Category: The Challenge of Unidentified Flying Objects

Front Pages  Table of Contents      Foreword  Introduction   Part I. The UFO Mystery Chapter 1: The Challenge Chapter 2: Report to Congress Chapter 3: Recent Sightings in The Pacific Chapter 4: The Swedish “Ghost Rockets” Part II. A Scientist Looks At UFOs Chapter 1: Scientist Finds Some Saucer Reports Still To Be Satisfactorily Explained Chapter 2: Saucers and Science Chapter 3: An Open Letter To Scientists Chapter 4: The Phenomena Of Angel Hair Chapter 5: UFO Fleets Over Washington D. C. Chapter 6: A New Dimension in UFO Phenomena  Chapter 7: Scientific Aspects of UFO Research Chapter 8: NICAP and The UFO Challenge Chapter 9: An Evaluation Of Aime Michel’s Straight Line Mystery Chapter 10: The New UFO Policy Of The U. S. Air Force Part III A Philosopher Looks At […] Read More

FOREWORD The undersigned was requested to write a brief foreword.  He has consented to do this for several reasons.  He considers it his duty to aid in any reasonable way in the study of a subject for which his own long experience entitles him to express an opinion.  Also that the subject of UFOs is one which should be studied scientifically, which it has not been due to suppression of pertinent data and also to subjecting reports of trained and reputable people to ridicule.  Further to the certainty that, to date, we do not know what some of these phenomena are and what causes them.  Also that it is even possible that they might eventually have serious effects upon our planet and its inhabitants, […] Read More

INTRODUCTION Accounts of phenomena popularly referred to as “flying saucers,” more dignifiedly labeled “unidentified flying objects” or UFOs, con­tinue to persist in the world news. The reports of these strange phenomena of the skies have been attracting public attention for thirteen years and there is apparently no let-up in sight. Although within a given region on earth long lulls between sightings have been noted, during such local lulls, other parts of the world have witnessed extra concentrations of sightings. In spite of the persistent reports of their repeated occurrences, there appears to be more popular confusion of thought in regard to these phenomena and less understanding of what they are today than when they were first observed and noted in the news. Actually it […] Read More

Chapter   2 Report To Congress In June 1960, after examining the accumulated evidence for UFOs, NICAP concluded not only that UFOs are real, and, by majority opinion, probably interplanetary, but also that there are certain potential dangers linked with the secretive Air Force policy. These ideas were embodied in a report to Congress. A digest of the reports follows. (A confidential section, “How Krushchev Could Exploit the UFO Situation,” has been deleted for obvious reasons. Otherwise, the following quotes are substantially the text of the report as it was sent to Congress. DANGERS OF SECRECY ON UFOs (UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS) AND DIGEST OF DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE Early in 1960, because of the growing hazard from Air Force UFO secrecy, Congressional hearings were urged by the majority […] Read More

Chapter 3 Recent Sightings in the Pacific A notable characteristic of UFO activity is the tendency for appearances to concentrate in particular areas or regions on the earth at different times. It is as though our so-called visitors from outer space have been from time to time over the past dozen years making soundings or surveys of selected areas on this terrestrial globe. This activity may or may not signify a long-range exploration or study by a single group of intelligent beings. If undertaken by a group from a single outer space source, it could suggest a program of mapping and study of a somewhat thorough and exhaustive character. If undertaken by groups from various different localities in outer space, it could manifest momentary […] Read More

Chapter 4 The Swedish “Ghost Rockets” The mystery of unidentified objects seen in the sky is nothing new. Just how old it is, on the other hand, is impossible to say. The mystery that goes under the name “flying saucers” is new, at least in name and in the reactions it has caused. For centuries before 1947 strange aerial objects were seen and duly recorded as something mysterious. Today, and for at least the past 12 years, strange aerial objects are being reported in an even greater number and detail. In the “flying saucer” mystery, however, there are two major differences: (1) A more complete record has been kept of the modern reports; (2) It is no longer admitted that the objects–call them “omens […] Read More

