Condon Committee Mutiny: Two Scientists Fired After Exposing Robert Low's 'Trick' Memo
On February 9, 1968, the University of Colorado UFO Project experienced 'a near-mutiny': Dr. David Saunders and Dr. Norman Levine were fired for alleged incompetence. They had exposed chief assistant Robert Low's memo describing the study as a 'trick' to appear objective while having 'almost zero expectation of finding a saucer.'
Background
The University of Colorado UFO Project, on February 9, 1968, experienced 'a near-mutiny by several staff scientists, the dismissal of two PhDs on the staff' (Dr. David Saunders and Dr. Norman Levine) for alleged incompetence 'and the resignation of the project's administrative assistant.'
The Low Memo
Dr. Robert Low, chief assistant, had written to university principals before the study began:
'Our study would be conducted almost exclusively by non-believers who ... would add an impressive body of evidence that there is no reality to the observations. The trick would be, I think, to describe it so that, to the public, it would appear a totally objective study but, to the scientific community, would present the image of a group of nonbelievers trying their best to be objective, but having an almost zero expectation of finding a saucer.'
Saunders and Levine intended to make public Low's earlier comments that the UFO study would be a 'trick' on the public regarding the committee's objectivity.
Significance
Exposed that the Condon Committee's objectivity was questioned from within — the 'trick memo' became a lasting controversy in UFO history.