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 Date & Location Witnesses Description

2-11-53
Tunis-Tripoli	C-119 crew	UFO approached plane, fell back, paced plane for long period. [41.]
2-13-53
Ft. Worth, Texas	B-36 crew	Radar-visual UFO sightings. [42.]
2-16-53
near Anchorage, Alaska	C-47 pilots	Bright red light approached plane, hovered, sped away when pursued. [43.]
2-17-53
Elmendorf AFB, Alaska	Five Air Police	Red light near end of runway, climbed away rapidly when jet scrambled. [44.]
3-7-53
Yuma, Arizona	Over 20 officers	About a dozen disc-shaped UFOs dove, hovered over base, during gunnery meet. [45.]
Spring 1953
Laredo, Texas	1st Lt. Edward B. Wilford III
(jet pilot instructor) in T-33	Dark cigar-shaped UFO leaving contrail; speed estimated at Mach 2.
8-9-53
Moscow, Idaho	F-86 pilots	Large glowing disc spotted by Ground Observer Corps, sped away from jets. [46.]
8-12-53
Ellsworth AFB, So. Dak.	F-84 pilots	Radar-visual "cat and mouse" pursuit. UFO fled jet, turned and followed it back to base. [Section I].
August 26, 1953 - Air Force Regulation 200-2 issued by Secretary of Air Force: "Intelligence. Unidentified Flying Objects Reporting."Paragraph 9 forbids public release of unexplained sightings. Paragraph 8 requires classification of radar-scope photographs of UFOs.Air Force personnel instructed to discuss sightings only with "authorized personnel."(Note rapid drop-off of officially reported sightings after this date.)
11-23-53
Kinross AFB, Michigan	F-89 crew	F-89 chasing UFO; blips of plane and UFO merged on radar screen, plane never found. [See Section IX].
1954
Dayton, Ohio	Lt. Col. USAFR, Senior Pilot	Two UFOs which hovered, took evasive action
5-24-54
near Dayton, Ohio	RB-29 crew	Brilliant circular UFO sped below plane at est. 600 mph., photographed by crew. Photograph never made public. [47.]
6-30-54
Brookley AFB, Alabama	Control tower operators	Radar-visual sighting of silvery UFO; streaked in from Gulf, circled, moved away northeast. [48.]
7-3-54
Albuquerque, New Mexico	Radar crew	Nine greenish spherical UFOs, hovered, sped away, tracked at about 2600 mph. [See Section VIII; Radar].
7-11-54
Hunterdon, Pa.	Jet bomber crews	Disc paced four bombers. [49.]
7-23-54
Franklin, Indiana	Two jet interceptor pilots, 97th Interceptor Squadron	Four large glowing UFOs seen by GOC; jets closed in on one, then veered away and left scene. Incident officially denied. [50.]
8-28-54
Tinker AFB, Oklahoma	Jet interceptor pilots	Radar-visual, 15 UFOs in precise triangular formation, changing to semi-circular formation. [See Section VIII, Radar].
6-16-55
Eastern United States	Dozens of interceptor pilots	UFOs reported seen over wide area of Eastern U. S., jets scrambled from many points. [51.]
8-23-55
Cincinnati, Ohio	Jet pilots	Three round and disc-shaped UFOs, evasive maneuvers as jets tried to catch them; first detected by radar [See Section VIII; Radar].
11-24/25-56
Rapid City, So. Dak.	Jet pilots	Maneuverable UFOs seen widely. Unofficial reports of sightings by 54th Fighter-Interceptor Sqdn., radar trackings. [52.]
12-56
Far East	Jet pilot	Pilot got radar lock-on, chased circular UFO which climbed away at over 1800 mph. [See Section VIII; Radar].
2-27-57
Houston, Texas	Lt. J. R. Poole	At radar site, UFO trailing fiery exhaust observed making several sweeps across sky at est. 2000 mph. [53.]
11-5-57
Keesler AFB, Miss.	A/1C William J. Mey	Elliptical UFO which accelerated and entered clouds. Report coincided with Coast Guard Cutter Sebago sighting. [See Section VIII; Radar].
11-5-57
Long Beach, California	Maj. Louis F. Baker, others	Six shiny circular UFOs maneuvering "like planes in a dogfight." [54.]
4-14-58
Albuquerque, New Mexico	S/Sgt. Oliver Dean	About 12-18 golden orange lights, V-formation with smaller irregular formation on each side in steady flight. CAA reported no aircraft flights in area.
7-17-58
Hokkaido, Japan	Control tower operator, others	Reddish star-like UFO circled over base, tracked on radar. Sighting officially denied. [55.]
9-8-58
Offutt AFB, Nebraska	Maj. Paul A. Duich, Master Navigator, others	Elongated object tilted at angle, small satellite objects.
5-20-61
Tyndall AFB, Florida	Air Police, others	Radar-visual report, UFO maneuvered over base, dove and climbed. Reported by NICAP in summer 1961. Later analysis by Adviser Webb determined radar reports did not coincide with visual. Reports still unexplained. [Confidential report to NICAP. Certified by NICAP Director, Ass't Director, and Adviser Walter N. Webb].

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.