Basic HTML Version
"You no longer can dismiss
these reports as the
result of overheated
imaginations. "
"Even honest and sincere
individuals often
misinterpret an
unfamiliar object.
11
"We're being watched by
an advanced but benign
race of creatures from
outer space. ' '
' '... there seems to be
no reason to attribute them
[UFO sightings] to an
extraterrestrial source
without evidence that is
much more convincing.
11
" / have no quarre/ with
those who see unidentified
flying objects. !t is only
when they are identified
that 1sometimes have
misgivings. "
26
Force and conducted by scientists a t
the University of Colorado under
the direction of Dr. Edward U.
Condon. According to the Condon
Report. about 90 percent of UFO
sightings proved to be " related to
ordinary objects." such as planes.
sa telli tes, balloons, street ligh ts. bea–
cons. clouds, birds. and other natu–
ral phenomena. The repon said that
no evidence had been found th at
any UFO was a "space craít vis it ing
earth from ano ther civil iza!ion."
Th e Na ti o n a l Ac ade my o f
Sciences agreed and asserted th ere
are "so many reasonab le and pos–
sible directions in which an ex–
planation may even tu ally be found
that there seems to be no reason to
attribute them [UFO sightings] to
an extrate rrestrial source without
ev idence that is much more con–
vincing."
Following the Air Force st udy.
saucerian circles cried "cover-u p"
and resolved to continue th eir ques t
for final proof that UFOs should be
taken ser ious ly.
Dr. J. Allen Hynek. cha irman of
Northwes tern University's astron–
omy department and majordomo of
UFO!ogy, believes the Condon Re–
port was prematu re in it s con–
clusions. "Sie:htings have e:one on
Loo long forvit to be a fad," says'
Hynek. "You no longer can di smiss
these reports as the result of over–
hea ted imagi na tions."
lndeed. the past few yea rs have
wit nessed thousands of UFO sight–
ings and a growing number of be–
li eve rs. Books on UFOs ha ve
become bes t sell ers; newspape r
headlines proclaim the latest devel–
opments. And who could resist at
leas t a cursory perusa l of the anide
entitled "A UFO Saved My Virgin–
ity"?
In 1973, after severa! yca rs of
re lative quiet on the UFO front. a
new wave of sightings brought wide–
sp read coverage from na tiona l as
we ll as loca l news media. Literally
hu ndreds of UFOs we re reponed
sai ling th rough the heave ns.
Many of th e mysterious objects
turned out to be balloons.
In
fact .
this writer has la unched hydrogen–
filled laundry bags wi th ll ares at–
tached. only to hear and read the
fo ll owing d ay that "nume rou s
highly reputabl e citizens saw a be-
wildering mul ti-colored UFO trav–
eling atan enormous rate ofspeed.' '
Of cou rse.
to
claim that all UFO
sightings have suc h simple a nd
mun d a n e explanat io n s wou ld
clear ly be absurd. Yet the fact re–
mains that honest and sincere ind i–
v.idua ls often misinterpret a n
unfa mili a r object.
Las t November. the world' first
''serious·· international UFO confer–
ence was held at Fon Smith. Ar–
ka nsas. As usua l. the bel ievers
at tacked the Air Force and othe r
aut hori ties for ,upressing UFO re–
ports. But despite the rhetoric. there
was little new evidence to convince
skepti cs. Charles Hickson. one of
the men allegedly ''ca ptured' ' by
spacemen near Pascagoula. Missis–
sippi , in 1973. repeated his tale. but
prudent ly refused to submi t to a
promised lie detector tes t.
Yet the ev iden ce that was
presented was apparently sufficient
to convince UFOnuts (more UFO–
mist ica lly, UFOnau ts) to continue
their vigil. At the conference, Hy–
nek. who has recen tly founded the
Center for UFO Studics. declared
tha t far too much time has al ready
been was ted tryi ng to convince non–
bel ievers of the rea lity of UFOs. Ac–
co rding to Hynek. "We need to stop
argu ing the ex istence of the eggs
and ge t down to cooking the ome–
let."
Hayden
C.
Hewes. director of the
lnterna tional UFO Bureau in Okla–
homa City. is confident UFOs are of
extra terrestrial origin. "l've dil i–
gen tly studied UFO repo rts for 19
years." he told
The Plain Truth.
"and l concl ude we're be ing
watched by an adva nced but be nign
race ofcrea tures rrom outer space."
Why the recent rash of sight in gs?
"Man 's warlike mentality is be ing
propaga ted beyond the earth by the
space program," adds Hewes, "so
these peace-loving creaturcs a re
wo rri ed and have decided to make
themselves known."
But UFO debunker Ph illip Klass
remai ns unconv inced . Arte r spend–
ing thousands of hours analyzing a l–
leged UFO encounters. Klass has
co ncluded tha t the stra nge phenom–
ena people describe are a com–
bination or honest misperception.
distoned sensa ti ona lism, and out–
ri gh t hoaxes.
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976