Hearing / briefing · 5 April 1966 · U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. (House side)
House Armed Services Committee hearing on Unidentified Flying Objects
The first open congressional hearing on UFOs: a one-day session of the House Armed Services Committee on 5 April 1966, chaired by L. Mendel Rivers. It was prompted by the March 1966 Michigan sightings, which the Air Force consultant J. Allen Hynek had partly put down to "swamp gas", and by House Minority Leader Gerald Ford's call for an investigation.
The witnesses were Air Force Secretary Harold Brown, Project Blue Book chief Maj. Hector Quintanilla and Hynek, who urged a serious civilian scientific study. The record includes the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board's review of Blue Book, by a committee chaired by Brian O'Brien with Carl Sagan as a member, which recommended contracting university teams to investigate sightings.
The hearing led to the Air Force's contract with the University of Colorado, the Condon study (1966–1968), whose report was later used to justify closing Blue Book. The full printed record is filed here.
Sources: House Armed Services hearing record (1966)
Facts and claims
- documented The first open congressional hearing on UFOs. It was a one-day session of the House Armed Services Committee, prompted by the March 1966 Michigan sightings and by House Minority Leader Gerald Ford’s call for hearings. Source: doc-transcript-1966-04-05.pdf
- documented Witnesses were Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown, Project Blue Book chief Maj. Hector Quintanilla and Blue Book scientific consultant Dr. J. Allen Hynek. Hynek urged a serious civilian scientific study. Source: doc-transcript-1966-04-05.pdf
- documented The hearing record includes the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board's ad hoc committee report (O'Brien committee), which recommended contracting university scientific teams to investigate selected sightings in depth. Source: doc-transcript-1966-04-05.pdf
- documented The Air Force Office of Scientific Research then contracted the University of Colorado for an independent study directed by Edward U. Condon; the 1969 Bolender memo cites its report in concluding that Blue Book could not be justified on national-security or scientific grounds. Source: Bolender memo
- documented The session was not broadcast: the House had barred television and radio coverage of its committee hearings since 2 February 1952 (Speaker Sam Rayburn's ruling), until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 permitted committees to broadcast public hearings. What survives on film is news footage of Hynek and Air Force Secretary Harold Brown speaking to reporters afterwards. Source: history.house.gov (archived)
Key moments: April 5th House Armed Services Hearing on UFOs (1966 news footage)
- 0:36 J. Allen Hynek: Project Blue Book's scientific consultant J. Allen Hynek, after the hearing: “none of the evidence that I have examined would indicate any proof at all” that we are being visited.
- 0:50 J. Allen Hynek: Hynek says he picked some 20 unexplained Blue Book cases with “possible scientific pay dirt” and recommends a quiet scientific look at the data, “without fanfare”, keeping an open mind.
Key moments: Hynek and Air Force Secretary Harold Brown at a press conference (1966 news footage)
- 0:18 J. Allen Hynek: Hynek, Project Blue Book's scientific consultant: “None of the evidence that I have examined would indicate any proof at all that we are being visited by extraterrestrials.”
- 0:30 Harold Brown: Air Force Secretary Harold Brown, asked what the Air Force is hiding: “We have not been hiding anything; the investigations have been made public… the hearing this morning was public for just that reason.”
Connected files
Documents
- Hearing transcript: Unidentified Flying Objects — House Armed Services Committee (April 5, 1966) (transcript)
People
- L. Mendel Rivers (chaired by)
- Gerald Ford (prompted by) — Held after the March 1966 Michigan sightings and Minority Leader Gerald Ford's call for hearings
- Harold Brown (testified at)
- Hector Quintanilla (testified at)
- J. Allen Hynek (testified at)
Programs
- Project Blue Book (examined) — Blue Book's chief testified; the hearing led to the Condon study, later used to justify closing Blue Book
Videos
- CBS Reports: “UFO: Friend, Foe or Fantasy?” (Walter Cronkite, 10 May 1966) (discussed in)
- Gerald Ford calls for a congressional UFO inquiry (1966 news footage) (followed from) — The hearing was prompted by the March 1966 Michigan sightings and by House Minority Leader Gerald Ford’s call for hearings
- April 5th House Armed Services Hearing on UFOs (1966 news footage) (recordings)
- Christopher Mellon on the Joe Rogan Experience (clip, 2021) (discussed in)
- Hynek and Air Force Secretary Harold Brown at a press conference (1966 news footage) (recordings)
Mentioned in this file
- Carl Sagan (Person)
More hearings & briefings
- House Science and Astronautics Committee — Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection
- Congressional briefing: Understanding UAP — Science, National Security & Innovation
- Senate Armed Services Subcommittee hearing with AARO Director
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth
- UAP: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency