Charles A. Huffer's Critique of Captured:
The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience

"CAPTURED!...has a wealth of material concerning the 19/20 September 1961 Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction that has, until the publication of this book, not been known to the general public....Should you purchase the book: CAPTURED! ..Yes!" -- Charles A. Huffer

Originally published as a customer review on the Internet in 2007 by the author, it is published here in order to preserve Charles A. Huffer's highly valuable critique and analysis. Thanks to Steve Pearse for helping others learn about this important research.

Charles A. Huffer was a former MUFON Field Investigator; Liaison Representative to MUFON Central European Section; State Section Director, Arkansas and Coordinator of the UFO Special Interest Group (UFO SIG) of American Mensa, LTD. Mr. Huffer passed away in December of 2008 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

CAPTURED! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience, has a wealth of material concerning the 19/20 September 1961 Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction that has, until the publication of this book, not been known to the general public. Betty Hill’s niece, co-author Kathleen Marden, has access to Betty’s files and therefore is able to use first hand material to compile this very interesting and valuable book.  I am not in a position to check the accuracy of the part of the book that does not deal with the Star Map. What follows is my review of the small part of the book that deals with the Star Map. I have also provided additional material that I hope will help explain the map.

In my opinion, the Barney and Betty Hill UFO incident is one of the most important that has taken place.  The one thing that sets this case apart from others is that Betty Hill was shown a Star Map by one of the crew members while she was on board the UFO.  Since I have spent more than thirty years researching this map, my comments are based on what I have learned during that time. Unless otherwise noted, page numbers refer to the book CAPTURED!.  Direct quotes are enclosed in quotation marks.

Stars are known by several different designations.  For instance, Zeta 1 Reticuli is a star located in the constellation Reticulum.  This is called a Bayer – Flamsteed Designation.  This star also is known by other designations such as Gliese 136 or GL 136, HD 20766, HIP 15330 and P-63 217.   The Gliese numbers are in star catalogs compiled by Wilhelm Gliese, the HD numbers are in a catalog associated with the name of Henry Draper, the HIP numbers are from the Hipparcos catalog and P-63 217 is from a Durchmusterung catalog.  GL 67 = B+41 328 refers to the Bonn, Germany Durchmusterung (1855).  GL 86.1 = C-28 694 refers to the Cordoba, Argentina Durchmusterung (1875).   GL 136 = 

P-63 217 refers to the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung (1875), Cape of Good Hope, South, Africa.  These Durchmusterung numbers are from the Hipparcos data.  Other sources will list B+41 328 as BD+41 328, etc.  There are many star catalogs, each with a different numbering system.  1855 and 1875 refer to the catalog Epochs.

Betty Hill drew the Star Map from memory in March 1964, about two and one-half years after it was seen.  This drawing may be seen on page 288 of CAPTURED! On this map there are six stars connected by solid lines and six stars connected by dashed lines. According to CAPTURED!, on page 236, it is written that these lines denoted heavy trade routes, light trade routes, and occasional expeditions.  The dashed lines are the expeditions.  From another source, THE ZETA RETICULI INCIDENT reprint by Terence Dickinson, one star that has been selected to be on the list of stars making up the map is behind the ‘hub’ and was not drawn on the map.  The missing star is Zeta Tucanae or Gliese 17.  The ‘hub’ star, the star with solid line connections to five other stars, has been selected by Marjorie Fish to be Zeta 1 Reticuli or Gliese 136.  The star connected to the ‘hub’ with five lines to the lower right is Zeta 2 Reticuli (Gliese 138).  Going counter-clockwise from Gliese 138, the star connected to the ‘hub’ that is immediately to its right is Alpha Mensae (Gliese 231).  Continuing counter-clockwise around the ‘hub’, the next connected star is our sun, also known as SOL. Zeta 2 Reticuli, Alpha Mensae and SOL are connected only to the ‘hub’ star.  Continuing counter-clockwise around the ‘hub’ is 82 Eridani (Gliese 139).  82 Eridani is connected by a dashed line to Tau Ceti (Gliese 71), Tau Ceti by a dashed line to 107 Piscium (Gliese 68), 107 Piscium by a dashed line to 54 Piscium (Gliese 27), 54 Piscium by a dashed line to Gliese 67 (HD 10307), in this order. The remaining star connected by a solid line directly to the ‘hub’, to its left, is Gliese 86 (HD 13445).  Gliese 86 is connected by a dashed line to Gliese 59 (HD 9540) to the lower left.  Gliese 86 is also connected by a dashed line to Tau 1 Eridani (Gliese 111), to the upper left.  Inside these ‘rabbit ears’ are the three triangle stars.  These triangle stars are not connected by lines. The closest triangle star to Gliese 86 is Gliese 86.1 (HD 13435).  The star to the left of Gliese 86.1 is Gliese 95 (HD 14412).  The remaining star inside the ‘rabbit ears’, above these two, is Kappa Fornacis (Gliese 97).  These triangle stars were remembered by Betty as appearing quite prominent. 

On page 22 of the Introduction to CAPTURED!, a scientific investigation of the star map was promised to be revealed:  “The scientific investigation of Betty’s star map...will be revealed.”   This Introduction was written by Kathleen Marden.  But neither a complete list of the sixteen stars that were finally selected by Marjorie Fish to represent the stars in Betty Hill’s map nor a map labeled with these stars is to be found in the book.    

Page 235:  At the bottom of page 235 are two b/w photos of a 3D map constructed by Marjorie Fish.  Twenty-four stars are listed above the two photos but only eight are stars that were finally selected by Marjorie Fish.  Underneath the pictures it is written that lines and numbers were traced in white for visibility, but in my copy of the book no numbers are visible in the photos and the white lines and white smudges provide no useful information that I can discern. 

Marjorie Fish became interested in Betty’s map in the 1960s and after many difficulties in collecting the necessary star data, began doing the necessary calculations and construction work on several 3D models of our solar neighborhood.  If the reader has never constructed such 3D star maps, I can attest that it is tedious work.  Over the past three decades I have constructed several such models of different sizes.  It is very easy to get the strings tangled and very difficult to get them untangled.  One model I constructed earlier this year, 2007, was set up in the home of Norman Walker, MUFON State Director for Arkansas.   Unfortunately, this model was knocked over by his dog and the strings could not be untangled. I had to start all over with the string construction.  Even opening a door on a windy day can cause the strings to get tangled.  Marjorie spent untold hours on her project and deserves the highest praise for her scientific work.

Page 236:   Marjorie completed her original 3D model in December 1968.  Most of the star pattern was found by the summer of 1969.  In December 1969, THE CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, by Wilhelm Gliese, was published.

Page 236:  “Fish used this to recheck her work, but three stars on Betty’s map did not appear in the catalog.”   I personally own a printed copy of THE CATALOGUE OF                      

NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, and ALL sixteen Fish - Hill Pattern Stars that were finally selected by Marjorie Fish as representing the stars on Betty’s map are in that catalog.  This catalog was published by G. Braun GmbH, 75 Karlsruhe, Karl-Friedrich-Strasse 14 – 18, Germany. It has long been out of print.

