Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the printed transcript of an April 5, 1966 hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services on unidentified flying objects. Air Force Secretary Harold Brown testified that 9,501 of 10,147 sightings from 1947 through 1965 had been identified and that no threat or extraterrestrial evidence had been found. The record includes the Scientific Advisory Board ad hoc committee report recommending university studies and the Air Force's marsh gas explanation for the Dexter and Hillsdale, Michigan sightings. Members also questioned J. Allen Hynek and Maj. Hector Quintanilla about the Exeter, New Hampshire case.
6058 said Tinker AFB had picked them up. But Blue Book had this sighting listed as "Astro (Antares)." Radar does not pick up stars, as previously noted. Recently, however, as this writer was discussing this sighting at the head- quarters of Project Blue Book and pointed out that a Tinker AFB radar squadron sergeant had referred to two stationary objects and two moving in the formation, Project Blue Book proposed that the two stationary objects were stars—the brightest of them Antares—and the two alleged to be moving could be airplanes. The two cases, one in Oklahoma and one in Texas, suggest to some observers that Project Blue Book, while vigorously trying to explain away has of late occasionally sought to throw a little more credibility into its investigations and conclusions. But to get to the two Texas deputy sheriffs, who, as it came about, were fol- lowed by a UFO the same night—September 3—on which at least one person in the Exeter, N.H., ease reported being followed. Chief Deputy Sheriff Billy F. McCoy and Deputy Sheriff Robert W. Goodewere on routine patrol near Damon, Tex.—which is around 40 miles south- east of Houston—when they saw a bright purple light, which soon produced a smaller blue light, on the horizon about 5 miles away. One of the officers studied the lights through binoculars. They had slowed down off the edge of the high- way when the lights started rapidly toward them. The testimony of Chief Deputy Sheriff McCoy, as given to an investigating officer from Ellington AFB, Tex., continues: "The object came up to the pasture next the highway about 150 feet off the highway and about 100 feet high. The bulk of the object was plainly visible and appeared to be triangular shaped with a bright purple light on the left and the smaller, less bright, blue light on the right end. The bulk of the object ap- peared to be dark gray in color with no other distinguishing features. It ap- peared to be about 200 feet wide and 40-50 feet think in the middle tapering off toward both ends. There was no noise or any trail. "The bright purple light illuminated the ground directly underneath it and the area in front of it, including the highway and the interior of our patrol car. The tall grass under the object did not appear to be disturbed. "There was a bright moon out and it cast a shadow of the object on the ground immediately below it in the grass. Deputy Sheriff Goode was in the driver's seat with his left arm lying in the open window. Although he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a coat, he later said that he felt the heat apparently emanating from the object." The officers rushed away toward Damon "as fast as we could go" traveling "at speeds up to 110 miles an hour," said McCoy. Arrived in Damon, they dis- cussed the matter. "We were both scared but still wanted to find out what it was." So they returned to the scene and saw the UFO on the horizon acting exactly as it had before. "We decided to leave the area because we figured thatthe object would start coming toward us again," stated McCoy. The report to Blue Book of the investigating officer from Ellington Air Force Base believes the two deputy sheriffs definitely saw "some unsual object." This report reads in part: "After talking with both officers involved in the sighting there is no doubt in my mind that they definitely saw some unsual object or phenomenon. However, my investigation failed to uncover any facts that permitted me, with my meagerknowledge of such things, to arrive at any explanation for the unusual sighting. "Both officers appeared to be intelligent, mature, levelheaded persons capable of sound judgment and reasoning. Chief Deputy Sheriff McCoy hold a responsibleposition in the department requiring the supervision over 42 personnel. Both officers have been subjected to considerable friendly ridicule from their con- temporaries and the local townspeople; but have continued to profess the facts of their sighting * * *." [From the Portland (Maine) Evening Express, Jan. 22, 19661 THOSE "FLYING SAUCERS"—EVIDENCE INDICATES AIR FORCE MISLEADING PUBLIC ON UFO's (By Bulkley Griffin (last of six articles) ) WASHINGTON, D.C.—This is the final one of half a dozen articles on the uni- dentified flying objects (UFO's), the U.S. Air Force, which has the official job
Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 88 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.