Unidentified Flying Objects

This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 18 December 1952 and issued by the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, reports on unidentified flying objects. It summarizes lab analysis of a 2 July 1952 film from Utah that shows about ten bright objects, which the analysts judged very unlikely to be birds or balloons. It also covers a sighting that was matched to the planet Jupiter and a scoutmaster's disputed report from West Palm Beach. It concludes that the sightings pose no direct threat but carry potential dangers, including mass hysteria and overloaded communications systems.