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.

202
you
will
be
able to see
a
bright,
usually greenish,
floating
spot,
which
could
be
mistaken
for
a
UFO
by someone
unfamiliar
with the problem.
Let
me
take
an
actual
case,
which
is
typical
of
a
large
number
actually in
the
files
of
Project
Bluebook.
A
child,
going
to
the
bathroom
turns
on
a
bright
light
and
accidentally
awakens
one
of
his
parents
who
is
blinded
by
the
sudden
illu-
mination.
The
light
goes
off
and
the
parent
gets
up
to
investigate
and
just
hap-
pens
to glance
out
of the
window.
He
is
startled
to
see
a
peculiar
spot
of
light
floating
over the
trees
and
making
irregular,
jerky
motions.
He
watches
the
UFO
for
a
minute
or
two
until
it
finally
disappears.
He
cannot
be
blamed
for
failing
to
realize
that the
erratic
and
often
rapid
movements
of
his
UFO
are
those
of
the
after
-image,
drifting
with
the
similar
movements
of
his
own
eye.
The
UFO
appears
in
the
direction
he
happens
to
be
looking.
That
is
all.
And
yet
he
may
describe
it
graphically
as
a
luminous
object
"cavorting
around
in
the sky."
Many
such
stimuli
are
possible
by
day
or
night.
Some
time
ago
I
was
driving
directly
toward
the
setting
sun.
When
I
came
to
a
stop
-light
and
looked
out
the
side
window
of the
car,
I
was
startled
to
see
a
large,
black
object
shaped some-
thing
like
a
dirigible,
surrounded
by
dozens of small
black
balloons.
I
suddenly
realized
that
they
were
after
-images of the sun.
The
big
one
was
where
I
had
been
looking
most
fixedly.
The
spots
were
images
where
my
eye
had
wandered.
A UFO
buff
could
have
sworn
that
he
was
seeing
a
"mother
ship"
and a
swarm
of
UFO's
in
rapid
flight.
I
once
had
another
similar experience.
I
suddenly
glanced
up
and
was
surprised
to see
a
whole
flotilla
of
UFO's
flying
in
formation
across
the
blue
sky.
They
looked
like
after
-images,
but
I
hadn't
been
conscious
of the
visual
stimulus
responsible.
I
quickly retraced
my
steps
and
found
it:
sunlight
reflected
from
the shiny
surface
of
the
fender of
a
parked
car.
I
am
sure that
many
UFO's
still
unknowns,
belong
to
this
class.
Look
fixedly
at
the
full
moon
for
at
least
30
seconds
and
then
turn
away.
A
greenish
balloon
will
swim
over
your
head
and
perform
maneuvers
startling
or
impossible
for
any
real
object.
I'm
been
able
to
attain
the
same
effect
with
the
planet
Venus,
when
near
maximum
brilliance.
Yet
most
observers
will
swear
that
such
UFO's
are true
objects.
And
the
Air Force
questionnaire,
failing
to
recog-
nize
even
the
existence
of
this
kind of
UFO,
contains
not
a
single
question
that
would
help
them
to
identify
it.
In
fact
the
words
signifying
UFO,
unidenti-
fied
flying
object,
show
the
state
of
mind
of
the
Air
Force
personnel
who
Invented
this
abbreviation.
What
I
am
saying
is
that the
UFO's
are not
unidenti-
fiable,
they are
often
not
flying,
and
many
are not even
objects.
It is this
point
4,i1
view—to
regard the
apparitions
as
actual
solid
objects—that
has
retarded
solution
so
long.
After-images
possess
still
other complicated
characteristics.
A
colored
light
tends
to
produce
an
after
-image with
complementary
color.
A
green
flash will
cause
a
red
after
-image
and
vice versa.
Color-blind
persons
and
persons with
defective
vision will
often experience
effects
different
from
those of
people
with
normal
eyesight.
Another
optical
phenomenon
that
can
produce
an
illusion
of
flying
objects
lies
within
the
eye
itself.
Again,
look
at
some
uniformly
bright
surface—sky
or
ceiling.
Relax
your
eyes.
By
that
I mean
focus your
eyes
on
infinity.
The
changes are that
you
will
see
an
array of dark
spots.
These
specks,
which
may
seem
to
be near
like
a swarm
of gnats or
as
ill-defined
objects
at
a
distance,
are
either
on
or
in
your
eye.
They
may
be dust
floating
on
the
lens,
minute
imperfections in
the
cornea,
or
possibly
blood
cells
on
the
retina.
These,
too,
can
simulate evasive
and
erratic
movement.
The
eyeball
jumps a
little
every time you
blink.
Walking
transmits
vibrations
to
the eye at every
step.
Many
individuals
think they
see
stars, planets,
or
satellites oscillating
when
the
movement
is
actually
that of the eye
itself.
Here
is
an
example.
On
our
return across
Minnesota
we
had an
experience
which
I
have always
remembered as
illustrative
of the
fallacy
of
all
human
testimony about
ghosts,
rappings,
and
other
phenomena
of that character.
We
spent
two
nights
and aday
at Fort
Snelling.
Some
of the
officers
were
greatly surprised
by
a
celestial
phenomenon
of
a
very extraordinary character
which had
been observed forseveral nights past.
A
star
had
been seen, night after night, rising in
the east
as
usual,
and
starting
on
its
course toward
the south.
But
instead of continuing
that course across the meridian, as
stars invariably
had done from the remotestantiquity,
it
took
a
turn toward the north,
sunk toward the horizon,
and
finally
set near the north point of the horizon.
Of
course
an
explanation
was wanted.