Correspondence regarding the declassification of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects report

This document is a letter from the Central Intelligence Agency to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner, dated November 5, 1957. The correspondence concerns the status of the report produced by the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, which was established in January 1953. The panel, chaired by Dr. H. P. Robertson and including members Samuel Goudsmit, Luis W. Alvarez, Thorton Page, and Dr. Berkner, had previously reached conclusions and recommendations regarding unidentified flying objects. The Air Force had recently requested that these findings be declassified for release to the press. The author of the letter notes that they consulted with Dr. Robertson and Dr. Goudsmit, who agreed that while the conclusion in paragraph 2 and the recommendation in paragraph 4a could be declassified, the conclusion in paragraph 3 and the recommendation in paragraph 4b should remain classified. The primary concern expressed by the Agency is the potential association between the Agency and the Panel, which they wish to avoid. The letter suggests that paragraph 1 could be rewritten to eliminate this connection and that the final six lines of paragraph 4 could stand as written. Furthermore, the author mentions querying the Air Force regarding the use of the panel members' names, to which the Air Force replied that names would only be used within official circles and not released to the press, though the author warns that such information has a tendency to filter out and could eventually become common knowledge.