While much of the media handed Hynek his head, many of the larger organizations and publications continued to debunk flying saucers.
We are spending millions to develop our own rocket boosters to get our spacecraft to the moon and beyond. Imagine what a great help it would be to get our hands on a ship from another planet and examine its power plant.87
Shortly afterward, in May, CBS tried to calm the situation with a special program narrated by Walter Cronkite, which took a straightforward, debunking approach to UFOs. It focused heavily on fringe elements, such as the contactees, and remarks by Sagan about “flying saucer cultists.” Menzel, Harold Brown, and even the exiled Lawrence Tacker were also featured, each claiming that no UFOs had ever been detected on radar screens, nor photographed, nor seen by satellite tracking stations. For “balance,” Keyhoe and Hynek were included, but the tenor of the show was clearly to discredit their position.88
Meanwhile, Congress had finally decided to act, after its own fashion. On March 25, 1966, Michigan Congressman and House Minority Leader Gerald Ford demanded a formal congressional investigation on UFOs, supported by other congressmen. A few days later, Ford wrote to Armed Services Committee Chairman L. Mendel Rivers to the effect that he was dissatisfied with government actions regarding UFOs:
I think there may be substance in some of these reports and because I believe the American people are entitled to a more thorough explanation than has been given them by the air force to date.... I think we owe it to the people to establish the credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject.89
Thus, on April 5, 1966, for the first time ever, Congress held an open hearing on UFOs, chaired by L. Mendel Rivers. Like the O‘Brien Committee, it met for one day only and was an exclusive gathering. Only three people, Air Force Secretary Harold Brown, Quintanilla, and Hynek, were invited to testify. NICAP, pushing ten years for this moment, was
All this attention from Congress and the media affected public opinion. In the aftermath of the swamp gas fiasco, a Gallup poll revealed that 46 percent of Americans believed UFOs to be real. Moreover, 5 percent thought they had seen one personally: a figure that projected to 9 million people. Keyhoe saw this as a serious concern for the air force. Possibly, but it is still hard to credit public opinion as an important determinant of UFO policy.91
Throughout the spring, UFO sightings continued at a rapid pace. On the morning of March 23, just as the UFO controversy heated up in Congress, an electronics instructor named William “Eddy” Laxson was driving through Temple, Oklahoma, on his way to work at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. At 5:05 A.M., he saw an object blocking the road. It was shaped like an airplane fuselage, about eighty feet long, had a bubble-shaped dome on top, rested on legs, and had bright lights. Laxson saw a door and a short stairway on the side and a man in coveralls appearing to examine the craft. He even saw an identification number on the craft: TL 4768. When he approached, the man went back inside, and the object took off, making a sound similar to that of a high-speed drill. Laxson was familiar with all conventional military aircraft but could not recognize this one. Researcher Jerome Clark called this case “one of the most impressive of all.” Presumably, the existence of an ID number on the vehicle implies that it was a classified or experimental project. Unfortunately, no subsequent evidence ever arose to support this conclusion.92
