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Declassified UFO / UAP Document

Comments on Letters Dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects

🏛 CIA 📄 memorandum
CIAScientific Intelligence Advisory PanelEdward J. RuppeltDonald E. KeyhoeUFONational Security

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AI-Generated Summary

TL;DR

This 1958 CIA memorandum clarifies that the 1953 Scientific Intelligence Advisory Panel was tasked with assessing national security threats, not identifying UFOs. It also explains the process behind the 1957 declassification of the panel's report while protecting the members' association with the CIA.

This memorandum, dated 4 April 1958, was authored by the Chief of the Applied Science Division, SI, and addressed to the Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence. The document serves as a response to inquiries from Leon Davidson and Donald E. Keyhoe regarding the activities of the Scientific Intelligence Advisory Panel, which was convened in January 1953 following an action by the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) in December 1952. The panel, composed of scientists H. P. Robertson, Luis W. Alvarez, Lloyd V. Berkner, S. A. Goudsmit, and Thornton Page, was tasked with evaluating the threat posed by unidentified flying objects to national security. The author clarifies that the panel's mission was not to identify specific flying objects, but to assess the security implications. The memorandum addresses the confusion caused by Edward J. Ruppelt's book, which the author claims misrepresents the panel's purpose and has led to public misconceptions, including those expressed by Mr. Keyhoe and highlighted during a television interview with Mike Wallace. Furthermore, the document details a 1957 request by Major James F. Byrne of AFIC-XIA to declassify the panel's report. It notes that while the panel members did not object to the use of their names, they collectively requested that their association with the CIA remain undisclosed in the declassified version.

He has led the reader to believe the panel's mission was to identify the flying objects and to make recommendations on methods to further identify such objects. This is the basis for the apparent contradictions which arose during the Mike Wallace television interview.

Official Assessment

The document clarifies that the 1953 Scientific Intelligence Advisory Panel was not tasked with identifying flying objects, but rather with evaluating the threat to national security. It notes that Edward J. Ruppelt's book misrepresents the panel's mission, leading to public confusion and the concerns raised by Leon Davidson and Donald Keyhoe. Additionally, it confirms that in 1957, the CIA and panel members agreed to release a declassified version of the panel's report while maintaining the anonymity of the panel members' connection to the CIA.

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