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…
S.
164
Normal
Value SubJect
Serologic
Test:
PTA-ABS
negative negative
(Flourescent Treponemal
Antibody Absorption
Test)
Brucella Agglutination
negative negativeCoccidioidomycosis negative negative
D.
Summary
of
Positive Findings
1.
Optic Nerve changes:
(see
Neuro-ophthalmologic
Evaluation).
2.
Bromides
and atropine detected
in
urine.
E.
Discussion
and Creditability
Score:Since
the
head
of
the
optic nerve
(disc) is
directly
visible
for
examination,
its
state
is
often used
as
a
reflection
of
the condition
of
the other
nerves.
It
can
be
reasonably
conjectured
that the
same
meta-
bolic or toxic insults
that
have
produced
the abnormal appearance
of
the
subject's optic nerve are also subtlely influencing his other
nervous
system functioning
(even
although
no
gross neurologic
signs
can be elicited).
One likely effect
of
such changes
would be
increased irritability and assoc-iated behavioral effects. These would also
be
expected
to
occur
as
a
result
of
the
bromide
or
atropine toxicity (associated with the
subject's excessive
use
of
non-proprietary sleeping medication).
In
this ease,
the
subject's abnormal liver function (reversed
A/G ratio,
etc.)
increases
the danger of
such toxicity because
of
his impaired
ability
to
bind, detoxify,
and excrete both bromides and atropine. Halluci-nations are among
the
outstanding
toxic
effects
of
both these drugs
(Ref.
2).
It
would
thus not be unlikely that the
contents
of the
sleeping
pills
have
not
only
contributed
to the
subject's current psychic disequilibrium
buthave specifically affected his propensity
to
"see things".
Creditability score
75%.
Ref. 2.
Walker,
S.
Psychiatric Signs and Symptoms Due
to
Medical
Problems, CC. Thomas, Springfield, Ill. 1967

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.