Documents / Document
This Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library file holds 1966 press releases and letters on UFOs from House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford. In March 1966 Ford asked the House Armed Services or Science and Astronautics Committee to hold hearings. He called the Air Force's swamp gas explanation for the Michigan sightings flippant. Later statements say the Air Force had agreed to fund an independent scientific study. An October 7, 1966 release announces that the University of Colorado, under Dr. Edward U. Condon, had been chosen to do it.
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
Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 15 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.