CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90

(:L1.:s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90
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Gera7d K. Haines

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While Agency concern over
UFOs was substantial until
the early 1950s, CIA has
since paid onlylimited.and
peripheral attention to the
phenomena..

"

An exmlOrdinary 95 pen:em uf all
Americans have at Ic::ut heard ()( rC::1U
something about Unidentified Flying
Objects (UFOs). and 57 percent
believe they are real. I Former US
Presidents Carter and Reagan claim
to have seen a UFO. UFOlogists-a
neologism for UFO buffs-and private UfO organizations are found
throughout the United States. Many
are convinced that the US Government. and parricuIarly CIA. are
engaged in a massive conspiracy and
coverup of the issue. The idea that
CIA has secrecly concealed its
research into UFOs has been a major
theme of UFO buffs since the modern UFO phenomena emerged in the
late 1940s.2
In late 1993. after being pressured by
UFOlogists for the release of additional CIA information on UFOs,'
DCI R James Woolsey ordered
another review of all Agency fLIes on
UFOs. Using CIA records compiled
from that review. this study traces
CIA interest and involvement in the
UFO controversy from the late 19405
to 1990. It chronologically examines
the Agency's efforts co solve the mystery of UFOs, its programs that had, '
an impact on UFO sightings. and its
attempts to conceal CIA involvement
in the entire UFO issue. What
emerges from chis examination is that.
while Agency concern over UFOs was
substantial until the early 1950s. CIA .
has since paid only limited and peripheral attention to the phenomena.

Background
Gerald K. Haines is the National
Reconnaissance Office historian.

The emergence in 1947 of the Cold
War confrontation between the

Uniu;d Sc;ucs and ehe; Sovie;r Union
also S;IW the first wave; of UFO sight.
jngs. The: tirst report of a ~f1ying
saucer" over rhe United States came
on 24 June 1947. when Kenneth
Arnold. a priV:ltc pilot and reputable
businessman. while looking for a
downed plane sighted nine diskshaped objectS nc:ar Mt. Rainier.
Washington, traveling ae an estim:m:d
speed of over 1.000 mph. Arnold's,
report was followed by a flood of additional sightings, including reports ,
from military and civilian pilots and
air craffic controllers allover the
Uniced Scaces." In 1948. Air Force,
Gen. Nathan Twining. head of ~he
Air Technical Service Command.
established Project SIGN (initially
named Project SAUCER) to coUecr•.
collate. evaluate. and distribute within.
the government all informacion rdat~
ing to such sightings. on the premise
that UFOs might be real and of
national security concern. s .'
The Technical Intelligence Division.
of the Air Material Command
(AMC) ae Wright Field (later
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in
Dayton. Ohio. assumed control of
Project SIGN an~ began its work on
23 January 1948. Although at first
fearful that the objects might be
Soviet secret weapons, the Air Force
soon concluded thac UFOs were real
bue easily explained and noc extraordinary. The Air Force report found
that almost all sightings stemmed
from one or more of three causes:
mass hysteria and hallucination.
hoax. or misinterpretacion of known
objects. Nevertheless. the report rec, ommended continued military
intelligence control over the investigation of all sightings and did not
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rule OUt the possibility of extraterreserial phenomena. 6
Amid mounting UFO sighcings. the
Air Force continued to colleCt and
evaluate UFO data in the late 1940s
under a new project, GRUDGE,
which tried to alleviate public anxiety
over UFOs via a public relations campaign designed to persuade the public
that UFOs constituted nothing
unusual or extraordinary. UFO sightings were explained as balloons,
conventional aircraft, planets. meteors, optical illwions, solar reflections.
or even "large hailstones." GRUDGE
officials found no evidence in UFO
sighcings of advanced foreign weapons
design or development, and chey concluded that UFOs did not threaten
US security. They recommended that
the project be reduced in scope
because the very existence of Air
Force official interest encouraged peo- .
pie to believe in UFOs and
contributed to a "war hysteria" acmo. sphere. On 27 December 1949, che
Air Force announced the project's
termination. 7
Wirh increased Cold War tensions.
the Korean war. and continued UFO
sightings, USAF DireCtor of Intelligence Maj. Gen. Charles P. Cabell
ordered a new UFO project in 1952.
Project BLUE BOOK became the
major Air Force effort to study the
UFO phenomenon throughout the
1950s and 1960s. 8 The: task of identifying and explaining UFOs continued
to fallon the: Air Material Command
at Wright-Pam:rson. With a small
Staff, the Air Technical Intelligence
Center (ATIC) tried to persuade the
public that UFOs were not extraordinary.' Projects SIGN. GRUDGE,
and BLUE BOOK set the cone for
the official US Government position
regarding UFOs for the next 30 years.

68

Early CIA ConCttDS, 1947-52
CIA closely monitored the Air Force
effort. aware of the mounting number
of sighcings and increasingly concerned that UFOs might pose a
potential security threat. 10 Given the
distribution of the sighcings. CIA officials in 1952 questioned whether they
might reflect" midsummer
madness." II Agency officials accepted
the Air Force's conclusions about
UFO reports. although they concluded that "since there is a remote
possibility chat they may be interplanetary·aircraft. it is necessary to
investigate each sighcing." tl
A massive buildup of sightings over
the Uniced Scates in 1952, especially
in July. alarmed the Truman administration. On 19 and 20 July, radar
scopes at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base
tracked mysterious blips. On 27 July,
the blips reappeared. The Air Force
scrambled interceptor aircraft to investigate, but they found nothing. The
incidents. however, caused headlines
across the country. The White House
wanted to know what was happening.
and the Air Force quickly offered the
explanation that the radar blips might
be the result of "temperature
inversions." Later. a Civil Aeronautics
Administration investigation confirmed that such radar blips were
quite common and were caused by
temperature inversions. U
Although it had monitored UFO
reports for at least three years, CIA
reacted to the new rash of sightings by
forming a special study group within
the Office of Scientific Intelligence
(OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review the
situation. Edward Tauss, acting
chief of OS1's Weapons and Equipment Division. reported for the group

I.

that most UFO sightings could be easilyexplained. Nevertheless. he
recommended that the Agency con- .
rinue monitoring the problem. in
coordinacion with ATIC. He also
urged that CIA conceal its interest
from the media and the public, "in
view of their probable alarmist tendencies" to accept such interest as
confirming the existence of UFOs. 15
Upon receiving the report. Deputy
Director for Intelligence (001) Robert Amory, Jr. assigned responsibility
for the UFO investigations to OSt's
Physics and EleCtronics Division.
with A. Ray Gordon as the officer in
charge. Iii Each branch in the division
was to contribute to the investigation.
and Gordon was to coordinate closely
with ATIC. Amory. who asked the
group to focw on che national security implications of UFOs, was
relaying DCI Walter Bedell Smith's
concerns. I? Smith wanted to know
whether or not the Air Fon:e investigation of flying saucers was sufficiently
objective and how much more money
and manpower would be necessary to
determine the cause of the small percentage of unexplained flying saucers,
Smith believed "there was only one
chance in 10,000 chat the phenomenon posed a threat to the security of
the country, but even that chance
could not be taken." According to
Smith. it was CIA's responsibility by
statute co coordinate the intelligence
effort required to solve the problem.
Smith also wanted to know what use
could be made of the UFO phenomenon in connection with US
psychological warfare efforts. 18
Led by Gordon. the CIA Study
Group met with Air Force officials at
Wright-Patterson and reviewed their
data and findings. The Air Force
claimed that 90 percent of the
reported sightings were easily

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UFOs

Amateur photographs of alleged UFOs

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accounted for. The other 10 percent •
were characterized as "a number of
incredible reports from credible
observers." The Air Force rejected
the theories thac the sighrings
involved US or Soviet secret weapons
development or that they involved
"men from Mars"; there was no evidence: to support these concepts.
The Air Force: briefers sought to
explain these UFO reports as the misinterpretation of known objects or
little understood natural
phenomena. Air Force and CIA
officia.ls agreed that outside knowledge of Agency interest in UFOs
would make the problem more
serious. lO This concealment of CIA
interest contributed gready to later
charges of a CIA conspiracy and
coverup.

I'

The CIA Study Group also searched
the Soviet press for UFO reports, bue
found none, causing the group to
conclude that the absence of reports
had [0 have been the result of deliberate Soviet Government policy. The
group also envisioned the USSR's
possible use of UFOs as a psychological warfare tool. In addition, they
worried that, if the US air warning
sYstem should be deliberl\tely overloaded by UFO sightings, the Soviets
might gain a surprise advantage in
any nuclear attack. 21
Because of the tense Cold War situation and increased Soviet
capabilities, the CIA Study Group
saw serious national security concerns in the flying saucer situation.
The group believed that the Soviets
could use UFO reportS to touch off
mass hysteria and panic in the
United States. The group also
believed thac the Soviets might use
UFO sightings to overload the US
air warning system so that it could
not distinguish real targets from

Because of the tense Cold
War situation and
increased Soviet
capabilities, the CIA Study
Group saw serious national
security concerns in the
flying saucer situation.

