by Dan Wright
One letter of criticism as the entire year's correspondence on UFOs? Surely self-congratulating by now, the CIA had backed away from the subject with no consequences.
While you were away from your desk . . .
No accounts of aerial intrusions gained the Agency's official attention that year, but reports of autos besieged by airborne oddities, and others of crowds witnessing aerial acrobatics continued to reach first responders. These were not broadly publicized. However, one very notable incident, in space, made the press big time:
Orbiting Earth in the Mercury 9 spacecraft on May 16, 1963, astronaut Gordon L. Cooper spotted an object nearby that he determined to be nothing recognizable. It was definitely flying and it was substantial, a genuine object of some sort. It was by definition a UFO. He, of course, gained some celebrity from the experience and was thereafter asked about the subject incessantly.
Later Cooper related a two-day spate of high-altitude encounters in the early 1950s in West Germany where he was stationed as a USAF test pilot. Cooper ultimately expressed his personal conclusions, straightforward and unequivocally:
Intelligent beings from other planets regularly visit our world in an effort to enter into contact with us.... NASA and the American government know this and possess a great deal of evidence. Nevertheless, they remain silent in order not to alarm people.... I am dedicated to forcing the authorities to end their silence.2
Chapter 17
1964: From a Lull to a Quickening
Officially dated January 1, 1964, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) published The UFO Evidence, 195 pages of sharp sticks in the Agency's eye. The document was prepared by NICAP's de facto director, Richard Hall: “Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that UFOs are under intelligent control, making plausible the notion that some of them might be of extraterrestrial origin.”1
Its contents were divided by section.
Sample cases showing general features of UFO reports
Cases indicating intelligence: pacing of vehicles, reaction to stimuli, formation flights
Sightings by Air Force pilots, navigators, other officers, and men
Reports from other military personnel
Observations by airline, military, and private pilots
Observations by professional scientists and engineers, including astronomers, and aeronautical engineers
Sightings by police officers, civil defense, and ground observer corps; cross-section of citizens' reports
Electromagnetic effects; radar cases; photographic evidence; physical and physiological effects; sound; angel's hair
Background of USAF secrecy; official regulations; history and analysis of the official UFO investigation
Survey of reports from other countries, attitudes of foreign governments, and worldwide interest in UFOs
Chronological listing of sightings, statements, and events
Statistics and analyses of consistent physical appearance, maneuvers, flight characteristics, recurrent concentrations
Survey of Congressional interest in UFOs
Discussion of the implications of UFOs, and what is needed as a scientific investigation
A January 22, 1964, newspaper article written by a NICAP member outlined the UFO problem, chastised the Air Force and CIA for brainwashing the public, and warned of changes in human thinking when the truth is revealed.2
On the 3rd of March, a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution was very provocatively titled “An Earthly Explanation? CIA Must Have Brainwashed You.” The writer sought to say that the Agency and the Air Force had joined forces and “brainwashed everybody” to believe that UFOs were simply misidentified natural phenomena and prosaic machines—aircraft, satellites, and such. The reader predicted changes to come in religions, science, governments, and militaries when the truth of ET visits finally came out.3
A NICAP letter-writing campaign continued with a March 16 missive to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The writer called attention to the “very dangerous problem” of UFOs. He claimed the Air Force, CIA, and National Security Council had conspired to convince the public that all such reports were normal things mistaken. He praised Donald Keyhoe and said the use of rockets for space exploration was obsolete and primitive. Presumably the USA and USSR were attempting to duplicate saucer technology.4
The Amarillo Globe-Times, in its April 27 issue, printed the same letter by the same writer. The news staff titled it, “People Are Talking about ... Little Green Men.”5
The same letter and letter writer as to the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Amarillo Globe-Times struck again on April 30, this one to the Dayton (OH) News.6
Once more for good measure, on May 13, 1964, the Binghamton (NY) Sun-Bulletin posted the same letter by the same, dedicated writer. This time the entreaty was titled “Space tests branded as propaganda.”7
Anonymous handwritten notes outlined an incident at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, on December 19, 1964. From 3:15 to 3:30 p.m., a chief petty officer detected unknowns on three radar sets: First, two objects were located 10 miles apart. Next, something 39 miles from the station approached at an estimated 6,000 mph. Then from 8 miles away something suddenly turned 160 degrees and swiftly left the screen. Altitudes of the unknowns varied from 3,000 to 25,000 feet. The FAA station at Salisbury, Maryland, “picked up messages from US Coast Guard reporting UFOs.” (Redacted) asked the OSI to evaluate any sightings over the previous 10 weeks. Reference was made to USMC retired Major Donald Keyhoe (NICAP).8
Keyhoe, NICAP cofounder, continued to charge that the Air Force just didn't want the public to know the truth. Nationally, newspapers were running articles on the UFO subject with regularity.
While you were away from your desk . . .