PART   II:  A Scientist Looks at UFOs Chapter   1 Scientist Finds Some Saucer Reports still to be Satisfactorily Explained The subject of flying saucers has from time to time engaged the attention of the American public since the summer of 1947. On June 24 of that year a businessman, Kenneth Arnold, flying in his private plane over the Cascade Mountains in the state of Washington, reported observing a chain of nine disc-shaped objects flying with tremendous speed. The objects sailed over the peaks in a manner resembling the skipping of flat stones thrown across the surface of a pond. Mr. Arnold described the unidentifiable objects as “flying saucers.” The story of his fantastic experience captured the fancy of the public. Since that date literally […] Read More

Chapter   2 Saucers   and   Science On October 25, 1955, Donald A. Quarles, Secretary of the Air Force, issued a statement to the press, that as a result of an exhaustive study completed by the Air Force, covering some 316 pages of material replete with charts, drawings, and statistical data, the widely reported flying saucers did not actually exist. “On the basis of this study,” said Quarles, “we believe that no objects such as those popularly described as flying saucers have overflown the United States.” In view of the growing lists of reports of flying saucers and other unidentified flying objects from all parts of the world, many of these reports given by experienced air pilots and other competent observers; this is a most amazing […] Read More

Chapter   3   An Open Letter to Scientists   I call into question the prevailing practice of the much-vaunted style of thinking, universally known as the scientific approach. Not that the scientific approach to a problem is unsound. Far be it from that. Rather that the widely accepted pattern of scientific thought as it is now practiced is in the nature of a tradition. There are certain accepted categories of scientific endeavor, and scientists in the manner of their primitive forebears are dominated in their habits by their traditions. Among primitive peoples there is the adherence to traditional customs, blind acceptance of inherited beliefs. Among scientists it is the restriction of scientific thought to inherited categories of investigation, or what might be termed “proper” […] Read More

Chapter   4   The Phenomena of Angel Hair   One approach to the study of the UFOs which holds some promise of significant attainable knowledge of the character of these objects is the analysis of the nature of the so-called angel hair. In numerous instances the fall of large quantities of this fibrous material has been noted in connection with the observation of disc-shaped and cigar-shaped UFOs. There appears to be sufficient evidence to prove to a reasonable-minded person the reality of these falls from the sky and the close association of these falls with the observation of UFOs. To give a complete account of all the interesting details associated with the many different reports would require a good-sized source book. Such a compilation […] Read More

Chapter   5   UFO Fleets over Washington, D.C.   Within the historical record of UFO sightings in the United States, the month of July 1952 * stands out prominently as representing the peak period for numbers of reported sightings.  The United States Air Force issued a statement on July 31, 1952, to the effect that the largest number of sightings of any month since the saucers were first reported in 1947 came in the month of June 1952, the total of 114 for the month being just three above the preceding June total.   Although no similar statement of monthly totals has, to the writer’s knowledge, been made since by Air Force officials, it would appear from close informal attention to published reports since that […] Read More

Chapter 6   A New Dimension in UFO Phenomena   As if to dramatize a relatively unprecedented feature of UFO sightings, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, former Air Force officer in charge of Project Blue Book, has recently characterized as “a whole new dimension to the UFO investigation” the reports of spectacular electromagnetic disturbances associated with the appearances of aerial phenomena in November [1957]. * Looking backward over the past 14 years, one cannot help but be impressed by the apparent succession of different features of UFO appearances, which, each in its turn, strangely enough, seems to emphasize a new aspect of outer space contrivances. It is as though almost unsurmountable difficulties of communication by outer space intelligences with human intelligence seem to exist. One […] Read More

Chapter 9   An Evaluation of Aime Michel’s Study of the Straight Line Mystery   (A lecture at Akron, Ohio, March 14, 1959, sponsored by the UFO Research Committee of Akron)   I have chosen to comment on the recently published work of the French scientist, Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. * Before I enter upon this discussion I want to pay tribute to the non-profit research organization of New York City responsible for the English translation of this work from the original French, the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York (CSI). I am proud to be associated with this group as an honorary member and to publicly congratulate the Research Division of this organization for their significant contribution to the […] Read More