"

phantom UFOs. H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Direccor of OSI,
added thac he considered the problem of such importance "that it
should be brought co the attention of
the National Security Council, in
order that a communicywide coordinated effort towards it solution may
be initiated. "U
Chadwell briefed DCI Smith on the
subject of UFOs in December 1952.
He urged aCtion because he was convinced that "something was going on
that must have immediate attention"
and that "sightings of unexplained
objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of
major US defense inscaJlations are of
such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known
types of aerial vehicles." He drafted
a memorandum from the DCI to the
National Security Council (NSC)
and a proposed NSC Directive establishing the investigation of UFOs' as
a priority project throughout the
intelligence and the defense research
and development community. 23
Chadwell also urged Smith to establish an external research project of
top-level scientists to study the problem of UFOs. After this briefing,
Smith directed 001 Amory to prepare a NSC Intelligence Directive
(NSCID) for submission to the NSC
on the need to continue the investigation of UFOs and to coordinate such
investigations with the Air Force. 2s

2.

The Robertson Panel, 1952-53
On 4 December 1952, the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC)
took up the issue of UFOs. 26 Amory,
as acting chairman,' presented DCI
Smith's request to the committee
mat it informally discuss the subject
of UFOs. Chadwell then briefly
reviewed the siruation and the active
program of the ATIC relating to
UFOs. The commirtee agreed that
the DCI should "enlist the services '
of selected scientists co review and
appraise the available evidence: in the
light of pertinent scientific theories"
and draft an NSCro on the
subjeCt. 27 Maj. Gen. John A. Samford, Director of Air Force
Intelligence, offered full
cooperation. 28
At me same time, Chadwdllooked
into British efforts in this area. He
learned the British also were active in
srudying the UFO phenomena. An
eminent British scientist, R. V. Jones,
headed a standing commirtee created
in June 1951 on flying saucers.
Jones' and his committee's conclusions on UFOs were similar to those
of Agency officials: the sightings
were not enemy aircraft but misrepresentations of narura! phenomena.
The British noted, however, that during a recent air show RAP pilots and
senior military officials had observed
a "perfect flying saucer." Given the
press response, according to the
officer, Jones was having a most difficult time trying to correct public
opinion regarding UFOs. The public
was convinced they were real. 29
In January 1953, Chadwell and H. P.
RobertsOn, a noted physicist from the
California Institute of Technology,
put together a distinguished panel of
nonmilitary scientists to srudy the
UFO issue. It included Robertson as

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UFOs

chairman; Samuel A. Goudsmit, a
nuclear physicist from the Brookhaven
National Laboratories; Luis Alvua. a
high-energy physicist; Thornton Page.
the deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Operations Research Office and
an expert on radar and eleCtronics; and
Uoyd Beckner. a director of the
Brookhaven National Laboratories and
a specialist in geophysics. 30
The charge to the panel was to review
the available evidence on UFOs and
to consider the possible dangers'of the
phenomena to US national security.
The panel met from 14 co 17 January
1953. Ie reviewed Air Force data on
UFO case histories and, after spending 12 hours studying the
phenomena. declared that reasonable
explanations could be suggested for
most, if not all. sightings. For example, after reviewing motion-picture
film taleen of a UFO sighting near
Tremonton, Utah, on 2 July 1952
and one near Great Falls, Moncana,
on 15 August 1950. the panel concluded that the images on the
Tremonton film were caused by sunlight reflecting off seagulls and that
the images at Great Falls were sunlight reflecting off' the surface of cwo
Air Force interceptors. 31
The panel concluded unanimously
chae chere was no evidence of a direcc
ehreat to nacional security in the UFO
sighcings. Nor could the panel find
any evidence that the objects sighted
might be extraterrestrials. Ic did find
that continued emphasis on UFO
reporting might threaten "the orderly
functioning" of the government by
clogging the channels of communication with irrelevant reports and by
inducing "hysterical mass behavior"
harmful to constituted authority.
The panel also worried that potential
enemies contemplating an attack on
the United States might exploit the

72

UFO phenomena and use chern to disrupe US air defenses. 32
To meet these problems. the panel recommended that the National Security
Council debunk UFO reportS and
institute a policy of public education
to reassure the public of the lack of
evidence behind UFOs. It suggested
using the mass media. advertising,
business clubs. schools. and even the
Disney corporation to get the message
across. Reporting at the height of
McCarchyism. the panel also recommended that such private UFO
groups as the Civilian Flying Saucer
Investigators in Los Angeles and the
Aerial Phenomena Research Organization in WISConsin be monitored for
subversive activities. 33
The RobertSon panel's conclusions
were strikingly similar to those of the
earlier Air Force project reports on
SIGN and GRUDGE and to those of
the CIA's own OSI Study Group. All
investigative groups found that UFO
reportS indicated no direct threat co
national security and no evidence of
visits by extraterrestrials.
Following the Robertson panel findings, the Agency abandoned effortS co
draft an NSCID on UFOs.}4 The Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs' (the
RobertSon panel) submitced its report
to the lAC, the Secretaty of Defense,
che Director of the Federal Civil
Defense Administration. and the
Chairman of the National Security
Resources Board. CIA officials said
no further consideration of the subject appeared warranted, although
they continued eo monitor sightings
in the imerest of national security,
Philip Strong and Fred Durant from
OSI also briefed the Office of
Nacional Estimates on the findings. 35
CIA officials wanted knowledge of
any Agency ineerest in the subject of

flying saucers carefully restricted. noting not only that the RobertSon panel
report was classified but also that any
mention of CIA sponsorship of the
panel was forbidden. This attitude
would later cause the Agency major
problems relating to its credibility.36

The 1950s: Fading CIA Interest in
UFOs
After the report of the RobertSon
panel, Agency officials put the entire
issue of UFOs on the back burner. In
May 1953, Chadwell transferred chief
responsibility for keeping abreast of
UFOs to OSl's Physics and Electronic
Division. while the Applied Science
Division continued to provide any necessa.ry support. 37 T odos M. Odarenko.
chief of the Physics and Electronics
Division. did not want to take on the
problem, contending that it would
require too much of his divi~ion's analytic and clerical time. Given the
findings of the RobertSon panel, he
proposed to consider the project "inactive" and to devote only one analyst
part-time and a file clerk to maintain a
reference file of the activities of the Air
Force and other agencies on UFOs.
Neither the Navy nor the AImy
showed much interesc in UFOs,
according to Odarenko. 38
A nonbeliever in UFOs. Odarenko
sought to have his division relieved of
the responsibility for monitoring UFO
reportS. In 1955, for example, he recommended that the entire project be
terminated because no new information concerning UFOs had surfaced.
Besides, he argued, his division w2;' facing a serious budget reduction and
could not spare the resources. 39 Chadwell and other .Agency officials,
however. continued to worty about
UFOs. Of special con<;;ern were overseas reports of UFO sightings and

C00242525
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d:lin1S that German engineers hdd by •
the Soviets were devdoping a "fiying
saucer" as a future weapon of war.·o
To most US political and military
leaders. the Soviet Union by the mid19505 had become a dangerous opponent. Soviet progress in nuclear
weapons and guided missiles was particularly alarming. In the summer of
1949. the USSR had detonated an
atomic bomb. In August 1953. only
nine months after the United States
tested a hydrogen bomb. the Soviets
detonated one. In the spring of
1953. a top secret RAND Corporation study also pointed OUt the
vulnerability of SAC bases to a surprise attack by Soviet long-range
bombers. Concern over the danger
of a Soviet attack on the United
States continued to grow. and UFO
sightings added to. the uneasiness of
US policymakers.
Mounting reports of UFOs over eastern Europe and Afghanistan also
prompted concern rhat the Soviets
were making rapid progress in this
area. CIA officials knew thac the
British and Canadians were already
experimenting with "flying saucers."
Project Y was a Canadian-British-US
developmental operation to produce
a nonconventional flying-saucer-type
aircraft, and Agency officials feared
the Soviets were testing similar
devices. 41
Adding to the concern was a flying
~ucer sighting by US Senator
Richard Russell and his party while
tl'2veling on a train in the USSR in
October 19;;. After extensive interviews of Russell and his group,
however. CIA offici:!.ls concluded
chac Russell's sighting did not support the theory th:u the Soviets had
developed sauc.erlike or unconventional aircraft. Herbert Scoville. Jr .•

BLUE BOOK investigators
were able to attribute many
UFO sightings to U-2
flights.

"
the Assistant Director of OS I. wrote
that the objects observed probably
were normal jet aircraft in a steep
dimb. 41
Wilton E. wow. head of the CIA's
Applied Sciences Division. was also
skeptical. He questioned why the
Soviets were continuing to develop
conventional-type :lircraft if they had
a "flying saucer."~ Scoville asked
wow to assume responsibility for
fully assessing the capabilities and
limitations of nonconventional :lircrafe: and co m:lintain the OSI central
file on the subject of UFOs.

