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…
•
194
is
a
miniature
kangaroo.
These
five
wallabys escaped,
and
rather
than
upset people
he
didn't
report
this,
he
waited
for
people to
tell
him
that
they
had
seen
them.
And
nothing
happened
for
days
and
days.
Well,
when
they
were
finally
relocated
and
caught
then
lots
of
people
started
admitting,
yes,
they
had
seen
these
wallabys,
but
after
all,
if
you
see
a
tiny
kangaroo
loping
across
the
road
in
New
Rochelle,
you
are
reticent
to
report
it.
Mr.
RousH.
Dr.
Hynek
again.
Dr.
HYNEK.
I
think that
is
a most
interesting
point that
ties
in.
I
think
sometimes
we
don't
ask
ourselves
really
very
fundamental
questions,
and
that
is,
how
is it
that
these reports
exist
in the
first
place?
It
is
not
just
because
they
are
strange,
because
we
don't
have
reports
of
Christmas
trees flying
upside
down,
or
elephants
doing
strange
things
in
the
sky;
the
reports
are strange,
but
they
do
have
a
certain
pattern.
Now,
I
have
often
asked
myself,
well,
why
do
the
reports
exist
in
the
first
place?
And
how many
are
reported?
Whenever
I
give
a
presentation
to
some
group
I
frequently
will
ask
them,
well,
how many
of
you
have
seen
something
in
the
skies
you
couldn't
explain; that
is
a
UFO,
or
some
friend
whose
veracity
you
can
vouch
for?
I
have
been
surprised to
find
that
10
to
15
percent,
albeit
it
is
a
specialized
audience,
they
are there
already because
they
are
inter-
ested,
hence
there
is
a
selection
factor,
but
nonetheless
I am
quite sur-
prised
that
many
respond.
Then
I
ask the second one,
Did
you
ever report
it
to the
Air
Force?
And
maybe
one or
two
will
say
that
they have.
Now,
why,
then,
should people
make
reports
anyway,
since
theyface
such
great
ridicule?
They do
it
for
two
reasons, those that
I
have
talked
to:
One,
is
out of
a
sense
of
civic
duty.
Time
and
again
I
will
get
a
letter
saying,
I
haven't
said this
to
anybody,
but
I
feel
it
is
my
duty
as
a
citizen
to report
this.
And
many
letters
come
to
me.
In
fact,
even
saying,
please
do
not
report
this
to the
Air
Force.
The
second reason
is
that
their curiosity
finally
bugs them.
They
have
been thinking
about
it
and
they
want
to
know
what
it
was
they
saw, and
many
letters
I
get
will
end
in
a
rather
plaintive
note,
can
you
possibly
tell
me,
or can you
tell
me
whether
it is
possible
what
I
saw
?
Those
two
reasons are the "springs" of
why
the report
is
made
in
the
first
place.
I
don't
know how much
store
can be put
in
the
Gallup
poll,
but
I
understand
when,
about
2
years
ago a
poll
was made
on
this subject, there
was
something like—the
poll
reported
5
million
people,
5
million
Americans had
seen
something
in
the
skies
they
could not
explain.
Over
the past
20
years the
Air Force has had some
12,000 reports.
Therefore,
one can
logically
ask,
who
is
holding out
on
the other 4,988,000 reports?
I
think there
may
be
quite
a
reservoir
of
reports that simply havenot
come
out into the open
because of
this
natural reluctance
of people
to speak
out.
Mr. RousH. Dr. Hynek, your experience has been similar to mine,
although
much more
extensive.
In the
10
years
I
have served
on
this
committee
I
have had
occasion to ask various witnesses their beliefs

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.