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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Professor, Astronomy, 1950-56, Ohio State University.
Instructor, Physics and Astronomy, Ohio State University, 1935-41; Asst. Prof.
1941-45; Associate Professor 1946-50.
Asst. Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago,1934.
Astronomer, Perkins Observatory, Ohio State, 1935-56.
Assistant Dean of the Graduate School 1950-53.
Supervisor of Technical Reports, Applied Physical Laboratory, Johns Hopkins
University, 1942-46.
Visiting Lecturer, Harvard University,1956-60.
Civilian with U.S. Navy 1944.
Scientific Societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science;
Astronomy Society(secretary).
Specialty: Astrophysics.
Fields of Interest: Stellar spectroscopy; F type stars; stellar scintillation.
STATEMENT OF DR. I. ALLEN HYNEK, HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF
ASTRONOMY, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, EVANSTON, ILL.
Dr.HYNEK.Thank you.
My name is J. Allen Hynek.I am professor of astronomy at North-
western University, Evanston, Ill., where I serve as chairman of the
department of astronomy and director of the Lindheimer Astronomi-
cal Research Center. I have also served for many years, and still do,
as scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force on Unidentified Flying
Objects, or UFO's. Today,however,I am speaking as a private citizen
and scientist and not as a representative of the Air Force.
We are here today,I gather,to examine whether the UFO phenom-
enon is worthy of serious scientific attention. I hope my comments
may contribute to your understanding of the problem and help lead to
its eventual solution.
The UFO problem has been with us now for many years. It would
be difficult to find another subject which has claimed as much atten-
tion in the world press, in the conversation of people of all walks of
life, and which has captured the imagination of so many,over so long
a period of time. The word UFO, or flying saucer, can be found in
the languages and dictionaries of all civilized peoples, and if one
were to collect all the words that have been printed in newspapers,
magazines, and books in the past two decades, it would be a stagger-
ing assemblage. The bibliography of the subject recently compiled at
the Library of Congress is a most impressive document, and illus-
trates that the UFO became a problem for the librarian even before
it did for the scientist.
As we all know,the scientific world is a world of exact calculations,
of quantitative data, of controlled laboratory experiments, and of
seemingly well-understood laws and principles. The UFO phenom-
enon does not seem to fit into that world; it seems to flaunt itself
before our present-day science.
The subject of UFO's has engendered an inordinate emotional reac-
tion in certain quarters and has far more often called forth heated
controversy rather than calm consideration. Most scientists have pre-
ferred to remain aloof from the fray entirely, thereby running the
risk of "being down on what they were not up on," as the old adage
goes.
It is unlikely that I would have become involved in the study of
the UFO phenomenon had I not been officially asked to do so. I prob-
ably would have—and in fact did for a time—regarded the whole