Vanderbilt Television News Archive

(Studio) President Reagan's campaign position on nuclear weapons development by other ntns. recalled; reports of alleged nuclear tests off coast of South Africa noted.
REPORTER: Walter Cronkite

(DC) Scenes from "The Space Sentinel" shown courtesy Defense Department; history and function of Vela satellites discussed. Diagrams shown. Response to September 22, 1979, explosion off coast of South Africa recalled; BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) film shown. [White House science panel chairperson Dr. Jack RUINA - notes consistencies and peculiarities of that explosion.] Graphed signal of known nuclear burst shown, described; similarity of explosion recorded by Vela in September noted. [RUINA - explains reasons panel backed off initial interpretation.] Basis for panel's final conclusion on explosion outlined; meteorite theory explained. [RUINA - comments on that explanation.] Dr. Richard Behnke and Dr. Lewis Duncan's observations from National Science Fndn.'s radio telescope in Puerto Rico on the night of the explosion examined. [BEHNKE - describes procedure and results of data analysis.] Implications of gravity wave's direction of travel noted. [BEHNKE - recalls joking about explosion; notes there are not natural causes for such an event.] White House panel's criticism of foundation's data detailed. [RUINA - criticizes data analysis.] [BEHNKE - questions where Ruina gets his info.] Mil., intelligence and scientific officials noted eventually breaking with White House and supporting claim that explosion was produced by nuclear bomb.
REPORTER: Robert Pierpoint

(Studio) Tomorrow's special report announced.
REPORTER: Walter Cronkite