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

divergent interpretations of some of the cases in this report, we suggest two books which present the skeptical position:

Flying Saucers and the U.S. Air Force, Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Tacker, (Van Nostrand, 1960).

The World of Flying Saucers, Dr. Donald H. Menzel, (Doubleday, 1963).

Both books argue that UFOs have been adequately investigated, and that there is no evidence indicating they are anything other than misidentified conventional objects or phenomena.

This report contains a total of 746 UFO sightings. The main chronology [Section XI] lists 575 cases, with cross-references. (Statistics based on the main chronology are reported in Section XII) The witnesses in $50\%$ of these cases were trained or experienced observers. An additional 171 cases are included in separate chronologies [Section XII] which show the major concentrations of UFO sightings.

The reports come from 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Central America, 6 South American countries, 10 European countries, 4 African countries, 5

Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand, major oceans and numerous islands.

States with the highest frequency of sightings, as indicated by the selective process used, were: (1) California; (2) Ohio; (3) New Mexico; (4) Florida; (5) Illinois.

Other countries: (1) England; (2) France; (3) Canada; (4) Japan; (5) Brazil.

Of the 575 cases, two UFOs were observed in 41 cases, three UFOs in 30 cases, more than three UFOs in 81 cases. The remainder were observations of single objects.

Richard Hall

Washington, D. C.

May 1964

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.