UFOs Are Real - Extraterrestrial Encounters Documented by the U.S. Government

CHAPTER FOUR
Government Disinformation—Or Fraud?

In recent years the UFO field has been flooded with purported "official" documents, allegedly "leaked" by persons unknown within the American Intelligence Community. These documents have been very difficult to confirm or repudiate. The reason? When U.S. Government agencies have been queried, they have either been unwilling to answer inquiries or have not known what they were supposed to do under Federal Law established for just such inquiries.

In June 1987, the UFO research community tried very hard to confirm or repudiate what has become known as the "MJ-12 Briefing Document." (See doc. 4-1.) This document is allegedly a briefing paper that was prepared on November 18, 1952, by Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter for presentation to then-President-Elect Dwight D. Eisenhower. The document is said to be classified as Top Secret, and it dealt with American recovery operations of crashed UFOs. Every effort to validate this document by the UFO Community has been unsuccessful.

The FBI became aware of the document on September 15, 1988, when a Special Agent of the Air Force, Office of Special Investigations (OSI), gave a copy of it to an FBI agent in Dallas, Texas. (See doc. 4-2.) The FBI agent requested that the Bureau "discern if the document is still classified."

It is interesting to note that in response to this request, FBI Headquarters answered, in a cable dated December 2, 1988: (See docs. 4-3, 4-4, and 4-5.)

The Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Air Force, advised on November 30, 1988, that the document was fabricated. Copies of that document have been distributed to various parts of the United States. The document is completely bogus.

The document having been declared bogus, one might believe that the FBI would have no further interest in it. However, in a letter dated November 15, 1991, FBI Headquarters informed the U.S. Air Force, Office of Special Investigations: (See doc. 4-6.)

It is noted that although this document may represent some type of hoax, it is our responsibility to insure that all incidents involving the mishandling of classified data receive adequate investigative attention. Therefore, we request that your agency attempt to ascertain the originator and/or the current classification of the enclosed document.

To date, no one has been charged with any involvement of wrongdoing; that is, fabrication or hoaxing this document. Moreover, in the military it is illegal to falsify a document and pass it as a classified document.

In 1983, an alleged "Secret" document surfaced. This document dealt with the alleged photo-imagery interpretation of the film evidence taken by Paul Bennewitz during the Kirkland Air Force Base sightings of August 1980 (see Chapter Two). In this case the Air Force Intelligence Service and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations did exactly what they were suppose to do in such cases.

The U.S. Air Force believed the document was a hoax from the every first time they received it, because of the following reasons:

There never has been an office within AFSAC (or 7602nd) with the symbol INS, INSR, or IT.

There has never been a "Capt Grace" (or anyone with the surname Grace) assigned to AFSAC.

The purported imagery interpretation that was done is outside AFSAC's and AFOSI's mission. Further, AFSAC has no individuals
who are photo interpreters.

The term WNINTEL is spelled phonetically on each occurrence. OSI should certainly be familiar with the correct spelling. Further,
the document is replete with grammatical errors, typing errors, and in general makes no sense.

The document is not in the standard, accepted format for classified messages.

We can see from the above that the Air Force clearly thought the document was a hoax. However, until a determination was made as to the status of the document, the Air Force considered it to be classified Secret. This was correct procedure in accordance with existing regulations and an Executive Order.
I, too, felt that the document was a hoax. However, I still have questions about some of the information appearing in the document.

The document mentioned a "Project Aquarius," and that this project was classified Top Secret. Also, the document mentioned this project was under the control of NASA. I later heard that the correct term should have been NSA and that it was changed to read NASA for some reason.

In a letter dated April 15, 1986, to an UFO researcher, the National Security Agency (NSA) finally admitted to the existence of a Project Aquarius and stated that it was classified Top Secret. (See doc. 4-7.) The NSA has never stated what the mission of Project Aquarius is.

How could the perpetrator (s) of the hoaxed document that surfaced in 1983 have known of the existence of a Top Secret project named Aquarius under the NSA when that information was not made public until April 15, 1986? As a matter of fact, the NSA even considered the project's name sensitive. Therefore, it would appear that either the perpetrator was damned good at guessing or had inside information.

The next document to be examined is known, within the UFO Community, as the "Snowbird Document." (See doc. 4-8.) It came to the attention of UFO researchers in 1985. I felt certain that the agencies I wrote to, requesting their assessment of the document, would expose the document within weeks as a hoax. However, my efforts to get to the truth of this document almost forced my retirement from the U.S. Army and led the NSA to consider my request for congressional assistance as a matter of "National Security Policy."

A copy of the Snowbird Document came into my possession in April 1985. Believing it to be just another fake, I filed it away. In June 1985, I started to hear stories concerning an alleged underground "alien" base in the area of Dulce, New Mexico. One of these stories dealt with an alleged recovered alien aircraft that crashed during a test flight by the U.S. Government. This raised my interest and I began to look at the Snowbird Document in a new light.

I spent over 700 hours checking the document very carefully, to insure that it conformed to existing Department of Defense (DOD) Directives and Regulations for a classified document. To my amazement, it did. Furthermore, the document seemed to make sense as written. However, this did not make it the valid document of some American governmental agency. I needed more proof before I could accept the document as genuine.

Knowing that Senator Pete Domenici's office had been involved with the alleged crash of the alien aircraft, I decided to call his office and ask what information they had on the alleged incident. I contacted the Senator's Washington office on February 6,1986, and talked to a Mr. Paul Gilrnan there. I was informed that the only involvement the Senator's office had with the case was to inform the individual who contacted the Senator's office what government agency he should notify concerning the alleged crash. I then asked Mr. Gilman if he had any knowledge of an alleged Top Secret document dealing with a Project Snowbird. He stated that he believed the individual who had earlier contacted the Senator had sent such a document. However, all the information sent by that individual had been returned to him. Also, Gilman appeared to want to cut our conversation short.

My brief conversation with Paul Gilman still did not convince me that the document was genuine. After all, the Senator's office apparently had taken no action regarding the alleged incident.

My next step was to write to every government agency that I felt might have knowledge of, or an interest in, the document. At least I felt these agencies would do the same thing the Air Force did with the 1983 document: either confirm the document as genuine or expose it as a hoax. While these agencies did not confirm the Snowbird Document as genuine, they did not deny or expose it as a hoax. (See docs. 4-9, 4-10, 4-11, 4-12, 4-13, 4-14, and 4-15.)

