65 HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 SUB A

0-19
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HHPERS u-ttf't- ·i.·.ueory Bolshr.ed .,.
.>HUii n [ Lu Keyhoe's inter-planetary theory
was bolstered by a letter pub-
lished on the j acket of his book
IPS from Albert M. Chop, former Air
Force civilian expert on the·
saucer project, who now is withSPACE SH
•ByEx MARINE
Hits AF Stand On
Flying Disks
(This is the last of three arti
cles on the controversial subject
of "flying sauce'rs" and their
investigation by the Air Force.)
BY RICHARD REILLY
Are th~~f!erJ r eal
and if they are, what are they?
That, in essence, is the ques
t ion that faces the Air Force
and the American public as.well.
Altho it remains unanswered. it
has stirred no end of opinions and
theories. •
One theory advanced from
time to time is t hat the saucers
are some revolutionary type of
weapon perfected either by this
country or some other nation.
The Air Force, however, dep•
r ecates t his possibility. In a re
cent statement, it said:
"The Air Force has stated in
the past, and reaffirms at the
p resent t ime, that unexplained
aerial phenomena are not a se-.
cret weapon, missile or aircraft
developed by the United States.
None of the three military de-
p artments nor any other agencyJ1
in t he government is conducting
experiments, classified or other
wise, with flying objects which
could be a basis for the reported
phenomena."
Weapon Theory Discounted
In a¥ition, a high-ranking Air
Force officer indicated to the
Times-Herald t hat it is •believed
impossible t he saucers could be
a foreign weapon.
Regarding the question as to
whether flying saucers exist, Lt.
Robert White, public informa
t ion officer, said the Air Force
helleves reliable observers such
as veteran airline pilots are sin
cere when they report sighting
lunidentified objects.
T he Air Force was tossed a hot
potato recently by Maj. Donald
E. Kcyhoe, U.S.M.C. , who
claimed in his recent book, "Fly•
ing Saucers from Outer Space;•
that the saucers not only are real
but that they are of inter-plane-
t ary origin.
Furthermote, Keyhoe contends
that the so-called "utah film•
possessed by the Air Force proves
t1,ts'M stlu. =
the Douglas Aircraft company in
California.
In the letter, Chop stated :
•"The Air Force, and its investi
gative agency, 'Project Bluebook.'
are aware of Mai . Keyhoe's con•
clusion that the flying saucers
are from another planet. The
Air Force has never denied that
this possibility exists. Some of
the personnel believe tbat there
may be some strange natural
phenomena completely unknown
to us, but that if the apparently
controled maneuvers reported
by many competent observers
are correct, then the onlY ·re
ma.ining explanation is the inter
planetary answer."
Upon publication of the letter
- written on Defense department
stationery-the Ail' Force chal
lenged Chop's claim and said he
was merely expressing his per
sonal opinion.
Chop subsequently admitted
that he was not speaking for
the Air Force, but maintained
that some of the investigative
personnel had subscribed to the
interplanetary theory. He said
this was based on "personal con
tacts with these various indi·
vid1tals" and insisted that it was
"a true statement."
Charges Cover-Up
Amplifying his theory that the
saucers come from another
planet, Kehoe claims they could
originate from some other body
in the earth's solar system
such as Mars or Venus-or from
some other system or universe.
Kehoe charges tha t the Air
Force is convinced that the
saucers are space ships from
another world, but that it ls cov
ering up because of a fear that
such a disclosure would result in
widespread panic.
The Air Force, however, in•
sists that this is not so- tr.at it
is holding back no important
facts from the public.
J4_ White said the names of
P: rsufWift\rolved in th~t~ngs
aft! \\itllheld, and re~lwil)ldivulge the capabilit ies of our
aircraft, radar and electronic
equipment are classified. All
other information with respect
to sightings is a matter of pub•
lie record, he said. •
Keyhoe maintains. tho, that
the Air Force has refused to re•
lease many analyses of sighting
reports. He points out that the
names and locations 1cotinected
with the incidents could be de•
leted, if necessary. •
Wants Film Released
Keyhoe also claims that
Air Force should release the
the
final intelligence
the utah film. analysis on
In connection with this, Key
hoe recently sent a 1telegram to
high Air Force officials charging
that since the Air Force had Im
plied that he had misrepresented
the analysis of the Utah film,
either he or the Air Force wa
lying.
The Times-Herald asked a top
Air Force spokesman if Keyhoe
had, in fact, misrepresent eC: the
Utah film analysis. He declined
to comment.
In his telegram - as in his
bOOHi,,-Keyhoe stated:
"The final analysis proved
that t he saucer formation could
not be explained as any known
aircraft or other conventional
objects: ·
Cites Conclusions
The spokesman was asked if
/ his statement were true or false.
He said that. to date. the Air
Force has neither affirmed nor
d~i!111~~ also ~ontends the an~ l-
y, s concluded the objects w ·e
n t birds and were not caus d
b weather conditions.
pccifically, Keyhoe claims the
Times Herald
Wash. Post
Wash. News
Wash. Star
,
{ 1 / - l1 N. Y. Times
l . Compass
NOT RE'.COROE'O °l~~ •Y
44 JAN 12 1954 6 --
Date: I~ ~ J. 8-~-:::f
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