Source Library · SRC-V86-23 · Declassified agency compilation
What the government knows about UFOs (NSA collection, includes NORAD message)
National Security Agency · 1970s–1980s compilation
What the government knows about UFOs (NSA collection, includes NORAD message) · 2 pages · PDF 0.2 MB
US federal government record (NSA). Public domain; hosted here so it can be read and searched. Original source ↗
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f--ee-€-.a-e--e— 'Jet What the US. Government Knows Unidentified Flying Objects by PETER GERSTEN t last! New evidence for the existence of unconventional aerial objects relies no longer on the credibility of civilian reports but on the records of scientists, military per, sonnel, intelligence analysts, law en- forcement officers and other reliable and responsible people. Their testimony can be found in three thousand pages •of previously classified documents on UFOs re- leased (mostly through Freedom of In- formation Act suits) over the past few years by the Departments of State/ Army/Navy/Air Force/Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Securitv A enc , the Detense nte gence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. This overwhelming evidence in- dicates that Unidentified Flying Ob- jects do exist, and that some of them are unconventional cråft that ( I y pose a threat to national security and (2) per- form beyond the range of present-day technological development. Furthermore, there is evidence that our government has continually misinformed the public concerning the true significance of the •UFO prob- lem." National Security and UFOs "It is my view that this situation has possible •implications for our national security. " — Central Intelligence Agency, 1952 In late 1952, a memorandum was drafted for CIA Director Walter B. Smith's signature, to be sent to the Ex- ecutive.• Secretary of the National Security Council. The memo's subject: "Unidentified Flying Objects." The document shows that the CIA had •reviewed the current situation con- cerning unidentified flying objects which have caused extensive specula- tion in the press and has been the sub• ject of concern to government organizations." It was the Director's ooinion. based USAF Security intercepted a Cuban pilot's repon of the encounter between his MIG.21 and a UFO. has possible implications for our na- tional security which transcend the in- terests of a single service. 'I therefore recommend that this Agency and the agencies of the Department of Defense be directed to formulate and carry out a program of intelligence and research activities re- quired to solve the problem of instant positive identification of unidentified flying objects." A draft of a proposed National Security Council directive was at- tached to the memorandum. Unfortunately, it appears that the NSC directive fell by the wayside. Now, twenty-nine years later, the "current situation," contrary to official denials, still poses serious implica- tions for our national security. UFOs as a Threat The Government's position: "No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the A ir Force has ever given any indication ofa threat to our national security. " —Air Force. 1980 The evidence: reveal that during October, November, and December of 1975, reliable military personnel repeatedly sighted unconventional aerial objects in the vicinity of nuclear-weapons storage areas, aircraft alert areas and nuclear-missile control facilities at Loring Air Force Base, Maine; Wurt- smith AFB Michigan; Malstrom AFB, Montana; Minot AFB, North Dakota; and Canadian Air Forces Station, On- taiio.i Many of the sightings were con- firmed by radar. At Loring AFB, the in- terloper "demonstrated a clear intent on the weapons storage areas." The incidents drew the attention of the CIA, •the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense. Though the Air Force informed the public and the press that individual sightings were isolated incidents, an Air Force docu- ment says that "Security Option III" was implemented and that security measures were coordinated with 15 New York attorney PETER A. GERSTEN has been pressing the legal effort on UFO groups— such as CA US (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy) — for nearly three years. Gersten currently awaits a U.S. Apæals Court decision on release of over two hun- dred additional CIA documents relating to
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connection with the United • •ates UFO program will be mainta. in ASD" (plus, he added, a file of "finished intelligence reports'). Coinciding with the November 1957 mand bases and other militar stallations. One censored messag,- of April 3, 1976, refers to "Subject: New DCD Case [censoredJ-UFO Re- search. Reference: Form 610 dated 9 mere are the startling 1952 cases the led the CIA to the brink ofa major scientific study? UFO wave, "On 6 November 1957 a directed collection request for UFO information was levied on Contact Division by the Office of Scientific In• telligence ... Responses to the requixe• ment were forwarded to Collection Staff, OSI on 14 November 1957." (April 1, 1958 memo for Assistant Director, Scientific Intelligence, from Acting Assistant Director for Opera• tions) Also, coinciding with