New York Times
January-14-1979
C.I.A. PAPERS DETAIL U.F.O. SURVEILLANCE
Agencies Secret Studies Convince Arizona Research Group That Flying
Saucers "Are Real"
PHOENIX, Jan. 13
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Documents obtained in a lawsuit against the Central Intelligence
Agency show that the agency is secretly involved in the surveillance
of unidentified flying objects and has been since 1949, an Arizona based
U.F.O. group said yesterday.
The C.I.A. has repeatedly
said that it investigated and closed it's books on U.F.O.'s during 1952,
according to Ground Saucer Watch, a nation-wide research
organization of about 500 scientists, engineers and others who seek to
scientifically prove or disprove the existence of U.F.O.'s, but 100
pages of documents obtained under a freedom of information suit, show,
"the Government has been lying to us all these years," it said.
Embassies Gather Information
Mr. Spaulding an aerospace engineer with
Airesearch, one of the largest producers of aerospace components,
said the documents show the United States embassies are used to help
gather information on U.F.O. sightings and that the information "seems
to be directed to the C.I.A., the White House and the National Security
Agency."
A C.I.A. memo of Aug. 1, 1952, recommends continued
agency surveillance of "flying saucers," saying,
"it is strongly urged, however, that no indication of C.I.A.
interest or concern reach the press or public, in view of their
probably alarmist tendencies to accept such interest as 'confirmatory'
of the soundness of 'unpublished facts' in the hands of the U.S.
government," the document said.
Among the documents are several detailed reports of Air Force
attempts to either intercept or destroy U.F.O.'s.
In a 1976
incident in Iran, one report says, two F-4 Phantom jet fighters pursued
a large U.F.O. that seemed to send out smaller craft. One of their
smaller craft "headed straight toward the F-4 at a very fast rate of
speed,' the report said.
"The pilot attempted to fire an Aim-9 missile at the object but
at that instant his weapons control panel went off and he lost all
communications."
The pilot eluded the craft, then watched as it "returned to the
primary object for a perfect rejoin," the report continued.
Concern About Russian Aims
A major point of concern, a
C.I.A. document of Oct. 2, 1952, shows, is that U.F.O. sightings could
mask Russian air attacks, or "psychological warfare." The report to the
director of Central Intelligence from the assistant director for the
Office of Scientific Intelligence recommends the the National Security
Council be advised of the "implications of the flying saucer problem";
that the matter be discussed with the Psychological Strategy
Board, and that the C.I.A. help,
"develop a policy of public information which will minimize
concern and possible panic resulting from the numerous sightings of
unidentified objects."
A
document dated November 1975, directs against acknowledging any pattern
in sightings.
"Unless there is evidence which links sightings, or unless
media queries link sightings, queries can best be handled individually
at the source and as questions arise," it said. "Response should be
direct, forthright and emphasize that the action taken was in response
to an isolated or specific incident."
Mr. Spaulding says the documents show that there are links and
patterns in the sightings. From that evidence, he says, he believes
U.F.O.'s are here on surveillance missions.
"We find a concentration of sightings around our military
installations, research development areas," he said. " The U.F.O.
phenomenon is following what our own astronauts are doing on other
planets- we send a scoutship, we take soil samples and then we land."
Another Suit Pending
Mr. Spaulding said he has sworn statements from
retired Air Force colonels that at least two U.F.O.'s have crashed
landed and have been recovered by the Air Force.
One crash, he
said, was in Mexico in 1948 and the other was near Kingman, Ariz., in
1953. He said the retired officers claimed they got a glimpse of dead
aliens who were in both cases about four feet tall with silverish
complexions and wearing silver outfits that "seemed fused to the body
from the heat."
Mr. Spaulding said his group is waiting for a
Federal Judge to rule on the last phase of its C.I.A. suit, which seeks
access to 57 items that would provide "hard evidence" of U.F.O.'s or
"retrievals of the third kind." That evidence includes motion pictures,
gun camera film and residue from landings, he said.
Among the
films they want is 40 to 48 frames taken in 1952 by Ralph Mayher,
then a cameraman for KYW-TV in Cleveland and now a member of Ground
Saucer Watch. The Air Force borrowed the film in 1957 and has never
returned it. The official finding was that the object was a meteor, Mr.
Spaulding said.
"We're past the story-telling stage," Mr. Spaulding said. "We
have to have it in black and white to satisfy the scientific
community. We have to establish the existence of the object to all the
people in Missouri and then figure out who's driving it."
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