1971 Australian UFO file

Westall Public School, Melbourne, Australia, 1966.

Introduction

Since the early 1990s a number of Australian government and agency files and archival records dealing with UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters have been declassified from Secret to open and released by the National Archives of Australia. A large amount of material had also been destroyed over the years since the late 1940s and never preserved. The following transcripts are taken from one such released former secret file compiled by the Australian Department of Defence and specifically relating to the operations of the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) in regards to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO). The transcribed report / minute paper dates from 1971, though it includes material dating back to the 1950s. Significant information is found therein relating to the actions of the United States government and the US Air Force and CIA in regard to various secret programs and manipulation of the public's perceptions of, and attitude towards, UFOs and extraterrestrial lifeforms. Much of that information remains classified in the US. The following transcription clearly reveals the extent of the US coverup of anything to do with UFO and extraterrestrials / Aliens.

NB: Throughout the Australian report, the plural of UFO is typed as UFO's. The present writer has edited that throughout to the standard plural UFOs. Also, the spelling of the word extraterrestial has been expanded to the modern-day extraterrestrial.

Abbreviations

AERE - Atomic Energy Research Establishment (United Kingdom)
AISS - (United States)
ATIC - Air Technical Intelligence Centre (United States)
CIA - Central Intelligence Agency (United States)
DAFI - Directorate of Air Force Intelligence (Australia)
DSTI - (Australia)
GRUDGE - UFO investigation program / project (United States)
JANAP 146 - Legal restriction on mentioning UFOs (United States)
JIB
NICAP - National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (United States)
OSI - Office of Scientific Intelligence (United States)
SIGN - UFO investigation program / project (United States)
USAF - United States Air Force

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Department of Defence

Joint Intelligence Organization

Minute Paper - Reference 3092/2

Subject: SCIENTIFIC AND INTELLIGENCE ASPECTS OF THE UFO PROBLEM

Director: (Through DSTI)

The two documents attached are intended to focus on aspects of the UFO problem that have tended to remain hidden. The report dealing with the US attitude has been compiled from official reports and statements made by the CIA, US Air Force, Congressional hearings and Project Blue Book records. The second document deals with evidence for weapon systems used by UFOs. The evidence has been culled from computerised records collected by Dr Vallee in collaboration with Dr Hynek at North - Western University and represents only a fraction of world-wide reports dealing with the same weapon systems. Australia has had its share of this kind of reporting.

2. Intelligence aspects include assessment of real from false reporting, capabilities of propulsion methods and possible weapons used, motivation of operations (harmful or not, defensive, offensive, scientific etc ) for both short - term and long - term and whether there are more effective ways to detect these operations or defend them if necessary.

27th May 1971 [Signature] (O.H. TURNER) Head, Nuclear Branch

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SUMMARY

1. The early analyses of UFO reports by USAF intelligence indicated that real phenomena were being reported which had flight characteristics so far in advance of U.S. aircraft that only an extraterrestrial origin could be envisaged . A government agency,which later events indicated to be the CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI), studied the UFO reports with the intention of determining the UFO propulsion methods. At that time, OSI was responsible for intelligence on foreign research and development in nuclear and missile matters.

2. The CIA became alarmed at the overloading of military communications during the mass sightings of 1952 and considered the possibility that the USSR may take advantage of such a situation. As a result, OSI acting through the Robertson-panel meeting of mid-January 1953, persuaded the USAF to use Project BLUE BOOK as a means of publicly "debunking" UFO , and at a later stage to allocate funds for the Avro advanced "saucer" aircraft and the launching of a crash programme into anti-gravity power. To initiate such programmes decades ahead of normal scientific development would indicate that the U.S. Government acknowledged the existence of advanced "aircraft" which presumably used a gravity-control method of propulsion. An additional motivation could have been the fear that the USSR would achieve this goal before the U.S.

3. By erecting a facade of ridicule, the U.S . hoped to allay public alarm, reduce the possibility of the Soviet taking advantage of UFO mass sightings for either psychological or actual warfare purposes, and act as a cover for the real U.S. programme of developing vehicles that emulate UFO performances . The RAAF together with many other countries of the world give credence only to the USAF public facade and appear to have uncritically accepted the associated information. This information has been widely discredited by retiring U.S. service personnel formerly engaged on UFO investigations, as well as by scientists and private citizens.

4. The conclusions of the Condon report conflict with its own contents and has been discredited by many reputable scientists including the UFO scientific consultant to the USAF. In accordance with the recommendations of the Condon report, Project BLUE BOOK was terminated, but presumably this would have little effect on the main program.

5. It would appear wrong for Australia to remain ignorant of the true situation. We lack an intelligence viewpoint that can assess the nature and possible consequences of the problem, a scientific viewpoint that could derive scientifically valid data from the reports and a public relations viewpoint that can honestly satisfy public interest. To overcome these deficiencies in the Australian investigation of UFOs, it would seem that a strong case exists for the acceptance of the RAAF suggestion that another government department assume responsibi1ity for the investigation and analysis of UFO reports.

