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.

EARLIER QUESTION, BUT THE AIDE WAS ALREADY ON THE PHONE. SO IT WAS QUICKER FOR HIM, SINCE HE WAS ALREADY ON THE PHONE, TO SAY, UNCLAS SECTION 03 OF 05

BY THE WAY WE'VE GOT A STRANGE FELLOW HERE THAT WE'RE

INVESTIGATING. THEN HE LOOKED UP AND SAW THAT THE GUN HAD BEEN PULLED.

Q: WHAT IMPACT WILL THIS HAVE ON THE CURRENT INVESTIGATION THAT'S BEING DONE, THE REVIEW THAT'S BEING DONE AT THE REQUEST OF CONGRESSMAN TRAFICANT ABOUT SECURITY PROCEDURES HERE AT THE PENTAGON?

A: I'M SURE IT WILL BE ONE OF THE INCIDENTS THAT WILL BE LOOKED AT. HE'LL HAVE TO DRAW HIS OWN CONCLUSION ABOUT IT, BUT THE CONCLUSION THAT CHIEF JESTER HAS DRAWN IS THAT HERE THE SYSTEM WORKED.

Q: WAS THIS THE FIRST TIME, IT'S THE FIRST TIME I REMEMBER AN ARMED PERSON BEING APPREHENDED AT THE GATE.

A: I DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION. WE'LL GET IT.

PAGE 02 RUEKJCS7746 UNCLAS

Q: JUST TO CLARIFY AN EARLIER ANSWER, YOU SAID YOU HAD NO RECORD THAT HE WAS EVER A MEMBER OF ANY OF THE ARMED SERVICES. ARE YOU STILL SEARCHING, OR IS THAT COMPLETE NOW, YOU'RE SATISFIED...

A: WE'RE STILL LOOKING, BUT THE EARLY RETURNS DID NOT INDICATE... OBVIOUSLY WHEN A FELLOW COMES AND ASKS FOR A PERSON OF A SPECIFIC RANK IN A SPECIFIC SERVICE, YOU MIGHT THINK HE HAD SOME SORT OF CONNECTION WITH THAT SERVICE. IN THIS CASE HE MIGHT HAVE WORKED IN A SHIPYARD. THERE COULD BE ANY NUMBER OF THINGS. BUT SO FAR, WE HAVEN'T FOUND ANY INDICATION THAT THAT'S THE CASE.

Q: IS THERE AN EFFORT UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT HIS COMMENTS ABOUT AN ADMIRAL OR A VICE ADMIRAL WAS, IN FACT, TRUE? THAT HE DOES KNOW SOMEBODY?

A: WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT.

Q: HIS PROFESSION?

A: I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS PROFESSION IS.

Q: HE DID NOT THEN ASK FOR SOMEONE SPECIFICALLY BY NAME?

A: NO

A: NO.

Q: WERE HIS ACTIONS CAPTURED ON THE PENTAGON VIDEO MONITOR?

PAGE 03 RUEKJCS7746 UNCLAS

A: THEY WERE NOT. THE MONITORING SYSTEM IS NOT ON ALL THE TIME, OR AT LEAST IT WASN'T ON THIS MORNING AT THE MALL ENTRANCE. IT CAN BE TURNED ON, BUT THIS INCIDENT WAS OVER BEFORE THEY THOUGHT OF TURNING THE MONITOR ON.

Q: WHAT WOULD THE PENTAGON SAY ABOUT FREEMAN OTHER THAN HE WAS JUST DOING HIS JOB?WOULD THE PENTAGON SAY ANYTHING FURTHER? HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE IT?

A: HE DID HIS JOB VERY WELL. I SAID THAT HE WAS COURAGEOUS, WELL TRAINED, DECISIVE, QUICK MOVING, AND HE DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TRAINED TO DO. HE DID IT EXTREMELY WELL.

Q: WOULD YOU SAY HE AVERTED TRAGEDY?

A: HE CERTAINLY PREVENTED THIS FELLOW FROM GETTING INTO

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.