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James E. McDonald statement, Symposium on UFOs, House Committee on Science and Astronautics

Princeton (kirkmcd archive) · 1968-07-29 · 55 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is the prepared statement James E. McDonald, a senior physicist at the University of Arizona's Institute of Atmospheric Physics, submitted to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics for its July 29, 1968 Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects. He draws on hundreds of witness interviews and weighs eight hypotheses. His conclusion is that UFOs are probably extraterrestrial surveillance devices. He argues that scientists have wrongly neglected the subject and urges much more scientific investigation and further Congressional hearings.

  • p. 2 …Project Bluebook) UFO investigative programs, after seeing for the first time press-clipping files of (to…
  • p. 4 …Hoaxes and fabrications do crop up, though in percentually far smaller numbers than many UFO scoffers…
  • p. 9 …It summarizes about 750 UFO cases in the NICAP files up to about 1964. I have…
  • p. 17 …Many of the UFO cases I am citing are drawn intentionally from earlier years, in order…
  • p. 23 …When an incident such as this is cited to the skeptic who asks, "Why no UFOs…
  • p. 25 …NICAP files. The article, by Post reporter Jimmie Woods, represents one of those rare UFO feature…
  • p. 31 …WHY DON'T THEY SEE UFOs? 1. Case 26. Richmond, Va., April 1947: To begin an…
  • p. 32 …Moore's sighting is carried as Unidentified in official files. Menzel (Ref. 24) says of it…
  • p. 33 …of UFO sightings by meteorologists could be extended very considerably by drawing on my file of…
  • p. 34 …the UFO problem in the ensuing two-year period. Many details from the official file on…
  • p. 38 …In my files are many other "balloon" cases from the past twenty years, cases that ought…
  • p. 39 …The third target was spotted visually by myself," Hemphill's signed statement in the case-file…
  • p. 42 …unknowns in official files to be ignored. A famous case in UFO annals involved a B…
  • p. 49 …explanations for classic UFO cases that have been made in the official files in the last…
  • p. 55 …Official file on October 15, 1948 Fukuoka case, Project Bluebook. • 43. Melbourne (Australia) Sun, December 16…
"Why no contact?" Here, the best answer is merely a cautionary remark that one would certainly be unjustified in
extrapolating all human motives and reasons to any other intelligent civilization. It is conceivable that an avoidance
of premature contact would be one of the characteristic features of surveillance of a less advanced civilization; other
conceivable rationales can be suggested. All are speculative, however; what is urgently needed is a far more
vigorous scientific investigation of the full spectrum of UFO phenomena, and the House Committee on Science and
Astronautics could perform a very significant service by taking steps aimed in that direction.
REFERENCES:
• 1. NICAP Special Bulletin, May 1960: Admiral Hillenkoeter was a NICAP Advisory Board member at the
time of making the quoted statement.
• 2. McDonald, J.E., 1967: Unidentified Flying Objects: Greatest Scientific Problem of our Times, published
by UFO Research Institute, Suite 311, 508 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15219.
• 3. Keyhoe, D.E., 1950: Flying Saucers Are Real, Fawcett Publications New York, 175 pp.
• 4. Keyhoe, D.E., 1953: Flying Saucers From Outer Space, New York, Henry Holt G Co., 276 pp. Keyhoe,
D.E., 1955: Flying Saucer Conspiracy, New York, Henry Holt & Co., 315 pp. Keyhoe,D.E., 196O: Flying
Saucers Top Secret, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 283 pp.
• 5. Ruppelt, E.J., 1956: The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Garden City, New York, Doubleday &
Co., 243 pp. (Paperback edition, Ace Books, 319 pp.)
• 6. Project Grudge, 1949: Unidentified Flying Objects, Report No. 102 AC 49/15-100, Project XS-304,
released August, 1949. I am indebted to Dr. Leon Davidson for making available to me his copy of this
declassified report.
• 7. NICAP, 1968: USAF Projects Grudge and Bluebook Reports 1-12 (1951-1953), declassification date 9
September, 1960. Published by NICAP as a special report, 235 pp.
• 8. Bloecher, T., 1967: Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, available through NICAP.
• 9. Cruttwell, N.E.G., 1960: Flying Saucers Over Papua, A Report on Papuan Unidentified Flying Objects,
45 pp., reproduced for limited distribution; parts of this report have been reproduced in a number of issues
of the APRO Bulletin.
• 10. Hall, R.H., 1964: The UFO Evidence, Washington, D. C. , NICAP, 184 pp.
• 11. Olsen, P.M., 1966: The Reference for Outstanding UFO Sighting Reports, Riderwood, Maryland, UFO
Information Retrieval Center, Inc., P.0. Box 57.
• 12. Fuller, J.G., 1966: Incident at Exeter, New York, G.P. Putnam' Sons, 251 pp. (Berkeley Medallion
paperback, 221 pp.)

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