Correspondence regarding the Report of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects

This document consists of a cover letter dated December 20, 1957, from Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, to Dr. Samial A. Goudsmit at Brookhaven National Laboratories. The letter serves to provide Dr. Goudsmit with a copy of a letter to the Air Force and a declassified version of a report from a Panel of Scientific Consultants. The enclosed report, titled 'Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects' and dated January 17, 1953, details the findings of a panel of experts tasked by the government to evaluate the potential national security threat posed by Unidentified Flying Objects. The Panel, which included H. P. Robertson (Chairman), Luis W. Alvarez, Lloyd V. Berkner, S. A. Goudsmit, and Thornton Page, concluded that the evidence did not indicate a direct physical threat to national security. Furthermore, the Panel stated there was no evidence that the phenomena were attributable to hostile foreign artifacts or that they necessitated a revision of current scientific concepts. Consequently, the Panel recommended that national security agencies take immediate steps to remove the special status and 'aura of mystery' surrounding UFOs, suggesting an integrated program to reassure the public that there was no evidence of inimical forces behind the phenomena.