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.
“The Advance”52 pages
- 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…
173
D.
Summary
of
Positive Findings: Psychiatric Evaluation
and
Character
Assessment
with
supportive
data).
Mr. McC.
is an
oral
character
who
shows
a
moderately severe
passive
-
dependent
life
style. This
is
evidenced
by
the
direction
of
his relationships
(mother
-equivalents) and his drinking habits,
as well as
the
content
of
his
fantasies.
He is also
a
withdrawn chronic depressive
in
acute exacerbation.
There
may
be
an
underlying endogenous element
to
his
depression
but
it
appears
to
be
primarily reactive and related
to
the death
of
his mother.
All the
psychiatric evidence
points
to
the
event of
17
November
1967,
as
an
acute illusory
phenomenon
in
which his
regressed
oral
yearning
forhis
mother
was
symbolically represented
in
the
"light". That the object took
the
color and
shape
that
it
did
(like
the
nipple covers) further
demonstrates
his
ail
-pervasive
oral
fixation.
E.
Discussion and Creditability Score
The subject's retinal
pathology
is
such
that he
could
not
have
accurately
perceived
on
direct gaze
a
greenish, luminous
disc
in
the sky.
It
may
well
be that the initial
stimulus
for
his "vision" was
a
distant
light
which then was grossly
distorted
by
both his
abnormal retina and his highly
disturbed emotional state.
Creditability score
5%.
VI. ;ntegration of
Findings
and
Composite Assessment
of
Central Nervous
System Functioning
A. Discussion and Creditability Score
Without
the benefit
of the
results
of
this medical evaluation, one
would probably
be
inclined
to
view
Mr. McC. as
a
highly creditable observer.
In
favor of such
an
impression are
1)
his respectable bank position,
2)
his
general demeanor
(which is very
appropriate and does not suggest attention-seeking
or
his actual
psychiatric problems),
3)
his claim
to
seeming good health and
4)
the
nature and quality
of
his
report
of
the "light"
observed
event
to the
police.
However,
on
evaluation
it
was
discovered
that
he
was an
earlyalcoholic cirrhotic
who was
suffering from early
occult alcohol-tobacco amblyopia
such that he
could
not
have perceived
the detailed colored
nocturnal event he
thought he had
seen.
What
had actrally occurred was the first major hallucinatory
experience
of
his
life.
In
a
twilight state, his eye first
perceived
some
kind
of
stimulus
from the night time
sky
which was then
transformed into
a
rather
magnificent symbolic representation
of
his unconscious wishes and underlying
character pathology. The episode occurred
when
it
did because
of the subject's
state
of
psychic decompensation.
His
resistance
to
a
transient hallucinatory
experience
WEW
lowered
by
1)
his currently agitated depressed state
2)
the
adverse effects
of
toxins
(from drugs and
liver) on his central nervous system
and
3)
the visual distortions produced
by his diseased eyes.
The entire clinical picture
is best explained
in
terms of thesubject's passive
-oral
-dependent character pathology which is intimately
related not only to
his acute emotional state but is the underlying source
of
his physical problems
(i.e.,
alcoholic liver and retina, drug toxicity).
This case is thus
a
good example
of multifactional influences on observer
creditability which,
in
this instance, can be
integrated
in
terms of an
underlying source.
Over-all observer creditability score 5%.
Cases discussed
- The Miracle of the Sun at Fátima 1917
Except for the Fatima incident... Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima - The Kenneth Arnold Sighting 1947
June 24, 1947... Mr. Arnold, reported "nine peculiar-looking aircraft" - The Father Gill Sightings at Boianai 1959
Boiani, New Guinea, June 26, 27, 1959... Father W. B. Gill - The Lonnie Zamora Incident, Socorro 1964
terrain of the Socorro, New Mexico, sighting, April 24, 1964. Zamora first sighted the object - The Exeter Incident 1965
Exeter, New Hampshire, September 3, 1965... Patrolman Eugene Bertrand - Michigan "Swamp Gas" Sightings: Dexter and Hillsdale 1966
the subsequent one in the Michigan swamps
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.