CIA-UAP-002, Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, Report, 1952-1953

This Central Intelligence Agency file gathers the 1953 Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated January 17, 1953, and the papers that went with it. The panel was chaired by H. P. Robertson. It found no evidence that the phenomena were a direct threat to national security. It recommended stripping UFOs of their special status and aura of mystery and starting a public education program. The file also holds F. C. Durant's account of the meetings, 1952 CIA memos proposing research, and transmittal letters.

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This file contains correspondence and reports dated 1952–1953 from the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, convened by the CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence. The panel’s primary conclusion was that “flying saucers” did not pose a direct physical threat to the national security of the United States. The panel found no evidence that these phenomena were attributable to hostile foreign artifacts or indicated a need to revise existing scientific concepts. However, the panel identified a significant indirect threat stemming from the public’s fascination with the subject. The panel concluded that the high volume of reports, encouraged by a "sensationalist press," could overwhelm and clog vital intelligence and communication channels, potentially distracting from genuine threats. Furthermore, they warned that a “morbid national psychology” could be exploited by adversaries to incite “hysterical behavior and harmful distrust of duly constituted authority.” To mitigate these risks, the panel recommended an official policy of “debunking” to “strip the UFO subject of its mystery,” alongside a training initiative for military personnel to better recognize and filter out misidentified objects, thereby reducing communication “noise” and allowing the national security apparatus to focus on more "legitimate defense concerns."

DRAFr LET'l'ER •
MEf.l)IWIDUM FOR: Secretary of Deferwe [~ a.. ~ : 71..c..., /\I S cl
Unidentified Flying Objects (Fl.yitlg Saucers)
•
l . The IAC has reviewed ·i;he current situntion concernins
unidentifi ed flying objects vhich have caused extensive speculati on
in the pi-ass and have 'been the subject o: concern to Govenu:ient
or gan:.zations . Tbe Au· Force1 within the __il'Aitc.tions o:!" l'llWlpover
which could be devoted to t··c subjc~t.,. ho.i:; thus far carried the full
responsibllity t or :.LnvestiGating and analyzing i ndividual reports of
sighti.A,ga. Since 1947, appro~lootely 1500 official reports of sightings
have been r eceived end, of thcoe, about 2<:1/:, are a.s yet une}..-pl ained.
2 . I t .is Ji'ff vle~ and toot of the IAC that tb:ts situation bas
poGsible implicat:l ona for our natiozml security with respect to tbe
vulnc.1.--ab!lity of tl:e U..L to air atta,:::k. Intelligence, ho..'Cver, cannot
discharge itc respona1bilitiea v.i.th l'ega.rd to estioati~g the ca.:pabilit i es
of an eDCTOY :to create and use such pbonoruana. aenin;t t he U.S. un.leas
-ve i'i.rst detel'?llinc through ocientific rccearch ,mether or not sueh
phenomena can in fact be generated o.nd controlled by ~c .
3. It is therefore reco::=1encled, thut the Dcpart:mnt of Dere:use
(be d::.rected'to) undertake au expanclet.l nc.:.entif:!.c researcb pr0£ram to
reveal the nature of the varicus :vbeno.:neoo which arc ca.using theoe sig)ltiv
and mea.tw by wh!ch these '{lhcnomene. m y be identified !l:lI:ediately. It'!
recom:nend.od that in sucb a pr oject there be close cooperation bet\ref'
conducting the receo.rch and scientific and tecbnical intclli &m<Y
The IAC agencies are :prepared to do thei r part in such a pro/