Documents / FOIA release
This CIA document, approved for release on 2 April 2001, is the report of a Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated 17 January 1953. The panel, chaired by H. P. Robertson, reviewed evidence presented mainly by the United States Air Force. It found no sign that UFOs pose a direct physical threat to national security or are foreign artifacts capable of hostile acts. It recommended stripping UFOs of their special status and running a program to reassure the public.
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# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R0060R000100080004-0
REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC PANEL OR UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
17 January 1953
1. The undersigned Panel of Scientific Consultants has met at the request of the Government to evaluate any possible threat to national security posed by Unidentified Flying Objects ("Flying Saucers"), and to make recommendation. The Panel has received the evidence as presented by cognizant Governmental agencies, primarily the United States Air Force, and has reviewed a selection of the best documented incidents.
2. As a result of its considerations, the Panel concludes:
That the evidence presented on Unidentified Flying Objects shows no indication that these phenomena constitute a direct physical threat to national security.
We firmly believe that there is no residuum of cases which indicates phenomena which are attributable to foreign artifacts capable of hostile acts, and that there is no evidence that the phenomena indicate a need for the revision of current scientific concepts.
3. In the light of this conclusion, the Panel recommends:
That the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the Unidentified Flying Objects of the special status they have been given and the sure of mystery they have unfortunately acquired. 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. 2 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.