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. 11 …Should you need additional room, please use another sheet of paper. Please print or typewrite. Your…
  • p. 13 …await a full-fledged investigation by scientists using appropriate instrumentation, as NICAP advocates Section XIV. However…
  • p. 35 # SECTION IV # Army, Navy & Marine Corps The other armed services, required by law to channel UFO…
  • p. 37 …The crews of two commercial airliners and a Navy transport sighted a cigar-shaped object about…
  • p. 38 …Shortly after 8 p.m., he "noticed a brilliant white flashing light pass directly below us…
  • p. 40 …Moore, USN Domed circular UFO passed in front of two Navy planes confirmed by radar. Section…
  • p. 44 …Shenkel (both former Air Force pilots) and Steven Summers confirmed Baldwin's report. "All of us…
  • p. 50 …Matthews, CAA Tower Operator (over four years experience in aircraft observation with Navy and as a…
  • p. 55 …Often this argument is used by skeptics to imply that UFO reports result only from careless…
  • p. 76 …Arnold, a former Navy air identification and anti-aircraft gunnery control officer, said the UFOs changed…
  • p. 93 …Orrego, Chilean Navy. Reported sighting and photographing UFOs over an Antarctic base. Objects described as "one…
  • p. 95 …He obtained about 6-1/2 feet of Kodachrome film, using a Keystone Capri camera. The…
  • p. 99 …There were no Weather Bureau, Navy or Air Force balloons in the area at the time…
  • p. 100 …Huge "Moby Dick" plastic balloons (named after Melville's legendary whale) used for high altitude research…
  • p. 116 …When none can be found, the "shotgun" approach is used. Clearly, this is not a scientific…
  • p. 123 …Luis Sanchez Moreno, investigating for the Navy, told the press the Navy had been constantly concerned…
  • p. 129 …Lorenzen commented that "the rate of closure with us was much greater than any I had…
  • p. 130 …has twenty counselor members, among them Army, Navy and Naval Air Force officers on active duty…
  • p. 141 …The military had us just about convinced that no such objects existed. The only trouble was…
  • p. 145 …The following list, including one 1884 sighting, shows that many independent witnesses have used very similar…
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.