Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency file contains memoranda to the Director of Central Intelligence from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, dated October 1952. They find that the Air Force's Air Technical Intelligence Center explains flying saucer reports one case at a time, which is not enough to resolve the problem as a whole. The memos warn of two national security dangers, mass psychological panic and air defense vulnerability, and recommend that the National Security Council be briefed and that research begin.
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OCT 2 1952 LECORANDUM TO: Director of Central Intelligence THROUGH: Deputy Director (Intelligence) FROM: Assistant Director, Office of Scientific Intelligence SUBJECT: Flying Saucers 1. PROBLEM-To determine: (a) Whether or not there are national security implications in the problem of "unidentified flying objects"; (b) whether or not adequate study and research is currently being directed to this problem in its relation to such national security implications; and (c) what further investigation and research should be instituted, by whom, and under what aegis. 2. FACTS AND DISCUSSION-OSI has investigated the work currently being performed on "flying sancers" and found that the Air Technical Intelligence Center, DI, USAF, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is the only group devoting appreciable effort and study to this subject, that ATIC is concentrating on a case-by-case explanation of each report, and that this effort is not adequate to correlate, evaluate, and resolve the situation on an overall basis. The current problem is discussed in detail in TAB A. 3. CONCLUSIONS—"Flying saucers" pose two elements of danger which have national security implications. The first involves mass psychological considerations and the second concerns the vulnerability of the United States to air attack. Both factors are amplified in TAB A. 4. ACTION RECOMMENDED-(a) That the Director of Central Intelligence advise the National Security Council of the implications of the "flying saucer" problem and request that research be initiated. TAB B is a draft memorandum to the NSC, for the DCI's signature. (b) That the DCI discuss this subject with the Psychological Strategy Board. A memorandum to the Director, Psychological Strategy Board, is attached for signature as TAB C. (c) That CIA, with the cooperation of PSB and other interested departments and agencies, develop and recommend for adoption by the NSC a
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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. 7 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.