The Condon Report's Blunt Conclusion On UFO Science

The final Condon wrote that nothing had come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that had added to scientific knowledge. He went further: further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced. That conclusion was not the product of a hurried inquiry.

The study was requested by Colonel Ivan C. Atkinson, Deputy Executive Director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, in a letter dated 31 August 1966, following a March 1966 recommendation of an ad hoc panel of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Dr. Brian O'Brien.

The University of Colorado was asked to undertake the work with an unconditional guarantee that the scientists involved would have complete freedom to design and develop techniques according to their best scientific judgment. The report was transmitted to Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown by University of…