1974: France Embraces UFO Concept

For those seeking official confirmation of the UFO phenomenon, an announcement was made by a French Government minister in 1974 which would have definitely satisfied their need for proof.

The announcement was made on French radio on February 21st by Robert Galley, the then Minister of Defense. His frankness was a refreshing change from the politician's belittling view of the phenomenon. He began, "I am sincerely convinced that we must have a very open mind about these phenomena".

Galley went on to display his objectivity regarding the UFO phenomenon - an objectivity mirrored by most serious ufologists:

"Amongst these aerial phenomena - these visual phenomena (I won't call them more than that) -which are gathered together under the label UFO, it is certain that there are things which we do not understand and which today are relatively unexplained or badly explained."

His announcement also covered radar-visual encounters involving ground crew and pilots. It was reported that President Pompidou reproved his Defense Minister for his frankness, which the French President thought had gone too far. However, the change in official attitude displayed by Galley was probably due to astronomer Dr Claude Poher, head of the Systems and Projects division of CNES (the French equivalent of NASA). His studies of UFO reports confirmed that there was a consistent phenomenon amenable to scientific investigation.

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