CIA's U-2 and OXCART as UFOs
In November 1954. CIA had entered
into the world of high technology
with its U-2 overhead reconnaissance
project. Working with Lockheed's
Advanced Dcvdopment facilicy in
Burbank. California. known as the
Skunk Works. and Kelly Johnson. an
eminent aeronautical engineer. the
Agency by August 1955 was testing a
high-alticude experimental aircraftthe U-2. It could fly at 60.000 feec;
in the mid-1950s. mosc commercial
airliners flew between 10,000 feet
and 20.000 feet. Consequendy.
once the U-2 started tesc flights. commercial pilots and air traffic
controllers began reporting a large
increase in UFO sightings. H (u)
The early U-2s were silver (they were
later painted black) and reflected the
rays from the sun. especially at sun-

rise and sunset. They often appeared
as fiery objects to observers bdow.
Air Force BLUE BOOK investigators aware of the secret U-2 flights
cried to expl:lin away such sightings
by linking them to natural phenomena such as ice cryStals and
temperarure inversions. By checking
with the Agency's U-2 Project Staff
in Washington. BLUE BOOK investigators were able to attribute many
UFO sightings to U-2 flights. They
were careful. however. not co reveal
the true cause of the sighting to the
public.
According to later estimates from
CIA officials who worked on the U2 project and the OXCART (SR-71.
or Blackbird) project. over half of all
UFO reports from the late 1950s
through the 19605 were accounted
for by manned reconnaissance flights
(namely the U-2) over the United
States.·s This led the Air Force to
make misleading and deceptive ~tatements to the public in order to allay
public fears and to protect an extraordinarily sensitive national security
project. While perhaps justified. chis
deception added fuel to the later conspiracy theories and the coverup
controversy of the 1970s. The percentage of what the Air Force
considered unexplained UFO sightings fell to 5.9 percent in 1955 and
co 4 percent in 1956. ~G
At the same time. pressure was building for the release of the Robertson
pand report on UFOs. In 1956.
Edward Ruppelt. former head of the
Air Force BLUE BOOK project.
publicly revealed the existence of the
panel. A best-selling book by UFOIogist Donald Keyhoe. a retired
Marine Corps major. advocated
release of all government informacion relating co UFOs. Civilian
UFO groups such as the National

73

C00242525
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Investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomena (NlCAP) and the Aerial
Phenomena Research Organization
(APRO) immediately pushed for
release of the RobertSon panel
report}' Under pressure. the Air
Force approached CIA for permission
[0 declassify and release the report.
Despite such pressure. Philip Strong.
Deputy Assistant Director of OSlo
refused to declassify the report and
declined to disclose CIA sponsorship
of the panel. As an alternative. the
Agency prepared a sanitized version of
the report which deleted any reference
to CIA and avoided mention of any
psychological warfare potential in the
UFO concroversy. ~a
The demands. however. for more government information about UFOs did
not let up. On 8 March 1958. Keyhoc. in an interview with Mike
Wallace of CBS. claimed deep CIA
involvement with UFOs and Agency
sponsorship of the RobertSon panel.
This prompted a series of letters to
the Agency from Keyhoe and Dr.
Leon Davidson. a chemical engineer
and UFOlogist. They demanded the
release of the full Robertson panel
report and confirmation of CIA
involvement in the UFO issue.
Davidson had convinced himself that
the Agency, not the Air Force. carried
most of the responsibility for UFO
analysis and that "the activities of the
US Government are responsible for
the flying saucer sightings of the last
decade." Indeed. because of the
undisclosed U-2 and OXCART
flights. Davidson was closer to the
truth than he suspected. cr. nevertheless held firm to its policy of not
revealing its role in UFO investigations and refused to declassify the full
Robertson panel report. ~9
In a meeting with Air Force representatives to discuss how to handle future

inquires such as Keyhoc's and Davidson's. Agency officials confirmed their
opposition to the declassification of
the full report and worried that Keyhoe had the ear of former DCI VAdm.
Roscoc Hillenkoetter. who served on
the board of governors ofNlCAP.
They debated whether to have CIA
General Counsel Lawrence R. Houston show HiIlenkoctter the report as a
possible way to defuse the situation.
CIA officer Frank Chapin also hinted
that Davidson might have ulterior
motives. "some of them perhaps not
in the best interest of this country."
and suggested bringing in the FBI to
investigate. Although the record is
unclear whether the FBI ever instituted an investigation of Davidson or
Keyhoe. or whether Houston ever saw
Hillenkoetter about the RobertSon
report. Hillenkoetter did resign from
the NlCAP in 1962,51

,0

The Agency was also involved with
Davidson and Keyhoe in two rather
famous UFO cases in the 1950s.
which helped contribute to a growing
sense of public distrust of CIA with
regard to UFOs. One focused on
what was reported to have been a tape
recording of a radio signal from a flying saucer; the other on reported
photographs of a flying saucer. The·
"radio code" incident began innocendyenough in 1955. when twO
elderly sisters in Chicago, Mildred
and Marie Maier. reported in the Journalo/Space Flight their experiences
with UFOs, including the recording
of a radio program in which an unidentified code was reportedly heard.
The sisters taped the program and
other ham radio operators also
claimed to have heard the "space message." OS[ became interested and
asked the Scientific Contact Branch
to obtain a copy of the recording. Sl

Field officers from the Concact Division (CD). one of whom was Dewelt
Walker. made concact with the Maier
sisters. who were "thrilled thac the
government was interested." and set
up a time to meet with them. 53 In trying to secure the cape recording. the
Agency officers reported that they had
stumbled upon a scene from Arsmic
and Old we. "The only thing lacking was the elderberry wine." Walker
cabled Headquarters. After reviewing
the sisters' scrapbook of clippings
from their days on the stage. the officers secured a copy of the recording. S-4
OSI analyzed the cape and found it
was nothing more than Morse code
from a US radio scation.
The matter rested there until
UFOlogist Leon Davidson talked
with the Maier sisters in 1957. The
sisters remembered they had ~ked
with a Mr. Walker who said he was
from the US Air Force. Davidson
then wrote to a Mr. Walker. believing
him to be a US Air Force Intelligence
Officer from Wright-Patterson. to ask
if the tape had been analyzed at
ATIC. Dewclt.Walker replied co
Davidson that the cape had been forwarded to proper·authorities for
evaluation. and no information was
available concerning the results. Not
satisfied. and suspecting thac Walker
was really a CIA officer, Davidson
next wroce DCI Allen Dulles demanding to learn whac the coded message
revealed and who Mr. Walker was."
The Agency. wanting co keep
Walker's identity as a CIA employee
secret. replied that another agency of
the government had analyzed the cape
in question and that Davidson would "
be hearing from the Air Force.,6 On
5 August, the Air Force wrote Davidson saying that Walker "was and is an
Air Force Officer" and chac the tape
"was analyzed by another government
organization." The Air Force letcer
.*,

74

C00242525
UFOs

"

confirmed that the recorcling contained only identifiable Morse code
which came from a known USlicensed radio station. ~7
Davidson wroce Dulles again. This
time he wanted to know the identity
of the Morse operator and of the
agency that had conducted the analysis. CIA and the Air Force were now
in a quanduy. The Agency had previously denied that it had actUally
analyzed the tape. The Air Force had
also denied analyzing the tape and
claimed that Walker was an Air Force .
officer. CIA officers. under cover,
contacted Davidson in Chicago and
promised to get the code tranSlation
and the identification of the transmitter. if possible.'8
In another attempt to pacify Davidson. a CIA officer. again under cover
and wearing his Air Force uniform.
contacted Davidson in New York
City. The CIA officer explained that
there was no super agency involved
and that Air Force policy was not to
clisdose who was doing what. While
seeming to accept this argument,
Davidson nevertheless pressed for disclosure of the recording message and
the source. The officer agreed to see
what he could do. S9 After checking
with Headquarters, the CIA officer
phoned Davidson to report that a
thorough check had been maae and,
because the signal was of known US
origin, the tape and the notes made
at the time had been destroyed to
conserve file space. GO
Incensed over what he perceived was
a runaround, Davidson rold the CIA
officer thac Hhe and his agency.
whichever it was, were acting like
Jimmy Hoffa and rhe Teamster

Agency officials felt the
need to keep informed on
UFOs if only to alert the
DCI to the more
sensational UFO reports
and flaps.

