Talk:Jimmy Carter UFO incident

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[edit] Interview with President Carter About the Incident

President Carter clears up some things about the incident in a newly recorded (July 2007) interview on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, a science podcast. Anyone willing to incorporate the information from the interview in this article is welcome to do so. The particular show which contains the interview can be found on the following address: http://www.theskepticsguide.org/skepticsguide/podcastinfo.asp?pid=105 195.38.3.185 12:00, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notability

I can give a couple more references, if needed. It is mentioned in the Jimmy Carter article. In fact, that article used to explain how it was identified as the planet Venus, but that has been removed from the article. Bubba73 (talk), 03:07, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

  • hey the more references you add, the better (atleast thast why i think hehe) (:O) -Nima Baghaei talk · cont · email 16:27, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
I want to see if it survives the AfD. Not much sense in putting in the references if the whole article is going to be deleted in a few days. Bubba73 (talk), 17:15, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
On the other hand, putting in the references could help it survive the AfD - I've helped articles survive that way. If you care about this article, Bubba73, help it! Totnesmartin 11:03, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
I haven't voted one way or the other, because I haven't decided. Other people can do research too. Bubba73 (talk), 14:29, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Accuracy disputed

There is a factual inaccuracy in the article, and many facts are omitted. Bubba73 (talk), 21:23, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

In particular, the date is wrong. Bubba73 (talk), 14:51, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
  • no it is not, its even stated in the document, October 1969 (:O) -Nima Baghaei talk · cont · email 02:52, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
I know that is the date on the report, but that is not the correct date of the sighting. Bubba73 (talk), 03:49, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
  • provide a reference so we can show both dates and explain the difference (:O) -Nima Baghaei talk · cont · email 03:51, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

What IS the correct date, and why haven't you added it on. Please stop tagging and just fix the page. - perfectblue 08:09, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

I haven't changed the page because I don't think it should be changed while it is up for deletion. People have voted on kee[/delete based on a particular version of the article. It has been known for 30 years that October isn't the correct month. Bubba73 (talk), 13:43, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
So, what is the correct date. FYI, it's perfectly normal to edit a page up for Afd. In fact over Afd is often one of the periods that pages see the most radical expansions in some cases. You improve things in order to get people to vote to keep the page. Unless you can find a reliable source pronto, I'm taking that tag down and using the date that Carter gave on the original document - perfectblue 14:48, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
If you are referring to the "January" date, I have found nothing other than rumor/hearsay/anecdotal accounts to support it. I am detagging accordingly, if you wish to dispute this, please provide evidence that there is a realistic dispute.
perfectblue 10:11, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Transcript

Is there a typed transcript of the report? The text on the pages is hard to read, and not all of us are used to reading cursive western scripts or English.

perfectblue 20:14, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

I have one. It is in a book though. Bubba73 (talk), 00:18, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
That would probably be a copyright violation. In fact, the current scan of Carter's form may be a copytight violation. The info on those images says that it is OK because he was a government employee, or something like that. However, he didn't do that in his official capacity, so I think it may be a copyright violation. Bubba73 (talk), 00:28, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
In fact, it says "This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. See Copyright. Note: This only applies to works of the Federal Government and not to the work of any individual U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, county, municipality, or any other subdivision." (emphasis added). He was doing at as individual, and he was not even in the federal government until four years later. Bubba73 (talk), 00:31, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
  • He did it while governor, and its been released at his library (:O) -Nima Baghaei talk · cont · email 00:47, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
The info on the scans in the article now says that it was the work of the federal government, but it wasn't. Bubba73 (talk), 01:06, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
There must be some way to supress it - can't we just remove it? Duck! Fisent 04:32, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
  • why would we remove the pictures? the pictures help add significance to the article by showing the subject at hand with more clarity of description. he released it to the public, the scans come from his library (:O) -Nima Baghaei talk · cont · email 04:55, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

The documents are now officially part of the state maintained Jimmy Carter Library collection, I was under the impression that this meant that they had been released as a government documents for he purposes of copyright, and if even a single FOIA request has been made they are PD - perfectblue 07:39, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Could have been a contender?

The article says "then a contender for the governorship of Georgia". The sighting was in early Jan 1969 and the Jimmy Carter article speaks of his 1970 campaign for governor (fall 1970 election, Jan 1971 take office). Therefore I'm not sure if he was a contender for governor at the time. The stated reason of his speech at the meeting was to boost the Lion's Club, not a political speech. Therefore I'm changing the wording of the sentence. If there is a WP:RS saying that he was a contender then, it can be changed back. Bubba73 (talk), 02:03, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] other references

While I have them assembled, I decided to list other references that aren't used in the article. I saw no need to use them as a reference, because it might seem like overkill. I didn't list them under "further reading" because they don't add anything not in the references used (two books by Scheaffer, plus Peebles and Story). The other references are:

  • Robert Bartholomew and George Howard, UFOs & Alien Contact, page 194
  • Philip J. Klass, UFOs: The Public Deceived, pages 79 and 297
  • Paul Kurtz, Skeptical Odysseys, pages 136-37

And the following two books mention the sighting but don;t give the details of the date, location, or idintification:

  • The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia, by William Birnes, Pocket Books, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-6674-8

[edit] links

  • Sheaffer has text from several articles. This used to be a reference in the article.
  • Carter library interview - this is an interview with someone from the Carter Library. In it, they mention that it was identified as a "planet or something".

    Every library gets investigations about unidentified flying objects from time to time. President Carter had, earlier in his career, before he was President, turned in an official report of having sighted something. That ended up in one of the tabloids, I think, when he was running for President or when he was President, and that drew attention to the fact that he turned in this report. Of course, since he was trained as a scientist, why, people felt that he would have great credibility on this issue. I think, as I recall, the scientists had studied it and decided it was a planet or something like that.

    Bubba73 (talk), 02:30, 23 May 2007 (UTC)