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* I have misplaced my "Challenger" file, thus can't check it... but didn't the Challenger also (as well as the two below) blow up within about a minute? Owens

March 31, 1987

SCIENTISTS

Perhaps you recall that, some years ago, while sitting inside an office with a group of court-reporters watching the launching of a space shuttle, I asked them: "How would you like to see me hit that shuttle with a bolt of lightning?" The shuttle began to lift off the ground then one of the astronauts shouted to ground control: "I think that we've been hit by lightning!" The court reporters gave me a signed affidavit to this happening. It happened in 1969 (see p. 1 this file.)

My UFOs and I are working on research and projects that noone knows about... not even my own family. and blows up in 51 seconds.

P. 1: Lightning hits NASA rocket and pad. Their weather experts had assured NASA that there was no lightning within five miles. So NASA lost $161 million or more. But my UFOs mean business re humans keeping their experiments and themselves out of space.

P. 4: In India their space program has been set back, badly, when the "first generation of big rockets failed within a minute after takeoff (note that it is the same time it took for lightning to strike and destroy the NASA rocket on Thursday. India's was destroyed on Tuesday) and crashed into the Bay of Bengal with its payload" (note that NASA's rocket crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.)

P. 5: Note that "there is a fresh wind blowing in Moscow" and "Gorbachev has shown a clear willingness to negotiate." Let me point out that these conditions did not exist before I got to Hong Kong to set up my UFOs to work Russia over.

Note that Fort Ann, where we live...plus other towns in this area...had the power knocked out for hours. Certainly. At this house in this almost-isolated location we have been inundated with UFO phenomena. At the end of this Report some of them will be described. This occurred on March 23, 1987. Note on this page that on 2/27/87 a UFO was seen, an orange light with a green tail, that flashed over eastern New York and was witnessed by many people. This UFO has come down to me on a hill in England outside Warminster...even got the sound of it on my tape recorder. I had gone up onto the dark hill after midnight for nights to call it down. It came right to where I was. What it did with me I do not know...but my favorite ring vanished...next day I placed a local ad in the paper in Warminster stating a reward if anyone found it...but several days later something told me to go up to my "spot" in the daytime. I did, and the ring mysteriously reappeared in my pants pocket. (I had searched the "spot" and my clothing thoroughly, previously...no sign of it.

Also Beau, Teddy and I had this same UFO appear close to our truck for a full two minutes...floating just above a line of trees... orange flames in its body and a red tail. Sparks from it dripped or fell downward onto the trees below. Note the giant UFO that was witnessed by the pilot of a 747 jumbo jet over Alaska (they had movies someone on the plane had taken, on television. "The size of two aircraft carriers." You can purchase the movies, or photos, plus tapes of interviews with the crew of the plane that saw it, plus other information pertinent to it, from FAA, for $194.30. First time anything like this has ever been done.

You will recall that, while in Scotland on Loch Ness, the Loch Ness creature's neck and head raised above the water of the Loch and stared at me. Had a head shaped like a football. I later saw it from the ramparts of old Urquehardt Castle there as it appeared in the Loch below. Well, there is such a creature very near here in Lake Champlain. Now I see that one has been witnessed in Lake Memphremagog in Quebec


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2

and Vermont. It is described herein on p. 6.
P. 7: Two more Russian space failures have occurred. My UFOs are indeed busy.
P. 9: Note that my UFOs are weeding out many "bad" people in key positions in order to get better people in. Also note all of the troubles the Navy and Marine Corps are having with military aircraft.
P. 10: In "The New Collective" note the changes for the better that have taken place at the top of our government...by weeding out undesirable, corrupt, crooked humans...and replacing them with better humans. This is not by accident or coincidence. The next few sheets deal with the UFOs "sun attack."

Finally...(1) This Spring, Summer and Fall I will be telepathing my UFOs to produce UFOs and alien living forms in this geographical area of upper New York State for police, scientists, and other "responsible" people to see...as well as my own family (who are presumably "not responsible" people...bit of sarcasm there.)
(2) A thought on my part. I believe that the reason that there are "gay" men and women is...because as the fetus is growing in pre-birth the hormone level in their body is too low for their developing brain to be able to differentiate the proper sex for that body...although the hormone level is adequate for the brain to assign proper genitalia to that body... and in post-birth this "uncertainty" as to the sex of that body is carried forward in that human's life and develops ultimately into a "gay" format.
(3) About 7 AM on 2/24/87 Teddy and I witnessed a "mother ship" and four smaller UFOs in the air over the huge field in back of our house...from the sliding glass doors of our dining room, which overlooks our back-field area and woods and further along, the mountains. Then, at 9 AM, same day, on the Donohue Show, TV, the show was about a giant UFO seen by many in upper New York state (our approx. area). The man on the show had been captured by the giant UFO and he described the experience. He stated that it had occurred two days earlier than the Donohue Show.
(4) My son Beau and I witnessed a stationary UFO near our house. It kept changing colors. (This was 3/14/87 at approx. 8:30 PM). At 8:45 PM Beau and Teddy found enormous 3-toed "Bigfoot" tracks in the snow in the field in back of our house...using flashlights.
(5) 3/22/87. Last night, for hours, our power was out. Earlier in the morning Beau had told me that during the night he had heard a UFO over our house...like a giant swarm of buzzing bees, sound. When it woke him he found that he was levitating up in the air of his bedroom and could not speak or move. He said that the bedroom walls glowed, like white light, in a diamond-shaped pattern.
(6) 3/22/87. In the afternoon Beau, Teddy, Jerome and I were driving to town. We had just left our house (out in the country in a semi-isolated location, ten miles from town.) From our van we all witnessed a cigar-shaped UFO in the air ahead of us. It had small, stubby fins. It floated along, making no sound, then stopped dead for a brief period, then just vanished completely...like a magician's trick. First it was there, then it was not there.
(7) 3/23/87 About 12:30 noon Beau and I drove to Price Choppers supermarket in Glens Falls to get supplies for the family. Suddenly all the lights overhead in my area went out, while all the other lights in the store stayed on. A girl employee smiled at me and said that she guessed the supermarket hadn't paid its electric bill. Beau and I drove back home and the light in the hall outside my bedroom flickered off and on as Beau and I watched.


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(8) 3/30/87. 9:05 PM. Beau and Teddy came running to the house from the huge cow barn, about 200 metres away. (Our landlord has...I think it is about 50...cows for milking. Noone guards the barn at night, although there are wolves and coyotes near the barn, quite often, at night...something that bothers my sons and I for our meetings with my UFOs when it gets warm at night...in pitch black darkness (we never show a light) in the woods surrounding our house.) They had gone to the barn to see if any more baby cows had been born (Teddy and Beau recently saved a cow and its baby...it was calving but couldn't get the baby out. This was late in the evening, about 10 PM, and the landlord was at work in the nearby giant prison where he is a Lt. over the guards. So Beau and Teddy discovered the cow's situation so they tied a rope to each leg of the baby and pulled it slowly out of its mother's tummy. Both would have died overnight, otherwise.) Anyway, as is usual, the lights were on inside the barn. No humans there other then Beau and Teddy. Suddenly the lights in the barn went off. Beau and Teddy switched on their flashlight and found that the light switches had been turned to the off position! Then, as they watched, a door opened and closed...with noone there! They raced back to the house, scared witless, to tell me about it.

(9) My UFOs are utilizing what humans label "sympathetic magic." As my "state of being" goes...so goes the condition of the United States. I.e., my UFOs hold the U.S accountable for my "state of being" (which at this point in time is in a rough state)...because I am valuable and precious to them, as their sole human representative.

Ted Owens (PK Man)

PS: With the UFO powers that I have to work with... I can accomplish more than the Congress, the Senate and those over them all put together. Yet the money that I have to work with is a fraction of what just one of the above has to work with. The help that I have gotten, and am getting, is wonderful (from a single source) But... my help needs help.

