And then there were three.

On the forty-seventh anniversary of Sputnik, on the day that the Ansari Prize was won, astronaut Gordon Cooper, one of the original Mercury Seven, has died. Of those seven, only Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, and Wally Schirra remain with us.

Of course, he was not an uncontroversial astronaut:

In his post-NASA career, Cooper became known as an outspoken believer in UFOs and charged that the government was covering up its knowledge of extraterrestrial activity.

"I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here on Earth," he told a United Nations panel in 1985.

"I feel that we need to have a top-level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and analyze data from all over the Earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interface with these visitors in a friendly fashion."

He added, "For many years I have lived with a secret, in a secrecy imposed on all specialists and astronauts. I can now reveal that every day, in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition unknown to us."

Nonetheless, he was a hell of a pilot. Rest in peace in the cosmos.

Rand,
Thanks,
Gordo, despite his somewhat "questionable" beliefs was a true pioneer hero. One of those the remarkable Burt used as a foundation for his historic accomplishment.

Actually, Gordon was telling the truth----there are numerous cases each month where civilian and government radar systems detect UFOs. But they aren't from outer space; instead, they're "black" government aircraft. The F117 and B2 stealth aircraft generated all sorts of terrific UFO reports from reliable observers before their existence was made public. Gordon made the classic error of assuming UFOs are from outer space instead of the skunk works at Plant 42 in Palmdale.

I somewhat doubt that civilian radars picked up stealth aircraft. The F-117 was only tested at night in the beginning, and may or not be responsible for visual/aural sightings. As for the B-2, it was rolled out (I.E. made public) *before* it began flight testing.

I somewhat doubt that civilian radars picked up stealth aircraft. The F-117 was only tested at night in the beginning, and may or not be responsible for visual/aural sightings. As for the B-2, it was rolled out (I.E. made public) *before* it began flight testing.

Supposedly, stealth aircraft do reflect some radar, but not directly back. So in theory you might pick up a stronger signal from another radar elsewhere. I have no clue how this would be interpreted, if it happened.