On November 6, 1986, I decided to write Senator Domenici's office for assistance in once and for all getting an answer to whether or not the Snowbird Document was genuine. In a letter dated February 10, 1987, the Senator sent, in reply to my letter, the response his office received from the National Security Agency.

The NSA replied, in part: (See doc. 4-16.)

... his [my] letter asks for NSA analysis of the document he attached. It appears to be an Air Force document. The project names which are referenced, Sigma and Snowbird, are not NSA projects. We have no knowledge of the information contained in the document.

The NSA's response to the Senator shocked me. I felt that the NSA should have realized the document appeared to be a Top Secret document, and that if it was in fact genuine, someone had a security leak since the document does not appear to have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Furthermore, Executive Order 12356 and DOD Directives and Regulations were apparently not being followed.

Executive Order 12356, Part 1, Section 1.2, paragraph e, states:

When an employee, contractor, licensee, or grantee of an agency that does not have original classification authority originates information believed by that person to require classification, the information shall be protected in a manner consistent with this Order and its implementing directives.

The information shall be transmitted promptly as provided under this Order or its implementing directives to the agency that has appropriate subject matter interest and classification authority with respect to this information. That agency shall decide within thirty (30) days whether to classify this information. If it is not clear which agency has classification responsibility for this information, it shall be sent to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office.

The Director shall determine the agency having primary subject matter interest and forward the information, with appropriate recommendations, to that agency for a classification determination.

So, under the above-cited Executive Order, if the NSA could not determine whether the document was genuine, they should have sent it to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office for a determination. It would appear, however, that the NSA had failed to do this.

On April 8,1987,1 delivered to Senator Domenici's Roswell (New Mexico) office another letter, once again requesting his assistance in getting to the bottom of this document. However, this time the NSA phoned the Senator's office and stated that my letter dealt with "National Security Policy" as written and that they would like me to rewrite my letter. I informed the Senator's office that I would be more than happy to rewrite the letter just as soon as the NSA informed me, in writing, what they wanted me to take out. I never got a response or any acknowledgment from either the Senator's office or the NSA.

On June 21, 1987, an article was run in the Roswell Daily Record concerning my contacts with Senator Domenici's office over the Snowbird Document. This article was the result of efforts from my executive officer and adjutant to force my retirement from the U.S. Army after twenty years' service. For the next twelve months, my life was to become a living hell. But that's another story and, hopefully, another book.

I called Senator Domenici's office on August 5, 1987, and asked for the status of my April 8 letter. I was informed by a Mr. Marco Caceras that the NSA really did not want response to my letter. However, Mr. Caceras stated that he would check into the matter. In a letter from the Senator's office dated August 24, 1987 (see docs. 4-17 and 4-18), I received a copy of the interim response from the NSA.

According to that response, the NSA had only received my letter on August 5, 1987. On October 9, Senator Domenici's office sent me a copy of the response they had received from the NSA. In the NSA's response, that agency refused to answer any of my questions concerning the validity of the Snowbird Document.

On January 4, 1988, once again I wrote the Senator's office requesting his assistance in getting someone to either confirm as genuine, or repudiate as a hoax, the Snowbird Document. To date, I have not received a response from either the Senator's office or the NSA. On January 17, 1989,1 called Senator Domenici's office for the last time concerning my January 4 letter. I was informed that the NSA was not going to respond to my letter because my request involved "a matter of National Security Policy."

If classified information is "leaked" to the public, it becomes "compromised." When this happens, the following action is to be taken, as outlined in AR 380-5, paragraph 2-210a:

a. The original classifying authority, upon learning that a loss or possible compromise of specific classified information has occurred, shall prepare a written damage assessment and:

1. Reevaluate the information involved and determine whether

(a) its classification should be continued without change;

(b) the specific information, or parts thereof, should be modified to minimize or nullify the effects of the reported compromise and the classification retained;

(c) declassification, downgrading, or upgrading is warranted;

(d) counter-measures are appropriate and feasible to negate or minimize the effect of the compromise.

2. Give prompt notice to all holders of such information when the determination is within categories (b), (c), or (d) of subparagraph 1, above.
In addition, paragraph 2-207b of AR 380-5 states:

.. .If mere knowledge of the existence of the item of equipment or object would compromise or nullify its national security advantage, its existence would warrant classification.

Could it be that the U.S. Government is test-flying recovered "alien" aircraft?
If not, why not simply tell me that the Snowbird Document is a hoax and put an end to my questioning?
Why does the NSA consider my letters to Senator Domenici's office a matter of "National Security Policy"?
But remember, validation of the Snowbird Document by the U.S. Government would be an admission that we have recovered "alien" aircraft!
Could it be that the Snowbird document is genuine and that the government does not wish to acknowledge it as such due to the National Security reasons stated above?
Is it possible that the document is disinformation by some government agency?

The answers to those questions can only be provided by the U.S. Government. The agencies of the government to which I have written continue to remain noncommittal.

(Table of Documents for Chapter 4)

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CHAPTER FIVE
UFOs and Other Government Agencies

Prior to 1974, very little information concerning UFOs had come out of the Intelligence Community, other than comments by the Air Force. For the most part, the Intelligence Community was denying any knowledge of UFO activity. However, with the passing of the "Freedom of Information Act" by Congress in 1974, it was soon learned that other government agencies were more involved than they wished the public to know.

On July 16, 1978, I wrote the NSA requesting any information they might have on UFOs. I did not receive a response to this first letter, so I wrote them again on February 21, 1979. Finally the NSA responded to my requests under a cover letter dated January 10, 1980. (See doc. 5-1.)

The NSA denied me the release of all their records concerning UFOs, with the exception of two documents; the agency stated that the information was classified in the interests of National Security and to avoid unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. However, they did forward other records they were holding to the agencies that originated them, for these agencies' review and release to me.

In addition, the NSA wanted me to understand that the two documents they did release to me were not,

"NSA reports per se, and they in no way reflect an official NSA position concerning UFOs."

The first NSA document was entitled "UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions." (See doc. 5-2.) Its purpose was, as stated, to,

"consider briefly some of the human survival implications suggested by the various principal hypothesis concerning the nature of the phenomena loosely categorized as UFO."

Under the Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis, the report had this to say:

If "they" discover you, it is an old but hardly invalid rule of thumb, "they" are your technological superiors. Human history has shown us time and again the tragic results of a confrontation between a technologically superior civilization and a technologically inferior people. The "inferior" is usually subject to physical conquest.

