Documents / FOIA release

The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

Central Intelligence Agency · 2001-03-12 · 186 pages · text by OCR

This is a copy of "The UFO Evidence," a report published in May 1964 by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) in Washington, D.C. and edited by Richard H. Hall. The CIA released its copy in 2001. The report draws 746 sightings from more than 5,000 signed reports and argues that unexplained UFOs are real, artificial objects under intelligent control. It criticizes Air Force secrecy and calls for a Congressional inquiry into Project Blue Book and a larger scientific investigation.

  • p. 7 …to scientific studies of meteors and ice-falls. Data has been furnished to the American Meteor…
  • p. 8 …the scientific adequacy of the investigation (whether there has been a consistently objective, scientific study of…
  • p. 14 …The films, released by Gaumont, a British firm, were shown on American television September 26, 1954…
  • p. 88 …The only reaction to this was that obviously the American equipment was way off calibration. "The…
  • p. 94 …The film was reportedly shown on American television December 26, 1954. See Section I 27. Gibbons…
  • p. 96 …CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0 Photographic Cases (Continued) Jack Brotzman, NICAP scientific adviser in the Wash area, projected…
  • p. 109 …The Cold War burden plainly has put a severe strain on the traditional American belief in…
  • p. 115 …A scientific investigation of any phenomenon would set out to gather objective and quantitative data about…
  • p. 121 …COPY American Airlines, Inc. Flight 139 - February 24, 1959 Captain P. W. Killian Departing Newark 1910…
  • p. 122 # SECTION X # FOREIGN REPORTS "Although we tend to think of flying saucers as peculiarly American, they…
  • p. 123 …Flavio Pereira, President (also President of the Scientific Council, Brazilian Interplanetary Society); Cmdr. A.B. Simoes…
  • p. 128 …Kleyweg said. "This object was no balloon." 53. During the North and South American "flap" in…
  • p. 129 …A well-qualified scientific observer aboard an ice-breaker in Admiralty Bay, Antartica, sighted a luminous…
  • p. 132 …Charles Fort, from Scientific American, 115-241 Early 1918--Near Waco, Texas. Reddish cigar-shaped object…
  • p. 174 …UFOs, we believe, are a matter for scientific inquiry. The Air Force, through intelligence procedures, has…
  • p. 175 …Calif.) - May 15, 1959 "I am concerned, as are most Americans, with unidentified flying objects. Surely…
Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

Date & Location	U.F.O. reported	Dissipation	Spiders	Remarks & Notes
7-29-55; Sacramento, California [Stringfield, op. cit., p. 49]
9-1-55; Edmore, Mich.	X Fell slowly in clumps, "some as large as big platters."[Edmore Times, 9-9-55]
10-2-55; Uhrichsville, Ohio	X [Section VII]
10-10-55; Cincinnati, Ohio	X [Stringfield, op. cit., p. 49]
10-27-55; Whitsett, N.C.	X Analysts disagreed whether substance was of animal or synthetic origin.[Greensboro Daily News, Oct. 28, 1955]
7-10-56; Melbourne, Australia X "Millions of white web-like threads."[Bournemouth Echo; 7-10-56]
8-19-56; St. Louis, Mo. [Stringfield, op. cit., p. 49]
9-25-56; Cincinnati, Ohio Analyzed by AF, identified as rayon fibres.[CRIFO Orbit; Nov. 2, 1956 & Dec. 7, 1956]
9-30-56; Cherry Valley, Illinois	X [CRIFO Orbit; Dec. 7, 1956]
10-15-56; Indianapolis, Indiana	X [Stringfield, op. cit., p. 50]
10-16-56; Fond de Lac, Wisconsin [Ibid., p. 50]
4-28-57; Christchurch, N.Z. [Ibid., p. 50]
10-4-57; Ichinoseki City, Japan [Flying Saucer Review (London), Jan.-Feb., 1958]
10-17-57; Nr. Fatima, Portugal X [Irish News, from Lisbon, 10-23-57]
10-23/24-57; Portales, N.M. Strands up to 50 feet long, enormous quantities.[Associated Press, Oct. 24-25, 1957]
10-9-58; Portales, N.M. [Associated Press, Oct. 10, 1958]
11-9-58; Humboldt County, California Strands of 5-6 feet, one report of 40 foot strand by airport dispatcher.
10-26/27-59; Savannah, Georgia [Savannah Morning News; 11-4-59]
11-3-59; Centerville, Georgia X	[Atlanta Journal; 11-5-59]
8-5-61; Mt. Hale, Australia	X	X Visible objects traveled in pairs, as in Gaillac and Oloron cases cited above. Substance described as "a snowy white, fine mesh..."[Perth, Western Australia newspaper, 8-6-61]
10-14-61; Sunset, Utah	X [Report from member]
11-11-62; Lakeland, Florida	X "Loops and whorls" of "gossamer filaments" observed in sky (No reports of striking ground).[Lakeland Ledger; 11-12-62]
TOTALS: Number of cases 43	23	12	1

Of the 43 cases of angel's hair, visible unidentified objects were reported in just over half (23). The most common descriptions of the UFOs have been "cigar-shaped" or like "silvery balls". Sudden accelerations and high speeds have been reported, but a person seeing something at relatively close range and thinking it is a larger object farther away could easily overestimate the speed. Nevertheless, the cases of cigar-shaped

UFOs (sometimes accompanied by other round objects) observed in association with angel hair falls, are the most difficult to explain.

Rapid dissipation of the substance was reported in 12 of 43 cases. In seven of these 12 cases, there were also visual sightings of UFOs.

## NOTES

Electro-Magnetic Effects.

1. "Electro-Magnetic Effects Associated With Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)," by Washington, D. C., Subcommittee of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. June 1960.

2. E-M Cases, by Case Numbers:

E-1. Stringfield, Leonard H.; Inside Saucer Post. .3-0 Blue. (4412 Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio).

E-2. Time; May 9, 1949.

E-3. Tulsa, Okla., Tribune; 12-1-57

E-4. Lorenzen, Coral; The Great Flying Saucer Hoax. (William-Frederick Press, N.Y. 1962), ppg. 19-22.

E-5. Report to NICAP

E-6. Miller, Max B. (1420 So. Ridgley Drive, Los Angeles, Calif.).

E-7. Report to NICAP

E-8. Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (4145 East Desert Place, Tucson, Arizona).

E-9. Report to NICAP

Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 186 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.