Rapelts, Edvards Džeimss (1923.-1963.g.)

Detaļas: 8 skatījumi

Edward James Ruppelt.
Amerikāņu GKS militārpersona, vairāku NLO izpētes projektu vadītājs.

Dzīvesgājums. Dzimis 1923.gada 17.jūlijā Aijovā, kur arī pavadījis jaunību.

II Pasaules karā (-1945.g.).

Grudge projektā (1949.g.). Kļuva par projekta vadītāju 1949.gadā.

Zilās grāmatas projekta laikā (1959.-1969.g.). Ar šādu kodētu nosaukumu 1952.gada aprīlī sākās NLO izpētes projekts, kura iniciators bija ASV GKS. Projektu vadīja E.Dž.Rapelts.
NLO pētnieks Džeroms Klārks (Jerome Clark) vēlāk raksta: "Lielākā daļa "Zilās grāmatas" projekta novērotāju piekrīt, ka Rapelta gadi bija projekta zelta laikmets, kad izmeklēšanas tika vadītas un veiktas visefektīvāk. Rapelts bija atvērts NLO fenomenam, un izmklētājiem nebija pazīstams, tāpat kā tas bija Grudge's projektā, ko nozīmē for force-fitting explanations on cases."
Projektā ņēma dalību arī astronoms un vēlākais amerikāņu ufoloģijas pamatlicējs Dž.A.Haineks, kuram tas bija jau trešais tāds - šai projektā nonāca no iepriekšējiem projektaiem "Zīme" un "Gradžs."
1969.gada 17.decembrī ASV GKS ministrs Roberts Sīmenss paziņoja par projekta slēgšanu sakarā ar tā bezperspektivitāti.

Rapelts kā NLO termina radītājs. NLO, ar ko šodien apzīmē pašu nezināmo lidojošo objektu, bet precīzāk - tas ufoloģijā iegājās pateicoties projekta Zilā grāmata vadītājam E.Dž.Rapeltam. Viņš šo terminu izmantoja, lai nošķirtu ticamu informāciju no mazāk ticamas. Ar šo jauno apzīmējumu viņš aizvietoja terminus "lidojošie šķīvji" un "lidojošie diski," kas sarakstē un saziņā bija jau sākušie ieieties.

Projekta "Hektors Kintanella" laikā (1963.g.). Vēlāk vadīja arī projektu "Hektors Kintanella" 1963.gadā. Nosaukums nav izvēlēts nejauši, bet gan satur sevī norādi uz dažām ASV koledžām, kas savu studentu vidū veica tāda paša nosaukuma testus ar milzīgu daudzumu nesaprotamu un samezglotu jautājumu.

Miris 1960.gada 15.septembrī tikai 37 gadu vecumā.

Darbi.
"Ziņojums par NLO." Par NLO rekordātrumu ziņo projekta "Zilā grāmata" bijušais direktors Rupelts savā grāmatā "Ziņojums par NLO," kurā raksta, ka vislielākais NLO ātrums, ko fiksējuši radiolokatori, ir 200 000 km/st.

because the military thought them to be "misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced 'Yoo-foe') for short."[1]

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II in 1942, and served with distinction as a decorated bombardier: he was awarded "five battle stars, two theater combat ribbons, three Air Medals, and two Distinguished Flying Crosses".[3]

After the war, Ruppelt was released into the Army reserves. He attended Iowa State College where, in 1951, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. Shortly after finishing his education, Ruppelt was called back to active military duties after the Korean War began.

He was assigned to the Air Technical Intelligence Center headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

With Blue Book
When Project Grudge was ordered dissolved, Project Blue Book was developed to replace it. Lt. Col. N. R. Rosengarten asked Ruppelt to take over as the new project's leader, partly because Ruppelt "had a reputation as a good organizer",[4] and had helped get other wayward projects back on track. Though he was initially scheduled to stay with Blue Book for only a few months, when Project Grudge was reorganized in late 1951 and renamed Project Blue Book, Ruppelt (then a captain) was kept on as director.

