Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report 14 (Hynek's annotated copy)

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

## IN GREACH TO PUBLICATION ON GROUPS

OF MILITARY SECURITY 08

16 17 FEB 1955

OFFICE OF MUBLIC INFORMATION

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

14 Soundview Ave.

White Plains, N.Y.

February 14, 1955

Security Review Branch Office of Public Information Department of Defense Washington 25, D.C.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR MILITARY SECURITY BY THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, DEPARTMENT OF

STATE, WHICH PUBLISHES THE ARTICLE, NO. 1001

OCCUPY ACCOMPANY IF INDICATES SUCH BEFORE

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS INCLUDED THEREIN

"REVIEW OF THIS ARTICLE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DOES NOT CONSTITUTE VERTIFICATION OF FACTUAL ACCURACY

OR OPINION."

## Dear Sirs:

I hereby submit the following proposed statement, to be issued by me, to you for security review prior to publication. I plan to send this statement to news services and other media of news dissemination, about March 1, 1955. Your attention before that date would be appreciated. Should you wish me to make certain deletions, please advise me.

## The statement follows:

The U.S.Air Force, after more than seven years of investigation, has at last admitted that sightings of secret American aircraft and missiles have caused those persistent reports of unexplainable "flying saucers" which have bobbed up in the news ever since 1947. This admission, made grudgingly by the Air Force, and without any fanfare, should bring to a close a most ignoble and unhealthy situation, in which one branch of the Department of Defense was "investigating" public manifestations of a secret activity of other branches.

Although several different activities accounted for the sightings, not all of these can be disclosed at this time. One category of saucer reports, the "green fireballs of the Southwest", was connected in part with the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Program, involving artificial meteors. Another category of reports was admitted by the Air Force to be due to flight tests of a new high-intensity light source for night aerial photography. Still another type of saucer which was reported bore strong resemblance to a fantastically-shaped guided missile developed by the applied physics laboratories of a large Eastern university.

"The Air Force, which was not involved in causing these reports, was originally designated to investigate the reports in order to allay public fears which had been aroused by the sudden appearance of strange objects in the skies in 1947. At that time, prior to "Unification", the true nature of the objects could not be divulged to the Air Force junior officers assigned to the investigation. Likewise, security considerations prompted the Government to try to convince the public that no real objects were being seen, but only mirages, hallucinations, etc.

However, in the past few years, as the facts became more insistent, the Air Force found it increasingly difficult to keep up the pretense that it was conducting an honest scientific investigation. Also, the danger inherent in the situation became evident. Because of the repeated

official statements that any saucers which might be seen were not real, there was an uncomfortable probability that a hostile aircraft or missile which resembled a saucer would pass unchallenged through our Air Defense network. Hence, in August, 1954, an official Air Force Regulation (AFR 200-2) was issued, stating that strange aerial objects must be taken seriously and treated as potentially hostile aircraft.

" In October, 1954, the Air Force, by simply omitting a key paragraph from its annual revision of its flying saucer"fact sheet", quietly admitted that saucers were American objects. These omitted sentences had been based on an erroneous interpretation of Majgr Gen. John A. Samford's statement, as Director of Intelligence of the Air Force in 1952, that the United States has no secret weapon which "has no mass and unlimited power". The sentences which have now been recanted read:

"The Air Force has stated in the past, and reaffirms at the present time, that unexplained aerial phenomena are not a secret weapon, missile, or aircraft, developed by the United States. None of the three military departments nor any other agency in the Government is conducting experiments, classified or otherwise, with flying objects which could be a basis for the reported phenomena."

In the light of the evidence which has been made available to it in its investigation, the Air Force now finds that it can no longer justifiably make the above-quoted statement. Since the Air Force no longer denies that some of the "weird" saucer reports are due to American objects, it would seem to be appropriate now for the news services of America to wind up this story with appropriate editorial comment."

End of Statement

Sincerely yours,

Leon Darilson

Dr. Leon Davidson

GREEDLECTION TO PUBLICATION ON GROUPS OF MILITARY SECURITY

16 17 FEB 1955

OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR MILITARY SECURITY BY THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, DEPARTMENT OF

INTENSE. WHEN PUBLISHING THIS ARTICLE, NO STATEMENT

WILL ACCOMPANY IT INDICATING SUCH REVIEW UNLESS

FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS INCLUDED THEREIN:

"REVIEW OF THIS ARTICLE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DOES NOT CONSTITUTE VERIFICATION OF FACTUAL ACCURACY

OR OPINION."