“You know what they said about the Mantell saucer,” I reminded him. “Some of the Godman Field people said it was at least three hundred feet in diameter.”
“I’ve heard it was twice that,” said Pete.
“You know any Kentucky National Guard pilots?” I asked.
“One or two,” said Pete. “But they couldn’t tell me anything. It was hushed up too fast.”
That evening I talked with the airline official, whom I knew well enough to call by his first name. I put it to him bluntly.
“Dick, if you’re under orders not to talk, just tell me. Fm trying to find out whether Project ‘Saucer’ has muzzled airline pilots.”
“You mean the ones who’ve sighted things? Perhaps, in a few cases. But most of the pilots know what happened to Captain Emil Smith, on United, and those Eastern pilots. They keep still so they won’t be laughed at. Also the airlines don’t like their pilots to talk for publication.”
“I’ve heard of several cases,” I said, “where Air Force Intelligence is supposed to have warned pilots to keep mum. Two of the reports come pretty straight.”
He made a gesture. “That could be. I’m not denying that airline pilots—and that includes ours—see these things all the time. They’ve been sighted on the Seattle-Alaska route, and between Anchorage and Japan. I know of several saucers that pilots have seen between Honolulu and the mainland. Check with Pan-American—you’ll find their pilots have seen them, too.”
“What happens to those reports?”