For those of you who have had my personal training - bear in mind that in Ft. Worth, Texas, I was arrested, went to court before a judge and jury and was found "guilty" of "practicing medicine without a license." I was teaching exactly what I taught you. (Same thing happened to Cayce.) No deviation.


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A2--Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. Friday, March 27, 1987

National Scene

Rocket destroyed; Lightning blamed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- An unmanned rocket that appeared to have been hit by lightning careened out of control Thursday and was destroyed by radio signal 51 seconds after it lifted off with an $83 million military communications satellite.

A NASA videotape clearly showed a lightning bolt descending from the vicinity of the Atlas-Centaur rocket, hidden in clouds, and striking the launch pad about the time the vehicle exploded. Launch officials, however, said they did not want to speculate on what went wrong until they analyzed data.

Flaming debris from the shattered rocket and payload plunged into the Atlantic Ocean about three miles offshore. Coast Guard boats hurried to the scene to pick up any floating debris.

The 137-foot rocket lifted off in a rain storm at 4:22 p.m. EST and quickly darted into a cloud bank. As it disappeared, observers saw what they thought was a lightning flash near the vehicle.

NASA launch commentator George Diller said the rocket appeared to be flying normally, but then he suddenly announced, "We have lost all telemetry data. ... We appeared to have lost the vehicle."

Later, he reported that the rocket had shot out of control and was blown apart, at an altitude of 14,250 feet, by a radio signal that denoted explosive charges in the vehicle.

That was necessary to prevent the rocket from veering toward populated areas. The explosion of the vehicle was not visible from the ground because of the cloud cover. But observers did hear a muffled blast.

Although launch officials were reluctant to blame the failure on a lightning strike or any other factor until they had a chance to study all data received, launch director James L. Womack conceded:

"Certainly, there was a possibility there was a lightning strike in the area. We've asked the range to check all their intensity meters to determine if there was one."

John W. Gibb, manager of NASA's Atlas-Centaur project office, said range weather officials had assured the launch team there was no lightning within five miles of the launch pad or the rocket's flight path just before the go-ahead was given to launch.

Launch rules prohibit a liftoff if there is electrical activity within five miles.

Lightning was reported, Gibb said, on the edge of the five-mile zone about 15 minutes before launch and that the countdown was held up for 14 minutes until that storm activity moved on.

"At the time of the launch, we were in a solid go as far as the weather was concerned," Gibb told a news conference.

Rain wouldn't have prevented a launch, he said.

Only one rocket in the more than 2,000 that have been launched here in 36 years is known to have been hit by lightning after liftoff. That was the Saturn 5 rocket that was hoisting the three-man Apollo 12 crew toward the moon in 1969.

The strike briefly knocked out electrical power in the spacecraft, but the astronauts were able to overcome the problem by punching circuit breakers and they made it safely to the moon.

The failure ended a streak of seven U.S. space launch successes. That string followed three failures early last year, including the explosion of space shuttle Challenger that killed the crew of seven.

In Washington, Colin Powell, a National Security Council official who accompanied President Reagan on a speaking trip to Columbia, Mo., said the president was told about the accident during his return flight aboard Air Force One and, "He was disturbed about it."


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# $161 Million Space Mission Ruined as Rocket Goes Out of Control

NY Times 3/27/87
UFOs vs Space Work
BY JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

An Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying a military communications satellite went out of control and was destroyed shortly after liftoff yesterday at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The failure ended a streak of seven launching successes for the United States space program that followed a string a staggering accidents early last year, including the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986.

Officials at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida said they had no immediate clues as to what caused the loss of the unmanned rocket. A review board of space agency engineers will be named to investigate the accident.

### 'Massive Electrical Failure'

A NASA videotape showed a lightning bolt descending from the vicinity of the rocket and striking the launching pad about the time the craft exploded. But launching officials said they did not want to speculate on what went wrong until they had analyzed the data.

At a news conference, John Gibbs, the Atlas-Centaur project manager, said launching engineers suspected that a "massive electrical failure" developed about 51 seconds after the liftoff at 4:22 P.M. Eastern standard time. Although news reporters said they saw lightning flashes in the area immediately after the liftoff, the engineers said they had no initial evidence that the rocket was struck by lightning.

"At this point, we don't know what the cause was," Mr. Gibbs said.

The 137-foot booster blasted away from its launching pad into a light rain. But Mr. Gibbs said launching officials had been assured that there was no lightning potential within a five-mile radius. According to mission rules, no launching is supposed to occur if the craft would follow a course taking it within five miles of storm clouds.

"There were no waivers of mission rules," Mr. Gibbs said, adding that all data from the rocket had indicated that it was performing normally until 51 seconds after the liftoff.

### 'Lost All Telemetry Data'

At that moment, George Diller, the mission commentator, announced, "We have lost all telemetry data," meaning the communications of engineering information from the rocket. "We appeared to have lost the vehicle," he added.

Mr. Diller reported that the moment appeared to pitch over at the moment of the communications loss. The rocket had reached an altitude of 14,250 feet and was half a mile off the Atlantic coast. Range safety officers immediately sent a radio signal to detonate explosive charges on the rocket, causing it to blow up.

This action was taken to prevent the out-of-control rocket from veering toward populated areas. The wreckage fell into the Atlantic several miles off shore.

### Five Others in Orbit

The failure ruined a $161 million mission, with the Atlas-Centaur costing $78 million and the satellite $83 million. The satellite, called a Fleet Communications Satellite, was to be operated by the Navy for the Defense Department, providing a link in a global communications network form the United States armed forces.

The satellite was to have joined five other similar craft in an orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth's equator. The first four of these craft have operated beyond their five-year designed life span. The fifth, launched last December by another Atlas-Centaur, was the first of a group intended to replace the older satellites.

After the Challenger disaster, which killed seven astronauts, the nation's space program suffered two successive failures of unmanned rockets: an Air Force Titan 34D and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Delta rocket.

Although there was no reason to suspect their reliability, NASA last year ordered a halt of all launchings of the Atlas-Centaurs until they could be thoroughly inspected. But the Atlas-Centaur launching last December was flawless, and NASA proceeded with plans for yesterday's launching.

# Weather Service to Drop NASA for Satellites

NY Times 3/27/87
UFOs vs Space Work
SUITLAND, Md., March 26 (AP) -- The National Weather Service is going to use private companies to launch its satellites, ending more than 25 years of dependence on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"We have made the decision to change the way we do business," Thomas N. Pyke Jr., head of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, said Wednesday. His agency operates the satellites that provide the weather pictures for television and other media. He said he would seek bids soon.

The policy change followed the formal handing over of the latest satellite by NASA officials. That maneuverable satellite, GOES-7, for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, provides two weather-observing positions in space, restoring a capacity lost in 1984 when an earlier weather satellite failed.

The satellite has been moved back and forth over the nation in different seasons, but its overall weather reporting has been limited. Getting a second weather satellite up was delayed by NASA problems including the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger Jan. 28, 1986, with the loss of its seven crew members, and a later failure of an attempt to launch a weather satellite by rocket.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent of the National Weather Service and Mr. Pyke's satellite service, has negotiated a contract for construction of three more weather satellites for use as the current satellites wear out. Mr. Pyke said concerns that might have the potential to provide rockets for satellite launchings included Martin Marietta and General Dynamics and that launching facilities would be leased from the Air Force. The Commerce Department has sanctioned the program, he said.

After shuttle flights were halted following the Challenger disaster, commercial customers scrambled for other vehicles to get cargoes into the sky. That provided an opportunity for such satellite launching programs as the European Ariane rockets. Mr. Pyke said his agency hoped to be ready to launch a satellite by 1989.

(2)


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National Scene

# Critics question launch of rocket in rainstorm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Engineers on Friday examined wreckage from a $161 million rocket that was destroyed after a possible lightning strike as critics asked: Why was it launched in a rainstorm?

Security patrols found several pieces of the Atlas-Centaur rocket that had washed ashore near a space shuttle launch pad. Handling the debris was tricky because some of it contained explosive charges and other ordnance devices.

The chunks were being studied for clues to what caused the unmanned booster to tumble out of control 51 seconds after launch Thursday.

