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.

PAGE 06 RUEKJCS7746 UNCLAS

NAVAL HEADQUARTERS WHICH IS ON THE FOURTH FLOOR OF THE PENTAGON. FIRST OF ALL, HE MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN WHERE THEY WERE -- WE DON'T KNOW THAT. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE KNEW AND WHAT HE DIDN'T KNOW. THE INDICATIONS WERE THAT THIS PROBABLY ISN'T THE TYPE OF GUY YOU'D ASK TO DO COMPLEX PROBLEMS FOR YOU IF YOU NEEDED A RATIONAL SOLUTION. HE DID NOT SEEM TO BE APPROACHING HIS DAY IN A RATIONAL WAY. SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WHEN HE GOT INTO THE BUILDING, AND, OF COURSE, THAT'S ONE THING TO WORRY ABOUT.

BUT THE THING TO FOCUS ON HERE IS THAT THE POLICE AGENTS, THE PROTECTIVE SERVICE PEOPLE, DID EXACTLY WHAT THEY'VE BEEN TRAINED TO DO AND THE SYSTEM WORKED.

Q: WHEN HE CAME TO THE SOUTH PARKING LOT EARLIER AND TRIED TO GET IN, DID HE ASK FOR ANYBODY THERE?

A: I DON'T BELIEVE HE DID. HE JUST TRIED TO GET IN. HE MAY HAVE THOUGHT THAT IF HE FLASHED THE WORD "ADMIRAL" AROUND THAT PEOPLE WOULD JUST LET HIM IN. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WAS ON HIS MIND, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO FIND OUT, EXACTLY WHY HE DID THIS. WE DON'T KNOW WHY HE DID THIS. BUT IT APPEARS TO BE A VERY INDIVIDUAL ACT BY A PERSON WHO CLEARLY HAD UNCLAS SECTION 04 OF 05

SOMETHING ON HIS MIND, BUT WE HAVEN'T QUITE FIGURED OUT WHAT, YET.

Q: WAS THE GUN CONCEALED UNDER A COAT OR IN A HOLSTER SOMEHOW?

A: IT WAS APPARENTLY IN THE KNAPSACK, AND HE WAS ABLE TO REACH IN QUICKLY AND GET IT. THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING.

Q: CAN YOU CLARIFY, IS HE STILL IN THE PENTAGON?

A: YES. THERE'S A SPECIAL HOLDING AREA FOR PEOPLE LIKE HIM.

Q: YOU SAID...

A: BUT HE'S HANDCUFFED, SO DON'T WORRY. [LAUGHTER] AND WE'VE TAKEN HIS GUN AWAY.

Q: I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT THE REINFORCEMENTS THAT YOU SAID ARRIVED VERY QUICKLY. CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW LARGE OF A GROUP OF REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVED?

PAGE 02 RUEKJCS7747 UNCLAS

A: WE'LL FIND OUT, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OFFICERS ARRIVED.

Q: WE WERE TOLD EARLIER HE WOULD BE TAKEN TO A FEDERAL MAGISTRATE IN ALEXANDRIA FOR ARRAIGNMENT. DO YOU KNOW WHEN THAT MIGHT OCCUR?

A: THAT'S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN THIS AFTERNOON, BUT I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT TIME. AT THE MOMENT I CAME IN HERE HE WAS STILL BEING INTERVIEWED BY THE DEFENSE PROTECTIVE SERVICE AND THE FBI.

Q: HE'S NOT BEEN CHARGED YET.

A: HE HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED. THAT'S WHY HE HAS TO GO TO THE U.S. MAGISTRATE'S COURT, TO BE CHARGED.

Q: PRIOR TO HIS DRAWING THE GUN WAS THERE SOMETHING IN HIS MANNER OR HIS DRESS OR HIS ATTITUDE OR THE VOLUME OF HIS VOICE THAT PROMPTED THE SUSPICION OF THE OFFICERS?

A: WELL ONE, THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE A PASS; AND TWO, THAT HE WANTED TO TALK TO THE ADMIRAL IN CHARGE AND THEN TO THE VICE

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.