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. 34 …Los Angeles Times; November 6, 1957. 55. Japan Times; July 20, 1958. 56. Col. Headrick is…
  • p. 36 …Summer 1944 Normandy, France George Todt, now Los Angeles columnist, other officers Pulsating red object approached…
  • p. 37 …shaped object about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Calif. The pilot of the Navy plane…
  • p. 47 …NICAP member, was reported in the Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1955. ## Commercial Plane Follows UFO…
  • p. 55 …Los Angeles, which attained national prominence in 1952 after being publicized in Life and Time. Dr…
  • p. 57 …Felix Gelber and Grover Kihorny, both of Los Angeles, were also passengers. The night sky appeared…
  • p. 63 …In a letter to the President of CSI of Los Angeles, Dick Beemer, aviation photographer for…
  • p. 72 …Hahn, a jewelry designer, was flying from Minneapolis to Los Angeles aboard Western Airlines flight #61…
  • p. 77 …Washington Times-Herald and Washington Daily News; September 22,1952 12. Los Angeles Daily News; September…
  • p. 82 …23,000 ft. 16 G June 1, 1952 Los Angeles, Cal. Hughes Aircraft radar tracked UFO…
  • p. 90 …Between that time and midnight, police switchboards throughout the Los Angeles area were flooded with hundreds…
  • p. 95 …Ralph Benn, Los Angeles, Calif., was alerted to some UFOs by his eight year old son…
  • p. 96 …Miller subsequently viewed the films, which were processed in Los Angeles, several days before they were…
  • p. 97 …which, as stated above, were processed in Los Angeles and examined by Max Miller before they…
  • p. 100 …Miller in Los Angeles for analysis. (NICAP paid for the printing of one copy of the…
  • p. 106 …Ridgley Drive, Los Angeles, Calif.). E-7. Report to NICAP E-8. Aerial Phenomena Research Organization…
  • p. 113 …Ralph Benn of Los Angeles, using a 3x telephoto lens, took about six and a half…
  • p. 123 …Los Angeles News, March 14 & 15, 1950, Mexico City (UP)--Hundreds of persons said they saw…
  • p. 127 …Germany, directed the Civilian Saucer Investigation of Los Angeles. CSI was the first prominent UFO investigation…
  • p. 131 …Los Angeles Times; February 19, 1956 47. Report on file at NICAP, available to Congressional investigators…
  • p. 132 …Los Angeles columnist George Todt, in a party of four Army officers including a Lt. Col…
  • p. 135 …rapidly, circle area. I June 1, 1952--Los Angeles, Calif. Crew of Hughes Aircraft Co., radar…
  • p. 139 …Los Angeles, California. Airline passenger saw elliptical UFO flying low over ground below plane. VII November…
  • p. 141 …each night) saw a distinct round UFO hover and maneuver slowly. Los Angeles NICAP Subcommittee investigation…
  • p. 157 …of violent maneuvers." A 4-8-49 Los Angeles, Calif. day (1) silvery disc high speed…
  • p. 169 …11 Nr Los Angeles, California Day Elliptical, silvery UFO observed moving low above desert, from airliner…
  • p. 181 …Later he was convicted in Los Angeles of selling Doctor of Divinity degrees, mainly to other…

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

# SECTION VIII

SPECIAL EVIDENCE

AFR 200-2 18-19

INTELLIGENCE

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)

19. Reporting Physical Evidence. Report promptly the existence of physical evidence (photographic or material). All physical evidence forwarded to the ATIC should be marked for the attention of AFCIN-4E4g.

a. Photographic:

(1) Still Photographs. Forward the negative and two prints. Title the prints and the negatives or indicate the

(5) Radar. Forward two copies of each still-camera photographic print. Title radarscope photographic prints in accordance with AFR 95-7. Classify radarscope photographs in accordance with section XII, AFR 205-1, 1 April 1959.

There are three basic types of UFO reports:

(1) UFOs detected by the unaided human senses.

