Documents / Hearing transcript

Symposium on unidentified flying objects: hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, second session, July 29, 1968.

U.S. House of Representatives · 1968-07-29 · 256 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

Open the PDF at page 118 Original source ↗

“Nevers”43 pages

  • p. 12 …in a peasant society whose eyes were never turned toward the skies. Can we afford not…
  • p. 13 …for a proper and definitive study will never develop. I recall an encounter I had sometime…
  • p. 16 …A very character- istic statement by those making the reports is: "I have never seen anything…
  • p. 18 …They also usually request anonymity which is always granted. (4) UFO's are never seen at…
  • p. 19 …Other misconceptions are that UFO's are never reported by scien- tifically trained people, are never…
  • p. 20 …it has never been considered worthwhile to improve the data -gathering process because the whole subject…
  • p. 27 …he is looking at something he has never seen before. I like Dr. Hynek's phrase…
  • p. 37 …at the Ontario Hydro Commission plant has never been identified, but initially thetentative suspicion was centered…
  • p. 39 …cover- ing innumerable intriguing cases I had never before heard of, and (above all) after the…
  • p. 43 …diminish in sig- nificance, though they can never be overlooked. A frequent objection to serious consideration…
  • p. 45 …out- of-the-way rural areas but never over large cities? Why don't large groups…
  • p. 48 …Smith emphasized that they were never certain of sizes and distances, but that they had the…
  • p. 53 …is deceased), I believe that there has never been any dispute as to the observed facts…
  • p. 59 …Many other sources could be cited to show that the intimation that UFOs are never seen…
  • p. 65 …After the 'official "explanation" was publicized, he decided he'd never report another one. I predict…
  • p. 68 …In the ensuing two decades, he has never again seen anything like it. Clearly, the probability…
  • p. 69 …Moore never got a sufficiently clear view to identify any finer details if any were present…
  • p. 75 …the past twenty years, cases that ought never have been so labelled, had the evaluators kept…
  • p. 76 …Ground radar stations never detected the unknown that was seen visually and contacted by airborne radar…
  • p. 77 …strong, bright pips, said that "anomalous propagation never entered our heads as an explanation." Howard S…
  • p. 78 …7) but could never close with the unknown as its continued on its north- bound course…
  • p. 80 …All three said they had never before seen anything like it. Munger decided to phone his…
  • p. 81 …The photos were shortly taken by Base military authorities and were never seen again by the…
  • p. 87 …referred to repeatedly in Menzel's writings, never with any quantitative discussion of precisely what he…
  • p. 100 …visual observations of classical UFO's have never been made by profes- sional astronomers. For example…
  • p. 101 …how the promised political or social intervention never materializes. Psychological Factors. The psychologist Carl Jung pointed…
  • p. 125 …Oh, heavens, I never suggested that, I hope. Mr. BOONE. Well, let me say, science fiction…
  • p. 159 …He has not ever been exposed to any toxic substances, has never had to take any…
  • p. 168 …He said he had never had the experience of deja-vu episodes or of performing acts…
  • p. 171 …It never occurred to him to call anyone else's attention to the light (probably because…
  • p. 172 …He had never seen anything like it before and in fact had never previously had the…
  • p. 173 …He has taken only two sick days in the entire five years and is never late…
  • p. 174 …He never has fantasied actively taking his own life, however, and feels it would be very…
  • p. 175 …He never was one to participate in extracurricular activities, but always maintained a part-time job…
  • p. 176 …Prior to seeing that light, he apparently never experienced a deja vu, or any illusory or…
  • p. 194 …If the observer being studied is truly sociopathic and has never de- veloped a super -ego…
  • p. 203 197 This data, which most people have never seen or even heard of, is published in…
  • p. 206 …They never have had enough sCientists in the project. They have failed to follow up certain…
