Cia Stonewalling

IstheCIAStonewalling? byRICHARDHALL TheGovernmentandUFOs ''Furthetscientificinvestigationof UFOsisunwarranted." --Ai)Force. 1980 Perhapsmostdisturbingis thevery factthatafterthirty-twoyears,a small butsignificantpercentageofUFOs stillremainsunidentified.Whilethe governmenthasbeenconcerned thepsychologicaldangertheUFO phenomenonposes, ithasbeenun- willingtoconsidertheprospectthat someUFOsposeanactualphysical threat.Fearfulofgenerating concern,thegovernmenthas deliberatelychosento andhasmisinformedthe publicas tothetrueimportanceofthe phenomenon. Unconventionalaerialobjects boastunlimitedandunrestricted ourmostsensitivenuclear installations-andwhichcanrender inoperabletheinstrumentation,com- munication/weapon American-madejets,or shutdownandrestartatwill sophisticatedhydraulic equipment- dowarrantfurtherscientificstudy. Awarenessof an advancedtechnology andpotential threatisnotan Iunreasonablepursuit.AstheNational SecurityAgen!indicates,itcouldbe matterotsurvIval. ~oughadruitted~ythegovern- menthas"studiedUFO apparentlyno.government body hasdweltonthoseofficial government reportsthatindicatecer- tainUFOspose a threattonational security.Is thereanydoubtthatit is thesereports whichdeservefurther scientificinvestigation? Thenow-defunctUSAFtwenty-year "Project Blue Book" UFO studynever had achancetoreceivethe"outstand- ingreport"fromIran. AnAirForce documentstates:"ReportsofUFOs whichcouldaffectnationalsecurity aremadeinaccordancewithJANAP 146*or AirForceManual55-11,and arenotpartoftheBlue Booksystem." The Air Force'sUFOinvestigationwas "[ointArmyNavyAirForce Publication146is publishedO}'theMilitaryCommunicationsBoard oftheDODJoint ChiefsofStaff. It provided U.S.- CanadianCommunicationsInstructionsfor Reporting Vital IntelligenceSightings(CIRVIS) {romAirborne andWaterborneSources." Section III (Security), paragraph 208. calls for stiffpenalties for divulginginformationabout such sightings once reported.-Ed. criticizedas long ago as1952by the CIA. The CIAcomplainedthatthe Air Force'scase-by-caseinvestigations andexplanationswereinsufficientto determinethe exactnatureof the phenomenon.s Similarly,the AirForce-sponsored "CondonCommittee"studybythe UniversityofColoradoin earnestlyintendedtoinvestigatethe physicalrealityof thephenomenon. Indeed,anearly memorandumby one of Dr.EdwardU.Condon'sstaff in- dicatesotherwise:"Thetrickwould be. Ithinktodescribetheprojectso thatto thepublic,it wouldappeara totallyobjective study...one way to dothis wouldbe tostressinvestiga- tion,not ofthephysicalphenomenon, butratherofthepeoplewhoaredoing theobserving Conclusion InJune1978,a Frenchgovernment UFOstudygroup(GEPANlconcluded that"everythingtakenintoconsidera- tion,a material phenomenonseemsto bebehindthetotalityofthe phenomenon- aflyingmachine whosemodesofsustenance:andpro- BASED ONthe 892pagesof UFO relateddocumentsreleasedtolawyer PeterGersten,it isclearthattheCIA's professednon-interestin UFOs is un- . Thereis internalevidenceof non- continuitywithintheCIA, andeven of onegrouporanalystbeingunawareof otherfiles orpreviouswork.This is notsurprisingconsideringthe compartmentalizednatureof the agency.Butperiodicstudiesor reviewswereorderedand UFO reports,foreign anddomestic,were routinelymonitoredoverlongperiods Thestatementissometimesmade thattheCIA hashadno "formal"study ofUFOsother thanthe1953Robert- butthesedocumentsshow thattheagency kept(and nodoubt keeps)plentyof "channels" open to gatherinformation,includingan