Page 236:  “It was not until the fall of 1972 that the last three stars were found in an updated GLIESE CATALOG.”  The source listed for this information is JOURNEY INTO THE HILL STAR MAP by Marjorie Fish. www.nicap.org/hillmap.htm (Accessed 8 August 2007).  This source is a report that was given at the yearly MUFON UFO Symposium held in 1974 in Akron, Ohio.  Here are the parts from Marjorie’s paper that relate to the above quote from CAPTURED!:  “…Gliese’s 1969 Near Star Catalog came out in December, and the stars rechecked, but the last three stars were still elusive.”  Notice this does NOT state that the three stars were NOT in the 1969 catalog.  They had simply not yet been located.  According to the Gliese Catalogue of 1969, page 4, the catalogue contains 1529 single stars and systems with altogether 1890 components, spectroscopic and astrometric companions not included.  Another quote from the 1974 Symposium paper by Marjorie Fish:  “During the summer of 1972, I made a catalog of all the stars in the Gliese Catalog that might have terrestrial planets with native life.  The stars were coded according to probability.  Then new models were made using these stars, and in the fall of 1972, the last three stars with lines and the triangle stars were found; and work on the outer dimensions of the space represented by the map started.  This was narrowed down within one light year in December.  Work on all the stars in the map was tentatively concluded in February, 1973.”  Notice there is no mention by Marjorie Fish of a new GLIESE CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1972.  Marjorie Fish had compiled an ‘abridged catalog’ from the Gliese Catalog of 1969.  In fact, there was and is no such updated Gliese catalog from 1972.  This can be easily verified by going to the website of the ASTRONOMISCHES RECHEN-INSTITUTE HEIDELBERG, the originating institute of the catalogs by Wilhelm Gliese. 

(http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/aricns/cnsprint.htm ) (Accessed 8 August 2007) or www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/datenbanken/aricns/cnsprint.htm (Accessed 11 August 2007) According to this website, there was a 1979 Supplement to the CNS2, CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, but this Supplement, CNS3, compiled by W. Gliese and H. Jahreiss, was never published in printed form.  This Supplement is or was available on a CD-ROM that was prepared in 1991 by the NASA Astronomical Data Center.  This Heidelberg website was last updated 25 August 1998.

Page236:  “Obviously what Betty saw seemed to point to only about 16 stars as being connected with the lines denoting heavy trade routes, light trade routes, and occasional expeditions.”  According to the map Betty drew, there are 12 stars connected in this manner.

Page 237:  Referring to Marjorie Fish,  “It was only after she had data from the newly published 1972 CATALOG OF NEARBY STARS by Wilhelm Gliese, and built yet another model using this new data, the she found one--and only one--three-dimensional pattern that fit, angle for angle, line length for line length, what Betty had drawn…a real eureka moment.”  This three-dimensional pattern that fit angle for angle and line length for line length is an astounding claim.  I have never seen it made before.  From what point in space did Marjorie Fish select to make these measurements?  Since the model referred to is a 3D model, there should be an ‘eyeball’ point to view the model.  This would involve a three dimensional coordinate from which the calculations can be performed.  During my own research efforts, this ‘eyeball’ coordinate has never surfaced, either in the reports concerning the star map I have read or my own calculations.  And remember Marjorie Fish used the 1969 data from the Gliese catalog.  We now have   more accurate data available for the selected stars.  After all, the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969 was published in 1969!  And here is also another reference to that non-existent 1972 CATALOG OF NEARBY STARS by Wilhelm Gliese.

As to the fit, angle for angle, line length for line length claimed for this 1969 data, consider what Marjorie Fish wrote in JOURNEY INTO THE HILL STAR MAP.  In this report, under DISCREPANCIES:  “Betty saw the lined pattern as a whole and the triangle as a whole but did not draw them to the same scale.”  (This would automatically cause matching problems for even a totally accurate 3D model. CAH)

“The line to Alpha Mensae is an extension of the Gliese 86-Zeta Reticuli line.  On this line, her conscious mind took control.  She erased twice and put it in wrong.  A projected image of a slide of the model on a tracing of Betty’s map shows the correct line was probably the top erased line, although the lower erased line is closer to the correct line length.  Correcting this angle also corrects the angle to Alpha Mensae.”

“If the top erased line is used, the angle made by the two base stars does not quite correspond.  This is an error in the model, not Betty’s map. Zeta Reticuli 2 actually is more to the right from this viewing angle.  They were using a much larger scale.  There is a visual separation of about 1/20 light year if they are 36.6 light years away.  On the largest scale I’ve used so far, ¼” per light year, this move to the right can’t be shown.  (actually they may be over 1 light year apart as parallax measurements out that far are not too accurate.)  The two base stars are very near the map’s surface, and using a much larger scale, their separation would be dramatized.”

“There are slight differences in line length and angles as in any freehand drawing.  Compare for yourself the projected slide of the model on Betty’s drawing.”  End of quote.  This sentence is also a repudiation of an almost perfect ‘fit’.

Wilhelm Gliese was aware of parallax problems in the 1969 Catalogue.  Parallax is used to calculate the distance to the stars.  In the various star catalogs, two of the three coordinates used to locate a star in space are rather uniform.  These two coordinates are Right Ascension and Declination.  Think of longitude and latitude found on maps of the Earth to get some idea of what these two terms mean.  Changes in these two coordinates come about mostly from precession of the equinoxes and the change is large enough that the star catalogs must be updated periodically.  These catalogs are always marked with the Epoch for which the catalog data are valid. For the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, the Epoch is 1950.0.  For the Hipparcos catalogue, the Epoch is J1991.25.  Correction factors are usually provided to make it possible to bring the catalog data to the date the observer is making the observation. But if the astronomer is not using an old catalog, the given coordinates will usually allow the star to be easily located, even if it is not in the center of the field of view of the telescope.   For observatories and amateur astronomers to locate a star in the sky, only the Right Ascension and Declination coordinates are needed. However, if one is to construct a 3D model of stars, the distance coordinate derived from the parallax value is essential and measuring parallax is very difficult.   Various catalogs of past years give widely varying parallax values for certain stars.  From Page 9 of the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969:  “The columns “Parallaxes” give the most important data of this catalogue.”…“It is difficult to decide how to treat separate parallax determinations for components of wide pairs, for stars of common proper motions which are physically related.”  This sentence can be applied to Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli, the stars that were chosen by Marjorie Fish to represent the two largest stars on the Betty Hill map.  From the note on Page 101 of the 1969 Catalog  referring to Gliese 136 is:  “Common proper motion and common parallax with No. 138, 310” distant.”  Gliese 136 is Zeta 1 Reticuli and Gliese 138 is Zeta 2 Reticuli.  Back to Page 9 of the 1969 Catalogue:  “In the introduction of the parallax catalogue L. F. Jenkins (1952) shows the systematic differences between the parallax series of different observatories.  All important trigonometric series, except Allegheny, require a negative correction in the Yale catalogue.  The large systematic difference of 0.”005 or even 0.”006 between Cape and Yale in the south and Allegheny is very disturbing because there is no satisfactory explanation.”  The catalogue from 1952 mentioned in this quote is the GENERAL CATALOGUE OF TRIGONOMETRIC STELLAR PARALLAXES, Yale University Observatory, New Haven, Connecticut.  In other words, different observatories found different parallaxes for some of the same stars and there was no satisfactory explanation for the discrepancies.  In the 1969 catalog, each of the parallaxes of the 16 stars selected for the Betty Hill map has probable errors given.  The probable errors could cause some changes in angles and line lengths.  Considering the erasures by Betty Hill, the fact that the map was drawn almost two and one-half years after it was seen, the comments by Marjorie Fish concerning the erasures, the quotes from the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969 by Wilhelm Gliese concerning parallax problems and the fact that much new data has been discovered since 1969, should have made one cautious about making claims of super accuracy for the map.

