Pupnik Flies Over Boston At Daybreak

Pupnick--the dog-bearing satellite--will be visible to early risers Thursday morning at about 5:09, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, announced last night. Whipple added that Boston, where the rocket will be directly overhead, will be "one of the best places" from which to view the Russians' latest satellite.

He cautioned, however, that the object will be difficult to see as it will be at the lowest point in its orbit and will cover the field of vision in less than a minute.

The Smithsonian also announced yesterday that the rocket of Sputnik I would fall around December 11. Whipple gave Sputnik II a comparable life-span, saying that it would last "more than two weeks and less than several months." Sputnik I, when it falls will not be particularly spectacular and will resemble a "good meteor," he said.

Whipple predicted that "before very long" the Russians would begin direct exchange of scientific information obtained from the satellites.

He debunked the latest outgrowth of Sputnikery--"flying-sauceritis," but deferred to Dr. Donald H. Menzel, director of the Harvard College Observatory for an authoritative attack on the latest flying saucer scare.

Menzel, referring to reports of unidentified objects seen all over the West and by a Coast Guard cutter in the Atlantic, said that the new rash of sightings was "no great surprise." Menzel, who says that he "can see saucers almost any night," and has repeatedly chased them in planes, classed the most recent reports as probable mirages caused by atmospheric disturbances.

Menzel said that it was quite possible that radar and visual sightings could be made simultaneously and still be only a cloud effect.