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…
221
Society
of
American
Military
Engineers.
Universal
Cyclops
Corporation
Engineers
Meeting.
22nd
Annual
Frequency
Control
Symposium.
Duke
University.
Wesleyan
University.
University
of
Texas.
Carnegie
Mellon
University.
University
of
Illinois,
Chicago.
West
Virginia University.
APPENDIX
2
U.S.
PATENTS
FOR CIRCULAR AIRCRAFT
Patent
No.
By
Title
Granted
3
,
067,
967
I.
R.
Barr
Flying
machine
Dec.
11,
1962
2,
772,
057
J.
C.
Fischer,
Jr Circular
aircraft
and
control
system
therefor
Nov.
27,
1956
2,
947,
496
A.
L.
Leggett
Jet-propelled
aircraft
Aug.
2,
1960
2,
801,
058
C.
P.
Lent
Saucer
-shaped
aircraft
July
30,
1957
2,
876,
964
H.
F.
Streib
Circular
wing
aircraft
Mar.
10,
1959
2,997,
013
W.
A.
Rice
Propulsion
system
Aug.
22,
1961
3,
124,
323
J.
C.
M.
Frost
Aircraft
propulsion
and
control
Mar.
10,
1964
2,
876,
965
H.
F.
Streib
Circular
wing
aircraft
with
universally
tiltable
ducted
power- Mar.
10,
plant.
1959
2,
939,
648
H.
Fleissner
Rotating
jet
aircraft
with
lifting
disk
wing
and
centrifuging
tanks_
June
7,
1960
3,
103,
324
N.
C.
Price
High
velocity,
high
altitude
VTOL
aircraft
Sept.
10,
1963
APPENDIX
3
FLYING SAUCERS
ARE
REAL
There
are
a
few
standard
responses
to
any
statement that
"the
earth
is
being
visited
by
intelligently
controlled vehicles
whose
origin
is
extraterrestrial."
The
simplest
is ridicule,
coupled
with
a comment
that
flying
saucers are
figments
of
the imagination,
or
optical
illusions,
or
motes
in
the
eye,
or hoaxes, or
misiden-
tified
conventional
phenomena
seen
under unusual
circumstances
by
untrained
observers.
These, however, are
all
Identified
Flying
Objects,
and
not the Uniden-
tified
Flying
Objects
with
which
my
statement
is
concerned.
The
next
simplest
response
is:
"We
are
certainly
not
alone
in
the Universe
and
surely
some
civilizations
are
more
advanced than
ours,
but
interstellar
travel
is
not
feasible
because of the
vast
distances
between such
civilizations
and
the
great quantity of
energy
and
time
required for the
trip."
These
critics
ignore
our
lack
of data
on
intercivilization
distances
the
possibility
of
unknown
(to
us)
flight
technology,
and
studies in
this area.'
Another
response
is
that the
reported
activity
of
UFOs
is
not
rational
since,
if
"they" were
advanced enough
to gethere,
they
would
surely try
to
communicate
with
us.
These
responses avoid
coming
to grips
with the
reported data.
Those
interested
in
data—and
there
is
plenty
of
it
—are
advised to consult
the References
and
derive
a
hypothesis other
than
extraterrestrial vehicles
to
fit
the
facts,
rather
than
to try
to
make
the
facts
fit
the
hypothesis
that
"we
are
not
being
visited
because—"
(in
25 words
or
less).
A
particularly interesting
aspect of the data
from
all
over the world
is
thatelectromagnetic
effects
are
frequently observed
in association
with the presence
of
UFOs,
along with the
fact that
many
observations suggest that
what
is
being
observed
is
a
"vehicle"
having
a
plasma
region adjacent
to
it—"vehicle" because
of
its
metal-like
surface, large
size,
maneuvers
indicating
intelligent
control,
well-defined
shape, surface features
such as "port
holes,
antenna, landing
gears,"
lights, etc.;
and plasma
because of bright
glows
rather
than
color,
changes
in
the
color
of the
glow
associated
with changes
in
velocity,
luminous boundary
layers,
and
appearance on
film
of regions
not seen
by
the
naked
eye.
The
EM
effects
include interference
with the operation
of automobile engines, radios,
and
head-lights; interference
with the operation of radio
and
TV
sets,
compasses,
mag-
netic
speedometers,
power systems;
residual
magnetism
in
metal
objects,
watches,etc."
During the past decade
a
vast
amount
of
terrestrial
technology,
much
of
it
classified,
has been developed concerning the interactions of airborne vehicles
and
Footnotes at the
end
of
article.

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.