The following account is based upon an audio
interview that the participant was kind enough to relate.
Geof
Gray Cobb arrived in South Africa in 1962, he was 40 years old. Initially
he worked for English Electric and then the Rand Water Board. Until one
day he noticed an advertisement in the Rand Daily Mail stating that the
Deep Space Instrumentation Facility were hiring. It looked interesting and
he thought it would be kind of different working at a tracking station. So
he applied. To hear Geof tell the story he would have you believe that his
youthful background in building crystal sets (first type of primitive
radio) would provide adequate qualifications! After two days of interviews
and aptitude tests he was surprised when he was offered the job. The
doctor said he possessed a high IQ and consequently met their
requirements. His new job site at DSIF was located about forty miles
outside Johannesburg, between that city and Pretoria. The actual place was
called Hartbeesfontein; its more than likely you won't find it on most
maps.
The
tracking station's main claim to fame was its dish that was 90 feet in
diameter. The U.S. government provided the technology, South Africa
staffed the facility. Comprising mixed nationalities they were between 40
to 50 in number, including a few N.A.S.A. representatives. Geof's first
job was log keeping and the focus of interest at that being the "Mariner"
Mars Mission. He also adds as an after thought that translating for both
sides was equally important in maintaining clarity of understanding as
they were in direct contact with Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, as
well as the Goddard Space Centre at Cape Canaveral. It required patient
handling to deal with the expressed frustrations on both sides of the
ocean as each side’s technicians displayed puzzled exasperation when
instructions were provided and one side or the other could not understand
what had been said due to the accompanying local or national accent. They
worked eight hour shifts with sixteen off. All events that occurred during
their spell of duty was recorded on a punched tape and also a magnetic
tape about an inch wide. The most memorable afternoon that Geof recalls
took place on October 23rd 1962 when they received a most unusual signal
whose strength was rising. "What the Hell's going on?" was the cry.
No
explanation could be found until some wit suggested that maybe Mariner had
turned around and was coming back! The noise sounded as if someone had
switched on a 100 watt transmitter about ten miles away. Geof's less
technical description was to the effect that it sounded to him very much
like a collection of rocks bouncing around inside a tin can. After
describing this interruption to JPL they requested that it be put on line,
which at that time was before the advent of satellite and therefore a land
line. The signal was coming in at 380 - 400 MHz which apart from the
rattling tin can feature also provided hissing and chirping. On receiving
this someone at JPL said, "Keep it coming, I think you've got a UFO up
there!"
At this
point the station boss went outside with binoculars and even after having
checked on the sighting telescope admitted to being able to discern
nothing that might be responsible for the anomaly.
At this
juncture DSIF had received instructions to load up the RWV (Read , Write,
Verify) and also send out a 10 watt signal on the RTO (Radio Telegraphy).
Right away all noise finally stopped. The whole incident had taken thirty
minutes. JPL now came back with the suggestion that the recorded
interference was probably a radio star, to which the response in Geof's
headquarters was, "not unless Jupiter's in our back yard!" As reception
had now returned to normal they resumed tracking Mariner. Later that
evening they were instructed by JPL to look again. Completing a spiral
search they found the "object"? was still in place and noise was pouring
in through a two degree hole in the sky. As was customary for all events,
the day's work was duplicated and sent off by air to the States. Very
seldom did it go astray. Copies were kept on site for four and a half
months under lock and key.
That
same Christmas a group of Australians arrived at their location and a
seasonal party ensued. During the course of the celebrations the preceding
events came up in conversation. In a more sober mood the Aussies described
having been called out to their own tracking station and ordered to tip
their dish and search in a north westerly direction. No reason had been
provided for having to do this. They found nothing. Rather frustratingly
they could not recall exactly when their own strange search took place.
Therefore, due to the lack of additional information and unable to
calculate height, it became impossible to triangulate.
In
February 1963 Geof thought it might be a good idea to have another look at
the tapes. With some persuasion and a touch of bribery he was able to
convince the data store keeper to retrieve the information. The only
trouble being he found an empty space where that day's events should have
been housed! Extremely concerned, they reported to Doug Hogg, who at that
time was station manager. His response was less than alarmed. Yes, he
already knew that, as the whole package had been picked up three days
previously by two men supposedly from JPL!
After
some deliberation Geof contacted a friend at JPL and was able to persuade
him to check the log book for the corresponding pages for that date, only
to find that the relevant conversations were also missing! Located about
one mile away from the tracking station on a nearby hillside was the Baker
Nunn camera, but even with their equipment they too drew a blank on that
particular event.
In
closing it should also be mentioned that Geof had the good fortune to
witness and photograph a UFO over a lake near Jo'burg in 1964. Initially
when this occurred he thought he was witnessing a plane crashing. Then
again some years later back in the U.S. he and his wife visited Gods Well
in Iowa and were surprised to see what might have been a stationary
balloon, which in Geof's opinion resembled a UFO. On enquiring from the
caretaker they were told "not to worry about it, as it comes around here
about once a week and it won't hurt you”.
