STAFF STUDY ECElffi~ 1958 REiTURN l'O USAF Historical Archives A S I(ASHAF-A } Maxwell AFB, Ala 36112 UNCLASSIFIED UFO Program Assistant Chief of Steff/IntelJjgence Headquarters, USAF Washin~ton 25, D. c . Classification C.Jncclled As you know, this Center is resronqible f or performine a scientific and technical evalu8tion of e l l reports of unidentified flying objects in accordance wi tlL the provisions of AFR 200- 2 , do.ten 5 Februar 1958. Thes e evaluations of necessity can be no better thE\n t he reported inforrll8tic.'n with which we must work. Prior t o b~ine into any discussi on of deficiencies in the present program as we see it, I bel i eve a brief review of some background information is in order : Forty- n1ne ( 49) UFO organizations exi s t in t he Zone of Interior in addition to many individual self-proclained expert s v.h os e affj liat:.cns cr specific intentions are not cl~ar. It is clear, however, that f or various reasons these individual s end agencies such as Nationa l Investigations Committee on Aeria l Phenomena, Civilian Saucer Intelli~ence and Aerj a l Research Organization , etc., f eel a need for, a~l do everything possibl e to discredit the Ai r Force, its investigations , end its ultim9te evaluatj on of reported sie;htil'ltS . These or~anizations, and for the m<E t part individual s , are well equipped, and do in fact conduct a very comprehensive field investigati on . The people reportix~ UFO' s are for the most pert honest American citizens ranging all the way fr(IIJ't r e lEotively uninforme:d men in the stree t nent authorities, such as Mr. Townsend, Assic.tant t o t he Assibtant Secretary of Defense f or Research and Engineerine, who recently reported a si~tine from the \vashineton, D. c. area. These people fe.el strongly U CLASSlFIED about what they saw and normally re ort sightin'"'s in a stric l y P''trio i~ intere t . A prompt inv stigation, s ound analy is, an accurat re ort relatin t o wh t th y saw leav e them with a feeling of pride in wha t t h did ann in the s r vice t hat is mout concerned with their d f nse. A s loppy investigation, evAlU'l tion bas ed upon inadeq,ua.t e facts , ond aubse u nt eff ort to d iscredi t their story n~kes thern vulnerable to propat;anda xpounded by the various UFO organiz a tions. c . Some of the UFO oreanizati ons, such as th Nati onal Invest i - ~ations Commdttee on Aerial Phenomena, well know the defici ncies in the Air Force Program a rrl take adv ntat,.e of every opportunity t o place us in a defens i ve position. In fact, it i s understood tha t Captain Ruppelt, who was responsi bl e f or the ATIC ~rt of the ill"'O Prot...rara from e ar l y 1951 until September 1953, i s now af'fi.li.;,.t ed with NICAF. In this ort_1niza.tion a lone ON an ex- ATIC sreciali~t, re resent a f ormddable tea~ from which plenty of trouble can be expected in t he future . Both appear to be in the business for the money involved . Comparable conditions involvin~ eminent authorities of questionable intentions exi s t in other of the 49 UFO orca~izations. 3 I n li~ht of the background information provided above , these deficiencies take on their proper meaning. a. I nvestiations conducted by various Air Force installations in many cases (and particularly those claimine c lose obJervation or landing of UFO's) are inadequate t o serve our needs f or rompt and accurate evalua - tion. Tn)s is apparently so f or these reasons: (1) Due to knowledge of the officia l Air Force position that we h ave ye t to uncover a specific threat f rorn outer space , a deree of complacency has crept into t he program resultin~ in sometl in~ UNCLASSIFIED a positiv aeLressive a1pro oh o uncover th facta we so badly n ed to make prom t and comprehenajve evaluations. (2) As a r sult in part from the complacency indic t ed abov , con~derable tim is lost in getting investi~At~ons under way, and all t oo frequently the investigation , once conducted nd reported on , appea r s t o have been perf ormed by the mo~t availabl e individual without regard t o his competence as an investigntor, and ability to properly handle the pub lic r lati ons aspect so important t o th) s pro,ram. (3) As indicated in paragraph 2c above, many of the private and orLanized UFO inv&stigators apparent l y i n competition with the Air Fcrc e a ppe r on the s cene well