This article was published in the daily newspaper The New York Times, New York City, USA, on September 18, 1966.
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CHICAGO, Sept. 17 (UPI). -- An Illinois astronomer has criticized what he calls the failure to investigate persistent reports of unidentified flying objects despite the fact that sightings of many "flying saucers" remained unexplained.
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, chairman of Northwestern University's department of astronomy and a consultant to the Air Force on the subject, cited what he called the "persistent and disturbing phenomenon."
In a letter to Science magazine, he called for a scientific investigation to dispel "20 years of confusion."
He accused scientists of shying away from study of the objects for fear of "injuring their professional standing."
Many sightings can be explained as natural phenomena, Dr. Hynek said, but a sizeable number defy explanation.
Dr. Hynek said it was a fallacy to assume that all reports were the work of "hysterics or crackpots or cranks," or the product of uneducated or unreliable people.