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U.S. OFFICIAL ATTITUDE TO UFOs

1. In June of 1947 the Air Technical Intelligence Centre (ATIC) near Dayton, Ohio, assumed a responsibility to investigate the initial reports of 'flying saucers'. Within a month it was considered that the phenomena were real and probably of Soviet origin. By the end of the year, when ATIC was officially authorised to investigate under the project code name of SIGN and with a high priority, most of the investigators were focusing on an interplanetary rather than a Soviet origin. These opinions were crystalized into a written estimate that was sent to the Pentagon in September 1948. When the interplanetary conclusions were rejected on the grounds of insufficient bard evidence, a reaction set in at ATIC against trying to unravel the UFO problem.

2 . In February 1949, ATIC personnel on Project SIGN were replaced with new personnel to form Project GRUDGE. A definite attempt was made during 1949 to use Project GRUDGE to destroy any acceptance of UFOs. The motives for this are not clear: possibly Air Force embarrassment at being incapable of controlling the situation and/or a fear of national panic prompted USAF to try and remove the problem by denying its existence. Another possible motive may have been to provide a breathing space for another "investigative agency" to reach some conclusion; the agency had been assisting ATIC through 1948 and, contrary to official USAF policy, was maintaining a high level of interest during 1949. This governmental agency was not the FBI, and had rocket, nuclear and intelligence experts; their purpose was to study UFO reports in an effort to gather design data on interplanetary spaceships. In the light of later developments, this agency was almost certainly the CIA.

3. Project GRUDGE failed to eliminate the UFO problem. UFO reports in 1949 actually exceeded the number in 1948, and several people who had gained access to earlier official reports were able to contradict the USAF. Journalists generally felt that GRUDGE reporting represented a cover to a more serious knowledge. Eventually, USAF intelligence decided that a fresh approach to the problem was necessary. Between September 1951 and the establishment of Project BLUE BOOK in March 1952, UFO investigation regained adequate financial and administrative support to once again analyse the collected data. Project BLUE BOOK was able to process the data from 3,200 reports into a form suitable for their consultants to be able to use IBM card-sorting machines.

4. The summer of 1952 saw a more than twenty-fold rise in the normal rate of reporting and included the two extensive July sightings involving Washington D.C. This marked increase in sightings had diverse effects. A component of USAF intelligence considered that UFOs were interplanetary spaceships which were about to make closer contact. To prepare the public for this possibility, 41 previously classified reports were released for publication between August 1952 and February 1953. These reports contradicted the earlier official USAF policy of dismissing the reports as misidentifications etc. On the other hand, tho CIA regarded the summer UFO activity as a threat to national security mainly because the resulting crowded communications and defence forces involvement lessened the level of national alertness against possible enemy attack.

5. A scientific panel chaired by B.P. Robertson was convened by the Office of Scientific Intelligence of the CIA during mid-January 1953 for the purpose of recommending future action on the UFO problem. Briefings were made both by CIA and USAF. ATIC personnel showed the then classified two movie films of UFOs and the early results of statistical analysis of 3,200 reports. Because of the vital issues involved, the panel felt restricted to recommending that the investigation be continued, but with increased personnel and equipment. The USAF responded promptly with an instruction to comply with these recommendations.

6. The CIA, however, in a report dated 16 February 1953 showed a preference to publicly abandon the investigation whilst intensifying the collection of data. By September 1953 the CIA position had been largely achieved with Project BLUE BOOK reduced from a staff of ten qualified personnel operating at a top secret level to a virtually inactive project involving one airman. The investigating component had been transferred to the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron which was trained in rapid intelligence procurement and reported to Air Defence Command and USAF Intelligence Washington rather than BLUE BOOK. Direct access between the 4602nd AISS and all USAF units was authorized by AFR 200-2 whereas previously this privilege had been given to BLUE BOOK. Although only the airman (first-class) remained in September 1943, BLUE BOOK was later built up to one officer, one sergeant, one secretary, and a part-time consultant Dr J. Allen Hynek, staying at about this level until it was closed down in December 1969. During this time BLUE BOOK served mainly as a means of supplying unclassified summaries of UFO identifications to the public, and did not form a vital link in collection or serious analysis.

7. Control of public awareness of the UFO situation was tightened by the issuing of JANAP 146 in 1953 which prohibited service personnel from discussing UFOs by threatening defaulters with up to 10 years gaol and up to a $10,000 fine. When service personnel resigned or retired, however, it was possible to reveal USAF attitudes or opinions even if actual data was still restricted. In this way many Intelligence Officers associated with the UFO problem, including Major D. Fournet who was BLUE BOOK Project Officer at the Pentagon until late 1952, Captain E. Ruppelt who headed Project GRUDGE and Project BLUE BOOK until September 1953 and Admiral Hillenkoetter who directed CIA from its inception until October 1950, on retiring from the services, all publicly stated that the U.S. Government knew UFOs were extra-terrestrial but was withholding this fact from the public.

