Transmittal of Panel of Scientific Consultants Report on Unidentified Flying Objects

This document consists of a cover letter dated December 20, 1957, from Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director, to Dr. S. A. Goudsmit at Brookhaven National Laboratories. The letter serves to transmit a copy of a letter to the Air Force and a declassified version of a report from the Panel of Scientific Consultants on Unidentified Flying Objects. The enclosed report, dated January 17, 1953, details the findings of a panel of scientific consultants convened at the request of the government to evaluate the potential national security threat posed by 'Flying Saucers.' The Panel reviewed evidence provided by the United States Air Force and concluded that there was no indication that these phenomena posed a direct physical threat to national security. Furthermore, the Panel stated there was no evidence that the phenomena were attributable to foreign artifacts capable of hostile acts, nor that they required a revision of current scientific concepts. The Panel recommended that national security agencies take immediate steps to demystify UFOs and strip them of their special status. They suggested that this could be achieved through an integrated program designed to reassure the public that there was no evidence of inimical forces behind the phenomena. The report is signed by H. P. Robertson (Chairman), Lloyd V. Berkner, Luis W. Alvarez, and Thornton Page.