"

Union in destroying records which
might indict them."lil Believing that
any more contact with Davidson
would only encourage more speculation. the Contact Division washed its
hands of the issue by reporting to the'
DCI and to ATIC thac it would not
respond to or try to contact Davidson
again. liZ Thus, a minor, rather
bizarre incident. handled poorly by
both CIA and the Air Force. curned
into a major flap that added fuel to
the growing mystery surrounding
UFOs and CIA's role in their
investigation.
Another minor flap a few months
later added to the growing questions
surrounding the Agency's true role
with regard eo flying saucers. CIA's
concern over secrecy again made mateers worse. In 1958. Major Kcyhoe
charged thae the Agency was deliberately asking eyewitnesses of UFOs
not co make their sightings public. 63
The incident stemmed from a
November 1957 request from OS1 to
the CD co obtain from Ralph C.
Mayher. a photographer for KYW1V in Cleveland. Ohio. certain photographs he took in 1952 of an
unidentified flying object. Harry
Real, a CD .officer. contacted Mavher and obtained copies of che .
photographs for analysis. On 12
December 1957. John Hazen.
another CD officer. returned the five
photographs of the alleged UFO to
Mayher without comment. Mayher
asked Hazen for the Agency's evalua-

cion of the photos. explaining that he
was trying to organize a 1V program
to brief the public on UFOs. He
wanted to mention on the show that
a US intelligence organization had
viewed the photographs and thought
them of interest. Although he
advised Mayher not to cake this
approach. Hazen stated that Mayher
was a US citizen and would have to
make his own decision as to what to
do."
Keyhoe later contacted Mayher, who
told him his scory of CIA and the
photographs. Keyhoe then asked the
Agency to confirm Hazen's employment in writing, in an effort to
expose CIA's role in UFO investigations. The Agency refused, despite
the fact thac CD field representatives
were normally overt and carried credentials identifying their Agency
association. DCI Dulles's aide, John
S. Earman, meeely sent Keyhoe ;f
noncommittalleeter noting that,
because UFOs were of primacy conceen to the Department of the Air
Force, the Agency had referred his
leeter to the Air Force for an appropriate response. Like the response to
Davidson, the Agency reply to Keyhoe only fueled the speculation that
the Agency was deeply involved in
UFO sightings. Pressure for release
of CIA information on UFOs continued to grow. liS
Although CIA had a declining interesc in UFO cases, ic continued to
monitor UFO sightings. Agency officials felt the need co keep informed
on UFOs if only to alert the DCI co
the'more sensational UFO reports
and flaps. GG

75

C00242525
" ,i

\. ::l
i i,'/

UFOs

r;;\!

I,"

! '

The 19605: Dec:liniag CIA involvement and Mounting Controversy
In the early 19605, Keyhoe, Davidson, and omer UFOlogists
maintained meir assault on the
Agency for release of UFO informa-:
non. Davidson now claimed that
CIA "was solely responsible for creating me Flying Saucer furor as a tool
for cold war psychological warfare
since 1951.· Despite calls for Congressional hearings and the release of
all materials relating to UFOs, little
changed."
In 1964, however, following highlevel White House discussions on
what to do if an alien inteUigence was
discovered in seace and a new outbreak of UFO reports and sightings,
DCI John McCone asked for an
updated CIA evaluation of UFOs.
Responding to McCone's request,
OSI asked me CD to obtain various
recent samples and reports of UFO
sighcings from NICAP. With Keyhoe, one of me founders, no longer
active in me organization, CIA officers met with Richard H. Hall, the
acting director. Hall gave the officers
samples from the NICAP database on
me most recent sightings. 68
After OSI officers had reviewed che
material, Donald F. Chamberlain,
OSI Assistant Direccor, assured
McCone that lictle had changed since
the early 1950s. There was scill no evidence chac UFOs were a chreac to the
securi£Y of che Uniced Staces o'r chat
chey were of "foreign origin." Chamberlain told McCone thac OSI still
monicored UFO reports, including
the official Air Force investigation,
Project BLUE BOOK.69
Ac the same time chac CrA was conducting this latest internal review of
UFOs, public pressure forced the Air

Force [0 establish a special ad hoc
committee co review BLUE BOOK.
Chaired by Dr. Brian O'Brien, a
member of the Air Force Scientific
Advisory Board, the panc:l included
Carl Sagan, the &mous astronomer
from Cornell Universi£Y. Its report
offered noching new. Ic declared thac
UFOs did noc threacen the national
security and mac it could find "no
UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances outside
of a terrestrial framework. " The committee did recommend that UFOs be
studied incensivc:ly, wich a leading university acting as a coordinator for the
project, to setde che issue
conclusivc:ly.70
The House Armed Services Committee also held brief hearings on UFOs
in 1966 mac produced similar results.
Secrecary of the Air Force Harold
Brown assured the committee that
mosc sighcings were easily explained
and that there was no evidence chac
"strangers from outer space" had been
visicing Earth. He cold me committee
members, however, that the Air Force
would keep an open mind and con- .
cinue co invescigace all UFO reports. 71
Following che report ofies O'Brien
Committee. che House hearings on
UFOs, and Dr. Robertson's disclosure
on a CBS R~ports program that CrA
indeed had been involved in UFO
analysis. me Air Force in July 1966
again approached che Agency for
declassification of the entire Robertson panel reporc of 1953 and the full
Durant report on che Robertson panel
deliberations and findings. The
Agency again refused to budge. Karl
H. Weber, Depucy Direccor of OSl,
wroce che Air Force chat "We are
mosc anxious thac further publici£Y
not be given to che information thac
the panc:l was sponsored by the erA. n
Weber noced thac there was already a

76
. ..
~

'

" '."

'.

...... ,:._.

sanitized version available to the
public. n Weber's response was rather
shortsighted and ill considered. It
only drew more attention to the 13year--old Robertson panel report and
CIA's role in the invescigation of
UFOs. The science editor of Th~ Saturday &Vi~ drew nationwide
attention to the CIA's role in investigating UFOs when he published an
article cricidzing the "sanitized version" of the 1953 Robertson panel
report and called for release of the
entire document. 7'
Unknown to CIA officials, Dr. James
E. McDonald, a noted atmospheric
physicist from the Universi£Y of Arizona, had already seen the Durant
repor~ on the Robertson panel proceedings at Wright-Patterson on 6
June 1966. When McDonald
returned to Wright-Patterson on 30
June to copy the report, however, me
Air Force refused to let him see ic
again, scating thac it was a GIA classified documenc. Emerging as a UFO
authori£Y, McDonald publicly
claimed that the CIA was behind the
Air Force secrecy policies and
coverup. He demanded the release of
the full Robertson panel report and
the Durant report. 74
Bowing to public pressure and che recommendation of its own O'Brien
Committee, the Air Force announced
in August 1966 chat ic was seeking a
contracc wich a leading university [0
undertake a program of intensive
investigacions of UFO sighcings. The
new program was designed co blunt
concinuing charges that the US Government had concealed what it kne~
abouc UFOs. On 7 October, the Universi£Y of Colorado accepced a
$325,000 concract with the Air Force
for an IS-month study of flying saucers. Dr. Edward U. Condon, a
physiciSt ar Colorado and a former

C00242525
UFOs

"

Direccor of the National Bureau of •
Standards. agreed to head the program. Pronouncing himself an
"agnostic" on the subject of UFOs,
Condon observed that he had an
open mind on the question and
thought that possible exuaterricorial
origins were "improbable buc noc
impossible. "1' Brig. Gen. Edward
Giller. USAF. and Dr. Thomas
Ratchford from the Air Force
R.c:search and Development Office
became the Air Force coordinators
for the project.

Additional sightings in the
early 1970s also fueled
beliefs that the CIA was
somehow involved in a vast
conspiracy.

"

ment not available c:lsc:where that CIA
had used in itS analysis of some UFO
photography furnished by Ratchford.
Condon and his committee were
impressed. 71

In February 1967. Giller contacted
Arthur C. Lundahl. Director of
CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). and
proposed an informal liaison through
which NPIC could provide the Condon Committee with technical
advice and services in c:xa.mining photographs of allc:gcd UFOs. Lundahl
and 001 R. Jack Smith approved
the arrangement as a way of "preserving a window" on the new effort.
They wanted the CIA and NPIC to
maintain a low profile, however, and
to take no part in writing any conclusions for the committee. No work
done for the committee by NPIC
was to be formally acknowledged. 76

Condon and the same group met
again in May 1%7 at NPIC co hear
an analysis of UFO photographs
taken at Zanesville, Ohio. The analysis debunked that sighting. The
committee was again impressed with
the technical work performed. and
Condon remarked that for the firse
cime a scientific analysis of a UFO
would stand up to investigation. -s
The group also discussed the committee's plans to calion US citizens
for additional photographs .and to
issue guidelines for taking useful
UFO photographs. In addition, CrA
officials agreed that the Condon
Committee could release the full
Durant report with only minor
deletions.

