Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency memo, dated 9 April 1968, forwards two articles from the Soviet news agency Novosti (APN) that take opposite views on UFOs. Felix Zigel's February 1968 Soviet Life article treats UFOs seriously and cites Soviet sightings and the Tunguska explosion. Villen Lyustiberg's article dismisses them as a myth and claims the U.S. publicizes them to divert attention. The memo notes the irony of such disagreement appearing in Soviet media.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
In the last 20 years publication of literature on "unidentified flying objects" has advanced to one of the first places in the world. This problem is dealt with by numerous associations and clubs. Are these "flying saucers" just imagination or reality? Thousands of recorded statements by bye-witnesses seem to show that "there must be something in it". But let us try to look all these materials from a different stand. So, as the convinced supporter of the "saucer" theory say almost ever time, you can draw your own conclusion while we give you. ## "Facta Only" Kenneth Arnold, an American pilot, is the "godfather" of flying saucers. It he who noticed in 1947 nine shining discs flying in formation at the speed of about 3,000 km an hour. The next encounter with saucers had a tragic outcome. In January 1948, an immense flying saucer appeared over the Nox US Air Base. Pursuing it Captain Thomas Manthell perished. The last thing he reported from an altitude of 9,000 metres was that he saw an object and was going to approach it. This story found extensive response. Many considered it to be a stern warnin; of unknown envoys from other planets to leave them alone. There was a great deal of a talk about the mysterious death of the pilot. It was received as undoubted proof of the existence of mighty forces still unknown to us. But the results of a thorough investigation by US authorities received much less publicity. The mysterious "saucer" proved to be nothing but a thin-walled plastic balloon made by US Naval Forces under the secret "Skyhawk Operation" project. Such balloons could rise to an altitude of 30,000 metres. Meanwhile, Thomas Manthell pursuing it, forgot that he had no oxygen apparatus on board his craft. We know of stories about encounters and even hand-to-hand fights with pilots of craft landing from other planets. They were shot at, but without success. A saucer out down a tree on the Amazon River shore and disappeared in the turbid stream. It was never recovered. Another saucer glided over the earth like
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. 8 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.