Somewhere in the Skies - THE BETZ SPHERE

Episode Date: January 6, 2020

On episode 142 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, we go back to 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida. Terri Betz, the son of Antoine and Gerri Betz, stumbles upon a strange metal sphere in the woods near their home. Upon bringing it back to their house, it began to exhibit unusual behavior. Soon, the press comes to interview the family and all Hell breaks loose. Within months, the U.S. Navy, Marines, and prominent scientists and UFO researchers flock to Florida to figure out just what exactly these sphere may be. In this audio documentary, we look at the media reports, investigations, and sinister doings that followed before the sphere completely disappeared from public view for nearly fifty years. This episode was written by Rob Morphy. For more information, please visit: www.cryptonautpodcast.com This episode also includes voiceover contributions by Jamie Lamchick, Roman Alec Trevino, and Conor J. Nolan Special Thanks to Scott Philbrook and Forrest Burgess for contributing audio to this episode. Be sure to listen to the Astonishing Legends Podcast. Patreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskies YouTube Channel: CLICK HERE Official Store: CLICK HERE Order Ryan's Book by CLICKING HERE Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Instagram: @SomewhereSkiesPod Watch Mysteries Decoded for free at www.CWseed.com Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is part of the eOne podcast network. To learn more, CLICK HERE SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is sponsored by HelloFresh. To receive 50% off your first order, use promo code: SOMEWHERE at checkout by visiting www.HelloFresh.ca Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Terms apply. Hey y'all, Ryan Spreck here. As you all know, the Somewhere in the Sky's podcast is always free to consume. But it isn't free to create. That's why I've started the Somewhere in the Sky's Patreon campaign. On a monthly basis, you give what you think the show is worth. You'll be helping the show continue, grow, and to be something truly communal. And remember, there are rewards for each level of contribution, and the list is only grown.

So please, help Somewhere in the Skies now by becoming a Patreon. To contribute and to learn more, visit www.patriot.com backslash somewhere skies. Thank you for your support. And now on with the show. Today on the show, a strange metallic sphere is found in Florida. Some of the world's leading scientists try to determine its origins. And then, the sphere is seized by the U.S. Navy. What exactly was it? What strange attributes did it have? And just exactly what? Where is it today? This is the story of the Betts sphere.

This is somewhere in the skies with Ryan Sprague. On May 26, 1974, Terry Matthew Betts, a 21-year-old pre-med student, along with his mother Jerry and his marine engineer father, Antoine, were inspecting the damage caused by a brush fire that had raged across an 88-acre swath of woodland that they had recently acquired on Fort George Island, which is nestled just east of Jacksonville, Florida. At first, the trio found nothing out of the ordinary, but before their expedition was over, they stumbled across a peculiar, highly polished metal orb that was just under eight inches in diameter. The only delineating mark that the three could find was an elongated triangle shape stamped into its surface. Stunned, Terry and his

parents wondered whether or not they might have stumbled across some kind of downed NASA or maybe even Soviet satellite. Perhaps they even speculated that the friction-induced heat of this object plummeting from its orbit might have had something to do with a fire that had ravaged the property. But none of them could find any signs of an impact crater or any indication of collision or heat damage on the gleaming metal globe. The trio then surmised that it might be a an old-fashioned cannonball, which someone had silver-plated as a souvenir. Intrigued by this extraordinary find, Terry decided to leave the 22-pound bowling ball-sized spear into their car and take it back to their home, where he showed the unusual object to a 12-year-old relative named Wayne.

He was just as perplexed by the mysterious object as the rest of the family had been. Terry placed the strange prize on a window seat in his bedroom. And there, the anomalous object remained, virtually forgotten. Until approximately two weeks later, when he decided to entertain his friend, Teresa Fraser, with an impromptu guitar recital in his room, elicidine's own decidedly unusual reactions from the sphere. According to Terry, moments after he began strumming his guitar, the metallic ball started to vibrate like a tuning fork and begin emitting a curious throbbing sound in response to certain notes. This sound was accompanied by what seemed to be an inaudible,

at least to human ears, resonance that deeply disturbed the Betts family's dog. Days later, in the April 15th, 1974 edition of the Palm Beach Post, Jerry Betts was quoted as saying, There must be high frequency waves from it. When we put our poodle beside the ball, she whimpers and puts her paws over her ears. In the days that followed this strange performance, the Betts family began to notice some of the sphere's other peculiar attributes. They observed that when the orb was pushed against the floor, it would stop, vibrate for a moment, change direction, and invariably returned to whoever first rolled it. In one unprecedented circumstance, it rolled for 12 minutes straight without a single pause.

As if this wasn't astounding enough, Terry and his family soon realized that the sphere, in defiance of all logic, appeared to be responsive to weather conditions, becoming noticeably more active on bright days, as opposed to overcast days, as if it were being directly affected by the solar energy. Although it was clearly influenced by sunlight, the sphere did not register any obvious changes when exposed to direct heat or infrared light. The sphere would also sporadically vibrate at low frequency as if a motor were running inside, and just as intriguingly had just one relatively small, intensely magnetic spot on its surface. Terry, displaying the kind of inquisitive instincts that all science students should, begin to conduct a series of homespun experience on the object. His initial efforts were rudimentary and consisted of tapping the sphere gently with a hammer,

which resulted in a distinctly bell-like ringing sound. But it wouldn't be until Terry placed the object on the flat glass surface of his mother's coffee table In order to display his unique find that things would get really interesting. In one attempt after another, the smooth sphere would consistently roll right to the precipice of the glass surface, pause, and then reverse its direction, only to stop again at the opposite edge and repeat the maneuver. The Betts family began considering the possibility that this object was equipped with a sophisticated guidance, system, or perhaps being intelligently controlled, either from within or by some enigmatic external force. The family decided that the sphere almost certainly appeared to be striving to get safely

to the ground without falling. And even more bizarre event occurred when one of the family members decided to slant the table at an upward angle, and the sphere began to spin up the incline, utilizing its own momentum. This seemingly impossible defiance of the laws of gravity left the Betts tribe thoroughly baffled. As if to further indicate that this fear may have been harboring something sensitive within, it seemed to resist all attempts at being shaken by its human handlers. In the April edition of the 1974 Lodi, California New Sentinel, Jerry stated,

If you shake the ball vigorously and then place it on the ground, it feels just like a huge Mexican jumping bean, which is trying to get away from you. The Betts family became so concerned about the sphere's clear ability to independently navigate its way around their home, that they took to placing it in a sealed bag at night so that the object couldn't escape. After days of watching the sphere perform these incredible feats, the Betts family decided that it was time to go to. to the public and try to find out just what it was that they actually had in their possession. The first call that Jerry Betts made was to the local Jacksonville Journal. The journal was intrigued by the story.

They sent out a seasoned photographer, Lon Enger, to get to the story and snap a few pictures. The skeptical anger dutfully accepted the assignment, but secretly feared he might be stepping into a den of crackpots. But he would abandon that thing. theory soon enough. When Enger arrived at the Betts home, he was eagerly greeted by Jerry, who wasted no time in presenting him with this fear. Anger described the moment for the April 12th, 1974 edition of the St. Petersburg Times. That was when the matriarch of the Betts clan instructed the still dubious anger to give the ball a little shove across the floor. Here's

the event in Anger's own words. I'm leery of this kind of thing. When I got there, Mrs. Betz said, you won't believe this if you don't see it. She told me to put it on the floor and give it a push. It rolled away and stopped. It turned by itself and rolled to the right about four feet. It stopped. Then it turned again and rolled to the left about eight feet, made a big arc and came right back to my feet.