8. When the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was formed in 1956 to counter the publicly suppressed USAF investigation of UFOs, the first Chairman was Admiral D.S. Fahrney who had directed the Navy's guided missile programme from its inception . Apart from Admiral Hillenkoetter, Major Keyhoe and Major Fournet, other Directors have included Rear Admiral H.B. Knowles, General A. Wedemeyer and Col J.J Bryan (who was a special assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force). To reduce the effect of these and similar defections from official policy after retirement , the revised JANAP 146E, passed in 1960, made it an offence under the Espionage Act if data on UFOs were revealed.

9. The change in style of USAF reporting before and after the Robertson panel meeting is clearly indicated in the Project BLUE BOOK Special Report No.14. The body of the report prepared between March 1952 and early 1953, although biased in favour of a natural explanation for UFOs, nevertheless showed mathematically that the evidence favoured an explanation that was scientifically unknown. This section of the 316 page report was not released to the public other than as a copy to be consulted, assuming the reader knew of its existence. Public distribution was made, however , of a so-called "summary" which in fact did not summarise, nor scarcely allude to the 1947-52 data, but concentrated on 1953-55 reporting which was clearly designed to reduce the residual unknowns to an insignificant number, no matter how senseless the identification became.

10. Within the body of the difficult-to-obtain report there is an interesting diagram. The product of the estimated observer reliability and the report reliability became the sighting reliability. The percentage of reports that had to be registered as "unknown" (i .e. incapable of being even approximately identified as a known object) increased as the sighting reliability improved. Conversely, the percentage listed as "insufficient information" decreased with improving reliability.

11. Throughout the years of the UFO phenomenon, there has been a persistent form of official pronouncements which state that the percentage of unknowns would be reduced if more data were available. The above table contradicts that statement. Reports of excellent reliability generally stem from astronomers, pilots, scientists, surveyors, meteorologists, radar operators etc. complete with instrumented values and accurately detailed accounts. The introduction of good reliable reporting prevents the ready prosaic interpretation. In all probability the overall average percentage of unknowns (19 .7%) would have been substantially increased if the data had been more reliable.

12. Project BLUE BOOK consultants statistically tested the unknown object population to determine the likelihood that it was similar to the population of identified objects and found that the probability was less than one in 10 to the 28th (i .e. using the American system, the odds were ten thousand trillion trillion to one against the unknowns being the same as the knowns). Since the consultants had arbitrarily called all green fireballs and short duration (i.e. less than five seconds) night-time sightings as known astronomical objects there was an undue preponderance in that category. Hence, assuming that non-astronomical objects were left in the unknowns, the statistical tests were repeated with astronomical identifications removed. The odds were reduced to one trillion trillion to one. The analysts could not find a way to reduce those odds sufficiently further to warrant additional testing, and irrationally considered the results to be "inconclusive".

13. While PROJECT BLUE BOOK endeavoured to reduce the official number of unknowns - in 1957 they claimed only 14 out of 1,006 sightings remained unidentified - the covert programme expanded considerably. The government agency (almost certainly CIA) that had been collecting data on UFO performance and propulsion methods during 1948-52 presumably influenced U.S. governmental funding of certain advanced projects. One project was the Canadian Avro saucer. A drawing of this saucer released in October 1955, showed a typical flying disc as described in many UFO reports . The Secretary of the Air Force , D.A. Quarles, appeared moderately confident that such a vehicle would be successfully developed by the U.S.

14. A more astounding decision on the part of the U.S . Government was to allocate considerable funds to investigate gravity and a means of controlling gravity. Despite the fact that science had not attained a level of competence to deal with either gravity or anti-gravity problems and the only theory that might be applicable was Einstein's Unified Field Theory which was still incomplete at the time of his death, the U.S. chose to support six universities and government agencies in an all-out drive to conquer the problem. It is significant that at this time the current theories on UFO propulsion were a mixture of gravity control and electro-magnetic propulsion.

15. During 1955, because insufficient staff could be recruited for the project, recourse was made to an urgent appeal for theoretical physicists and mathematicians from AERE Harwell, U.K. The six Gravity Research Centres being established were at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.), Princeton University, University of Indiana, Purdue University Research Foundation, University of North Carolina and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through the (Roger Babson) Gravity Research Institute (New Boston N.H.). The latter institute is a non profit organization founded in 1949 with George H. Rideout as President. It was believed that to make a gravity motor, a gravity differential was required which necessitated the discovery of an insulator, deflector or absorber of gravity. By 1955, 485 essays had been written on this subject and awards totalling $10,800 made for original contributions.

