Memorandum for the D/CI: Air Force Request to Declassify CIA Material on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)

This memorandum, authored by Walker A. Mackey, Executive Officer of OSI/DSD on September 1, 1966, provides a chronological review of the CIA's interactions with the Air Force regarding the declassification of a 1953 report on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The 1953 report, produced by a panel of scientists convened by the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) to assess national security threats, was originally classified as 'secret.' In 1957, following public interest, the Air Force requested and received an unclassified version of the report's conclusions, which notably excluded any mention of CIA involvement. By July 1966, the Air Force again requested the declassification of the full 1953 report, citing prior publicity as justification. During a meeting on July 19, 1966, an Air Force representative presented a copy of the 1953 report that was already stamped 'unclassified,' suggesting the classification had been altered prior to that date. On August 10, 1966, the Air Force inquired about the status of the CIA's response, noting that newsman John Lear had published an article on UFOs in the Saturday Review, which served as the first indication that the Air Force intended to release the complete report to the public. A declassified version of the full report was subsequently forwarded to the Air Force on August 15, 1966. The document concludes by noting that the Air Force made subsequent inquiries regarding the extent of the sanitization and requested the return of the copy they had previously provided to the CIA for processing.