diff --git a/simgear/io/decode_binobj.cxx b/simgear/io/decode_binobj.cxx
index 0c4a9922..41880e12 100644
--- a/simgear/io/decode_binobj.cxx
+++ b/simgear/io/decode_binobj.cxx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 
 #include "sg_binobj.hxx"
+#include <simgear/debug/logstream.hxx>
 
 using std::cout;
 using std::endl;
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv ) {
     if ( argc != 2 ) {
         cout << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " binary_obj_file" << endl;
     }
+    
+    
+    sglog().setLogLevels( SG_ALL, SG_ALERT );
 
     SGBinObject obj;
     bool result = obj.read_bin( argv[1] );
diff --git a/simgear/io/sg_binobj.cxx b/simgear/io/sg_binobj.cxx
index f5111640..3deaacc1 100644
--- a/simgear/io/sg_binobj.cxx
+++ b/simgear/io/sg_binobj.cxx
@@ -423,10 +423,11 @@ bool SGBinObject::read_bin( const string& file ) {
     } else {
         // close the file before we return
         gzclose(fp);
-
+        SG_LOG( SG_EVENT, SG_ALERT,
+           "ERROR: " << file << "has bad header");
         return false;
     }
-
+    
     // read creation time
     unsigned int foo_calendar_time;
     sgReadUInt( fp, &foo_calendar_time );