Osedacz thesis on fastwalkers (1989)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | June 1989 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Congress & law (topic), Bases & Area 51 (topic) |
| People | Richard Osedacz, J. Allen Hynek |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 103 |
| Year | 1989 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1989 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
In June 1989 U.S. Air Force Captain Richard P. Osedacz completed a master's thesis at the Air Force Institute of Technology, "Orbit Determination of Sunlight Illuminated Objects Detected by Overhead Platforms", on working out the orbits of unidentified objects that flash through the field of view of satellite sensors — objects known as "fastwalkers". The thesis is publicly available and is often cited in UFO literature.[1][2]
The thesis
Osedacz, a student in astronautical engineering at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, dated the thesis 3 June 1989 (report AFIT/GA/ENY/89J-3). It was sponsored by the Flight Performance Division of the Air Force Foreign Technology Division. He explained that because of the large number of objects in the geostationary belt, sensors on satellites were being saturated by sunlight reflected from orbiting objects crossing their field of view. These fastwalkers raised the suspicion that some uncatalogued objects might exist or were being misidentified in the database, and NORAD had asked the Foreign Technology Division to analyse the 15- to 30-minute data tracks and identify the objects.[1]
Findings
Osedacz tested whether an object's orbit could be determined from space-based measurements alone, using simulated data, and proposed that the work could be extended to warn sensor operators of the next pass so they could protect their sensors from damage. He noted that the fastwalker database went back as far as 1972 and that the problem was most common with a ballistic-missile early-warning satellite system in geostationary orbit. The thesis does not mention UFOs.[1]
In UFO literature
The thesis shows that the military routinely detected unidentified objects in space and needed better ways to identify them; most are expected to be debris, unannounced foreign satellites or sensor effects. The testimony notes that in January 1967 J. Allen Hynek told an audience at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center that NORAD and SAC radars had tracked UFOs, and connects the thesis to NORAD's 1979 demand for a fee of about $294,000 to search its records for UFO tracking data. The related term appears in the 1984 "fast walker" detection by the Defense Support Program early-warning satellites.[2][3]
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- Richard Osedacz — Air Force captain whose 1989 thesis described tracking uncatalogued space objects.
- Fastwalker — A nickname for fast-moving unknown objects detected by space sensors.
- Foreign Technology Division — The Air Force unit at Wright-Patterson that analysed foreign technology.
- NORAD — The U.S.–Canadian air defence command.
- J. Allen Hynek — Astronomer and Air Force UFO consultant from 1948 to 1969 who later founded the Center for UFO Studies.
- NASA — The U.S. civilian space agency, created in 1958.
- Strategic Air Command — The Air Force command that controlled U.S. nuclear bombers and missiles.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Bob Lazar goes public (15 May 1989) — Bob Lazar goes public, claiming he worked on alien craft at S-4 near Area 51.
- Arthur Exon's Roswell statements (July 1989) — Gen. Arthur Exon says he was told Roswell was an alien craft recovery.
See every 1989 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Richard P. Osedacz, "Orbit Determination of Sunlight Illuminated Objects Detected by Overhead Platforms", AFIT thesis (1989), via The Black Vault (PDF) · documents.theblackvault.com · archived copy
- "Osedacz 1989 AFIT thesis on fastwalker orbit determination", UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- "Fastwalkers & slowwalkers", The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- AFIT Scholar (thesis repository) · scholar.afit.edu · archived copy
- documents.theblackvault.com · documents.theblackvault.com · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
- amazon.com · amazon.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Hangar 18 (the legend and 1980 film) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- NORAD — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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