The report gave some excellent examples of how an inferior people might survive and maintain their identity.

These were:

full and honest acceptance of the nature of the inferiorities separating you from the advantages of the other people

(2) complete national solidarity in all positions taken in dealing with the other culture

(3) highly controlled and limited intercourse with the other side—doing only those actions advantageous to the foreigner which you are absolutely forced to do by circumstances

(4) a correct but friendly attitude toward the other people

(5) a national eagerness to learn everything possible about the other culture—its technological and cultural strengths and weaknesses. This often involves sending selected groups and individuals to the other's country to become one of his kind, or even to help him in his wars against other adversaries

(6) adopting as many of the advantages of the opposing people as you can, and doing it as fast as possible—while still protecting your own identity by molding each new knowledge increment into your own cultural cast

While the NSA states this is not a official report, it is clear that the writer, an NSA employee, thought the question of survival was an important issue to be addressed seriously in any study of UFOs.

The title of the second document released to me by the NSA is still classified as at least Secret in the interest of National Security—with the exception of the term "UFOs." (See doc. 5-3.) This document deals with the human response to an event of high strangeness such as the sighting of an UFO. The document stated, in part:

Whether the person's psychological structure is being assaulted by the unusual and shocking brutality of a murder or the strangeness of an UFO sighting, the effect is the same.

The document goes on to list those effects.

It is interesting to note that the writer of this document listed in an appendix what he called "Other Examples of Blindness to Surprise Material Causing Defeat." It would appear that the author of this document not only believed in UFOs, but felt that the matter should be taken seriously.

It seems that some government agency was interested in what type of unclassified information the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) had on UFOs in the mid to late 1970s. A government employee requested a bibliography report on "Unidentified Flying Saucers" from the DTIC sometime in the late '70s. (See doc. 5-4.) We have no way of knowing the exact date, as the report is undated.

It is interesting to note that the report considered such subject titles as "An Approach to Understanding Psychotronics" and "A Case of 'Autostasis' or Reverse Autokinesis" as having something to do with UFOs.

The Central Intelligence Agency is the next governmental agency that I wish to discuss.

However, before we begin, let me state that, according to the CIA, its only official involvement in the government UFO investigations was via a Scientific Advisory Panel—known as the Robertson Committee—which met at the direction of the CIA in January 1953. (I also want the reader to know that given the Agency's well-known past history of deception, I have never trusted the CIA to tell the truth about anything.) (See doc. 5-5.)

A CIA document dated January 29, 1976, talks about the physical effect of magnetic fields on astronauts, the possible propulsion system of UFOs, and even recovered fragments of a possible UFO in Brazil. The document, which is greatly censored in the interest of National Security, states: (See doc. 5-6.)

U.S. scientists believe that low magnetic fields do not have a serious effect on astronauts, but high magnetic fields, oscillating magnetic fields, and electromagnetic fields can or do have considerable effect. There is a theory that such fields are closely associated with superconductivity at very low temperatures, such as in space. This in turn is related to the possible propulsion system of UFOs. There is a rumor that fragments of a possible UFO found in Brazil bore a relationship to superconductors and magneto-hydrodynamics.

A series of documents that surfaced from the CIA dating from April through July 1976 deals with a' so-called "UFO Study." (See docs. 5-7, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10, 5-11, 5-12, 5-13, 5-14, and 5-15.) This study apparently was compiled by an individual outside the CIA. Nevertheless, the documents clearly indicate that high-ranking scientists, working within the CIA, had more than a passive interest in this individual's UFO research.

One of the documents had this to say, in part:

At the present time, there are offices and personnel within the agency who are monitoring the UFO phenomena, but again, this is not currently on an official basis, Dr. [censored]... feels that the best approach would be to keep in touch with and in fact develop reporting channels in this area to keep the agency/community informed of any new developments. In particular, any information which might indicate a threat potential would be of interest, as would specific indications of foreign developments or application of UFO related research.

Another document in the series had this to say:

At a recent meeting to evaluate some material from [censored]... you mentioned a personal interest in the UFO phenomena. As you may recall, I mentioned my own interest in the subject as well as the fact that DCD had been receiving UFO related material from many of our S&T sources who are presently conducting related research. These scientists include some who have been associated with the Agency for years and whose credentials remove them from the "nut" variety.

These documents, released by the CIA, give the impression that many of the scientific personnel employed by the CIA are very concerned about the phenomena— and about the government's apparent lack of concern. One can deduce this by the fact that these scientific personnel are doing "related research" without official sanction.

Many of the related documents dealing with this UFO study, as well as the study itself, have never been declassified and released to the public. These papers and documents remain classified in the interests of National Security.

Under a letter dated October 16, 1980, the State Department was kind enough to release five documents to me, and then two other documents a little less than a year later. (See docs. 5-16 and 5-17.) These documents proved to be most interesting in that they discussed, for the most part, an attempt by the Grenadian Delegation to the United Nations to create a organization within the UN for the gathering and exchanging of information on UFO investigations and sightings among the member nations. The documents also showed that the United States' delegation, at the direction of the State Department, was working very hard to insure that this resolution was never passed!

One document dated November 18, 1978, had this to say, among other things: "Please provide instructions on U.S. position to be taken on this matter as well as desired level of visibility. Last year Grenada requested our support and Misoff had to scramble hard behind the scenes to water down the resolution and, in effect, delay a vote for one year. Another consideration is whether to issue a disclaimer on statements made by U.S. Nationals on the Grenadian Delegation." (See docs. 5-18, 5-19, 5-20, 5-21,5-22, and 5-23.)

The United States was able to get the matter referred to the Outerspace Committee, thereby avoiding a vote on the matter. As a document dated December 2, 1978, states:

A draft decision (data-faxed) to be taken by the Special Political Committee [SPC] has been agreed upon by the participants in the informal negotiations, subject to concurrence of their respective capitals. We think referral of the matter to the Outer Space Committee [OSC] without a preordained mandate as to what action is to be taken, provides the flexibility the OSC needs to take whatever action it deems appropriate. It will also obviate the need to vote on a resolution (and gamble on the results).

I wonder what could have been the reasoning behind the United States' interest in blocking a vote? Could it be the U.S. has something to fear or hide?
To be sure, there exist many other U.S. Government agencies—as well as agencies of other countries—that maintain highly classified records on the subject of UFOs. But why?