In the June 1999 issue of SKY & TELESCOPE is an article entitled HIPPARCOS:  THE STARS IN THREE DIMENSIONS by Michael Perryman.  On Page 43 of the article:  “Our limited knowledge of star distances and motions before Hipparcos is dramatized by comparing the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS with the Hipparcos results…It included some 2,000 stars that had reasonable data, drawn from painstaking parallax measures extending over about a century and gleaned from many authors and observatories.  These measurements were supplemented by distances estimated by indirect spectroscopic and photometric means.” Page 44 of this article:  “Surveying space with Hipparcos’s superb stereoscopic vision, astronomers have identified around 200 “new” stars within 25 parsecs…At the same time, hundreds of stars in the old census have turned out to lie much farther away.”   Based on Marjorie Fish’s original criteria for the selection of the sixteen stars in the Betty Hill map, newer data eliminate a few of these sixteen stars from consideration altogether. 

Page 237 of CAPTURED:  Dr. Hynek’s middle name should be spelled Allen, not Allan. 

Page 239:  Betelgeuse should be classified as a supergiant star, not a giant star. 

Page 240:   “All the pattern stars (connected with lines) are the right kind for planets and life…”   Gliese 86 is connected by a solid line to the ‘hub’ star Zeta 1 Reticuli, a trade route according to what Betty was told.  Based on what astronomers have recently learned, Gliese 86 would probably not have been selected as a Fish - Hill Pattern Star based on the criteria originally used by Marjorie Fish.  Gliese 86 has been discovered to have a planet 4.02 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting at a distance of 0.11 AU every 15.766 days.  (1 AU = 1 Astronomical Unit = the average Earth to Sun distance)  Even more problematic than this large planet, is that Gliese 86 is now known to be a double star. A double star in and of itself is not necessarily a problem.  After all, Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli are listed as a double star system in Field H55 of the Hipparcos data.  They are about 0.15 light years apart. But this second star in the Gliese 86 system is either a white dwarf or a brown dwarf.  If the temperature measurements that have been made are correct for this second star, it is a white dwarf and that means it was once a red giant.  This would have been catastrophic for any planet with life in the Gliese 86 system.  Currently, this white dwarf is about 21 AU from Gliese 86 but earlier would have been about 15 AU distant, about halfway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus if it were in our solar system.  In the red giant phase, this star would have become 10,000 times more luminous than it was originally.  It would have even become the dominant heat source for the large close-in planet mentioned above, heating it to 1000 degrees Kelvin or more.  It seems clear that any planet that had been in the life zone of Gliese 86, now labeled in the literature as Gliese 86 A, or of the original second star, Gliese 86 B, would have been sterilized by the heat of the red giant or, in the worst case scenario, even absorbed into the red giant itself as the star expanded into a red giant.  After the red giant entered the white dwarf phase, one can imagine resettlement of the system for mining operations or other ventures but these recent discoveries are problematic for the Gliese 86 system, based on the original criteria, for it being included in the list of stars for the Betty Hill map in the first place.  For further details see:  www.universetoday.com/2005/06/29/  (Accessed 9 August 2007) 

The ‘expedition’ star, Gliese 27 = 54 Piscium = HD 3651 = HIP 3093, also has a planet as well as a brown dwarf companion star.  http://exoplanet.eu/star.php?st=HD+3651&showPubli=yes (Accessed 8 August 2007)   The planet was discovered in 2003.  It has a mass of 0.2 Jupiter mass, an orbit of 62.23 days and a semi major axis of 0.284 AU.  The orbit has an eccentricity of 0.63, a highly elongated ellipse.

The note dated 24 August 2006 states that the brown dwarf has been detected by direct imaging.  The mass is between 20 and 60 times that of Jupiter.  The projected separation between 54 Piscium and the brown dwarf is 480 AU.  See http://jumk.de/astronomie/exoplanets/hd-3651.shtml (Accessed 8 August 2007) for a photo of the star 54 Piscium and the brown dwarf, plus other information.

 Page 240:  “…the Gliese catalog was published in 1968…”  The Gliese catalog was published in 1969 and, as the catalogue itself states on page 3, contains data that was available through 1968.

Page 241:   Writing of Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 Reticuli, selected by Marjorie Fish as representing the two largest stars on Betty’s map, “As it turns out, for our neighborhood, this is a unique pair of stars.  They are the closest (to each other) pair of sun-like stars in the neighborhood, being (as we now know because of the wonderful recent measurements of star distances made by the European satellite, Hipparchus) only 1/8 of a light-year apart from each other and only 39.2  light-years from the sun.”  Hipparchus was an ancient Greek astronomer.  The correct name for this satellite of the European Space Agency is HIPPARCOS, an acronym of HIgh Precision PARallax COllecting Satellite.   Based on the current nominal Hipparcos data, the distance between Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli is about 0.146 light years or about 0.15 light years, which is more accurate than 1/8 (0.125) of a light year.  (The nominal 1969 data give 0.0549 light years for this distance.) The nominal parallax value for each star is in Field H11 in the Hipparcos data.  The Standard Error is in Field H16.  In the Gliese Catalog of 1969, Column 20 gives both the parallax and probable error in the same column.  I chose only the parallax value itself as the nominal value.   Although the nominal data of the Gliese Catalogue of 1969 placed Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli equally distant from the sun at 36.65 light-years, the nominal Hipparcos data place Zeta 1 Reticuli 39.53 light-years and Zeta 2 Reticuli 39.40 light-years from the sun, not 39.2 light-years as in the above quote. 

Page 241:  “Our star, the sun, is out in the boondocks; the nearest star to it is 4.25 light-years away. Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 Reticuli are next-door neighbors.”  4.22 light-years to Proxima Centauri = GL 551 = HIP 70890, the closest star to our sun, is the distance the nominal Hipparcos parallax of 772.33 milli arc seconds provides.

