To say that Dr. J. Allen Hynek was a reluctant ufologist may be something of an understatement. For himself, he considered his profession as an astronomer and educator even though he is most popularly remembered for his study of unidentified flying objects. After taking his doctorate degree from Yerkes Observatory, Dr. Hynek joined with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio State University, studying stellar evolution and spectroscopic binaries. He spent World War II at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as a civilian scientist developing the radio proximity fuse for the Navy.
While returning to Ohio State after the war, Dr. Hynek eventually moved on to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Being a man of science, Dr. Hynek was chosen by the United States Air Force as their scientific consultant when they began their first official investigation into the UFO phenomena with Project Sign. He continued in that position through the notorious debunking Project Grudge and into the occasionally more serious research of Project Blue Book. Being originally highly skeptical of any "flying saucer" reports he was perfect for Project Grudge. He admitted to sometimes stretching logic to the breaking point to "explain" sightings as ordinary objects that were misidentified.
Slowly Dr. Hynek's views changed. As he read more and more UFO reports he realized that the witnesses to many were not just "crackpots" but reliable observers. As well as pilots, police, and military personnel, his polling of fellow astronomers turned up 11% of them who admitted to having seen inexplicable objects in the sky and had kept quiet for fear of ridicule and loss of career. Ultimately Dr. Hynek realized that "Ridicule is not part of the scientific method, and people should not be taught that it is." He began serious work on studying the phenomena with an insistence on proper scientific methodology. One of these was the founding of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) as a means for serious scientific analysis to be done concerning sightings.
It was during his work with Project Blue Book that Dr. Hynek began to occasionally disagree with his Air Force employers. He was particularly disappointed with the handling of the Portage County UFO chase that was undertaken by a number of very credible and reliable police officers. There, too, was the encounter of Lonnie Zamora, another police officer who reported encountering two humanoid beings in an egg-shaped craft. There was some physical evidence left by its departure including tracks, strangely burnt grasses, fused sand, and "two organic substances" that analysis failed to identify. Clearly a sighting by an impeccable witness but the Air Force downplayed the event publicly and Dr. Hynek made the statement that "The AF doesn't know what science is."
While never completely convinced of an extraterrestrial origin for UFO's he did leave it as one of three major possibilities. According to him the UFO phenomena is real. The evidence he states can as easily be applied to create bias for extraterrestrial origins as they could be extradimensional. He stated that there could also be a technology existing that encompasses both the physical and psychic realms. This material and mental hypothesis, he states could be an older civilizations everyday science that we just have not caught up with as yet.
The reports of strange objects in the skies of our planet have been coming in for centuries. Few people anymore really doubt there is something going on but finding open and honest answers has not been at all easy to discover. Despite the many reasons we have been given to question the actions and motives of our governing agencies, people still want to believe that ultimately their leaders have their best interests at heart. In the case of unidentified flying objects and the possibility of alien contact this trust has been woefully betrayed.
One of the first big attempts at official government investigation was undertaken in the middle of the 20th century by the United States Air Force. Beginning with "Project Sign", that ended in 1948, it was officially determined that these objects were neither US or Russian in manufacture but failed to give even a hypothetical guess as to where they were from. "Project Grudge" quickly followed but was initiated as a purely debunking effort to convince the masses that they were "crazy" or "delusional" if they insisted on seeing an alien connection. This extremely cavalier attitude even angered senior military officials to the point that "Project Blue Book" was formed in an attempt to regain some sense of factual understanding of the phenomena of UFO's.
After years of investigation into nearly 13,000 UFO reports, 701 of which were never found to have even the most flimsy natural explanation, the Project was closed and the final statement issued was that "the phenomena poses no threat to national security." This was not an answer to the question but circumvention around the facts. A popular hypothesis for this is that they were quite aware of what these things were and the possibility that "deals" were in place that the common citizen was not privy to. It may not be a matter of "national security" but that still leaves the question of what it may mean to "personal security" if they are in fact alien in origin.
Other world governments have recently begun to be somewhat more forthcoming with the information they have compiled over the years about sighting made by their citizens. Beginning in 1989 the Belgian government and Air Force began an, at the time, unprecedented openness policy about the severe increase in UFO sightings happening in their country. Rather that trying to pacify the populous with pat stories of "misidentification" of mundane things, they admitted their ignorance of the cause and origins and welcomed input and information from their citizens. While a definitive conclusion was never made, the Belgian government acknowledged the phenomena and did not treat their citizens as if they were ignorant children incapable of dealing with the mystery.