(2) UFOs detected by instruments, but not by human senses.

(3) UFOs detected by the human senses, substantiated by instruments.

Of these, the cases of UFOs being detected by the senses and confirmed by instrument generally are considered the most significant. Examples would include UFOs observed visually, which apparently caused electro-magnetic interference at the same time; simultaneous radar-visual sightings; UFOs reliably observed and also photographed. The cases in this section generally involve detection of a UFO by more than one of the human senses, or by the human senses substantiated by some instrument.

The human organism itself is a rudimentary scientific instrument. When a person not only sees something, but also experiences physiological effects of it, an extra dimension is added to the observation. If the effects are objectively verifiable by other persons, so much the better. If a UFO is reliably observed, and also leaves physical markings or traces, this adds an objective factor to the report.

Another way of analyzing UFO sightings is to consider what they affect. A sighting may affect only the human senses; it may also affect machines or instruments (causing electro-magnetic interference in an automobile, leaving an image on film, or showing up on radar); or it may affect nature (leaving physical markings or substances on the ground). The strongest cases would be ones involving several of these aspects.

## ELECTRO-MAGNETIC (E-M) EFFECTS

In June 1960 NICAP published a booklet listing and analyzing reported cases in which electrical circuits were disrupted in the presence of UFOs. [1.] This phenomenon was first widely reported during the widespread sightings of November 1957 [See Section XII], but subsequent research uncovered additional cases which occurred before and after the 1957 cases. The E-M report, concluding that the evidence was "sufficient to warrant a more thorough investigation of UFOs, and an attempt to learn more about the E-M phenomenon through deliberate instrumentation for that purpose," was circulated to several hundred interested parties, including scientists and members of Congress.

The E-M Report was a study of 81 main cases, plus 9 borderline cases which had some characteristics in common with the main cases. It was suggested that there were no doubt other similar experiences, either buried in the literature somewhere or unreported due to poor news coverage of UFO sightings at times. In the intervening 3-1/2 years, an additional 39 cases have been discovered. Thirty-two of these had occurred before the June 1960 publication date of the E-M Report; seven have occurred since. Where sufficient information was available to justify their inclusion, the newly discovered cases have been added to the original chronology. The combined listing of cases is reproduced below.

The recent discovery that electrical circuits were upset by upper atmosphere atomic tests during 1961-62 leads to interesting speculation, and makes a definite scientific experiment feasible, concerning the manner in which UFOs could affect electrical circuits. These points are discussed following the chronology of E-M cases.

## Chronology of E-M Cases

The cases listed here represent reports in which a distinct UFO, either a plainly visible object or light source (not merely diffuse or intermittent flashes of light), was observed at the same time and place that a definite electro-magnetic effect (E-M) such as a car-stalling occurred. Cases added since publication of the June 1960 report are denoted by a plus sign $ ^{+} $ . (Sources appear under Note 2 at the end of the section).

1. August 28, 1945; near Iwo Jima, C-46 had engine trouble, lost altitude, as three UFOs were observed from plane. [2.]

2. June 24, 1947; Cascade Mts., Oregon, compass needle waved wildly as UFO passed overhead.

3. Fall 1949; New Mexico, music on car radioblanked out by static as UFO passed low over car.

(+)4. September 1950; Korea, Navy planes on mission approached by two large discs, radar jammed, radio transmitter blocked by buzzing noise each time new frequency tried.

(+)5. March 26, 1952; Long Beach, Calif. Two yellowish discs passed by slowly; "as they passed the radio was agitated twice."

6. January 9, 1952; Kerrville, Texas. Odd "roaring" interference on radio as UFO circled town.

(+)7. September 29, 1953; Easton, Pa., Television picture "began going up and down real fast," as UFO emitting white vapor passed overhead.

8. January 29, 1954; near Santa Ana, Calif., car radio quit and motor missed as UFO passed low over car.

9. June 21, 1954; Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada, Car motor quit as UFO crossed highway ahead of car.

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.