Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (the Condon Report, complete, three volumes)

Eight UFO sightings are recorded in the project's printout on the
date of the first outage, none of them in Tennessee; three on the date
of the second, none in North Carolina; and one, not in Pennsylvania, on
the date of the third.
The causes of power failures are usually Dot announced until after
the period of most intense public interest has passed. Although usually
the cause of the wtage wi 11 be traced very quickly, power officia Is may
be and often are reluctant to make prompt announcement of it, for fear
that subsequent analysis will reveal the initial conclusion to be in-
correct. Occasionally, it is several days before the cause is located.
The pUblic, however, begins to lose interest in what happened very soon
after power is restored, so that circumstances of outages, because they
can be determined inuneJiately, are usually reported more fully and
covered more prominently than their underlying cause~.
J. L. McKinley, Manager of System Operations, Public Service Company
of Colorado, assisted us with the technical ilspects of the study of
possible UFO-related electric power system failures. As a member of the
i\orth Amel'ican Power Systems lnterc':mnection Commi t tee, Mr. McKinl ey is
con~rned I'i th and informed about all a.spects of power generation,
transmission, and distribution in the local area and in the nation as
a whole. We asked him whether there are power outage5, the underlying
I.:uuse of which relllain:"i unexplained. In:. letter dated 11 October 1967 ,
he answered as follows:
I am not aware of any major pOI'icr disturbances the
causes of which ure concealed behind a cloak of mys-
tery. When I-Ie say that a 'C.lUSC is unknown', we mean
that we have not found. aft~r reasonable inspection,
physical evidence of the cause. For ~xamplc, a trans-
mission line faults, circuit breakers 0l;en, anJ the
relays sensing the fault causing the tripout show a
ground target, which means that one of the phase
conductors has be en grounded. If the faul t is instan-
taneous fro 'n a lightning str;kc, the cirCUIt brcakers
\\'i 11 clos~'. restoring the line 1/1 scrvi ce. If the
faul t is permanent the cireui t bl'cakcl's wi 11 c1os(~ and
Eight UFO sightings are recorded in the project's printout on the
date of the iirst outage, none of them in Tmulessee; three on the date
of the second, none in North Carolina; and one, not in Pennsylvania, on
the da~e of the third.
lbe causes of power failures Bre usually not announced until after
the period of most intense public interest has passed. Although usually
the cause of the rutagc wi 11 be lraced very quickly, power officials may
be and often are reluctant to make prompt announcement of it, for fear
that subsequent analysis will reveal the initial conclusion to be in-
currect. Occasionally, it is several days before the ~ause is located.
The pUblic, however, begins to lose interest ill wha.t ha.ppened very soon
after power is re~tored, so that circumstances of outages, because they
can be Jetermined illuneJiately, al'U w;ua.lly reported more fully and
covel'ed more prominent ly than their under ly ing cause:"
J. L. ~1cj unexl.JlaineJ. In" latter dated 11 October] 9h7,
he answered as follows:
I am not aware of any major power disturbances thc
causes of which are concealed behind a cloak of mys-
tery. When He SllY that a 'C..lUSC is unknown'. we mean
that we have not found, aftcl' rcasonabh' inspection,
physical evidence of the cause. For exampl<:, a trans-
mission line faults, circuit breakers o);en, and the
relays sensing the fault causing the tl'ipout show a
ground target, which means that one of thc phase
conductors has been grounded. If the fault is instan-
taneous fro'" a lightnIng .';tr:kc, the el reui t brc!jkers
will ~lost'. restoring the line III servlce. If the
fault is permanent the circuit breakers w111 clos(! and