Unidentified flying objects: hearing before the Committee on Armed Forces of the House of Representatives, Eighty-ninth Congress, second session, April 5, 1966 ...

6006
Now,
Doctor,
before
you
give
us
this,
would
you
give
your
back-
ground
for
the record?
Dr.
HYNEK.
Yes,
sir.
This
information
is
included
in
my
state-
ment.
STATEMENT
OF
DR.
J.
ALLEN
HYNEK,
SCIENTIFIC
CONSULTANT
TO
THE
AIR
FORCE
Dr.
HYNEK.
My
name
is
J.
Allen
Hynek,
and
I
reside
at
2623
Ridge
Avenue,
Evanston,
Ill.
I am
director
of
the
Dearborn
Observatory
and
of
the
Lindheimer
Astronomical Research
Center,
and Chairman
of
the
Department
of
Astronomy
at
Northwestern
University.
Since
1948
I
have
acted
as
a
frequent
scientific
consultant to
the
Air Force
on
the
problem of
the
UFO
(Unidentified
Flying
Objects)
phenomenon.
The
UFO
phenomenon
might
be
defined
as
(1)
the
persistent
re-
porting
by
a wide
cross
section
of
the
public,
in
this
and
in other
countries,
of
alleged
aerial
objects
which,
to the
observer,
seem
to
defy
explanation because
of
their
appearance
and
behavior,
and
(2)
the
widespread
and growing
interest
in
these
matters
by
segments of
the
public
which,
in
some
cases,
has
led
to
the formation of
civilian
orga-
nizations
dedicated to
the
investigation
of
the
said,
reports,
often
ac-
companied
by
vilification
of
the
Air
Force
for
their
handling
of
the
problem,
a
matter
not
beneficial
to
the
Air Force image.
Such
peoplegenerally
charge
either
(a)
that
UFO's
are in
reality
secret
devices
of
the
Air
Force,
whose
existence
is
kept
from
the
public,
or
(b)
that
the
Air Force
knows
all
about
visitors
from
space
and
is
de-
liberately
withholding information to prevent
panic.
A
third aspect
of
the
UFO
phenomenon
has
been the
association
of
the
terms
UFO
or
"flying
saucer" with
the idea
of
visitation
of
intelligences
from
outer space,
an
association
which
is
not warranted
either
by
the data
on hand,
or
by
logical
inference.
It
is
entirely
con-
ceivable
that
there
might
be
unidentified
aerial
phenomena
about us
which have
no
connection
with
extraterrestrial
visitation.
Thus,
the
phenomenon
should
essentially
be viewed
in
its
entirety:
The
fact
that the
recent sightings in
Michigan
caused
a
reaction
far
out of
proportion to the
original sightings,
the
fact that
my
press
con-
ference in Detroit the
week
before
last
was
the
largest in
the
history
of
the Detroit
Press Club, the
fact
that
I
receive
many
letters
from
schoolchildren
who
are writing
class
reports
on
ITFO's
and
indeed thefact that
I am
speaking here before
you,
are
all
parts
of
the
UFO
phenomenon.
In
this context,
the kind of
activity
that the
press
has
reported in
Michigan
is
not
unusual. It
only happened
that the Dexter and
Hills-
dale
incidents,
although of
little
sicentific
significance,
have
attracted
national
interest.
Now,
similar incidents,
and some
considerably
more
intriguing,
have
been occurring for
many
years,
without such
treatment
on
the part of the
news
media.
While
such glamorous
at-
tention
is
quick to
wane,
the underlying concern about
UFO's,
fed
by
a
continuous
trickle
of
reports,
is
indeed
growing
in the
mind and
sight
of the
public.
During
this entire period
of nearly
20
years
I
have attempted to
remain as openminded on
this subject as circumstances permitted, this
despite the fact that the whole subject seemed
utterly ridiculous,
and