Memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence: Unidentified Flying Objects

This document is a memorandum dated December 2, 1952, from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, to the Director of Central Intelligence. It outlines the CIA's assessment of the Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) phenomenon and proposes a formal directive to the National Security Council. The memorandum notes that since 1947, approximately 2,000 official reports of sightings had been received, with roughly 20 percent remaining unexplained. The CIA concluded that these sightings, which involved objects at great altitudes traveling at high speeds near major U.S. defense installations, were not attributable to natural phenomena or known aerial vehicles. The document argues that the situation had potential implications for national security that transcended the interests of any single military service. Consequently, the CIA recommended a broader, coordinated effort to develop a firm scientific understanding of the phenomena to ensure they would not interfere with U.S. defense efforts or confuse the early warning system. The memorandum includes a draft National Security Council Directive, which would authorize the Director of Central Intelligence to formulate and carry out a program of intelligence and research activities to solve the problem of positive identification of these objects. The document emphasizes the need for a consulting group of sufficient competence and stature to review the matter and convince responsible authorities of the necessity for immediate research.