FLYING SAUCERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81R00560R000100020013-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 12, 2001
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 14, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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14 August 1952
FLYING SAUCERS
During the past weeks, with the phenomenal increase in the number
of Flying Saucer reports there has been a tremendous stimulation of both
public and official interest in the subject. Requests for information
have poured in on the Air Force, including an official query from the
White House. Finally, on July 29, General Samford held a press conference
in which he stated, that analysis showed "no pattern of anything remotely
consistent with any menace to the United States;" that recent Washington
sightings were possibly due to "temperature inversions," others to ionized
clouds, ice formations, etc.; that instrumentation w uld be emphasized
henceforth in the Air Force study. He emphatically stated that the
unexplained sightings could not have resulted from any experiments or
tests conducted by the United States.
At this point, OSI felt that it would be timely to make an evaluation
of the Air Force study, its methodology and coverage, the relation of
its conclusions to various theories which have been propounded, and to
try to reach some conclusion as to the intelligence implications of the
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problem -- if any. In view of the wide interest within the Agency, this
briefing has been arranged so that we could report on the survey. It
must be mentioned that outside knowledge of Agency interest in Flying
Saucers carries the risk of making the problem even more serious in the
public mind than it already is, which we and Fair Force agree must be
avoided.
In order to supply both breadth and depth to the survey we have
reviewed our oun intelligence, going back to the Swedish sightings of
1946; reviewed a large number of individual official reports, recent
press and magazine coverage and the main popular books. Indexes of the
Soviet press were scanned. We interviewed a representative of Air
Force Special Study Group. Following this, we spent a day at Wright
Field in a thorough discussion with the officers conducting the ATIC
study, and finally we took the problem to a selected group of our own
consultants, all leaders in their scientific fields.
From all this, we have come up with facts, theories, explanations
and'some conclusions, which we will cover in a brief summary of Flying
Saucers history, an analysis of the ATIC work, and a discussion of the
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explained sightings and of possible theories regarding the unexplained.
We make no recommendations of action. V'Pe would ask that questions be
held till the end.
The Saucer furore in this country started in June 1947 when Kenneth
Arnold, a reputable business man flying his own plane reported nine discs
flying in formation past Mount Rainier at an estimated speed of 1000
miles per hour. This was quickly followeddn early July 1947 by reports
from a doctor in Phoenix, Arizona, the pilot and co-pilot of a United
Air Liner at Boise, Idaho, and field staff members at LZuroc Test Base,
California. The public was somewhat preconditioned by the earlier
Swedish reports of unidentified rockets and the press had a field day.
Among the continuing and increasing mass of reports over the months,
three further incidents which received wide publicity might be mentioned
as they did much not only to maintain interest but also to supply bases
for some of the more fantastic theories. In January 1948, an interception
was attempted at Godman Field Kentucky and the pilot -- Captain 1.1antell --
crashed and was killed. In October 1948, a National Guard fighter pilot
at Fargo, North Dakota -- Lt. Gorman -- coming in after dark spotted a
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moving light below him -- also seen from the field -.- and for twenty
minutes put on a dog-fight with it, finally, being outdistanced .at
17,000 feet. The third incident occurred in April 1949 at White Sands
Proving Ground when a Navy Commander, tracking a missile flight by
theodolite, watched two discs maneuvering at high speed around the test
rocket. Three such sightings were made at White Sands within a month.
Meanwhile in 1948, Air Force initiated Project Saucer to study the
phenomena, issued a preliminary report in April 1919 and in December
1949 released sections of its secret report to the press. The conclusion
was that the sightings stemmed from three causes:
1. Mass hysteria
2. Hallucination and hoax
3. 11isinterpretation of noun objects
This satisfied much of the public but not certain sensational writers.
The resulting highly speculative books and magazine articles combined
,.ith continued reports of sightings built up such a resurgence of public
interest that Air Force, early in 1951, reopened its study, instituted
a world-wide reporting system, and alerted its bases to intercept the
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unidentified objects. Planes had orders not to shoot.
Now, let's examine for a moment what all these people claim to
have seen. Grouped broadly as visual, radar, and combined visual and
radar, .TIC has two major visual classes -- first, spherical or elliptical
objects, usually of bright metallic lustre, some small (2 or 3 feet across),
most estimated at 100 foot diameter and a few 1000 feet wide. There
are variants in this group, such as torpedos, triangulars, pencils, even
mattress-shapes. These are all daylight reportings.
The second visual group, all night reporting, consists of lights
and various luminosities, such as green, flaming-red or blue-white fire
balls, moving points of light, and luminous streamers.
Both categories are reported as single objects, in non-symmetrical
groups and in formations of varying numbers.