Former officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration questioned the decision to launch at a time when the agency says it is taking a conservative approach to safety as a result of the space shuttle Challenger explosion that killed seven crew members on Jan. 28, 1986.

"We didn't consider we were taking a risk," said John W. Gibb, chief of NASA's Atlas-Centaur office. "At the time of launch we were in a solid go as far as the weather was concerned."

Fiery chunks of wreckage plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean when the vehicle and the military communications satellite it carried were blown apart by a radio signal to prevent it from careening into populated areas.

Launch officials did not immediately place blame for the failure, and NASA on Friday named a nine-man review board to investigate the accident, which ended a streak of seven space launch successes. Jon R. Busse, director of the office of flight assurance at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, heads the board.

A videotape released by NASA shows a lightning bolt streaking from the area where the 137-foot Atlas-Centaur rocket vanished in the clouds. The bolt hit the launch pad one second before the explosion.

Launch director James L. Womack and other officials defended the decision to blast off, saying all weather constraints were met, including a report that there was no lightning within five miles of the launch pad or the rocket's projected path.

However, lightning on the edge of that zone shortly before launch delayed the liftoff 14 minutes until the electrical activity passed.

"What are they doing?" asked Milton Silveira, who retired recently as NASA's chief engineer. "If you get in a situation like that, you get charged particles in the air. You're making yourself a great big target for a lightning strike ... Why take chances?"

"It was poor judgment to launch under such conditions," said Walter Kapryn, who was launch director during the Apollo man-to-the-moon program. "There are rules for launching, but sometimes you have to use common sense in following those rules."

Gibb said if it turns out that lightning caused the accident, the weather rules might have to be rewritten.

The Atlas-Centaur rocket was valued at $78 million and the satellite at $83 million. The satellite was to have joined a network of five existing communications payloads to link U.S. military forces worldwide.

Air Force Col. John W. Allsbrook of the Air Force Space Division said the loss of the satellite will have "minimum impact" on communications capabilities because the five earlier satellites are working well.

However, four of them have outlived their projected five-year lifespan, and the lost satellite was to have served essentially as a spare until one gave out.

Another satellite is scheduled for launch by an Atlas-Centaur in June, but the schedule now will depend on the findings of the investigation.

NY Times 3/29/87

# Static and Discord In the World Of TV Evangelism

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples of the prophecies that must be fulfilled before he returns to save the planet. Among the events that are to precede a Second Coming are earthquakes, famines, nation rising against nation, and the preaching of the gospel to each of the world's inhabitants.

In recent times, television has been embraced as a means toward this universal salvation, and some Protestant ministers see such technologies as satellite-dish antennas as instruments of the Lord. But they have discovered that the electronic pulpit can also magnify the failings of its inhabitants.

The Rev. Jim Bakker stunned his followers earlier this month by announcing that he had been blackmailed after being "wickedly manipulated by treacherous former friends" into a sexual encounter with a young admirer in 1980. Mr. Bakker's church, the Assemblies of God, said last week that it had no evidence of blackmail but concluded that money had changed hands. The young woman, Jessica Hahn, responding to Mr. Bakker's charges that she seduced him, said through an adviser that she succumbed only after drinking drugged wine.

Mr. Bakker had resigned as head of the PTL ministry of Fort Mill, S.C., whose assets include a cable TV network and a religious theme park. He turned control of PTL (which stands for Praise the Lord and People That Love) to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, host of the "Old Time Gospel Hour" and founder of the conservative group Moral Majority.

Last week, Mr. Bakker declared that he had been forced to avert a "diabolical plot" to take over PTL. His lawyer identified the raider as the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, host of the weekly "Jimmy Swaggart Hour," whose audience (1,046,000 households) exceeds that of Mr. Bakker and Mr. Falwell combined. Mr. Swaggart, who was not accused of participating in blackmail but of taking advantage of Mr. Bakker's troubles, opened a crusade last week with a plea to "deliver us from these pompadour boys" and declared that "the most hellish sin is covered with 'Praise the Lord.'"

Meanwhile, the Rev. Oral Roberts, the host of a popular Sunday morning show, accused Mr. Swaggart of "sowing discord." (Mr. Roberts reached his own $8 million fund-raising goal last week, having accepted on television -- a check for $1.3 million. He had been fasting, saying God would "call him home" if he fell short.) Mr. Falwell and the Rev. Robert Schuller -- whose "Hour of Power" reaches 1,277,000 households -- also backed Mr. Bakker but said nothing against Mr. Swaggart.

The Rev. Pat Robertson, head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of the popular "700 Club," was campaigning for the Republican Presidential nomination. He diplomatically declined to take sides, though earlier he had said that God seemed to be "housecleaning."


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28

THE NEW YORK TIMES, S

# Lighting Bolt May Have Caused Rocket's Failure

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

A lightning bolt that struck shortly after the launching is considered a "possible cause" of the mishap that led to the destruction of the Atlas-Centaur rocket Thursday, space agency engineers said yesterday.

But officials of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida cautioned that this was only one of the theories that would be examined by a nine-member board of inquiry named yesterday to investigate the failure of the unmanned $161-million mission, the fourth failure in the United States space program in little more than a year.

"That's only one aspect that people will be looking at," a space agency spokesman, Hugh W. Harris, said of the lightning that was seen descending from the area of the rocket to the launching pad at the moment of the failure. "We're keeping an open mind."

**First Formal Meeting**

Jon R. Busse, director of flight assurance at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., was appointed to head the investigation. The board of inquiry is scheduled to hold its first formal meeting Tuesday.

Mr. Harris said that the next launching, scheduled to be another Atlas-Centaur in June, was "on hold until the board clears it or recommends what changes need to be made." There have been 67 launchings of Atlas-Centaur rockets since 1962; seven have failed.

On Thursday the Atlas-Centaur carrying a military communications satellite tumbled out of control 51 seconds after liftoff. Range safety officers immediately sent a radio signal to destroy the entire craft to prevent it from veering off and endangering populated areas along the Florida coast. The fiery wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean about three miles off Cape Canaveral.

Beach patrols found two large pieces of the rocket, and salvage ships are searching the waters for debris that

- one in Norfolk
- 4 strike in outer space

ATURDAY, MARCH 28, 1987

might contain clues to the cause of the failure. Beachcombers were cautioned to stay away from wreckage that washed ashore because some of it could contain toxic fuel.

**Bolt Struck the Pad**

A videotape released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration clearly shows a large lightning bolt flashing out of the rain clouds into which the 137-foot rocket had vanished. The bolt struck the launching pad about the time the vehicle exploded.

John W. Gibb, the Atlas-Centaur project manager, said lightning was a possible cause but defended NASA's decision to launch the craft into the cloudy skies. He said launching officials had been assured there were no dangerous storm clouds within five miles of the rocket's projected course.

"We didn't consider we were taking a risk," Mr. Gibb said. "At the time of launch we were in a solid 'go' as far as the weather was concerned."

The rocket had reached an altitude of 14,250 feet, and was out of sight in a rain cloud, when it went out of control and all communications with it were disrupted. Peak electrical activity in thunderclouds is usually from 12,000 to 25,000 feet.

**Apollo 12 Was Struck**

On another rainy day, in November 1969, the Apollo 12 was struck by lightning less than a minute after liftoff. The craft was kept operating on battery power until the astronauts could reset their circuit-breakers. Then the mission proceeded to a landing on the Moon.

Robert D. Hill, an expert on lightning and a physicist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, said that a rocket penetrating a storm cloud tended to attract electrical charges much the same way as does a tree or the Empire State Building.

Dr. Hill said the Kennedy Space Center had "an excellent system for predicting these potential lightning flashes." If NASA said that the weather was acceptable, he said, "I'm very surprised that something like this developed, if it indeed was lightning that caused the failure."

# Rocket Failure Sets Back India's Space Program

UFOs vs Space work
Special to The New York Times 3/26

NEW DELHI, March 25 -- India's ambitious space program suffered a setback Tuesday when the first of a new generation of big rockets failed within a minute after takeoff and crashed into the Bay of Bengal with its payload.

