Quotes by scientists, leading UFO researchers, and others on the UFO phenomenon.

 

Quotes by scientists, leading UFO researchers, and 

others on the UFO phenomenon.

Includes quotes by Dr. Bernard Haisch, Dr. Steven Greer, James McDonald, Dr. Peter Sturrock, Bruce Macabee, Stanton Friedman, Don Berliner, John Alexander, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman, Margaret Mead, Lord Hill-Norton, Francis Ridge, Leslie Kean, General Nathan Twining, Admiral Roscoe Hillenketter, Astronaut Gordon Cooper, Lord Dowding, American Institute of Aeronatics and Astronautics, Jacques and Janine Vallee, J. Allen Hynek, Hermann Oberth, Carl Jung, Walter Andrus, Jr., John Scheussler, Jerome Clark, Peter Davenport, George Fawcett, Raymond Fowler, Dr. Richard Haines, Richard Hall, Michael Hesemann, Morris Jessup, Jim and Coral Lorenzen, Donald Keyhoe, and Nick Pope.

 

Bernard Haisch, astrophysicist, UFOSkeptic.org

“I propose that true skepticism is called for today: neither the gullible acceptance of true belief nor the closed-minded rejection of the scoffer masquerading as the skeptic. One should be skeptical of both the believers and the scoffers. The negative claims of pseudo-skeptics who offer facile explanations must themselves be subject to criticism. If a competent witness reports having seen something tens of degrees of arc in size (as happens) and the scoffer -- who of course was not there -- offers Venus or a high altitude weather balloon as an explanation, the requirement of extraordinary proof for an extraordinary claim falls on the proffered negative claim as well. That kind of approach is also pseudo-science. Moreover just being a scientist confers neither necessary expertise nor sufficient knowledge. (I wish it did, sigh.) Any scientist who has not read a few serious books and articles presenting actual UFO evidence should out of intellectual honesty refrain from making scientific pronouncements. To look at the evidence and go away unconvinced is one thing. To not look at the evidence and be convinced against it nonetheless is another. That is not science.”

Bernard Haisch, physicist, “Be Skeptical of the Skeptics”

“Cut through the ridicule and search for factual information in most of the skeptical commentary and one is usually left with nothing. This is not surprising. After all, how can one rationally object to a call for scientific examination of evidence? Be skeptical of the "skeptics."”

Bernard Haisch, “UFOs and Mainstream Science”

“A 1977 poll of American astronomers, published in JSE, showed the following: Out of 2611 questionnaires 1356 were returned. In response to whether the UFO problem deserved further study the replies were: 23% certainly, 30% probably, 27% percent possibly, 17% probably not, 3% certainly not. Interestingly, there was a positive correlation between the amount of reading done on the subject and the opinion that further study was in order…”

“Most scientists never look at UFO evidence, which leads to their conclusion that there is no evidence…”

“It seems from my unique vantage point as both scientist and editor of JSE that substantial evidence exists of "something going on".”

 

Dr. Steven Greer, “Foundations of Interplanetary Unity”

“The evidence that at least one extraterrestrial civilization has visited Earth is extensive both in scope and detail. In its totality it comprises a body of evidence which at the very least supports the general assessment that extraterrestrial life has been detected, and that a vigorous program of research and serious diplomatic initiatives is warranted. Consider the following overview of facts:

• There are numerous daytime and night time photographs and videotapes of clearly non-human spacecraft from all over the world; these films and videotapes have been evaluated and deemed authentic by competent experts in optical physics and related fields.

• There are more than 3500 military and commercial aircraft pilot reports of encounters worldwide; many cases have corroborating radar documentation and multiple witnesses both on the ground and in the air.

• There are more than 4000 landing trace cases from around the world.

• There are hundreds of electromagnetic cases where spacecraft have been observed by police, military personnel and civilians to affect car engines, radios and other electric devices.

• There are more than 100 first- and second- hand witnesses to the retrieval of an extraterrestrial spacecraft and at least four extraterrestrial bodies from a crash which occurred in July, 1947, 75 miles northwest of Roswell, New Mexico; written and videotaped testimony from several first-hand witnesses who are respected military officers have been obtained.

• There are hundreds of credible reports, many with multiple witnesses, of humanoids in association with landed spacecraft.

• There are several multiple-witnessed events where humans have been taken on board spacecraft. 
• CSETI (The Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has in the past 18 months succeeded in intentionally establishing contact with extraterrestrial spacecraft, on two occasions at very close range, and with multiple witnesses present. 

• Various polls have indicated that approximately 10% of Americans (25 million people) have seen them at close range so that details of the structure of the object can be discerned.

• Numerous US. Government documents exist which indicate that these objects are real and have been involved with observing Earth for several decades. 

It is an understatement to say that the time has arrived for a serious and open international dialogue regarding the possibility of future interplanetary relations. In no other area of human experience has so much evidence existed for so long, and yet been attended by such a paucity of serious research and analysis - at least in the civilian domain. While the subject matter [of UFOs] itself is extraordinary, it is the absence of a serious human response to it that is most extraordinary.”

