Memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence: Flying Saucers

This memorandum, authored by H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, addresses the Director of Central Intelligence regarding the national security implications of 'flying saucers.' The document notes that since 1947, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) has received approximately 1,500 official reports of sightings, with 250 reports occurring in July 1952 alone. The OSI expresses concern that current research is limited to a case-by-case explanation, which fails to address the fundamental nature of the phenomena or their potential visual and electronic effects. The memorandum identifies two primary national security risks: the psychological potential for mass hysteria among the American public, and the vulnerability of the United States Air Warning System, which could be overwhelmed by false alerts or fail to distinguish between unidentified phenomena and actual enemy attacks. The author highlights that the Soviet press has remained largely silent on the subject, raising questions about Soviet knowledge and potential exploitation of these phenomena for psychological warfare. To address these concerns, the document recommends that the Director of Central Intelligence seek authorization from the National Security Council to coordinate a comprehensive research program. This program would aim to identify the phenomena, determine the fields of fundamental science required for understanding, and establish a national policy for public information to mitigate the risk of panic. The document also suggests leveraging external expertise, such as that from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to support these intelligence and operational objectives.