Ratchford next requested that Condon and his committee be allowed to
visit NPIC to discuss the technical
aspectS of the problem and to view
the special equipment NPIC had for
photoanalysis. On 20 February 1967,
Condon and four members of his
committee visited NPIC. Lundahl
emphasized to the group that any
NPIC work eo assist the committee
muse not be identified as CIA work.
Moreover, work performed by NP(C
would be miccly of a technical
nacure. After receiving these guidelines. the group heard a series of
briefings on ehe services and equip-

In April 1969, Condon and his committee released their report on
UFOs. The report concluded that
litde, if anything, had come from the
study of UFOs in the pase 21 years
and that further extensive study of
UFO sightings was unwarranted. It
also recommended that the Air Force
special unit, Project BLUE BOOK•.
be discontinued. It did noc mention
CIA paccicipacion in the Condon
committee's investigation. 79 A special panel established by the National
Academy of Sciences reviewed the
Condon repocc and concurred with
its conclusion that "no high priority

in UFO investigations is warranted
by data of the past cwo decades." It
concluded irs review by declaring,
"On the basis of present knowledge.
the least likely explanation of UFOs
is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial
visitations by intelligent beings."
Following the recommendations of
the Condon Committee and the
National Academy of Sciences, the
Secretary of the Air Force, Robert C.
Seamans. Jr.• announced on 17
December 1%9 the termination of
BLUE BOOK.80

The 1970s and 1980s: The UFO
Issue Refuses T ~ Die
The Condon report did not satisfy
many UFOlogistS. who considered it
a coverup for CIA activities in UFO
research. Additional sighcings in the
early 1970$ fueled beliefs that the
CIA was somehow involved in a vast
conspiracy. On 7 June 1975, William Spaulding, head of a small UFO
group, Ground Saucer Watch
(GSW), wrote to CIA requesting a
copy of the RobeCtSon panel report
and all records relating to UFOS.81
Spaulding was convinced that the
Agency was withholding major files
on UFOs. Agency officials provided
Spaulding with a copy of the Robertson panel reporc and of the Durant
report. 82
On 14 July 1975. Spaulding again
wrote the Agency questioning the
authenticity of the repoCtS he had
received and alleging a CIA coverup
of itS UFO activities. Gene Wilson,
CIA's Information and Privacy
Coordinator, replied in an attempt
to satisfy Spaulding. "At no time
prior to the formarion of the Robertson Panel and subsequent to the
issuance of the panel's report has CIA
engaged in the study of the UFO phe-

n
;i,- ••

...

C00242525
UFOs

nomena." The RobertSOn panel •
report, according to Wtlson, was "the
summation of Agency interest and
involvement in UFOs." Wilson also
inferred that mere were no additional
documents in CIA's possession mat
related co UFOs. Wilson was ill
informed. u
In September 19n. Spaulding and
GSW. unconvinced by Wilson's
response, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against me
Agency that specifically requeste4 all
UFO documents in CIA's possession.
Deluged by similar FOIA requests for
Agency information on UFOs, CIA
officials agreed, after much legal
maneuvering, to conduct a "reasonable search" of CIA files for UFO
materials." Despite an Agency-wide
unsympametic attitude toward the
suit, Agency officials, led by Launie
Ziebell from the Office of General
Counsel. conducted a thorough
search for records pertaining to
UFOs. Persistent, demanding. and
even threatening at times. Ziebell and
his group scoured the Agency. They
even turned up an old UFO file
under a secretary's desk. The search
finally produced 355 documents totaling approximately 900 pages. On 14
December 1978, the Agency released
all but 57 documents of about 100
pages co GSW. It withheld these 57
documents on national security
grounds and to protect sources and
methods. S5
Although the released documents produced no smoking gun and revealed
only a [ow-level Agency interest in the
UFO phenomena after the Robertson
pand report of 1953, the press treated
the release in a sensational manner.
Th~ N~w York Tim~s, for example,
claimed that the declassified documents confirmed intensive

government concern over UFOs and
that the Agency was secretly involved
in the surveillance of UFOs. 86 GSW
then sued for the release of the withheld documents. claiming that the
Agency was still holding out key
information. ff1 It was much [ike the
John F. Kennedy assassination issue.
No matter how much material the
Agency released and no matter how
dull and prosaic the information. people continued to believe in a Agency
covernp and conspiracy.
DCI Stansfield Turner was so upset
when he read Th~ N~ York Tim~s
article that he asked his senior officers, "Are we in UFOs?" After
reviewing the records. Don Wortman.
Deputy Direccor for Administration.
reported co Turner thac there was "no
organized Agency effort to do research
in connection with UFO phenomena
nor has there been an organized effort
to collect intelligence on UFOs since
the 1950s." Wortman assured Turner
chat the Agency records held only .
"sporadic instances of correspondence
dealing with the subject." including
various kinds of reports of UFO sightings. There was no Agency program
to collect actively information on
UFOs, and the material released to
GSW had few deletions. 88 Thus
assured, Turner had the General .
Counsel press for a summary judgment against the new lawsuit by
GSW. In May 1980. the courts dismissed the lawsuit. finding that the
Agency had conducted a thorough
and adequate search in good faith. 89
During the late 1970s and 1980s. the
Agency continued its low-key interest
in UFOs and UFO sightings. While
most scientists now dismissed flying
saucers reports as a quaint part of the
1950s and 1960s. some in the
Agency and in the Intelligence Com-

munity shifted their interest to
studying parapsychology and psychic
phenomena associated with UFO
sightings. CIA officials also looked at
the UFO problem to determine what
UFO sightings might tell them about
Soviet progress in rockets and
missiles and reviewed its counterintelligence aspects. Agency analysts from
the Life Science Division of OSI and
OSWR officially devoted a small
amount of their time to issues relating to UFOs. These included
counterintelligence concerns that the
Soviets and the KGB were using US
citizens and UFO groups to obtain
informacion on sensitive US weapons
development programs (such as the
Stealth aircraft). the vulnerability of
the US air-defense network to penetration by foreign missiles mimicking
UFOs. and evidence of Soviet
advanced technology associated with
UFO sightings.
CIA also maintained Intelligence
Community coordination with other
agencies regarding their work in parapsychology, psychic phenomena, and
"remote viewing" experiments. In
general. the Agency took a conservative scientific view of these
unconventional scientific issues.
There was no formal or official UFO
project within the Agency in the
1980s. and Ag.ency officials purposely
kept files on UFOs to a minimum to
avoid creating records that might mislead the public if released. 90
The 1980s also produced renewed
charges that the Agency was still withholding documents relating to the,.
1947 Roswell incident. in which a
flying saucer supposedly crashed in
New Mexico. and the surfacing of documents which purportedly revealed
the existence of a top secret US
research and development intelligence

....
78

C00242525
UFOs

"

operation responsible only to me
President on UFOs in me lace 1940s
and early 1950s. UFOlogiscs had
long argued mac, following a flying
saucer crash in New Mexico in 1947,
the government not only recovered
debris from the crashed saucer but
also four or five alien bodies. According to some UFOlogiscs, me
government clamped tight security
around me projeCt and has refused to
divulge ics investigation reswcs and
research ever since. 91 In September
1994, the US Air Force released a
new report on the Roswell incident
mat concluded that me debris found
in New Mexico in 1947 probably
came from a once tOP secret balloon
operation, Project MOGUL,
designed to monitor me atmosphere
for evidence of Soviet nuclear tesCS.92
Circa 1984, a series of documencs
surfaced which some UFOlogiscs said
proved that President Truman created a tOP secret committee in 1947.
Majestic-12. to secure the recovery of
UFO wreckage from Roswell and
any other UFO crash sight for scien·
tiflc study and to examine any alien
bodies recovered from such sites.
Most if not all of these documencs
have proved to be fabrications. Yet
me controversy persiscs. 93
Like the JFK assassination conspiracy
meories. the UFO issue probably
will not go away soon. no maHer
what me Agency does or says. The
belief chac we are not alone in the
universe is [00 emotionally appealing
and the distrust of our government is
toO pervasive to make the issue ame·
nable to traditional scientific studies
of rational explanation and evidence.

Like the JFK assassination
conspiracy theories, the
UFO issue probably will
not go away soon, no
matter what the Agency
does or says.

NOTES

."

1. Sec the 1973 GaUup Poll results

printed in Th~ N~ York Tim~s, 29
November 1973, p. 45 and Philip J.
Klass. UFOs: Th~ Public D4cnlltli
(New York: Prometheus Books.
1983), p. 3.
2. See Klass, UFOs, p. 3; James S. Gordon, "The UFO Expei:icnce, - Ati4ntic
Month" (August 1991.), pp. 82-92;
David Michael Jacobs. Th4 UFO Con·
trov4rtJ in Ammca (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press. 1975);
Howard Blum. Out Thue: Th~ GOII·
nnmmti Secra Q~t for
Extrllt41T'4Strials (New York: Simon
and Schuster. (990); Timothy Good.
Aboll~ Top S~cret: Th~ Worldwitk
UFO Cotlt'r-Up (New York: William
Morrow, 1987); and Whidey Strieber.
Communion: Th4 Trut' Story (New
York: Morrow, 1987).
3. In September 1993 John Peterson. an
acquaintance ofWoolscy·s. first
approached the DCI with a package
ofhcavily sanitized CLA material on
UFOs released to UFOlogist Stanton.
T. Friedman. Peterson and Friedman
wanted to know the reasons for the
redactions. Woolsey agreed to look
into the matter. See Richard J. Warshaw. Executive Assisranc. note to
author. 1 November 1994; Warshaw.
note to John H. Wright. Information
and Privacy Coordinator. 31 January
1994; and Wtight. memorandum to
Executive Secretariat. 2 March 1994.
(Except where noted. all citations to
CIA records in this article arc to the
records collected for the 1994 Agencywide search that arc held by the Executive Assistant to the DCl).

