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meeting of the space committee of the Senate pondered the question first and decided quickly that NASA should not get involved. The space agency had its public image to preserve and declined to have anything to do with the subject. So they handed this hot potato to the armed forces committee of the House. Early in April 1966, the Secretary of the Air Force was reported to be in favor of a scientific analysis of the 648 cases classified as "unidentified" at that time in the Blue Book files. Late that month, the governor of Florida and several reporters saw an unknown flying object from the governor's private plane. These reports created a stir, but the outrage over the Michigan incident had already subsided. It was almost two months old and no longer newsworthy. An official coverup was falling back into place. A television documentary carried the debunking of the subject to new heights: it showed Harvard astronomer Donald Menzel pouring some benzine over a tankful of acetone to demonstrate optical properties that were common knowledge since the eighteenth century. He was trying to convince the audience that UFOs were nothing but mirages. "Let me know next time it rains benzine, will you?" I asked my wife. "We'll go out and watch the flying saucers!" Menzel's number was followed by a classical interview with a "contactee" who was relied upon to provide comic relief by describing his meetings with the "space brothers." His edited statements seemed to be carefully chosen to make him look as crazy as possible. In contrast with this man, the next interview was an impressive discussion with another astronomer who stated with authority that extraterrestrial visitations were extremely improbable. The documentary also contained an interview with a military officer who stated that no UFOs were ever detected on radar screens and an interview with an astronomer who declared that no UFOs were ever seen or photographed by waa Wee a tt Laat satellite tracking stations. Both statements were outright lies. It is true that radar never "sees" UFOs, but that is only because military operators call them something else! In their jargon they speak of UCTs, "uncorrelated targets." At the time the documentary was shown, the Western Defense System was recording about seven hundred of these baffling UCTs per month! There had even been a suggestion by a highly respected astronomer that the military modify their computer program to gather information about these UCTs rather than ignoring them because they didn't fit the trajectory of incoming missilies. The suggestion was not implemented. Why are scientists remaining silent? Many astronomers must know what I knew from my days at Paris Observatory, namely that we were tracking unidentified objects and even photographing them. Were professional scientists afraid of the emotional reaction their statements might trigger in a generally uninformed and credulous public? Or were they simply afraid of losing their reputations? Whatever the reason, it could not justify the deliberate destruction of scientific data. Even the idea of not saying anything that might cause fear did not hold water. The Michigan incident proved that fear could spread much faster, and with much more destructive effects, among a population that had been kept systematically ignorant of the facts. Child psychologists know very well that it is better to prepare the child for the idea that his grandfather is not going to live forever than to let him discover it when death suddenly strikes. Similarly, by denying the existence of the mystery the scientific community is taking serious chances with the belief system of the public. In my opinion, such attitudes have contributed to the long-term loss of popular support and respect for science, and these attitudes continue to be one of the factors that drives the public toward the many cults, which plague atom this field. Throughout that period much was happening under the surface, however. We began receiving letters and phone calls from specialists who wanted to participate in the investigation of the phenomenon. In his absorbing book The UFO Experience, Dr. Hynek has described how this little group grew during the late sixties and early seventies. If this network ever decided to become visible, a brilliant Scared Scientists