Enger examined the steel ball intently, and, like the Betts family before him, could find no seams and no indication of a manufacturer on the surface, save for the inscrutable triangular symbol stamped on its side. As soon as the now converted photographer relayed his fantastic story to his editor, the paper wasted no time in publishing his account, and within days, a worldwide media firestorm was ignited. The Betts family followed up two weeks ago and have been trying to figure out what it is ever since.

Navy ordinance experts picked up the ball this morning, but not before signing a receipt. In fact, Mrs. Betts is so concerned she's considering ensuring the ball with Lloyd's of London. Reporters from such prestigious publications as the New York Times, the London Daily, and dozens of other papers from as far away as Japan called or traveled down to St. George Island to see this mystery sphere with their own eyes. But it wasn't just journalists whose curiosity was piqued by the strange case. The scientific and military communities were also clamoring for a good look at this unusual sphere. Representatives of both the U.S. Marine Corps and NASA contacted the Betts family, as did UFO investigators representing the aerial phenomena research organization, or APRO. The visitors often arrived skeptical, but almost universally left, both impressed and perplexed,

by the sphere's bizarre abilities. A U.S. Marine spokesman even went so far as to admit on television that the ball had behaved strangely in his presence and conceded that he was unable to explain its origin. An official press release issued by Marines publicly stated that the ball was not the property of the United States government. By this point, Antoine Betts had been forced to return to the sea on a freighter and Jerry and her children were swept up in a medium maelstrom from which there seemed to be no reprieve. The family, who had intentionally chosen an isolated place to live, have become overwhelmed by the press feeding frenzy.

And in the April 14, 1974 edition of the Palm Beach Post, Jerry was quoted as saying, We came to Fort George Island to get away to a serene atmosphere. Now I can't get away from the telephone. It means nothing to people in the West that it's midnight here. And when they quit calling, those on the East wake up and start. At the peak of this frenzy, renowned astronomer and eophologist, Dr. J. Allen Heine,

got involved. For those who may not be familiar with the work of Jay Allen Heineck, here's a little crash course, in his own words. Please welcome from the center of UFO studies in Evanston, Illinois, Dr. J. Allen Heinek. Dr. Heinek, when you first get a report of a citing, is your job to assemble evidence

that will prove it to be so or to assemble evidence to prove that it did not happen? You know, there are two ways to go on any investigation. The first thing we do is to try to disprove it. Because what is the point of establishing perpetuating a myth or that isn't so. And it turns out that some 90% of the raw reports. See, we have a nationwide police network,

an 800 number that the police use, and we get reports every night from police departments in different parts of the country. Most of them are planets, twinkling stars. Explainable or identifiable things. The IFOs, we call them, identifiable flying objects. But that remaining 10%,

those are the ones we go after. Now, a UFO, the human UFO, of course, simply means unidentified. It does not necessarily mean visitors from outer space. But it must be unidentified, not just to the person who is puzzled by it, but it must remain unidentified after considerable study. Then and only then is it a UFO. In relation to the Betz mystery, J.L. and Heineck requested that the Betz family send the sphere to his office

at Northwestern University in Chicago, so he could personally inspect it. But Jerry refused because she was warned that the one-of-a-kind object might be seized or misplaced. To the chagrin of scores of scientists and military officers, the sphere remained firmly entrenched in the bed's home. And that's where it remained until a bizarre series of unexplainable events forced the family to wonder whether or not this otherworldly innocuous fear was capable of channeling and perhaps unleashing supernatural forces. Just when the almost unbearably hectic scene that surrounded the Betts' house started to become almost routine,

things suddenly took an undecided turn for the weird. Jerry Betts reported that she and her family began to hear strange organ-like music wafting through their cavernous abode in the dead of night, even though there was no such instrument in the home. And as if that weren't creepy enough, Doors began slamming, seemingly on their own volition, at all hours of the day and night. While the Betts family claimed that they weren't afraid of this activity, this new development did cause concern for Antoine and Jerry,

