Report on Book Entitled 'Flying Saucers from Outer Space'

This office memorandum, dated December 8, 1953, from the Chief of Operations Staff, O/SI, to the Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, provides an assessment of the book 'Flying Saucers from Outer Space' by Donald Keyhoe. The document was produced following a request to review the book for potential security violations concerning the CIA's involvement in UFO investigations. The reviewer characterizes the book as highly readable but filled with distortions, half-truths, and inferences, accusing the author of knowingly committing a perpetration. A significant portion of the critique focuses on the book's reliance on statements from Albert M. Chop, an Air Force (Reserve) Public Information Officer. The author of the memo notes that Keyhoe uses these statements to imply that the Air Force is deliberately concealing positive conclusions about UFOs from the public. The memo specifically addresses claims made on page 242 of the book, where Keyhoe alleges that 'CIA people' advised the Air Force to debunk UFO reports and keep the project Top Secret. The memo clarifies that these recommendations were likely a misinterpretation of CIA panel meetings and asserts that there was no recommendation to hide information from the public. The author of the memo consulted with Dr. Stefan T. Possony of the USAFOIN Special Study Group, who was unaware of any particular concern in the Pentagon regarding Keyhoe's assertions. The memo concludes that no security breach occurred and advises against taking any further action, as doing so would only serve to focus additional attention on what the author describes as 'an obvious bit of sensational science fiction.'