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Official reports, hearing transcripts, case files and releases: the paper behind the cases. 2,872 documents, 2,610 mirrored with their text, 53,529 pages indexed, so a search reads inside them and lands on the page.
New in the library The PURSUE files The Department of War's UAP release, mirrored in full: the videos, recordings and images, each beside its case file.Documents1,073 records · page 6
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Acting Director, signed by Herbert Scoville Jr., assesses a UFO tracked by US radars on 20 September 1957 from eastern Long Island toward Buffalo at a reported 50,000 feet and 2,000 knots. It notes a break in the track, weather conditions known to produce false radar returns, and SAC training flights. It concludes that a Soviet operation is highly improbable and recommends that no IAC meeting be called.
This is a routine Central Intelligence Agency cable dated 20 August 1957 and marked as a closed case. It says that, after a conversation with ATIC, the sender told the office of the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) that Davidson would receive a reply. The cable asks whether the recipient got a copy of the letter to Davidson or was told it had been written. The sender wants to close the matter knowing for sure that the letter was sent.
This Office Memorandum from the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence, dated 26 October 1957, was sent from the Chief of a division of OSI to the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence. It records that Robertson called to report an Air Force request for permission to declassify the conclusions of the "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," which OSI organized in January 1953. The writer says the matter will be examined and that Maj. James F. Byrne should make direct contact.
This CIA memorandum to the Acting Director of Central Intelligence, signed by Herbert Scoville Jr., covers an unidentified flying object that US Air Defense Command radars tracked on 20 September 1957. The radars followed it from the eastern tip of Long Island toward Buffalo at a reported 50,000 feet and 2,000 knots. The Air Force pointed to a break in the track, weather that can produce false returns, and SAC B-47 jamming training. The memo concludes that a Soviet operation is highly improbable and recommends against calling an IAC meeting.
This 1957 Central Intelligence Agency letter from Deputy Assistant Director Philip G. Strong to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner concerns an Air Force request to declassify the conclusions of the January 1953 Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects so the press could use them. Strong says Robertson and Goudsmit agree to release only paragraphs 2 and 4a. The Agency's link to the Panel would stay undisclosed. He asks whether Berkner agrees and whether his name may be used.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 1957 and released in 1975, forwards photographs of an unidentified flying object filmed by Ralph L. Mayher in 1952 on 16 mm movie film. It describes how the enlarged prints were processed and gives background from the source: a bright orange, saucer-shaped rotating object at an estimated 2,000 feet, in view for about three minutes. It notes that the original negatives are in Air Force hands.
This CIA office memorandum, dated 26 October 1957 and addressed to AD/SI, records a call from Robertson. The Air Force had asked him for permission to declassify the conclusions of the "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," which OST organized in January 1953. The request came from Maj. James F. Byrne of AFCIN-X1A. The writer told Robertson the matter would be examined, asked that Byrne make direct contact, and planned to act on it on returning.
This undated Central Intelligence Agency cable, released in 1978, deals with Dr. Leon Davidson's demand for a verbatim translation of a supposed "space" message and the name of the transmitter that sent it. An ATIC letter from Captain Wallace W. Elwood had told Davidson the signal was identifiable Morse code from a known US licensed station. Davidson rejected that answer. The sender asks for the translation from ATIC to dismiss him and remarks that Davidson is no fool.
This Central Intelligence Agency memo, dated 1957 and approved for release on 24 Nov 78, records that on 10 Dec 57 an officer returned five flying saucer photographs to an unnamed person. That person asked for any evaluations of the photos and for permission to say on a planned TV show that an intelligence organization had found them of interest. The officer refused the second request and said the first was doubtful. The memo was forwarded to prevent any repercussions or flaps.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable, dated 4 November 1957, is a short internal message from a support office. It says no translation or further record exists beyond what the recipient already knows. It reports that a man named Davidson approached ATIC, was given the same answer, and asked for it in writing, which was refused. It notes that he has already received letters from ATIC and the DCI's office. It advises ignoring his letter unless it was registered.