Scientist, (name not available)

"The discovery of other intelligent life in the universe would be the most important event in human history. Period."

 

John Alexander, NIDS, “Refuting Fermi: No Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life?”

“The undeniable reality is that there are a substantial number of multi-sensor UFO cases backed by thousands of credible witnesses. In the physical domain there are many photos, videos, radar tracking, satellite sensor reports, landing traces including depressions and anomalous residual radiation, electromagnetic interference, and confirmed physiological effects. Personal observations have been made both day and night, often under excellent visibility with some at close range. Included are reports from multiple independent witnesses to the same event. Psychological testing of some observers has confirmed their mentally competence. Why is none of this considered evidence?

There are over 3000 cases reported by pilots, some of which include interference with flight controls. On numerous occasions air traffic controllers and other radar operators have noted unexplained objects on their scopes. So too have several astronomers and other competent scientists reported their personal observations. Many military officials from several countries have confirmed multi-sensor observations of UFOs. The most senior air defense officers of Russia, Brazil, Belgium and recently a former Chief of Naval Operations in Chile all have stated that UFOs are real. These cases and comments are a miniscule fraction of the total body of evidence.

Of course they do not constitute irrefutable proof. However, to state there is no evidence suggestive of intelligent extraterrestrial life simply belies the facts. Decades in duration and global in nature, there are too many hard sensor data-points and millions of eyewitnesses to ignore. We certainly can debate the significance of specific data and question whether or not it establishes a causal relationship between the observations and extraterrestrial life. However, it is only through ignorance or pomposity that one can say no evidence exists.”

 

Stanton Friedman, The Case for the Extraterrestrial Origin of Flying Saucers, 1995

“Abstract: Careful review of a vast array of relevant evidence clearly leads to the conclusion that some unidentified flying objects are intelligently controlled vehicles whose origin is outside our solar system. All the arguments against the extraterrestrial origin seem to be based upon false reasoning, misrepresentation of evidence, neglect of relevant information, ignorance of relevant technology, or pseudo sophisticated assumptions about alien appearance, motivation, or government secrecy….

The primary UFO evidence consists of UFO sighting reports, multi-witness close encounters, still and motion pictures, radar trackings, simultaneous radar-visual sightings, physical traces (environmental changes in dirt, vegetation, trees, etc.) produced by UFOs, abductions by aliens of Earthlings, and very likely (in hidden locations) crashed UFOs and preserved alien bodies. The worldwide origin of the various data collections indicate similar experiences occurring and being reported independently all over the planet. The overall quality and quantity of reports is far better than most people—especially open-minded skeptics and scientists and newspaper reporters—are aware….

There is no doubt in my mind, after 37 years of study and investigation that the evidence is overwhelming that planet Earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles whose origin is extraterrestrial. There are no acceptable arguments against flying saucer reality, only people who either haven’t studied the relevant data or have a strong will not to believe that Earth is at the bottom of the heap sociologically and technologically in our local galactic neighborhood.”

Stanton Friedman, nuclear physicist and leading UFO researcher, author of several books and numerous articles on UFOs. 

“The evidence is overwhelming that the Earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles from off the Earth.”

“There are no good arguments to be made against the conclusion that some UFOs are intelligently controlled vehicles from off the Earth.  Some skeptics may be well intentioned, but they are almost always ignorant of the significant scientific data indicating UFO reality.  They read the newspapers but not the solid information.  They are unaware of the myriad landing-trace cases, the multitude of “critter” reports and Earthling abductions, the numerous large-scale scientific collections of data, the many published scientific studies indicating that trips to nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood are already feasible without violating the laws of physics or invoking science fiction techniques.”

 

James McDonald, atmospheric physicist, leading UFO scientist in 1960’s– “UFOs: Extraterrestrial Probes?”

“On the basis of an intensive study of the UFO problem, I believe that the extraterrestrial-origin hypothesis must now be given extremely serious scientific attention….

…After a year of scrutiny of highly unconventional phenomena credibly reported from all parts of this country and [I believe] from most of the entire world, I have been driven to consider possibilities that I'd ordinarily not give a moment's thought to in my own personal brand of orthodoxy. It is the UFO evidence that slowly forces the diligent UFO student to seriously consider the extraterrestrial hypothesis - evidence that I can only describe as extraordinary in its total nature….

All over the globe persons in all walks of life, representing a wide range of educational and cultural backgrounds, are reporting, often in the face of unpleasant ridicule, sightings of objects that appear to be completely real objects yet have characteristics that match nothing about which we have present knowledge….

Hoax, fraud, and fabrication account for a few but, in terms of percentage, negligible numbers of UFO sightings. Misinterpreted meteorological and astronomical observations and the like do account do account for lots of poor UFO reports, but experienced investigators learn to recognize these almost at a glance and dismiss them from further attention…

It is the detailed, close-range sightings by persons whose reliability cannot be brought into serious question that carry great weight.

Pacing of aircraft and buzzing of cars by UFOs go on rather steadily. These cases so strongly suggest something vaguely resembling surveillance or reconnaissance that the student of the problem is forced to weigh the possibility that the UFOs are probes of some type engaged in something we would loosely call "observation."

