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 tril\l [J.F.EI. PHEI\ItrIMEI\,1^F
=trIlvDcllu disk" over Mt. H.ainier on June
Ly EDMUND MELTZEB 24, 1941 . The press. coined the
term l'flying saucers" and many
sensational reports followed.
Soon the Air Force $/&s con-
vinced that the UFO's were not
defense hazards, and after four
or five yearsshowed.minimal in-
terest. Organizations and jour-
nals sprang up, however, and be-
gan to criticize the Air Force for
inadequate,attention ; bestiselling
paperbacks:took uP the cudgel,
and cartoonists had a field daY.
Between 1,94? and 1968, few
ecademics openlY Professed in'
terest in the subject. PerhaPs the
p"euio-scientific as-
"oril"t-""0
p""i" poiuhr studies scared
"r perhaps the secrecy im'
ihem off;
nosed by the Air Force made in'
formation hard to come bY. Bui
interested ptrbllc opinion exe*ed
some influence on Congress,
which led toiincreased inYestiga-
tion by the Air Force. Proiect
Bluebook was based in Dayton,
Ohio; every Air Foree base had a
UFO officer whose job it lsas to
follow up reports. iu December of
1969, the $eiretarY of Defense
officially cloised Bluebook, after
well ovei t2,bo0 rePorts had been
received. The reports ale no lon-
ger classified; now all such mate-
rial is said to be available fot
public scrutiirY. (tsut, noted Con-
don' where sectecy has ever been
operating, there wiII aiwaYs re-
main doubts sbout claims that it
has been 1ift6d.) An ad hoc com-
mittee set uE to review Bluebook
found no verified qnd fullv authen-
tic instance outside the scoP of
out teehnologY, but admitted the
possibiiitY that a study of the re-
perts would lncrease scientific
knowledge. .
The next P.oject was that which
Frrf. Condon was chosen to di-
:Enttr-'
nr;., 5p, gr-oxPls:lepQirt'i
tled The Scientific StudY of Un-""r
identified FlYing Objects, was
compieted on December 1, 1968'
and was releiLsed to the Public
or;on" 9, 1969- Condon and his
etaff concluded that further stu-
Aies:of UF O's were not advisable
as they were unUkely to Yield
information for t'he advancement
of science. l{ork should continue
in fields such as atmospheric oP-
and elecilieitY, but. theY re-
tics
commended, offioels should not
be sent out to verify sighting re-
ports.
Condon veniured the opinion '
that the ie&son lor the PaucitY b{
scientific studies is that indivi-
dual researchers have indePen-
dently decidid that the phenome'
na do not,offer opportunities for
fruitful research. But he emPha-
sized a point made in the study:
the conclusion that UFO research
is nst scientifically fruitful "will
not be uncriiicalty accepted bY
scientists, no! should it be, nor
do we wani it to be."
The conclusions provoked an
indignant reaetion liom UF'O en'
thusiasts from around the coun-
try. Dwing the study, said con-
don, a few staff members were al-
ready eotperating with individu-
als who sought to discredit the
program, Condon reaffirmed that
iub-sequent criticisrn of ihe re'
port has not irlduced him to re-
considet his recommendations.
Condon sqid he does not oppose
indioiou*G and sroups doins their
own research on UFO's; he said t
did oppose,the AAAS symPoslum
on qFO's (teports of which are
due for publication bY the Cornell
University Press), because it im'
piied an !'official" recognition of
UFO's.
condon discussed the argrrments
of critics of his rePort, notably
Prof. James MacDonald and Prof.
J. Aiien Hynek, chaitman of as-
tronomy at Northurestern and au-
thor of UFO Experience' A Scien'
tific tnquiry. The latter's book,
reported Condon, is "alreadY_re-
yiewed in the June issue ol PIaY'
boy, which some of You.maY wish
to see for other reasons.as well"
Hynek rvaS a eonsultant to the
Air Force from 1948 to 1869, and
in his bock wlites that 'lBlueboo]
was a coYerup..." and "in a sens
sense, I played KePiel to Blue-
Tycho Brahe."
'book's
Uynei qlaims'that b'e did not cri
ticize the pfoject even though th
'data was Uaa, lut staYed on the
project to insure his aecess to
information, This course was se-
verely criticized bY Condon, who
{Contlnued on Fge 4)
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