|
LL-??-1963 U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Harry A. Jordan
Late month (Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.,)-day unknown-1963
A Moment in (Recent) History
by Jon Baughman
Note: Two paragraphs on
Chet Grusinski’s sighting were removed here. They are covered under the date
10-??-1958, in a more comprehensive article.-CF-
Letter from Jordan
On August 3
Grusinski [See: 10-??-1958. -CF-] received
a letter from Harry A. Jordan, who lives in
Omaha, NE. Ironically, Jordan has also been looking for crew members from the
FDR who might have witnessed the
strange occurrences. He found Grusinski's name on a posting on a Canadian
website.
In his
letter, Jordan said, “I detected
a very large UFO during my mid-watch on radar off the coast of
Sardinia in late 63.
I provided the Senate Intelligence Committee with an affadavit (sic) detailing my experience. During this
particular cruise there were several photographers on board to document the
NATO fleet operations. They were present on board the night of my contact on
radar. I was told in
no uncertain terms to keep my mouth shut for 20 years."
The
complete text of Harry Jordan's experience can be downloaded by going to:
http://www.majesticdocuments.com/witnesses/jordan.html
Jordan on the FDR
From 1961
through December 1965, Jordan served [in the] US
Navy aboard the destroyer escort USS Laffey,
destroyer USS Loeser, and [the] aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA-42. He served in the operations
intelligence division on all three ships to display, analyze, report, and
record radar, radio and electronic emission data. For this he received
extensive training at the Naval Station, Newport, RI.
While on
the FDR, he served two cruises in
the Mediterranean between 1962 and 1964. After discharge from active duty, he
worked as an instructor at [the] Jones
Point Naval Reserve, Alexandria, VA on the use of navigational equipment
particular to radar intelligence, thus was an expert in his field. He served
as a recognition expert on detecting surface or air objects as far away as
300 miles. He trained both enlisted men as well as naval officers.
His account, firsthand
Here's
Jordan's firsthand account of the UFO encounter, the text taken directly from
his testimony before a US Senate UFO hearing in the summer of 1998. It is
quoted word for word:
Late one
night while operating off the coast of Sardinia at approximately 0200 hrs.
Zulu time, I was standing mid watch on a SPA-8 repeater and height-finding
equipment. My IFF box was enabled and in the process of challenging an aerial
contact approaching the ship from a bearing of 012 degrees relative to our course.
The aerial contact was detected at 600 miles according to the calibration
rings on my scope. I
made several adjustments to the calibration settings because I didn't believe
I detected such a contact at that distance. The aerial contact was at a
height of 80,000 then dropped to 65,000 feet in about 20 seconds where the
contact then hovered for about ten minutes.
During this
period the watch officer woke the division commander and informed him of our
situation. U.S. Naval Task Forces operating in the Mediterranean in those
days were being subjected to frequent flyovers by Russian Bear aircraft with
electronic warfare capability. It was my job to stay alert for such a
scenario. The division commander came into CIC, observed the radar returns,
expedited his own ECM scan of the contact, and then informed the orderly
standing watch at the captain’s stateroom. The captain was appraised (sic- apprised) of the situation, ordered a
course change into the wind, and increased ship’s speed to launch aircraft.
During this time I was continuing to observe the contact and watched the
Phantom F4B's once they attained sufficient altitude. The Phantoms went to
afterburners, vectoring to a course straight for the bogey on my scope. After
a period of about 15 to 20 minutes, the F4B's were within 200 miles of the
bogey due north of our course. They turned on their conical scan radar. The
bogey disappeared from my scope. The pilots did not detect any contact on
their scope, were turned by the Air Ops C.O., and headed back to the ship.
The captain had kept the ship on a heading into the wind during this entire
operation so aircraft could be launched or recovered at will.
The Phantoms
returned to the ship and were recovered. About five minutes after the
recovery of the last aircraft and during the process of turning the ship back
to our original course, the contact winked back on again! This time it closed
from a distance of 600 miles from the ship to right above us in about 1 minute.
The bogey was traveling
around 3600 miles and (sic?-an) hour at an
altitude of 30,000 feet. I never saw any heat signature. Someone in
CIC yelled out, "dam (sic-damn) it,
what the hell is that!" I couldn't determine who made the comment.
Lookouts on the port and starboard lookout wings of the conning tower could
not see anything above the ship with their binoculars. The situation was
bizarre and watch personnel looked scared but calm.
Watch logs
are always kept particularly when a critical situation is under way. General
Quarters practice drills are another matter, but this wasn't a practice
drill. The captain did not call General Quarters. I recall vividly when it
was first determined how unusual the situation had been. My division C.O.
(Commander Gibson -USN) asked me what I had put in my log if anything. He said to me, "Jordan,
this never happened." (I was reminded of that comment when I
first saw the movie Red October.) I
replied, "Yes, sir." I never mentioned anything to fellow sailors
or anyone else until years after my Honorable Discharge from the Navy. I was
Honorably Discharged from the Navy in December of 1967 at [the] Jones Point Naval Training Center in
Alexandria, Virginia.