Ruppelt wrote that the Air Force's initial approach to the UFO question "was tackled with organized confusion."[5] In defending General Samford's press conference on 29 July 1952, immediately after the big UFO flap at Washington National Airport, Ruppelt wrote that "his [Samford's] people had fouled up in not fully investigating the sightings."[6] Astronomer and Blue Book consultant J. Allen Hynek thought that Ruppelt did his best, only to see his efforts stymied. Hynek wrote "In my contacts with [Ruppelt] I found him to be honest and seriously puzzled about the whole phenomenon".[7]

After Blue Book
Ruppelt requested reassignment from Blue Book in late 1953 shortly after the Robertson Panel issued its conclusions (based partly on the panel's official report, Ruppelt's Blue Book staff was reduced from more than ten personnel to three, including Ruppelt). He retired from the Air Force not long afterwards, then worked in the aerospace industry. In 1956, he worked as a research engineer for Northrop Aircraft Company, according to publisher information in the online version of his 1956 book The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Hynek suggested that Ruppelt's "book should be required reading for anyone seriously interested in the history of this subject".[7] In the book, Ruppelt detailed his time with Projects Grudge and Blue Book, and offered his assessments of some UFO cases.

In 1956, Donald Keyhoe asked Ruppelt to join to serve as an adviser to the newly created National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). Ruppelt had recently suffered a heart attack, and declined Keyhoe's offer. Ruppelt's book indicates that he held some dim views of Keyhoe and his early writings; Ruppelt stated that while Keyhoe generally had his facts straight, his interpretation of those facts was another question entirely. He thought Keyhoe often sensationalized the material and accused Keyhoe of "mind reading" what he and other officers were thinking.

In what would turn out to be a matter of months before his death, Ruppelt came out with an expanded 20-chapter edition of his book, which was published by Doubleday & Co. In new chapters that were notably conservative in tone, and frequently attributed by reviewers to author disillusionment or disenchantment, Ruppelt declared UFOs a "space age myth". Content of this nature was of a noticeably different tone to famous quotes from the original "Report" that had, for example, referred critically to a 1949 change of attitude in the Project whereby "everything was being evaluated on the premise UFO's couldn't exist. No matter what you see or hear, don't believe it". Ruppelt had also been prompted to write back in 1956: "This period of "mind changing" bothered me",[8] and "this change in the operating policy of the UFO project was so pronounced that, I like so many other people, wondered if there was a hidden reason for the change. Was it actually an attempt to go underground - to make the project more secretive?"[8]

Death
In what one paper referred to as a "sudden" death, Ruppelt succumbed to another heart attack on September 15, 1960, at the age of 37.

References
Notes
Ruppelt, 1956, p. 19.
Clark 1998, p. 517.
Clark 1998, p. 516.
Jacobs 1975, p. 65.
Ruppelt 1956, p. 46.
Ruppelt 1956, p. 223.
Hynek 1972, p. 175.
Ruppelt 1956, p. 58.
Bibliography
Clark, Jerome. The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink, 1998. ISBN 1-57859-029-9.
Hoyt, Diana Palmer. "UFOCRITIQUE: UFOs, Social Intelligence and the Condon Committee". Master's Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 2000.
Hynek, J. Allen. The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. Chicago, Illinois: Henry Regenery Company, 1972.
Jacobs, David Michael. The UFO Controversy In America. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1975. ISBN 0-253-19006-1.
Ruppelt, Edward J. The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1956, First Edition; London: Victor Gollancz, 1956. 2nd, expanded edition New York: Ballantine, 1960.
Tulien, Thomas. Proceedings of the Sign Historical Group UFO History Workshop. Scotland, Connecticut: The Sign Historical Group, November 2001.
External links
Biography portal
Media related to Edward J. Ruppelt at Wikimedia Commons
Wikisource logo Works by or about Edward J. Ruppelt at Wikisource
Works by Edward J. Ruppelt at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Edward J. Ruppelt at the Internet Archive
Works by Edward J. Ruppelt at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)