I

I

4. Sec Hccror Quintanilla. Jr.• "The
Investigation of UFOs," Vol. 10. No.
4. Studies in Intt:liigmc~ (fall 1966):

I

pp.95·110 and CIA, unsigned memorandum, "Flying Saucers." 14 August
1952. Sec also Good, AbolJ4 Top
Secr~t. p. 253. During World War II.
US pilots reported "foo fighters"
(bright lights trailing US aircraft).
Fearing they might be Japanese or
German secret weapons, OSS investigated but could find no conctete
evidence of enemy weapons and often
filed such tcporrs in the "crackpot"
category. The OSS also investigated
possible sightings ofGecman V·l and
V-2 rockets before their operational
usc during the war. See Jacobs, UFO
Controumy. p. 33. The Ccmral Intel·
ligence Group, the predcce.ssor of the
CIA. also monitored reporrs of "ghost
rockets" in Sweden in 1946. Sec
CIG. Intelligence Report, 9 April
1947.
5. Jacobs. Th~ UFO Controtl4rtJ. p. 156
and Quintanilla. "The Investigation
of UFOs,· p. 97.
.
6. See US Air Force. Air Material Command. "Unidentified Aerial Objects:
Projccr SIGN, no. F-TR 2274. LA.
February 1949. Records of the US Air
Force Commands. Activities and
Organiutions. Record Group 341,
National Archives. Washington. DC.

7. Sec US Air Force. Proj4cts GRUDGE
and BLUEBOOK Reports J- J2 (Washington. DC; Nationallnvcstigations
Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
1%8) and Jacobs. The UFO ContrfJIJmy. pp. 50-54.
8. Sec Cabell. memorandum to Commanding Generals Major Air
Commands. "Reporting oflnformation on Unconventional Aircraft." 8
September 1950 and Jacobs. The
UFO ControlJ4rtJ, p. 65.

9. Sec Air Fotee. Projms GRUDGE and
BLUE BOOK and Jacobs. Th~ UFO
Conrrov4rtJ. p. 67.

79

....

C00242525
UFOs

10. (5) See Ec:Iwacd Tauss. memorand~m
for Deputy Assistant Direaor. SI.
"Flying Saucers." 1 August 1952. See
also United Kingdom. Repon: by the
"Flying Saucer" Working Party. "Unidencified Flying Objects." no date
(approximately 1950).
11. Sec Dr. Stone. OSlo memorandum to
Dr. Willard Machle. 051.15 March
1949 and Ralph L Clark, Acting
Assistant Director. OSlo memorandum for DOl. "Recent Sightings of
Unexplained Objects," 29 July 1952.
12. Stone. memorandum to Machle. See
also Clark, memorandum for DOt
29 July 1952.
13. See Klass. UFOs, p. 15. Fora brief
review of the Washingron sightings see
Good. Aboll~ Top S~crd. pp. 269-271.

14. See Ralph L Clark. Acting Assistant
Dircaor, OSI. memorandum to DOl
Roben: Amory. Jr .• 29 July 1952.
OSI and OCI were in the Directorate
of Intelligence. Established in 1948.
OSI served as the CIA's focal point
for the analysis of foreign scientific
and technological developments. In
1980. 051 was merged into the Office
of Science and Weapons Research.
The Office of Current Intelligence
(OCI), established on 15 January
1951 was co provide all-source current
intelligence co the President and che
National Security Council.
15. T auss. memorandum for Deputy
Assiscant Direccor. SI (Philip Strong).
1 August 1952.
16. On 2 January 1952. DCI Walter
Bedell Smith crelted a Deputy Directorate for Intelligence (001) composed
of six oven: CIA organiucions-OSI.
ocr. Office of Collection and Dissemination. Office National Estimates.
Office of Research and ReportS. and
the Office oflntelligence Coordination-to produce intelligence analysis
for US policymakers.
17. See Minutes of Branch Chiefs Meeting. 11 August 1952.

80

IS. Smith expressed his opinions at a
meeting in the DCI Conference
Room attended by his tOP officers.
See Deputy Chief. Requirements
Staff. Fl. memorandum for Deputy
Dircaor. Plans. "Flying Saucers." 20
August 1952. Directorate of Operaclons Records. Information
Management Scaff, Job S~0053SR.
Box 1. (S)
19. Sec CIA memorandum. unsigned.
"Flying Saucers: 11 August 1952.
20. See CIA. memorandum. unsigned.
"Flying Saucers." 14 August 1952.

26. The IAC was created in 1947 to serve
as a coordinating body in establishing
intelligence requirements. Chaired by
me DCI, me IAC included representatives from me Oeparanenc of State,
me Army, me Air Force, the Joint
Chie& of Scaff, me FBI. and me AEC.
27. Sec Klass. UFOs. p. 27.
28. See Richard D. Drain. Acting Secretary. IAC. -Minutes of Meeting held
in Director's Conference Room.
Administracion Building. CIA." 4
December 1952.
29. (S) See Chadwell. memorandum for

21. See CIA. memorandum. unsigned.
"Flying Saucers: 19 August 1952.

me record. "British Activity in me
Field of UFOs." 18 December 1952.

22. See Chadwell. memorandum for
Smith. 17 September 1952 and 24
September 1952. "Flying Saucers. "
See also Chadwell. memorandum for
DCI Smith. 2 October 1952 and
Klass. UFOs. pp. 23-26.

30. Sec Chadwell. memorandum for
DCI. "Consultants for Advisory Panel
on Unidentified Flying Objects." 9
January 1953; Curtis Peebles. Wa«h
th~ Skin! A Chronicle ofth~ Flying SaucO" Myth (Washington. DC:
Smithsonian Institution Press. 1994).
pp. 73-90; and Jacobs. Th~ Cf.FO Controunry. pp. 91-92.

23. Chadwell. memorandum for DCI
wim attachments. 2 December 19'52.
Sec also Klass. UFOs. pp. 26-27 and
Chadwell. memorandum. 25 November 1952.
24. See Chadwell. memorandum. 25
November 1952 and Chadwell. memorandum. "Approval in PrincipleExternal Research Project Concerned
with Unidentified Flying Objects." no
date. See also Philip G. Strong. OSlo
memorandum for the record. "Meeting wim Dr. Julius A. Stratton.
Executive Vice President and Provost.
MIT and Dr. Max Millikan. Director
ofCENIS." Scrong believed mac in
order to unden:ake such a review they
would need the full backing and support of DC I Smim.
25. See Chadwell. memorandum for
DCI. " Unidentified Flying Objects."
2 December 1952. See also Chadwell. memorandum for Amory. 001.
"Approval in Principle - External
Research Project Concerned wim Unidcntified Flying ObjeCts." no date.

31. 'See Fred C. Durant III. Repon: on me
RobertSOn Panel Meeting. January
1953. Durant. on contract wim OSI
and a past president of me American
Rocket Society. an:ended me Robertson panel meetings and wrote a
summary of me proceedings.
32. See Repon: of the Scientific Pand on
Unidentified Flying Objects (me Roberuon Repon:). 17 January 1953 and
the Durant repot[ on the panel
discussions.
33. See Robertson Repon: and Duranc
Repon:. See also Good. Abou~ Top
S~t:m. pp. 337-3S.Jacobs, Th~ UFO
Controllnry, p. 95, and Klass. UFO i.
pp.2S-29.
"
34. See Reber, memorandum co IAC. IS
February 1953.
35. See Chadwell. memorandum for
001. "Unidentified Flying Objects."

C00242525
UFOs

10 February 1953; Chadwell. letter to
RobertSOn. 28 January 1953; and
Re~r. memorandum for IAC. "Unidentified Flying Objects." 18
February 1953. On briefing the
ONE. see Durant. memorandum for
the record. "Briefing of ONE Board
on Unidentified Flying ObjectS." 30
January 1953 and CIA Summary disseminated to che field. "Unidentified
Flying ObjectS." 6 February 1953.

36. Sec Chadwell. letter to Julius A. Stratcon, Provost MIT. 27 January 1953.
37. See Chadwell. memorandum for
Chief. Physics and Electronics Divi- .
sion/OSI (Todos M. Odarenko),
"Unidentified Flying ObjectS." 27
May 1953.

38. Sec Odarenko. memorandum to
Chadwell. "Unidentified Flying
ObjectS." 3 July 1953. See also
Odarenko. memorandum to Chadwell. "Current Status of Unidentified
Flying ObjectS (UFO B) Project." 17
December 1953.
39. See Odarenko. memorandum. "Uni_
dentified Flying Objects." 8 August
1955.

