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Declassified UFO / UAP Document

Memorandum for Record: Comments on letters dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects

🏛 Applied Science Division, SI 📄 Memorandum for Record
UFOAir ForceCIACorrespondenceAdministrative Procedure

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AI-Generated Summary

TL;DR

This 1958 memorandum establishes a formal procedure for the CIA to refer all public inquiries regarding UFOs to the Air Force. It documents the coordination between the Applied Science Division, the Air Force, and the DDCI's office to centralize UFO information management.

This memorandum, dated April 4, 1958, and authored by W. E. Lexow of the Applied Science Division, SI, outlines the administrative procedure for handling external inquiries regarding Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The document details a recent interaction involving the release of a panel report to Mr. Davidson and Major Keyhoe. Lexow notes that he contacted Major Byrne's office (AFCIN) regarding the release of this report. Subsequently, he was referred to Major Tacker of the Office of the Secretary of Air Force Information Service (SAFIS). Major Tacker indicated that the Air Force preferred to handle such inquiries directly and requested that the CIA forward relevant letters to them. Tacker expressed a desire to impress upon Major Keyhoe and others that the Air Force is the appropriate office for such information. Following a conversation with Major Tacker, Lexow contacted Frank Chapin in the DDCI's office to inform him that the Air Force wished to answer these letters themselves. Lexow concludes the memorandum by proposing that this method of referring UFO-related inquiries to the Air Force be adopted as a formal precedent for all future correspondence.

I think we can use this procedure as a precedent henceforth in all inquiries regarding UFO's.

Official Assessment

The document establishes a procedure for handling inquiries regarding UFOs, directing that such inquiries should be referred to the Air Force (SAFIS) rather than the CIA.

Key Persons

  • ByrneMajor, office (AFCIN)
  • DavidsonRecipient of panel report
  • KeyhoeMajor, recipient of panel report
  • TackerMajor, Office of the Secretary of Air Force Information Service (SAFIS)
  • Frank ChapinStaff in the DDCI's office

Organizations