USAF His torical Archives ASI(ASHAF-A) Maxwell AFB, Ala 36112 support t o President Kennedy during the final hours. The principal claims of those organizations are that uniden~ified flying objects are interplanetary space craft and that tho Air Force is withholding tho information. The most active and influential of these organizations is the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). This organization is headed by !1ajor Donald E . Keyhoe, u.s. Marine Corps (Ret). NICAP, through its publication the "UFO Inveotigator, " has made constant appeals to its members to write to their congress- man requesting a hearing to investigate the Air Force's handling of the UFO program. It is our opinion that this appeal prompted Mr. Speights letter to you. M1~. Speights, a youth of about 19, has written to us on two previous occasions and has received an answer to each of his two letters. From comparison of the language in his previous lettors with that in the letter to you it is obvious that Mr. Speights has bad assistance with tl1e majority of the information contained in this most recent letter. It is probable that he copied it from some NICAP publication. Following are some observations regarding statements in Mr. Speights' letter. The Air Force has no record of the number of attempts which navo been made by our pilots to intercept UFO's; however, such action is not unusual nor does it prove that these objects/phe- nomenn a1e anything other than as claimed by the Air Force. The Air Force attempts to intercept any object which is unidentified and bas prescribed performance parameters. In rnany instances the pilot, upon 1atu1ning to the ground, realizes that he has been attempting to close on some common object such as a planet. The Ryan case which occurred in the state of New York on 8 April 1956 was due to the misidentification of the planet Venus. Our records reveal that Captain Ryan was not directed by the Air Force to investigate the object and that, accordin~ to his own statement, he did not deviate from course lor this or any other purpose. The fact that Captain ltyan arrived at Schenectady, his destination, on schedule tends to substautinte the claim that he did not deviate from course. Scientists and engineers, though expert in their own field, can temporarily misidentify somo object or l>henomena thus report- ing it as an unidentified flying object. It is, in fact, possible for a scientist to be fooled by an occurrence closely associated with his specialized field as evidenced by the experience of Dr. Donald H. Menzel of Harvard, a notod astronomer. Dr. Uonzol was fooled for a timo by the refracted image of the star Sirius. This experience is related in Chapter IV, page 60 of his forthcoming book, THE lfORLD OF FLYING SAUCERS. published by Doubleday. There are sightings in the Air l'orce files which indicnte ball lightning or some similar electromagnetic phenomena as tho probable causa. Due to the infrequent occurrence and the transient nature of ball lightning, it is impossible to have good docuruontod reports on this pbonomena. In most of these cases, witnesses have reportod interference with vohicle ignition, lights, radio, etc. Such inter- ference, if actually occurring, could be due to tho presence of the lightning or to the fact that the witlless in his excitement may accidentally stall the car. Because ball lightni11g usually occurs immediately following a severe thunder storm, such factors as wet ignition, at~o~pheric static, etc., may be the cause for tile reported The Air Force has taken geiger counter readings immediately after sightings but has yet to find any readings which vary sig- nificantly from tl1e normal background of tho area tosted. Radar sightings aro often supported by visual sightings because the same atmospheric conditions which produce visual anomalies may also effect radar. It is Air Force policy to provide news media with information regarding UFO sightings which roach national p1ominence and to provide information to individuals in response to their specific requests. Further, the next edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica will carry an article on unidentified flying objects. This nrticle, approved by the Air Forco, was prepared by Dr. J . Allen Hyuok, Chairman of the Department of Astronomy as Northwestern University, bas served as Air Force consultant to the UFO program since In order that the public be provided with as much information as possible, overy effort is made to keep UFO sightings unclassified Supporting information indicates tbe classification of a sighting and not the sighting itself. Since 1959, 184 cases of 2167 are classified and only 4 of the 53 unidentified cases for this period are classified. The number of foreign reports that have come to our attention do not differ measurably from those originating in the u. s . neither in the presentation of the data nor in the determined probable The Air Force has no knowledge of a 1948 document by ATIC which states that UFO's nre interplanetary space