40. Sec FBIS. cepott. "Military Unconventional Aircraft." 18 August 1953 and
various reports. "Military-Air. Unconventional Aircnft." 1953. 1954. 1955.
41. Developed by the Canadian affiliate
of Bricain's A. V. Roc. Ltd.• Project Y
did produce a small-scale modc:l chat
hovered a few feet off the ground. Sec
Odarenko. memonndum to Chadwell. "Flying Saucer Type of Planes"
25 May 1954; Frederic C. E. Oder.
memorandum co Odarenko. "USAF
Project Y." 21 May 1954; and
Odarenko. T. M. Nordbeck. Ops/Sl.
and Sidney Graybeal. ASD/SI, memorandum for che record, "Intelligence
Responsibilities for Non-Conventional Types of Air Vehicles." 14 June

1954.
42. Sec Reuben Efron. memorandum.
"Observation of Flying Object Near

Baku." 13 October 1955; Scoville,
memorandum for the record, "Interview with Senator Richard B. Russdl."
27 October 1955; and WJton E.
Lc:xow. memorandum for informacion.
"RepOrted Sighting of Unconventional
Aircraft." 19 October 1955.

43. Sec Lexow. memorandum for informacion. "Reported Sighting of
Unconventional Aircraft." 19 Occober
1955. See also Frank C. Bolsec. memorandum for George C. Miller.
Deputy Chief. SAD/SI. "Possible
Soviet Flying Saucers. Check On;"
Lc:xow. memorandum. "Possible
Soviet Flying Saucers. Follow Up
On." 17 December 1954; Lc:xow.
memorandum. "Possible Soviet Flying
Saucers." 1 December 1954; and A.
H. Sullivan. Jr.• memorandum. "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers." 24
November 1954.

44. See Gregory W. Pedlowand Donald
E. Welzenbach. Th~ CmtrallnuUigmc~ Agmcy and OuO'h~ad
R~connaisranc~: Th~ U-2 and
OXCART Programs. 1954-1974
(Washington. DC: CIA History Scaff,
1992). pp. 72-73.

45. See Pedlow and Welzenbach. Outrh~ad &connaissanc~. pp. 72-73. This
also was confirmed in a telephone
intervi~ between the author and
John Parongosky. 26 July 1994.
Parongosky oversaw che day-co-day
affairs of che OXCART program.

46. Sec Jacobs. Th~ UFO ControuO'f},
p. 135.
47. See Peebles, Watch th~ Slt~s. pp. 128·
146; Ruppelt. Th~ Rtport on Unidmtifi~d Flying Obj~cts (New York:
Doubleday, 1956); Keyhoc. Th~ Flying SaucO' Conspiracy (New York:
Hole. 1955); and Jacobs. Th~ UFO
ControuO'f}. pp. 347-49.
48. See Strong. letter to Uoyd W. Berkner;
Strong, letter co Thorton Page; Scrong.
letter co Robertson; Strong. letcer to
Samuel Goudsmit; Scrong. lecter co
Luis Alvarez, 20 December 1957; and

Strong. memorandum for Major James
F. Byrne. Assistant Chief of Scaff, Intdligence Department of the Air Force.
"Dcclassificacion of the 'Report of the
Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying
Objects,''' 20 December 1957. See
also Berkner.letter to Strong, 20
November 1957 and Page. letter to
Strong, 4 December 1957. The panel
members were also cc1uctanc to have
their association with the Agency
released.

49. See Wuton E. Lc:xow. memorandum
for the record. UCommentS on Letters
Dealing with Unidentified Flying
Objects." 4 April 1958: J. S. Earman.
letter to Major Lawrence J. Tacker.
Office of the Secretary of the Air
Force. Information Service. 4 April
1958; Davidson. letter to Berkner. 8
April 1958; Berkner.letter to Davidson. 18 April 1958; Berkner.letter to
Strong. 21 April 1958; Davidson.letter to Tacker. 27 April 1958:
Davidson. letter to Allen Dulles. 27
April 1958; Ruppelt. letter to Davidson. 7 May 1958; Strong. letter to
Beckner. 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner. 8 May 1958;
Davidson. letter to £arman. 16 May
1958; Davidson. letter to Goudsmic.
18 May 1958: Davidson. letter to
Page. 18 May 1958; and Tacker.let~
ter to Davidson. 20 May 1958.
50. See Lcxow. memorandum for
Chapin. 28 July 1958.

51. See Good. Abo,,~ Top S~cm. pp. 34647; Lexow, memorandum for the
record. UMeeting with the Air Force
Personnc:l Concerning Scientific Advisory Panel Report on Unidentified
Flying Objects. dated 17 January
1953 (S)." 16 May 1958. See also La
Rae L. T eel. Deputy Division Chief.
ASD, memorandum for the record,
"Meeting with Mr. Chapin on Replying co Leon Davidson's UFO Letcer .
and Subsequent Telephone Conversacion with Major Thacker, [sic)" 22
May 1958.
52. See Edwin M. Ashcnft. Chief.
Concacc Division (Scientific). memo-

81

C00242525
UFOs

f
randum to Chief. Chicago Office.
"Radio Code Recording." 4 March
1955 2nd Ashcraft. memo[2lldum to
Chief. Support Branch, OSI. 17
March 1955,

memorandum for Austin Bricker. Jr.•
Assistant to the Director, "Inquiry by
Major Donald E. Kcyhoc on John
Hazen's Association with the
Agency," 22 January 1959.

53. The Contact Division W3$ created to
collect foreign intelligence information from sources within the United
States. See the Directorate of Intelligence .Hist~rical Series, Th~ Origin

64. See John T. Hazen. memorandum to

54. See George O. Forrest. Chief. Chi:

Chief, C..ontact Division. 12 December 1957. See also Ashcraft,
memnrnndum to Cleveland Resident
Agent. MRaiph E. Mayher." 20 December 1957. According to this
memorandum, the photographs were
viewed .:It "a high level and returned
to us without comment.." The Air
Force held the original negatives. The
CIA rccords were probably destroyed.

cago Office. memorandum to Chief.
Contact Division for Science. II
March 1955.

65. The is.~ue would resurface in the
1970s with the GSW FOIA court case.

lind Dru~lopmmt ufContlla Diuision,
11 July 1946-1 July 1965 (Washington. DC; CIA Historical Scaff. June
1969).

55. See Support Division (Connell). memorandum to Dewelt E. Walker. 25
April 1957.
56. See J. Arnold Shaw. Assistant to the
Director. letter to Davidson. 10 May
1957.
57. See Support (Connell) memorandum
to Lt. Col. V. Sbkich. 27 August 1957
and Lamountain. memorandum to
Support (Connell). 20 December 1957.
58. See Lamountain. cable co SuppOrt
(Connell). 31 July 1958.
59. See Support (Connell) cable to Skakich. 3 Ocrober 1957 and Skakich.
cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.

GO. See Sbkich. cable co Connell. 9 Ocrober 1957.

G1. See R. P. B. lohmann. memorandum
for Chief. Contact Qivision. DO. 9
January 1958.
G2. See Support. cable to Skakich. 20 February 1958 and Connell (SupPOrt)
cable to Lamountain. 19 December
1957.
G3. See Edwin M. Ashcrafr, Chief. Concacc Division. Office of Operations.

6G. Sec Rnhcrt Amory. J r.. 0 DI. memorandum for Assistant Directorl
Scienlific Intelligence, "Flying Saucers," 2(, March 1956. Seealso
Walbl:c R. Lamphire, Office of the
Dim:c .. r. Planning and Coordination
Staff. mcmorandum for Richard M.
Bissell. Jr.. ·.. Unidentified Flying Saucers (UFO): II June 1957; Philip
Stron~. memorandum for the Director, NI'IC, "Reported Photography of
Uniacnrified Flying ObjectS,· 27
Oct"I ...·r 1958; Scoville. memorandum
to Llwr"nce Houston, Legislative
CoUIIS<-I. MReply co Honorable Joseph
E. Garlh.~ 12 July 1961; and Houston. 1"lIcr co Garth, 13 July 1961.
67. Sec. IiI[ ~'!(ample, Davidson, lecter to
Con~r~-s.~man Joseph Garth, 26 June
1961 :111.1 Carl Vinson, Chairman,
Hou~~' Committee on Armed Servict's. krrer to Rep. Robert A. Everett,
2 S"I""mber 1964.

G8. Sec ~ I.cxwdl W. Hunter. staff member, N:lrional A~ronautics and Space
CoulI,·il. Executive Office of the President. mcmorandum for Robert F.
Parkard. Office of International Seientifi ... AfEtirs. qepartment of State.
"TllIIu~hts on the Space Alien Race
Qu,·~'i,,"." 18 July 1963, File SP 16.
Re"'r<I~ of the Department of State.
Rec •• rd Croup 59, National Archives.

