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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. 9 …Scientific Societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science; Astronomy Society(secretary). Specialty: Astrophysics. Fields of…
  • p. 24 …Member, American Meteorological Society Commission on Publications, 1966- present. Member, Advisory panel for weather modification, National…
  • p. 91 …American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1967: Problems of Journalism, Proceedings of the 1967 Convention of the…
  • p. 213 …UFO Research; a paper which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society…
  • p. 214 …A Survey of Persons Interested in UFO Reports.") CONCLUSIONS If these reports by UFO observers are…
  • p. 215 …and spiritual implications of UFO phenomena. Establishment of a continuing research center could provide for those…
  • p. 217 …Research Group. Dr. Henderson is a member of Alpha Chi, the American Geophysical Union, the Society…
  • p. 220 …Friedman is on the Board of Directors of the UFO Research Institute of Pittsburgh and on…
  • p. 226 …Friedman has talked about UFOs to these groups (partial list) : Engineering Society of Detroit Engineering Society…
  • p. 240 …UFOs—atmospheric or extraterrestrial? Talk presented to the Chicago Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, May…
222
plasmas.' The development of lightweight, compact, high-field superconducting
magnets has also led to much work on the potential benefits to be derived from
placing a magnet within a high-speed vehicle to interact with a plasma around
the vehicle. Such a combination might be used to reduce vehicle heating, control
aerodynamic drag, exert control forces on the vehicle, provide power for its
operation, open a "magnetic" communications window, and change the vehicle
radar profile. In addition, the magnets might be used to provide shielding against
space radiation. Numerous reports cover such applications.13-17
A review of this literature and an extrapolation of exsiting technology suggest
that with considerable effort an entirely new EM approach to hypersonic flight
might be developed which, in many respects, could duplicate UFO characteristics.
In turn, this leads to the notion that observed UFO behavior is not so unreason-
able as might at first appear to be the case. The measurement of EM parameters
of UFOs could well provide information on both UFO characteristics and new
propulsion.
FOOTNOTES
(Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13 available from UFO Research Institute, Suite 311, 508
Grant St., Pittsgurgh, Pa. 15219.)
1. Spencer, D. F. and Jaffe, L. D., "Feasibility of Interstellar Travel," Acta
Astronautica, Vol. IX. Fasc. 2, 50-58, 1963.
2. "The UFO Evidence," National Investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomena,1964.
3. Olsen, T., "The Reference for Outstanding UFO Sighting Reports," Oct.
1966, $5.95.
4. "Project Blue Book: Special Report No. 14," Davidson, 3rd Edition, 1966,
$4.00.
5. "Humanoids—Worldwide Survey of Landings and Alleged Occupants," Spe-
cial Issue of Flying Saucer Review, October-November,1966. $2.00.
6. McDonald, James E., "UFOs: Greatest Scientific Problem of Our Times,"
Oct. 1967. $1.00.
7. Hynek, J. Allen, "UFOs Merit Scientific Study," Science, Oct. 21, 1966,
and Astronautics & Aeronautic, Dec. 1966, p.4.
8. Vallee, Jacques, "Anatomy of a Phenomenon," Regnery, 1965, $4.95. Ace
Books,1966,$.60.
9. Vallee, Jacques and Janine, "Challenge to Science—The UFO Enigma."
Regnery, 1966, $5.95. Also paper, $.75.
10. Michel, A., "The Truth About Flying Saucers," Criterion, 1956. $3.95.
11. Michel A., "Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery," Criterion,
1958. $4.50.
12. Ruppelt, E. J., "The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects," Doubleday,
1956. $2.95.
13. Maney, Prof. C. A., and Hall, Richard, "The Challenge of Unidentified
Flying Objects," 1961. $3.50.
14. Literature Search No. 541, "Interactions of Spacecraft and Other Moving
Bodies with Natural Plasmas," Dec. 1965, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 182 pages,
829 references.
15. Jarvinen, P. 0., "On the Use of Magnetohydrodynamics During High
Speed Reentry," NASA-CR-206, April 1965.
16. Nowak, R., et al, "Magnetoaerodynamic Re-entry," AIAA Paper 66-161,
AIAA Plasmadynamics Conference, March 2-4, 1966.
17. Kawashima, Nobuki and Mori, Sigeru, "Experimental Study of Forces on
a Body in a Magnetized Plasma," AIAA Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Jan. 1968, pp.
110-113.
S. T. Friedman Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory
(Ed.—For additional comments on UFOs see the following AIA references:
The Wheel in the Middle of the Air, Solomon Golomb, Sounding Board, Au-
gust 1966, p. 16. . . Letters, Nov. 1966, p. 6, George Earley and Brent L. Marsh
on Saucer Doctrine ... UFOs—Extraterrestrial Probes? by James E. McDonald,
Sounding Board, Aug. 1967, p. 9... Munday Jr., John C., "On the UFOs," Bul-
letin of the Atomic Scientists, Dec. 1967.
Also see December 8, 1967, issue of Science, No. 3806, pp. 1265 and 1266, Let-
ters to Ed.)

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.