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.

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patrolmen. During that night, and several succeeding nights, there
were many reports of UFO's over northern California, but this par-
ticular event is important not only because of the fact that it has been
well authenticated but because of the relatively long time and close
nature of the observations. My condensed description that follows is
from the official report filed the next day by the two officers (see ap-
pendix I and II) from a half-hour taped interview conducted 3 days
later by myself and Dr. Carl Johannessen, of the University of
Oregon; from a letter written by Officer Charles A. Carson to Walter
N. Webb, Charles Hayden Planetarium, Boston, Mass., dated Novem-
ber 14, 1960; and from a telephoned interview conducted by Dr. James
McDonald with Mr. Carson on October 27,1966.
APPENDIX I
ADDITIONAL WITNESSES TO THE EVENTS OF AUGUST 13, 1960
When Officer Scott radioed the Tehama County Sheriff's Office, two deputies,
Fry and Montgomery, traveled to Los Molinos, somewhat northeast of the first
sighting, from which point they observed the UFO simultaneously, though at a
greater distance, with Scott and Carson. The night jailer, from a point further
north, saw it, and marched his several prisoners out onto the roof of the jail,
each of whom saw it. Subsequently, due to newspaper publicity, Carson received
a number of letters from motorists who had seen the object while traveling along
Highway 99E. After Scott and Carson returned to the Sheriff's Office, they called
the radar base again, and talked with the operator while all of them listened
in on various extensions. He described to them some of the movements of the
object as he had observed it on the radar screen; these corresponded to the move-
ments they had observed.
Several months later, in a personal interview conducted on January 3, 1961,
Captain Blohl, Area Commander at Red Bluff, stated that both Scott and Carson
had worked for him for three or four years, and that he had the highest regard
for their honesty and devotion to duty. They were not publicity minded, he said.
Of Scott, he remarked, "Scotty would rather take a knife or a gun away from
a man than make a speech." In the unwanted publicity that was forced upon
them, Blohl stated that their story stood up unaltered—that there were no
baubles during question periods.
APPENDIX II
REPORT OF OFFICERS CARSON AND SCOTT TO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL AREA
COMMANDER
To: Area Commander, Red Bluff.
Prom: 0. A. Carson, No. 2358, S. E. Scott, No. 1851.
Subject: Unidentified Flying Object.
SIR: Officer Scott and I were eastbound on bag Road, east of Corning look-
ing for a speeding motorcycle when we saw what at first appeared to be a huge
airliner dropping from the sky. The object was very low and directly in front
of us. We stopped and leaped from the patrol vehicle in order to get a position
on what we were sure was going to be an airplane crash. From our position
outside the car the first thing we noticed was an absolute silence. Still assuming
it to be an aircraft with power off we continued to watch until the object was
probably within 100' to 200' of the ground when it suddenly reversed completely,
at high speed and gained approx. 500' altitude. There the object stopped. At this
time it was clearly visible to both of us, and obviously not an aircraft of any
design familiar to us. It was surrounded by a glow making the round or oblong
object visible. At each end, or each side of the object, there were definite red
lights. At times about 5 white lights were visible between the red lights. As we
watched, the object moved again and performed aerial feats that were actually
unbelievable. At this time we radioed Teharaa County Sheriff's Office requesting
they contact the local radar base. The radar base confirmed the U.F.0.—com-
pletely unidentified.
AUGUST 13, 1960.