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.
“Nevers”43 pages
126 Dr. Baker represented the United States Air Force at the International Astro- nautical Federation meeting in Stockholm, Sweden in 1961, represented the United States at the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics European Conferences in 1962 and in 1965 and was an invitee to the Astronomi- cal Councile of the Academy of Sciences of USSR in Moscow in 1967. He was voted an Outstanding Young Man of the Year by the Junior Chamber of Com- merce in 1965. From 1963 to 1964 he was the National Chairman of the ..listro- dynamics Technical Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and is currently a member of Computer Sciences Technical Com- mittee. Dr. Baker has been the Editor of the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences since 1963. He was the joint editor of the Proceedings of the 1961 International Astronautical Federation Congress and the senior author of the first textbook on astrodynamics : An Introduction to Astrodynamics published in 1960. Dr. Baker is the author of four books and over 70 technical papers ( see Appen- dix 2). Dr. Baker's professional society memberships include the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Sigma Pi Sigma, American Astronautical Society (Fellow), British Interplanetary So- ciety (Fellow), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Associate Fellow and member of the Computer Sciences Technical Committee), British Astronomical Society (Fellow), American Astronomical Society, American Physi- cal Society, and Meteoritical Society. His active security clearance is top secret. STATEMENT OF DR. ROBERT M. L. BAKER., IR., SENIOR SCIENTIST, COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP., EL SEGUNDO, CALIF., AND FACULTY, DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING, UCLA Dr. BAKER. Fine, thank you, Mr. Roush. I should like to preface my remarks by stating my preference for the term "anomalistic observational phenomena," as opposed to the term "unidentified flying objects." Mr. RousH. I observed you were going to say that and I wonder about some of my Hoosiers back home using those terms. Dr. BAKER. It comes trippingly off the tongue. Mr. RousH. It might not only cause some Hoosiers but some laymen some problems. It might be easier to say UFO's. You may go -ahead. Dr. BAKER. I call it AOP. From the data that I have reviewed and analyzed since 1954, it is my belief that there does exist substantial evidence to support the claim that an unexplained phenomenon—or phenomena—is present in the environs of the earth, but that it may not be "flying," may not always be "unidentified," and, perhaps, may not even be substantive"objects." In the following statement I will— (1) Present a summary of the analyses that I have accom- plished to date—those that have led me to believe that anomalistic phenomena exist; (2) Explain the probable inadequacy of our current terrestrial sensors in observing and/or defining the characteristics of theanomalistic phenomena; (3) Suggest a number of tentative hypothetical sources for the phenomena, and the justification for their scientific study; (4) And, finally, I will make specific recommendations con- cerning the necessity for new types of closely related observational and study programs which might be implemented in a fashion that would permit the detection and quantitative analysis of the anomalistic phenomena.
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.