Proposal for Research on Pilot Study of the UFO Phenomenon, 1972
As we work alongside our student processing assistants on backlogged and newly transferred collections, we appreciate that the University Archives is uniquely positioned to provide an opportunity for Stanford students–many of whom had never before engaged with primary source materials–to connect with historical sources and learn more about the significance of the documents while working part-time on campus. (Banner image: Proposal for Research on Pilot Study of the UFO Phenomenon, 1972.)
As academic year 2023-2024 winds down, we’d like to highlight one of our student processing assistants Isac Fernandez and his work with noted physicist Peter A. Sturrock’s papers, which were recently donated to the Archives.
Isac is a rising senior from Seattle, Washington studying Biomechanical Engineering. He has worked for the Stanford Archives since Fall 2023.
Student processing assistants Isac Fernandez on the left, Bradley Strauss on the right. Both are in the class of 2025.
Isac Fernandez:
There are few things one can say are as intriguing to the general public as the idea of aliens visiting Earth. Aliens and their UFOs have been portrayed thousands of times in pop culture and media which has only led to their increased popularity. Less than a year ago, during the summer of 2023, Congress even held hearings on the UFO phenomenon which captivated the American public.
As a kid, I always loved the idea of aliens coming down to Earth and interacting with humans similar to movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This same interest is what caught my attention when helping to process the papers from Peter Sturrock, an emeritus professor of applied physics here at Stanford. While a majority of Sturrock’s work dealt with astrophysics such as nuclear decay and solar neutrinos, he also had a secondary interest related to space: unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
During the time I spent with his collection, I enjoyed reading his personal thoughts on a subject that most scientists refuse to entertain, and I quickly found myself agreeing with his personal view. In the 1970s, Sturrock began advocating for UFO cases to be taken more seriously by the scientific community. He surveyed several astronomical societies, with results showing that a majority of scientists felt UFOs deserved more attention despite their reservations on actively supporting scientific investigation of the “UFO problem”. He would continue to voice his support for closer looks at unsolved UFO cases for several decades and advocate for its worth in scientific circles. While he said he did not necessarily believe in “flying saucers,” he felt the frequency and variety of UFO sightings around the world held some merit that should be explored.
Isac Fernandez on the left, Leland Diego Fong (also class of 2025) on the right.
The Sturrock collection has been one of the most interesting collections I’ve worked with during my time as a student processing assistant in the Stanford Archives. For a little over a year, I have been working with the University Archives where I organize and process donated collections from Stanford faculty and groups who have helped shape our university. It had many of the same elements that most collections we work on do such as published article manuscripts and correspondence about the interesting research done at Stanford (in Sturrock’s case astrophysics, but the added UFO element made Sturrock’s collection stand out.
Through reading his papers and lectures, Sturrock has taken me from knowing very little about the scientific community’s thoughts on UFOs to being fully convinced by their scientific potential.
This is my favorite part of working at the Archives. Through our work, we get to learn about Stanford faculty members and their work which has played large roles in the progression of their fields. Not only was their work significant at the time of its publishing but it still holds importance for researchers today. The collections we work with also show the shaping of Stanford as a school which directly impacts our lives as students on campus. Never did I think I would be reading an astrophysicist argue for research into UFOs but I now feel familiar with such an important figure in the field of astrophysics and applied physics.
