Gerald Ford
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 6
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| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| On the Timeline | 3 events, 1966–1975 |
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (14 July 1913 – 26 December 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, from 1974 to 1977. As House Republican leader in 1966 he called for congressional hearings after a wave of UFO sightings in his home state of Michigan, helping to bring about a 1966 congressional hearing on UFOs and the Condon study that followed.[1][2]
Career
Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he practised law. He represented Michigan's 5th district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973 and was House Minority Leader from 1965. In 1963 he was appointed to the Warren Commission. He became Vice President in December 1973 after Spiro Agnew resigned, and President on 9 August 1974 after Richard Nixon resigned.[1]
The 1966 Michigan sightings
In March 1966 several hundred people in Michigan reported mysterious lights, including about 50 witnesses near Dexter and 87 students at Hillsdale College. Air Force consultant J. Allen Hynek suggested that at least two of the sightings were caused by marsh gas. On 25 March 1966 Ford said he would ask the chairmen of the House Armed Services and Science and Astronautics committees to consider full investigations, arguing that if the Air Force's explanation was correct it should have no trouble explaining it to a committee.[2]
Results
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The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on 5 April 1966 with Air Force Secretary Harold Brown, the head of Project Blue Book and Hynek. Later that year the Air Force funded the University of Colorado study led by Edward Condon.[3][4]
Death
Ford died at Rancho Mirage, California, on 26 December 2006, aged 93.[1]
On the UAP Timeline
- Gerald Ford's call for UFO hearings (3 April 1966) — Rep. Gerald Ford is told an upcoming UAP study won't be tied to the Air Force.
- Expected 1974 disclosure rumor (1974) — A sergeant says a retired Army official told him crash and occupant information would soon be released.
- Rumsfeld's "no need to know" remark (13 April 1975) — Hynek says Donald Rumsfeld told him he had no need to know about any secret UAP study.
References
- Gerald Ford — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Patrick Gross, "New York Times, 26 March 1966" (Ford's call for an inquiry) · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- "Unidentified Flying Objects", hearing before the House Committee on Armed Services (5 Apr 1966), GovInfo · govinfo.gov · archived copy
- "The Bolender Draft (Not Memo), Oct 20, 1969", NICAP · nicap.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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