"The launch has failed," U. R. Rao, director of the Government's space project, told reporters at Sriharikota, the space launching center on the southeastern coast. Mr. Rao said that scientists were analyzing data and that it could take several days to determine a precise reason for the failure.

The launching after a 30-hour countdown appeared normal at the start, officials said. But they said the 80-foot rocket failed within seconds. They said a fire on a motor could have been the cause of the failure.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi watched the launching of India's largest locally designed and constructed solid-fuel rocket, which was to have hurled a 330-pound satellite into orbit. The satellite was about four times the size of earlier ones successfully placed in orbit in 1980 and 1983 from the same launching center.

It was not immediately clear how far the Indian space program had been set back. Mr. Gandhi left the satellite center soon after blastoff and he described the failure to reporters as "only a small stumble."

He added that the Government would continue to strongly support the space program.

**India Used Other Facilities**

India's first effort to put a satellite into space in 1979 failed in a fashion similar to that of Tuesday, with the rocket and space vehicle landing in the Bay of Bengal. However, the space program appeared to have overcome many of the early difficulties after the successful launching of the two satellites.

(4)


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Can Reagan rebound?

UFO a - Hong Kong / Post-Star 3/16/87

There are two sides to the "lame duck" coin. True, President Reagan is not in a position to exert the kind of discipline he wielded over Congress in his first term - certainly not with Democrats now in control of both houses. On the other hand, precisely because he cannot succeed himself, Mr. Reagan is freed from the narrow stringencies of partisan confrontation. He can embrace consensus where he wishes - and perhaps do the statesman like thing in his final bow to history.

In the same vein, the Democratic leadership in both houses clearly understands the political price it will pay if it tries to bulldoze a weakened presidency during these last two years. History accelerates. Trends that used to take decades to develop - if not centuries - happen routinely, in this world of instant communication, in a matter of weeks. The United States simply can't afford two years of partisan wrangling while the clock ticks away against the danger countdown - and everybody knows it.

Into this hopeful domestic political scene, note the advent of Chairman Gorbachev and his "glasnot," by any reckoning a very different leader of the Soviet Union. It almost looks as though history has conspired to present an unprecedented opportunity to deal with the enormous problems that confront us. And will judge most severely any failure to accept the challenge.

Obviously, I thoroughly disagree with much of what the Reagan administration has stood for thus far. But I've been encouraged to hope that Washington has deliberately pulled back from some extreme positions taken. What looked earlier like a policy decision to wipe out the United Nations by draconian American budget cuts has been somewhat modified. Reykjavik looked - for two hopeful days, before Star Wars intervened - like a step back from the brink. The Untied States seems, for whatever reason, to be moving in the direction of a nuclear-free Europe. Even in Central America, the apparent collapse of Contra leadership, the imminent revelations of the North conspiracy, the overwhelming Latin American support for a Contadoran solution and the clear message of the polls in this country should provide an attractive opportunity for pragmatic reassessment.

So I'm just going to assume that, even if there is not too much nobility of purpose from my point of view, there is ground for hope that a pragmatic Reagan willingness to accommodate to political realities will prevail over sectarian extremes. Within that framework, therefore - one that seeks to bequeath a legacy of accomplishment rather than an excuse for failure - here's my memo to President Reagan for a fitting valedictory: Survival of the planet - for whatever reason, Chairman Gorbachev has shown a clear willingness to negotiate. The ill-fated unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, monitored in Russia by American scientists from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the explicit acceptance of on-site inspections therein indicated, the Soviet performance in Reykjavik and now the Gorbachev initiative for a nuclear-free Europe prove there is a fresh wind blowing in Moscow. You have an obligation not only to America and to the world but to your own place in history to test it out in real good faith.

Streak of light puzzles area skywatchers

Knick. News 2/27/87

The Associated Press

A red and green streak flashed across the night sky, raising eyebrows in parts of eastern New York and making phones light up at police and television stations.

"It looked like a shooting star. I guess it turned red and green," said officer Tom DiMezza at the Amsterdam Police Department, about 25 miles west of Albany. "We don't really know what it was, or what the person (who saw it) was taking."

Meteorologist Ken LaPenta of the National Weather Service at the Albany County Airport in Colonie said his office was contacted by forecasters at local television stations who had received more than 150 calls.

LaPenta said the reports described an orange light with a green tail that zipped southward in the eastern sky around 8:45 p.m. Thursday, lasting three or four seconds.

LaPenta said he had no definite explanation of what people had seen.

The Post-Star 3/23/87

Briefly

5,500 residents lost electricity

About 5,500 local residents were left without power for almost six hours Saturday night, said a spokesman for the Niagara Mohawk Power Company.

Customers in Hudson Falls, and parts of Argyle, Glens Falls and Fort Ann were without power for a total of about six hours Saturday between 7 p.m. and 4:45 a.m., said Frank Kelly, Niagara Mohawk regional customer services manager.

Kelly said the power outage was caused by a malfunctioning transformer at the Burgoyne Avenue power station in Hudson Falls.

Power first went out at about 7:16 p.m., and was first restored at 10:16 p.m., Kelly said. But, the transformer malfunctioned a second time, knocking out power at 1:19 a.m., Kelly said.

Power was restored to about 2000 customers at 4:17 a.m., and, by 4:45 a.m., power was restored to the balance of customers, Kelly said.

Kelly said the transformer was functioning properly Sunday evening. He said there were various problems that could cause the transformer to malfunction.

Kelly said he had not yet learned the cause of Saturday night's troubles.

5


=== Page 9 of 18

Monster a myth or fact?

Post-Star 3/25/87
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Champ, move over.

It's time for Memphre, the purported monster of Lake Memphremagog, to shine in the legislative spotlight.

The House recently passed a resolution on Memphre that says the animal should be protected from harm and encourages scientific inquiry into the existence of unusual animals in Lake Memphremagog.

Last year, the Senate passed a similar resolution protecting Champ, a serpent-like creature that might exist in Lake Champlain.

While Memphre supporters cheered the House action, many legislators loudly said no to the resolution.

One of them was Rep. Frank DaPrato, D-Swanton. DaPrato said later he was tired of the lake monster resolutions.

"If we keep this up, we'll have monsters in every pond in Vermont," DaPrato said. "I think it's ridiculous that we get involved in something like this. I think we should be doing something more constructive with our time."

But Barbara Malloy of the International Dracontology Society of Lake Memphremagog and several Newport-area legislators strongly supported the resolution. Dracontology is the study of serpent-like animals.

Malloy, sporting a Memphre button, is a firm believer the lake has a long-necked, snakelike animal. She said since she started the society three years ago, she has documented more than 60 sightings.

"I've seen Memphre, so I know he's there," she said. "This resolution gives us more credibility." She said a similar resolution will be submitted to the Quebec Parliament. Lake Memphremagog is in Quebec and Vermont.

FAA offers package on UFO claim

Post-Star 2/25/87
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- If you want an inside look at a Japan Air Lines pilot's recent claim that he saw a UFO, the Federal Aviation Administration will send you everything you ever wanted to know about the incident for $194.30.

The complete package includes tapes of interviews with crew members, spaceship drawings by the JAL pilot and air controller statements, even four glossy color photos of regenerated radar data.

The unusual FAA mail-order offer is an effort to cope with enormous public interest in the November sighting, said spokesman Paul Steucke.

Since the pilot's claim was publicly disclosed, the FAA's Anchorage office has received information requests from more than 200 members of the news media, as well as 46 requests from individuals.

For those on tight budgets, the FAA's UFO package can be broken down. The agency is offering 20 individual items, ranging from a $50 cassette tape of communications between the controllers and the flight crew, to a 30-cent copy of an FAA form summarizing the sighting. Orders of less than $5 are free.

JAL Capt. Kenjyu Terauchi reported on Nov. 17 that his Boeing 747 cargo jet was shadowed by two belts of light as it crossed into Alaska airspace on a flight from Iceland to Anchorage.