16. The scientists involved included Teller from the University of California, Oppenheimer and F.J. Dyson of the Institute of Advanced Studies , J.A. Wheeler and Richard Arnowitt of Princeton, Vaclay Hlavaty of the University of Indiana (who had worked with Einstein in Prague) and Stanley Deser. The objective was to control gravity. During 1955 the following firms entered into gravity and/or electromagnetic programmes: Glenn L. Hartin Aviation Co. (specifically Dr B. Heirn from Goettingen University and Dr P . Jordan from Hamburg University), Convair of San Diego, Bell Aircraft of Buffalo, Sikorsky Division, Lear Inc. of Santa Monica, Clarke Electronics of Palm Springs, California, and Sperry Gyroscope Division of Great Neck, Long Island, N.Y.

17. Such an intensive onslaught on the gravity enigma was entirely irrational from the standpoint of conventional science, and can only be rationalized within the context of a firm belief that UFOs were real and that the intelligences behind them knew how to control gravity. The drive to harness this power before the USSR could do so would be a strong incentive for the U.S. Government to fully support an anti- gravity programme. By 1966, 46 separate projects of this nature were being financially supported, 33 of which were under the supervision of the U.S. Air Force. Although details of most of these projects have been kept classified it would appear that generally they have not been successful. Work on gravitational waves by J. Weber and his associates under USAF Cambridge Research Laboratory jurisdiction has been reported fairly extensively since 1966.

18. During August of 1965 Project BLUE BOOK received 262 reports which was about six times the average number for a month and was twice any previous month since November 1957. On 28 September 1965 Maj. Gen. LeBailly, Director of Information, formally requested the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board to review Project BLUE BOO . The review suggested that the limited Project BLUE BOOK staff and the official investigating officers did not possess the technical competence to properly identify the phenomena and that university teams should be appointed to investigate selected sightings. This conclusion was supported by the House Armed Services Committee which met on April 5th 1966 in the shadow of a public furore consequent to the USAF identifying the well-publicised Michigan sightings as being swamp gas. The Colorado University was selected for the task and Dr Edward U. Condon appointed to lead the project with an initial allocation of $313,000 later raised to $525,000.

19. The Colorado project became discredited when Dr Condon stated publicly on 25th January 1967 that "my attitude right now is that there's nothing to it, but I'm not supposed to reach a conclusion for another year" . The revealing of a memorandum outlining a method to trick the public, combined with a general dissatisfaction at Condon's biassed attitude, led to the dismissal and resignation of most of the staff after most of the investigations had been made but not completely written up. The final report of 965 pages lacked coherence. Condon's conclusions were at variance with individual staff conclusions, although only Condon's conclusions were publicised. As a result of the Condon report, USAF closed down Project BLUE BOOK shortly before the American Association for the Advancement of Science held a special meeting to counter-act the effect of the Condon report. The Chairman of the Special Committee, Dr Thornton Page, was one of the signatories to the Robertson report.

20. Dr J. Allen Hynek , scientific consultant to Project Blue Book 1948-69, began his association with a conviction that all sightings could be conventionally explained. Even though doubts grew in his mind, he found himself obliged to support official USAF public policy. Since 1966, however, he has become more outspoken against the USAF attitude and has assisted to convene both congressional hearings and scientific symposia on the subject. Although initially supporting the Condon Committee he became disillusioned and critical of it with the passage of time. It is quite clear that Dr Hynek along with many other reputable scientists do not accept the USAF explanation of misidentification, hysteria or hoax.

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RAAF ATTITUDE TO UFOs

1. The Directorate of Air Force Intelligence is the component of the RAAF that is responsible for the analysis of all official reporting of Unidentified Flying Objects. At no stage has there been more than one part-time officer allocated to this task. Initial investigation of reports is often undertaken by a part time investigator from nearby air bases. The RAAF admits that its interests lie solely in the area of air defence and it lacks both interest and competence to consider the scientific aspects. A 1957 request for the Scientific Intelligence section of JIB to accept UFO responsibility was r ejected by JIB. In 1968, the Department of Air stated that it intended ''to take up further the question of Commonwealth departments, e.g. Defence, Supply, Education and Science, Prime Minister's Department etc. to see whether some other Commonwealth Agency is better placed to assume responsibility for Unidentified Flying Objects. At the same time we would maintain our interest in the matter and work with any other Commonwealth agency who is considered to be more appropriate as a co-ordinating agency for the Commonwealth as a whole". There does not appear to have been any fulfillment of this intention to seek Commonwealth assistance.

2 . In support of the RAAF's admission of scientific disinterest, an identification list of all sightings made between 1960 and 1965 contains 15 identifications of Venus, not one of which is valid. In every case Venus was in a totally different part of the sky or not even above the horizon. Out of 37 meteor identifications, only 9 could possibly be meteors and even several of those cases would be doubtful. This off-hand unscientific attitude to identification did not escape the notice of the press or various scientists.

3 . In general , the RAAF attitude has been guided by the USAF public releases which were aimed at allaying public interest by denying the reality of UFO s. Consequently , most of the Australian reports were given identifications without a great concern for rational correlation. Most investigators and collectors regarded their UFO tasks as an intrusion into their more legitimate tasks. As a result, there has been a negligible scientific analysis of the data and most opinions expressed by DAFI have been largely a reflection of the USAF public attitude. With the present reduced staff of DAFI it is unlikely that UFO reports will receive any treatment beyond filing.

