NASA Project Firewheel Caused Argentina UFO Reports in 1980

It is not very often a UFO becomes an IFO. This is one of those times. I have to wonder how many other documents will be declassified over time that will show other military projects linked to UFO sightings. Given what the public is aware of in flight technology is 10 to 20 years behind what is out really out there, this kind of stuff could toss out some good clues as to where the technology really is.

A declassified document from the Department of State revealed that in June of 1980, a NASA experiment called “Firewheel” carried out over Argentina produced countless UFO reports in the region during that time. There are many documented UFO sightings in Argentina during 1980.

A few examples include airport personnel, meteorologists, and many others spotting what were described as “fleets” of spindle-shaped, oval crafts emitting a light ray.

The Journal of Hispanic Ufology even reported about another 1980 case where three Argentinean teenagers named Daniel Crescini, Federico Higa and Gustavo Moreno were on a fishing trip on the Sali River in Northern Argentina, when they spotted an object that “rose from the surface of the water into the air, absorbed by a flat, metallic object that remained static some three meters over the river”.

These are just a couple of extremely odd sightings that this Department of State document may actually explain.

Link to the rest of the article

Enjoy, I found it a fun read.

reply to post by Mamatus

Excellent find. I S&F'ed and will be back after the steaks come off the grill. The EM/Plasma/Magnetosphere aspect is very interesting as well as the various agents that were released into the air. From your link:

It released barium and lithium ion clouds into the sky from a total of 12 containers containing 20 kg of the mixture.

The goals of the project were to:

–> Understand plasma processes related to magnetic cavities

–> The energy exchange between plasma and the magnetosphere

–> Whether or not ion waves could interact with “trapped” energy particles

–> Following the path and behavior of injected ions in the magnetosphere

Also of note I think: The testing that is done outside of U.S. borders. Hopefully I can bring some things to the thread later that are interesting in that respect.

The GUT
reply to post by Mamatus

 

Excellent find. I S&F'ed and will be back after the steaks come off the grill. The EM/Plasma/Magnetosphere aspect is very interesting as well as the various agents that were released into the air. From your link:

It released barium and lithium ion clouds into the sky from a total of 12 containers containing 20 kg of the mixture.

The goals of the project were to:

–> Understand plasma processes related to magnetic cavities

–> The energy exchange between plasma and the magnetosphere

–> Whether or not ion waves could interact with “trapped” energy particles

–> Following the path and behavior of injected ions in the magnetosphere

Also of note I think: The testing that is done outside of U.S. borders. Hopefully I can bring some things to the thread later that are interesting in that respect.

edit on 7-2-2014 by The GUT because: (no reason given)

Some of the space nuclear tests involved tungsten. Its covered in Dyson's Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship. Probably had to do with the Casaba-Howitzer plasma stuff. I'd be curious to see if UFO reports peaked around nuclear tests.

that sorta looks like what was seen during some the Gulf Breeze sightings

Confused article -- Firewheel was a French satellite, I don't know how much NASA involvement. All the 1980 Argentine cases [www.nicap.org...], as described in my 1983 article [www.debunker.com...], were undoubtedly NOT 'Firewheel' but were Soviet Molniya-orbit commsats and missile warning birds.

The declassified State Dept memo the article refers to dates from June 19, 1980, and refers to a month-old CLAIM from an Argentine scientist working for NASA that a future French launch WOULD sometime in June near local midnight create a comet-like apparition over Argentina. But the embassy cable was prompted by an actual sighting a few days earlier -- June 14 -- that actually was due to one of the Soviet launches.

There is no evidence in the declassified cable, or the NICAP files, that ANY 'Firewheel' chemical release was EVER observed from Argentina. The entire premise of this cited article is erroneous.

reply to JimOberg[/url]

why do I get this sinking feeling your going too debunk this


So this is picture of a French satellite?

Hoax Bin ??


declassified document

Not a hoax -- Firewheel was real, and chem releases HAVE sparked MANY ufo sightings. And the article's main theme, that many prosaic explanations for UFO reports are simply never found by UFO researchers, is valid. Even if there were NO extraordinary stimuli [which is still a legitimate issue for debate and uncertainty], there will ALWAYS be an artificial residue of unsolved reports. The existence of a residue of 'unsolveds' is NOT proof that a truly extraordinary stimulus MUST exist.

The GUT
Also of note I think: The testing that is done outside of U.S. borders. Hopefully I can bring some things to the thread later that are interesting in that respect.

Well, considering it was in space, it's not exactly "outside of US borders" in the sense that they were flying around the skies of Argentina, any more than you'd say that about the ISS or GPS satellites. It was in low Earth orbit, whizzing over a lot of territory.

I just posted there:

Waiting for evidence, Ryan, not random coincidences. Track down program reports of exactly when the releases occurred, not just a letter home promising his Mom when they might be. We need more work like this, you're just not home yet.