who decided that it was high time they got to the bottom of the mystery. To help them achieve that goal, they went to the Navy. The Betts family finally relinquished this fear to scientists posted at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The initial efforts of the Navy metallurgists were met with dead ends as their X-ray machines were not strong enough to penetrate the sphere. According to Navy spokesman, Chris Berniger, he said the following. Our first X-ray attempts got us nowhere. We're going to use a more powerful machine on it

and also run spectrograph tests to determine what metal it's made of. There's certainly something odd about it. I don't know who manufactured it, but I say it came from Earth. We do know that it's not explosive and presents no hazard. Eventually, the scientists at the station were able to determine that the exact size of the sphere was 7.96 inches in diameter, and that it weighed precisely 21.34 pounds. They also concluded that the shell of the sphere was approximately one-half-inch thick, which, according to the report, could withstand a pressure of 120.000.000 pounds.

per square inch and made of stainless steel, specifically magnetic ferris alloy number 431. This alloy is a magnetic, nickel-bearing stainless steel designed for heat treatment to the highest mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The Navy team's powerful 300 KV X-ray also discovered two round objects inside the sphere, surrounded by a, quote, halo made of a material with an unusual density. They also noted that the sphere displayed four different magnetic poles, too positive and too negative, which were not concentric. The Navy also concluded that while the sphere was intensely magnetic,

it did not show signs of radioactivity. It did not appear to be an explosive. At this point, the Navy scientists wanted to cut into the object to get a better look, but Jerry Betts steadfastly refused. stating to the press. I told them we expect a comprehensive report in two weeks, and if it can't be identified as government property, it is to be returned to us.

The Navy made good on their promise and returned this fear, but lingering questions remained as to the origin and identity of the odd object. At Cecil Field, the Navy x-rayed the ball, but that didn't tell. The machine that we had to use just wasn't horrible enough to penetrate the ball. You've been able to determine. In several factors about the ball, you file that it is magnetic. Yes, it would indicate that the ball is theories as to what the one to be a real... At this point, the Betts family began to seriously consider the possibility

that they were in possession of genuine extraterrestrial technology or an alien buggy device, as some of the neighbors had dubbed it. According to Jerry... If no other explanation can be found that's as logical as any, who could say what's on another planet? even speculations have been proven wrong. The Navy says what it isn't. They say it isn't an explosive.

So we still want to know what it is. Berninger, of course, was hesitant to even entertain the extraterrestrial origin hypothesis, stating on April 15, 1974, in an edition of the Palm Beach Post, as assured as Berninger's words seem to be. This opinion regarding the supposed safety, as well as the terrestrial origin of the would not be shared by other scientists who tested the anomalous steel ball. On April 13, 1974, Dr. Carl Wilson, representing a Louisiana research firm known as the Omega Minus One Institute in Baton Rouge, Louisiana showed up on the scene. Dr. Wilson examined the

sphere for over six hours and discovered that the sphere supposedly had radio waves coming from it and a magnetic field around it. Dr. Wilson confirmed the Navy's discovery of multiple poles within the sphere and claimed that the phenomenon was a mindbender, as the flux density of the field appeared to fluctuate in potency based on as-yet-unidentified patterns. This, he claimed, defied all known laws of physics. Dr. Wilson evidently went on to suggest that the metal that made up the shell of the sphere,

while comparable to stainless steel contained an unknown element making it slightly different from steel. The doctor also apparently witnessed the sphere's ability to propel itself across surfaces and abruptly changed directions, but was unable to determine a pattern in the movement or explain how that was even possible. One of the theories posited was that it might be a damaged extraterrestrial probe, or perhaps even some sort of anti-gravitational device. In the end, the Omega Minus One Institute findings regarding the identity of the mysterious sphere were just as inconclusive as the navies.

And the Betts family were no closer to the truth. It was then that members of the APRO organization managed to convince the family that they might be in possession of evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. and as such with legitimacy eligible to win the National Inquirer's then $50,000 reward. In the early 1970s, the editorial staff of the National Enquirer and most other popular publications for that matter took a serious interest, at least in terms of profit margins, in subjects like cryptozoology, euphology, and the supernatural.

