Documents / Memo

FLYING SAUCERS memo

CIA Reading Room · 36 pages · text by OCR

This CIA file, released in 2001, gathers 1952 memoranda from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, to the Director of Central Intelligence, along with draft letters to the Secretary of Defense and the NSC and a briefing on the Air Force position. It concludes that flying saucers carry national security implications, namely mass panic and air defense vulnerability. It recommends expanded scientific research, a public information policy and study of Soviet interest, noting that about 20 percent of roughly 1500 Air Force reports remained unexplained.

  • p. 6 …It was found that the only unit of Government currently studying the problem is the Directorate…
  • p. 8 …which is reflected both in the United States press and in the pressure of inquiry upon…
  • p. 13 …The public concern with the phenomena, which is reflected in the United States press and in…
  • p. 14 …could be made of these phenomena by United States psychological warfare planners, and what, if any…
  • p. 20 …General Samford gave their interim conclusions in his recent press conference. These were that analysis of…
# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R0000R000100020012-7

SECURITY INFORMATION

Executive Reg stry

3-2007

MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director (Intelligence)

SUBJECT: USSR and Satellite Mention of Flying Saucers

1. A search of Foreign Documents Division files has so far produced no factual evidence that subject has been mentioned in the Soviet Satellite press within the past two years. It is believed that a derisive comment was made in a Russian newspaper in 1948 on this subject but so far the article has not been found.

2. has one broadcast on this subject, dated 10 June 1951, which is quoted below:

Summary - In what appears to be Moscow's first mention of Flying Saucers "Listener's Mailbag" answers questions on the subject to the effect that "The Chief of Nuclear Physics in the US Naval Research Bureau" explained them recently as used for stratospheric studies. US Government circles knew all along of the harmless nature of these objects, but if they refrained from denying "false reports, the purpose behind such tactics was to fan war hysteria in the country."

3. A State Department cable recently received from Budapest quotes the August 14th copy of Szabad Nep as follows:

"Flying Saucer stories are another American attempt to fan war hysteria." Radar dedection of saucers is quoted in the article and it comments on the ridiculous aspects of the source of the mystery. The article concludes that it is part of American rulers propaganda to prove the Western countries are threatening.

25X1A

7312

Approved For Release 20010402:CIA-RDP81R00560R000100020012-7 Assistant Director for Operations

About this file

Memo, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 36 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.