There are many other categories of sightings suggesting the same tentative hypothesis. How can this be? There is, in my opinion, no sensible alternative to the utterly shocking hypothesis that the UFOs are extraterrestrial probes.

There is, in my opinion, no sensible alternative to the utterly shocking hypothesis that the UFOs are extraterrestrial probes.”

James McDonald, Statement to House Subcommittee , 1968

“I have been studying now for about 2 years, on a rather intensive basis, the UFO problem. I have interviewed several hundred witnesses in selected cases, and I am astonished at what I have found.

From time to time in the history of science, situations have arisen in which a problem of ultimately enormous importance went begging for adequate attention simply because that problem appeared to involve phenomena so far outside the current bounds of scientific knowledge that it was not even regarded as a legitimate subject of serious scientific concern. That is precisely the situation in which the UFO problem now lies. One of the principal results of my own recent intensive study of the UFO enigma is this: I have become convinced that the scientific community, not only in this country but throughout the world, has been casually ignoring as nonsense a matter of extraordinary scientific importance. The attention of your Committee can, and I hope will, aid greatly in correcting this situation. As you will note in the following, my own present opinion, based on two years of careful study, is that UFOs are probably extraterrestrial devices engaged in something that might very tentatively be termed "surveillance."…

If the extraterrestrial hypothesis is proved correct (and I emphasize that the present evidence only points in that direction but cannot be said to constitute irrefutable proof), then clearly UFOs will become a top-priority scientific problem. I believe you might agree that, even if there were a slight chance of the correctness of that hypothesis, the UFOs would demand the most careful attention….

To both laymen and scientists, the impressive progress that science has made towards understanding our total environment prompts doubts that there could be machine-like objects of entirely unconventional nature moving through our atmosphere, hovering over automobiles, power installations, cities, and the like, yet all the while going unnoticed by our body scientific. Such suggestions are hard to take seriously, and I assure you that, until I had taken a close look at the evidence, I did not take them seriously. We have managed to so let our preconceptions block serious consideration of the possibility that some form of alien technology is operating within our midst that we have succeeded in simply ignoring the facts. And we scientists have ignored the pleas of groups like NICAP and APRO, who have for years been stressing the remarkable nature of the UFO evidence. Abroad, science has reacted in precisely this same manner, ignoring as nonsensical the report-material gathered by private groups operating outside the main channels of science. I understand this neglect all too well; I was just one more of those scientists who almost ignored those facts, just one more of those scientists who was rather sure that such a situation nearly could not exist, one more citizen rather sure that official statements must be basically meaningful on the non-existence of any substantial evidence for the reality of UFOs. ….

My own study of the UFO problem has convinced me that we must rapidly escalate serious scientific attention to this extraordinarily intriguing puzzle. ….

I believe that the scientific community has been seriously misinformed for twenty years about the potential importance of UFOs.

The possibility that the Earth might be under surveillance by some high civilization in command of a technology far beyond ours must not be overlooked in weighing the UFO problem. I am one of those who lean strongly towards the extraterrestrial hypothesis. I arrived at that point by a process of elimination of other alternative hypotheses, not by arguments based on what I would call "irrefutable proof." I am convinced that the recurrent observations by reliable citizens here and abroad over the past twenty years cannot be brushed aside as nonsense, but rather need to be taken extremely seriously as evidence that some phenomenon is going on which we simply do not understand.”

 

James McDonald, letter to Mr. U. Thant, Secretray General of the United Nations, June 1967

“I believe that it is necessary to take into very serious account the assumption that these strange objects constitute some sort of extraterrestrial probes. Before I had undertaken a personal study of the problem, I was willing to grant credit to such an assumption. After one year of intensive study, I must still regard it only as an assumption, but I must stress that my research strongly pushes me to admit that this assumption is the only acceptable one as for now if one wants to account for the utterly amazing number of observations at low altitude and short distance which are now recorded in the whole world and which relate to objects that have the appearance of machines.

To the numerous serious investigators of the UFO problem, it appears conceivable that something in the nature of a global surveillance by UFOs has been underway in recent years. If this view is correct, then our present ignorance of the purpose and plan of such surveillance must be urgently replaced by maximal understanding of what is going on… The present ignorance, the present neglect and the present mocking remarks, all constitute regrettable features of our collective attitudes with regard to what can be, for all the people of the world, an affair of utter importance.

-----------------

During twenty years, there was a persisting and intriguing flood of reports, coming from countries located in all the parts of the world, relating to what we finally called the unidentified flying objects (UFOS). In all these reports, whatever their geographical origin, the nature of the reported objects appears to be primarily similar.

During the last twelve months spent, I pursued an intensive examination of the scientific aspects of the UFO problem, dealing with reports originating within the limits of the United States. After I interviewed the key witnesses to dozen important cases distributed over the whole 1947-1967 period; after having studied, with personal of the U.S. Air Force, official methods of investigation; and after having personally checked a great number of other sources of information, I concluded that, far from being a stupid problem, the problem of the UFOS is a problem of an extraordinary scientific interest.

