Documents / Official release
This unclassified cable from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs contains the transcript of a DoD news briefing that Kenneth H. Bacon gave at the Pentagon on June 24, 1997. Bacon calls himself the warm-up act to the Air Force's Roswell UFO report. He says Air Force investigations found natural or aircraft explanations for alleged UFO sightings. The rest of the briefing covers Khobar Towers, troops on the border, a meeting with Greek officials and base closures.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## C a b l e PREC: PRIORITY CLASS: UNCLASSIFIED LINE1: PTTUZYUW RUEKJCS3094 1752327-UUUU--RHEHAAA RHEHWSR. LINE2: ZNR UUUUU LINE3: P 242204Z JUN'97 FORWARD TO PAO LINE4: FM SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ASD PA/DDI// OSRI: RUEKJCS DTG: 242204Z JUN 97 ORIG: SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ASD PA/DDI// TO: AIG 8775 INFO: //// SUBJ: DOD NEWS BRIEFING - CONDUCTED ON TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1997 AT ## TEXT: UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SUBJ: DOD NEWS BRIEFING - CONDUCTED ON TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1997 AT 1:30 P.M. (EDT) BY MR. KENNETH H. BACON, ASD (PA) AT THE PENTAGON MR. BACON: WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON. IT CERTAINLY IS A GREAT THRILL TO BE THE WARM-UP ACT TO THE ROSWELL UFO REPORT! [LAUGHTER] AND I WELCOME YOU ALL TO THE BRIEFING. LET ME MAKE A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS AT THE BEGINNING, AND THEN I'LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS. I KNOW YOU ALL WANT TO GET ON TO UFOS, SO WE CAN DO THAT AS SOON AFTER I FINISH AS POSSIBLE. FIRST, I'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT SECRETARY COHEN HAS SENT A MESSAGE TO THE TROOPS ON FORCE PROTECTION ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE KHOBAR TOWERS BOMBING. AND THAT'S AVAILABLE AT THE BACK OF THE ROOM FOR ANYBODY WHO WANTS A COPY OF THAT. THE ANNIVERSARY, AS YOU KNOW, IS TOMORROW. SECOND, I'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT SECRETARY COHEN HAS ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS NOMINATED GENERAL WILLIAM ## PAGE 02 RUEKJCS3094 UNCLAS CROUCH OF THE ARMY TO TAKE OVER THE JOB OF VICE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMY HERE IN WASHINGTON. GENERAL CROUCH, AS YOU KNOW, IS CURRENTLY THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF U.S. ARMY EUROPE AND ALSO THE SEVENTH ARMY IN GERMANY. AND WITH THAT, I'LL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS. Q: SPEAKING OF UFOS, WHAT'S THE PENTAGON'S TAKE ON THIS WHOLE THING? DO YOU ALL SUBSCRIBE TO THE AIR FORCE'S EXPLANATION THAT THESE WERE JUST A BUNCH OF DUMMIES DROPPED WITH PARACHUTES? A: I THINK IT'S -- THE AIR FORCE HAS SPENT YEARS INVESTIGATING THIS, NOT JUST THIS INCIDENT BUT A NUMBER OF INCIDENTS, ALLEGED INCIDENTS INVOLVING UFOS, AND THEY HAVE FOUND OTHER EXPLANATIONS FOR ALMOST -- I BELIEVE FOR ALL OF THESE. AND THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM ANY SO-CALLED "SIGHTING" OF UFOS. THEY FOUND EITHER NATURAL PHENOMENA TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED OR AIRCRAFT LIGHTS IN THE AREA TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF EXPLANATIONS THEY HAVE COME UP WITH OVER THE YEARS. AS YOU KNOW, AFTER YEARS OF INVESTIGATING REPORTS OF UFOS, THE AIR FORCE STOPPED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO,
Official release, from the nara 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. 8 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.