This 1957 Central Intelligence Agency cable from the Chicago office reports a face-to-face contact with Leon Davidson, who was in Chicago for a scientific meeting. Davidson was writing an article for a space magazine and wanted either a translation of a message and its emitting station, proving a space message to be a hoax, or permission to show CIA and ATIC letterheads as proof that the government was avoiding his inquiries. The Chicago office asked to withdraw and urged headquarters and ATIC to satisfy him.
This is a cover letter dated November 5, 1957, from Philip G. Strong, a Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Assistant Director, to Dr. H. P. Robertson, Chairman of the Defense Science Board at the Pentagon. Following up on an earlier conversation about Unidentified Flying Objects, Strong sends Robertson a copy of a letter to the Air Force and the declassified version of the Panel Report. The release contains two nearly identical copies of the letter.
This CIA file contains a letter dated 20 December 1957 from Deputy Assistant Director Philip G. Strong to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner of Associated Universities. Strong encloses a memorandum to Air Force intelligence and the declassified version of the Scientific Panel report on Unidentified Flying Objects. The memorandum explains which parts of the report could be declassified and states that no connection with CIA may be disclosed. The revised report finds no direct physical threat to national security and recommends stripping UFOs of their special status.
This is a cover letter from Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director at the Central Intelligence Agency, to Dr. Luis V. Alvarez of the University of California at Berkeley. It is dated November 5, 1957, and follows up an earlier conversation the two had about Unidentified Flying Objects. Strong encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force, which is marked Secret, along with the declassified version of the Panel Report.
This Central Intelligence Agency cover letter, dated 5 November 1957, was sent by Philip Strong to Dr. Samuel Goudsmit of Brookhaven National Laboratory. It follows up an earlier conversation on Unidentified Flying Objects and encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force and the declassified version of the Panel Report. The enclosed report states that a panel of scientific consultants found no indication that the objects posed a direct threat to national security. It recommended that national security agencies strip them of their special status and air of mystery.
This Central Intelligence Agency cover letter to Dr. Thornton Page of The Johns Hopkins University Operations Research Office in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is dated November 5, 1957. It refers to a prior conversation on Unidentified Flying Objects. It encloses, for Page's information, a copy of a letter to the Air Force classified Secret and a declassified version of the Panel Report. The text appears twice, with slightly different wording for the second attachment.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 7 November 1957, forwards photographs of an unidentified flying object filmed by Ralph L. Mayher in 1952 on 16 mm movie film. It explains how the enlarged prints were made and gives technical background: the object appeared saucer shaped, bright orange, about two thousand feet up and visible for about three minutes. It notes that the original negatives are held by the Air Force.
This Central Intelligence Agency letter, dated 19 November 1957, was sent by Deputy Assistant Director Philip G. Strong to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner. It reports that the Air Force has asked for the conclusions of the 1953 Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects to be declassified. Strong says the Agency will allow only part of the report to be released, and that the Panel's connection with the Agency should not be disclosed. He asks Berkner whether his name may be used.
