Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report 14 (Hynek's annotated copy)

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

Upon completion of final identifications, all data were transferred to IBM cards, preparatory to analysis.

## ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Broadly stated, the problem at this point consisted of the judicious application of scientific methods of categorizing and analyzing the subjective data in reports of sightings of unidentified aerial objects. It was recognized that an approach to this problem could best be made by a systematic sorting and tabulation program to give frequency and percentage distributions of the important characteristics of sightings. A suggestion that an attempt be made to anticipate all questions that might be asked in the future about a sighting or a group of sightings, and to provide answers, was rejected. The systematic approach also made it possible to develop a detailed reference manual of the attributes of the sightings included in this study.

Thus, at the beginning of the analysis, a detailed plan was developed for sorting, counting, and tabulating the information from the punched-card abstracts of reports of sightings. It was believed at the time, and later substantiated, that the results of the program for sorting and tabulating would serve as a guide for the more sophisticated treatment involving statistical methods.

Also, it was anticipated that any patterns or trends that might be found could be subjected to concentrated study in the hope of discovering significant information relating to the characteristics of "flying saucers". Further, it was believed that these trends could serve as certain of the criteria of validity for any concepts (models) developed in the attempt to discover a class of "flying saucers".

The three parts of this study (1) the sorting and tabulation program, (2) the advanced study of the results of that program, and (3) the investigation of the possibility of conceiving a model of a "flying saucer" from descriptions reported, are discussed in sections entitled "Frequency and Percentage Distributions by Characteristics", "Advanced Study of the Data", and "The 'Flying Saucer' Model".

Frequency and Percentage Distributions by Characteristics

The original conception of this study assumed the availability of sufficient data to describe adequately the physical appearance, maneuver characteristics, range, direction, and probable path of the object or objects observed. However, familiarity with the data, acquired during the