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ufos in congress

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by charles lear it's official

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unidentified aerial phenomena exists

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the pentagon takes the subject seriously

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but no one can say if aliens are

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involved

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this is according to the unclassified

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report from the office of the director

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of national intelligence

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that was delivered to congress this past

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friday the fact that congress is

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interested in the subject

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of what have long been known as ufos has

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gotten quite a bit of media attention

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ever since the report was commissioned

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in legislation passed in 2020

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but this is not the first time congress

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has shown an interest in the subject

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in the 1960s ufos were discussed in

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congress on two occasions

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both times prompted by concerns that

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publicly funded ufo studies

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were not being taken seriously in 1966

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there was a series of ufo sightings in

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michigan that got the attention of the

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press

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and the air force there was a great deal

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of excitement

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in project blue book the code name for

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the air force's ufo study

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scientific consultant dr j allen heineck

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was sent in to help calm things down at

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a press conference

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he offered some possible explanations

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due to sightings over a marsh

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he speculated that people there had seen

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ignited balls of swamp gas

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some going out and others igniting and

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that this created the illusion of

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movement

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the swamp gas explanation made the

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headlines and outraged many michigan

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residents

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including michigan representative and

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house minority leader gerald ford

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he sent a letter dated march 28 1966 to

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the chairman of the science and

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astronautics committee

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and the armed services committee

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suggesting that one of them schedule

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hearings on the subject of ufos

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he mentioned heineck's explanations in

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the letter and in a press release that

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same day

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it is noted that he described heinek's

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swamp gas explanation

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as flippant documents relating to ford's

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efforts

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and the resultant open hearing are

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housed at the gerald r

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ford presidential library museum the

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armed services committee held an open

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hearing on april 5th

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1966 there to answer questions for

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secretary of the air force harold brown

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director of project blue book hector

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quintanilla and

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heinek when the session was opened to

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the press and public

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the first person to answer questions

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from the committee chairman

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l mendel rivers was harold brown brown's

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answers reflected a belief that most

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sightings could be explained in prosaic

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terms

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and that any remaining unidentifieds

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were due to lack of information

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heinek was next and he started by

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stating that he was treated

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rather unfairly by the press l mendel

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rivers

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responded you ought to be chairman of

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this committee

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hanukk then added that he was described

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by the press as a puppet of the air

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force

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in response he had prepared a written

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statement and he was allowed to read it

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heinek declared that he had attempted to

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remain open-minded

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throughout his involvement despite the

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fact that the whole subject

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seemed utterly ridiculous he mentioned

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that he'd recommended in 1953 and 1965

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that a small civilian scientific panel

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be used to study selected

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unknowns heineck then told rivers that

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he'd been

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scooped by brown who'd mentioned that

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the scientific advisory board

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a group put together to review project

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bluebook released the report in march

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1966

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had recommended the same now under

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pressure from congress and the public

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the air force was moved to act on that

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recommendation

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the civilian scientific panel would turn

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out to be a group put together at the

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university of colorado

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led by dr edward u condon this would

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become known as the

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condon committee and evidence of

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negative bias on the part of condon and

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the project's coordinator robert lowe

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prompted another discussion of ufos in

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congress

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some representatives felt there was a

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need to evaluate the colorado study

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after public comments made by condon to

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the effect that ufos were nonsense

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for some time the national

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investigations committee on aerial

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phenomena

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led by major donald kehoe retired have

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been lobbying congress for hearings on

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the air force's handling of the ufo

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problem and had managed to gain

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supporters one of these was

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representative

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louis c wyman of new hampshire on

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october 17

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1967 wyman introduced house resolution

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946

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it called for the committee on science

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and astronautics

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to conduct a full and complete

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investigation

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and study of unidentified flying objects

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in a house floor speech to gain support

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for his resolution

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wyman referred to nycap and ufo evidence

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a publication nycap had prepared and

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sent to every member of congress

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in an effort to show that the ufo

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subject should be taken seriously

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representative j edward rausch of

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indiana was sympathetic with wyman's

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views

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but he thought the action called for by

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the resolution was premature

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as the results of the colorado study

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hadn't been released

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roush proposed a symposium instead and

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through his efforts one was arranged

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where six scientists

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would present their views on the subject

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before the committee on astronautics

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the symposium on unidentified flying

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objects

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was held on july 29 1968

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among the scientists invited to speak

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were heineken

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atmospheric physicist dr james mcdonald

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and noted astronomer dr

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carl sagan other scientists including dr

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donald h menzel dr r leo sprinkle

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and stanton t friedman submitted written

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statements

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friedman whose place of employment is

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listed as the westinghouse

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astronuclear laboratory would later

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become a well-known ufo lecturer

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and achieve celebrity status in the

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field heineck was first to speak

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and during the majority of his statement

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he made the case for scientific ufo

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study

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with international cooperation he ended

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by recommending that congress establish

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a ufo scientific board of inquiry

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mcdonald was up next mcdonald had become

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interested in ufos

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after investigating sightings in his

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home state of arizona

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and was one of the first scientists

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willing to publicly come forward

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and advocate for the serious study of

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ufos

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mcdonald briefly summarized the ufo

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problem and then gave details of

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individual cases

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and his investigations of some of them

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he concluded his summary by stating that

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the possibility that ufos or

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extraterrestrial devices

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is a possibility i take very seriously

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he concurred with heinek's view that a

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worldwide ongoing scientific study was

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called for

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and urged the committee to hold more

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extensive hearings on the subject of

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ufos dr carl sagan spoke next

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he said that it was his understanding

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that the committee wanted him to discuss

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the possibility

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of intelligent extraterrestrial life he

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told the committee that he was delighted

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to speak about the contemporary

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scientific thinking along these lines

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he let it be known that it was his

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belief that the evidence of intelligent

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extraterrestrial origin for ufos was not

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persuasive but evidence that no ufos are

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of that origin

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was not convincing he felt the question

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was

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an open one after a slide presentation

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where he showed the limits of our

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optical technology to detect

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civilizations on other planets

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and provided a sense of perspective on

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our position in the universe

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sagan took questions he was asked about

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electrical pulses detected by sir

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bernard lovell

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that level couldn't explain and sagan

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replied that these were from

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objects called pulsars he said that

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while there were problems with the

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hypotheses presented to explain them

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one should exclude all physical

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explanations

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before concluding that some intelligent

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being was involved

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sagan began his conclusion by pointing

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out that the scientific method

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calls for keeping an open mind while

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pursuing the facts at hand

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with that said he brought attention to

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the fact that there were none on the

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panel

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who strongly disbelieve in the

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extraterrestrial origin of ufos

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as far as recommending funds for ufo

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study he felt that money was better

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spent

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on the programs of nasa and the national

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science foundation radio astronomy

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programs

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now almost 53 years later ufos are in

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congress again

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with the release of the office of

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defense national intelligence report

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while the report was inconclusive there

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was this interesting recommendation

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the uaptf unidentified aerial phenomena

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task force

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has indicated that additional funding

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for research and development

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could further the future study of the

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topics laid out in this report

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such investments should be guided by a

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uap collection strategy

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uap r d technical roadmap and a uap

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program plan

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so while the symposium failed to prevent

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the air force's termination of project

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blue book

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based on the negative conclusions of the

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condon report

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congress now has the opportunity to

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revive dod study of the uap

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requested