FBI file 62-HQ-83894, section 9

•ago when I was finishing the groundwork for my- recently published
article, 11 A Hard Look at UFO News Management, " 4 which was cleared
by the Defense Department on October 10, 1963.
Here is how it began. On July 23, 1963, I wrote to the
~eri!! of Sussex County, Va., requesting any UFO sighting data
that he might possess. While on duty at Fort Eustis the af'ternoon ,
of September 17, I received a 10-minute visit rrom local FBI agent
John S. Castles. Not only did Mr. Castles inquire about the Sussex
\ . letter, but also about a similar letter I sent on August 8, 1963,
to the Conmander of the Norfolk (Va.) Naval Base. Upon furnishing
Mr. Castles the infomation he desired on my Civil Service position
·and r,ry UFO writings, I asked if it were customary for the FBI
to interrogate anybody 11ho expresses an interest in UFO•s. He said
no, that since his office was,- queried by the addressees of the
two letters he 11as just seeking infonnation on 1which he could
write a "memorandum for the files." Mr. Castles volunteered the
followings "If the FBI has any such data f.on UFO sighting_y', it
is probably of an intelligence nature and thus would be unavailable
to the public and to private individuals."
igain, the "authorities" have shown a serious, persuasive
co~ern about the writings of a private citizen on objects
• I