Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency briefing text on flying saucers, released in 2001, gives the Office of Scientific Intelligence's survey of the Air Force study after General Samford's July 29 press conference. It traces reports from Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting through Mantell, Gorman and White Sands, and describes ATIC's classes of sightings and figures on unexplained cases. It weighs four theories and finds no evidence for Russian or interplanetary origins. A draft National Security Council directive tasking the DCI with UFO research is attached.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## Approved For Release 2001/04/02 RDP81R00500R000100020013-6 Security Information explained sightings and of possible theories regarding the unexplained. We make no recommendations of action. We would ask that questions be held till the end. The Saucer furore in this country started in June 1947 when Kenneth Arnold, a reputable business man flying his own plane reported nine discs flying in formation past Mount Rainier at an estimated speed of 1000 miles per hour. This was quickly followed in early July 1947 by reports from a doctor in Phoenix, Arizona, the pilot and co-pilot of a United Air Liner at Boise, Idaho, and field staff members at Muroc Test Base, California. The public was somewhat preconditioned by the earlier Swedish reports of unidentified rockets and the press had a field day. Among the continuing and increasing mass of reports over the months, three further incidents which received wide publicity might be mentioned as they did much not only to maintain interest but also to supply bases for some of the more fantastic theories. In January 1948, an interception was attempted at Godman Field Kentucky and the pilot -- Captain Mantell -- crashed and was killed. In October 1948, a National Guard fighter pilot at Fargo, North Dakota -- Lt. Gorman -- coming in after dark spotted a
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. 11 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.