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. 7 …of advanced technological ma- chinery manned by some kind of intelligence, that is, the extrater- restrial…
  • p. 9 …American Association for the Advancement of Science; Astronomy Society(secretary). Specialty: Astrophysics. Fields of Interest: Stellar…
  • p. 19 …The Air Force has no evidence that UFO's are extra-terrestrial or rep- resent advanced…
  • p. 24 18 (The biography of Dr.McDonald follows:) DR. JAMES E. MCDONAI,D Born: Duluth, Minn., May…
  • p. 29 …from some advanced technology sufficiently advanced to do what we cannot do in the sense of…
  • p. 32 …The possibility that these are extraterrestrial devices, that we are dealing with surveillance from some advanced…
  • p. 40 …THE UNCONVENTIONAL NATURE OF THE UFO PROBLEM To both laymen and scientists, the impressive progress that…
  • p. 48 …At first, they thought it was a jet, whose exhaust was somehow accounting for the advancing…
  • p. 59 …advanced civilization of extraterrestrial origin, the pattern of the observa- tions, the motivation of the surveillance…
  • p. 75 …To ignore most of the salient features of a sighting in order to advance an easy…
  • p. 94 …Now, if we want to assess the likelihood that there are intelligentcivilizations somewhere in advance of…
  • p. 95 …be far in advance of our own,and this,therefore raises the question of how likely…
  • p. 96 …that an advance civilization comes here very rarely. But I again emphasize the great uncertainty in…
  • p. 97 91 So, to conclude what I understand is the main reason why this committee has asked…
  • p. 100 …the possibility of its development by other civilizations. But if each of, say, a million advanced…
  • p. 101 …a race of advanced and benign creatures were devoted to our welfare. The interest in unidentified…
  • p. 111 …The possible value of contact for purposes of advancing our knowledge of our technology. Let's…
  • p. 112 …again the same possible great value from under- standing the phenomenon in order to advance our…
  • p. 116 …We must then concern ourselves with the possible consequences of contact with technologically advanced civilizations whose…
  • p. 117 111 the task. We must also 'be concerned with the risks of panic resulting in people…
  • p. 124 …Gravitation remains one of the enigmas of modern science, although there have been some advances in…
  • p. 125 …This will depend upon advances in many fields of science. Some of the things required will…
  • p. 130 …Gravitation remains one of the enigmas of modern science, although there have been some advances in…
  • p. 132 …Baker's professional society memberships include the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, Phi…
  • p. 140 …There have been many debates on the technical capabilities or limits on the capabilities of advanced…
  • p. 141 135 area of forecasting the social characteristics of an advanced extrater- restrial civilization. Philosophers, social scientists…
  • p. 142 …in the environs of the earth, or to make dubious speculations either concerning "their" advanced scientific…
  • p. 143 …the gross characteristics of an advanced civilization. These studies (probablynot Government funded) should include the social…
  • p. 150 …Applications and Advanced Topics, Academic Press, New York, pp. 112-115 and pp. 376 to 392…
  • p. 153 147 00015 "Recent Advances in Astrodynamics," (with Samuel Herrick), Jet Propul- sion, 28, No. 10, 1958…
  • p. 154 …00040 "State-of-the-Art-1960 Astrodynamics,"Astronautics, 5, No. 11, 30, 1960. 00041 "Novel Orbit…
  • p. 157 …Makemson) 00071 Astrodynamics - Applications and Advanced Topics, Academic Press, New York, 1967. 00072 "Recent Advances in…
  • p. 171 …In the past five years, he has advanced from assistant bookkeeper to teller to head teller…
  • p. 174 …He has no desire to advance any further up the bank totem pole, says he never…
  • p. 189 …advanced radar systems air being de- vekii2ed for our missile defense systems, such as the ALTAR…
  • p. 190 …of the Earth or to make very dubious speculations 191, t101 either concerning "their" advanced scientific…
  • p. 203 …The primary attribute of an advanced intelligent civilization is its ability to create its own environment…
  • p. 204 …Menzel became acting Director of Harvard College Observatory and, in 1954, was advanced to the Directorship…
  • p. 207 …approach it or advances as you move away. As we look over the Air Force files…
  • p. 210 …Or at least that is the com- mon argument advanced by UFO buffs. Radar is cursed…
  • p. 212 …Life Member of American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professional Organizational Activities: State delegate to…
  • p. 217 …our level of advancement? As noted in the Special Report of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board…
