The Physics and Metaphysics of Unidentified Flying Objects

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

# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010007-4

Approved For Release states that we would observe, but wouldn't try to communicate with, a new species of kangaroo in Australia (15). This is not a convincing explanation. Intelligent, human beings are not in the class of kangaroos. A more appropriate case is that of Columbus. When he landed in the New World he did communicate with the natives.

## Hard-Data Cases

Calls for investigation of UFO's have been made by Hynek, director of the Dearborn Observatory of Northwestern University, and two associates, W. T. Powers and Jacques Vallee, based on "hard-data" cases. These cases are defined as reports of responsible witnesses from which sightings traceable to balloons, satellites, and meteors have been excluded. None, however, of the close-range cases in Hynek's files has been published in any scientific journal (16). The information which has been published contains inconsistencies.

An article by Hynek published recently in the Saturday Evening Post (15) includes four pictures of flying saucers. Three had captions, but there is no reference to or comment on these photographs in the text. The one showing purported objects in Sicily in 1954 was included in a book by Menzel and Boyd, who described it as a fake (17, p. 205 and plate VI).

In a letter to Science of 7 April 1967 (18), Powers mentions "our best five or six hundred reports," and says, "In 1954, over 200 reports over the whole world concerned landings of objects, many with occupants." Powers seems unaware that Hynek had already informed me that he had no reliable reports of landings.

Jacques Vallee is the author or coauthor of books on flying saucers (19, 20). These do not report the cases completely. Some examples follow.

-1) In describing the Chiles-Whitted case of 25 July 1948, Challenge to Science (20) mentions that two pilots in a DC-3 reported seeing a metallic, cigar-shaped object about 30 meters long with two rows of portholes, shining with supernatural brilliance; also, that a jet of flame from the object rocked the airplane (20, pp. 117, 119, 185). The book fails to mention that Hynek had identified the object as an undoubted meteor in his report of 30 April 1949 to the Air Force. (17, p. 108) This omission is curious because

Hynek wrote a foreword to Challenge to Science.

2) Vallee describes the sighting of a geometric formation by Clyde Tombaugh on 20 August 1949, leaving the impression that the discoverer of Pluto had observed a flying saucer (19, p. 96; 20, p. 90). Vallee does not mention Tombaugh's statement that he regarded this as being a natural optical phenomenon, not an extraterrestrial spacecraft (17, p. 266).

3) Vallee implies that an intra-Mercurial planet (a planet whose orbit is within that of Mercury) was known to exist and had been lost by astronomers (19, p. 35; 20, p. 115). He does not mention that Simon Newcomb had found (21) that the hypothesis of its existence is not tenable.

The question at issue in the above cases is not what interpretation is correct or whether the authors accept the reports made. It is whether complete information has been given.

## Investigations

The intense public interest in UFO's is due to the possibility that they carry extraterrestrial beings. Were it not for this fact there would be no demands for special inquiries, to be conducted by Congress or scientific panels. Unidentified flying objects have been the subject of countless articles in newspapers, magazines, and flying-saucer reviews, because of their sensational nature. The discussion of UFO's in scientific journals, however, has been almost nil. This is not because scientists are reluctant to study the phenomenon. It is because no reports of hard-data cases, detailed and documented, have been published in scientific journals. Such reports would have provided the basic material needed for study and discussion by scientists.

The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most interesting problems of our times. Various methods of search have been proposed, including the manned and unmanned exploration of Mars. The wisdom of spending vast sums of money on such projects has been questioned (14), but at least the projects are sound; they are based on accepted principles of physics and engineering. This is not the case, however, for investigations of UFO's, because the extraterrestrial control of reported UFO's is contrary to accepted principles of physics.

Unidentified flying objects have been investigated by the U.S. Air Force and its scientific consultants for nearly 20 years, and not a single extraterrestrial spacecraft or occupant has been produced. As early as 1953 a panel headed by H. P. Robertson reported that UFO's are not a threat to the security of the United States. No hard-data cases which would justify the holding of additional investigations have been made public. This is not to say that airplane pilots, for example, have not seen strange phenomena. However, these cases could be studied through publication of reports in scientific journals.

From the material published it appears doubtful that any Air-Force-sponsored investigation will change the following conclusions:

1) UFO's are not under extraterrestrial control.

2) The laws of physics do not need revision to accommodate UFO sightings.

3) UFO's are not a threat to the security of the United States.

It is suggested therefore that, to save money and manpower, the U.S. Air Force should cease investigating UFO's. (Major Quintanilla raised no objections when I mentioned this suggestion.) Further studies should be left to any interested scientist or amateur: In particular, on-the-spot investigations by the Air Force should be terminated (22). This would free the Air Force from the charge of imposing secrecy. Surveillance of the skies for defense would continue.

In regard to secrecy, the charge that the U.S. Air Force is withholding information that UFO's are extraterrestrial is absurd. The prestige of announcing the existence of extraterrestrial beings would be so great that no scientist, journalist, politician, or government—whether of the United States, England, France, the U.S.S.R., or China—would hesitate for a moment to release the news. It could not be kept a secret.

## Summary and Discussion

1) The control of reported UFOs by extraterrestrial beings is contrary to the laws of physics.

In response to the request made in Science (1), I have investigated UFO's and report as follows:

2) The data published do not justify the holding of investigations.

SCIENCE, VOL. 157