FEARLESS PHYSICIST TACKLES MYSTERY OF UFOS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100910001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 15, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 9, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

FHEADL!NE - PERSONALI r .-...:.._...~,,.w...
OCT 9 1966
Sa'riitized - Approved For Release : CIA-
0
-.st HINES
.,.a.~ Writer
--I, , V-1) 7.4 l
'flyin saccr:: and neither
?believe nor disbelieves in
them about to tackle the
intrigu.. , mystery of the
UFOs.
UFO stands for '"unidenti
fied flying object," which is -
the official designation for what ordinary folk call flying-
saucers. rt.??curring UFO
"sighii gs? have been making
life rr,iscr?abi for the Air'
For. since
List Thursriay, with an
almost atuiihic sigh of relief,
the Air For-a signed a con-
~ract wit! :he University of
Colorado and tossed the UFOs'
into thr lap of one of Colo-
rado's most distinguished fac-
ulty n 'mbers, Dr. Edward
Uhler C'andon.
15-Month Contract
Condon is stocky, crew-
cut, 64-year-sic: physicist who
has never run away from
either myr ::y or a contro-
versy. Sind ::,ere is plenty of
both in the iiy;ng saucer issue,
2ondon is likely to have an
hilts c .I.iII ,., uwui.na-Mu or n wear' ., ,,,..,...y Wass...,,., tee charges, "If it is true that
period covered by the $313,000 1951-54, Member, National I am one of the weakest links
Air Force contract. Advisory Committee for Aero- that is very gratifying and
To observers of the Wash- noutics, 1945-51, Professor of
ing,ran scene, it will be inter- Physics, University of Colorado, safe, for can feel absolutely
m
esting to watch the tough- 1963 s, for I am completely
minded, often iconoclastic FAMILY-Wife, Emilie Honzik reliable, loyal, eonscientipus
and devoted to the interests of
Condon deal with the predomi- (married 1922), three children. my country...".
nantly anti-saucer Air Force HOBBIES-Reading, politics. One of the charge's against
on the one hand and for This is not likely to happen Condon in 1947-48 was that he
vently pro-:saucer groups like Condon gets his way. He has
"NICAP" on the other. was a member of the execu-
en promised a "free hand" tive committee of the Ameri
NICAP-the National Inves- by the Air Force-including can-Soviet Science Society.
tigations Committee on Aerial access to all pertinent secret Another was that his wife, who
Phenomena-is . the Washing- information-and, his record (was ton-bs>~d organization headed
born in what is.-now.
by retired Marine Maj. Donald
E.' Keyr,oe that has been the.
worsrt thorn in the Air Force's
side on the saucer issue.
Already, while hailing Lon-
don's appointment as a step
in the right direction, NICAP.
Is . making noises . that his
sdentific inquiry may be
Sanitized -
y
. Rep. Chet Holifield (D.-
Robert Oppenheimer case.j
several years ago.
After Oppenheimer- was put
through the Atomic Energy
Commission's meat-grinder ins;
-a cause celebre of the mid-
'50s, the frail and gentle
scienti
t a
e
d b
dl
s
pp
are
a
y J
!Calif.), now chairman of the i
FULL NAME Edward Uhler, injured by the experience.
Condon. (Joint Congressional Commit- Condon, his bulldog jaw set
tee on Atomic Energy and
CLAIM TO FAME-Named to against friend and foe alike,
head scientific inquiry into then one of its members, took , never seemed to show a bruise
the floor of the House to blast
flying saucers. ? from his ordeal.
rumor-mongering character
HOME-Boulder, Colo. Following his departure
assassins (who should) put up
BIRTHDAY-March 2, 1902, or shut up." from the Bureau of Standards,
EDUCATION-A.B. and Ph.D., With characteristic good Condon headed research
University of California. activities for Corning Glass l innate ~..
JOBS-Director, National Bureau humor masking his
le but lost his Navy security
of c.--a-.a. lode a, ;combativeness, Condon re-I i
1-1
,ore H
c
n
e
indicates clearly that he will Czechoslovakia, had "interest-
low a loud whistle if the Air ing" associations with people
Force tries any funny bust-
ess the Thomas group regarded as
.
The apparent clearance of unsavory.
. .
