Encounters: The UFO Phenomenon, Exposed!/Encounters - The UFO Phenomenon, Exposed (1995).iso/misc1/misc076.txt

Internet Message Format | 1995-10-20 | 16KB

From: [e-mail] (Ron Schwarz)
Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors
Subject: Crossposted conspiracy.
Date: 29 Aug 93 23:16:15 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Ron Schwarz)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH


I found this in a "back issue" edition of Conspiracy for the Day.  I
don't think this material was posted here, but if it was, I apologize
for the duplication.  rs

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             Conspiracy for the Day -- July 23, 1993
            ===========================================
                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")

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The following is excerpted from a "Look" magazine article from
1968. {1} [See notes below]

Personages involved:
1) Dr. Edward U. Condon, physicist, former president of both the
   American Association for the Advancement of Science and the
   American Physical Society.
2) Major Donald Keyhoe, National Investigations Committee on
   Aerial Phenomena (NICAP)
3) Robert J. Low, project [i.e. Condon committee] coordinator
4) Dr. James McDonald, senior physicist at the Institute of
   Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of
   Meteorology at the University of Arizona
5) David Saunders, Condon committee staff member
6) Dr. Norman Levine, scientific investigator and member of the
   project
7) Mrs. Mary Louise Armstrong, administrative assistant to Robert
   J. Low


"A strange series of incidents in the University of Colorado
Unidentified Flying Objects study has led to a near-mutiny by
several of the staff scientists, the dismissal of two Ph.D's on
the staff and the resignation of the project's administrative
assistant."

"The study, announced as a totally objective scientific
investigation of one of the most puzzling phenomena of modern
times, has already cost the taxpayer over half a million dollars.
The committee is scheduled to release its report by the end of
the year."

"The announcement by the Secretary of Defense in October, 1966,
that the Air Force had selected Dr. Edward U. Condon and the
University of Colorado for the UFO research contract was welcomed
both by skeptical observers and those convinced of the existence
of flying saucers."

"Maj. Donald Keyhoe and his National Investigations Committee on
Aerial Phenomena [NICAP], who were among the severest critics of
the Air Force's study, publicly announced cautious support and
offered NICAP's nation-wide UFO reporting system to the new
research group."

"The project staff received a minor jolt early in October of
1966, when the Denver *Post* published a story: CU [Colorado
University] AIDE SLAPS UFO STUDY. [Robert J.] Low was quoted as
saying that the UFO project 'comes pretty close to the criteria
of nonacceptability' as a university function."

This embarrassment did not delay the project, however. Dr.
McDonald was called on to give an address to members of the
Condon committee.

"McDonald had carried out an extensive investigation on his own.
After examining the hundreds of well-documented reports of
sightings by military and airline pilots, radar operators,
police, technical observers, and articulate, rational laymen,
McDonald rejected as highly unlikely such conventional
explanations for UFO's as ball lightning (plasma),
hallucinations, hoaxes and misinterpretations of natural
phenomena. He concluded that 'only abysmally limited scientific
competence has been brought to the study of UFOs within Air Force
circles in the past 15 years. Unfortunately, during all this
time, the scientific community and the public were repeatedly
assured that substantial scientific talent was being used...'"

"The first major turbulence in the new project [occurred] in
February, 1967... [On January 25, Dr. Condon] spoke before a
chapter of Sigma Xi, the honorary scientific fraternity. The
Elmira, N.Y., *Star-Gazette* reported:"

    Unidentified flying objects "are not the business
    of the Air Force,"... Dr. Edward U. Condon said
    here Wednesday night... Dr. Condon left no doubt as
    to his personal sentiments on the matter: "It is my
    inclination right now to recommend that the
    Government get out of this business. My attitude
    right now is that there's nothing to it." With a
    smile, he added, "but I'm not supposed to reach a
    conclusion for another year..."


Major Keyhoe's reaction? "He bristled. He knew that Condon had
not yet investigated any field cases personally, nor had any
members of the staff completed any meaningful research. The
project was only three months old. 'I have to admit,' Keyhoe told
David Saunders, a key staff member, 'that I'm shocked by these
statements. Is this a scientific investigation or isn't it?'"

