SUBJECT: OBJECT ENTERING SOLAR SYSTEM ?                      FILE: UFO2289



  I would like some of your comments on this 19 July, 1991 radio 
broadcast 'For The People'.  Since the item is from an old article, 
what happened to 8-13A?

The host read the following from a 6 Oct 77 article from the NY 
Times:

Government Scientists call newly discovered heavenly object a 
stray asteroid.  Astronomers worldwide in disagreement with 
official explanation call the phenomena an intelligently guided 
object.  

Washington, Oct 6.  United States Government astronomers at the 
national radio astronomy observatory have identified an 
uncatalogued object near Jupiter as an asteroid from outside the 
solar system.  Their conclusions have been contested by leading 
astronomers across the world who believe the object is not a 
natural phenomena.  The object, designated 8-13A, was discovered 
on Monday by Dr. Leo Moffet at the Green Bank Radio Astronomy 
center in West Virginia.  Dr. Moffet made the discovery while 
searching for evidence of an atmosphere on Io, a moon of Jupiter.  
His instruments detected a small object not previously recorded 
just outside Io's orbital path.  The existence of the object has 
been verified by scientists worldwide.  Dr. Moffet initially 
believed that the object was a tiny moon of Jupiter, but its 
course and velocity persuaded him otherwise.  He then assumed it 
was an errant asteroid on an extremely elongated, elliptical 
orbit around the Sun.  He named it asteroid 8-13A in accordance 
with the observatory's classification system.  

When the discovery was announced to the scientific community on 
Tuesday, astronomers throughout the world focused their attention 
on 8-13A.  Its size was approximated to be 7 kilometers, about 4 
miles, in diameter.  Scientists had expressed surprise that the 
object had hitherto escaped detection and focused their attention 
on plotting its course.  No trace of an orbital curve could be 
found.  The object is apparently on a straight trajectory that 
will take it very close to Earth.  According to calculations, 
there is no danger of collision.  But if 8-13A's rate of 
deceleration remains constant, it should take up orbit around 
Earth just inside that of the moon on or about Oct 25.  In light 
of the discoveries concerning 8-13A's trajectory, Dr. Moffet 
modified his original statement and described the object as a 
cometary body from interstellar space which was making its first 
and only visit to this solar system.  Not all scientists agree 
with this explanation, however.  Dr. Lawrence Rude of the British 
Interplanetary Society stated 'the facts surrounding 8-13A 
effectually discount the possibility of a natural origin for the 
object.  First, the object is on a perfectly straight path toward 
Earth.  Second, it is traveling at just the right speed to enable 
it to enter into a stable orbit around Earth.  If it were 
traveling any slower it would be pulled into Earth by gravity 
with catastrophic results.  If it were any faster, it would pass 
by our planet and move on out of the solar system.  Finally, the 
fact is that 8-13A is DECELERATING as it approaches implies 
guidance.  Natural celestial bodies do not decelerate of their 
own accord.  It is my belief that 8-13A is neither an asteroid 
nor a comet, but an intelligently guided vehicle from beyond the 
solar system.'

Other announcements similar to Dr. Rude's have been released by 
independent astronomers and research centers across the country.  
Scientists at Lincoln Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts have 
been observing the object's light curve in order to estimate its 
shape by measuring the different amounts of sunlight it reflects 
as it rotates.  If 8-13A were to show no change or a regular 
cycle in its light curve, evidence would suggest that it was 
entirely smooth and thus of artificial origin.  However, the data 
shows an irregular light curve.  To the undaunted supporters of 
the artificial origin explanation, this fact merely means that 8-
13A must have a complex design.  The United States Government is 
sticking to its natural object theory despite the evidence 
presented by leading authorities.  At a news conference here 
yesterday, a spokesman for the national radio astronomy 
observatory stated that 8-13A is an asteroid or cometary body 
which originated in another star system and has traveled here 
through the emptiness of interstellar space.  The apparent 
deceleration of 8-13A is a natural affect brought about by its 
passage close to the strong gravitational fields of other 
planets.  The possibility of its entering Earth orbit should be 
regarded by all members of the scientific community as a unique 
opportunity to study matter from beyond the solar system.  This 
matter, it should be emphasized, will prove to be entirely 
natural.  8-13A is not, as some radical scientists would like to 
believe, a spaceship from another world.


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