The Condon Committee
From the year 1966 to 1968, the United States Air Force funded the University of Colorado to study the unidentified aerial phenomenon. The eighteen-month study was directed by Edward Condon, a nuclear physicist who played a major part in the development of radar and nuclear weapons. Similar to the Robertson Panel, the University of Colorado studied hundreds of UFO reports that had been previously investigated by Project Blue Book.
Although the objective of the study was to have an objective investigation, it was evident that this was simply another opportunity for UFO skeptics, such as Edward Condon himself, to deridethe phenomenon. This was evident early on in the investigation. James McDonald, a senior physicist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Arizona, had numerous meetings with Condon, and it was apparent to McDonald that Condon had already come to a conclusion even before any cases were reviewed. On one occasion during a meeting between the two, Condon had literally fallen asleep as McDonald was carrying out a briefing on significant UFO reports.
In July 1967, the credibility of the study was further tarnished when a letter was leaked to McDonald that showed the humiliating approach that Condon himself had adopted. The letter arrived in McDonald’s hands by one of the committee’s investigators who had a disagreement with the way Condon was approaching the study. The letter, which was written by chief assistant Robert Low, reads as follows: “The trick would be, I think, to describe the project so that, to the public, it would appear a totally objective study but, to the scientific community, would present the image of a group of nonbelievers trying their best to be objective but having an almost zero expectation of finding a saucer.” 151
It was no surprise when the committee published its report, titled Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, which completely ruled out the extraterrestrial hypothesis. The title itself is ironic, considering that the investigation was neither scientific nor objective. The conclusion the Condon Committee came to was the following: “Our general conclusion is that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past twenty-one years that has added to scientific knowledge. Careful consideration of the record as it is available to us leads us to conclude that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced thereby. It has been argued that this lack of contribution to science is due to the fact that very little scientific effort has been put on the subject. We do not agree. We feel that the reason that there has been very little scientific study of the subject is that those scientists who are most directly concerned, astronomers, atmospheric physicists, chemists, and psychologists, having had ample opportunity to look into the matter, have individually decided that UFO phenomena do not offer a fruitful field in which to look for major scientific discoveries.” 152
The committee explained how the military was wasting its time and money when investigating UFO reports. Furthermore, Condon suggested that the phenomenon, and any future reports, be completely disregarded. The document also stated that the idea of the government having extraterrestrial vehicles or technology in its possession is “fantastic nonsense.”
Once again, it is unfathomable how an investigation that only lasts eighteen months can explain and solve one of the most mysterious and perplexing phenomena. The only constructive aspect that came out of this study was the letter, which was leaked to McDonald, which proved once and for all how disgracefully these air force funded projects were approaching and investigating the UFO phenomenon.