Then, a staff member searching through project files (under the
heading "Air Force Contract and Background") to obtain material
for a speech came across a startling memorandum. "The staff
member found most of the material... rather dull going, but one
memo, written by [Robert J.] Low to university officials on
August 9, 1966, contained [the following:]"

               -+- The Low Memorandum -+-

    ...Our study would be conducted almost exclusively by
    non-believers who, although they couldn't possibly
    *prove* a negative result, could and probably would add
    an impressive body of evidence that there is no reality
    to the observations. 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.
    One way to do this would be to stress investigation, not
    of the physical phenomena, but rather of the people who
    do the observing -- the psychology and sociology of
    persons and groups who report seeing UFOs. If the
    emphasis were put here, rather than on examination of
    the old question of the physical reality of the saucer,
    I think the scientific community would quickly get the
    message... I'm inclined to feel at this early stage
    that, if we set up the thing right and take pains to get
    the proper people involved and have success in
    presenting the image we want to present to the
    scientific community, we could carry the job off to our
    benefit...


On September 18, 1967, "Condon, Low and Saunders met for the
first time in many weeks. As a result of reading the [Low] memo,
Saunders was deeply concerned... [At the meeting] Saunders was
led to believe that if by chance the Extra Terrestrial
Intelligence (ETI) hypothesis was substantiated, the announcement
would be sent by Condon directly to the Air Force and the
President, and never be allowed to go to the public."

Around this same time, word got out that Dr. Condon had made
another embarrassing speech. "A report of the new Condon speech
had already reached Dr. McDonald in a letter from a colleague at
the University of Arizona, William S. Bickel, assistant professor
of physics on the campus. '...Dr. Condon's speech was funny and
entertaining,' Bickel wrote. 'But to me, it was also
disappointing and surprising. Dr. Condon emphasized mostly funny
things. He told of an offer made to him by a contactee, who, for
a sizable sum deposited in the right bank, would introduce him to
a UFO crew... He told how he tracked the case down and concluded
that it was very likely a hoax... My feelings about UFOs are
similar to those of many people -- I don't know what they are, I
believe people are seeing real things, and I believe a scientific
attack on the problem will solve the mystery -- whatever they
are... The net effect of Dr. Condon's talk was zero, if not
negative...'"

"In reply to Bickel, McDonald wrote, '...The crackpots are so
immediately recognizable that one need not waste any time at all
on them... I fail to understand why a scientific group should be
given an address by any member of the Colorado team on the topic
of the crackpot fringe...'"

"On September 27, the *Rocky Mountain News* (Denver, Colo.)
published this headline: UFO RESEARCH CHIEF AT CU DISENCHANTED.
Condon was quoted as saying: 'I'm almost inclined to think such
studies ought to be discontinued unless someone comes up with a
new idea on how to approach the problem... The 21st century may
die laughing when it looks back on many things we have done. This
[the UFO study] may be one."

"The majority of the staff began exploring several proposals,
including the possibility of the entire staff resigning en masse
or issuing a press release or a minority report. Another proposal
was the establishment of an independent scientific group to
explore the rational sighting reports and eliminate the crackpot-
fringe static. There was general agreement that an objective
study of the UFO problem should be made and that accurate and
unbiased findings should reach the National Academy of Sciences,
the public and the Air Force... Several members of the staff told
of their concern that the content and form of the final report
would reflect what they now felt was Condon's and Low's prejudice
and would be unjustifiably negative."

In a January, 1968 telephone conversation with Low, McDonald
indicated to Low his alarm that "negative findings were already
being clearly expressed by both Low and Condon." When Low hung up
in anger, McDonald wrote him a long letter in which he reviewed
his [McDonald's] complaints. Low did not get around to reading
the letter until February 6, 1968.

"On Wednesday, February 7, Saunders was summoned to Condon's
office. Low and Condon were present. The questioning focussed on
the [Low] memo. Did Saunders know of it and know where it was
kept? Saunders said that the memo was only part of the whole
problem... The broader issues of scientific integrity were at
stake. Condon, furious that he had not immediately been informed
that McDonald knew of the [Low] memo, told Saunders, 'For an act
like that, you ought to be ruined professionally.'"

