Editing Project Blue Book (section)

===Congressional hearing===

In 1966, a string of UFO sightings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire provoked a Congressional Hearing by the House Committee on Armed Services.<ref>"Unidentified Flying Objects." (No. 55) Electronic Record. Hearing Committee of Armed Services of the House of Representatives. 89th Congress, Second Session. 5 April 1966. (50-066 O) U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C. 1966. [http://congressional.proquest.com/congressional/result/pqpresultpage.gispdfhitspanel.pdflink/http%3A$2f$2fprod.cosmos.dc4.bowker-dmz.com$2fapp-bin$2fgis-hearing$2fb$2f3$2f6$2fd$2fhrg-1966-ash-0008_from_1_to_87.pdf/entitlementkeys=1234%7Capp-gis%7Chearing%7Chrg-1966-ash-0008]</ref> According to attachments to the hearing, the Air Force had at first stated that the sightings were the result of a training exercise happening in the area.<ref>"Pentagon Doesn't Believe UFO Exeter Sightings." Excerpt from ''italic'' Haverhill Gazette  ''italic''. 25 October 1965. in Fowler, Raymond E. Addendum IIA. NICAP Massachusetts Subcommittee. In "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6015.</ref> But NICAP, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, reported that there was no record of a plane flying at the time the sightings occurred.<ref>Fowler, Raymond E. Addendum IV, UFO Report, 3 Sept. 1965. NICAP Massachusetts Subcommittee. In "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6015–6016.</ref>  Another report alleged that the UFO was actually a flying billboard advertising gasoline.<ref>"UFO Identified as Ad Gimmick." ''italics'' Amesbury News ''italics''. 6 October 1965. In Fowler, Raymond E. Addendum IV, UFO Report, 3 September 1965. 6016.</ref> Raymond Fowler (of NICAP) added his own interviews with the locals, who saw Air Force officers confiscating newspapers with the story of UFOs and telling them not to report what they had seen.<ref>Fowler, Raymond. "UFO Summary Sheet. (UFO Reports{{snd}}Sept. 3, 1966). In Addendum IV, UFO Report, 3 Sept. 1965. 6020.</ref> Two police officers who had witnessed the UFOs, Eugene Bertrand and David Hunt, wrote a letter to Major Quintanilla stating that they felt their reputations were destroyed by the Air Force. "It was impossible to mistake what we saw for any kind of military operation, regardless of altitude," the irritated officers wrote, adding that there was no way it could have been a balloon or helicopter.<ref>Bertrand, Eugene, and Hunt, David. Letter to Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr. 2 Dec. 1965. Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH. In "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6039–6040.</ref>
According to Secretary Harold Brown of the Air Force, Blue Book consisted of three steps: investigation, analysis, and the distribution of information gathered to interested parties.<ref>Brown, Harold. "Unidentified Flying Objects." 5992.</ref> After Brown gave permission, the press were invited into the hearing.<ref>Rivers, Mendel. "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6003.</ref>
By the time of the hearing, Blue Book had identified and explained 95% of the reported UFO sightings. None of these were extraterrestrial or a threat to national security.<ref name="ReferenceA">Brown, Harold. "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6005.</ref> Brown himself proclaimed, "I know of no one of scientific standing or executive standing with a detailed knowledge of this, in our organization who believes that they came from extraterrestrial sources."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[J. Allen Hynek]], a science consultant to Blue Book, suggested in an unedited statement that a "civilian panel of physical and social scientists" be formed "for the express purpose of determining whether a major problem really exist" in regards to UFOs.<ref>Hynek, J. Allen. "Unidentified Flying Objects." 6008.</ref> Hynek remarked that  he has "not seen any evidence to confirm" extraterrestrials, "nor do I know any competent scientist who has, or who believes that any kind of extraterrestrial intelligence is involved."<ref>Hynek."Unidentified Flying Objects. 6046.</ref>