McClellan Subcommittee Statement Concerning Air Force Handling of UFO Reports

This collection of memoranda documents the interaction between the United States Air Force and the McClellan Subcommittee (the Senate Committee on Investigating Government Operations) in early 1958 regarding the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The correspondence was initiated following pressure from Major Donald Keyhoe of the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena, who had been urging the subcommittee to hold open hearings on the existence of UFOs. In response, investigators for the subcommittee held informal discussions with Air Force representatives on January 31, 1958, to address concerns that the Air Force was withholding information. Air Force personnel, including representatives from the Office of Legislative Liaison and the Office of Information Services, met with committee investigators and FBI agents to clarify the Air Force's position. The Air Force successfully convinced the investigators that they were properly conducting their own investigations and were not withholding information. Consequently, the Air Force sought to have the subcommittee issue a formal statement certifying these findings to the public. However, subsequent internal Air Force communications reveal that the subcommittee was reluctant to issue such a statement. The subcommittee indicated that while they did not intend to pursue the matter further, they did not want to commit themselves publicly to this position. They preferred to remain uncommitted in case the situation changed at a later date, as they did not wish to be 'shackled' by a press release indicating they had no further interest in the subject. The documents conclude that the subcommittee would not make a formal release at that time, effectively ending the immediate threat of congressional hearings on the matter.