  • p. 221 …Isn't it true that UFOs have never been sighted on radar? No, it is not…
  • p. 243 …make such an all- inclusive negative statement. Never- theless, many of the arguments are highly compelling…
  • p. 244 …A balloon reported as a UFO was never out of sight of its launchers. A perplexing…
  • p. 247 …al- though he apologizes because he has never had the time to make a thorough search…
  • p. 249 …two leads appeared, but other witnesses could never be located), but his ap- parent sincerity was…
112
including
its
apparent
reaction
to
other events
in
the
environment
with
emphasis
upon
establishing
independence or
non
-independence of separate
witnesses.
(b)
Those
portions
of
the
problem
that
result
from mass
hysteria
need
to
be
studied
intensively
to
improve
our
understanding of
mass
hysteria
toward
the
end
of
controlling
its
potentially
dangerous
consequences.
(c)
Some
systematic
means
of monitoring
and
observing
should
be
developed
so
as
to
add
well
documented
new
cases
with
specific
reports
of
details
obtained
independently
from
different
observers.
3.
Serious
consideration
might be
given to
the
idea
of
setting
up
a
formal
adversary
proceeding,
modeled
after
our system of
justice.
Just
as
courts
have
attorneys assigned
to
build
the
best
possible
ease for the
prosecution
and
others
to
build
the
best
case for
defense,
we
might have
a
staff
assigned to
build
the
strongest
possible
case for
each
of
the
three
major
explanations
of
UFO
reports.
If
each
had
to
confront
the
others
and
answer
their
criticisms,
we
would
probably
force
a
clearer
focus
on
the
crucial
points
that
need
to
be
settled.
My
closing
comment
returns to
my
starting
point.
The
situation
that
we
face
in
UFO
reports
is
an
exciting
and
challenging
one which
presents
a
rare
scientific
opportunity,
no
matter
whose
interpretation
and
explanation
you
may
accept.
REFERENCES
Bauer,
R.
A. and
Gleicher,
D.B.,
1953.
Word-of-mouth communication
in the
Soviet
Union.
Public Opinion
Quarterly,
17,
1953, 297-310.
Cantril,
H.,
1940.
The
invasion
from
Mars.
Princeton:
Princeton
University Press,1940.Festinger,
L.,
1957.
A
theory
of
cognitive
dissonance.
Evanston:
Row
-Peterson,
1957.
Hall,
R.
H.
(ed.), 1964.
The
UFO
evidence.
Washington, D.C.
:
N.I.C.A.P.,
1964.
Johnson,
D.
M.,
1945.
The
"phantom
anaesthetist"
of
Mattoon:
a
field
study
of
mass
hysteria.
Journal
of
Abnormal and
Social
Psychology,
1945. 40, 175-186.
Kerckhoff,
A.
C.,
and
Back,
K.,
1968.
The
June
bug.
New
York:
Appleton-Century
-
Crofts,
1968.
Medalia,
N.
Z.,
and
Larsen,
0.
N.,
1958.
Diffusion
and
belief
in
a
collective
de-
lusion:
the
Seattle
windshield
pitting
epidemic.
American
Sociological
Review,
1958, 23,
180-186.
Shibutani,
T.,
1966.
Improvised
news: a
sociological
study
of
rumor.
Indianapolis
and
New
York:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.
Simmons,
J.
L.,
1964.
On
maintaining deviant
belief
systems:
a
case
study.
Social
Problems,
11, 1964, 250-256.
Smelser,
N.,1963.
Theory
of
collective
behavior.
New
York:
Free
Press of
Glencoe,1963.
Smith,
M.
B.,
Bruner,
J.
S.,
and
White,
R.
W.,
1956.
Opinions
and
Personality.
New
York:
John
Wiley
&
Sons,
1956.
U.S.
Air
Force,
1968. Projects
Grudge and
Bluebook Reports 1-12 (1951-1953)
Washington, D.C.
:
N.I.C.A.P.,
1968.
Mr.
Rousx.
Our
next
participant
is
Dr.
J.
A.
Harder.
Dr. Harder,
we
are delighted
that
you can
participate.
We
are
get-
ting into
another area here
now. Again,
as with the other gentlemen,
Dr. Harder
has
a
distinguished career
behind
him and
probably aneven
more
distinguished career
ahead of
him.
Dr. Harder,
will
you
proceed.
(The
biography of
Dr.Harder
is
as follows:)
DR.
J.
A. HARDER
Born:
Fullerton,
Calif.,
1926.
B.S.
California Institute
of Technology, 1948; Ph.D.
(fluid
mechanics), 1957;
Associate Professor of
Civil
Engineering, University of
California,
Berkeley,
1962
to present; Assistant Professor,
Hydraulic Engineering, 1957-62; Resident
Engineer, 1952-57;
Design Engineer,
soil
conservation service,
U.S.
Department
of Agriculture,
1948-50;
U.S.
Navy,
1944-45.Scientific Societies:
Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancementof Science, Society of Civil
Engineering

Cases discussed

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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.