Are we citizens just too unsophisticated to handle the true facts as to what is really going on?

Will ordinary Americans panic if they were told the truth about unexplained flying objects that have been observed by the U.S. Military?

(Table of Documents for Chapter 5)

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CHAPTER SIX
Recovery Operations

On July 2, 1947, something crashed or landed on a ranch about 7,5 miles northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. At first, the Army Air Force stated to the media that they had recovered a flying disk. However, within hours the military was to change its story and announce that the object was nothing more than a weather balloon.

The testimonies of eyewitnesses, however, clearly indicate that whatever the object was, it definitely was not a weather balloon. We may never know for sure what the object truly was because the military classified the entire incident and has never permitted the files to be opened to the American public.

But this does not prove that the military established a recovery program. So, the question remained "open," for many years—because of lack of proof—as to the existence of any type of formal UFO recovery program.

In 1977 and 1978, many UFO researchers requested that the U.S. Government release whatever information it might have on a "Project Moon Dust." Most of the documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, dealt with alleged fallen space debris—mainly fallen space debris belonging to the United States.

However, one document from the Office of Air Force Intelligence raised more questions than that agency was willing to answer. Also, this document made it clear the neither Project Moon Dust nor "Operation Blue Fly" (see below) dealt with the recovery of U.S. fallen space debris. This project and operation dealt with the recovery of only two items.

These were debris of descended foreign space vehicles and objects of unknown origin. (See doc. 6-1.)

Later, in a 1973 document, the Department of State would require their embassies to use the code word "Moon Dust" when making reports of alleged fallen space debris of unknown origin. (See doc. 6-2.) The document was released to me in April 1982.

On page 3 it reads:

"The designator 'MOONDUST' is used in cases involving the examination of non-U.S. space objects or objects of unknown origin."

As of March 1991, the State Department apparently has reclassified this document as Secret. In the documents released to me that March by the State Department, the 1973 document was identified as a classified document and not releasable.

According to the U.S. Air Force document, Project Moon Dust is a specialized aspect of the Air Force's overall material exploitation program to locate, recover, and deliver descended foreign space vehicles. We shall see, later, that this was to include "objects of unknown origin."

This same document also made mention of "Operation Blue Fly." Operation Blue Fly was established to facilitate expeditious delivery to the Foreign Technological Division (FTD) of Moon Dust other items of great technical intelligence interest. The document makes it clear that UFOs were to be considered for Blue Fly Operations.

Furthermore, the document states:

"These... peacetime projects all involve a potential for employment of qualified field intelligence personnel on a quick reaction basis to recover or perform field exploitation of unidentified flying objects, or known Soviet/Bloc aerospace vehicles, weapons systems, and/or residual components of such equipment."

Wanting to know more about Operation Blue Fly, I wrote to several agencies for whatever information they might have on the subject. The responses I received were interesting, to say the least. Many of the agencies stated that they did not have any information responsive to my request—only to reverse themselves, once documents were released to me by the State Department. Other agencies stated they had information, but that it was classified in the interests of national security and not releasable.

The question remained, however: Were any objects of unknown origin ever recovered? If so, was either Project Moon Dust or Operation Blue Fly involved?

The Department of State released 280 documents to me concerning Project Moon Dust on March 12,1991. Once again, these documents dealt primarily with the recovery of U.S. space objects and several Soviet space objects. However, as a result of my request to the State Department, they uncovered 38 documents belonging to other agencies. These required the respective agencies' approval prior to their release. Some of the documents clearly showed that objects of unknown origin were recovered.

In March 1968, the Government of Nepal recovered four objects believed to have fallen from space. One of these was a nose-cone-shaped object. The American Embassy was made aware of these objects, and was requested to assist in the efforts of the Nepalese Government in identifying the launching state so that these objects could be returned to the country or countries that had originally launched them into space.

The State Department documents dealing with this case were classified at a low level. However, we find that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) documents were classified at the higher level of at least Secret. (See docs. 6-3 and 6-4.)

Furthermore, the DIA did not wish to give out any information on this case, A memorandum for record on one of the DIA documents states:

M/R: Byref a, [censored]... advised sequence [censored]... in obtaining MOON DUST specimens, advised film of nose cone photographed by DATT on 19 July forwarded unprocessed to DIACO-2B, and requested copies of prints of film for [censored]... as well as guidance as to what DATT can tell [censored]... as to identity of object photographed. By ref b, [censored]... requested permission to retransmit ref a [censored]... .

By ref c, FTD requested FTD team [censored]... see items in possession [censored]... or to courier these items back to [censored]... and further requested [censored]... to attempt to obtain results of [censored]... . By ref e, [censored]... stresses need to protect our knowledge of [censored]... this matter, and state we cannot approach [censored]... on any of the objects which [censored]... had in their possession. MSG above coordinated with DIACO-D in draft. (See docs. 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, and 6-8.)

If these objects were of American origin, does it not stand to reason that NASA would have been more involved than the DIA or the Air Force's "FID team"?

As we can see from the above example, the documents released by the DIA are heavily censored. Neither the Department of State nor the DIA has ever informed the Government of Nepal what these objects were. In fact, that bit of information remains classified in the interests of national security to this very day, as do several other such cases.

What could be so sensitive about space junk that it must remain protected after twenty-three years of classification? What is the American Intelligence Community trying to hide in cases such as the one above?

Another item of interest among the DIA documents was one dealing with an alleged satellite recovered in Sudan on August 3, 1967. According to this document:
A satellite, cube shaped, weighing approximately three tons discovered 3 August, 50 miles from Kutum 1425N 2460E. Satellite described as made of soft metal presumably light aluminium in oblong cubes measuring two inches by one inch tightly fastened together and covered by a silky material. Nationality not identified as no inscriptions evident on outer surface. Local authorities in El Fasher have photographs and with difficulty cut samples. (See docs. 6-9 and 6-10.)

Once again, the DIA would not or could not identify the nationality of this object, for it too is classified in the interests of national security. This case is over twenty-four years old.

The documents mentioned above were documents released by the DIA after they were discovered within the Department of State files. The DIA considers the documents within their own files— concerning Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly—to be a matter of national security and not releasable. They remain classified, at least Secret, to this very day.

It should be noted here that since my initial request to the State Department for Moon Dust and Blue Fly information, the State Department seems to have misplaced my request and has no record of it. Therefore, other documents that required coordination between agencies are bogged down in this frustrating lengthy process and, as you have seen, are usually not released or even acknowledged.

