Documents / Report
This declassified CIA document, released through The Black Vault, reports on the meetings of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, which the Office of Scientific Intelligence convened on January 14 to 18, 1953. It includes a history of the sessions and the panel's informal comments, and it appends the formal report signed by H. P. Robertson and others. The panel found no evidence of a direct threat to national security. It recommended stripping UFOs of their special status and starting a public education program.
Approved Fo.:l:a.se 2001/08/07: CIA-RDP81R005.00100030027-0 ~~~tijt~"'m.J!I """~~; levels in such education from enlisted personnel to commend end rec:eP.rch personnel. Relative emphasis t'lnc_ oec;ree of explan2tion of <iifferent prof.rrms 1A'Ould correspond to the cataeories of duty (e.g., r2dar operatorf'; !Jilot8; control tmv-er operators; Grotmd Observer Corps personnel; anci officE.rs and enlisted men in other catP_gories.) This treining should result in a marl!'eci reduction in reports c2.1..1.sed by misi<ientification and result~mt confusion. The 11 cebunkine;11 a:iJn uould result in reduction in public interest in Hflyinc; saucers" vJhich tode1.y evoke~ a strong psychological reaction. This education could be accom:;lished by mass me<iia such television, motion pictures, and popular articles. Basis of such Education t·muld be actual case histories which had been puzzline; at first but later exple :ined. As in the ease of conjuring :);ricks, there is much less stimulation if the 11 secret 11 is known. Such a prop;ram should tend to reduce the current gul:tibility of the public mel consequently their susceptibility to clever hostile propaganda. The Panel noted that the general absence of Russian propae;anda based on a subject 1rl. th so many obvious possibilities for exploitation rd.cht indicate 2 possitle Russian official policy. I1ember-s of the Panel had ve.rious sup;~::estions related to the planning of such an educP.tional program. It 1.va s ::elt s·C.ronr;ly that psychologists fwniliar vJith mass psycholocy should advise on the nature and extent of the pro~ram. In this eonncction, Dr. Hac"ley Cantril (Princeton University) -.:m.s sup:p:ested. Cantril authored 11 Inva8:'_on from lvlars 1', (a study in the ""'"S""~"'e~~'E'<c~'' ~~~yt"1fM'iNI~ -20- Approved For Release 2001/08/07: CIA-RDP81R00560R000100030027-0
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 29 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.