Letter from Allen W. Dulles to Honorable Gordon H. Scherer regarding Thomas H. Eickhoff

This document is a formal letter dated October 4, 1955, from Allen W. Dulles, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to the Honorable Gordon H. Scherer of the House of Representatives. The correspondence serves as a response to a letter Representative Scherer had forwarded to the CIA, which had been written by a constituent named Thomas H. Eickhoff. In his letter, Mr. Eickhoff had raised concerns that the CIA addressed as being largely outside of its jurisdiction. Specifically, the agency clarifies that under the National Security Act of 1947, it possesses no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers, nor does it have internal security functions that would allow it to investigate potential mail fraud related to George Adamski's book, 'Inside The Space Ships.' Furthermore, Dulles explains that it is the policy of the CIA not to comment on the veracity of published materials or the authenticity of images contained within such books. The letter concludes by suggesting that the subject matter of Mr. Adamski's book would be more appropriately addressed by the Department of Defense or the National Science Foundation. The original letter from Mr. Eickhoff was returned to Representative Scherer for his files.