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. 2 …of AF Project Blue Book UFO investigation, prepared analyses of UFO data for AF, liaison officer…
  • p. 5 …officers, civil defense and ground observer corps, cross-section of citizens' reports. Section VIII. SPECIAL EVIDENCE…
  • p. 11 …Navy Special Devices Center for a special Skyhook flight to be undertaken for that Office of…
  • p. 13 …However, the accumulation of reports by good observers and some of the special evidence such as…
  • p. 21 …of reports by unusually well-qualified observers is worth special mention. During the Fall of 1949…
  • p. 39 …pilots (two of whom had personally sighted UFOs) joined the NICAP Panel of Special Advisers. Federal…
  • p. 45 …cards and badges of Special Investigators, USAF. In separate rooms, we were questioned for one hour…
  • p. 88 …Special records are kept of all such sightings. Usually, in a case of this type, jets…
  • p. 94 …Force officers. It shows five glowing, oval-shaped objects. 20. Adamski "Scout Ship." Because of Mr…
  • p. 96 …In the interests of scientific investigation, we urge that secrecy about the case be lifted by…
  • p. 109 …History of the UFO Project C. Air Force Statements About Its UFO Investigation/NICAP Rebuttals D…
  • p. 111 …CLARDP81R00560R0001000100010 every phase" of the investigation. The scientists believed this program would "dispel any of the…
  • p. 116 …gation of a phenomenon. Yet, as the agency officially charged with investigation of UFOs, the Air…
  • p. 125 …Allied intelligence experts were reported to be investigating radar sightings of "mysterious objects" which had been…
  • p. 137 …Defense high command ordered a full scale investigation of sightings of a wingless circular object which…
  • p. 141 …from office of Secretary of Air Force: The USAF maintains a "continuous surveillance of the atmosphere…
  • p. 164 …The Air Ministry announced it was investigating.21 About September 20 - Personnel of the U.S…
  • p. 182 …CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0 investigators, impatient with NICAP's "conserv from reviewing the methods of investigation a…
  • p. 183 …investigation is required. . . "Now the primary objection to UFO reports, as most scientists think of such…
Aircraft designs show similarities and differences comparable to the variety of UFO types. Left (from bottom to top): DC-4, DC-6, and DC-7. Right: Top, A-11. Second row, F4F "Phantom"; F-106 "Delta Dart"; F-105 "Thunderchief." Third row, F-104 "Starfighter"; F-101 "Voodoo." Fourth row, British T-188 (high speed research); X-3 "Stileto." Fifth row, British VTOL; X-13; French "Coleopter" VTOL; XF-85 "Goblin." Sixth row, F-94 "Starfire"; F-84F "Thunderstreak"; P-59.

Comparing the UFO shape to type of "porthole", to determine whether a particular type of UFO tended to have a particular type of "porthole", the findings were largely negative. The UFOs reported as cigar-shaped (11 cases) did not have rectangular "portholes" - with one exception (November 22, 1961).

Circular or disc-shaped objects (19 cases) were reported as having circular "ports" in 4 cases, rectangular in 6 cases, rows of lights in 7 cases.

Elliptical or oval UFOs (10 cases) were reported as having rectangular "ports" in 5 cases, circular in 3 cases, rows of lights in 1 case.

The most striking consistency or pattern to "porthole" reports is the description of their arrangement on the body of the UFO. In no case were the lights or markings arranged haphazardly. On the contrary, in every case the "portholes" were arranged either in straight lines, or circular patterns (most often around the curved surface).

The "row of lights" cases, alone, consist of two basic types: (1) Lights on or adjacent to the edge of a disc. (In two cases, witnesses reported the lights were just below the disc edge, on the underside of the UFO.) (2) Lights along the length of cigar-shaped UFOs.

In many cases the "portholes" were arranged exactly along the major axis of UFOs which presented elliptical outlines to the observer.

The position and geometrical arrangement of the "portholes," and the light usually associated with these markings, strongly suggest that they are indeed ports or vents. They could well be actual windows, particularly those of distinctly square or round construction. The "row of lights" cases are subject to several different interpretations: (1) Lighted windows seen at greater distance; (2) Running lights, such as those on normal aircraft; Exhaust or propulsion vents.

## B. MANEUVERS

A study of hundreds of UFO reports has revealed several recurring maneuver patterns. These include:

* Hovering (or very slow motion) and sudden rapid acceleration.

* Circling and pacing of human vehicles. [Section II.]

$\star$ UFOs rendezvousing, then operating together [e.g., Aeronautical Engineer report, July 16, 1952, Section VI; Airline Pilot report, July 14, 1952, Section V]

* Satellite objects, associated with and maneuvering around larger central parent objects. [Section II.]

Numerous examples of these features appear in previous sections, especially Section II which discusses the evidence that UFOs are intelligently guided. A number of rendezvous cases is included in the formation chart, Section II, and other examples may be found throughout the report.

The remaining feature, hovering followed by rapid acceleration, occurs so regularly that it can practically be considered a defining characteristic of a "UFO." No man-made objects or known natural objects can perform in the manner described. The objects which were observed performing this maneuver were predominantly the typical discs and ellipses so often reported.

The following table lists one hundred sample cases between 1947 and 1962, illustrating this feature.

Hovering and Acceleration Cases
Date	Location	Description
7-9-47	Nr Boise, Idaho	Disc maneuvering slowly, turned on edge, "shot straight up." [Section VII.]

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.