Documents / Official release

[01/08/1997 - 09/11/1997]: 24194018-20060474F-001-018-2023

· 48 pages · text by GLM-OCR

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.

  • p. 13 …BACON, ASD (PA) AT THE PENTAGON MR. BACON: GOOD AFTERNOON. IT'S APRIL FOOL'S DAY…
  • p. 16 …IF IT'S SUCH A GOOD PLANE, WHY DOESN'T THE PENTAGON WANT TO BUY ANY…
  • p. 19 …CAN YOU SHED ANY LIGHT ON EITHER OF THOSE REPORTS? IS THE PENTAGON AWARE OF IT…
  • p. 20 …TO KIND OF PUT THIS STORY IN PERSPECTIVE, HAS THE UNITED STATES OR THE PENTAGON NOTICED…
  • p. 22 WITHOUT ANY PENTAGON REVIEW OF THE SECURITY THREAT? A: THE SECURITY REVIEW OF THE COSCO ARRANGEMENT…
  • p. 23 …HAVE BEEN--ARE--LOOKING AT WAYS THAT THE PENTAGON CAN BE RUN MORE EFFICIENTLY, AND THAT…
  • p. 25 …BACON, ASD (PA) AT THE PENTAGON MR. BACON: WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON. IT CERTAINLY IS A GREAT…
  • p. 28 …APOSTOLOS TSOHATZOPOULOS AND THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM COHEN HERE AT THE PENTAGON? A: I HAVEN…
  • p. 30 …DOES THE PENTAGON SEE ROOM FOR COMPROMISE HERE, OR IS THE PRESIDENT GOING TO INSIST, AND…
  • p. 31 …THAT IF THE CONGRESS DOESN'T LIFT THE 60-40 RULE, THAT THE PENTAGON WILL NOT…
  • p. 33 …BACON, ASD (PA) AT THE PENTAGON MR. BACON: GOOD AFTERNOON. SORRY I'M LATE FOR THE…
  • p. 36 …OF THE SECURITY PROCEDURES? AND ARE YOU CONFIDENT GENERALLY THAT SECURITY AT THE PENTAGON IS ADEQUATE…
  • p. 38 …WERE HIS ACTIONS CAPTURED ON THE PENTAGON VIDEO MONITOR? PAGE 03 RUEKJCS7746 UNCLAS A: THEY WERE…
  • p. 39 …HE'S PART OF THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM THAT THE PENTAGON HAS, SORT OF A SEPARATE…
  • p. 40 PAGE 06 RUEKJCS7746 UNCLAS NAVAL HEADQUARTERS WHICH IS ON THE FOURTH FLOOR OF THE PENTAGON. FIRST…
  • p. 41 …DOES DEFENSE SECURITY GO TO THE VITAL OFFICES AROUND THE PENTAGON AND ALSO TO PROTECT TOP…
  • p. 42 …THE PENTAGON? A: WE ARE DOING IT. WE ARE, ONE, LOOKING AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE…
  • p. 43 …OVER THE WEEKEND, OR IT WAS RELEASED OR REPORTED ON OVER THE WEEKEND -- AS PENTAGON SPOKESMAN…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

ADMIRAL IN CHARGE." THEN HE ASKED TO SPEAK TO THE "VICE ADMIRAL ABOUT A CAR THEFT." I DON'T THINK HE MEANT THE VICE ADMIRAL IN CHARGE OF CAR THEFT, IT WAS THE VICE ADMIRAL ABOUT A CAR THEFT. IT WAS AT THAT POINT THAT OFFICER CHRISTOPHER FREEMAN ASKED HIM TO STEP TO THE SIDE BECAUSE HE CONCLUDED THAT THIS MIGHT BE A TOUGH CASE. THIS WASN'T THE NORMAL GUY COMING TO WORK.

LET ME JUST SORT OF WALK YOU THROUGH THE EVENTS. ACTUALLY, HE HAD TRIED TO ENTER THE ENTRANCE BY THE SOUTH PARKING LOT ABOUT 15 MINUTES BEFORE HE GOT TO THE MALL ENTRANCE AND HAD BEEN TURNED AWAY BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE A PASS. HE THEN WENT BACK, GOT INTO HIS CAR, DROVE TO THE MALL ENTRANCE. HE TRIED TO GET IN THROUGH THE PARKING SECURITY STATION, BUT WAS TURNED BACK. SO HE WENT AROUND AND PARKED IN THE EXTENDED MALL PARKING LOT. IN OTHER WORDS, HE COULDN'T GET CLOSE TO THE BUILDING. THEN HE WALKED IN, AND, AS I SAID, AT APPROXIMATELY 8:12 CAME THROUGH THE MALL ENTRANCE AND TRIED TO GET IN.

## PAGE 06 RUEKJCS7744 UNCLAS

HE WAS WRESTLED TO THE GROUND AND TAKEN TO A HOLDING AREA FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE ARRESTED IN THE BUILDING. WE ANTICIPATE THAT HE WILL BE ARRAIGNED SOMETIME THIS AFTERNOON AT U.S. MAGISTRATE COURT IN VIRGINIA, ALEXANDRIA. WE DON'T KNOW THE TIME YET, WHEN THAT WILL HAPPEN.

Q: DO YOU KNOW THE CHARGES?

A: I DON'T KNOW YET WHAT HE'LL BE CHARGED WITH, NO.

Q: YOU SAID THAT HE WAS REFUSED AT ONE ENTRANCE,

A: YES.

Q: ...REFUSED AT A PARKING GATE, AND HE WASN'T BEING LOOKED FOR? THERE WAS NO ALERT?

A: FIRST OF ALL, IT'S VERY ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE TO COME HERE WITHOUT PASSES AND TRY TO GET IN. THERE'S NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THAT, AND THAT DOESN'T TRIGGER A REPORT. SECONDLY, IT'S QUITE ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE TO COME IN A CAR WHO DON'T KNOW THE PARKING LOT SYSTEM AND TRY TO GET THROUGH ONE OF THOSE PARKING CONTROL GATES AND BE TOLD THEY CAN'T COME AND PARK CLOSE TO THE BUILDING. THEY'RE FREQUENTLY TOLD BY THE GUARDS THAT THEY CAN FIND IN A DISTANT LOT AN EMPTY PARKING PLACE IF THEY HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE SOMEBODY. SO THIS DIDN'T SEEM UNUSUAL IN EITHER CASE, AND UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 05

THERE WERE NO PHONE CALLS MADE BECAUSE OF THIS.

Q: HE WAS NOT EXHIBITING ABERRANT BEHAVIOR AT THAT TIME, BUT...

A: HE WAS, BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW IT BECAUSE THE ABERRANT BEHAVIOR IS SO MUCH LIKE WHAT HAPPENS MANY, MANY TIMES A DAY. [LAUGHTER] NO, PEOPLE SHOW UP ALL THE TIME WITHOUT PASSES, AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW THE ROPES, SO WE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ABERRANT BEHAVIOR AT THE TIME UNTIL HE CAME INTO THE BUILDING.

NOW OFFICER FREEMAN DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO. HE DID EVERYTHING RIGHT. HE HAD BEEN TRAINED IN DISARMING PEOPLE AND HE USED THAT TRAINING AND DISARMED THIS GUY VERY QUICKLY AND SKILLFULLY.

Q: WAS THE MAN'S CAR FOUND?

A: YES. HE WAS DRIVING A RED CHEVY WHICH HE HAD RENTED

Cases discussed

  • Roswell Incident 1947
    explosion of a UFO in New Mexico in 1947 and the results of an autopsy... kept a secret by the Americans

About this file

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.