User:Panyd/Ufology6.2.2

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Intro

UFOs as a phenomena have been especially prevalent in US culture, with Presidents Carter and Reagan both claiming to have seen UFOs

In 1952 the Truman administration was concerned about increased UFO sightings, including unusual radar readings near Washington National Airport which eventually led to aircraft being scrambled to intercept supposed objects.

individual scientists were asked to give testimony to the government in cases such as the Hearings of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics in 1969.

Military

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1940s - 1960s

See also: Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book

The US air force were also engaged in Project GRUDGE from the late 40s until 27 December, 1949. The aim of the project was to calm public fears, but fearing the project's existence was fuelling public panic, it was short lived.

The Air Force began Operation BLUE BOOK, a continuation of the work previously undertaken by previous projects, but with a small staff. This was in effect throughout the 50s and 60s. Throughout its existence, the US Air Force collaborated with outside institutions such as the Battelle Memorial Institute, to help analyse data and produce numerous internal reports, all of which have since been declassified, with the possible exception of a Special Report 13, though there are some doubts over its existence.

The 1954 launch of the U-2, and the subsequent launch of the OXCART (SR-71, or Blackbird), presented Project BLUE BOOK with a dilemma. Reports of UFOs rose exponentially, but neither the Air Force nor the government were able to disclose the true nature of what was being observed. False statements were given to the public to calm fears surrounding sightings, but in 1956 the former head of Project BLUE BOOK publically announced the Robertson Panel's existence, and the intense pressure from UFO groups, compounded by a best selling novel written by former Marine Corps major Donald Keyhoe, put enormous pressure on the Air Force to release the results.

1960s - 1980s

See also: National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena, Robertson Panel, and Condon Committee

in 1964 and 1966, an "Ad Hoc Committee to Review Project Blue Book," was headed by a Dr. Brian O'Brien and included Carl Sagan which was convened, and the House Armed Services Committee held hearings regarding UFOs. Both the committee and Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown repeated the same conclusion - there was no threat to national security, and no evidence that UFOs were 'foreign bodies'.

[Condon Report] Using specialised CIA equipment, the Air Force and university team were able to analyse and debunk the photographic evidence they received, and in 1969 released a report named the '"Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;", which was presented to the National Academy of Sciences.

on the recommendation of the Blue Book review committee, the US Air Force began an 18 month study into UFOs with the University of Colorado in an attempt to show the public they weren't hiding any information.[1] They named it the Condon Committee, and the project was given $500,000 to carry out its research. Despite being conducted in conjunction with the US Air Force, the study did not focus on national security, instead aiming to see if the study of UFOs could '[add] to scientific knowledge'.

and that no further investigation was warranted. The committee also recommended that Project Blue Book be disbanded, and on 17 December 1969, Secretary of the Air Force, Robert C. Seamans, Jr. announced that the Air Force would follow that suggestion. There has subsequently been no official US Air Force investigations into UFOs, with the requirement for additional study hinging on a rebuttal of the Condon Committee findings.

Intelligence

The first case of a UFO sighting submitted to the CIA was on June 24, 1947, when a man named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing 9 flying saucers near Mr Rainer, Washington. He estimated their speed at 1,000 mph. A slew of other reports from military personnel followed, which led to the creation of Project SIGN in 1948 by Air Force Gen. Nathan Twining. Project SIGN was created with a focus on whether or not these sightings were a threat to national security, but a report led by the Technical Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base found the sightings to be easily explainable. However, as neither the US Air Force nor the CIA were willing to discount the possibility of non-terrestrial aircraft, there was a perceived need to investigate every report.

Cold War

The CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), began their own investigations. These were kept secret from the public "in view of their probable alarmist tendencies". Special focus was given to the role Russia could play in weaponizing either UFOs or UFO sightings. CIA investigations resulted in panic through the agency with H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of OSI insisting that UFOs could be an imminent threat to US Air Force bases. At a late 1952 hearing regarding the matter, the CIA's Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) agreed, with the full cooperation of Maj. Gen. John A. Samford, Director of Air Force Intelligence, to commission a team of scientists to investigate the evidence and reports collected and examine any scientific theories regarding their origin. They named this the 'Robertson Panel'. After reviewing the evidence over three days in early 1953, their conclusion was that no national security threat was posed by UFOs. Much like the team working on Project GRUDGE, they concluded that continued official investigations of the phenomena could lead to hysteria, and that further investigations may disrupt government functions with numerous and needless reports.

