by Dan Wright
Relatedly, the ASD was charged with maintaining all files on the subject. Other divisions were instructed to forward their relevant files to ASD and terminate their filing activities. This document superseded a similar June 14, 1954, Memorandum for the Record (see pages 76–77).4
In a February 9, 1956, Memorandum for the Record, Wilton Lexow, ASD Chief, referenced a statement for the record a month earlier by AD/SI Scoville titled “Responsibility for ‘Unidentified Flying Objects.’”5
Scoville's memo had asserted three basic points:
The June 1954 memorandum assigning responsibility for tracking aerial anomalies to OSI's Physics and Electronics (P&E) Division was rescinded.
ASD was tasked with conducting “all surveillance of available information on this subject,” with consultative assistance by other divisions as necessary.
Every file on the subject, old or new, was to be kept at ASD. To those ends, Lexow established several procedures: ASD would maintain incoming raw reports potentially bearing on foreign weaponry research or development.
Where such reports might involve advancements in basic science, ASD would share the information with the Fundamental Sciences Area for review, requesting its return for filing.
Reports not bearing on foreign weaponry but which might involve science advances would be forwarded to the Fundamental Sciences Area for retention or destruction.
Reports which fit none of the above would be destroyed.
ASD would maintain a chronological file of “all OSI correspondence and action taken in connection with the United States U.F.O. program . . .”
ASD would maintain completed UFO-related intelligence reports published by the intelligence community.6
These procedures would prevent the accumulation of reports that could not be analyzed in ways useful to OSI. Raw UFO intelligence and obsolete finished reports would be destroyed. The long and short of it: The Applied Science Division was assuming full responsibility for UFOs within OSI; that authority had been afforded earlier but apparently had not been truly executed. Procedures were now outlined for retention or destruction of report submittals. Everyone was again pencil ready.7
Attending a conference at the palatial Arden House outside New York City, CIA Deputy Director Robert Amory Jr. had his attention directed to the March 17, 1956, issue of a popular French magazine, Match. It contained an especially challenging radar-visual mysterious object celestial (MOC) case. A control tower's radar photo of an unknown was verified by the direct observation of a commercial pilot.
Upon his return to Washington, Amory wrote an informal memo to OSI Assistant Director Herbert Scoville Jr. Amory asked, “Are we keeping in touch with the Air Force center on these things? Does it concern itself with foreign ‘sightings’ such as [this]?” Amory went on to say the planet Mars would be making an especially close pass by Earth soon, implying this would engender many false UFO reports. He concluded with a directive of sorts: “Outlandish as it may seem, I do feel that OSI has the responsibility to keep its finger on this general subject if for no other purpose than to arm the front office with the refutation of the more spectacular published reports”.8
Scoville replied to Amory on April 13. He argued that the incident reported in the French magazine Match, noted above, was explainable—though he offered no specifics. With proper investigation, he insisted, that case would have been resolved as identifiable. The USAF Project Blue Book staff had reduced unexplained cases from 25 percent to 10 percent by interrogating all witnesses (a dubious claim, given the absence of staff to do so). In other countries, by comparison, he said, that standard was haphazardly applied. Scoville added that a liaison had been maintained with the Air Force's ATIC on domestic cases. The impending approach of Mars to Earth, he agreed, would no doubt result in false UFO reports. Though asked by Amory, Scoville did not reply as to whether the Air Force tracked foreign cases—which it did not.9
A redacted source sent in an Information Report on behalf of a relative on April 17, 1956. His niece, then living in Budapest, Hungary, had penned a letter to him the previous November in which she referred to a formation of unknowns that had flown over the city. She stated, “The so-called flying saucers (rockets) for several weeks kept the people in a nervous state. These very fast speeding flyers kept scientific groups very busy.”10
An Information Report from a redacted source was forwarded on August 2, 1956, pertaining to events in spring 1954 over Stalingrad, Russia. The writer and other Stalingrad hospital patients twice witnessed an unknown fly from horizon to horizon in one minute. “I could not see the object itself, but I did see disturbance in the air which seemed to envelop it.” The object, the person added, issued a “screeching, whistling noise.”11
The final episode in a generally slow year domestically occurred on the east coast of Florida. On December 10, 1956, CIA communications officer J. P. Anderson wrote to OSI to explain an incident occurring two days before at Patrick AFB, Cape Canaveral. Multiple witnesses described a red glowing anomalous light high in the sky and moving rapidly. Patrick explained that it was in reality a flare ejected from a missile one minute after a test launch. He estimated its altitude as 15,000–20,000 feet, with a velocity immediately after ejection of 750–1,000 mph. Those factors matched witness descriptions.12
While you were away from your desk . . .
