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
- 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soundness of 'unpublished facts' in the hands of the U.S.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."
