Chapter 2 The Semantics of Flying Saucers In studying “flying saucers” it soon becomes apparent that some of the knottiest problems encountered are purely human in origin. Accordingly, it is appropriate to begin with a comment by an anthropologist. In his book The Human Animal, * Professor Weston LaBarre of Duke University neatly epitomizes the age-old human problems of communicating intelligibly in two consecutive chapter titles: “Man Starts […] Read More
PART III: A PHILOSOPHER LOOKS AT UFOs Chapter 1 On the Physical Reality of UFOs It has often been argued that scientific skepticism about the reality of UFOs is justified because UFOs are silent. Solid bodies rushing through the earth’s atmosphere, savants say, would have to make noise, therefore UFOs are not real. As is commonly the case in skeptical arguments about UFOs, this one […] Read More
Chapter 10 The New UFO Policy of the U.S. Air Force Although a formal government project for the investigation of UFOs was not set up until September 1947, the United States Air Force has been vitally interested in sightings of these objects ever since June 24, 1947, the day Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine mysterious saucer-shaped craft traveling with tremendous speed in echelon formation over the Cascade Mountains between […] 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 […] Read More
Chapter 8 NICAP and the UFO Challenge The organization known as NICAP, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., was incorporated August 29, 1956, with T. Townsend Brown in charge. The first meeting of its Board of Governors was held on January 14 and 15, 1957. I was privileged to attend this meeting and to participate as a Board member. At this […] Read More
Chapter 7 Scientific Aspects of UFO Research (June 14, 1958 speech on the occasion of the opening of the Planetary Center, Detroit, Michigan.) Mr. Henry Maday, Chairman, Mrs. Laura Mundo Marxer, Official Hostess of the Open House Program and Co-Director with Mrs. Connie Gryzch of the Planetary Center, The Visitors’ Plan Committee, ladies and gentlemen: I assure you with the utmost sincerity that it is a […] 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 […] 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 […] 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 […] 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 […] 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 […] Read More
CF: You are widely regarded as one of the leading experts in the field of UFO and “alien-abduction” research. How did you get started in your study of these things? KT: Our family knew nothing about the phenomenon when we started having UFO sightings and abduction encounters. Being a researcher, I turned to the UFO literature for an explanation. When I absorbed what was available, I found no answers […] 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 […] 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, […] Read More