Correspondence regarding the declassification of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects report

This correspondence, dated November 14, 1957, from Philip G. Strong, Deputy Assistant Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is addressed to Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner of Associated Universities, Incorporated. The letter concerns the status of a report produced in January 1953 by a Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, which included Dr. H. P. Robertson as Chairman, and members Dr. Samuel Goudsmit, Dr. Luis W. Alvarez, Dr. Thornton Page, and Dr. Berkner himself. The Air Force had recently requested that the report be declassified for public release. Strong notes that while Dr. Robertson and Dr. Goudsmit agreed with the declassification of certain sections, they opposed the release of specific conclusions contained in paragraphs 3 and 4b. Furthermore, the CIA expressed a strong desire to avoid disclosing the association between the panel and the Agency, suggesting that the report be rewritten to remove references to this connection. Strong also mentions that the Air Force had indicated that the names of the panel members would only be used within official circles, but warned that if the names were released, they might become common knowledge. The letter concludes with a request for Dr. Berkner's reaction to the Air Force's declassification proposal and his opinion on limiting the scope of the declassification and protecting the identities of the panel members.