MOD file DEFE 24/2032/1

{l. ) .) ,_·! _,; } ' 'i - r : '' ''fi •t:' ..... -~ ....."·-· ..... 1267 · ' ·. ·unidentified · [Lord Davies of Leek.] [LORDS] Flying Objects 1268 unidentified. They may be terrestrial or celestial. We are asking Governments to find an answer and that is all that this debate is about. There is no magic, we have nothing up our sleeves, but let the world know what is going on. This renewed interest poses many problems and there are many research organisations which are looking into the I matter and which know that they exist, ~ut I shall not bore the House by going mto them now. Let us ask a couple of questions. How can a flying saucer fly faster than sound and not create a super- sonic boom? What is it? Secondly l1av~ we the_ right to as~ume that we alon~ 1 a:e m the umverse? Thts anthropomorphic vtew of God that some people have built up does not build for the spirit and does not, I think, build for true holiness. It does not build up for real Christian spirit if it is followed too fully. Therefore, I should say that we have no right to assume that we are the only intelligent beings in the universe. Is the earth the only planet populated by intelligent technological life? I do not know and I do not suppose that we shall be able to find an answer yet. If in a year of Queen Elizabeth I had said to someone in London that I could show him a Dicture of Philip of Spain in Madrid on a oiece of glass in his room, I \Vould probably have been burnt at the stake as a wizard or as a witch ifl were a woman. However: we can do that today. We have broken through. We have the miracle on earth of teievision, even from the moon. Are there flying saucers? Can these objects be explained? There are two basic facts. First, the scientific examina- tion of the probability. That is due to mankind and Governments should look into it. The second aspect is to fathom the possibilities of the existence of this phenomena. Astronomers are now in- creasing their search for extra-territorial radio signals, but so far-despite what the noble Earl, Lord Kimberley, has said- none has really or truly been discovered. The billions of stars in the galaxy make the problem at present too much for us. Then there is the question of speed. In a light year a ray of light tt~avels 6 trillion miles, but we do n~t want to go into that. The questioa of relativity .. f- - is interesting. I am not qualified to argue about it: I never reached that standard of mathematics. However I know that Einstein believed that ele~tro magnetic waves have no mass and are therefore not ~ffected by his theory. ~owever, he said that as an object-if 1! has . mass-approaches the speed of hght, Its mass becomes infinite. That might explain the black holes about which we talk. We are talking of mysteries that we never knew anything about. For a couple of generations now thousands of magazines and so on have reported these sightings. We want to know whether these objects that are unidentified deserve rea'! research in depth. . W?ether or n_ot it is true, only our preJndices can dec1de, and it becomes more difficult to listen to such weird experiences from app:uently honest, sane and unself-seeking men who place their findings before papers and Governments. Are we right to call these men liars hallucinrttors or sensationalists? If on~ human being out cf the tens of thousands who allege to have seen these phenomena is telling the truth, then thet:C is a dire need for us to look into the matt'!r. Those. 'Yho ~elieve in psychic phenomena or spmtuahsm and those who believe in the sy?chronidty of ghosts-as they try to explam them-should not scofr at the possibility of these unidentified objects. We know that poltergeists exist; we know about tfJeir activities. Therefore, do not be so ready to scoff at UFOs ·when, in ar~other mon:ent if I catch you talking, you wtl~ a¥ree With. m.e that poltergeists exist. Thts 1s a senous Debate. It deserves study and understanding. 8.30 p.m. The Lord Bishop of NORWICH: My Lords, ~ count it a privilege to follow the noble VIscount, Lord Oxfuird. and to link myself with the words of the ·noble Lord Lo,rd D~vies of Lee~, in c?ngratubting th~ 1 noole V:sc(;lUt:.t on ~Is mmden speech. At the begmnmg of h1s speech I jotted down that I shvuld like to thank him for his " down-to-earth rem:1rks ", but when he got right out to A Centauri I realised that that phras~ was of no usc anyway. How- ever, we coEgratulate him and look for- ward to h-::arin~ his voice again and often. I am gl::d to be able to follow-with:>ut of course the Welsh fire or fervour-what I 1' l 1269 the noble L: I have a litl that is wh• says. I arr noble E.:trl, "To call a1 sightings a11d un.idcntificd i is a proper have brou2: open &nd l opportunit: It is righ1 scientiJk j, objects, n curicsity, 1 noble E<1rl because of reasons of a time wh not always out the fro we aretod; a search w should be am not SUI to what ti says to l'.S studied, a to be true. The int sn !!2estcd world its~ in cth:r ZeC~lanrl s: to ha,'e Norfoi:C; which is a fair and < has toid u I was tal: tcday in: was to rir one of Ol national actudest; spaces sh whether this), wh Norfolk I importan say abou I thin b fi{m :c:nd knowkd~ weaiih erudite House, '