4. If Australia is to follow the U.S. lead, then instead of following the public USAF attitude, it would be preferable to follow the USAF/CIA role of concentrating on gaining a knowledge of the power sources involved. However, it may be preferable to act independently of the U.S. and initiate a programme that is scientifically sound and intellectually honest towards unravelling the UFO mystery. In such a venture, it may be worthwhile working somewhat closer to the public than is usual in the U.S. and U.K.

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CHRONOLOGY OF U.S. INVESTIGATION INTO UFO PHENOMENA

* 24 June 1947 - Arnold sighting of nine "saucers" creates public interest.

* June 1947 - Investigations initiated by Air Technical Intelligence Centre (ATIC) of Air Material Command (AMC, Army Air Forces) at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Initially Soviet advanced aircraft were suspected.

* 26 July 1947 - National Security Act creates both the USAF and CIA.

* 23 September 1947 - Lt Gen . Twining (AMC) requested the Commander Army Air Forces to issue an authority, priority and code name for the investigation of "flying discs". Preliminary conclusions by AMC were that the phenomena were "real and not visionary or fictitious", that the objects were mostly disc-shaped about the size of man-mace aircraft and were intelligently controlled. Any U.S. attempt to design aircraft of similiar performance would be costly, time-consuming and detrimental to other projects. Investigations by AMC would continue pending further advice.

* 30 December 1947 - Authority given to AMC to investigate the phenomena on a priority 2A basis under the code-name Project Sign. Minimum classification was Restricted, reports were to be made quarterly and data exchanged with interested parties.

* 15 January 1948 - USAF officially a separate service.

* 22 January 1948 - Project Sign starts officially.

* 24 July 1948 - Near-collision between DC3 and UFO prompt ATIC to write an Estimate of the Situation.

* September 1948 - The Top Secret Estimate was forwarded to the Pentagon. The conclusion that UFOs were of interplanetary origin was not acceptable to the Air Force Chief of Staff ( General Vandenberg) who insisted on demonstrable proof not circumstantial evidence. ATIC was unable to provide UFO hardware or detailed photographs.

* 13 December 1948 - Dr J.E. Lipp of the Rand Corporation replied to the Director or Research and Development, USAF, that if the flying objects were inter-planetary they would most likely originate from Mars although intelligent life as we know it would "be more occupied with survival than we are on Earth''. Our present technology cannot conceive as to how an inter-stellar race could reach Earth, even though it is conceded that there is a high probability that intelligent life does exist within say 16 light-years from Earth.

* January 1949 - USAF orders Project Sign to be come Project Grudge which should terminate before the end of 1949.

* February 1949 - Final report of Project Sign (TR-2274-IA of the Technical Intelligence Division AMC) recommended that only a minimum effort be devoted to recording, analyzing and evaluating reports, but on the other hand where factual evidence such as photographs, radar, physical evidence and data on size and shape is involved, every effort should be made to collect this evidence. Radio alerts to other military units should be made.

* 11 February 1949 - Project Sign officially becomes Project Grudge. According to Ruppelt, Sign personnel either volunteered to leave or were compelled to leave, after which they were replaced by personnel willing to ridicule the concept of UFOs. During 1949 Grudge personnel did not follow up reports.

* August 1949 - Secret Technical Report No.102 AC 49/15-100 "Unidentified Flying Objects - Project Grudge of about 600 pages issued, with the conclusion that all reports were the result of misidentifications, mass hysteria and hoaxes even though they admit to 23% of the reports as being "unknown". The report was declassified 1 August 1952.

* 27 December 1949 - Department of Defense news release stated that the Air Force's flying saucer project had been terminated.

* March 1950 - Publication of a report, previously cleared by the U.S. Army, describing the tracking of a UFO by an official team led by Commander McLaughlin at the White Sands (missile) proving ground. From the tracking data, it was concluded that the UFO required an extraterrestrial origin.

* 14 September 1951 - On learning that ATIC was not investigating UFO reports, the USAF Director of Intelligence (General Cahill) ordered Project Grudge to be revitalized. This was acted upon at once.

* 27 October 1951 - Project Grudge now headed by Capt. Ruppelt.

* March 1952 - Project Grudge renamed Project Blue Book. By this stage the staff had built up to 10, all with Top Secret clearances, and a highly qualified research group of consultants provided expertise. As part of Project Stork, this research group (RAND is a possibility) started to transcribe data onto IBM cards for future analysis.

* 24 April 1952 - Air Force Letter 200-5 ordered all USAF units to wire UFO reports direct to ATIC with a copy to the Pentagon. Project Blue Book was permitted to contact any USAF unit directly, allowing rapid investigation.

