Dr J. Allen Hynek
 |
Dr J. Allen Hynek
started the Center for UFO Studies
(CUFOS) |
The Center for UFO Studies was started by Dr. J.
Allen Hynek, who was a professor of astronomy at
Ohio State University, and later, chairman of the
astronomy department at Northwestern University
During the 1950s and 1960s, he served as the
astronomical consultant to the United States Air Force's Project Blue Book.
Essentially, his responsibility was
to determine whether there was an astronomical
explanation for a UFO sighting. Professor Hynek
would study a UFO report and decide if its description
of the UFO suggested a known astronomical object.
That is, did the witness see the planet Venus or a
eteor instead of a genuine UFO?
Center for UFO Studies Website |
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 AirForce concerning
FOs. It was written with hope for the newly formed
Colorado (Condon) Study, which I believe began
in October
of that year.
Summary and Additional Articles Below
|
Allen Hynek worked for US Air Force´s project Blue Book as a
consultant astronomer. When he started his attitued against all who had seen
UFOs was that, with his own words, only "kooks ans Crackpots" saw UFOs. But
after a couple of years he started to notice that many of the reports wasn´t
made up by kooks and crackpots, but highly credible militaries and civilians. But after
dismissing several credible witnesses at the Michigan sighting with the
natural cause of swamp gas he resigned. Hynek led the investigation of the
Socorro landing case in 1964 with the FBI. He went on with the at the time young Jaques
Vallee and founded the Center of UFO Studies in Illinois in 1973. Hynek later
become a member of the Robertson Panel. In 1986 Dr J. Allen Hynek died. Under his life
time Hynek wrote theese books: The Ufo Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, Night
Siege: The Hudson Valley Ufo Sightings and What You Should Know About UFOs. Dr.
Hynek has been the consultant astronomer to Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book. I
won’t say that he’s a
“believer” but he’s darn interested. He has devoted a great deal of his
valuable time to the project. He has read
amost every UFO report in the Air Force files. In the summer of 1952 he debated with
Menzel at the American
Optical Society meeting in Boston and blasted Menzel right out of the hall.
He sat on the panel in Washington in January 1952 and was very much pro-UFO. Dr.
Hynek is Head of the Ohio
State Univ. Astronomy Department, Director of the Perkins Observatory and Assistant Dean
of the USU Graduate
School. He is still working for Blue Book.
Hynek also invented the Hynek Classification System.
Nocturnal Light
A visual sighting of a light on the sky at
night. About
35 - 40 %
of all reports are nocturnal lights.
Daylight Disc
A visual sighting of a UFO with distinct shape
seen at
daytime.
Radar Cases
UFOs detected on radar.
Radar Visual Cases
UFOs detected on radar and visually at the
same
time. About 1 - 2 % of al reports are
radar visual
cases.
Close Encounters of the First Kind
A UFO observed within 150 yards.
Close Encounters of the Second Kind
A UFO that leaves some kind of evidence
like
burnmarks on the ground or fragments of unknown
material.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
A UFO with visible occupants.
Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
Abductions.
Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind
Communication between a human and an alien. |
Summary
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)
|
This is the 12/17/66 Saturday Evening Post article
that fully
ignited the controversy that still exists today.
Dr. J. Allen Hynek
Speaking at the United Nations
From Bruce Maccabee
TO
Jerry Cohen
http://CohenUfo.org/
Thanks for reporting this long forgotten article.
The following was provided by
Jerry Cohen
http://CohenUfo.org/
HYNEK WROTE:
>But I cannot explain them all. Of the 15,000 cases that have
>come to my attention, several hundred are puzzling, and some of
>the puzzling incidents, perhaps one in 25, are bewildering. I
>have wanted to learn much more about these cases than I have
>been able to get from either the reports or the witnesses.
Hynek refers to 1/25 or 4% as "bewildering." This was written in
1966. Now consider what Air Force Intelligence told the FBI in
1952. Note that General John Samford was the Director of Air
Force Intelligence at the time and that the below statement was
made on the SAME DAY that the he (and Roger Ramey!) held a press
conference to explain the mass of summer 1952 sightings,
including the Washington, DC sightings. Date: July 29, 1952
FROM: FBI "X file"
(Commander Boyd told the FBI agent that a third class of
sightings is) "those sightings which are reported by pilots and
for which there is additional corroboration, such as recorded by
radar or sighting from the ground. Commander Boyd advised that
this latter classification constitutes two to three percent of
the total number of sightings, but they were te most diffiult to
explain."
The bottom line is that they couldn't explain the 2-3% without
straining the physics beyond credibility....and Hynek knew it...
but he didn't admit it until 1966.
SPRINGTIME FOR HYNEK:
>Recently I had dinner with several members of the Condon
>committee. What a pleasure it was to sit down with men who were
>open-minded about UFO's, who did not look at me as though I were
>a Martian myself. For the first time other scientists, who
>apparently have been wondering all along, have openly talked
>about the reports. One leading scientist wrote me the other day:
>"For some time now I have been convinced of the reality of this
>phenomenon based on reports in the general news media. It has
>seemed to me that even with a heavy discount there is a core of
>reliable observations which we cannot shrug off. Twice in recent
>weeks I have stated my views on the subject in small
>conversational groups of respectable, scholarly friends, and
>found that they were amazed that I should take these matters
>seriously. So I know that it took some courage for you to speak
>out."
WAS FOLLOWED SEVERAL YEARS LATER BY A VERY COLD WINTER!
I thank Jerry Cohen for recalling these halcyon days of ufology
for those of us who lived through them....and for providing the
new comers with information they would not likely search out for
themselves. Yes, it was a "whole 'nother world" back then. Or
was it?
PERSONAL NOTE:
the information in this paper by Hynek wasalready ancient
history and long forgotten when I first communicated with him in
1973 or 4(?). By that time he had founded the Center for UFO
Studies and had given a lecture at my place of empoyment (former
Naval Ordnance Laboratory). I had not been able to attend his
lecture (out of town) so I wrote him a letter. In his response
he invited me t become a member of the Center for UFO Studies.
At that time I still viewed him wth some suspicion, thinking
that he probably knew a lot more than he was saying. When I last
saw him in 1985 I still believed he knew more than he was
saying. However, I never got the impression that he was part of
an orchestrated cover up. And, of course, he portrayed himself
as being on the outside if there was any orchestrated cover up.
Thanks to the FOIPA and the continuous efforts of many people
(Robert Todd being one pre-eminent in this) we now have
documentation that shows what the Air Force was '"thinking" 50
years ago. It is clear that Air Force Intelligence did NOT level
with the American people, irrespective of Roswell undercurrents.
Throw away Roswell. One is still left with sightings as
convincing as those cited by Hynek which occurred within th
first 5 year.... including photographic/movie proof of 30
objects capable of flight at 150,000ft.
(See THE UFO/FBI
CONNECTION/ the REAL X-files; contact brumac@compuserve.com if
interested).
So perhaps Hynek was telling the truth after all. He really
didn't know much more than he was saying..... and he did argue
that UFOS ARE REAL!