Page 241:   “They are 34 times closer to each other than the next star over (Alpha Centauri—a triple star) is from the sun.”  Based on the nominal Hipparcos data, the distance between Zeta 1 RET and Zeta 2 RET is 0.15 light years and the distance to Proxima Centauri is 4.22 light years.  4.22 / 0.15  =  28.13 or 28, not 34.    These distance differences between my calculations and those in CAPTURED! may partly be because a different distance for one parsec was employed for the conversion of parallax to light years, or because other than the nominal parallax value in Field H11 of the Hipparcos data was used.  I used one parsec = 3.261633 light-years. My source:  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/para.html  (Accessed 8 August 2007).  In the astronomical scientific literature, parsecs are used as a distance measurement MUCH more than light years.  Using parsecs precludes such distance discrepancies since parsecs, to sufficient accuracy, may be calculated as follows:  1000/(parallax in milli arc seconds) or 1/(parallax in arc seconds).  No conversion factors are necessary.  But to convert parsecs to light years, one may multiply the parsec value by 3.258, 3.259, 3.26, 3.2616, 3.261633 or 3.262.  There are probably other conversion factors but these I have seen used or used myself.  I usually convert parallax directly to light years by dividing 3261.633 by the parallax in milli arc seconds such as that given in Field H11 in the Hipparcos data or the nominal value in columns 18, 19 and 20 in the Gliese catalog, with column 20 containing the preferred value.  If other than the nominal parallax values in Field H11 of the Hipparcos data were used to calculate stellar distances in CAPTURED!, a comment as to why that was done would have been useful.  The standard parallax error is found in Field H16 of the Hipparcos data and perhaps that was used someway in the calculations.   Since the Hipparcos data were praised in CAPTURED! as “wonderful recent measurements of star distances” on page 241, I assume, but do not know for a fact, that these data were used to calculate distances.  And yet the claim of an almost perfect ‘fit’ for the work of Marjorie Fish, which was based on the parallax values in the  CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, seems to preclude any better parallax measurements being discovered that may vary largely from the 1969 values.   But just that has happened.   Some of the current Hipparcos parallax values present problems for some of the stars that were selected by Marjorie Fish.

Writing of hypothetical planets around Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli on Page 241: “Beings on a planet around either star could directly observe the other star all day long.”   There is no information available of which I am aware that would allow such a conclusion.  It could be that as that planet revolves around its home star, the glare of that star would prevent the other star from being seen at all during certain times of its own year.  In our solar system Venus is very bright but there are certain times when the glare of our sun makes it impossible to see Venus from the Earth.  But even Venus can sometimes be seen with the naked eye in the daytime from the Earth if one knows where to look.  But be careful looking for Venus in the daytime if Venus is close to the sun.  One can easily damage one’s eyes, especially if one uses binoculars or a telescope.

Still referring to the view of Zeta 1 Reticuli from Zeta 2 Reticuli, or Zeta 2 Reticuli from Zeta 1 Reticuli on page 241:  “It would be more than 20 times brighter than Venus is in our sky.”   I wanted to check this statement since 20 seems a little high, but I ran into difficulty finding the Maximum Magnitude and the Minimum Magnitude of Venus (when Venus can be seen, of course) as seen from the orbit of the earth. The sources I checked mostly did not agree on what the correct values were.

Using the nominal Hipparcos data, Zeta 1 Reticuli as seen from Zeta 2 Reticuli has magnitude -6.6.  The 1969 Gliese data give a magnitude of -8.6.  Zeta 2 Reticuli as seen from Zeta 1 Reticuli has magnitude -6.9.  The 1969 Gliese data give a magnitude of -8.9. This difference of 2 magnitudes means the 1969 data give a 6.3 times greater brightness factor than the Hipparcos data.   The nominal Hipparcos data also give a distance between Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli that is about 2.7 times greater than the distance based on the nominal data from the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969:  0.146 L. Y. / 0.055 L. Y. = 2.65.

Page 241:  “Finally, there would obviously be a far greater incentive to develop interstellar travel when there is a neighboring star system only an eighth of a light-year away.  At a quarter of the speed of light it would only take six months to make the trip.”  Using the current nominal Hipparcos distance of 0.15 L. Y. between Zeta 1 RET and Zeta 2 RET, the time of travel would be 7.2 months. ((0.15 L. Y.) / (0.25 L. Y. / Y.)) times 12 Months / Y. = 7.2 Months or using 0.146 light years for the distance, 0.146 L. Y./0.25 L.Y./Y. times 12 Months/Y. = 7.0 Months.

From Chapter 23, DISBELIEVERS AND DISINFORMANTS, page 259:  When discussing INTERPRETATIONS OF AN ALIEN STAR MAP by William McBride, Joachim Koch’s solar system explanation is mentioned.  There is an unmentioned co-author of this study. His name is Hans-Juergen Kyborg.   The name of their 1993 study is:  NEW DISCOVERIES IN BETTY HILL’S STAR MAP.

Page 260:  “McBride used star catalogs on the Internet, but doesn’t reference his specific sources.”  On page 116 of McBride’s book is the following:  “With the help of the solstation.com website, I proceeded to find out.  Go to this site and begin by clicking on the question mark.  Then click on “show” and finally hit “links”.  All the lines are gone. At this point, click on the question mark again, then go to “expand” and then “scope”.  Hit the + button until you reach a setting of 26.62.  A large yellow star appears.  It is the star Beta Hydri…”  Also on page 117 of McBride’s book is the following:  “By going to the internet stellar database you can get the X, Y, Z points for stars close to our sun.  Solstation.com gives nice 3D maps of the stars near our sun.  This site also supplies important data on the stars.  Another site called Ch view gives you X, Y and Z plots of nearby stars.”  It seems to me that a referenced source plus instructions on how to use the source are in McBride’s book.  For the Ch view website, go to:  www.google.com and type in ChView. (Accessed 8 August 2007) Although McBride’s book is mentioned in CAPTURED!, his name does not appear in the Index.

The Appendix, Page 288:  On this page are two pictures of the 2D Star Map that Betty Hill drew in the spring of 1964.  Not any of the erasures Betty made during the drawing of the map can be seen in these reproductions.  To see, faintly, some of these erasures, the map in the Dial Press hardcover edition, page 144, as well as the MJF hardcover edition of THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY by John G. Fuller should be consulted.  At least erasures are to be seen in the volumes I own.  Also see www.nicap.org/hillmap.htm (Accessed 8 August 2007) for an interesting drawing by Marjorie Fish on these erasures.

The European Space Agency Hipparcos satellite was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket

8 August 1989.  From the years 1989.85 – 1993.21, the satellite collected quality astronomical data.  The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues were released in June 1997.

As mentioned above, over the years there have been many Star Catalogs published and each has its own numbering system.  In what follows, the HD number is used for stars as numbered in the Henry Draper catalog, the HIP number as in the Hipparcos catalog and the Gliese number as in the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969 by Wilhelm Gliese.  The B, C and P designations are found in Fields H72 – H74 in the Hipparcos Catalogue data. 

