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.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence THROUGH : Deputy Director (Intelligence) SUBJECT Flying Saucers 1. Recently an inquiry was conducted by the Office of Scientific Intelligence to determine whether there are national security implications in the problem of "unidentified flying objects," i.e., flying saucers; whether adequate study and research is currently being directed to this problem in its relation to such national security implications; and what further investigation and research should be instituted, by when, and under what aegis. 2. It was found that the only unit of Government currently studying the problem is the Directorate of Intelligence, USAF, which has charged the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) with responsibility for investigating the reports of sightings. At ATIC there is a group of three officers and two secretaries to which come, through official channels, all reports of sightings. This group conducts investigation of the reports, consulting as required with other Air Force and civilian technical personnel. A world-wide reporting system has been instituted and major Air Force Bases have been ordered to take interceptions of unidentified flying objects. The research is being conducted on a case basis and is designed to provide a satisfactory explanation of each individual sighting. ATIC has concluded an arrangement with Rattelle Memorial Institute for the latter to establish a machine indexing system for official reports of sightings. 3. Since 1947, ATIC has received approximately 1500 official reports of sightings plus an enormous volume of letters, phone calls, and press reports. During July 1952 alone, official reports totaled 250. Of the 1500 reports, Air Force carries 20 percent as unexplained and of those received from January through July 1952 it carries 28 percent unexplained. 4. In its inquiry into this problem, a team from CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence consulted with a representative of Air Force Special Studies Group; discussed the problem with those in charge of the Air Force Project at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; reviewed a considerable volume of intelligence reports; checked the Soviet press and broadcast indices; and conferred with three CIA consultants, who have broad knowledge of the technical areas concerned.
Not linked to a story yet.
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.