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.

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sample is tiny. Compared with that, I have seen dozens of alleged UFO photos
which I regard as of dubious origin. Other UFO photos of which I am aware are
still in process of being checked in one way or another.
To summarize, I do have the impression that we ought to have more valid
UFO photos than the small number of which I am aware.
IF UFO'S ARE REAL, SHOULDN'T THEY PRODUCE SOME REAL PHYSICAL EFFECTS?
Again, the answer is that they do. There are rather well-authenticated cases
spanning a wide variety of "physical effects." Car-stopping cases are one Impor-
tant class. UFOs have repeatedly been associated with ignition failures and
light-failures of cars and trucks which came near UFOs or near which the
UFOs moved. I would estimate that one could assemble a list of four or five
dozen such instances from various parts a the world. Interference with radios
and TV receptions have been reported many times in connection with UFO
sightings. There are instances where UFOs have been reported as landing, and
after departure, holes in the ground, or depressions In sod, or disturbed vegetation
patterns have been described. In many such instances, the evident reliability of
the witnesses is high, the likelihood of hoax or artifice small. A limited number
of instances of residues left behind are on record, but these are not backed up by
meaningful laboratory analyses, unfortunately.
A physical effect that does not typically occur under conditions where the
description of events might seem to call for it, relates to sonic booms. Although
there are on record a few cases where fast-moving UFOs were accompanied by
explosive sounds that might be associated with sonic booms. there are far more
instances in which the reported velocity corresponded to supersonic speeds, yet
no booms were reported. A small fraction of-these can be rationalized by noting
that the reporting witnesses were located back within the "Mach cone" of the
departing UFO; but this will not suffice to explain away the difficulty. One feels
that if UFOs are solid objects, capable of leaving depressions in soil or railroad
ties when they land, and if they can dash out of sight in a few seconds (as has
been repeatedly asserted by credible witnesses), they should produce sonic
booms. This remains inexplicable; one can only lamely speculate that perhaps
there are ways of eliminating sonic booms that we have not yet discovered;
perhaps the answer involves some entirely different consideration.
If we include among "physical effects" those that border on the physiological,
then there appear to be many odd types. Repeatedly, tingling and numbness have
been described by witnesses who were close to UFOs; in many instances outright
paralysis of a UFO witness has occurred. These effects might, of course, be
purely psychological, engendered by fear; but in some instances the witnesses
seem to have noted these effects as the first indication that anything unusual was
occurring. A number of instances of skin-reddening, skin-warming, and a few
instances of burns of very unusual nature are on record. These physiological
effects are sufficiently diverse that caution is required in attempting generaliza-
tion. Curiously, a peculiar tingling and paralysis seem to be reported more widely
than any other physiological effects. 'A person who is almost unaware of the
ramifications of the UFO evidence may •think it absurd to assert that people
have been paralyzed in proximity to UFOs; the skeptic might find it inconceiv-
able that such cases would go unnoticed in press and medical literature. Far
from it, I regret to have to say, on the basis of my own investigations. I have
encountered cases where severe bodily damage was done, or where evident hazard
of damage was involved, yet the witness and his family found ridicule mounting
so much faster than sympathy that it was regarded wiser to quietly forget the
whole thing. At an early stage of my investigations I would have regarded that as
quite unbelievable; UFO investigators with longer experience than mine will smile
at that statement, but probably they will smile with a degree of understanding.
I could cite specific illustrations to make all this much clearer, but will omit
them for space-limitations, except for a few remarks in the next section.
IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE OF HAZARD OR HOSTILITY IN THE UFO PHENOMENA?
Official statements have emphasized, for the past two decades, that there is
no evidence of hostility in the UFO phenomena. To a large degree, this same
conclusion seems indicated in the body of evidence gathered by independent
investigators. The related question as to potential hazard is perhaps less clear.
There are on record a number of cases (I would say something like a few dozen
cases) wherein persons whose reliability does not seem to come into serious