On March 12, 1972, the publication offered an award of $10,000 for the best scientific evidence of the reality of UFOs, and 50,000 to the first person who could prove that UFOs came from outer space and is not a natural phenomenon. This already bountiful sum was raised to 1 million by 1976. While the Inquirer was considered by most to be a little more than a supermarket tabloid, the publication took great pains to assemble what they referred to as a blue ribbon panel, which consisted of noted scientists, including Dr. J. Allen Heineck, Dr. James Albert Harder, Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle. The group also consisted of biologist Frank B. Salisbury and State University of New York

Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Robert F. Cregan. Besides the PhD holders, the panel was rounded out by such esteemed members as a former Supreme Court Justice, a former Attorney General. of the United States and a former New York Court of Appeals judge. The heads of Apro, Mufan, and NICAP were also on hand to form a sort of mini-panel, those in charge of deciding which cases would go before the primary panel. The team came together once a year and was charged with the daunting task of designated the most legitimate UFO cases reported in the past year, as well as examining any physical

evidence of said encounters. It would be at the panel's discretion to decide if any of the evidence represented in controvertible proof of alien life, and thus award its presenter the prize money. Up until this point, the only winner was Dorel Johnson and family who were involved in the renowned Delphos-Kansas UFO encounter, resulting in an intriguing series of photos which won them $5,000 for scientifically valuable evidence of UFOs. In 1974, the panel convened in New Orleans and the Betts family decided to send the mysterious sphere to the event. While they no doubt hoped to become the recipients of the substantial reward,

the family's primary objective was to expose the sphere to these esteemed scientists, who might be able to suggest what further analysis might be performed to identify the anomalous sphere. Terry Betts was designated as the personal courier of the object, and was sent to New Orleans with a sphere in two. I have no knowledge of how the sphere itself happened to be in the place where I found it. As I've stated previously, when I found it, it was on top of the ground. It was not embedded. I saw no charred marks, no big indentations in the ground.

In fact, it looks as if someone had taken it and set it in the spot. But as to how it got there, I, nor anyone else I know, has any knowledge of this. Needless to say, the sphere became the center of attention, and between April 20th and 21st, the device was subjected to yet another battery of tests. While the panel confirmed much of what the Omega Minus 1 Institute and the Navy's researchers had already revealed, including the fact that the object acted like an audio transponder, it could not discern the origin of the sphere, but as intrigued as the panel members were by the object, The fact that it had no direct connection to any UFO sighting negated any possibility of the Betts family winning the $50,000 reward.

In the end, Dr. J. Allen Heineck surmised that the object was likely manmade. Professor Heinek returned yesterday from New Orleans after sharing observations with colleagues regarding the so-called mystery sphere. Let me ask you first, Professor Heineck, about your latest evaluation. of the sphere. Do you consider this now extraterrestrial or Earth manufactured? No, there's no evidence. I nor the UFO panel find that there is no option, undoubtedly, would have been perfectly normal. I see, if that is true, then why hasn't someone stepped forward to make claim? Well, I wonder that very same thing. Do you have any theories about that? Well, no, I'm very much something like that.

But the sphere also caught the attention of one of his blue ribbon panel colleagues, and this noted scientist's investigation into the sphere would take a potentially terrifying turn, forcing him to ask, is the sphere a doomsday device? Dr. James Albert Harder, a professor emeritus of civil and hydraulic engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, became increasingly intrigued by the reports he was reading, regarding the Betts sphere, and he was no doubt delighted by his opportunity to examine the object firsthand. Following the National Enquirer competition, the bets allowed Dr. Harder to examine the sphere,

the results of which were disconcerting to say the least. Dr. James A. Harder, the Apros consultant in civil engineering, commented that an x-ray of the sphere should result in a donut-shaped presentation. However, the Navy X-ray should, show two internal spheres after the 300kVX-ray bombardment rendered the shell invisible. This indicates that the internal material is more dense than the stainless steel shell. Thus, a substantial portion of the weight in the internal material, and the shell could be much thinner than half an inch. If all of that seems a little anticlimactic, then all one needs to really do is read the final conclusions that Dr. Harder came to regarding the nature of the sphere and its internal contents. In an announcement made at the International UFO

