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.
We believe th&t the existinr 12lcord ;md the results of the
Scientific Study of Unident~ ~~ed Flying Cbjects of the University
of Colorado, which arl' presented i'l det;.l~ in subsequent :~ections of
this report. support the conclusions aT~d reC0"lnendations which follow,
As indicated by its title, the emphasis of this study has been on
attempting to learn from UFO reports anything that could be considered
as adding to scientific know) edge. Our general conclusion is that
nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 year!; that hr.s
added to scientifi~ knOWledge. Careful consicuration of the record as
it is available to us leads us to cC:lclude that further extensive study
of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the o:podation t 1\at science
will be advanced thereby.
It has been argued that this lack of contribution to s(:h~nce is
due to the fact that very little scientifi~ offort has been put on the
subject. We do not agree. We feel that the reason that there has bepn
very little scientific study of the subject is that thosl' scientists
who are most directly concerned, astronomers, c!tmosph'~ric physicists,
chemists, and psyc.hologists, having had ample opportunity to look into
thr.· mat ter, hcusses
his interes ts and those of his colleagues both facc- to ..· face and by
We believe th2..t the existinp 1 "cord :md the results of the
Scientific Study of Unident~~~ed Flying Cbjects of the University
of Colorado, which ar~ presented i~ deti.lo in subsc~uent ~ections of
this report. support tbE' conclusions ar;d rec0::lnendations whi.ch follow.
As indicated by its title, tbe emphasis (If this study has been 011
attempting to learn from UFO reports anything that cou'.J be considS'reJ
as adding to scientific knowledg~". Our general conclusion is that
nothing has come from the study of UFOs ill the past 21 y'~ar!; that hrcts out to makl>
a ,:areer of scieJ;tific research, ciloos",; a g('Jlcral f!(:ld of (noel.!
specialization i.n \'Jhich to acqui ro profidc!1cy. Wit.hin thfit field h('
Jooks for srecific fields ill \~hi.ch to loJork. Tu Jo this he l<.t·eps 'tbrea;;t
of the publlshed scienti.fic liter~t\lr(), attends scj·"ntific meethlgs,
where Teports 011 current progre, s are givm:, and Cllt rgct;' caJ ly di:; eus ses
his intcTc5t.s and those of his col teagues both fact:-tD,,·face and by
2 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.