Documents / FOIA release
This FBI file on the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) holds records from 1956 to 1961. It includes press clippings, NICAP letters signed by Director Donald E. Keyhoe, and internal Bureau memoranda. It also contains Hoover's replies saying the FBI does not investigate UFO sightings and passes reports to the Air Force. Other items cover a 1960 Grand Blanc, Michigan moon photograph by Joe Perry, an Air Force officer's request to curb NICAP, and a citizen asking whether NICAP was Communist sponsored.
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It is possible that the agents suggested or advised such action, rather than giving direct orders. So far as I know there is no authority to command a private sitizen to withhold such information and I am sure the FBI would not ap- prove of such orders without legal authority. Also, we realize that in some cases even a routine visit by an FBI agent could be misconstrued as carrying serious implications, even requiring silence. We have been asked about this possibility several times, and I have been questioned once or twice during lectures. We should greatly appreciate having whatever information you can give us so that we may answer such questions, correctly. Specifically we have been asked: Have FBI agents told witnesses not to talk about UFO sightings? Does the FBI officially investigate UFO sightings in any way? Does the FBI make character investigations of UFO witnesses in some cases? Does the FBI have any information on UFOs, which can be released? Is the FBI bound by JANAP 146, as regards the release of UFO sighting reports coming into its possession? Our Committee believes that censorship of UFO information is not warranted since the Defense Department has repeatedly declared there is no danger involved and no threat to national security. We believe on the contrary, that the policy of secrecy could under certain circumstances lead to hysteria and possibly even panic. We should like to know whether, in the event that the UFOs prove to be extraterrestrial, the FBI has any assigned part in any official plan to prepare for possible communication with extraterrestrial vehicles from another planet. Several of our Board members have suggested that interviews with Federal agencies involved in this question could be of mutual benefit. If possible, I should like to have an interview with an FBI official acquainted with the facts, and with the FBI policy which may be involved. Thank you for your consideration of these requests. Sincerely yours, Donald Haylie DONAID E. KEYHOE, Major USMC (Ret. Director of NICAP
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FOIA release, from the fbi-vault 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. 25 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.