CIA analysts, perhaps distracted by President Eisenhower's reelection campaign, seem to have overlooked certain incidents reported by police as well as the military—one from an American ship, another from neighboring British and American air bases.
January 18, 1956
On the evening of the 18th, at Redondo Beach, California, a glowing saucer came to rest on the ocean surface, 75 yards from shore. Local and Hermosa Beach police officers came to the scene. Finally, the craft sank in 25 feet of frothing water, its surface continuing to glow. A lifeguard rowed to the site, spotted the object on the bottom, and left to organize a diving team. An officer also rowed out with a Geiger counter, which gave a normal reading. By the time the divers arrived, nothing could be seen on the seafloor.13
July 26, 1956
From the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, at anchor in the port of Rio de Janeiro, crewmen were startled to see two disc-shaped vehicles, one directly over the other, hovering above the flattop. Momentarily the upper disc ejected a fireball, which entered the top of the other. Both then left at great speed.14
August 13, 1956
At 9:30 p.m. a radar station at RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, England, detected a target 25–30 miles east-southeast of the base, moving several thousand miles per hour. Within 30 seconds it was 15–20 miles northwest. A few minutes later a group of perhaps a dozen targets appeared eight miles southwest of Bentwaters, all separated and covering an expanse of 6–7 miles, moving northeast at about 100 mph. In front of them were three more in V-formation. At that point, checks for radar malfunctions proved negative. Suddenly all the targets on the screen merged into one very large blip, which remained stationary for 10–15 minutes. This oversized target moved a bit, only to halt again for a few minutes. Then it was lost to the radar as it headed north. Perhaps five minutes later another strong blip appeared on the screen, moving several thousand mph. Traveling west, it was within 25 miles of the base when it vanished from radar. At 10:55 p.m. still another target appeared 30 miles east and moving west at 2,000–4,000 mph. It passed nearly overhead, seen by both a C-47 pilot in the air and personnel on the ground. It was lost beyond the radar's reach 30 miles west of the base.15
The action then shifted to Lakenheath AFB, located northwest of Bentwaters. Having been alerted during the earlier activity, both radar and visual observations were made of a luminous unknown that abruptly stopped then shot off in another direction. Soon two white lights arrived from the distance and seemingly merged. It moved away in fits and starts, accelerating rapidly before suddenly halting. At midnight, Lakenheath phoned the RAF station at Natishead, Suffolk, which dispatched a
Venom jet fighter. The pilot reported seeing a target well ahead that soon moved out of sight. The two-man crew was directed to another target, locating it ahead both visually and with onboard radar. They were amazed momentarily when they recognized it was suddenly behind their plane. Low on fuel they returned to base. Intermittently until 3:30 a.m. Lakenheath recorded anomalous radar returns.16
Chapter 10
1957: Ham Sandwich
At the turn of the calendar to 1957, the US Air Force was under pressure from NICAP, news organizations, and many interested individuals to release the 1953 Robertson Report and requested CIA permission to do so. But complying wasn't quite so easy. OSI prepared a two-page summary of the findings for declassification and contacted all of the scientists from the panel individually, seeking approvals to use their names in connection with a limited distribution.
Throughout those efforts, CIA correspondence to the Air Force and others emphasized that no mention of Agency involvement would be permitted. Its stated reason was that public knowledge of those ties would give credence to the UFO subject.
