Comments on Letters Dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects

This memorandum, dated April 4, 1958, from the Chief of the Applied Science Division to the Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, addresses concerns regarding letters received from Leon Davidson and Donald E. Keyhoe. The correspondence centers on the 1953 Scientific Intelligence Advisory Panel, which had been convened by the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) in December 1952 to evaluate the threat posed by Unidentified Flying Objects. The panel, consisting of H. P. Robertson, Luis W. Alvarez, Lloyd V. Berkner, S. A. Goudsmit, and Thornton Page, had concluded that UFOs did not pose a direct physical threat to national security and recommended stripping the subject of its 'special status' and 'aura of mystery.' The memorandum notes that Edward J. Ruppelt’s book on UFOs and a subsequent television interview with Mike Wallace had created public confusion regarding the panel's mission. Major James F. Byrne of AFIC-XIA had requested a declassified version of the panel's report in late 1957, which was subsequently provided to the Air Force. The memorandum emphasizes that the panel members and the CIA were adamant that no association between the panel members and the CIA be disclosed to the public. The author suggests that the Air Force should handle the release of the declassified report to avoid revealing this connection.