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.
“Scientific American”26 pages
- p. 7 …We
approach
the
question
of
unidentified flying objects
as purely
a
scientific
problem, one of unanswered…
- p. 9 …Civilian with U.S. Navy 1944.
Scientific Societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science;
Astronomy…
- p. 10 4
subject
as
rank
nonsense, the
product of
silly
seasons,
and
a
peculiarly
American
craze
that…
- p. 11 …Thus my scientific reticence was based on a
carefully weighed decision.
In attempting analysis of the…
- p. 24 …American Association for Advancement of Science, American Meteorological
Society, Sigma Xi, American Geophysical Union, Royal Meteorological…
- p. 30 …witnesses,
members
of
the
staff
of
the
American Newspaper
Publishers
Associa-
tion,
were
the
witnesses
in…
- p. 46 …Scientists will
tend
to
be put
off
by
some
of
his
scientific
commentary,
as
well
as…
- p. 47 …Information
on
some
of
these,
as
well
as
on
smaller
American
groups,
can
be
found
in…
- p. 76 …have
been
ignored
as
indicators
of
some
scientifically
intriguing
problem
demand-
ing
intensive
study.2.
Case…
- p. 91 …UFOs—An International Scientific Problem, paper
presented at a Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, Canadian Aeronautics…
- p. 118 …Navy,
1944-45.Scientific Societies:
Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancementof Science, Society of…
- p. 131 …Phillips,
American
Scientist, v.
53, no.
1,
p.
32).
Fused
silica
fibers
have
been
stressed
to…
- p. 132 …Baker's
professional
society
memberships
include
the
American
Associa-
tion
for
the
Advancement
of
Science,
Phi…
- p. 147 …REFERENCES
(1) The "American Nautical Almanac" 1950.
(2) H. 0. No. 214, "Tables of Computed Altitude…
- p. 156 …00060
"Influence
of
Martian
Ephemeris
and
Constants
on
Interplanetary
Trajectories,"
Chapter
in
Exploration of
Mars,
American…
- p. 202 …25
adult
Americans has
seen
a
UFO.
Judging
from
the
one
detailed,
official,
scientific
investigation
that…
- p. 204 …Originally
operated
jointly
by Harvard and
the
University
of
Colorado,
this
scientific
institution
is
now
wholly…
- p. 213 …a
paper
presented in
a
symposium
sponsored
by
Division
21, Engineering Psychology, at the
American
Psychological…
- p. 214 …As
a member
of the Parapsychological
Association
and
the
American
So-
ciety
of
Clinical
Hypnosis,
I…
- p. 215 …1) The
Scientific
Attitude
Survey
(
Sprinkle,
1962)
is
not
useful
in
assessing
"scientific"
attitudes,
and/or…
- p. 217 …Henderson
is
a
member
of
Alpha
Chi, the
American
Geophysical
Union,
the
Society
of
Exploration
Geophysicists…
- p. 220 214
Professional
affiliations
include
the
American
Physical
Society,
the
American
Nuclear
Society,
the
American
Institute
of…
- p. 223 …of the Astronautical Sciences'the American
Engineer 2020 Industrial Research,' Scientific Research'8 Aviation Week
and…
- p. 225 …A.,
"UFO's
Merit
Scientific
Study,"
Science,
October 21, 1966,
and
Astro-
nautic8
d
Aeronautics,
December…
- p. 226 …of Baltimore
Los Alamos
Scientific
Laboratory
Local
sections
of
the
American
Institute
of Aeronautics
and
Astronautics…
- p. 251 …Scientific
American, 200:
117-128.
•
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.