Memorandum for Assistant to the Director: Enquiry by Major Donald E. Keyhoe

This memorandum, dated January 22, 1958, from the Chief of the Contact Division, Office of Operations, to the Assistant to the Director, addresses the persistent inquiries of Major Donald E. Keyhoe (Ret), Director of NICAP. Keyhoe had been seeking confirmation on whether the CIA had instructed witnesses of unidentified flying objects to remain silent regarding their sightings. The document references a previous memorandum from March 13, 1958, in which Keyhoe expressed concern over reports that witnesses were being interrogated by CIA representatives and subsequently told to keep silent. The author of the current memorandum outlines two potential courses of action for responding to Keyhoe. The first option is redacted. The second option suggests informing Keyhoe that the Agency does not normally provide information in response to such inquiries in the absence of a stated reason, and to ask him why he requires the information. Furthermore, the response would clarify that a check of Agency records conducted on April 17, 1958, confirmed that no CIA employee had ever ordered a UFO witness to remain silent. The document includes a draft reply to Keyhoe, signed by J. S. Earman, Executive Officer, which formally requests that Keyhoe explain his reasons for the inquiry to provide a basis for an appropriate response. The document also touches upon a separate incident involving a CD/CO staff employee and the return of five photographs of alleged UFOs in November 1957, noting that the employee had been asked by Keyhoe for permission to use the photos on a television program.