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.

  • p. 18 …Some of these statements which lead to mis- conceptions are: —(1) Only UFO "buffs" report UFO…
  • p. 19 …One great misconception is that only UFO buffs report UFO's; quite the opposite is the…
  • p. 25 …saw their very impressive and sur- prising UFO files, the pattern of which is entirely different…
  • p. 39 …files and modes of operation of both private and official (i.e., Project Bluebook) UFO investigative…
  • p. 41 …Misinter- preted natural phenomena (Hypothesis 3) do explain many sincerely -submitted UFO reports; but, as I…
  • p. 45 …It summarizes about 750 UFO cases in the NICAP files up to about
  • p. 46 …Reference 7 is another now -accessible source of extremely significant UFO documentation; it is unfortunate that…
  • p. 54 …Longview, Wash., July 8, 1949 Many of the UFO cases I am citing are drawn intentionally…
  • p. 60 54 terrestrial hypothesis for UFOs, incomprehensibility must be expected as almost inevitable. Hence there is more…
  • p. 63 …NICAP files. The article, by Post reporter Jimmie Woods, represents one of those rare UFO feature…
  • p. 68 …5) remarks that an astronomer working under con- tract to the official UFO investigatory program interviewed…
  • p. 70 …UFO sightings by meteorologists could be extended very con- siderably by drawing on my file of…
  • p. 72 …the UFO problem in the ensuing two-year period. Many details from the official file on…
  • p. 75 …In my files are many other "balloon" cases from the past twenty years, cases that ought…
  • p. 76 …The third target was spotted visually by myself," Hemphill's signed statement in the case -file…
  • p. 78 …25), who evidently drew his information from the official files. Ruppelt (Ref. 5) states that when…
  • p. 79 …unknowns in official files to be ignored. A famous case in UFO annals involved a B…
  • p. 86 …explanations for classic UFO cases that have been made in the official files in the last…
  • p. 91 …Official file on October 15, 1948 Fukuoka case, Project Bluebook. 43. Melbourne (Australia) Sun, December 16…
  • p. 120 …During that night, and several succeeding nights, there were many reports of UFO's over northern…
  • p. 128 …THE UFO PROPULSION PROBLEM By way of introducing the propulsion problem of UFO's, I will…
  • p. 185 179 rod N.T.TuDE tOURIE 3• MOTION OF UFO SYSTIM a..„. — 73 2.3 2…
  • p. 206 …for a UFO. This viewpoint is absolutely nonsense and the Air Force files bear witness to…
  • p. 207 …But such behavior does not imply, as the UFO addicts argue, the presence of an intelligence…
  • p. 208 …He watches the UFO for a minute or two until it finally disappears. He cannot be…
  • p. 218 …UFO presence. This can be done with existing information. Up- date and upgrade the files with…
  • p. 224 …claimed to have observed a UFO. Interestingly enough the official files con- tain fewer than 12…
  • p. 239 …Indeed, at present the scientific study of the UFO problem is greatly hampered by the circumstance…
  • p. 244 …The dotted line represents "re- liable" sightings in the files of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization…
  • p. 245 …Many radar sightings of UFO's are on file. In a few cases, a UFO has…
  • p. 247 …He states that he has on file more than 300 UFO sightings prior to the 20th…
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139
camera was kept stationary the average angular velocities for the object moving
across the field are 0.039 and 0.031 radians per second. The angular velocities in
these sequences sometimes vary erratically from 0.07 to 0.01 radians per second.
This variation may be attributed in part to camera "jiggling" and in part to the
object's motion. The decrease in average angular velocity could be due to the
object's having regressed between filmings just as was reported by Newhouse.
Also the average image diameter decreases about 30% over the entire film, in-
dicating a possible over-all regression of the objects.
The following tabulation indicates the hypothetical transverse component of
relative velocities and accelerations at various distances. It is noted that the
transverse velocity may be only a fraction of the total velocity so that the
numbers actually indicate minimum values.
If the object's
distance was— Its transverse
velocity was— Its transverse ac-
celeration was— Velocity of
single object was-
100 ft 0.65 ft./sec. or 0.44 m.p.h 0.36 ft./sec.1 or 0.11g 3.8 ft./sec. or 2.7 m.p.h.
1,000 ft 6.5 ft./sec. or 4.4 m.p.h 3.6 ft./sec.1 or 0.11 g 39 ft./sec. or 27 m.p.h.
2,000 ft 13 ft./sec. or 8.8 m.p.h 7.2 ft./sec.1 or 0.22 g 78 ft./sec. or 54 m.p.h.
1 mile 23 m.p.h 0.56 g 135 m.p.h.
5 miles 115 m.p.h 2.8 g 670 m.p.h.
10 miles 230 m.p.h 5.6 g 1,300 m.p.h.
The objects in the "Utah" and "Montana" films can only be correlated on the
basis of two rather weak points. First, their structure, or rather lack of it,
is similar. Thus as shown in the "blow-ups" there are no recognizable differences
between them*. Second, the objects on the "Montana" film are manifestly a
single pair; on the "Utah" film perhaps 30% of the frames show clusters of
objects seemingly also grouped in pairs.
The weather report was obtained by the author from the Airport Station at
Salt Lake City. The nearest station with available data is Corinne which
reported a maximum temperature of 84°, a minimum of 47° and no precipitation.
A high ,pressure cell from the Pacific Northwest spread over Northern Utah
during July 2, the pressure at Tremonton would have a rising trend, the visibility
good, and the winds relatively light. The absence of clouds and the apparently
excellent visibility shown on the films would seem to be in agreement with
this report. Through use of References (2) and (3), the Sun's azimuth N132°E
altitude 65° was computed. No shadows were available to confirm the time of
filming.
The image size being roughly that of the Montana film (a few of the objects
being perhaps 10% larger than the largest on the Montana) the same remarks
as to airplane reflections apply, i.e., they might have been caused by Sun
reflections from airplanes within one to three miles to the observer, although
at these distances they should have been identified as conventional aircraft by
the film or the observer. No specific conclusions as to Sun reflection angles
can be drawn since the line of motion of the objects cannot be confirmed. How-
ever, the reported E to W motion of the UFO's and their passing overhead
coupled with the SE azimuth of the Sun would make the achievement of
optimal Sun reflections rather difficult.
That the images could have been produced by aluminum foil "chaff"** seems
possible, at least on the basis of the images shown, as very intense specular
Sun reflections from ribbons of chaff might flare out to about the size of the
UFO's.
Examination of film frames obtained from the photogrammetric experiment—
reference Analysis of Photographic Material, Serial 01, Appendix II, show
that no significant broadening is produced by fiat white diffuse reflectors such
as birds, bits of paper, etc. at f/16 under the conditions of the filming. Actual
measurements show a slight "bleeding" or flaring of about 10% to 20%.
The rectangular flat white cardboards of the aforementioned experiments repre-
sented very roughly the configuration of birds. The light reflected by such a
surface is probably greater than that from a curved feather surface of a bird.
*The images on the "Utah" film appear to be a little brighter. However, possible varia-
tions in development techniques would not allow quantitative analysis in this regard.
**Bits of aluminum foil dumped overboard by planes, often utilized as a countermeasure
against antiaircraft radar. This material might possibly be in the form of large ribbons
several feet long and several inches across.

Cases discussed

About this file

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.