Releases / 3 / CIA-UAP-007

Current Status Of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) Project.

File

CIA-UAP-007

Type

Document, 3 pages

Agency

CIA

Date

December, 1953

Released

Release 3, June 12, 2026

Open the original on war.gov

The government's description

This December 1953 memorandum provides a status update on the Air Force's UFO project activities, including ongoing intelligence operations, equipment procurement for photographing UFOs, and Canada’s establishment of a "laboratory" for recording observable phenomena. A more redacted version of this memorandum has been available on CIA's public website.

Approved f or Rel ease 2026

1

17 December 1953
r,";g1,~0MNDUM TO,

.Assistant Director, 3c:i.entif'ic Intelligence

FROM

:

Chief, Phys l cs and Electron.ics Division; SI

SUBJECT

:

Current Status of Unidentified Flying Objects

(UFOB) Project.

l.

In accordarii'.~e with the verbal request ol' Mr. Brent,.. Exec/SI,

on 30 November, the following resume of the current status or' unidenti­
fied flying objects activities has been prepared.
2. P&E Division assumed responsibility for the OSI project on
unldentified f lying objects as a result oJ: ~,our memorandum of
27 Ma~ 1953. The project has been con:t'l~ed to rr:aintainiog awareness
of the nctlvities of other agencies {notabl_y the USAF) in ·the
unidenti fied f lying objects business and t o !aa.intenance of files.

3.

Sta.tus ot' Depa.rtrnent of Defense Act ivi ties.
.

.

a. Air Force. The Air Force continues to ,1JS.1.Gtain, but with
aJ)parently decreasing emphasis, .Lts interest in UFOB's. The present
interest of th•~ Directorate of Intel ligence, Hq. , USAF, is conf.).ned to
a curso~ cop.,nlzance of ATIC's project (.iuebook No. 10073). At ATIC
the project is carri ed by one officer (Capt . Charles A. Hardin), one
airman (A/lC Max G. Futch), and a secreta.lJ· operating as tlie .Aeri al .
Phenomena. Secti on of'. the Electronics Branch, Technic_al A:Qalysis Division.
In s:pite of thls 11.::nited staff, as weLle as several changes or proJect •
officer, the project records appear to be up-to-date. ATIC personnel
no longer conduct f ield investigations of UFOB sightings (these are
requested from USAF intelligence officers C9priroarily Air Defense
Command and Airways and Air Communications ServiciJ nearer to the
a j ghtings), but confine their acti vl tiea .to receiving and checking
reports as received; requesting a.ddi~ional f ield investigation where
necessary, pe.rfcnning necessary checkine against meteorological,
ast~omical, aircraf t, and b.a lloon data, and record.lug their findings
and honclusions in a cross-referenced system by date, location, source,
tJ~e ·or observa.tioo and conclusion drawn. The Aerial Phenomena Section
also deals directly ~1th the Public Information Office of Hq., USAF,
re~ing 1nfo:rma.tion for public release. For about the past year,
apprcxbiately ten percent of the reported s.i.gb.tlngs have been tagged
us unsolved. •..

Of pa.:r.ticular interest is the fact that ATIC is i n the
process oi' transterring pr9Ject Bluebook ~6 Hq., Air Defense Command .
Accord Jng to Lt . Col. Harry Johnsto~, Chief , Electron i cs Branch, the
reason for the transl'er was that l\DC bad been doing most of the

s.

@ _SERET ©

Lavestigative werk of the project and "if it turns out that these
things (UFOB's) are space ships or long range aircraft from another
country, ADC is the (Air Force) Cozmund that would have to take
action.” Col. Johnston followed this comment with the somewhat
contradictory statement that the project transfer did not reflect
any change in Atr Force policy. It .s undoubtedly true that ADC

is the Air Force Command primarily concerned with UFOB's at the
present ine un tha’ their interceptors are occasionally dispatched
“aga ne reporied UFOB's and that their reporting stations and
com nicaiions systems are involved in a considerable portion of
the UFOB act vity, ATIC will maintain liaison with the project.