a flurry of sightings around the Washington, D.C. area in late 1964 and early 1965, another 'collection request" was ordered by the Director of CIA. The present writer was among those inter- viewed by the Domestic Contact Divi• Sion. The agent borrowed a number of specific UFO case investigation• reports. A series of memos from April through late summer of 1976 shows renewed interest in UFO data, prob- ably as a result of the 1975 and 1976 UFO *tings at Strategic Air Com- In a Just CAUSe Over the past third of a centum the government's conduct with regard to UFOs has been characterized as misfeasance, and nonfeasance. malfeasance. Citizens Agai"t UFO Secreey, a public•interest group, was formed to foster a review of tbe reality and significance of UFOs and the govem• menes policies and practices regarding them. CAUS calls upon the Federal govern• ment to ) admit that the public has been misled about the nature of UFOs, P) agknowledge that UNs exist, and '3) reverse its position that further scientific study of UFO reports is unwarranted. CAUS seeks the immediate declassifica- tion and public dissemination of all of• ficial UFO documentation. CAUS believes that the pubfic has a right to an objective reappraisal of the im• plications-of the UFO phenomenon. For more information. write to CAUS. P.O. Box 4743F. Arlington, Virginia 22204. April 1976 transmitting UFO Study. • Date discrepancy not%'ithstanding, the memos go on to discuss "the UFO study." One, while stating that there was at the time no formal UFO pro- gram, read: 'At the present time, there are offices and personnel within the Agency who are monitoring the UFO phenomena ... not currently on an of- ficial basis. Dr. [censored] feels that the best approach would be to keep in touch with and in fact develop report, ing channels in this area to keep the Agency/community informed of any new developments." Memos ranging from 1958 to 1967 mention analyses of UFO photos by the CIA National Photographic Inter- dahl, partially confirming informatign from private sources. Indeed , Lundahr•• was involved in arranging a "window' on the Colorado Project and in secret pretation Center under*rthur C. Lun- —-There can be no doubt that the CIA is FOOTNOTES meetings with Dr. Edward Condc and members of the Colorado Projet staff. Glaringly absent from the release documents are the photo analyses, ir cluding one case provided to a scier tific firm by the present writer thz found its way to the CIA, and the hur dreds and hundreds of intelligenc reports on individual UFO cases thz must have been collected —and i some cases are known to have bee collected. Also absent are the dozen of radar-visual cases which must hav been studied by the Physics and Elec tronics Division, as well as othe materials that made up the case file repeatedly alluded to in thes( documents. Where are the startlin: 1952 cases that led the CIA to the brinl of a major scientific study of UFOs? The 892 pages contain larß amounts of trivial correspondence , ad ministrative papers, duplication ane irrelevant (non-UFO) documents. 0b viously, they do not contain the Clf UFO case files, other than a randorr sprinkling of mostly known cases. On ly the FOIA lawsuits have been able tc pry loose a few highly significan' cases, such as the 1976 Iranianjet case. _ stonewalling. If this is' all the case files developed in more than thirty years, I would have to conclude that the CIA is totally inept. And, of course, it isn't. C 1. NORAD Classified Message; to Secretary of Air Force, et a2; from NORAD Director of Operations; subject: Suspicious Unknown Air Activity; November 11, 1975. (Still classified CONFIDENTIAL; leaked. to UFO research group in late 1976.) 2. Air Force Security Police (AFSP) message to 15 Air Force Bases, November IO, 1975. 3. This and the previous statements are found in the following documents: • Memorandum for Record; for the Joint Staff; signed by. J.B. Morin, Rear Admiral, USN & Deputy Director for Operations, NMCC: January 21, 1976. • Memorandum for Record; for the Joint Staff; from Fred A. Treyz, Brigadier General, USAF & Deputy Director for Operations, NMCC: subject: Unidentified Flying Object Sighting: January 31, 1976. e Memorandum for Record; for the Joint Staff; from L.J. LeBlanc, Jr., Brigadier General, USMC & Depu- ty Director for Operations, NMCC: subject: Reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs); July 30, 1976. 4. "Rees Letter": AFOSI (Air Force Of. fice of Special Investigations), 17th District, Kirtland AFB, New Mex- ico; letter to director of AFOSI; May / 25, 1950. '6. "Cuban Incident": Air Force Securi- ty Service 6947th Squadron techni- cian's statement to Stanton T. Fried- run; October 27, 1977. 6. Memorandum for Director of Cen. tral Intelligence; subject: Flying Saucers; by E. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director, Scientific In, telligence; September 24, 1952. 7: Memo; to E. James Archer and « Thurston E. Hanning; from Robert J. Low; subject: "Some Thoughts on the UFO Project": August 9, 1966.
Record
- Author / institution
- National Security Agency
- Date
- 1970s–1980s compilation
- Source type
- Declassified agency compilation
- Used for
- CASE-051 corroborating copy
- Limitations
- Compilation; some items originally leaked