65 HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 Section 003

-:---
! llttal Bur:au ol lnuestigation .
Bnit.eh itate.G :il.epartm.ent nf .ih.utic..e
422 - Federal Office Building, Civic Center \ ),.J.S...,_..
San Francisco 2, CaliforniaIN REPLY, PLEASE REFER TO
September 19, 1947
P'lLE NO.-- - ---
r' L .JDireotor. FBI
Attention: Assistant Director D. M. LADD
0
RE s ,REPORTS OF FLYING DISCS
~• Dear Sir:- ~
I am transmitting herewith copies of a '\-estricted" letter da
September 3, 19471 which was furnished to me by Lieutenant Colonel DON
L. SPRINGER, A-2, Army Air Forces, Hamilton Field, California~ which letter
is designated to certain Commanding Generals in the Army Air Forces from
Colonel R.H. SMITH, Assistant Chief of Staff - Intelligence, Headquarters
Air Defense Command, Mitchel Field, New York, concerning "Cooperation of FBI
with AAF on Investigations of 'Flying Disc• Incidents".
It is my understanding from recent Bureau instructions that we are
to assist the Air Force Intelligence personnel in the investigation of flying
disc incidents. However, it will be noted from the attached letter that it
is Army interpretation that it was their intent that the Bureau would investi-
gate those incidents of the so-oall ed "discs" being found on the ground and
apparently not those which are observed only in flight. Further, the atten•
tion of the Bureau is respectfully called to paragraph two of this letter
and to the last sentence therein which states, "The services of tp.e .EB~ were
enlisted in order to reli eve the numbered Air Forces of the task of tracking
d~ all the iiiiiiy urstances whioh turned out to be ash can covers, toilet
seats and whatnot. "
In the first place, the instructions issued by the ArJJiy Air Forces
in this letter appear to limi t the type of investigations which the Bureau
will be asked to handle and secondly it appears to me the wording of the last
sentence in the second paragraph mentioned above is cloaked in entirel y
uncalle~ .for language t ending to indicate the Bureau will be asked to con?uo~~
inve~t~gations only in those oases which are not important and which are //YU •
- almost, in fact, ridiculous. ~
The thought has occurred to me the Bureau ~ight desire to discuss Jthis matter f'urther with the Army Air FQrces both as to the types of investi
gations which we will conduct and also to object to the scurrilous wordage
which, to say the least, is insulting to the Bureau in the last sentence of
paragraph two. / 'J G L~4 J / .elilco~nEJn lt~:l:....l 'i~LI.~- /#{
(, I' I . ()Jv{uJf'., Al ,,I"\ "'l" F "' l,'v
_.,Ind.~ b ~ t JI ~1 fx..BJ 9 OCT~ Y\
.) fJ\~~ ~ (}~ t1 \~1- ~ ~~,
(!_; tltt , r
5 u uCl 2 2, 1J47 rv