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FLYING SAUCERS memo

CIA Reading Room · 36 pages · text by OCR

This CIA file, released in 2001, gathers 1952 memoranda from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, to the Director of Central Intelligence, along with draft letters to the Secretary of Defense and the NSC and a briefing on the Air Force position. It concludes that flying saucers carry national security implications, namely mass panic and air defense vulnerability. It recommends expanded scientific research, a public information policy and study of Soviet interest, noting that about 20 percent of roughly 1500 Air Force reports remained unexplained.

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“ATIC”8 pages

  • p. 3 …effort and study to this subject, that ATIC is concentrating on a case-by-case explanation…
  • p. 6 …At ATIC there is a group of three officers and two secretaries to which come, through…
  • p. 7 …It was found that the ATIC study is probably valid if the purpose is limited to…
  • p. 11 …Intelligence Center (ATIC) with responsibility for investigating the reports of sightings. (2) At ATIC there is…
  • p. 12 # Approved For Release 2001/04/02 CIA RDP81R00560R000100020012-7 SECRET Security Information (6) Since 1947, ATIC…
  • p. 21 …we mentioned our search of Soviet press. ATIC made a similar search. With world-wide sightings…
  • p. 25 …Under the category of: "Misinterpretation of identifiable objects.* ATIC feels that the most prevalent misinterpretations have…
  • p. 32 …The above explanations are believed by ATIC to account for some 80% of the sightings reported…
DRAFT COVER SHEET

INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Flying Unidentified Objects (Flying Saucers)

[alternatively: ThoNsc]

1. Attached is a proposed letter to Secretary Lovett from the DCI recommending the initiation of fundamental scientific research with respect to the nature and causes of unidentified flying objects (Flying Saucers).

2. While it is recognized that the implications of Flying Saucers are of primary concern to the Defense Department in carrying out its responsibility to defend the United States, it is also believed that intelligence must request of appropriate authority such assistance as it needs to carry out its responsibility. It is believed that the scientific research required and the intelligence research contingent thereon can be most fruitful if they go hand in hand.

## 3. Recommendations:

a. That the IAC concur in the proposed letter to the Secretary of Defense.

b. That the IAC request the Watch Committee to give close attention to indications which may reflect Russian actions are being taken with respect to or on the basis of cognizance of Flying Saucers or with respect to the state of United States public opinion in respect of Flying Saucers.

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Memo, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 36 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.