The Government and UFOs ''Further scientific investigation of UFOs is unwarranted. "

--Air Force. 1980 Perhaps most disturbing is the very fact that after thirty-two years, a small but significant percentage of UFOs still remains unidentified. While the government has been concerned with the psychological danger the UFO phenomenon poses, it has been unwilling to consider the prospect that some UFOs pose an actual physical threat. Fearful of generating undue concern, the government has deliberately chosen to debunk UFO reports and has misinformed the public as to the true importance of the phenomenon. Unconventional aerial objects that boast unlimited and unrestricted access to our most sensitive nuclear installations-and which can render inoperable the instrumentation, communication/weapon systems of American-made jets, or which can shut down and restart at will sophisticated hydraulic equipment do warrant further scientific study. Awareness of an advanced technology and potential threat is not an I unreasonable pursuit. As the National  Security Agenda indicates, it could be a matter of survival. Tough admitted the government has "studied UFO reports, apparently no. government body has dwelt on those official government reports that indicate certain UFOs pose a threat to national security. Is there any doubt that it is these reports which deserve further scientific investigation? The now-defunct USAFtwenty-year "Project Blue Book" UFO study never had a chance to receive the "outstanding report" from Iran. An Air Force document states: "Reports of UFOs which could affect national security are made in accordance with JANAP 146* or Air Force Manual 55-11, and are not part of the Blue Book system." The Air Force's UFO investigation was "[oint Army·Navy·Air Force Publication 146 is published O}' the Military Communications Board ofthe DODJoint Chiefs ofStaff. It provided U.S.- Canadian ·Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS) {rom Airborne and Waterborne Sources." Section III (Security), paragraph 208. calls for stiff penalties for divulging information about such sightings once reported. - Ed. criticized as long ago as 1952 by the CIA. The CIA complained that the Air Force's case-by-case investigations and explanations were insufficient to determine the exact nature of the phenomenon.s Similarly, the Air Force-sponsored "Condon Committee" study by the University of Colorado in 1968 never earnestly intended to investigate the physical reality of the phenomenon. Indeed, an early memorandum by one of Dr. Edward U. Condon's staff indicates otherwise: "The trick would be. I think to describe the project so that to the public, it would appear a totally objective study ... one way to do this would be to stress investigation, not of the physical phenomenon, but rather of the people who are doing the observing ..."7 Conclusion In June 1978, a French government UFO study group (GEPANl concluded that "everything taken into consideration, a material phenomenon seems to be behind the totality of the phenomenon - a flying machine whose modes of sustenance: and proBASED ON the 892 pages of UFO· related documents released to lawyer Peter Gersten, it is clear that the CIA's professed non-interest in UFOs is un- . true. There isinternal evidence of noncontinuity within the CIA, and even of one group or analyst being unaware of other files or previous work. This is not surprising considering the highly compartmentalized nature of the agency. But periodic studies or reviews were ordered and UFO reports, foreign and domestic, were routinely monitored over long periods of time. The statement is sometimes made that the CIA has had no "formal" study of UFOs other than the 1953 Robertson Panel, but these documents show that the agency kept (and no doubt keeps) plenty of "channels" open to gather information, including an acknowledged channel into the RICHARD HALL was former Assistant. Director ofNlCAP. the leading UFO organization during the 1950s and 1960s. He is the Editor of MUFON Journal and a Frontiers of Science advisor.0 May-June 1981 27 pulsion are beyond our knowledge: If the UFO phenomenon is indeed beyond the grasp of Our understanding - technologically speaking - all the more reason to strive towards learning more about it. For although the United States may i nore the s!l'tmhcance of t e Phenomenon, It IS ardlv reasonable to supoose that the rest of the world will do so. . And there are other considerations besides national security in following up the UFO enigma. As a report from the National Securitv A2encv in 1968 put It, "Perhaps the UFO question might even make man undertake " studies which could enable him to construct a society which is 2 most conducive to developing a .. completely human being, healthy in all aspects ofmind and ? body-and. most importantly, • able to recognize and adapt to real environmental situations." In isolating ourselves from the UFO phenomenon we may risk missing' what could be the most important adventure man has yet embarked upon. 0 - 1966·68 University of Colorado UFO project. The documents also clearly indicate that in 1952 the CIA was prepared to mount a major scientific study of UFOs based on the extraordinary radar-visual sightings that year, but that the debunking conclusion of the Robertson Panel cut short that effort. In May 1953, following the Robert- . son Panel report, "P&E Division assumed responsibility for the OSI project on unidentified flying objects." (December 17, 1953 memo to Assistant Director. Scientific Intelligence) Ayear later. the Chief of P&E (Physics and Electronics) said he would "maintain the OSI central file on such objects," which he did until August 1955, according to an August 8, 1955 memo to the Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence. AFTER THAT, responsibility was assigned to the Applied Science Division, ~here W.E. Lexow, Division Chief, stated in a February -1956 memo: "Achronological file of all OSI correspondence and action taken in he Federal Government has systematically misinformed the American . people about the real threat. .. operable when the pilot attempted to provoke, either' intentionally or fire at the object. unintentionally, an international inThe DIA evaluation' (October 12, cident-with serious repercussions. 1976) refers to this incident as "an In March 1967, an intercept technioutstanding report" because the ob- cian with the USAF Securitv Service jects were seen by many witnesses of intercepted a communication behigh credibility; the visual sightings tween the 110t ot a Russian-made' had radar confirmation; similar elec- uban - 1 an his command contromagnetic effects were reported by cermnga OFOencounter.5Thetechnithree separate aircraft; and Cl81l has since stated that when the physiological effects were reported by pnot attempted to fire at the object, the some of the crew members. Further. ,.; MIG and its pilot were destroyed by more, the UFOs displayed an "inor- the UFO. Furthermore, the technician dinate amount of maneuverability." alleges that all reports, tapes, log enA State Department message (March tries, and notes on the incident were 7, 1975) from the American Embassy forwarded to the National Security in Algiers tells of "strange machines" Agency at their request. seen near Algerian military installa- Not surprlsmgly, several months tions by "respectable people." Some of ~ter, the agency drafted a report en· the sightings were confirmed by titled UFo H othesis and Survival radar. uestion. Released in ctober 1 79 And another State Department Wider the U.S. Freedom of Informamessage from our embassy in Kuwait tion Act, the report states that "the reports that during November 1978, a leisurely scientific approach has too series of UFO sightings caused the often taken precedence in dealing Kuwaiti government to appoint an in- with the UFO question." The Agen~ vestigatory committee from the concluded that no matter-what UFO Kuwait Institute for Scientific Re- hypothesis is considered, "all of them search. One UFO appearing over the have serious survival implications." northern oil fields "seemingly did Comparing the UFO problem to a strange things" to the automatic pump- rattler on a forest path, the NSA reporting equipment. The equipment is says, "you would have to treat the designed to shut itself down when any alarm as if it were a real and failure occurs that could seriously immediate threat to your survival. Indamage the petroleum-gathering and investigation would become an inten transmission system; when such an sive emergency action to isolate the event occurs, the pumping equipment threat and to determine its' precise must be restarted manually. When the nature. It would be geared to developUFO 'appeared, the pumping system ing adequate defense measures in a automatically shut down. But when minimum amount of time. It would the UFO "vanished," the. system seep a little more of this survival at- , started up again, automatically. titude is called for in dealing with the ' The presence of a highly UFO problem."