In an encounter that lasted about 50 minutes, Terauchi also reported seeing a third aircraft, a huge spaceship which he said was the size of two aircraft carriers. He radioed the sighting to Anchorage FAA flight controllers, who saw what they thought was an object on their radar screens.

Light puzzles watchers

ALBANY (AP) -- A colorful streak of light that zipped across the sky from eastern New York to Massachusetts leaving skywatchers puzzled and telephone lines busy was probably a meteor, a large meteor, an astronomer said Friday.

Forecasters at local TV stations reported receiving more than 150 telephone calls from curious people, said LaPenta, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albany, said Thursday.

He said the reports described an orange light with a green tail that flashed southward about 8:45 p.m. Thursday, lasting three or four seconds.

"It looked like a shooting star. I guess it turned red and green," police Officer Tom DiMezza in Amsterdam, about 25 miles west of Albany. "We don't really know what it was."

Witnesses in Connecticut described it as a bright orange flash that zoomed eastward about 8:35 p.m., turning to green and blue and lasting about 20 seconds.

6


=== Page 10 of 18

NY Times 2/7/87

# 2 SOVIET FAILURES IN SPACE REPORTED

## U.S. Experts Cite Setbacks to a Proton Booster Rocket and Military Satellite

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

The successful launching of astronauts to the Soviet Union's Mir space station yesterday was preceded by two serious rocket and satellite failures in the previous week that went unacknowledged by Soviet officials, American space experts reported yesterday. One setback was particularly embarrassing to Soviet space officials. The reliable Proton booster rocket failed in launching Jan. 30, just as the Soviet Union was initiating an aggressive campaign to sell the services of these large rockets to international customers for delivering commercial payloads into orbit.

James E. Oberg, a Houston engineer who is an authority on the Soviet space program, said tracking data showed that the Proton's fourth and uppermost stage had failed to ignite, stranding its communications-satellite payload in a low and useless orbit. The debris from the fourth stage and the satellite fell out of orbit a day later.

Mr. Oberg noted that Soviet officials, in trying to attract commercial customers, recently boasted that the Protons, 770-ton liquid-fueled rockets, had had no failures in the last 35 launchings.

**Military Satellite Destroyed**

The Protons, introduced in 1965, are comparable in size and lifting capacity to the Titan 34-D rockets used by the United States Air Force. The SL-12 model Proton can place a two-ton satellite into a 22,300-mile-high orbit, the preferred operational altitude for communications satellites.

In the other failure, on Jan. 29, Soviet flight controllers were forced to destroy one of their military reconnaissance satellites to prevent the malfunctioning vehicle from descending uncontrolled to the surface and possibly falling into American hands.

Reporting the mishaps in its Feb. 9 issue, Aviation Week & Space Technology, an authoritative trade publication, quoted American intelligence sources as saying that the reconnaissance satellite, designated Cosmos 1,813, was launched Jan. 15 on a planned 14-day photographic mission.

But when its large re-entry ball, containing both the camera and reconnaissance film, failed to begin its descent for recovery by Soviet ground forces, Soviet flight controllers activated the vehicle's self-destruction system and blew the satellite into more than 100 pieces.

**Fast Pace for Russians**

Soviet officials were concerned that the malfunctioning vehicle might strike a populated area or be recovered for analysis by Western intelligence, the magazine said.

Despite the two failures, Aviation Week said that this year the Russians have maintained a launching pace that by the end of February will total 10 to 15 missions, as many as the United States will launch through all of 1987.

# POLITICS MAY PUSH SPACE LAUNCHING BEYOND ELECTIONS

## Fear of Shuttle Failure in '88 Could Bring More Delays, Some Experts Assert

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

Political pressures could delay the next space shuttle flight until after the 1988 Presidential election, a former astronaut, aerospace experts and some space agency officials warn.

They say the remote risk of technical failure might prompt the White House to postpone the flight, perhaps until 1989. At the same time, some experts warn that such a delay could be a devastating blow to a program bedeviled by controversy and criticism since the explosion of the shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986, which killed its crew of seven.

**The Pressure to 'Go'**

Harrison H. Schmitt, the former Apollo astronaut and a former Republican Senator who was a member of President Reagan's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, said pressure for a delay was unavoidable.

"It's going to be very, very difficult to convince the political animals that they should 'go' in this political season," he said, adding that "there's no question that political considerations are a factor" in space launchings.

Other experts said, however, that the allure of bold success in the midst of a lackluster Presidential campaign might create unusual pressure for a launching, even if technical impediments arose.

**NASA Denies Political Tie**

In Washington, a public affairs official at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Barbara E. Selby, dismissed the idea that politics might intrude.

"Obviously, around here, the only reason we would delay or speed up a mission is for technical reasons," she said. "We're going to fly when we're ready to fly. As far as we're concerned, politics is not a factor."

Fueling the debate over politics are new delays in completing the extensive repairs undertaken after a leaky booster rocket touched off the Challenger explosion.

Although the official goal of NASA is to loft the next shuttle on Feb. 18, 1988, experts say hitches in fixing the spaceships and their booster rockets have caused the schedule to slip toward July, around the time of the Presidential conventions.

Rather than permitting the launch-

Continued on Page 30, Column 1

NY Times 3/15/87

WASHINGTON, March 14 (AP) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has postponed an unmanned spacecraft's mission to Mars by at least two years.

Scientists who had lobbied intensively for the Mars Observer mission in 1990 expressed their disappointment and dismay.

"I think it's a great mistake and an example of the consistent lack of vision that NASA has had since the middle 1970's," said the astronomer Carl Sagan of Cornell University. He and other members of the Planetary Society were here on Feb. 19 trying to persuade Congress of the mission's importance.

The announcement by the space agency said it was confirming reports that it would not ask for money for the mission in its 1988 budget. The agency said the mission was planned for 1992.

The Mars Observer is to be a new kind of spacecraft to be launched from the space shuttle. It is to go into an orbit around Mars that will permit it to map the chemistry of the entire planet. The spacecraft is also to act as a weather satellite and orbital photographer, concentrating its search on water, which is the key for future human use of the planet.

The cost of the project was to be $250 million, including launching and tracking, said Mary Beth Murrill, a spokeswoman for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"This makes it much more difficult for the United States to get going on a serious program for the exploration of Mars at a time when the Soviets have pushed up their time scale," Mr. Sagan said in a telephone interview.

The Soviet Union plans an ambitious exploration of Mars, including sending balloon-carried probes to the surface. That mission, originally scheduled for 1994, has been moved up to 1992.

In a report Thursday, the space agency's advisory committee said science and exploration programs deserved special attention in the agency's planning.

"They are at the heart of NASA's mission," the panel said. "They are spelled out in NASA's charter. Space science and exploration provides a large measure of popular support for the space program as a whole."

# NASA Postpones a Mars Mission for 2 Years

7


=== Page 11 of 18

# Coping With the Next Calamity

Companies did D.K. in January's snow and strike. But was too much left to chance?

By THOMAS J. LUECK

### Coping With a Decade of Crises

| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Feb.-March 1975 | Fire at a New York Telephone building leaves a 300-block area of lower Manhattan without phones for up to a month |
| July 1977 | Blackout caused by lightning striking power lines cripples Manhattan for 25 hours |
| Jan. 1978 | Major snow storm -- 13 inches accumulate in New York City, 18 inches in the suburbs -- disrupts services and cripples Connecticut |
| Dec. 1979 | Strike by seven Long Island Railroad unions halts service for a week |
| April 1980 | Strike by New York City transit workers lasts 11 days; L.I.R.R. is struck for two days |
| March-April 1983 | Strike stops Metro-North for six weeks; New Jersey Transit on strike for a month |
| Sept. 1985 | Hurricane Gloria brings heavy rain and winds causing some power disruptions on Long Island |


=== Page 12 of 18

Our View

# White House aides deserting the ship

2/25/87

Back in Washington the ship of state is losing its officers and some of its crew. This always happens toward the end of an administration, but the desertions began earlier than usual this term.