For those interested in the Betty Hill map, here is a list of the sixteen Fish – Hill Pattern Stars chosen by Marjorie Fish:

STARS CONNECTED BY LINES

Our Sun = SOL

HIP 1599 = Gliese 17 = HD 1581 = Zeta Tucanae = P-65 13

HIP 3093 = Gliese 27 = HD 3651 = 54 Piscium = B+20 85

HIP 7235 = Gliese 59 = HD 9540 = C-24 658 = P-24 173

HIP 7918 = Gliese 67 = HD 10307 = B+41 328

HIP 7981 = Gliese 68 = HD 10476 = 107 Piscium = B+19 279

HIP 8102 = Gliese 71 = HD 10700 = Tau Ceti = 52 Ceti = B-16 295

HIP 10138 = Gliese 86 = HD 13445 = C-51 532 = P-51 282

HIP 12843 = Gliese 111 = HD 17206 = Tau 1 Eridani = 1 Eridani = B-19 518

HIP 15330 = Gliese 136 = HD 20766 = Zeta 1 Reticuli = P-63 217

HIP 15371 = Gliese 138 = HD 20807 = Zeta 2 Reticuli = P-62 265

HIP 15510 = Gliese 139 = HD 20794 = 82 Eridani = e Eridani =  C-43 1028 = P-43 354

HIP 29271 = Gliese 231 = HD 43834 = Alpha Mensae = P-74 374

TRIANGLE STARS NOT CONNECTED BY LINES

HIP 10164 = Gliese 86.1 = HD 13435 = C-28 694 = P-28 202

HIP 10798 = Gliese 95 = HD 14412 = C-26 828 = P-26 214

HIP 11072 = Gliese 97 = HD 14802 = Kappa Fornacis = C-24 1038 = P-24 276

To access the Hipparcos Catalogue Star data, use: 

www.rssd.esa.int/Hipparcos/HipcatalogueSearch.html (Accessed 8 August 2007)

Click on:  Access the catalogue data

Click on:  This online tool…

Scroll down and type in the HIP or HD numbers one at a time.  When you retrieve the data, you will find Fields H0 – H77.  H3 and H4 give truncated values of Right Ascension (RA) in the usual format of Hours, Minutes and Seconds and Declination (DEC) in the usual format of Degrees, Minutes and Seconds.

Fields H8 and H9 give the full Hipparcos accuracy of Right Ascension and Declination in Decimal Degrees, in this order.  Decimal Degrees are easier to use.  For this reason, the European Space Agency abandoned tradition and made the change to Decimal Degrees in Fields H8 and H9.  Calculator trigonometry functions normally require the values to be given in Decimal Degrees.  If your calculator does not have a conversion key for Hours, Minutes and Seconds to Decimal Degrees and you do not know how to make the conversion, use fields H8 and H9.

Field H11 gives the Parallax in milli arc seconds, mas.  Here is an example of how to use this important information.  Parallax allows you to calculate how far away a star is.  HIP 1599 = Gliese 17 = Zeta Tucanae has a parallax of 116.38 milli arc seconds, mas. (Field H8 for Right Ascension gives 5.008, Field H9 for Declination gives -64.878, both in decimal degrees.)  I have rounded these values to the nearest thousandth.  I personally prefer to use the full accuracy and then round off at the end of the calculation but this procedure will be usually be sufficient.  To find the distance, D, in light years from our sun, divide 3261.633 by 116.38 = 28.026 light years, rounded off to thousandths. This calculation does not take into account Field H 16, the standard error in the parallax value, but should be sufficient for constructing a 3D model or a 2D Star Atlas using the Fish - Hill Pattern Stars.    I nearly always use 3261.633 divided by the parallax in milli arc seconds to calculate light years.  (If one prefers parsecs instead of light years, one uses 1000 divided by the parallax in milli arc seconds:  1000 / 116.38 = 8.593 parsecs, rounded to thousandths.  Parsecs and light years are both distance measurements.)

Assuming Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (DEC) are now in Decimal Degrees and the Distance is in light years, compute the X, Y, and Z values for Zeta Tucanae using the above values.   The results of these three calculations for the X, Y, and Z coordinates of each star are all that one needs to construct a 3D model for any set of stars in a Star Catalog. Depending on the set of stars selected, the Z coordinates may need adjustment, as explained below.

X = D Cos(DEC) Cos(RA)

Y = D Cos(DEC) Sin(RA)

Z = D Sin(DEC)

X = 28.026 times Cos(-64.878) times Cos(5.008) = 11.853

Y = 28.026 times Cos(-64.878) times Sin(5.008)  = 1.039

Z = 28.026 times Sin(-64.878) = -25.375

Continue calculating all the (X, Y, Z) coordinates of the Fish - Hill Pattern Stars. The (X, Y, Z) coordinate of our sun, SOL, has the value (0, 0, 0).  (Using the Hipparcos data, one of the three triangle stars, GL 86.1, is no longer between the dashed lines connecting Gliese 59 and Tau 1 Eridani with Gliese 86.  A second triangle star, GL 97, is now in the wrong position.  Gliese 86.1 and Gliese 97 were both 42.36 light years distant from the sun using the 1969 data.  Using the Hipparcos data, Gliese 86.1 is 183.65 light years distant and Gliese 97 is 71.53 light years distant. These Hipparcos values are quite discordant with the values of the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969.) As one does the various calculations, one will notice that some of the stars have Z coordinates with positive values.  When constructing a 3D model, since one will be hanging ‘jingle bells’ or colored beads, it is necessary to subtract 33 (my choice) from ALL Z coordinates so all Z values in the Fish – Hill Pattern Stars will be negative.  Gravity works in the down direction and that is the reason for making the Z values negative.  One can not ‘hang’ a jingle bell or colored bead in the ‘up’ direction above the XY plane.  But a positive Z value would imply that is what one would have to do.   It is sometimes convenient, but not necessary, to have positive X and Y values so one can place the origin close to the lower left corner of the paper which one uses to pencil in the calculated coordinates. The same procedure is followed as with the Z coordinates except now one will add a positive number to ALL the X coordinates to make them all positive and perhaps a different positive number to ALL the Y coordinates to make them all positive, if needed. But one can place the origin where one wishes.  Adding or subtracting a number from ALL X or ALL Y or ALL Z coordinates does not change the spatial relationship among the stars.