Condon by the Air Force for Was A Reporter.
ee
om
mas
er
s
, secret-data access is the latest A c'cuiarl -fetched
chapter in an interesting tale charge against rCondon was Condon also Is lobbying;going back to 1947=-ironically ? that e had attended a c,r?_; single piece enthusiastically for the biggest",
- single piece of Federal scienti
and year of the coincidentally modern the birth- t. Calif,, st in 9 meeting in 9 in the Ise Of al . ble? Ark$375r Million satom-
saucer u roar.,; ,, ,1,, reporter for, the old Oakland smasher ,which the Johnson ,
pproved For Release : CIA-RDP75-001.49ROOQ100910001-3
Thomas Enquirer.'Condon's reply was,
S
ead Bl
pr
aze
that he was in fact a reporter
the "atom spy" furor swept ; cover the r.::
?through Washington like a Condon't early training in?
the blaze, a little farther was
Rep. J. Parnell Thomas of-
'New Jersey, head of, the
the journalistic College of
Hard Knocks-including a stint:
on the Oakland Tribune-may
have conditioned him -for the'.
rough-and-tumble of - the
House Committee on Un- postwar "security-risk" era.
`American Activities. I his troubles, which culmi-
Condon, head of the National nated in his resignation as
.Bureau of Standards under I bureau of Standards director.j
Secretary of Commerce Henry in 1951, foreshadowed the J. 5
A. Wallace in the Truman
administration, found himself
an early target of the Thomas
committee. He was labeled by.
,One committee member "a
# security risk and a weak link
in our atomic securit
chain`'
Vice President Richard M.
Nixon for this-justifiably or?,
,not-and, unforgivingly, when
Nixon was defeated for gover-4
nor- of California in 1962 J
congratulating the people of
ment.
embroiled In a state political,
regent of the University, an.
elective office In Colorado. He -.
Is running as a Democrat, and.
has received a ringing editori-
al endorsement from "The"
Nation," which may or may?i
not count for ipuch in Colora-?1
do. ?
S
k
At
S
h
PYRGH'
PYRGH
11
 before half-a-dozen fascinated
localities. Condon is using his
8l ... own con 'derab e ei
t~6j elease : CIA-RDP75=00149R000100910001-3
Colorado's bid for the big CPYRGHT
accel
t
era
or. 7
Many years ago, in one of'.
the great scientific
inci- dences of all time, Cond and
? a Russian scientist med
George Gamow indepen ently
a ?. discovered the explanati n for
spontaneous "decay" and
release of energy. This as in
:, the 'tween-wars period when
atomic physics was a rely
' intellectual exercise wi h no
apparent useful applicati as.
To carry the coinciden one
> step farther, Gamow s bse-
quently came to the ited
States, and both men no live
in the same pleasant to of
Boulder, half an hour's rive
by freeway from the cen r of
Denver.
For a man whose scie tific
life has been closely gin d to
atomic energy, it was ap-
propriate that Condon s ould
b first nuclear device was Ying saucer . inquiry. ;, 1~'or:".times have gone forever.!' ?1;t;,
,.have been born at Alam gor-.
do N.Mex. near wher the
9 1966
after his mother's family.
ment of Science. But while more than an hour he fielded'
climbing onward and upward questions, sor.,.~ searching,
in science, Condon has never some hostile, some pretty'
completely lost his love for the stupid, and gave every indica-
printed page, as both producer, . tion of relishing the experi-
and consumer. , ence.
Condon is editor of "Re-`. Some of the reporters,
vicws of Modern Physics," a familiar with Condon's tower-,
scientific journal of high ing scientific reputation and
repute, a member of the knowing the background of the
publications board of the saucer controversy, wondered
American Institute of Physics: aloud why he would touch the
and chairman of the advisory issue with a 10-meter pole. His
hoard of International answer was simple: It's an'
Science and Technology," a intriguing mystery that hasn't i
highbrow monthly magazine .' really been looked Into thor-
circulated among scientifical- oughly.
ly oriented business leaders. But considering his own
Ile ,reads avidly; reading is adventures in the wonderland
is principal hobby. of Washington, hadn't Condon,,
On Friday Condon was in had enough traumatic experi- ,
Now York attending a meeting ' . ences for one lifetime? "Not
f the governing board of the' traumatic," he replied. "Una++
merican Institute of Physics. pleasant, perhaps, but .not'.
,
e t
k ti
oo
me
off to hold. a .:.:.traumatic..
ress conference on the new' `.. "An ay+ :I think those'
mination to pursue a scie tific
1' well-beloved teacher. He won
the ? University of California,
Recalls Strange Firing. .
He recalls fondly the experi- y
once of being fired off the'.!
t -copy desk of the Oakland'.)
Tribune for writing an incor-:
rect headline on ah obituary of.
"he hadn't been showing up for-
k
' '
wor
.
.
,I
"You 'fired me," Condon `t.
rejoined, "when you're' fired' I
jf to take the rest of the day off. I
and come. back in the next. ,,!j
day."
ing job security, Condon
decided to go ahead with a life
of science, which was to seem
G.> years. But if he had his ups ,
lacked the esteem of his.
colleagues.
He has been, among many'
eminent things, president of
{ . American Ph sical i
a 1 r ig rss l3p~~?M is p
! Association, for the Advance-,