Documents / Hearing transcript

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

U.S. House Committee on Armed Services · 1966-04-05 · 88 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 60 …Deputy Sheriff David Fitzpatrick of Washtenaw (Ann Arbor) County took the photographs with a tiny camera…
  • p. 62 …Stanley McFadden, Washtenaw County sheriff's deputy, said he and Deputy David Fitzpatrick watched the object…
  • p. 76 …in the dark; so did Washtenaw County Deputy Sheriffs Stan- ley McFadden and David Fitzpatrick. All…
6068
Mr.
PRICE.
If
they did
travel
in outer
space
there
would
be
a
record
somewhere
of
their
travels
in
outer
space?
Dr.
HYNEK.
I
would
certainly
think
so,
and
this,
of
course,
is
I
think
one
of
the
most
potent
arguments
against
extraterrestial
visita-
tion
by
intelligences,
unless
they
were
so
superintelligent
they
knew
how
to
evade
completely
our
surveillances.
I
think
this
would
be
pretty
difficult.
Mr.
PRICE.
As
they
left
their
normal
orbit
they
could
be
tracked
and
followed?
Dr.
HYNEK.
Yes,
sir.
Mr.
PRICE.
As
they
left
the
orbit?
Dr.
HYNEK.
To
the
best
of
my
understanding, they
certainly
could
be.
The
CHAIRMAN.
Dr.
Hall.
Mr.
HALL.
Mr.
Chairman,
I
just
wanted
to
thank
the
Secretary
and
his
distinguished guests
for
this,
and
say for
some
time
we
have
even
had
space
conventions
down
in
the
Ozarks,
in
the
last
13
years,
and
it
would seem
obvious to
me
in
view of
the
report
today
those
who
take
trips
by
the use
of
hullucinatory
drugs
are
almost
synonymous
with
the
number
of
space
sightings
we
have
had
reported
here today,
namely,
in
the order
of
10,000.
To me
it
indicates
a
decrease in
the
mores
and
the
fiber
of
those
who
would
subject
themselves to
hulluci-
natory
influences
in
the
first
place.
Thank
you.
The
CHAIRMAN.
Mr.
Stratton?
Mr.
STRATTON.
You
mentioned something
from
Life
magazine,
Mr.
Chairman. There
were
two
pictures
in
Life
magazine
I
think
we
would
like
an
explanation
of.
One
of
them was
a
red
object
which
was
clearly
visible
in
the
photograph.
The
other
were
two
lights,
I
think,
taken
in
Sidney
Harbor, one
at
one
position
and one
atanother,
and
then
there
was
the
third
photograph.
I
wonder
if
the
Doctor
could give
us
what
the explanation
is
of
these?
Dr.
HYNEK.
Well,
sir,
unless
one has the
original
negative, there
is
very
little
photoanalysis that
can be done. It
is
said
a
picture
is
worth
a
thousand words, but
I
think
in this case
it
is
the other
way
around,
because generally
it
has
been
our
experience,
and
I
think
Major
Quintanilla
will
bear
me
out,
that
when we
do
have
hoaxesthey very
frequently are
accompanied
by
photographs.
Mr.
STRATTON.
I
appreciate
it is
possible
to doctor
up
negatives.
Let
me
put
it
the other
way
around.
Have
these three incidents
which
are reported photographically in
Life
magazine
been
examined
by you, and,
if
so,
what
are
your
findings
with regard
to
them?
Dr.
HYNEK. No,
sir;
they
have not been
examined by me,
because
I do
not have
the
original negatives.
Mr.
STRATTON.
Are
these incidents
listed
in
the
list
that
you havecompiled,
and which the Secretary
has
told
us 95
percent are explain-
able?
Dr. HYNEK. No,
sir.
These
particular pictures are not in
my
list
since
I
don't
know enough about them.
Mr:
STRATToN. Doctor,
I
would suggest since these
have had
very
prominent
circulation, in
a magazine of some prominence in the coun-try, that
we ought to examine
these particular things and determine
whether they are hoaxes or not.
If anything
is
disturbing the
Amen-

Cases discussed

About this file

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.