Documents / FOIA release
This CIA file on flying saucers includes a memorandum from Director Walter B. Smith to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board. Smith says unidentified flying objects may matter for psychological warfare as well as intelligence and operations. The file also holds an Office of Scientific Intelligence study, draft NSC and Secretary of Defense papers proposing a centrally run research program, a briefing on the Air Force's small ATIC section under Captain Ruppelt, and a Project Blue Book paper on weather and research balloons.
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The problem of "uncontrolled flying objects" is a national security problem of concern to operations as well as to intelligence. 2. Operational problems are of primary importance and should be attacked at once. They include: a. Taking immediate steps to improve identification of "phantom" so that in the event of an attack, instant and positive identification of enemy rockets or plans could be made. b. Determination of what if any utilization should be made of these phenomena by US psychological warfare planners and what, if any, defenses should be planned in anticipation of Soviet attempts to utilize them. 5. Intelligence problems include. a. Knowledge of the exact nature of these phenomena especially as regards (1) Whether any are susceptible to control, and can be thus utilised for either military or psychological offence or defense. (2) Whether any are predictable and can thus be taken advantage of in military or psychological operations. ___. b. The present level of Russian knowledge regarding these phenomena. - Possible Soviet intentions and capabilities to utilize these phenomena. to the detriment of US security interests.
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 26 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.