Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the printed record of a July 29, 1968 symposium on unidentified flying objects held by the Committee on Science and Astronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by Rep. J. Edward Roush. The committee heard statements from six scientists: J. Allen Hynek, James E. McDonald, Carl Sagan, Robert L. Hall, James A. Harder and Robert M. L. Baker. It also printed papers from Donald Menzel, Stanton Friedman, Frank Salisbury and others. Hynek argued that puzzling UFO reports from competent witnesses deserve serious scientific study.
“Scientific American”26 pages
96 However, there has not been since Project OXMA, which occurredin Green Bank some 7 years or so ago, any systematic effort in this country to look for signals of intelligent extraterrestrial origin. There is at the present time a fairly major effort under way in theSoviet Union, but at least in this country there are no such efforts directed specifically to this question. It may be if we ever do detect intelligent signals from elsewhere, it will be an accidental byproduct of some other program. There is at the present time no effort to search for extraterrestrial signals. Chairman MILLER. Are they trying to do things in Australia? Dr. SAGAN. To the best of my knowledge there is no such work being done. Chairman MILLER. The Mills -Cross program is also connected with Cornell, isn't it? Dr. SAGAN. The Cornell -Sydney Astronomy Center, yes, sir. Chairman MILLER. Is that all, Mr. Hechler ? Mr. HECHLER. I was hoping you would suggest something more specific, for our future consideration. Dr. SAGAN. Let me say, and again let me emphasize that it is by no means demonstrated that radio astronomical searches for extrater- restrial intelligence have anything whatever to do with UFO's, but if we were interested, as some of us are, in examining the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending signals to Earth, then rela- tively modest programs, of say less than a million dollars, could be organized, using largely existing instruments with only small modifica-tions in the things you hook up to the radio telescope, which wouldbe ideal for this purpose. There are in fact many radio astronomers who are privately inter- ested in this sort of thing, but it carries something of the same sort of stigma that both the previous speakers mentioned about UFO's. It is unconventional. It is in many senses radical. Many astronomers prefer to have nothing to do with it. Mr. PETTIS. Mr. Chairman. Mr. ROUSH. Mr. Pettis. Mr. PErris. I would like to ask the doctor, or any other member ofthe panel. Is there any indication that any other Government, par- ticularly the Russians,are interested in this subject? Dr. SAGAN. I cannot speak about the UFO program. Perhaps Dr. Hynek can say something about that. As far as the question that I just mentioned, the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, there is a state commission in the Soviet Union, for the investigation of cosmic -radio intelligence. There is a fairly major effort that has been mustered for the last few years along these lines. And there is only some information about that that we have gotten out of the Soviet Union. I don't know anything about their activities on UFO's. Perhaps Dr. Hynek would like to comment on that. Dr. HYNEK. May I, Mr. Chairman, preface my remark, in answerto that, by pointing out a danger here that we may be putting the cart before the horse in the consideration of extraterrestrial intelligence. Speaking of horses, suppose someone comes here and tells us, or announces to us there is a report of a horse in the bath tub.
Hearing transcript, from the govinfo collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 256 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.