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.
“Nevers”43 pages
- p. 12 …in a peasant society whose eyes were never turned toward the
skies.
Can we afford not…
- p. 13 …for
a
proper
and
definitive
study
will
never
develop.
I
recall
an
encounter
I
had
sometime…
- p. 16 …A
very
character-
istic
statement
by
those
making
the
reports
is:
"I
have
never
seen
anything…
- p. 18 …They also usually request anonymity which is always granted.
(4) UFO's are never seen at…
- p. 19 …Other misconceptions are that UFO's are never reported by scien-
tifically trained people, are never…
- p. 20 …it
has never been
considered
worthwhile
to
improve
the data
-gathering process
because the
whole
subject…
- p. 27 …he is looking at something he has never seen before.
I like Dr. Hynek's phrase…
- p. 37 …at the Ontario
Hydro
Commission
plant has never been
identified,
but
initially
thetentative suspicion
was
centered…
- p. 39 …cover-
ing innumerable intriguing cases I had never before heard of, and (above all)
after the…
- p. 43 …diminish in sig-
nificance, though they can never be overlooked.
A frequent objection to serious consideration…
- p. 45 …out-
of-the-way rural
areas but never over large
cities?
Why
don't
large
groups…
- p. 48 …Smith
emphasized
that they
were
never
certain
of
sizes
and
distances,
but
that they
had
the…
- p. 53 …is deceased), I believe that there
has never been any dispute as to the observed facts…
- p. 59 …Many
other sources could
be
cited
to
show
that
the
intimation
that
UFOs
are never
seen…
- p. 65 …After the 'official "explanation" was publicized, he decided
he'd never report another one. I predict…
- p. 68 …In the ensuing two decades, he has never again seen anything like
it. Clearly, the probability…
- p. 69 …Moore
never got
a
sufficiently
clear
view to
identify
any
finer details if
any were
present…
- p. 75 …the past
twenty
years,
cases
that
ought
never
have
been
so
labelled,
had
the
evaluators
kept…
- p. 76 …Ground
radar
stations
never
detected
the
unknown
that
was
seen
visually
and
contacted
by
airborne radar…
- p. 77 …strong, bright pips, said that
"anomalous propagation never entered our heads as an explanation."
Howard S…
- p. 78 …7)
but
could
never
close
with the
unknown
as
its
continued
on
its
north-
bound
course…
- p. 80 …All three said
they
had
never
before
seen anything
like
it.
Munger
decided
to
phone
his…
- p. 81 …The
photos
were
shortly
taken
by
Base
military
authorities
and
were
never
seen again by
the…
- p. 87 …referred to repeatedly in Menzel's
writings,
never with
any
quantitative discussion
of
precisely
what he…
- p. 100 …visual
observations
of
classical
UFO's
have
never been
made
by
profes-
sional
astronomers.
For
example…
- p. 101 …how the promised political or social intervention never materializes.
Psychological Factors. The psychologist Carl Jung pointed…
- p. 125 …Oh,
heavens,
I
never suggested that,
I
hope.
Mr. BOONE.
Well,
let
me
say,
science fiction…
- p. 159 …He
has not ever been exposed
to any toxic substances,
has never
had
to take
any…
- p. 168 …He
said
he
had
never
had
the
experience
of
deja-vu episodes
or
of
performing
acts…
- p. 171 …It never occurred to him to call anyone else's attention to the
light (probably because…
- p. 172 …He
had
never
seen
anything
like
it
before
and
in
fact
had
never
previously
had
the…
- p. 173 …He has taken
only two sick days in the entire five years and is never late…
- p. 174 …He never has fantasied actively
taking his own life, however, and feels it would be very…
- p. 175 …He never was one to participate in extracurricular activities,
but always maintained a part-time job…
- p. 176 …Prior
to
seeing
that light, he
apparently never
experienced
a
deja
vu, or
any
illusory
or…
- p. 194 …If
the
observer
being
studied
is
truly sociopathic
and
has
never
de-
veloped
a
super
-ego…
- p. 203 197
This
data,
which
most
people
have
never
seen
or
even heard
of,
is
published in…
- p. 206 …They
never
have
had
enough
sCientists
in
the
project.
They
have
failed
to
follow
up
certain…
- p. 221 …Isn't it true that UFOs have never been sighted on radar?
No, it is not…
- p. 243 …make such an all-
inclusive negative statement. Never-
theless, many of the arguments are
highly compelling…
- p. 244 …A balloon
reported as a UFO was never out of
sight of its launchers. A perplexing…
- p. 247 …al-
though he apologizes because he has
never had the time to make a thorough
search…
- p. 249 …two
leads appeared, but other witnesses
could never be located), but his ap-
parent sincerity was…
•
215
TABLE 1.—CATEGORIZATION OF UFO SIGHTING REPORTS 1
Category Number Percent
Astronomical 479 21. 8
Aircraft 474 21.6
Balloon 339 15.4
Other 233 10. 6
Unknown 434 19.7
Insufficient information 240 10.9
Total 2,199 100
1 Data from reference 3. TABLE 2.—QUALITY DISTRIBUTION OF UNKNOWNS 1
Quality Number Percent of
total Unknowns Percent of
group
3
Excellent 213 9.7 71 33.8
Good 757 34.5 188 24.0
Doubtful 794 36.0 103 13.
Poor 435 19. 8 72 16. 6
Total 2, 199 100.0 434 19. 7
1 Data from reference 3.
5. Aren't most of those "unknowns" really sightings for which insufficient
data is available to identify an otherwise conventional object?
Absolutely not. If there was not enough information available about a sighting
it was labelled "Insufficient Information" not "Unknown"—again contrary to
what many people believe about UFOs.
6. Were there any differences between the Unknowns and the knoVvns?
A "chi square" statistical analysis was performed comparing the Unknowns
in this study to all the "knowns". It was shown that the probability that the
unknowns came from the same population of sighting reports as the knowns was
less than 1%. This was based on apparent color, velocity, etc. Maneuverability,
one of the most distinguished characteristics of UFOs, was not included in this
statistical analysis.
7. Weren't most sightings of very short duration, say less than a minute?
The average duration of the sightings labelled as "Unknown" was greater
than that for the knowns. More than 70% of the unknowns were under observa-
tion for more than 1 minute and more than 45% for more than 5 minutes.
8. Isn't it true that UFOs have never been sighted on radar?
No, it is not. Ref. 3 specifically mentions radar unknowns. In ref. 4, Edward
Ruppelt, former head of the official UFO investigative effort, makes specific
mention of not only "Unknowns" observed on radar but of combined visual and
radar "Unknowns". Hynek 5 also mention radar and visual sightings.
9. Where can I get more information about"Unknowns"?
Ref. 6 presents an unbiased description of about 160 "Unknowns". Ref. 7 in-
cludes data on over 700 Unknowns. References 8 and 9 contain many others.
10. Why haven't the worldwide Smithsonian Network of Satellite Tracking
cameras picked up "Unknowns"?
The former head of the film evaluation group concerned with the Smithsonian
sky watch said" that the purpose of the search was to get data on satellite
orbits. If a light source on the film could be shown not to be a satellite then no
further measurements were made. 10% to 15% of the plates showed anomalous
light sources which were not a satellite but were not otherwise identified.
11. How about the other space surveillance radar installations?
Baker in Ref. 11 deals with this question in detail. In summary, the systems
are set up to reject signals which refer to anything other than the objects of
interest—typically ballistic missiles coming from certain directions.
12. Aren't the reported maneuvers of UFOs in violation of existing laws of
physics?
Footnotes at the end bf article.
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 under it. 256 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.