U.F.O. FILES: THE UNTOLD STORY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000300070001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 17, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 14, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

STAT
Approved For Release 2004/10/13 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000300070001
P.r.TICLE A' ' D THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
p,] ' GE -- 14 October 1979
Though officials have long denied that they take `flyin
saucers' seriously, declassified documents now rev c
extensive Government concern over the phenomenon.
y Pic a h~- j
The Defense Department I `I have expressed my con-`
message bears the classifica- cern to SAFO! [Air Force In-'
tion CONFIDENTIAL. "Sub- formation Office] that we
ject: Suspicious Unknown Air come up soonest with a pro-
Activity." Dated Nov. 11, 1975, posed answer to queries from
it reads: the press to prevent overreact
"Since 28 Oct 75 numerous tion by the public to reports by,
reports of suspicious objects the media that may be blown
have been received at the out of proportion. To date ef-
NORAD COC [North Ameri- forts by Air Guard helicopters,
can Air Defense Combat SAC [Strategic Air command)
Operations Center]. Reliable helicopters and NORAD
military personnel at Loring F-106s have failed to produce
D
AFB [Air Force Base], Maw,
Wurtsmith AFB. Michigan.
Malmstrom AFB, [Montana],
Minot AFB, [North Dakota],
and Canadian Forces Station,
Falconbridge, Ontario. Cana-
da, have visually sighted sus-
picious objects.
.'Objects at Loring and
Wurtsmith were characterized
to be helicopters. Missile
alert
personnel. security
teams and Air Defense person-
nel at Malmstrom Montana re-
ported object which sounded
like a jet aircraft. FAA ad-
vised 'There were no jet air-
craft in the vicinity.' Malm-
strom search and height finder
radars carried the object be-
tween 9,000 ft and 15.600 ft at a
speed of seven knots. . - -
F-106s scrambled from Maim-
Strom could not make contact
due to darkness and low a't'-
."
positive I
Numerous daily updates
kept the Joint Chiefs of Staff
informed of these incursions
by U.F.O.'s in the fall of 1975.
Representatives of the De-
'fense Intelligence Agency and
the National Security Agency
as well as a handful of other
Government desks received
copies of the National Military
Command Center's reports on
the incidents. One report said
that an unidentified object
.'demonstrated a clear intent
in the weapons storage area."
Though Air Force records
show that the C.I.A. was noti-
fied - several times of these
penetrations over nuclear mis-
sile and bomber bases, the
agency has acknowledged only
one such notification. Subse-
quent investigations by the Air
Force into the sightings at Lor-
tude. Site personnel reported ing Air Force Base. Maine,
the objects as low as 200 ft and where the remarkable series
of events began, did not reveal
said that as the interceptors a cause for the sightings.
approached the lights went
out. After the interceptors had
passed the lights came on
again. One hour after the
F-106s returned to base, mist
gence Agency, the Nation
Security Agency, the Job
Chiefs of Staff, the F.B.I., ti
C.I.A. and even the Atom
Energy Commission produce
U.F.O. records over the year
Many of these agencies st
do, and many of their doc
ments remain classified. B
it is the C.I.A. that appears
have played the key role in t1
controversy, and may even 1
responsible for the Govei
meat's conduct in U.F.O. i
vestigations throughout t
years. ... . _
silesite personrfp pomedtlReir Release 2004/10/13: CIA-RDP88701315R000300070001-4
object increased to a high!
speed, raised in altitude ands
- _, - -- E.... As_-a.-.e.t ~'M117,
Despite official pronounce- But the papers also show
ments for decades that that the Government remains
U.F.O.'s were nothing more perplexed about the nagging
than misidentified aerial ob- I, residue of unexplained U.F.O.
jects and as such were no sightings, which amount to
cause for alarm, recently de- pruximately.10 percent a
classified U.F.O. records from U.F.O. sightings reported. Dc
the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and other they pose a threat to nationa'.
Federal agencies indicate security? Are they just a fun
that, ever since U.F.O.'s made I ny-looking cover for an air.
their appearance in our skies ; borne Soviet presence? Ever
in the 1940's, the phenomenon the possibility that these un
has aroused much serious be- known could be evidence o
hind-the-scenes concern in of-, extraterrestrial visitatio Tidal circles. Details of the in- i has been given serious atten
telligence community's pro- don in Government circles.
tracted obsession with the sub- While official interest
ject of U.F.O.'s have emerged U.F.O.'s has long been though
over the past few years with to be strictly the concern of th
the release of long-withheld I Air Force, the bulk of whos
Government records obtained records has been open to put
through the Freedom of Infor- lie view for nearly a decade
mation Act. Though these the recently released paper
papers fail to resolve the on U.F.O.'s indicate othe,
U.F.O. enigma, they do mar-'wise. The Departments of th
age to dispel many popular no. Army, Navy, State and D+
tions about the U.F.O. contro- f , and the Defense Intel]
versy, as well as give sub-
stance to a number of others.
Official records now avail-
able appear to put to rest
doubts that the Government
knew more about U.F.O.'s
than it has claimed over the
past 32 years. From the start,
it has been convinced that
most U.F.O. sightings could be
explained in terms of misiden-
tified balloons, cloud forma-
tions, airplanes, ball lightning.
phenomena.