  • p. 219 …Friedman has a relatively unique background in advanced technology, hav- ing been actively involved in the…
  • p. 222 …the existence of advanced civilizations. We frequently forget that the resolution of present photographs of the…
  • p. 223 …36, 37) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science is planning a UFO seminar…
  • p. 224 …reason, would not examine the data relevant to UFOs or advanced technology. Marcowitz was totally wrong…
  • p. 225 …reason, would not examine the data relevant to UFOs or advanced technology. Marcowitz was totally wrong…
  • p. 226 …B., "The Phenomenological Aspects of Magnetogasdynamic Re-entry." Presented at the 10th Midwestern Mechanics Conference, Colorado…
  • p. 227 …not alone in the Universe and surely some civilizations are more advanced than ours, but interstellar…
  • p. 233 …possible sites in advance, we could simply move in to recover the desired information after an…
  • p. 234 …The effectiveness of the proposed procedure would depend very heavily upon the amount of thought, care…
  • p. 237 …listed in advance on a 'standardized rating sheet. However this part of the experiment will not…
167
For three months, he worked as a grocery store clerk (in order to
pay his angry landlady for accumulated rent) but found the work intolerably
fatiguing and took a switchboard job which he did for the three years prior to
going to the bank.
His bank work record has apparently been very good. He has taken
only two sick days in the entire five years and is never late. Frequently, he
wakes up in the morning feeling as though he can't make it to work, but his
respect for and sense of responsibility to the institution itself (rather than
to any superior or individual person) always win out.
He has no close friends where he works, although he occassionally
takes lunch with one of the younger male tellers. His female co-workers irri-
tate him; they seem coarse and loud. Some of the single women tease him about
having a mistress (which he doesn't), but he doesn't know where they got that
idea. In fact, he doesn't date at all and hasn't for several years now. He
guesses it's because he doesn't seam to come in contact with women who are his
type (sweet, quiet, feminine). Nor does he seek out partners for intercourse.
With considerable embarrassment, he explains that while he was in the Army 13
years ago, he had tried on three separate occassions to have sexual relations
with a girl he liked but had been unable to sustain an erection. Part of the
problem at the time seemed to be a preoccupation with his mother and how dis-
appointed she would be in him if she knew what he was doing with this girl
Since then, he has not tried to have intercourse again. He says it is not
because he is afraid of failure or embarrassment, but more because for him it
is a dispensible activity.
The closet he ever gets to a woman is the back row in a local bar
where he likes to watch the performance of a certain belly dancer (his mother
was half Syrian). He doesn't know her personally, but something about her
arouses him. Whenever he masturbates in his room, (approximately once a week),
he picturos her face and upper torso in his minds eye; at the same time, he
imagines himself removing her round, plastic, chartreuse nipple covers, which
seems to be the one thing that will lead to his having an occassional ejacula-
tion. He has felt very upset with himself for masturbating ever since he first
did it at the age of 16. This examiner and his old Army buddy are the only
people to whom he has ever acknowledged any such activity. He says he still
cannot help but feel that it is an unnatural, perverted practice. Sometimes
he wonders whether he is driven to it by a hormone problem or whether it is
because of a mental sickness of some kind. He used to think that he would not
ever be fit to touch a woman if he masturbated. He says he has never been
involved in any homosexual activity, although his Army buddy had once suggested
it to him.
His leisure hours are spent watching TV in the bar or in his room,
going to movies, either alone or with someone at the boarding house, and
reading an occassional magazine story. He likes to sunbathe on his porch on
the weekends. He says that he still enjoys making up adventure stories and
keeps adding to an on-going serial in which he is the only person living in
a desert oasis where he gets into various predicaments and is rescued and nursed
back to health by lovely, gracious women who happen to pass by. He never dreams,
he says, and doesn't think he ever has.

Cases discussed

About this file

Hearing transcript, from the govinfo collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 256 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.