My own studies led me to reject the opinion according to which they are only natural atmospheric phenomena or misinterpreted astronomical phenomena; in this respect a number of official explanations are almost absurdly erroneous. It is not possible anymore to explain all these observations with assumptions calling upon the products of a technology of avant-garde or experimental secret craft, with assumptions of mystification, fraud or trickery, or with psychological assumptions. Each one of these assumptions intervenes indeed in a great number of cases, but there still remains an astonishing number of other reports, submitted by observers highly worthy of faith during the two last decades, which cannot receive such a satisfactory explanation. I believe that this vast residue of reports, which amounts now to hundreds and perhaps thousands of cases, requires the attention of the most eminent scientists of the world.

It is my present opinion, based on what I believe to be a sufficient scientific examination of excluding mutually assumptions, that the most probable assumption to account for the phenomenon of the UFOS is that these are a certain type of monitoring space probes, of extraterrestrial origin.”

James McDonald, “Are UFOs Extraterrestrial Surveillance Craft?”, talk give at American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1968. / Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“If there were even a slim possibility that the Earth were under extraterrestrial surveillance in any form, that would be a matter of the greatest scientific importance, warranting the most rigorours investigation.  In fact, the evidence that seems to point to the conclusion that UFOs could be such devices is far from negligible; yet because of the history fo the official and scientific response to the earlier UFO reports, we continue to see mainly neglect or ridicule on this intriguing question.

After examining around a thousand UFO reports and directly interviewing several hundred witnesses in selected UFO cases of outstanding interest, and after weighing alternative hypotheses, I find myself driven steadily further toward the position that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is, of course, not original with me; it has been urged for many years by persons knowledgeable with respect to the UFO problem, who spoke from outside scientific circles.   Our collective failure to examine scientific aspects of the UFO problem will, I fear, be held against the scientific community when the full dimensions of the UFO evidence come to be recognized.

The type of UFO reports that are most intriguing, and point most directly to an extraterrestrial hypothesis, are close-range sightings of machine-like objects of unconventional nature and unconventional performance characteristics, seen at low altitudes, and sometimes even on the ground.  The general public is entirely unaware of the large number of such reports that are coming from credible witnesses because ridicule and scoffing have made most witnesses reluctant to report openly such unusual incidents.  When one starts searching for such cases, their numbers are quite astonishing.  Also, such sightings appear to be occurring all over the globe.

The sooner we take a serious new stance and confront the UFO question with adequate scientific talent and staffing, the less embarrassing will be the ultimate admission that we have been overlooking a problem of potentially enormous scientific importance to humanity.”

 

Dr. Margaret Mead, world-renowned anthropologist, "UFOs - Visitors from Outer Space?,"

"There are unidentified flying objects. That is, there are a hard core of cases - perhaps 20 to 30 percent in different studies - for which there is no explanation... We can only imagine what purpose lies behind the activities of these quiet, harmlessly cruising objects that time and again approach the earth. The most likely explanation, it seems to me, is that they are simply watching what we are up to." (Mead, Margaret, "UFOs - Visitors from Outer Space?," Redbook, vol. 143, September 1974.) 

 

Leslie Kean, journalist, UFO researcher, “Science and the Failure To Investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”

“Unidentified aerial phenomena, otherwise known as UFOs, are real, not the stuff of science fiction. Something for which there is no scientific explanation has been observed in America’s (and the world’s) air space for over fifty-five years. Trained observers -- pilots, air traffic controllers, radar operators, astronauts, military personnel -- and government agencies have reported and documented spectacular events visually, photographically, and on radar. Many accounts are available in the literature.”

Lord Hill-Norton, Chief of Defense Staff, Ministry of Defense, Great Britain (1971-73);

”The evidence that there are objects which have been seen in our atmosphere, and even on terra firma, that cannot be accounted for either as man-made objects or as any physical force or effect known to our scientists seems to me to be overwhelming…  A very large number of sightings have been vouched for by persons whose credentials seem to me unimpeachable.  It is striking that so many have been trained observers, such as police officers and airline or military pilots.  Their observations have in many instances—though by no menas a majority—been supported by technical means such as radar or, even more convincingly, by visible evidence of the condition of the observers or –and this is common to many events---interference with electrical apparatus of one sort or another….  It is difficult to credit that they have all been either lying or hallucinating.

From the earliest days of the modern outbreak of sightings some forty years ago, there is a quite remarkable similarity between the descriptions given by observers of the flying vehicles.  It is the more remarkable that there have been tens of thousands of these reports, from observers who range from illiterate peasants in Argentina and Spain to people with Ph.D.s in other countries and they have all been given spontaneously—which has led to the generic term “flying saucer.”  It must be more than a coincidence….

“There have been thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of sightings and encounters, physical results and of the latter, by people all over the world whose evidence on any other subject would be accepted without question.  There have been major investigations lasting thirty or forty years by the governments of the USA, Russia and France, for certain, and probably Britain and other countries.   At the end of it all—today—we have no hard official information to weigh against some hundreds of books on the subject by private individuals or groups of individuals.”

