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 RUEKJCS7745 UNCLAS FROM AVIS AT BWI ON FRIDAY. ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER HE ARRIVED, AN ARMY EOD TEAM WAS DISPATCHED TO HIS CAR. THEY WERE ABLE TO LOCATE THE CAR BECAUSE THEY HAD THE LICENSE NUMBER FROM THE AVIS KEY. THEY FIRST SENT A CANINE TEAM OUT TO SNIFF THE CAR, SO A DOG WENT AND SNIFFED THE CAR FOR EXPLOSIVES. THE DOG FOUND NO SIGN OF EXPLOSIVES. THEN THE ARMY DISPATCHED A ROBOT CALLED ARGUS, WHICH IS A SMALL TRACK VEHICLE WITH AN ARM AND A TV CAMERA ON IT. THEY PUT THE KEY INTO ARGUS' HAND AND THEY MANIPULATED IT WITH THE CONTROLS TO GO UP AND OPEN THE CAR DOOR. THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CAR DOOR WASN'T RIGGED TO EXPLODE WHEN IT WAS OPENED. SO ARGUS WENT UP AND PUT THE KEY IN AND TURNED THE KEY. UNFORTUNATELY FOR A REASON INVOLVING BRIGHT SUNLIGHT IN THE CAMERA, THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MANIPULATE ARGUS ACTUALLY TO OPEN THE DOOR, SO AN ARMY EOD MAN, DRESSED UP IN ONE OF THOSE BOMB PROTECTIVE SUITS, WENT OUT AND ACTUALLY OPENED THE CAR DOOR. IN THE CAR THEY FOUND AN EMPTY COKE CAN AND A RECEIPT FROM A CVS PHARMACY FOR A PACK OF CIGARETTES. THEY FOUND NO EXPLOSIVES. THEY ALSO FOUND NO INDICATION OF WHAT HE WAS DOING OR WHY. Q: BEYOND THE CAR THEFT, HAS HE SAID ANYTHING THAT SHED PAGE 03 RUEKJCS7745 UNCLAS ANY LIGHT ON HIS MOTIVATION? A: I'M NOT AWARE THAT HE HAS AT THIS STAGE. HE'S STILL BEING INTERVIEWED. Q: THIS COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE BEEN A VERY SERIOUS INCIDENT. A: WELL... Q: IF HE HAD 130 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION. A: I THINK WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON IS THAT THE SYSTEM HERE WORKED. HE WAS NOT ALLOWED INTO THE BUILDING, HE WAS APPREHENDED BEFORE HE EVEN GOT BY THE DESK. AN OFFICER WHO WAS COURAGEOUS, WELL TRAINED, AND VERY DECISIVE AND QUICK DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO -- MOVED THE GUN AWAY, DISARMED HIM, WRESTLED HIM TO THE GROUND, HANDCUFFED HIM. AT THE SAME TIME HIS ASSISTANT HAD ALREADY CALLED FOR REINFORCEMENTS AND THE REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVED VERY, VERY QUICKLY. Q: WILL THIS RESULT IN ANY REVIEW, PERHAPS EVEN A ROUTINE REVIEW, OF THE SECURITY PROCEDURES? AND ARE YOU CONFIDENT GENERALLY THAT SECURITY AT THE PENTAGON IS ADEQUATE? A: I THINK THIS SHOWS THAT THE FORCE OF 220 AGENTS, DEFENSE PROTECTIVE AGENTS, IS EXTREMELY WELL TRAINED AND WELL PAGE 04 RUEKJCS7745 UNCLAS SUITED FOR ITS JOB. OBVIOUSLY ANY INCIDENT LIKE THIS CAUSES CHIEF JOHN JESTER AND HIS STAFF TO SIT DOWN AND REVIEW ONE, WHAT HAPPENED; TWO, DID IT HAPPEN ACCORDING TO PROCEDURES; THREE, DID EVERYTHING GO RIGHT; AND FOUR, WAS THERE ANYTHING WE SHOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY; AND FIVE, SHOULD WE REEXAMINE PROCEDURES? THAT'S SORT OF SOP IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE PROCEDURES ARE WRONG, IT DOESN'T MEAN THERE WILL BE A CHANGE. IT
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.