May of 2008 also saw the British government and Ministry of Defense releasing thousands of pages of reports on UFO and alien sightings in their country. These reports are filled with observations from very reliable and trustworthy people including police, pilots, air traffic controllers, military personnel, and government officials themselves. It was their hope that with the release of this information, enough people could study and correlate the data to the point some idea of what is happening in our skies could be developed. We can but hope that with this new openness on the part of some of the world's governments a satisfactory answer can be gleaned before an alien craft makes a public landing and tells us what they are up to themselves.
While there are many organizations dedicated to studying the UFO/Alien phenomena, there has, despite the thousands of reports, been very little "official" investigation. The only branch of the government that seems to have even tried was the United States Air Force. Their first attempt, Project Sign, in 1948 ended rather inconclusively. They determined that the craft witnessed were of neither Russian or US make and were quite likely of extraterrestrial origin then left it at that. It was quickly followed by Project Grudge, a dedicated attempt at debunking any reported UFO or alien sighting or encounter despite nearly a quarter of their investigations remained "unexplainable".
This blatant attempt at ignoring what could potentially be a serious problem angered General Charles Cabell. In 1952 he ended Project Grudge and enlisted the aid of fellow Air Force General William Garland to form a new, serious study. They named this mission Project Blue Book. Under the direct supervision of Captain Edward Ruppelt, Project Blue Book was revamped. A new method was initiated which attempted to cover as much data as could be thought of during interviews and site investigations. During this time a remarkable amount of transparency seemed to be forthcoming and press conferences to announce findings became routine.
To avoid some of the division of opinion and reduce the stigmata of reporting, Capt Ruppelt insisted that anyone on the Project maintain an open mind about the situation. Any operative who became openly skeptical or tried to fit facts into a specific theory soon found themselves transferred out of Project Blue Book. During the investigations held at this time, scientists and astronomers were often called on to help advise the investigators. During this time many of the more famous and well-known sightings occurred and were given serious attention. Even the head scientific consultant for the Project, Astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, lost his skepticism after enough "unexplainable" sightings were logged with the Project.
This high-minded attempt at seeking the truth of the UFO phenomena lived a very short life. Capt. Ruppelt was temporarily removed from Project Blue Book. On his return a few months later he discovered that his staff had been reduced by 90%. All he had left for covering the entire country were two subordinate investigators. In frustration he suggested they turn the investigations over to the Air Defense Command as he no longer had a Project capable of functioning in any useful capacity. By March of 1954 Project Blue Book was being led by Captain Charles Hardin, a man who thought that anyone who supposedly saw a UFO was insane and needed medical treatment. The "Dark Ages" of UFO investigation had begun. By 1969 Project Blue Book was dead. The military's take on all this data, that there was no threat to national security from these supposed objects.
UFO’s are one of the most mysterious things that our earth has ever encountered. People still are divided over whether UFO’s really exists or they are just human created. All around the world there are millions and millions of people who have witnessed strange events in sky, many have even filmed or photographed such events, however until today there is no solid evidence or proof which can make us believe that the UFO’s do exists.
One of the biggest projects relating to UFO, which was undertaken to determine that whether UFO’s really existed or not was Project Blue Book, which was undertaken by the U.S Air Force in the year 1952. This project was assigned few tasks, one was to determine whether UFO’s exist or not, second was to see whether these posses any threat to the national security and third was to analyze the data related to UFO’s and UFO’ sightings. The project scanned around 12,618 reports received form various parts of the world. Of these 12,618 reports around 6% was defined as unknown and thus defied detailed analysis.
The U.S government since the beginning has declined its involvement in any such kind of project related to UFO’s but always there has been a speculation of the involvement of various government agencies taking particular interest in the UFO or Alien theory. Due to a large number of applications under the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA, their have been a pressure built up on U.S government to leak all the reports and finding related to UFO or Alien theory. However this appeal has always been discarded by the government stating that such measure will be a threat to the national security of the country and would be against safety measures.
The Saucer Watch and Citizens against UFO’s Secrecy or CAUS has always been actively involved in the release of government official UFO documents. many researchers and Ufologist’s are devoted to extract more information about UFO’s and their existence with the UFO reports being uncovered that prove the existence of these unidentified flying objects.
The UFO’s secret reports contain many evidences and proofs of UFO sightings seen by the U.S Air Force in the 1950’s. The report contains many stories of sightings of “green fireballs” by the fighter pilots who were on their routine flights. However the government has always been reluctant in sharing information related to UFO’s for no logical reason.