In December 1989, I asked the U.S. Air Force for any information they might have on Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly. Both the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Intelligence Agency responded in January 1990 that they did not nave any information responsive to my request. (See docs. 6-11 and 6-12.)

However, in a letter dated May 3,1990, the Air Force Intelligence Agency confirmed they had two such documents. They also stated that these documents were classified in the interests of national security and not releasable. I appealed the Air Force's decision not to release these documents on May 18, 1990. (See doc. 6-13.)

Then, in a letter from the Air Force's Litigation Division dated July 2, 1990, I was informed:

Because of the requirement of conducting a classification review in your case, it will necessarily take more time to complete the appeal review process. (See doc. 6-14.)

Based on this letter from the Litigation Division, I felt sure it would take the Air Force at least another two months to respond to my appeal action. This, strangely enough, was not to be the case.

The Air Force advised me, in a letter dated July 25,1990, that my appeal had been denied because,

The information responsive to your request that is being withheld is properly classified pursuant to Executive Order and is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b) (1), and Air Force Regulation 12-30, paragraph 10a. (See doc. 6-15.)

Although I did not know it at that time, the Air Force would later upgrade the classification of these documents, as well as others uncovered by the State Department, to insure that they would not be released. As a matter of fact, it was after the State Department had sent the documents that were in their possession to the Air Force for review that my FOIA file at the State Department came up missing.

To be sure, the U.S. Air Force Intelligence Agency does not wish the general public to even know of the existence of Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly, as we shall see later on in this chapter. Perhaps this book, along with readers' indignation, will create enough pressure so they are forced to reveal whatever it is they are hiding.

On April 3, 1991, the Air Force received my letter from the State Department along with the documents that department had that belonged to the Air Force and required Air Force review prior to release. The Air Force found it necessary to extend the time on this request twice, in order to "search for, collect, and examine those records responsive to my request."

In the final analysis, the Air Force had uncovered ten documents responsive to the items I had requested. However, the Air Force was no longer calling this information classified. They had, in fact, upgraded the classification to insure that it would not become known to the general public. (See docs. 6-16 and 6-17.)

In its response, dated June 5, 1991, the Air Force was to state:

We can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request...as any other response could reveal classified information concerning military plans, weapons, or operations under section 1.3(a)(1) of Executive Order 12356 "National Security Information." (See doc. 6-18.)

In other words, the U.S. Air Force was now stating that the President of the United States had declared this information so sensitive that the existence or nonexistence of Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly could be neither confirmed nor denied. These documents, regardless of their classification, were now protected under the Special Access Program.

Actually, the Air Force misquoted the wrong section of the Executive Order. They quoted section 1.3(a) (1), which states:

"Information shall be considered for classification if it concerns: (a) military plans, weapons, or operations... ."

While this section would allow for the admission that the information is classified and not releasable, it does not allow for use of the neither-confirm-nor-deny statement. The only section of Executive Order 12356 that allows the use of that statement is section 3.4 (f) (1), which states:

"An agency shall refuse to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of requested information whenever the fact of its existence or nonexistence is itself classifiable under this Order."

On June 10, 1991,1 appealed the Air Force's decision in their letter of June 5. The basis of my appeal was the existence of information, already in the public domain, confirming the existence of both Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly. I felt this should overrule their denial because confirmation had already been made. Apparently this made sense to the Air Force, too.

After more than two months of trying to decide just how to respond to my appeal letter, the Air Force decided it did not have to respond because it had already responded to my request in its July 25, 1990, response, and told me so in a letter dated August 27, 1991:

"No further action is required and this matter is considered closed." (See doc. 6-19.)

This response is so laughable and absurd that it becomes an embarrassment to the Air Force when considered with the following facts:

FACT: The Air Force Intelligence Agency did rightly consider this action separate from my FOIA Request to them on the basis of the documentation forwarded to them by the State Department, as required by Executive Order 12356, section 3.4(f)(2).

FACT: The Air Force Intelligence Agency attempted to respond to the appeal action. However, the Air Force's Litigation Division would not accept any of their responses. I was told by Major Heinz at the Litigation Office that the Air Force Intelligence Agency's response to me was returned for correction after the Litigation's review of that response.

FACT: Based upon the response of the June 5, 1991, letter, the Air Force violated Executive Order 12356, section 3.4(f)(2), which states,

"When an agency receives any request for documents in its custody that were classified by another agency, it shall refer copies of the request and requested documents to the originating agency for processing and may, after consultation with the originating agency, inform the requester of the referral. In cases in which the originating agency determines in writing that a response under section 3.4(f)(1) is required, the referring agency shall respond to the requester in accordance with that section."

In short, the Air Force was not to respond to me at all based on its decision to deny my request under Executive Order 12356, section 3.4(f)(1).

The referring agency in this case was the State Department, and the Air Force's denial was in fact Executive Order 12356, section 3.4(f)(1). Therefore, it should have been the Department of State that responded and not the Air Force.

I have discovered through various documents uncovered in my numerous Freedom Of Information Act requests that prior to November 1961, the United States Air Force was definitely involved in both Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly. Through reviewing a letter from Air Force intelligence known as the Betz memo, I had learned that the missions of Operation Blue Ply and Project Moon Dust involved a potential for employment of qualified field intelligence personnel on a quick reaction basis to recover or perform field exploitation of unidentified flying objects or known Soviet/Bloc aerospace vehicles, weapons systems, and/or residual components of such equipment.

If we have in fact, recovered space vehicles belonging to the then-Soviet Government, we are required by law to return them to the launching state. I do not believe we would violate that law. However, the fact remains that the U.S. Government has recovered what appears to be space vehicles, and even refuses to let the countries in which the recoveries have taken place know what these objects were or even the nationality of the objects.

Now, if we are to believe the Air Force letter to me of June 5, 1991 rebuffing my request for information, it would appear that Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly are considered so sensitive that, by direction of the President of the United States, the U.S. Air Force may neither confirm nor deny their existence or nonexistence.

What could be so sensitive about these programs that the President of the United States wishes their cover-up? Has the U.S. Government violated international law and are some members of the government now trying to cover this up, or have we really recovered space vehicles from some other planet that exists in some other solar system?

Only the censors know for sure. And, of course, the President of the United States.