The letter dated January 1, 1957, to Dr. Thornton Page of Johns Hopkins was identical to those sent to the remaining panel members. The Robertson Panel Report was referenced and a copy of the two-page summary enclosed. Drs. Howard P. Robertson, chairman of the Cal Tech physics department, and Samuel Goudsmit, physics department chairman at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, agreed the report could be partially but not entirely declassified. Air Force brass, meanwhile, insisted that names of panel members be used for official communications only, not given to the press. Still, OSI asserted, those names might become common knowledge.1
Recording Redux
As conveyed in a telegram from the Agency's Chicago office on March 4, 1957, Leon Davidson, a chemist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, had recently written to CIA Director Allen Dulles, requesting all Agency information regarding a certain tape recording OSI acquired in February 1955 (see pages 87–88). The recording was of an electrical transmission of unknown origin. Apparently, the undefined recorded message had been heard and recorded by a ham radio operator in metropolitan Chicago who alleged it was a “message from outer space.”
The (redacted) recipient of the Chicago telegram was requested to indicate any correspondence with Davidson plus how he justified writing to the Agency director.2 Davidson told Chicago CIA staff that he had recently testified before a House subcommittee on the UFO subject.
Among the correspondences with Davidson was an informal note (to/from redacted) mentioning that Leon Davidson had inquired whether the tape had been evaluated by ATIC at Wright-Patterson AFB. The note writer informed Davidson that the tape was sent to “proper authorities” and that no further information was available. In a second letter, Davidson asked where to inquire about flying saucers. The writer replied, as Davidson knew, the place was the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson.3
In an Information Report sent April 1, 1957, the (redacted) writer remarked that, in early May 1956, unknowns passed over Budapest at great height. “Nothing was done to disturb this flight, the probable reason being that the (illegible) Air Defense Command had no weapons at its disposal to research these intruders.” Throughout May and June, objects in formation were reported on radar at over 75,000 feet on a near-daily basis. Reports came from all sections of Hungary.4
Soon enough, Leon Davidson was back on the Agency's radar. On May 8 the deputy assistant director for operations wrote to J. Arnold Shaw, Assistant to the Director, Allen Dulles. The deputy's memo attached a suggested reply to Davidson. It read, “[T]he recording in question was forwarded to OSI and found to be Morse code of US origin.” The Air Force's ATIC would contact Davidson to inform him of that finding.5
So, just what were the motivations of this Davidson fellow? Was he, an otherwise accomplished chemist at a prestigious laboratory, merely a UFO nut who accepted at face value the notion of an alien origin for an innocuous ham radio transmission? Perhaps he had an entirely different take on UFO matters.
According to one source, by 1957 Davidson had “concluded that every aspect of the mystery led back to the CIA. He argued that they had deliberately concocted the major UFO reports and fed them into the public arena as a cover for experimental aircraft and rocket tests at best and psychological warfare experiments practiced on its own citizens at worst.”6
CIA officials had insisted that Agency involvement in sponsoring the 1953 Robertson Panel, and in various situations thereafter, be kept from the public because attaching its name to analysis of the phenomena would lend credence to claims of a UFO reality. Davidson intended to upend that apple cart. To him, the CIA was continuing to perpetuate a flying saucer myth in order to conceal the true identities of planes and rockets of experimental design. By that reasoning, the tape-recorded code in question was not some extraterrestrial communication but rather CIA obfuscation, part of its nefarious program to confuse the public and keep the UFO rumors alive. That as a be-all-end-all explanation, of course, was likewise out there.
Whatever the truth of Davidson's motives, he would remain a front-burner personality and irritant in Agency affairs.
On May 10, 1957, J. Arnold Shaw, AD/CI, wrote to Davidson in reply to his April 21 letter. The tape in question, he stated, was being assessed by a separate government agency, which would reply to him directly.7 That separate arm of the government was the US Air Force, specifically the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, echoing the assertions of the previously received (sender redacted) note.