This Central Intelligence Agency memo, dated 12 December 1957, records that on 10 December 1957 an officer returned five flying saucer photographs to a private individual whose name is deleted. The individual asked for any evaluations of the photographs and whether he could say on a planned TV show about UFOs that an intelligence organization had found them of interest. The officer refused. The memo was forwarded to prevent any repercussions or flaps.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable dated 18 December 1957 reports that Dr. Leon Davidson is asking for a verbatim translation of a supposed "space" message and the identity of the transmitter that sent it. It notes that Captain Wallace W. Elwood of ATIC had told Davidson in August 1957 that the message was Morse code from a licensed US station, and that Davidson rejected this answer. The cable asks for ATIC's translation and warns that Davidson may use government letterhead in a magazine article.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable, dated 19 December 1957 and marked as a closed case, deals with a man named Davidson. It says there is no translation and no record beyond what the recipient already knows. It notes that ATIC gave Davidson the same answer and refused to put it in writing. It also records that he had already received letters from ATIC and from the DCI's office. The cable advises ignoring his latest letter unless it was registered.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Air Force's Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, dated 20 December 1957, answers an Air Force request to declassify the "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects." It says CIA and all panel members agreed to release the paragraph 2 conclusions and Recommendation 4.a. Paragraph 3, Recommendation 4.b. and any link to CIA stay classified. A revised, paraphrased version of the report is attached, and copies went to Drs. Robertson, Berkner, Alvarez, Goudsmit and Page.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable from its Chicago office, dated 20 December 1957, reports an in-person contact with Leon Davidson while he was in Chicago for a scientific meeting. Davidson said he was writing an article for a space magazine. He wanted either a translation of a space message and the station that sent it, proving it a hoax, or permission to show CIA and ATIC letterheads as evidence of government avoidance. The office asked headquarters and ATIC to answer him.
This is a short Central Intelligence Agency cover letter dated December 20, 1957, from Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, to Dr. H. P. Robertson, Chairman of the Defense Science Board at the Pentagon. Strong refers to an earlier conversation the two had about Unidentified Flying Objects. He encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force, marked secret, and an unclassified, declassified version of the Panel Report for Robertson's information.
This Central Intelligence Agency cover letter from Deputy Assistant Director Philip G. Strong to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner, dated 20 December 1957, encloses two items: a copy of a letter to the Air Force and a declassified version of the Scientific Panel report on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated 17 January 1953. The memo says no connection with CIA may be disclosed. The declassified report concludes the phenomena pose no direct physical threat to national security, and it recommends stripping them of their special status and aura of mystery.
This Central Intelligence Agency cover letter is dated 20 December 1957. Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, wrote it to Dr. Luis V. Alvarez at the University of California, Berkeley. Strong refers to an earlier conversation with Alvarez about Unidentified Flying Objects. He encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force and the declassified version of the Panel Report. The letter lists these two items as attachments and has no findings of its own.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency cover letter dated December 20, 1957, from Philip C. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, to Dr. Samuel Goudsmit of Brookhaven National Laboratories. It encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force and the declassified version of the scientific Panel Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. The enclosed report concludes that the phenomena pose no direct physical threat to national security. It recommends stripping them of their special status and aura of mystery through an integrated public education program.
This is a Central Intelligence Agency cover letter dated 20 December 1957. Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, wrote it to Dr. Thornton Page of the Johns Hopkins University Operations Research Office in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It follows up a prior conversation about unidentified flying objects and encloses a copy of a letter to the Air Force and the declassified version of the Panel Report. The letter gives no findings of its own.
This is a confidential CIA memorandum dated 9 January 1958. The Chief of the Chicago Office sent it to the Chief of the Contact Division, Support Branch, about closed Case 17708 and Dr. Leon Davidson. It reports that Davidson was told by telephone that his question about a space message and its transmitter could not be resolved, because the evaluating agency had destroyed the records. The memo calls this answer evasive and unfair to him. It notes that Davidson apparently knew he was dealing with CIA and expects to hear more from him.
This Central Intelligence Agency teletype message, dated 3 January 1958, replies to a Chicago office cable about a man named Davidson. It reports that Davidson sent a copy of his article to the Pentagon, which forwarded it to the Agency. The Agency then passed it to Colonel Grogan, special assistant to the DCI, who agreed nothing could be done. Headquarters states it wants no further dealings with Davidson, since contacting him would only encourage more speculation.
This is a letter from Philip G. Strong of the Central Intelligence Agency to Dr. Samuel A. Goudsmit of Brookhaven National Laboratory, dated 3 January 1958 and written in reply to Goudsmit's letter of 25 December. Strong explains that Allen Hynek sat with the Panel for part of the time but was not a regular member and did not sign its report. Lloyd, however, was a regular member and signed the final report. Strong adds that Hynek is now with Fred Whipple at Harvard.
