Documents / FOIA release
This 1952 Central Intelligence Agency file brings together papers on unidentified flying objects. A memorandum to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board says the subject may matter for psychological warfare, intelligence and operations. A study by the Office of Scientific Intelligence describes the small Air Force section at Wright Field led by Captain E. J. Ruppelt, criticizes its case-by-case analysis, and recommends a centrally coordinated research program. The file also contains a Project Blue Book paper on identifying weather and research balloons.
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SUBJECT: Unidentified flying objects. 1. The National Security Council has recognized as a national security problem our present limited capabilities in making prompt positive visual or mechanical identification of flying objects. The problem is recognized also as one which bears directly upon both offensive and defensive capabilities of the armed forces; as one of concern to operations as well as to intelligence; and as one having possible implications for psychological warfare. 2. As the nature of the problem is such that a centrally administered inquiry rather than a divided effort offers the best promise of progress, the Director, Research and Development Board is charged with the responsibility of administering in this field a program of research which meets the specifications Secretary of Defense and as regards operational requirements; of the Director of Central Intelligence, as regards the intelligence requirements and of Director Psychological Strategy board, as regards psychological warfare implications.
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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. 19 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.