Diplomatic barriers perhaps prevented the Agency from recognizing the importance of an event that transpired in Shanghai, China.
Sometime in January 1964
Many Shanghai citizens watched a huge, cigar-shaped aerial object fly overhead, moving southwest. Multiple MiG jet fighters from the People's Liberation Army Air Force gave chase but failed to force the UFO down. The intruder was later officially labeled an American missile.9
April 24, 1964
At Socorro, New Mexico, Deputy Sheriff Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeder when he heard a roar and saw blue and orange flames in the sky less than a mile off the highway. He broke a path across the rolling desert floor until coming upon the scene still 800 feet away, below a steep incline. A shiny egg-shaped object sat in a shallow gully. Outside it were two individuals in white coveralls, both the height of a very short adult or tall child. One of the figures apparently noticed his presence and acted startled. Zamora drove closer for a better look, his view blocked temporarily by the ridge. He stopped the car 100 feet from the craft. Now he noticed it was resting on landing gear and had a strange insignia on its side. The two figures were no longer in view. Hearing another roar, Zamora took cover. The object slowly rose, issuing blue and orange flames and moved out of sight. Soon he was joined by his police sergeant. The two examined the site where the craft had been, finding burned brush and four depressions in the ground. Note: This case has been featured in numerous televised documentaries over the years.10
June 2, 1964
About 4:00 p.m. at Hobbs, New Mexico, a woman stepped outside when her grandson screamed and saw a smallish tan object, shaped like a toy top. Hovering over him, it discharged a black exhaust before rising swiftly out of sight. The boy's hair was singed, while sooty deposits were imbedded in his face, ears, neck, and shirt. Although he experienced no pain, one ear was badly burned and facial swelling soon obscured his nose. He was hospitalized for five days. Local authorities took skin and clothing samples, reportedly giving them to the FBI.11
Chapter 18
1965: A Gathering Storm
Memorandum for the Record by (redacted), “Morning Meeting of 18 January 1965.” Among multiple subjects in a meeting with the Agency's
deputy director for intelligence, one pertinent statement came forth: “ExDir” (executive director, presumably the CIA director) asked whether the DDS&T (deputy director for science and technology) and the OSI director were kept abreast of the UFO reports in the area.1
In a January 19, 1965, private meeting with acting NICAP director Richard Hall, OSI borrowed NICAP case narratives for an upcoming report to (redacted). Note: As longstanding NICAP practice, a complimentary copy of investigative reports, including eyewitness accounts, had been sent to Air Force bases near the events.
In turn, Hall was very interested in the December 19, 1964, Patuxent Naval Air Station radar tracks—which the Air Force had claimed were from faulty equipment. Bolstering the accuracy of those radars was visual confirmation of the intruder by a Coast Guard vessel at sea (see page 171). Hall added that a week or ten days earlier, several Washington, D.C., government employees had reported a sighting from a window in a munitions building.2 So, was a deal struck perchance, giving NICAP those Patuxent radar tracks in return for continued eyes and ears on the ground?
The next day, as per the Agency director's earlier request, the Office of Scientific Intelligence provided a statistical summary of 1964 UFO reports evaluated by the Air Force. Of 532 sightings reported:
Astronomical (118)
Aircraft (65)
Balloon (18)
Satellite (142)
Other (77)
Insufficient data (85)
Unidentified (16)
Pending (11)
As expected, a disproportionate share of reports occurred from May through August, when more people would likely be out-of-doors.
Among several cases with wide media coverage, one was resolved as an aircraft, another as radar reflection, but the rest were potentially left valid. The Patuxent Naval Air Station radar tracks, despite dual sources, had been officially determined as “malfunctioning radar circuitry” (see also page 144). Overall, no object was considered of foreign origin or a threat to national security.3
In early February OSI Deputy Director Donald Chamberlain sent a UFO statistical report to the Agency's assistant director for special activities. Detailed analysis of five reports from (redacted) during the period November 16—24, 1964, concluded that the object “was no high-altitude, ultra-high-speed UFO.” As observed by a Navy pilot on the 19th, it was a delta-wing object the size of a jet fighter, flying at 50,000 feet in excess of Mach 3, hence, it was logical that the remaining sightings were also unknown aircraft of Soviet or Western origin.4
On February 26, a NICAP representative (Donald Keyhoe, Richard Hall, or other) wrote to CIA Director John McCone. The writer referenced NICAP's publication, The UFO Evidence, and asked whether McCone believed a formal congressional investigation or inquiry could be justified.5
That summer, a CIA source in Argentina submitted an informal multi-topic report. Under “Antarctic Flying Saucers,” the writer related a July 6, 1965, Buenos Aires news article declaring that flying saucers displaying red, green, and yellow were observed over Deception Island, detected from Chilean and British Antarctic bases. “The flying saucers were also seen flying in formation over the South Orkney Islands in quick circles.”6
A July 26, 1965, letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant was titled “Let's Get the Facts about the UFOs.” Retired Vice Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the CIA's director after World War II, openly reiterated:
Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.... The Air Force has assumed the right to decide what the American people should or should not know.
