Another one of those 'wacko weirdo believers':



Margaret Sachs:
The UFO Encyclopedia
Putnam's Sons, New York 1980
=========================================================

BAKER, ROBERT M.L., Jr. (b. September 1, 1930), scientist and
engineer.

  Baker was one of the six speakers who presented testimony at
the HOUSE SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS COMMITEE HEARINGS on
unidentified flying objects in 1968. He described the problems
incurred in his examinations and analyses of several UFO movies
including the TREMONTON, UTAH and the GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
films. Despite previous explanations of the filmed objects as
conventional objects and despite the problems of analysis, Baker
stated his conviction that they demonstrated the presence of
anomalistic phenomena. Baker made several suggestions on how to
achieve more sophisticated analyses of fresh data and, in
particular, recommended setting up a task force to obtain hard
and soft data supported by a sensor system designed expressly
for that purpose, possibly a phased array RADAR, as well as a
space-based long-wavelength infrared surveillance sensor system.
He also suggested a study be made of the psychiatric and medical
problems of determining witnesses' credibility. Baker declares
he has no opinion regarding the identity of UFOs because of the
continued absence of reliable and conclusive observational data.

  Baker received his B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from UCLA
in 1954 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1956, he was
granted an M.A. in Physics and was the recipient of the UCLA
Physics Prize. In 1958, he received a Ph.D. in Astronomy and
Engineering, the first of its kind to be granted in the nation,
with a specialty in orbital mechanics. He was the recipient of
the 1976 Dirk Brouwer Award for outstanding contribution to the
fields of Astrodynamics and Flight Mechanics.

  From 1957 to 1960, Baker was a Senior Scientist at
Aeronutronic-Philco-Ford, where he was in charge of the analysis
effort for the original Spacetrack System. In 1960, he published
the first astrodynamics textbook to be published in the United
States. From 1960 and 1961 he was a Project Officer at AFBMD
(now SAMSO) where he managed studies in the SAINT follow-on
program. From 1961 to 1964, Baker was Head of Lockheed's
Astrodynamics Research Center. In 1964 he joined Computer
Sciences Corporation and continued research in astrodynamics. He
developed the preliminary orbit methods termed the Lagrange-
Gauss-Gibbs and Herget's Variation of Geocentric distances
utilized by Grumman Aerospace Corporation in their orbit-
determination programs. These orbit methods were included in
another textbook published by Baker in 1967, 'Astrodynamics,
Applications and Advanced Topics'.

  Baker represented the United States Air Force at the
International Astronautical Federation meeting in Stockholm,
Sweden, in 1961, represented the United States at the
International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
European Conferences in 1962 and 1965, and was an invitee to the
Astronomical Council of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet
Union in Moscow in 1967. From 1961 to 1964, he was the National
Chairman of the Astrodynamics Technical Committee of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

  Baker has been the Editor of the 'Journal of the Astronautical
Sciences' since 1963, and he was the joint editor of the
'Proceedings' of the 1961 Intern International Astronautical
Federation Congress.

  Baker was on the faculty of the Department of Astronomy at
UCLA from 1959 to 1963. From 1963 to 1971, he was on the faculty
of the Department of Engineering at UCLA and associated with the
USAF Academy, where he offered courses in astronautics, fluid
mechanics and structural mechanics. He is a Trustee of West
Coast University and Chairman of their Executive Committee.