Sputnik I was launched on October 4, 1957. The fact
that the Russians were in space and the U.S. was not
was shocking due to the military implications. The
fear in the US was the Russians could attach a nuclear
bomb to the satellite and drop it on the US. We would
have had absolutely no defense against such an attack.
The official story is Sputnik I burned up upon
re-entry on January 4th, 1958. This is what most
websites say, though a few mention January 2nd or 3rd. Upon closer
inspection of the documentation, you discover the
January 4th date (or January 2nd) was merely an agreed projection based upon the last signals received
from the satellite and the degradation of Sputnik’s orbit.
All news reports from 1957 indicate everyone in the
world lost all contact with Sputnik I during the first
week of December, 1957. The January 4, 1958 date is
simply an agreed upon projection.
We here at The Beat Museum have recently discovered the
official story may or may not be the full story. See,
a guy came in The Beat Museum late one night in November,
2006 when I was sitting at the front desk . During the course of the conversation I discovered his name was Robert Heely and he was a well known surf artist. He'd painted many of the world's acclaimed professional surfers. After talking for a while Robert looked up at the model of Sputnik we use to tell the story of the Beats and said,
"Oh, I see you have a model of Sputnik".
"Yeah, the Beats became the Beatniks who became the
Hippies of the 1960's," I replied.
"Yeah, I've heard that," the guy said. "I know the
guy who has the real one".
"The real what?"
"The real Sputnik".
"Get the hell out of here," I said. "Everybody knows
Sputnik burned up on re-entry."
"That's what I thought, too," he said. "But I know
this guy and I've seen the pieces and I really believe
it's true."
"C'mon!"
"Here, write down the guys number and call him yourself".
So the next day, on a lark, I called the guy in Southern
California. He was expecting my call and we had a
terrific conversation. He seemed like a normal person
in every way - I couldn't detect any tinfoil hats at all. A few days later a package showed
up in the mail with photocopies and pictures and I was
blown away. Here were letters on US Air Force stationary
that read, "at the time you recovered the Sputnik parts".
I couldn't know if it was true but I had a guy willing to
swear he saw it all himself when he was eleven years old
so I had to look at it more closely. A week later I drove to southern California to meet the man himself.
In 1957, Bob Morgan was an eleven year old boy living
with his parents and visiting his grandparents and
other family members on a ranch in southern
California. Early in the pre-dawn morning of December
8, 1957 Bob’s father, who got up early for his job on
the Southern Pacific Railroad, noticed a strange, brilliant glow
out by a large oak tree on the property. When the
family went to investigate they found a pile of what
looked like glass lying in pieces at the base of the
tree. The glass tube-like pieces (which turned out to
be plastic) were glowing red with the effect looking
like blood was flowing through the tubes. The adults
kept the children at a distance because it was possible
the glowing objects could have been dangerous.
The next day a family member, who is still alive
today, was working as a waitress at a local restaurant
when a customer asked if she’d heard about the $50,000
reward for Sputnik that was being offered by KDAY
radio, a fifty thousand watt station with a reach over much of
southern California. The family member turned on the
radio and heard the KDAY DJ, Mark Ford, making the
$50,000 offer herself many times over
the next few days.
On December 10, 1957 Earl Thomas contacted KDAY radio
DJ Mark Ford about the reward. He was instructed to
come in the next day with the items he had found.
When he arrived he and his wife were introduced to a
representative from the US Air Force who asked they
accompany him to a nearby Air Force office. When they
arrived at the office they were joined by members of
the US Army, the Navy and the Marines as well as the
Office of Intelligence out of Cal Tech in Pasadena,
California, all of whom showed top secret credentials to enter the governement facility.
The Air Force asked to take custody of the 12 items
and said Thomas would receive the $50,000 within the
next three days. Thomas said that would be fine as
long as he received a receipt, which he did, written
on US Air Force letterhead, signed by Commanding
Officer Colonel Hess and witnessed by the radio DJ,
Mark Ford.
A few weeks went by and, after repeated un-returned
phone calls, the Thomas’ were able to secure an
appointment with Colonel Hess. When they arrived at
2:00 they were told Colonel Hess was in, but they
never met with him. Finally, after waiting for over
two hours a Sergeant Jackson asked why they were
waiting. Earl Thomas showed the sergeant his receipt
and said he wanted to pick up his property. The
sergeant said he’d seen the box of plastic items on the
Colonel’s desk and that he’d get them. When the
Thomas’ got the pieces back they noticed one five inch
segment had been removed from the largest piece. This
is how the Thomas’ got the plastic parts back.
Over the next 8 years the Thomas’ wrote dozens of letters to numerous State
and Federal officials in an effort to claim the $50,000
reward. From 1958 through 1965 they wrote the
following officials:
- California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown
- U.S. Senator from California George Murphy
- U.S. Senator from California Clair Engel
- Secretary of the Air Force Curtis LeMay
- President John F. Kennedy
- President Lyndon Baines Johnson
The government claimed no reward was ever
offered by the Air Force or the Federal Government. According to Earl Thomas, KDAY claimed
they were working on behalf of the government. Years
later, evidence came to light that the KDAY disc jockey, Mark Ford, had been a
cryptologist (breaking Soviet Radio Broadcasts for the
US Government) for the US Air Force prior to his work
with the radio station.
Jerry Cimino
Director, The Beat Museum
January, 2007
MUSEUM EXHIBIT OF ORIGINAL SPUTNIK I PARTS SEEKS TO RESOLVE FIFTY YEAR OLD MYSTERY
Is it possible these really are the surviving parts of the original Sputnik I satellite?
We're trying to tell a story and at the same time we're looking for answers. Bob Morgan has been carrying this question for fifty years.
If some official on either side of The Cold War - someone who knows - can step forward and provide a difinitive answer as to what these parts really are and how they could have wound up glowing
red near an oak tree in Encino, California on December 8, 1957 we (and Bob) would really like to know.
The Beat Museum exhibit of the original Sputnik I parts will open to the public very soon. We'll let you know when that happens so you can come to the Museum to view the exhibit and decide for yourself.
OTHER FACTS
The family pursued the $50,000 reward for many, many
years. There are dozens and dozens of letters between
the Thomas’ and various government officials and
agencies. One of these letters from the US Air Force
written in response to a letter to President Kennedy
actually mentions that Earl Thomas "recovered the
Sputnik parts."
The Air Force came back to the family to re-recover the Sputnik parts after
they had inadvertently been given back. They were told the family
had hired a lawyer to handle the matter and the Air Force said they
weren't interested in dealing with lawyers.
In the early 1960’s, after they had unsuccessfully
been trying to claim their reward for eight years and the
Air Force had returned a few more times, Earl Thomas
buried the Sputnik pieces in a waterproof box under
his house where they remained for the next twenty
years.
HOW THIS RELATES TO THE BEAT GENERATION
The Beat Generation became known as the Beatniks due
to the over-all hysteria of the Cold War. They were
non-conformists living at a time when non-conformists
were viewed with utmost suspicion. Sputnik was launched
two weeks after Kerouac's "On The Road" hit the best
seller list and the day after Ginsberg's "Howl" made
headlines with the ruling that it had 'redeeming social value'
and was hence "not-obscene".
Almost overnight the perception of the Beats went from being 'artistic
intellectuals' to 'communist sympathizers' due to the
launch of Sputnik and the term 'Beatnik' was a label
that stuck.