Also on May 10, 1957, the chief of the contact division sent a memo to the chief of the Chicago CIA office. An attached memo from OSI sought “analysis of the tape.” Also attached was a suggested letter to Davidson from USAF. The Chicago staff was directed to ask the Air Force to follow through and obtain a copy of said letter for OSI.8
Following a hiatus of several weeks, like a bad penny, the matter of Leon Davidson renewed. In a July 2 note between redacted parties, Davidson came up. “Based on your conversation with ATIC, we told the CIA Director that Leon Davidson would receive a reply. Were you copied on the response? If not, was it in fact written?”9
A few weeks earlier, on June 11, the director of the Agency's planning and coordination unit wrote a formal Memorandum for one or more parties (redacted) as a primer of sorts on CIA involvement in the UFO subject over the previous several years. Though the Air Force and CIA continued to follow reported UFO events, responsibility had not shifted to the Agency. OSI's Philip Strong headed the CIA effort.10
As background, by January 1953 OSI had formed a panel of seemingly informed outside experts in the sciences to study the situation. Panel members included:
Lloyd Berkner, President, Association of Universities; also President of the International Council of Scientific Boards; also a member of the President's Scientific Advisory Committee
H.P. Robertson, Chairman, California Technical University Physics Department; also an OSI consultant
Samuel Goudsmit, Physics Department Chairman, Brookhaven National Laboratory; formerly a member of the Combined Scientific and Military Team (which examined German nuclear capabilities during World War II)
Luis Alvarez, University of California at Berkeley physicist (later Nobel Prize winner)
Astronomer Thornton Page of Johns Hopkins University and J. Allen Hynek, observatory director at The Ohio State University, were also substantially involved.
The Air Force and Navy supported the outcome and aftermath. The June 11 Memorandum added, “Since the study was made (January 17, 1953), OSI has maintained a watching process on UFO. The relatively few reports received by OSI are examined by the appropriate division.”
Those involving natural phenomena were examined by the Geo-Physics Unit of the Fundamental Sciences Division.
Those concerning hardware aspects of flying craft were turned over to the former Weapons Unit in the Applied Science Division.11
�
��Gen. Watson, ATIC, (Phil Strong believes) maintains one or two officers following the UFO question. This ATIC effort is all that is left of an earlier larger Air Force Project called ‘Blue Book.’”12
As previously noted, Project Blue Book never consisted of more than two low-ranking officers among four staff, including clerical assistance.
“I asked Phil point-blank if the unexplained category could include actual secret Soviet advanced aeronautical equipment. He replied, ‘Conceivably, yes.’” But, more likely, with better data all the reports of unknowns would be explained as mundane. He emphasized that:
OSI has no information concerning new Soviet design which would indicate possible construction of flying saucer type aircraft. The Applied Science Division of OSI and ATIC work closely together in following radical new designs and advances by the Soviets.
A joint British-Canadian project was underway to design a jet-powered flying saucer intended to reach 80,000 feet altitude. “[T]he Air Force has ‘some projects’ along this line.”13
A mix and match of incoming foreign reports and in-house chatter followed:
An Information Report emanated from Azerbaijan on July 2, 1957, describing an event along the border separating Iran and Azerbaijan—then a USSR republic. At 11:00 a.m. on June 12, someone spotted a sphere one-half meter in diameter at an estimated 2,000 feet overhead. It sped laterally on a course from Iran into Azerbaijan. The object had a half-meter “tail” and left a brief smoke trail. Another party in the area witnessed a similar object at the same time and altitude.14 Note: A bolide meteor is a strong possibility.
Sometime after July 8 (date illegible), Philip Strong, OSI's deputy assistant director, wrote to the deputy director for coordination. The subject was “Flying Saucers,” in particular a meeting with a controversial figure. On the DD's behest, the chief of the fundamental sciences division had contacted Morris K. Jessup at the physical sciences integration committee. Jessup referred to Wayne Aho and a meeting resulted. A report of that conversation (not shown) was attached.15