On watch
that night were a plotter on the DRT, one on the VG, myself on the radarscope,
and the watch officer. It was my distinct impression from hearing the airmen
aboard during chow time that they were confused about why the heck they would
have such an unscheduled launch and not be told what had been going on that
night. It was their duty to arm aircraft, etc. To me they had been obviously
kept in the dark on this one operation. I never said anything to them about
what happened that night. During active duty I stood lookout watch night and
day. I logged well over 1000 hours operating radar equipment and standing
watch during my active duty with the sixth fleet. What I experienced that
night will never be forgotten. What I have experienced since discharge from
active duty has became more fascinating as the years progressed. (End of
quote).
More testimony
But that
isn't the end. Jordan had some other interesting comments for the senators at
the hearing, again, quoted here:
In 1985 I
met Dr. John Kasher, a physics professor at the University of Nebraska in
Omaha. He was a consultant at Lawrence Livermore Labs in California and presently
a summer consultant on plasma physics at Huntsville for NASA. He is currently
the State Director for the Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network of
Nebraska. Dr. Kasher and I have personally investigated over 50 cases related
to UFO's. These cases involve people from age 5 to [the]
70's.
We have
videotapes of private interviews, physical trace cases, and lab reports. Some
of these cases involved events which occurred on the ground simultaneous with
STS-NASA missions. There are uncut, unenhanced videotapes produced by
live-real-time NASA Select 6 camera shots taken aboard the space shuttle. At
present, cameras aboard the shuttle are monitored. The video signals are
delayed several seconds and sometimes minutes before being fed to public
video feed networks. Immediately after the STS-48 mission UFO mission flap in
which Dr. Kasher and I were involved, NASA began to delay the live feed.
Their premise for altering the video coverage of each mission was that they
didn't want the world privy to the medical condition of the astronauts. This
is pure hogwash as never has the medical condition of the astronauts been
public knowledge through video monitoring to public channels. We have a copy
of the original NASA directive which went out from NASA to all ground
facilities the day after [the] STS-48 UFO
flap.
The UFO's which
currently fly on station when the shuttle is up are being fired upon by high
performance aircraft using state of the art particle beam weapons. The very character
of a particle beam [is that it] does not
need an atmosphere to be seen. It imparts its own coherence upon the vacuum
of space. We have videotapes of STS-missions as recent as STS-80 during the
month of March 1997 wherein one can clearly see these beams coming up from
the earth through the cloud cover below the space shuttle. What concerns us
most here from our personal field experience is that out of all our private
interviews with eyewitnesses, not one instance of a negative or sordid nature
has been told to us. Virtually all close encounters on the ground have been
very passive, bizarre, and extraordinary to ordinary people. Whatever
"ordinary" means these days is another matter. It is with great
concern for our fellow Americans and citizens of the world at large we
question the reasons for why UFO's are being fired upon. What the federal
government of the United States of America knows about UFO's is not being
shared. I question the current status of this posture and reasoning behind
it. These matters might well be beyond knowledge of the Senate, Congress, and
perhaps even the President of the United States. If public hearings were held
regarding these scenarios, there will be some red faces at the Pentagon and
NASA regarding the issues of UFO's and the reality of their occupants. Many
decent, law-abiding Americans have had real experiences and are prepared to come
forward to share proofs. The truth needs to be brought forward without
further hesitation. (End of quotes)
In a sense,
this testimony by Jordan speaks for itself. It needs no interpretation by
this writer.
In recent
months, because I occasionally write about the UFO mystery, a few Broad Top readers have privately
inquired of my colleagues, "Is he all right?"
Don't be
concerned about me.
I am
concerned about many of you.
I worry
about people who are too absorbed in the trivial, mundane, and uneventful
events in their lives that they don't have time or make time to ponder on
grander ideas and mysteries.
This reference: The Broad
Top Bulletin, Saxton, PA. 16678, dated Tuesday, December 26, 2000
UFOCAT PRN – NONE
Location – The Mediterranean or Tyrrhenian Sea.
Sardinia Latitude 40-00-00 N, Longitude 009-00-00 E (D-M-S)
Reference: http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp
USS FDR pertinent history:
Franklin D. Roosevelt supported the
fast transport USS Kleinsmith (APD
134) in the evacuation of 56 U.S. citizens and three foreign nationals from Nicara (sic – Nicaro), Cuba, 24 October 1958, as the
Cuban revolution came to a climax.
In late
1960, the Control Instrument Company installed the first production Fresnel
Lens Optical Landing System (FLOLS) onboard Roosevelt. She recorded her 100,000th aircraft landing in March
1961. During a 1963 overhaul,
six more 5 inch guns and all 22 remaining 3 inch guns were removed.
While
operating in the Eastern Mediterranean in the fall of 1964, Roosevelt lost a blade from one of
her 20 ton propellers. She proceeded from Naples, Italy, to New York with the
number one shaft locked. After replacing the propeller at Bayonne, New
Jersey, Roosevelt returned to the
Mediterranean to complete her cruise.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Franklin_D._Roosevelt_(CV-42)
|