Congress in Chicago on June 24, 1977, Dr. Harder presented his truly astonishing and utterly terrifying findings regarding the Bettsphere. Based on my x-ray studies, the two internal spheres are made of elements far heavier than anything known to science. While the heaviest element yet produced in any atomic reactor here on Earth has an atomic number of 105, and the heaviest element occurring naturally on Earth is uranium, with an atomic number of 92, I have determined that the Betz sphere has atomic numbers higher than 140. If one were to drill into the sphere, it is possible that the masses could go critical and explode like an atomic bomb. And because of this danger, and because the object is still presumably under surveillance by its supposed alien,

makers, I'd warn anyone against any attempt to go to Florida to investigate the best sphere. As if this weren't potentially dire enough, Harder went on to warn the assembled audience of scientists and UFO investigators that any attempt to discern the contents of the sphere might unintentionally set it off, or worse yet, offend its ostensibly extraterrestrial creators. It went unreported whether or not the Betts family concurred with Dr. Harding's potentially apocalyptic conclusions, but it is difficult to believe that they were not at least a little anxious about the potentially devastating effects that tampering with the sphere may cause. It was about at this time that the story surrounding the sphere seemed to vanish without a trace,

along with the sphere itself. That is to say, at least from the sphere. public eye. This is baffling, considering the fact that it was at just this moment that the tale became truly fascinating, not to mention possibly dangerous. As the years have slipped into decades, two primary questions have haunted investigators. The first unanswered question is, what the hell was the Betts' fear? The million-dollar question is, of course, did Terry Betts and his parents actually stumble across an alien artifact? Or is there a more prosaic explanation for the whole affair?

Some of the more mundane hypotheses proposed have ranged from the sphere being an extra large ball bearing to a paper mill valve. Or maybe it was a cryogenic storage device known as a Dewar flask. Or maybe it was a check valve used in a phosphate pumping line. But it seems likely that any of the number of scientists and engineers who examine the sphere were likely to have ruled out any commonplace industrial tool. Nevertheless, there is one mechanism that numerous researchers have clombed onto as the true identity of the sphere.

And that is that the sphere was nothing more than a sea bottom marker. The fact that both the Marines and the Navy denied ownership of the device is noteworthy. Especially in light of the fact that in the years that would follow, there would be numerous investigators, including UFO author Roland D. Story, who would suggest that the object was indeed a sea bottom marker, which was used to assist missile launching submarines by giving them stable points of reference for ballistic calculations.

According to Story, he said that the Navy's failure to identify the sphere could be due to a need-to-know restriction related to classified devices. The inherent flaw in this theory, however, resides in the fact that even if Berninger and his team did not have top secret clearance, the hoopla surrounding the discovery of the sphere, not to mention the reams of paperwork that would have been necessary to conduct these experiments with Navy personnel would have surely set off some kind of alarm, even in clandestine circles. The Betts family had already agreed to give up on the device if it proved to be military property. and it would have taken very little effort on the navies or the Marines before them, for that matter, to keep the sphere in their possession if the technology were that sensitive, even if they wanted to keep the device's purposes a secret. The flip side, however, is that the Betts sphere might have been a piece of top secret,

or maybe even extraterrestrial technology, and that the Navy replaced it with a replica. But this is, of course, pure speculation. One should also consider the fact that Antoine Betz was a marine engineer. While he's not likely to be an expert on military tech, would seem improbable that he would not have at least recognized the device's maritime origin. So, assuming that this was not a ballistic reference marker, perhaps we ought to consider the possibility that the Betz family came across a stolen steel ball.