equipped to c onduct a fjeld investigation . Invariably they hav~ gei~er counters, maenetometers and var)ous sampline equipment with them a nd they use it. Not that this means much, but it is i mpressive to the uninitiated, and particularly so ~1hen the Air Force in- stig'1tor later appears on the scene arr~d with nothing but a notebook and pencil f or use in interrQating witnesse s . Some basic factua l informatiC~n obtained from instrument r eadings would indeed be usef u l in many cases. Investigator s selected apparently with some degree of random from Air Force installations, and in many cases obvious l y unskilled in conducting a comprehensive investigation, appear onl y too often to be ided merely by the questions posed in AFR 200- 2 . fuen these are answered they consider their job done wit h out reLard to t he overall questions that must in the final ana lysis be answered (i. e . -wha t was it? does it represent a t hreat? etc). (5) The firu1l preparation and routing of investi~ativc reports t hr ough devious connrend a nd mail channels is e"Xcruciati: slow especially in those highl y publicized cases wherein DOD s tarts gettine inquiries for analysis type iuformEttion a on s pu lie p1 as, r dio, and television releases have been made. I n mony cases in the past this pr asur for information has built up t o Congressi ona l inquiries prior to ATI C hav ine the basic inforn tion from which a decent appraisal of the siehtinL coul d (6) In numerous instances in the pas t UFO sit:,htings tha t have drawn a grea t amount of public interes t (have been publicized widely in the press, on radio, television , etc. ) have never been officially rc- port ed to ATIC. I nvariably it is this type of case that i s used by the Ul~O organizations to point up the inadequacy of the job the Air Force i s doinc.. Furthern,ore , they bring these same cases up time and time again in an effort t o f orce us t o reveal our f i ndings because they know full well that we have none. When a repl y goes back that t he part i cular case cited has nev er been officially reported t o the Air Force it strengthens their case tha t t hey' r e doin a better job for the country than the Air Force supported by t heir taxes, a.d infinitum. 4 In order to strengthen ATIC support of ~he UFO Program, I have directed some interna l actions W1ich shoul d minimize certain existing deficiencies. These are: a . Deve l opment of a small but competent trained and equipped up of investie~tors within ATIC t o provid e s upplementary investieative capabi l ity in those cases involving keen scientific ar public interest. Established arr~n~ements wherein ATIC i nvestigator s may mov t o and from Air Force i nstallations neares t scene of si ht)ngs rapid l y using CRr aircraft and crevts . c . Preparation of an SOP addendum to AFR 200- 2 whJ ch will e:uide base l evel and other investigators in seekint. out the foots we need to 'rhis SOP will be CQGPdina t ~h your evaluate a UFO si I lNCLASS\FI ISIIfltfte a lone wit h a re est thu t t he coordinated v rsion be published and dist~ibuted to Air Force activiti~s. 5 In a ddition t o those acti ons indicF1ted in paragraph J~ bove. I feel strongly th l t ,.,.e mu3t truNe to button up the 1mplementot i on of ilR 200- 2 in the fiel~ and a t the same time obtain some additional cost infot~tion which may ultimately be u~ed in our def ense if such becomes n cessary. I have attached heret o a SULuested all major comm~nds messa e which I recommend b e dispatched for this purpose. Proposed Msg CHARLES B . DOUGrliR Maj or General A.FCI N- 4 CLASSIFIED of Propo ed M s to al 1 Major Thi~ Message in 5 Part s . Reference Air Jforce R ~;ulat i<.n 200 - 2 , dti ted 5 au b ject: "Unidentified Flyint:.. Object s , s amend d by AFR c?0 0 - 2A, det PART II. I n spite of the fact that the "'Ar' has y e o un<:ov r specific evidence of' Unidentified FlyinL Objects that represent a t hreat from outer space, c onstderabl e public interest and pressure on this particular 1ro- gr am continues. At t h e pres~nt time some 49 UFO orean1 zet ic-ns and many self-proc l a imed exp~rts are active l y enL~ed in exploitin~ UFO si~htines f or their own, and in some cases, quest i onabl e interests. For reasons kno\-m best t o them they a l J s een j.ntent upon di.sctedit) ng thf' j ob the U.JA~" is d oi ng in this progr~:ur1. In spite of this we mu~t mo.intain e positive approach to uncover specific informetjon of scientific or technica l interest to the nation . PART III . To insure understandint and compliance wit h t~e existine pro- isions of AFR 200- 2 , a s amended, tte follo1jlill{,. elements of that direc- tive are r e-emphasized and clarified. a . Prompt reporting and i nvEs t ie.;ation of a l l UFO sit,ht)ngs by the AF inRtalle.tion neares t to the point of si}1.tint. i s the responsjbil i t y of the corr~der of that jnstall ation . 