"Saunders countered by saying that Condon and Low seemed to be
treating the symptoms rather than the disease. He reminded them
of the efforts of the entire staff to get Low and Condon to
modify their intractable stance. He reviewed the long sequence of
events and reminded Low that he had blocked the investigation of
one particularly startling UFO case."

"Dr. Levine was summoned while Saunders was still in Condon's
office. Saunders offered to stay. Low rose from his chair and
physically ushered him out the door. Levine was unnerved by the
forcible ejection of Saunders. Again, the questioning went
straight to the [Low] memo... Condon asked why Levine had not
brought the [Low] memo to him, and Levine said that Condon's
public and private statements had indicated that there was little
likelihood of effective communication. He told Condon that Low
had slammed the door in his face when he brought up the handling
by Low of an Edwards Air Force Base case."

Mrs. Armstrong, Low's administrative assistant, "had joined the
project at its inception with no convictions whatever about UFOs.
By February, 1967, she was convinced that the study was being
gravely misdirected."

"She talked to Condon on February 22, 1968, at his office. She
told him frankly that there appeared to be an almost unanimous
lack of confidence in the project coordinator and his scientific
direction of the project... She said that her long, close
association with Low gave strong evidence that he was trying very
hard to say as little as possible in the final report, and to say
that in the most negative way possible."

"The others who left the project also felt they had an obligation
to speak out, and when Condon failed to respond positively to his
outspoken letter of criticism, McDonald brought the matter before
the executive officers of the National Academy of Sciences in a
vigorous written protest."

"The hope that the establishment of the Colorado study brought
with it has dimmed. All that seems to be left is the $500,000
[pricetag]."

  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

The following is excerpted from a British journal (now defunct)
of the time, the *Flying Saucer Review* {2} [See notes below].
The author, Charles Gibbs-Smith, was "one of the world's foremost
aviation historians and [wrote] many books for the London Science
Museum. [Mr. Gibbs-Smith] holds the degree of M.A. from his
family university of Harvard (U.S.A.)."

               -+- A Question of Integrity -+-

"For the purposes of this article, I am not concerned whether
UFOs are vehicles from outer space, hamburgers tossed from
balloons, or spots in front of the eyes of neurotic tabby cats. I
am concerned with the status and standing of a scientific report,
the Condon Report 'of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying
Objects,' completed in 1968 and released to the Press in January
1969."

[...]

[Gibbs-Smith quotes from the Low memorandum, already quoted
above.] "This memorandum was accidentally discovered by a
researcher late in 1967, and was revealed to the public in *Look*
magazine in May of 1968."

[...]

"*The Low memorandum can only be viewed as a deliberate act
calculated to deceive; to deceive first the scientific community,
and, through them, the public at large*. I know of no modern
parallel to such a cynical act of duplicity on the part of a
university official dedicated, presumably, to the pursuit of
truth. By the writing of such a document, the integrity of the
entire project was shattered in advance. Mr. Low's words disclose
that everything in the report -- unbeknown to the reader, be he
scientist or layman -- would ultimately play its part in
presenting the angled case whereby the 'scientific community
would quickly get the message.' This, in plain language, means
that a deliberate perversion of the truth was planned *before*
the contract with the Air Force was signed; which, in turn,
points to an *agreement* with someone, or some body, as to what
that 'message' should be."

[...]

"The Low memorandum also conveys an implied contempt for the
subject of the UFOs which the University was being handsomely
paid to investigate; and contempt is not compatible with
scientific investigation... What underlines the dishonesty which
surrounds the whole project is the fact that *at no time has the
Low memorandum been repudiated, or even deplored by any of the
parties to the deal; nor -- to its shame -- by the American
Academy of Sciences*. Neither the University of Colorado nor the
Air Force has had a word of explanation to offer for behaviour
which cuts at the very roots of scientific integrity."

  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

Notes:

{1} Fuller, John G. "Flying Saucer Fiasco: The extraordinary
       story of the half-million dollar 'trick' to make Americans
       believe the Condon committee was conducting an objective
       investigation"  Look, May 14, 1968

{2} Gibbs-Smith, Charles. "A Question of Integrity" Flying Saucer
       Review, vol. 16, no. 4


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