Four famous photos that have always defied explanation
Did you see those UFO pics in Friday’s OC Register? (OC's moment in UFO history)
Evidently, University of Hartford econ professor Dom Armentano thinks that these familiar—even iconic—Polaroids are pretty special. They were taken by Rex Heflin in Tustin, at Walnut and Myford, in 1965. And, according to Amentano, they don’t seem to be a product of hoaxery.
Guess so. Still, that flying saucer sure does look like something somebody found in their mom's attic.
Recent reanalysis gives this one an official okey-dokey.
They say that the famous Tustin hangers were made to house blimps, but that never really made much sense, now did it?
WW II listening post, Irvine, ca. 1943
WW II listening post with volunteer, Gertrude Cleary, Irvine, ca. 1943
Irvine photos from Orange County Public Library digital media.
Above and below from "Titans of History"
19 comments:
Rex Heflin was the head of the OC Republican Party at that time. He disappeared off of the coast of Baja in a boating accident that has never been explained.
You mean....?
Exactly.
HAHAHA.
Love it. The post, not the above comments... though those are interesting, too.
I don't get it. What's funny. I think this is a serious matter.
Blimps--of course!!! It makes sense to me, given their blimp-like shapes and sizes. Wonderful to see those mammoth buildings under construction. LOVE the old pics.
6:46, I know, I know. Of course they were for blimps. (But play along!) They're much too large for this silly little blimps! And why no windows, eh?! Ha!
Actually, there are windows running down each side of the interior. Kind'of. Plus, there's that really cool old picture of blimps three deep and side by side inside one.
I'll soon have proof, and will share what the interior looks like.
This story has me all confused. UFO skeptics? Does this mean that there are people who are skeptical of unidentified things flying? Or are they referring to the folks who are skeptical of aliens flyin' around the OC?
Even if we can't figure out if this is a hat or a gas-powered Frisbee, that doesn't mean it necessarily follows that this is an alien spacecraft.
Though, that commenter Pharmakos (in the OC Reg comments) makes a compelling argument:
I was in highschool in 1996 driving through a snowstorm and a huge light decended on me and did some very starnge stuff. That one night changed my life forever. No one belives me so I stopped talking about it. Although most UFO stories are hoaxes/misidentified , some ARE REAL. It is a BIG DEAL PEOPLE! Its time to start taking these storied seriously and believing it. Just think if there is nothing to it , why does the govt. classify it as top secret?
Yeah! What gives?!
Hopes this storied is a joke. BS
Armentano ends his odd little piece with this:
In conclusion, it would appear that Rex Heflin 1) photographed an odd-shaped and silent experimental aircraft that in the 44 years since has not been reportedly seen again or identified; 2) he perpetrated an amazing hoax that no one yet has unraveled; or 3) he was fortunate enough to have taken several clear pictures of a genuine unidentified flying object. ¶ You decide.
I was perplexed by this when I first read it. His option (1) seems to me to be a UFO possibility, since, if it's an "experimental" aircraft, we sure don't know it, so that makes that dang thing "unidentified." So maybe he's thinking that a UFO (i.e., option 3) is an alien spacecraft.
That's a pretty goofy ways to understand "UFO," if you ask me. A UFO is just that--something up there that we can't "identify."
Are we on the same page, BS?
One thing: if you look at all of the Reg photos, you'll see a couple of pics of the original photographer, Rex Heflin. Let's just say that his big grin doesn't inspire confidence.
Yes, I get it - I suppose my mind wandered by the end of the article.
I guess the choices should be "Its either (i) a hoax, or (ii) something else."
Can I just say something like "Occams Razor," and be done with the thinking? Is that laziness?
No energy for this, eh? I figure it's either a hoax OR it's some surprising illusion (i.e., there's nothing there, but Rex et al. seemed to see something) OR it's one of "our" experimental aircraft OR, um, it's something else.
I'm going with the hoax hypothesis. Those grinning pics settle it for me. But how did he do it? Sure, he started with that pan he found in his mom's attic. But, from there, I just dunno.
It's not that, it's more like a "been there, done that" kind of thing. For awhile I was a big fan of the local skeptics gigs and just sort of wore myself out on hoax stories. I am with you, this thing is a total hoax. I'm inclined to think that were this interesting in even the least bit, this would not have been my first time hearing about it.
At the greatest, most interesting level, I think this guy built some sort of gasoline powered frisbee device. At the least? I think he threw some metal thingamajig in to the air, and got a picture of it. What about the smoke rings? Those ain't hard to make.
I think if I put together a hoax it'd be way more interesting to the skeptical community... Hmmmmm.....
BS
The unidentified thing has just been identifie--by me. It's a straw Easter hat with its ribbons trailing behind. Rex was a hoaxster, all right--with a sense of style.
;)
MAH
Make that "identified."
MAH
Sure, it looks like an Easter hat, but one of the Reg photos I don't have here shows a smoke ring, not ribbons.
It's awfully funny, though--the idea of aliens still polluting the air with black smoke. Maybe they're Soviet aliens. In that case, they're also crowded and incredibly unsafe.
Anyway, my new theory is that it's an Easter hat, but one that emits smoke.
" ... an Easter hat, but one that emits smoke."
Now THAT, my friends, is STYLIN'!
MAH
Those Tustin farm homes make me just want to cry with nostalgia for a better time and place (when So Cal was not the place it is today).
MAH
I agree with you about the photo of Rex with a big grin and cigar mashed in his countenance. It looks peculiarly similar to the one of Glen at Casino Night!
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