 

Don Berliner, UFO researcher, author, FUFOR (Fund for UFO Research), “Is There a Case for UFO’s?”

”If every UFO report could be convincingly credited to some conventional astronomical or atmospheric phenomenon, there would be no UFO mystery. It is precisely because so many UFO reports cannot logically be blamed on stars, planets, satellites, airplanes, balloons, etc., that a UFO mystery has existed since at least the mid-1940s.

The most convincing UFO reports were produced in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s by airline pilots, military pilots and ex-military pilots. These men had the training and the experience to be able to distinguish between normal sky sights and highly abnormal sights. They knew what airplanes looked like, and what meteors looked like, having seen them many times. Their visual observations were frequently supported by radar data which showed essentially the same thing. They were therefore able, on many occasions, to methodically eliminate conventional phenomena from consideration when trying to identify UFOs.

In those same decades, most UFO sightings were made in the daytime and frequently at close range, when shapes and surface features could be distinguished, thus making positive identification of normal sights easier and the descriptions of unusual sights more detailed. When all normal explanations had been eliminated, the witnesses could concentrate on those aspects of the experience which were most abnormal.

These abnormal aspects included the shapes of UFOs and their behavior. Most of the UFOs seen in the daytime were said to have had simple geometric shapes--discs, ovals, spheres, cylinders--and surfaces that looked like metal. Such shapes are not only nonexistent among known aircraft, but contrary to all known theories of flight, in most cases offering control and performance disadvantages rather than advantages.

Even more unusual were the specifics of their flight performance: silent hovering, silent high-speed flight, extreme acceleration, supersonic flight at low altitude without sonic booms, and violent, very high-g maneuvers. The actions of many UFOs have suggested that they fly independently of the air and even of the force of gravity. The accomplishment of these maneuvers has been among the major goals of the world's aerospace industry for decades.

On the basis of their appearance, behavior and frequent well-kept, tight formation flights, we must face the possibility that some UFOs may be manufactured, high-tech vehicles….

At first glance, the idea that some UFOs may be vehicles from outside the Earth seems utterly preposterous, the baseless result of wishful thinking by highly unscientific minds.

When authoritative reports of radical-design craft having spectacular performance are viewed in the light of a stream of astrobiological discoveries, the possibility that some UFOs are alien does not seem quite so farfetched. Serious-minded scientists in astronomy and other disciplines estimate there could be billions of planets in the universe, and millions that could harbor life. If even a few of those planets were occupied by technological civilizations, their ability (if not desire) to explore other worlds, such as ours, must be a possibility.

Hundreds of thousands of UFO sightings have been made by persons in all walks of life, in all parts of the world. Tens of thousands of UFO reports have been made to governmental and private agencies in the past 55+ years. Thousands of these reports have withstood careful scrutiny and appear to represent real objects having a novel nature.

Patterns of these UFOs' appearance and behavior suggest a limited range of sizes and shapes of unidentified craft, despite the often-desperate efforts on the part of the American and other governments to discount them as nothing more substantial than mistakes made by naïve individuals. Their performance, observed repeatedly by expert witnesses, remains as far off the scale today as it was in the 1940s.

If even one of these unidentified UFOs turns out to be an alien craft, the impact on all aspects of our nation's culture--economic, political, personal--will be limited only by what is learned from an open, serious, objective study of the subject.”

Don Berliner, “What UFOs Are and Are Not”

“For more than 50 years, men and women around the world have reported sights in the sky that are strange to their experience and understanding. Inasmuch as many of these sights appeared to be solid objects having impressive performance, they have become known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) or, colloquially, flying saucers. Their positive identification is one of the major public/scientific challenges of the era, with a significant number of these sights so far defying all reasonable efforts at classification.”

Francis Ridge, UFO researcher, site coordinator, NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena)

“The  following is what makes UFOlogy worth pursuing and is not intended for the close-minded.  We already have:

1) Millions of sightings worldwide and a hundred-thousand-plus sightings are on computer (UFOCAT).

2) 3,000-plus sightings from aircraft (Dr. Richard Haines).
 

3) 489 radar cases, many radar/visual (Dominique Weinstein); 363 radar cases, 76 as R/V (USAF  records alone).
 

4) 5600 trace cases documented, 4104 involving UFO visual sightings (CUFOS).
 

5) Over 500 cases of E-M effects associated with UFO sightings (CUFOS) and 185 E-M cases documented involving UFOs near aircraft (Dr. Richard Haines).
 

6) Hundreds, if not thousands, of excellent close encounters by credible obswervers whose testimony in court would be taken at face value.
 

7) About 4,000 (701 originally) UNKNOWNS listed in Project Blue Book files.”

Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, Professor of Space Science and Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the Center for Space Sciences and Astrophysics at Stanford University (Survey of American Astronomical Society)

"The definitive resolution of the UFO enigma will not come about unless and until the problem is subjected to open and extensive scientific study by the normal procedures of established science.

“In their public statements (but not necessarily in their private statements), scientists express a generally negative attitude towards the UFO problem, and it is interesting to try to understand this attitude. Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon.”

