Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 18 December 1952 and released in 2001, was sent by H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, to the Director of Central Intelligence. It reports a visit to the Air Technical Intelligence Center and finds no reasonable evidence that the objects are of foreign origin, though it notes potential dangers. The CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence planned to convene top-level scientific consultants. An attached tab reviews the Tremonton film, a Maine sighting attributed to Jupiter, and a possible hoax by a Florida scoutmaster.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
# proved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100020004-6 2. Bright Light sighted from Presque Isle and Limestone Air Force bases, Maine This sighting occurred the night of 10-11 October 1952 from 2300 to 0300 local time, by observers at the weather stations at these Air Force Bases. The description of the light was "circular orange object with four green lights nearby." Theodolite sightings of elevation and azimuth were obtained. Weather was clear. Status: A comparison of observed azimuths and elevations of the supposed object with the calculated position and relative motion of the planet Jupiter leave little doubt that the observed object was actually Jupiter. ## 3. Reported Sightings of a Strange Object in Florida This sighting was reported by a Boy Scoutmaster to have occurred at 2150 local time on 19 August 1952 near West Palm Beach, Florida. According to the story given, the source was driving along deserted road in his car, together with four Boy Scouts. Sighting a strange light, source stopped the car, cautioned the boys to wait, and entered the palmetto undergrowth alone. When he did not return in a few minutes, and witnessing some strange lights in the vicinity of the scoutmaster, the boys went for help, returning with a deputy sheriff. The scoutmaster appeared, badly frightened, slightly burned on the forearms. His story was that he had seen a large circular object about eight feet over his head which had released a "fire ball" which descended on him. He stated that he had thrown himself upon the ground and "blacked out." There were various other embroideries to the story. His cap was burned slightly and samples of grass taken from the immediate vicinity of the "sighting" differed strangely in appearance from samples 75 yards away. Status: The background of the source indicates an unsavory personal reputation and criminal record, resulting in the belief that the report may have been an elaborate hoax. However, the unusual condition of the grass samples is currently unexplained. This fact, together with other aspects of the case, leave final determination in doubt at this time.
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. 4 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.