According to the April 23rd, 1974 edition of the Okala Star Banner, a sculptor by the name of James Dirling Jones claimed to have lost the sphere when a cluster of them fell off the luggage rack of his Volkswagen bus while he was driving through the Jacksonville area on his way home to Touse, New Mexico. Durling Jones asserted that he had gotten the industrial valve spheres from an anonymous friend who had procured the objects illegally. He further asserted that the rattling that the Betts has claimed to hear within the sphere was due to the fact that the company that manufactured it had drilled holes into the object,

allowing metal chips to fall inside before re-welding them shut. This seems to fly in the face of the fact that none of the experts, who examined the sphere, noticed any weld marks, and that the x-rays seem to reveal distinct structures within the object. His testimony is further cast into doubt due to the fact that the artist, ostensibly in an effort to protect his friend and his illicit activities,

refused to name the company that manufactured his spheres, which might have put the whole business to rest once and for all. While it seems as if the industrial angle may rest on shaky ground, there's the distinct possibility that the sphere was another kind of artificial object, which may have plummeted from the loftiest of heights to the earth below in the form of a downed satellite. It's difficult to claim that the Betts' mystery sphere does not resemble a Sputnik-style Soviet satellite, with its antennas ripped off, or perhaps even a simplified version,

of China's Chezhan One experimental satellite, which was launched in 1971, as tempting as it is to suppose that this sphere was manned. made, the fact remains that there was absolutely no indication of a crash on the Betts property, save the brush fire, and no sign of any re-entry burns on the object itself. These two facts alone would seem to entirely disqualify the notion that the mystery sphere was a terrestrily constructed object. So leaving behind both industrial and satellite theories, let's look at some of the less ordinary options, including the fact that the sphere seemed to have an eerie resemblance to the oft-reported

World War II aerial marauders, known as the footh fighters. Beginning in November of 1944, World War II Allied aircraft pilots began to describe frightening encounters with small, glowing, silver-colored spheres in the skies over Germany, and eventually the Pacific Theater. The strange airborne anomalies appear to follow the allied planes, both individually and in clusters. They were able to maneuver around the planes at tremendous rate to speed and displayed astonishing dexterity. Even stranger was the fact that these peculiar machines seemed to toy with the crew of these aircraft, causing a great deal of consternation among those on board, but exhibit few, if any, overtly hostile actions. These sightings were taken very seriously by the military brass, who assumed that these foo fighters were yet another new weapon conceived by Nazi scientists to turn the tide of the war.

But soon, it became evident that these bizarre aerial acrobats were also accosting axis pilots. According to UFO researcher and professor of natural sciences at Western Michigan University, Michael D.S.ort, He stated that during World War II, the foo fighter experiences of allied pilots were taken very seriously. Accounts of these cases were presented to heavyweight scientists such as David Griggs, Louis Alvarez, and H.P. Robertson. The phenomenon was never explained. Most of the information about the issue has never been released by military intelligence. While foo fighter runnings continued to be reported by pilots following World War II, reports had dwindled down in the latter half of the, the 20th century. Still, it's hard to turn a blind eye to the fact that the betts fear, at least on the surface, seems to be very similar to eyewitness descriptions of footh fighters.

But if these round, glowing, hummingbird-like objects are not to blame, then might this be some sort of alien atomic bomb? In his highly acclaimed book, Chariots of the Gods, author Eric von Donovanekin introduced the world at large to Robert Shero's theory that it might have been extraterrestrial atomic weapons that were responsible for the total destruction of the biblical cities of Saddam and Gomorrah as well as other ancient disasters. Supporters of the alien atomic bomb theory maintain that in the ancient past extraterrestrials or possibly a lost civilization such as Atlantis, managed to detonate nuclear weapons on Earth.