This Central Intelligence Agency memo, dated 4 January 1958 and addressed to the Chief of the Chicago Office, reports a telephone call to Dr. Leon Davidson. Davidson was told that his question about a space message and its transmitter could not be resolved because the evaluating agency had destroyed the records. He mentioned a second article on Air Force handling of space sightings that was under Pentagon security review. The memo calls the instructed answer evasive and unfair, and it expects to hear more from him.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable from the Chicago office, dated January 1958, discusses Dr. Leon Davidson's publication "The Air Force and the Saucers, Part Three," and a copy is forwarded with it. It disputes page 13 of the article, which describes a visit to the CIA office in Chicago, and calls parts of that account drama aimed at magazine appeal. The cable says Davidson was promised a code translation and transmitter identification. It urges that he be put in touch with headquarters so Chicago is relieved of the chore.
This CIA document holds two nearly identical copies of a letter from Philip G. Strong to Dr. Samuel A. Goudsmit of Brookhaven National Laboratory, dated 3 January 1953. Strong answers Goudsmit's December letter. He explains that Allen Hynek sat with the Panel for part of the time but was not a regular member and did not sign the report. Lloyd was a regular member and signed the final report. Strong also notes that Hynek has moved from Ohio State to Harvard to work with Fred Whipple.
This Central Intelligence Agency memo to the Chief of the Chicago Office is dated 9 January 1958 and concerns Dr. Leon Davidson. Officers told Davidson by telephone that his question about a space message and its transmitter could not be answered, because the evaluating agency had destroyed the records. Davidson said he had heard this before and had a second article on Air Force handling of space sightings under Pentagon security review. The memo calls the answer it was told to give noncommittal, evasive and unfair to Davidson, and expects to hear more from him.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable from the Chicago office, dated 31 January 1958, concerns Dr. Leon Davidson. It forwards his article "The Air Force and the Saucers, Part Three: The Central Intelligence Agency Becomes Involved with Saucers" and disputes details on page 13 about his visit to the CIA office in Chicago. The cable says the office's location never came up in that visit and calls this part of the article drama for magazine appeal. It asks that Davidson be referred to another contact so the Chicago office no longer has to deal with him.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated February 1958, is from Herbert Scoville, Jr., Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, to the Assistant Director, Office of Operations, on unidentified flying objects. It says that letters addressed to the Director of Central Intelligence were passed to his office so it could prepare responses. It describes the letters as raising critical matters that need careful replies. It asks for comments on the last two paragraphs on page three of a Major's letter.
This Central Intelligence Agency routing slip, dated 1958 and headed Unidentified Flying Objects, comes from the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, Dr. Smith, and the OCR text is partly garbled. It asks staff to draft a reply to Dr. Scoville for the Assistant Director's signature. It also expresses the hope that a Major named in the correspondence is not referring to any of the agency's field personnel, and asks whether they know Leon Davidson.
This Central Intelligence Agency cable, dated 5 February 1958, replies to a Chicago office message about Leon Davidson. It reports that Davidson sent a copy of his article to the Pentagon, which forwarded it to the CIA without comment. The CIA passed it to Colonel Crogan, special assistant to the DCI, who agreed that nothing could be done. The cable says the Agency wants no further contact with Davidson, fearing it would encourage more speculation.
This is a letter from C. P. Cabell, Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to Major Donald E. Keyhoe (Ret.), Director of NICAP, in Washington, D.C. It acknowledges Keyhoe's letter of March 13 about various reports on unidentified flying objects. Cabell says the letter was referred to officials on his staff and that a preliminary investigation found a need for further inquiry and coordination with several other organizations. He promises to advise Keyhoe further once his staff reports its findings.