Reported characteristics include three general levels of speed:
hovering; moderate, as with a conventional aircraft; and stupendous,
up to 18,000 miles per hour in the cite Sands incident. Violent
maneuvering was reported in somewhat less than 10%. Accelerations have
been given as high as 20 g's. '.`=ith few exceptions, there has been a
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complete absence of sound or vapor trail. Evasion upon approach is
common.
Radars have shown many unidentified "blips" but there is no reported
instance of complete tracking in and out of the maximum drum, and no
report of a track from station to station. The blip, in almost every
case, passed through the center of the scope.
In combined visual and radar sightings, I might mention as illustra-
tions three specific reports.
First, a visual sighting from a plane over Sandy Hook coincident
with a blip seen on a ground radar at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
Second, a recent Far East report from an aircraft carrier operating
between southern Korea and Honshu. Here ships radar reported a high
speed target approaching from the north. Observers on the bridge picked
it up visually as a plane. ,hen still far out, it did a superspeed 1800
turn and shortly thereafter split in two, disappearing both visually
and in the PPI scopes.
The third occurred a few days ago at Wright Field and has not yet
been fully analyzed. Two F-91)s with camera guns were vectored in on
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Security
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Pursuant to the prow aeiona of SaRoti*u 102 of the Nations
8atigcvrtty Act of 1947 and the pwposes enwmdated in
gr"ho d side thereof., the kationa qtr Council heyc
auth, t s and directs than
I # The Dir for of Ceti -1 intaUi,grmc{e shall formul4%
end carry out a program of fikelligsnee a reessr act&vla-
ties required to soly s, the proble* of instant positive
effort shall be o0UNdinated with to mitt tar
and the eesear4k. and Development Ioara OX Me
Bent of. Defense, with the y la .cal Strategy
.
and a:t, Qoee rn entai. a; neies As
Jpon ;mall Of the for of Genes ZnteUter
!nt psrt a and agencies shat, prod4 a#tsia ,
i n t~hie9 program of intelligence and research to the eft
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of their capacity pro i dedp he "r# that tie II SUML&
avoid dupUe t on of MliTities p ent1y d12-006d WWOKA
the solution of this )r ea*
4. The -Director of -tr
seminate inforeation concereieg the pro '?
and research activities in tts field to the vario
part nts and agencies veh3.ch ire aut rued trit.* t there
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a blip. Both pilots sighted an object and one locked on with his AT
equipment. Reaching his maximum allowable altitude, he triggered his
camera and the negative shows "an object."
Since 19)47, there have been about 1500 official reports of sightings
plus an enormous volume of letters, phone calls and press reports. During
this July alone, official reports totalled 250. Of the 1500, 1"?TIC carries
20 a as unexplained and of those received since the first of this year,
28 0. -~t e
Of P
Now to shift a:vay from Air Force for a moment and into the public
domain, there are four major theories in explanation of the Flying Saucer.
First, that it is a U.S. Secret vreapon development. This has been
denied officially at the highest level of government and to make doubly
certain we queried Dr. hi tman, Chairman of the Research and Development
Board. On a Top Secret basis, he, too, denies it. However, in the
light of the Manhattan District early super security, tvao factors might
be mentioned which tend to confirm the denials - first, the official
action of alerting all Air Force commands to intercept, and second, the
unbelievable risk aspect of such .fl in established airlanes.
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The second theory is that these are a Russian development. Though
vie know that the Russians have done work on elliptical and delta living
principles, we have absolutely no intelligence of such a technological
advance as would be indicated here in either design or energy source.
Further, there seems to be no logical reason for the security risk which
w) uld be involved and there has been no indication of a reconnaissance
pattern. However, it should be mentioned that there is a totally
unsupported thesis that this may be a Russian high altitude development
of the 1.7orld .jar II Jap balloon effort using preset flares and the
resulting US press reports to check flight tracks.
The third theory is the-man from Mars -- space ships -- inter-
planetary travellers. Even though we might admit that intelligent
life may exist elsewhere and that space travel is possible, there is
no shred of evidence to support this theory at present. There have
been no astronomical observations in confirmation -- no slightest
indication of the orbitting vahich vo uld probably he necessary -- and
no tracking. However, it might be noted that Comdr. Tic Laughlin
(of the i7hite, Sands report), a number of General Mills balloon people
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and many others are reported to be convinced of this theory.
The fourth major theory is that, now held by the Air Force, that
the sightings, given adequate data, can be explained on the basis either
of:
Misinterpretation of known objects, or of as yet little understood
natural phenomena.
-3
So much for the history of the problem. Jill now pick up
with an analysis of the Air Force study.
25X1A
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