65 HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 Section 007

A fl r .POR. TcR. AT l f\ r> GE
. " .. -
IN mid ummer of 19+7, the - cd
States Air Force, already concerned
with such prohlem~ ;'I.:, the develop-
ment of guided mi,siles and supersonic
craft, the n,..,;in3 up of radar nctworh,
and its controvers} with the 1a\'} over
unification, found tself confronted h\
another, and complctel} different, head~
a~he-tht II) ing ,aucer. People in everr
hJects and, if neces.sary, to repel
them. The result was the launchinn-
hy the Air Force, on January 22 1948
o_f a special i1l\'estigation, an im\•,ti:ra:
aon that, though it has reached 11111n-
erous con clusions, is still under way
and has yet to put the puhl,c mmd at
rest.
It appears th~t, aside from the hope
of reas,urmJ .1 Jitter} populace, the Air
Fo'.·ce, in embarking upon this under
~krn(!', had ani or all of three thrn.zs
Ill mrnd. It may well have shared the
civili.rn C~>ncen: over what, if an} thin:r,
the Russians m1~ht ha\·e to do with the
reported phenomena, and it may even
han~ felt that to frisure a thorou.,.h,,0111 ,,
~ ~ ~
SOMETHING IN THE SKY
i1H'estigation there was certain!} no
harm in assuminz for the moment that
the era of inte;planetar} tra\·el l_1ad
arrived and the earth had bernmc
an ohjective for journeys from el,e-
where in the solar S}'Stem. Or -and this
would not neces,;arily exclude the first
two consideranons-the Air I orce may
have hecn setting up a smoke screen to
protect, in the interest of national '-l:CU-
rity, the secret of some experimental fly-
ing ohjects of its own that uni} a tru,tcd
few of its mcmhers knnv ahcn1t. \\"hat-
ever the purpo~e, the investigation, with
which I ha\·e heen in touch from time
to time, ha-. seeminc.d} heen cxhausti\'e.
The Air Force personnel originally
assi;?ned to it \\'a, later au..!mented hy
astronomer,, psycholo(!'.ists, physicists,
meteorologists, physicians, and repre
sentatives of the F.B. J. The investit!'.a
tion, which soon hecame popularly
known as Project Saucer, was first
headed hr Lieutell.lnt Gent'ral Benja
mm \V. Chidlaw, Commandin!! G en
erat of the Air ~1atericl Command,
and its h.1se was, and is, at \ Vr:~ht FieIll,
DaJton, Ohio. The project's ta,k turned
out to in\'olve a mixture of old-fashioned
detection, scientific analpi,, puhlic rela
tions, and the stud} of a widespread
state of mind. In Dccemher, 19+9,
after checking, over :1 period of two
years, three hundred and se\·enty-fi\'e
report:, of intruder-. m the sk}, the .-\1r
Force publicly called it quits, hut Project
Saucer was not actual!} dish. ndnl. :--.a
tional sernrity, the Arr Force announcecl
at the time, was not endangered. The
R) mg s. ucers were apparmons, t said,
all attrihutahle either to a failure to
recognize conventional ohjelt~, to
hoaxes, or ro a mild form of ma,~ hy,
tcria. The Air Force, however, did not
let the m:mer rest there.
1ot long after the apparent demise
of Projen Saucer, I had a talk in \\' a,h
in(!'ton wnh Bn;!:adicr General trnest
,\1oore, then cl;icf of A,r Force In
telligence, in the course of which he
m.1de four catc .i:orical ~tatemcnt$ that
I felt sure he had made man} times he-
Clipoed from The Nim YORK,_..R
Septem~er 6, 1952
pages M through 82
page 62
t,