Richard Perle says he will quit soon. These are among the better-known names.

When President Reagan began his second four-year stint, several of his best advisors left for less-pressured or higher-paying jobs. That was to be expected. Recently, however, press secretary Larry Speakes and presidential aide Mitchell Daniels left. The latter had been feuding with chief of staff Donald Regan.

White House image promoter Pat Buchanan also left, and arms control negotiator

This means that Reagan will have to rely more on inexperienced aides during the last two years in offices. It comes at a time when he needs experienced personnel to deal with serious domestic and foreign problems.

It is natural for White House staff members to look for good jobs at the end of a term. But their service with a president ensures that their services will be in demand. In return for this they owe their president loyalty to the end. Deserting the administration at this time amounts to disservice to the nation and the presidency.

Post-Star 2/17/87

# Navy halts use of drone aircraft

WASHINGTON - The Navy, after losing four of five "eye-in-the-sky" drone aircraft worth from $250,000 to $400,000 apiece, has suspended a program to equip warships with the pilotless planes, military sources say.

The embarrassing losses, involving drones dispatched recently with the battleship Iowa, occurred over the past month and most recently on Feb. 6, said the sources who asked not to be named.

Four of the five drones dispatched were lost, they said. One source said the four drones "are in little bitty pieces." The cost of the drones depends upon what surveillance and camera equipment they carry.

The Navy already had opened an investigation into the string of accidents, the sources said. The service suspects a number of causes, but believes one problem might involve the remote control system for the pilotless planes.

# Military Cargo Helicopters Grounded for Gear Problems

NY Times 2/16/87

EL TORO, Calif., Feb. 14 (AP) - All Navy and Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters were grounded Saturday for inspection of a gear box problem that was found after a forced landing Oct. 21, a marine spokesman said.

Lieut. Col. Jerry Shelton, a spokesman for the marine air stations at El Toro and Tustin, was unable to say how long the inspections would take.

The CH-53E, built by Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, Conn., has been in five fatal crashes since June 1984. The latest crash, in the Southern California desert Jan. 8, killed all five men aboard and brought the death toll in the crashes to 20.

Colonel Shelton said the gear problem was not a factor in the crashes.

UFO Sun Attack

# Authorities tally quake damage

Post-Star 3/4/87

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) - Authorities estimated damage at more than $8.4 million Tuesday after an earthquake rocked the farming and forest areas of the North Island, leaving 25 people injured and two missing.

Peter Tapsell, minister for civil defense, said the estimate should cover the cost of rebuilding roads, bridges and buildings damaged Monday by New Zealand's worst quake in 20 years.

But reports of deep fissures that swallowed swimming pools, driveways and power lines suggested the figure could go much higher.

(9)


=== Page 13 of 18

WASHINGTON | James Reston

The New Collective

NY Times 3/18/87

WASHINGTON

With the best of intentions, the President's friends are urging him to demonstrate that he's back in charge of the Administration, directing events, pushing his agenda with Congress, ready for televised news conferences and preparing for another summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev.

One wonders whether this is a good idea. In the first place it's not true, and merely encourages the illusions that got him into trouble in the first place.

Considering what he has been through in the last few months -- the scandals, the investigations, the indictments of his stewardship, another operation and the loss of Congress after a punishing campaign -- it's remarkable that a man of his age has held up as well as he has.

He has demonstrated good judgment in rebuilding his White House staff and choosing experienced men to run the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency. He has met with the leaders of Congress in private, and delivered his television speech with his accustomed grace.

Accordingly, there is reason to hope that he can preside over the new regency headed by his chief of staff, Howard Baker, and make the decisions worked out by his Cabinet. But he doesn't need the added stress of pretending that he is now what he never was, a "take-charge" executive.

The Presidential press conference is a good example under the circumstances of unnecessary stress. He has been goaded into it by reporters and it has been accepted reluctantly by the President and his staff. But it takes a couple of days at least to prepare for these televised events, and while he learns something in the process, they prove nothing except that he's a good performer on stage, which everybody knew in the first place.

But an attempt is being made to indicate that the personal and political crisis is over and that things will now go on as before, which is a troubling thought. Howard Baker is partly to blame for this.

On his first day in the White House, he asked reporters: "Is the President fully in control of his Presidency? Is he alert? Is he fully engaged? Is he in contact with the problems? ... You know, it has been a year now since I dealt regularly with Ronald Reagan, but I've never seen him better than he has been today."

Nobody does Ronald Reagan a favor by encouraging him and Congress and the people to believe that he's on top of all these intricate problems. May be there isn't a man alive who could do it, but he can read and listen, watch and judge the issues brought before him for decision.

What is being put in place here for the last two years of the Reagan Administration is a form of collective executive leadership, and it is much better than what we had before. It is not trying to balance the budget with constitutional amendments or tame the Russians with nuclear shields in the sky. It is going one common-sense step at a time, trying to build nonpartisan compromises that will ease the tensions at home and abroad concentrating on the possible instead of dreaming of the impossible.

In short, this less dramatic procedure is more in keeping with the problems of the last two years and it is within the President's physical and mental capacity. It is more moderate, more accountable, more reliable, more in touch with Congress, less stressful and less ideological.

It is odd that some of the noisiest ideological Reaganites like Pat Buchanan and Richard Perle decided to leave the President just when he was in deepest trouble, but the Republic will probably survive their departures. Nothing has caused more confusion here in the last six years than the notion that there is an ideological answer to all our problems.

Don't push Reagan into posturing.

If there is to be another summit meeting on nuclear weapons between President Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev, for example, it will not be approached this time in the careless and mindless way that preceded the last one at Reykjavik, when Congress and the allies were left in the dark, the Cabinet was divided and the Secretary of Defense was left at home.

Summit meetings are not for negotiation but for ceremonial ratification of verifiable agreements reached in advance with the knowledge that they will be confirmed by the Senate.

What we need now is not a hands-on President, but more helping hands: in the White House, in the Cabinet, in Congress and in the press. We have gone through a difficult period, living a life of pretense, but we have got through it in fairly good order, and if the President gets the help he needs in the next two years, he may even get that happy ending he has always wanted.

SECOND BIG STORM IN 5 DAYS STRIKES EASTERN SEABOARD

UP TO 16 INCHES OF SNOW

U.S. Closes Capital Offices -- Winds at 50 Miles an Hour

1/27/87 Buffet South Jersey

UFO Sun Attack NY Times

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

The second major storm in five days struck the East Coast and the New York metropolitan region yesterday. High winds and heavy snows reglazed the city, buried some suburbs in mountainous drifts and brought a reprise of winter doldrums to the region.

The storm hit hardest in southern New Jersey, where 10 to 16 inches of new snow fell. Eastern Long Island had 8 to 9 inches, New York City got 3 to 5 inches and Connecticut and suburbs north and west of the city had 3 to 4 inches.

Much of the East had barely dug out of last Thursday's whiteout -- the Northeast's worst snowstorm in four years -- when yesterday's storm charged up the Eastern Seaboard as if in a rut, sparing the South but dumping heavy snows from the Carolinas to New England.

'Drowning in Snow'

Over the Middle Atlantic and New England states, the heavy snows shut down airports, stranded motorists, delayed intercity and local trains and buses, closed schools and forced the Federal Government to give most of its 300,000 Washington-based employees the day off. The nation's capital had 10 inches of snow atop last week's 10 inches. [Page B2.]

"We're drowning in snow. I just hope people stay home," John Friedrich, deputy emergency management coordinator for Cape May County in southern New Jersey, said as winds that howled up to 50 miles an hour sculpted drifts over automobiles and up the sides of houses.

While it did not compare with last week's, yesterday's blast, which began in the metropolitan region Sunday night and ended in the early afternoon, disrupted ground and air travel, kept many commuters home, closed suburban schools and prompted early closings for many courts, businesses and government offices.

