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.
POLITICAL AUTHORITY MADE BY ELECTED OFFICIALS. THE MILITARY COMMANDERS WILL MAKE THE MILITARY SIDE OF THAT WORK, WHICH IS MAKING THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE NEW NATO MEMBERS AS INTEROPERABLE AS POSSIBLE WITH THE FORCES OF THE EXISTING NATO MEMBERS. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? Q: THERE'S A PIECE IN THE WASHINGTON TIMES ABOUT EVIDENCE THAT MOSCOW HAS HAD AN AGGRESSIVE UNDERGROUND BUNKER-BUILDING PROGRAM GOING ON WITH FOUR SEPARATE PROJECTS IN AND AROUND ## PAGE 04 RUEKJCS8440 UNCLAS MOSCOW, AND ALSO A RELATED STORY ABOUT THERE HAVING BEEN AT LEAST FOUR ALERTS DURING THE 1990S WHEN RUSSIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WERE PLACED ON A HIGHER-LEVEL ALERT. CAN YOU SHED ANY LIGHT ON EITHER OF THOSE REPORTS? IS THE PENTAGON AWARE OF IT? CONCERNED ABOUT IT? A: THE RUSSIANS ARE BUILDING--AND HAVE BEEN FOR SOME TIME-VARIOUS UNDERGROUND FACILITIES IN RUSSIA. THESE WERE DONE IN THE SOVIET UNION AND THEY'RE BEING CONTINUED BY RUSSIA TODAY. WE ALSO HAVE HARDENED STRUCTURES TO PROTECT OUR LEADERS IN THE EVENT OF NUCLEAR WAR, AND WE ALSO HAVE OTHER WAYS TO PROTECT OUR LEADERS, BY MOVING THEM, BY PUTTING THEM IN THE AIR, ETC., FROM NUCLEAR ATTACK. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT BOTH THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA HAVE DONE. RUSSIA IS CONTINUING THE PROGRAM. WE DO NOT REGARD THE PROGRAM AS A THREAT. IT IS NOT AN OFFENSIVE PROGRAM. IT'S A PROGRAM TO PROTECT THEIR OFFICIALS. WE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY'RE CONTINUING TO DO THIS, BUT THEY ARE. Q: THIS DOESN'T BOTHER YOU IN LIGHT OF RUSSIA TALKING ABOUT NOT HAVING THE FUNDS TO GO WITH FURTHER REDUCTIONS OF START? YET THEY'RE PUTTING ALL THIS MONEY INTO THAT KIND OF... ## PAGE 05 RUEKJCS8440 UNCLAS A: FIRST OF ALL, RUSSIA HAS AGREED, PRESIDENT YELTSIN HAS AGREED TO BRING START II UP BEFORE THE DUMA, SO THE DUMA WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO VOTE ON THE START II TREATY. THE RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP, LED BY PRESIDENT YELTSIN, THINKS THAT THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TREATY AND IT'S A NECESSARY PRECONDITION TO FURTHER ARMS REDUCTIONS WHICH BOTH RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES WANT. SECONDLY, RUSSIA HAS BEEN REDUCING ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE START I AGREEMENT. THAT TAKES ARSENALS DOWN FROM 10,000 OR MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS DOWN TO ABOUT 6,000 AS DEFINED BY THE START I AGREEMENT. THEY'VE BEEN DOING THAT AND THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT QUITE AGGRESSIVELY. JUST IN RECENT WEEKS THEY'VE DESTROYED 19 SUBMARINE LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILES, IN THE LAST 7 TO 14 DAYS THEY'VE DESTROYED THOSE. SO THEY ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH THEIR WEAPONS DESTRUCTION AS REQUIRED UNDER THE START I TREATY AND WE FULLY ANTICIPATE THAT THEY WILL UNDER THE START II TREATY, AFTER THE DUMA RATIFIES IT. Q: YOU SAID THEY DESTROYED 19 MISSILES. DO YOU MEAN SUBMARINES OR MISSILES? A: NO, THEY DESTROYED 19 SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILES IN THE LAST WEEK OR SO.
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.