Walter Orr Roberts

Walter Orr Roberts (1915-1990) was an American astronomer and director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). In UFO research, he played a key role in 1966 by recommending physicist Edward Condon to lead the University of Colorado UFO study, known as the Condon Committee, alongside Fred Lawrence Whipple and Donald Menzel. This Air Force-funded project, announced in October 1966, produced a 1968 report concluding no scientific value in continued UFO investigations, influencing the termination of Project Blue Book. Roberts contributed to discussions on unexplained phenomena, appearing alongside Thornton Page, Philip Morrison, and Carl Sagan in related publications. No direct publications or testimony from Roberts on UFOs are noted, but his involvement shaped official U.S. government policy on the topic.