Though it created hardships, the storm also brought a peaceful solitude to town and country settings. Seagulls

10


=== Page 14 of 18

# Snowstorm hits Plains, shuts down highways

Post-Star 3/25/87

UFO & Sun Attack

The Associated Press

An unusually strong spring snowstorm shut down part of the Plains on Tuesday with blinding wind-driven snow and drifts up to 8 feet high closing highways and schools, stranding travelers and pulling down power lines serving thousands of people.

Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden declared a disaster for the western third of his state, where National Guardsmen already had been rescuing people and hauling supplies and had opened armories for stranded travelers.

Nearly all roads in western Kansas were closed, with drifts 5 to 7 feet high, and little attempt was made to clear them because of the unrelenting wind and blizzard conditions, the state Highway Patrol said.

As many as 10,000 homes in northwest Kansas were without electrical power, with the road conditions hampering efforts of utility crews to restore service, utility officials said.

Early spring snowstorms are not rare in western Kansas, said Jim Johnson of the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kan. The last storm of such intensity was 30 years ago, he said.

The Oklahoma Panhandle was virtually closed off, highways in central Nebraska were closed and others were nearly impassable. In Colorado, 10 miles of Interstate 70 from the Kansas border to Burlington were closed. About 165 miles of I-70 was closed in Kansas.

The National Weather Service posted blizzard warnings for part of western Kansas. Snow also fell in a belt across Kansas and Nebraska into South Dakota and Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle had blowing snow.

Kansas' blizzard followed a series of thunderstorms, one of which produced a tornado Sunday that destroyed several buildings in Rooks County.

On Monday, the storm collapsed roofs and stranded 500 cars on one 17-mile stretch of highway in Texas. It also was blamed for two traffic deaths Monday in Oklahoma. Motorists stranded in the Texas Panhandle slept under donated blankets at schools, courthouses and churches.

On the eastern side of the snow belt, heavy rain bloated streams in parts of Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska.

In eastern Nebraska, where at least 5 inches of rain had fallen since Sunday, a threat of flooding forced school closings from Memphis to Deshler to Cedar Rapids. U.S. Highway 136 west of Beatrice was closed because of high water. The Big Blue River was expected to crest 10 feet above flood stage Wednesday in Beatrice.

Thousands of people in western Kansas were without electricity Tuesday because of downed power lines and poles. At least 300 poles were knocked down by wind gusts to nearly 80 mph Monday in the Dodge City area, said Bill Ohlemeier, spokesman for an association of three dozen rural electric cooperatives.

Wind and heavy, wet snow were blamed for downed power lines in Oklahoma. "At least two-thirds of the county is without electricity," said Beaver County Sheriff Bill Cassingham.

In Texas, Dallas Power & Co. reported numerous, short service interruptions and Utilities Electric reported temporary outages affecting 30,000 Tarrant County customers.

# Residents begin cleaning up following devastating tornado

UFO & Sun Attack

LAUREL, Miss. (AP) -- Residents and cleanup crews worked under a sunny sky Sunday to recover belongings and clear up wreckage from a tornado that left seven people dead, nearly 500 families homeless and millions of dollars in damage.

"Everybody is tired, but things are looking up," said Carl Carlos, Jones County Civil Defense director. "It's just a matter of cleanup and get back on our feet now."

The tornado left at least 145 people injured as it cut a 20-mile-long, 2-mile-wide path of destruction across mostly rural Jones County in southeastern Mississippi on Saturday morning.

Some residents camped out overnight at bonfires beside the piles of splintered lumber and brick that had been their homes, and the National Guard blocked off 15 roads and highways.

"It probably caused more damage in one county than I've ever seen," said Gov. Bill Allain. "It looked more like a hurricane than it did a tornado because everything was so flattened out."

Carlos said it was fortunate that the tornado, part of a series of thunderstorms across the South, hit on a weekend and that residents had 15 minutes warning.

"Three schools were hard hit -- one in Glade destroyed," said Carlos. "Even if the kids had had a warning and gotten into sheltered areas there would have been a heavy loss of life because the school is just rubble."

Carlos said damage to the schools could run to $7.5 million. A damage assessment team sent in by the state should have a full estimate ready by today, he said.

## Snow Storm Batters the Northern Plains

A herd of cattle moving across a snow-covered field near Beaver, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, which was covered by as much as six inches of snow. A severe storm that swept across the Northern Plains left sections of Kansas and Nebraska snowbound and piled snow into drifts up to 12 feet high, closing some roads and cutting power lines to thousands of residents. A 400-mile stretch of Interstate 70 was closed in Kansas and Colorado, and 200 miles of Interstate 90 were closed overnight in western South Dakota. Three deaths were attributed to the weather, and 46 Kansas counties remained under an emergency declaration.

NY TIMES
3/26/87
UFO & Sun Attack

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=== Page 15 of 18

Parched Summer Is Feared in West

NY Times, 3/21/87

By THOMAS J. KNUDSON
Special to The New York Times

JACKSON, Wyo., March 20 -- As it tumbles out of the red mountains in Yellowstone National Park, the Snake River becomes a watery lifeline for thousands of farmers and scores of cities in Wyoming and Idaho.

But this year so little snow has fallen here and in other parts of the West that serious water shortages could develop in some areas, causing financial problems for farmers, hurting fishing and boating conditions and possibly causing water rationing in some cities, government officials said.

"Snow pack and precipitation are well below normal throughout much of the West," said Wilson Scaling, chief of the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service. In 8 of 12 states, the agency reported that snow levels and precipitation were 75 percent or less below normal this winter. In particularly dry areas, towns, farmers and industries should begin conserving water now to avoid shortages this summer, Mr. Scaling said.

The agency's predictions could be thrown off the mark by late snow or heavy spring rains, but if weather patterns remain normal, and forecasters believe they will, some farmers could face serious water shortages by June, especially those who rely on stream water for irrigation.

It's 'Almost Alarming'

"It is serious," said Tony Willardson, associate director of the Western States Water Council in Salt Lake City. "The figures I've seen seem almost alarming and I imagine there could be some serious effects on agriculture."

The dry weather, though, has been spotty. California, Oregon and Washington and the Central Rockies have been most affected while the Southwest has experienced normal or better-than-normal precipitation, officials said.

Most of the West's large reservoirs are still full, thanks to several previous years of unusually wet weather. "However, surface water supplies will not be enough to fill some impoundments in Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington," a recent report by the Agriculture Department and the Commerce Department said.

"The people who are going to get hurt would be those in the smaller drainages which don't have much in the way of reservoir capacity," said John Folk-Williams, president of Western Network, a research group specializing in natural resource issues.

Here in the Snake River Valley, Government meteorologists are predicting the river will carry 70 percent or less of its normal flow this year, a reduction that could cause serious problems for the region.

In Idaho, where water from the Snake River is critical to agriculture, a dry year could force some farmers out of business.

"Many farmers are already in financial trouble and haven't been able to set aside cash reserves for a poor year," said Richard Rush, director of Idaho's Department of Agriculture. "This will probably mean more farmers aren't going to be able to pay their debts."

Concerned about a possible shortage of irrigation water in Idaho, the Bureau of Reclamation has begun to impound additional water in Jackson Lake north of here for use this summer.

"But when you do that, you reduce the amount of habitat and food for the trout downstream," said John Kremer, who records snowfall data for the Federal Soil Conservation Service in Jackson. "It could have a real impact on the fish."

It could also mean fewer tourist dollars for the town of Jackson, a popular point of departure for Snake River float trips. "It could make it difficult for the float trip operators," said Mr. Kremer, who explained that rafts could have trouble getting through if the water dropped low enough.

In California, the nation's top producing farm state, some irrigation districts are telling farmers not to expect normal water supplies this summer. "These crops are going to be growing in 100-degree weather and in need of irrigation," said Bob Krauter, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

"At this point, I expect we'll be able to get by if we use our water as smartly as we can," said Mr. Krauter. "But the real crunch could come next year if we're sitting in the same situation. Some people fear we may be in for another drought like we had in 1976 and 1977."