The venerated Hindu epic, known as the Mahabrata, even describes a single projectile charged with all the power of the universe, an incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as 10,000 suns in all its splendor. This, one must admit, sounds suspiciously like an atomic explosion. in its resulting mushroom cloud. The Mahabrata also refers to great battles that were fought with the ancient past with airships and beam weapons, which resemble some modern reports of UFO technology.

Needless to say, mainstream academics dismiss this theory out of hand. But if, for the sake of argument, we entertain the notion that aliens were visiting Earth in the ancient past and occasionally waging war with our ancestors, then could it be possible that the potential doomsday device described by Dr. Harding might not be a more modern alien weapon that accidentally or intentionally fell into the hands of human beings? The premise is thin, but still intriguing in a science fiction sort of way. The truth is, we may never know what the Betz sphere was.

But one surefire way to try and end this enigma is to solve the second biggest mystery surrounding the sphere. Where the hell is it? When all the routine theories and wild speculations are put finally aside, the single biggest mystery that remains is whatever happened to the best sphere. In the years that followed this strange series of events, numerous other unfathomable spheres have plummeted to the earth. in such diverse places as Russia, Australia, Iraq, and Alabama, of all places. But none have ever managed to capture the world's attention, quite like the Betts sphere.

Is Terry Betts, or one of his relatives, still in possession of the sphere? Have its allegedly alien creators reclaimed it, or has it long since been confiscated by the United States military? The latter would make sense if Dr. Harding's warning about the object's destructive potential proved to be true. Sadly, following Dr. Harding's dire forewarning in 1974, there's been very little mention of the sphere in the media. And, like many flash-in-the-pan curiosity stories, this one likely ran its course, and the public's interest was captured by some other passing fad before wrapping the story. puzzle up in any satisfying fashion. But that doesn't mean there haven't been developments. In an exclusive interview with Scott Philbrook and Forrest Burgess of the

Astonishing Legends podcast, a close friend of the Betts family, claimed that J. Ellen Heineck, the Project Blue Book astronomer turned UFO investigator, started spending a lot of time at the Betts home when they had the sphere, eventually becoming a very close friend and even spending nights at the house doing all types of experiments on the sphere. This friend who was there at the time would go on to say that Jerrybitts began to form a whole new opinion of Heineck and his motives. Dr. Heinek had come and befriended himself to the family to where he came back a couple of times and corresponded with her for years, but there was something about him that she did not

trust and she felt very uncomfortable with. And she felt like in the end when the ball was taken and everything done to it, she felt like he had a lot to do with it and that he knew more than he was telling and he would tell us one thing. But if you go and you read things online about, well, he said that it was nothing. And people speculate that he's trying to save his career. His career is UFOs. It's not like you're a neurosurgeon and you're doing pumping school. You're someone researching UFOs. So he would tell us one thing and tell us stories of things that I'm sure he probably shouldn't have been telling, and maybe that was to ingratiate himself to us. But I think he had serious ulterior motives.

And I was young then, but hearing her tell it and express her concern of him even being in the house. Of course, there's a chance that in the years following these bizarre events, some accredited scientific institution inspected the sphere and made a formal announcement regarding its origin. thus solving this enigma once and for all. But if that is the case, there's no public record of it anywhere. But in a strange twist to the entire affair, Paul Heineck, one of J. Allen Heineck's sons, admitted that in his childhood,

his father had a strange metallic ball hidden in the basement that he and his brothers used to play with. They never knew where it came from or why their father had it. Could this have been the Betz sphere? And Heinek either stole it or eventually acquired it from the Betts family? It all seems just a bit too coincidental, if you ask me. In the end, there's a good chance that we will never know definitive origins of the sphere. But there is the, frankly, minute chance that as you listen to this episode,

the irrefutable proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence might be sitting in a cardboard box collecting dust in someone's dingy basement, just waiting for a curious child to discover its secrets. Somewhere in the Skies is produced by Third Kind Productions in association with the Entertainment One Podcast Network. To learn more, visit Entertainment One Podcast.com.