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unexamined by the scientific establishment was to strong to resist. Last fall Deardorff took an early retirement and began devoting all his energy to the question. "He has a worldwide research reputation. We were very sorry to lose him," said W. Lawrence Gates, chairman of the atmospheric sciences department. “It was a complete surprise to most of us. I tried several times to pursuade him to stay." In 1985 Deardorff added the "leaky embargo" theory to the scientific literature on extraterrestrials, publishing it in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. The theory assumes the presence of alien beings, an assumption Deardorff Says he is inclined to make. First of all, he says in his literature, there may be between 100,000 and 10 million independently evolved advanced societies on planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Deardorff contends it is probable that one or more of these advanced alien societies has traveled to Earth, and he says it's even possible the planet is at any moment under observation by a number of different alien emissaries. Deardorff said he is inclined to accept the view of UFO experts that 10 percent to 20 percent of UFO sightings cannot be explained using terrestrial explanations alone. “If they are physically around, using technology that is tens of thousands of years in advance of ours, it would appear to be magic to us," he said. Deardorff says the social shock of confronting extraterrestrials could be avoided as long as the widespread disbelief among governments and scientists was not jeopardized. “Awareness of what was taking place would then proceed very gradually, no faster that humankind in general was inherently prepared to accept the extraterrestrial messages," Deardorff wrote in his 1965 paper. In his own department, Deardorff received mixed reactions when it became clear he was heavily involved in research on alien beings. "There were some who preferred not to talk about it at all, but maybe three-fourths of the department were very interested," he said. Only one or two believed it was a totally silly waste of time." Despite the raised eyebrows, Deardorff is firm in his resolve to continue his enquiry. The field cries out for serious treatment by reputable scientists, he says, and it could lead to the greatest discovery of all. “The likelihood there's something there is very high. Look at it this way: What are the odds that aii this could be a hoax?" he said. "Why should we leave this up to science fiction writers? It's time that the scientists got involved in this." NASA FUBLISHES SATELLITE'S SIGHTINGS--The National Aeronautics and Space inistration S pudiisnea results of a satellite's survey of the solar System, But it will take scientists years to know how many of the objects it Sighted were previously unknown asteroids or comets. The catalog--published on computer tape--lists 35,618 unidentified objects sighted by the satellite which photographed 96 percent of the sky during its 1983 mission. AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST AVIATION MYSTERY REMAINS UNSOLVED--On October 21,1978, a mystery soun nterrupted transmission between pilot Frederick Valentich and Melbourne Flight Service which has never been explained, or identified. Prior to the mystery sound, pilot Valentich had been reporting the approach and description of an unidentified flying object similar to those reported from all over the world by people from all walks of life. Eight years after that fatal Saturday evening, no trace has ever been found of either the pilot or his blue and white Cessna aircraft. Frederick Valentich was not the only person who reported UFOs over and near Bass Strait (between Melbourne and Tasmania) that day and night. Investigators have found more than 50 reported observers from that area before, during and after his encounter. The period of UFO activity around Bass Strait had been building up for more than six weeks prior to that famous encounter. The activity reached a peak the weekend the pilot and his aircraft disappeared. TOP U.S. SENATOR SAW TWO UFOs--One of the most powerful U.S. Senators in modern story actually eyewitnessed two UFOs while on a fact finding trip through Russia in 1955--and the U.S. government has kept the sightings a secret for more than three decades. The incredible encounter is detailed in 1é top secret CIA, FBI,and U.S. Air Force reports which have been obtained by Phenomena Research. Those startling reports reveal that Senator Richard Be. Russell, Jr. (D-Ga.)--then chairman of the Armed Services Committee--was on a Soviet train when he spotted a disc-shaped craft taking off near the tracks. He hurriedly called his military aide and interpreter to the window -eand they saw the disc plus another one that appeared a minute later. The astonished trio reported the sightings to the U.S. Air Force as soon as they were out of Russia. "The three observers were firmly convinced that they (3)