ships. One of the original documents establishing the project states that an objective would be to determine if any evidence from sightings suggests that UFO's are of interplanetary origin. It is possible that the meaning of this document w~s misinterpreted. The Air Force's open minded attitude still persists, and investigators and analysts have no preconceived notion as to the cause for a sicbting but rather form their conclusions from tho evidence. date no evidence bas been found to lead us to even suspect that these objects are interplanetary space ships. Unidentified aerial phenooena constitute only a part of the noise which our defense detection systems must take into account in preventing accidental war. Scientific studies too extens ive to bo discussed bore, are being conducted to determine the extent and nature of this noise for integration into our defensive net- It is hoped that this information answers all of your questions regarding the Air Force's Unidentified Aerial Phe- nomena Program. We stand ready to give you any further coopera- tion which you deem necessary "~F\CJAL E1LE COPY Request for UFO Information(John P . Speights) 1 August 1963 Hq USAF SAF-01 3b (Mrs. Wells) Wash 25 DC 1 . Reference the attached letter from Pvt John P . Speights requesting information on unidentified flying objects. This letter is forwarded to your office for whatever action you deem necessary. 2 . The unidentified flying objects in the photographs taken at Salem, Massachusetts on July 16, 1952 have been evaluntod as ligh't reflections on the window through which tho photos were taken. FOR THE COMMANDER ERIC T. de JONCKHBERE Colonel, USAF Deputy for Technology and Subsystems Ltr fm Pvt J . P . Speights, dtd OFFICIAL FILE COPY Unidentified Flying Objecte Hq USAF SAF-01 3b {Mrs. Wells) Vlnsh 25 DC 1 . Congressman Carl Vinson requested information from 1hc USAF regarding the Unidentified Flying Objects program. Attached is a copy of the proposed reply to Congressman Vinso n which we forwarded to AFNIN for passing to SAFLL. 2 . Yr. Vinson' s letter was prompted by an appeal for a Congressional hearing which was made to him by John Peurifoy Speights of 2811 Bedford Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Speights requested information on UFO's from the Air Force on two previous occasions and was promptly answered each time. 3 . Apparently Major Keyhoe' s nppoal to the members of NICAP, through the organization bulletin "UFO Investigator, " t o write to their Congressman requesting hearings bas at least one response. e believe thnt the SAFLL staff should be appraised of this and previous attempts by .ajor Koyhoe iscredit the USAF and bring about Congressional hear- ings on the UFO program. FOR TliE COMMANDER ERIC T . de JONCKJIEBRE Colonel, USAF Deputy for Technology and Subsystems Cy ltr fm FTD(TDG) to AFNIN( ~;col Dessert) UFO, w/atch 3 only. OFFICiAL FILE COPY Unidentified Flying Objects AFSC(SCFA) Andrews AFB, ltd. 1 . Attached is a copy of our proposed response to a request for information on tho USAF Unidentified Flying Objects pro- gram from Co11gressman Carl Vinson. This proposed reply was sent to AFNIN for forwarding to SAFLL. 2 . Partly due to the ef.forts of private UFO organizations there have been two briefings on tho UFO program for Con- grossionnl sub-committees. One was held in the summer of 1958; the other, during the week of 10 July 1960. A hear- ing was averted during tho summer of 1961 when we briefed Ur. Richard P. Hines of the House Space nod Astronautics Committee during his visit to FTD. Mr. Hines was gathering background information for Congressman Joseph Karth a mom- bar of tho committee. As a result of Mr. Hines report, Con- gressman Karth recommended there be no hearings. A copy of Mr. Karth' s letter to Uajor Keyhoe of the National Investi- gations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, a private UFO organi- zation, stating the Congressman' s t>osition regardi11g a hearing is attached. 3 . Also attached is a copy of an article which will appear in the next edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The article was written by the consultant of the UFO prog ram, J . Allen Uynek of Northwestern University, and approved by tho Air Force. Dr. Hynek has been consultant to the UFO program since 1948. We have suggested that a copy of this article accompany tho letter to Congressman Vinson. FOR THE COMMANDER ERIC T. de JONCKHEERE Colonel, USAF Deputy for Technology and Subsystems 1 . Cy proposed reply ~ Congressman Carl Vinso1 2 . Cy ltr Rop Karth to Maj Koyhoe, 28 Aug 61. 3. Cy oxerpt fm next ed Encyclopaedia Britannica. USAF Historical A rchives A SI(ASHA F-A) Maxwell AFB, Ala 36112 EXTRA COPIES BACKGROUND ~ATERIAL OFFICIAL FILE COPY J.l.J038Lt3 co:.lc.::!t:!.v~o.lj, to I'ro.:Jidont I:om.!o~y n:.ir.cin~l ,~o1o"in" t~o 1!~ .J Si'fi:LO~I rcc~)t.vcd c<ljo::ity /. iJNtrJI:rt. :1 en to: .. ~" in tO!'CCnt ao clu:!.:.:od ...o cl on c:1 to t!.c :.ccozods b)' t.!O Ai!" _ orco to the oojcct t o.Jillrl!, , , .L'iuld ... .s J'J .::..dei:.ccd