Publisher's Letter, Dec. 31, 1956

DearTIME-Reader:

FLYING back from the South Pole to McMurdo Sound one day this month, Correspondent Edwin Rees of TIME'S Washington Bureau learned firsthand about the dread Antarctic whiteout, the dazzle of reflected light that erases all landmarks and horizons. It was, said an airman, "like flying inside a pingpong ball." The big Air Force troop carrier groped for the icy runway, plowed into a snowbank and slithered over the ice with nose down and tail high. "The feel and sound of 150,000 pounds of airplane sliding out of control is an experience I would like only once," said Rees. Fortunately, the...

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