Alpha Mensae = Gliese 231 = HIP 29271 has a small negative value for X, -0.39.  On a large piece of paper, draw the X and Y axes near the lower left hand corner with enough space to plot this coordinate:  (X, Y) = (-0.39, 8.70).  The Y coordinate values are all positive for the Fish – Hill Pattern Stars and convenient to use.  Below are my coordinate values for the Fish – Hill Pattern Stars.  One should check my work but keep in mind I used the full accuracy as listed in Fields H8 and H9 for my calculations.  Hence, there may be small differences.  One will only plot the X and Y values of the (X, Y, Z) coordinates on the paper.  FOR MY SMALL MODEL I USE CENTIMETERS.  THIS MEANS ONE CENTIMETER REPRESENTS ONE LIGHT YEAR.  ONE LABELS  EACH POINT PLOTTED WITH THE CORRECT GLIESE NUMBER AS ONE GOES. The absolute (positive) value of the (Z – 33) coordinate is used for the length of the string, also in centimeters.  On the side of the piece of paper where one plots the (X, Y) coordinates, one is to write the words CONTACTS THE CEILING in one of the other corners.  (The CONTACTS THE CEILING side of the paper will go up AGAINST the ceiling, if one decides to hang the model from the ceiling.  Double sided Scotch tape is helpful when attaching this sheet to the ceiling.) After one has finished plotting and labeling all the points, one must take a straight pin and punch a small hole through the paper at each point one has plotted.  Label each point with the correct Gliese number on the OTHER side of the paper as each hole is punched.  If one wishes to hang the stars from a piece of plywood or other material, one still has to follow these same instructions with the plywood playing the role of the ceiling and the CONTACTS THE CEILING side of the paper against the ‘ceiling’ side of the plywood.  Use a pencil to mark where the stars will hang on the ceiling or the plywood ‘ceiling’ through the holes you punched.  ONE REMOVES THE PAPER AND IMMEDIATELY LABELS THE POINTS ON THE CEILING OR PLYWOOD WITH THE CORRECT GLIESE NUMBER SO ONE WILL KNOW WHICH STAR WILL HANG THERE!  (One has to do the labeling three times:   once on each side of the paper and once on the ceiling.)  These penciled points will be where one screws in the ‘cup hooks’ mentioned below.  I USE COTTON THREAD TO HANG THE STARS SINCE POLYESTER STRETCHES MUCH MORE THAN COTTON.   BUT THERE MAY BE OTHER THREAD MATERIAL THAT STRETCHES EVEN LESS THAN COTTON.  Thread comes in various thicknesses.  Thicker thread stretches less but there is a trade-off with appearance of the model when using thick thread. Hobby Lobby has colored ‘Jingle Bells’ of various sizes that make fine stars.  The size of one’s model will determine what size jingle bell one wants.  One will be hanging stars that represent stars of spectral classes F, G and K.  One can use the same color for all stars or three different colors to more closely resemble the colors or the stars.  Using three different colors for the F, G and K spectral classes makes it easier to find the star pattern once it is hanging. Looking from under the model, I visually line up Zeta 1 Reticuli/Zeta 2 Reticuli, G2 V and G1 V stars respectively, with Zeta Tucanae, a F9 V star.  When one does this, most of the Fish – Hill Pattern Stars connected by lines will spring into view.  But Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli are so close they will be in contact with each other, not widely separated as in the drawing by Betty Hill. Gliese 86.1, with coordinate (136.22, 87.36, -119.84) can no longer be plotted on my models. This star is far away from the other stars.  Gliese 97 is also problematic.  I have left all former triangle stars out of my current models but have provided the coordinates below in case one wishes to plot them.

From the following (X, Y, Z-33) coordinates, use the X and Y values to plot the points on the paper.  Use the absolute (positive) value of the (Z-33) coordinate for the string length.  I use one-half inch ‘cup hooks’ that can be screwed into the ceiling or into the plywood sheet on which to hang the stars.  I connect one end of the string to a little #8 flat washer and the other end to a little jingle bell.  To protect the stars when not in use, I keep them in clear, flexible tubing.  Flexible tubing can be purchased from Lowe’s. I place the star in a tube and hang the #8 washer over the edge.  I then place a rubber stopper into the tube.    MEASURE THE POINTS PLOTTED AND THE STRING LENGTH CAREFULLY!

                           BASED ON  HIPPARCOS DATA.

              (X, Y, Z - 33)  FOR STARS CONNECTED BY LINES.

SOL = (0.00, 0.00, -33.00)             GL 17 = (ll.85, 1.04, -58.37)

GL 27 = (33.27, 5.77, -19.87)        GL 59 = (53.30, 22.97, -59.06)

GL 67 = (27.41, 13.04, -5.08)        GL 68 = (20.60, 9.88, -24.56)

GL 71 = (10.28, 5.02, -36.27)        GL 86 = (18.94, 12.11, -60.59)

GL 111 = (32.47, 28.50, -47.52)    GL 136 = (11.84, 13.83, -68.09)

GL 138 = (11.80, 13.84, -67.95)    GL 139 = (9.29, 11.06, -46.50)

GL 231 = (-0.39, 8.70, -64.93)

(X, Y, Z - 33)  FOR THE TRIANGLE STARS NOT CONNECTED BY LINES.

GL 86.1 = (136.22, 87.36, -119.84)

GL 95 = (30.55, 21.19, -51.09)

GL 97 = (53.18, 38.12, -61.88)

For those who may wish to construct a model for comparison purposes using the data from the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969 here are the data.  Under Right Ascension, 0 17 29 is to be understood as 0 Hours 17 Minutes 29 Seconds.  Under Declination, -65 10 06 is to be understood as -65 Degrees 10 Minutes 06 Seconds.  Under parallax, 140 (8) is to be understood as the nominal parallax being 140 Milli Arc Seconds with Probable Error as 8 Milli Arc Seconds.  This means the catalog claims the actual parallax lies between (140 – 8 = 132) and (140 + 8 = 148) Milli Arc Seconds, probably to one standard deviation.

Data from the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969.

                                    (EPOCH 1950.0)

                     RIGHT

               ASCENSION                 DECLINATION             PARALLAX

                      H   M   S                         D  M   S               MILLI ARC SECONDS       

GL 17          0  17  29                      -65  10  06                         140 (8)

GL 27          0  36  45                        20  58  54                          95 (5)

GL 59          1  30  53                      -24  25  54                           62 (6)

GL 67          1  38  44                        42  21  48                          87 (6)

GL 68          1  39  47                        20  01  36                        134 (6)

GL 71          1  41  45                       -16  12  00                        277 (5)

GL 86          2  08  25                       -51  04  06                           89 (7)

GL 111        2  42  46                       -18  47  00                           70 (9)

GL 136        3  16  41                       -62  46  00                           89 (8)

GL 138        3  17  07                       -62  41  48                           89 (8)

GL 139        3  17  56                       -43  15  36                         161 (8)

GL 231        6  11  44                       -74  44  12                         115 (8)

GL 86.1       2  08  27                       -28  27  18                           77 (8)

GL 95          2  16  44                       -26  10  54                           73 (8)

GL 97          2  20  15                       -24  02  12                           77 (8

For those who may be interested in building the 3D model of the sixteen stars using the 1969 data but do not wish to do the calculations, here are my results using the data from the CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969:

(X, Y, Z - 33)  COORDINATES FOR STARS CONNECTED BY LINES

SOL  (0.00,  0.00,  -33.00)                 GL 17  (9.76,  0.75,  -54.14)

GL 27  (31.65,  5.12,  -20.71)             GL 59  (44.18,  18.50,  -54.76)

GL 67  (25.17,  11.57,  -7.74)             GL 68  (20.74,  9.65,  -24.66)

GL 71  (10.21,  4.86,  -36.29)             GL 86  (19.53,  12.25,  -61.49)

GL 111  (33.45,  28.76,  -48.00)         GL136  (10.96,  12.69,  -65.59)

GL 138  (10.97,  12.74,  -65.56)         GL 139  (9.58,  11.22,  -46.88)

GL  231 (-0.38,  7.46,  -60.36)

(X, Y, Z - 33)  FOR THE TRIANGLE STARS NOT CONNECTED BY LINES.

