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.
“The Pentagon”18 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
PAGE 02 RUEKJCS8439 UNCLAS TAXPAYERS THAT THE B-2, THAT THEY'RE GETTING THEIR MONEY'S WORTH WITH THE B-2 BOMBER THAT NOW ASSUMES OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY? WITH THE B-2 BOMBER THAT NOW ASSUMES OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY? A: I CAN ASSURE THE U.S. TAXPAYERS THAT THIS IS THE MOST UP-TO-DATE HEAVY BOMBER FLYING IN THE WORLD TODAY. IT HAS STEALTH CAPABILITY. AS YOU KNOW, IT HAS A VERY UNIQUE, PIONEERING SHAPE. IT'S A FLYING WING MADE OUT OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS. IT'S DESIGNED TO BE ABLE TO EVADE ENEMY DEFENSES AND TO ZERO IN ON ITS TARGETS. GENERAL FOGLEMAN, THE AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF, HAS SAID THAT IN THE PAST WE TALKED ABOUT HOW MANY AIRCRAFT WE NEEDED TO DESTROY A TARGET. WITH THE B-2, WE TALK ABOUT HOW MANY TARGETS WE CAN DESTROY WITH ONE AIRCRAFT. IN FACT DURING SOME RECENT TESTS--USING THE JOINT DIRECT ATTACK MUNITION, THE JDAM, WHICH AS BEEN CITED MANY TIMES FROM THIS PODIUM AS AN EXAMPLE OF SAVING MONEY THROUGH PROCUREMENT REFORM, AND SOMETHING ELSE CALLED THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITE AIDED MUNITION, BOTH VERY HIGHLY ACCURATE, PINPOINT BOMBS--THREE B-2S DESTROYED 16 TARGETS USING 16 BOMBS, SO THEY WERE ABLE TO DESTROY 16 DIFFERENT TARGETS WITH 16 BOMBS. THAT, I THINK, ILLUSTRATES GENERAL FOGLEMAN'S COMMENT THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE CALCULUS OF WARFARE WITH PLANES THAT CAN (1) EVADE ENEMY AIR DEFENSES; AND (2) PAGE 03 RUEKJCS8439 UNCLAS DELIVER HIGHLY PRECISE MODERN MUNITIONS. Q: IF IT'S SUCH A GOOD PLANE, WHY DOESN'T THE PENTAGON WANT TO BUY ANY MORE OF THEM? A: WE'VE SAID MANY, MANY TIMES THAT THIS IS A WONDERFUL PLANE BUT IT'S A VERY EXPENSIVE PLANE. IT WAS BUILT, AS YOU KNOW, IT WAS DESIGNED BEFORE THE END OF THE COLD WAR WHEN WE MAINTAINED ON ALERT A NUCLEAR BOMBER, LONG RANGE AIRCRAFT CARRYING NUCLEAR BOMBS. WE NO LONGER MAINTAIN THOSE PLANES ON ALERT ANY MORE, ON RUNWAY ALERT AS WE USED TO. THIS IS A PLANE THAT HAS BOTH A CONVENTIONAL AND A NUCLEAR MISSION AND WILL BE ABLE TO, I THINK, GIVE US FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE IN ANY TYPE OF HEAVY BOMBING THAT MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY OR IN THE FUTURE. BUT IT IS A COSTLY PLANE. ONE OF THE THINGS WE LEARNED WHEN WE USED THE F-117 FIGHTERS IN DESERT STORM WAS THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A STEALTHY AIRCRAFT THAT CAN EVADE AIR DEFENSES, YOU DON'T NEED NEARLY AS MANY OF THEM AS YOU DID CONVENTIONAL PLANES. THEREFORE, THE PLANNERS FELT THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GET BY WITH A FAR SMALLER FLEET THAN WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO 40 YEARS AGO BUILDING HEAVY BOMBERS. WE'RE DOING THAT. AS YOU KNOW, WE ONLY HAVE 50 F-117S, AND THAT FLEET PERFORMED PAGE 04 RUEKJCS8439 UNCLAS BRILLIANTLY DURING THE GULF WAR. Q: THE B-2 IS NOW CERTIFIED TO CARRY NUCLEAR WEAPONS. IS IT COUNTABLE UNDER THE START RULES? DOES THAT LIMIT ITS AVAILABILITY FOR CONVENTIONAL MISSIONS? A: SORRY, DOES IT LIMIT ITS AVAILABILITY? Q: IF IT'S COUNTED UNDER START RULES... A: I'M AFRAID I'M NOT AN EXPERT ON THE DETAILS OF THAT. WE'LL GET YOU AN ANSWER TO THAT.
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.