This Central Intelligence Agency letter, dated 1958 and addressed to retired Major Donald Keyhoe, director of NICAP in Washington, D.C., answers his letter of March 13th. It states that a check of Agency records found nothing indicating that any CIA employee, at any time, ordered a witness to an unidentified flying object to stay silent about what they had seen. Copies went to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force and to other offices.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum from W. E. Laxow, Chief of the Applied Science Division, SI, covers letters from Mr. Davidson and Major Keyhoe asking for the panel report on unidentified flying objects. The Air Force Information Service, through Major Tacker, asked the CIA to forward the letters and copies of the unclassified report so the Air Force could answer them itself. The CIA agreed, and the memo proposes this procedure as a precedent for all future UFO inquiries.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum from W. E. Lexow, Chief of the Applied Science Division, responds to letters from Leon Davidson and Donald E. Keyhoe seeking the 1953 Scientific Advisory Panel report. It says Edward J. Ruppelt's book misstated the panel's mission, and it recommends sending the declassified version without revealing the panel's CIA link. The attached 17 January 1953 report says UFOs posed no direct threat to national security. It also recommends stripping them of their special status.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum for record, dated 5 March 1958 and signed by the Chief of the Applied Science Division, Office of Scientific Intelligence, covers requests to release a panel report to Mr. Davidson and Major Keyhoe. The Air Force information office, through Major Tacker, insisted on answering the letters itself, with copies of the unclassified report. The CIA agreed to forward the letters and suggested this procedure as a precedent for all future UFO inquiries.
This is a short CIA letter dated 1958, signed by J. S. Eaton for Mr. Dulles, to Major Donald Keyhoe (Ret.) in Washington, D.C. It acknowledges Keyhoe's letter, which made certain inquiries. The letter says the subject is of primary concern to the Department of the Air Force, so the CIA referred Keyhoe's letter to that department for a reply. Copies went to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force and to CIA offices.
This CIA cover letter from the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence is dated 4 April 1958 and addressed to Major Lawrence J. Thacker of the Air Force Information Service at the Pentagon. It encloses letters from Major Donald E. Keyhoe and Leon Davidson asking about UFOs, along with the CIA's replies saying the correspondence had been referred to the Air Force. It also encloses three copies of the declassified report of the Scientific Panel.
This is a short Central Intelligence Agency letter to Leon Davidson from the Executive Officer, sent on behalf of Mr. Dulles. The file's date is 1958-03-05, but the text is also marked April 1958. The letter thanks Davidson for a March letter asking about a subject shown in the scan only as a garbled term. It explains that the subject is mainly a concern of the Department of the Air Force, so his letter was passed to that department for reply. Copies went to the Secretary of the Air Force.
The Central Intelligence Agency's Central Intelligence Bulletin for 14 March 1958 is a classified daily intelligence brief on world events, approved for release in 2019. It covers Soviet calls for a foreign ministers' meeting before a summit, Soviet cargo ships possibly bound for Indonesia, and strained Yugoslav-Soviet relations. It also covers unidentified submarine contacts in the western Atlantic, a planned amphibious attack in Central Sumatra, and Middle East disputes. Other items are British troop cuts in Germany and Colombia's elections. It contains no UFO material.
This is a short Central Intelligence Agency letter dated 21 March 1958 from Deputy Director C. P. Cabell to Major Donald E. Keyhoe, director of NICAP in Washington, D.C. It acknowledges Keyhoe's letter of March 13 about various reports on unidentified flying objects. Cabell writes that the letter went to cognizant officials on his staff and that preliminary investigation showed a need for further inquiry and coordination with several other organizations. He promises to advise Keyhoe further depending on his staff's findings.
This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated 23 March 1958, went from the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence to the Assistant Director, Office of Operations, under the subject Unidentified Flying Objects. It says that letters addressed to the Director of Central Intelligence were passed on so that responses could be prepared. It calls the matters they raise rather critical and asks for comments on the last two paragraphs on page three of Major Keynes's letter.