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.

184
frequent. As Singer noted [201, "The specific properties of
ball lightning, which present particular difficulty in experi-
mental duplication, are formations of the sphere in air (at
near-atmospheric pressure and at a distance from the source
of energy) and its extensive motion. It is evident that ad-
ditional clarification of both theoretical and experimental
aspects of this phenomenon is needed." Often marsh gas
exhibits bizarre observational data and a location near a
marsh might be useful in the examination of such phenomena.
Clearly, an overall reconcilement of these diverse and inter-
disciplinary requirements must be accomplished during the
site (or, perhaps, sites) selection process.
In summary, then, four points are to be made:
1) That we have not now nor have we been able in the
past to achieve a complete or even partially complete
surveillance of space in the vicinity of the Earth, which
would betray the presence of any anomalistic phenomena.
2) That so-called hard data on anomalistic observational
phenomena do, in fact, exist; but that they are of poor
quality due to the equipment employed in obtaining them.
3) That it follows from the scientific method that an
experiment or experiments be devised to define better the
anomalistic data.
4) That, in order to justify such an experiment or ex-
periments, it is not necessary to presuppose the existence
of intelligent extraterrestrial life operating in the environs
of the Earth or to make very dubious speculations 191, t101
either concerning "their" advanced scientific and engineer-
ing capabilities or "their" psychological motivations and
behavioral patterns.
ROBERT M. L. BAKER, JR.
The Senior Scientist of System Sciences Corporation, a
subdivision of Computer Sciences Corporation,
650 N. Sepulveda Boulevard,
El Segundo, California, 90245 and the
Department of Engineering, UCLA
November 21,1967
References
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121 CHEETAM, R. P., J. Astronaut. Sc., XIV, No. 5, (1967).
[3] MOHR, F. B., Science, 151, pp. 634-636, (1966).
[4] FEssEmcov, V. G., Physics and Astrononty of the Moon
(Academic Press, New York, 1962), page 108.
[5] LAMAR, D. L., AND BAKER, ROBERT M. L., JR., "Possible
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