Another hard-hit region is Montana, where snowfall levels in several areas set record lows this winter. "Farmers who depend on irrigation are facing a bleak situation," said Glen Loomis, the state conservationist for the Federal Soil Conservation Service in Montana. "If conditions continue, they could run out of water by late June."

The lack of snow has caused another problem on Montana's high plains: wind erosion. "We're having one of the worst erosion years we've had for some time," said Mr. Loomis. "There's not enough snow cover to protect the soil. So far, 1.3 million acres of cropland have been damaged."

Across much of the West, people are starting to turn their heads to the sky, hoping for late winter snows or heavy spring rains.

"But we would have to have a tremendously wet spring to make up for the lack of snow," said Mr. Willardson. "And I think forecasters are just predicting normal precipitation over the next few months."

Mr. Loomis said: "I think it's in the Good Lord's hands. If it doesn't rain, it's going to become pretty critical."

[Map of Snake River area showing Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah]
The New York Times/March 21, 1987
For Jackson, Wyo., the Snake River is a watery lifeline.

[Photograph of the Snake River]
The New York Times/William E. Sauro
A view of the Snake River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. The snowfall in the West this winter was well below normal. As a result, serious drought conditions could develop in many areas.

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=== Page 16 of 18

VANUATU SEEKS AID AFTER HURRICANE

'Millions Have Come In, but We Need More,' Aide Says

- 49 Dead or Missing

NY Times 3-1-87

SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 28 (AP) - Vanuatu appealed for more overseas aid Friday to rebuild its economy and to help feed and house 10,000 people left homeless after a hurricane hit the small South Pacific nation on Feb. 7.

"We're slowly getting back on our feet, but there's a lot more work to be done," said Godwin Ligo, chairman of the National Disaster Committee. "Millions of dollars have come in, but we need more."

Mr. Ligo said the toll from the hurricane and its 100-mile-an-hour winds stood at 28 known dead and 21 others missing and presumed dead after three ferries sank. He said search efforts had been abandoned.

Mr. Ligo and other officials interviewed by telephone said the storm was the worst on record there, causing destruction across the chain of 70 islands in excess of $150 million. The storm lasted for eight hours.

Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, is an offshore banking center 1,100 miles northeast of Australia. Jointly ruled by France and Britain until independence in 1980, it has a mainly Melanesian population of 160,000.

Damage In Capital Is Severe

The hurricane damaged 95 percent of all buildings in Port-Vila, the capital, and virtually wiped out the country's main cash crop, copra, worth $20 million a year in exports, officials there said.

Mr. Ligo said emergency fruit and vegetable shipments were still being ferried to outlying areas and that the homeless were put up under tents and tarpaulins donated by Australia, France and New Zealand.

The United States, Japan and Britain and the rest of the European Community also gave aid, along with the Red Cross and agencies financed by the United Nations, he reported. A breakdown of donor aid was not available.

Port-Vila, with a population of 16,000, and the southern islands of Erromanga, Tanna and Aniwa - inhabited by 3,000 people - were hardest hit.

Acting Prime Minister Sethy J. Re-envanu said it could take five years for Vanuatu's economy to recover.

Concern Over Tourism

"Things are returning to normal, but a major worry now is the effect this cyclone will have on tourism, which along with finance and copra is one of the three pillars of our economy," Mr. Ligo said.

In 1978, the last year for which complete figures were available, Vanuatu welcomed 27,579 air travelers and 29,105 people arriving on cruise ships.

The Australian Deputy High Commissioner, or ambassador, in Vanuatu, James Batley, said the two main resort hotels suffered major damage. "Half their huts were blown away," he said.

He said a team of 26 British engineers was flown in to repair damaged buildings, roads and bridges.

"It's such a big job and there isn't enough manpower in the country to do it all at once," Mr. Batley said. "But most essential services have been restored as well as communications."

Despite initial fears of an epidemic, he said there had been no outbreaks of disease.

Winds, cold blast across Great Lakes

2/9/87

The Associated Press

A storm packing wind gusts up to 86 mph spread snow and icy temperatures across the Great Lakes region Sunday, knocking down power lines, closing roads and destroying a seawall on Chicago's Lake Michigan waterfront.

"It's real bad. We've got so many (accidents) we can't keep up with it," said sheriff's Deputy Brian Billingsley at South Bend, Ind. Many roads in the South Bend area were closed because of zero visibility in blowing snow.

On Michigan's Upper Peninsula, state police said a highway between Marquette and Munising was closed for several hours by drifting snow and three miles of U.S. 41 between Ishpeming and Negaunee was closed by drifts. Alpena had 7 inches of new snow and blizzard conditions were reported across parts of the state.

The storm was expected to move rapidly eastward, and blizzard warnings for today were posted for the mountains of northern West Virginia, western Maryland and much of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Winter storm warnings were issued for northeastern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, all of Vermont, New Hampshire except in the extreme north, southwest Maine and much of western and northern New York.

The storm dumped 2 to 6 inches in Ohio on Sunday. Just before 6 p.m. Cleveland police advised motorists to stay off highways as slippery conditions and low visibility caused multiple accidents.

At Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, airlines began halting flights at about 4 p.m., said operations agent Eric Williams.

Around sunrise, a wind gust to 86 mph knocked down trees at Janesville, Wis., and gusts to 69 mph downed billboards at Grand Rapids, Mich. Gusts of more than 50 mph raked parts of Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.

Downed power lines in Michigan interrupted electric service to about 39,000 Consumers Power Co. customers across the state, said utility spokesman Dan Bishop. About 1,100 Detroit Edison Co. customers were without power, said utility spokesman Marty Bufalini.

A fallen Detroit Edison power line was blamed for a natural gas leak that forced evacuation of a nursing home in the suburb of Southfield, said fire department Cmdr. Marcel Charette said.

"The arcing wires sent a jolt down and triggered a hole in the gas line," Charette said. A small fire was put out by sprinklers, he said.

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=== Page 17 of 18

Associated Press

**Blustery Storm Moves Into the Plains**

*W.D. Sun Attack*
*NY Times 1/30/87*

Justin Doten, 8 years old, brushing snow from a car in Minneapolis. A storm that rattled the Eastern Rockies with high winds brought snow and freezing rain to the Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley. It left up to a foot of snow in Utah, and the gusting wind caused sporadic power failures in Utah and Colorado.

# Second storm blankets South

*Post-Star 2/8/87*

The Associated Press

*W.D. Sun Attack*

A new storm slung sleet and snow south of the Mason-Dixon Line on Tuesday, closing schools in 10 states, while an earlier storm blamed for at least 16 deaths whipped up gale-force winds as it headed out to sea over Virginia.

Wintry weather pushed temperatures to 18 degrees below zero in the Adirondack communities of Newcomb and Elizabethtown, and minus 13 in Watertown and Glens Falls.

Snow still fell Tuesday on southern Virginia even as the first storm reached the Atlantic Ocean after dumping up to 13 inches on Farmville, 11 inches on Lynchburg, 9 on Roanoke, 6 on Newport News and 5 inches on Richmond.

Downed power lines and trees caused widespread outages in the Southeast. In Kentucky, National Guardsmen brought generators to more than 17 dairy farms without electricity in Hart and Grayson counties so farmers could milk their cows, said Don Armstrong, a spokesman for the state Disaster and Emergency Services.

An autopsy was scheduled in Philadelphia for an unidentified man whose frozen, snow-covered body was found in a residential neighborhood Monday.

As much as 8 inches of sleet and snow fell Monday in North Carolina's Granville and Person counties, while in West Virginia, Beckley and Bluefield got 6 inches of snow. Northeast Tennessee had 3 inches.

Even as Monday's storm eased out to sea, the new storm followed in its wake, pumping a mix of freezing drizzle, rain and snow from eastern Kansas and Oklahoma, where temperatures were in the 70s last week, across Kentucky and Tennessee, where a scattered snowfall was expected to taper off Wednesday.

A travelers advisory for 1 to 2 inches of snow was posted for extreme northwest Alabama.

The weather closed schools in parts of the Virginias, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

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Postmarked
April 9, 1987