GL 86.1  (31.54,  19.80,  -53.18)  

GL 95     (33.17,  22.53,  -52.71)

GL 97     (31.66,  22.22,  -50.26)

Comparable data from the Hipparcos catalog follow.  Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (DEC) are given in Decimal Degrees.  RA is from Field H8 and DEC is from Field H9. Parallax and the Standard Error are given in Milli Arc Seconds.  Parallax is from Field H11 and Standard Error is from field H16.  For instance, for GL 17, the RA =

5.00797581 does NOT mean 5 Hours, 00 Minutes, 79.7581 Seconds but

5.00797581 Decimal Degrees.  Declination of -64.87762320 does NOT mean -64 Degrees, 87 Minutes, 76.2320 Seconds but -64.87762320 Decimal Degrees.  Parallax of 116.38 (0.64) means the nominal value of the parallax is 116.38 but the actual value can vary from (116.38 - 0.64 = 115.74) Milli Arc Seconds to (116.38 + 0.64 = 117.02) Milli Arc Seconds.

                           HIPPARCOS CATALOGUE DATA.

                                          EPOCH:  J 1991.25.

               RIGHT ASCENSION                DECLINATION              PARALLAX

GL17         5.00797581 Degrees          -64.87762320 Degrees           116.38 (0.64)  

GL 27        9.84206107 Degrees           21.25137390 Degrees             90.03 (0.72)

GL 59      23.31514505 Degrees          -24.17757411 Degrees             51.27 (0.88)

GL 67      25.44381547 Degrees            42.61380692 Degrees             79.09 (0.83)

GL 68      25.62479083 Degrees            20.27015091 Degrees           133.91 (0.91)

GL 71      26.02136441 Degrees           -15.93955597 Degrees           274.17 (0.80)

GL 86      32.60000721 Degrees           -50.82531507 Degrees             91.63 (0.61)

GL111     41.27492276 Degrees           -18.57265077 Degrees             71.56 (0.76)

GL136     49.43528798 Degrees           -62.57689893 Degrees             82.51 (0.54)

GL138     49.54640411 Degrees           -62.50793537 Degrees             82.79 (0.53)

GL139     49.97177014 Degrees           -43.07154929 Degrees           165.02 (0.55)

GL 231    92.55918047 Degrees           -74.75252790 Degrees             98.54 (0.45)

GL 86.1   32.67335990 Degrees           -28.21925054 Degrees             17.76 (0.81)

GL 95      34.74435827 Degrees           -25.94676773 Degrees             78.88 (0.72)

GL 97      35.63508730 Degrees           -23.81631542 Degrees             45.60 (0.82)

Here are some other comparisons between CATALOGUE OF NEARBY STARS, EDITION 1969, and the HIPPARCOS CATALOGUE, plus other information such as

ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE, (ABS MAG), LUMINOSITY COMPARED WITH THE SUN, (LUM SUN), AND MAGNITUDE AS SEEN FROM GL 136, (MAG GL136).  Magnitude is the visual luminosity of a star.  Absolute magnitude is the visual luminosity of a star as seen from a distance of 10 parsecs, or from about 32.61633 light years.  Notice that under LUM SUN, the luminosity of GL 17 is 1.27 times greater than our sun but GL 27 is only 0.47 or 47/100 as great, etc.

DISTANCE IN LIGHT YEARS    SPECTRAL/       ABS    LUM    MAG

                1969        J 1991.25       LUMINOSITY     MAG   SUN    GL136

                                                            CLASS      (EXCEPT FOR SOL, BASED

              GLIESE         HIP         GLIESE   HIP    ON HIPPARCOS DATA)

GL 17     23.297        28.026          G2 V    F9 V         4.56      1.27      3.02

GL 27     34.333        36.228          K0 V    K0 V         5.65      0.47      6.72

GL 59     52.607        63.617          G8 V    K0 V         5.52      0.52      6.14

GL 67     37.490        41.240          G2 V    G2 V         4.45      1.41      5.94

GL 68     24.341        24.357          K1 V    K1 V         5.87      0.38      6.55

GL 71     11.775        11.896          G8 VP  G8 V         5.68      0.45      5.71

GL 86     36.648        35.596          K0 V    K0 V         5.93      0.36      3.46

GL 111   46.595        45.579          F 6 V    F5/F6 V    3.74      2.70      3.74

GL 136   36.648        39.530          G2 V    G2 V         5.11      0.77      ----

GL 138   36.648        39.396          G1 V    G1 V         4.83      0.99     -6.91

GL 139   20.259        19.765          G5 V    G8 V         5.35      0.61      4.48

GL 231   28.362        33.100          G5 V    G5 V         5.05      0.81      3.15

GL 86.1  42.359       183.651         K2 V    K1 III        3.31      4.02       6.67

GL 95     44.680         41.349         G5 V    G8 V         5.81      0.40       5.35

GL 97     42.359         71.527         G1 V    G2 V         3.48      3.44       4.34

SOL       --------           --------        G2 V     ------          4.82     1.00       5.24

The Spectral/Luminosity Class determination was not part of the Hipparcos mission but is listed in Field H 76 with the source listed in Field H77.  Also, in the 1969 Catalogue, mention was made on page 7 of different classification systems as well as different results from different sources.  Wilhelm Gliese selected the combination he thought best fit the available data.  P means Peculiar Spectrum. V means a Dwarf star and III means a giant star in the Hipparcos and the 1969 Gliese data.  These are luminosity classes.

The distance values rounded off to thousandths claim more accuracy than justified by the data.  Round off to what you prefer to work with based on the probable error/standard error.

Where Do We Stand?

So where are we in the investigation of the Betty Hill Map at this point in time?  In my opinion, if the claim that Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli represent the two large stars in Betty’s drawing of 1964 is to stand, then we MUST have a three dimensional coordinate for the ‘eyeball’, the point in space from which the correct orientation of Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli with the other stars on Betty Hill’s drawing can be seen.  As far as I am aware, Marjorie Fish never provided this all-important three dimensional coordinate.  There may be no such coordinate.  Examination of the Hipparcos data coordinates for GL 136 (11.84 13.83 -68.09) and GL 138 (11.80 13.84 -67.95), and the 1969 data coordinates for GL 136 (10.96, 12.69, -65.59) and GL 138 (10.97, 12.74, -65.56), shows they will be very close together in a small 3D model.  Betty described the map she saw as about 3 feet by 2 feet but the stars appeared as three dimensional.  In my opinion, Zeta 1 Reticuli and Zeta 2 Reticuli simply do not have the required distance from each other to be the two large stars on Betty Hill’s map, using either the 1969 data or the Hipparcos data.  The 3D models I have constructed over the years bear this out.   

Interestingly, some problems have arisen with the Hipparcos data.  Soon, in either September or October 2007, a new revision of the Hipparcos data is to be published.  The title is:  HIPPARCOS, THE NEW REDUCTION OF THE RAW DATA, by Floor van Leeuwen.  From the publisher, Springer, is the following statement:  “The new reduction of the Hipparcos data presents a very significant improvement in the overall reliability of the astrometric catalogue derived from this mission.  Improvements by up to a factor of 4 in the accuracies for in particular brighter stars have been obtained…  The book is accompanied by a DVD with the new catalogue and the underlying data.”  I eagerly await this new revision.  I shall be constructing another 3D model when I have this new data.