Report on a Survey of the Membership of the American Astronomical Society Concerning the UFO Phenomenon

“To judge from this survey of the membership of the American Astronomical Society, it appears that: (a) scientists have thoughts and views but no answers concerning the UFO problem; (b) Although there is no consensus, more scientists are of the opinion that the problem certainly or probably deserves scientific study than are of the opinion that it certainly or probably does not; and (c) a small fraction (of order 5%) are likely to report varied and puzzling observations, not unlike so-called "UFO reports" made by the general public. As is the case with reports from the public, many may be unusual observations of familiar objects, but some seem to be definitely strange.

These results are consistent with the findings of an earlier but more limited survey of members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Sturrock, 1974b).

Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, first Director of the CIA (1947-50), NICAP board member

"Unknown objects are operating under intelligent control... It is imperative that we learn where UFOs come from and what their purpose is... " (Maccabee, Bruce, "What The Admiral Knew: UFO, MJ-12 and R. Hillenkoetter," International UFO Reporter, Nov./Dec., 1986.)

"It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense." (Statement in a NICAP news release, February 27, 1960.) 

President Harry S. Truman

"I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth." (April 4, 1950, White House Press Conference.) 

President Gerald Ford, 1966:

" I have taken special interest in these accounts [of UFOs].. I think there may be substance to some of these reports…  I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject." (Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, Eighty-Ninth Congress, Second Session, Hearing on Unidentified Flying Objects, April 5, 1966.)  

President Jimmy Carter, during his election campaign in May 1976:

" I am convinced that UFOs exist because I've seen one... " (The National Enquirer, June 8, 1976, "The Night I Saw a UFO." Statement confirmed by White House special assistant media liaison, Jim Purks, in an April 20, 1979 letter.) 

In October of '69, Jimmy Carter witnessed a UFO.  From "Above Top Secret" (book): During his election campaign of 1976 he told the following to reporters:

"It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon.. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure, I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky.”

Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, made the following comment to the press in 1954:

"More than 10,000 sightings have been reported, the majority of which cannot be accounted for by any 'scientific' explanation... I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on earth. I can therefore see no alternative to accepting the theory that they come from some extraterrestrial source." (Sunday Dispatch, London, July 11, 1954.) 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics UFO Subcommittee.

"From a scientific and engineering standpoint, it is unacceptable to simply ignore substantial numbers of unexplained observations...

AIAA Committee Looks at UFO Problem, AIAA UFO Subcommittee, Astronautics and Aeronautics, December 1968, p. 12

“The Committee has made a careful examination of the present state of the UFO issue and has concluded that the controversy cannot be resolved without further study in a quantitative scientific manner and that it deserves the attention of the engineering and scientific community.”

Dr. Jacques Vallee, Astrophysicist, leading UFO researcher, author

"Skeptics, who flatly deny the existence of any unexplained phenomenon in the name of 'rationalism,' are among the primary contributors to the rejection of science by the public. People are not stupid and they know very well when they have seen something out of the ordinary. When a so-called expert tells them the object must have been the moon or a mirage, he is really teaching the public that science is impotent or unwilling to pursue the study of the unknown." (Vallee, J., Confrontations, New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.)

Jacques and Janine Vallee, from the introduction to ‘Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma’, 1966

…The fact that since 1946 numerous persons in all countries have made detailed reports of events they regard as strange, mysterious, sometimes even terrifying, deserves attention.  While many of the reports can be traced to natural events, we intend to demonstrate that, after the inevitable errors and the obvious hoaxes are eliminated, the reports reveal common characterstics, possess a high degree of internal coherence, and appear to be the result of the witnesses’ exposure to a set of unusual circumstances.

John E. Mack, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize winning author

"I will stress once again that we do not know the source from which the UFOs or the alien beings come (whether or not, for example, they originate in the physical universe as modern astrophysics has described it). But they manifest in the physical world and bring about definable consequences in that domain." (Mack, J., Abduction - Human Encounters With Aliens, New York: Scribners, 1994.) 

J. Allen Hynek, leading UFO scientist, from the foreword to Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, J. & J. Vallee,1966

“Over the past eighteen years I have acted as a scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force on the subject of unidentified flying objects – UFO’s.  As a consequence of my work on the voluminous air force files and, to a greater extent, of personal investigation of many puzzling cases and interviews with witnesses of good repute, I have long been aware that the subject of UFO’s could not be dismissed as mere nonsense.”

Bruce Maccabee, optical physicist, UFO researcher/scientist, “Still in Default”( Proceedings of the 1986 MUFON International Symposium)

“For nearly 40 [more than 50] years, the science establishment has ignored the UFO problem, relegating it to the domain of “true believers and mental imcompetents” (a.k.a. "kooks and nuts" [according to the former editor of Applied Optics magazine]). Scientists have participated in a "self-cover-up" by refusing to look at the credible and well-reported data.  Furthermore, some
of those few scientists who have studied UFO data have published explanations which are unconvincing or just plain wrong and have "gotten away with it" because most of the rest of the scientific community has not cared enough to analyze these explanations.  The general rejection of the scientific validity of  UFO sightings has made it difficult to publish analyses of good sightings [in refereed journals of establishment science].”

