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…
169
Although he was generally unpopular among his schoolmates, he did
very well academically, especially in mathematics. He skipped the third and
seventh grades, was first in his boys' parochial high school class and received
a full-tuition scholarship to Boston College, where he took business administra-
tion courses. He never was one to participate in extracurricular activities,
but always maintained a part-time job and gave his entire earnings to his mother.
He does not see himself as particularly religious but is faithful in his mass
attendance. He does not expect to ever have a vision, mostly because he believes
himself to be too mediocre a Christian. Twice after his mothers' death he thought
he heard her calling to him in the night and is still not sure that she didn't.
He has no opinions about UFO's; although it interests him to read abort them, he
knows no one who has ever seen one.
In part because of the nature of his description of the light in the
sky (and his associated feelings), the examiner WAS alerted to his description
of the belly dancer's chartreuse nipple coverlets, which apparently have signif-
icant meaning for him. Attempts to subtlely pursue possible connection here
reveal the following: The subject's recent anxiousness had begun at about the
time he learned he was to be promoted, ever since which he had felt lonier than
ever before and once again very desperate about the loss of his mother. He cam-
meats that he thinks his mother would have been very pleased and proud of his
success at work, that it would have given her something about which to hold up
her head again. It also would have meant (were she still alive) that he could
provide nicer living quarters for them both. Now that she it dead, however,
such improvements are unimportant; he feels they would be wasted on himself alone.
Along with this loneliness, he acknowledges feeling empty. He says
he can't get excited about anything (not even the belly dancer) although he feels
extremely tense and has tried more often lately to get some relief via masturba-
tion. He has been thinking about his mother so much he acknowledges that her
image gets confused with that of the belly dancer, even when he tries to concen-
trate just on the latters nipple covers.
B. Mental Status Examination
General Behavior and Appearance: The subject presents himself as a well-groomed
man of medium build. His dark brown hair is moderately long with side burns and
a small neatly trimmed mustache. He is dressed in a white shirt, tie, and con-
servative dark blue suit; his shoes are polished. He sat with head down and
steadily smokes throughout the interview. He expresses himself generally well
without excessive gestures. He was initially ill at ease and mildly defensive
with the interviewer but became more comfortable as the session progressed. He
was cooperative and he gave the impression of wishing to be highly candid.
Stream of Talk: There is no evidence of blocking or unusual difficulty in
choosing words. His vocabulary WAS moderately well-developed. The subject
speaks in a slightly monotonous manner but his speech is halting at only two
points (when he spoke about feeling guilty about his mother and about mas-
turbating). He uses no neologism, rhymes, or puns. There was no evidence of
flight of ideas or clang associations. There is no stuttering, dysarthria, or
mispronunciation; he is able to repeat four tongue twisters without difficulty.
97-818 0-68 12

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.