The letter writer urged congressional hearings.7
While you were away from your desk . . .
January 11, 1965
From their Munitions Building office windows in Washington, D.C., Army Signal Corps engineers observed anomalous objects in the distance. As the unknowns zigzagged toward the Capitol, two delta wing jets approached. With great acceleration, the UFOs quickly outpaced the planes. News reporters pursuing the story were told by military and Defense Department officials that the incident simply never occurred.8
A UFO encounter with a planeload of US military officers would seem very likely to reach the Company's attention. Still, the incident described below and others were not included in the 2017 files release.
January 15, 1965
On that night, a Flying Tiger Line aircraft chartered by the US Defense Department was transporting a group of Army and Air Force officers to Japan. An hour away from landing at Tokyo, the plane's onboard radar detected three huge fast-approaching objects. Surrounded by a reddish glow, the enormous ovular anomalies descended toward the plane. The captain was preparing to turn the aircraft away when the objects, in close formation, veered to one side, decelerated, and leveled out to pace the plane at a distance of five miles. Even that far away they appeared gigantic—roughly 2,000 feet in length, maybe more. A crewman beckoned an Air Force officer to the flight deck where the pilot asked whether he should call for jet interceptors from Okinawa. The officer replied that the fighter jets would likely be helpless in the face of such crafts and might instigate a confrontation. After several more nervous minutes, the unknowns angled away, accelerated to 1,200 knots, and were swiftly gone.9
March 15, 1965
At approximately 1:00 a.m., from a swamp buggy in the Everglades, Florida, a hunter noticed a bright light sweeping back and forth. Curious, he motored toward it and came upon a hovering, whining object in the shape of a flat cone, 70 feet at its base, with four rows of windows, hovering close to the ground. When he walked underneath it, a beam of light struck him. He awoke over 24 hours later, nearly blind. His doctor recorded serious hemorrhaging of one eye and deep tendon numbness in his arms and legs. He and the doctor returned to the spot and photographed scorched treetops, depressed vegetation forming a circle, and scuff marks on bordering trees.10
March 18, 1965
Around 7:00 p.m., near Hiroshima, Japan, three workers sighted a triangular airborne object whose top radiated brilliant light. At 7:06, the captain of a TOA Airlines Convair 240 headed to Hiroshima at 2,000 meters altitude noticed a “mysterious, elliptical, luminous object.” Initially fearing a collision, he lurched the plane 60 degrees to little avail. The intruder now positioned itself along his port wing, emitting a greenish light, affecting his automatic direction finder—his radar and radio. The anomalous vehicle followed him for a while, discontinued for three minutes, then “followed along my left wing across the Inland Sea for a distance of about 90 kilometers ... then disappeared.” Along the way, the copilot heard frantic calls from a Tokyo Airlines Piper Apache; the pilot said he was being paced by an unknown luminous object.11
August 2, 1965
Six Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers plus a seventh man from the OHP communications tower in Edmond observed a multicolored unknown. A photograph of the object was later analyzed by Air Force and civilian investigators. While, of course, the USAF results were not forthcoming, earlier private analysis indicated the object in the frame was about a mile away and perhaps 50 feet in diameter.12
That night and the next day, August 3, from South Dakota on into Mexico, many thousands of people were witness to waves of anomalies overhead, hundreds of unconventional lights/objects in all. It was the most massive exhibition of sightings ever recorded in the United States. By and large they were authenticated by radar at several Air Force bases and by photos taken by civilians.13
September 3, 1965
At 12:30 a.m., an Exeter, New Hampshire, policeman found a hysterical woman parked along Route 101. She claimed to have been paced for 12 miles by an anomalous object that displayed a halo of bright red light.
At 1:00 a.m., an 18-year-old hitchhiker confronted an aerial object similar in shape to a rugby football, 80—90 feet long and silent, with five bright pulsating red lights on its near side. It had ri
sen from a wooded area nearby and proceeded to hover over a house, bathing it in red light. The youth caught a ride into Exeter and went to the police at 1:45 a.m. The officer on duty reported that the young man was visibly pale and agitated. Another officer returned with him to the place of his encounter. In short order the anomalous object rose from the woods again. The officer radioed an alert and soon a second cruiser arrived. The young man and the two officers watched it dart to and from locations in the fields faster than they could track visually. It was so brilliant that it was painful to look upon. At one point it moved within 100 feet of the witnesses then floated over an adjacent field. Finally, it flew out of sight, rocking as it went.
Exeter police later contacted nearby Pease AFB, which sent two officers to investigate. Apart from interviews, they checked the area for radiation but found none. Soon the case attracted newspaper and then magazine attention. In UFO investigative circles it became a staple as recounted by John G. Fuller, the “Incident at Exeter.”14
October 21, 1965