Did Jim Penniston touch the UFO?

[Observer]

Hi everyone

In one report by Jim Penniston he describes what the surface of the UFO felt like.
"I ran my fingers over the surface, it was smooth like glass and warm to the touch, the lights seemed to be embedded in the material rather than proud of it". These were not the exact words he used but amount to the same thing.

In another comment, it was said that the surface material did not seem to be a product of this world.
Schooner has suggested that 'black' projects from the US may be using similar types of material which were so secret that even the shuttle may not be using it?
This implies that the UFO could be man made?

Other people have said Jim nearly touched it?

Observer

[Observer]

Hi Admin

From your quoted quote of Jim Penniston it seems pretty well proved that he actually touched the craft.

As for your other comments re the material he felt whilst rubbing his fingers on the surface, i suspect you are probably right.

Etching/embossing electro/or moulding, (laser came in around the late 80's) has been around for decades as i can remember my engineering firm that i worked for in the 60's doing this technique on some of their products, both glass/ceramics and metal.

To use a ceramic/glass type thermal shield on the shuttle would make the shuttle extremely heavy as laminates of both and other materials would be just out of the question. This is why the very light 'thermal tiles' were used which as i said were a derivitive of the gas mantle material.

There were two types of tile used, the first was a cold thermal tile used next to the skin of the shuttle and on top of these was the hot thermal tile.
Heat transfer to the skin of the shuttle was very low and there was minimum added weight.
Due to the loss of some tiles during flight, the shuttles now employs a thermal blanket of the same material to cover the skin.

This material that Jim felt was possibly not of this earth. Perhaps weight as we know it is not a problem with an extra terresrial craft?

Observer



Observer

[Observer]

Hi All

Just one last word on the heat shield system used on the shuttle and the type of surface Jim Penniston touched on the Rendlesham forest UFO.

The tiles that were used on the shuttle back in the 80's were around 15 cm square. They were a laminate of carbon, powdered tetrasilicide, borosilicate and low density silica fibre.

To pick one up was like picking up a block of polystyrene as they were very light. The surface was not like glass but a dull matt finish.

Because of tile detachment (there are over 20,000 on the shuttle), they now use a blanket made of the same material to cover the nose sections of the shuttle.

Observer

[schooner]

Hi Observer,

It ought to be said that there were other types of thermal protection that were looked at in the 70s for the shuttle programme and that NASA opted for the fibrous silica based tiles.

Some of the others on the table were ablator which was a material that burnt up on re-entry but had exceptional heat resistant qualities. This was used on the Apollo missions and was left on the table as a back up project should there be a problem with the tiles. Others were metallic panels laminated with micro quartz insulation and super alloys made of nickel chrome, technologies from the late 50s through to the 70s extensively tested in the lab, the atmosphere and at the edge of space.

Regards

Schooner

[Observer]

Hi Schooner

Although interesting, our discussion about the shuttle's heat shield system is probably not goint to get us very far especially re the construction material of the UFO. We have no hard examples to analyse
in the lab.


If it eventually turns out that the UFO was man made then there could be some relevance in our posts concerning the construction materials associated with heat shielding.

If, as i would like think the UFO was not made on earth but came from a very advanced alien civilisation, i suspect that heat shielding as we know it would not be a requirement! This may be because there method of travel is in a different dimension. All theory i know, but a nice thought.

Regards

Observer

[schooner]

I think we will keep coming back to this one given the descriptions from the witnesses. Theres some key evidence here.

Jim Penniston stated that the machine must have had some weight about it due to the depressions in the ground. The ground was hard/frozen at the time and the vehicles on site were not leaving depressions in the ground which would indicate that the construction material of the machine was denser or thicker than those used in normal vehicle construction. Remember that the depressions were big enough for Jim Penniston to cast plaster moulds.

May be it was made of something exotic like bulk metallic glass?

What we need is for someone from this area of work to confirm what materials were available at the time to the defense/aeronautical industry.

Regards

Schooner

[Observer]

Hi Schooner

There was a material just coming on the market so to speak around that time and it was 'Chobham Armour'. It was a laminate of ceramics and other secret materials. It was designed for the Challenger tank and was very heavy and dense. It was also a military product that is to this day still secret in its manufacturing process
.
Other than this, DERA at Farnborough are the people to ask about what materials were around at that time. They invented amongst other products, carbon fibre, ceramic/glass laminating processes etc and many more high tech materials that were then on the secret list but may not be now. Pilkington glass military section are also worth a check.

Regards

Observer

[Andy]

At the end of the day, whatever it was. Why fly it over the Christmas period? Yes, top secret, maybe, granted, but it must have been pretty useless to crash into the runway lights! And why all the top secret fuss? If it was that top secret, it was obviously useless anyhow! Doesn't make sense to me. Like someone said. Those sort of materials for a craft back in the 80's? Obviously still top secret... even though it is the 2000's

[Andy]

Had i been Penniston, i don't know about touching an alien craft, i would have been touching cloth. I can't believe this man would make up such a story and open himself up to ridicule. And he was/is an intelligent, professional man.