreciating this may be a difficult question, would the reflection
from an AWP conceivably be so bright as to reflect on a nearby
airplane?

I would have thought not and could otherwise only explain this as a
subjective recollection, Arnold merely observing a "bright flash".


Thank you for the Arthur C. Clarke reference, which I will follow up.

Also to Richard and Don for the interesting contributions.


You do realise, I'll never convince the "true believers". <g>

PELICANS!!! It's an outrage!!



Best wishes,

James.
E-mail: pulsar at compuserve.com