Ford Press Releases, UFO, 1966 (alternate URL)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 7:; 1966
NO. 847-66
OXford 7-5131 (Info~)
OXford 7-3189 (Copies)
AIR FORCE SELECTS UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
TO INVESTIGATE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT 'REPORTS
The Universit¥ o! Q9lprado, Boulder 1 Colorado, has been selected by the
Air Force to conduct i·ndependent investigations into unidentified flying object
(UFO) reports
A research agreement, valued at approximately $300,000, is being negotiated
with the university by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to analyze
phenomena associated with UFO sightings and to make recommendations on the Air
Force s methods of ~stigating and evaluating UFO reports -- a program known
as Project Blue Book. A report is expected to be made to the Air Force in early
1968
Dr. Edward u. Condon will direct the scientific phases of the work, while
Robert J. Low w~lf serve as project coordinator. Principal investigators working
with Drw Condon will be Dr. Franklin E. Roach and Dr. Stuart W.. Cook.
Dr. Condon, former director of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), is
a professor of physics at Colorado and a fellow of the Joint Laboratory for
Astrophysics which is co-sponsored by the university and NBS. Mr. Low is an
assistant dean of the university's graduate school. Dr~ Cook is chairman of
the university's psychology department, and Dr. Roach is an astrophysicist with
the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA).
Colorado is expected to select several other universities to take part in
the research. These and other consultants will bring the number of scientists
involved to over 100.
The National Academy of Sciences has indicated its willingness to assist
by appointing a panel--at the time the Colorado report becomes available to the
Air Force--to review the investigating team's work. This panel will not be part
of the investigating team, but will provide a further independent check on the
scientific validity of the method of investigation.
In announcing the selection, Air Force Secretary Harold Brown said, "We
are more than pleased to be able to place this grant with respected individuals
in a university of such high standing in the scientific community. Additional~y,
the location of the university should prove invaluable to the investigators,
since the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the research headquarters
of the Environmental Science Services Administration are located at Boulder.
These organizations conduct research on the properties of man's natural environ-
ment, specializing in the physical characteristics of the atmosphere and the
near-space medium." MORE