Dear Forrest,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my inquiry. I am returning the materials you asked to have back in this envelope. I have made photocopies of these documents.
Phil Klass and I had some interesting discussions Sunday and Monday. I don't believe he is either stupid or hungry as you suggset; however, he is very strongly biased against the possibility that any genuine UFOs might exist, and as a result he is quick to attribute either stupidity or fraud to anyone who does think he saw one. He believes you are making things up to cover errors in what you remember about the Lakenheath incident.
I shall fill you in on a few details, in the hope these might jog your memeory a bit. The CPS-5 manual in Phil's possession, of which I now have a copy of the more pertinent parts, shows that there was a knob on the control panel allowing variation of the antenna rotation speed between zero and 6 rpm. So the increase to a scan rate of once every 10 seconds could have been accomplished without modification to the radar, However, Phil was wrong about the searchlight and sector-scan modes; both are available. The antenna can be controlled manually by means of a hand-wheel; as soon as the hand wheel is turned, the automatic antenna driove is disconnected and the antenna can be pointed by hand in any direction. Sector scanning can be accomplished by means of a CW-CCW rotation direction reversing switch located on the control panel. The sector being scanned is controlled by manually reversing the direction of the antenna direction at the outer limits of the sector.
Also, the CPS-5 manual (updated through 1957) makes no mention of any MTI feature. Naturally, Phil does not dispute that you had MTI available since his whole case rests on a malfunctioning MTI unit. Is the lengthy modification you remember being made by any chance installation of the MTI? Also, do you remember whether at any time when the UFO was being tracked the MTI was switched on and off to see if it was causing the target itself?
Anyway, Phil and I have agreed the case is worth pursuing further. He will use his influence to see if we can get addresses for some of the men whose names you so kindly supplied, and I shall write to them to see what they can contribute to the case. I shall keep in touch with you, And thanks again.
Sincerely
s/s Gordon D. Thayer
cc: Stan Friedman