It was growing congressional concern and a UFO sighting by US Senator Richard Russell on a trip to the USSR (later dismissed by the CIA) that kept policymakers interested in the subject. Fear of the USSR creating 'flying saucers' was still prevalent, even in the face of skepticism or outright disbelief within the CIA.

in 1964, the White House began discussions regarding the possibility of alien intelligence and on what action might be necessary if it was discovered. To this end, DCI John McCone asked the CIA for an updated overview of the UFO phenomenon. Collecting samples of videos and other evidence from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (or NICAP), the CIA returned with assurances that nothing had changed since

Official Secrecy

To combat hysteria, they suggested to the CIA and Air Force, who commissioned the report, that a campaign should be launched to help educate the public on the lack of evidence for UFOs being a non-natural or explainable phenomena. Suggestions for media outlets to help spread the message included the Disney Corporation, and business clubs and schools were also encouraged to participate.

As McCarthyism grew in scope within the government, Ufology groups Civilian Flying Saucer Investigators in Los Angeles and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization in Wisconsin were targeted for surveillance in case they were engaged in subversive activities.

The CIA closed its investigation, but the reports remained restricted, and any mention of the CIA's involvement in the joint IAC panel was forbidden.

[Re:Robertson Panel's existence 1954] The CIA refused, and instead published their own version of the report, with all mentions of CIA involvement or fears over USSR involvement removed.

Chemical engineer turned Ufologist Dr. Leon Davidson and Keyhoe continued to press the CIA for more information, insisting that the CIA had greater involvement in UFO research than previously stated. A long series of correspondence and accusations led the CIA to convene with the Air Force on how to handle such situations in future. In Keyhoe's case, this culminated in a meeting with a CIA agent in Air Force uniform, assuring him that only the Air Force dealt with UFO reports and incidences, and that it was not Air Force policy to disclose which departments were handling what information. After this, dealing with Keyhoe was dropped as a priority.

[Re:Condon Committee] The CIA offered their services, which were accepted, but once again insisted that their involvement be kept top secret.

Disclosure

1975 the CIA finally granted a ufologist by the name of William Spaulding a full copy of both the Durant report and the Robertson Panel's conclusions. The Freedom of Information requests that followed deluged the agency until in 1977 the CIA had collected around 900 pages of documents related to CIA involvement in UFO research. They release all but 57 documents which they stated were kept to protect national security. Spaulding's group, Ground Saucer Watch, then sued the US government for the remaining documents. The suit was thrown out on summary judgement after a judge found the CIA had conducted a thorough investigation into their documents and were not holding anything back for any undisclosed reasons.

In 1993, DCI R James Woosley reviewed all CIA files on UFO phenomena after pressure from groups studying Ufology.

Law Enforcement

By 1973 the cattle mutilation phenomenon had begun, and in 1974 it began being linked to sightings of UFOs as well as 'mysterious helicopters' after Nebraska farmers claimed to see unexplainable lights in the sky before finding their cattle mutilated.[5] In a bid to combat the perceived threat to farmer's livelihood, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (or CBI) began an investigation into the so called mutilations. After their investigation, and another by the Minnesota field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), failed to produce any arrests or definitive conclusions with which to calm the public, Colorado Senator Floyd Haskell asked that the Denver branch of the FBI investigate this issue.[6][7] He claimed that CBI investigations had confirmed that this activity was ongoing in nine states for the past two years.[6]

In 1979, the US District Attorney would provide former FBI agent Kenneth Rommel with a $50,000 federal grant to investigate cattle mutilations in the northern part of New Mexico. His report concluded mass hysteria had fuelled suspicions and theories that outside involvement was the cause of cattle mutilations, where natural causes were the most probable explanation.[8]

Legislation

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References

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