AIR FORCE SAYS UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS ARE 'SERIOUS'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP68-00046R000200090030-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 12, 2014
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: February 28, 1960
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

, r, I i '9
' Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/06/12: CIA-RDP68-00046R000200090030-6
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FEB 28 1960
.tit Force Says
Fjyin6 01?jpcti
o ?By, ALVIN SP,IVAl(
I United Press International ?
WASHINGTON (UI), ? The
ir 'Force 'has -sent its commands
new7Warning ' to treat sightings
fejunidentified ' flying objects
PO's) . as "serious business", di-
ectly? misted to the nation's de-
nse, it was learned Saturday.
fAn Air Force spokesman con-
irmed issuance of the directive
after portions of it were made
ublic by a private "flying sau-
ber'; research droup. '
The new .regulations were is-
ued by the , Air Force Inspector
General, last Dec. 24.
Th c regulations, updating simi-
lar ones.' issued in the past, out-
lined procedures ' and ? said that
'iriveStigations ' and analysis 7 Of
UFO's are directly related to ,the
Air ? Pelee's \ resPonsibility; for the
defense, of the. United States."
Existence; of- the 'document :was
revealed , by the National Investi-
gations .Committee' on aerial Phe-
nomena. (NICAP).-.- -. , ; , ? .1
The big - name,. privately-
financed committee 1 accused :the
Air Force . of ,decptiori :in Publicly
describing Unidentified Flying Ob-
ject (UFO) reports as delusions
and hoaxes while sending the pri-
vate admonitoin 7 to ,its commands.'
VicEi,---ActpaiAtIlillenkoetter
?
Are 'Serious'
?
(Ret.),a_2TIC4goard member
silt-Miler_ director of the, Central
I
sta_ler-iien6,thacs,photo-copy of
ilsp-W1Freiiefarowarning had ,
been sent to the Senate Space ;
Committee.
t "It is time for 'the truth 'to. be I
brought out in open congressional
hearings," he said. ?
.?./1 ;
Explains Purpose
The Air Force; confirmed .. that
the document had been issued. A
spokesman said it was put out by
Maj. Gen. Richard E.:?,0'Keefe,,
acting inspector' general at 'thel
time, to call attention to revisedt
Air Force regulations",?:concerriing.,
UFO's. *
The statement was inclukedir4,
titilS7W"tiafifing"/'
pamilegeireillated at Vitei:ValS!
commandsl?_uPt. to datel
Pentagon aides said the nevi
regulations, covering _seven .print-'
ed pages, me, no -substantive
change in policy ut were rewrit-:
ten as a matter .of ? course.
The Air Force has inveStiga.ted
6,312 reports of UFO's since 1947;
including 183 during the last six
months of 1959. The latest Air'
Force 'statement, issued a month ,
ago, . said "no physical' Or nrater.a
ial evidence, not even a minute
fragment of a so-caled ''flying
saucer, has .ever been. found."
** The inspector general's docu-
ment, NICAP said, was ' headed "
"UFO's serious business."
, NICAP , quoted the . inspector
general as saying:? ,
sometimes .treated' lightly, by the.
"Unidentified': flying ' objects-4.
press and referred to ? as 'flying .
saucers'?must be rapidly and ac-
curately ..identified ? as. i serious
USAF business... f - ` '
c; :Says Ihree Concerns ,
"Air , Force" concern -{,with .,thes
sightings is threefold;;First Wall,'
Is' the ? object a I threat ? to the ,-,de
fenSe ? of the U.S.? - Secondly, does
it 'contribute to teclulioal or;scien-; .
ific' knowledge?" ,';', , ,;, c . , , I
? The. third point .cited,.iNICAP
said, was the, question :of :how to
explain the sightings to the public.
NICAP said the k inspector general
predicted that' UFO isightings
will* Increase; causing public; ap-
prehension."
?
"behind
therseeliK".hlthran g AiitForee
,
officers. ? are, soberly, concerned ;
about the OFO's.V.
"But through,. official secrecy1'
anarrdliFile;inTrir'aitigre- ar
led to beliAre, the unkno*n. flYind
objects are nonsense," " the retired,
drnir,ad...,satdr, He al:Werth-if
del the facts, the Air Force bait,
silenced its a personnel" ,` through'
issuance of a regulation. , -
At.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/06/12 : CIA-RDP68-OnnaRpnnn9nnnarv-yzn