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Source: The U.F.O. Investigator Vol. IV, No. 9 SPECIAL January 1969 page 7 Published by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CONDON REPORT A larger evaluation by numerous scientists and technical advisers is forthcoming. Meanwhile, here are some important points. Page 7 Extract: AIAA Conducts Investigation A special UFO Committee of the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics (AIAA), the largest non-governmental aerospace agency in the world and chaired by Dr. Joachim P. Kuettner, of Boulder's ESSA Research Laboratories, was established. The 10-man scientific committee stated that it "has made its own objective investigation of the [UFO] subject and... plans to develop certain recommendations and to give some insight into its reasoning... “The committee concluded that the UFO "controversy cannot be resolved without further study in a quantitative scientific manner and... It deserves the attention of the engineering and scientific community." A "Joint Statement by Scientists," released by NICAP, brought strong support from scientists in various fields, including aerospace, psychology, physics, chemistry, botany, sociology and biology. Because of "continuing reports from reputable... and competent witnesses..." about 50 scientists signed a statement urging "an appropriate committee of the Congress to initiate an investigation of... UFOs." News media personnel were also not accepting the report. Nationally syndicated columnists Roscoe and Geoffrey Drummond told NICAP that the Condon report had not settled the question. There are enough "sufficient, creditable, sighting reports" that leave the UFO question "still open," they said. They added that the "Condon report should be read with great care as to its credibility." The father and son team supported future scientific investigation, despite the report's recommendation to the contrary. Newspapers Protest The State, South Carolina's largest newspaper, has carried a number of positive editorials in past years. In a recent one entitled "A Study That Wasn't," the newspaper stated that the Colorado findings "may be instantly repudiated. . ." The paper also praised NICAP as "the most sober and efficient of the private [UFO] organizations" and attacked Condon and Low as being "increasingly hostile to those who Insisted on a strictly objective approach." The editorial concluded that "the public could place more confidence in... [Colorado's] findings if it were not positively known, as is the case, that the Condon group first arrived at this [negative] conclusion and then went through the motions of assembling the evidence almost as an afterthought." The New York Daily News also dissented. "The study...," it said, "has been under fire from the start as allegedly rigged to bring in the verdict the Air Force wanted. Let's keep our minds open on UFOs..." An editorial in the Knoxville, Tennessee, Journal indicated that the public will give the report little credence. The paper stated that it was the unknown cases in the project's findings that "raise concern." Letters of protest are also beginning to pour in from NICAP members. One mechanical engineer wrote his Congressman that "the American people deserve more for their tax money than to be deluded..." |