Documents / Report
This is the final report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, conducted by the University of Colorado under Air Force contract F44620-67-C-0035, with Edward U. Condon as scientific director and Daniel S. Gillmor as editor. It was submitted to the National Academy of Sciences on 15 November 1968 for review. The report includes field studies, photographic and radar analyses, case studies, historical chapters and appendices such as the Robertson Panel report and the Twining letter.
a conscious attclTlp~ to b,> obj(>ctive have encountered so Innny non-
productive reports of certai n tY1 1(..'5 that they havc condudt..>r.l that
those cl asses of reports arc llot worth the effort of fie ld invcs tigation,
Our own field experience leads thl s wri ter to question the value
of fielJ investigations of any UFO reports othe:;.' than those which
a) offer a strong likelihood that information of value xegarding
meteors, satellites, optics, atn10spheric properties, electrical
l'henomt.:'na, or othl..~r physical or b i ologi cal phenomena would be generated
h)' thE' investigation; b) pr('scllt clear indicati on of a possible
t1 reat to a nati on or community whethl'T in the form of internat ional
O~· intra-national hostilities, physical or hiological contamination
of environment, panic. or other emotional upheaval; or c) are of
i i1tcrest as sources of information regarding the individual and
collective needs and dt'sires of human beings.
If there were all observation of a vehicle which ~~as actually
from an alien culture, the report of this observation certainly
\\'ould deserve the fullest investigation. Our experience indicates
that, unless the sighting were of a t:.:uly spectacular and verifiable
nature, such a report would be buried in hundreds or thousands of
similar reports triggered by ordinary earthly phenOntClHl. Whi Ie
a lElr-ge fractioll of these reports could be discarded after estahlish-
ment oi the eartnly cause, the report of interest would remain
buried in others which contained too little evidence for identification,
and the report j tsel f probably \'10Ul(1 !lot br;~ Jistinguishahle from
th, electrical
l'henomt;'na, or othl'!' ph}'si(~al or b i ologi cal phenomcna would be generated
hy the investigation; b) present clear indication of a possible
tl reat to a nation or community IIIhet'heri n the form of internat lona]
0"' intra-nation~ll hostilities, physical or hiological contami.nation
of environment, panic. or other ('moti.onal upheaval; OT c) are of
j 11terest as sourcc~ of information regurding the individual and
c.ollectivt' need~ and dt'sires of human bei'1gs.
If there were an observation of a vt'hicJe Ivhich \vas actually
from an alien cultUrt', the report of this observatioll certainly
h'ould dest"rve the fullest invC'stigation. Our expeTj/~nc,. indicates
that, unless the sighting w('re of a t::uly spectacular and verifiahle
naturl', such a report would be buried in hundreds OT thousands of
similar reports trigg~>reJ bv ordinary earthly phenonlclw. Whi lc
a la:rgc fraction of these reports could be discarded after (,5tabli~.h
ment oi the eartnl}' cause, the report of interest would remain
buried in others which contained too little evidence for identification,
and the report itself probablr Ivoul,l 110t b';' distinguishahll1 from
th:m. For this rea~;on, thi.!' writer would ,~tJt rccomme'lt1 fi(,ld
investigatit'.1s of routine UFO reports if tIll lntent of that investi-
gation is to determine whl'ther or not an al.icli vehicle was physi cally
prc>s('nt. A veri. fiab Ie report of it sl1('ctaclli ar llVf.'llt, ~uch as a,1
actual la.. ding of an alien vl'hil~l(', concc;vahly could thus he nJi'iSPU
by neglect: howl'v('r, this is \lll1i)«'ly, since' !'lIch a repor1 1';(JuJd
I,robably bl~ so unll~lliil in chal:lder as to attract immedi:,t" attention, Report, from the classic collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 1497 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.