* June - August 1952 - During 1948-51 the average monthly number of reports was 15, but during June, July and August of 1952, the average was 337 including 536 during July. The UFOs were not only seen in greater numbers, but there was a greater number of reliable witnesses. Several sensitive Atomic Energy Commission plants and defence units were subjected to close approaches. Defence communications were being overloaded and there were fears that U.S. reaction time against enemy action was being hindered.

* 19/26 July 1952 - Two series of radar-visual sightings over Washington National airport, the Capitol and White House electrified the nation. As a result of the upsurge of interest in scientific and military circles, the interplanetary hypothesis gained ground despite official efforts to explain away the sightings.

* 21 August 1952 - USAF started releasing ATIC reports to the UFO author, Major Keyhoe, for publication. This was a completely unexpected change of policy. The contents of these reports refuted the public pronouncements made by the USAF. In addition a USAF spokesman agreed that the attempt to explain the Washington sightings as due to anomalous propagation could not be upheld.

* 21 November 1952 - CIA arranged four government scientists to meet at ATIC for three days as a preliminary review panel to decide on recommendations for a higher-level panel of six scientists. The Office of Scientific Intelligence, CIA, convened in Washington D.C., a panel of six scientists, Drs H.P. Robertson (Chairman), Luis Alvarez, Lloyd Berkner, Samuel A. Goudsmit, Thornton Page and one other. After three days of evidence, a two-page secret report that was prepared on the fourth day, concluded that there was no direct threat to national security but that there was an indirect threat to "the orderly functioning of the protective organs of the body politic". It was recommended that national security agencies should "strip the UFOs of the special status they have been given" and to educate the public accordingly.

* 16 February 1953 - CIA issued a larger but still secret report on the meeting, summarising the eight half-day sessions and outlining panel members' individual viewpoints. The lack of artifacts of clear extraterrestrial origin was a strong argument against acceptance of the extraterrestrial hypothesis. The panel agreed with the CIA concern that enemy artifacts may be misidentified by U.S. defence personnel, that emergency reporting channels be overloaded and that the public may become vulnerable to enemy psychological warfare. The public should be educated to recognise balloons, meteors, etc . and a policy of "debunking" should be introduced in order to reduce public interest. This "training and debunking" programme would be required for "a minimum of one and one half to two years. Some expansion of the ATIC effort would certainly be required to support such a programme". A professional staff of 12 supported by an administrative staff was suggested.

* 1953 - Section III, Title 18 of the Joint Army, Navy and Air Force Publication (JANAP 146) legislated that service personnel talking about UFO sightings were liable to 1-10 years gaol and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

* 26 August 1953 - Air Force Regulation (AFR 200-2) removes investigation authority from Project Blue· Book in favour of the Air Defence Command's 4602 Air Intelligence Service Squadron, a unit dispersed over area commands, and trained both for rapid access to remote areas and to interrogate enemy personnel. The Air Force requires immediate reporting to evaluate the threat, and detailed reporting to assist technical analysis. All written reports are to be sent to USAF Intelligence in Washington, mainland report first going to Air Defense Command for distribution to "interested investigative agencies". Electrical reports are addressed to both these headquarters and to ATIC. The public is to be informed of the results of individual cases only when "the object is positively identified us a familiar object." Headquarters USAF will release summaries of evaluated data to the public.

* September 1953 - When the head of Project Blue Book departed, the staff was reduced to just one airman (first-class). All instrumentation plans had been negated except for diffraction cameras which had been shown to be useless.

* 1 February 1954 - The distribution of 275 diffraction-grating cameras (200 to U.S. bases and 75 to overseas bases) was completed.

* 17 February 1954 - Airline pilots at a meeting at the Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, were coerced by military intelligence using JANAP 146 to agree to not informing the public of their sightings, and confine their reporting to official channels.

* 15 May 1954 - USAF Chief of Staff, General Nathan Twining , stated "The best brains in the Air Force are working on this problem of Unidentified Flying Objects, trying to solve this riddle." General Twining was not referring to Project Blue Book.

* 10 June 1954 - Deputy Commander of Intelligence at ATIC, Colonel O'Mara, stated that more than a thousand people were working on the problem.

* 2 February 1955 - William P. Lear, Chairman of Lear Inc., Santa Monica stated that because of flying saucers, serious efforts were being made in the U.S. to prove the existence of anti-gravitational forces.

* 23 August 1955 - Revealed that the U.S. Government had taken over the Canadian Avro 'flying saucer' project. This was a circular aerofoil powered by jets and designed to take-off and land vertically, hover, travel at 1500 mph and change direction rapidly. The design specifications for performance and shape were clearly directly related to UFO reporting. The project was started in 1951-52 and in 1954 after $400,000 had been spent, the Canadian Government withdrew its financial backing. When the U.S. assumed control over the project it imposed a high level of security, preventing even Canadian officials from inspecting the premises. At the press release meeting on 25 October 1955 for the Special Report No . 14, photographs of a drawing of the proposed version showed a typical flying disc.

* 25 October 1955 - Release of Project Blue Book Special Report No .14 dated 5 May 1955. The report was originally compiled by Project Blue Book research consultants who analysed 3,200 reports out of 4,000 received by the end of 1952. These results were used to brief the Robertson panel in January 1953. To this basic 316 page report, a 3 page so-called "summary" has been added dealing mainly with the 1953 - 55 period and dismissing UFOs as mainly misidentifications. The more uncomfortable conclusions of the main report were concealed. Only 100 copies of the main report were distributed on a restricted non-public basis (the only Australian copy was destroyed by the RAAF in 1959) whereas copies of the misleading "summary" were freely available to press and public.

* 9 April 1958 - First sanitized version of Robertson (short) report released.

* 24 December 1959 - Inspector-General of Air Force circulates classified "UFO's Serious Business" in an effort to stimulate and improve the reporting of UFOs. Investigating officers are to be equipped with geiger counters as well as a camera, binoculars and sampling containers.

* 1960 - JANAP l46C invokes espionage laws to prevent the revealing of UFO data.

* 28 September 1965 -& Following the August peak of UFO activity , the US AF Office of Information requests a review of Project Blue Book.

* 3 February 1966 - USAF Scientific Advisory Board Ad Hoc Committee reviewed Project Blue Book. Although the committee considered most unidentifieds "were due to inadequate analysis, they also accused Blue Book of identifying objects "when the evidence collected was too meagre or too indefinite". It was recommended that University contracts be made and that more scientifically trained investigators be used.

* 5 April 1966 - U.S. Congress House Committee on Armed Services recommends that Project Blue Book reports be investigated by University contract

* 6 June 1966 - Dr McDonald reads Robertson (complete) report which had been declassified under 12 year rule.

* 20 June 1966 - Robertson report reclassified. Second sanitised version issued.

* 19 September 1966 - AFR 80-17 replaces APR 200-2 and transfers responsibility from Intelligence to Research and Development . Para 12(B) states "Air Force echelons receiving suspected or actual UFO material will safeguard it to prevent any defacing or alterations which might reduce its value for intelligence examination and analysis".

* 6 October 1966 - Contract signed with Colorado University.

* 29 July 1968 - U.S. Congress House Committee on Science and Astronautics held a one-day symposium on UFOs at which many prominent scientists testified in favour of UFOs being real and requiring international investigation.

* 8 January 1969 - Condon report published. Condon's conclusions were not supported by the staff conclusions.

* 1969 - J. Allen Hynek's contract as Scientific Consultant on UFOs to the USAF Project Blue Book was not renewed (after 21 years).

* 17 December 1969 - Project Blue Book closed down .

* 26/31 December 1969 - The American Association for the Advancement of Science met at Boston to discuss UFOs. One outcome was a resolution appealing for Blue Book data to be released.

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APPENDIX "B"

CHRONOLOGY OF RA.A.F INVOLVEMENT WITH UFOs

* 17 January 1951 - First pro-forma for UFO sightings issued.

* 18 May 1953 - Lt Col George A. Uhrich, USAF Assistant Air Attache of the U. S. Embassy approached D/DAFI with a request f or UFO reports to be sent to the U.S.

* 20 July 1953 - Lt Col Uhrich stated that the U.S. is very interested in UFO reports from all over the world - (despite the official U.S. viewpoint that UFOs are the result of misidentifications, hysteria or hoaxes). Sighting details were requested to be signalled with photos,drawings etc. to follow by mail . As a result, the RAAF produced a new pro-forma.

* 20 November 1953 - In a reply to a question in the House of Representatives, the Minister for Air stated that "the RAAF makes detailed investigations of every such report it received".

* 15 March 1955 - Deputy Chief of Air Staff would not permit the appointment of a full-time investigator of UFO sightings.

* 2 November 1955 - Minute from A/DAFI to D. Ops stating that the RAAF was not undertaking detailed investigations as had been indicated by the Minister in November 1953, and that some form of investigation should be made.

* 4 November 1955 - On receiving Special Project Report No.14 and its Summary from the U.S., A/DAFI stated that "the general tone is that the USAF consider *Flying Saucers* do not exist" . The Special Report was later destroyed .

* 1 April 1957 - DAFI formally requested JIB to accept the UFO commitment as the newly formed Scientific Intelligence section would be more capable "than anyone in this Directorate".

* April 1966 - RAAF publish a list of identifications of all UFO sightings from 1960 to 1965.

* 3 June 1968 - Letter from A Sec A to Minister for Air stated that the primary interest in UFOs was with Air Defence and the RAAF has not been concerned with the scientific nature of such sightings.

* 15 January 1970 - In view of the termination of Project BLUE BOOK, DAFI considered that the RAAF might reduce their effort.

[NB: There follows a copy of a 13-page report by Jacques Vallee which is based on a study of 1000 UFO reports and relates to the existence of three Alien weapon systems: (1) a device to interfere with electrical circuits (i.e. stalled engines, ignition failure, electric shocks, radio / TV interference); (2) a device to induce paralysis (paralysis / hypnosis devices); and (3) a heat ray.

Observation of high speed aerial object report by Captain Forsyth, SS Womera, 8 February 1958.

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References

Barlass, Tim, Secret UFO files released, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 August 2012.

Text: It is probably the closest Australia has come to scrambling fighter jets to intercept a UFO. Documents that have just become available under the 30-year rule at the National Archives of Australia reveal how two RAAF Mirage jets were placed on the second highest level of alert to determine the cause of unidentified radar contacts seen on screens at Mascot. Flying sorcery ... one of the restricted documents, now released. Flying sorcery ... one of the restricted documents, now released.Credit: National Archives of Australia. The ''X Files'' viewed in Canberra also give details of other unexplained sightings, some of which are supported by witness statements to police. In the Sydney alert, the papers stamped ''restricted'' tell how operation ''Close Encounter'' was launched by No.3 Control and Reporting Unit at RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle on June 30, 1983, after the phenomenon was first noticed earlier in the month. Mysterious ... a colour-enhanced photo of a UFO seen from Bendigo. One caller dismissed it as a rock band's laser show. Senior air controllers at Mascot said the contacts were mostly located between 70 and 150 nautical miles north of Sydney at ''alleged speeds of 1100-6500 km/h that suggested high altitude''. The papers state that no scramble was to occur in the round-the-clock operation unless confirmation of any reported tracks was made on the radar screens at RAAF Williamtown or any radar other than Sydney. At the same time, three senior air defence controllers were dispatched to Sydney to investigate and plot every contact and ''control interceptors against these contacts if a reasonable chance of interception presented itself''. But then one of the defence controllers, a squadron leader, asked whether a comparison had been made of the contacts on the screens of Mascot's Area Approach Radar Centre and those in a ''workshop across the corridor''. Soon after, tests showed that the ''unidentified objects reported by Sydney were generated entirely by radar interference known colloquially as 'running rabbits'. Squadron leader K. Keenan, in his six-page report, said operation Close Encounter cost 66½ days of overtime, 1000 kilometres was travelled by a staff car and a C130 Hercules transport aircraft ''may have been diverted to Sydney airport'' to deliver one of the defence controllers. He wrote: ''The lines of communication, extending as they did across the width of an entire corridor, seem to have been insufficient for the purpose.'' He added rather dryly: ''Fortunately there was no temptation to launch aircraft and add to the fuel bill occasioned by use of the RAAF Datsun.'' A cautiously worded statement was released as a result ''in a manner that would not embarrass departmental personnel'' which blamed ''random atmospheric conditions''. Other reports in the X Files give details of an ''unidentified physical feature'' of circles on Milo Station at Adavale, Queensland, in 1982. The file refers to photographs that apparently were taken, but they were not among the papers. Constable Geoffrey Russell, from the local police station, visited the site and wrote a report for RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich. The officer saw depressions in the ground and thought they were caused by a motorcyclist doing donuts but then dismissed the idea. He wrote: ''I strongly feel this [is] no hoax even though I do not know the cause of this 'feature'.'' He described a large circle of 2330mm in diameter with one inner circle of 2010mm which were 160mm in width and about 15-20 mm deep. The soil around the outer circle appeared to have been ''blown away'', he said. Elsewhere in Queensland, dairy farmer Robin Priebe phoned Imbil police at 5.30am in July 1983 to report seeing a strange object in the sky to the north of the town. The papers state that a Sergeant Waterson then went to his back verandah and saw ''a large white light with several flashing lights around it'' which did not appear to be a normal aircraft. A similar sighting was made by Constable R. Keys from a separate position. He was also of the opinion that it wasn't a normal aircraft. Mr Priebe said both he and his wife saw a bright red glow gradually change to a white light which then started to move slowly east. Through binoculars, ''the light was disc shaped with a very bright light around the perimeter of the disc with two flashing lights in the front and one to the side'', he said. The only photographs in the X Files were of unusual lights over Bendigo, witnessed by hundreds in May 1983. An interim report by the RAAF stated that Mike Evans, a 17-year-old disc jockey with the Bendigo radio station 3BO, received calls from listeners, then saw the lights himself and took photos. One anonymous caller to the RAAF said the lights were caused by a rock group experimenting with laser lighting. The report said they were probably caused by train headlights or lasers or from planets or stars. There had been unusual weather atmospherics on the night. Zoe¨ D'Arcy, director of digital and online access at the National Archives, said: ''Where you and I might think UFO - a spaceship - the RAAF and other agencies were probably wondering if there was a security threat. ''Most of the files you read and you think that most probably was a meteorite, but there are ones that you read and you think - well, what could that have been? ''I can't explain that from my knowledge. ''So what was it that these people have experienced? It has that open-ended question to it that I find really intriguing.''

Paget, Wing Commander, The RAAF and the UFOs: Some of the Story [podcast], Naval History Society of Australia, 11 July 2021, duration: 21 minutes.

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Last updated: 27 January 2024

Michael Organ, Australia

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