Documents / Official release
This Clinton Presidential Library folder of NSC cables, filed under "Flying Saucer or UFO" and covering January to September 1997, holds several cables plus a withdrawal sheet listing three redacted items. A Tel Aviv embassy media report notes an Israeli cartoon about a January 5 UFO alert. An FBIS translation reports that a Colombian helicopter landed in Rubio, Venezuela, prompting UFO speculation. A DoD briefing transcript quotes Kenneth Bacon saying a CIA study found no evidence of UFOs, and an FBIS summary covers Cuban radio claims about the 1947 New Mexico crash.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
A U.S. AIR FORCE C-130H, HERCULES CARGO AIRCRAFT, CRASHED AT ABOUT 9:45 A.M. LOCAL TIME IN HONDURAS -- THAT'S 10:45 EST. IT CRASHED AT THE VERY END OF THE TEGUCIGALPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. TEGUCIGALPA IS THE CAPITAL OF HONDURAS. IT WAS ENROUTE FROM HOWARD AIR FORCE BASE IN PANAMA TO THE BASE IN HONDURAS ON A ROUTINE RESUPPLY MISSION. IT WAS ASSIGNED TO THE AIR RESERVES 440TH AIRLIFT WING AT GENERAL MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN WISCONSIN. THERE WERE TEN PEOPLE ON BOARD. WE, SO FAR, HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THREE ARE DEAD. THE OTHER SEVEN ARE INJURED. WE WILL APPOINT A BOARD TO INVESTIGATE THE ACCIDENT, AS ALWAYS, AND WE WILL ALSO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DETAILS AS SOON AS WE GET THEM. Q: A RESERVE AIRCRAFT, RESERVE FLIGHT? A: YES. Q: FROM WHERE? A: THIS WAS FROM THE 440TH AIRLIFT WING AT GENERAL PAGE 06 RUEKJCS8438 UNCLAS MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN WISCONSIN, I ASSUME THAT'S MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. Q: THE PLANE WAS FLYING OUT OF HOWARD. THEY WERE ON TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT. A: IT WAS FLYING OUT OF HOWARD. THEY HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TEMPORARILY TO HOWARD, AND THEY WERE RESUPPLYING EITHER TROOPS OR EMBASSY PERSONNEL IN TEGUCIGALPA. Q: IT CRASHED ON APPROACH? A: YES. IT CRASHED ON APPROACH AT THE EDGE OF THE RUNWAY. I DON'T BELIEVE THERE WERE... SO FAR WE HAVE RECEIVED NO REPORTS OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE. Q: DO WE KNOW WHO WAS ON THE PLANE? WERE THEY ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL? A: I BELIEVE SO, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. WE'LL BE CHECKING THAT. WE HAVE NOT, I BELIEVE, RELEASED THE NAMES OF ANY PEOPLE IN THE CREW YET. WE'LL CHECK ON THAT. YOU SHOULD STAY IN TOUCH WITH DDI ON THAT, OR I CAN ALSO GIVE YOU A CONTACT DOWN AT HOWARD AIR FORCE BASE IF YOU WANT TO CALL DIRECTLY DOWN THERE. IT WOULD BE CAPTAIN MIKE MURK, AND HE IS AT 507-284-5459. Q: HAD THERE BEEN ANY INDICATION THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 05 DIFFICULTY? A: WE DON'T HAVE THOSE DETAILS YET. THIS JUST HAPPENED SEVERAL HOURS AGO, AND THE AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATING MORE ON TAKING CARE OF THOSE WHO ARE INJURED. AS THOSE DETAILS BECOME AVAILABLE, WE'LL GET THEM TO YOU. Q: DO YOU KNOW WHETHER THE PLANE CRASHED AT... WHICH END OF THE RUNWAY? WAS IT A MISSED APPROACH, OR THE END OF THE RUNWAY OR THE BEGINNING OF THE RUNWAY? A: I BELIEVE IT CRASHED ON APPROACH, BUT I DON'T HAVE FULL DETAILS OF THIS YET. MORE DETAILS, I'M SURE, WILL BECOME AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. Q: JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON THE B-2, THE PLANE HAS BEEN CRITICIZED BY SOME BECAUSE OF ITS EXPENSE; BY OTHERS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR A DIFFERENT MISSION, THAT IT MIGHT BE A COLD WAR RELIC. CAN YOU ASSURE THE U.S.
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. 48 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.