Professor Hermann Oberth, German rocket expert

"It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our earth for centuries.”  (Oberth H., "Flying Saucers Come From A Distant World," The American Weekly, October 24, 1954.)

"It is my conclusion that UFOs do exist, are very real, and are spaceships from another or more than one solar system. They are possibly manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race carrying out long-range scientific investigations of our earth for centuries." (UFO News, 1974.) 

Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, Pioneer of psychiatry, 1954

"A purely psychological explanation is ruled out... the discs show signs of intelligent guidance, by quasi-human pilots..." ("Dr. Carl Jung on Unidentified Flying Objects," Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1955.)

Gordon Cooper, Astronaut (Mercury), November 9, 1978:

"I believe that these extra-terrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here on earth.”

“Every day, in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition unknown to us. And there are thousands of witness reports and a quantity of documents to prove this.”

General Nathan D. Twining, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1957-1960).

“The phenomena reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious”

James MacDonald’s, oral statement to House Committee on Science and Astronautics at July 29, 1968:

I have been studying now for about 2 years, on a rather intensive basis, the UFO problem. I have interviewed several hundred witnesses in selected cases, and I am astonished at what I have found.

Walter Andrus, Jr., former International Director MUFON (Mutual UFO Network, the largest civilian UFO organization in the U.S.), 1970-2000. (Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“After personally interviewing several hundred witnesses to UFO sightings, reviewing the 1,600 UFO landing-trace cases compiled by Ted Phillips, and reading the 1,800 humanoid or entity cases collected by Ted Bloecher, my initial conclusion is that our Earth is being visited by entities from an advanced intelligence in their spacecraft conducting a surveillance of life on this planet.”

Jerome Clark, CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies) (Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“After a lifetime in this subject, I have concluded that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is one reasonable tentative approach to putting the best-documented and most puzzling UFO reports into a scientifically defensible conceptual framework.  By such reports I mean those with credible multiple or independent witnesses, instrumented observations, and physical evidence.”

Peter Davenport, Director, NUFORC (National UFO Reporting Center) (Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“The proponents [of UFOs] offer up impressive quantities of principally eyewitness data, which although largely subjective and circumstantial in nature, is nevertheless quite intriguing…. Many of the high-quality sighting reports involve certain objective aspects, which, to an open-minded bystander, are quite impressive.

As a full-time, and serious-minded, UFO investigator, I strongly side with the proponents.  It seems indisputable that the phenomenon is real, and that it falls outside the scope of “normal” human experience.

Strong evidence suggests that we are dealing with a phenomenon that is being caused by palpable, solid objects whose characteristics are not of human design, and whose behavior is suggestive of intelligent control.”

Scott Corrales, leading UFO researcher in Latin America, editor of the journal ‘Inexplicata’ (on UFO reports in Latin America) (Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“The UFO phenomenon is undoubtedly real and represents one of humanity’s greatest concerns, yet one that it has steadily chosen to ignore over the years, largely out of complacency.”

George Fawcett, UFO researcher (Ronald Story, Encyclopedia)

“It has been my firm belief, based on my research and investigations over the past half century, that UFOs and their occupants, which I have named “UFOnauts,” are both real.  These non-human occupants and their craft continue to be a part of an ever-growing global enigma.

I have found there are real objects under in intelligent control being seen on the ground and in our skies worldwire.  The unknowns have varied over the decades from 22 percent in my own civilian files, 30 percent in the University of Colorda Condon Committee scientific studies, to at least 40 percent (recently revised) found in the U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book military investigations.  This is not acceptable, no matter who is doing the investigations.

The fact that the UFOs and UFOnauts use advanced scientific devices and extraordinary powers (reported by many trained and highly qualified witnesses as psychich experiences) indicates a highly developed intelligence and scientific technology at work continues to give confirmation to my position.  UFOs continue to represent a challenge to science, religion, and society.”

Raymond Fowler, veteran UFO researcher, author of eight books on UFOs (Ronald Story)

“After years of study and personal on-site investigation of UFO reports, I am certain that there is more than ample high-quality observational evidence from highly trained and reliable lay witnesses to indicate that there are unidentified machine-like objects under intelligent control operating in our atmosphere.  Such evidence in some cases is supported by anomalous physical effects upon the witnesses, electrical devices, and the environment, as well as by instrumentation such as radar and Geiger counters.”

Stanton Friedman, nuclear physicist and leading UFO researcher, author of several books and numerous articles on UFOs. 

“The evidence is overwhelming that the Earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles from off the Earth.”

“There are no good arguments to be made against the conclusion that some UFOs are intelligently controlled vehicles from off the Earth.  Some skeptics may be well intentioned, but they are almost always ignorant of the significant scientific data indicating UFO reality.  They read the newspapers but not the solid information.  They are unaware of the myriad landing-trace cases, the multitude of “critter” reports and Earthling abductions, the numerous large-scale scientific collections of data, the many published scientific studies indicating that trips to nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood are already feasible without violating the laws of physics or invoking science fiction techniques.”