See also F. J. Sheridan, Chief. Washington Office. memorandum to
Chief. Contact Division. "National
Investigation Committee on Aerial
Phenomena (NlCAP)," 25"}anuary
1965.
.
69. Chamberlain, memorandum for DCI,
"Evaluation of UFOs, " 26 January
1965.
70. See Jacobs. Th~ UFO Control/my, p.
199 and US Air Force, Scientific Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Committee
(O'Brien Committee) to Review
Project BLUE BOOK. Sp~dIll &port
(Washington, DC: (966). Sec also
Th~ NI!W York TImes, 14 August
1966. p. 70.
71. Sec "Congress Reassured on Space VisitS," Th~ N(W York TImes, GApril
1966.

72. Weber, letter to Col. Gerald E. Jorgensen. Chief. Communiry Relations
Division, Office of Informacion, US
Air Force, 15 August 1966. The
Durant report W3$ a detailed summary
of the RobertSon panel proceedings.
73. Sec John Lear, "The Disputed CIA
Document on UFOs," Saturday
R~il!W (Sepcember 3, 1966). p. 45.
The Lear article W3$ otherwise unsympathetic to UFO sighcings and the
possibility that cxtraterritorials were
involved. The Air Force had been
eager to provide Lear with the full
report. Sec W:i.Jter L. Mackey, Executive Officer, memorandum for DCI.
"Air Force Request to Declassify CIA
Material on Unidentified Flying
Objects (UFO)," 1 September 1966.
74. Sec Klass. UFOs, p. 40, Jacobs. Th~
UFO Controumy. p. 214 and Everet "
Clark, "Physicist Scores 'Saucer StatUS,'" Th~ N~ York Tim~J. 21
October 1966. Sec also James E.
McDonald, "Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects," submitted to the
House Comminee on Science and
Astronautics. 29 July 1968.
.

82

..

C00242525
UFOs

75. Condon is quoted in Walter Sullivan,
"3 Aides Selected in Saucer Inquiry."
Tht NtIII York Tima. 8 Octohcr
1966. See also MAn. OutSpoken Scientist. Edward Uhler Condon." Tht
NtIII York Tima. 8 October 1966.
Condon. an outgoing. gruff scientist.
had c:arlier become embroiled in a controversy with the House Unamerican
Activities Committee that claimed
Condon was "one of the weakest links
in our atomic security." See also Peebles. Wa«hthtSkitS.pp.169-195.

83. See Wilson. letter co Spaulding. 26
March 1976 and GSW v. CIA Civil
Action Case 78-859.

76. See Lundahl. memorandum for DDI.
7.February 1967.

84. GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78859. p. 2.

n. Sec memorandum for the record.

85. Author interview with Launie Ziebell.
23 June 1994 and author interview
with 051 analyst. 21 July 1994. See
also affidavics of George Owens. CIA
Information and Privacy Act Coordinator; Karl H. Weber. OSI; Sidney D.
Scembridge. Office of Security; and
Rudedge P. Hazzard. DS&T; GSW v.
CIA Civil Action Case 78-859 and
Sayre Stevens. Deputy Direccor for
National Foreign Assessment. memorandum for Thomas H. White.
Assistant for Information. Information Review Committee. MFOIA
Litigacion Ground Saucer Watch." no
date.

MV'lSit of Dr. Condon to NPIC. 20
February 1967." 23 February 1967.
See also the analysis of the photographs in memorandum for Lundahl.
MPhoto Analysis of UFO Photography," 17 February 1967.
78. See memorandum for the record.
"UFO Briefing for Dr. Edward Condon. 5 May 19~7." 8 May 1967 and
attached MGuidelines to UFO Photographers and UFO Photographic
Information Sheet." See also Condon
Committee. Press Release. 1 May
1967 and Klass. UFOs. p. 41. The
Zaneville photographs turned out to
be a hoax.
79. See Edward U. Condon. Scitntific

Study ofUnidtntifitd Flying Objms
(New York: Bantam Books. 1969)
and Klass. UFOs. p. 41. The repore
contained the Durant report with
only minor deletions.
80. See Office of Assistant Secretary of
Defense. News Release. "Air Force to
Terminate Project BLUEBOOK," 17
December 1969. The Air Force
retired BLUEBOOK records co che
USAF Archives ae Maxwell Air Force
Base in Alabama. In 1976 ehe.Air
Force eurned over all BLUEBOOK
filcs co ehe National Archives and
Records Adminiscration. which made
them available to the public without
major restricdons. Some names have

been withheld !Tom the documentS.
See Klass. UFOs. p. 6.
81. GSW was a small group of UFO buffs
based in Phoenix. Arizona. and
headed by Wtlliam H. Spaulding.
82. See Klass. UFOs. p. 8.

86. See "CIA Papers Detail UFO Surveillance." Tht NtTII York TimtS. 13
January 1979; Patrick Huyghe. "UFO
Files: The Untold Story." Tht Ntul
York Tjm~r Magazint. 14 Oceober
1979. p. 106; and Jerome Clark.
"UFO Update," UFO Report. August.
1979.
87. Jerome Clark. "LatCSt UFO News
Briefs From Around the World."
UFO Updatt. August 1979 and GSW
v. CIA Civil Action No. 78-859.
88. See Wortman. memorandum for OCI
Turner. "Your Question. 'Are we in
UFOs?' Annotated to Tht Ntul York
Timts News Release Areicle." 18 January 1979.
89. See GSW v. CIA Civil Action 78859. See also Klass. UFOs. pp. 10-12.

90. (S) See John Brennan. memorandum
for Richard Warshaw. Executive Assiscane. DCI. "Requested Information
on UFOs: 30 September 1993;
Author interviews with OSWR analyst. 14 June 1994 and OSI analyst.
21 July 1994. This author found
almost no documentation on Agency
involvement with UFOs in the 19805.
There is a DIA Psychic Center and the
NSA studies parapsychology. that
branch of psychology thac deals with
the investigation of such psychic phenomena as clairvoyance. cxuasensory
perception. and cdepathy. The CIA
reportedly is also a memhcr of an Incident Response T cam to investigate
UFO landings. if one should occur.
This tcam has never met. The lack of
solid CIA documentation on Agency
UFO-related activities in the 19805
leaves the entire issue somewhat
murky for this period.
Mu~ of the UFO literature presently
focuses on concaccees and abductees.
See John E. Mack. Abduction. Human
EncountaT with Alims (New Yol'k:
Charles Scribner's Sons. 1994) and
Howard Blum. Out Thut (New York:
Simon and Schuster. 1990).

91. See Charles Berlic: and William L.
Moore. Tht RosweD lncidtnt (New
York: Berkeley Books. 1988); Moore.
"The Roswdllncident: New Evidence
in ehe Search for a Crashed UFO."
(Burbank. California: Fair Witness
Project. 1982). Publication Number
1201; and Klass~ UFOs. pp. 280-28\.
In 1994 Congressman Steven H.
Schiff (R-NMl called for an official
study of the Roswell incident. The
GAO is conducting a separate investigation of the incident. The CIA is
not involved in the investigation. See
Klass. UFOs. pp. 279-281; John H.
Wright. Information and Prival.."y
Coordinator. letter to Derek Skrecn.
20 September 1993; and OSWR analyst interview. See also the made-forTY film. Roswto, which appeared on
cable TY on 31 July 1994 and Peebles. Watch rht Skits. pp. 245-25 \.

83

C00242525
1:11

Iil

UFOs

;'

92. See John Diamond, "Air Force Probes
1947 UFO Claim Findings Arc
Down to Earth," 9 September 1994,
Associated Press release: William J.
Broad, "Wreckage of a 'Spaceship': Of
This Earth (and U.S.>," Th~N~ York
Tim~s. 18 September 1994, p. I: and
USAF Col. Richard L Weaver and
1st Lt. James McAndrew. Th~ Rosw~/l
Report, Faa Vmur Fiction in N~
Mo:ico D~sm (Washington, DC:
GPO, 1995).
93. Sec Good. Aboll~ Top S~cnt; Moore
and S. T. Friedman, "Philip Klass and
MJ-12: What are the Fact5,~ (Burbank California: Fair-Witness Projecr,
1988), Publication Number 1290:
Klass, "New Evidence of MJ-12
Hoax," SkqJticallnquir". vol. 14
(Winter 1990): and Moore and Jaime
H. Shandera, Th~ MJ-12 Docummts:
An AIUllJrical R~ort (Burbank, California: Fair-Witness Project, 1990),
Publication Number 1500. Walter
Bedell Smith supposedly replaced Forrestal on 1 August 1950 following
Forresral's death. All members liSted
were dcccascd when the MJ-12 "documents" sur&ced in 1984. See Peebles,
Watch th~ Skin, pp. 258-268.
Dr. Larry Bland, editor of Th~ G~org~
C MarrhaU Papm. discovered that one
of the so-called Majescic-12 documents was a complete fraud. It
contained the exact same language as a
(euer from Marshall to Presidential
candidate Thomas Dewey regarding
the MMagic" intercepu in 1944. The
dates and names had been altered and
"Magic" changed to "Majic." Moreover, it was a photocopy, not an
original. No original MJ-12 documents have ever surfaced. Telephone
conversation between the author and
Bland. 29 August 1994.

84