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. 15 …I had never heard of flying saucers and had no idea what we had seen, but…
  • p. 29 …Photograph never made public. 47. 6-30-54 Brookley AFB, Alabama Control tower operators Radar-visual…
  • p. 34 …It never did drop below the horizon--just faded away. The fading, of course, was due…
  • p. 50 …airports for 16 years." Sonner said, "and never before have I seen an aircraft like it…
  • p. 56 …5 minutes."It was something I had never seen before."UFO finally ascended straight up out…
  • p. 57 …Each "ship" also had, emanating from the "stern" portion, two "tails", seemingly streaming out horizontally, never…
  • p. 58 …It did not flicker, it burned steadily the weatherman said, but its light could never appear…
  • p. 72 …it went over the first hill and never over 1000 feet during my observation." Mr. Hahn…
  • p. 87 …was first being developed, and they have never been acceptably explained. The celebrated Washington radar sightings…
  • p. 88 …It has never been known to occur, there is no theoretical basis for believing that it…
  • p. 89 …The UFO showed on the film as a round, bright spot. (The film has never been…
  • p. 93 …NICAP has never obtained any negatives for analysis. Prints show disc from five different angles. Critics…
  • p. 94 …Picture reportedly showing unexplained circular light source, never made public. See "Report on Unidentified Flying Objects…
  • p. 96 …The many other reports from alleged additional witnesses were never received from Mr. Stanford. His background…
  • p. 97 …The first possibility to cross our minds was a polyethelyne type balloon, but we have never…
  • p. 98 …at least three consecutive frames, you'd never find it. Moreover, internal lens reflections (also countless…
  • p. 112 …Congressional hearings were contemplated See Section XIII but never came about. Instead, Air Force Congressional Liaison…
  • p. 113 …Film Data reportedly analyzed by USAF, but never released to public See Section VIII: Apr. 27…
  • p. 114 …Therefore, I never saw it in its published form. However, since I had prepared it - as…
  • p. 116 …I have never heard anyone claim anything to the contrary. . . ." ODE D"CLASSIC" - SEAGULLS (FROM COLORED…
  • p. 118 …proved highly impressive to one who had never before seen the Nation's Capital.) The interrogation…
  • p. 121 …could be a jet tanker refueling operation. Never having witnessed refueling operation at night, I am…
  • p. 125 …As far as is known, the pictures have never been published and no explanation of the…
  • p. 126 …I have never seen anything like it before." 42 ## The European Continent On the Continent, UFOs…
  • p. 129 …The USAF analysis report has never been released. ## C. OCEAN & ANTARCTIA UFOs have been sighted at…
  • p. 134 …Lincoln LaPaz, Institute of Meteoritics, said: "There has never been a rate of meteorite fall in…
  • p. 135 …film submitted to Air Force, never released. VIII UFO; film submitted to Air Force, never released…
  • p. 138 …I've been observing the skies since 1914, and I've never seen any meteoric fireballs…
  • p. 164 …which was also photographed. (The pictures have never been made public). The UFO was seen moving…
  • p. 165 …One of the most intriguing accounts, never fully investigated, described a whitish oval-shaped object observed…
  • p. 174 …Since most of the material presented to the Committees is classified, the hearings are never printed…
  • p. 175 …to a newsman's question: "UFOs have never been accurately explained. I think there is as…
  • p. 183 …things, is that the raw data almost never permit of measurement. It should be carefully noted…
## 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 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.