129, 179, 243

first U.S. satellite launching attempted by, 8-9

pressure suit of, 21

Nazi Germany, 150-51

NBC radio, 75, 76

Neal, Roy, 264-65

Nelson, George, 202-4

Neubiberg Air Force Base, 80-81

neutrinos, 258

New Republic, 69

news media:

Grissom’s treatment from, 31-33

“Mercury Seven” introduced to, 16-18

Newsweek, 90

New York City, German bombing planned for, 154

New York Times, 32

Nikolayev, Andrian G., 70

Noonan, Fred, 98

North American, 122-23

North American Aerospace

Defense Command (NORAD), 191, 192

Nuclear Nerva, 175

Oberth, Hermann, 149, 155

Olmec, 188-90

oxygen consumption, 50, 53, 59

oxygen pressure, in Gemini 5, 120-21, 123

Packard, David, 78

Panama, 109-13

parades, 70, 71-72

Paynter, Bill, 193

Peace-in-Space Treaty, 162-63

Peenemunde rocket team, 150-55

Peking Peggy, 124

personality inventory, 12

photography:

confiscation of, 130-32

from space, 48-49, 51, 124, 125, 129-32, 254, 255

UFOs and, 82-86, 90

physical examinations, 12-13

physiological stress tests, 13-14

Point Concepcion, Calif., UFO sighting in, 86

Post, Wiley, 99-100

prayer, space, 68-69

Presidential Honor Guard, 102

pressure suits, 5, 14, 21, 25, 42, 99

last minute alteration of, 37, 39

Soviet, 136

temperature inside, 46, 53, 59

Project Adam, 158

Project Blue Book, 85-90, 194-96

Project Mercury, 2-6, 10-39, 41-53, 55-72, 153

Atlas tested for, 2-3

closing of, 72-73

coming-out party of, 16-18

first orbital mission in, 33-34

flight plans for, 3-4, 34, 45, 63

flying neglected in, 24, 27

Gemini compared with, 109, 116, 120, 124, 125, 128, 138

goals of, 10, 34, 36-37, 72

and launch pad emergencies, 117-18

manned suborbital flights in, 28-33, 45

naming of, 10

one-day flight of, 36-39, 41-53

second orbital flight of, 34-35

selecting of participants for, 10-16

selecting of prime pilot for, 26-27

training for, 23-24, 26, 42-43, 44, 55-56, 107

what-if factor in, 25-26

see also “Mercury Seven”;Mercury spacecraft

Proxmire, William, 174-76

psychological tests, 12

Puharich, Andrija, 219-22, 236, 244

radar, 120, 124, 125, 238

radio, 75, 76, 234-35, 240, 241

Ramey, Roger, 83

Randall, Bo, 111

Ransone, Valerie, 214-22, 224-25, 227-32, 247-48, 254-55, 259-62

first “contact experience” of, 217-18

Tesla technology and, 234-41

Rathmann, Jim, 105, 106

Reagan, Ronald, 193

recovery teams, recovery, 21, 32, 34, 56, 128-29

in Soviet Union, 137-39

Redstone rockets, 3, 9, 22-23, 28, 153

Regan Airport, 94, 96, 97

religion:

“Mercury Seven” on, 18

science and, 69-70

remote viewing, 220, 237

retro rockets, 56-60, 117, 138

Riedel, Walther, 155

Right Stuff, The (movie), 33

rocket boosters, 22-23

see also Atlas rockets Rockwell, 123

Rogers, Will, 99-100

Romero, Pablo Bush, 188

Roswell Air Force Base, 83

Roswell Daily Record, 83

“Roswell incident” (1947), 83-84

rudder pedals debate, 20

Sabotage Alert Team, 192

Sanford, John, 87

satellites, 8-9, 47

Saturn I, 158

Saturn V, 159, 170, 172, 175-76, 265

Scheer, Julian, 65, 134

Schirra, Walter M., Jr. (Wally), 2-4, 6, 17, 20,21-22, 33, 67, 76

in Apollo 7, 171

Cooper’s competition with, 61, 63

crew assignments and, 181-82

Faith 7 and, 42, 43

in Gemini mission, 119, 182

Sigma 7

flight of, 35-36, 65

smoking of, 50

Schweickart, Russell, 172

Scott, David, 172

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), 78-79, 223

See, Elliot, 177-78

Senate, U.S., 114

Space Committee of, 72

Shepard, Alan B., Jr., 2-4, 12, 17, 21,67,119

as CapCom, 49, 50

in first U.S. manned launch, 28-30, 32, 38, 117, 152, 179

flight crew assignments and, 176-82

as prime pilot, 27-30

return to space sought by, 38, 176, 180, 181

Shuttle Operations, 178

Sigma 7, 35-36, 65

16th International Astronautical Congress, 134

Skylab, 178

Cooper’s speech and, 66-68

at Edwards Air Force Base, 7-8, 22

flight crew assignments and, 176-82

grounding of, 34-35, 119, 176

Slayton, Donald K. (Deke) (cont.) in Project Mercury, 2-4, 15, 17, 20, 22, 34-35, 38, 66-68, 73

sleep period, 48, 49-50, 65

smoking, 50

solder balls, errant, 19

Sonoma, Calif., UFO sighting in, 86-87

South Africa, flashing lights in, 47

Southern Pacific Land Company, 201

Soviet Union, 4, 37, 70, 110, 250

ELF and, 243, 245-46

German scientists and, 151-52, 153

space losses of, 136

Sputnik launched by, 8, 9, 152

U-2 shot down over, 132

U.S. competition with, 5, 8, 19, 28, 81, 113, 133, 135, 152, 153, 156, 157, 158, 162, 171, 172

U.S. truce with, 133-40

“Woodpecker” signals of, 242

Soyuz, 139, 172, 181

space kids, 219-22, 236, 237

space program, U.S.:

depersonalizing of, 113-15, 118

long delay in, 166-68

water launch in, 114

space shuttle, 116, 227-32, 237, 262

space stations, 48, 263-64

space walk, see extra-vehicular activity

Spain, 185, 186

Spence, Robert, 91

Sputnik, launching of, 8, 9, 152

Stafford, Thomas, 172, 178, 181

Stargate, 220

Star Wars, 246

State Department, U.S., 80, 133

Strategic Air Command, 191

Supreme Court, U.S., 240

T-6s, 103-4

T-38s, accidents of, 177-78

telepathy, 218-23, 227-30, 236, 237, 251-52

television, space program and, 4, 8-9, 36

temperature inversions, 87-88

Tesla, Nikola, 233-43, 245, 246, 257-58

Tesla tower, 235, 237, 240

test pilots, 4, 10

at Edwards Air Force Base, 7-8, 11, 14, 22, 100

Thant, U, 196

three-axis control stick vs. rudder pedals, 20

Titan II rocket, 110, 119

tornadoes, 106

treasure hunting, undersea, 185-90

Truman, Harry S., 89, 102

Turner, Roscoe, 98-99

U-2s, 7, 14, 132

UFOs, 75-91, 155-56, 191-209, 215, 222, 223

Cooper’s sightings of, 80-81, 85, 194, 248

false reports of, 75-76

Fry’s experience with, 248-54

McDivitt and White in sighting of, 77-78, 199

NASA and, 78-79

1975 sightings of, 191-92

presidential sightings of, 192-93

Project Blue Book and, 85-89, 194-96

UN hearing on, 194, 196-200

U.S. Air and, 76-77

Welling and, 201-9

United Nations (UN), 194, 196-200

Universal Intelligence Consortium (UIC), 218

Universal Magnetic Field (UMF), 243

urination, 29-30

urine analysis, 36

U.S. Air, UFO sightings and, 76-77

V-1 (Flying Bomb), 151, 153-54

V-2 rockets, 22-23, 151, 152, 154, 156

Vanguard rockets, 8-9

Versailles, Treaty of, 149

Vostok I, 28

Vostok III, 70

Vostok V , 127

WAC Bumper, 152

Waldheim, Kurt, 196

“Washington merry-go-round,” 87-88

Washington Post, 200

weather balloons, UFOs as, 83, 90, 91

weather problems, 106, 116

Webb, James E„ 72, 113-15, 118

weightlessness,