Documents / FOIA release
This CIA release, approved in 2001, reprints two 1967 and 1968 publications. The first is a set of Science letters from December 1967 answering Markowitz's article on UFO physics. The writers argue that his case against extraterrestrial control of UFOs is weak, and one criticizes his use of the Chiles-Whitted and Tombaugh sightings. The second is John G. Fuller's LOOK article "Flying Saucer Fiasco" on the University of Colorado UFO study. It covers Robert Low's "trick" memo, the firing of Saunders and Levine, and NICAP's break with the project.
“UFO Research Society”1 page
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010008-3 SAUCER FIASCO CONTINUED # Condon said to one critic: "You ought to be ruined professionally." Condon's and Low's prejudice and would be unjustifiably negative. Staff members speculated that Condon was tired as well as disenchanted. He remained an enigma because the staff saw so little of him. At an informal meeting in Denver on December 12, 1967, Saunders, Levine, McDonald and Hynek agreed that a new organization might be formed consisting only of professional-level members, designed to assure the continuation of intelligent ufo study regardless of whether the Condon report were negative or positive. After Hynek left, McDonald first became aware of Low's memo, and expressed his shock. On January 19, 1968, Low phoned McDonald at the University of Arizona. McDonald reminded Low of the clearly negative tone of Condon's public statements over a period of time, including Condon's disturbing preoccupation with the crackpot elements. He also brought up Condon's failure to investigate personally significant field cases or to question any of the working staff who had been making a serious ufo study. McDonald stressed that he was not opposed to negative findings. What bothered him was that negative findings were already being clearly expressed by both Low and Condon. Low hung up in anger. McDonald prepared a long letter to Low to review his complaints. Low did not get around to reading the letter until February 6. In it, McDonald mentioned for the first time his concern about the memo, quoting to Low the phrases about "the trick." "I am rather puzzled by the viewpoints expressed there," McDonald wrote, "but I gather that they seem entirely straightforward to you, else this part of the record would, presumably, not be available for inspection in the open Project files. . . ." Mrs. Mary Louise Armstrong, who had worked directly with Low as his administrative assistant, was in the office as Low finished reading the letter. Low exploded. He said that whoever gave the memo to McDonald should be fired immediately. Then he seemed to cool down. On Wednesday, February 7, Saunders was summoned to Condon's office. Low and Condon were present. The questioning focused on the memo. Did Saunders know of it and know where it was kept? Saunders said that the memo was only part of the whole problem. It alone did not seem especially important, he felt. The broader issues of scientific integrity were at stake. Condon, furious that he had not immediately been informed that McDonald knew of the memo, told Saunders, "For an act like that, you ought to be ruined professionally." Saunders countered by saying that Condon and Low seemed to be treating the symptoms rather than the disease. He reminded them of the efforts of the entire staff to get Low and Condon to modify their intractable stance. He reviewed the long sequence of events and reminded Low that he had blocked the investigation of one particularly startling ufo case. Low protested that the investigation on this was completed. No mention was made of any dissatisfaction with Saunders's work. Dr. Levine was summoned while Saunders was still in Condon's office. Saunders offered to stay. Low rose from his chair and physically ushered him out the door. Levine was unnerved by the forcible ejection of Saunders. Again, the questioning went straight to the memo. Levine said that he was at the Denver meeting when the memo was given to McDonald. He understood there was nothing whatever confidential about the memo, and did not see anything wrong with the action. Condon asked why Levine had not brought the memo to him, and Levine said that Condon's public and private statements had indicated that there was little likelihood of effective communication. He told Condon that Low had slammed the door in his face when he brought up the handling by Low of an Edwards Air Force Base case, and recalled that Condon himself had suggested that Levine call in sick when he was scheduled to make a talk at Colorado's High Altitude Observatory. # The stainless steel sandwich. Most Teflon-coated irons have the Teflon bonded to a surface of aluminum. Not Hoover's Steam/Dry Spray Iron. You see, aluminum is a good heat conductor, but it's soft. Scratches easily. So between the aluminum and the Teflon, Hoover sandwiches a layer of tough, scratch-resistant stainless steel. A fussier way of doing things, perhaps. But isn't that what you expect from Hoover? DIAMOND JUBILEE 1908-1968 *DuPant's registered trademark for its TFE non-stick finish
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. 7 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.