time intervals did not coincide.

"It is still considered 'Unidentified.'

The Venus explanation, even though now denied, puzzled me. It was
plain that the Air Force had seriously considered offering it as the
answer then abandoned it. Apparently someone had got his signals mixed
and let Shallett use the discarded answer. And for some unknown
reason, the Air Force had found it imperative to deny the Venus story
at once.

In these first weeks of checking, I had run onto the Venus explanation
in other cases. Several Air Force officers repeated it so quickly that
it had the sound of a stock alibi. But in the daytime cases this was
almost ridiculous.

I knew of a few instances in World War II when bomber crews and
antiaircraft gunners had loosed a few bursts at Venus. But this was
mostly at night, when the planet was at peak brilliance. And more than
one gunner later admitted firing to relieve long hours of boredom.
Since enemy planes did not carry lights, there was no authentic case,
to my knowledge, where plane or ground gunners actually believed Venus
was an enemy aircraft.

{p. 39}

Checking the astronomer's report, I read over the concluding
statement:

"It simply could not have been Venus. They must have been desperate