65 HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 Section 004

"
, Office Memml rldUm • uNtTED sTf r:s GovERNMENT
.,
TO : The Director DATE: January 241 1949
\tr. Tolson~
FROM : D. M. Ladd 11.-. Clegs,__
tJ :::o~ avl
llr. 111 s
SUBJECT: FLYING DISCS !Ir. Ro __
K' :.: Egan,.::-.:::==
f{fu I thought you might be interested in the following information :: ~~~
concerning "Flying D1,:,c..s" which has ~en fl.l,rnished to the Bureau on a ::: ~::;;1,=-
confidential basis by Colonel- C ~Gasser, Re~id~- Erlgin~er, Air :~•==~Material Comnand, U. S.Arrey, who is the pr incipal anny technician at the ~::=~Nuclear Ehem::!csr:::t1'iErPropulsion of Aircraft ~E1ai:ch Cent.er. ~-Oak..Ridge,---
Tennes see.
. Colonel Gasser stated that he knew nothing of an C2flliial._ nature__£f>,Ecerning
''Flfi~g Discs" other than ~he fact that they are believed by Air ,toz:E!, ,El~lljgence
officials to be man-made m.issil~s, }"at.Jler_than so~ natural phenomena. It was his
further bel ief that a great deal of information has been C.Q!!miled concern~ng these
missiles by air force intelligence.., and that r.!_search on the matter was being
extensively done at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio .
Colonel Gasser then continued with his own ideas as to what .might be
the nature of these discs which ideas he had formulated through review of those
known facts and theoretical conjectures of himself and other scientists concen1ing
the nature of flying discs and .oethods of propulsion for such type of aerial
mechanisn. According to him, flying discs have long been a theoretical possibility,
and, in fact, a possibility- wmcb wou!_d _indicate one of the best means by which to
break through the barriers of the supersonic area. He stated that sc;.ientistLhave,
tor- many years, been attempting to develop this type of aircraft. Some e~ri
mentation has been done_ even in the U~ited Sta~es, bit i nsofar as is .lmown in the
United States at the present time, there have never been any practical developments .
As a second- factor orconsideration, Colonel Gasser stated that _insofar as is known
to U. S. scien_!;ists at this time, there is no known chemical fuel v.hich_would .make
possible tremendous range of flight aich as is ascribed to the reported 11flying
discs." According to Gasser, there is onlY ooe possible fuel;_ which could be
uti:(°ized _which is in.. ac~ord with present theory, and that is the utilization of
atomic energy.
He stated that tru,s subject matter was being given absolutely no disseminc1:tion
by the ~JQT-<;e .9r .Qt.her .milit..acy_personnel and tha.!:,_J,.!!_ey had not deen:ed it
adyisable to advise_ him of all information pertainigg to thi~e .missile. He /
continued, however, that in his conversation wit_~entatU,es at Wr~_E~ld _,/
and in reading r~_p,orts returned _to this country by foreign agents, he had gathered
together certain information which might be of assistance in determining whether or
n~these so- call8i .missiles were authentic, usable and of aanger to the United States .
EHM:hhr ~
FEB 8 19 9~p /