From: Jerry Cohen <rjcohen@li.net>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 21:57:31 -0400
Fwd Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 14:19:22 -0500
Subject: Summary of 12/17/66 Hynek Post Article


The 12/17/66 Hynek Saturday Evening Post article is a paper Dr.
J. Allen Hynek wrote summating his approximately 18 years tenure
(at that point) as civilian scientific consultant to the Air
Force concerning UFOs. It was written with hope for the newly
formed Colorado (Condon) Study, which I believe began in October
of that year.

Most of the points Hynek makes therein are summarized below:

1)      He agrees with the Air Force for the most part but there
        were cases he could not solve.

2)      The quality of the witnesses was high.

3)      He is hopeful concerning the new Air Force study.
        (J.C.  i.e. The Colorado [Condon] Study)

4)      Nearly all his scientific colleagues have scoffed at the
        reports of UFOs.

5)      The question of UFOs has developed into a battle of
        faiths. Something of this importance should be decided
        scientifically.

6)      The Air Force made up its own mind about each case and
        did not always take his recommendations.

7)      The Air Force had a tendency to upgrade its cases from
        "possible aircraft" to "probable aircraft" (without
        proper scientific review, he felt)

8)      "The Air Force has never really devoted enough money or
        attention to the problem of UFO's to get to the bottom of
        the puzzling cases."

9)      Blue Book was headed by a captain and consisted of two
        officers and a sergeant. Its value to the Air Force is
        plainly demonstrated by observing the low ranks of its
        assigned officers and observing their place in the Air
        Force's organizational hierarchy.

10)     In 1952 Hynek wrote a paper saying that UFOs deserved
        more study.

11)     His paper spurred the formation of the Robertson Panel in
        1953.

12)     The panel studied 15 cases out of several hundreds and
        made its decision in a very short period of time.

13)     Hynek was only an observer at the hearings, but if he had
        been asked to sign the results of the panel decision, he
        would have refused.

14)     Hynek mentions APRO and NICAP as vigilante groups formed
        in response to the Air Force's lack of in-depth study.
        "These groups were often the recipients of intriguing
        reports that never came to the official attention of
        Project Blue Book."

15)     Hynek gradually began to accumulate cases "...that I
        really couldn't explain, cases reported by reliable,
        sincere people whom I often interviewed in person."

16)     He found "...that the persons making these reports were
        often not acquainted with UFO's before their experience,
        which baffled and thoroughly frightened them."

17)     They were often reluctant to report their sightings.

18)     In the public eye he was becoming known as a debunker yet
        privately he was becoming concerned about good reports
        from reputable people.

19)     *** "I feel it is my responsibility to point out that
        enough puzzling sightings have been reported by
        intelligent and often technically competent people to
        warrant closer attention than Project Blue Book can
        possibly encompass at the present time." ***

20)     Hynek explains, in detail, what happened with the "Swamp
        Gas" Michigan case. (and shows us how the Condon Study
        came into being.)

21)     He gives 4 possible explanations for UFOs.

        a.  Nonsense, Hoaxes, Hallucinations?   Enough evidence
            has accumulated to prove they are _not_ all utter
            nonsense, the result of hoaxes or hallucinations

        b.  military weapons?  They are usually tested in very
            limited geographical areas. Why would anyone test
            them in scores of nations? You couldn't prevent a
            security leak.

        c.  Outer space?        He agrees with the Air Force but
            feels we should keep an open mind. If other beings
            have a greater life span than humans, travel these
            vast distances might be possible.

        d.  Some kind of natural phenomenon we have yet to
            understand?    This is another reason for studying
            this more carefully.

21)     Hynek wanted to computerize the reports from all over
        the world.

22)     Hynek wanted "good" photographs of UFOs

23)     He concludes by saying he doesn't think the Pentagon
        thinks they are anything novel, and it still doesn't.
        (J.C. This was his view in December 1966)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
However, his opinion changed after that as will be seen in
several upcoming postings. Next, I'll present the complete text
of the above 1966 Saturday Evening Post article which will also
include links to events that occurred later on.

Respectfully,
Jerry Cohen

 Author: Oberg/Cooper rebuttals
Website: http://www.li.net/~rjcohen/


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