Program · 7 October 1966 – 31 October 1968 · University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
Condon Committee (University of Colorado UFO Project)
Also known as Condon Committee, Condon study, Colorado project, University of Colorado UFO Project, Colorado UFO study, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects project
The University of Colorado's UFO project, known after its scientific director, the physicist Edward U. Condon, was the U.S. Air Force's attempt, after the 1966 Michigan sightings and congressional hearing, to have its UFO files and new reports examined by independent scientists. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research contracted the university in the autumn of 1966, acting on the O'Brien committee's recommendation of university teams; work began that October and the final report, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, went to the Secretary of the Air Force on 31 October 1968.
The study ran field investigations of new reports, laboratory and photographic analyses and case studies of 59 reports, including older cases such as Lakenheath–Bentwaters (1956). It found most reports explainable, left some unexplained, and concluded that further extensive study was unlikely to advance science and that Blue Book need not continue; a National Academy of Sciences panel endorsed it in January 1969, and the Air Force closed Blue Book that December.
It was contested from inside and out. In February 1968 two of its scientists, David Saunders and Norman Levine, were dismissed; that spring Look magazine called the project a "flying saucer fiasco", NICAP broke with it and read out a memo attributed to its coordinator Robert Low about presenting the project as objective while expecting to find nothing, and Rep. J. Edward Roush questioned its objectivity on the House floor. Condon denied the charges. The often-repeated figure that about 30% of its cases stayed unexplained is not used here: it could not be checked against the report's case texts.
Sources: Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (1968), Preface and Sections I–II (NCAS transcription) · Hearing record, 5 April 1966 · Symposium record, 29 July 1968 · Washington Evening Star and New York Times, 1 May 1968 (transcriptions) · NAS review (1969) · Bolender memo (1969) · AARO Historical Record Report, Vol. 1 (2024)
Facts and claims
- documented The report traces the project to the March 1966 report of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board's ad hoc committee under Brian O'Brien, which recommended that “Contracts be negotiated with a few selected universities to provide scientific teams to investigate promptly and in depth certain selected sightings of UFO's.” The Air Force Office of Scientific Research chose a single university, Colorado. Source: files.ncas.org (archived)
- documented At the April 1966 House Armed Services hearing J. Allen Hynek said the Air Force's data “deserves close scrutiny by a civilian panel of physical and social scientists”, to determine “whether a major problem really exists”. — J. Allen Hynek Source: doc-transcript-1966-04-05.pdf
- documented The first research contract provided $313,000 for the 15 months from 1 November 1966 to 31 January 1968 and was announced on 7 October 1966. It provided that “the planning, direction and conclusions of the Colorado project were to be conducted wholly independently of the Air Force”, and the Air Force was to give the project its records. Source: files.ncas.org (archived)
- documented Edward U. Condon was scientific director, with the psychologist Stuart Cook and the physicist Franklin E. Roach as principal investigators and Assistant Dean Robert J. Low of the Graduate School as project coordinator. The National Academy of Sciences agreed in October 1966 to review the study on completion. Source: files.ncas.org (archived)
- documented AARO's 2024 historical review describes it as an 18-month study under a $325,000 USAF contract that closely examined 59 case studies and took a narrow view, focused on whether UFOs merited scientific research; its remit did not include national-security risk. Source: AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1
- claimed The Washington Evening Star reported on 1 May 1968 that NICAP's Donald Keyhoe, announcing the day before that NICAP had broken with the project, read portions of a memo “allegedly” from Robert Low to the university's vice president Thurston Manning: “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 non-believers trying their best to be objective but having an almost zero expectation of finding a saucer...” Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org (archived)
- claimed The New York Times reported on 1 May 1968 that John G. Fuller's Look article, which called the project the “flying saucer fiasco”, concerned primarily the ousting of the psychologist David R. Saunders and the electrical engineer Norman E. Levine from the project in February 1968; Condon said the dismissals were “for cause” and that the article contained “falsehoods and misrepresentations.” Source: project1947.com (archived)
- claimed On the House floor on 30 April 1968 Rep. J. Edward Roush said grave doubts had arisen “as to the scientific profundity and objectivity of the Colorado project”, and that Congress should take over the investigation from the Air Force, the New York Times reported. — J. Edward Roush Source: project1947.com (archived)
- claimed At the July 1968 House symposium, asked whether anything more should be done after the Air Force and University of Colorado study, James E. McDonald answered “Emphatically, yes”, calling for independent programs at NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research; Roush said the symposium was not the place to discuss the Colorado project. — James E. McDonald Source: doc-transcript-1968-07-29.pdf
- documented Condon's conclusions state: “Our general conclusion is that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge.” They add that the study knew of no reason to question the Air Force's finding that UFO reports do not pose a defense problem, and that the defense function could be performed “without the continuance of a special unit such as Project Blue Book”. Source: files.ncas.org (archived)
- documented The Bolender memo of 20 October 1969 cites the Colorado study and the National Academy of Sciences review in concluding that continuing Project Blue Book “cannot be justified, either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science”. Source: Bolender memo
- documented Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans Jr. announced Project Blue Book's termination on 17 December 1969. Source: AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1
Connected files
People
- Edward U. Condon (directed by)
- J. Allen Hynek (statements by)
- J. Edward Roush (statements by)
- James E. McDonald (statements by)
Organizations
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (funded by) — U.S. Air Force contract F44620-67-C-0035, placed by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Hearings & briefings
- House Armed Services Committee hearing on Unidentified Flying Objects (prompted by) — Hynek urged “a civilian panel of physical and social scientists”; the hearing record includes the O'Brien committee report that recommended university teams
- House Science and Astronautics Committee — Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects (discussed at) — Held while the study was under way; Roush ruled the project itself off the symposium's agenda
Documents
- Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (Condon Report, 1968) (documented in)
- Review of the University of Colorado Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by a Panel of the National Academy of Sciences (1969) (reviewed by)
Programs
- Project Blue Book (led to) — The Bolender memo cites its report and the NAS review in recommending Blue Book's end; the Air Force closed it in December 1969
Mentioned in this file
- Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual incident (Incident)
- AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1 (Document)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)
Mentioned in documents and records
- The Hynek UFO Report
- UFO's: A Scientific Debate
- UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Cover-up, 1941–1973
- Bolender memo
- Hearing transcript: Unidentified Flying Objects — House Armed Services Committee (April 5, 1966)
- Deception Island, Antarctica: lights seen from Argentine, Chilean and British bases
- Falcon Lake: Stefan Michalak's reported landing and burns (Manitoba, 1967)
- RB-47 shadowed by a light and a radar source over the southern U.S. (17 July 1957)
- RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge