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

This document is the transcript of a symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) held on July 29, 1968, before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Astronautics. Chaired by Hon. J. Edward Roush, the session was convened to address the UFO phenomenon as a legitimate scientific problem rather than a matter of ridicule or national security threat. The committee invited six prominent scientists—Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Dr. James E. McDonald, Dr. Carl Sagan, Dr. Robert L. Hall, Dr. James A. Harder, and Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr.—to provide their assessments of the data and to offer recommendations for future study. The speakers generally agreed that the scientific community had largely ignored the UFO phenomenon due to a lack of 'hard' data, the anecdotal nature of reports, and a prevailing scientific taboo. Dr. Hynek, a long-time consultant to the Air Force, emphasized that while many reports are misidentifications, a significant subset of puzzling cases reported by competent witnesses remains unexplained and warrants serious inquiry. Dr. McDonald argued that the UFO phenomenon is global and that the scientific community's dismissal of it as nonsense is a major error. He advocated for a more rigorous, systematic investigation. Dr. Sagan provided a broader perspective on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, noting that while there is no persuasive evidence that UFOs are extraterrestrial, it is equally unproven that they are not. He suggested that if Congress were interested in the search for extraterrestrial life, it should support broader scientific programs. Dr. Hall, a sociologist, discussed the social-psychological aspects of the phenomenon, including the 'ridicule lid' that prevents witnesses from reporting sightings and the tendency for belief systems to form around the UFO topic. Dr. Harder and Dr. Baker focused on the technical and physical aspects, discussing the propulsion problems and the potential for scientific 'paydirt' in studying the phenomenon. The hearing concluded with a discussion on the need for better data collection, the potential for modifying existing radar systems to track anomalous objects, and the importance of maintaining an open, scientific attitude toward the subject.