(Table of Documents for Chapter 6)

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CHAPTER SEVEN
The U.S. Air Force's Self-inflicted Wound

On September 8, 1994, the U.S. Air Force released a document entitled "Report of Air Force Research Regarding the 'Roswell Incident.'" The document, according to the Air Force, is meant to "serve as the final Air Force report related to the Roswell matter, for the General Accounting Office, or any other inquiries."

Actually the document is more of a whitewash than a cover-up. To be sure, the Air Force fell victim to its own officially sanctioned deception program concerning the "Roswell Incident," put in place more than fifty years ago. And, to be sure, the Air Force was willing to sacrifice its Top Secret Project Mogul Program to conceal the truth behind the events of the so-called Roswell Incident. (See docs. 7-1 and 7-2.)

But, why issue such a report at all? The Air Force gave this following justification for doing the report:

During the in-briefing process with GAO, it was learned that this audit was, indeed, generated at the specific request of Congressman Steven Schiff of New Mexico. Earlier, Congressman Schiff had written to the Department of Defense Legislative Liaison Office for information on the "Roswell Incident" and had been advised that it was part of the former UFO "Project Bluebook" that had previously been turned over to NARA by the Air Force. Congressman Schiff subsequently learned from NARA that, although they did, indeed, have the "Bluebook" materials, the "Roswell Incident" was not part of that report. Congressman Schiff, apparently perceiving that he had been "stonewalled" by the DOD, then generated the request for the aforementioned audit.

I have written to many members of Congress requesting their assistance in getting the release of information on this very subject. The Air Force, along with many other agencies, was less than totally responsive to the requests the various congressional offices made in my behalf. At times, the governmental agencies would totally ignore the questions I posed.

Some examples of the foolish government responses I received are:

We have on record of receiving an FOIA request for documents. (Why do I need an FOIA request when I am asking for the release through a Congressional office?)

These missions have never existed. (In this case, the Air Force was forced to reverse that statement when confronted with the evidence of the existence of those missions.)

We cannot determine whether we were the "agency" referred to in the 15 November 1979 USAF letter. (Based on the information I had provided, they certainly could have determined if they were the agency—which, in fact, in this case they were, and they knew it.)

The Air Force, among other governmental agencies, has "stonewalled" other members of Congress whenever those members have asked about the same subject matter. In the case of Congressman Schiff, however, he was able to see through this, got angry, and demanded straight answers. Congressman Schiff continued to be "stonewalled," this time, by the DOD.

The Air Force Statement that,

"During the end briefing process with GAO, it was learned that this audit was indeed generated at the specific request of Congressman Schiff was an effort to punish Congressman Schiff politically for asking an embarrassing question on a subject the Air Force would like to see go away. That the Air Force identified Schiff in their report was a deliberate effort on their part to discredit and harm him politically for probing into areas the Air Force preferred to keep out of the public's eye."

But I have always believed that far too many political leaders dodged hard questions out of fear of this type of retribution. For this reason, I believe Congressman Schiff should be commended for his efforts in seeking out the truth.

In addition, I feel that it should be pointed out that Schiff did not ask the Air Force for documents "proving" UFOs were something extraterrestrial. All he was asking for was documents relating to the Roswell Incident, in order to ascertain what exactly the object recovered was! To be sure, Schiff's requests to the Air Force and DOD should not have even been considered to have anything to do with the UFO phenomenon.

The Air Force report concluded that, once again, the object found was "most likely" a balloon—this time, a Project Mogul balloon train. To be precise, Flight #4 of the Project Mogul balloon trains.

Let's look closely at what is wrong with this conclusion, based on the known facts of the case. The Roswell legend begins with an official news release on July 8,1947. That release reads as follows:

The many rumors regarding the flying discs became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the Sheriffs office of Chaves County.

The object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the Sheriffs office, who in turn notified Major Jesse A. Marcel, of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence office.

The Air Force report admits that they failed to "locate any documented evidence as to why that statement... was made."

The Air Force report further states:

"... it seems that there was over-reaction by Colonel Blanchard and Major Marcel, in originally reporting that a 'flying disc' had been recovered when, at that time, nobody for sure knew what that term meant since it had only been in use for a couple of weeks."

Also, the report makes it clear that the descriptions given by most of the witnesses, "actually described materials that sounded suspiciously like wreckage from balloons."

Furthermore, the report quoted the July 8, 1947, FBI document, which stated in the Air Force report:

The disc is hexagonal in shape and was suspended from a balloon was approximately twenty feet in diameter... the object found resembles a high altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector... disc and balloon being transported.

All the above would seem to be supportive of the Air Force's report. However, if one looks at the whole picture and not just at what the Air Force wishes to reflect in its report, an entirely different conclusion emerges.

The Air Force report states:

...there was no physical difference in the radar targets and the neoprene balloons (other than the numbers and configuration) between Mogul balloons and normal weather balloons.

If this is the case, why would Colonel Blanchard and Major Marcel be fooled by material that made up an everyday weather balloon? Sure, in a Mogul balloon there might be much more of this material than what goes into a normal weather balloon.

However, both Blanchard and Marcel were quite familiar with weather balloon devices and surely would not have been fooled by the material found, even if it appeared that there was much more of the material than what would normally go into a normal weather balloon device. What's more, there were personnel stationed at Roswell Army Air Field who could have readily identified the recovered object as some type of balloon device, even if they were not aware of the existence of Project Mogul.

They found something that, to them, was highly unusual and could not be identified as any balloon device. They believed the material recovered did, if fact, have something to do with the flying disc phenomenon being reported at that time. For this reason, they decided not to release any details concerning the recovered material until after Air Force Intelligence had had a look at the material.

I would also suggest that the Air Force had already come up with a definition of what an Unidentified Flying Object or Flying Disc was, and that the definition went something like this: any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object.

While it is true that the witnesses have given descriptions that seem to fit a weather or Mogul balloon device, these descriptions are not what made the witnesses believe the material was mysterious. It was the strange properties of the material: It could not be bent; you could not put dents in it; it would not tear; it could not be cut; and it would not burn. All of these characteristics are uncharacteristic of any balloon device, Project Mogul or otherwise.

The Air Force report makes the point that even the FBI teletype of July 8, 1947, stated:

"The object found resembles a high altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector." However, the report omitted another key part of that teletype which states, "But that telephonic conversation between their office [Eighth Air Force Headquarters] and Wright Field HAD NOT BORNE OUT THIS BELIEF."