3uch reporting and investi6at i on includes those cases ~ubljcized in the press or on radio and television in t he vicinity of that install;:,t:cn even thou9' no report of the inci - ent hos been otherwise received . In a l l cases copies of rerorts wil l be ref erred directl y and e xpeditiousl y to ~TIC. ~ ASSJFIED PART III . b . Sel ction of competent inv,stigator s , c nubl of pplying uidance out linod in par. 5 of referenced r egulation i s ssent:i 1 . I n all cases t he investigator should be authorized direct t lf.! hone contact with the Aerial Phenomena Group, H adquarters, ATIC, lrigh -J~tterson Al'B , Ohio extensi <n 6- 9c:!l 6 , for the purpose of report in~ high priority f1ndinga or preliminary conclusions. PART IV. The following instructions s u plement th provisions of re- ferenced regulation . Wher e witness e s rei ort clos e proximity t o ut'O' s ( wi t hj n 100 yards), or claim evidence of r~diation, investieat ors will be e quipped ith r ad-safe type radiAtion detectors to measure intensity of radiation in vicinity of si~hting. Where such i~qtrumentatjon i s employed , report ATIC will include typo and mode l of instrument used , specific points where measurement s were taken, intensit y of radiation , and r e l ationship t o norn~l background in the area . b . In all reports to ATIC the name and r a nk of the investj tor end the t e l e phone number a t which he can h e r ea ch e n wi 11 be included. c . All fina l reports of UFO sieht i nt s will incl ud e a brief statement of the total USAF resources co nsumed in investi~eticn of this particuletr sight ine . Thi8 t o include man hours, dollars spent, miles traveled in military aircraft or vehicle s , materiel dameed , destroyed or con~umed. ~ informat i on SOP addendum t o AFR 200- 2 which will provide further e uidanc e t o cormnand er s and UFO investigat or s tOW- wcrk. a nd s ld be distribut e d early 1959. DISPOSITIO TO AFCIN-4A FICATION (1/ eat) (U} Support of the UFO Program FROM AFCIN-4E4 CIJsstfi Jtion Cancelled UJit .f/.a 'k ( G 9 COMMENT NO. 1 During the past year the investigat on of UFO sigbtings as outlined in AFR 200-2 bas left much to be desired. We are taking positive action to correct present deficiencies in the investigative program; however, it is deemed essential that an ATIC task force be established to supplement base level investigations in those cases where considerable scientific or public interest exists. 2. To provide a flexible investigative force which will not cause a particular drain on any one office within ATIC the Caonander has approved the of a volunteer force which will work under the direction of the Aerial Phenomena Group of the Air Science Division when actually engaged in field investigation of UFO sigbtings. The general ground rules for their employment are as follows: a. A total group of from 18 to 20 volunteers will be selected from company grade officers and NCO's presently assigned within ATIC. This group will for the most part be people vho do not have much opportunity to travel during the normal course of their duties at ATIC. Once selected they will be given a 20 hour course of instruction in interrogative end investigative procedures and will be checked out on equi pertinent thereto. Once trained two of these individuals 9 6 REPLAc Es NME roRM 1 OCT ... wHecH MAY IE USED U. S. GOVERNMENT P~TDIG Of'r!C . lUI 0. tMI'15 DISPOSITIO A Chc-sifi a1ion Cancelled FILE NO. SUIJ{EUCT ./~:: ) UFO Program r-1"it. ~2.. o DATE COMMENT NO.1 r has just approved establis nt of a volunteer force of 18-20 UFO investigators trom personnel resources presently available to ATIC. This group will be locally trained and equipped and will be used to y investigation of UFO sightings of the greatest scientific or public interest. 