Richard Haines, NASA scientist, UFO researcher, author of several books on UFOs, expert on pilot UFO sightings

“Although I do not yet have enough reliable information concerning the relevant characteristics of the UFO phenomenon with which to form a scientific judgment of its “core” identity, I do believe that the phenomenon is objectively real; i.e., I believe that the many thousands of eyewitnesses around the world are experiencing UFO phenomenon in a manner very similar to the way any other human with normal sensory capabilities would perceive it if they happened to be present.”

Richard Hall, veteran UFO researcher, author of “UFO Evidence” and other books.

“Among the hundreds of so-called “UFO reports” each year, a sizable fraction of those clearly observed by reputable witnesses remain unexplained—and difficult to explain in conventional terms.  There is a modicum of physical evidence, radar cases, residual effects, and some films—and photographs in support of the unexplained cases.  Collectively, these cases constitute a genuine scientific mystery, badly in need of well-supported, systematic investigation.”

Michael Hesemann, one of Europe’s leading UFO researchers

“After investigating the UFO phenomenon all over the world, after studying thousands of pages of released government documents, and interviewing eyewitnesses and insiders, including generals, intelligence officers, cosmonauts and astronauts, military and commercial pilots, I do not have the shadow of a doubt anymore that we are indeed visited by extraterrestrial intelligences.  The evidence just does not allow another conclusion.”

We have to learn to deal with this situation and prepare for contact.  Studying the behavior pattern of the phenomenon, I came to the conclusion that they are neither friend nor foe, but study our planet and civilization from a mainly scientific perspective.  They are as curious to learn more about us, as we would love to study other human and humanoid civilizations…

A contact with an extraterrestrial civilization is the greatest challenge for mankind in the Third Millennium.  We would finally realize that we are indeed not alone, what could cause a new Copernican revolution, a quantum leap in our thinking and perspective.  We would finally realize that we are one mankind and all the small differences which separate humans from each other today—nationality, race, religion—would disappear.  Only together can mankind explore the universe, our true home and destiny.

Morris Jessup, author of several pioneering books on the UFO phenomenon in the 1950s.

“There is an overwhelming mass of authentic evidence which can be cited as: (1) direct observation, (2) indirect observation, and (3) supporting evidence or indication….

Reliable people have been seeing the phenomenon known as flying saucers for a thousand years and more.  There are good reports as far back as 1500 B.C. and before.  Thousands of people have seen some kind of navigable contraptions in the sky, and some have sworn it under oath. 

I cannot agree with any astronomer who insists that all of these things are mirages, planets, clouds, or illusions.  The majority of the people are articulate enough to tell their stories and sincere enough to make depositions before notaries public.  Even scientists concede that these folk saw something.”

Donald Keyhoe, former director of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon – one of the 2 leading UFO organizations in the 1950’s and 1960’s), author of several bestselling books on UFOs

“During my long investigation of these strange objects, I have seen many reports verified by Air Force Intelligence, detailed accounts by Air Force pilots, radar operators, and other trained observers proving the UFOs are high-speed craft superior to anything built on Earth.”

Coral Lorenzen, founder of APRO, author

“The most popular theory as to their identity and origin is the extraterrestrial hypothesis, and in view of the evidence currently available, it seems to be the most sensible.

Thos individuals (generally scientists) who dismiss the UFO problem without examining the data are very remiss.  One has only to see the distress and wonderment of a UFO witness to realize that something is afoot on this globe we call Earth.

There are probably several races of intelligent beings in our galaxy alone who have solved the problem of propulsion which would make visitation to this planet very possible.  Man does not like to accept this possibility because his ego gets in the way of his reason.

However, the thousands of reports of UFOs in the sky, on the ground, and accompanied by humanoid but alien-appearing occupants, indicate that a careful, methodical, and in-depth study of the Earth and its inhabitants is under way.”

Jim Lorenzen, founder and director, APRO, author

“At present, utilizing the principal of parsimony, my ‘investigative assumption’ is still (as it has been since 1952) that we are dealing with extraterrestrial visitations as the central core of the problem.”

Bruce Maccabee, optical physicist, UFO researcher, author

“From my studies of old and recent reports, and from direct involvement with several UFO investigations, I have become convinced that there is something real and new behind the UFO phenomenon.”

Nick Pope, official government researcher on UFOs for British Ministry of Defense, author

“On the basis of my offical research and investigation into UFO sightings and reports of alien contact, I am personally convinced that intelligent extraterrestrial are visiting Earth.  I say this on the basis of the data available to me at the Ministry of Defense, both in terms of the historic records and the several hundred new cases that I investigated each year.

…There was a hard core of cases that defied any conventional explanation and involved craft capable of speeds and maneuvers beyond the capabilities of our own technology.  I was particularly interested in UFO sightings that could be correlated by radar and in reports where the witnesses were military personnel; such cases were directly responsible for my gradual conversion from skeptic to believer.”

John Schuessler, director MUFON (Mutual UFO Network, largest UFO organization in U.S.)

“After years of amassing information about Unconventional Flying Objects (UFOs) I have come to the conclusion that we are dealing with a very complex mystery on an international scale.”