House Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on UFOs
April 5, 1966 · U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC · Congressional · Primary document linked
After a spring 1966 wave of sightings, the House Armed Services Committee held brief hearings on UFOs on 5 April 1966. Air Force Secretary Harold Brown told the committee that most sightings were easily explained and that there was no evidence of visits from outer space. An Air Force Scientific Advisory Board committee under Brian O'Brien, with Carl Sagan among its members, had found no threat to national security but recommended an intensive study led by a university 'to settle the issue conclusively.' In October 1966 the University of Colorado took the contract that became the Condon study.
Why it matters (4/5)
The first major congressional hearing on UFOs, which led to the Condon study.
Caveats
The hearing record is linked as a scan whose text was not read. The account here follows the CIA's 1997 history of its role in UFO studies, which gives no date for the hearing beyond a cited 6 April 1966 New York Times report.
Sources
- Unidentified Flying Objects: Hearings before the House Committee on Armed Services, 5 April 1966 (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services), primary
- CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90 (Gerald K. Haines) (Central Intelligence Agency, Studies in Intelligence), context