acknowledgedchannelintothe RICHARDHALLwasformerAssistant.Director ofNlCAP.the leading UFO organization during the 1950s and 1960s.Heisthe Editorof MUFON Journalanda Frontiersof Science May-June198127 pulsionarebeyondourknowledge: Ifthe UFOphenomenonisindeed beyondthe grasp of Ourunderstand- ing -technologicallyspeaking- all the morereason tostrivetowardslearning moreaboutit. ForalthoughtheUnited States may i nore the s!l'tmhcanceof t ePhenomenon,It reasonabletosupoosethatthe rest of theworldwill do so.. Andthereareotherconsiderations besidesnationalsecurityin following up the UFO enigma. As areportfrom theNationalSecuritv A2encvin1968 "PerhapstheUFOquestion mightevenmakemanundertake" studieswhichcouldenable toconstructa societywhichis2 mostconducivetodevelopinga.. completelyhumanbeing, healthyin allaspectsof body-and.mostimportantly, able to recognize andadaptto realenvironmentalsituations." In isolatingourselvesfromthe UFO phenomenonwe mayriskmissing' whatcould bethemostimportant adventuremanhas yetembarked 196668UniversityofColoradoUFO project.Thedocumentsalsoclearlyin- dicatethat in 1952theCIAwas preparedtomounta majorscientific studyof UFOsbasedon theextraor- dinaryradar-visualsightings year,butthatthedebunkingconclu- sion of theRobertsonPanelcutshort thateffort. 1953,followingtheRobert- . sonPanelreport,"P&EDivision assumedresponsibilityfor the OSI projectonunidentifiedflying objects." 17, 1953memoto Assis- tantDirector.ScientificIntelligence) A yearlater. the Chief of P&E (Physics and Electronics) said hewould"main- taintheOSIcentralfile onsuchob- jects,"whichhe did untilAugust accordingto an August 8,1955memo to theAssistantDirectorofScientific Intelligence. AFTER THAT,responsibility assignedto the AppliedScienceDivi- ~hereW.E. Lexow,Division Chief,statedin aFebruary memo:"Achronologicalfile of all OSI correspondenceandactiontakenin TheFederalGovernmenthassystem- aticallymisinformedtheAmerican peopleabouttherealthreat... operablewhenthepilotattemptedtoprovoke,either'intentionallyor fire attheobject.unintentionally,aninternationalin- evaluation'(October12,cident-withseriousrepercussions. 1976)refersto thisincidentas "anInMarch1967,anintercepttechni- outstandingreport"because theob-cianwiththeUSAFSecuritvService wereseenbymanywitnessesofinterceptedacommunicationbe- highcredibility;thevisualsightingstweenthe 110tot aRussian-made' hadradarconfirmation;similarelec-uban-1an hiscommandcon- tromagneticeffectswerereportedby cermngaOFOencounter. 5Thetechni- threeseparateaircraft;andCl81lhassincestatedthatwhenthe physiologicaleffects werereportedbypnotattemptedto fire attheobject,the someof the crewmembers.Further.,.;MIGanditspilotweredestroyedby theUFOsdisplayedan "inor-theUFO.Furthermore,thetechnician amountofmaneuverability."allegesthatallreports,tapes,log en- Departmentmessage(Marchtries,andnotes on theincidentwere 7, 1975)fromtheAmericanEmbassyforwardedtotheNationalSecurity inAlgierstellsof"strangemachines"Agency attheirrequest. seennearAlgerianmilitaryinstalla-Notsurprlsmgly,severalmonths by"respectablepeople." Some of~ter,theagencydrafteda reporten thesightingswereconfirmedbytitledUFo Hothesis and Survival radar.uestion.Releasedinctober1 79 AndanotherStateDepartmentWidertheU.S.FreedomofInforma- messagefrom ourembassyinKuwaittion Act,thereportstatesthat"the reportsthat duringNovember1978,aleisurelyscientificapproachhas too seriesof UFOsightingscausedtheoften takenprecedenceindealing Kuwaitigovernmenttoappointan