After the object was identified as a balloon, why wasn't the FBI officially notified, so that they could close out the case in their records? Remember, according to the July 8 teletype, they too were left with the impression that the object was something more than a balloon. We can see this confusion by reviewing the language used in the teletype stating that the object "resembles" a weather balloon and not definitively indicating that it was a weather balloon.

Furthermore, the photographs that appeared in newspapers were not of materials consistent with that of a Project Mogul balloon train. The materials that appeared in the newspaper photographs were nothing more than a weather balloon and a RAWIN target. In the Air Force report, none other than Major Irving Newton (USAF, Ret.) states this being the case.

Major Newton indicates in the Air Force report:

"What I know to be true, that is, the material I saw in General Ramey's office was the remains of a balloon and a RAWIN target."

In short, the object in the photographs is a complete, torn-up weather balloon with a RAWIN target device and not what one would expect to see if the material was from a downed Project Mogul balloon train or any other balloon device, being exposed to the elements of weather, that had been in a New Mexico field for several weeks, let alone several days.

Assuming that the object found was a Project Mogul balloon train, why wasn't Professor Moore's group notified of this find at the time, so that his group could have properly identified the object as Mogul Balloon Flight #4? Remember, to this very day the official records show Flight #4 as "unrecovered."

With Project Mogul being, at the time, an important and Top Secret project, why wasn't this action carried out? It was important to recover as many of the Mogul balloons as possible in order to gather the data from them so as to justify both the program's existence and its high classification. Something here doesn't make sense.

The Air Force report takes into account several news stories that appeared during the time of the alleged "Roswell Incident" to support their conclusion that the object was actually a Mogul balloon.

These news stories are:

the July 8, 1947, Roswell Daily Record's report, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region"

the July 9, 1947, Roswell Daily Record's stories entitled "Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer" and "Harassed Rancher Who Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It"

an article published in the Alamogordo Nexus, July 10, 1947, concerning multiple balloons and targets

In the July 8 article it is made clear that the object "landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week." This would seem to indicate that the object was found by the rancher some time during the first week of July 1947. However, in the July 9 article the rancher states that he found the material on June 14 and picked some of it up on July 4 to take to town. In the same July 9 edition of the Roswell Daily Record, the story was dismissing the object as a weather balloon and radar target device.

What the Air Force report doesn't say is that the rancher was escorted by military personnel to give the story that appeared in the July 9 article. Also, the rancher stated in that article, "I am sure what I found was not any weather observation balloon." The rancher was quite familiar with weather balloons, having found two on the ranch prior to this event. Also, the description of the object changed in this article to conform with a balloon that had been exposed to the weather for some time.

The description given in this article is not indicative of the balloon photographs that appeared with the General Ramey article. Furthermore, changing the date of the find from the first week of July to June 14, 1947, would be important to support any belief that the object was a balloon—in particular, Flight #4 of the Project Mogul balloon trains. Again, something here doesn't make sense.

The Air Force report has this to say about the Alamogordo News article of July 10:

However, on July 10,1947, following the Ramey press conference, the Alamogordo News published an article with photographs demonstrating multiple balloons and targets at the same location as the NYU group operated from at Alamogordo AAF. Professor Moore expressed surprise at seeing this, since his was the only balloon test group in the area. He stated, "It appears that there was some type of umbrella cover story to protect our work with Mogul."

At the time this article was released, Project Mogul was a Top Secret project.

Who released the story and for what reason?
Why release such a story at the very location of a Top Secret government project and run the risk of drawing attention to that project?
Could it be that the story was released and the Army Air Force was willing to compromise the Top Secret Mogul project in order to create some type of umbrella cover story to protect another event considered far more sensitive than Project Mogul?

After the Ramey press conference, many of the daily newspapers were not "buying" the balloon story. For this reason, I believe the Army Air Force made a conscious decision to release a story on Project Mogul so that the events in Roswell could be supported as simply a balloon. I also believe that for this reason the Army Air Force convinced the rancher to change the date of the discovery of the object from the first week of July to June 14, thereby supporting the story, even more, that the object was nothing more than Project Mogul Flight #4.

By taking these actions the Army Air Force had put in place an officially sanctioned deception program to confuse and defuse any reporter who would have "gone after" the story, being convinced that the object was not a balloon. Sadly, I believe the Air Force fell victim to its own deception program with the release of its report some fifty years ago.

The Air Force report could not overlook the fact that many people came forth, permitting their names to be used and telling their stories, which did not support the contention that the object was a balloon of any type.

The Air Force report had this to say about these witnesses:

"Persons who have come forward and provided their names and made claims may have, in good faith but in the 'fog of time,' misinterpreted past events."

However, the Air Force did not even consider this a possibility when it came to their own witnesses (those supportive of the conclusion that the object was a balloon). To be sure, if one's testimony supported the Air Force position, one's thinking was intact. However, if the witness's testimony did not support the Air Force conclusion, then that person's thinking was clouded by the "fog of time," according to the Air Force report.

The Air Force, knowing that the testimony of several key witnesses would more than likely not support the balloon conclusion, chose not to question those individuals— individuals such as General Arthur Exon and Colonel Thomas DuBose, to name a few.

While I firmly believe that the Air Force set out to prove the "Roswell Incident" was merely a balloon, I cannot forget the self-serving words of an army colonel. (In this case too, it was important that a conclusion be drawn that supported the U.S. Government's position and not necessarily the right conclusion.) Those convenient words were:

"Witnesses sometimes make conflicting statements to different investigators. Honest men can and may reach different conclusions based on identical evidence."

As for possible classified records, the Air Force "reviewed appropriate classified records for any tie-in to this matter [the Roswell Incident]." This is what the Air Force report had to say about these records:

With regards to highly classified records, it should be noted that any programs that employ enhanced security measures or controls are known as a Special Access Programs (SAPs). The authority for such programs comes from Executive Order 12356 and flows from the Department of Defense to the Services via DOD Directive 5205.7.

These programs are implemented in the Air Force by Policy Directive 16-7, and Air Force Instruction 16-701. These directives contain detailed requirements for controlling and reporting, in very strict manner, all SAPs. This includes a report from the Secretary of the Air Force to the Secretary of Defense (and ultimately to Congress) on all SAPs submitted for approval, and a certification that there are no "SAP-like" programs being operated.