Approximately @ year and one half ago ATIC initiated a
progran to purchase cameras for selected ADC radar sities and AACS
control .owers in locat'ons where consistent UFOB reports were
rece ved n the hopes of photographing UFOB's. One lens of the
camera (a stereoscopic type) was to be covered with a simple grating
'o record ihe spec!rographic asture of the UFOB photographed. One
houdred "Videon" 35 mm. cameras with "stereon” anastigmat £ 3.5 lenses
vere purchased along with 100 gratings (15,000 line) from CENCO,
Chicago. Yeveny-four (74) cameras were distributed. N.nety percent
o° the gra.ings have “gone bad"-~.he actual grating separating *rom
the plast:c mounting plates. New gratings are expected shortly and
ATIC expecis to recall all of the 74 distributed cameras and re-
eq: p them 'h the new gratings.

Several months ago we were advised that ATIC planned to
set np a coneen'rated instrumentation observational e/fort in the
Albuqverq.e arez. This has noy been dropped.

Pro‘eet STORK (SECREZ) has beenpreparing,at ATIC request
® comprehensive s'a.is.ical repor® on UFOB sigh ings during the
period 1947 -hro gh 195@. This study is now expected to be completed
by 1. December 1953.

ATT ‘ssues status reports on Project Bluebook on a tri-nonthly
bisis the rost recent being Report No. 12 30 September 1953.

b. Navy. The Navy in spi:e of press reports to the
contrary, is presently devoting only part of one ONI analyst's
time to maintain’ng cogn’zance of UFOB's.

ce. Army. The Army has ev .denced little or no interest in
UFOB's other thin cooperating with the Air Force in reporting sightings
and pert'nent data using the Air Force format.

4, Investigations or Interests of Foreign Governments.

a. Canada. Considerable attention in the U. 3. press was
recently given to reporis chat the Canadian Defence Research Board
and Departmen" of Transport had jointly and officially established a

@ —ShR—

"laboratory" for recording observable phenomena connected with UFOB's.

Li “sg onteresting to note that in his recently published book "Flying
Saucers Fror: Outer Space” Mr. D. &. Keyhoe states that a #ilbur B.
Smith of the Canadian Department of Transport had been conducting
“saucer” investigations for three years before 1952, or beginning in
1gho. If Keyhoe 1s correct and it is the same Wilbur B. Smith
mentioned in his book as in the recent press releases. one might
wonder why the matter hit the press four years late. It is, of course
a © possible tha: the press item was prompted by i onl
Keyhoe's book. Several reports have been received

_|tha! experiments ona flying saucer are actually being
conducted at A. V. Roe, Ltd., Toronto.

b. Grea’. Britain. The subject of UFOB's was discussed
briefly dur'ng his recent visit. He
stated thas since _linvestigation of UFOB's or two and
one half years ago, initiated

the only British activity is the filing of reports as
received by the RAF.

_¢. Sweden.)

L _ \No further information
is available.

d. Other. Aside from a few scattered reports, mostly old,
which indicate interest in UFOB's by private individuals or groups,
there is no information of concern or inquiries of consequence in
other foreign countries.

5+ Results of OSI Panel Recommendations. The consultants who
considered this problem in January 1553 recommended that UFOB's be
stripped of special status and aura of mystery and that policies on
intelligence, training. and public education pertinent to true

ndiecat ons of hostile intent or action be prepared. The definite

drop in the ourber of "sightings" reported during 1953 over 1952
could be attribited to actions following these recommendations. Two
recent books ("Flying Saucers From Outer Space" by Keyhoe and "Flying
Saveers Have Landed” by Lealie and Adariski) take full advantage of
“official” UFOB reports released by the Air Force to develop a central
theme that UFOB's are extraterrestrial in origin. Fortunately, the
laster book 8 so nonsensical and obviously fraudulent that it may
actvilly help calm down public reaction. These books do, however,
illustrate the r'sk taken by the present policy. There are no other
as yeh apparen. res 1lts of these recomendations.

TODOS M. ODARENKO