in- withtheUFOquestion."TheAgen~ vestigatorycommitteefromtheconcludedthatnomatter-whatUFO KuwaitInstituteforScientificRe-hypothesisis considered,"all of search.One UFOappearingoverthehaveserioussurvivalimplications." northernoilfields"seeminglydidComparingthe UFOproblemto a strangethings" totheautomaticpump-rattleron a forestpath, theNSAreport equipment.Theequipmentissays, "youwouldhavetotreatthe designedtoshutitselfdownwhenanyalarmas if itwerea realand failureoccursthatcouldseriouslyimmediatethreattoyoursurvival.In- damagethepetroleum-gathering andvestigationwouldbecomeaninten- transmissionsystem; whensuchansiveemergencyactiontoisolatethe eventoccurs,thepumpingequipmentthreatandtodetermineits'precise mustberestartedmanually. Whenthenature.Itwouldbegearedtodevelop- UFO'appeared,thepumpingsysteming adequatedefensemeasuresin a automatically shutdown.Butwhenminimumamountoftime.Itwould theUFO"vanished,"the.system seepa littlemoreof thissurvivalat-, startedupagain, automatically.titudeis calledfor indealingwiththe' ThepresenceofahighlyUFOproblem." lGrForcebasesfromGuamtow- Ioundland.sAnotherAFdocuent revealsthattheAirForceconducted iiIvestigationintotheincidentsbut foundnoexplanationfortheiroccur- ItappearsAirForce"security measures"providednoprotection againstthe"invasion." One later,onJanuary21, 1976,UFOs"25 yardsin diameter,gold orsilverin col- orwithbluelight on top, hole in mid- dle. and red light onbottom" observed"nearthe flightlineof Can- nonAFB. N.M."Tendayslater,on January31,a UFO wasobservednear aradarsite at ElginA~B,Flqrida.On July30,1976,a UFOwasobserved "overtheammostoragearea" atFort Richie,Maryland.! Theaboveaccountshavenumerous historicalprecedents.From1948 through1950,an FBIdocument reveals,UFOsweresightedby"per- sonswhosereliabilityis notques- nearhighlysensitivemilitary andgovernmentinstallations,in- cludingnuclearweaponsdesign,con- struction,testing andstockpilingsites. Securityofficialsweregreatly alarmedbytheseincidents.s documentrevealsthatin1952 "sightingsofunexplainedobjectsat greataltitudesandtravellingathigh werereportedinthevicinity ofmajorU.S.defenseinstallations posedathreattonationalsecurity. Theevidenceisclearandconvinc- thattheFederalgovernmenthas systematically- !1Usi~ormedthe Americanpeopleabouttherealthreat toournationalsecurityposedbysuch UFOencounters. UFOAsAdvanced Technology TheGovernment'sposition: "There has been noevidencesub- mittedto ordiscoveredby the Forcethatsightingscategorizedas 'unidentifiedrepresenttechnolog- icaldevelopments orprinciples beyondthe range ofpresent-day scientificknowledge." -AirForce,1980 Theofficialdocumentsrevealhun- dredsofsightingreports-manycon- radarandothertracking thatdescribe..- unconven- tionalobjectsexhibiting performancecharacteristicsinvolving maneuverability,speed,size a ADefenseIntelligenceAgency documentrevealsthat onSeptember 19.1976,American-madeIranianjets encounteredseveralUFOsthat exhibitedatechnologybeyond present-daydevelopment.Duringthe night-timeencounter,one F-4jet, uponapproachingone of the UFOs, lost allinstrumentationand com- municationsfunctions.AnotherF-4's weapons-controlpanelbecamein- sophisticatedtechnology- atechnolo- ourpresentdevelopment- seemsobvious. Why is itbeingig- noredby ourgovernment? AQuestionofSurvival ''Itwouldseem a little moreofthis survivalattitude iscalledfor in dealing with the UFOproblem." -NationalSecurityAgency. 1968 Theevidenceindicatesthatsome unconventionalaerialobjectscould