This statement is true in that this is the way SAP-like programs are supposed to work. However, I have yet to find that member of Congress who will admit full knowledge of the Iran-Contra Affair. Also, the National Security Agency (NSA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and most of the other agencies that make up the intelligence network have used SAP-like programs to cover up activities they wished to conceal from Congress.

The Air Force report made no mention of the Air Force's so-called "Blue Room," "Project Moon Dust," or "Operation Blue Fly." All of these missions, in my opinion, would play an important role in any search for the truth as to what the Roswell object really was. Yet, when I asked the Air Force office responsible for the Air Force Report about these missions, the response I received was, "I never heard of those [Blue Room, Project Moon Dust, and Operation Blue Fly] operations."

Senator Barry Goldwater once asked General Curtis LeMay if he could have a look at what was in the Blue Room located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. General LeMay's response was,

"Not only can't you get into it, but don't you ever mention it to me again."

I have letters from Senator Barry Goldwater admitting that he was, in fact, denied access to this facility.

The peacetime missions of both Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly deal with the recovery of, among other things, "objects of unknown origin." The Air Force's response to me, in regard to Freedom of Information requests for information on these two missions, was to neither confirm nor deny their existence. This type of response is indicative of a SAPs-like program.

Yet, according to the Air Force, the records pertaining to these missions were never checked for any possible tie-in with the recovery of "objects of unknown origin." Furthermore, documents released by agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department clearly indicate that UFO reports were collected from foreign countries under the codename "Moon Dust."

I asked for and received the assistance of Senator Jeff Bingaman's office in an effort to get the Air Force's records on Project Moon Dust and Operation Blue Fly released. The Air Force's first response to the Senator's office was:

"... these missions have never existed."

However, I provided the Senator's office with some twenty-three documents clearly showing these "missions" did, in fact, exist. The next request from the Senator's office was provided with a watered-down response in an effort to convince him that these missions were never used—although they did, at one time, exist.

Once again, the documents released by other agencies clearly indicate these missions were used and the watered-down statement provided to the Senator's office were nothing more than an effort on the part of the Air Force to conceal this fact.

Of course, the Air Force, realizing that people like myself would know that it did not check all its records, had this to say:

It is anticipated that detractors from this effort will complain that 'they did not search record group x, box y, or reel z, etc.; that's where the real records are!' Such complaints are unavoidable and there is no possible way that the millions of records under Air Force control could be searched page by page. The team endeavored to make logical searches in those places where records would most likely be found.

To this charge, all I can say is this: Had the Air Force been more concerned about being as fully open as possible when "detractors" such as myself asked them questions about such things as the Blue Room, Project Moon Dust, Operation Blue Fly, etc., they would not be caught in this embarrassing dilemma.

Remember, the Air Force has always insisted that there was nothing classifiable about UFOs.

However, when questioned about UFOs, in connection with the above-mentioned missions, the Air Force response was:

"... these missions have never existed";

"... the information necessary to respond to your request is properly classified"; or

"... we may neither deny nor confirm the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request."

Such "complaints" are avoidable in our form of government. It's called being open and honest with the American people they are supposed to be serving—something the Air Force, among other governmental agencies, has yet to learn.

The Air Force report had this to say about early consideration of extraterrestrial spacecraft:

All the records, however, indicated that the focus of concern was not on aliens, hostile or otherwise, but on the Soviet Union. Many documents from that period speak to the possibility of developmental secret Soviet aircraft overflying U.S. airspace. This, of course, was of major concern to the fledgling USAF, whose job it was to protect these same skies.

But first, where did the Air Force get the idea that Congressman Schiff was looking for "proof of extraterrestrial spacecraft?

Schiff and his staff have made it quite clear that they were looking for records (documents) as to what the Roswell object really was—nothing more, nothing less. The one thing that Congressman Schiff and his staff was not looking for was evidence of "extraterrestrial spacecraft." Secondly, the Air Force's statement can only be made out of its ignorance of its early history in dealing with the flying disc phenomenon.

In July or August 1948, the Air Technical Intelligence Center did a Top Secret study of the flying disc phenomenon. The study was in the form of an "Estimate of the Situation"—the situation being flying discs, and the assumption being that they, the flying discs, were interplanetary. However, the late, General Hoyt S. Vandenberg would not "buy" the possibility of interplanetary spacecraft, and he ordered that some highly unusual actions be taken with regard to this report.
General Vandenberg directed that the report be declassified and then destroyed.

If a report is classified, you may order its destruction without declassifying it. However, you must complete a documented record of its destruction. If a document is declassified, then there exists no reason for its ordered destruction—it would be considered not to have any national security value.

So, why did Vandenberg order this document to first be declassified and then destroyed?

Could it be that he took this action in order to insure that the American public would never see or even know of the existence of this document?

If you order a classified document destroyed, there is a documented record of its existence and destruction. However, if you order a document to be declassified and then destroyed, no such record exists.

I think General Vandenberg's actions speak for themselves.

In conclusion, I believe the Air Force set out in advance to "prove" that the Roswell object was nothing more than a balloon device. During their research, the Air Force came across the "evidence" that was planted fifty years ago as part of an officially sanctioned deception and disinformation program to conceal the events that occurred at Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947; and even then, the best the Air Force could come up with was that the object was "most likely" Flight #4 of Project Mogul.

Furthermore, I believe the Air Force at that time was willing to sacrifice Project Mogul to further conceal the events that had occurred in Roswell. Remember, after the release of the story that appeared in the Alamogordo News on July 10, 1947, the security of Project Mogul had effectively been both breached and compromised.

I believe history will record the following about the so-called "Roswell Incident": Whatever was found on that day in July 1947 will never be fully known. The object will be whatever you wish it to be. I further believe that no government on the face of this Earth will ever be honest enough to tell its people the whole truth about UFOs. Not even the United States Government, as much as I wish they would.

We now know that most world governments have highly classified records dealing with UFO sightings and that many of these sightings/incidents cannot be readily explained away, even after careful analysis. We also know that much of this information is shared among the many countries involved.

So, one might ask, if this is truly the case:

Who is the information being kept from— and why?

The Air Force will never be in a position of explaining away many of the reported UFO sightings/incidents, even with the many advances of modern-day science.
Many incidents of Unidentified Flying Objects still continue to be reported from around the world, and science has yet to evolve to that point of perfection that might solve and answer the many questions the phenomenon invokes.

The greatest mystery of the twentieth century will, in my opinion, continue to be the greatest mystery of the twenty-first!

(Table of Documents for Chapter 7)

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