Documents / FOIA release

The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

Central Intelligence Agency · 2001-03-12 · 186 pages · text by GLM-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. 12 …reported by Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, former Chief of the Air Force Project Blue Book UFO…
  • p. 21 …In his report to the Air Force, the astronomer stated: "The remarkably sudden ascent convinced me…
  • p. 29 …base. Section I. August 26, 1953 - Air Force Regulation 200-2 issued by Secretary of Air…
  • p. 32 …the Officers Club, Strategic Air Command Headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Approved For Release 2001…
  • p. 58 …Station and also of the nearby Air Force Fighter Base." Mr. Webb's second UFO sighting…
  • p. 63 …Otherwise they probably would not have noticed the UFOs "I went to Edwards Air Force Base…
  • p. 89 …Edward J. Ruppelt reported the following case received by Project Sign (the original Air Force UFO…
  • p. 90 …Officially "unknown." ## 1951-1952 Period; East Coast Air Force Base Period of September 1951 to November…
  • p. 94 …The film was submitted to the Air Force, and viewed by Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe along…
  • p. 110 …ported in the vicinity of an Air Force base, information regarding a sighting may be released…
  • p. 121 …After notifying an Air Force Base in the vicinity, the pilot, Capt. Raymond Ryan, was requested…
  • p. 125 …NICAP query,the Norwegian Embassy stated: "Our Air Force's UFO material is mainly of security…
  • p. 133 …UFO. II, VI Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, head of Air Force UFO investigation from 1951-53…
  • p. 136 …Air Force pilot and engineer saw round object in cloud formation; object became elliptical in appearance…
  • p. 137 …Formation of silver, circular objects sped over Air Force base. X October 25, 1954--Belgrade, Yugoslavia…
  • p. 173 …From Air Force Intelligence Report 6. Ruppelt, Edward J., Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. (Doubleday, 1956…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

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

In September, NICAP published an issue of the UFO Investigator (membership publication) containing an outline and preview of this report. Copies were sent to all Members of Congress. Sample reactions:

Congressman W. R. Poage (D. Tex.) - September 22, 1962 "I have long been disturbed by these UFOs. I would be very much interested in seeing the accumulation of facts which you have assembled. . ."

Congressman E. C. Gathings (D. Ark.) - September 24, 1962 "I shall be interested in seeing a copy of the report your Committee is preparing for Congressional distribution. . ."

Congressman F. Edward Hebert (D. La.) - September 24, 1962 "I shall certainly appreciate receiving a copy of your report when it becomes available. . ."

Congressman Thomas N. Downing (D. Va.) - September 24, 1962 "Thank you for writing to enclose a copy of the "UFO Investigator", and to also bring to my attention your plans to submit a report on your Committee's five-year investigation of Unidentified Flying Objects. I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness. . ."

Congressman Charles Raper Jonas (R. N.C.) - September 25, 1962 "If you care to send me the 128-page report on your five-year investigation, I will be glad to have it. . ."

Senator Jacob K. Javits (R. N.Y.) - October 25, 1962

"I appreciate your views regarding the aerial phenomena. As you know, the Department of Defense and NASA have repeatedly denied the existence of such objects."

Congressman John E. Moss (D. Calif.) - Chairman, Government Information Subcommittee - December 19, 1962

"The Subcommittee has no authority to go into the over-all question of unidentified flying objects, but other Congressional committees may well look into it."

Congressman Richard H. Poff (R. Va.) - December 31, 1962 "I am not satisfied that the Air Force has disclosed all the information which it has assembled, and I am hopeful that the Armed Forces Committee (of which I am not a member) will see fit to conduct an appropriate investigation. . ."

## 1963

Senator Milward L. Simpson (R. Wyo.) - January 8, 1962

"I have not yet been able to determine that any Congressional Committee plans to hold hearings on the UFO problem, but something may develop after the 88th Congress convenes. I do know that the Senate Armed Services Committee plans early hearings on the entire defense posture and it is possible that the question of unidentified flying objects will be brought up during this investigation. . ."

Senator Gaylord Nelson (D. Wis.) - January 14, 1963

"I share your belief that there should be no unnecessary secrecy surrounding the matter [of UFOs] and will do what I can to see to it that relevant facts are brought out and made available to the public."

Congressman John F. Shelley (D. Calif.) - January 28, 1963 "I share the concern of my colleagues in Congress about the gravity of the UFO problem. . .my genuine desire to see positive action taken to lessen the danger caused by UFOs to air travel and our national security."

Senator William Proxmire (D. Wis.) - January 31, 1963

"The NICAP report [outline] is a fine document which does much to substantiate the allegation made. You probably noted my remarks that 'The very fact that so many inexplicable incidents have occurred is reason enough for a thorough investigation.' I am going to contact the Department of Defense on this matter..."

Congressman Clark MacGregor (R. Minn.) - May 28, 1963 "I would certainly agree with Senator Keating that more information should be available to the public. I would favor Congressional hearings [on UFOs] which, of course, would require action by the Congressional majority leadership. . ."

Senator Birch Bayh (D. Ind.) - May 29, 1963

"I too am interested in these aerial phenomena. Some people tend to discount UFOs, but I feel that any such unknown objects bear investigation. . ."

Senator Vance Hartke (D. Ind.) - June 5, 1963

"I agree. . .that a full explanation of the 'Flying Saucers' seems due. . ."

Senator Kenneth B. Keating (R. N.Y.) - June 28, 1963

"I want to assure you that as a high officer in the military myself, I am not overawed or overimpressed by some of the conclusions reached by Air Force officers. As you know, I have no hesitancy in taking issue with other government agencies as to the dangers facing our country. . . I am sorry that there seems to be nothing which I can add to the UFO situation at the present time."

Congressman Glenn Cunningham (R. Nebr.) - August 8, 1963 "I think it quite possible that the Air Force is withholding information about at least a certain number of these [sightings] because I have found that the military services in the past have sometimes acted in a secretive way in other matters when there was really no justification for it. . ."

Senator Len B. Jordan (R. Idaho) - August 16, 1963

"Since you are a member of NICAP, I would welcome any information you might provide me which would improve my knowledge of this very mysterious phenomenon. . ."

Cases discussed

About this file

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. 186 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.