Also, from the June 1999 Sky & Telescope article HIPPARCOS:  THE STARS IN THREE DIMENSIONS by Michael Perryman, page 48, is an important announcement.  “The Next Mission:  GAIA”

“Hipparcos revolutionized everything that touches astrometry.  But if you think that’s impressive, wait until you see what could be next.” 

“Hipparcos’s successes made it clear to both astronomers and engineers that the potential for space-based astrometry has barely been touched.  The European Space Agency has designed a next-generation mission, name GAIA, that would leap forward by orders of magnitude.  Last September it completed a one-year industrial “concept and technology study.”  GAIA’s proven potential capabilities from this study stretch belief.  They amount to a much greater advance over Hipparcos than Hipparcos was over astronomers measuring ground-based photographic plates by hand.”

…”These features are absolutely critical for a mission whose objective is to repeatedly measure positions of more than a billion stars to an accuracy of a few MICROARCSECONDS.  Its design goal is 10-microarcsecond precision for stars as faint as 15^th magnitude, with 4 or 5 microarseconds potentially achievable for stars brighter than 10^th magnitude.  This is more than a hundred times better than Hipparcos.  Five microarcseconds is the apparent diameter of a human hair seen 2,500 miles away!”

The astrometric community has much to look forward to in the coming years!  GAIA is scheduled to operate from the years 2011 – 2020.

Should you purchase the book: CAPTURED!  The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience?  Yes! Except for the few pages that deal with the Star Map, it is an interesting book with much new information. The book contains 319 pages.  Perhaps with the publication of a Second Edition, a REAL scientific study of the Star Map using the latest data can actually be included. I certainly hope so!

FORMER:  MUFON Field Investigator; Liaison Representative to MUFON Central European Section; State Section Director, Arkansas and Coordinator of the UFO Special Interest Group (UFO SIG) of American Mensa, LTD.

                                                CALCULATION TIPS

                                                                               H  M  S

To convert the 1969 GL 86 Right Ascension of  2  08  25, or 2  Hours  8 Minutes  25 Seconds to Decimal Degrees, leave 2 Hours as is, divide 8 Minutes by 60, divide 25 Seconds by 3600 then add together.  (There are 60 minutes in an hour and 3600 seconds in an hour.  8 minutes / (60 minutes/hour) = 8/60 hours since the minute units cancel.  25 seconds / (3600 seconds/hour) = 25/3600 hours since the second units cancel.  Everything is now in hours in decimal form.)   8/60 = 0.13333333333.  25/3600 = 0.00694444444.  Adding, 2 + 0.13333333333 + 0.00694444444 = 2.14027777778 hours, in decimal form.  Multiply by 15 to get 32.1041666667 Degrees.  (Imagine it takes one 24 hours to turn around once.  One has also turned 360 degrees. So, 360 degrees / 24 hours = 15 degrees/hour.)  One wants degrees for the end result:  2.14027777778 hours multiplied by 15 degrees / hour = 2.14027777778 hours x 15 degrees/hour = 32.1041666667 degrees, since the hour units cancel.  Here one may round off to 32.104167 degrees.

To convert the 1969 GL 86 Declination of -51.0406, or minus 51 Degrees, 4 Minutes and 6 Seconds to decimal degrees, 51 remains as is, divide 4 by 60 and divide 6 by 3600.  Add all these together.  51 + 4/60 + 6/3600 = 51 + 0.06666666667 + 0.00166666667 = 51.0683333333.  Do not forget this Declination has a negative value so the final result is: 

-51.0683333333 Degrees.  If one wishes, one may round off to -51.068333.  (Here there are 60 minutes in a degree and 3600 seconds in a degree.  4 minutes/ (60 minutes/degree) = 4/60 degrees since the minute units cancel.  6 seconds / (3600 seconds/degree) = 6/3600 degrees since the seconds units cancel.  The numbers are now in decimal degrees and this is what one wants for the end result.)

Even most cheap Scientific Calculators have a key that converts back and forth from Sexagesimal form to Decimal form, so this procedure may be avoided.  Remember Declination (DEC) and Right Ascension (RA) must be in decimal degrees. Here are the formulas again: 

X = D x Cos(DEC) x Cos(RA)

Y = D x Cos(DEC) x Sin(RA)

Z = D x Sin(DEC)

The little x is a multiplication sign.  D is the distance calculated from the parallax.  If the parallax is given in milli arc seconds as in the Hipparcos and Gliese catalogues, to calculate light years use 3261.633 / parallax.  To calculate the distance in parsecs, use 1000 / parallax. 

Except for Fields H8 and H9 in the Hipparcos catalogue, which are given in Decimal Degrees and hence ready for immediate use, most other catalogues use systems that will not work on a calculator, since a calculator allows only one decimal point per number.  Even the truncated values in H3 and H4 of the Hipparcos data as given will not work on most calculators.  For GL 17, Field H3 has:  “00 20 01.91 Identifier RA, h m s (1991.25)”.  A calculator entry that might work could be 00.200191 or 0.200191 or .200191. The decimal point goes after the first unit, here hours.  The converter key on a Scientific Calculator understands what this means and will provide the correct result as 0.33386389 decimal hours.  But one still must multiply by 15 degrees / hour to get 5.00795833 decimal degrees.  Compare this truncated value with the H8 full accuracy value of 5.00797581 decimal degrees.  Remember that the calculator expects the decimal point AFTER the first unit, TWO digits for the minutes and AT LEAST TWO digits, without a decimal point, for the seconds.

For GL 17, Field H4 has: “-64 52 39.4 Identifier Dec, d m s (1991.25)”. This is the declination given in degrees, minutes and seconds, d m s.  Here one would enter -64.52394 and then push the conversion key to change to decimal degrees.  Even though the decimal of 39.4 has been deleted, the conversion key will understand.

H  M  S

In the Gliese Catalogue, the Right Ascension (RA) for GL 17 is given as 0 17 29.  Here one would enter 0.1729.  Push the conversion key.  The result is 0.29138888889. Then multiply by 15 to get 4.37083333334 decimal degrees. These are the results I get using my HP 50G calculator.

 D  M 

In the Gliese Catalogue, the Declination (DEC) is given as -65 10.1  When using star  catalogues that use this method, one must be careful.  This means -65 degrees, 10.1 minutes.  No seconds are given.  (In the above review, I made the conversion to degrees, minutes and seconds for the reader.) The decimal point must go after the first unit, here degrees.  But if one enters -65.10.1 the calculator will show an ‘error’ function.  Two decimal points in a number are not allowed.  One must convert the .1 minute to seconds.  There are 60 seconds / minute so multiply .1 minute times 60 seconds / minute and get 6 seconds as the minute units cancel.  But the calculator expects a two digit number for minutes and at least a two digit number without a decimal point for seconds.  If one enters -65.106, the calculator will interpret this to mean -65 degrees, 10 minutes and 60 seconds.  The calculator may convert this to -65.1833333333 or give an ‘error’ message.  Either way, it is not what one wants.   One must enter -65.1006 and press the conversion key to get:  -65.1683333333 decimal degrees.  The conversion key will understand.  To check, press the conversion key to go in the other direction and get -65.1006.

This Review was last updated 13 September 2007. CAH