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This 1997 study by Gerald K. Haines, National Reconnaissance Office historian, traces CIA interest in UFOs from the late 1940s to 1990 using Agency records compiled after DCI R. James Woolsey ordered a 1993 file review. It covers Air Force projects SIGN, GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK, the 1953 Robertson panel, U-2 and OXCART flights mistaken for UFOs, and disputes with Keyhoe and Davidson. It concludes that Agency concern was substantial until the early 1950s and limited and peripheral since.
UFOs Because ofthetenseCold Warsituation and accounted for. The other 10percent werecharacterized as anumber of incrediblereports fromcredible observers. The AirForcerejected thetheories that thesightings involved US orSovietsecretweapons development or that theyinvolved men fromMars ; there was no evi dence tosupport theseconcepts. The AirForcebrieferssought to explain these UFOreports as the mis interpretation ofknownobjects or littleunderstoodnatural phenomena. 9 AirForce and CIA officialsagreed thatoutsideknowl edge ofAgencyinterest inUFOs wouldmake theproblem more serious. 20 Thisconcealment ofCIA interestcontributedgreatly to later charges of a CIAconspiracy and coverup. The CIAStudyGroup alsosearched theSoviet press forUFOreports, but foundnone,causing thegroup to conclude that theabsence ofreports had to have been theresult ofdeliber ateSovietGovernmentpolicy. The group alsoenvisioned theUSSR s possible use ofUFOs as apsychologi calwarfare tool. Inaddition, they worried that, if the US airwarning systemshould bedeliberatelyover loaded byUFOsightings, theSoviets might gain asurpriseadvantage in anynuclearattack. 21 Because of the tenseColdWarsitua tion andincreasedSoviet capabilities, the CIAStudyGroup sawseriousnationalsecurity con cerns in theflyingsaucersituation. Thegroupbelieved that theSoviets could use UFOreports totouch off masshysteria andpanic in the UnitedStates. Thegroup also believed that theSovietsmight use UFOsightings tooverload the US airwarningsystem so that itcould notdistinguish realtargets from increasedSoviet capabilities, theCIAStudy Group sawseriousnational securityconcerns in the flyingsaucersituation. 9, phantomUFOs. H.MarshallChad- well,AssistantDirector ofOSI, added that heconsidered theprob lem ofsuchimportance that it should bebrought to theattention of theNationalSecurityCouncil, in order that acommunitywidecoordi natedefforttowards itsolution may beinitiated. 22 Chadwellbriefed DCISmith on the subject ofUFOs inDecember 1952. Heurgedactionbecause he was con vinced that something wasgoing on that must haveimmediateattention and that sightings ofunexplained objects at greataltitudes andtravel ing at highspeeds in thevicinity of major USdefenseinstallations are of suchnature that they are notattribut able tonaturalphenomena orknown types ofaerialvehicles. Hedrafted amemorandum from the DCI to the NationalSecurityCouncil(NSC) and aproposed NSCDirectiveestab lishing theinvestigation ofUFOs as apriorityprojectthroughout the intelligence and thedefenseresearch anddevelopmentcommunity. 23 Chadwell alsourgedSmith toestab lish anexternalresearchproject of top-levelscientists tostudy theprob lem ofUFOs.24 After thisbriefing, Smithdirected DDIAmory to pre pare aNSCIntelligenceDirective (NSCID) forsubmission to theNSC on the need tocontinue theinvestiga tion ofUFOs and tocoordinate such investigations with the AirForce. 25 TheRobertsonPanel,1952-53 On 4December 1952, theIntelli genceAdvisoryCommittee (IAC) took up the issue ofUFOs.26Amory, asactingchairman,presented DCI Smith srequest to thecommittee that itinformallydiscuss thesubject ofUFOs. Chadwell thenbriefly reviewed thesituation and theactive program of theATICrelating to UFOs. Thecommitteeagreed that the DCIshould enlist theservices ofselectedscientists toreview and appraise theavailableevidence in the light ofpertinentscientifictheories and draft anNSCID on the subject. 27 Maj. Gen. John A. Sam- ford,Director ofAirForce Intelligence,offered full cooperation. 28 At the same time,Chadwelllooked intoBritishefforts in this area. He learned theBritish alsowereactive in studying theUFOphenomena. An eminentBritishscientist, R. V.Jones, headed astandingcommitteecreated inJune 1951 onflyingsaucers. Jones and hiscommittee sconclu sions onUFOsweresimilar to those ofAgencyofficials: thesightings were notenemyaircraft butmisrepre sentations ofnaturalphenomena. TheBritishnoted,however, that dur ing arecent airshow RAF pilots and seniormilitaryofficials hadobserved a perfectflyingsaucer. Given the pressresponse,according to the officer,Jones washaving a mostdiffi cult timetrying tocorrectpublic opinionregardingUFOs. Thepublic wasconvinced theywerereal.29 InJanuary 1953,Chadwell and H. P. Robertson, anotedphysicistfrom the CaliforniaInstitute ofTechnology, puttogether adistinguishedpanel of nonmilitaryscientists tostudy the UFO issue. ItincludedRobertson as 71
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