2. Due to remoteness of nv areas of UFO sightings, tentative arrangements have been made to employ CRT aircraft and crews to move these people to and from the AF installation nearest to the point of sighting. Further support required will be provided by that installation as outlined in AFR 200-2 dated 5 February 1958 3. It has been determined that TDY costs to support this investigative force will run in the order of $5000.00 per annum. (See basis for estimate attached hereto). These funds should be pro~anm&ed and allocated as a separate entity to the Aerial Phenoanena Group in support of the UFO Program. In this regard the Aerial Phenomena Group is attempting to compile valid cost data pertaining to overall USAF support of the UFO Program as stipulated in AFR 200-2. Such cost data obtained from all participating agencies plus ATIC will be used to force a decision on just how far the Air Force should go in the UFO Program when compared to all other programs essential to Air Force defense of the nation. 4. It is desired that you advise on the amount of TDY funds which could be made available in support of this program during the 3rd and 4th quarters of FY1959 and what if any problems you envision in allocating $5000.00 for support of this program during FY1960. ... " i1. Si[rlrtD DO\VNGTI.\lrco .:\T :1 YJ~.\ n~TRRV.'\LS; \! U fl\ I DECL.A...)~lFlED AF L'i:t' 1!. Y8A1tS. REPlACES NME FORM 16. 1 OCT 41. WHICH MAY BE USED U. 8. OOVERNIIIENT PRiliTIMC OFFIC E : 1152 0 U6175 BASIS OF ESTIMATE TDY TRAVEL OF UFO VOLUNTEER INVESTIGATIVE GROUP Persons involved Trips per person Trips per annum 100 Estiueted days per trip 3 Total days TDY per annum 300 TDY costs at $12.00 per day $3,600.00 Miscellaneous costs due to remote nature of many areas of sightings -inclu1es reimbursable telephone costs, unfc:eseen c cial travel in area of sighting, etc. Total coat per annum R CONTRO .~lJ "BE.R D DISP D Each entry llstcd below will d escribe a document and its inclosures, and will be separate d by a h orizonta l line drawn fro m margin t o m a rgin. Eac h entry will include: 2. Number or Indorsements: Number o f copies and copy numbers of each Pnd other unclas lficd idcntiCyin~ dntn ( as aJJplacablc.) 1. Descrlptlon o f Basic Material: File number, tvre (number of copies and cotry numbers,) source, addressee, date, subject ( short title, if subject is classified.) 3. Number of lncloliurcs: Subject (short t rtlc, if sttb ject is classified,) and other uncl.1ssificd id(;'t\lifymg dnt.l, includin g number of coplcs and copy number of each ( as applicable.) 4. D a te of la test action. DESCRIPTION OF DOCUMENT($) (Avoid any identification which m ight n ecessitate d assi/ ication of this receipt.) Folder oontalninE tollowlne o1asait1ed and unclassitied material ( S ) Men10 for Caair, 17 Dec 58 (l-6p) Subj: (U) UFO Program, Cy Nr. 1 Ino1 tt l - (S) Mozoo to ACS/I (Draft) undtd (l-5p) Subja #1 -(S) TSB-3334.5, Draft ot proposed zoossage (l-2p) Incl #2 -(C) DF to .AFCIN-4A,B,C,D,E,F,JC4,X2, undtd S u bj: Support c4 the UFO ~am Incl #3 -(C) DF to AECIN-4JC4., undtd, Subjz Incl #4 -Unc 1 DF to 4JG UFO Program w/1 Uncl Incl Inc1 #5 -(C) DF to AECIN-4JC6, undtd, Subj: UFO Program w/1 Unc1 Inc1 #6 -(C) Ltr to Cou.:lr, WPAFB, 17 Dec 58, Subjs UFO Program Tab A -Cont List ot UFO Organizations Tab B -Unc1 Flt~rald Report ~ Tab C-Uno1 Cy ot Ltr -~ o ~ Tab D -News Release (U) -~ ~ Tab E -Unc1 Tre.1n1nD Procram 2:; 2': en Tab F -Unc1 ~-sis at Estimate ct c Tab G -Cont Memo tor the Record 16 Dec 58 re UFO mce '1i" ~ ! ' TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES LISTED: RECEIPT FOR DOCUMENT (S) DESCRIBED ABOVE IS ACKNOWLEDGED RECEIVING AGENCY TYPED NAME, GRADE. OR TITLE DATE RECEIVED REPLACES AF FORM 693 WHICH MAY BE USED AND DO FOR,M 646 WHICH IS OBSOLETE IN THE USAF '(:x U. S . GOVtRNIIENT PRINTING Of,.C E 1 19:>1;>88868 17 December 1958 Clas~ifi n 1011 Cancellcrf (U) UFO Program Co!lnM.nder A'l*rN: Brig. General Howe Wright Patter son Air Force Base / 1 . In accordance with the provisions of AFR 200- 2 dated 5 February 1958, Subject: Unidentified Fl ying Objects, this Center is charged with scientifically and technically analyzing and evaluating all reports of UFO's. Additionally we are allowed to make s uch primary and supplementary field investigations as are necessary to establish the facts from